Glory to Glory - Part 2 (2 Corinthians 3:18)

we are going to continue our study from this sunday now how many of you were here this past sunday all right great glad that you are back we were studying second corinthians chapter 3 verse 18. so if you've got your bible there's a couple of areas i want you to turn to second corinthians chapter 3 as well as first john chapter 3 and revelation 1. once again let me give you those areas of scripture 2nd corinthians chapter 3 first john chapter 3 revelation chapter 1. while you're turning there your pastor has been sending me pictures of his vacation god bless him he is having a wonderful time we've been able to have a couple of text messages and connections and just so thankful for that man i've had the privilege of knowing pastor jeff for almost 20 years and so thankful to be able to be a have a big brother like pastor jeff and be able to uh enjoy the fellowship here at calvary south bay while he is away second corinthians chapter 3 first john 3 revelation 1 why don't we go to the lord and ask him to prepare our hearts before we get into the study lord this evening our desire is to know you and to know your word it's why we're here and father i pray that as we study your word that you would truly transform us we had a challenge this past sunday to change one thing about us to look more like you to put off the old person and to put on the new and lord i pray that as we learn scripture tonight that you speak to us and that your spirit would minister in this place because i believe that those that are here they hunger and thirst for righteousness so give us ears to hear and a spirit to learn in jesus name we all said amen second corinthians chapter three i'm going to pick it up there in verse 18. i know you all have memorized it amen not many of you said amen so why don't we take a look at second corinthians 3 and as i read it you can put your memory into practice second corinthians 3 18 but we all speaking to believers with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the lord in other words the word of god reveals jesus to us we're being transformed as we're in the word into the same image so we're being transformed to look like jesus from glory to glory one step at a time we look more and more like him as by here's who does the work the spirit of the lord the spirit of the lord now take a look at this if you would we're being transformed into the same image from glory to glory i wonder when you think of jesus what image comes to your mind because the bible says as a man thinks so he is so i wonder if you've got the visual of baby jesus oh there'll be a picture on the screen here and i wonder if there is a visual of you with little baby jesus oh you remember the moment when jesus said eight days old little infant jesus he goes into the temple with mom and dad and simeon sees jesus for the very first time and he picks up jesus and he announces this prayer that now he can go home and be with the lord because god had fulfilled his promise oh the embrace and the acceptance of when he first saw jesus lifting him up into the air and i wonder when we have the image of jesus in our mind do we think of baby jesus we think of that moment when we first got saved and we felt his love and his embrace we understood his acceptance and that little cuddle nature and that feel of when we first get saved of what it means to be in the family of god i wonder if we think of boy jesus when we have the image of jesus in our minds i wonder if this visual of jesus when he was at 12 years old and there he was lost supposedly from mom and dad and they had left for three days now just imagine you didn't notice your child was gone for three days this is like home alone on steroids mary goes running back to jerusalem and she finds jesus in the temple didn't you know didn't you know i would be about my father's business and i wonder if mary realized all of them in this moment the purpose of jesus you remember the moment when someone said to you well you're a teacher or wow you're great with kids oh i can see that you've got the gift of leadership or administration and as you began to think and if you have this image of jesus in your mind i wonder if it's boy jesus that moment when you found your purpose going about your father's business business i wonder if you think of the man jesus oh the son of man you remember he's with his disciples he's teaching he's got a ministry for three years his words were such power to them that when all of the crowds left in john chapter 6 he says are you going to leave too and peter responds and he says where are we going to go you have the words of eternal life and for peter and for the disciples jesus was the teacher they were absorbing every word much like many of you that have come here on a thursday night you're hungering and you're thirsting sometimes jesus would challenge them because as the man jesus and he would say things like oh faithless generation i'm sure that had to hurt a little sometimes the son of man jesus the teacher he would give them direction oh you remember love the lord your god with all your heart soul and mind and strength and then he would say here's the second commandment it's just like the first love your neighbor as yourself we call that the great commandment but he would also direct them with the great commission go into all the world and pre make disciples baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit now i know when we go to be baptized you will have the pastor or the leader of the church and they're looking there at you and they ask you do you believe and you so confidently say yes and their response says well we are honored to baptize you in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit and they put you down in the water to be raised up symbolically to walk in the newness of life now i know that's an application but what jesus was communicating in matthew chapter 28 when he was speaking about name you see name was not a title name was character name was conduct name was your convictions name was your countenance my dad would always tell me you're a low that's your last name and i want to let you know something that last name means something to me and it meant something to your grandfather it meant something to your grandfather so represent that name well it represents character it represents a conduct it represents your countenance it represents your convictions chet so when you go out into your world remember you're low name baptize them immerse them in my character immerse them in my conduct immerse them in my convictions immerse them in my countenance i want them to know everything about them about me baptize them in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit maybe you think about crucify jesus maybe you think about crucify jesus and there you are at the place in your life and you're weeping and you're looking up at the cross and you've seen this visual so many times and you're wondering like mary and john and the other mary how will this thing in my life turn out i mean what can you do now this situation is impossible or i wonder if you in the midst of your trial looking at the crucified jesus you say like the roman soldier truly he was the son of god oh i don't know what image you think of when you think of jesus but maybe you are one that thinks of the resurrected jesus oh you know you've seen this picture before because jesus always walked around with a halo around his head holding his fingers like this and like this this is the resurrected jesus i wonder what visual is in your mind you think of the resurrected jesus and well as pastors we sometimes call them c and e christians they come at christmas and they come at easter because they know jesus is resurrected they believe it and so they're going to be here but i wonder if you like thomas you might find in your faith that you're doubting frustrated so disappointed and the resurrected jesus shows up in your life so powerful like he did for thomas to reveal himself to you you see the truth is this we've got to discover what image it is that we think jesus is because as we think so we shall be you see i wonder do you think of the baby jesus and he's all loving and accepting and so cuddly and i get to hold him i wonder if you think of of boy jesus where i'm going to find my purpose and that's what jesus is to me i wonder if you think of the man jesus and i just want to gain all the knowledge that i can or i wonder if i think of the crucified jesus someone that can understand when i'm going through my trial i wonder if i visualize the resurrected jesus i need you to show up now because i'm frustrated well john helps us understand the visual that we should see turn with me to first john chapter 3 first john chapter 3 i'm going to start reading there in verse 1. first john chapter 3 verse 1. listen carefully behold what manner of love the father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of god therefore the world does not know us because it didn't know him beloved now we are children of god and it's not yet been revealed what we shall be but we know that when he is revealed keep that word in your mind when we know that he is revealed we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is and everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself in other words becomes like him just as he is pure i ask you to maybe underline or circle or take a look at this word revealed revealed this is a greek word and the word means made appearance made appearance it's a word that says we're going to see him he's going to be so visual to us and because we have the hope that one day he'll be revealed to us then we make it our every effort to look like him now revealed john would write this and then john would reveal him to us turn with me to revelation chapter one i want you to see the same john would reveal jesus to us revelation chapter one take a look at verse one the revelation of jesus christ and i want you to look at that word and just meditate on from on it for a moment it's a different word than the word that we find in first john revelation chapter one this word is the word apocalyptus apocalyptus where we get our word apocalypse in fact if you read the spanish bible this is called revelation apoca sorry apocalypses it's coming out of me come on i only know basa not spanish i'm learning it apocalypses this word it means uncovering it means unveiling sound familiar but we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the lord he's speaking to the church and what jesus does with his bride is unveils so that we can have a true picture of the glorified jesus he reveals to us the image and he reveals it to the true church take a look go down with me to revelation chapter 1 verse 9 he reveals it to his bride he says i john both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of jesus christ was on the island that is called patmos for the word of god and for the testimony of jesus christ domitian did not place john on the island of patmos jesus did he was there to receive an incredible revelation an unveiling where he would be able to take a look at the glorified jesus and the glorified jesus would be revealed to him and he would speak to his church much like he's speaking i pray even tonight and the revelation it's revealed to those take a look i john verse 9 both your brother and companion in the tribulation this word means in the squeeze in the squeeze it's revealed to those of us who are being pressed by the world here is john he's on the island of patmos he's there not because domitian is there he's there because domitian wants everybody to worship him and john says i'm here because i won't worship the roman emperor i'm here for the word of god and what jesus said and i'm here for the testimony of jesus that's in me because my job as a believer is to reveal jesus to others he says i'm here and i'm in the squeeze have you ever been in the squeeze any anyone ever been in the squeeze of life anyone hello yeah okay how many have ever felt remember you know those little machines where you put the half of the orange on the little cone and then you squeeze it and all the juice comes out how many have ever felt that like all the juice is coming out of you right you've been you've gone through health issues you've gone through troubles you've lost your job you have some family things going on anyone ever been in the squeeze amen he says jesus he reveals himself to those that are in the squeeze because if we're going to live as the church in this world you better believe you're going to be in the squeeze you better believe that there's going to be tribulation that comes because paul said all those who want to live a godly life in christ jesus will be persecuted put that one on a plaque put that one as a beautiful picture put that on a thomas kincaid all of those that want to live a godly life will be persecuted name and claim that promise amen and the reason why jesus reveals himself to the church is because he knows we're in the squeeze and he reveals himself and he gives the image of himself so that we can have hope but take a look as we go on we pick it up in verse 10 he says this i was in the spirit on the lord's day and i heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet saying i am the alpha and the omega the first and the last stop there if you would not only for those in the church that are in the squeeze but for those that are in the spirit if i'm walking alongside with a friend and that friend is right here beside me all i have to do is speak in a normal voice but if the friend is way down the road i'm gonna have to yell and they're gonna have to yell in order for me to hear them well the bible says we're to walk in the spirit we're to walk with the spirit and there's a way to know whether the spirit is with us and whether the spirit is not with us and it's the fruit of the spirit if coming out of you is love and joy and peace and long-suffering and gentleness kindness goodness faithfulness and self-control if these things are bubbling out of you guess what your friend the spirit is walking right beside you and you can have a conversation with him and he can have the conversation with you but if you're jealous and envious if you're angry and frustrated and you see more of the works of the flesh coming out of you well then quite possibly you're not in the spirit and when those things begin to bubble out of you when those things begin to become more of you than walking in the spirit well you've got to draw near to god and the bible promises that when you draw near to him he'll draw near to you and christian listen the way that we do that is we confess our sin and he's faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness when we are then walking in the spirit but take a look what happens in verse 10 i was in the spirit on the lord's day and i heard behind me a voice as of a trumpet saying i'm the alpha and the omega the first and the last what you see write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in asia to ephesus to smyrna to pergamos theotera to sardis philadelphia and de laodicea look at verse 12 then i turned to see the voice that spoke with me and having turned he writes to those that are in the squeeze to give hope he writes to those that are in the spirit he writes to those who's in his sights and john turned john turned god spoke john heard and if anybody knew the voice of jesus it would be john john was the one that laid up against the chest of jesus he knew the heartbeat of the living god if anyone would know the voice of jesus it would be john and john he would turn when he would hear the voice of the lord he would turn and he would understand and he would be able to see jesus now this word turned it's an interesting word it means that i'm looking one way quite the obvious and i turn and look the other can i express something about jesus he's different i said on sunday which one of us would have thought of turn the other cheek which one of us would have thought of go the second mile which one of us in here would have thought of love your enemy but when we hear the lord speak to us and we're heading this way do we purpose to turn so that we can see him you see when we see him we're going to become like him but if you don't turn you're never going to see him you won't know what he looks like and you won't know what to become and what i love about john john turned and john is about to give us a spiritual picture of jesus the only portrait of jesus in the bible outside of daniel chapter 7 he is going to describe exactly what he saw and he is going to express to us not baby jesus not boy jesus not man jesus even crucified jesus he is going to express to us glorified jesus and let me tell you what's going to happen when we take a look at the picture of jesus we'll see it there and listen carefully as i read second corinthians chapter five you can write it in your notes second corinthians chapter five verse fourteen listen to what the bible says for the love of christ compels us because we just judge thus that if one died for all then all died and he died for all that those who live should live no longer for themselves but for him who died for them and rose again therefore he meets a conclusion from now on we regard no one according to the flesh even though we've known christ according to the flesh yet we know him thus no longer in other words he's the glorified jesus he's not baby jesus he's not boy jesus he's not man jesus he's not crucified jesus he's glorified jesus that's how we know him therefore if anyone's in christ he is a new creation old things have passed away behold all things have become new and what paul lets us know that if we see the glorified jesus if we keep him in our sights and as he speaks to us and we turn and we look at him we're going to see exactly who he is and our goal will be to become like him so what we're going to see in revelation chapter 1 is the glorified jesus and we're going to see four things about the name of jesus his character his conduct we're going to see his convictions and his countenance and when we see these four things it's our opportunity to become like him let's take a look at number one revelation chapter 1 verse 12. then i turned to see the voice that spoke with me thank you john for turning to look then i turned to see the voice that spoke with me i remember when i was living in liberia west africa i always used to tell missionaries that were coming to us if you hear a whistle or you hear someone and you think they're calling your name play the dumb american and keep walking don't turn around make sure that you don't turn around because they are going to try to get money out of you they're going to try to do something and if you do turn around just act like you don't even understand what they're saying because that will help you through the process that's not the advice i'm going to give you today and as you see jesus in this picture i want you to see through the eyes of john the glorified jesus of what i'm asking you to consider to become number one i want you to write it down john saw his priestly character he saw his priestly character take a look and having turned i saw seven golden lampstands and in the midst great word of the seven lampstands one like the son of man clothed with the garment down to the feet and girded with the the chest with a golden band when john looked he saw the glorified jesus and what he saw was his great high priest he saw a picture of the white linen garments he saw a picture of the golden sash he saw a picture of his great high priest the character of a great high priest now i want you to see he saw take a look if you would go back with me to verse 12 seven golden lamp stands now if you would go down with me to verse 20 all the way maybe you'll turn the page here's the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands the seven stars are the angels or the messengers the pastors of the seven churches and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches now if you were to see a visual of the seven churches you would see seven churches like this all around asia minor there was one here one here one here one here one here one here one here and what john saw were candles or lamp stands at each one of these churches and down here two of them and what he saw was jesus standing in the center he saw jesus standing in the midst and when john describes and jesus lets him know that these lamp stands these lampstand are the seven churches what he's letting us know is this is not a physical picture this is a spiritual picture of the glorified jesus and then he says not only the lamp stands but he says jesus is in the midst he's right in the center of the seven churches and i love this church listen the spiritual picture of jesus he's right in the midst there is a song that bette midler used to sing i don't know if you remember god is watching us he is watching us he is watching us from a distance do you remember do you remember that song bette midler stop lying to us he is not watching us from a distance and if anyone listens to the doctrine of bette midler you've got some issues he ain't watching us from no distance my jesus is right in the midst that's my great high priest the bible says that he is with us he says fear not i ain't watching you i didn't just set the world into motion and then i just watch from a distance and see how this whole thing is going to turn out no i am intricately and i am instantly involved i'm right there in the midst but i want you to see these lampstands that he's in the midst of them and this white robe of the great high priest but his golden sash if you take a look in romans i mean revelation 1 13 it's not around his waist like the high priest would wear no his golden sash is around his chest do you know that your faith and the way that the lord looks at your faith peter calls it as precious as gold and when the high priest would come out once a year on his chest he would wear the names of the 12 tribes of israel to describe that the tribes of israel are on his heart and when he would walk behind into the holy of holies he was representing all of the tribes of israel and his heart was to be for the tribes of israel and for the people of israel and why this golden sash is around the chest of jesus because the church whose faith is more precious than gold you are bound to his heart you are bound around his heart do you remember what he told peter satan is asked to sift you but i'm praying for you you're in my heart peter i love you dearly i love you desperately and when you've returned strengthened your brother church you're on the heart of the living god all the time gang i've got nine children i can't remember most of their names half the time less now i have eight grandchildren and i got a concussion two years ago now imagine have a concussion with all of those names and try to remember it was my son's birthday today i'm grateful to god that i remembered you know how i remembered my iphone told me but jesus he knows the numbers of hair on your head and gentlemen as we get older he discounts a few he knows that's how intimately and intricately that we are on his heart and the bible says that he is our great high priest listen it's it's hebrews chapter four i'm going to read it for you write it down your notes hebrews chapter 4 verse 14 through 16 seeing then that we have a great high priest dressed in his robe with the sash around his heart seeing that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens jesus the son of god let us hold fast our confession for we don't have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need which one of you in this room need grace tonight all right i'm gonna i'm gonna give you a bonus i'm gonna help you give a little cheat sheet all of you do okay so let me ask again all right how many of us need grace tonight all right and let me ask you another question how many of you keep your heart pumping through the night like you wake up every night all night long and you say to yourself keep going keep going keep going all night long you just keep your heart going do you know what a grace it is that god keeps your heart going you take it for granted you wake up in the morning and you just go about your day do you know what it took for god to keep your heart pumping as long as it was pumping what a great grace of god i want all of you to take a deep breath i want all of you to let it out some of you should brush your teeth take another deep breath do you know what a great grace it is that your lungs just filled do you know what's happening right now oxygen is going in your blood is pumping into your lungs do you realize all of the mechanics that's involved with [Music] do you know the mechanics that's involved when i tell you to do something that your ears hear it send a message to your brain that you can understand a language and then you respond to the direction that i gave do you understand the great grace of god he's our high priest and he says when you need grace i want you to reach out to me he doesn't say you screwed up i knew it you little devil go to your room who do you think you are can you imagine when peter was walking on the water can you just imagine the moment peter's walking on the water right okay he goes down okay he goes jesus and jesus goes drown a little bit longer you faithless perverse generation that would not be a great jesus story okay can you imagine if we read that how condemned all of us would feel do you know what the bible says when jesus went down the word is immediately he reached out his hand and all we have to do when we need grace is say i need grace and you know what jesus does here i am gotcha i'm not going to let you drown who needs grace tonight who needs grace that's our high priest but can i beg you as you learn this priestly character and all of us need grace you all raised your hand and as you see and you turn and you experience this great grace of god i beg you don't be like the unmerciful servant who the king forgave him of millions of dollars and when he saw his friend who only owed him a dollar he beat him up give me my money oh unmerciful servant you didn't see jesus you see if he's our great high priest who's willing to give us grace then we in response need to give grace to others and if we really see the glorified jesus we're going to be the most grace-filled people on the planet but you know what i find about the church when our people fall we beat them up when our people make mistakes when our people do let me tell you something about humanity there's a reason why jesus had to die and the reason why is our hearts are deceitful and wicked i was talking to a friend of mine recently and he asked him uh pastor chuck pastor chuck smith a a calvary chapel costa mesa he asked him and he said this pastor chuck why don't you ever reveal your heart to me he said oh and he responded and he said this you want to know my heart it's deceitful and wicked thank you pastor chuck for that humility thank you for expressing that we're all in need of the great grace of god and thank you great high priest that because you're so grace grace filled that i can give grace as well i want you to see something else about our jesus if you'll take a look and you'll write down number two his wise conduct we're gonna pick it up in verse 14 his wise conduct his head and hair were white like wool that means it was gray as white as snow and and there was no clairol to cover it up and his eyes like a flame of fire his feet were like fine breath brass as if refined in a furnace and his voice as the sound of many waters stop there if you would it's point number two when you turn and you see the glorified jesus you're gonna see his wise conduct do you know daniel chapter seven is another picture of jesus a spiritual picture of jesus and in daniel chapter seven verse nine listen carefully i watched till thrones were put in place and the ancient of days was seated his garment was as white as snow in other words there's our great high priest and the hair of his head was like pure wool his throne was a fiery flame its wheels a burning fire can i tell you that if the bible repeats itself twice we should take note do you know when jesus was trying to get simon peter's attention sometimes he went simon simon you remember that do you remember when he would go verily verily how many got the king james version verily verily what is that word right truly truly i say to you if jesus has got to repeat something nicodemus get the point right remember when he said you got to be born again and nicodemus went well what do you want me to do climb back in my mother's womb what did jesus say i'm sorry you didn't understand that let me explain it a different way somebody said he goes nicodemus you've got to be born again i can't believe you don't get it are you the teacher of israel listen carefully when the spirit of god reveals something to us twice take note the bible says he's the ancient of days his hair was like wool why is hair such a big deal it's proverbs chapter 20 solomon in the wisdom of god i'm going to read it from the new living translation the glory of the young is their strength listen carefully the gray hair of experience or wisdom is the splendor of the old i can't wait to get gray i'm going to cover it up i want everyone to see i have worked for every single one of these this one his name is makaya this one is a manual this one is saila this one oh is the baby timing and i can go name after name after name i'm going to be so grateful i want everyone to see my gray i'm not doing no just for men i've worked for these grace i want everyone to see it do you know that if i let my beard grow it is completely gray that's depressing but wisdom remem with gray hair reflects something and what solomon lets us know he lets us know that there's a wisdom that's found in older people because of their experience can i let you know something about jesus and the reason why his hair is so great there's nothing he's not experienced he's the alpha in the omega he created time in fact solomon would say in ecclesiastes there's absolutely nothing new under the sun god knows every situation he can speak into every situation and that's why in jude's doxology he would say this to him alone who is wise now we know what wisdom is wisdom is knowledge applied in any given situation and can i tell you that our god if you look and you see his wise conduct he knows what to do and what to say in every situation of your life amen he knows what to do and he knows what to say how many of you had said something to your children that you said you would never do it and your parents said it to you and you said to yourself i will never be like my parent and then one day it just came right out of your mouth how many anyone okay how many of you are parents how many are your parents raise your hand parents and you guys haven't made the same mistake i've made huh how many of you have said something that you wish you never would have said it's like you want to swallow it back like you wish there was rewind and you sense the conviction right do you know that jesus can give you the wisdom so you don't have to press rewind do you know that if you say what he says and do what he does and i want you to see why he is so wise let me explain it's found in revelation chapter 1 verse 14 his eyes like a flame of fire can i tell you it's like headlamp jesus it's like everywhere he looks is a headlamp and let me tell you why you've got headlamps on your car headlights on your car because when you're driving the 405 if you don't have headlights on you don't see where you're going have you ever been on a country road where there's no street lights and you turn your lights off you're going to go off the side of the road the reason why his eyes are like flames of fire there's no darkness in him he's always shining a light and when he gazes in your life he shines the light into every situation because he himself announced i'm the light of the world and in the midst of this dark world i will shine the way and i will show you the way to go i know exactly what to do i know exactly what to say and if you only turn and see my wise conduct i can give you wisdom for every situation and he's learned from experience the bible says in the book of hebrews that he learned obedience not that he learned obedience like he used to bite children when he was two years old no no he was without sin that's not the learn he experienced it for the first time as the son of man he learned it he didn't have to learn obedience when he was in heaven he learned obedience as the son of man and with the experience take a look his feet were like fine brass speaking of judgment as if refined in a furnace stop there if you would find brass you see on the altar was brass uh uh uh there was brass on the altar and you would splatter the blood on that brass as a sign that god was going to cover over and not judge you brass speaks of judgment in the bible in his eyes his feet were like brass having had walked through a furnace refined through a furnace can i tell you something about our jesus he has felt the heat of life's fiery trials he's felt it and he judges for us that our trials are sufficient for us to refine us put that one on a plaque he judges for us that our trials are sufficient to refine us i read a story of a goldsmith a young man doing research wanting to become a goldsmith himself he went for a day and did follow the goldsmith day and there's the goldsmith and he puts the gold into the kettle and he begins to light up the furnace he's stirring the gold and then he lets it sit and he turns up the furnace just a little bit more and then he turns it up a little bit more and all of a sudden the dross begins to come all of the dirt that's in the goal begins to boil to the top and he would take off the dross and then he would turn the heat up just a little bit longer and then he would take off some more dross then he would turn the heat up even more and the gold would go from 14 karat to 16 karat the 24 karat to pure gold so finally the young man asked why do you keep turning up the heat and when do you know that the gold is completely purified and the goldsmith responded to him and said this when i can look into the gold and see my reflection i know the gold is purified it comes by turning up the heat gang he is so wise that he even knows what trials to put you through in order to refine you and we've got to trust his wisdom that no matter how he turns up the heat his goal is not our happiness his goal is our holiness his goal is that we're conformed into the image of jesus his goal is that there is less of you and more of him and he'll keep turning up the heat until he sees his reflection his wisdom he's judges for us that our trials are sufficient to refine us but his voice his voice his voice is like the sound of many waters i've heard many people say to me oh i can't hear the voice of god and i don't know when god is speaking to me i don't know if you've ever been to the niagara falls my wife and i we lived in brazil at uh the calvary chapel property that's in brazil and our school of discipleship was there two summers and once fall we had the opportunity to live there and be there and while we were there we would take our students every semester to fos de aguasu falls de aguasu is twice the size of niagara falls and when you get close to fog diego sue let me tell you how you're speaking to your wife hey andrea isn't this incredible and you know what she does and you scream even louder andrea is it this and you know what she sees the noise is so loud from this waterfall from this experience that falls diaguasu you can't hear and jesus when john turned and heard his voice it was like the sound of niagara falls it was an overwhelming sound you can't hear god when his voice when his voice is louder than the niagara falls or fog diego let me tell you something you can't help but hear and he can even speak through cancelling headphones noise cancelling headphones he can get straight that person that you don't think can ever get saved because they got the earphones on and they don't want to hear god let me tell you something about god you can't help but hear his voice and have no fear i know in the united states of america today and in our schools or let me call them indoctrination centers they are trying to drown out the voice of god they've tried to do it for 2000 years they've not been successful to this point can i tell you why you can't drown the niagara falls it will drown you it will drown you god's word is alive and god's word is wise unto this day it is as loud as day and you are proof of it because your lives have been changed and your lives have been transformed you communicate to the world the niagara falls of the great wisdom of god that he would send his son to save you to save you to save you and to save you you are the rushing water you are the example to the world of the great wisdom of god and here's what god says if you want wisdom just ask me i will give you wisdom for every in any situation that you're in that's what i do number three i want you to see it revelation chapter 1 verse 16 his piercing convictions take a look at verse 16 his piercing convictions he had in his right hand seven stars out of his mouth when a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength take a look again his right hand had the seven stars and out of his mouth when a sharp two-edged sword his piercing convictions he describes for us in verse 20 if you remember that these seven stars are the angels or the messengers of the seven churches these were the ministers these were the pastors at these seven churches and he had a message to give them and it was a message of conviction these seven stars are the messengers can i tell you the message that he's given us because you're the ministers you're the messengers here's what he told through the holy spirit the apostle paul to timothy in second timothy chapter four verse two preach the word preach the word and here at calvary chapel south bay we are not ashamed of the gospel of god for it is the power of god for the jew first and also for the greek and we are encouraged to preach the word with conviction with power you see we are not ashamed of the gospel these seven stars are the seven messengers and we are those messengers today and let me tell you let me tell you about how the fact of the uh the condition that we're in we are in the hand not just the hand but the right hand of god and let me express what this word right means jews had a saying the son of my right hand joseph joseph was this was the son of jacob's right hand joseph was the favored child you guys know i've got nine kids we had an argument one christmas about who is my favorite and i watched the kids they were just arguing they were much older you know some were in their 20s and they're saying well i know i'm the favorite well i know i'm the favorite and my baby son just sat there and listened to them all and then i spoke everyone knows tyman is my favorite he has the coat of many colors and then there was an argument because then time and said that's why i sat here i knew it i just watched you guys argue for nothing he's the baby he's everyone's favorite just like joseph was he's the son of my right hand and let me express what that means he's the son of favor do you realize there's a favor on you do you realize that the favor that he's given us is the word of god and we get to hold on to the very word of god we know exactly what god says we know exactly his convictions we know everything that god wants us to know and we know it and it's found in his word and we're held in his right hands you know what jesus said nothing can take you out of his hand and that's a big hand do you know that the bible says that he holds the waters of the earth and the palm of his hand i want you to go ahead take a look take a look at the palm of your hand okay how much water can you hold in that thing how much water maybe what a half a cup a quarter a cup an eighth of a teaspoon now put the atlantic ocean in there add the indian and the pacific add the asian the black seed the caspian sea i want you to put the waters of the earth in the palm of your hand that's a big hand no wonder he says fear not i'm with you i'm the guy that's got the all of the waters of the earth in my hand fear not so church let me tell you something fear not and with piercing conviction believe jesus christ is lord he is the only way to heaven and though there are a myriad of world religions that preaches there are many ways to god jesus said i'm the way i'm the truth i'm the life there is no other way to the father except through me go into your school with the hand of god the right hand of god knowing the conviction that you have go to your workplace go to your place of play and communicate the truth of the gospel without fear because god's got you in his right hands our god's got you in his right hand [Applause] with conviction believe that his word is true when god said that he created the heavens and earth in seven days guess what seven days he created the heavens and the earth and no matter the how they tried to shove evolution down your throat with conviction believe god created the heavens and the earth in seven days the word of god is true can i tell you that our faith is the victory and that when you doubt trust his word trust that you're in his hand you see he has a way though to display his convictions i'll never forget there was an abortion march a pro-life march in florida years ago and i'm not against pro-life marches so don't hear that when i say this but i was embarrassed of christians and there they were on national tv screaming and spewing hatred they were calling names and of course our left-wing media was very careful to point out jesus says this is murder and you just see these women and you see these men just screaming and yelling and there was actually a caption of a picture with a guy and a gal and they're like this holding their poster and they just ah this is what you see on cnn they look like the devil holding the name of jesus but in the background of that still shot you saw this two women and they were on the steps of the florida supreme court and there they were praying and i'll never forget those two women because what they reminded me of is the way he pierces his convictions the way he does see the bible says it's a double-edged sword a double-edged sword well john describes for us what that double-edged sword is listen carefully for the uh he says this in john chapter 1 verse 14 that jesus he's full of grace and he's full of truth it's john chapter 1 verse 14. i'm actually going to read it for you john chapter 1 verse 14. this is like a bonus verse for you okay john chapter 1 verse 14. here's what the bible says john 1 verse 14 and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory is of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth he's full of grace a hundred percent grace he's a hundred percent truth all of the time he never compromises his word and he always shows it with compassion he never compromises his word but he always shows it with compassion let me give you a picture of the jesus of the jews who rejected him the jews who hated him as he's marching to jerusalem he says this oh jerusalem jerusalem listen to the compassion how i've longed to embrace you he didn't say i can't believe you behave like this i don't know why you're acting like this no his truth was never compromised and he always revealed it with compassion finally back to revelation chapter one here's where we close and his countenance verse 15 was like the sun shining in its strength his countenance was like the sun he had a radiant countenance a countenance that's shown that was from within do you remember the transfiguration and john was up on the mountain and he saw jesus begin to glow what happened was his flesh began to be removed the thing that he covered himself with in order to minister to us and john got to see the true jesus let's change from the inside out christ in us the hope of glory and as we allow him to write on the tablet of our heart we begin to shine from the inside out and we don't radiate us we radiate the lord jesus christ now take a look at the response of john in verse 17 and when i saw him i fell at his feet dead i believe that when we see the risen lord the glorified jesus you can't help but die to yourself paul saw the glorified jesus and in galatians chapter 2 verse 20 he said this i have been crucified with christ i'm dead i have been crucified with christ yet but i live yet not i but christ lives in me and the life that i now live in the flesh i live by faith in the son of god who loved me and gave himself for me church if we will stop for just a moment and see the glorified jesus we're going to see a great high priest and we're going to be giving grace if we'll stop for just a moment and look at the glorified jesus we're going to have his wise conduct and display his wisdom to the world by our very transformed lives if we choose to look at the glorified jesus we'll have his piercing convictions and we will be faithful to communicate them not fearful because he's got us in his right hand and if we look at the glorified jesus we will have his radiant countenance because he will increase in our lives and chet will decrease so church could everyone just turn their head just turn and just turn the other way i want you to get used to that motion let me tell you why because he wants to speak to you and he wants us to turn like john because if we've got the right image of jesus in our minds we'll become like him so father i come before you in the name of jesus and my prayer it's no longer will we see you as baby jesus boy jesus even man jesus who walked on the face of this earth but we will see you as glorified jesus and with the image of you and our mind as our great high priest i ask in the name of jesus that we give grace father thank you that you transform us into the same image from glory to glory and all god's people said amen

Channel: Calvary Chapel South Bay

Views: 185

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Bible, Calvary Chapel South Bay, God, Jeff Gill, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Lord, Pastor Jeff Gill, Scriptures, South Bay, ccsb, ccsouthbay

Id: uXsxBb_JxJ4

Length: 61min 19sec (3679 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 09 2021