The Glory of the Eternal Kingdom
Transcript
Well, as as as Erik said, uh this has been such a great pleasure. Uh I I the the moment I met you before we even started worship Sunday, I thought this is a cool group. I I'm I'm already liking this group of people. They You're just down to earth and you're just regular good folks and that's great and love God and that just uh so much fun. Uh and it's it's exactly uh the kind of people that I think the earth needs. I appreciate you so much and thank you for how you've taken care of us and and provided for us and your dear love and friendship for us. It's been great. It's been wonderful to be spend the week with Erik and listen to him uh speak and his insights. Always a pleasure and to get to know uh Casey more. Just spend time with Casey. known each other a lot, but spent kind time with Casey and uh and his uh his his fun family.
Uh the most special person in the family there is uh Jenna, of course, because if it weren't for her case, it'd be worthless. And uh [laughter] and all us men. Amen. Those kinds of thoughts. And uh the the lovely children. Uh how much fun. I uh I am really a kid. a kid guy. I have 12 grandchildren and when I'm around I mean I'm not around them and I'm rather other people's children. I they pro I probably wore them out. I tend to treat them just like I treat my kids and drive them cuckoo. Uh but uh they're they were they took it well and they're they're they're a lot of fun uh to be with. But thank you for the time. I hope we can do this again someday. Uh it is uh is just been so nice.
So we have talked about the gospel of the kingdom uh all week and th those are concepts and things that I know uh you you hear and you go wow that's interesting and it gets a little fuzzy in your mind. Dee just asked me um tell me again your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven and hallowed be your name. that all of those things are ultimately fulfilled in God's kingdom.
I think it interesting that Peter uh Peter says in second Peter chapter 1, he says, "With the uh for in this way," speaking of growing in all these qualities, "for in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." And Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:50, "Flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God." Uh so we we understand then that though we are in the kingdom, we are citizens of the kingdom, we are tasting the first fruits of the kingdom, the the uh the down payment of the spirit, if you will, in Ephesians 1 and verse 14. We're tasting all those things, but it's a now, not yet kind of thing where we've not yet inherited it. We not yet come into the truly the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ where things are changing, have changed completely. A and we've talked about that in many ways, but there are just pictures. God just gives us pictures.
I mean, always thought about, can you imagine trying to explain to a person born blind what the color blue looks like? We might that's kind of a cool color. It's different than red, which is more hot color. And you're trying to get that across and he's getting little feelings and pictures of it based on what he can touch, but not cannot really visualize it or put his finger on it. And it's the same thing with what God is doing. There's just so much he can explain to us. I mean, Jesus couldn't even explain to the apostles before his death the fullness of what was going about to happen with the kingdom because he said, "You're just not ready for it. You can't do it yet." And I'm sure that's what he's telling us right now. I'm giving you pictures. You have to trust and have faith that uh that I am the rewarder of them who diligently seek me. Seek seek me. Uh Hebrews 11:6. So, a lot of that is that way.
But just just one other thing just to keep in mind as we talk about going to glory and the ultimate glory in that eternal kingdom. Uh just just keep in mind that that this is the fulfillment of the story of Israel. That's the most important thing you can keep in mind. It's the fulfillment and the restoration of the story of Israel. So if you live with Israel during the time of the kings and you see the failure that goes on and you go back to Deuteronomy, you see God foretelling the disaster that they are going to go through and how that disaster is going to take place because of the failure of leaders and the failure of kings.
Then you begin to realize when he says in Isaiah 11, I'm going to bring you a branch, a chute out of the out of the uh root of Jesse and he's going to grow up and he is going to be he's going to have justice and righteousness and everything that he's done is going to do is going to bring about just perfection in this. I I sometimes I'll just think in terms of what if we lived in a city uh in this nation that everyone there uh was perfect Christians not like we are in a church just struggling with it and but I mean perfect we're just like not no another nothing goes wrong in here there no he does no crime you can leave your door open um it it doesn't matter and all of this and everything is just and everything is righteous and we can't even imagine it. We it it's just impossible reason to think that way. And yet that's the future kingdom.
And not only that, we're not just citizens in the kingdom, the future kingdom. What God has done is he has made it so that we're going to have we have dominion over that realm. The world to come has been subjected to us. Hebrews 2:5 says it plain as day. quotation from Psalm chapter Psalm 8 quotation from Genesis chapter 1. He said it in the very beginning. You are going to have dominion. Hebrews says you don't have dominion right now. It hasn't happened yet, but Jesus does. And you're going to be enthroned with him and have the glory and honor and and crown as he does. You will sit with him on his throne and reign with him. Revelation 3:21, Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 6 says it over and over again. We go blip blip blip blip as if it's cuss words, you [laughter] know. We just go. We just go right over. We don't We're not catching it. He says it plainly. He says it over and again. He says it in the prophets time again. Isaiah 25. Woohoo.
Man, you read Isaiah 25. [snorts] Compare it to Isaiah 24. The city of the world gets crushed. The city of God takes over. We have waited for this. And you see these pictures, right? None of that was in my notes this night, so I just had to throw that out. Uh, [laughter] but I want I would just trying to answer some of those questions that may be in in your mind. So, but please consider this. Let us make man in our image after our likeness. That is you you know that passage. You're very acquainted with that passage, but we tend not to think very carefully about it. God made you and me in his image.
Uh the word there in the in the Greek translation is icon. You you know some icons that we have. You see a a a van driving down the street. It has a smile with an arrow on the end. Everybody goes, "Yep, Prime. Yep, that's Amazon. Yep. You see a swoosh on your tennis shoe. Yep. Nike. Got it." There's There's all of those things. You and I are the swoosh. You and I are the smile with the arrow, especially pointing up. We are the icons of God. People should see us and see in see individual representations of God based on the fact that we live like he does. We live like Jesus. The reason Jesus came as the word and revealed himself to us is because he wanted us to see it in a flesh and blood way. It's hard to look at God and in the in the descriptions and go, "Okay, yeah, God exactly what he would be." Uh it it it's clearer when we see it in Jesus how he walks through this life and what he does.
So here's the kingdom. Now the kingdom is going to look like that. the kingdom is going to have that character exclusively that's throughout. So, uh, when he says you, I've made you in your in in my image, he not only is talking about you're going to take that image, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth of my image, and you're going to light the world with that, but that image is what makes you then qualified to be the kind of person that will lead my next kingdom or my restored kingdom in that heavenly realm. Now you and I look at that and go me [laughter] you will judge angels. You notice how it's casually Paul says that 1 Corinthians 6:3. Do you not know that you will judge angels? We go uh Paul, what are you smoking? I don't know what you're talking about. What? What is this? You judge angels? Are you kidding me? Well, yeah, you will. You're going to judge angels because you have risen above them. because you will have conquered where they didn't conquer.
You were made a little while lower than the angels, but this is God's intent for you. You're going to crush those rulers and authorities in the heavenly places and show all of the spiritual forces of wickedness that they were wrong and you had stuck with just as Erik showed us tonight, you were steadfast for God. There's the conquering that he's looking for. There's the kingdom that he's expecting of us. And thus, we are called what? Sons of God. Does that sound familiar to the son of God? Of course it does. And and when we read Job, the sons of God met in a divine counsel with the Lord. There is a special identity that God is giving us when he says you are sons and daughters of God. We we we we're like little little old me. I I don't feel like I'm anything. That's exactly right. And he doesn't care because he's going to make you that is nothing and me that is nothing. And he's going to exalt us into greatness. That's always been his plan.
And that's that is all fulfilled then in the kingdom. Uh now we cracked that image, right? We cracked that image. And so in Ephesians, Paul just shows that we're going we're putting on a new self created after the likeness of God and true righteousness and holiness. His whole plan was to make a people who are holy and righteous and without blemish. So that's what he's doing. And that's that's that process that we have of growth. And that's the picture that he gives there. Look at a couple of passages here that just give us God's intentions. I've done this a few times, but I'm looking at different passages now. Second Peter chapter 1 verse 3 and 4. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. So why did he give us all things that pertain to life and godliness? through the knowledge of him. And what did what did God do? He called us to his own glory and excellence. Please just That's a good one.
You You ever put scriptures up in your house? That's a good one. He called us to his own glory and excellence. You wrap your head around that. He's called us to have his glory and excellence.
We we look in the mirror and go, [laughter] "What? What? You're seeing something I'm not seeing." He said, "That's where we're going. That's where we're going." That's why I want you in your life now to live for that and grow in these things that I'm talking about so that we're going to just take that one step further when you come into that eternal kingdom. His own glory in excess by which he's granted to us his precious and very great promises. These are promises. Now, you've probably seen a lot of times that God didn't keep his promise. I mean, that that just happens all the time, right? You just see examples of ex doesn't keep his promise. No, you've never seen that. And when he says he promises, this is a promise. This is precious and great promise. So that through them you may become what? Partakers of the divine nature.
Yo Eve, would you want to be like God? Yo, Eve, the whole thing God was looking to do for you. 2 Corinthians 3:17, here's the process. And we talked just a little bit about this. Then we're going to we're going to transition to start moving upward toward that heavenly eternal kingdom. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18. This is how this happens. It's extremely important. Now, the Lord is the Lord is the spirit. And where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of God are being transformed in the same image. We are to have eyes with an unveiled face beholding God's glory. And by looking at his glory and beholding it, we become transformed from one degree of glory to another. As he goes on to say, and this comes from the Lord who is the spirit. And you might say, what what do you mean this comes the Lord who is the spirit? He's talking about the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal the beauty of the Lord.
So where did the where did the Holy Spirit do his primary work in revealing the word? How many books of the Bible are there? Good. 66. You get to go to heaven. All right. So 66 books of the Bible. There are like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Each book being its own jigsaw puzzle that fits into the giant jigsaw puzzle. And when you put all of them together, you get a perfect picture of the glory of God so that you can be transformed from one degree of glory to another. Where are the holes in your jigsaw puzzle?
Which books of the Bible would you say, "I I don't really know that very much." Every single book gives you another angle and picture of God. every single one. And there's going to be parts of the Bible that you're going to read and you're going to say or start to read and you're going to say, "Why in the world am I reading this?" Famous one is Leviticus. [laughter] Why in the world am I reading this? Uh unclean, unclean, unclean. Why am I reading this? Why am I reading Nahim? Why am I reading Oadiah? Why I'm reading Sephaniah? Why am I reading these books? Because they give you different glimpses of the glory of God. Why am I reading Isaiah 13 down through ver chapter 23 which gives you the judgment on all the nations of the world that are long gone? Why am I reading that? Because it gives you another angle and picture of who God is. Because you and I have to get to know him.
Because the more we see him, the more he begins to change us. Just like kind of like being married. Pretty soon you become more and more like each other. Um, except my wife says I don't think that's happening. But anyways, we you get you get that connection. That's that's what God is looking for here in all of these things. All right. So, let's talk about this beholding the glory of God. And if you'll turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians, this is where we're going to spend all over the rest of our time right here. Just 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. And we just noticed verse 13 through 13 and 17 through 18. 17- 18 chapter 3. And this just connects then into chapter 4 where he talks about how we can behold the glory of God and what that really looks like throw. So he goes from there. Chapter 4 verse one begins with therefore having this ministry by the mercy of God we do not lose heart. Now I'd bookend something here.
We do not lose heart. Chapter 4 verse one. If you went all the way down to verse 16, so that so we do not lose heart. So you see everything in the middle here is talking about we do this what we're doing we do because we do not lose heart because we're beholding the glory of God and we're being transformed in that image. Or say you say, okay, how how does that look? What does that look like? Look at verse four. He says in their case, he's talking about those where the gospel is re is veiled to them. They're not seeing the message. In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing. Notice these words here. Now, keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is in who is the image of God. Now, this like we said, how am I going to see fully and completely the image of God? It's in the face of Jesus Christ.
It's the reason he came. He exhibits God in the flesh on the earth. He becomes the word which reveals him in all the details. In verse five and six, for what we proclaim is not ourselves. Uh man, I've talked to preachers a lot of times, young preachers. You are standing up and drawing attention to yourself and not Jesus because you're concentrating on being theatrical. Just give us sir, we would see Jesus. There was a plaque on a podium that said that when I first started preaching when I did a guest preacher somewhere and I looked at that and I went, I got to go back to the drawing board. I gotta start preaching, sir. We would see Jesus. You got to see Jesus. And that's what he's saying here. We don't proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ is Lord with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. Watch this again. Verse six. For God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness." When God said, "Let light shine out of darkness," what happened? Bam. Light. Now he's doing it again. Recreation.
Another creation. God who said let light shine out of dark has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So he's taking the glory of God and he's showing that glory in the face of Jesus Christ. You say, "Okay, what does that look like? What does it look like to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ?" What he does is is he's going to describe that. But let's stop one moment and just notice these verses because this repeated all the way through the book of John uh the last part of John. John 13:31. 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. How was Jesus glorified over and again? by giving his life up. We talked about that last night. I'll rehearse that. We talked about that last night.
How do we exhibit the glory of God here in the face of Jesus Christ? We give our lives up for him. That's where it is. So, always ask yourself the question, am I really doing what Paul said in Galatians 2:20, I'm crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Now, he's going to detail that out in this section back in back in 2 Corinthians. Notice the next text here. How we're transformed. Now, I'm going back to 3:18. We're transformed into the same image. I just wanted to emphasize that same image thing. Okay? When we think about Jesus, we think about God. We think about the glory of God. We're being transformed. Same image. So, you can't look at Jesus and you can't look at how he lives and see that image and turn around and say, "I don't have to be like that."
Yeah, you do. We are his children. The children act as the father. The children follow the father. The children mirror the father. That's what's going on here. I say, notice that this is verse seven of chapter 4. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. So in old times they would put great treasures in jars of plain old breakable clay. Nothing fancy about it. Why' they do that? So that when you saw the treasure, you did not the treasure was not depreciated by the beauty of the jar.
The jar, the jar is just plain. The treasure is beautiful. What are you? You're a jar of clay. You're just a clay jar. When they do excavations, you know what they find more than anything else? Broken jars pottery. They It's It's everywhere. So, that's what you are. Now, you just think about that. You But you have a treasure that God has entrusted to you. And the way the treasure is seen is by allowing yourself as a jar of clay holding it to be broken so that people can see it. And here's what we have. We say, "Oh, you know, I'm not No, I'm I'm not I'm not very good at that. We do the Moses thing. No, I can't. I'm I'm not very good at that. You need to call somebody else. You need somebody else do that because I couldn't do it. You know, I can't talk to somebody. I can't read the Bible with somebody else. I do it every Sunday for the last 70 years, but I can't read the Bible with somebody. Come on.
Who's better at teaching the gospel? An angel or a plain old you? God thought it was you. You know why? You're better than an angel to reveal the word of God because everybody be enamored with the angel and not the word of God.
You're the best container for the treasure. The best. You say, "Well, you know, I I I I have to study real hard to tell. I have to have it written down. They ask a question. I'm not sure the answer.
When I first started preaching, I didn't know my head from my foot, you know, hardly. I knew the doctrines. I'd sit next to Bernice. She's 54 and I was 22. I'd sit next to Bernice and she would write she'd sit kind of a little bit and she would write you kind of write notes on what I was saying and somebody'd ask a question. I go, "Oh, I I know the answer, but I don't know the where the scripture is." And Bernice said, "Just write down the script." She just keep writing. And I go, "Well, uh, how about we look over at, uh, 1st Peter 3:21? That's that'd be a good passage for us to look at, you know, and all that." And I had to study and had to have notes and I I didn't know how to answer all the questions. And you know what's crazy? I am no more I Today I don't need notes to teach somebody. I have it all in my head. They can ask me any questions they want.
I've probably heard it a hundred times. I know I'd write the passage to go to. I don't stumble. I don't anything. And I have no more success today. As far as looking at it as a baptism, I have no more success today than I than we baptized 15 people the first year of me stumbling all over myself. Because you know why? The power is in the treasure,
not the broken jar.
That's who we are. That's how we show the glory of God. It's impressive because people will listen even to you a lot of times more than they are to me. Oh, you you know you really know it. Oh, you great. You don't. Oh, you just like us. Yeah, that's great. Just just get that in verses 8 through 12. Look at his look what he does here. I mentioned this briefly last night, but I want you to see it now in person here. So, he says verse eight, here's what happens. Here's our broken jar. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. ex perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed. Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus so the life of Jesus may also be made manifested or visible in our bodies. So what is he saying there? He's saying it doesn't matter what happens to us. It doesn't matter the response that we get from people that we teach. Now listen to that. It doesn't matter.
They can blasphe us. They can do all this, but we just keep right on going. We don't lose heart. Why do we not lose heart? Because we have a treasure
that God planted in this broken clay jar. It's a dumb, ugly clay jar. [laughter] It hadn't got much. It hasn't anything, but it's got a treasure in it. And he says, "So now what happens?" That's what we do. What do we do? I hear people do this all the time. Oh, you know, I can't teach people. Why do you think you can't teach? Well, I tried one time and they didn't be they weren't baptized. Now, that's just about the silliest thing you could ever think.
I
the remember when the in Acts 21, Apostle Paul has this, he almost gets killed and he does the stairway address. Remember that one? you know, they almost Jews almost kill him and he escapes that and they take him before the San Sanhedrin council and he does another and they almost kill him there too and and they drag him off and and all this. So he gives these two great addresses and on that night right as they're plotting to murder him the next day on that night Jesus appears to Paul and and says uh in chapter 20 23 he says uh look great job I'm paraphrased great job Paul just as you testified to them now I'm going to have you testify to others other kings and rulers but great job and you go uh I didn't convert anybody.
Lord's looking down on you. And you ask and you pursue and you get a better friend so that you can talk and God's going, "Great job, man. Great job. That's what I'm looking for."
I can't remember who was telling us this the other night that Maybe it was Erik talk. He's talking to us about a a g a guy had an op who who was a security guard uh secret service security for Hillary Clinton and she chose him every time to walk by her walk with her alone when they were doing things and the other security were b back behind and he talked to her about the Lord. I thought praise God. Praise God. God worked it in so that that woman could hear the gospel. Wow.
Isn't that beautiful that God did that? Isn't it beautiful that that one man, that clay jar, was able to show the treasure to this woman? Such a beautiful thing. So that's that's it. That's that's who we are. That's what death works in us. We lay our lives down. You know why? Why that it's important? You say, "Well, you need a good example." Yeah. And we we need to try to talk to people. Yeah. But here's here's the difference. There's all kinds of people in the world. You know them. They're all around here. There's great people. They're really nice. They they they'll do anything for you and all this kind of stuff. You know, the difference between a person is like this. You die for them. and they notice that that it isn't anything you wouldn't give up in order to connect with them.
I I always I have my I I have to work at home no office in the building, but I I have my office where I can see out the door and when I see my neighbor Pat or I see another neighbor, I I I I'm not sitting there anymore. I'm going to get up. I'm walk out and pretend, oh, just getting a little sunshine, but I got to go over and talk to him. How you doing? Pat, is there anything we can do for you? Pat Pat just like what what are you doing here? I'm just getting, you know, I'm getting I know she's not say that, but she she's just excited. She finally had a Bible study with me and studied with her husband. I he died before, which I cry about every night practically. But you you gota you got to die for a person. It's not just this throw throw little verses at him, but you got to die for them. That's that's a diff there's a difference between just a good neighbor.
We do not lose heart. You see, it doesn't matter what happens. We do not lose heart. That's the key. We're renewed. Verse 16 says, we're renewed day by day. That's that sound like being transformed. That's right. Going through this, as Erik was talking about in suffering, but this is not so much the suffering. It's just that they're sacrifices. Sacrifices. As you go through that, what is going on is you are being transformed. And so he says in verse 17, our present affliction is what? Preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. So what God's asking us to do, whether it be with one another or whether it be with those who aren't Christians, what God is asking us to do is you lay yourself on the line. You do this. And this is preparing you for that great glory in that great kingdom. And whatever you're suffering at this time, it's got no comparison to what he is going to give you at that time.
So look at the unseen, not the not what is seen right here as verse 18 says. Now just one other I want you to know, you read that a lot of people read that and they go, "Oh, that's just Paul talking about himself." No, I want you to see ver chapter 5:14. He says, 'For the love of Christ controls us because we have concluded this that one has died for all, therefore all have died. And he died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him for who for their sake died and was raised. Please do never ever get the idea that is commented so many times by brethren by commentaries that second Corinthians is simply Paul making a defense of himself. It is no such thing. In fact, in chapter 12 and around verse 17, he says, "I'm not defending myself." What he's doing is showing us an example of who we should be. Be imitators of me. That's what he's doing. He's showing that example. So look at this.
If he died for all, then all have died. And therefore, we no longer live for ourselves, but for him who died for us. Verse 16. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. What's that mean? When we look at people, we no longer look them from look at them from a fleshly perspective. We look at them from a spiritual perspective of their need, not a fleshly. You look at them fleshly's perspective, you go, "What is that?" They just like I was told all growing up, "Well, you can't teach them because they're this. They can't teach them because they do that. You can't teach that's the silliest thing on earth. Uh you you can't you can't look at things that way." So he he says we don't regard people according to the flesh. We don't do that anymore. Verse 17, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, all has come new. We now become those who carry that ministry of reconciliation.
And he goes on to say, so the picture of all that is the way we get to that glory in that kingdom. That's what Paul is emphasizing here in the text. Now, let's sew this up. I want you to see the glory visualized. You visualize this glory. Okay? Revelation 21:9. Just think of this. Think of being John. You know, John had the coolest job ever. There's a window in heaven, door out of heaven. Juggles right before the throne. And he sees these visions, visions, visions, visions. And he gets to the end. He goes, and the angel says, "You want to see the bride? Woohoo. Want to see the bride?" Yeah. Yeah. Can I see the bride? Yeah. You're going to see the bride. Come, I'll show you the bride. The wife of the lamb. Who's he talking about? talking about you talking about me. So I want you to show the I want you to see the wife of the lamb.
And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God having the glory of God its radiance like a most rare jewel like a jasper clear as crystal.
One of my favorite things about doing a wedding is I get to stand next to the groom right there. You don't get to. You got to when the wide bride comes, can't see her. Everybody's in the way. I stand right there next to the groom. She turns that corner. Oh, my favorite thing to do as soon as she turns that corner, she's m I She's beautiful all the time. He turns that corner and I always look over at the groom. I just got to see his look and he is just like crumpling. He's Oh man, this one I've been waiting for. The woman I love, she's all radiant.
That's what Jesus is there. Jesus is waiting for that day.
Look what he says. That he might present the church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she might be holy and without blemish. Jesus has taken us off the street like Hosea took Goomemer and we were Goomemer and he cleaned us up and he made us beautiful and he took away every spot and blemish and he adorned us in splendor. Look at that word splendor. It means glorious, radiant, honored, notable, memorable, splendid, gorgeous. And he takes he just adorns us. And he says, "The wedding." And we turn the corner. And he goes, "There there she is." He's he's waiting for us. He's waiting for you to turn that corner.
He's waiting because ye knows you have spent your whole life giving yourself up for him or whatever life you've had since you became came to Christ. He's you you're giving it to him. And he goes, "Look at that. That's my bride."
And we melt his heart. I'll tell you because the Old Testament prophets will talk about how God's heart is touched deeply by his people when they give themselves in love to him. That's what he's looking at. That's who we are. CS Lewis wrote a book called The Great Divorce. It's kind of an odd book. He tells you at the very beginning. Don't get an idea that I'm trying to reflect everything biblically here. And here's what he says. And I want I'll leave you with this picture that CS Lewis gave. There's a bus that comes through town in London. It's kind of a spiritual bus. It's a heavenly bus. It invites people to get on the bus and take a trip to see the glorious city in heaven that they could be a a part of, that they could work for, that they could they could look forward to. So, people get on the bus.
Some people are like, "No, I'm not getting on that bus." But the bus goes up and it travels and it travels and it gets into the heavenly realm and they stop and all right, you can get off the bus and check the check the check the area out. Just look at everything. Some people are going, I I think I just want to go back home. I'm kind of scared. I like what I had. I'm comfortable with what I had. But some people get off. Some of them get off and they look around a little bit and there's some embodied spirits. Beautiful. Beautiful embodied spirits that come and say, "Let me show you around." No, I think I'll get back on the bus. and they get back and they decide that they're just going to travel travel back home and they really don't want any. But all of a sudden they realize they're just ghosts. The embodied spirits are beautiful, but they're just they're just kind of ghosts.
And if they refuse to come and look and see, they end up just dwindling until they're gone.
Lewis finally gets off the bus and decides he'll look around. He notices many people say, "No, I don't want to follow you up to the mountaintop. I I the price is too high. It's just it's just too much." But Lewis takes the gamble and this body is beautiful and body spirit starts showing him around. Pretty soon he says, "Who's that?" He says, "Oh, that's uh that's Sarah Smith." says, "Sarah Smith, boy, she's truly impressive. She is stunning." And he says, "Yeah, yeah, that that's right." Uh, well, she just lived over in uh uh in in Golders Green there, a typical little London suburb. And uh uh she she just she just lived that actually. She was on Earth was really not much of anybody. She was just indescript indescript at all. And and uh pretty ordinary lady.
But the angel explains says this u there's always something something well to refer back to what I was saying there's always something they insist on keeping at the price of misery and not going on but then he says I she is one of the great ones ye have heard that fame in this country and fame on earth are two quite different things she was not much then But she is great now. And the angel continues to speak and Lewis discovers that fame in heaven is so different. In fact, the fame that she has became famous because she helped others become glorious like the glory that she had found. Pretty soon Lewis looks and he says, "Who are all these young men and women on each side of her?" The angel says, "They are her sons and daughters.
Lewis says, "She must have had a very large family, sir." But Lewis is astonished that when he discovers how Sarah Smith became famous, it was by sourcing her life in Christ's glory. Her own glory had become to spill over to others, and others became glorious. Sarah's glorious fame did not detract from the fame of others. It only enhanced others glory. And so Sarah Smith became famous by sourcing her life in Christ's glory, causing her own glory to spill over then into others. Look at these words in Isaiah 56. Let not the unic say, "Behold, I'm a dry tree. For thus says the Lord, to the Unix who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than the sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
We have in our congregation a number of single ladies, not by their own choice, but they're single. And many of them have come to the point where they're pretty pretty well given up that they'll ever have a husband. They're monumentally wonderful, spiritual, dedicated women.
And I know that deep in them they have pain at time to watch young couples happily having children, family.
But this text says it's okay. You will have a monstrous family. You may think that you do not have family and that you will not enjoy what is enjoyed by many on this earth, but you're going to have sons and daughters. You're going to have a legacy
because you take the glory that God has given to you and you pour it out on others and you will be famous and you'll be glorious and you'll be in the great family of God in the kingdom of God. I imagine that Ethiopian unic he was reading Isaiah and this is just three chapters after what he was reading. I can't imagine that Philip didn't show it to him. Wow. What will be like to see each other again in that heavenly realm.
Right now, we look at each other and we look at ourselves and we see flaws and we keep working at it and growing and overcoming and trying to love each other in spite of our flaws. But one day we are going to see each other as spirits of the righteous made perfect, reflecting the perfect glory of God, crowned with honor on his throne, married to the lamb in splendor.
That's the kingdom. That's the gospel of the kingdom. That's what God wanted to give us. A person clothed in glory, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish, crowned with honor, crowned with glory.
Fall in love with what God has done for us and love each other to prove that we also love God. Thank you. Let's sing a song. If there's any way we can help you, please take that opportunity to do so. Either come forward or talk to us afterwards. Be glad to help you. Love you much. Love God. And God will bless us. Let's stand and sing.