Exodus chapter 33, and reading
from verse 1. The Lord said unto Moses, Depart
and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought
up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I swear unto
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I
give it. And I will send an angel before
thee, and I will drive out the Canaanite, and the Amorite, and
the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite,
unto a land flowing with milk and honey. For I will not go
up in the midst of thee, for thou art a stiff-necked people,
lest I consume thee in the way. And when the people heard these
evil tidings, they mourned, and no man did put on him his ornaments. For the Lord had said unto Moses,
Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiff-necked people.
I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment and consume
thee. Therefore now put off thy ornaments
from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. And the children
of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the Mount
Horeb. And Moses took the tabernacle
and pitched it without the camp afar off from the camp and called
it the tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass that everyone
which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation
which was without the camp. And it came to pass, when Moses
went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up and
stood every man at his tent door and looked after Moses until
he was gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, as Moses
entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended and
stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy
pillar stand at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose
up and worshipped every man in his tent door. And the Lord spake
unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And
he turned again into the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son
of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. And
Moses said unto the Lord, See thou sayest unto me, Bring up
this people, and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send
with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee
by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore
I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now
thy way that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy
sight and consider that this nation is thy people.' And he
said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy
presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein
shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in
thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest
with us? So shall we be separated, I and
thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the
earth. The Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that
thou hast spoken, for thou hast found grace in my sight, and
I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee,
show me thy glory. And 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 I will show mercy on whom I will show
mercy. And he said, thou canst not see
my face, for there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord
said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon
a rock, and it shall come to pass, 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. Amen. May God be pleased to bless
to us this reading from his word. Our thoughts this morning will
take a pattern of looking at God's glory. The title of our
thoughts are Glimpses of Glory. Glimpses of Glory. The Lord Jesus
Christ has spoken to his people in many ways throughout history
throughout the years. He has visited his people in
different ways and revealed himself to his church. He has spoken
to us by angels. He has spoken by prophets. He
has revealed himself in dreams and in visions. He's even spoken
in the wind. whispered in the wind, he has
spoken through water and with light. There was a time that
he walked in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, where he graced
paradise with his very presence. It was the Lord Jesus Christ
who walked with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. In Genesis
chapter three, verse eight, we read these words. And they, that
is Adam and Eve, heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the
garden in the cool of the day. That's a beautiful picture, isn't
it? the Lord Jesus Christ walking in the garden in the cool of
the day. It's a picture there in that
beautiful garden of the Lord Jesus Christ walking in the cool
or in the breeze of the day. It speaks of peace. It speaks
of tranquility. Perhaps we can envisage and imagine
that there in the coolness of the evening, in the breeze at
the end of the day, the scent of the flowers would begin to
waft on that breeze. The perfume of the trees would
be heavy there in the garden. It's almost idyllic. and it is
desirable. Well do we talk about paradise
as being somewhere that is desirable. The beauty of that creation,
the beauty of that garden in which God placed those first
two people. But all is not as it seems. Because as the Lord walked in
the cool of the evening, Adam and Eve hid themselves. Adam and Eve didn't encounter
him there as he walked in the garden in the cool of the evening.
They hid themselves away. The garden for them was not a
place any longer of bliss, or delight, it had become a place
of camouflage, somewhere where they could hide themselves, somewhere
where they could conceal themselves among the trees and the bushes,
in order that they might cover their shame. Sin had entered
into this garden. Man had proven to be disobedient. He had proven to be a rebel against
the will and the word of God. He had fallen from that place
of privilege that he had been placed in and he had brought
spoil with his disobedience into that which God had created and
declared to be very good. It was the Lord Jesus Christ
who walked in the garden and therefore it was the Lord Jesus
Christ that Adam rejected. It was Satan who had come with
his temptations, and it was Satan that Adam had listened to and
fallen. The pair forsook fellowship with
God, and as a consequence of that, they were expelled from
the presence of God. And with the loss of Eden, came
the loss of access into the presence of God, came the loss of communion
with God, and came a darkness into their understanding with
respect to the Lord God and to spiritual things. The Lord had said that in the
day that they ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, they would surely die. And yes, Adam still breathed
and Eve, well, she still wept. And together, the pair of them
worked and sweat and groaned They lived on in the world, excluded
from the presence of God, but they died in their souls. They died in their spirits. They died to spiritual truth. They died to spiritual life. They lost communion with God,
and they entered into that place of separation from Him. And as they fled from the presence
of the Lord, as they fled from the presence of the Lord Jesus
Christ, in those pre-incarnation manifestations of body that he
used to show himself to men, as they fled out of Eden, out
of that garden, and into the darkness beyond, They caught sight of something. And what they saw wasn't pretty. What they saw was no longer beautiful. Indeed, what they saw was gruesome,
stinking, and fearful. As they ran into the darkness
out of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, they saw his hands
soaked with blood. They saw him skinning two of
the animals that they had previously spent their time with in the
garden. And they saw him handing over
to them the skins of those animals as a covering for their shame
and their nakedness. How do you think the Lord Jesus
Christ got the skins of those animals? Did he just create a
nice, clean skin? Now, the whole point of this
is that those animals had to die. Their blood had to be shed
for a covering to be gotten. And the Lord Jesus Christ, though
we are not told it as graphically as perhaps I have presented it
here, must have gone through this process in order to get
those skins for the people. And that was the last thing that
Adam and Eve saw of the Lord Jesus Christ as they fled from
the garden, his hands covered in blood. Now, I don't know how much Adam
and Eve understood of this incident, but I believe that they understood
enough to realise the connection between the promise that had
been given of a deliverer who would come and bruise the serpent's
heel, or have his own heel bruised and bruise the serpent's head. They obviously had enough of
an understanding to be able to teach their son, Abel, the significance
of a blood offering. And perhaps they had enough of
an understanding to hope that there was something here in this
act of the Lord Jesus Christ in providing for them a covering
of skins. that would speak of a deliverance
that would come for their fallen situation and the children that
would come after them. In the years that followed that
incident in the Garden of Eden, the Lord Jesus Christ continued
to reveal himself in glimpses to men and women, to his people. He did so in type. He did so
in shadow. He did so in picture. But there
were also times when he gave more fulsome glimpses of the
plan of salvation and the way of life, of the gospel of grace
and the glory that was to come, the recovery that would be made,
the restoration that would be given. So today, I want to look
at five glimpses of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ to his
people. Five glimpses that he has given
to us of that which he has prepared in the way of salvation through
the gift of grace to his people. God's glorious purpose is seen,
first of all, in this chapter that we read together from Exodus
chapter 33. Here we have a special revelation
of sovereign grace. Now that's quite a mouthful.
Okay, a special revelation of sovereign grace. So let me explain
what I mean by that. I think that Moses was probably
one of the most privileged men ever to live in this world. And that's not a reference to
his early upbringing in Egypt. As far as that was concerned,
he was a prince of Egypt and well attended by all of the good
things that such a high position and privileged position could
give him, but I'm not bothered with that. No, Moses' privilege
was that God spoke to him. perhaps like he spoke to no other
man from the days of Adam in the garden. And in Exodus chapter
33, verse 11, we read together there the words that said, the
Lord speak unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his
friend. Such was the familiarity between
the Lord Jesus Christ, because remember he is the eternal word,
he is the vocalization, he is the expression and revelation
of the triune God, it's always Christ, it's always Christ that's
speaking, Here, when the Lord spoke to Moses, the Lord Jesus
Christ spoke to him face to face. They spoke like I would speak
to you now, that you would speak to me, that we would speak and
commune and communicate with one another. It was so intimate. It was so familiar. It was so
easy. They talked like we're talking
now. Now Moses saw plenty. He saw
the burning bush. He saw the plagues that afflicted
Egypt. He was there with his staff at
the shores of the Red Sea when that wind blew and the water
separated and stood up like two great walls to allow the trapped
children of Israel to pass over in dry land. He saw As he raised
his stick at the other side, the waters close in upon the
armies of Egypt and destroy Pharaoh and the best of his men. He had
seen these things happen in his own life. He knew all about the
miracles of God. He knew all about the plagues
of God. He had seen the Egyptians bringing
out their dead sons. The interesting thing about this,
that despite all of these miracles and the evidence of the Lord
with the children of Israel in the wilderness, the provision
of the manna, the quails that fell from the sky, the fiery
serpents that came in and bit the people, the brass serpent
which brought life for a look. The water that flowed from the
rock to quench the thirst and deliver the people in that barren
landscape. Miracles more than number. It seems that every page of this
account of Moses' story is full of miracle after miracle after
miracle. What we find in this chapter
in Exodus 33 is that Moses wanted more. Now you might say, Moses, you're
a man that's got a lot. You've seen the Lord working
in so many miraculous ways. You've been party to this. Moses,
he worked through you. It was your stick. It was your
staff that struck the rock, that brought the water, that brought
the sea upon the Egyptians. It was your word of judgment
and condemnation that brought about the death of all these
youngsters in Egypt. You're the man. You've delivered
this, people, countless times. You've spoken face to face with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that not enough? You want
more? And Moses is insistent. Moses says in verse 18 of chapter
33, I beseech thee, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Show me thy glory. What have
you been seeing, Moses? For the past decades, what have
you been seeing? From that first moment when I
spoke to you out of that burning bush and said, take off your
shoes from off your feet for the ground on which you stand
is holy ground. Have we not been party to this
journey that we have been on? Have we not seen amazing things,
wonderful things, miraculous things? What is this request?
Show me thy glory. Well, you see, what Moses was
seeking, what Moses was looking for was something extraordinary
from the Lord. And we might ask ourselves the
question, did God grant Moses his request? The answer to that
question is yes, he did. Moses sought a glimpse of the
Lord Jesus Christ in a way that he had never seen before. He
sought to see something that he had had hinted to him, that
he had seen before in picture form, but he wanted to see the
reality. He knew that when that rock was
struck with his staff and the water flowed out to the refreshment
and the sustenance of the children of Israel, that that was a picture
of the fact that God would give his people spiritual life. spiritual refreshment. He knew
that when the tree was put into the bitter waters of Mara and
they turned sweet for the drinking of the people, that that was
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ being brought and laid low. But out of the demise of the
Saviour, out of the casting down of the Saviour, a sweetness would
follow to the refreshing of the people. He knew that when these
fiery serpents bit the Lord's people to death, that a look
to the serpent or the brazen serpent in the post was a picture
of looking to God for salvation. He'd seen the pictures, he understood
the pictures, the analogies, the metaphors, the types, the
symbolism. but he wanted to see the reality. He wanted to see Christ in a
way that he'd never seen him before. Look at verse 16 of chapter 33
once again. For wherein shall it be known
here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not that thou goest with
us? So shall we be separated, I and
thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the
earth.' And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also
that thou hast spoken, for thou hast found grace in my sight,
and I know thee by name. The Lord agreed to give Moses
his request. And he said, I beseech thee,
show me thy glory. And he said, I will make all
my goodness pass before thee. I will proclaim the name of the
Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious,
and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And he said,
Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see my face
and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there
is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall
come to pass, 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. Moses saw the back part of the
Lord Jesus Christ and thereby he glimpsed God's
glory. How is that? What is it that
he saw on the back of the Lord Jesus Christ that showed the
glory? he saw Christ's bruised heel. He saw the fact that Christ was
going to suffer, that Satan would enact a cost, that there would
be a bloodiness about the work that he was going to do. This
isn't simply the picture of a body passing and a heel that
is hurt. That in itself speaks about the
fact that God had said in promise to Adam, I am going to send one
who will deliver my people. He will bruise the serpent's
head. He will crush the serpent's head,
but his own heel will be bruised. And that's what Moses saw. from the cleft of the rock, looking
upon the back part of the things of God, he saw Jesus Christ crucified. He saw, he glimpsed the glory
of the Lord. So when the Lord says, I will
show thee my glory, what did he show him? He showed him the
bruised heel. He showed him the sacrifice on
the cross. He showed him the pain and the
suffering that God himself would have inflicted upon him. And he showed him that out of
that would come redemption. Moses saw there in that vision,
in that view, a glimpse of the crucified Christ. And he saw
the gospel message of sovereign grace. He saw that this was not
an Israel thing, a national thing. It was not something that would
come to the people, but he was told of the Lord that the goodness
of God comes not to the nation Israel, but by electing grace
and mercy. He heard from God's own mouth
these words, I will be merciful, to whom I will be merciful. I will be gracious, to whom I
will be gracious. That's sovereign grace. That's
God's choice. That's the elective purpose.
And he saw the means by which that elective purpose would be
secured. The bruising of the Lord Jesus
Christ, during the crucifixion there at the cross. I find it
very interesting that legalists always promote Moses and the
law of Moses as being indicative of a good relationship with God. Moses didn't want the law. Moses'
cry in this passage was this, show me thy glory. and be gracious
unto me and thy people. It is the grace of God that we
need, not the law of God. It is the grace of God. And as
we have that grace of God evidenced in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ, so the goodness of God and the mercy of God and the
grace of God is revealed to us. Therefore, what I say in this
passage is that Moses received a special revelation at his request
of the sovereign grace and mercy of God manifested in the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Another glimpse of the glory
of God is found in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. That
is the second occasion that I want to draw your attention to. Turn
over with me please to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2 in the New
Testament. And look at verse 8. Luke chapter
2 and verse 8. Here we see a glimpse of the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ at his birth. Luke chapter 2
verse 8 says, And there were in the same country shepherds
abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about
them. And they were sore afraid. And
the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you
good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto
you is born this day in the city of David a saviour, which is
Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto
you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger. suddenly there was with the angel
a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying glory
to God in the highest and on earth peace goodwill toward men. Now we're told that when this
angel came to these shepherds in the evening or the night of their
looking after their sheep that the angel of the Lord came upon
them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them. Now perhaps
that glory that shone round about them was indeed a special light,
a bright light which made it appear like daytime in the middle
of the night or certainly illuminated the angel that was there and
the host of angels that accompanied the angel who spoke. But doubtless, the significance
of the glory that shone round about was that the angel was
there to declare the coming into this world of he who is himself,
the light of the world. And so when we think about the
glory of the Lord that shone around about them, let us think
about God incarnate, shining in the world. Let us think about
the fact that here is Jesus Christ come into the world and that
the life is the light of men. Let us see with Paul as he writes
to the Colossians in chapter two, verse nine, for in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. that here is God manifested
amongst men and there is such a brightness, such a shining
as the Lord Jesus Christ comes into the world that the glory
of the Lord shone around about these people. I wonder how far
that glow went. John says in first chapter of
his gospel, verse 14, 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 truth. And in verse 10 of
that same chapter, the light shineth in darkness and the darkness
comprehended it not. Ever since that expulsion of
Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, a benightedness had
set in upon the hearts and the minds of men. There was a darkness
in the world which Adam and Eve and their children, for all of
those years since that time, had lived in and had experienced. The light shone in that darkness,
but the darkness comprehended it not. And sin darkens the minds
of men such that they do not, they cannot comprehend the glory
of Christ. They cannot comprehend the Lord
Jesus Christ, except He be revealed to them. These angels came and
revealed to the shepherds as they sat there something of the
glory of the Lord. But that is a process which must
take place. There has to be a communication. There has to be a revelation.
There has to be an angel. There has to be a word spoken.
There has to be a minister sent. There has to be that gospel entering
into the heart, that quickening of God the Holy Spirit, that
making alive that which is dead and dark and ignorant of the
spiritual truths of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is revealed
only to certain individuals. That again is the testimony that
Moses had. The Lord said, I will be gracious
unto whom I will be gracious, I will be merciful to whom I
will be merciful. Let me ask you a question. Do any of you know what caused
the Lord Jesus Christ to be joyful during his ministry? What made
Jesus happy during his ministry? You know what the name that the
prophet Isaiah gave to the Lord? Man of sorrows. He called him
a man of sorrows. Sorrow characterized the life
of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you were looking at his life
like Isaiah looked at him, you would say he's a man of sorrows.
But there's one thing that we're told gave the Lord joy in this
world. Luke chapter 10, verse 21 says
this. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced
in his spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ rejoiced
in his spirit. The man of sorrows was happy. The man of sorrows had joy. And he said, I thank thee, O
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. You see what that's saying, that
verse? The Lord Jesus Christ, the man of sorrows, rejoiced
that the things of the gospel were hidden from the wise and
prudent and revealed to babes. Isn't that amazing? That it was
that that caused the Lord joy, that the things of God were hidden
caused the Lord joy. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. I will be merciful to whom I
will be merciful. This is the gospel. This is the
message of sovereign grace. It was the message of sovereign
grace that delighted the Lord's spirit in the midst of his travail
here upon earth. Sovereign electing love. In the incarnation of Christ,
we glimpse the glory of the light that came into the darkness. And while men comprehended it
not, yet the Lord Jesus Christ rejoiced. He glimpsed the glory,
as we do, in that God was hereby revealing to men, to sinners,
selectively, electively, according to his own will and purpose,
those gospel truths that would save their souls. The third occasion
in which we see the gospel revealed to us is to be found in the Transfiguration. Here the Lord Jesus Christ was
glorified in a most amazing circumstance. In Luke chapter nine we read,
it came to pass about, it's verse 28, it came to pass about in
eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and James and John
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 Elias, or Elijah, 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. This incident
actually did provoke the voice of God the father. So it's unusual,
but here we do discover that the father speaks. And he declared
in the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ, the primacy
of his son, the excellence of the Lord Jesus Christ, the superiority
of the Lord Jesus Christ over everything else. Moses was there. But in Christ, the law is fulfilled,
it is satisfied, and it is done away with. It no longer has that
hold upon the conscience of the Lord's people who are free from
its curse. The prophet Elijah was there,
but the prophets who testified of the coming Lord Jesus Christ,
they are now silenced. because they have no more prophetic
ministry to give. The reality has come. And so
the presence of these two, Moses and Elijah, are significant of
the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ has come and he has fulfilled
both the law and the prophets. Our great Joseph has risen. and the sun and the moon and
the stars bow down to him. This is the day of the glory
of Christ and he will have no rivals in it. In Luke 9 verse
35, we read that there came a voice out of the cloud saying, this
is my beloved son, hear him. Friends, will you hear Christ
this morning? Have you ears to hear him? Oh, to be able to glimpse something
of the glory of Christ. What a sight, what a sound that
was for these disciples there upon the mountain. The Lord Jesus Christ was glimpsed
by Moses there as the Lord showed him all his goodness. We see
also that in the incarnation, the Lord Jesus Christ was revealed
and his glory shone abroad. We have seen that in the transfiguration,
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is eminently set forth as superior
to the law and the prophets. And in the crucifixion, we see
that completed, finished work of redemption, testifying of
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there is an irony here because
crucifixion speaks of cursedness. And yet, in the midst of that
cursed experience of the death of the cross, the Lord Jesus
Christ is glorified. That's what Adam saw when he
saw the skin coverings in the Garden of Eden. That is what
Abel grasped by faith when he took the firstlings of his flock
and slew it and offered it there as a sacrifice to God. Abraham
appreciated the significance of this great work of the Lord's
crucifixion when he saw the ram caught by its horns in the thicket. Moses saw it in the person of
Christ there as he looked upon the back side of the Lord. The prophets testified of this
mighty sacrifice above all the altar worship and the sacrificial
system of the Old Testament Jews. Isaiah says in 53, surely he
hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem
him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. He was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. the chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and
the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed
and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth, He is brought
as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers
is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. Isaiah says, it pleased the Lord
to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. It was in anticipating the fulfillment
of all of the law of Moses, all of the prophecies of Isaiah and
all of those others, the psalmist who spoke about the coming suffering
servant. It was anticipating all of those
things that the Lord Jesus Christ says in John chapter 17, that
great intercessory prayer, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was. In John chapter 12, verse 28,
Father, glorify thy name. Then there came a voice from
heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. When was the Lord Jesus Christ
glorified? He was glorified in the incarnation.
He was glorified throughout his own preaching ministry. He was
glorified in the faithful obedience that he gave to all of God's
will and ways and purpose. He was glorified in the miracles
that he performed. Well might it be said of him,
he hath done all things well. And God said, I will glorify
it again by supporting him under and carrying him through his
sufferings and his death on the cross, by raising him from the
dead, by setting him at his own right hand, There we see the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in his death for his people. And finally, the Lord Jesus Christ
is glorified in his resurrection, his ascension and in his glorification
in heaven. He has won his prize. He has
accomplished his purpose. He has redeemed his church and
his bride. He has saved his people. The
resurrection proved it. He has ascended to the Father's
right hand as victor. And there he is glorified for
all worlds to witness, for angels to adore, for devils to cringe
about and for men to worship. Acts chapter 3 verse 13 says,
the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob,
the God of our fathers, hath glorified his son. Our covenant God has honoured
and glorified the Lord Jesus Christ because Christ has successfully,
completely and eternally fulfilled the work that he was given to
do. And here we glimpse in the resurrection
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, King of kings, Lord of lords. Let me just say one more thing
and then I'm finished. Romans 8, verse 14 says this,
As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God,
and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ. All who are saved by grace, all
who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, all who confess Him in
time, are heirs and joint heirs with him of all of his glory
in heaven. that which Adam glimpsed, that
which Moses desired, that which was revealed by the angels at
his incarnation and seen by the disciples on the mountain top
in his transfiguration, that which was attested to by God
himself in his crucifixion and revealed in his resurrection,
ascension and glorification is ours. is yours and mine as joint
heirs together with him of all of his glory and all of his majesty. Psalm 84 verse 11 says, for the
Lord God is a son and a shield. The Lord will give grace and
glory. No good thing will he withhold
from them that walk uprightly. That is, those who walk in Christ. No good thing will he withhold.
He will give grace, and he will give glory. Grace has to be a
gift, and glory will be our portion. And you won't have more than
me, and I won't have more than you. They'll take all of that
glory of Christ and they'll divide it up equally amongst us all. And we will be joint heirs together
with him and experience his glory for all eternity. Peter says,
rejoice in as much as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings,
that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also
with exceeding joy. a joy unspeakable, full of glory. And we are made partakers of
the glory of Christ, being eternally united with him at God's right
hand in heaven. Amen.