Matt 17:1-2
To Glorify God
Getting any kind of image of God is very difficult. In fact, that was
one of the many reasons Jesus came into this world, to reveal God’s
image. Jesus told Philip, "…he that had seen me hath seen the
Father." Even so, it is very hard to comprehend.
We believe in the Trinity. The word trinity in the Latin means
three or triad. Be very careful, we do not believe in three gods.
That would conflict with Scripture:
Deut 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is
one LORD:
We believe in one God who manifest Himself in three persons, that is
in three unique persons all at the same time; and as far as we know,
God has always manifested Himself as three unique persons and always
will. Because each member of the Trinity has a unique role in the
Trinity, we have a unique responsibility to each Person.
1. We are to glorify the Father.
2. We are to exalt the Son.
3. We are to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
A few months ago, I preached a message on being filled with the Holy
Spirit from Ephesians 5:18. Tonight for a few moments, I’d like for
us to consider what it means to glorify the Father.
1Cor 6:20 For ye are bought with a price:
therefore glorify God in your body, and in
your spirit, which are God’s.
I. What is glory and where does it come from?
A. A definition
1. You know that I have looked for years for a suitable
definition of glory.
2. The best I ever came up with was that glory was unique
to God and He left it as a fingerprint on everything
He touched.
3. However, a few months ago I came across a new one that
I think is perfect.
4. Glory is the outward manifestation of God’s inward
worth.
a. When you think of God’s worth, it is immeasurable.
b. Hence, His glory ought to be as well.
B. God’s glory seems to manifest itself in a brightness.
1. Our text says that the Lord’s face shone as the son.
Lu 9:29 And as he prayed, the fashion of his
countenance was altered, and his raiment was
white and glistering.
2. It is not necessarily a light although that is what
it is compared to in the Bible.
3. And so it is throughout all of the Bible.
Eze 1:26 And above the firmament that was over
their heads was the likeness of a throne, as
the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon
the likeness of the throne was the likeness
as the appearance of a man above upon it.
27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as
the appearance of fire round about within it,
from the appearance of his loins even upward,
and from the appearance of his loins even
downward, I saw as it were the appearance of
fire, and it had brightness round about.
C. A fact - The Bible actually attributes glory to other
beings/things.
1. Paul speaking of the resurrection, mentions the glory
that God’s creation has.
1Cor 15:40 There are also celestial bodies,
and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the
celestial is one, and the glory of the
terrestrial is another.
2. Paul uses the term men and women.
1Cor 11:7 For a man indeed ought not to cover
his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory
of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
3. New Jerusalem has the glory of God on it.
Re 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit
to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that
great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out
of heaven from God,
11 Having the glory of God: and her light was
like unto a stone most precious, even like a
jasper stone, clear as crystal;
4. The angels at the empty tomb had a glory upon them.
Mt 28:3 His countenance was like lightning, and
his raiment white as snow:
5. Where did these get their glory?
a. I believe that glory came by virtue of that
fingerprint process I mentioned earlier.
b. Because God created us, we have a measure of
God’s glory.
c. It is not ours. That glory is lent to us.
D. Man’s glory fades away.
1Pe 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the
glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass
withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
1. The life of Moses gives a illustration of man’s fading
glory.
Ex 34:33 And till Moses had done speaking with
them, he put a vail on his face.
34 But when Moses went in before the LORD to
speak with him, he took the vail off, until he
came out. And he came out, and spake unto the
children of Israel that which he was commanded.
35 And the children of Israel saw the face of
Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and
Moses put the vail upon his face again, until
he went in to speak with him.
2. If man’s glory fades, it won’t be long before we are
going to have to get a re-charge of else our light
is going to go out.
II. With those facts, let’s draw some conclusions. I believe
there are three things that we need to do (or not do) if we
are to glorify the Father has He ought to be glorified.
A. We ought to give God glory.
1. That we ought to take the glory that God has give to
us and give it back to Him.
2. "Give God the glory" - We saw that term all the time.
3. If we are going to give God glory, we are going to
have to have some to give.
a. We remember that man is a leaking vessel. He can
not hold onto to God’s glory for long. (i.e.
Moses)
b. It is possible that everything that is newly
created has a tough of God’s glory (i.e. new
baby—maybe that is why they are so precious to
us.)
c. But after that new is worn off, the Bible only
presents one way to get a new charge of glory.
(1) Get into God’s presence.
(2) The same as Moses.
d. Here is yet another reason why we need to pray
and to seek God’s face.
(1) That we might absorb and bit of God’s glory
and have some to give to Him.
(2) This is the essence of worship.
(a) We plug into God to get glory from Him.
(b) At the very same moment we are
worshipping Him through praise,
testifying, singing, and feasting on
His Word.
(3) Perhaps we need to think of ourselves as
electrical circuits. We need to first plug
into the Power so that we produce some holy
light!
4. You ask, "Will I physically glow?"
a. If you or I did what Moses did we just might!
b. He spent 40 days and 40 nights in the presence of
God and fasting.
c. But whether you see the glory or not, God will!
B. We should not block God’s glory.
1. Blocking glory has nothing to do with giving God
glory.
a. To give God glory we must have been in God’s
presence to have any glory to give.
b. However, we could have been OUT of God’s presence
for a long, long time and still be blocking
God’s glory. In fact, in such a case, we likely
are!
c. A new creature in Christ is like a new baby. He
or she is naturally endowed with glory and will
radiate it out unless we let sin come in a block
it.
2. We block God’s glory anything God is doing something
and we put it out.
a. This can be a work of the Holy Ghost—or any
member of the Trinity.
(1) That would also be called quenching the
Holy Spirit.
(2) When the Holy Spirit is doing something that
would reveals the worth of God and we get
in the way, we blocked God’s glory.
(3) This was part of the problem in the text
that mentions the unpardonable sin.
(4) These wicked people were taking the good
works of God—works that showed how good
kind, and powerful God is—and began to
ascribe them to the devil!
b. This can also be a work that a human being does.
(1) The only requirement is that the work being
some has to give God glory—show His inward
worth.
(2) If you distract someone while a sinner is
singing praise to God or a preacher is
bragging on God, you block the light.
(3) If you are negative about mission work, you
block the light.
(4) If God is saving souls and you hinder that
work, you block the light.
(5) If you express doubt in the word of God (its
inspiration or preservation), you block the
light.
(6) If you live like a heathen after God has
saved you, you block the light.
c. Anything that God does to express His power, His
love, His mercy, His justice, or anything else
about Himself—and you hinder or stop that work
from going forward, you block God’s glory.
C. We should not steak God’s glory.
1. To steal God’s glory is to redirect it to someone
other than God.
2. God is working—either by Himself or through a
vessel—to demonstrate His worth; and we claim
the work or give it to another.
a. Preachers sometimes take credit for their
preaching or the meeting that they have or the
church that is growing.
b. You get a raise at work and you tell everyone how
you worked hard and deserve it.
c. You get sick and get well and then praise Obama-
care.
d. Be careful.
(1) There is nothing wrong with giving credit
where credit is due.
(a) A doctor who studied hard to learn what
he needed to know to help.
(b) A church that knocked on doors until
their knuckles were bleeding to get
visitors to come to church.
(c) A choir that worked hard to do the best
job they could.
(2) But when it comes to skill, ability, talent,
and even success, the glory is God’s.
3. Do you remember how Herod died? (Acts 12)
Acts 12:21 And upon a set day Herod, arrayed
in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made
an oration unto them.
22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is
the voice of a god, and not of a man.
23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote
him, because he gave not God the glory: and he
was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.
4. Don’t steal God’s glory.
What about you and tonight? Have you given God the glory? Did you
draw close to Him or waste an opportunity. Every wasted worship
service as a wasted opportunity to give the glory.
