If you will, just hold your Bibles
in your laps. We'll look at our text in a little
bit. Give me your attention. I want to show you four or five things from the
Word of God about seeing the glory of God. It is God's purpose in all things
to reveal his glory. Now that's God's purpose in all
things. Get that down first. It is the
purpose of God to reveal his glory. The supreme, ultimate
purpose of God in creation, in providence, in redemption, in
grace, is to reveal himself and to make his glory known. The prophet Isaiah says, so didst
thou lead thy people to make thyself a glorious name. The reason God led Israel as
he did was to make his name glorious. That's the reason God does everything. That's the reason God does everything. For his own sake and for our
sake, God is pleased to show forth and manifest his glory. God reveals and shows his glory
for his own sake so that he might receive the praise and the honor
that rightfully belongs to him from everything he does. And
God reveals himself and shows forth his glory for our sakes
as well so that we might know him and enjoy him. Particularly,
our Lord Jesus tells us that God's glory is to be seen in
bringing life out of death. It was for this cause that Christ
Jesus came into the world, that he might reveal the glory of
God in abolishing death by his own death upon the cross. Christ
came to remove the penalty of sin, which is death, to undo
the work which death had done. to destroy him that had power
of death, to swallow up death in victory. This work of redemption
accomplished altogether by God's free grace in Christ Jesus is
performed by Christ alone and its accomplishment is marvelous
in our eyes as a manifestation of God's glory. Even God's strange
work, his acts of judgment in the earth, are designed of God
to show forth his greatness and his glory. For the scripture
saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised
thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name
might be declared throughout all the earth. Now that was God's
purpose in setting Pharaoh on the throne of Egypt. That was
God's purpose in giving Pharaoh dominion over the Israelites. That was God's purpose in all
that he did concerning Pharaoh, so that in the time of God's
appointing, he might deliver Israel and cast Pharaoh into
the Red Sea, and by that act of judgment upon Pharaoh, demonstrate
to all the world that he's a God of truth, justice, and power. so that even his judgment displays
and manifests his glory in the earth. The apostle Paul tells
us that those vessels of wrath which were made unto dishonor
shall show forth the great glory of the potter and serve his purpose
just as fully as the vessels of mercy in a far different way. The vessels of wrath prepared
under dishonor, the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction
by their own wicked deeds shall show forth the glory of his justice,
while the vessels of mercy which he had prepared under glory shall
show forth the glory of his grace." Now this is the thing we must
see. Everything in God's creation, everything, just let your minds
stretch out. Everything God has made, everything
God brings to pass, everything God has allowed, everything God
performs, everything in God's creation, everything is for this
purpose, to show forth his glory. Oh, if we could get that in our
hearts, it'd make us live at peace in this world. regardless
of what our trials and circumstances are. Whatever God does, everything
is designed, ordained, brought to pass, and ruled by God in
his total sovereignty to glorify himself and to reveal his glory
to his creatures. Nothing happens by chance. Nothing
just kindly comes to pass by accident. Nothing is brought
into being or brought to pass without the decree of God, and
it is decreed on purpose for the glory of his own great name,
to show forth his glory. Everything, the bad and the good,
is sovereignly ruled by God for the glory of his name, and this
is plainly the doctrine of Scripture. Let me read some to you. You
can jot them down if you want to and look them up later. In
Psalm 76 and verse 10, the psalmist says, Surely the wrath of man
shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath wilt thou restrain. Now, the meaning is very simple
and very obvious. The Lord God is being set forth
before us by David in the Psalms as one who has total dominion
over all things, so that even the wrath of man in his wicked
works shall praise God our Father." Everything. Wicked men with evil
hearts. with malice toward their brother. Take Joseph, cast him into a
pit and sell him as a slave. What's the result of that? There's
Joseph on the throne by God's decree to the praise of God's
name. Did God force those evil men
to do what they did? No. Did God ordain that they
do what they did? Most certainly. and God ruled
their wrath, their vile hatred of their brother for the good
of his people and the glory of his name. Here's another generation
of wicked men. They take the holy, spotless,
immaculate Son of God and by wicked hands, with With all the
venom and all the malice of evil hearts, of hatred without a cause
toward him, they take the son of God and nail him to the cursed
tree, spit in his face, pluck out his beard, mock him, deride
him, poke fun at him, blaspheme him, have a party while they
watch him die in agony. Was God in that? Oh, most certainly
he was. Did God make them crucify his
son? No, sir. Did God ordain that
they do it? Yes, sir. He did that. For he
was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God into those wicked hands, which took the Lord of glory
and hung him on the tree. God takes the wrath of man, man's
vile deeds of sin and ungodliness and wrath against him, against
his gospel and against his people. And he makes the wrath of man
to praise him. Yes, he even takes the temptations
of Satan. by which our father Adam and
our mother Eve were plunged into sin, and we by Him were plunged
into sin. And He makes even that act of
wrath to praise Him. Now then, what I'm saying is
this. Everything that a man does in this world, everything, whoever
the man is, however powerful he is, everything men do, all
men, God Almighty rules it, directs it for the accomplishment
of his praise, everything, everything. Now, what men would do if God
would allow them, but God is not pleased to use for the accomplishment
of his purpose and the praise of his name, he restrained. And
that's the reason men do not vent all the venom that's in
their heart, do not pour out all the wrath that's in them,
because God restrains it. He's not pleased to use it. What
God is not pleased to use, He will not let wicked men perform.
Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder
of wrath shalt thou restrain. Next time a fellow gets mad at
you, Starts to abuse you, starts to cuss you, and starts to malign
you, starts to do evil against you, children of God. Remember,
God Almighty will make the wrath of men to praise Him. He will
make it to be for your good. And that wrath which men have,
which He will not use for your good and His glory, He will not
allow to be done. He won't allow it to be executed.
In Proverbs 16 in verse 4, the wise man says, the Lord hath
made all things for himself. What does that include? What
does that include? Well, all things, all things. Is there anything excluded from
that? Is there anything he has not made for himself? The good
and the evil? the prosperity and the adversity,
the trial and the difficulty, the heartache and the heart joy,
the pain and the pleasure, the Lord hath made all things for
himself. Yes, even the wicked. Darwin, he even made the wicked
for the day of evil. That is, for the day of judgment.
God made all the men upon the earth, all of them. And the Lord God ordained everything
done by them somehow or other, buddy, for the praise of his
glory. And he's going to get it done.
He's going to get it done. For of him and through him and
to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Everything
is of God in its original source. Everything. I don't care what
your experience in Children of God. Doesn't matter what you're
going through. Doesn't matter what bitter trial
you're tasting. Doesn't matter what bitter waters
you're having to drink. Whatever it is, trace it back
to its origin. And when you get back to the
place where it originated, you get to God, your Father. So trust
Him. Everything's of Him. and through
him, it comes to pass by the superintendents and the direction
of his sovereign providence. Do you believe that? I'm talking
about do you really believe it? Do I? Whatever comes to pass,
comes to pass not simply because God kindly shuts his eye and
lets it go. But it comes to pass by the direct
supervision and superintendence and rule of God's sovereign providence
for our good and his glory. Everything and all things are
to him and their ultimate end. They shall be down to his praise
and to his glory. And therefore, we read thou art
worthy, O Lord. to receive glory and honor and
power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure
they are and were created." Be sure then that you understand
this first point. It is the purpose of God to reveal
his glory in all things. To that end, he ordained all
things, made all things, and rules all things. I want to show
you that it is the desire of the Lord Jesus Christ that we
should see the glory of God. Sin had hidden God's glory from
us. Christ Jesus came to unveil the
Father's face. to make known the Father's character,
to manifest the Father's glory. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Christ
Jesus came to unveil God. Christ Jesus came to open up
and expose to us the glorious being who is God. This was the
errand upon which he came into the world. Now it's true, Christ
came to save his people from their sins, but his purpose in
saving us was that he might reveal the glory of God and that God
might be glorified in us and by us. You remember when our
Lord came to the time of his crucifixion, he was in the garden
and he prayed, now is my soul troubled. But what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? Oh, no, I can't pray that. I
can't pray that. But for this cause came I unto
this hour. And so he lifts his eyes and
his heart toward heaven and he says, Father, glorify thy name. That's all that matters. Oh, God, give me that kind of
heart so that nothing matters but his glory. Father, glorify
thy name. Our Lord came in his high priestly
prayer to the throne of his father and our father, and he said,
now the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee. Our Lord Jesus Christ saved us
in his work of grace on our behalf, and he did so singularly for
the glory of God. His first primary, supreme, ultimate
purpose in all that he has done, is doing, or shall hereafter
do, is the glory of God. That's the first thing. That's
foremost. It ought to be first and foremost
with us. I've come here to preach this morning. And I preach with a desire to
see centers converted, but that's not number one. That's just not
number one. I preach with a desire to see
the church and kingdom of God built up, but that's not number
one. The one overriding supreme, superlative,
desire, purpose, and intent of preaching is the glory of God. That's it. Now, if you preach
for the glory of God, you don't trim your message. If you preach
for the glory of God, you don't compromise. If you preach for
the glory of God, come hell or high water, you stay by the stuff
and you preach the gospel to men. We desire, we are here for,
we promote, we seek, number one, the glory of God. That's what
Christ came for, is the glory of God. The Apostle Paul tells
us in Ephesians 1, three times, he says, God has done what he's
done for the praise of his glory. He chose us, He blessed us, He
predestinated us, He adopted us, He redeemed us, He accepted
us, He forgave us to the praise of the glory of His grace. He
made known to us His wisdom, His prudence, His counsel, His
purpose, His grace for the praise of His glory. He called us, He
sealed us, He kept us, He preserved us, He brought us to faith in
Christ Jesus to the praise of His glory. That's the reason
God saves sinners, is for the praise of His glory. Christ Jesus
seeks our eternal blessedness, and he knows that our blessedness
is to be found in beholding the glory of God. It was for this purpose that
he came, lived in righteousness, died in agony, and rose in triumph. To say that Christ Jesus desires
the salvation of sinners, the holiness of his elect, and the
comfort of his saints is to say much. But to say that he desires
to make known to men the glory of God is to say much more. To say this is to declare that
the Son of God desires and delights in men beholding that which as
soon as it is beheld will bring light, gladness, holiness, and
comfort to heart and soul. When the Lord Jesus says, come
unto me and I will give you rest, his meaning is come to me and
I will show you that which will immediately cause you to be at
rest. When he says come unto me, if
any man thirsts, then come unto me and drink. His meaning is
come to me and I will show you that which is more refreshing
to your soul than a fountain of water to a thirsty man. It
is the purpose of God in all things to reveal his glory, and
Christ Jesus desires for men and women to see and to know
the glory of God and enjoy it. Here's a question. Why is it then that so few people
in this world see the glory of God and that those who see it
see so little of it? Why? Turn over to John chapter
11. Our Lord is at the tomb of Lazarus. And it appears that Martha, had questioned the Lord's wisdom,
goodness, and power. She questioned His wisdom and
goodness and providence because she said, Lord, if you'd been
here, my brother hadn't died. He said, Lord, if you'd have
just come a few days earlier, he'd still be alive. And she
was right to assume so. But she, in making that statement,
seems to be saying, Lord, why didn't you come? Why didn't you
come? How come you let Lazarus die?
She seems to be saying, Lord, you've let me down. You've let
me down. She's standing here before her
brother's tomb and she's helpless and in despair. What can she
expect? Lazarus has been dead for four
days and now his body has already begun to decay and to return
to the earth from which it came. Not only that, But Martha questioned
the power of the Lord Jesus. He had allowed Lazarus to die. Indeed, though Martha apparently
knew it not, he had brought Lazarus down to the grave for the glory
of God, for the glory of God. And now Martha looked at him
with hopelessness. Here's Lazarus dead. And the Lord told Martha to take
away the stone. But Martha looked at him and
she as much as said, well, why? Why? You see, Martha had faith
enough for the future. She was a true believer. She
was truly converted. And she did honor Christ with
faith. She believed that Lazarus would
raise again in the resurrection at the last day. She said so.
She said, I know that he'll rise again at the last day. I know
that. I know that. But right now, for
the present trial, in her present circumstances, she just couldn't believe God.
She just couldn't believe God. Look at verse 40. Jesus saith
unto her, said I not unto thee, that if
thou wouldst believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Now, that's my third point. It
is our unbelief, only our unbelief, that keeps us from seeing the
glory of God. That's all. That's all. If thou wouldest believe, thou
shouldest see the glory of God. This one singular evil, our Lord
complained of more often than any other while he was upon the
earth. He found wretched unbelief, not only in the Pharisees and
the common people of the world, but constantly among his own
disciples. They were so slow of heart to
believe God. It looks like they shut both
eyes and stopped both ears and closed the door of their hearts
to the wonders performed before them, lest they should see the
glory of God. They would not believe the message
of free grace, redeeming love and eternal life. They would
not believe. Therefore, they could not see
the glory of God that was revealed in Christ Jesus. But let's not
be too quick to judge them. that that which was their shame
and crime is also our shame and our crime. Like Israel in the
wilderness, like Martha, like those before whom the incarnate
God walked upon the earth, it is our unbelief that keeps us
from seeing the glory of God today. What keeps men? Some of you here
right now today, you've heard the gospel of God's free grace,
God's redeeming love, God's saving glory. You've heard it year after
year after year, day after day after day. You've heard it week
after week, month after month, year after year, most of your
lives. And yet you believe not. Now,
what is it that keeps you from coming to Christ? What is it
that keeps you from falling at His feet? What is it that keeps
you from reaching out and touching Him like that woman who was taken
with an issue of blood? Why will you not come to Christ? One reason. One reason. You won't believe. That's all. Unbelief keeps men from Christ.
It is unbelief alone that keeps God's saints from enjoying the
privileges that are ours in Christ Jesus. It is unbelief alone that
keeps redeemed, regenerate, born again men and women from enjoying
the blessedness of full assurance before Christ. That's all. That's
all. Our unbelief. How quick we are
to look at everything. We're so quick to look in here
and to look here and to look here and to look out there. We'll
look anywhere at anything except to Christ Jesus to believe Him. Anywhere else. And the reason
we constantly go about with our heads hung low and singing our
songs in bass notes and mourning and lamenting and doubting and
questioning is because we don't believe God. That's all. That's all. If we knew him better,
we'd believe him better. The Lord God says, he that believeth
in his baptized shall be saved. Do you believe? Do you trust
Jesus Christ, the Son of God? Do you confess Him with a sincere
heart? Then you're born of God. You're
saved by His grace. He said so. Oh, but I don't know
whether I have strong enough faith or not. But I don't know
whether I believe like ought to or not. I don't know whether
I've repented enough or not. I don't know whether I've been
sincere enough or not. I don't know whether I've done
this or I've felt that or I've experienced this or I've seen
that. I'm so tired of that in me and
out here because it dishonors our God. It just flat dishonors
our God. There's one question to be settled.
One question to be settled. Do you or do you not trust Jesus
Christ the Lord alone as your Savior? Now, if you trust Him,
if you have faith in Him, look to Him. Lean on Him. Believe
Him. You have eternal life. You have
eternal life. Preacher, aren't you afraid of
making people presumptuous? No, men are born presumptuous.
I'm concerned about God's people. I'm concerned about true believers.
It's our unbelief that keeps us from assurance, and it's our
unbelief that keeps us from enjoying that peace that passes understanding. It's our unbelief that keeps
you and me from enjoying all the fulfillment of God's promises
as we walk in this world day by day. We're so much like Peter. We
get all excited in a fit of religion and preachers capitalize on it.
They want to get worked up into a fit of religion. Get a fit
this morning, come back, get a fit tonight, get another fit
sometime in the middle of the week and that'll do you and come
back next week and we'll do it all over again. Peter saw the
Lord walking on water. And he said, Lord, if that's
you, bid me come to you. He said, well, come on, Peter. Come on, Peter. And Peter got
out of the boat and here he goes. Oh, boy, this is good. How about doing out here? Down
he went. Down he went. That's the way
we are. We look to Christ in spasms.
We look to Christ in fits. We look to Christ in little,
small, short spaces. But we spend the bulk of our
time looking around anywhere but to Christ. No wonder we see
so little of his glory. No wonder. He made a promise. Son of God made a promise. He
said, wherever two or three people are gathered together in my name,
Right there I am in the midst of that. He promised it. He promised
it. And I'm confident he fulfills
his promise. Why is it that when we come then in the
assembly of God's saints, he's there, why don't we see
him? He's there. He's here. If we've come together, just
two or three of us in the name of Christ, he's here. Why don't
we see him? Why don't we perceive him? I'm
not talking about a vision. You know better than that. I'm
talking about perceiving him with a heart of faith because
we don't believe his promise. Don't expect him to be here.
Where are you going? I'm going out there on the church
house out on the hill. What are you going to do? Oh,
I'll hear Pastor preach. I'll get to see my brothers and
sisters. We'll fellowship together. We'll have a good Sunday school
lesson. We'll learn some doctrine. We'll sing our hymns and give
our money and we'll have a good time together. And I expect that's about what
we get. What are you going to do? I'm
going to the house of God to meet my Savior. Don't raise your hand. Anybody
here this morning come through that door expecting to meet Jesus
Christ? Huh? Well, preacher, no, I didn't
really expect to. Any wonder why you don't? Huh? Somebody came to Mr. Spurgeon
one time, a young preacher. They said, He said, I'm so down,
so discouraged, so, so disappointed. Mr. Spurgeon said, well, what's
your problem? He said, I don't see anyone converted when I'm
preaching the gospel. Mr. Spurgeon said to him, did
you expect anyone to be converted when you went to preach? He said,
well, no, not really. There you go. There you have
it. If thou wouldest believe, thou
shouldest see the glory of God." This is what I'm saying. It's
unbelief that hinders Christ from performing those works in
our midst which would show us the glory of God. Now, I believe
that. I know it so. Let me show you
in the Scriptures. Turn over to the book of Matthew.
Book of Matthew, chapter 13. I want you to look at this. I
know I've made a mighty big statement. I wouldn't dare think of the
statement, much less of making it, were it not for one thing. It's plainly revealed in the
scriptures. Can a withered leaf fallen into a mighty river stop
its flow or dry up its waters? Can a child's hand smother the
sun? Can the breath of a man blow
out the stars of heaven? Of course not. And yet the word
of God plainly informs us that unbelief prevents Christ from
performing his mighty works in our midst, by which the glory
of God may be revealed. Look in Matthew 13, 58. Matthew
tells us that when the Lord Jesus was coming to his own country,
he did not many mighty works there. because of their unbelief. He did it everywhere else. He
did it everywhere else. Why not here? Because of their
unbelief. That's it. Look at what Mark
says. He puts it a whole lot more strongly than Matthew does.
Look at Mark chapter 6. Mark 6 and verse 5. Jesus came to his own country.
and he could there do no mighty work." Now, do you see that language?
He could not do any mighty work there, save that he laid his
hands upon a few sick folk and healed them, and he marveled
because of their unbelief. The hand of God is not prevented
from working in our midst by our unworthiness, that when the Lord doesn't work
with us because we're not worthy. That's not what it says. Our
unworthiness won't prevent him from working in our midst. The
hand of God is not prevented from working in our midst because
of the multitude of our sins. That won't stop him from working.
That won't stop him. The hand of God is not prevented
from working in us because we have some lack of ability or
some lack of means or because there's something missing in
us that we ought to be able to supply. That'll never stop him
from working. that the hand of God is prevented
from working in our midst because of our unbelief. Now, that reproof starts right
here, and it goes to the back wall because of our unbelief. What wonders God might perform
for us, among us, in us, and with us, if we would simply take
him at his word. Look in Mark 9. This fellow had a son who was
demon-possessed. Nobody could help him. The devil
was tearing him apart. In verse 23, this fellow had
asked the Lord to have mercy on him, and Jesus said, If thou
canst believe, look at it, all things are possible to them that
believe it, to him that believe it. And this fellow responded,
Lord, I do believe. Help thou mine unbelief. And
his demon possessed boy went home with him and never had another
fit. It was unbelief that prevented
the Son of God from performing his mighty works in Galilee.
Unbelief, John Trapp said, is so vile and venomous and evil
that it transfuses the kind of dead palsy into the hands of
omnipotency. Christ, who can do all things
by his absolute power, can do little or nothing by his actual
power for unbelievers. He cannot because he will not. Unbelief lays hold of Christ's
hand and says to the Son of God, work not here. Unbelief despises
His grace and His power and says, depart out of our coast. How many times have you individually, and I'm
speaking to Don now, How many times have you been inclined
by the Spirit of God to do something for the glory of Christ, for
the honor of Christ, for the furtherance of the gospel, for
the good of men's souls? You found it in the Word, you
found it in your heart, the Spirit of God's directing you. And you looked. all around. I can't do that. I can't do that. And I guarantee you, David, every
time you did, you didn't. I know what I'm talking about. But the Son of God, by His Spirit, takes on his will and says, Don,
go and do this. And knowing full well that you
have no ability, no means to accomplish the work, no strength
to perform it, no means to carry it home, but looking steadfastly
to his mighty arm, you put your hand to the plow and you go for
it. You go for it. What's it called? Well, that's presumption. You've
got to sit down and see whether or not you've got enough to get
the job done. You've got to sit down and see
whether or not everything's going to fall in place. Oh, no! That's
what's wrong with us. The Lord God gives a word, and
we put our feet down to walk in His path according to His
direction as He sees fit, and I guarantee you, I guarantee
you, believe in God Nothing shall be withheld. Nothing can prevent. Nothing can stop. It's our unbelief that prevents
Christ from working in our midst, and it's our unbelief that keeps
us from seeing his glory, the glory of God in his works, even
when they're wrought right in front of our eyes. The Lord's
hand is not always stayed by man's unbelief. Thank God for
that. Thank God for that. Where he
wills to work, he will work. Man cannot, by his will, overthrow
Christ's will. Man's unbelief cannot frustrate,
nullify, or even alter God's purpose. Very frequently the
Lord did works, the works of God, works in which the glory
of God was evidently set before men. But the folks who saw the works
couldn't see the blind. They couldn't see it. Our Lord
passed by one day and there was a blind man there. Bartimaeus,
he'd been blind a long time. And the Lord touched his eyes.
He could see. Boy, did you see what he did. He came by another day, there
was a leper. Fellow been by that pool of Bethesda all his life. Been going there hoping somebody
put him in that magical water, make him whole. The Lord said
to him, son, would you be made whole? He said, if you believe, get
up and walk. And that man who had no legs
leaped and danced to praise God. Our Lord passed by one day and
there was a girl who had fallen asleep, Jairus's daughter. And the Lord said to her, and
his daughter raised from the dead. He passed by another day
and there was a widow going out of the city to bury her son.
And he said to the one who laid on the bed on the beer, that
boy going out to his tomb, he said, rise up and walk. He got
up and walked. And folks who saw those works,
they saw what Christ had done. They saw the miracle and they
were astonished by the miracle, but they did not see the glory
of God in the miracle. They just didn't see it. There was a leper, polluted and
defiled. dying with leprosy. The Lord
healed him, but they didn't see the glory
of God in the healing. There was a man possessed with
devils. The Lord cast out the devils.
They saw the miracle, but they saw no glory in it. On one occasion, our Lord Jesus
took five loaves and two small fishes I'm talking about small
fishes, about the size of brook trout or sardines. He caused
50,000 men to be seated in rows on the ground. That doesn't include
women and children, probably 20,000 people all together. Ate
the loaves and the fishes. Boy, this is good stuff. And
they followed Christ. They followed Christ because
they wanted some more bread and they wanted some more fish. And
our Lord Jesus, turn over there and look at it. John chapter
6. Our Lord Jesus said to them in verse 26. He said, you seek
me not because you saw the miracles. Wait a minute. They did see the
miracle. They ate the loaves and the fishes, but they didn't
see the miracle. They didn't see it. Not because
you saw the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves and
were filled. What's he saying? They ate from
the hand of Him who is the bread of life and wanted another slice
of bread. The glorious God was standing
before them, but they could not see Him. They couldn't see Him. They saw the miracle. They ate
the loaves and fishes. They got the benefits of the
miracle, but they could not see the glory of God because they
would not believe. The glory of God wrapped up in
his works is perceived only by faith. Faith draws aside the
veil. Faith sees the glory of God in
his works, for faith sees the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ. One of the problems with the
charismatics in our day. They look for and they see nothing
but carnal miracles. That's all they want. Satan gives
them what they want. The believer sees in every miracle
which our Lord performed a picture of God's grace and in seeing
that he sees the glory of God. Unbelief keeps us from enjoying
the glory of God even after we have in some measure seen it.
The disciples saw the glory of God in his wondrous works, yet
often, after they had seen, heard, and experienced that very work
of his grace, they realized so very little of his glory. The
glory of God seems to have been seen by them at intervals, in
glimpses, but not continually. They seem to have exercised great
faith at times and virtually no faith at other times. They
had faith enough to show them something, but their unbelief
kept much more hidden from them. And how much like those disciples
we are. God forgive our unbelief. In
this text here in John 11, verse 40, our Lord is calling for belief,
for faith, if Thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory
of God. He is saying, have faith in God.
Only believe. Be not faithless, but believing.
Trust God in everything and for everything, even in your most
trying circumstances, and say, is anything too hard for the
Lord? No, sir, Bob, it's not. Nothing. There's one thing, one thing
only. that honors God. Hubert, it's
faith. That's the only thing that honors
God. Faith. The only thing. And there's one thing that God
will honor. One thing God will always honor. I mean He'll always
honor. He's honor bound to honor it.
He'll honor faith. God will honor faith. He always
has and He always will. I see old man Job. sitting out there scraping his
sores. His children are gone, his riches are gone, his cattle
is gone, his health is gone, his fame is gone, his wealth
is gone. And all that Job sinned not and
charged God with falling. And then Job's wife comes along
and she took a long pitiful look at him. She said, man, won't
you just cuss God and die? And Job said, you talk like one
of the idolatrous women. You talk like one of those women
that worships a God they shove in the corner. You talk like
one of those women who's God's helpless and frustrated and defeated.
Shall we not receive good at the hand of the Lord? Or have
we not received good at the hand of the Lord? And shall we not
receive the evil? And still Job blessed God, believed
him. Oh, Job had his faults, but he
believed God. He read the book. He said, though
he slay me, yet will I trust him. He believed God. He said,
I know that my Redeemer liveth. And if the latter day you're
going to stand on the earth, I'm going to see him. He believed God.
And then Job prayed for his friends and God blessed him. Read the
last chapter. God blessed him. Noah, he believed
God. God said, Noah, there's a flood
coming. Okay, Lord, what do you want me to do? Build a boat? No. Noah got his hammer out and
started building a boat. He believed God. He's the only
man in the world who believed God. Nobody else did. Everybody
else thought he was a fool. Everybody else thought he was
crazy. And he kept at it for 120 years, believing God. But
God honors faith. When the flood came, Noah was
in the boat. He was in the boat. Abraham took
his son up to Mount Moriah. He got to offer his son as a
sacrifice to God. Isaac said to him, said, Daddy,
where's the lamb? Abraham said, my son, believe
God. God will provide himself a sacrifice. God will provide himself a sacrifice. And believing God, Abraham looked
over in the thicket, and behold, a ram caught in the thicket. Abraham said, Jehovah-Jireh,
the Lord will provide. Hannah went and called upon God
in her affliction and in her misery and her barrenness. and
God gave her a son. David went out to Goliath. Goliath
had his spear and his shield and his sword and his mighty
armor and Goliath mocked him and blasphemed him and David
said, I come to you in the name of God and look at him. There
he is standing on the giant's head. Believe God. Believe God. That widow of Zarephath, Elijah
came to her He said, honey, go make me a cake. I'm hungry. She knew it was God's
prophet. She said, I don't have anything
to make a cake with. All I've got is a little meal
and a little bit of oil, and I'm gathering some wood now.
I'm going to make one last meal for me and my son so we can go
ahead and die. And Elijah said, I'll tell you what, you make
me a cake. and the meal and the oil will
never lack. You know what she did? She took
her last grain of meal and her last drop of oil. She made a
cake, brought it to God's prophet. He said, now go make one for
you and your son. What'd she do? I know what I'd done, Merle,
I'd have said, well, you dummy, you took the last meal. You took
the last little bit of oil I had. There's nothing there left. I
wouldn't have even gone and looked in the barrel. Wouldn't have
even gone and looked. Nothing there. Nothing there. No, she
believed God. She believed God. And she went,
put down her hand in that empty barrel, and drew up a meal to
make a cake. That's right. That's right. You know what she did the next
day? She believed God. She went out
the next morning and put her hand down that empty barrel and
drew up an oatmeal mixtape. You know what she did the next
day? For the rest of her days, she put her hand in that empty
barrel and drew up an oatmeal mixtape because she believed
God and put to use what God put in her hands for God's purposes. Now, this is what I want you
to say. If we would believe. We would see the glory of God. Martha and Mary were in hard
circumstances. Her brother was dead. Her brother
was dead. They loved him. He loved them. Had the Lord come a little earlier,
they might have hoped that he would have healed Lazarus, but
it appeared that he had arrived too late. Lazarus was gone. They
comforted themselves with the hope of a resurrection day, but
for the present, they were full of despair. And the Lord spoke
to Martha and he said, Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest
believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God. It looks like he's
been telling her this all along. Looks like he's been telling
her this all the time that he's done it. Now Martha, believe
and you'll see the glory of God. Believe and you'll see the glory
of God. And now the time has come. It's as though the Lord
were saying, Martha, Martha, if you would but trust me, I
would do for you far greater things than you could ever think
or ask of me. If you would but trust me, there's
nothing I wouldn't do for you, no length to which I would not
go, no limit to the power that I would exercise on your behalf
to show you the glory of God. And he says the same thing to
you and to me. But pastor, I'm going through
a great trial. Let me ask you something. Is your trial any greater than
Abraham's was when he put Isaac on the altar on Mount Moriah?
Anybody here ever had a trial like that? Anybody ever had one
like that? I never met a man or a woman
who was called of God to kill their own son. Never met one. Now that's a trial, brother.
And Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief.
But he saw the God of glory. He saw him because he believed
him. Because he believed him. Is it not reasonable that you
and I, who are the sons of faithful Abraham, should believe God? Is it not reasonable that the
faithful God should expect faith from us? After all he's done,
can we yet be hesitating, fearful, distrustful? God forbid! This is the promise. If thou
wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God. I've got to quit, but let me
say this. To you who believe not, if you
would believe, you'd see the glory of God and the salvation
he's accomplished through Christ, his dear son. If you'd believe. More than anywhere else, the
glory of God is seen in the sacrifice of Christ. We see the glory of
God as we look upon him through the blood of the cross, through
the atonement which Christ has performed. How do you mean we
see the glory of God? We see the glory of God because
in the sacrifice of Christ, by his cross, mercy and truth are
met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. We see the glory of God in the
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, because in his death, all the
glorious attributes of God are plainly revealed. In the death
of Christ, we see his sovereignty and we see his grace. We see
his righteousness and we see his goodness. We see his inflexible
justice, punishing sin and his pardoning mercy, forgiving sin.
We see his unmitigated wrath poured out upon his dear son
against sin. And we see his pardoning love
and everlasting mercy through the Lord Jesus Christ who loved
us and gave himself for us to put away our sins. If you believe,
you'll see the glory of God. I couldn't see it. I couldn't
say I heard about it. I heard about it and couldn't
see it, just couldn't see it. Until I looked. And looking. believe in. I see it. I see it in you. If you would believe, you'd see
the glory of God in his wise and good providence as well.
If Martha had believed, she'd have seen the glory of God in
what God had accomplished, even in the death of her son and certainly
in the resurrection or death of her brother and certainly
in the resurrection of her brother, for all things are of God, but only faith can see God's
glory in all things. If we would believe, we would
see the glory of God in the works he performs in our midst, in
what he has done, what he is doing, and what he shall do. And if we would believe, we would
see the glory of God fulfilling his promises. He says, put me
in remembrance. Remind me of what I promised.
I wonder how much of spiritual blessedness we miss simply because
we do not believe God, because we insist on having things of
the flesh to lean upon. Do you remember Have it in your
days of poverty. Some of you have been there. Every day you look to God, your
father, and from your heart, if not with your lips, you said,
Lord, give me today my daily bread. You remember that? How long has it been since you
looked to God for your daily bread? We insist upon having
much goods laid up for many years, so that if God gives or He does
not give, we still got enough to take care of ourselves. And it is our unbelief that keeps
us from seeing the glory of God. If we would believe, we would
see the glory of God in His resurrection power. I know that God works
in total sovereignty. He depends on us for nothing.
He works with us or without us. But I know this also, God works
in His sovereignty by the faith of His people. Let me give you
a text to read. In Ezekiel 36, the Lord God makes
a promise, a covenant promise. And then the Lord says, but for
this will I be sought by the children of Israel. Now, this
is what I'm saying. God works sovereignly through
the faith of his people. If we would but believe God,
we would see the glory of God in spiritual resurrections. So
don't you believe God's elect are all going to be saved? Yes.
When and where it pleases him. But I'm certain that the church
of God in this place lacks conversions and lacks seeing the glory of
God simply because we lack faith. When Zion travailed, she brought
forth her children. If we would believe, we most
certainly shall see the glory of God. in the resurrection of
our bodies at the last day. The Lord Jesus stood before Martha
and said, if thou wouldest believe. Believe. I'm not talking about
believing a doctrine. I'm talking about believing a
person. A person. Believe Him. Arthur said, I believe
in the resurrection. The Lord Jesus said, I am the
resurrection, Arthur. I am the resurrection. All children
of God, believe. Believe Christ. Believe Him. Believe His word. Believe His
promises. Believe His grace. Believe His
power. Believe His goodness. Believe
Him! Walk with Him. and you shall see the glory of
God. Amen.