The Glory of God 2 - Glory Through Sufferings

[00:00:00] Exodus 16 and verse ten it says, and it came to pass as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. And then again, if you turn to Exodus 24, Exodus 20 416, we read these words. And 17 and the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And the 7th day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud. [00:00:58] Now that means that in actual fact, in one sense we have a problem, because it seems that Moses and the children of Israel had all beheld the glory of the Lord. So why is it that Moses makes this a special request in Exodus 30 318? Show me, I pray thee, thy glory. [00:01:21] Unless it means that there is, as it were, the outskirts of the Lord's ways. There is the fire, there is the appearance of the glory. There is the outward manifestation, as it were, the thing that is the first thing that is apparent, the first thing that strikes you. [00:01:43] But Moses knew that that was not the thing about glory. [00:01:48] Glory was much more than just a fire that could be seen. Glory was much more than a cloud that abode with great smoke, like a great furnace upon Mount Sinai. Even when he entered into it and was encompassed by the cloud and the fire and the brightness, he knew that that was not the thing about glory. There was something deeper than all that. And we said that, of course, last week. Glory is probably the most difficult thing in the whole Bible to define. We sought to define it by saying, it is the presence of God, as it were, just committed with complete satisfaction. [00:02:32] It is the very being of God. It is not pompous and honor merely sort of the blowing of trumpets and a great brass band, that kind of idea of glory. [00:02:44] That may be just the outward thing, the outskirts of it, the edges of it, if you like, the manifestation of it. But glory really is the committed presence of God. When he commits himself to a people or to a person fully and completely and eternally, that's glory. [00:03:07] The immediate result is glory. Everything is as it should be. Everything. You have a deep sense. This is as it ought to be. And therefore we have because God is satisfied. We are satisfied because God has come into something. We have come into something. In other words, it's not, I'm getting something for myself, but he's getting something for himself. And as he gets what he needs and what he wants, so I get what I need and I want glory. Well, you remember we looked at a number of scriptures. We turn to one Peter and chapter five and verse ten, and we read and spoke about this verse. The God of all grace, who called you unto his eternal glory in Christ. After that ye have suffered a little while shall himself perfect establish, strengthen you. We read that verse. Then we read the verse in Hebrews, chapter two and verse nine to eleven, where we read. But we behold him who has been made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for every man, for it became him for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. [00:04:45] And what we dwelt upon you remember last week at some length, was the fact that the God of all grace has called you and me, us to his eternal glory in Christ, the God of all grace. [00:05:02] And we dwelt upon the fact in Hebrews ten that the work that the Lord Jesus has done is a finished work. And we particularly underline, for by one offering he has perfected forever them that are sanctified. In other words, everything necessary for bringing worthless, ugly, vile sinners such as you and me into the eternal glory in Christ has been done by the Lord Jesus Christ. The provision is all there. If we do not inherit the glory, if we are not finally filled with the glory of God, it is not gods fault. The provision is all there. Everything's been done on the basis the foundation of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the outpoured Holy Spirit. [00:05:54] Everything has been given to you and me. Now do mark the words in Hebrews, chapter two and verse ten, where it says, in bringing many sons unto glory, the Lord is bringing us to. It is a process. [00:06:12] He is bringing you and me to glory. And everything depends upon how you and I are ready to appropriate the provision that has been won for us by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, and made, as it were effectual, by the giving of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if you and I don't know the cross in it, in all its aspects, we cannot know the glory of God. [00:06:47] But I say something more. If you and I do not know the Holy Spirit in all the aspects of his ministry and work, we cannot know the glory of God. [00:07:01] Without the Holy Spirit, there is no glory, none whatsoever. It is impossible, because the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ must of necessity be a legal theological matter. It is the Holy Spirit who takes the things of Christ and makes them real to us. It is he who not only makes real the purpose and objective of God, but he puts, as it were, the yearning in these sinful hearts of ours, the yearning for the glory of God. You and I don't want glory. We don't really want God. Let's face it, how did most of us come to Christ? Because we loved God? No, but because in the mercy of God he played on our selfishness. [00:07:54] That's how you and I got there. Let's face it, I have yet to meet and meet a person who found the Lord because they loved him. [00:08:04] I found everyone. Forced by fear, forced by circumstances, forced by emptiness, forced by aimlessness, forced by a fear of death or hell, forced by these things. We come to Christ, we flee to him and then God has to do a deep work in us whereby he turns us upside down and gets us rid of that self centred principle. I, I, I. All the time he's got us into the salvation of God, now he's got to get us to a place where it is no longer I but Christ. [00:08:39] And that's why we have all the trouble. [00:08:43] There's one trouble to get us to come to Christ and believe me, the Lord has to drop some bomb, there's a bomb on some before we're blown into the kingdom. It's the sovereign work of God to do it. But when he's done it, then, oh my, the dynamiting that's got to go on once we're there to turn us over from this, this, this principle of unsaved human life, selfdevelop. Well, this bringing to glory. There is no glory where there is self centeredness. [00:09:25] And just because a person is saved doesn't mean that they're not self centred. Isn't all the trouble in christian work, all the trouble in the church from this simple little thing of self? [00:09:34] There it is. And there is no glory where there is self. [00:09:40] You see, we've going to look at the word of God again. Now let's say our further rambling this morning in the little time that we had. First, if you will turn to John, chapter one and verse 14. [00:09:54] The Gospel according to John, chapter one, verse 14. Now listen to this. Here is the principle of selflessness. Here is the principle of selflessness. The words became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. [00:10:20] Glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth, there are the word became flesh and dwelt among. As he forsook all, he laid his glory by what was his by rights, what he deserved, the position that was his being on an equality with God, God the son, he laid it all by. [00:10:59] And so John puts this in as well, this little word. [00:11:05] He puts it in brackets. And we beheld his glory. [00:11:12] There was the selflessness of the son. We beheld his glory. Glory not of man, but glorious of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. Now, if you turn to two Corinthians and chapter four, two Corinthians, chapter four and verse six, we read this. The same thing, put in a slightly different way, seeing it is God who said, light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the faith of Jesus Christ. [00:12:04] Think of it, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Now, where are you going to see glory then, dear child of God? Are you going to see it in the devil? Of course not. Are you going to see it in this world? Of course nothing. Are you going to see it in the children of God? In one sense, of course not. Where must you look? If you're going to see the glory of God, you must look into the face of Jesus Christ. [00:12:36] Look into the face of Jesus Christ. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Do you want to know what God, my dear, dear friend, it's not just a matter of fire and smoke and thunder. [00:12:59] It's not just, as it were, so a great divine firework display. [00:13:09] Do you know that the Lord Jesus Christ always had the glory of God when he was a carpenter? [00:13:14] There he was, working at his bench. [00:13:17] Glory as of the only begotten of the father, filling him, filling him. [00:13:26] Some people never saw it, but it was there. It wasn't manifested. That's where the fireworks come in when it's manifested. But glory is something much more essential than the outward thing. It is the very presence of God. It is the committed presence, presence of God. There was the committed presence of God in human form, working at a carpenter's bench from sunrise to sunset every day, dealing with difficult people. This hasn't been made quite right. I said, this should be done this way. It's being done that way. [00:13:59] And probably they already said they changed their minds halfway and then blamed him. [00:14:05] Oh, I could just imagine all the difficult and all the rest of it. The poor did that. And don't you think the devil sent all the most difficult people in the whole district to him? I am quite sure that the trial of the Lord must have been that the devil was trying to get him down in every single way it was possible. I am sure he had the most difficult clientele that any business has ever had in the whole history of the world. Probably. But anyway, the fact is that it was glory. And when you see the Lord Jesus through his life, it doesn't matter where you see him. When he was sitting weary on the well, he was still there was glorious of the only begotten of the Father. [00:14:43] When he was indignant and made that scourge of cords and twirled out those people from the temple saying, you've made my father's house a den of thieves and robbers. It was glory glorious of the only begotten of the Father. [00:14:59] Yes, it was glory all the way through. When he wept at the tomb of Lazarus, it was glory. When he burst over tears, into tears over Jerusalem it was the glory as of the only begotten of the father. When in Gethsemane he swept great drops of blood so that the angels had to come and minister to him. Otherwise he would never have lived to the cross. [00:15:26] So terrible was the physical and mental pressure he went through. It was glory as of the only begotten of the father. And the greatest point of glory was when he was nailed to the cross. [00:15:42] That was glory. Now you see, dear friends, you and I have such a different idea of glory. [00:15:49] We only think of the outward, the essential things, the thing that matters. It is that which can carry a man through human life and into the most terrible hell on earth and out into the sunshine. [00:16:04] Then there can be a spiritual display, a manifestation of the glory which will be forever. [00:16:13] And you and I know that it's not a superfluous, shortest way. [00:16:18] It comes from something within. [00:16:23] It is a presence. [00:16:25] It is a character. [00:16:28] It is something worked into the very fabric of the being. Don't you see? Moses in one sense was a little tired of all the output side. He'd seen it all. [00:16:41] You can write books. [00:16:43] He could do a lot that you and I couldn't do. He was tired of that. He said, lord, show me my glory. [00:16:52] It is the inward thing, Lord, I want not just the outward. The outward. Yes. The outward will take care of itself. Get the inward. The outward will in the end just flow out of it. [00:17:08] So you see, it's when you look at it like this, something tremendous. I mean, you turn over the pages to Hebrews and chapter one and verse three. And what do we read? We read who being the assulgence of his glory and the very image of his substance. There are the outshining refulgence of God's glory. Now, my dear friends, we know where to look, do we not? Now, having got that clear, let's start another little path. Now we go back to Romans chapter nine and verse 23. Now listen to this. [00:17:52] And that God might make known. Listen. The riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy. [00:18:02] Which ye for prepared unto glory. [00:18:06] Oh, isn't that wonderful? Vessels of mercy. Are you a vessel of mercy? [00:18:14] Well, dear child of God, if you don't know that, you're a vessel of mercy. Now, the longer you live and the nearer you get to God, the more you'll know that you're a vessel of mercy. [00:18:24] In other words, it was the mercy of God that created vessel. [00:18:29] You're a vessel of mercy. You don't deserve it. We have given God every single right to forsake us. But you and I are vessels of mercy. But listen, why are we vessels of mercy? God doesn't just show his mercy to us in a condescending way. As if he's going to say, now, I want you all forever after be crawling around on the floor, grovelling at my feet, sort of saying, oh, Lord, be merciful to us miserable sinners. [00:18:58] But listen to it. [00:19:01] That he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy afore prepared unto glory. [00:19:15] When God made you a vessel of mercy, when he took hold of you, the whole idea was good. Glory. [00:19:21] Glory. What is glory? Glory is that God should commit himself to you, not just for a touch, not just for a visit, but at his home. [00:19:35] So when you go on from Hebrews 923, we turn over to a very well known scripture. In Colossians, chapter one and verse 27. Listen to this. Colossians, chapter one, verse 27. To whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles? Which is Christ in you? The hope of the Lord is Christ in you? Is Christ in you? [00:20:06] If he's in you, there's a hope of glory. There's the certain hope of glory. Now I take it a further step. How much of Christ is there? [00:20:15] If there is a little of Christ, a little of glory forever. [00:20:21] If there's more of Christ, more of glory forever. If you're full of Christ, you'll be full of glory forever. [00:20:30] And don't think that God, who is the master craftsman, the master workman will give you too much rope and that you enjoy things too much in such a way that you are not prepared for the chiseling and the facing works, the breaking work, the work that he must do to make vessels of mercy prepared for God. You know, we had got this self instinct so deeply in rocked into our very being that it is the hardest thing in the world for it to be touched. [00:21:12] We would be happy to have anything else touched, even our money, anything. [00:21:22] Yet it's true, we would be prepared to give money rather than have that self touched. [00:21:29] And you know, it's an extraordinary thing. Even grown up christians, more adult christians, I don't mean physically, but spiritually. [00:21:39] Oh, what a fear there is about that self. [00:21:43] You know, dear child of God, many of our fears about the work of the Holy Spirit are holy over this. We're so afraid that once we really committed ourselves to the Lord in this way, he might have start to tamper with us too much. [00:21:59] We might, as it were, had to do this and this and this and this. [00:22:04] This might have to be cleared up. That might have to be cleared. I might have to go that way. So we become afraid. Well, now, all right, all right. [00:22:12] You see, the Lord is a, is a very, well, I was going to say he's a good psychologist in this way. He doesn't say, now, then you do it or he doesn't say. [00:22:25] He says, all right then, if you don't want your self life touched, all right, I'd say to you, enjoy yourself. [00:22:34] Go on, enjoy yourself. Of course, you go away and you don't. [00:22:38] It's good psychology. [00:22:40] You just go away and you go into a deep south and oh, you know, it's all so hard. You blame everyone and blame him and blame everything, but in actual fact, the Lord says, now look here, you don't want your self life touched, all right, I'm not going to touch you. I'd saved you and I'll keep you and I'll bless you and I'll give you all kinds of things and you'll have a right of a time if you want it. But if you don't want your self life touched, all right, now that you can stop at any single point in the christian life, in any single point in the christian life, you can stop. You can be a grown up Christian who's going a long way. You say, no, no more. All right, says the Lord, I'll leave you, you've got a lot. I'll bless you, I'll keep you. I'll preserve you no more. But don't you ever come back to the Lord and say, what about the glory? [00:23:31] One day when you're standing there and looking at someone and you think, oh, the glory. Why hadn't I got as much glory? [00:23:40] Just you remember, you were prepared for the cause. [00:23:46] Christ in you is the hope of glory. [00:23:50] Therefore, you see, you and I have got to be prepared for the price. [00:23:55] There's no way. There's no other way. I mean, you've only got to take your bible and start to read it in the light of what I said. You'll find it's true. If we suffer with him, we shall reign with him. [00:24:06] It absolutely true. There's an if. There's an if. So if you and I are prepared for the way. All right, then. Once we commit ourselves to the Lord, we do go through dark times sometimes. And we do go a strange way. But the end is glory. [00:24:25] Now, never forget that. [00:24:29] Christ, in you the hope of glory. What is the riches of the glory of this mystery? Christ, in you the hope of glory. Let's look at one. [00:24:42] I'm sorry. Let's look at two corinthians, chapter three, verse 18. Two corinthians, chapter three, verse 18. Now, listen to this. But we all, with unveiled faith, beholding us in a mirror, the glory, glory of the Lord are transformed into the same image from glory to glory even as from the Lord to spirit. [00:25:08] Oh, what a word this is. Just think. Just think, you say to me. All right, then. There's got to be more of Christ. There's got to be more of Christ. In my heart, in my life, how can there be more of Christ? Well, here we've got it. We all with unveiled faith. Have you got a veil on your face? [00:25:30] Have you? [00:25:32] Are there some things you don't want to see? [00:25:37] Or has the Lord done away with the veil? [00:25:42] We all, with unveiled faith, the holding is in a mirror. The glory of the Lord imperfectly. But we are. We've got our eyes on Christ, who is the glory of God. [00:26:01] Now, then what happens? [00:26:04] We are transformed into the same image from glory to glory. Now, dear child of God, isn't that true? [00:26:10] Whenever you and I catch a glimpse of Christ, if we are children of God, there is a deepen yearning within. Now, I know this from my experience and I know I've seen it again and again in others. The surest sign a person is born of God is that they may be the most hopeless case in every single way. But when they catch a glimpse of Christ, when somehow there is a season where the Lord, as it were, reveals himself. Then it's a yearning, such a yearning. [00:26:43] You want to be changed. You see, you're beholding us in the mirror of the glory of the Lord. Look at one another. Oh, dear. [00:26:50] We start looking at one another, we become so disillusioned and disappointed, we'd give up altogether. [00:26:56] We think, oh, dear, it's so awful, so terrible. But when we look at the glory of the Lord, a yearning comes and we are transformed. We are ready to be obedient. [00:27:15] You can't force a person to be obedient, really? [00:27:18] Because that's not the obedience God wants. That's the whole point. He doesn't just wield a big stick. [00:27:24] But when it comes from within, then there is something that God responds to. Now it is. We are transformed into the same image. From glory to glory. In other words, from one capacity of glory to a greater capacity of glory. Do you understand? [00:27:40] In other words, it's not necessary. This is what happened to the Lord Jesus all the time. His capacity for the glory was being indulged through suffering. You and I would not have noticed it, but he went through, into that trial and out from glory to glory. [00:28:00] Then from that trial to that, from glory to glory. One day all that is going to come into its own. [00:28:09] And, dear child of God, everything you've gone through where you've been obedient to the Lord and really gone through has been from glory to glory. You may not know it now, but one day you will. And, oh, how thankful you'll be. [00:28:22] You'll be so thankful. Well, now, once more, our time has gone, and so I shall just give you two more references and leave it. The first is one Peter and chapter four and verse 14. Now listen to this one. Peter 414. By the way, I'm only just taking one or two verses on glory out of a tremendous number. If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are ye, because the spirit of glory and of God. [00:28:58] Restart. [00:29:01] Now, that's a really beautiful word. Restless tabernacle. [00:29:09] You go through with the Lord in this matter and the spirit of glory. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of glory, the angel of the Lord's presence. Presence. The Shekinah. Glory. [00:29:24] The spirit of glory and of God. [00:29:30] It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the object of the Holy Spirit to practically get us to glory. [00:29:39] He's the one who is taking us from glory to glory. He's the one who is enlarging the capacity, who is bringing more of Christ into us all the time, the spirit of glory. Here Peter writes in one Peter, to suffering saints being reproached, persecuted, he says, now then, you feel you've lost everything. Such as I think hardly any of us in this room have known. [00:30:08] They have lost their little ones. They have lost their home. They have lost their freedom. They have lost their reputation. They have lost their career. They have lost everything. And do you know how Peter comforts them? He says, be happy. [00:30:28] What a thing to say. Be happy, he says. He says, if you are reproached, if all this happens to you, this trial by fire, be happy. [00:30:40] The spirit of glory rests. My dear friends, when I heard brother Kong the other day speaking about those saints in China, why? You see, it may seem trite for us to say be happy, but from God's point of view, it's true. They are the blessed ones, not us. [00:31:00] For the spirit of glory and of God, tabernacles upon them, something is being done. Which one? They will all come into its own. [00:31:12] And lastly, my last verse is back in two corinthians, chapter four and verse 17. [00:31:20] And this is the cross at work, the spirit of glory. But here is the cross for our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly, an eternal weight of glory. Now, my dear friend, this light affliction, this light affliction, which is for a moment, for some of us, it seems to be a lifetime. [00:31:44] It never leaves us. [00:31:46] It never leaves us. Yet the scripture says, our light affliction, which is for a moment. [00:31:53] Well, if you look at it from down here, of course it's a lifetime of affliction. You think, is it worth it? [00:32:01] But if you look at it from above, it is light affliction, which is for a moment. Doesn't the word here say, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen? For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Now, if you look back down there, you will find verse seven. We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God and not of ourselves. Now, please, will you mark the word power? [00:32:48] Did we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God. Where is this power? It's not always manifest. Read on. Well, you think this kind of power means that you are authoritative, dogmatic, absolutely clear, full of energy. You see, you know, you can blast anything and anyone, but listen to it. Listen to it. That the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side, yet not straitened, perplexed, yet not unto despair, pursued, yet not forsaken, smitten down, yet not destroyed. Oh, there's a different kind of power there. [00:33:42] We need power which is visible sometimes, but this is the power that lasts, that kind of power when someone knocks you down and almost out. [00:33:56] But lo and behold, you're back again, smitten down, yet not destroyed. Isn't that wonderful? It's absolutely true. The enemy is a whomp and we're out. [00:34:10] Just like the apostle Paul when he was taken for dead. Stoned and taken for dead. They gathered around him and up he got. [00:34:19] That's it. Perplexed? Should a Christian be perplexed? [00:34:24] No, Christians are perplexed. I mean mature christians. No, mature christians are perplexed who do not know the cross. [00:34:34] If you know the cross, then you'll know what it is to be perplexed. [00:34:38] You see, the law breaks you. Like Jacob, you're crippled, you can't walk like you used to walk. You're leaning, you're dependent. [00:34:49] So you see, it comes to pass really what the prophet Isaiah said, the lame shall take the prey. [00:35:00] Isn't that wonderful? Who in the end will possess the glory? Who in the end will be filled with glory? The prophet Isaiah saw it all in a few words. [00:35:15] The lame shall take the prey. [00:35:20] Well, are you prepared for that kind of work? The God of all grace who has called you unto into his eternal glory in Christ. After that ye have suffered a little while himself strengthen, establish, perfect lord. Well, I've got a lot more to say about glory because it doesn't stay on the personal level. But we're going to leave it today. It doesn't say on the personal level. That is, it isn't a personal thing at all in one sense it's all to do with a corporate vessel in the last analysis. [00:36:01] But practically it comes down to you and me and what we're prepared for. Are you prepared for this? Am I prepared for it? Is there a veil over the faith? [00:36:15] Are we ready for the spirit of glory, glory to rest upon us and the cross to do its work? [00:36:28] If so, there will be glory and more glory and more glory. Shall we pray? [00:36:40] Dear Lord, once we've really come to thee, once thou hast really taken hold of us, thou dost implant in our hearts a yearning for thyself. [00:36:51] Sometimes it submerged lord in worldliness and sin and unbelief. [00:36:57] But Lord if thy spirit has ever really done anything in us, there is a yearning deep, deep down in each of our hearts. [00:37:08] And, o Lord, we could put a it all into those words and say, Lord, we want thy committed presence. [00:37:15] We want thee to be in us. Not just to know things, not even to be able to do things. Not just to marvel at so many outward things. But have all that, Lord. Yes, but more than that, to have thyself dwelling within us, committed to us. [00:37:36] Lord. Then we would say with Moses of old, show me now thy glory. [00:37:46] And we ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. [00:37:52] Amen.