be there I have loved long ago
joy like a river around me will flow yet just a smile from my
Savior I know will through the ages be glory Glory. When I announced wrote it in the bulletin, that
that's the subject, wrote it last week, I believe. I hope you look forward to this.
I did, and yet the more I approached it, I felt like Job. Job said, I've uttered things
too wonderful for me, things I understood not, things too
wonderful. Glory, if you were assigned this
task, how would you feel? Come back and talk about the
unspeakable. Speak about the unspeakable.
Our text, if I have one, would be verses 5, 22, and 24. Look at verse 5. He says, And now, O Father, glorify
Thou me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with
Thee before the world was. Verse 22, And the glory which
Thou gavest me, I have given them that they may be one even
as we are one. Verse 24, Father, I will that
they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that
they may behold my glory which thou hast given me for thou lovest
me before the foundation of the world. Glory. Now the word glory
means praise. It means honor. It means dignity. Worthiness. Worthiness. It means
worship. Glory. Glory. The Lord says much
about God's glory. Scriptures say much about God's
glory. Scriptures say that God created
all things for His glory. Creation is for His glory. The heavens declare His glory. showeth His handiwork, day unto
day utter His speech." There's no language or voice where the
voice of God's glory is not heard. It's a glorious manifestation,
a glorious revelation of the glorious God, God's creation,
but man. Man, Scripture says in Romans
1, glorified Him not as God. Neither were thankful, but worshiped
the creature rather than the Creator, worships Mother Earth,
refuses to give God the glory, worships man rather than God,
rather than the Creator. Brother Mack read in Psalm 28
tonight, in that verse Mack says, "...they regard not the works
of the Lord, nor the operation of His hands, so He shall destroy
them." God's creation is for His glory. Day unto day, the
Son arises, speaks of His Son. Providence, all of providence
is His glory. Everything is ordered, directed,
and predestined, and working together according to God's infinite
wisdom and marvelous power and glory. It's wonder, isn't it?
Feeding, the care, the direction of every single thing in this
universe, be it terrestrial, earth, be it celestial, everything,
man, beasts, plants, animals, principalities, powers, everything
is ordered and directed by our God that shows forth His amazing
glory, His wisdom and His glory. All things are working together
too. Primarily, working together for
the good of God's people according to His purpose, which is to gather
them together in one in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything in this
universe, everything, is working out that purpose to bring God's
people into this everlasting kingdom, ordered in all things,
in one day, to be with God forever in glory, beholding His glory. Everything. Now that's amazing,
isn't it? That's His glory. The gathering
of His elect in His kingdom, His glory. Salvation. What I'm
talking about. Salvation is His greatest glory. Creation is glory. Providence
is glorious. But His greatest glory is His
salvation. Where would you go if you wanted
to see His glory? Exodus 33. You can't talk about... Exodus 33. Turn that. You can't
talk about God's glory. without going to Exodus 33, can
you? Moses is the one that asked the Lord to show him His glory. Now, Moses saw glorious things,
didn't he? Glorious things. What all did
Moses and the children of Israel see while wandering through that
desert? The smitten rock, the brazen
serpent, the Red Sea parted, and on and on it went, bred from
heaven. Glorious things. Something much
greater than all that. of which all those things speak."
All those things are a picture of the glory that excelleth,
exceeding glory of God. And Moses said, Lord, show me
your glory. Show me your chief glory, your
greatest glory. Show me your glory, your principle,
that which gives you the most praise and honor and shows forth
your worthiness. Look at it, verse 19, and the
Lord said, here's what he said, I will make all my goodness pass
before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee,
and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will
show mercy on whom I will show mercy." Read on. And he said, but thou canst not
see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. The Lord
said, Behold, there's a place by me and thou shalt stand upon
a rock and it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by. Your glory passing by? Yeah. While my glory passeth by that
I will put thee in a cliff of the rock and will cover thee
with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away mine hand,
and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen."
My face. Remember that? My face shall
not be seen. Not now. Now read on. Or chapter 34. Look at chapter
34. And so, the Lord descended in
the cloud and stood with him there. Who? The Lord descended
in the cloud. Does that sound familiar? The cloud took him away, and
he cometh with cloud." This is the Lord Jesus Christ. "...and
stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord." Here's
the Lord's goodness. All of God's goodness, God's
glory, is in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 6, "...and the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed,
The Lord, Jehovah, The Lord God, reigning and ruling." Merciful. Sovereign mercy, but merciful. And gracious. Sovereign grace,
but yes, gracious. Long-suffering. Abundant in goodness. Keeping mercy and truth. Forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin. Who is all this speaking of?
What is all this speaking of? God's glory. Where is mercy found? Where is grace found? Where is
forgiveness of sin? How does God forgive sin and
put away iniquity? Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
The gospel is called the good news. God said, I'll make all
my goodness pass before you. The gospel of God. It's called
the glorious gospel of His blessed Son. Jesus Christ is the glory
of God. Moses saw His glory. Didn't our
Lord say that of Abraham? Abraham saw My glory. Moses wrote
of Me, Christ said. These things Isaiah said when
he saw His glory. Moses saw His glory. God glorified
Moses by showing him His glory. Now look at John 17. John 17,
verse 5. And He says, our Lord says, Now,
O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self, with the glory
which I had with Thee before the world was. The glory I had
with Thee. Well, in John chapter 1, it says
this. Our sister Helen is sick right
now. She loves this. Her and her mother love this
chapter as do all of God's people. If you're listening, Helen, Listen
carefully. It says, "...the Word was made
flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, as of the
only begotten, the only bodily image, the express image of God,
equal with the Father. I and the Father are one. God
said, you'll not see my face and live, not now, but later."
You're going to get there, John. You know we're going to 2 Corinthians
4, don't you? See His glory, the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. You see where the grace of God
is. You see where the mercy of God is. You see where the glory
of God is. God's greatest glory. Look at
Luke chapter 9. Go back to Luke 9. This is where
the Lord took three chosen disciples up on a mountain to show them
His glory. Luke 9. Oh, how I love this. have been glorified the same
way they were. And I'm going to explain that
a little bit in a minute. Verse 28, it came to pass, Luke
9, 28, it came to pass about eight days after these sayings,
He took Peter and John and James. Now He handpicked them, didn't
He? He chose them. And He went up into a mountain
to pray, and as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was
altered, and His raiment was white and glistening. I like
to think of it as the Lord peeling back that plain brown wrapper
that He wore, that skin, that veil that He wore, that veil
of flesh that no man could look. God who dwelleth in light, Son
of righteousness, that no one can look directly into His face,
and yet He wore a skin, a brown skin, a garment of flesh, and
here He... peeled it back so that they could
see Him as He is, God, manifest in the flesh. And verse 30, Behold,
there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias. Who
do they represent? The Law and the Prophets. The
Law and the Prophets. Now the Scripture says to Him,
give all the Prophets witness. Witness by the Law and the Prophets.
The law, everything in the law, everything in the Mosaic law,
the Levitical law, points to the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything.
Every jot and tittle points to Christ. The fulfiller of the
law. He's the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes. And the prophets all prophesied of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Old Testament says someone
is coming. How many times have you heard
me say this? I never get tired of saying this. The whole Testament,
all those types, those symbols, those pictures, those, you know,
let's go back and start naming them. The Passover lamb, the
smitten rock, the brazen serpent, the kinsman redeemer. They all
speak of Christ. Someone's coming. Someone's coming.
Speak of His glory. So Moses and Elijah were there.
And look at verse 31, they appeared in glory. They were glorified. They were in a glorified body
and yet it was glory for them to be in His presence, you see. They appeared in glory and what
did they speak of? What did they speak of? What
they always spoke of, what they wrote of. His decease which He
should accomplish at Jerusalem." Not His making an attempt to
save anybody. His decease, His death by which
He... by which death was destroyed. Which He destroyed death and
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter, And
it's fitting, you know the story, we've looked at it. Peter is
the one that said, boasted, you know, so often what he would
do and what he would not do. It specifically says that Peter
was asleep. Peter and they that were with
him were heavy with sleep, but when they were awake, they saw
his glory. They saw his glory. They got
a glimpse. And then, you know, the rest of this, the two men
stood with him and they departed and Peter said, he just had to
say something, verse 33, Master, it's good for us to be here.
Let us make three tabernacles and one for you, one for Moses,
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 heaven saying,
what does God the Father say? One thing. He's got one thing
to say to sinful man. This is my beloved Son. Hear Him. Praise Him. Glorify Him. Let everything that
hath breath glorify the Son. Not Moses, not Elijah, not any
man, but the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. To Him, all things
were created by Him, for Him, for His glory. So they saw His
glory. and speak of Him. John 17, look
at verse 22. John 17, 22. And here's what
our Lord said to the Father. He said, "...the glory which
Thou gavest Me, I have given them, that they may be one, even
as We are one." He's speaking not only of the disciples, but
all of those who believe. All believers, all the saints
have been glorified. You know Romans 8, 29 through
30, don't you? You know what those scriptures say, it says,
"...for whom He did foreknow, He did predestinate, whom He
did predestinate, He justified whom He justified, whom He called,
He justified whom He justified, He glorified." Past tense. Know what it says? Like it's
already been done. Meaning, that whoever sees Christ's
glory has already been glorified. Like James, Peter, James, and
John went up on that mountain and saw His glory. They appeared
with Him in glory, like Moses and Elijah. They were all talking
about the same thing. Him, they were all beholding
His glory. He says, "...the glory that Thou
gavest Me, I have given them." Verse 24, and He said, "...I
will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where
I am, that they may behold My glory." The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth, the glory given."
All right, here's the fourfold meaning of this glory, all right? He said, "...I have given them
this glory, the glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given it to
them." Number one, it's His redemptive glory. His redemptive glory. Now God created everything for
His glory, but Satan, and this was in God's purpose too, or
it wouldn't have happened. Satan is a created being. Known unto
God are all his works, Acts 15, 18, from the beginning of the
world. Proverbs 16, 4, the Lord has
created all things for himself, even the wicked for the day of
evil. Everything. Don't ask me to explain that.
I don't have to. That's what God's Word says.
All right? I, the Lord, do all these things.
Satan, created being. Yet he sought to glorify himself,
didn't he? He said, I will. Free will? Satan's the one who started this
conspiracy. Free will? Satan said, I will
exalt myself to the star. And a host, a third of the heavenly
host said with him, yeah, we're with you. We like the sound of
that. Did he? No, sir. God, it says, cast him
down. says he's reserved in everlasting
chains of darkness. Isn't that what the Scripture
said? God cast him down. Well, man did the same thing.
Adam and Eve did the same thing, didn't they? All right? Think of it. Satan came, the
Lord allowed that, and came and appealed to the woman, she was
deceived, because she's typical of modern religion, led by the
great whore. The woman was deceived in the
transgression. Satan appealed to her with this
thing of free will and being like God, doing as you will,
you don't have to have him reign over you. And she liked that. Lust of the eyes, lust of the
flesh, saw the food, took it and so forth. Pride of life,
and she took it, gave it to her husband who willingly took it,
in an act of rebellion against God. And they both fell. All right? Man did the same thing
as Satan and those angels, those fallen angels. Imagine what the
angels thought when they saw this. What do you think the angels
thought when they saw this going on? God would not allow them
to intervene. What do you think? They saw Satan
and a third of the heavenly host cast in Outer darkness, didn't
it? And put in chain. What do you
think they thought was coming? Well, he's either going to destroy
these two puny little creatures, or cast them into that outer
darkness with the rest of these rebels, didn't he? But you know,
Peter wrote about the gospel, he said, these are things which
angels desire to look into. You know what God did? All right,
here's what man did. Man rebelled against such a good,
holy, righteous, wonderful, loving, kind, giving, caring, compassionate
creator and provider and everything he had ever. He lived in paradise
with God and rebelled against him. The greatest sinner who
ever lived, perhaps, Adam. And he rebelled against God. But God, reaching mercy. The angels never heard the word
mercy. They didn't know what mercy is.
This is another aspect of God's glorious character. Mercy. If there's a reason why God allowed
the fall, this is it. So His mercy could be seen. So His grace could be seen. Mercy
means not getting what you deserve. The man, because why? They deserve
what Satan and the angels. But God, rich in mercy. And if the angels were to ask,
they'd say, what is this? He said, I'm merciful. I'm going to show forth my mercy,
and I'm going to keep mercy for thousands. There's going to be
thousands and ten thousands and ten thousands of times ten thousands
of sinners like these rebels. But I will be merciful, full
of mercy to many of them. Not all of them, but mercy by
definition is sovereign. Mercy by definition means nobody
deserves it. Nobody deserves a chance to be
saved. All of us, like Adam, deserve to be cast into outer
darkness. But God. You can't preach the
gospel without saying, but God. Rich in mercy. The Lord didn't put them in chains,
but He spoke of redemption. He spoke of buying back what
they lost. He spoke of bringing them back.
He spoke of forgiveness. And how? How? What? What? He began to make
a promise to them. A woman saved. He spoke of Christ. Who spoke of Christ? I believe
it was Christ preaching the message to them. I believe it was Christ.
It was. It was the voice of the Son of
God. It was Christ, the Son of God, who came walking in the
garden. The angel saw the Son of God come down. Proverbs 8
says, His delights were with the sons of men who rejoiced
in the habitable parts of the earth. I believe it was the Son
of God Himself that came walking. The Word made flesh, came walking
in the garden in the cool of the day, looking for the first
sinner. who was running from Him, who didn't want anything
more to do with Him. But God, manifest in the flesh,
came looking for those first two sinners and found them and
said, where are you? Can you hear His voice? I've
heard it. Where art thou? Look at you. Look what you've done. Have you
eaten of the tree that I told you not to eat of? It was reproof, it was rebuke,
it was conviction, wasn't it? But it was mercy. He didn't have
to talk to him at all, did he? And it's great mercy if the Lord
convicts you. When the Spirit of God comes,
Christ said, He'll convict of sin, righteousness, and judgment. And the Lord Jesus Christ did
all that in the garden that day. Through the promise of the woman's
seed, He'll bruise the serpent's head, And He'll bruise his heel? And He promised her she'd have
seed children? You mean not going to be destroyed?
Not going to be destroyed? No, no. You're going to go through
pain, and suffering, and sorrow, and it's your fault. But God
is merciful. Grace, love, this is His glory,
redemptive glory. Man couldn't redeem himself.
We can't redeem himself. And you know, you and I are not
redeemed with corruptible things. Most people don't know that.
They don't believe that. Many think they can redeem themselves. They can, you know, pay for their
sins and pay for their crimes and undo what they've done. No,
sir. The only one that can do that is Jesus Christ. And He
did. Paid it off. All the dead have. This is gospel glory, what we're
talking about. Redemptive glory, gospel glory. Satan was cast out. Man was cast down, but not cast
out. It's a good thing to be cast
down, but not destroyed. Those that are down, cast down
by God to see themselves that mourn over their sin and pour
in spirit and mourn over their sin will be lifted up. They'll
see the Lord high and lifted up. Satan and his hosts, they
waited for destruction. Adam and a host of others are
waiting for redemption, a glorious liberty. Satan and his hosts
are waiting for destruction. They're reserved in everlasting
change. Adam and his hosts, many of them,
are waiting for redemption, the redemption of our body, the glorious
liberty. the glorious liberty of the sons
of God. Amen. Why would God do that for
one, let alone one trillion or more? 2 Corinthians 1. Go over to 2 Corinthians
1, which leads to chapter 4. 2 Corinthians 1. Now, God made
a promise to Adam and Eve about the woman's seed. made of a woman. He would become made of a woman,
made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law,
pay for their sin, buy back, give back all that was lost for
the glory of God. Look at 2 Corinthians 1 verse
20. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ,
he says, "...all the promises of God in him are yes, yea, and
in him amen unto..." What? The glory of God. By who? Us. Sinners. Redeemed by His blood. Saved by His grace. They're the
ones that give all glory to God for sending Christ to redeem
us. The glory of God. Chapter 3.
All of 2 Corinthians chapter 3 speaks of the law. Most of it. How that the law,
the giving of the law was glorious. And Moses went up on that mountain.
Remember? The mount that burned? and smoked
and the bush that burned and he received the law and how glorious
that was. Well, look at verse 7. It says,
if that ministration of death written and engraved in stones
was glorious, the children of Israel could not steadfastly
behold the face of Moses when he came down, the glory of his
countenance. That glory is to be done away
with. How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious?
Verse 9, if the glory, if the ministration of condemnation,
that's the law. The law doesn't do anything but
condemn us. And if that be glory, much more the ministration of
righteousness, or rather righteousness imputed, exceed in glory. Even that which was made glorious
had no glory. The law has no glory in this
respect by reason of the glory that excelleth. You with me?
I know it's Wednesday night, but it's too glorious to mince
words here. Talking about Moses and the law
and what he was given and what he saw up on that mountain. Verse
13, and Moses came down and put a veil over his face. The children
of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which
is abolished. But verse 18, but we all, with open face, beholding
as in a glass the glory of the Lord." What's that? It's not a what,
it's a who, it's a person. You notice he said, "...in a
glass." We see through a glass dimly, don't we? Darkly. In this
body, with these eyes, we cannot see His glory. Paul, the apostle,
remember, spoke of a man. It was him when he was stoned.
and died. He said, I knew a man, whether
in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell, but he said he
went to the heaven, the third heaven, and he said, he didn't
even start to talk, he didn't talk about what he saw. He just
said he heard things. What he heard was glorious enough,
he said, no human description. So if we could see His glory
and what's in glory, who and what is in glory right now. We
couldn't live here. We couldn't stand it. We behold in a glory, in a glass,
darkly, dimly. We must through, like, you know,
Stephen, he's a welder, you know, you can't look on a welder's
bark, can you? He'll blind you forever. You can't look on the
sun, it'll blind you. We can't see Him as He is with
this carnal So you have to look through a welding glass, don't
you? Well, that's the sense in which
we see dimly. And this is the glass, isn't
it? This is the looking glass. How
much do we know about Him? How much do we see of His glory?
Huh? It's dimly. It's dark. This book
is so glorious. It's so full. Such a manifestation
of God. How much do we know? After all
these years, how much do I know? We've waded ankle-deep in the
ocean of His fullness. We put our big toe in it. His
glory. Talking about His glory. We see
through a glass darkly, but we have beheld the glory of the
Lord. Read on. Verse 18. And as we
behold His glory, we're changed into the same image from glory
to glory by the Spirit of the Lord. Talk a little bit more
about that in a minute. Our Lord, do you remember when
the Lord said that you cannot see my face? Remember that? Can't see my face and live. Well,
Job said, in the oldest book of the Bible, here's what Job
said. He said in Job 19, I know that
my Redeemer lives. But Job, he hadn't come yet. He liveth. He's the ever-living
one. And he said, I know my Redeemer
liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
And after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God, whom I shall see for myself,
and mine eyes shall behold, not another. And we will do. God said, you cannot see Moses,
you can't see my face right now and live. But God became a man so we could see
him. And his name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he came to this earth and
he showed us his glory. Now, do you still have 2 Corinthians?
Do you still have it? Alright, look at chapter 4. Look
at chapter 4 here. It says now in verse Three, if
our gospel be hid, it's 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, whose the image
of God should shine unto them." Oh, they talk about many things. They love to... He'll even let
them talk a lot about the law. But the gospel is God's glory. Now we preach not, verse 5, we
preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves
your servant for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness upon that world that was void, without
form and void, He said, let there be light. God hath shined in
our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. Where? in the face of Jesus Christ. We've beheld His face as of the
only begotten of the Father. We've been glorified, people. When He was on this earth, Scripture
says there's no beauty about Him that they should desire Him.
There's no form or cumblance. He didn't look different than
anyone else. And few people saw His glory. Who saw His glory? Who knew who
he was? Who knew who he was? Those he
chose, his elect, those whom he revealed himself to. He said,
who do men say that I am? They said, well, some say you're
a good man, some say you're like John, some say you're John risen
from the dead. That's not good enough. That's dishonoring to
him. He's John's Lord. He's John's
Creator. And he said, to whom do you say
that I am? Simon Peter, he said, Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God. He said, flesh and blood
didn't reveal that to you. But my Father revealed what? His glory. And from then on, what did they
preach? Not what? Who? Who? He said, we can't help with that.
Peter said, should we obey men or God? He said, we can't help
but speak of things we've seen and heard. What's that, Peter?
Him. His glory. We've seen His glory. If a preacher's
really seen the glorious Christ and experienced His glorious
gospel Himself, he'll preach that gospel. We've been glorified. We've seen His glory. We've been
chosen to the praise of the glory of His grace. Do you know how
many times it says that in Ephesians 1? To the praise of the glory
of His grace. Everything. Let me give you an
illustration. I've preached a little while
and I'm going to tell you something. If the President of the United
States, let me get a little better than that. If the Queen of England,
this is better. If the Queen of England told you that you've been chosen
to have an audience with her, out of all the people in the
world, you've been chosen to have an audience with the Queen,
to have a place at her table, and the royal coach will be sent
for you and you will be brought there in all the royal splendor
and sit at her table and eat at her table right by her side,
all expenses paid. Would that be an honor? Would
that be an unworthy honor for you? Huh? Well, there's a much higher calling
than that. infinitely higher than that. The God of glory chose
a people. I believe He chose me. I believe
He chose you. Chose us, called us by His grace. And keeps calling us because
we keep wandering. It's a miracle that He calls
us once, and then we go running off like sheep, and He calls
us back. Because the gifts and calling
of God are what? Without repentance. He keeps
calling. He'll not lose one of them. That's
what He said, didn't He? Those you've given Me, I've kept.
None of them is lost. They're not going to be lost.
Those He calls, He glorifies. Justifies and glorifies. But
He keeps calling, and He sent His Son down here to die for
the likes of thee, to redeem them, sends His Holy Spirit to
regenerate, to teach them, to lead them, to guide them, Call
them by His grace to change them, and someday send in His angels
to gather them together to be in His presence forever. All for His glory. Then there's a regenerative glory
of God. I already alluded to the glory
that's given us, but Christ in you, Scripture says, the hope
of glory. Look at verse, I go back to our
text quickly. Christ in you, the hope of Lord.
It says here in, now this is, this union with Christ is nearly
impossible to explain. But it says in verse 21, that
they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee,
that they also may be one in us. Verse 22, the glory which
thou gavest me I've given them that they may be one even as
we are one. I in them and thou in me. Verse 26, I've declared unto
them thy name and will declare it that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them and I in them. Now can you explain
that? Christ in you No, neither can
I. But it's wonderful. I in them. Redemptive, regenerative glory. Christ in you, the hope of glory.
This new creature. This new creature created in
Christ Jesus. It loves God, loves truth, loves
the gospel, loves Christ. Oh my, it's all glorious to Him.
There's an old man, there's a new man in every believer. It's a
mystery, but it's true. There's a new man that loves
God's glory, longs for God's glory, that lives for His glory,
that cannot sin. There's an old man that can't
do anything but sin. There's an old man that sees
no glory in anything but sin. There's a new man that glories
in holiness and righteousness and the truth, that loves the
truth. There's a new man, that new creature
created in Christ sees no glory in anything other than Jesus
Christ. Can you not say that, and Sister
Nancy and I have spoken about this so many times, that the
creation seems to be fading, as it were, diminishing. It's glorious enough as it is,
but it seems to be losing its luster, doesn't it? Just try
to imagine what the first garden was like. And the more sin reigns
in this earth, the darker it becomes. Darker. Creation is fading. Man's glory
fades luckily. Everything fades and glory doesn't
last. But we've beheld Christ's glory
and are being changed from glory to glory. Tell me, are there
not things that you used to glory in, things you used to just take
great delight in, that now you're not even interested in? Huh? Man, I used to be a... Well,
let me go on. Everybody here could say that.
There were things you used to just take, just be so interested
in, and now you look at them and say... It's like Paul said,
when I became a man, that is, the measure of the stature of
the fullness of Christ, you become a man, A man ought to be like
Christ. You look at these things as toys
and waste of time. Why was I... What captivated
me? And the older you get, who captures
your glory? Christ. Until all you want to
do is see Him. And this is eternal glory. Eternal
glory. You know, I've got to tell this, because
it says we're changed into the same image from glory to glory.
That's what we read, 2 Corinthians 3.18. We're changed into the
same image. As we look at Christ, we may
conform to the image of Christ. That's how we're changed. We
look at Him from glory to glory. until we're finally glorified,
we look just like Him. But God's people are being conformed,
looking more like Him, growing into that image of Christ. But
you can't see it in yourself, can you? You can't see it in
yourself. You look in the mirror of God's
Word, what do you see? You see your face and it looks
ugly, doesn't it? You see your faults. The Word
of God just exposes all of our blemishes like a magnifying mirror. You'll see any beauty. And as
I've said so many times, that this is like a two-way mirror.
Keep looking. You'll see another face. Beautiful. Glorious. It's the Son of God,
the face of the Son of God in these Scriptures. That's who
you want to look like. And you are. Do you not see it
in others? Do you not see it in your brethren?
I've watched many of you for years now. Changed from glory
to glory. All right, here's the illustration.
Christiana and her friend, Mercy. That's Pilgrim's wife in Pilgrim's
Progress. Christiana and Mercy, they were
on the same pilgrimage. After her husband went to glory,
God, in great mercy and grace, called her. And she went on this
journey. Went through the wicked gates.
Went to the foot of the cross the same way that Christian pilgrim
did. All right? Well, they came to
this place where their garments were changed.
And it says they were both robed in linen, clean and white. That's robed in the righteousness
of Christ. Okay? And it says they were both
looking at each other. And it says they couldn't see
their own glory, but they could see the glory of the other person.
And Christianity would say to mercy, you're so fair, you are
so beautiful. And mercy would say, oh, not
me, you are. They could see it in each other,
but couldn't see it in themselves. But we're all changed from glory
to glory. and bear His image. If we don't,
we're none of His. But that's what the Lord does.
But we can't see it in ourselves. Take that for your own comfort.
You'll not see it. Don't look for it. You can't
see it. But you see it in others, and rest assured, the Lord is
doing it in you if you're looking at Christ, to Christ. And here's
eternal glory. He said in our text, verse 24,
Father, I will that they be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory." That they may be with me where I am in glory. You know that that's another
name for heaven? Glory. Glory. Another name. It's a glorious place, glorious
things in it, full of people that have been glorified. There's
no better place to look for a description than Revelation. The last book
in God's Word, let's look at it in closing. The glorious place
where the people of God behold His glory, beholding the glory
of the Lord. And they're all giving all glory
to God. Revelation 19, go over there.
Many descriptions in God's Word about glory, about heaven, but
these are the best, I believe. Look at Revelation 19. Verse
5, a voice came out of the throne saying, Praise our God, O His
servant. Ye that fear Him, both small
and great. And I heard, as it were, the
voice of a great multitude, as the voice of many waters, as
the voice of mighty thunder, and said, Hallelujah! For the
Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give honor to Him. That's glory, to Him. For the
marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself
ready. Read on. And to her was granted
that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white,
for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. May I remind you,
that's not bears that they produce, but it was put on them, imputed
to them. Cry. And he saith unto me, Right
blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the
Lamb. Is anything more? enjoyable or
more blessed than a marriage. Well, he said these are the true
sayings of God. Chapter 21. Turn over one page. Verse 2, verse 1. Chapter 21,
verse 1. I saw a new heaven and a new
earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.
There was no more sea. Why is that? Cannot be a gulf. Cannot be a separation. And I,
John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And
I heard a great voice out of heaven say, Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall
be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their
God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. And there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain,
for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the
throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto
me, John, write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto
him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his
God, and he shall be my son." Verse 10, "...and he carried
me away in the Spirit to a great high mountain, and showed me
that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from
God, having the glory of God." Verse 22, And I saw no temple
therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of
it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon,
to shine in it. For the glory of God did lighten
it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them
which are saved shall walk in the light of His glory. And the kings of the earth do
bring their glory. and Josiah and honor into, and
the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for there
shall be no night there, and they'll bring the glory and honor
of the nations into it. Shall no wise enter into anything
that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh
a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life."
Glory. Glory. Hallelujah. Praise His name. Okay, stand
with me. Our Heavenly Father, thank You,
thank You, thank You for Your gospel, the gospel of Thy glory. Thank You, thank You, thank You
for the glorious promises, sure and certain promises by which
we are made partakers of this divine nature. O Lord, thank
You, thank You, thank You for Your Word, for Your truth, for
Your gospel. Thank You for Your Son, the Son
of Thy glory, the Son of Thy right hand. And thank You, Lord,
that someday soon we'll experience the glorious liberty of the sons
of God, be with You in glory, to behold the glory of Thy blessed
Son. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.
In His name we pray. Amen. You're dismissed. Mm.