Christ in you, the hope of glory: (Colossians 1:27)
It's easier for me to think on the hope of glory at 75 than it was at 15. The substance of it has not changed but my perception of it has changed considerably. Since I have my ticket in hand for the city of glory and I see the hopeless mess the world is in, I relish the thought of a better world.
If you are currently having a blast or if you are 15 and you want to get your driver's license first, I can understand. But eventually, we have to think about the morning when it's time to get up and we can't get out of bed because we are paralyzed. Most people own mirrors and use them daily to make sure their glory looks good.
People have thinking about this since there have been people. Two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul wrote about the end of life. He had raised at least one from the dead and wrote as God's secretary about a lot of things to the early Christians. He knew more about "the hope of glory" than the doctor or undertaker.
And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. (Acts 20:9-10)
Like a kerosene lamp whose wick needs trimming and is running low on oil, we have to think about holding on to our glory. We also want to be significant, which is a close kin to glory.
In our text for today, the substance is that "Christ is the only Savior of sinners. The Gospel is designed to put men in possession of the Spirit and power of Christ, to make them partakers of the Divine nature, and thus prepare them for an eternal union with himself. No man could rationally hope for glory who had not the pardon of his sins, and whose nature was not sanctified; and none could have pardon but through the blood of his cross; and none could have glorification but through the indwelling, sanctifying Spirit of Christ" (Clarke).
God is not running an automobile dealership nor is He the builder or real estate agent of nice homes. He has designed us to eventually share in the kingdom of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. But this is not going to happen on our terms. We are not God's advisers. In short, our glory is God-centered and not man-centered.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Romans 1:18-20)
The prophets and apostles and Christ himself considered the world in a state of ignorance and darkness. When men are ignorant of God and rebellious against Him, there is no hope of an eternal state of glory. When a man possesses his ultimate glory, he will be an agent of justice, truth and mercy as has been his lot from the hand of his redeemer.
God's own who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, have been promised an awful lot. It is really significant to me that all that we hope to receive in eternity is summed up in: "hope of glory." Your new automobile and your new house and your new clothes and your new everything is going to grow old and tattered and in need of replacement. We look forward to new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness (2Peter 3:13).
How are you going to get out of the box? That's the biggest question you have ever had and it's the biggest question you have now. The answer is simple: if you have Christ in you, He will get your body out of the box and unite it with your spirit which returns to the hands of Him who made it
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: (Psalm 66:18)
If I regard iniquity in my heart. "If I have seen iniquity in my heart and: loved it, took pleasure in it, willingly prolonged its presence." It is not simply that I have looked into my heart and—much to my surprise—have identified something that looks like iniquity. It's more than that. I have found iniquity there and I like what I see! As Barnes comments: "If I have cherished it in my soul; if I have gloated over past sins. If I am purposing to commit sin again; if I am not willing to abandon all sin, and to be holy".
If we are interested in getting God to hear us, we will have to confront ourselves with this great truth. God is not requiring us to be perfect and without sin, for no one is without sin. But, He is requiring us to abandon our holding on to an attitude of independent thinking apart from God. He is requiring that we abandon our holding on to things He cannot and will not tolerate. It is the human thing to be confronted with our treasured sin and hold on for dear life.
If you like to look at pictures of garbage, go to Google and type it in and you can bring up thousands of pictures of garbage. That's where I got the above picture. It is a symbol of our rebellious minds and rebellious hearts.
Long ago in another state, I was pastor of an active Baptist church. Someone told us that a widow was sick and the ladies of our church should go clean her house. That's usually a good thing to do, but our ladies encountered a problem. The woman who lived there had spent several years gathering things at yard sales and bringing them home to be stacked anywhere in the house. There was barely walking space in every room of the house. Used paper plates in the kitchen were piled high on the cabinets and kitchen table.
Not to be outdone, the ladies worked hard all day at filling black garbage bags and carrying them outside in a big pile to be hauled off. At last the job was done and the house looked orderly and clean. The next morning I drove by the house and caught a glimpse of the sick woman using the last of her energy going through the big pile of garbage in her back yard. It was almost more than she could bear that her treasures were going to be loaded on the garbage truck.
Many people are like that regarding their private sins. It doesn't matter that it offends God. They love their sins and they are not going to part with them. Therefore, God will not hear anything they say to Him. That's what the Bible says in our text for today.
And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.(1Samuel 30:6)
Saul was the king of Israel and his jealousy and fear of David had driven him mad to be rid of David. He was at the top of Saul's "Most Wanted" list. So David and his men were camping out with the Philistines, the arch enemies of Israel. The Philistines marshaled their troops to fight against Israel and David and his men were in the rear with King Achish. But the leaders of King Achish insisted that David and his men could not go to battle with them against David's nation of Israel. So David's men returned to their home base at Ziklag.
When they got "home" to Ziklag, it had been burned to the ground and their wives, sons and daughters hd been taken captive. Not only so, but David's men were talking of stoning David for having made such a blunder in leaving their families alone at Ziklag. At this point, they think that the Amalekites have possibly taken their families off somewhere to kill them or to make them permanent slaves. It is against this background that we find David in our text for today.
Did you ever make a gigantic blunder and everybody was mad at you and even the family dog growled at you? David had made a great blunder. Here he was not the lone shepherd boy who killed the giant Goliath. He was not in his glory of being praised by the women of Israel for his great military victories. It looked like his choice was to submit to being stoned by his own men or he could commit suicide. What to do?
This is where knowing the Lord over a long period of time really paid off. He didn't decide to get drunk or run away and hide. He went alone to talk to God about it. This is one of the most encouraging statements to be found anywhere in the Bible. What do you do when you are at the end of your rope and it looks hopeless?
I think that sometimes the Lord either puts us into such a tight spot, or at least allows to put ourselves in such a bad situation so that we will get on our knees and talk to Him. It was during several times like this that David wrote some of his best Psalms. He writes: ,"The LORD is good … Let the redeemed of the LORD say so."David found this to be true.
What a mighty refuge is the Lord our God. Sometimes we are the tallest when we are on our knees.Ω
Bible Living is made up of the study and reflections of Dan Carr, Pastor Emeritus of Calvary Memorial Church in Southern Pines, NC. Father of 4 and grandfather to 10 grandkids. The much kinder and motherly reflections are by wife, Barbara, stepmother of 4 and grandmother to 10. These studies come to you from Flat Rock, Alabama, atop Sand Mountain in Northeast Alabama. Dan and wife Barbara, are ministry partners who spend considerable time reading and writing and doing people things and shuttling the occasional 475 miles from Flat Rock to Southern Pines, NC.
