~ Glory is both physical and spiritual. It is the exhibition of the Excellency of the subject to which it is ascribed ~
When referring to God, It is the display of His attributes and perfection.
When referring to mankind, it is the manifestation of his commendable qualities, such as: ability, self-control, wisdom and so on.
The Prophet Isaiah in
Isaiah 40:1-5 said, “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. *Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins. *The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. *Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: *And the Glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”
The Glory of the Lord is revealed or made known when, people can see undeniable evidence that the iniquity of a people or a person is forgiven. God said that He would do it and we know that it is impossible for Him to lie or fail. Praise His Holy Name!
Even little children know when they have done something wrong that they deserve to be punished. A child will display great joy when the time of punishment is over or when they find out that they won’t be punished for something they did wrong especially when it is evident that it is time for them to be punished.
The Glory of the Lord is revealed in that He, the Great King commands that a way be prepared for His children where there seemeth not to be any possible way of being delivered. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the most difficult thing in your life was made so simple that a baby wouldn’t have any problem doing the task?
In
1st Corinthians 15:41-44 we read where the Apostle Paul said, “There is one Glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. *So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: *It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: *It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”
Just like there are some things that are bad and BAD; there is glory and there is GLORY. When we think of the glory or magnitude of the sun, we know that it is very hot and very bright. Just looking directly into the sun for any length of time could do irreversible damage to a person’s eyes. And if a person could actually travel to and land on the sun, the heat of the sun would no doubt completely destroy the person and the craft that brought them there.
However, in the Glorified Body that Jesus and His Father has and the new body that the Saints will have at the second coming of Jesus, we will not feel any hurt or harm from the heat of the sun or any other thing because the Glorified Body is/will be a Spiritual Body.
It is written, "God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth",
St. John 4:24. We must believe that "He (God) is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him", Hebrews 11:6. Praise His Holy Name!
In
Jeremiah 9:24 the Prophet said, "Let him (the person) that glorieth glory in this, that he (the person) understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD."
Can you imagine what is in store for a person that refuses to give God the Glory that is due to Him? The reward of that person is the opposite of anything good or lovely or glorious.
In
1st Chronicles 16:8-15 we read where it says, "Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. *Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. *Glory ye in His Holy Name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. *Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually. *Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; *O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones. *He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. *Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations;"
To “Glory in His Holy Name,” or in other words, bask in or be immersed in His Greatness is beyond comprehension.
To come into the presence of the Living God is to be changed, it is an AWESOME thing! ~
It would be difficult to imagine the Brightness of His Glory unless you have experienced it. Several years ago while my wife and I were making a trip by car from Arkansas to Oregon, and while driving through the State of Kansas, I noticed some very large dark storm clouds in the distance up ahead. It was displaying an awesome amount of lightning flashing. I ask my wife a rhetorical question: “I wonder how the Children of Israel felt when the Glory of the Lord came down on mount Sinai?”
I hadn’t hardly gotten the words out of my mouth when, we were in the midst of the worst hail storm I had ever seen. One of the first things I saw was a hail stone that resembled the size of a soft-ball hit the center of the car’s windshield. This made a multi-ringed circular in the glass. The hail storm sounded like hundreds of jack-hammers hitting our car all at the same time. Even the chrome trim of the car was dented by the force of the hail.
Needless to say, we were terrified! And that was just a hail storm. What we had just experienced was just a taste of nature; it wasn’t the Glory of the Lord.
The Prophet Moses that led the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt asked God to show him His Glory. You can read about it in
Exodus 33:18-23. God’s Glory can be spectacular or it can be very simple and quiet. God cannot be put in a box of being this or that because He is everything, all and in all.
In
1st Peter 2:20 the Apostle Peter said, “For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.”
When a person gets what they deserve without making a fuss that is good. However, when a person doesn’t make a fuss about something happening to them that they do not deserve then, that is an exceptional person. This is the type of person that Jesus wants to take with Him into the Kingdom of His and our Heavenly Father.
In
Proverbs 20:29 (in part) King Solomon said, “The glory of young men is their strength.”
I can remember as a teenager how boys would show off their physical abilities, trying to show themselves as being better than their peers by doing more push-ups, climbing a rope without their feet, running the mile in six minutes flat and so on. However, the aged men are thankful just to be able to get around without the assistance of another person or other device.
Mankind has a tendency of ascribing importance on their abilities and to material things but God wants us to ascribe importance to Him. In the Book of Exodus, God told Moses that He wanted Aaron and his sons, the Priest to display glorious beauty in His Holy presence. "And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty."
Exodus 28:2
There are Scriptures that tell us that the Saints will be clothed in white raiment when Jesus returns to gather His children into the Heavenly Kingdom of the Father of Glory. I can only imagine its pure beauty. Where God is, there is Beauty and Glory and Great Power!
King Solomon in his wisdom in
Proverbs 17:6 (in part) said, “The glory of children are their fathers.”
As a general rule, children look up to their fathers. Can you remember ever hearing one child saying to another, “my dad’s bigger than your dad.” Then, the other child would say, “my dad’s smarter than your dad.” Then, the first one might say, “my dad’s got a better job and more money than your dad.” To which, the other child might say, “My dad’s got more free time to spend with me than your dad has to spend with you.” I think you get the picture.
I think God would like for His children to be as proud and boastful of Him as little children are of their dads by showing the world that they love and respect Him by obeying His Holy Word.
The Apostle Paul in
1st Corinthians 11:15 (in part) said, “If a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.”
King Solomon in his wisdom in
Proverbs 25:2 (in part) said something similar, “If a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.”
A woman having long hair is generally obvious to everyone that sees her unless her hair is covered up. God would like for His children to be obvious with their obedience, praise and glorifying of Him.
In
Psalms 96:3 King David said, “Declare His Glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.”
When we come before the Glory of the Lord, we need to remember to come with a Sacrifice of Praise on our Lips. In one Scripture this is referred to as offering the Caves of or Fruit of our Lips,
Hosea 14:2 & Hebrews 13:15.
When the Glory of the Lord appears to you, no one will have to tell you, you will know it. God, in His Glory through the Precious Blood of Jesus, His Dear Son, by the Power of the Holy Ghost consumes and purifies us from ALL of our sins even as the fire on the Alter consumed the Offerings that were put on it.
Derwood A. Stewart, Minister
House of Prayer Sabbath Ministries
Comments? Email us: hope@preachersteacher.org
