The Cost of Chasing God’s Glory

the single most costly thing I’ve bought, to date, by myself, it’s Hope’s wedding ring set.

Nothing worthy comes without a cost.

Chasing God’s glory may mean you have to change your plans

vs 27 - if even Jesus’ soul was troubled when the moment came for God to glorify Himself, we can hardly be surprised when God’s path of glorifying Himself in our lives comes at the expense of our comfort.

In the moment of Jesus’ greatest distress, His focus was on the glory of God.

I’m never going to CHOOSE something for myself that ends in my being put out, or my comfort being sacrificed, but God’s way will often include the sacrifice of our comfort, our plans, our ideas.

Chasing God’s glory may mean you have to change your mind

vs 34 - These people knew what the Bible had said about the Messiah - they just didn’t figure there could be a way that Isaiah’s Suffering Servant could be one and the same with Daniel’s Ancient of Days.

And see, eventually, that’s going to happen in your life, you’re going to come up against a seeming contradiction. What happens when you’re confronted with the truth of Scripture that God is good, and that He loves us, and this seeming contradictory fact that bad things still happen in this world.

What happens when the answers and the truth pick different sides?

In the moment of our greatest distress, our focus must be on the faithfulness of God.

Chasing God’s glory will certainly mean a change in the balance of power

Two things happen when we chase, and when we pursue God’s glory in our lives - two things happen when we are willing to sacrifice our ideas, and our plans.

Two things happen when we pursue the glory of God in our lives

God kicks the enemy out

31

Jesus submitted to God’s glory, and when He did, the ruler of the world was cast out. When we submit to God’s glory, strongholds in our lives begin to crumble.

The King of Glory comes in

32

One of the single greatest things you can do to engage in evangelism is to follow in obedience God’s next step for your life.

Because, to those around you, it makes no sense why you would put your plans on hold, and why you would change the way you think about certain things in your life - it makes no sense, other than…..Jesus is real, He’s at work, and He’s doing something in YOUR life.

There’s a cost - 25-26

Chasing God’s glory will cost you - friends, comfort, it may even cost you your life.

But what you gain is irreplaceable - you gain an intimate knowledge of God, His continued, a growing understanding and experience of His presence. And ultimately, you will gain the reward of being with Him in eternity.

He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose - Philip Henry.

In 2005, a group of art dealers purchased a heavily overpainted and damaged painting at a small U.S. auction for $10,000. It was cataloged simply as a copy of a lost work by Leonardo da Vinci — not the real thing.

The buyers suspected there was more to it and invested in careful restoration and research. As layers of paint were removed, stunning Renaissance detail and brushwork were revealed. After years of scholarly analysis and debate, the painting was authenticated as an original Leonardo da Vinci, believed to be the long-lost Salvator Mundi.

In 2017, it was auctioned by Christie’s for a staggering $450.3 million, making it the most expensive painting ever sold at auction.

So. What cost is your next step going to be. For some of you, this is going to be a first step. You’re going to step out of darkness. Into the light of Christ, His presence, and friendship with Him.