SHOW US YOUR GLORY Part 6: Eternal Glory (No. 1110 - NLC) I. THE ULTIMATE HOPE OF EVERY BELIEVER A. Every believer s final goal is to dwell in God s eternal glory 1. John 17:22-24: 22 I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are one: 23 I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me. 24 Father, I want those You have given Me TO BE WITH ME WHERE I AM, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world. 2. Rom. 5:1-2: 1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through Whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3. Col. 1:27: To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 4. 1 Pet. 5:1, 4, 10: 1 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 5. Rom. 2:6-10: 6 God will give to each person according to what he has done. 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 2016-06-29-show-us-your-glory-part06-eternal-glory-pastor-wayne-pratt.doc 43
6. Jude 24-25: 24 To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence [ presence of His glory NKJV] without fault and with great joy 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. 7. Rom. 9:22-24: 22 What if God, choosing to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the objects of His wrath prepared for destruction? 23 What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory 24 even us, whom He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? B. Sufferings & trials of this present life cannot compare with the future weight of eternal glory promised us through Christ 1. 2 Cor. 4:16-18: 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2. Rom. 8:16-21: 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 3. 1 Pet. 1:7-11: 7 These have come so that your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 44 2016-06-29-show-us-your-glory-part06-eternal-glory-pastor-wayne-pratt.doc
8 Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. II. CHRIST S GLORIOUS APPEARING (RAPTURE) A. Whenever Jesus spoke about His return, it was presented as a glorious event 1. Mat. 16:27: For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what He has done. 2. Mat. 24:30: At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 3. Mat. 25:31: When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory. 4. Mat. 19:28: Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. B. Whenever the apostles wrote about Christ s return for His church, they described it as a glorious appearing 1. Tit. 2:13: While we wait for the blessed hope the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ 2. Col. 3:4: When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 3. Rev. 19:1, 7: 1 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the 2016-06-29-show-us-your-glory-part06-eternal-glory-pastor-wayne-pratt.doc 45
wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. 4. 2 Thess. 1:10-12: 10 On the day He comes to be glorified in His holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. 11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of His calling, and that by His power He may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. III. THE GLORIFIED STATE OF BELIEVERS A. Places of glory are prepared for God s saints in eternity 1. Mark 10:35-40: 35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him. Teacher, they said, we want You to do for us whatever we ask. 36 What do you want Me to do for you? He asked. 37 They replied, Let one of us sit at Your right and the other at Your left in Your glory. 38 You don't know what you are asking, Jesus said. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? 39 We can, they answered. Jesus said to them, You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at My right or left is not for Me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared [ by My Father added in Mat.20:23]. 2. Heb. 2:7-11: 7 You made Him a little lower than the angels; you crowned Him with glory and honor 8 and put everything under His feet. In putting everything under Him, God left nothing that is not subject to Him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to Him. 9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. 10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 Both the One who makes men holy and those 46 2016-06-29-show-us-your-glory-part06-eternal-glory-pastor-wayne-pratt.doc
who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. B. At the end of the age, when the saints are resurrected, they will be transformed into a glorious state for all eternity 1. 1 Cor. 15:40-44 (NKJV): 40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. 42 SO ALSO IS THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 2. Phil. 3:20-21: 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. IV. GLORIOUS KINGDOM & INHERITANCE A. Eph. 1:17-18: 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints B. 1 Thess. 2:11-12: 11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into His kingdom and glory. C. Col. 1:11-13: 11 Being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves 2016-06-29-show-us-your-glory-part06-eternal-glory-pastor-wayne-pratt.doc 47
D. 2 Tim. 2:10: Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. E. Rev. 21:7-11: 7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be My son. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. 9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. V. CONCLUSION A. The Scriptures clearly teach that this present world offers us the hope of kingdoms, riches, and glory but they are only temporal 1. Mat. 4:8-9 (NKJV): 8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me. 2. 2 Cor. 4:17-18: 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 3. 1 Cor. 15:19 (AMP): If we who are [abiding] in Christ have hope only in this life and that is all, then we are of all people most miserable and to be pitied. B. God has called us to eternal life and glory we must therefore fix our hope on those things that are eternal C. In the next and final part of this series, we will look at practical ways in which we can bring glory to God 48 2016-06-29-show-us-your-glory-part06-eternal-glory-pastor-wayne-pratt.doc