His True Glory
Notes
Transcript
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet,
Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness,
And her salvation like a torch that is burning.
The nations will see your righteousness,
And all kings your glory;
And you will be called by a new name
Which the mouth of the Lord will designate.
You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
And a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
It will no longer be said to you, “Forsaken,”
Nor to your land will it any longer be said, “Desolate”;
But you will be called, “My delight is in her,”
And your land, “Married”;
For the Lord delights in you,
And to Him your land will be married.
Glory of God
Glory of God
I have shared much about the glory of God. Plus there are so many verses in the scripture that speaks of His glory.
Exodus 33:18-23, Glory impossible to behold
Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!”
And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”
But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”
Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock;
and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.
“Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”
Genesis 1:1-3, In the beginning…GOD
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Ezekiel 1:26-28, Glory on the throne
Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man.
Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him.
As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.
Mark 4:39, Power over nature
And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.
Luke 24:1-4, Power over death
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.
And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing;
This is the beauty and the glory of our King.
We give Him honor and glory by lifting up our praise and worship. However, there is a better way to give Him glory.
Christian Hedonism
Christian Hedonism
Great preacher, John Piper, came up with a series call Christian Hedonism not too long ago. Though there are some things I do not agree with him and have become disappointed with him in some areas, Christian Hedonism, was something else.
Definition of “hedonism” - The pursuit of pleasure, sensual self-indulgence.
John Piper’s argument is that we need to become hedonists. His famous quote is, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”
The main teaching of Buddhism is completely emptying oneself of all desire. To reach Nirvana is to have complete absence of all desire.
You see how impossible this is?
Ravi Zacharias, a Christian apologist who has taught me so much had an incredible interaction with a female Buddhist monk.
Christian message is that we completely FILL ourselves with HIM.
Do you see that dramatic difference?
The point is not about emptying, but filling with God.
We were made to be filled. Jesus says “come and BE FILLED.”
The Great Promise in Isaiah 62
The Great Promise in Isaiah 62
With Christian Hedonism in mind, we turn to our passage in Isaiah 62.
Why is God saying things like, “For your sake I will not hold my peace” and “For Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest”?
The contextual meaning here is the very people of Israel, Abraham’s blood descendents, however, in Romans 11, Paul taught that we have been “grafted in” to the family. So this passage now applies to us as well.
So for our restoration, God will not hold His peace. For our sake, God will not rest.
His promises
We will be like a lamp that burns.
The rulers of the world will see our glory.
We will be a crown of glory to God. (WE ARE HIS GLORY!! OH MY GOD)
We will be called Hephzibah and Beulah.
“My delight is in her” “Married”
God is fully deserving of all glory.
John 12:28, God will glorify His own name.
God is 100% after glorifying His own name, but He seems so very passionate about us.
What is the connection between His over zealous passion for us and Him glorifying His own name?
We Are His Glory
We Are His Glory
John Piper is right.
When we are burning with passion for His name, that is when He is fully glorified.
When the world sees us walk in our fullness as His sons and daughters, He is fully glorified.
Our worship songs are great, but He has better worship going on right now! Even on earth, there are so many bands that are infinitely better! There are church goers who are so passionately singing and dancing during worship, so much more than us!
When the name Hephzibah becomes a reality, when we live from that place of being Hephzibah, that is when He is most glorified in us.
It’s when we live as we ought to as His people, that is when He is fully glorified!
Do you want to bring Him glory? Live as His child! Be filled and overflow with God, that is exactly how you bring Him glory!