3. Future glory

I am deliberately going to break every rule of exegesis and take a verse wholly out of context hear because I believe the balance of scripture tells us that God always keeps the best wine till last

Its a Glory that improves with age…its like wine we can taste.

Jesus first miracle water to wine. That wine speaks of joy. One way tap into joy=== holys spirit peace and joy in the Spirit

George Whitefield as he preached on this miracle. “Whilst I am thinking, and only speaking of those things unto you, I am almost carried beyond myself. Methinks, I now receive some little foretastes of that new wine which I hope to drink with you in the heavenly kingdom for ever and ever.”

Why be nostalgic for the days of Whitefield? Why not drink the same spiritual wine he did and see the glory of God right here right now? BE not Drunk with wine be FILLED with the Spirit!

John 7:37-39 “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Jesus glorification in John is shorthanded for his death. resurrection and ascension. Because Jesus has now been glorified, the Spirit has now been given, and will never be taken away!

If you will walk with God, he isn’t finished with you yet.

The world seems to offer young people a better ride…tho even in the short term the consequences hurt. But the older we get the bigger gap there is. Many Christian speak of a sweeter more intimate sense of Gods presence as they get older.

God wants to take you to the next level today. And take you today from one degree of glory to another there is more than you have know so far!

2 Corinthians 3:8 “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”

What level are you at?
—–>Have you believed in this Jesus as the disciples did? If not you can today
——>Having believed have you tasted of his goodness experientially and Been overwhelmed by been immersed in his Spirit?

——->As we heard a few weeks back, are you ankle deep, in which case you can come in deeper to the river of Gods blessing

Have you been facing difficulties? Or feel God is distant. Maybe your joy, like the wine in this story has run out! He is here. He has now been glorified so his Spirit HAS been poured out, and we can ALL receive a fresh touch from him this morning.

But is also a future glory because at the end it is an eternal glory

This glory is always works not just in past or present. It is drawing us to our eternal home. Then there will be no more hidden glory, only revealed glory, but we will never exhaust the depths of Jesus glory!

We must always have the future in mind. The end goal is not in this earth its to be with the Father the Son and the Spirit. The mystery is we will experience a Glorification. This world is not everything. There is a Better place. No matter what you go thru Jesus saves the best to last. Therefore don’t give up. In the meantime one degree to another but it can be seasons of much pain

Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but qbecause of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God

Goes on to promise that those who God has saved he also glorified! We are already and will be glorified!

Just as Jesus was glorified only thru death and then resurrection, so our glory comes through our being emptied “they have no wine” then filled through suffering then healing, through pain then deliverance, through persecution then the acceptance of Jesus, and ultimately also for us through death and resurrection.

Because of this glorious future, we can expect more of him today hope for tomorrow truth joy to explore

When we see heaven it should fill us with hope so we are able to live with joy now so we see what is ahead. this world is not heaven now. If God is going to bless us so wonderfully in the future, why shouldn’t he bless us now?

Something of Heaven’s glory and power breaking thru in the here and now!

More you connect with Spirit more you walk in and enjoy the glory of the one, and the more you experience the deposit which guarantees the glory which is to come.

John 17:22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world”

If you need Gods glory in your life this story tells us how… In reverse, we need the hope for an optimistic future, instead of looking back to a golden age, looking forward to née blessings God will bring us even in this life, We need to determine to just do what he tells us, and we must pray the glorious future into our present.

Let the powers of the age to come, break through today! may Jesus hidden kingdom be made manifest.

Here is the first part of the notes I preached from, lightly edited:

This story ends with the idea “Jesus showing his glory” It’s the goal of the story and the goal of this message!

I want us today to catch just a glimpse of the glory of Jesus. If we can lift our eyes from the mundane lives we live and see his glory, just for a moment, this morning, our lives will never be the same again. This could be a life-transforming moment for each of us.

When Bible talks of it comes in different forms… essentially only GOD has glory (tho the word is used of the glory of the kingdoms of earth and the glory of Solomon and the plants, and also includes the response to that glory ie praise.)

Ultimately, glory is the manifestation of God’s person.  When glory is there, something happens whether you perceive it or not.

Not always the high dramatics, can be calm but powerful. But God’s glory can also be absent though his omnipresence never is. So for example when the ark was captured a child was named “icabod” which meant “the glory has departed”

GLORY is most seen in person of Jesus. Wherever he went they said “we beheld his glory full of grace ” (From John 1) “No one has seen God but Jesus makes him known” could have said manifests his glory! The word here is “exegetes” him (ie explains and demonstrates or paints a picture as you do in a sermon)

Jesus was always the one to show God’s glory. Who was it that appeared to God’s people in the OT was it God the Father? NO it was God the son because you cannot see the father as a fallen human and live, as John tells us.  Talking about Jesus, John 12:41 tells us “Isaiah said these things because the saw his glory and uspoke of him.” The most dramatic manifestation of God in the OT is actually a description of Jesus. Isaish was talking about HIM!

Jesus “showed his glory” and his disciples believed, and towards the end of his gospel John tells us the reason why he wrote a series of signs culminating in Jesus death and resurrection, the greatest sign of all: John: written “so that you may believe.  and have life.” (20:30)  John 10:10 tells us that thus is meant to be “life to the full” we can experience that right now!

When you see the glory you WILL believe! And your LIFE will be transformed. SHOW US THE GLORY LORD

“Nothing in the universe is more valuable than the glory of God.” Piper, What Jesus Demands From the World p 351

• Nature shows God’s glory
• But Jesus shows it better.
• And his glory is shown today through the church!

Johns Gospel tells us the GLORY IS HERE and it is STILL HERE TODAY.

We want the glory. Why don’t christians talk much these days about the GLORY? We want to feel the glory. We want to see the effects of the glory. We want to SMELL the glory.

Man got on a train to go visit a revival “you will know all right”

The truth is that Jesus glory is right here. If you come here each week, maybe you feel like this is like an island of glory in a difficult week.  If Jesus is in our lives there will be glory what does it look like? Is it always that glorious? Perhaps not, well not in my life anyway. But this story tells us 3 things about glory that I want us to focus on:

1. Glory hidden

- mild he laid his glory by

- maker of the universe at that most human of events a wedding and no one knew who he was there except Mary and perhaps his disciples just beginning to.

- often used to make the point that God invented marriage and honors and values it, but to me this shows the very humaness of Jesus. Quietly enjoying a party at which he is not the center of attention!

As he says to Mary my time has not yet come. God OFTEN hides his glory.

There is alway the hidden glory when it is hidden it is still working. Do not despise the fact that you are not seeing the dramatics. He is there the very present help in time of need

NB even this miracle is not done on a public stage as we would expect but in a private event…a wedding. Thus it is hidden. Every display of God’s glory on earth has this element to it. Even the most powerful manifestation of Jesus glory has this hidden nature to it.

Every person who is ever miraculously healed will also one day die. We live in that tension as Christians today. Times when we long for more of his glory to be revealed.

How It Works « The Light Project is a unique service for a local church. For $1 per house they will distribute free copies of John’s gospel on your behalf with the church’s contact information included on the gospel. At the moment this is a USA-only service. It looks like an interesting idea. I have often thought about which gospel may be best to hand a non-Christian. It might well be the case that one gospel or another might be better for different kinds of people.  But Moody and Torrey had some strong things to say about the primacy of John for evangelism cited on this project’s site.  Do you agree?

“My friends, if you want a reason for not loving Christ don’t turn to John. He knew Him too long. I don’t believe a man can read the gospel of John without being turned to Christ.” — D. L. Moody

“The best book in the world to put into the hands of one who desires to know about Jesus and to be saved is the gospel of John.” — R. A. Torrey

via

John Piper shares some interesting perspectives on the fullness of the holy Spirit in a sermon he gave last november. It is intruiging how he endeavours to sidestep the issue of identifying baptism with the Holy Spirit as either conversion or a second blessing. Piper seems keener that we are all open to more infusions of the Holy Spirit whatever our theological position. He is discussing John 1:25-34

Jesus immerses people in the Spirit. That’s what the word baptize means. There are pictures in the Bible of the Spirit being poured out. But when the idea of baptism (that is, dipping or immersion) is brought in, the point is that the Spirit is poured over us to such an extent that we are enveloped in him.

The point of this image is that the Spirit becomes profoundly and pervasively influential in our lives. When you are immersed in something, it touches you everywhere. So when John says that Jesus is going to baptize with the Spirit, he means that the day is coming when the lives of God’s people will be plunged into the life of the Spirit with profound and pervasive effects. . .

As I have tried to let John define for us what he means by baptism with the Spirit, it seems to me that the term is a broad, overarching one that includes the whole great saving, sanctifying, and empowering work of the Spirit in this age. I don’t think it is a technical term that refers to one part of the Christian life—say conversion, or speaking in tongues, or a bold act of witness. It is the continual, and sometimes extraordinary, outpouring of the Holy Spirit on God’s people. It immerses them not just in one or two, but in hundreds of his powerful influences.

In other words, if you are not born again, one way to describe your need is that you need to be baptized with the Spirit. That is, you need to be plunged into God’s Spirit with the effect that you will be born again and come to faith in Christ. If you are born again, but you are languishing in a season of weakness and fear and defeat, one way to describe what you need is to be baptized in the Spirit. That is, you need a fresh outpouring of his Christ-revealing, heart-awakening, sin-defeating, boldness-producing power. Every spiritual need that we have before and after conversion is supplied by Christ immersing us in greater and lesser degrees in the Holy Spirit.

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UPDATE
December 24, 2008

Yesterday David learned that his cancer has spread to his liver and lungs. He has surgery scheduled for today and chemotherapy starting thereafter. Not an easy Christmas for the Waynes, but I was able to speak to him on the phone yesterday and he sounded in good heart. He said that since his announcement, he had been consciously aware of the prayers of bloggers upholding him.

———

I know I had planned to not write anything further on my blog this Christmas season. But every now and then at Christmas you hear some news that makes you realize just how fortunate you are and appreciate afresh that others are facing tough times. We will all face such difficulties at various points in our lives, so we should stand with those who are suffering right now.

David Wayne is a much loved Presbyterian friend of mine. I met him through his blog, and I believe he was the first Presbie I ever got to meet in the flesh. He and I realized early-on, as did many of our readers, that despite our very different backgrounds, we actually saw eye-to-eye on almost everything. Our connection was so strong at one point that people even accused us of being the same person writing two different blogs! A connection like that helps you to bridge the chasms we foolishly erect between Christian groups and denominations. I have learned much from David.

To hear now that the Jollyblogger has cancer of the colon wrenched at my heart strings. I also have an uncle currently facing the same diagnosis and treatment, and still remember my time as a medical student and junior doctor interacting with patients facing their frailty head on with this diagnosis. It is not easy. Without Christ, I really don’t know how anyone handles it at all.

This Christmas time, please spare a thought and a prayer for those facing such challenges. Please join me in spending a moment praying for David Wayne and his family, even as we all look forward to some well-earned relaxation time with our own families. May the peace of God guard them. May the inexplicable joy of God be like shafts of light in the darkness of the sadness and anxiety they will inevitably feel. May faith strengthen, not weaken. May the love of God enfold them in a tangible way. May God bring healing and full recovery so that this servant of God and his lovely family can continue to be a blessing to others. Now is the time for the pastor to be pastored by others, and I trust his church family will be rallying around to serve this family who I know have given so very much to them over many years.

We love you, David! And those of us who have met them, love your wonderful family too. Know that we are here for you in cyberspace, and know, too, that you have those who love you around you now. But know even morel that your God is with you, even in all of this.

Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Even my regular readers may not remember that some time ago I decided I wanted to work my way through John Piper’s sermons on the new birth. I know it has been awhile since I mentioned this, but I don’t want to rush this process. Watching the second video, I found Piper’s love for his people compelling. He describes being eager to comfort and give assurance to the timid new believer, but also wanting to unhinge the complacent arrogant person who falsely believes he is reborn. Oh that such pastoral wisdom and love for others would characterize every Christian! Somehow he reminded me of a quote from C. S. Lewis I shared in the past. Here is an excerpt from Piper’s sermon on Nicodemus, which I urge you to go and watch in its entirety.

Apart from God, we are spiritually dead in our selfishness and rebellion. We are by nature children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). Our rebellion is so deep that we cannot detect or desire the glory of Christ in the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). Therefore, we if we are going to be born again, it will rely decisively and ultimately on God. His decision to make us alive will not be a response to what we as spiritual corpses do, but what we do will be a response to his making us alive. For most people, at least at first, this is unsettling.

My Hope: Stabilize and Save, Not Just Unsettle

So, as I begin this series, I am aware of how unsettling this teaching on the new birth can be. And O how careful I want to be. I do not want to cause tender souls any unnecessary distress. And I do not want to give false hope to those who have confused morality or religion for spiritual life. Please pray for me. I feel like I am taking eternal souls in my hands in these days. And yet I know that I have no power in myself to give them life. But God does. And I am very hopeful that he will do what he says in Ephesians 2:4-5, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” God loves to magnify the riches of his life-giving grace where Christ is lifted up in truth. That is my hope: that this series will not just unsettle but stabilize and save.

What Happens in the New Birth?

So let’s turn now to the question: What happens in the new birth? I will try to put the answer in three statements . . .

1. What happens in the new birth is not getting new religion but getting new life.

2. What happens in the new birth is not merely affirming the supernatural in Jesus but experiencing the supernatural in yourself.
3. What happens in the new birth is not the improvement of your old human nature but the creation of a new human nature—a nature that is really you, and is forgiven and cleansed; and a nature that is really new, and is being formed by the indwelling Spirit of God.
   —John Piper

Regular readers of my blog will know I am in the middle of a series on social styles in church. I would like to suggest in this post that the four social styles I described in the last one are reflected in the styles of the authors of the four gospels. We can see this from the way each of them choose to start their gospels.

Analytical Luke
“It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you”

This suggests the slow methodical accuracy of an anaytical who got there in the end (although arguably Luke never finished Acts….)

Amiable Matthew
“Jesus Christ, the son of David…. Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child”

This suggests the interest in people and relationships of the amiable, and puts Jesus into his relational context.

Expressive John
“In the beginning was the word.and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory”

John leaps straight in with soem of the most wonderfully rich and expressive writing in scipture. You can feel the passion dripping off the page.

Driver Mark
“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God….
and immediately”

The bluntness, and directness of the Driver comes through. Mark is eager to keep the pace up and has been described as the most blunt and clipped of the gospels. How many of us would begin our evangelism by boldly declaring Jesus was the son of God?

Perhaps these four styles we are exploring are somehow fundemental to who we are, and God wisely included a gospel to suit each of us.

This series continues at Social Styles – comfortable roles in church