GLORY IN THE CHURCH (5 OF 12)

CHURCH 2000 (5 of 12)
GLORY IN THE CHURCH
Ephesians 3:21
Jerry Vines
1/30/00

The Bible is a wonderful book. Read it and you
will find a blessing in a book. You will find comfort
in a chapter. You will find victory in a verse. You
will find wonder in a word. One of the words in the
Bible which to me has always been filled with wonder
is this word--GLORY. "Unto him be glory in the
church."

I did a study on the word "glory" a number of
years ago and occurs almost 400 times in the entire
Bible. I discovered that the word for "glory" in the
Old Testament and New Testament carried the idea of
weight or worth. Glory is an outward manifestation of
an inward reality. When the Bible speaks of the glory
of God it means, to my understanding, the essential
presence of God in all of His splendor as He reveals
Himself to men.

Wherever God is, there is glory. Whatever God
does, it is glorious. The glory of God may be seen in
many places. We see the glory of God in His creation.
I heard about a black preacher who asked his
congregation, "Where was God in His glory?" The choir
didn't know. "Where was God in His glory?" The
deacons didn't know. "Where was God before He created
the world?" Nobody seemed to know. He asked the
congregation, "Where was God before He created the
world?" Then he said, "Before He created the world,
God was in His glory."

God has always been glorious. God is glorious.
God will be glorious. But we see His glory when He
created the universe. God stepped from behind the
curtain of nowhere upon the platform of nothing and He
spoke the world into existence. In Psalm 19:1 it
says, "The heavens declare the glory of God." So
wonderful was that manifestation of glory that the
sons of God shouted for joy, clapped their hands, and
surely they said, "GLORY!" We see the glory of God
in the creation.

We also see the glory of God in Christ, the Lord
J ...

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