The Cross and Glory

Let me begin. I want to ask a question that I want you to think about carefully.

! And I'm not asking for you to respond. In fact, I'd prefer you don't.

But just think to yourself, this is the question.

What do I really want the most?

What do I really want the most?

Put it another way, what's most important to me?

What's really most important?

What do I want?

What's most important?

As you think about this, here are some things that may help you recognize,

whether you'd like to admit it or not, what the answer is.

What makes you most happy?

What really just lights your fire?

That you're happy about.

What do you care about so much that you really don't have to be prompted to talk about it?

What are things that get you very irritated?

I mean, fire you up.

I want to confess that different ones of us have been hardwired by God to be fired up in moderately different fashions.

Do you follow what I'm saying?

I mean, some people are very public in their fired up-ness.

Other people are kind of like a slow burn.

They're like a coke fire.

They're hot.

But inside.

What does your moodiness say about what's important?

What causes you to have recurring bouts of anxiety?

Do you know what I'm talking about, anxiety?

It's circling the drain on an idea that you really don't have control over.

Let me come back again to ask you the question here.

What do I really want the most?

What is it that is most important to me?

Now, let me say that if you were to ask the average person on the street, what do you want the most?

What's most important?

Do you know what most people would say?

What would they say?

Tell me.

I just want to be happy.

I wouldn't immediately give the guy the smackdown over that.

I mean, I'm glad.

I appreciate the fact that the individual who'd tell me they really want to be happy didn't at least be so simplistic to say,

I want a million dollars.

I have to tell you that I have added something to my repertoire.

How many of you know that when you call some of these service lines, help lines, at the end of the conversation,

they always say, the last thing they say is, can I help you with anything else?

Right?

I mean, it's always the same thing.

Can I help you with anything else?

And my standard answer right now has been yes.

Of course, there's a long pause, and I wait just for a minute to let them think what's coming next, and I say, free cash.

You know, it's like, it hasn't worked.

But let's come back to the issue.

I want to be happy.

I really do.

Now, if you were to ask any child that has been instructed in the shorter catechism,

what is the chief end of man?

How many of you know?

Raise your hand and wave at me if you know what the answer is to the first question in the shorter catechism.

Raise your hand high.

I want it this high, like this.

Some of you...

Here, watch me.

Like this.

Okay.

Got it?

Okay.

It's all right.

What is the chief end of man?

It is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

What is the chief end of man?

It is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

John Piper, in his knockout book, Desiring God, that I would recommend you read if you're inclined to a little bit of sober labor of exceptional worth,

he kind of runs away.

It doesn't run away, but he kind of changes the tack a little bit on that.

He says, the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.

So, I want you to think with me this morning of what John chapter 13, 31, and 32 have to say to this subject.

John 13 · chapter mention

Let me read a passage to you.

When he had gone out, Jesus said,

Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and glorify him at once.

Now, it's not entirely true in every case, but as a general rule, when a word is repeated fairly often, there's a reason.

And it wouldn't hurt us to think, why does the Holy Spirit have so much to say about this subject of glory?

And so, what I want us to do this morning is take these two verses and think carefully about the incredible significance of the cross.

And I want to draw several powerful truths from the fact of these two verses and then bring some practical application to your life so that in the future,

if someone would say to you, what do you really want?

You would say, I want the glory of God.

And I can tell you by personal experience, you won't get there without persistent affection for the Lord Jesus Christ and a deliberate intention to move there.

Because guess how we're naturally wired?

How many of you have a lot of trouble really thinking about yourself occasionally?

You know, just every now and then someone has to bump you and say,

Tim, are you ever thinking about yourself?

You're so wonderful thinking about everybody else.

You know, I haven't had that happen.

But, you know, we want to learn to think about the glory of Christ and the Father.

And this passage hammers it.

So, let's look first of all at the glory of the cross.

And since we're going to spend so much time dealing with the subject of glory, and it's not a word we use very often.

How many of you used glory this last week?

You said, oh, glory.

You didn't.

I've got to tell you, Pastor Brock, who's in heaven, he used glory fairly often.

Anytime something happened wrong, he would say, oh, glory.

When I was a member, I remember hearing him say, oh, glory, over some problem.

He was like, what?

But for the most part, you and I don't use, oh, glory.

We don't talk about glory.

We think a lot about it, but we don't talk enough about it.

The idea of glory, the word glory, really carries with it the idea of worth, significance, honor, reputation.

If you were kind of tracking with the different songs we sang this morning, they had a lot to do with glory.

And the biblical word is most often connected with character, not just with events.

And as a reference to that, we will see that when the word is used in Scripture, it is speaking invariably about God and things he's done.

But behind that is not just the act of what he has done, but what it tells us about his nature and his heart.

So kind of mark this in your thinking.

The word glory is about honor, worth, and significance.

And the most common use of the word glory in Scripture is really used in connection with our triune God.

One theologian put it this way, that the word glory is a word that speaks of God in such a fashion that glorifying God means calling attention to his greatness

and showing his supreme value by delighting in him and cherishing in him.

Glorifying God means drawing attention or marking his supreme greatness.

Let me give you an illustration of that.

Over in Matthew chapter 5, remember when Jesus said,

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

You are the salt of the earth, you're the light of the world.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works.

And they say, wow, God is pretty spectacular.

Right?

So there is a sense in which one of the things that we ought to always be thinking about is how does this make God look?

Look, we have had the privilege of hosting Franklin County Board of Election for five weeks in this building.

And I have to tell you that every interaction that our people have had,

whether it's an Awana worker coming in here early to work on Awana on Monday night,

or one of our ladies walking through the lobby,

or someone doing custodial work,

or one of our pastors,

the consistent thing that has taken place is that you as a fellowship have shown kindness

and a sweet disposition to all those people.

Hundreds of them have come through here.

They invited me to go to their honors banquet because of you.

I don't want to go.

I'm going to send one of the pastors.

I shouldn't say that.

But I am not a social animal.

I wasn't born for that.

You know, it's like, but I'll go, you know.

Let your light so shine before men that they will see your good works and what?

Glorify your Father.

Your heart, affected by the glory of God,

has displayed a kindness that has been so exceptional.

That's the common conversation I've heard from hundreds of people the last five weeks.

And so when we think this morning about this issue of glory,

I want you to understand that it means calling attention to His greatness

and showing a supreme value.

Why did we host Franklin County Board of Elections?

At the heart of it is because we are here to show the character and heart of Christ.

Isn't that right?

That's why we did what we did on Monday night.

That's why we're doing the food drive.

We are interested in having other people have an opportunity

to see the character of our God and our Savior.

So here we are in verse 31.

Judas has gone out into the night to betray Jesus and bring about His crucifixion.

Knowing that the cross was only hours away,

here is Jesus now with the remaining disciples,

and here's what He says.

Look at the verse there in 31.

When He'd gone out, Jesus said,

Now!

This is it!

Now is the Son of Man glorified!

Can you imagine that?

Against the backdrop of that brutal rendering of His body,

the absolute vile betrayal of one of His own disciples,

Jesus Christ called the cross the moment of His glory.

Incidentally, He referred to Himself here in this statement as the Son of Man.

He was pointing to His humanity,

which He has taken on for all of eternity,

for the glory of the Father,

and for our redemption.

And here He is looking forward to the cross,

and He says,

Now is the Son of Man glorified.

It's interesting to stop just for a moment

and consider

that He referred to no other aspect of His human existence that way.

I can think of.

There had certainly been moments in His public ministry

that were pretty glorious.

I mean, can you imagine

the glory of Him cleansing the temple?

My Father's house is a house of prayer,

and you have made it a den of thieves,

and it is time for me to bring smack down on you.

And how one man could clean out,

just imagine,

someone stomping in to the Supreme Court

and the White House at the same time

and cleaning both of them,

one guy with nothing but a little whip.

I have to tell you,

the thing that terrified people

was not the strength of Christ,

but the character and holiness of His calling.

And He, that was pretty glorious,

I would think.

He didn't call it that way.

Another thing that I think about is,

remember,

when He was baptized,

remember He came out of the water,

and we have the dove come down,

and we have the voice of God,

and it says,

this is my beloved Son

in whom I am well pleased.

Listen to Him.

That's pretty spectacular.

I mean, how many of you have had God

say something like that

after your baptism?

No.

Terrify me if it did.

And it won't.

Let's try another one.

The transfiguration.

I mean, that was pretty spectacular.

In fact, if you were to read

in the Apostles' Epistles,

well, that's a word full, isn't it?

The Apostles' Epistles.

Don't go there.

But in Peter,

remember when He says,

we beheld His glory.

When He was on the Mount

of Transfiguration,

it wiped Him out.

We beheld His glory.

Did Jesus refer to the transfiguration

as the moment of His glory?

No.

He says this.

He says,

now,

the cross,

that's my hour

of glory.

I can't help,

and I debate whether I should or not,

and here I go.

So, I remember years ago

when Mel Gibson came out

with his, you know,

what was that movie?

I'm forgetting.

The Passion.

Okay.

And pretty spectacular.

I remember someone got up

in Cedarville Chapel

and said,

and I heard this by way of rumors,

so I don't know it to be firsthand,

but someone said,

this was going to be

the most significant

evangelistic event

since Pentecost.

How many of you know

what hyperbole is?

Jared?

Over-exaggeration.

It's like,

hello?

Anyway,

I,

the Passion of the Christ

kind of made clear

that he suffered,

but I got to tell you,

the suffering of Jesus

is not the thing

that brought glory

to his name.

I heard,

I read on the internet,

of course,

everything you read

on the internet

is true,

but I heard on the internet

that Morocco,

a fish,

fisherman,

was put through

a grinder.

That's pretty spectacular,

right?

You know,

it's like,

yuck,

bad.

Jesus suffered,

but the thing that is glorious

is not his suffering

particularly.

The thing that is spectacular

about Christ

is all of the above.

And as we read there

in verse 32,

and skip ahead,

it says,

now is the Son of Man glorified

and God is glorified in him.

Okay?

What we understand,

actually the latter part of 31

is what I meant to say,

we understand that Jesus

saw the cross

not only as the means

of his glory,

but he also saw the cross

as the means

of his Father's glory.

Jesus brought glory

to his Father

by dying on the cross

for our sins.

And that is what is meant

when the text says

God is glorified in him.

Jesus understood

that his perfect

and willing obedience

to the Father

glorified the Father.

Father.

And I wonder

whether or not

you think about the cross

first and foremost

as being something

that glorifies Christ.

Think about it.

Most of us,

when we think about the cross,

our first thought

is to bring ourself

into the frame.

You know,

hey,

the cross

is tremendously

significant to me,

right?

Were it not for the cross,

I would be a sinner

directly on my way

to hell

and have no hope

of redemption

lost forever.

I did a funeral

on Friday

that was

a wonderful

gospel opportunity,

but it broke my heart.

The sorrow

in that room

was palpable.

It was just,

it was there.

And were it not

for the fact

that I had

the sweet privilege,

by the way,

funerals are

captive audiences

for me.

Do you understand that?

I'll take any funeral

you throw my way.

Any funeral.

So long as I get

to be free

with the gospel.

And here,

I can say to people

whose hearts

are broken

in the face of death,

there is only

one hope

for you

and it's Jesus Christ

who died on the cross

and rose again.

And so here is Jesus

as he looks

towards the cross,

he looks

at that event

and he says,

this is it.

Now I'm going to give you

a summary

of the Bible.

Genesis chapter 3

Genesis 3:15

verse 15,

remember when

God shows up

in the garden

and is talking

to two individuals,

Adam and Eve

and he brings

the snake

into the conversation

and he says,

listen,

he will crush

your head

and you will

bruise his heel.

It is called

proto-evangelism.

The first

indication

of the gospel.

And how does

the story end

over in Revelation

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5?

what we find

there is this

just absolutely

wonderful picture

of the glory

of Christ

in heaven.

And as people

are worshiping

God in chapter 4

of Revelation

and Christ

in chapter 5,

do you know

how they address

Jesus over and over

again in chapter 5?

What do they say?

Worthy is the

lamb.

I don't know

about you

but that gives me

cold chills.

I like to know

that the story

didn't happen

just kind of

like a warm night

and mushrooms

popping up.

God put a lot

of thought

into this

and pulled it

off over

millenniums.

And here is

Jesus

looking at the

cross

as the moment

in history

where the plan

of redemption

ordained by

the Father

and the Son

and the Holy Spirit

before the foundation

of the world

was coming

into full fruition

and evidence.

Now notice

what we read

in verse 32.

If God is glorified

in Him

God will glorify

Him

in Himself.

How many of you

just don't raise

your hands

but a question

how many of you

have struggled

with giving glory

to other people?

You are just

the most holy group

I've ever been around.

Let me ask the question

a little slower

because I may have

confused you

a little bit.

How many of you

have struggled

with giving glory

to other people?

How many of you

this is a little

more comfortable

how many of you

have tried to diminish

the glory of other people?

They buy a new car

and you think

they shouldn't have

one that good.

And so

when you have

an opportunity

to make an observation

about their car purchases

you have something

to say about

no that's not a car

I'd buy.

I'd be more frugal

and I'd probably

give at least

$30 of the whole

entire process

to missions.

You know

I'm generous

to a fault.

We always

we're

we're

thinking about

ourselves

too often.

By the way

the little sidebar

I've probably

said it more

than once

people that think

a lot about

themselves

are invariably

pretty unhappy.

How many of you

have learned that?

Just one of you.

the rest of you

are still learning.

Okay?

People who think

a lot about

themselves

are invariably

unhappy.

Back to the text.

When we

give him

glory

he is

glorified

and the one

who gives him

glory

is glorified.

The math

is bulletproof.

He that

exalts

himself

shall be

abased.

That means

you try to

puff yourself

up

he is going

to do

what?

He's going

to let

the air

out of

your tires.

If you

humble

yourself

what is

he going

to do?

Huh?

What?

What's he

going to do?

If you

would

by the way

you have

the responsibility

of humbling

yourself

and the

way to

humble

yourself

is by

remembering

God is

on the

throne

and he

is supremely

significant

and it's

all about

him

and when

you humble

yourself

he will

do what?

He'll put

just a little

more air

in the tires

to help

you.

Do what?

Does anybody

know what

his intention

is?

It is not

so you get a

big head

and start

taking credit

for you.

You know

what?

I gave

glory to

God

and now

I'm

pretty

special.

Down

it goes.

Okay.

Back to

the text

because I

want you

to focus

on the

text.

Here we

are.

There's

verse 32.

If God

is glorified

in him

God will

also glorify

him in

himself.

So keep

in mind

that one

of Christ's

goals in

his final

words to

his disciple

before the

cross was

to give

them hope

in a truth

that would

prepare them

for what

was coming.

That's

important to

understand.

Here were

his disciples

who were

going to be

absolutely

trashed,

blown out

by the

cross.

Their

hero,

the one

they'd been

following for

three years,

was going to

hang on the

cross and

suffer the

most cruel

death.

And their

entire

worldview of

life was

going to be

just shattered.

He says,

don't worry

about it.

Don't worry

about it.

That which I

am doing on

the cross is

all for the

glory of God

and I want

you to

understand the

math.

When I

give glory

to the

Father,

he'll see

to it that

glory comes

back to

me.

Jesus

wanted to

see,

Jesus wanted

his disciples

to see more

than his

physical

suffering.

He wanted

them to

understand that

there was

more that was

going to take

place than

his separation

from the

Father.

Behind the

suffering that

he was going

to endure

was the

most merciful,

the most

wonderful,

the most

noble,

the most

dramatic

display of

the wisdom

and love

of God

of all

of eternity.

Forever.

When people

think about

Christ,

they will

think about

the cross.

Do you

understand that?

And what

Jesus also

wanted his

disciples to

understand is

that his

death for our

sins according

to the

Father's will

was all

for the

Father's

glory.

And at

the same

time,

his Father

would act

for the

glory of

his Son.

There is

an if

in the

logic here.

Look at

the passage.

If God

is glorified

in him,

that's a

condition.

God will

also glorify

him in

himself.

If God

is glorified,

God will

glorify the

one that

brings him

glory.

Will you

kind of fix

that in

your minds?

How many

of you

understand

that?

Let me

try some

of this

perverse

Christian

math for

you.

Here we

go.

Are you

following

me?

It is

more

blessed

to...

The word

blessed

actually means

happier.

Being a

genuine

heartfelt

giver

is more

enjoyable

than being

a greedy

self-focused

circling the

drain thinker.

Right?

Jesus said

this,

he who

saves his

life will

lose it.

He who's

interested

in his

glory is

going to

lose it.

He who

loses his

life gives

glory to

the one who

deserves it,

namely God,

will be

glorified.

If God

is glorified,

God will

glorify the

one that

brings him

glory.

I'll not

leave off the

last little

part of the

verse here,

but the

little statement

that is made

in himself is

pointing out a

very interesting

theological fact.

How many of

you got your

hands around

the Trinity

issue?

I mean,

it's like you

got that one.

It's, you

know, you

can answer

that.

It's like,

yeah.

How can,

what's it

saying is

that when

God the

Father gives

glory to

the Son,

guess what

happens?

It comes

how?

Back to

the Father.

How do you

separate the,

well, if

Jesus, we're

all into

this, if I

give him

glory, I'm

not going to

have some

left for

me.

No.

God, in

glorifying his

Son, there's

a nice little

word coming

here, that

glory redounds,

redounds.

That's got a

ring to it,

just a simple

one, it's not

a hard one,

it just means

it comes back.

So God,

Jesus gives

glory to the

Father, and

the Father gives

glory to the

Son, and we

wrap up the

story by here's

the statement,

and it comes

back, it just

comes back.

So here's some

closing thoughts

on glory and

the cross.

Listen, I want

to say this

carefully, we

diminish the

glory of God

and the glory of

Jesus Christ when

we think about

the cross as

only being about

us.

I think that's

important to get

our heads around.

them.

The truth of

the matter is,

is our first

thoughts about

the cross, and

am I blessed by

the cross?

Are you blessed

by the cross?

That is undeniably

true.

But our first

thought about the

glory of the

cross should be

that it magnifies

the unbelievable

glory of God.

Our appreciation

for the cross

should first of

all reflect our

appreciation for the

glory of God.

Yes, he died for

us, but Jesus

also died for the

glory of the

Father.

And it is

appropriate in

this passage to

see that his main

goal was to

glorify the

Father.

That was the

most important

thing he had in

mind.

Remember in the

garden when he

prayed, if it's

possible, let this

cup pass from me?

Nevertheless,

what?

In essence, what

he was saying is

it's about you.

And I want to

appeal to you that

it is noble, it's

appropriate for us

to appreciate the

significance of the

cross in redeeming

us.

But more than

that, the

significance of the

cross is the glory

that redounds to the

character of God

and to Christ.

And so we who

seek to follow

Jesus should be

focused on living

our lives for

his glory.

Jesus was willing

to live and Jesus

was willing to die

for the glory of

the Father.

And that's the way

it should be for

us.

So try this.

The next time you

think about how

many of you have

ever had a

conversation and

left and then

afterwards thought of

things you could

have said, should

have said, wish

you'd said, and

are glad you

didn't.

One of the

advantages of being

68 is that I've

had so many

absolute bombs in

things I said off

the cuff that I've

at least learned to

pace myself.

That's it.

You know, it's

like, yeah.

But then my little

old perverted mind

still goes in

circles, you know,

I could have said

this.

Yeah.

I should have.

This would have

helped, you know.

No.

So, I want you

the next time you

find yourself going

in that hamster

cage logic.

How many of you

understand what I

mean by hamster

cage logic?

How many of you

ever seen hamsters

getting exercise in a

cage?

You know, just

like, it's a very,

very little circle and

they're just worked up

to death, you know.

Hamster cage logic.

That's when you are

the center.

You know, and so

next time you find

yourself thinking that

way, just stop and

say, just a minute,

Tim, Tim, stop,

stop, stop.

How does this bring

glory to God?

How does this bring

glory to God?

How does this bring

glory to God?

We should be focused

on living our lives

for His glory.

Another little truth

that I want you to put

your hands around here

is that God honors

those who honor Him.

God honors those

who honor Him.

There is no heavenly

logic in the Word

that proposes that a

man who defies the

Scripture in being

self-focused and about

himself is ever going

to receive the glory

and the encouragement

and the strengthening of

the Spirit of God.

God, I've got to say

this carefully.

I think our

preponderance today

on all the heartaches

and sorrow that I see

in many people's lives

is most often a

reflection of the fact

that they're not very

focused on the only one

who they will focus on

for all of eternity.

Does that make sense?

Huh?

Everybody listen.

What we're doing now

is warm up for the

main event.

Now, thankfully,

when we're there,

we're not going to be

obsessed with all the

other things going on

around us,

but it doesn't hurt to

focus on hitting the

ball properly.

The ball, the thing

that we're focused on

is the glory and

supremacy of Christ,

and if that's what

we're going to occupy

ourselves with in

eternity, we ought to

understand that when

we honor God, He lifts

us up.

When you make much

of yourself, when

you're obsessed with

your own sufferings,

when you're just

overwhelmed by your

own mistreatment or

circumstances, and when

you think you're better

than others or more

deserving, the fact of

the matter is that God

steps out of the way

and He lets you run

your own unhappy path.

He will not bring glory

to the one who does

not glorify Himself.

Finally, the day is

coming when all will

honor Him.

That is stunning to me.

Do you understand

that?

The thought is

profoundly encouraging

for one.

The thought is

profoundly troubling

for another.

Do you think that in

hell, the unrepentant

sinner will not bring

glory to God?

And what is the

answer?

The unrepentant,

hard-hearted,

absolutely rebellious

sinner in hell will

bring glory to God.

All will glorify God.

God will glorify God.

And I would encourage you

to recognize that one of

the things that we who

know Christ are going to

do is we are going to

spend eternity enjoying

His presence, just

lavishing in the absolute

joy of bringing glory to

Him.

Get the picture for me

here.

Here is a boy who is

dating a girl.

And the girl is really

pretty insecure and a

little bit obsessed with

herself.

They're standing on the

beach during their

honeymoon.

And it is the most

spectacular sunset.

And the guy in all his

innocence says to the

girl that he's just

married, honey, isn't

that spectacular?

And she says, what?

You're not thinking about

me?

Get a life.

Okay?

I've bumped into people who

have no imagination of what

the joy and glory of heaven

is going to be like.

Do you know what it's

going to be?

It is going to be occupied

with the one absolute

supreme God and Savior of

this universe.

And we will worship Him

forever.

So there's some of you here

this morning that need to

do what I had to do this

week.

There's some of you that

need to say, you know,

God, I have spent too much

of my energy thinking

about me and it's not been

very productive.

I repent.

And I, with conscious

deliberation, pray that you

would help me glorify you.

There's some of you here

that actually need to put

feet to that prayer and go

talk to other people and say,

you know what?

The way I've treated you is

reflective of the fact that

I've been all about me and

not about Him.

Do you know what really

strains relationships?

It's when we take God out of

the picture and insert

ourselves into His place.

It just makes messes.

Your wife probably knows

you've been doing it.

She just doesn't have the

nerve to tell you.

But go ahead and suck it up

and let her know the fact.

I got the memo.

I heard pastor's sermon and

the Holy Spirit convicted me.

I've been a self-focused

person and the reason I've

been such a jerk is I've not

been worshiping Christ.

There's some of you here

this morning that do not

know the Lord Jesus Christ

and there is no remedy for

your soul except in Jesus.

And here's Jesus looking at

the cross and He says the

first thing about this is the

glory of the Father.

He also died because He

loves you.

He died to offer to you

complete forgiveness for all

of your sins.

And for you to walk out the

door and say no thank you

or I don't really care about

what you have to offer is a

sobering thought.

I want you to ponder that.

Let's close in prayer.

Our precious Father in God

this morning as we think

about our Savior, the

glorious work on the cross,

we marvel.

We're beside ourselves when

we think of how you planned

redemption.

willingly taking your Son to be

our sacrifice.

And we're thankful for how the

story ends.

We will spend all of eternity,

we who know you, in worship

before your throne saying,

worthy is the Lamb.

we want that expression to be

well practiced.

And so we, with humility,

commit ourselves to live lives

that bring glory to your name,

not our own.

We rededicate ourselves to that

great and holy purpose this

morning for the glory and the

testimony of Christ.

And we pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.