Glory
Well, I'm going to have three different scriptures tonight and as we hear our brethren read them, I want you to listen for one word in particular. There's one word that pops up in every one of these passages that are going to be read.
Exodus 33:18, 19,
Romans 16:26, 27,
1 Corinthians 10:31,
Anybody who can read through their Bibles, if you're looking for particular words, there is at least one word that showed up this evening and that is the word glory. There's another great word, the word grace, but also there's the word glory. Grace appears a little over a hundred times in the New Testament, maybe three or four from an Old Testament perspective, but glory over 300 times. I would almost want to make an argument that those two words, next to the words with respect to God and Christ are some of the most important words in your Bible, grace and glory. Going back to what Henry read from Exodus 33, Moses voices a big prayer request, it couldn't really be any bigger, “Show me your glory.” And then Paul makes use of that word glory in the book of Romans 15 times and he ends on that glory note, “To the only wise God be glory.” Then you have that passage that our brother Keith read from 1 Corinthians, “Whether we eat or drink, whatever we do, all to the glory of God.”
Even the little things, things that we would call mundane, eating, drinking, and certainly we could say, could we not, the big things; if it applies to the little things we certainly will glorify God in the big things. And what's one of the biggest things that you and I could ever do to glorify God? Pray. And we can glorify God by praying by faith. We can glorify God by praying with boldness. We can glorify God by praying with perseverance. We can glorify God by praying with thanksgiving. We can glorify God by praying submissively. Think of our Lord Jesus in the garden, “Not my will, but your will be done.” And we can glorify God by praying Biblically or shaping our prayers by our Bibles, we are to pray the Bible. When you think of praying the Bible, what is perhaps the most helpful prayer to help shape our prayers by our Bible? Well, it's the Lord's Prayer. And how does it start? It starts off on that note of glory, “Hallowed be your name.”
Now we can certainly glorify God by praying for others. We can certainly glorify God by praying for ourselves, by praying for the church, by praying for forgiveness, by praying for grace, by praying for our own sanctification; but God's glory should be uppermost in our minds when we come to the throne of grace. Again, think of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. There was something more important than his will, than his feelings, than his own desire for self-preservation or to avoid the wrath of God. Something more important than escaping from his suffering, and that was God's will, “God's will, not my will.” So as we come to prayer, brethren, let's just keep that in mind. That we are praying to God, but we ultimately want to glorify God by our prayers, “His will be done, his kingdom come.”
Exodus 33:18, 19,
Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name, ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.”
Romans 16:26, 27,
“The revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ!”
1 Corinthians 10:31,
“So, whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Anybody who can read through their Bibles, if you're looking for particular words, there is at least one word that showed up this evening and that is the word glory. There's another great word, the word grace, but also there's the word glory. Grace appears a little over a hundred times in the New Testament, maybe three or four from an Old Testament perspective, but glory over 300 times. I would almost want to make an argument that those two words, next to the words with respect to God and Christ are some of the most important words in your Bible, grace and glory. Going back to what Henry read from Exodus 33, Moses voices a big prayer request, it couldn't really be any bigger, “Show me your glory.” And then Paul makes use of that word glory in the book of Romans 15 times and he ends on that glory note, “To the only wise God be glory.” Then you have that passage that our brother Keith read from 1 Corinthians, “Whether we eat or drink, whatever we do, all to the glory of God.”
Even the little things, things that we would call mundane, eating, drinking, and certainly we could say, could we not, the big things; if it applies to the little things we certainly will glorify God in the big things. And what's one of the biggest things that you and I could ever do to glorify God? Pray. And we can glorify God by praying by faith. We can glorify God by praying with boldness. We can glorify God by praying with perseverance. We can glorify God by praying with thanksgiving. We can glorify God by praying submissively. Think of our Lord Jesus in the garden, “Not my will, but your will be done.” And we can glorify God by praying Biblically or shaping our prayers by our Bibles, we are to pray the Bible. When you think of praying the Bible, what is perhaps the most helpful prayer to help shape our prayers by our Bible? Well, it's the Lord's Prayer. And how does it start? It starts off on that note of glory, “Hallowed be your name.”
Now we can certainly glorify God by praying for others. We can certainly glorify God by praying for ourselves, by praying for the church, by praying for forgiveness, by praying for grace, by praying for our own sanctification; but God's glory should be uppermost in our minds when we come to the throne of grace. Again, think of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. There was something more important than his will, than his feelings, than his own desire for self-preservation or to avoid the wrath of God. Something more important than escaping from his suffering, and that was God's will, “God's will, not my will.” So as we come to prayer, brethren, let's just keep that in mind. That we are praying to God, but we ultimately want to glorify God by our prayers, “His will be done, his kingdom come.”
Posted in Pastor Devotional