BE THE GLORY IN THE CHURCH
The Lord's Church has the great privilege of being an
instrument revealing God's glory on this earth.
Ephesians 3:20-21 ...[21] to [God] be glory in the church and in
Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!
Amen.
- A profound
privilege! - the Church is to be an instrument to bring glory to
God.
- Not just now,
but "for ever and ever" revealing the glory of
God.
- The Church is
not an afterthought to God.
- So how can it
happen that "to Him [there will] be glory in the
church"? How can the Church bring glory to God?
John 15:8 This is
to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing
yourselves to be my disciples.
(1) "Bear much fruit"
- (1a) The fruit
of the Spirit, demonstrating a changed life, brings glory to
God.
- (1b) The fruit
of others won or touched for the Lord likewise glorifies
God.
2 Corinthians 3:18,
KJV But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory
of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
(2) Becoming more and more like Jesus
- "changed
into [His] image"
- Increasingly,
every day, without taking a break
- "from
glory to glory" - never be satisfied if you are not growing
in Christ likeness.
2 Corinthians 3:7-9
Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in
letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could
not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory,
fading though it was, [8] will not the ministry of the Spirit be
even more glorious? [9] If the ministry that condemns men is
glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings
righteousness!
(3) "the [glorious] ministry of the
Spirit"!
- Book-of-Acts,
Pentecostal ministry was glorious! God's glory was manifested
in the Spirit-filled ministry of His Church.
- The sick
healed, dead raised, thousands saved...
- Don't quit
coveting earnestly the spiritual gifts.
- The
Church's glorious, Spirit-filled ministry will bring glory to
God.
John 2:11 This, the
first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in
Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their
faith in him.
(4) Specifically, miraculous ministry glorifies the God of the
miraculous.
- Jesus said to
believers: "The works that I do shall [you] do also, and
greater..."
- As the
Lord's church begins to move more in the miraculous, God will
be glorified by it.
- Remember,
"...to [God] be glory in the church."
John 17:4 I have
brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to
do.
(5) God is glorified by finished work.
- Seeing the
completion of His earthly life and ministry approaching, Jesus
said, "Now glorify me..."
- If God has
spoken to you, fulfill what He has called you to do, and thereby
glorify God.
John 1:14 The Word
became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his
glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
Romans 8:18-19 I consider that our present sufferings are not
worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. [19]
The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be
revealed.
- One reason you
serve Jesus is that you have read the Scriptures and have
"seen His glory."
(6) His glory is
to be revealed in us. And the world is waiting to see that glory
be revealed in the sons of God.
- Never lose
sight of becoming that holy, spotless, radiant Church without
blemish. The Bride of Christ! The glory of God will be seen in
His Church-Bride.
1 Corinthians 10:31
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the
glory of God.
(7) The motive of glorifying God can lift "whatever you
do" to a spiritual level pleasing to God.
- Even seemingly
mundane things like eating and drinking can be done for God's
glory.
Summary: The
Church glorifies God by:
1. Bearing much fruit
2. Becoming more and more like Jesus
3. By ministry in and of the Spirit
4. By walking in the miraculous
5. By finishing each task God gives us
6. By allowing His glory to be revealed to the world in us
7. By committing "whatever you do" to glorifying
God
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