The Glory Of God

The Glory of God

Chuck Sligh

March 13, 2022

NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chuckcsligh@gmail.com. Please mention the title of the sermon and the Bible text to help me find the sermon in my archives.

TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 4.

INTRODUCTION

Illus. – In 1808, shortly before the great composer Joseph Haydn’s death, a grand performance of his oratorio of the “Creation” took place in Vienna. Haydn was present, an old man of 76 years. He was so feeble he had to be wheeled into the theater in a chair.

This was the last time that the great composer made his appearance in public. The audience greeted the old man with great enthusiasm, and when the orchestra and chorus arrived at a climax in the oratorio, the people in the theater rose and turned to Haydn in a tumult of applause. The old composer struggled to his feet and mustering up all his strength cried in reply to the applause of the audience: “No, no! no! Not from me, but from there [pointing upward], from heaven above comes all!”

He fell back in his chair exhausted by the excitement, and was hastily removed to his home, never again to come before his beloved Austrian public. His last public act was to make sure that God got all the glory from his life’s work.

Our purpose is to bring glory to God. – Note:

• Ephesians 1:5-6 – “Having predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 TO THE PRAISE OF THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE, in which he has made us accepted in the beloved.”

• Ephesians 1:11-12 – “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That we should be TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY, who first trusted in Christ.”

• Isaiah 43:7 – “Even everyone who is called by my name: for I HAVE CREATED HIM FOR MY GLORY…”

Those are the “go-to” verses on the glory of God, but there are many, many others:

• Psalm 29:2 says “Give to the LORD the GLORY due to his name…”

• In Psalm 57:5 we read, “Be exalted above the heavens; let your GLORY be above all the earth.”

• The Psalmist says in Psalm 96:3 – “Declare his GLORY among the heathen, his wonders among all people.”

• At Jesus’s birth the angels said, “GLORY to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14)

• Jude 25 says, “To the only wise God our Savior, be GLORY and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”

• John says in Revelation 4:11 – “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive GLORY and honor and power: for you have created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created.”

I could go on and on. It may surprise you to know that there are about 400 verses in the Bible about the glory of God!

God’s glory is represented in two ways in Scripture:

First, the Bible speaks of the glory of His PRESENCE. This is seen in the Shekinah glory in the Tabernacle. – Moses was given a glimpse of the glory of God—the glory of God’s presence that was so bright that when he came off Mount Sinai, his face shone quite a long time afterwards. When Solomon built the Temple, no one could go into the Holy of Holies because “the glory of the Lord” was too bright.

Second, the Bible speaks of the glory of God’s PRAISE. – This is the glory we give to God, both through our lips and our life.

What does it mean to “glorify God?” It means to live and order your life in such a way that you bring glory and honor to God in every area of your life.

With that introduction in mind, turn now to our text, and let’s read it, and then we’ll look at it verse by verse:

2 Corinthians 4:3-6 – “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”