1 Kings chapter 8, beginning in
verse 1. Then Solomon assembled the elders
of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the
fathers of the children of Israel unto King Solomon in Jerusalem,
that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord
out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel
assembled themselves unto King Solomon at the feast in the month
Ethamim, which is the seventh month. And all the elders of
Israel came and the priests took up the ark and they brought up
the ark of the Lord and the tabernacle of the congregation and all the
holy vessels that were in the tabernacle. Even those did the
priests and the Levites bring up. And King Solomon and all
the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him were
with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not
be told or numbered for multitude. And the priest brought in the
ark of the covenant of the Lord into his place, into the oracle
of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of
the cherubims. For the cherubim spread forth
their two wings over the place of the ark and the cherubims
covered the ark and the staves thereof above. And they drew
out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in
the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without.
And there they are into this day. There was nothing in the
ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb,
when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel,
when they came out of the land of Egypt. And it came to pass,
when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud
filled the house of the Lord. This was something that was visibly
seen so that the priest could not stand to minister because
of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord had
filled the house of the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, we. Ask in Christ's name. That your glory. Would fill this
house. And I worship. And in the preaching
of the gospel. In Christ's name, we pray, amen. Now you will remember last week
we talked about the covenant of the Lord. And we're going
to consider the ark of the Lord being brought into the temple
that Solomon had made. And we read here about this visible
manifestation of the glory of the Lord filling the house. This was a visible manifestation
of God's glory that prevented the priest from going into the
holy place. Now, the same thing happened when the tabernacle
was built. The tabernacle was filled with
the glory of the Lord so that the priest couldn't come in.
There was some kind of visible manifestation of the glory of
the Lord. Now this visible manifestation
was seen several other times. The first time the word glory
is mentioned is with regard to the manna. That's the first time
the glory of God is ever mentioned when the children of Israel were
murmuring and complaining about being brought into the wilderness.
How evil. And the glory of the Lord appeared
in the giving of the manna. Now the glory of the Lord was
seen visibly as the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire
at night over the tabernacle that always represented the Lord's
presence, His glory. This pillar was seen the night
of the crossing of the Red Sea when this same pillar of fire
was light to the children of Israel. And the scripture says
it was darkness to the Egyptians. You know, with regard to the
glory of the Lord, it's light to God's people. It's darkness
to everybody else. It doesn't mean a thing to them. Now, the children of Israel were given
special manifestations of God's glory that wasn't given to the
world. It's kind of hard to concentrate.
Anybody know whose car that is? That's okay. Just glad you're
here, Gene. Now, as I said, Israel was given
manifestations of God's glory that wasn't given to the rest
of the world. And I think it's interesting with regard to the
children of Israel, there has never been a more wicked bunch
to ever live. I've been reading for the last
several weeks, the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible,
and looking at the children of Israel, how unbelieving, how
murmuring, how quickly they went off into idolatry. And as a matter
of fact, in Deuteronomy chapter nine, God said to the children
of Israel, he said, I want you to know I'm not running out these
nations because you're good, you're bad. You're a stiff neck
people. I'm running off these nations
because of the wickedness of those nations. Don't think that
I'm doing this because of any goodness in you. Yet this nation
was given such a manifestation of the glory of God. Now in Exodus
chapter 33, this was after the golden calf incident. Moses had
gone up into Mount Sinai for 40 days to receive the law. And
during that time, the children of Israel said, what happened
to Moses? And what did they do? They made a golden calf and worshiped
it in the place of God and said, these be thy gods, O Israel,
that delivered thee. And the scripture says they rose
up to play at that time. Now there's something deeply
immoral involved in this rising up to play. I mean, this was
one wicked bunch, the children of Israel. No more wicked than
you and I, but wicked nonetheless. And they were guilty of this
gross idolatry. Moses comes down, sees what's
going on. Throws the law down, grinds the
idol into powder, puts it in water, makes the children of
Israel drink it, and he goes up to pray for the children of
Israel. Because God said, I'm going to
destroy him. And he goes up to pray for them.
And during the midst of that prayer, turn to Exodus chapter
33. Hold your finger there in 1 Kings,
Exodus chapter 33. He says in verse 18, I beseech
thee, show me by glory. Now he had seen visible manifestations
of God's glory, but I guess he didn't really understand what
it meant because God's glory. Now listen real carefully. God's
glory is his capacity to save people like me and you. That is God's glory. When it's
first manifested in the manna. The children of Israel said,
why did you bring us out here to die? Would to God we were
back in Egypt. And God fed him anyway with manna
that was called his glory. That's the manifestation of his
glory, his capacity to save somebody like me. His glory. Moses saw when that cloud and
fire that was darkness to Egypt and light to Israel. But at that
very same time, right before the Red Sea, the children of
Israel said, would to God, you'd left us in Egypt. We don't want
to be here. You just brought us out to kill us. And yet God's
glory made a difference. And here when he's praying for
the children of Israel, He says, I beseech you, show me your glory. His glory is his capacity to
save. He said, I'll make all my goodness
pass before you. I proclaim the name of the Lord
before you. You see, his name is his attributes.
And all of his attributes are magnified in the salvation of
the sinner. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. And
I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Now God's glory,
Here the priests, this was a visible manifestation. This isn't just
some fairy tale. This is what happened. The glory
was such in the tabernacle or not the tabernacle, but actually
the temple that the priests couldn't come in. They experienced this
and God's glory is essential to his being. It's not essential
to ours, is it? but it is essential to his being. Someone once called God's glory,
the sparkling of deity. I love that. That's awesome.
The sparkling of deity. Christ has called himself in
Hebrews 1, 3, the brightness of God's glory and the express
image of his person. In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6,
we read these words, but God, who commanded the light to shine
out of the 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's glory, his capacity to
save, is seen in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he
said in Isaiah 42, verse 8, my glory I will not share with another. His glory in salvation, he's
not gonna share with me or you. Hebrews 1.3 says, when he had
by himself, not with any help from me, not with any prayers
or resolves or efforts to be, but when he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on
high. And you know, you can tell If someone is truly sent of God,
when they're preaching by this one thing, they're seeking God's
glory. They're giving God all the glory. Somebody that gives man any glory
is not of God. Turn with me to John 7, let me
show you that. This is, you know, it's darkness
to an unbeliever, like what's the Egyptians. It made no sense. They didn't see anything out
of it, but it's light to the children of Israel. To a believer,
God's glory is more important than anything else. Now that's the truth regarding
to all God's children. But look here in John chapter
seven. Verse 14, now about the midst of the feast, Jesus went
up into the temple and taught, and the Jews marveled, saying,
how knoweth this man letters, having never learned? He never
went seminary. Jesus answered them and said, my doctrine is
not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will,
he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether
I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh
his own glory. But he that seeketh his glory
that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in
him. So here we see the one issue,
who's getting the glory. And this is an issue with every
believer. Not unto us, David said, not unto us, but unto thy
name, give glory for thy mercy and thy true sake. Now, in this
thing of God giving the glory, first think about this. Salvation
is compared to a creation, isn't it? 2 Corinthians 5, 17, if any
man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Now in the physical
creation, who gets all the glory? That's easy to answer, isn't
it? There wasn't anybody around to get any glory, but God, he
was all by himself when he spake the universe into existence.
No creature could get glory. You know this thing of atheism. It is intellectually indefensible
and illogical. Everybody knows that every effect
had to have a cause. Somebody made this and nobody
made him. The invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen. Even his eternal,
he never had a beginning. Power, he's the one who caused
all this to be. and Godhead. Everybody that's
born into this world has the light of that knowledge. Now
they may snuff it out, and they may convince themselves that
it's not true, but everybody's born into this world with that
knowledge. Somebody made all this, and nobody
made him. The heavens declare the glory
of God. So we see how God gets all the
glory in this thing of creation, and he gets all the glory and
salvation. The gospel is called both in
2 Corinthians 4, 4 and 1 Timothy 1, 11, the gospel of the glory
of the blessed God. This is God's great motive in
all that he does. Ephesians 1, 6 says, we're saved
to the praise of the glory of his grace. Now I've had people
say to me, well, that seems like God's awful selfish. If he only
seeks his glory in what he's doing, well, you can have that
attitude if you want, but that's who God is. He seeks his own
glory in whatever he does. And I know this, I know in my
salvation, oh, he gets all the glory. When I think of the glory he
achieved as the surety of his people, where God placed all
the responsibility of my salvation upon him before the foundation
of the world. What glory he achieved in that. He took full responsibility and
God entrusted him to be my savior. What glory is seen in predestination. What's the point of predestination?
To have a people perfectly conformed to his image. That's the purpose
of predestination. For God to have a bunch more
sons just like him. I think of his glory in justification. Him able to make me to be without
sin. to where he looks at me and sees
no sin. And the only reason he sees no
sin is because there is no sin. That's what justification is.
Perfect. What glory does He achieve in
that? Justified by His righteousness alone. I think of His glory and
redemption where He actually put away my sins so it's not
to be. You think of His glory and regeneration
where He gives spiritual life. Somebody that's dead in sins
now has life, true life before God. What glory He achieves in
me being preserved, in me persevering. I'm kept by His power through
faith unto salvation. Do you see how He gives all the
glory and salvation? Now, our message to this world
is His glory. Whether anybody appreciates it
or not, that's okay. Our message is His glory. Have you seen that? Have I seen
that as the message of the gospel? His glory. When Isaiah saw the seraphims
around his throne, they were crying, holy, holy, holy. The whole earth is full of his
glory. That was their message. The whole
earth is full of his glory. And John gives this comment upon
this passage of scripture in John chapter 12. He says, these
things said Isaiah when he saw his glory. And he spake of him. Anybody that ever sees his glory,
this is what they're going to speak of. They're going to speak
of him. Psalm 96.3 says, declare His
glory among the heathen. This is our message to the heathen.
Declare His glory, His capacity to save people like me and you
among the heathen. Psalm 29.11 says this, in His
temple does everyone speak of His glory. Now that's how essential
this is. The priest couldn't even come
in because of the glory that filled the house. Turn to Isaiah
chapter 40. And this is the message of comfort
to God's people. Isaiah chapter 40, beginning in verse 1. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished. It's already
over and you've won. That her iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley, every low
place shall be exalted. Every mountain, every high place
shall be made low. The crooked shall be made straight
and the rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall
be revealed. Now that's what's revealed in
the gospel, the glory. of the Lord. Now, this is our
appeal when we ask the Lord for mercy. This is our appeal when
we ask the Lord for forgiveness. This is our appeal when we ask
for the Lord's favor toward us. Listen to this scripture from
Psalm 79. Nine. Help us, O God, of our salvation
for the glory of thy name. That's our appeal right now.
Help us, oh God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name and
deliver us and purge away our sins for thy name's sake. Oh, I'm saved by his name. Purge
away my sins, help me for thy name's sake. You see, this is,
Lord, save me in such a way, have mercy upon me in such a
way, have favor on me in such a way that it will glorify thy
great name. You know, that's a prayer that
the Lord will not refuse. He's interested in his own glory.
You know, really, his glory is the only proper motive of the
believer. Listen to this scripture, 1 Corinthians
10, verse 31, Whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do,
do all to the glory of God. There was a missionary by the
name of Robert Burns back in the 1800s that was going to China. And while he was boarding the
boat to go to this land he'd never been before, not knowing
what was ahead of him, going to China, somebody said to him,
Mr. Burns, are you going to convert
the heathen? He said, no, to glorify God. Would to God that that would
be what animates us. No, to glorify God. Now turn with me for a moment
to John chapter 17. Verse 24. Father, I will. Now, that is so powerful. I can't say, Father, I will that
you do this. I wouldn't dare say something
like that. If it be thy will. But he speaks as equal with the
father. Now that is the excellency and
the dignity of the Son. Father, I will. What power. Now let's go on reading. Father, I will that they also
whom thou has given me be with me where I am for this reason,
that they may behold my glory. which thou hast given me, for
thou lovest me from the foundation of the world." Do you know heaven
will be beholding His glory? That's going to be heaven. And
that tells you how important this thing is of the glory of
God. Look at the way the Lord began this great high priestly
prayer for His people in verse 1. These words spake Jesus and
lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hours come,
speaking of his death, the hours come glorify thy son that thy
son also may glorify thee. You know the word glory, you
know it comes out of the word weight. Weight. The weight of his glory. What a heavy thing. What a glorious
thing. The weight of his glory. Father, glorify thy son that
thy son might also glorify thee. When he was preparing to die. He said, now is my soul troubled. Oh, how troubled he was. The
thought of being made sin, the thought of being separated and
forsaken by his father. He knew what was coming. Now
is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father,
save me from this hour, but for this cause came I into this hour. Father, glorify thy name. That's what held him up. Knowing
what he was going to go through, the thought that this is going
to glorify my father. I'll go through it for this reason. Father glorify thy name. Now, what amazing grace it is
that the Lord would give us some interest in and some love for
his glory. Now you're here in John 17, look
at verse 22. and the glory. Now you think
of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no way we can
even explain it. I mean, this is one of those
things I feel this way a lot. I feel real frustrated. Because
I'm talking about something that's so far above me, something that
I believe, but something I feel totally inadequate and unable
to deal with as it ought to be dealt with. And I'm not, I'm
not thinking there's no man that can deal with this as it ought
to be dealt with. All we can do is read what the Bible says
about the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and what glory he achieved. Now let's read this verse, verse
22. And the glory which thou gavest
me, I have given them. That's talking about every believer.
The glory that thou gavest me, the glory he achieved. Now, he
had he had glory as the eternal son of God before he came into
this world. But there's glory he achieved
as the savior of sinners. And he says this glory that you've
given me I have given them so that every believer, it said
of every believer, that they will shine as the sun in the
kingdom of their heavenly father. Every believer has this glory
because Christ gave it to them. And I'll tell you what, in heaven,
I know it now to some extent, but I've got flesh that brings
me down that tells me otherwise. But I'll tell you one, in heaven,
in heaven, I am going to know for sure that the glory I have
as a saved sinner all comes from him, and I am a trophy of his
grace. I know it now, to some extent. I know that nobody needs grace
any more than I do for their salvation. I believe that. But then I'll know it when I
see myself in this glory that he has given me so that I can
behold his glory eternally. I'll know the only reason I have
it is because of him. The glory of God. He has manifested
His glory to every one of His children. And if you're a believer,
you're a bearer of the glory of God. Isn't that amazing? As sinful and unworthy as you
and I are, we're bearers of His glory. I can see why the priests, they
couldn't come into the temple when the glory, that was something
they experienced. And I tell you what, when you
and I experienced the grace of God, we're like Peter. Lord, depart from me. You don't
have anything to do with me. I'm a sinful man. But the Lord
did not depart. He never does.