All of the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared. And what are we doing? We’re comparing them all the time. That’s what’s big to us. All the hassles of life. It isn’t what’s coming. We don’t even like to live that way. We were programmed and taught. This generation more than anyone in our culture was taught to focus on itself. And you know that and I know that. We’re into appearances. We’re a materialistic generation. And we have lost sight of heaven. We’ve lost sight of glory. That’s why we can’t endure when things don’t go right for us. That’s why when trouble comes, we fall apart. Because we’ve never learned where the glory lies.
SPEAKER 1 :
Amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
It’s a blessing to have you with us as we begin a new week of Bible study on Hope for Today. Man loves to build monuments, monuments to himself, his name, his image, his power, his kingdom. But every crown will decay. It’ll fall apart. It might even rust. Every stage goes dark and every human empire becomes dust before the living God. Today, David Hawking returns with his series on the attributes of God, taken from various portions of Scripture. He’s going to bring us day two of his message called The Glory of God. Not the cheap glory this world worships, but the glory that belongs to God alone. No man can manufacture it, no sin can improve it, and no creature can steal it. Wow. Stay tuned. Just before today’s lesson, we want to point you to a free resource waiting for you on our website, davidhawking.org. This is called Does God Truly Love Me? And it was written to help you or someone you know be assured from the Bible that the very God we’re studying in this current radio series truly loves you. not with the thin sentimental love this world talks about, but with a holy, faithful, biblical love rooted in who God is. Does God Truly Love Me? This is written by our good friend Richard A. Bennett, and we have it available as a free download in multiple languages. Go to our website again, that’s davidhawking.org, davidhawking.org, Click, download, read, and share it with someone you know who needs to know that the God of the Bible loves them. Now here’s David with day two on the glory of God.
SPEAKER 03 :
The Bible says our bodies will be fashioned like unto his glorious body, the body of glory. It’s going to happen one day. Now, to illustrate that the glory of the law was there, it does reveal the character of God, but it’s passing away. It doesn’t achieve the purpose that we need to have done in our hearts. The glory of Christ does. To illustrate it, here’s what God did. When He was talking to Moses and giving those Ten Commandments and other instructions on the tablets of stone, God caused the brilliant light of His own presence to reflect off of the face of Moses. Now, it’s very interesting. When he came down from the mount, it was shining so brightly, it’s like having a bright light right in your eyes. And the people couldn’t look at him, so he had to put a veil over his face. The interesting thing is that would fade away after a while. And then they could look at him again, he could remove the veil. The law had glory in it. Does the law tell us about Jesus Christ? Oh, yes. In the law is the sacrificial system. In the law we learn that without the shedding of blood there’s no forgiveness of sins. There was glory there in the law, but it’s a glory that passes away because the reality of what it was picturing has not come yet. And just like the fading face of Moses, that’s what the glory of the law is. It does tell us about the Lord, but it does not give us the solution. It points to the solution, but the law itself doesn’t save. Only Jesus Christ saved, who is the fulfillment of the law. All of the law pictured the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Fascinating. As Moses’ face would glow, so the law glows. It glows with everything man needs to know about sin and about sacrifice. But it pointed to him. It was, as Paul said in Galatians, a tutor, a schoolmaster, saying, it’s over there that you need to go. It’s Jesus Christ you need. He’s the fulfillment. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to those who believe, says Romans 10.4. The glory was there, though. Turn back to Exodus 34. Exodus chapter 34. The glory was in the principles that God gave when He said, Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal. God’s glory is there. Exodus 34. 29, so now it was so when Moses came down from Mount Sinai and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone and they were afraid to come near him. Then Moses called to them and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him and Moses talked with them. Afterward, all the children of Israel came near and he gave them as commandments all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he’d take the veil off until he came out. And he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with him. What a fascinating analysis of the glory of God. If you think about it, if you really start thinking about it, it makes a lot of sense in a lot of areas. One thing that really struck me is that Moses simply reflects the glory of God. That’s true of us as well. But did you know that according to the Bible that when you become a believer in Jesus Christ, you’re not simply going to reflect the glory of God, which you once in a while do now. Not always, but once in a while. I call it leaking out glory. You dribble out something good and folks say, that must have been the Lord. But anyway, most of the time you look pretty much like everybody else and you don’t look like you’re shining in any way. But the truth is that what God does is He places within you the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. And you have this treasure in you and one day you are going to really shine. And it won’t be a reflection anymore. It’ll be the glory of the Lord in your life forever. And I say, may that day hurry. Because some of us are looking pretty crusty, amen? We look like we need help soon. Now turn to John 1, please. Not only do you see God’s glory in His power and in His presence and in His wonderful principles we call the law, but you see God’s glory in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. In John 1, John refers to it. He said in verse 1, “…in the beginning was the Word…” And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Verse 14. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His what? Glory. John, when did you behold His glory? What do you mean you beheld His glory? A lot of folks saw Him, didn’t see what you saw. What are you saying? Turn back to Matthew chapter 17, please. Matthew chapter 17. The apostles went around in the early days of the church telling folks they had seen the glory of the Lord. John was a part of a special group of three men who were on the mountain of transfiguration with Jesus Christ. It says in verse 1 of chapter 17 of Matthew, after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, his brother, brought them up on a high mountain by themselves, and was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. By the way, if I were the devil and I wanted to counterfeit this, which the devil always does, then I would make you see light. It’s amazing to me how many experiences people talk about near death or out of the body or whatever. They always see a light. There’s some tunnel and there’s light at the end. Hey, it may be the lights of an oncoming train. You know, you may have had too much chili. That may have been your problem. Let me tell you, the devil can deceive you. The Bible even says in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 that his angels, demons, ministers, they literally change themselves into angels of light. How interesting. The devil himself knows this light issue very well. The light we need is the light of Jesus Christ. The Bible says he was transfigured in front of them. Now something else happens. Verse 3. Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. I was talking one day with a Jewish friend, and we were discussing the matter of the two witnesses in the book of Revelation. And I told him I thought it was Moses and Elijah. And I still remember his words were kind of cute. He says, I’ll tell you what, David. He said, if Moses and Elijah come back, I think I’ll believe, along with a lot of other Jewish people. Moses, the greatest lawgiver. Elijah, the greatest prophet. Can you imagine the joy that’s in Peter, James, and John’s heart? Peter speaks up. He usually did. Lord, it is good for us to be here. Now, is that unbelievable? I mean, that’s like saying the obvious. Boy, this is great. Let’s don’t go anywhere else. I tell you what, we’ll build three tabernacles, one for Moses, one for Elijah, one for you. And all of a sudden, the visible manifestation of the glory of the Lord comes. I didn’t make it up. Look at verse 5. While he’s still speaking. Let’s get it organized. John, James, you guys go into town and get the nails. We’ll build this thing right here. While he’s still talking. Man, it’s getting cloudy here. You guys better get into town, get that stuff quick. Let’s don’t lose what we got here. Peter! Who said that? This is my beloved son. Hear him! I don’t know if you got the message or not, but it means forget Moses and Elijah. You want to know what these guys thought of that event? Turn, please, to 2 Peter chapter 1. Their lives were changed by what they’ve seen. John said in John 1, 14, we beheld His glory. In 2 Peter, I read in verse 16 of chapter 1, these words, 2 Peter 1, 16. For we did not follow cunningly devised fables or myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. They saw it. For he received from God the Father honor and glory. When such a voice came to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son in whom I’m well pleased. And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. We were eyewitnesses. We saw it. We beheld his glory. I don’t know what happened there, people. I really don’t. A lot of folks ask. I’ve studied it. I’ve preached sermons on it, and I still don’t think I know what I’m talking about. I’m serious. I know this, that God says one day we don’t need the sun, moon, and stars because the glory of the Father and the Lamb is all the light we need. In some mysterious, powerful, supernatural way, Jesus, as it were, pulled back the curtain of his flesh, which made him look like any other man. And all of a sudden, the brilliant glory of God in terms of light, rays of light, came shooting out of his body. It literally was stunning them. When they finally opened their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. And they never forgot it. The glory of God is in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord. You talk glory, that’s Jesus. Now number five, turn back to 2 Corinthians again, chapter 3. The glory of God is revealed in His power, in His presence, His visible presence to the children of Israel. In His principles we call the law of God. And in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. But the glory of God, praise the Lord, is also revealed in His people. Those who come to know Jesus Christ, the Savior and Lord. I can look at you and you can look at me. And we can say, there’s glory in them bones. There’s glory there. Sometimes you look at somebody and say, I don’t know. Are you sure they’re a Christian? And other times you look at them and say, there’s glory there, man. There’s glory. We read at the end of 2 Corinthians chapter 3. The words that we with unveiled face beholding in a mirror. The Word of God itself is that mirror. The glory of the Lord. You see who God is. The Bible says while you’re doing that and looking at who God is and who the Lord is, you’re being transformed. That’s the word metamorphosis. The caterpillar becoming a butterfly. You’re being transformed into the same image. From glory, the glory that is the Lord’s, to glory, the glory you now have, just as by the Holy Spirit of the Lord. The Spirit does it as you look into the Word. How does one… get transformed? How does one change, to put it in our vernacular? How does one go from what looks like a bombed out Grosseville type person into somebody that can be used of the Lord? How does it happen? It happens by the Holy Spirit using the Word of God, changing a person on the inside. The problem is, see, it’s not always visible on the outside. Man looks on the outward appearance, the Lord looks on the heart. Jump down into chapter 4 and I’ll show you what I mean. In verse 3, just a few verses following, it says, “…even if our gospel is hidden or veiled, it’s veiled, hidden to those who are perishing, whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.” For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure, this glory of God in the person of Christ, we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that’s clay pots, not worth much, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. Now, folks, in the ancient city of Corinth, as you head towards the judgment seat called the Bema seat, still sitting there today, you walk down the main street. On either side, there are shops and a few little dwelling places. The remains are still there. In these shops, we found clay pots from first century A.D., Corinth. And these clay pots were used. Corinth was a very wealthy city, very wealthy, extremely wealthy. And in that city, they would use clay pots to put their precious treasures in, of gold and silver and jewelry and so forth. They put it in a dumb-looking pot so nobody would think to look there. If you put it in a very nice gold pot, then people would think that’s where your treasures are. The point is then taken by the Apostle Paul said, that’s a good idea. That’s just like what God does. You know what you look like? A clay pot. That’s not exactly thrilling to your self-esteem, I know, but that’s what you look like. God says you’re a clay pot, but in there is a wonderful treasure. It’s the glory of God. And you haven’t yet seen how glorious it is. But one day, you’re going to see what glory is all about. We’re going to shine in His brightness. We’re going to explode with the radiance of God’s life within us. It’s like… A caterpillar becoming a butterfly. And some changes do take place. We are being changed. And every now and then a little wing sticks out of the shell and then he pulls it back in. Well, every now and then you do the same thing. You dribble out a little glory and somebody looks at you and says, boy, that must have been the Lord. But then they look again and they say, no, no, he’s still a caterpillar. They see the shell. That’s all they see. And that’s the game that we’re in, isn’t it? It’s a terrible way to live. I wish Christian people would live, would look beyond that. But that’s the game we’re in. What we do, what we say, we’re into everything. We’re into outward appearance. It’s what our whole life is all about. That’s where we struggle. That’s where we got hurts. That’s where we got disappointments and frustrations. That’s what it’s all about. Listen, folks, one day it’ll all be over. Praise God. It’ll all be over. And it’ll be glory day like you’ve never seen. But the truth is the glory is there now in the people of God. I love to look into the eyes of a precious saint who is just falling apart physically and near death and terminal illness. And I’ve seen that many times in my life. And I love to look into their eyes because I can see glory. I can see people wracked with pain who long to be with the Savior and have a joy and have a peace that is unexplainable in human terms. I’ve seen glory in their eyes. Let me tell you, I haven’t seen anything compared to what we will one day be. All of the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared. And what are we doing? We’re comparing them all the time. That’s what’s big to us. All the hassles of life. It isn’t what’s coming. We don’t even like to live that way. We were programmed and taught. This generation more than anyone in our culture was taught to focus on itself. And you know that and I know that. We’ve been programmed constantly to think that. We’re into appearances. We’re into things. We’re a materialistic generation. And we have lost sight of heaven. And we’ve lost sight of glory. That’s why we can’t endure when things don’t go right for us. That’s why when trouble comes, we fall apart. Because we’ve never learned where the glory lies. The glory does not lie in the pragmatic business matters of our life that you and I have to deal with every day. That’s not where the glory lies. The glory is inside every believer. And one day we’ll fly forth like the butterfly. And one day you will see what you cannot see now. And we’re filled with glory. And the next time you’re ready to rag on somebody and to put them down and to criticize them, you remember that James said, you better be careful. You are doing it to the glory of God.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s David Hawking with some tough love straight out of the Bible here on Hope for Today. David will be back in just a bit here to close out today’s time in the Word. Some additional teaching is just ahead, so do stay tuned for that. First though, his son Matt’s here, and Matt and I have some resources that will bless your socks off.
SPEAKER 01 :
Matt? Our resource spotlight for May shines bright on our book, The Beginning. It’s 150 powerhouse pages of teaching through Genesis 1 through 11. You know, Jim, I appreciate the five assumptions my dad lists in his introduction. Number one, the Bible is the inerrant word of God. That means no mistakes. You know, Matt, God’s word is always faithful, isn’t it? Always. And number two, the Bible gives correct information about the origin of all things. The creation of earth, mankind, our universe. Yes. Yeah, the Bible, though scientifically accurate in its statements, is not a textbook on science. Yeah, it’s written from the viewpoint of common people living on planet Earth. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Exactly. And then number four, God created the heavens, earth, and all living things. And the purpose of God’s creation is to reveal the character and power of God. And that’s a motivation for all believers and all of creation to worship him.
SPEAKER 02 :
Amen. Again, this is David’s book, The Beginning, From Creation to the Flood. It’s quite popular with our listening family, Matt. And it’s a study with vital and encouraging insights into God’s power, his faithfulness, righteousness, and love through the earliest days of history.
SPEAKER 01 :
But also insights to govern and direct our lives today. Exactly. And Matt, with the proliferation of confusion today.
SPEAKER 02 :
And we see so much of that around us, don’t we?
SPEAKER 01 :
Big time. It is so vital that we understand the whole counsel of Scripture and anchor ourselves in its power. Starting with the essential first 11 chapters. Exactly, exactly. And the matter of origins, as we see dramatically and miraculously unveiled in Genesis, is vitally important for our sense of purpose, worth, and meaning in life. Amen to that, Matt.
SPEAKER 02 :
While the beginning from Creation to the Flood by David Hawking is just $15. And friend, your purchase or a donation, if you choose that, helps the ministry of Hope for Today. And please pray for Hope for Today. Amen to that. Amen. Well, we also want to tell you that the current series featured on Hope for Today, this is on the attributes of God. You can order a complete set of all of the messages in this series. It’s on MP3 and the cost is just $20. We also have the sermon notes, the original sermon notes that David used to teach these messages. We have those available for just $10, a complete set. And as you purchase these resources, would you also pray about standing with hope for today? Your one-time gift or your regular giving, as long as God lays the ministry on your heart and enables you to give, helps keep David Hawking’s Bible teaching on the air and online available to people who need the truth of God’s Word. That’s all of us, isn’t it? You can order any of the resources we’ve talked about today, or you can give a donation online at davidhawking.org or call us at 1-800-75-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S. In Canada, 888-75-BIBLE. And Bible is 24253. You can also get in touch with us by mail to share a prayer request or maybe a testimony or to send a donation. In the U.S., write to Hope for Today, Box 3927. Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, BC, V2S 8P1. And here’s David to take us home.
SPEAKER 03 :
We could actually have a long series of messages on the glory of God alone. Glory of God was seen in creation, certainly, for the heavens do declare the glory of God. But it’s also seen in our Lord. It’s seen also in the conversion of those of us who become believers, as the Lord’s life is seen through us. God produces a change through His power. We become new creatures in Christ. The glory of God is also the description of the new Jerusalem, of heaven itself. It has the glory of God. The glory of God is going to be manifested to us throughout all eternity because the word glory is referring to who God is. All of His attributes, all of His abilities are captured by that one word. Isn’t it interesting that throughout the Bible we are also told to glorify God? Whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, says 1 Corinthians 10.31, do all to the glory of God. In Philippians 2, it tells us that God has highly exalted His Son. giving him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that he’s Lord to the glory of God the Father.
SPEAKER 02 :
God bless you. Well, thank you, David. My friend, if you’d like to know more about what the Bible says about having a relationship with Jesus Christ, let us send you two free gifts. The first is David Hawking’s booklet, What Is Christianity? And the second is our Bible study by mail. Now, these resources are free, and they were created to help you understand what the Word of God says about sin, salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, a personal relationship with Him. Call 875-BIBLE, that’s in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada to request yours. Tomorrow, David Hawking wraps up his series on the attributes of God with day three of his message on the glory of God. We’ll see you then, right here on Hope for Today.
