The Glory Road
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In the Name of Jesus,
Amen
Glory. Our old sinful nature’s crave it with the same consuming covetous lust as the devil.
12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! 13 You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’
In the Charismatic and Pentecostal churches the insatiable craving for The Glory is an unmistakeable and noticeable feature of the doctrine and practice. One might even say they are “Glory Junkies” jonesing for their next hit of The Glory. But goosebumps and the strange experiences of the so-called “Glory” are cheap counterfeits of God’s Glory and have nothing to do with the Glory of God or the future glory that Christ’s sheep will be gifted with in the resurrection.
Sadly, far too many people today “rely on” these so-called manifestations of God’s Glory as a substitute for the Absolution.
The idea goes something like this, “I’ve had a difficult week and it feels as if the Devil, the world and my own sinful flesh have yet again gotten the upper hand in my life. So, I’ve gone to church to get my Glory hit and feel those goosebumps again because if I raise my hands high enough, am yielded enough, am sincere enough then I will feel those goosebumps and those goosebumps will assure me that things between me and God are okay.”
But what happens if there are no goosebumps, what if you feel nothing, which btw is eventually going to happen. What if you feel nothing, sense nothing or hear nothing for a long period of time…what then? You feel like you and God are not okay.
Then what happens when you’re life doesn’t go from glory to glory but from gory to gory, one defeat after another after another?
So, let’s work our way back through all three of our texts today and consider a proper understanding of God’s glory.
1 Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2 Moses alone shall come near to the Lord, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.” 3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” 9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank. 12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.” 15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.
A picture of the resurrection and the real glory to come.
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
The next mountain Jesus was to climb was Mt. Moriah and there was nothing glorious about it.
On that mountain there was no light but instead the darkness and even the failure of the light of the sun itself.
On that mountain there was no no life, there was only death.
On that mountain there was no victory but only defeat.
On that mountain there was no glory but only shame and ignominy.
On that mountain the voice of the Father was not heard despite Jesus’ plantive cries to Him, “Father why have you forsaken me”.
But know this with certainty, Christ was forsaken, the glory gone, the light extinguished the voice of God departed so that you and I can be forgiven and pardoned of our sins so that we could again have the image of God restored and shine with the Glory of God. But that glory is closed off to us without the blood of the new covenant and unless we are sprinkled and made clean by the blood of the sacrifice, and Christ is that sacrifice, we can never see the Glory of God.
So listen to the voice of Christ and His voice which is only found today in the scriptures. Open them up hear His voice. The the light of Christ, now hidden in the Scriptures will light your path and shine for you in this dark world, the very valley of the shadow death itself, as Christ leads you through this live of sorrow and tears and toil and shame to Mt. Zion and the new earth where we will forever shine with the Glory of Christ, as it was in the beginning is now and will be forever, Amen.