VIDEO RECORDING OF THIS SERMON
AUDIO RECORDING OF THIS SERMON
It is very important for us to understand the importance of glorifying God. Until God is glorified:
There won’t be peace in the world – Lk 2:14 – they didn’t glorify God when Jesus came. The Jews rejected him as king and they rejected the kingdom of heaven over which he will rule. Thus, instead of peace, there is a sword. In Matt 10:34-36 this sword divides families over Jesus throughout the world. The end result is war. In Rev 19:15 this sword smites the nations of the world and Jesus will rule them with a rod of iron. There will be no peace until the Prince of Peace comes and sits upon the throne of David, Is 9:6-7. That throne will be called the throne of his glory Matt 25:31; 19:28. When God gets the glory, then the world gets peace.
There won’t be stability in the environment – Rev 14:6-7 – Look what’s going to happen to the environment in Rev 16 because men refuse to believe the gospel. A grievous sore, Rev 16:2; a bloody sea, Rev 16:3; bloody fresh water sources, Rev 16:4; global warming, Rev 16:8-9; darkness, Rev 16:10; Armageddon, Rev 16:12-16; great hail, Rev 16:21, are all coming. Of course, we know from reading other passages in the Bible that there will be earthquakes, death by wild beasts, famines, plagues, hurricanes and tornadoes, and wars, and the earth will be turned upside down. And no politician on earth, no international summit of men, and no world-wide efforts of scientists will stop or change one of these things. They are all completely out of their control. When God gets the glory, then he alone will heal the environment, Is 11:1-9; Is 35:1-2.
There won’t be the knowledge of God among men – Rom 1:20-28 – you must surely wonder where the idea of evolution originated and how we got to universal acceptance of this theory as an explanation for our origin. You must surely wonder how we ended up legalizing homosexuality, same-sex marriages, and now transgender as a gender. Well, the answer is simple. Rom 1:21, says “they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful.” There will only be further moral decay from here according to Rom 1:29-32. Nothing can stop the work of reprobate minds, except for the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Rom 1:16. We must preach the gospel. They must believe the gospel. However, when God gets the glory, then the whole world will have the knowledge of God, Ps 46:10, Is 45:5-9.
There won’t be happiness in suffering – 1 Pet 4:12-16 – as Christians, we are to glorify God in our bodies, 1 Cor 6:19-20. One of the ways we glorify God is through suffering as a Christian. Yet, suffering is difficult. All the days of the afflicted are evil, Prov 15:15. Nevertheless, when you glorify God in your suffering, then you are happy, 1 Pet 4:14. When God gets the glory, you rejoice, 1 Pet 4:13. And when God gets the glory in your suffering now, he will make sure that enjoy glory in his glory hereafter, Rom 8:17-18. When God gets glory, you get happy now, and you get glory later.
Conclusion: don’t look for men to bring world peace, climate change, or the knowledge of God. They can’t and they won’t. God will bring all of these when he is glorified. And don’t look for men to bring an end to your suffering; glorify God instead.