Seeing God's Glory | Sermon by Tony Evans

did you turn your Bibles with me to Exodus 33 verses 17 to 23 Exodus 33 verses 17 to 23 please stand as I read the Word of God the Lord said to Moses we'll also do this thing which you have spoken for you have found favor in my sight and I have known you by name then Moses said I pray you show me your glory he said I myself will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion but he said you cannot see my face for no man can see my see me and live then the Lord said Behold there is a place by me and you shall stand there on the rock and it will come about while my glory is passing by that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by then I will take my hand away and you will see my back but my face shall not be seen father open up our eyes to see glorious things through your word in Jesus name Amen if I said to you the names Michael Jordan or Kareem abdul-jabbar or LeBron James you would think of greatness when it comes to basketball if I said Mickey Mantle or Reggie Jackson you would think about greatness as it relates to baseball if I said Serena Williams perhaps you would think of greatness on the tennis court or if I said Jim Brown or Roger Staubach or Tom Brady you would think of greatness on the gridiron because those are names of people who have excelled in their fields and have become noted for their awesome achievements we celebrate people who have climbed the ladder of what the society would call success and we pay homage to them we ask for their autographs we they capture our attention when they are on the screen or on TV or there's some newsworthy item written about them because they have demonstrated in their particular craft that they are worth extra attention the process of exalting a person for their achievement is to give them glory that is to give them honor and value based on who they are and what they have done over and over and over and over and over in Scripture we are called upon to glorify the glorious God because unlike the heroes that you know celebrate and recognize he is one of a kind if there was a Hall of Fame for God he would be the only one in it for he isn't a class by himself the word glory means weight or heavy that's what the word means weight or heavy when I was growing up and those who are in my season of life will remember that when we saw people who excelled we would quickly say that dude is heavy if they were really brilliant they could use words nobody else knew he's heavy when they could do things other people that dude is heavy he's waiting he's got a lot of he's got a lot of juice on him or on her now that word it's not used quite that much these days I guess the more contemporary word is awesome awesome something is awesome or are inspiring and therefore awesome the Bible says over and over again that God's nickname description you know a nickname was often a description you call somebody slim cuz they were skinny call somebody red cuz they you know have red hair would call somebody fats cuz they were heavy well if you want to give God a nickname just call him glory cuz over and over and over again that is the scripted identification of God glory Psalm 29 3 says he is the god of glory Psalm 8:1 says his glory is above the heaven it is a summary concept of the visible manifestation of the attributes of God when you say glory in relationship to God you are referring to the awesomeness of his being and since every aspect of his being is perfect everything about him is therefore awesome and therefore glorious so he is glorious in everything she when you glorify a person you probably can only glorify them in one or two areas because they're not like glorious in everything you have some athletes who play one sport and then try to play another sport and find out they not as glorious over here as they were over there glory tends to vacillate up and down depending on what they're doing but with God he's 100 every time because all of his attributes which are the manifestation of his being are in fact glory us so if you will recall him some the Bible just said call him glory cuz this dude is heavy he is awe-inspiring awesome weighty in a very unique way why is God's glory unique God's glory is unique because it is intrinsic we said it again God's glory is unique because it is intrinsic that is it is self defined self-initiated and it is self expressed I mean said another way you don't have to give God glory for him to be glorious he does not have to develop into glory see anybody else you know who has been honored for something had to arrive there from another place if if they're glorious in their knowledge because they're brilliant they didn't start there they started in kindergarten and they didn't learn the ABCs and they learned math equations and over time they became smart when you find an awesome basketball player they didn't just walk out on the court they practice over a series of five years and got good at their craft when you see an actor they started out doing plays they started out here they got good at their craft and they developed into this honorable position not so with God he started off that way and how he started had no room for improvement and I can't use the word started because he never started because he is glorious from the time of his existence which has been forever don't think about that too long you're gonna jump out a window yeah but there's never a time God has not been because that's another dimension you and I are living in time and so we can't appreciate that but God's glory is intrinsic he does not have to go outside of himself to help himself be glorious anything you're good at you need something outside of you to help you to be good at it God is so glorious that he does not have to go outside himself to make himself better and what himself is that it sound right but you follow me and him sound right to me God's weightiness his glory its intrinsic to his being let me put it this way what what is to water what blue is to sky and what heat is to fire glorious to God water doesn't have to find wet sky doesn't have to locate some blue and Fire doesn't have to get a match to be hot it is intrinsic to the nature of what those elements are in other words you can't talk about fire and not talk about hot you can't talk about sky and not talk about blue you can't talk about water and not talk about wet because they are intrinsically inter connected so you can't bring up the name God and not talk about glory because it is part and parcel of his nature and of his perfections and every aspect of his being all of the glory that men seek men pursue is only ascribed glory it's not intrinsic you know that because it doesn't last the fast runner will slow down over time the good-looking beauty queen is gone wrinkled and maybe even get ugly over time the actual actress won't get the young parts over time and the big proof that glory fades is that you're going down and that's why God hates pride cuz God says you ain't all that and a bag of chips God is the only being in existence not dependent upon something outside of himself to be himself for he generates himself by himself within himself God's glory is the sum total of his attributes perfectly intrinsically within him and that's why he says in isaiah 40:8 11 he will not share his glory with another because there's nobody to be compared with him which is why he's insulted when his glory is challenged either by picking up an idol or thinking you are the idol and today we have American Idols God is glorious stay with me here and since its glory is intrinsic he is non dependent therefore independent unlike us you take away to err we leave we lose our glory you take away the food we lose our glory take away to health we lose our glory God doesn't lose any glory because he doesn't need anything outside of himself to be himself not true of us but what God has done is he has sought to manifest his glory through the demonstration of his attributes in other words he wants to show how great he really is therefore so his glory can be seen so it's the visible manifestation of the glorious attributes of God called glory saw 19 verses 1 to 6 the heavens and earth declare the glory of God he says all you have to do to see how good god is is wake up look outside and you will see how heavy this dude is you will discover how awesome God is by just looking up cuz the heavens and then look around and the earth are screaming God I mean there just declare it are you bad cuz who else you know who do that you'll know about in this talk and world's come into existence so they scream the glory but you know we do we get hooked on the creation more than the Creator we give glory to what the Creator made instead of the Creator who made it which is idolatry by the way he says the heavens declare the glory of God if God would let you see him if you could see God at the Etta's nucleus at the centerpiece of his being the Bible actually tells you what you would see because first Timothy chapter 6 verse 16 if you could do this first Timothy 6 16 says this referring to God it says who alone possesses immortality and here it is dwell in unapproachable light who no man is or Kenzi to him be honor and eternal Dominion amen so if you want to know where God lives and what God's makeup is he calls it unapproachable light so when Psalm 19 says the heavens and earth declare the glory of God he comes down and gives you an illustration and he says the illustration to help you out to understand God he says is the Sun he says the Sun the Sun is God's illustration to you and me of unapproachable light the Bible over and over again describes God in terms of light first John 1:5 God is light he is right he doesn't just create light that's that's his his realm of existence right so he created the Sun so psalm 119 says the sun so let's talk about the sun the sun is self-generating heated plasma the Sun is located 93 million miles from Earth if you were to take an airplane to the Sun flying at 600 miles an hour you took American Delta to the Sun if you could do that it would take you 17 years flying 600 miles an hour covering 93 million miles it would take you 17 years to get to the sir if you drove it would take you 200 years to drive a car from Planet Earth to the Sun so this Sun is so big and so powerful that it heats the whole earth 93 million miles now if you tried to get there million miles before you arrived you'd be burnt to a crisp cuz it's unapproachable light you can't get you can't get close to it you can be close enough 93 million miles away to benefit from it and the closer you get to it the heart of things become 180 sides earth can fit in the Sun you just put its earth sides in the Sun because it's eighty three thousand miles around and God in evidence saying I made that I mean I just want to show you how heavy how awesome I am I made that so every time you get up and it's not dark God says that's glory on display that's God advertising God the glory is the advertisement of God through his attributes in fact he is so full of light that the Bible says in Revelation chapter 21 verse 23 that in the New Jerusalem in eternity he is going to dismiss the Sun and tell the Sun I don't need you anymore because his glory it says will provide light for the heavenly City that's why there will be no night there because his glory will control it and in fact in order for you to hang out there he's gonna have to give you a new body cuz this body would burn up in his presence and so every believer gets a new glorified body so you can handle the heat and handle the light of his supernatural presence when we talk about in theology the Shekinah glory we're talking about the glory of God now dwelling in the midst of men so god Shekinah his dwelling glory came down to the tabernacle and dwelt in it it then came down in the temple and dwelt in it when God wanted to manifest his awesomeness his glory to mankind in terms men could understand he became a man in the person of Jesus Christ the second member of the triune Godhead John 1 says in the beginning was the word the Word was with God and the Word was God verse 14 says and the word became flesh verse 18 says and beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten Son of God who who who has revealed God to us Jesus Christ is the revelation of the glory of God in human form so if you wanted to see what God looks like in a body Jesus Christ the god man was the manifestation of the glory of God that's why in Matthew 17 when he went on the Mount of Transfiguration and he had Peter James and John come around he brought God brought Moses up to represent the law he brought Elijah up to represent the prophets that is the Old Testament the Bible says and the glory of God burst through Jesus Christ so that they had to hide their face from the light because he's zipped down his humanity and exposed his deity so when you read about Jesus Christ you're not just reading about a good man and a nice profit you're looking at the glory of God in human form in fact I want you to turn here 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 it's a powerful statement for a very practical reason in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 this is what we read verse 4 says in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God he says in verse 6 for God has who say it is God who said light shall shine out of Darkness is the one who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ so the glory of God comes in the face of Christ so the more you know Christ the more glory you experience because the glory of God is in the face of Christ but why does that matter verse 7 for we have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the surpassing greatness of power will be of God and not about sells now watch this we are afflicted in every way but not crushed perplexed but not despairing persecuted but not forsaken struck down but not destroyed you know what he said he said oh yeah life has its problems but you got the glory inside and when the glory inside is operating with the power of God what's happening on the outside no longer defines you cuz you got more glory on the inside than was coming at you from the outside so this is not just some theoretical concept it is God's glory being manifested in Christ and Christ glory that blows to God being manifested in us as his power is expressed through his glory now here's a part that's gonna cause problem isaiah 43:7 says we were created for his glory that's a problem that's problem because most people don't define that's why they're here let's get this straight God put mankind here in His image and images of mirror to reflect back to him his glory he created man in his likeness and his image cuz God wanted to look at himself in a mirror in miniature form earthbound creatures so he put you and me here to bounce back himself to himself you were created for God's glory which means any man woman boy or girl who is not living for the glory of God don't know why they're here and so what men have done is come up with secular so Sennett definition of purpose because they haven't started at the place of water even him you are here I am here to bounce back God's glory that's why Paul defines sin as an interruption in the glory of God Romans 3:23 all have sinned and come short of the glory of God cuz sin two tracks from glory so you and I have been created watch as divine advertisements because glory means to put on display you and I are God's ad agency we ought to be advertisements of the deity because that's why he made you this is why 1st Corinthians 10:31 says whether you eat or drink or whatever you do do all to the glory of God let's talk about whether you eat or drink do all to the glory of God now eating and drinking is one of the most regular mundane things we do ok we've we do it all day you know we drink a coke we drink some coffee we drink some tea we eat breakfast lunch dinner and dessert and stuff in between I mean it's kind of something you even think about you just come to do it you do it all of time he says I put you here to glorify me so much that you are to drink a glass of water independent of your recognition of me but that would make sense since you don't get water independent of him in fact you can't think of anything you have that you didn't have to borrow from him but you say wait a minute wait a minute come on that's too much that's too much God wasn't all his glory the glory God got issues God you insecure okay let's flip the script let's say God's glory was only available to you and me intermittently okay he gave us air every now and then he let it rain when he was in a rain mood you know earth rotating on his axes he decided y'all have to if you don't like to spend the day see God the reason why God goes underappreciated is he's too consistent see he's really consistent I mean this air every day for huh for thousands and thousands of years in it the sun is shining every day and the earth doesn't spend to fast that we're thrown off and become dizzy or too slow that we're not able to function god you're just so consistent you're raining so we can have crops and you got animals so we can get food you just so consist of God took a break it's over it's a wrap but because his his mercies are new every day and he's so consistent we get used to it we get used to it god you're supposed to do that supposed to do that see you and I were put here for his glory period now there's benefits that come to us because of that but that is not the purpose the purpose is for his advertising for his glory Moses said show me your glory Moses said show me your glory that's interesting wait a minute you had already seen his glory I mean the burning bush the bush is on fire but it stays green so he wants to know what it's Bush isn't burning up he walks over to the bush he hears a voice come out the bush Moses take off his shoes this is holy ground God is in the bush you saw his glory way men Moses you saw what he did to Pharaoh with the template 12 plagues the templates you saw what he did with the plagues did you see his glory then and surely Moe you saw his glory at the Red Sea come on now he opened up the Red Sea the children Israel went across on dry land and not only did he open up the seeds dried up the land so that nothing got stuck I mean come on Moses you've seen his glory haven't you so you gotta understand what Moses is saying oh yeah I saw him at the burning bush I saw with Pharaoh I saw him at the Red Sea so there's so much to him I won't see some all I want to see some more of his glory show me your good I want to go deeper I want to go further you see the reason why we don't want to see more is we haven't seen enough in the past or we forgot what we saw because we you've seen him and he has more available let me put it this way God will only show you as much of his glory as you want to see he only feeds hungry people and because so many people are not interested in his glory he obliges them and they don't see more of it Moses said I want more show me your glory and we know what he was asking for because of God's response God says you can't see my face see Moses Moses was going for my brothers was going for the big Muhajir I won't see your face I said I saw that God says okay I can't show you my face because they kill you if I show you my face if I let you see me me like this you will evaporate so I can't show you my face because it'll kill you but what I'll let you see is my back now that's called anthropomorphic language somebody say anthropomorphic that is using human language to explain a spiritual reality so he says I can't show you my face human language but I'll let you see my barb my back or my hinder parts so here's what I'm gonna do moe I'm gonna put you in the cleft of rakh then i'ma cover your face with my hand and my Gloria's gonna pass by with my glory passes by then I'm gonna remove my hand and you're gonna see my back cuz that's all you're gonna be able to handle it in the back here it is it's like when you look up in the sky and a plane is passed by but you don't see the plane you just see the exhaust so you know a plane was there not because you see it but you see what it left behind so God is saying I can't let you see my face I'll let you see my exhaust okay so Moses is in the cleft of the rock God's glory past face passes by but he hides Moses from seeing it so he doesn't die then he removes his hand and the bad part of God he sees when he saw the back part of God that is God's history he picked up a pen and piece of paper and wrote in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was our form the void and darkness was upon the face of the deep and God said let there be light and there was light and God made man in his own image he talked about the discussion in heaven let us make man and let us make man let them be fruitful and multiply and let them rule over the earth and the fountain and he just write me write me right cuz God let him see his history because when God shows up in his glory you see things you've never seen before he said show me your glory I want to see you on display I'm hungry for your glory confession confession the other day I went by the donut shop confession got me a twister cinnamon roll the glazed round one and then when I got him she took them you know a little small whatever they call him round ones and put a bunch of them in the bag doughnut holes yeah I took him to the microwave [Music] I took him to the microwave push 30 seconds in 30 seconds came out then things were hot sugar running ran to my console no member saumui donuts was just melting in my mouth the problem occurred when it was time for dinner cuz he I had feasted on junk so when the healthy stuff was ready I wasn't hungry see what the society offers you a donuts but their donuts soaked in sugar so it feels so sweet and so delightful to the taste that we eat what society has to offer so that when God comes with the real thing we don't have an appetite anymore but Moses said I'm hungry to see your glory I'm hungry to see what makes you tick I'm hungry for you to manifest yourself to me you know what God gave Moses a special favour you know what he did he hit Moses his body Moses died and he hit Bob says he hit Moses his body so nobody knew what Moses body was buried that's because in Matthew 17 God goes back get Moses his body wakes it up brings him so he can see Jesus unveiled in his glory on the Mount of Transfiguration cuz remember only get men see God's face so he let Moses die so he could bring him back you wanted to see me now you're dead now you can see your eternity in heaven if you're a believer in Jesus Christ means that God is going to expose his glory and it will take you forever to understand it so what do we do what do we do with this Psalm 29 verses 1 & 2 says then you ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name not because he needs it but because he enjoys it he enjoys his creation recognizing who he is don't you don't you enjoy your employee-employer recognizing your work when you've done a good job does it make you feel good that they are recognizing the job you did isn't a player excited who does a touchdown and the people are applauding him for the great runner Pass or catch that they made it is natural to enjoy the glory do your name what happens if you are unlimitedly glorious then worship should not be a tedious task you just given him the glory due his name see many people have this worship thing mixed up you know first come here to preacher you don't first come here to choir you come for an audience of one god I'm gonna sing so you hear my voice praise you and I'm gonna listen so I can hear what you have to say to me because it's about you when Jesus was born glory to God in the highest then you get peace on earth among men you ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name Psalm 96 has the same thing in verse three and verse seven and eight you give him the glory giving the credit the recognition story of the ten lepers they were all crying for God to healing 1000 heal us heal us heal us have mercy on us Jesus comes along and he says go show yourself to the priest the only way showing himself to the briefing that they walking to the priest the leprosy dissipates and disappears so the only way to propel excited now I've been blessed you know we like that God bless me I've been blessed new car new house new job then it says one of the ten stopped and turned around and went back and fell on his face giving God glory jesus said but I thought there were ten how come only this one turns around because the other nine was so busy enjoying their blessing that they didn't take time to give God glory you hear this all today people having all excuses not to glorify God while asking him to bless them God deserves glory he requires glory but far too many of us even Christians one appetizers not a full meal there are two ways to make something bigger you can magnify it now you didn't make it bigger you just made it look bigger it's thin so same size but the magnifying glass made it look bigger or you can get closer to it because the closer you get to an object the bigger it becomes the further you get the smaller it becomes it's really the same size oh you you've changed your location so we shouldn't be surprised that the psalmist says o magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together you came making bigger all but you can look at him in a bigger way or you can get closer to him so you see how big he is and so ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name we're to be like the moon the moon reflects the light of the Sun we're to reflect the glory of God people running to you they should run into the glory of God let me tell you something else before we close about the guy you know the glory of God it grows on you it's like starting off with a picture you know picture you take on your phone you started with a picture that's still that's still so still photograph okay there's no movement there but it may look nice it's in college look nice but then you see the television screen well that's picture in motion oh but then you go and you see the movie in IMAX well now you dealing with a whole different grabbing look and then you get 3d it's coming off the screen coming at you and now they got movies where the seats move to reflect the activity on the screen you know all they're trying to do is get you closer to the experience some Christians are satisfied with a photograph they just want a photograph of God and God that's cool that's pretty others aren't satisfied with a program they need a TV screen they want to see a little bit more then that those who want some HD then it owes who want to say oh no no no no no I want IMAX I want I want God you to show me more than those others that what I got to say I want to see the effect of that leaping off that screen coming right at me so did this shakes up my seat so that I am infected and affected by the movement of God one thing you need to know God will get glory out of you whether you want it or not so that's the understanding because he created the world for his glory he gonna get his glory Romans chapter 1 says because they did not glorify Him as God verses 21 to 23 because they did not glorify him as God's judgment fell because men were created for his glory Jeremiah chapter 13 verses 15 to 16 because they did not glorify him judgment fell Romans from revelation 14 verses 6 and 7 because they did not glorify Him as God judgment fell the great illustration of this is Pharaoh Pharaoh asked Moses who is this God that I should recognize him I don't recognize him I recognize me God says I heard that god says in Exodus chapter 14 verse 17 since he gonna be a fool i'ma help him so it says I God hardened Pharaoh's heart so he made him a bigger sinner than he was already demonstrating himself to be he let him get worse made his heart harder so that he ran after the children of Israel after he let them go God made it run after him cuz God says because you don't want to recognize my glory I'm gonna help you out I'm gonna make you more evil than you started you go get my people he goes after God's people and he watches his whole army gets swallowed up in the Red Sea cuz God says in Exodus 14 17 I'm gonna make him glorify me so you can glorify Him voluntarily or mandatorily but there is no issue and by the way there are no atheists in hell everybody will recognize the glory of God my kids were small we took him to the amusement park love amusement and back then they had I don't know what they called him I just called him thingamajigs they they're these little little stretched things with light on them and you could wrap them around your wrist wrapping around you anybody remember those those those the light strips little stick okay whatever and so so they have so they had these things the lights were on him and say hey wrap them around the arms wrapped around a head wrap around their neck and it's getting dark outside but you could always see them cuz they were lit up and so you you they would stay lit but when we got in the car on our way home the light began to dim the light begin to fade one time we got home it was a little light left because it been alone for a while and then we leaving and all that so what we would do is we would put him under a lamp while the kids were asleep when they woke up the light had reappeared because it was made to absorb light in order to reflect light this world makes the light of God fade your people your family yet people at work the circumstances our own nature and the light of God's glory fades but second Corinthians chapter 3 verses 17 and 18 says that when God's Word by God's Spirit is working in our life we are transformed from glory to glory that if we stay under the light the glory keeps coming and keeps expanding so the presence and power of God is being realized in our lives so I would invite you to do what psalm 115 says psalm 115 says that you and i are to give god glory in fact i'm a close by reading it some 115 because it says it all here's what we read it says not to us Oh Lord not to us verse 1 but to your name give glory and then in Psalm 113 verse 3 from the rising of the Sun till it's setting may the name of the Lord be praised the Lord is high above all nations his glory is above the heavens for the rising of the Sun that's when you get up tell but going down with the same that's when you go to bed and all the time between take every opportunity to bring him glory sometimes you're gonna do it while you drive sometimes you're gonna do it formally while you're praying sometimes you're gonna do it while you're thinking sometimes you're gonna do it when you're interacting but you make the advertisement of God and his attributes your primary purpose in life and you'll stay lit up with his presence and with his power so that when you come to worship all you doing is doing what you did all week long with everybody else at one time let's stand to our feet and let's give God some glory with the closing song for he is worthy not only of a preach sermon but of celebrating his great name [Music] [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Tony Evans

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Keywords: Tony Evans sermons, Christian sermons, Tony Evans, sermons on glory, Christian sermon videos, Christian preacher, preaching on glory, teaching on glory, glory of God, God's glory, seeing God's glory, motivational, motivational video, tony evans, tony evans radio, dr tony evans, tony evans sermons

Id: 8rTb2IfOzNg

Length: 53min 46sec (3226 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 20 2017