And I have a subject this morning
that is indescribably bigger than any of us have ever yet
imagined. Before I begin, I want you to
know that all I can do is just sort of scratch the surface.
I'll maybe point you in the right direction. That's about all I
can do with this subject. But it's a subject of immense
importance. Nothing more important. I want
to talk to you about the glory of God. I can't tell you how helpless
I am to do that. The glory of God. Specifically,
I want to talk to you about the revelation of God's glory. I
recall many, many years ago, we were in a conference together
in Ashland. This had been a long, long time
ago. I heard Brother E.W. Johnson, who was then an old
man, make a statement that just lodged, just stuck, stayed there. He said, a lost man can see anything
and everything you can see except this. A lost man can see anything and
everything you can see, except this. He just can't see the glory
of God. And we do. You see, it is the
revelation of the glory of God that gives us faith. If you have
faith in Christ, it is because God has revealed his glory to
you and in you in the person of his Son. Turn with me to 2
Corinthians chapter 5 for a minute, chapter 4 rather. 2 Corinthians
4. I call on you who believe not
to believe on the Son of God. I call on you to come to Christ. I call on you to trust him. But
I know there's only one way you ever will. And that is if God
causes you to see his glory in the face of his son. Oh, but
if ever God shows you himself, you will believe. There won't
be a question about that. Look here, 2 Corinthians 4, the
apostle says, if our gospel be hid, it's not because we've been
secretive. It's not because we We wouldn't
tell you the whole truth. 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, or the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is
the image of God, should shine unto them. You remember the apostle
said that With regard to the rules of this world, had they
known who he was, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of Glory.
What on earth is he talking about? They didn't know. They couldn't see. Oh, they knew
his claims and despised it. They knew the gospel he preached,
the doctrine he preached, and they despised that. That's the
reason they nailed him to the tree. But they didn't know who he was.
They didn't see the glory of God in him. Look here, 2 Corinthians
5, verse 5. So we preach not ourselves. We
don't preach for ourselves or about ourselves. But rather Christ
Jesus the Lord. We preach for him and about him.
And ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. God on the day when he created
the heavens and the earth said, let there be light. God just
said, let there be light. And darkness was dispelled. Darkness
was gone. And so it is that sinners are
converted when God Almighty on the day of the new creation speaks
in a sinner's heart and says, let there be light. And Christ
shines in the darkness. How I pray that this day the
Lord God will be pleased to grant us the revelation of his glory
in this place. Now, commonly, commonly, when
men and women speak about the glory of God, when preachers
and those who write about such things, those who think themselves
theologians, when they talk about the glory of God, They seem to
be very abstract. It's usually spoken of as some
kind of an emotional thing, or some kind of a mystical thing.
I've read a good many things, heard a good many things about
it, but most of what I've read, most of what I've heard, that
leave me thinking, I believe that would have been better unsaid,
because it leaves folks in a state of confusion. These young people
sitting here heard folks talk about the glory of God, the glory
of God filling the house, the glory of God appearing. But what
on earth is that talking about? Is that some kind of an occasion
we're supposed to have? Is that some kind of an exciting,
tingling thing running down our spine to make us feel like? Oh
no. Let me be perfectly clear. Now
listen carefully. The words translated glory both
in the Old Testament and in the New, the Hebrew and the Greek.
Those words mean abundance, wealth, treasure, and honor. They mean
dignity, splendor, brightness, majesty. Commonly, when they're
used in the scriptures to speak of God, they refer to his perfection,
the perfection of his nature. the perfection and completion
of his attributes, his worthiness as the singular object of our
worship, of our faith, of our praise, his greatness, his supremacy,
the excellence of his being. And using what I just said concerning
the words translated glory, you get the idea that somehow, whenever
the scripture speaks of the glory of God, The Holy Spirit, using
the language of men, stretches the language to stretch our imagination
to get some idea of the greatness of our God. But as the glory
of God is revealed in the Scriptures, every time in the Old Testament,
every single time, the Scripture speaks of the revelation or the
manifestation or the appearance of God's glory. And every time
in the New Testament, the scriptures speak of the revelation of God's
glory. Every time without exception.
There's one thing with which it's associated. One thing with
which it is described. One thing by which there is a
constant connection between God Almighty showing His glory and
men on earth seeing His glory. The scriptures everywhere. Now
listen. The scriptures everywhere associate
the revelation of God's glory with the person and work of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Everywhere. The glory of God
is seen in a person. The glory of God is performed
in a person. We ascribe glory to God, but
we're not going to increase his glory. We give glory to God,
but we're not going to increase his glory. We seek to glorify
God in our lives, but we're not going to add anything to him.
The glory of God is not some ecstatic, emotional, charismatic,
nonsense feeling. And it is not some mystical thing
you can't get hold of. The glory of God is Jesus Christ
himself. He is the glory of God. Let me
show you this. I'll just remind you of a few
scriptures. Moses, when he was about to lead the children of
Israel, to take possession of the land God promised them. He
said, Lord, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And God said, all
right, I'll put you in the cliff of the rock and I'll pass by
you and I'll proclaim my name before you. And what is his name? He says, I will be merciful to
whom I will be merciful and I will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin will by
no means clear the guilty. Well, those things seem to be
contradictory. No, no, no, no, no, no. They only make sense
in one place. God will not clear the guilty,
but he forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. He is sure to be gracious
because his name is God Almighty who is good. And he will be gracious
to whom he will because he is God. But he will be gracious
in such a way as will not in any way tarnish his justice.
He'll be gracious and merciful, forgiving iniquity, transgression,
and sin by fully punishing iniquity, transgression, and sin for his
people and his son to substitute. And the Lord revealed his glory.
Manoah and his wife, you'll remember. Manoah's wife had a vision. The
angel of the Lord appeared to her. She didn't know what was
going on. And she went and told her husband. He said, let's go
see it again. And they went out and the angel of the Lord appeared
and made a sacrifice. made the sacrifice and they watched
him. When the sacrifice was made, the angel of the Lord did wondrously
as the fire and the smoke ascended up unto us. Oh, God's going to
kill us! And his wife said, Oh no! I don't
know why he showed himself to us. If he'd have killed us, you
think he'd have told us such wondrous things? Oh no! He showed
himself to be merciful and gracious. And the angel of the Lord who
did wondrously was none other than Jesus Christ, our Lord.
When the scripture says that Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on
the throne, high and lifted up. When the scripture speaks of
the angel coming with a live coal from off the altar and touching
his lips saying, thine iniquity is purged. What on earth did
Isaiah say? John chapter 12 explains it.
Our Lord Jesus said, Isaiah saw my glory and he spoke of me. He saw What most folks could
not see then and most folks can't see today. Everything represented
in that temple, everything represented in the tabernacle, everything
spoken of and pictured in the holy place and in the holy of
holies talks about and points to the glory of God in the accomplishment
of redemption by me. Isaiah saw it and he spoke of
me. He saw my glory and declared
me. Won't you turn to a passage in
Jeremiah? Jeremiah chapter 14. Now here's the way to pray. If
you want mercy, you seek grace from God. You want God to forgive
your sin. The throne of grace. Remember, let us come boldly
to the throne of grace that we maintain mercy and find grace
to help in time of need. The throne of grace on which
the Son of God sits, the throne of grace by which this whole
universe is ruled is called the throne of God's glory. Now look
at Jeremiah 14, verse 20. We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness. Best way to get mercy is to acknowledge
your guilt. You won't get any until you acknowledge
it. And the iniquity of our fathers. Now that's not to mitigate these
things, but I wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for my daddy
knows, I'm just like my daddy. With knowledge of our wickedness
and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against thee.
Now look at verse 21. Do not abhor us for thy name's
sake. God making himself an everlasting
and a glorious name. Now don't abhor us for your name's
sake. Do not, look at this, do not
disgrace the throne of thy glory. Oh God, you bid me a sinner to
come to you. You bid me come to the throne
of grace to take mercy and grace and help in a time of need. Now
I bow before you, the throne of your glory. And I beg for
mercy, pardon my iniquity, O Lord, for it is great. Now, don't disgrace
your throne. Give me mercy, because that's
why your throne's there. Give me mercy, because that's
the revelation of your glory. Remember, break not thy covenant
with us. Now, this is the thing I want
you to say this week. is the glory of God. The glory
of God is revealed only in the Lord Jesus Christ. When the God
of glory appeared to Abraham, you remember when Abraham was
down in Mesopotamia? Stephen describes what happened. He said, he said, the God of
glory appeared to Abraham. And then when he was dying, He
lifted up his eyes to heaven while they were beating him to
death with stones. And the scripture said he saw
the glory of God. The same person appeared to him,
Lentz, who appeared to Abraham. He saw Jesus standing at the
right hand of the Father. The God of glory who appeared
to Abraham was the Lord Jesus Christ. The God of glory is known
by men, is revealed to men. is worshipped by men only in
the person of his darling son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God is
not glorified except in Christ. And God is not known except in
Christ. And God is not merciful except
in Christ, only in Christ. But oh, thank God, he is known
and he is merciful and he is glorified in Jesus Christ. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 1. Second
Peter chapter one, verse 15. Peter here says, I will endeavor
that you may be able after my decease to have these things
always in remembrance. He said, boys, I don't plan to
hang around here much longer. I'm a dying man, but I want you
to remember when I'm gone, what I've told you. I'm endeavoring
to write and preach in such a way that when I'm gone you won't
forget what I've said. For we have not followed cunningly devised
fables when we've made known unto you the power and coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ. I haven't stood up here like
a poor parent and repeated to you what some fellow taught me
when I was in Bible college or seminary. I haven't stood up
here like Like some kind of a mockingbird and just repeated to you what
I've heard somebody else say. Oh no. But we were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. Listen to me now. Bobby Estes,
I've seen the glory of God. I've seen it. I've seen it. Eyewitness. Either that or I'm
a liar or I'm deceived. eyewitnesses of his majesty.
For he received from God the Father honor and glory. When there came such a voice
to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased." Now then, sometimes folks charge
us with making too much of Christ's glory. that would tell us that
we robbed God the Father and God the Holy Spirit of glory
due to them by giving all glory to the Son. Oh no, nothing could
be further from the truth. The text here says that God gave
honor to the Son. God the Father, God the Holy
Spirit put all honor on God the Son as our God, man, mediator,
and Savior. And true faith puts all the honor
and glory of salvation on God's beloved Son, where God the Father,
the Son, and the Spirit have put it. There God Himself has
placed all honor. It is in His beloved Son that
the Father is pleased, well pleased. And He's well pleased with us
in His Son. This is the nature of faith. Faith causes belief
in sinners. to imitate and obey God. What does God do? He put all
honor on the Son and gives all glory to the Son. Our faith does
too. What's your hope? Christ. I love
that story of the preacher. He heard some women chanting
a little song as they was walking down the road one day, this foul,
wretched man. And the song went, I am a poor
sinner and nothing at all but Jesus Christ is my all in all.
And it kept going over and over and over in his head. And finally,
he started repeating the song. He walked down the street singing
the song. And soon, one thing led to another. He heard the
gospel of God's grace, believed on the Son of God. And he went
to apply for church membership back in those days. And of course,
some folks trying to reinstitute those days when you wanted to
join the church, you had to go sit before a committee of men,
let them examine you, see whether or not you were good enough to
get in. And so they asked him some questions. They were trying
to get him to give a good confession. And one of the fellows asked
him, said, well, don't you ever have any doubts? He said, well,
I am a poor sinner and nothing at all. I can never doubt that.
And Jesus Christ is my all in all. I certainly can't ever have
that. I doubt that. And so this brother said, well,
but don't you ever sometimes have some highs and some lows? We all go through that. He said,
well, I am a poor sinner and nothing at all. I can't get any
lower than that. But Jesus Christ is my all in
all. And I sure can't get any higher
than that. And to make a long story short, they finally received
him into the church. And then he was known all his
days as Happy Jack. Because this was his whole hope.
I am a poor sinner and nothing at all. And Jesus Christ is my
all in all. Well, you've got to offer God.
How are you going to approach God? What gives your soul peace
and comfort? Come on, be honest. Oh, God help
you to be honest. What gives you peace before God? What is your refuge? What is
your hope? When you, when you, dare think
about meeting God Almighty in His holy justice? What is it
that you run to immediately? Well, I experience, I know, that's
your hope. I promise you, that's your refuge.
That's exactly what it is. What's your hope? I have no redemption but Christ.
I have no righteousness but Christ. I have no sanctification but
Christ. I have no peace but Christ. I
have no refuge but Christ. I have no hope but Christ. That's
all. That's all. Look at Peter. Oh, God give me grace to look to his son. and look
to his son alone for the whole of my soul salvation. God give
me grace to look where you look for the satisfaction of justice,
to look where you look for peace, to look where you look for my
conscience to be silenced, to look where you look for atonement
and righteousness on Christ alone. That's what Peter did. Here's
old Peter. who wrote these words had just
recently, I mean just recently, I'm talking about just a few
days, just a few days at the very most, just a day or two
before this, he was with the Lord Jesus in the Mount of Transfiguration. He saw the Son of God glorified
before his eyes. He saw what no man on earth ever
saw except him, James, and John. He saw him glorify. He heard
God speak from heaven and say, this is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. He heard Moses and Elijah as
they appeared on the mount. Wow! What experiences. And then, in fear, as the Lord Jesus stood
before him, he trembled and quaked before a little girl. And cussed
like a drunken sailor and three times said, I don't know that
man. But the Lord looked him into
repentance. He looked on him and Peter wept. The cock crew went out and wept
bitterly. And he just sunk in utter despair.
He said, I'm going back this year. I can't face him again. I'm going
back to where I was. And the Lord Jesus came and spoke
peace to his heart and made him to understand that he is that
one whose glory it is to forgive sinners. And he looked Peter
into submission and looked Peter back into his arms and looked
Peter back into his heart and caused Peter to cling to him
to his dying day. He held him and kept him, forgave
him, put away his sins, and never charged it to him. Never charged it to him because
he died for him. Oh, may the Son of God, our Savior,
look our hearts, yours and mine, into godless sorrow and holy
love that we may say this is my beloved Savior in whom I am
well pleased. Oh, may we leave here this day
saying honestly as John said of old, we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Now let me show you one picture
of it. I'll wrap the message up. Turn with me if you will
for Leviticus 9. Leviticus 9. I won't be but just a few minutes
here, but I want you to see this. The days of the consecration
of the priest of God have been fulfilled. And now, in the early
morning of the eighth day, when the high priest is about to enter
into the tabernacle to do the work God ordained him to do,
the Lord made a promise. In verse six, now let me give
you just a very literal reading of this sixth verse. Moses said,
this is the thing which the Lord commanded that you should do. Do. This thing, this thing which
God commanded you should do, do it. Do it. And the glory of
the Lord will appear to you. In other words, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and the glory of God will be revealed to you.
Believe on the Son of God and you shall have life everlasting.
This is the thing God's commanded. And believing, you shall be saved. you shall see the glory of God
in the face of his Son." Now, that command and that promise
was given early in the morning of this eighth day. Now, at the
end of the day, verse 22, at the end of the day, Aaron lifted
up his hand toward the people and blessed them, and came down
from offering the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and the
peace offering. And Moses and Aaron went into
the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out and blessed the
people. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.
And there came a fire from heaven, fire from before the Lord, and
consumed upon the altar the burnt offering, and the fact which
all the people saw. When they saw it, they shouted
and fell on their faces. In all these things, in all that
transpired throughout this day, God was giving Israel a picture
of redemption, a picture of grace, a picture of the accomplishments
of his son. God was promising Israel, now
watch these things. their pledges of the coming of
him who is the glory of God, who will bring to you grace and
mercy, grace and truth. Now there are three things, three
things I want you to see here. First, Aaron came down. Second, Aaron went in. And third,
he came out again. Just those three things. And
in those three things, on a picture of Christ Jesus. First, Aaron
came down. He came down from the place of
sacrifice and lifted up his hands and blessed the people. Our Lord
Jesus Christ, our great Savior, came down. Oh, how he came down. He came down from the place of
sacrifice. Now listen, I'm not confused,
I know what I'm telling you. The place of sacrifice is heaven
itself where he aired in with his own blood and obtained eternal
redemption for us. The place of sacrifice was only
pictured on this earth. It was heaven itself where he,
the Lamb of God, was slain and offered his sacrifice from eternity.
And he came down. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. How that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty
might be made rich. He who thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, came down here and made himself of no reputation. He humbled himself. There he emptied himself. He emptied himself. He took on himself the form of
a servant and still humbled himself more. He became obedient as the
servant of Jehovah. Obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. And he did so that we might have
the blessing of God upon us. Turn to Galatians chapter 3.
Hold your hands here in Leviticus 9. Turn to Galatians 3. Now listen to me. God Almighty
cannot bless us. God Almighty cannot forgive us. God Almighty cannot accept us. God Almighty cannot turn His
eye away from our sins. God Almighty cannot but destroy
us in His wrath, except through the blood of His Son. Christ
didn't die for nothing. He died because this is the only
way God can put away sin and still be God. Look here in Galatians
chapter 3, verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Now don't miss the
next word, that. Why did he do that? Why did God
put his son through this? Why did the Lord Jesus Christ
put himself through this? Why did he come down here to
die? Why was he made to be a curse
for us? That the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. Well, what is that?
That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
That we might have life everlasting by God Almighty. All right? Aaron came down. And then Aaron
went in. But he didn't go in by himself.
Aaron and Moses went in together. You see that? Moses, representing
the holy law of God, goes in with Aaron into the holy place.
After this morning sacrifice is offered, he goes into the
holy place and he and Moses stay there all day long. And the people are standing outside. What are they expecting? They're
standing out here waiting to see the glory of God. God promised
them. God said, you do what I've told
you to do. You bring the sacrifice. You
come here trusting my son. You put your hands on the sacrifice. You worship in my altar and I'll
show you my glory. And here they stand all day long. Wait. Expect it. Why shouldn't they expect to
see God's glory? He said he'd give it. Why shouldn't they expect
him to come down and make himself known? He said he would. What
are you going to do standing around here while we're waiting
to see God's glory? You don't really think he's going to. Sure
he did. Sure he did. He said he would. He said he
would. Moses and Aaron have gone into
the holy place, and there Moses, the law of God, turns over to
Aaron all things pertaining to the
worship and service of God Almighty. The law, the law goes in with
Aaron and says, all right, the table is your bread, that's yours.
The golden candlestick, that's yours. The altar of innocence,
that's yours. The holy of holies, that's yours. The mercy seat, that's yours.
The ark of the covenant, that's yours. All of it, all of it is
yours because you're the light of the world. You're the bread
of life. You're the satisfaction of justice.
You're the propitiation for our sins. You're our only acceptance
with God. And Moses turned the whole thing
over to Aaron and says to all Israel, if you would come to
God, come to Aaron. If you would worship God, come
to Aaron. If you'd bring a sacrifice to
God, bring it to Aaron. If you'd find peace with God,
come to Aaron. Come to Christ in no other way.
In no other way. Not only that. But Moses, the
holy law of God, on the basis of the sacrifice offered, goes
with Aaron into the holy place and turns everything over to
him. Do you see the Son of God yonder,
seated on his throne? As the result of his obedience
in the satisfaction of divine justice, the Father has glorified
and put everything in him, put everything in his hands, turn
everything over to him, and there on the throne of his glory, the
throne of his grace, he administers the government of the universe
for his people, for whom he made sacrifice, whose names he wears
on his heart from old eternity. The Lord Jesus Christ, once in
the end of the world, appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. And now he appears in the presence
of God in heaven for us to make intercession at the Father's
right hand. And then Aaron came out again.
Aaron and Moses came out together. on the evening of the eighth
day and blessed the people anew. Aaron and Moses went into the
tabernacle of the congregation and came out and blessed the
people and the glory of the Lord appeared. Soon Christ will come again. at the end of the day, in the
evening of this day, He will come again. And I think, I think,
Lindsay, for the first time in my life, I got ahold of Revelation
1 7 preparing this. Every eye will see Him. They
also which pierced Him. They shall wail because of Him.
What's that talking about? had the concept of every eye
seeing him physically. No, that's not going to happen.
That's not going to happen. Not every eye see him at one
time physically. That ain't going to happen. Ain't
going to happen. When this world's done and we
enter into that state of immortality, either in heavenly glory or in
eternal damnation, when we enter into that state of eternal changelessness,
we're still going to be creatures, not gods. And we're going to
still have the limitations of creatures. And these eyes won't
be able to see everything all at once. Not in a physical sense. Well, what does it mean? Every
eye will see. Everybody. is going to see who
He is and what He did. They're going to see Him as the
glory of God. Everybody and every knee is going
to bow down before Him. And every tongue is going to
confess He's Lord and He ought to be. Everybody! The glory of the Lord appears. No wonder when Manoah and his
wife saw the angel of the Lord rising up above the sacrifice,
dancing and doing glorious things. Oh, this is the wonder he was
doing. He was revealing God's glory in the saving of sinners. His glory is great in thy salvation. Honor and majesty hast thou laid
on him. When Christ comes again, then We shall see the glory of
God. But this is a picture not only
of Christ's second coming. It's a picture of what he does
in saving grace for chosen sinners. 2,000 years ago, he went into
heaven. And Moses turned everything over
to him. God turned everything over to him. And 34 years ago, 34 years ago,
he came out again. He came out again. And fire fell from heaven. Fire fell from heaven. I mean
fire fell from heaven. That's what happened. Fire came
out from God and consumed the sacrifice. God said, all right,
I've accepted, healed, forgiven. And that's what happened on the
day of Pentecost. When the Lord Jesus entered into heaven, fire
fell down from heaven. The Spirit of God came as cloven
tongues of fire, and God gave visible manifestation that he's
accepted the sacrifice. And so when God, the Holy Spirit
comes in grace, the fire of heaven appears plainly in the revelation
of Christ crucified. And God, the Holy Spirit, convinced
this sinner of sin and righteousness and
judgment. sin put away, righteousness brought
in, judgment just dissatisfied, because God Almighty has accepted
His Son for me. Oh, Son of God, come out again
today and show us your glory. And when He does, buddy, you're
blessed. Blessed forever. Blessed. Blessed with blessedness no man
can take from you. Blessedness that cannot be interrupted
or disturbed. I love what Brother Scott Richardson
said, he said, there's been no bad news, it's got good news. What can be bad? I'm redeemed. What can be bad? I'm forgiven. What? What can be bad? I'm accepted
of God. What can be bad? Christ has put
away my sin. And when he comes again in the
glory of his holy angels, in the glory of his Father, which
is his glory, he will present us before the throne of glory for
the everlasting praise and glory of the triune God in him, in
the perfection of his splendorous righteousness, that one with
him. Amen.