Jesus was the glory of his people

JESUS WAS THE GLORY OF HIS PEOPLE
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
“A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Your
people Israel.” Luke 2:32.
Christ the glory of Israel
G. Brooks.
Christ was the glory of Israel.
1. BecauseHe was a Jew by birth.
2. BecauseHis history has vindicated all that was peculiarin the Jewishpolity.
3. BecauseHe confined His personalministry to the Jews.
4. BecauseHe has stamped the impress of Jewishthought on the mind of man.
5. BecauseHe has invested the condition and prospects ofthe Jews with
universal interest.
(G. Brooks.)
The glory of Israel
Dr. Newton.
There was salvationin this sight: there was light in it; and there was glory in
it also. He will be — said Simeon — "the glory of Thy people Israel." The

prophet Isaiahwas speaking of this same Saviour, when he said "Theyshall
hang on Him all the glory of His Father's house" (Isaiah 22:24). The chief
glory that a nation has is made up of the wise, and good, and great, and useful
men who have belongedto it. We speak ofWashingtonas the glory of
America. We feel it an honour to belong to the nation which could claim
Washingtonas one of its people. In Holland they call William, Prince of
Orange, the glory of their nation. England, our grand old mother country, has
had so many wise, and good, and greatmen, that it is hard to tell which to
speak of as the best and greatest. Theyall help to make up the glory of the
people of England. And any one who was born in England may feel it an
honour to belong to a country which has produced so many goodand great
men. And in the same way it is the glory of the Jewishnation, or of Israel, as a
people, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, belonged
to their nation. Jesus was a Jew. And the Jewishpeople may well feel it an
honour to belong to the nation among whom He was born. It is true in this
sense that He is "the glory of His people Israel."
(Dr. Newton.)
CHRIST, THE GLORY OF HIS PEOPLE NO. 826
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD’S DAY EVENING, MARCH22, 1868,
BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE,
NEWINGTON.
“A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.” Luke
2:32.

WE must read this passageliterally, for so Simeonintended it. The Lord
Jesus Christ, though once despisedand rejectedby His own countrymen, is
the greathonor and splendor of God’s people, Israel;it is reckonedanhonor
to a nation when eminent persons are born of its stock and lineage;but Israel
can claim the palm above all lands, for she can say that our Lord sprang out
of Judah. Put togetherall the heroic and famous names of Greece and
Rome—addall the literary splendors of Germany, and the flashing beauties of
France, combine with these the blazing fame of Milton and Shakespeare, of
Baconand of Newtonin our own land, and all countries put togethercannot
compass so greata glory of manhood as canthe nation of the Jews, forthey
can claim not so much Moses, andDavid, and the prophets, as Jesus of
Nazareth, the King of the Jews, in whom dwells the fullness of the Godhead
bodily! If mention is made of Egypt and Babylon, or Philistia and Tyre,
saying, “This man was born there,” the answershall be concerning Zion, “The
Son of Man was born in her.” It ill behooves us ever to speak slightingly of the
Jew;it ill behooves the Christian church to despond concerning the
conversionof the seedof Israel, or to be so indifferent as she sometimes is as
to the conversionof Israel. Brothers and sisters, the day will come when the
veil shall be takenfrom the eyes, and the hardness from the heart, and
Abraham’s sons shall behold the true Messiah, andacceptHim as their glory
and their all. In that day, after the long time of winter, how bright the
summer will be! If their casting awaybrought the Gentiles so much blessing,
what will their gathering togetherbe but life from the dead! After so long
alienation, how ravishing and delightful will be the reconciliationbetweenthe
Bridegroom, and His ancient spouse!How will the earth ring with joy, and
every river in Judea’s land flow to the tune of heaven’s own music, when
Jesus and the Jew shallbe reconciled, and He shall be, as He is prophesied to
be, the glory of His people Israel!— “The hymn shall yet in Zion swell That
sounds Messiah’s praise, And Your loved name, Immanuel! As once in
ancient days. For Israelyet shall own her King, Forher salvationwaits, And
hill and dale shall sweetlysing With praise in all her gates. Hasten, O Lord,
these promised days, When Israel shall rejoice; And Jew and Gentile join in
praise, With one united voice.” It would have been wrong to use the text as I
am going to use it if I had not first given you its primary meaning. We have no
right to use texts for other purposes without, first of all, giving the literal

meaning, and saying, “Such-and-suchis originally the mind of the Holy
Spirit.” It is doubtless the mind of the Spirit speaking here by Simeon, that
the Lord Jesus shallbe a light to lighten the once darkenedGentiles, but
peculiarly the glory of the Jewishnation. We shall now employ the natural
Israelas a type of the Lord’s electones, and surely there is no straining of the
text when we say that Jesus Christ is the glory of the spiritual seed, the
redeemedpeople, who stand to the Lord actually where Israelof old stoodin
the type. Jesus Christ is the glory of His people, His spiritual people Israel.
Christ, the Glory of His People Sermon#826
Tellsomeone today how much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 14
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And why, with evident propriety, may the saints of God be compared to
Israel? Surely because Godhas made a covenantwith them as He did with
Jacob. Jacobat the foot of the ladder saw a way which led from earth to
heaven; we at the foot of the cross have beheld the same vision; we see a way
from our poor fallen estate up to all the glories of the place where Jehovah
dwells. That night a covenant was made with Jacob, andbetweenGod and our
own souls—inthe personof the Lord Jesus, there is a blessedcompactmade
which shall stand secure though earth’s old columns bow. He will be our God,
and we shall be His people; He has made with us a covenantordered in all
things and sure; this is the greatfountain of all our mercies, the ground of all
our hopes!Our covenantGod is the delight of our inmost souls, our castle and
high tower, our sun, and our shield— “He by Himself has sworn. I on His
oath depend. I shall, on eagles’wings upborne, To heaven ascend: I shall
behold His face, I shall His power adore, And sing the wonders of His grace
Forevermore.” We may be comparedwith Israel, again, because if we are the
children of God, we have learned to wrestle with the angeland prevail. It is
one mark of the heir of heaventhat he understands the value of secretprayer,
and that he exerciseshimself in it; that is to him as stern a reality as wrestling
is to the athlete when he seeks to hurl his antagonistto the ground. Not a
mumbling of words, but a marshalling of all the powers of manhood to come

into contest—loving, blessedcontestwith God Himself! Well may they be
calledprevailing princes who are so. Dearfriend, if you are a man of secret
prevailing supplication, why need you doubt that you are one of the Lord’s
Israels? It may be that you have another likeness to Israel in the fact that you
are much tried. It is not so sure a tokenof salvationas some would make it out
to be, but yet it is written, “Through much tribulation we must enter into the
kingdom of God.” PoorIsrael said, “All these things are againstme,” when
one after another his beloved children were takenfrom him, and famine was
in the land. Perhaps you may be tempted to saythe same, and in this you have
a likeness to Jacob, from which I could wish you to escape,for it were better
far, if taking all these evils as they come, you could believe the heavenly
declaration, “All things work togetherfor good, to them who love God.” Faith
must be tried. God had one Sonwithout sin, but He never had a sonwithout
the rod. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.” I hope we shall always be
like Jacobin our faith, for though he may have occasionallydistrusted, yet he
was a man of giant faith, and has a place in that roll call of heroes in the
Epistle to the Hebrews. He blessedthe sons of Josephleaning upon his staff,
and gave commandment concerning the taking awayof his bones. He was not
content to allow his body to rest in Egypt—he lookedfor the PromisedLand
and there, there only, would he have his agedbody laid in the grave, as if in
death he would take possessionofthe heritage which the Lord had promised
to him, and to his seedforever. Mayyou and I have a faith that cannotbe
satisfiedwith all the greenplains of Goshen, nor the granaries ofEgypt, but
which longs for the better state—the PromisedLand—which to the eyes of
our body may be invisible, but which to the eyes of our faith is clearly
revealed! Now, the true Israel, which is spiritually the church of Christ, is
said, according to the text, to be the Lord’s people. “The glory of Your people
Israel.” Briefly let me remind you, my fellow believers, of the ties which make
us the Lord’s. Are we not His, tonight, by His eternalchoice? “Youonly have
I known of all the nations of the earth.” The eternal Father has selectedus
from among the ruins of the Fall, and given us into the hands of Christ, that
we may be His portion, His bride, His jewels, “according as He has chosenus
in Him before the foundation of the world.” We are Christ’s, next, by
redemption. He has redeemedus from among men by a specialand particular
redemption which is peculiar to ourselves. A price has been paid for us—an

effectualprice which will not permit, for a moment, that the objects so
purchased shall ever be lost. “You are not your own, you are bought with a
price.” The saints are redeemedfrom among men; thus are you Christ’s by
double bonds—the gift of the Father, and the purchase of His own blood. The
Father gave you to Jesus, andnone shall pluck you out of His almighty hands!
You are His, too, this night, by conquest. Admit it; He has struggledwith your
sins, and overcome them; the Spirit of the living God has takenyou, as it
were, like a lamb from the jaws of the
Sermon #826 Christ, the Glory of His People
Volume 14 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ.
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lion; you were led captives by Satan, but Christ met the devil, and overcame
him in a terrific duel, and you, the once willing captives of the powers of
darkness, are now Christ’s portion made free and blessed!You are now the
possessionofyour Conqueror, for He took you out of the hand of the enemy
with His sword, and with His bow; you belong to Christ as the spoil which He
has won from death and hell. You are His, again, by the voluntary dedication
of yourselves to Him. Come, beloved, is it not so? Will you not confess— “‘Tis
done! The greattransaction’s done! I am my Lord’s, and He is mine! He
drew me, and I followedon, Charmed to confess the voice divine”? If you feel
aright, you will confess thatthere is not a drop of blood in your veins which
does not belong to Jesus, nor a hair on your head which is not His. All the Isle
of Man now belongs to Jesus, and you will count it foul scornthat sin should
have a lodge within the territories which belong to your liege Lord and
Master!From within the triple kingdom of your spirit, soul, and body, you
will to the bestof your power, hunt out every rebel againstthe dominion of
your Lord Jesus. You are His tonight, you know you are! You rejoice to
confess the blessedimpeachment, and are willing before men, angels, and
devils, to renew the dedication of yourselves to Him. And, once again, you
are His in conjugal bonds—married to Him as chaste virgins; His unbounded
love espousedyou before time began, and it has not diminished; He claims you

as His own bride, and you call Him the Husband of your souls, and delight to
have it so. More than that, you are His in vital union as the members belong to
the head; you are in personal, vital, actualcommunion with the Son of God!
You are thus His in the fullest, and most absolute sense;oh, you will not start
back from being altogetherHis, but come closerand closerto a full surrender,
and desire to feel more powerfully the factthat you are Christ’s people,
wholly belonging to Him, not in part, not held by a kind of mortgage—but
Christ’s freehold, Christ’s absolute property! You bear in your body the
marks of the Lord Jesus, and desire to be His now, and His world without
end. Now, it is to such as these, who are like Israel, and who belong to Christ,
that the text shall be addressedtonight; Jesus Christ is the glory of such. We
will pause a moment, and then let us plunge into the center of the text. I.
When we saythat Christ is our glory, we mean that WE GET ALL THE
GLORY WE HAVE THROUGH HIM. Some men go to schools forglory,
others to the camps of war; in all kinds of places men have sought after honor,
but the believer says that Christ is the mine in which he digs for this gold—
Christ is the sea in which he fishes for this pearl—he gives up all other
searches, and looks forglory in Jesus, andnowhere else. Now, beloved, we
find our adorable Lord to be our glory tonight, but in what respects?Well, we
have the glory, first, of election—ofbeing chosenby Godout of the rest of
mankind, to be a separatedpeople before which imperial pomp grows pale!
And this comes to us altogetherthrough Jesus Christ. “According as He has
chosenus in Him from before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy.” Our next glory is that we are redeemed; it is no small honor for a man
to know that God loved him so wellthat He gave a price so costlythat all
heaven and earth could not match it with another—that He gave His only-
begottenSon that we might be redeemed. Now, beloved, we are not redeemed
exceptthrough Jesus Christ, and if it is our glory that we are emancipated
today, that our fetters are all broken, that we are the Lord’s freemen, we
know with what a price we gainedthis liberty, for we were not freeborn. Yes,
the glory of the Lord’s freeman must be only in the Lord Jesus, who is the
Son, who by His blood makes us free, indeed. It is the glory of a Christian
that he is adopted, that he is a son of God, but this, again, is only through
Jesus Christ. We are joint-heirs with Christ. We have no relation except
through His standing at the top of the page in the family register. He is a Son,

and we become the many brothers and sisters, but only because He
condescendedto take upon Him our nature, and become the first-born among
us. Brothers and sisters, it is a greatjoy to know, and a greatglory to say, “I
am justified.” We can stand upright tonight and say, “Who shall lay anything
to my charge? Before the court of King’s Benchof heaven, before the
Chanceryof the universe, who dares condemn me?” To be pardoned and
acceptedof
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God is a matchless privilege. Now, no man can claim justification of a truth
exceptthrough Jesus Christ, for here is the top and the bottom of a man’s
justification—that the righteousnessofChrist has been given to him, and that
the blood of Christ has washedhim. “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ
who died, yes, rather that has risen again;who sits at the right hand of God,
who also makes intercessionfor us.” Remember this, my brothers and
sisters—weare accepted, but we are acceptedin the Beloved, and we are
justified, but we are justified in His righteousness. We are a people dear to
God, and near to Him, but all this lies in Jesus Christ; we are comelywith the
comeliness whichHe puts upon us, and secure in God’s sight because we are
preservedin Christ Jesus. One part of the Christian’s glory, and for my part
one which I sigh for more and more, is the glory of sanctification. It is a great
glory to have a new heart, and a right spirit, and to pant after holiness, but
this also comes by the same royal road—for we are sanctifiedthrough the
blood of Jesus, whichthe Holy Spirit applies to us. There is not a particle of
true sanctity in the entire world which does not spring from the cross!
Everything which makes us like Christ first comes from Christ, not from the
works of the law, nor from the strivings of the flesh, nor the teachings of
philosophy, but altogether— “Fromthe waterand the blood From the riven
side which flowed.” If we glory, then, in sanctification, we dare not glory
exceptin Christ Jesus, whose bloodhas made us priests and kings unto God.

And, brothers and sisters, it is a greatglory to a man to know that he is safe. I
love our Arminian friends very heartily, but I should not like to be one of
them, for they have such a precarious salvationthat they do not know
whether it will ultimately save them or not! It will save them if they are
faithful, but ah, that unhappy thought is the one dangerous link in the chain,
and I dare not trust my poor unfaithful soulto such a frail support. They are
traveling in a carriage, the axles of which may break before they reachtheir
journey’s end! I bless God I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded
that He is able to keepthat which I have committed to Him until that day. But
if a man knows himself, by faith, to be saved, his knowledge is baseless
presumption if he rests his safety anywhere but on the immovable rock of the
finished work of Jesus Christ! He who cansay, “Yes, I trust Christ to save me
not only today or tomorrow, for He has workedout for me an everlasting
salvation;I believe that He will be with me, and acknowledgemy name at the
bar of judgment”—such a man knows that he is resting only in Jesus, and
then his glory as to his safetyis a glory in Christ, and in Christ alone. Thus I
might continue showing you that there is not a single treasure which a
Christian possesseswhichdoes not come to him but through Christ. He has
nothing in which he can glory, but what he is sweetlycompelledto say of it, “I
gained this in the market of Calvary; I found this in the mines of a Savior’s
suffering; all this came to me through my bleeding, buried, risen, coming
Lord, and He shall have the glory of it as long as I live.” II. There is a second
meaning to the text, namely this—WE SEE A GLORY IN CHRIST which
swallows up all other glories as the sun’s light concealsthe light of the stars.
True believers see glory, first, in Christ’s person; they are often overwhelmed
as they contemplate His Godheadand His manhood divinely blended; all His
attributes strike them as glorious;they cannot think of His characteras He
manifested it while here below, or as it is revealedbefore the throne above,
without falling into raptures of adoring wonder, love, and praise. If others tell
them of the glory of suchand-such philanthropists and able men, the saints
reply, “We have perceivedno glory anywhere comparable with that which
gleams in the characterof Christ.” Oh, how deeply was Rutherford in love
with his sweet, unutterably sweetLord Jesus;would to God I were as far gone
as he in that heavenly union, communion, and rapture! What expressions he
uses;how deep he dips his pen; how glowinglyhe writes, and yet he never

exaggerates;it is impossible! Christ is too lovely for us ever to saya word that
shall approachhalf-way to the fullness of His unspeakable excellenceand
boundless worth! Much less needwe ever fearlest we shoot with a bow that
shall pass the mark; no, beloved, our Lord’s person is the admiration of the
highest intellects that God has ever made, and though angels have been
educatedin the greatscience ofChrist crucified these many years, yet— “The
first-born sons of light Desire in vain its depths to see!They cannot reachthe
mystery,
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The length, the breadth, the height.” Incarnate God is yet beyond them, and
still, instead of being weariedwith their pursuit, they are yet students, sitting
at the feetof the church of God, that there may be made known among
principalities and powers the manifold wisdom of God! Oh, you shall never
see anything so glorious as the person of the beloved if your eyes are but once
favored to gaze upon Him, and your heads but once permitted to lean upon
His loving bosom! Brothers and sisters, the moon is a blot, and the sun a
burnt-out coalcompared with our Immanuel! The saints see a greatglory in
the sufferings of Christ. When a base world turns away from the Despisedand
Rejected, it is then that the regenerate heartclings fastestto Him, oh, how
divinely the scarletofHis blood becomes Him! Was everCaesar’s purple half
as glorious? He is bright in heaven; be You worshipped forever, Sun of our
souls!But if there is a place where above all others we would kiss His feet, and
washthem with our tears, and love Him best of all, it is Calvary’s cross. How
our hearts burn when we think of His bearing the load of guilt for us—
groaning, sweating, bleeding and painfully yielding up His life! A root out of a
dry ground He may be to this blind-eyed world, but to us, beloved, who have
been admitted into the mystery of His inmost heart; all over glorious is our
precious Lord, a miracle of love, the astonishment of earth, the marvel of
heaven, the all in all of our souls! If there were time, we might say that He

has been glorious to us in His resurrection, especiallysince He has taught us to
rise with Him in newness oflife—glorious in His ascension, now that He is
sitting at the right hand of the Father, especiallynow that we have been raised
up together, and made to sit togetherin heavenly places in Him. He is glorious
in His intercession;what a comfort it is to us to think that our name is on one
of the stones ofthat glorious breastplate!He is glorious, too, in His second
advent. We expectHim to come soon;it is earth’s highest hope, the church’s
most fervent prayer! Come quickly Lord Jesus!To see You we would gladly
give up the sight of everything beneath the stars! To see You in Your beauty
come riding through the streets;to behold You with the rainbow wreath, and
robes of storm, yes, to have one glimpse of that greatwhite throne, though it
were but a distance, and to hear You say one word—wouldbe a kind of
everlasting heaven! But for once to have seenHim; but for once to have heard
Him; it might make men content to bear a thousand trials but for once, with
heart, and eye, and soul, to drink a full draught of the glory of Christ!
Brothers and sisters, our soul fires as we proceed, and we long to praise and
sing— “King of kings! Let earth adore Him, High on His exalted throne!
Fall, you nations, fall before Him, And His righteous scepterown— All the
glory Be to Him, and Him alone!” But we must not stop, nor need we tarry.
It is enough to have proved it to every Christian heart, though indeed, it
needed no proof, that Jesus Christ is the glory of His people Israel, in the
sense that they shall glory in Him. III. In the third place, the text is true in
the sense that WE GIVE GLORY TO HIM. Alas! Alas! It makes a
Christian’s blood boil to see glory given in a professedplace of worship, yes,
and in a professedProtestantchurch, too, to a pack of scamps who call
themselves “priests”!I would not call them by such a name if they were
honest enoughto go off to the Church of Rome, where they ought to be, but
having the impudent effrontery to attempt to palm themselves off in this
country of ours for what they are not, I know of no words bad enoughfor
them! What reverence orrespectis to be paid to those gentry inside those
brass gates, around the thing they call an altar? I suppose those gates enclose
a sort of holy place into which the poor laity must not go!If these priests had
their way, we should have to go down and lick the soles oftheir feet as our
benighted forefathers aforetimes bowedbefore the hirelings of Rome! Does it
not make a man feelwhen you see pictures of “his holiness,” and the

cardinals, and so on, scattering their benedictions at the Vatican, or at St.
Peter’s, while admiring crowds fall down, and worship them, that it were
infinitely better to bow to Satanhimself? We give glory unto God, but not a
particle of glory to anything in the shape of a man, or an angel, either. Have I
not stoodand seenthe crowds by hundreds fall down and worship images and
dressed-up dolls? I have seenthem worship bones and old teeth; I have seen
them worship a skeletondressedout in modern costume—said
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to be the skeletonofa saint; and I have marveled how we could, in this 19th
Century, find people so infatuated as to think that such idolatry was pleasing
to the MostHigh God! We, beloved, the people of God who know Christ, can
give no glory to this rubbish, but turn awayfrom it with horror! Our glory
must be given to Christ, and to Christ, alone. Now, here is the touchstone to
try your religionby; when you pray, to whom do you pray? Through whom
do you pray? When you sing, for whom is the song meant? When you
brothers preach, to whose honor do you preach? To whom do you intend to do
service? Whenyou go out among the poor, when you distribute alms, when
you scatteryour tracts, when you talk about the gospel—forwhomdo you do
all this? For, as the Lord lives, if you do it for yourselves, or for any besides
the Lord Jesus, youdo not know what the vitality of godliness is! Christ and
Christ only must be the grand objective of the Christian! The promotion of
His glory must be that for which we are willing to live, and for which, if
necessary, we would be prepared to die. Oh, down, down, down, with
everything else—butup, up, up, with the cross ofChrist! Downwith your
baptism, and your masses, and your sacraments!Downwith your priestcraft,
and your rituals, and your liturgies! Downwith your fine music, and your
pomp, and your robes, and your garments, and all your ceremonies!But up,
up, up, with the doctrine of the nakedcross, and the expiring Savior! Let the
voice ring throughout the whole world, “Look unto Me and live!” There is life

in a look at the Crucified One! There is life in simple confidence in Him—but
there is life nowhere else!God send to His church an undying passionto
promote the Savior’s glory, an invincible, unconquerable pang of desire and
longing that by any means King Jesus may have His own, and may reign
throughout these realms! In this sense, then, Jesus is and must be the glory of
His people. IV. But there is another sense, namely, FROM JESUS IS
REFLECTEDALL THE GLORY WHICH IS PUT UPON HIS PEOPLE.
Whateverglory they have, and they have much in the eyes of angels, and
much honor in the eyes of discerning men, it is always the reflection of the
Savior’s glory. I know some holy men and women for whom I cannot but feel
the deepestand keenestrespect, but the reasonis because they have so much
of my Masterabout them; I think I would travel many miles to talk with some
of them because their speechis always so full of Him, and they live so near to
Him. If you take down some of the old books of the Puritans, and others, I
know which you will love the bestif you love Christ. Why, those who speak of
Him! And when you get into the middle of the chapter where some holy man
of God is extolling Him, then you will say, “He being dead yet speaks, and
speaks justthat to which my ears would listen.” If there should ever be any
glory about you, young man, it will have to come through your having much
of Christ in you! Believe me, the true path to glory for a Christian is never to
try to excelin literary attainments apart from Jesus!He may lawfully try for
that in subservience to the higher aim—still, that must not be his glory as a
Christian. It never ought to be the glory of the Christian that he is a good
business man—he should be a goodbusiness man, but still that is not to be the
objectof his glory. If you make anything to be your glory except Christ, God
will prepare a worm to eat the root of it, for He will have you; if you are His,
He will have you chaste to Himself, and you shall never have anything to glory
in but Christ. You know, beloved, this is a trying point with many of us, for I
am afraid that sometimes we even getto glory in our ministry—and if we do,
it will be all overwith our usefulness. We must glory in Jesus, andnot in our
ministry, “Oh,” said those disciples as they came back with excited hearts—
“Lord, Lord, even devils are subject to us!” “Ah,” saidJesus, “Nevertheless,
rejoice not in this, but rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
That is the point! You must come back to that—rejoicing in your own
personalsalvationthrough the precious blood of Jesus Christ! You must

rejoice in Him, and then you will think thus: “Well, even if my ministry
should not prosper, though I hope it will, yet if I have glorified Christ, it shall
be enough reward for me. If He is lifted one inch higher, it does not matter if I
am trod like mire in the streets;if His dear name is but made illustrious, I will
be nothing; if no one shall ever lisp my name with approbation, then so be it;
let Your servantbe a dog, and let him be buried and forgottenas long as King
Jesus wears the crown, and men cry, ‘Long live the King!’” Oh, this is the
Christian’s greatdesire—thathe may win Christ! And this it is which gives
glory to him, and makes him esteemedofGod, to have lived with an unselfish
passionfor Jesus gleaming in his breast, to have lived with so heavenly a
brightness shining from his brow, and glittering through his entire life! Thus
the true glory of every Christian is His Master’s, and comes from Him.
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V. But now once more. The text may be read in this sense—Christis the glory
of His people, that is to say, THEY EXPECT GLORY WHEN HE COMES.
“It does not yet appearwhat we shall be, but we know that when He shall
appear, we shall be like He is.” Our glory is laid up; we are not wearing our
Sunday clothes yet; all this is but the weekdaygarb, and it is very dusty and
commonplace, and with many, the poor body is getting very worn out, too.
You may well— “Long for evening to undress That you may restwith God,”
for when you wake up, what a bright suit will be ready for you! Oh, such
garments of glory and beauty, that you will scarcelyknow yourselves in them!
You will not be like your present selves, you will be like Christ— “Since Jesus
is mine I’ll not fear undressing, But gladly put off this garment of clay; To
die in the Lord is a covenantblessing Since Jesus to glory through death led
the way.” Whenyou follow Jesus in resurrection, what glory! But we must
not begin to speak of that, for we should never leave off at all if we beganto
talk about that glory—the glory of perfection, the glory of being delivered
from sin, the glory of conquest, having trod Satanunder our feet! The glory of

eternal rest, the glory of infinite security, the glory of being like Christ, the
glory of being in the light and brightness of God, standing, like Milton’s angel,
in the very sun itself! If you want to know what heaven is, you canspell it in
five letters!And when you put the five letters togetherthey sound like this—
JESUS!That is heaven! It is all the heaven the angels round the throne of God
desire to know. They need nothing better than this—to see His face, to behold
His glory, and to dwell in it world without end! VI. Thus far have we been led
into many precious truths of God; we have now done with the doctrinal part
of the text, but we must prolong our meditation two or three minutes to speak
a little upon THE PRACTICAL DRIFT OF THE SUBJECT. We have just
two or three things to say. We would give a word of warning to those of you
who seek your glory anywhere else, because as surelyas you do so, even if you
meet with honor for a time, you will lose it. It is always ill to put your treasure
where it will be stolenfrom you. Now, suppose you seek your glory in your
learning. Well, well, well! Let the sexton take up your skull after you have
been dead a little while, and what learning will there be in it? What show of
wisdom will be found in it when it is resolvedinto a little impalpable brown
powder? What will your science, andyour mathematics, and your classics do
for you in death and judgment? Suppose you seek your glory in fame, and
become the favorite of the nation as a greatsoldier. When the grave-digger
rattles your old bones about, what will that signify? You will have greatfame,
you say, and men will talk about you. Well, will that stop the worms from
eating you? Will it give you a single moment’s repose, if you are found in hell,
to know that there are those on earth who saythat you were a famous man?
Greatmen in hell look very small! Great men in the pit of hell have to suffer
as well as others—yes, they endure more of anguish because they were so
great, and had so many responsibilities. When you wake up in the Day of
Judgment, you graspers ofearthly honors will get to reaching for your glory,
and trying to find it, you will be like the sleeperwho dreamed that he had
much gold; he was gathering it up by handfuls, but when he woke, he was in a
narrow attic in the abode of poverty, and as penniless as when he fell asleep!
Ah yes, if you seek your glory anywhere on earth, you will lose it, even if for a
while you win it. But he who has his glory in Christ, when he opens his eyes in
the next world will see Christ, and so behold his glory safe and firmly entailed
upon Him! “There,” says he, “is my treasure, and I have it, have it forever.”

This is security which no bolts, and iron safes, and Chubb’s locks canever
give you! Do but put your treasures into Christ, and they are all safe!Even
infernal pickpocketsshallnot be able to take Christ from you! If you win
Christ, and put your treasure in Him, you are secure!Godgrant, brothers
and sisters, that we may be wise for eternity, for all other wisdom is but folly.
Another word and that is a word of rebuke. There are some preachers we
know of, and I suppose there will always be some of the form, who preach,
preach, preach, but they never preach what is Israel’s glory. They talk of
anything but Christ! Oh, how often have I heard the complaint from
8
8
Christian people, “Sir, our minister is a talented man; he is, on the whole, a
sound man doctrinally, and he preaches to us a greatdeal about the gospel,
but oh, we wish he would preach the gospel, not preach about it, but preach
the thing itself! O that he would preachChrist!” The best sermons are the
sermons which are fullest of Christ! A sermonwithout Christ is an awful, a
horrible thing; it is an empty well; it is a cloud without rain; it is a tree twice
dead, plucked by the roots!It is an abominable thing to give men stones for
bread, and scorpions for eggs, andyet they do so who preach not Jesus!A
sermon without Christ? As well talk of a loaf of bread without any flour in it!
How can it feed the soul? Men die and perish because Christ is not there, and
yet His glorious gospelis the easiestthing to preach, and the sweetestthing to
preach—there is variety in it, there is more attractiveness in it than in the
entire world besides!And yet so many will gad abroad, and make their heads
ache, and turn over those heavy volumes to get something which shall be
nothing better than a big stone to roll at the mouth of the sepulcher, and shut
in Christ as though He were still dead! O brothers, let us, if we cannot blow
the silver trumpet, blow the ram’s horn—but let the blast always be Christ,
Christ, Christ! Always let us make the walls ring with the dear name of the
exalted Savior, and let us tell men that there is salvationin no other, but that

there is salvation and life for them in Jesus—life forthem now, life for every
soul that looks to Jesus—depending, alone, in Him! Dearteachers in the
school, continue always telling the children about Jesus!Dearfriends who
work in any way for the Lord’s glory, here is your one topic! The old proverb
is, “Cobbler, stick to your last,” so, Christian, “Stick to your text,” and let the
text be Jesus Christ! Let no glitter or show tempt you awayfrom that. This
coolsnow of Lebanon—be not taken awayto drink of the tepid streams that
mock the thirsty soul! This gold of Ophir—there is none like it, seek no other!
This is the grandestpasture to wander in—this glorious subject, Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus!Let Him be preached, since HE is the GLORY of Israel! There are
some of you to whom I have a lastword to say, and that is, some of you love
Jesus Christ, but you are ashamed to sayso. Now, since He is the glory of His
people Israel, I shall be afraid of you, and for you, if you do not make Him
your glory. Instead of being ashamedto confess Him and His cause, why,
surely you will count it to be your shame that you are ashamed, and you will
come forward, and say, “Yes, I castin my lot with His people; He is such a
blessedChrist; I will never turn my back on Him, if He will but have me, here
I am. Put my name down in the church roll—by all means let me be baptized
as He was!Let me come to His Table, and let me do this in remembrance of
Him. He is a dear Lord, and I should not like it to be thought that I was
ashamedof Him.” I shall not press it on you, because a word is enough for a
heart that is tender, and if you truly love Him, you will not need any drawing
forward. You will say, “Oh, may He only keepme, and make me faithful; I am
all too glad to have the opportunity of saying that I am on His side—forHim I
am resolvedto live, and if necessary, by His grace, for Him I would be
resolvedto die.” Do not put it off, then; come and see the elders of the church;
they will be glad to see you upon the matter, that is to say, if you belong to
Christ. If you do not, do not profess to be what you are not! Mind you, do not
come forward and say you are Christ’s if you are not! To you who are not His,
let me say, Jesus is to be had for the asking;if you seek Him, He will be found
of you; go not to your rest tonight till you have said, “Lord, you are the glory
of Your people; be my glory! Give me Yourself! Help me to trust You.” And
after you have done that, then trust Him, and God bless you, for His own
name’s sake. Amen.

Adapted from The C. H. SpurgeonCollection, Version1.0, Ages Software.
PRAY THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL USE THIS SERMON TO BRING MANY
TO A SAVING KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST!
By the grace ofGod, for all 63 volumes of C. H. Spurgeon sermons in Modern
English, and 574 Spanish translations, all free, visit: www.spurgeongems.org
The Glory Of GodRevealedIn Jesus Christ And The Glory Of God
ExperiencedIn The Lives Of His People.
seyiodus (60)
in itestify • 2 years ago
Hello everyone, yesterday i talked about The Glory of GodDefined and we
were able to see how the glory of God is and in what shape. You canclick on
the topic and read more about it. Today, we are going to be looking at our the
glory of God in Jesus Christand the experience of it in our lives.
image credit
The Glory Of GodRevealedIn Jesus Christ

When Isaiah spoke about the coming of Jesus Christ, he prophesied that the
glory of God would be revealedin Him for all mankind to see (Isaiah 40:5).
Both John (John 1:14) and the writer of the Hebrews (Hebrew 1:3) testify that
Jesus Christ fulfilled this prophesy. Christ's glory was the same glory He had
with His Father(i.e., God) before the world began (John 1:14; 17:5). The
glory of His ministry is far greaterthan the glory of any ministry in the old
testament(2Corinthians 3: 7-11). Paul calls Jesus "the Lord of Glory"
(1Corinthians 2:8), and James calls Him "our glorious Lord Jesus Christ"
(James 2:1)
Repeatedly, the new testamentrefers to the relationship and unbreakable
connectionbetweenJesus Christ and the glory of God. Jesus'miracles
revealedGod's glory (John 2:11; 11:40-44). When Jesus was transfiguredin a
"bright cloud" (Matthew 17:5), it was a visible showing of His brilliant glory.
God the Father confirmed that event by speaking words that cloud be heard
and understood by the disciples to honor is Son, Jesus (2Peter1:16-19). Christ
describedhis approaching death as the beginning of His glorification(John
12:23-24;17:2-5). After His resurrection, Jesus rose up to heaven in glory (Act
1:9; 1Timothy 3:16). Christ is now exaltedin glory (Revelation5:12-13)and
will somedayreturn "on the clouds of the sky, with power and greatglory"
(Matthew 25:31; Mark 14:62; 1Thessalonians 4:17).
“Then will appear the signof the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the
peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the
clouds of heaven, with power and greatglory. - Matthew 24:30
The Glory Of GodExperienced In The Lives Of His People
Hoe does God's glory affect His followers and apply to their lives personally?
(1) It is true to this day that no one can experience God's full glory and live.
We know it is there, but we are not able to see it in its fullness. God's full glory
and live. God's Word reveals that that He lives in light and glory, which no
mortal human can see face to face (1Timothy 6:16). Nevertheless, Godreveals
His glory for humankind to see in two ways:"in the church and in Christ
Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever" (Ephesians 3:21). That is
to say, Godshows Himself and reveals His works through the lives of His

faithful followers who serve His purposes and gatherto worship Him. That is
because His Holy Spirit lives in them (1Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 2Corinthians
6:16) and is active in their lives.
(2) Some of God's people in Bible times experienced God's shekinahglory.
Throughout history to the presenttime, there have also been others who have
had visions of God like those of Isaiah(Isaiah 6) and Ezekiel(Ezekiel1). But
this was not common then or now. The full reality of God's glory, however, is
something that all God's people will somedayexperience when they see Jesus
face to face. As the final goalof God's plan of spiritual salvation, His faithful
followers will be brought into God's glorious presence (Hebrew 2:10; 1Peter
5:10; Jude 1:24), share in Christ glory (Roman 8:17-18)and receive a crown
of glory (1Peter5:4). Their resurrectedbodies will show the glory of the risen
Christ (Philippians 3:21).
So will it be with the resurrectionof the dead. The body that is sownis
perishable, it is raisedimperishable; 43 it is sownin dishonor, it is raisedin
glory; it is sownin weakness,it is raised in power; - 1Corinthians 15:42-43
(3) In our present time, followers ofJesus experience God's presence through
powerand work of His Holy Spirit which brings the presence of Godand the
lord Jesus nearto them (2Corinthians 3:17; 1Peter4:14). When the Spirit
becomes powerfully active in the church (i.e., among Christ's followers)
through his supernatural gifts and ministries (1Corinthians 12:1-12), God's
glory is seenand experiencedby people in such a way that it cannot be denied.
(4) Those who have acceptedChristand His sacrifice fortheir sins and have
yielded their lives to His leadershipare now united with Jesus by His Spirit
and may share in His glory. In facts, Petersays to the individual who boldly
identifies with Christ and suffers insult for his or her faith in Him: "the Spirit
of glory and of God rests on you" (1Peter4:14). One reasonJesus came into
the world was to revealHis glory to people (Luke 2:29-32). As followers of
Jesus, we must live our entire lives for the glory of Godso that He is honored
and glorified in and through us (John 17:10;2Corinthians 3:18).

So whether you eat or drink or whateveryou do, do it all for the glory of God.
- 1Corinthians 10:31 https://steemit.com/itestify/@seyiodus/the-glory-of-god-
revealed-in-jesus-christ-and-the-glory-of-god-experienced-in-the-lives-of-his-
people-1518290094
STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
A light to lighten the Gentiles - Φως εις αποκαλυψινεθνων - A light of the
Gentiles, for revelation. By Moses andthe prophets, a light of revelationwas
given to the Jews, in the blessednessofwhich the Gentiles did not partake. By
Christ and his apostles, a luminous revelationis about to be given unto the
Gentiles, from the blessedness ofwhich the Jews in general, by their obstinacy
and unbelief, shall be long excluded. But to all true Israelites it shall be a
glory, an evident fulfillment of all the predictions of the prophets, relative to
the salvationof a lost world; and the first offers of it shall be made to the
Jewishpeople, who may see in it the truth of their own Scriptures
indisputably evinced.
Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible
A light to lighten the Gentiles - This is in accordancewith the prophecies in
the Old Testament, Isaiah9:6-7; Psalm 98:3; Malachi4:2. The Gentiles are
representedas sitting in darkness that is, in ignorance and sin. Christ is a
“light” to them, as by him they will be made acquainted with the characterof
the true God, his law, and the plan of redemption. As the darkness rolls away
when the sun arises, so ignorance and error flee awaywhen Jesus gives light
to the mind. Nations shall come to his light, and kings to the brightness of his
rising, Isaiah60:3.

And the glory … - The first offer of salvationwas made to the Jews, John
4:22; Luke 24:47. Jesus was born among the Jews;to them had been given the
prophecies respecting him, and his first ministry was among them. Hence, he
was their glory, their honor, their light. But it is a subject of specialgratitude
to us that the Saviour was given also for the Gentiles;for:
1.We are Gentiles, and if he had not come we should have been shut out from
the blessings ofredemption.
2.It is he only that now.
“Canmake our dying bed.
Feelsoft as downy pillows are,
While on his breast we lean our head,
And breathe our life out sweetlythere.”
Thus our departure may be like that of Simeon. Thus we may die in peace.
Thus it will be a blessing to die. But,
3.In order to do this, our life must be like that of Simeon. We must wait for
the consolationof Israel. We must look for his coming. We must be holy,
harmless, undefiled, “loving” the Saviour. Then death to us, like death to
Simeon, will have no terror; we shall depart in peace, andin heaven see the
salvationof God, 2 Peter3:11-12. But,
4.Children, as well as the hoary-headed Simeon, may look for the coming of
Christ. They too must die; and “their” death will be happy only as they
depend on the Lord Jesus, and are prepared to meet him.
The Biblical Illustrator
Luke 2:32
A light to lighten the Gentiles
The light of the Gentiles

I.
EXPLAIN THE IMPORT OF THE TEXT.
1. The characterof Jesus is exhibited under the image of light--the most
glorious of all the creatures of God.
2. The subjects of His influences--“The Gentiles”--i.e.,allnations that have not
yet heard the tidings of the gospelin Him.
3. The result of the manifestationof Christ to the world will be universal
illumination. He rises upon the nations to “lighten” them.
II. APPLY ITS TESTIMONYTO MISSIONARYEXERTIONS.
1. Examine the principles on which they are founded.
2. The considerations by which we are encouraged.
Christ the light of all nations
He gives the light of truth, of spiritual sight, of knowledge,ofholiness, of joy,
of heaven. The natives of arctic regions put on their holiday attire, and
enthusiasticallywelcome the returning sun, when after months of absence, he
againrevisits them with his rays. How much more should we rejoice in the
light of “the Sun of Righteousness?”There was a light once on or near the
GoodwinSands, called “The light of all nations,” because itwas supposedthat
some of all nations would see it. The “light of the knowledge ofthe glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ” will one day “coverthe earth.” When Christ
gives us light, we must reflectit (see Matthew 5:14-16). The lighthouse, when
its lights burn truly, will warn the mariner againstdanger, and enable him to
pursue the right and safe way. So we may eachguide some from the darkness
and dangerof sin, to the light and safety of God’s mercy in Christ. (Henry R.
Burton.)

Light an emblem of Christ
There is no figure more common nor more beautiful in the Scriptures, than
that by which Christ is compared to “light.” Incomprehensible in its nature,
itself first visible, and that by which all else is so;“light” represents to us
Christ, whose generationnone can declare, but who must shine on us ere we
can know aught aright whether of things Divine or human. Pure,
uncontaminated, though visiting the lowestparts of the earth, and penetrating
the most noisome recesses;what is “light” an image of, if not of that Divine
Mediator, who contractedno stain, though born of a woman, in the likeness of
sinful flesh? Instrumental in all the processesofvegetation, so that, without its
vivifying power, the earth could not yield its kindly fruits, nor expose its
verdant hues, what is “light” but the emblem of that source ofillumination, of
whom the Evangelist declares that “He was the Light and Life of men”? And
without searching too narrowly into the particular sources by which this
resemblance might be proved, we may saythat Christ is to the material world
what the sun is to the natural; and whereverthe gospelhas been published
and receivedas a communication from God, the darkness has fled, as night
flies before the day; and we know, that whereverthe revelationmade through
Christ has been dispersed, wherever it has vouchsafedits cheering rays, the
clouds of ignorance, and superstition, and irreligion have vanished, and
holiness purity, and morality have illumined the horizon. It has done more. It
has hung the very grave with bright lamps, and re-kindled the blazings of an
almost quenched immortality. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
And the glory of Thy people Israel--
Christ the glory of His people
We shall now employ the natural Israelas a type of the Lord’s electones, and
surely there is no straining of the text, when we say that Jesus Christis the
glory of the spiritual seed, the redeemed people. And why, with evident
propriety, may the saints of God be compared to Israel?
1. Surely because Godhas made a covenantwith them as He did with Jacob.

2. We may be comparedwith Israel, again, because if we be the children of
God we have learned to wrestle with the angeland prevail.
3. It may be that you have another likeness to Israelin the fact that you are
much tried. Faith must be tried. God had one Son without sin, but He never
had a Son without the rod.
4. The true Israel, which are spiritually the Church of Christ, are said,
according to the text, to be the Lord’s people.
I. When we say that Christ is our glory, we mean that WE GET ALL THE
GLORY WE HAVE THROUGH HIM. Some men go to the schools forglory,
others to the camps of war. In all kinds of places men have sought after
honour, but the believer saith that Christ is the mine in which he digs for this
gold, Christ is the sea in which he fishes for this pearl; he gives up all other
searchings andlooks for glory in Jesus, andnowhere else.
1. The glory of election.
2. The glory of redemption.
3. The glory of adoption.
4. The glory of justification.
5. The glory of sanctification.
Thus I might continue showing you that there is not a single treasure which a
Christian possesseswhichdoes not come to him through Christ. He has
nothing in which he can glory but what he is sweetlycompelledto sayof it, “I
gained this in the market of Calvary; I found this in the mines of a Saviour’s
suffering; all this came to me through my bleeding, buried, risen, coming
Lord, and He shall have the glory of it as long as I live.”
II. WE SEE A GLORY IN CHRIST which swallows up all other glories, as
the sun’s light concealsthe light of the stars.

1. In Christ’s person.
2. In Christ’s sufferings.
3. In Christ’s resurrection.
4. In Christ’s ascension.
5. In Christ’s intercession.
6. In Christ’s secondadvent.
III. The text is true in the sense that WE GIVE GLORY TO HIM. There is
life in a look at the Crucified One. There is life in simple confidence in Him,
but there is life nowhere else. Godsend to His Church an undying passionto
promote the Saviour’s glory, an invincible, unconquerable pang of desire, and
longing that by any means King Jesus may have His own, and may reign
throughout these realms! In this sense, then, Jesus is and must be the glory of
His people.
IV. But there is another sense--namely, FROM JESUS IS REFLECTEDALL
THE GLORY WHICH IS PUT UPON HIS PEOPLE. Whateverglory they
have, and they have much in the eyes of angels, andmuch honour in the eyes
of discerning men, it is always the reflectionof the Saviour’s glory. I know
some holy men and womenfor whom I cannot but feelthe deepestand
intensestrespect, but the reasonis because they have so much of my Master
about them. I think I would travel many miles to talk with some of them,
because their speechis always so full of Him, and they live so near to Him.
V. The text may be read in this sense:Christ is the glory of His people, that is
to say, THEY EXPECT GLORY WHEN HE COMES. Our glory is laid up.
When you follow Jesus in resurrection, what glory! But we must not begin to
speak of that, for we should never leave off at all if we beganto talk about that
glory--the glory of perfection, the glory of being delivered from sin, the glory

of conquest, having trodden Satanunder our feet; the glory of eternal rest, the
glory of infinite security, the glory of being like Christ, the glory of being in
the light and brightness of God, standing, like Milton’s angel, in the very sun
itself. If you want to know what heaven is, you canspell it in five letters, and
when you put the five letters togetherthey sound like this: Jesus. Thatis
heaven. It is all the heaventhe angels round the throne desire to know. They
want nothing better than this, to see His face, to behold His glory, and to dwell
in it world with out end.
VI. THE PRACTICAL DRIFT OF THE SUBJECT.
1. We would give a word of warning to those of you who seek your glory
anywhere else, because as surelyaa you do so, even if you meet with honour
for a time, you will have to lose it. It is always ill to put your treasure where it
will be stolenfrom yon. Now, suppose you seek your glory in your learning.
Well, well, well! Let the sexton take up your skull after you have been dead a
little while, and what learning will there be in it, what show of wisdom will be
found in it when it is resolved into a little impalpable brown powder? What
will your science,and your mathematics, and your classics do for you in death
and judgment? Suppose you seek your glory in fame, and become the
favourite of the nation as a greatsoldier. When the grave-diggerrattles your
old bones about, what will that signify? You will have greatfame, you say, and
men will talk about you.
But he who hath his glory in Christ, when he openeth his eyes in the next
world will see Christ, and so behold his glory safe, and firmly entailed upon
him.
2. Another word, and that is a word of rebuke. There are some preachers we
know of, and I suppose there will always be some of the genus, who preach,
preach, preach, but they never preach what is Israel’s glory. They talk of
anything but Christ.
3. There are some of you to whom I have a last word to say, and that is, some
of you love Jesus Christ, but you are ashamedto sayso. Now, since He is the

glory of His people Israel, I shall be afraid of you and for you if you do not
make Him your glory. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ the glory of Israel
Christ was the glory of Israel.
1. BecauseHe was a Jew by birth.
2. BecauseHis history has vindicated all that was peculiarin the Jewishpolity.
3. BecauseHe confined His personalministry to the Jews.
4. BecauseHe has stamped the impress of Jewishthought on the mind of man.
5. BecauseHe has invested the condition and prospects ofthe Jews with
universal interest. (G. Brooks.)
The glory of Israel
There was salvationin this sight: there was light in it; and there was glory in
it also. He will be--said Simeon--“the glory of Thy people Israel.” The prophet
Isaiahwas speaking of this same Saviour, when he said “Theyshall hang on
Him all the glory of His Father’s house” Isaiah22:24). The chief glory that a
nation has is made up of the wise, and good, and great, and useful men who
have belongedto it. We speak ofWashington as the glory of America. We feel
it an honour to belong to the nation which could claim Washingtonas one of
its people. In Holland they callWilliam, Prince of Orange, the glory of their
nation. England, our grand old mother country, has had so many wise, and
good, and greatmen, that it is hard to tell which to speak ofas the best and
greatest. Theyall help to make up the glory of the people of England. And any
one who was born in England may feelit an honour to belong to a country
which has produced so many goodand greatmen. And in the same way it is
the glory of the Jewishnation, or of Israel, as a people, that Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, the Saviour of the world, belongedto their nation. Jesus was a
Jew. And the Jewishpeople may well feelit an honour to belong to the nation
among whom He was born. It is true in this sense that He is “the glory of His
people Israel.” (Dr. Newton.)

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
A light to lighten the Gentiles,....Orfor the revelationof the Gentiles;to
revealthe love, grace, and mercy of God, an everlasting righteousness, and the
way of life and salvation to them. Reference seems to be had to Isaiah 42:6.
"Light", is one of the names of the Messiahin the Old Testament, as in Psalm
43:3 Daniel2:22, which passagesare by the JewsF11 themselvesinterpreted of
Christ; and is a name often used of him in the New Testament:it is true of
him as God, he is light itself, and in him is no darkness at all; and as the
Creatorof mankind, he is that light which lightens every man with the light of
nature and reason;and as the Messiah, he is come a light into the world: the
light of the Gospel, in the clearshine of it, is from him; the light of grace in his
people, who were in darkness itself, he is the author and donor of; as he is also
of the light of glory and happiness, in the world to come: and particularly, the
Gentiles enjoy this benefit of light by him; who were, and as this supposes they
were, in darkness, as they had been some hundreds of years before the
Messiah's coming:they were in the dark about the being and perfections of
God, about the unity of God, and the Trinity of persons in the Godhead, and
about God in Christ; about his worship, the rule and nature of it; and the
manner of atonement, and reconciliationfor sin; the person, righteousness,
and sacrifice ofChrist; the Spirit of God, and his operations on the souls of
men; the Scriptures of truth, and both law and Gospel;the resurrectionof the
dead, and a future state:now, though Christ in his personalministry, was sent
only to the Jews, yetafter his resurrection, he gave his disciples a commission
to go into all the world, to preachthe Gospelto the Gentiles, in order to turn
them from darkness to light; and hereby multitudes were calledout of
darkness into marvellous light: and this Simeonhad knowledge of, and a few
more besides him; otherwise, the generalityof the Jewishnation were of
opinion, that when the Messiahcame, the nations of the world would receive
no benefit by him, no light, nor comfort, nor peace, orprosperity: but all the
reverse would befall them, as darkness, calamity, and misery: and so they
express themselves in a certainplace;F12 the Israelites look, orwait for
"redemption; for the day of the Lord shall be "light to them"; but; the

nations, why do they wait for him? for he shall be "to them darkness, and not
light".
But the contrary, Simeon, under divine inspiration, declares, and, blessedbe
God, it has proved true: he adds,
and the glory of thy people Israel;which is true of Israelin a literal sense,
inasmuch as the Messiahwas born of the Jews, andamong them; and was
first sent and came to them, and lived and dwelled with them; taught in their
streets, and wrought his miracles in the midst of them; though this was an
aggravationoftheir ingratitude and unbelief, in rejecting him: the Gospelwas
first preachedto them, even after the commissionwas enlargedto carry it
among the Gentiles;and many of them were converted, and the first Gospel
church was planted among them; and an additional glory was made to them,
by the calling of the Gentiles, and joining them to them, through the ministry
of the apostles, who were all Jews;who went forth from Zion, and carriedthe
word of the Lord from Jerusalem, to the severalparts of the world: and this
also is more especiallytrue, of the mystical, or spiritual Israelof God, whose
glory Christ is; being made of God unto them, wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption; they having such an head, husband, Saviour,
and Redeemer, as he; and they being clothed with his righteousness, and
washedin his blood, sanctifiedby his grace, and made meet for eternal glory;
to which they have a right and claim, through the grace ofGod, and merits of
Christ; and therefore glory not in themselves, but in Christ, who is their all in
all,
People's New Testament
A light to lighten the Gentiles. Scholars have saidthat in the work of opening
the gates ofChristianity to the Gentiles, Stephen was the forerunner of Paul.
Might it not be said that Simeon was the forerunner of Stephen, and the
Gentile Luke the historian of both? Yet the true doctrine on the subject is

explicitly and repeatedly declarednot only here, but in the prophecies of the
Old Testament. Compare Isaiah9:2; Isaiah40:1; Isaiah 49:6.
Robertson's WordPictures in the New Testament
Revelationto the Gentiles (αποκαλυπσινετνων — apokalupsinethnōn).
Objective genitive. The Messiahis to be light (πως — phōs) for the Gentiles in
darkness (Luke 1:70) and glory (δοχα — doxa) for Israel(cf. Romans 9:1-5;
Isaiah49:6). The word ετνος — ethnos originally meant just a crowdor
company, then a race or nation, then the nations other than Israel(the people,
ο λαος — ho laos)or the people of God. The word Gentile is Latin from gens,
a tribe or nation. But the world-wide mission of the Messiahcomes outclearly
in these early chapters in Luke.
Vincent's Word Studies
A light ( φῶς )
The light itself as distinguished from λύχνος ,a lamp, which the A. V. often
unfortunately renders light. See on Mark 14:54.
To lighten ( εἰς ἀποκάλυψιν)
Wrong. Rev., correctly, for revelation. Wyc., to the shewing. It may be
rendered the unveiling of the Gentiles.
Gentiles ( ἐθνῶν )
Assignedto the same root as ἔθω , to be accustomed, and hence of a people
bound togetherby like habits or customs. According to biblical usage the term
is understood of people who are not of Israel, and who therefore occupy a
different position with reference to the plan of salvation. Hence the extension
of the gospelsalvationto them is treated as a remarkable fact. See Matthew
12:18, Matthew 12:21; Matthew 24:14;Matthew 28:19;Acts 10:45;Acts
11:18;Acts 18:6. Paul is calleddistinctively an apostle and teacherof the
Gentiles, and a chosenvesselto bear Christ's name among them. In Acts 15:9;

Ephesians 2:11, Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 3:6, we see this difference
annihilated, and the expressionat last is merely historical designationof the
non-Israelitish nations which, as such, were formerly without God and
salvation. See Acts 15:23;Romans 16:4; Ephesians 3:1. Sometimes the word is
used in a purely moral sense, to denote the heathen in oppositionto
Christians. See 1 Corinthians 5:1; 1 Corinthians 10:20; 1 Peter2:12. Light is
promised here to the Gentiles and glory to Israel. The Gentiles are regarded
as in darkness and ignorance. Some render the words εἰς ἀποκάλυψιν, above,
for the unveiling of the Gentiles, instead of for revelation. Compare Isaiah
25:7. Israel, however, has already receivedlight by the revelationof God
through the law and the prophets, and that light will expand into glory
through Christ. Through the Messiah, Israelwill attain its true and highest
glory.
Wesley's ExplanatoryNotes
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
And the glory of thy people Israel — Forafter the Gentiles are enlightened, all
Israelshall be saved.
The Fourfold Gospel
A light for revelationto the Gentiles1, And the glory2 of thy people Israel3.
A light for revelationto the Gentiles. A reference to Isaiah 49:6. Christ's light
has revealedthe Father to the Gentiles. ThatSimeon should prophesy this is
an evidence of the large spiritual knowledge givenhim, since even the apostles
were slow to graspthe fullness of Christ's world-wide mission. See Psalms
98:2,3;52:10; 42:6.
And the glory. See Isaiah45:25. Israel is doubly glorified in Jesus, in that God
chose this people to receive the Word, or divine Son, in that Jesus, as a Jew,

presentedto the world the picture of the perfectmanhood. In his divinity and
his humanity Jesus glorifiedIsrael
Of thy people Israel. The Gentiles and Israelare here contrasted. The Gentiles
refused the knowledge ofGod (Romans 1:28), and Israelabused it (Romans
3:1-9).
Calvin's Commentary on the Bible
32.A light for the revelationof the Gentiles Simeon now points out the
purpose for which Christ was to be exhibited by the Father before all nations.
It was that he might enlighten the Gentiles, who had been formerly in
darkness, and might be the glory of his people Israel There is propriety in the
distinction here made betweenthe people Israeland the Gentiles:for by the
right of adoption the children of Abraham “were nigh” (Ephesians 2:17) to
God, while the Gentiles, with whom God had made no “covenants of
promise,” were “strangers”to the Church, (Ephesians 2:12.) For this reason,
Israelis called, in other passages, notonly the sonof God, but hisfirst-born,
(Jeremiah 31:9;) and Paul informs us, that “Jesus Christwas a minister of the
circumcisionfor the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the
fathers” (Romans 15:8.) The preference given to Israelabove the Gentiles is,
that all without distinction may obtain salvation in Christ.
A light for revelation(198)means for enlightening the Gentiles Hence we
infer, that men are by nature destitute of light, till Christ, “the Sun of
Righteousness,”(Malachi4:2,)shine upon them. With regardto Israel,
though God had bestowedupon him distinguished honor, yet all his glory
rests on this single article, that a Redeemerhad been promised to him.

James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary
WALKING IN THE LIGHT
‘A Light to lighten the Gentiles.’
Luke 2:32
God’s people, in the days of the old dispensation, lived and moved in dim
twilight. We have GOD’s blessedsunshine flooding us with light.
I. If we would walk in the Light we must look for it. The secretwas told to
Simeon, but if he had not listened and obeyedand waited and watched in the
Temple day by day it would never have been his honour and joy to hold the
True Light in his arms. The Wise Men saw the star, but if they had not
forsakenhome and friends, and risked health and life to follow its leading
they would never have knelt at the young Child’s feet. The whisper came to
the holy man in the Temple courts, the strange starbore its silent messageto
the three, but the blessing was theirs because theyobeyed and came to the
Light. It would never have been theirs otherwise.
II. The messagerings in our ears continually.—Forus there is far more than
the pale light of a starshining in the darkness. The rising day floods our path
and makes all things plain. But so many are carelessand listless and take no
heed. And many are more than carelessandlistless. They shut their eyes to
the light, and walk blind in the very Presence oftheir Lord. And yet we know
how He hates lukewarmness,and how greatshall be the condemnation of
those who in the midst of broad day walk on still in darkness.
III. ‘Arise and Christ shall give thee light.’—‘If we walk in the light as He is in
the light, we have fellowshipone with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ
His Soncleansethus from all sin.’ He must be hopelesslyill who canalways be
sad and weak in fresh air and under the cheerful sunshine. Let us rise from
our sloth and quit our narrow thoughts and dark ways and foolishimaginings,
and walk in the bright track of the Sun of Righteousness, hastening onto His
Presence,and then our weaknesswillbecome strength, and our foolishness
wisdom, and our earthliness spirituality, and as the years go by our joys will

increase and our peace deepen, and our vision become more sure, because we
have the promise that the Sun of Righteousnessshallnever go down.
John Trapp Complete Commentary
32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
Ver. 32. The glory of thy people Israel]Oh! pity their perverseness,and pray
their conversion, that the Jews may call GodAbba, the Gentiles Father,
Daniel 12:11. There is a prophecy of the Jews’final restoration(saith Mr
Case, God’s waiting to be gracious), andthe time is expressed, whichis 1290
years after the ceasing ofthe daily sacrifice, and the setting up of the
abomination of desolation;which is conceivedto be about Julian’s time, who
assayedto rebuild the temple of the Jews, but was hindered from heaven. This
was anno Dom. 360, to which if you add 1290 years, it will pitch the
calculationupon the year1650.
Sermon Bible Commentary
Luke 2:32
The song of Simeon was very beautiful in its arrangement. First the believer's
personalappropriation of a promise, "Lord, now lettestThou Thy servant
depart in peace, according to Thy word: for mine eyes have seenThy
salvation;" next the expansion of a Christian's Catholic spirit, "A Light to
lighten the Gentiles," and then the holy patriotism of a Jewishheart, "and the
glory of Thy people Israel."
I. The question will naturally arise, What is the distinction, if any, between
Christ as the "Light of the Gentiles" and Christ as the "Glory of Israel?" Is it
only a difference of degree? Sight, growing into deeper intensity and glow,
becomes glory. So Christ illuminates, indeed, all people, but not with that

lustre with which He will one day encircle Jerusalem. And it is therefore "a
light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel."
II. Or, once more—the actualpresence of the Lord, in beauty and power, is
glory. Where shall that Presence be at the last? At Jerusalem. Very great will
be the irradiation of the whole earth. But still it will be only the distant beam
of a full meridian sun, which is blazing in Palestine "A light to lighten the
Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel."
III. As Gentiles then, we ask, Whatis our proper privilege and portion? And
we have the answer—Light. Christ a light; of these simple words no one will
know the powerwho has never felt the narrowing in of a moral darkness on
his mind. But ask the man who has ever knowna seasonofdeep sorrow which
shrouded all his earthly prospects, and left nothing before him but a thick
night over the future and one rayless expanse. Or, still more, hear the soul,
which, under the conscious hiding of God's countenance, has felt the shadows
of consciencedeepenover his spirit into the blacknessofdespair. And those
are the men who will understand the words, "Christ a Light."
IV. Turn next to Israel's glory. When Abraham's outcasts and Judah's
dispersedones shall all come back—comeback first in their unconverted
state, by a political restoration, to their own country; then to trials and
afflictions commensurate with the deed which their fathers perpetrated; then
to majesty unprecedented upon this earth—when, the subjects of the visible
King of kings and Lord of lords, they shall hold high court and be supreme
among the nations of the world, that Infant Jesus, in Simeon's arms, shall be
"the glory of His people Israel," whenHe "reigns in Mount Zion, and before
His ancients gloriously."
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 1871, p. 217.
References:Luke 2:32.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiv., No. 826. Luke 2:33.—
Preacher's Monthly, vol. vi., p. 341.
Greek TestamentCriticalExegeticalCommentary

32.]See Isaiah49:6. The generalterm of the last verse ( πάντ. τ. λαῶν) is here
divided into two, the Gentiles, and Israel.
It is doubtful, whether δόξαν is to be takenas co-ordinate with φῶς (so
Bengel, Meyer, De W., alli(26).), or with ἀποκάλυψιν. The former seems more
probable; and so E. V.
Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament
Luke 2:32. φῶς, a light) This stands in apposition with τὸ σωτήριόνσου, thy
means of salvation, Luke 2:30.— εἰς ἀποκάλυψιν)that God and His Christ
may be revealedto the Gentiles, and that they may be revealedto their own
selves in His light.— ἐθνῶν, of the Gentiles)Construe with φῶς, a light [but
Engl. Vers. with ἀποκάλυψιν, to lighten the Gentiles]:a light of the Gentiles,
and one about to be revealedto them [the same]:see Revelation21:23-24.—
καὶ δόξαν, and the glory) Construe with φῶς, a light [i.e. in apposition to τὸ
σωτήριόνσου, Luke 2:30], there being no εἰς, in, understood. Light, and glory
or splendour, are synonymous; but in such a wayas that the glory expresses
something greaterthan a light, and implies therefore the peculiar privilege of
Israel, on accountof its especialtie of connectionwith this [Him the] King of
Glory.— ἰσραὴλ, Israel) Even after the call of the Gentiles, Israelshall enjoy
this glory.
Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools andColleges
32. εἰς ἀποκάλυψινἐθνῶν ‘for revelation to.’ A memorable prophecy,
considering that even the Apostles found it hard to grasp the full admissionof
the Gentiles, clearlyas it had been indicated in older prophecy, e.g. in Psalms
98:2-3, “All the ends of the earth have seenthe salvationof our God,” Isaiah
52:10. “I will give thee for a covenantof the people, for a light of the
Gentiles,” Isaiah42:6; Isaiah49:6. Godetafter pointing out the depth and
energy of the Nunc Dimittis excellentlyremarks “La banalité légendaire n’a
pas plus de part à la compositionde ce joyau lyrique que la préoccupation
dogmatique.”

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
32. To lighten the Gentiles—The secularand unspiritual masses ofJews fell
into the fanatical and arrogant notion, that Christ was to be merely a
circumscribed and exclusivelyJewishMessiah;the twelve apostles could
hardly be made to resign that notion. Even after the resurrection it took the
independence of a martyred Stephen and all the powers of an inspired Paul to
assertthe full rights of the Gentiles in the Church of God. Scholars have said
that in the work of opening the gates ofChristianity to the Gentiles Stephen
was the forerunner of Paul. Might it not be saidthat Simeon was the
forerunner of Stephen, and the Gentile Luke the historian of both? Yet the
true doctrine on the subject is explicitly and repeatedlydeclared not only here
but in the prophecies of the Old Testament. Compare Isaiah9:2; Isaiah40:1;
Isaiah49:6. Those who understood the prophets, and caughttheir true spirit
like Simeon, would not need the powerof prophecy to understand those
passages.
Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Luke 2:32. A light. This defines ‘salvation.’
For revelationto the Gentiles. Comp. Isaiah49:6; where there is a similar
prophecy. The idea is that of Old Testamentprophecy: The light of the world
rises in Israel, extends its influence to other nations, which submit to the
Messiahand receive the light of truth. Comp. Isaiah 2:2; Isaiah 11:10;Isaiah
44:5;
And the glory. This also defines ‘salvation;’ some take it as defining ‘light’ but
this destroys the poetic parallelism, and is otherwise objectionable. The end
proposedis not the glory of Israel, but the coming of the Messiah, andHis
salvationis the true glory of Israel, that which really exalts it above other
nations, hat for which it was chosen.
The Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 2:32. φῶς εἰς ἀ. ἐ.: the Gentiles are to be more than spectators, even
sharers in the salvation, which is representedunder the twofold aspectof a
light and a glory.— φῶς and δόξαν may be takenin apposition with ὃ as
objects of ἡτοίμασας:salvationprepared or provided in the form of a light for
the Gentiles, and a glory for Israel. Universalism here, but not of the
pronounced type of Lk. (Holtz., H. C.), rather such as is found even in O. T.
prophets.
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
A light. Greek. phos. See App-130. Quotedfrom Isaiah 42:6.
to lighten = for (Greek. eis, as in Luke 2:34) a revelation of. Greek.
apokalupsis = a revelation by unveiling and manifesting to view. The first of
eighteenoccurrences. All noted in App-106. Compare Psalms 98:2, Psalms
98:3. Isaiah42:6; Isaiah 49:6; Isaiah52:10, &c. the Gentiles. See Isaiah26:7.
glory. The specialblessing for Israel. Israelhas had the "light". She is yet to
have the glory.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
A light to lighten the Gentiles (then in thick darkness), and the glory of thy
people of Israel - already Thine, and now, in the believing portion of it, to be
more gloriously so than ever. It will be observedthat this 'swan-like song,
bidding an eternal farewellto this terrestriallife,' to use the words of
Olshausen, takes a more comprehensive view of the kingdom of Christ than
that of Zacharias (cf. Luke 1:68-79), though the kingdom they sing of is one.
END OF STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES

The Glory Of Israel Series
Contributed by JeffStrite on Dec 9, 2012
based on 78 ratings
(rate this sermon)
| 30,822 views
Scripture: Luke 2:25-32
Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ
Summary: The Bible tells us that the Gospelwas preachedfirst to the Jews.
Why would they get first crack atsalvation? And what can this mean to us?
1 2 3 … 5 6
Next
OPEN BY READING from Luke 2:8-15
"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over
their flocks at night. An angelof the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of
the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
But the angel saidto them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you goodnews of great
joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has
been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in
a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appearedwith the angel,
praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to
men on whom his favor rests."
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to
one another, "Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has told us about."
Now for a quiz:
Where did the angels come from?
(From Heaven. From God.)
God’s up in heaven right?
But back in 1962 CosmonautGhermanTitov was visiting in Seattle after
having just returned from space, andhe said “Sometimes people are saying
that God is out there. I was looking around attentively all day but I didn’t find
anybody there. I saw neither angels nor God."
Hearing about Titov’s comment that he hadn’t seenGod in space, one man
quipped:
"Had he stepped out his space suit he would have!"
Centuries ago, the psalmist said: "The heavens declare the glory of God."
(Psalm 19:1)
And over the centuries there are many people who have believed, that the
closerthey get to the heavens, the closerthey could get to God.
And that’s no less true of astronauts.
· Frank Borman (for example) was commander of the 1st space crew to travel
in space. As he lookeddown on the earth Borman radioed back a message,
quoting Genesis 1:"In the beginning, Godcreatedthe heavens and the
earth."

As he later explained, "I had an enormous feeling that there had to be a
powergreaterthan any of us - that there was a God, that there was indeed a
beginning."
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· James Irwin walkedon the moon in 1971 and later became a preacher. He
often described the lunar mission as a revelation. In his words, "I felt the
powerof God as I’d never felt it before."
· And Charles Duke, who also walkedonthe moon, later became active in
missionary work. As he explained, "I make speeches aboutwalking ON the
moon and walking WITH the Son."
· When John Glenn made his final trip to space aboardthe Discovery
spacecrafthe lookeddown on the earth and said: "To look out at this kind of
creationand not believe in God is to me impossible. It just strengthens my
faith."
(Adapted from “A Spiritual View of Space” by Charles W. Colson)
So, where can you GO to be close to God?
Do you have to climb up into the heights of heavento be near Him?
Well, no.
In fact, the Bible tells us WE don’t have to climb up to Him. God has
repeatedly stepped down out of heavento earth to be with us.
In the Old TestamentGodcame down in dwelt in the Tabernacle.
Exodus 40 tells about the point at which the Tabernacle was first put together
God came down in the form a cloud “…and THE GLORY OF THE LORD
filled the tabernacle. Mosescouldnot enter the Tent of Meeting because the

cloud had settled upon it, and THE GLORY OF THE LORD filled the
tabernacle.” Exodus 40:34-35
Wherever the Tabernacle went, the “Glory of The Lord” went.
In fact, the Glory of the Lord led the Israelites through the wilderness in the
form of a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.
Later, after the Temple was built and the ark was brought into the building,
God did it again… He came down in the form a cloud and filled the Temple as
He’d filled the Tabernacle centuries before:“Whenthe priests (who’d carried
the ark into the Temple) withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the
temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because
of the cloud, for THE GLORY OF THE LORD filled his temple.” 1 Kings
8:10-11
In both the Tabernacle & Temple, the Glory of the Lord came down and
dwelt amongstHis people. They didn’t have to ascendinto the Heavens to be
with Him God stepped down from Glory to be with them.
And that’s the way it was for centuries.
But the day came when the sins of Israelbecame so terrible that… that God
had had enough.
In Ezekiel9:9 God spoke to Ezekiel and said "The sin of the house of Israel
and Judah is exceedinglygreat; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full
of injustice. They say, ‘The LORD has forsakenthe land; the LORD does not
see.’” (in other words: we can do whateverevil we want… He’s not looking.
He’s not around. He’s left town.)
Since they figured He’d left town… He did.
As EzekielwatchedGod’s Spirit 1stleft the temple… and then the city.
“The glory of the LORD went up from within the city and stopped above the
mountain eastof it.” Ezekiel11:23

The Glory of the Lord left the Temple and the city of Jerusalem… and never
returned for the rest of the Old Testamentera.
But in Luke 2… that all changed.
In Luke 2… the “Gloryof the Lord” returned to Judah.
Look againat Luke 2:8-9 “And there were shepherds living out in the fields
nearby, keeping watch over their flocks atnight. An angelof the Lord
appearedto them, and the GLORY OF THE LORD shone around them, and
they were terrified.”
A few days later, an old man named Simeon met Mary and Josephand their
baby in the Temple and Simeondeclaredthat this baby Jesus was to be “… a
light for revelationto the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel” Luke
2:32
God had once againstepped down out of heaven and come to His Temple in
Jerusalem. The Glory of the Lord had returned to dwell with His people.
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The Gospelof John describedit this way: “And the Word (Jesus)became
flesh and DWELT among us, and we have seenhis GLORY, GLORY as of the
only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 (ESV)
You see, Jesus wasborn - He had come down out of heaven - to be the
consolationofIsrael… to be their glory. Now, whatdoes that mean? What
does it mean that Jesus came to be “their glory”?
It means Jesus came FIRST forthe Jew… and then for the Gentiles.
In Matthew 10:5-6 we’re told Jesus sentout His 12 disciples with the following
instructions:

"Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. GO
RATHER to the lost SHEEP OF ISRAEL.”
In Romans 1:16 Paul wrote “I am not ashamedof the gospel, becauseit is the
powerof God for the salvationof everyone who believes:FIRST FOR THE
JEW, then for the Gentile.”
In Luke 24:47 Jesus saidthat “repentance and forgiveness ofsins (would) be
preachedin his name to all nations, BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM.”
The Gospelwas to be preachedfirst to the Jews. Thus, for the first 3 or 4
years, the Church was entirely made up of Jewishbelievers because God
wanted them (the Jews)to get first shotat the Gospel.
Now, the question is - why? Last week, we discoveredJesus came to die both
for the Jew and the Gentile. But if that’s true why would God put the Jews
first in line for salvation?
Well… I canthink of at least4 severalreasons:
1st- The Jews had been part of a “covenant” with God. God had createda
“contract” exclusivelywith the nation of Israel. The Gentiles did not have that
kind of contractwith Him.
2nd - The Jews were the tribe of the Messiah. Jesuswas BORN a JEW.
3rd - The Jews (and Israel) were the holders of the written Word of God.
ILLUS: (I had 6 plastic see through pitchers on stage… one of which was full
of water. Holding up an empty pitcher I said…) Imagine this empty pitcher
represents that nation of Israel. (I began to pour waterfrom the full pitcher
into the empty one).
God poured out His will and wisdom into them. Israelwas responsible for
collecting, guarding, and studying this body of literature. But ultimately God
did not intend for the books we know of as the Old Testamentto remain
ONLY in their hands. He planned for the day to come when the books they
had so zealouslyguarded would be poured out into the lives of people from

the four corners of the world (I beganto pour a portion of the waterfrom
“Israel” into the remaining 4 pitchers… carefully leaving a portion still in the
“Israel” pitcher).
And 4th, because Israelprotectedthose books of the Bible, they provided
Jesus with a “paper trail”. Credentials that declaredwho Jesus was to be and
what He had come to do. This “PaperTrail” thing is very important.
ILLUS: You see… whenJesus was born He was born according the
Scriptures (that the Jews held). He was born in Judah, in the city of
Bethlehem Ephrata… just as the prophecies had said. And when He came, the
prophecies that the Jews studied and closelyguardedalso said what this
Messiahwas going to do and how He was going to do it.
Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies.
Now, compare that to a couple of other religious leaders.
· Buddha (for example) was born about 500 years BEFORE Christ. People
thought Buddha was a powerful teacher. And when he died they built a
religion around his teachings that we call Buddhism. But nobody ever said
that somebodylike Buddha would be born, or where he’d be born, or what
he’d say, or do, or teach. Buddha simply popped up in history and his
teaching began a world religion.
· Then – about 500 years AFTER Jesus was born, there was a man named
Mohammed. People thought Mohammed was a powerful teacher. And a great
world religion (ISLAM) has grown out of his writings and teachings. But
nobody ever said that somebody like Mohammed would be born, or where

he’d be born, or what he’d say, or do, or teach. Mohammed simply popped up
in history and his teaching began a world religion.
BUT when Jesus born, He didn’t just pop up in history.
He didn’t just come up with a few greatteachings.
Jesus came in fulfillment of prophecies the Jews had guarded for centuries.
The Jews had been setaside by God to provide a specialservice to God, and
all mankind. And God was returning the favor.
But the Jews did not have a lock on God’s salvation.
They were NOT the only ones Jesus came to save.
As we discoveredlastweek the Gentiles had always beenpart of the plan of
God. But the Jews were beloved(and are still beloved) by God because ofthe
part they played in His salvation plan.
ILLUS: In early church in Rome, there was a small conflict betweenJewish
and Gentile believers. The Jews tended to look down on the Gentiles because
they weren’t Jews, andPaul spent severalchapters in the Roman letter
explaining why this was not acceptable.
Then it was the Gentiles weren’t real fond of the Jews either. In Paul’s letter
to the Romans, Paultold the Gentiles:
“You will say then, "Branches were brokenoff so that I could be grafted in."
Granted. But they were broken off because ofunbelief, and you stand by
faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural
branches, he will not spare you either. Considertherefore the kindness and
sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided
that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
And if they (the Jews)do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for
God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree
that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated

olive tree, how much more readily will these (Jews), the natural branches, be
grafted into their ownolive tree!” (Romans 11:19-24)
So the Jews were neversaved because theywere Jews, and they WILL never
be saved because theyare Jews. They will be savedin the same way non-Jews
will be saved:
1. by belief in Jesus Christ
2. by repenting of their sins
3. by making Jesus the Lord and Masterof their lives (confessing Him as
Lord)
4. by being buried in the waters of baptism
5. and by living for Jesus the rest of their lives.
(PAUSE) Now, this is where it gets interesting…
In Exodus we’re told of the time Moses andIsraelcame to the base of the
Mountain where God was going to give His 10 commandments. In Exodus
24:16 scripture says that
“…THE GLORY OF THE LORD settledon Mount Sinai. For six days the
cloud coveredthe mountain, and on the seventhday the LORD called to
Moses from within the cloud.”
So, Moses goes up on the Mountain to receive the 10 commandments.
Does anyone know what happened to Moses’face whenhe spent time with the
“Glory of the LORD?”

(His face shone. It was radiant)
“…WhenMoses came downfrom Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the
Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he
had spokenwith the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses,his
face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him… (so) Moses would
put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.
Exodus 34:29-30 & 35
“The Glory of the Lord” causedMoses’face to shine with such a radiance
that the people became afraid… and so he had to put a veil over his face.
Paul writes about this in II Corinthians 3:
“We are not like Moses,who would put a veil over his face to keepthe
Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their
minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old
covenantis read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken
away. (II Corinthians 3:13-14)
…And we, who with unveiled faces allreflect the Lord’s glory, are being
transformed into his likeness withever-increasing glory, which comes from
the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (vs. 18)
Jesus came to be the Glory of Israel.
BUT when He died and rose from the grave He became the Glory of everyone
who became His children.
When you and I became Christians our faces became capable ofliterally
reflecting His Glory.
ILLUS: I talkedwith a Christian man just recently who had a job where his
job as a chimney sweepleft him coveredwith black soot. One day, while he
was finishing up his job anotherman askedhim if he was a Christian.
When the Christian askedhim how he knew, the other man said “I can see it
in your eyes. They ‘shine.’”

Even when this man was coveredwith soot… his EYES shone because he
loved Jesus.
ILLUS: A Hindu trader in India once askeda missionary, "What do you put
on your face to make it shine?"
With surprise the man of God answered, "Idon’t put anything on it!"
His questionerbegan to lose patience and saidemphatically, "Yes, you do! All
of you who believe in Jesus seemto have it. I’ve seenit in the towns of Agra
and Surat, and evenin the city of Bombay."
Suddenly the Christian understood, and his face glowedeven more as he said,
"Now I know what you mean, and I will tell you the secret. It’s not something
we put on from the outside but something that comes from within. It’s the
reflectionof the light of God in our hearts.”
Paul tells us that – as Christians – we reflect God’s glory.
And the closerwe get to God the more of His glory we reflect.
“And we… are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory,
which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
ILLUS: We reflectHis likeness in ever-increasing glory. Or, as the KJV
describes this, we “are changedinto the same image from glory to glory, as by
the Spirit of the Lord.”
It’s like climbing up a staircase.
We all start out on the ground floor. It doesn’t matter who you are, who you
know, what you own, or how influential you are. We all start out on the same
level. But then, the more time we spend with God, the further up the staircase

we climb. And the further up the staircasewe go, the more we begin to reflect
the glory of God.
CLOSE:But it would be a mistake to believe that God’s main focus is to effect
how we look. That’s a by-product of the real focus of God’s presence in our
lives. Jesus becomesour light - He becomes our glory - so that we can reflect
His light and glory in what we do.
Jesus said“…letyour LIGHT SHINE before men, that they may see your
gooddeeds and praise your Fatherin heaven.” Mt 5:16
ILLUS: Friday night, a number of people from Trampas’ Bible Study hosted
something calledFoodFinders. We’re not the only church in town that has
hosted this ministry, but it was an impressive thing to take part in. The “Food
Finders” truck delivered over a ton of foodto be handed out to the needy in
our community. People beganto line up 3 hours before we even opened up the
door and they stoodin line in the rain for their chance to collecta few items of
food.
Trampas’ team handed out food to over 200 families… accounting for 766
people.
But they didn’t do what they did because it made them feel good.
And they didn’t do what they did for the praise they might receive.
They did it all in the name of Jesus.
Every time you or I do “gooddeeds” in the name of Jesus… that’s what we do
to.
But we must remember… those gooddeeds don’t save us. Only Jesus’blood
can do that.
Let me leave you with this thought:
· You don’t have to climb a mountain to get close to God.
· You don’t have to orbit the earth.

· And you don’t have to take a spaceshipto the stars.
You don’t have to climb up to God.
God stepped down to you. He came so that you and I could share in His light
and glory.
But until you belong to Jesus you can’t have that.
That’s why we offer an invitation at the end of every service:
INVITATION
The Glory of Christmas
from R.C. Sproul Dec 24, 2018 Category:Articles
On the night Jesus was born something spectaculartook place. The plains of
Bethlehem became the theater for one of the most spectacularsound-and-light
shows in human history. All heaven broke loose.
Luke tells us what happened:
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watchover
their flocks at night. An angelof the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of
the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel saidto
them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you goodnews of greatjoy that will be for all
people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ

Jesus was the glory of his people

Jesus was the glory of his people

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