The Glory of God and The Believer

[00:00:00] And I would like to turn you to the prophecy of Isaiah. [00:00:07] The prophecy of Isaiah. I'm going to read from chapter 60, the 60th chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah. [00:00:24] Arise, shine, for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the peoples. But the Lord will arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And nations shall come to thy light. And kings to the brightness of thy rising. [00:00:52] Lift up thine eyes round about and see. They all gather themselves together. They come to thee. Thy sons shall come from far and thy daughters shall be carried in the arms. [00:01:07] Then thou shalt see and be radiant. And thy heart shall thrill and be enlarged because the abundance of the sea shall be turned unto thee. The wealth of the nations shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee. The dormitories of Midian and Ephah. All they from Shaiva shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense and shall proclaim the praises of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee. The rams of Nebaoth shall minister unto thee. They shall come up with acceptance on mine altar. And I will glorify the house of my glory. [00:01:57] Who are these that fly as a cloud and as the doves to their windows? Surely the isles shall wait for me and the ships of tarshish first to bring thy sons from far their silver and their gold with them. For the name of the Lord thy God and for the holy one of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. And foreigners shall build up thy walls and their kings shall minister unto thee. For in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. Thy gates also shall be opened continually. They shall not be shut day nor night that men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations and their kings led captive for that nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish. Yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee. The fir tree, the pine and the box tree together to beautify the place of my sanctuary. And I will make the place of my feet glorious. And the sons of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee. And all they that despise thee shall bow themselves down at the souls at thy feet. And they shall call thee the city of the Lord, the Zion of the holy one of Israel. [00:03:30] Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated so that no man passed through thee I will make thee an eternal excellency a joy of many generations. [00:03:46] Just a word of prayer. Beloved Lord, we do want to thank you this morning that we're found here in your presence. We have been worshipping you and sensing your being in our midst, were gathering to you, Lord. And our prayer now, Lord, is that that anointing which you provided shall be upon us both in the speaking of your word and in its hearing in fullest measure. We stand by faith into it, Lord, for it has always pleased you in weakness to glorify yourself. [00:04:28] So, beloved Lord, take this time together and impart something more of yourself. Make this a meeting with yourself. Lord, we pray, and we shall give you all the praise and all the glory for answering this prayer which we ask in the name of our messiah, the Lord Jesus. Amen. [00:04:54] The theme of this day, which I think is a thrilling one, is taken from this 60th chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah. And verse 13 in the last phrase, I will make the place of my feet glorious. [00:05:17] I will make the place of my feet glorious. [00:05:24] Couldn't be any more wonderful word. [00:05:28] You will notice that you have here in this same verse, the beautifying of his sanctuary. [00:05:38] You have in verse seven, I will glorify the house of my glory. You will remember that Isaiah's ministry began with a vision of the Lord high and lifted up in the year that King Isaiah died. And you will remember that the. As it puts it in the old version, the train of the Lord's garments filled the temple. Actually, in Hebrew, it is the skirts, the hem, as it were. The lowest part of the garment filled the temple. In other words, it was the feet. [00:06:32] And so Isaiah's ministry began with a vision of the Lord, glorious, powerful, holy, filling the temple, his feet, the place of his feet, glorious. [00:06:50] Now, I want to talk this morning about glory, and I want to talk about it in connection with the believer, whether jew or gentile. And then this evening I want to talk, or this afternoon, later this afternoon, I want to talk about Israel and the glory of God. [00:07:13] It's a marvelous thing that in the word of God, you will discover everywhere you turn this word glory. [00:07:24] But glory is not actually very well understood. [00:07:30] Many people think of glory as pomp and splendour. Brass bands, the queen, pinning medals on somebody's chest, all splendor, all pomp, all majesty. That's how many people think of glory. [00:07:49] Actually, there's no way you can translate this word properly. Many modern versions have tried to do it by using different english words to translate the word glory. But it is like the word grace. [00:08:07] It cannot really be adequately translated. [00:08:12] You have to know what glory is in your spirit. [00:08:17] You cannot really define glory in one way. [00:08:22] Therefore I sometimes find it sad when I read in some modern versions the word splendor, translated for the hebrew word kavod. Because I think that glory is something, it has to be revealed to you. The best definition I have ever heard of glory is the manifested presence of God. Not just the presence of God, but the manifested presence of God. [00:08:54] So impactive, so powerful, so majestic, so beautiful, the manifested presence of God. [00:09:09] Man was created originally for the glory of God, not just to adorn him, but to be a vessel, an agent, a vehicle. That's putting it poorly, because it sounds very impersonal, very bureaucratic. [00:09:37] A person who expresses the presence of God through that person, the very presence of God is manifested. [00:09:54] Man was made for glory. [00:09:57] I don't know whether you understand what I'm talking about, but he was destined for God's glory. Let me put it another way. Without the glory of God, man is another species. [00:10:14] He is not what God intended man to be when he created man in his image and after his likeness, he was created, but not glorified. Without the glory of God, without the manifested glory of God, man is another kind of being. Something less than what God meant, something less than what God designed, something less than man was destined for. I hope you can understand, I'll pray in a moment that the Lord give us a spirit of revelation and understanding in this matter. Man cannot function as intended by God without the glory of God. [00:11:11] Now I'm talking about the future, of course. [00:11:14] But what I'm trying to say is, you see, the Bible speaks of the former things. It speaks of the first things. It speaks of a whole parenthesis of time. Once that's gone and man has reached the glory of God, then the very goal of God can be reached. In other words, we can start, as it were, into all that God really intended for this universe. We don't even know what it is. I often say to you. Many of you have heard me say it many times. Many christians have got an idea that we're just for forgiven, that we are just. That is tremendous. By the way, I dont devalue it for a moment, but were just forgiven of our sins, were cleansed from our sins, were justified, were declared righteous, we are now children of God, were in the family of God, born of the spirit of God. And thats it. [00:12:16] What were going to do in the ages of ages? Nobody seems. Seems to know. [00:12:23] Some people suggest we shall be as I've often said in an eternal choir, and I don't have anything against choirs, especially when under the government of the spirit of God and expressing something of the word of God and the purpose of God. [00:12:45] But even the most musical person will surely tire after thousands upon thousands upon thousands of years of being in a choir. [00:12:58] And one would have felt that the Lord himself would be rather tired. [00:13:04] That it would. [00:13:07] Where is it leading to? What is it doing? Is the Lord really so self centered that he would only be interested in everyone singing and singing and singing and singing and singing? [00:13:23] Why did God create us? Why did he create us spirit, soul and body? And why does our redemption and salvation cover spirit, soul and body? And why is there a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness? [00:13:45] Why are these things forever, not just for a millennium, but forever? [00:13:52] What does it all mean? [00:13:54] Man was created for the glory of God. Not just to adorn God's name, just to be, as it were, appraised to him. That is true also. But man was created to be a vessel of glory, an instrument of glory, a vehicle of glory. [00:14:24] I wish I could explain it more fully. When man does not reach that glory, he's trapped in an endless cycle of corruption and futility. [00:14:44] You see, in the book of ecclesiastes, it says, and God put eternity in the heart of man. [00:14:55] This is very hard to explain, but I always put it this way. God created a God shaped blank in the spirit of man. [00:15:13] If God does not fill that vacuum, then man is trapped in corruption and futility. [00:15:25] He becomes another order of being. [00:15:29] He has not reached what God intended him to be. Now, of course, you have it all, but it's in a marvelous gospel word that all of you know so well. I don't care who you are, you might be the youngest christian believer in this place, but you will have heard of this. For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. [00:16:01] Romans 323. We're so used to this that its real significance and meaning doesn't even dawn on us. For there is no distinction, that is, between jew or gentile. There is no distinction. All have sinned and fallen shortly short of the glory of God. However far some may go in nobility, however far some may go in self sacrifice, however far some may go in good works. [00:16:34] We all have sinned, and we have all fallen short. It doesn't matter if you fall short by an inch or fall short by a mile. If you've fallen short, you've fallen short. If I may put it very vulgarly. You've missed the boat. [00:16:55] Whether by an inch or whether by a mile, you and I have missed the boat. We have fallen short of the glory of God. So it doesn't matter who we are or what we are, how religious we are, how irreligious we are, how depraved we are, or how seemingly decent we are. We have all sinned, and we have all fallen short of the glory of God. In other words, God created us originally in his likeness, in his image that we might become a vessel of his glory, a means through which he could express himself, a means through which he can reveal himself. [00:17:47] It is not only man that was created for the glory of God. It was also the whole universe. Actually, the physical universe as we know it was originally created to be filled with the glory of God. You will remember some marvelous scriptures in this connection. You will remember in Isaiah, it speaks of the knowledge of the Lord covering the earth as the waters cover the sea. And then the prophet Habakkuk, he also adds in chapter two and verse 14, for the knowledge of the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. And Isaiah, the prophet says, and all flesh shall see it together. What is he speaking about? And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. [00:18:56] I mean, the actual natural creation was originally designed for the glory of God. It is true that man is the heart of the whole thing. Ill come to that in a moment if im not getting you fast asleep. [00:19:16] The fact of the matter is, everything was created for his glory, whether its the heavens or the earth, whether its the tropics or whether its the temperate zones or whether its the Arctic or the Antarctic, or whether it's your little cat or your dog or your birds or everything. Some very strange creatures like the camel, that I always feel. God had enormous humor when he created the camel and many other creatures. All these creatures were created for something. Now you say, oh, just wait. What in the world have we come for? We are pfi people. We've come to hear about Israel. What in the world is he talking about? It sounds like pantheism to me. I mean, as if God is in everything. He's gone buddhist, I mean, or hindu. I mean, what's happened to the man? [00:20:09] It must be some of the people he's consorting with. [00:20:16] But if you look at Romans and chapter eight and verse 18, I'm going to read it to you. I know there are some strange teachings centered on this, but it's still the word of God. [00:20:32] We do find some very strange teachings amongst christians. [00:20:37] Normally it is truth taken to an extreme, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed. Us ward for the earnest expectation of the creation waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to vanity or futility, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now, and not only so, but ourselves also, who had the first fruits of the spirit. Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption to whip the redemption of our body. [00:21:38] For in hope were we saved. But hope that is seen is not hope for who hopes for that which he sees. But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. This is a most extraordinary passage. I wish we had the apostle here to expound it, because it is one of the most amazing windows in the New Testament into another dimension of understanding. From this we understand that the whole natural creation as we see it was originally created for something else than we know. [00:22:24] I know that the old covenant has some marvelous little phrases like trees clapping their hands and valleys, singing for joy, and all these kind of things that are expressive of something. This whole natural creation, if you had ears to hear, is groaning. [00:22:49] Even your pet cat, your pet dog, you don't know it. [00:22:57] It grows. [00:23:00] The whole creation grows in. The word is so extraordinary. Travail. [00:23:10] It's in the pangs of birth. [00:23:17] It's been paralyzed by the fall of man. [00:23:23] Originally, God intended something so, so much more. [00:23:28] Now, I'm not going to get too far into this matter, or we'll be here all day on this one point. But I just want to point out to you that if you had ears to hear and eyes to see, this whole natural creation travails in pain together. [00:23:52] Longing for its liberation and its liberation is bound up with the people of God, the redeemed of the Lord coming into their inheritance when they come of age, when they reach the place they should be, then the whole natural creation will be released from its pain, its bondage to corruption, its cycle of endless futility. [00:24:29] Isnt that amazing? [00:24:32] First, things the Lord Jesus said in that marvelous vision of John as we have it in revelation 21, he says, behold, the former things have passed away. [00:24:48] Behold, I make all things new. [00:24:55] This old creation was made for glory, just as you and I were made for glory. In fact, we at the heart of the matter, it is very interesting that it speaks here of the first fruits. We who have the firstfruits. In other words, are you saved? Are you born again? Then? In one sense, you are the firstfruits of a new man, of a new creation, of a new order, if you understand what I mean. You have been created again, recreated. You have been born anew, born again for the glory of God, where we fell short now in the Messiah, in the Lord Jesus. We are now moving towards glory, from glory to glory. I'll say something about that in a moment, but what I want to say now is, first fruits. We groan within ourselves. Now, I have no idea whether most of you ever groan. I have heard some strange things about groaning in my short life. I've told you some of the stories at different times when I've been in meetings where I've heard the most extraordinary groans I have ever heard. And on one occasion I couldn't even concentrate on the prayers because of the groaning. And then the pastor said to me, is he putting you off? Well, I said, what's he doing? So he. I thought he was ill. [00:26:24] He said, he has the Ministry of groaning. [00:26:30] I found that rather odd since it says groanings which cannot be uttered. [00:26:34] But, I mean, I have. See, I told you the story of how once in Florida, where all the strangest things come from. [00:26:45] Once in Florida, I mean, a lady came to me and said, could I help her? She said she had been in a clinic, a prayer clinic. Now, I knew something about schools of prayer, but I had never heard of a prayer clinic. So I said, is this for people who are ill? You know, I mean, they're ill in prayer, or prayer has made them ill. And I said, no, no, no. She said, it's like your school of prayer. They just teach us the principles. I've been greatly helped, she said, but the second course has really disturbed me. And I asked her what the second course was. She said, I'm on a course for groaning. [00:27:26] And I said, you're on a course for groaning? Yes, she said, so I said, now, just let me get this clear. You mean that someone is teaching you how to groan? Yes, she said, so I said, you mean he says to you groan and you go, oh, no, like this? [00:27:43] Yes. She said basically that. That's right. And then suddenly, being jewish, the penny dropped and I said to her, how much are you paying for this course? [00:27:56] And she was. [00:27:58] She was paying a handsome sum for a course on groaning. [00:28:05] Beloved friends, no wonder the Lord called us sheep, so easy to fleece. [00:28:18] But anyway, coming back to this subject there is a groaning. [00:28:24] Have you ever felt that sort of. [00:28:27] I can't explain it. [00:28:30] I know we are to be joyful. We are to serve the Lord with gladness. We are to serve the Lord with joy. There is such a thing as joy, unspeakable and full of glory. [00:28:41] But the nearer you get the Lord, the more you feel this universe and within your own body. [00:28:51] A groaning it is an earnest expectation of what is to come and a longing that we may come to it. [00:29:05] Heres something not only in the believer, but something in the whole natural creation which is waiting for this revelation of the glory of the Lord in the redeemed. Well I can only touch on these things but do you understand what im trying to say? The natural creation cannot reach God's end without his glory and that glory is essentially focused on man. [00:29:45] In other words, when man comes to the right place, then in the end that will unlock the door, the gate as it were, for the whole natural creation. And then the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. [00:30:16] Dear friends, it's all for those who are believers. It's all bound up in the apostle Peter's words, in his first letter and chapter five and verse ten and eleven. And the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in the Messiah Jesus, after that ye have suffered a little. Meanwhile shall himself perfect establish, strengthen you. Isn't this a marvelous statement? Listen again. And the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in the Messiah Jesus, after that you have suffered a little while himself perfect stablish strengthen you to him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. What a way to end a letter. [00:31:30] What a way to end a letter. Especially when he's been talking about tribulation and suffering and much else in this marvellous little the proving of your faith. God never tries what's not there, he only tries what is there. That's why I like better the word the proving of your faith. Because when God puts you in the crucible of fire or suffering, it is to prove that there is living faith there. [00:32:01] He never. If there's a danger that you would be extinguished, liquidated, completely finished, the Lord will not put you into it. [00:32:11] Now that may say something for those of you having a joy rider. [00:32:17] Some people believe that the whole. I always remember years ago, I shouldn't tell this story. But I remember years ago there was a sister, she was the nearest of all the missionaries to Brother watchman knee. And she went to hear a pentecostal preacher, preacher in north China. [00:32:35] And he said, ever since I've had an experience of the spirit of God, I have lived at the gate of heaven. [00:32:43] I wake every day with joy in my heart and I go through the whole day in the joy of the Lord. She went back home and she fell on her knees and she said to the Lord, I don't understand it, Lord, I live at the gate of hell. [00:33:03] How can I be a servant of the Lord? [00:33:07] What is wrong with me? Where am I failing? This man lives at the gate of heaven every day of his experience. [00:33:17] And the Lord never answered her. Have you ever found that? [00:33:21] He never answered. And not a word did the Lord say. [00:33:25] Years later she was in South China and the Bible woman's only son had committed suicide and no one could help her. Everyone came, the elders, the workers, all kinds of special people who deeply knew the Lord, but nobody could touch her. And finally the elders of the church came to this dear sister and said, do you think you could come and see sister so and so? And she said, I will. [00:34:02] But she said, I will say nothing. [00:34:07] And she came and she sat for hours with this little heartbroken sister. [00:34:18] And then suddenly the sister for the first time said, pray. [00:34:25] And they got down together and they prayed and the sister came out of her darkness and out of her heartbrokenness. [00:34:36] And dear Sister Elizabeth went back to the place where she stayed. [00:34:43] And as she was going to bed, the Lord said to her, you know now why you live at the gate of hell. [00:34:55] So it is with every child of God you have to suffer a little while, some of us a little longer while than others, probably because were tougher material. [00:35:06] Oh, you say this isnt there very charismatic. [00:35:10] I mean we believe in the prosperity gospel, you know, well, there is a prayer, there is a prosperity to be had in the Lord and there is a wealth to be had in the Lord and there is a fullness to be had in the Lord. And there is joy unspeakable and full of glory in the Lord. [00:35:31] But theres also the fellowship of his suffering. [00:35:34] And without the fellowship of his sufferings, there will never ever be a powerful manifestation of glory. [00:35:47] Now let me put it again, listen again if it may help you, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in the messiah, Jesus. Jesus. After that ye have suffered a little while himself perfect strengthen, establish you first of all underline it eternal glory in the Messiah. It is not found anywhere else. It's not found in your knowledge, it's not found in your degrees. It is not found in your profession. It's not found in your ability to do things. This glory is in the Messiah, and it is eternal glory, not transient glory, not a visitation of glory, not glory touching you for a few moments and lifting you, as it were, into the 7th heaven. But this is eternal glory. Where is this eternal glory? It is in the Messiah, Jesus. Nowhere else. In the Messiah Jesus. That's the first thing. Second thing. You're called. [00:36:59] You are called to what you are called first and foremost, not just to service, not just to knowing the Bible. You're called first and foremost to his eternal glory, whether he's heard that Paul, or not, whether he knows that call is his or not. Every child of God is called with this calling. This is the on high calling. This is our so great calling that we are to walk worthily of called to his eternal glory in the Messiah Jesus. But listen to this. [00:37:42] If you feel it's too much for you, the God of all grace, you will need all grace to reach the end and go of the Lord for your life, for my life, for our life. [00:38:01] If we are to really see the Lord fulfill everything that he has said in the book, we shall need all grace. [00:38:10] If you think you can get there on your own, try. [00:38:15] You will never reach that end. [00:38:18] For the Lord will be very careful to knock away every prop to destroy everything you depend upon. Till in the end, it is all grace, and it is the God of all grace, always grace sufficient for everything. I used to know a little old sister who meant a lot to me in earlier years. And once I saw her in Richmond, in one of the busiest roads in the town. There were not too many wide roads in Richmond, Surrey, but there was one that was a little wider than others. And the traffic used to hurtle along there. And I saw this little soul. She was no higher than this. She'd been not pushing her in her day. And I saw her lifting up her hand like this. And everything stopped. [00:39:13] And she went across like Moses. [00:39:19] And I told her off. When I was on the other side, she hadn't seen me. And I said, Aunt Yella, I said, you'll be killed. One of these, David. Never. She said. Never, she said, grace sufficient for the traffic. [00:39:37] Now, I'm not suggesting you all try that. But the Lord gave her this wonderful word. [00:39:44] She could trust him for grace. Grace sufficient even for the traffic. [00:39:53] Yes, dear friends, God has grace. And this grace is all available to everyone of us who is born of God. It is the God of all grace who has called us to his eternal glory in the Messiah, Jesus. [00:40:13] After that, youve suffered a little while. Thats where we need the grace. [00:40:20] Have you ever noticed that all those high points in your experience where you're ecstatic and thank God for every ecstasy we need, everyone we can get? [00:40:30] Have you ever noticed that they're not the things that are the powerful, changing influence in your life? [00:40:39] But it has been the valleys, the times when you've gone through dark things and have wept and have not known where to turn or what to do, how to come through. And then you found the Lord. [00:40:54] Years ago, I remember another sister. [00:40:59] I sat in her drawing room. She was a titled lady, a very fine believer. And I saw a little thing on the wall, my piece I give to you. And I thought to myself, I was young. [00:41:15] I thought to myself, how trite. [00:41:18] That's the kind of little thing you see in these old ladies homes. [00:41:23] My peace I give to you. [00:41:26] After a while, we got talking, and I said to her, why have you put that up on the wall? [00:41:33] And she said, you see, that meant a tremendous amount to me. At one point in my life, she said I had no peace and I could find no peace, and I didn't know what to do. And then she said, suddenly into my spirit, at the worst point of the storm, I heard the Lord saying, peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. And then she said, in a flash, I understood there was a peace he has left with me, which was not his peace. He never needed peace for sins forgiven. That's the peace he left with me. But when he said, my peace I give to you, that's the peace he had in Gethsemane. That's the peace he had on the cross. [00:42:24] That's the peace that he had in his busy life when he was finding contradiction on all sides. And she said, in that moment, I came out of my problem. The problem was the same. I was changed. Now I had the peace of the Lord Jesus himself, his own peace in my heart. [00:42:51] And then she said something. I have never forgotten when that happened. That word becomes yours forever. [00:43:03] Its something that goes into your spirit and it becomes flesh and blood. [00:43:08] It is the word imparted, the word dwelling in you. Well, now, my dear friends, im just saying all these wonderful things, but let me go on. I never know what time were supposed to finish. [00:43:21] 15. [00:43:25] I want to say something more about this wonderful matter of glory. You see, without the Messiah Jesus, there is no salvation and no glory. [00:43:43] If you look at Timothy, the second letter of Timothy, and chapter two and verse ten, we read these wonderful words. Therefore, I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in the messiah, Jesus with eternal glory. [00:44:09] Salvation which is in the messiah, Jesus with eternal glory. [00:44:17] Without the messiah, Jesus, no salvation, and without the messiah, Jesus, no eternal glory. [00:44:25] In him we are saved. Through him we are saved. In him we are glorified. Through him we are glorified. Does it mean something to you? Or let me give you yet another scripture which will undoubtedly be a problem to some. It is in Romans, chapter nine and verse 23. And that he, God, might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory. Even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles. Isn't that a wonderful phrase? Vessels of mercy, prepared to glory. [00:45:07] Now, because I'm a calvinist, so I don't have any problem with this marvelous scripture, but a lot of people have a terrible problem with this. [00:45:16] They just can't believe that. Well, I'll leave all that. The fact of the matter is, it's the word of God. It is vessels of mercy afore prepared unto glory. [00:45:29] Oh, what an amazing, amazing thing. Are you a vessel of glory? Are you a vessel of mercy? [00:45:38] If you only knew how much mercy you needed. [00:45:42] Most christians get very quickly self righteous. [00:45:46] Oh, how much mercy we need. We are vessels of mercy. Forget the rest. I know there's problems with it. Vessels of destruction and all the rest of it. We'll leave that for a moment. Just think for a moment. Are you a vessel of mercy? If you are, you have been prepared beforehand for glory. Do you know what that means? [00:46:13] It means that your difficult circumstances were all planned. [00:46:20] Do you know what it means? The situations that you find impossible, they were prepared beforehand just for you. [00:46:34] You know that difficult relationship you have with parents, with children, with husband, with wife, with sister, with brother, prepared beforehand just for you. Oh, you say, how can you say I'm not coming again to one of these conventions? I mean, it's bad enough talking about these kind of things instead of Israel, but I mean to tell us that all these kind of things were planned beforehand. [00:47:07] Yes, they were. [00:47:10] You see, the only way the Lord can bring you to glory is just by such things. [00:47:18] We think we will be prepared for glory in marvelous mountain top experiences, in conferences and conventions. Now, I think it's wonderful to have a convention. It's wonderful to have a conference, but if you think that your life is going to be changed by mountaintop experiences, you will see something in a conference, in a mountaintop experience. [00:47:45] But it will be in the difficult circumstances and situations that the Lord brings you into that there you will be prepared for glory. [00:47:56] Think about it if you can. [00:48:01] Or Romans, chapter eight and verse 29 and 34. Whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And whom he foreordained, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he also glorified. Now, isn't that a marvellous thing? Now I must move on past, or we will not have time to finish what we want to say this morning. The Lord Jesus is the dwelling place of God's glory. May I put it this way. When the Lord said through the prophet Isaiah, I will make the place of my feet glorious. Of whom was he speaking? Of the Lord Jesus. [00:48:45] It is the Lord Jesus, his feet, the place of his feet that will be glorious. Do you understand? [00:48:54] Oh, I think of these wonderful words in John's gospel, which you all know so well. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. [00:49:11] The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that hath been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. Verse 14. [00:49:31] And he became the word, became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. Verse 18. [00:49:50] No man hath seen God at any time. [00:49:55] The only begotten son who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared or revealed, or expressed him the dwelling place of glory. [00:50:16] When the glory of the Lord touched the earth, it was for a moment filled the tabernacle nobody could stand. [00:50:28] No one could stand. [00:50:31] But what was but for a moment when the glory of the Lord filled the temple, not one of the priests could stand. They all fell on their faith. [00:50:46] It was but for a moment. [00:50:50] But the glory of God in the Lord Jesus is forever, not a visitation forever. [00:51:04] I think of the writer to the hebrew letter, which I think is pretty good for us, because there is something going around in messianic circles that is demoting the Lord Jesus, making him less than he is, making him only human, a very, very special, a special creation of God. [00:51:23] I feel totally out of sorts. [00:51:26] I believe that John's gospel is the most jewish of the four gospels because he takes the marvelous, unmentionable name of the Lord I am and links it to Jesus. [00:51:42] I am the bread of life. I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the true vine before Abraham was. [00:51:55] I am. [00:51:59] So when I come to this hebrew letter, I find it very interesting that this is how he, the writer begins. God, having of old times spoken to the fathers and the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds, who, being the author of his glory and the express image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had made purification of sin, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. Isn't that marvelous? Now this word's a bit of a mouthful. The effulgence of glory. What a noise. The outshining, the radiant outshining. The radiant expression of his glory. The express image of his substance. These are tremendous things. You cannot speak of any human being in this way. It is so tremendous to me. Or here's something else. It's in two corinthians and chapter, chapter four and verse six. I find this such a wonderful. Yes, verse six. Seeing God said, let there be light out of darkness, who shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus the Messiah. [00:53:46] Now, my dear friends, does this mean anything to you? [00:53:50] I hope it does. I think of the tabernacle. I think of the temple. Ive already mentioned it, so I wont say any more to it other than this, that the tabernacle. Every single thing in the tabernacle speaks of the Lord Jesus. Every single thing in the temple speaks of the Lord Jesus. Is it any wonder that the psalmist in psalm 29 nine says, and everything says in his temple glory? [00:54:19] Every single thing. Wherever you turn in tabernacle or temple, it speaks of the Lord Jesus, of his glory. Even the burnt offering which removes us out of sight by which our sin is cancelled and we declared righteous. Even the laver of regeneration, the laver for washing, that speaks of being born again. Everywhere you turn, show table, bread of life, incense he ever lives to make intercession for us. The lampstand. I am the light of the world, the ark of the covenant. [00:54:56] Everything speaks of the Lord Jesus. Wherever you turn, it speaks of his glory. The hangings speak of his glory. The gold speaks of his glory. The silver speaks to the glory of his redemption. Everywhere you turn. [00:55:12] And Jesus said, as recorded in John's gospel, chapter two, I think it's verse 29, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. [00:55:25] He is the tabernacle of the Lord. He is the temple of the Lord. Do you understand? [00:55:31] Begin to dawn on you something of this wonder that we are talking about. [00:55:37] Beloved friends, I find it all so amazing. Now listen carefully to me. [00:55:47] The Lord Jesus, as man, as man, the second man, the last Adam, the second man. [00:56:00] He went up a mountain, remember? [00:56:06] And suddenly Elijah and Moses were talking with him. What were they talking about? Luke tells us they were talking about his exodus. [00:56:18] The word in Greek is exodus. [00:56:21] The old version says his decease. [00:56:24] I don't like that his exodus is much. But he was talking about his exodus. They were all chattering and talking together. And suddenly the apostles, the four that were there, they saw something happen to Jesus, something switched on inside. Now, we call this the transfiguration. But most people think of it like a spotlight coming out of heaven and shining on the Lord Jesus in a great circle of divine light. [00:56:55] That's not what it was. If you read carefully in Matthew's gospel, 17, Mark's gospel, chapter nine. Luke's gospel, chapter nine, you will discover that the glory switched on inside. And suddenly his hair glowed with light and his skin glistered and his clothes glisted, dazzling in light. Something happened inside. Wasn't a spotlight on him. It was something that happened inside. [00:57:25] Jesus reached the glory of God as a man. [00:57:32] Where Adam fell short. [00:57:36] All in Adam have fallen short. [00:57:39] And all in the Messiah who reached the glory of God. [00:57:45] Is it too much for you? [00:57:47] Think, think. [00:57:51] I find it so tremendous that you can't help getting excited about it. In Hebrews, chapter two and verse 1010, this is what it says of the Lord Jesus. It says, for it became him, for whom are all things. And through whom are all things. He is the heir of all things. In bringing many sons to glory. Bringing many sons to glory. When the Lord Jesus was transfigured on that mountaintop, he could have stepped into the glory. He would have been the only man in the glory. He could have stepped in. He had succeeded where Adam failed. But in that moment, he turned and came down. And the first thing he met was a demon possessed boy, thrown about, convulsed by demons. [00:58:43] And the disciples could do nothing. [00:58:46] That's a picture. Jesus turned, and in one week he was on the ground, cross transfigured in glory. He could never have died for your sin and my sin, but for his reaching the glory of God. [00:59:05] Now, dear friends, I do hope you understand not only Gentiles, but Jews, not only Jews, but Gentiles, vessels of mercy afore prepared for glory. [00:59:28] Is it any wonder that in that same chapter four of second of the second corinthian letter, it speaks of the light of the gospel, of the glory of the Messiah? [00:59:42] It speaks of the light of the gospel, of the glory of the messiah, shining into us or not shining into us, being withheld from us. [00:59:56] Well, I must finish now. [00:59:59] We have just a few more minutes. [01:00:03] Oh, I just want to talk to you who are believers for a few moments. I hope youre not disappointed. Do you think? Well, he should have talked about Israel, you know. [01:00:14] Well, I will. Ill talk about Israel this evening. [01:00:17] But salvation leads to glory, the Lord Jesus said, glorify them with the glory you have given to me in his high priestly prayer. [01:00:39] When the Lord saved you and he saved me, he saved us with glory in mind. [01:00:46] Now listen carefully to me. The apostle Paul speaks about this, the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ. [01:00:58] In you the hope of glory, Christ in you, the messiah in you the certain hope not. Well, we hope. You know, some people say, well, I do hope it's going to be a nice day tomorrow. [01:01:15] Knowing Britain, you can't be sure. [01:01:20] Maybe this is the british summer we've had today. [01:01:23] I do hope it'll be nice tomorrow. Some people say, I do hope it will rain tomorrow. I don't know how the Lord sorts these things out, but some people say, I do hope it rains tomorrow. I don't have to water the garden. [01:01:35] I hope that it will rain. [01:01:39] But we mean we hope. Sometimes we hope against hope. [01:01:45] Sometimes we sort of pull ourselves together to try and make ourselves feel more certain about it. But this is not the biblical hope. Biblical hope is certain hope. It's like if I say my hope is in the coming dawn, the dawn's going to come. I have a certain hope the dawn is going to come. And I can endure the night because there's coming a dawn, a certain hope. [01:02:17] Messiah. In you the hope, the certain hope of glory. Now, listen carefully. The more of the Lord Jesus, in you the more glory. The less of the Lord Jesus. In you the less glory. One star differs from another in glory. There's no great communist paradise up there where everybody has the same measure of glory. No, no, no, it's a question of how much the there is of the Lord in you. Have you decreased? Has he increased? Have you allowed him to do the work in you that he wanted to do? Is our church full of the Lord Jesus or is it full of our own work? The work of the flesh, the energy of the flesh, the ways of the world, everything that belongs to the world has come into it. Dear friends, think. [01:03:13] Do you think that you could reveal all the glory of God? [01:03:20] You must be very big headed. [01:03:23] Do I think that I could reveal? No. Beloved friends, it takes every single redeemed person to express the glory of God. Every one of us different. Every one of us with something else to give, like Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. All four of them different, all of them expressing the same person, all of them telling in one sense the same story. But you put the four together and you have glory. [01:03:55] So it is with the church. We are living stones built. [01:04:00] He is the living stone, he is the cornerstone, he is the foundation, he is the head of the corner, he is the top stone. [01:04:08] But dear friends, you and I are built in together with him. He is everything. [01:04:15] Isn't it amazing? [01:04:18] Hidden body. [01:04:21] You mean the church? I'm talking about the true church. [01:04:25] If the true church is the body of which he is head, how can you glorify the head and not the body? It doesnt mean anything. You glorify the whole. Do you understand? [01:04:38] It is so wonderful to see it like this. Some people get so bound up with this thing. My beloved friends, it seems to me that its very important that you and I recognize the Lord Jesus in one another. [01:05:00] There is so much division, so much denominationalism coming back now into evangelical and charismatic circles whereby we judge everything and everyone and so on. My dear friends, I say it again and again, I will not touch false doctrine. [01:05:22] But if the Lord Jesus has received someone, I cannot reject him. [01:05:30] My catholic brother or sister, be he pope, cardinal, archbishop, or the humblest Catholic whose born again belongs to me and I belong to him. [01:05:42] And the dead Anglican or the dead Presbyterian or the dead Calvinist. [01:05:51] He has nothing to do with me and I nothing to do with him. I love him, I pray for his salvation. But he's not in the body. [01:06:00] What a shock we're going to get when we get to glory. [01:06:04] Some people would find it very hard to believe that John the 23rd might be the there. [01:06:14] Some people might feel that. Bernard of Cluny. [01:06:19] What we sing is hymns. Yes. [01:06:23] Don't mention where he came from, please. [01:06:26] Now I'm not arguing here for Catholicism. I've suffered enough. [01:06:34] What I'm simply saying is this, that every one whom the Lord receives, I have to receive, and I have to minister that one. This glory of God. Which will one day be manifested. [01:06:51] Beloved friends, it is light affliction. Which is but for a moment. It is an eternal and exceedingly weight of glory. Which is being worked in us from glory to glory. It doesn't seem like that, does it? I would have said it's more like from tribulation to tribulation, from problem to problem, from impossibility to impossibility. [01:07:26] But it's just through that that the Lord does all his work in us. And he creates us vessels of mercy afore prepared for glory. It'll all be worth it one day. You wait. It'll be worth it. You and I will sit together having that cup of tea. Coffee will not be known in that place. And you and I will sit down there having our eternal cup of tea. Tea. [01:07:54] In one of the breaks between a choir session. [01:07:58] And you will say to me, I never believed that those afflictions I suffered, those tribulations, those problems I faced. I never believed they could work so much light affliction. [01:08:17] But for a moment, an eternal and exceeding weight of glory. It'll all be worth it then. [01:08:28] Worth it a thousand times. Maybe you will even say to me, I wish I'd had more. [01:08:38] If I had only allowed the Lord to go deeper and fuller with me. I wish now, I'm not wanting you all to be those who sort of get all turned in and morbid and sort of, you know, try to bring a kind of brokenness on yourself. Dear friends, don't do it. Rejoice in the Lord. And again the word says rejoice. [01:08:59] But the way the Lord works, a capacity for glory. [01:09:09] Is through problem and difficulty. [01:09:13] And it's well worth it. [01:09:19] I'll talk about Israel this evening.