Expectations of Glory

Introduction

Hilltops of glory. I now can see. Oh, brother, won’t you come go with me? Safe on the mountain. I soon shall stand. Hilltops of glory.

When by his grace I shall look on his face. Oh, that will be glory. Be glory for me. We need to sing that song more. I will rise to the saving arms of God. What do all of those thoughts have in common? Your confidence. My confidence. That we’re going to glory. By the grace and mercy of our God. I am concerned by the number of saints I talk to. Saints aren’t dead people. The living children of God are called saints in the New Testament. Set apart unto God’s holy purposes. I am alarmed, I get concerned by the number of those who are in Christ, who have little to no assurance about where they are going. I’m even more alarmed. When I talk to believers who have been serving the Lord diligently and faithfully for decades, gray-haired saints, our beloved wrinkled saints who don’t speak confidently of where they are headed.

That saddens me. Why? Why is that? Perhaps we’re focusing solely on a host of things that will keep you out of heaven instead of pursuing diligently the behavior that will welcome you in.

1. Those He Justified, He Glorified

Why don’t the people of God have assurance? I think some of it is a reaction to the false notion of once saved, always saved. And we’re going to talk about that tonight. And who really has security? Hope you can come back at five or listen as we stream live on Facebook. Some of our problem is belied by comments that you hear made. Thank you, God, for giving us the opportunity to go to heaven. And certainly, God gave us an opportunity. But it should be more than that for us. It should be a confident expectation of glory. Those that he foreknew, he predestined. Those that he predestined, he called. Those that he called, he justified. And those that he justified, he glorified. Romans chapter 8 and verse 30.

You know how I think we want to read that verse, though? We want to read that verse. Well, we shouldn’t want to read it this way, but I think this is the way we tend to want to read it. And that is those he justified that he will glorify. But that’s not what the text says. It says those that he justified, he glorified. Now, I realize that’s all predicated on the previous verse. The individuals that he foreknew, the individuals that he predestined are those who are conformed to the image of his son. That is, they bear the son’s image. They look like him, they serve him, they are his disciples, they are dedicated to him. Those people, those people who live their lives like that, hold on to point number one, as I’m going to talk about this further.

Those who are like that, who are conformed to the image of his son, he has glorified them. Period. Period. Now and eternally. So why don’t Christians, godly people who have been stalwarts of service and worship and fidelity to God and their lives and confession of him. Why don’t they have assurance? Now I’m going to stop right here, and I’m going to tell you, I’m preaching the sermon because I know there are people like that in this audience. I don’t know how many, but I’m sure some of you are going to tell me as you go out. Well, I just I just hope that I can make it by the skin of my teeth. Somehow, some way.

Is that really how the Lord wants us to think?

2. An Entrance Abundantly Supplied

I’ll tell you one of the reasons. I think maybe it’s the way the gospel has been preached. Oh, there’s there’s some negative behavior that can jeopardize your soul. It reminds me of the guy who was preaching one day and he was getting all fired up. He was he was hot, he was preaching fire and brimstone. And he was talking about how everybody was doing it wrong, and was preaching as if everybody was going to hell. And he was shucking the core on that subject. And he got so animated and so fired up and so angry about all the lost people that are doing it wrong. And he says, I don’t even think most of you are going to make it. You know, that doesn’t inspire a lot of hope.

You know, that’s not what I read in 2 Peter chapter 1. In Peter’s last will and testament, where he says that Christians have been granted to become partakers of the divine nature. And that goes into the idea of being conformed to the image of his son. Partakers of the divine nature. We have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust, some of the things that Mike was talking about in terms of the victory that’s provided in Christ. And we are partakers of precious and magnificent promises. And as a result of what we’ve been given and what we’ve been rescued from, he says, now set yourself to the business of faith and apply all diligence in it. And the qualities that flow out of that cause you to neither be barren nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And don’t forget the purification of your former sins and make certain about his calling and choosing you, verse 10. In other words, pursue the course that indicates that you truly belong to him. And if you do that with all diligence, and add those virtues, persist in the cultivation of those qualities, godliness and all the things that are listed there, on top of your faith. He says, then what? Verse 11. An entrance into the eternal kingdom will be there, perhaps if you’t read that in 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 11. He says, it will be abundantly supplied to you. It’s not getting in by the skin of your teeth. It is God because of his grace and mercy and what he has provided in Christ and your persistence in those things.

God throwing open the doors and saying, Come in. Focus on the things that will welcome you in. I think too often we are leaving the impression that we’re just not getting the job done. Gloom and doom. It’s too hard. I think we’re ignoring, perhaps, when we do that, some important texts that speak of confidence and security of the faithful. There’s a great and vast difference that exists between a confident expectation of glory and an overconfidence that justifies any behavior of which I might want to approve. I think sometimes we don’t want to speak confidently of going to heaven because we don’t want to sound arrogant. If I say I expect I’m going to heaven, it’s like I must be overassessing my qualities and abilities to speak confidently.

3. Do Not Throw Away Your Confidence

But that’s not what I read in the New Testament. So I want to talk to you about an expectation of glory. Remember the preacher I mentioned a minute ago in the sermon that he preached. You know, there’s some very real problems in the audience of those who receive the Hebrew letter. I preach about this in meetings. My last night, I talk about these verses, and I talk about what has preceded these verses because these are really the hinge upon which the whole book works.

And he’s talked about the very real problems that they’re facing and warns them not to come short of the grace of God. I’ve already acknowledged that’s a possibility. And so he is admonishing them to persist and not to be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherited the promises. And then he comes to the climax of the whole argument, and he says, Do not throw away your confidence, your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you’ve done the will of God, again, there’s that pursuit. When you’ve done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. In a little while, he says.

And our exaltation by him. Glory. What is that? Chris Emerson teases me mercilessly. When I posted about the sermons for today, and I was going to talk about expectations of glory. Oh, he caught that because he’s heard me preach a lot through the years, and that’s sort of my word, as he says. I talk about glory. But what are we talking about? Expectations of glory. When we talk about somebody who’s extremely happy about something, and it’s just it’s just written all of their face, like when Lara is going to Disney World. She used to be this way about Ross. Now it’s more about Disney World. Ross isn’t here, so we can say that.

They’re beaming. They’re beaming. Or to quote a movie that only the ladies know. I’m incandescently happy. See, only the ladies are responding. You guys are going to have no idea what you’re talking about. Incandescently happy. Our God dwells in unapproachable light. Everything around his throne is awesome brilliance. It is glowing continually. It is thrill eternally. Imagine those moments. Imagine those moments of great excitement and thrill and joy, and then imagine a moment like that never ends, is never tainted, is never tarnished, that doesn’t go away. Sorrow never follows it. That is glory. I’m absolutely certain that most believers do not spend nearly enough time anticipating, longing, and expecting glory. Incandescently happy. Every moment. And there’s really not moments in eternity. There’s only eternity.

4. We Know That We Have Passed Out of Death

Eternal life abides in those who believe in the name of the Son of God. On the heels of John’s argumentation in 1 John 3. He’s been arguing throughout 1 John three things. Your beliefs matter. Your walk matters. Your attitudes toward others matter. And he’s cycling those arguments over and over again. And after he has just talked about the moral argument. The righteous pursue righteousness. He then moves to the social argument in verse 11. He says, For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Look, if you say, I love God, and you do not love your brother, then you’re missing Christianity. That’s not what it is. You have heard this from the beginning. Love one another, not like Cain, who was of the evil one, who slew his brother.

And for that reason, and for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil and his brothers were righteous. Do not marvel, brethren, if the world hates you. But then this, we know that we have passed out of death into life. Okay, this is what has happened to believers. Dead and trespasses of sin, but they have come to life in Christ. What kind of life? It’s eternal life. It is a life that begins here and extends on into eternity as we continue to bear the marks of Jesus in our lives. Those who are conformed to the image of his son. He says, We know that we know. It’s not, well, I hope we have. Perhaps, possibly. We know that we have passed out of death into life.

I just want to stop here before I go further and say, I preached a sermon. I just found in my files this morning. Totally forgot about it. So the fact that you’ve forgotten about it is not a problem because I forgot about it. And I saw it. It says, I will go to heaven. I’m going, when did I preach that? And I knew it was a decor prayer, and so I start looking through the file, and it says, September 3rd, 2017. That was only a year and a half ago. And I’ve already forgotten it. So why am I giving you all such a hard time for forgetting my sermons? So I’m sorry, I just preached on this a year and a half ago. I’ve already forgot the sermon, which is why we need another sermon on this.

What I did in that sermon, and you can probably listen to it, Gary probably put it on the face of the website back in September of 2017. It’s called I will go to heaven if you want to listen to it. All I did was take a few passages and say, if we do these things, if this is what we’re pursuing, heaven is ours. And one of the passages was 2 Peter 1 that I’ve already mentioned. Another was Ezra 7 10, which I’d forgotten that I’d done that. Ezra set his heart to study the law, to know it and to do it in his life. And so we know that we have passed out of death into life. Because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.

God really expects us to do some work in our treatment and regard of other people. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. Again, this is the social argument. You say you’re a Christian, then you need to walk as he walked. You need to set your mind on his things. But also you need to love other people. Love your brother. He says, Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and we know that no murderer, okay, we’re all pretty much convinced of that, aren’t we? That those who slay others, God disapproves of that conduct. We know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. Okay. What’s your point? My point is this. There’s an implication in that statement. Well, then who does have eternal life abiding in him?

Those that he’s just mentioned. Those who love their brothers. They have. We have passed out of death and into life. That’s the argument. Who does have eternal life abiding in them? Those who are pursuing again the image of the Son. In 1 John chapter 5, he goes on even further. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. What does that mean? Believe in the name of the Son of God. That is.

That on the basis of all that he is. You embrace it. These things I have written to you, believe in the name of the Son of God in order that you may know, that you may know, that you have eternal life. And you know what flows out of that? A confidence in prayer. And this is the confidence which we have before him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which we have asked from him. Perhaps some of the problems we have in confident prayer stem out of a lack of confidence in where we’re headed. He says, I write these things that you may know that you have eternal life.

5. He Who Began a Good Work Will Complete It

Confident expectation of glory. And so we’ve already acknowledged that the walk of faith must persist. Ordering our hearts and our steps after the will of God, with a very real acknowledgement that we won’t be perfect. There will be stumbles. He said, I write these things to encourage you not to sin. Sin not. It is never in your best interest, it is never elevating to your circumstances, it is potentially dangerous to your circumstances to commit sin. But he says, if any man does sin, it’s not the end of the road. There’s provision that has been made for Jesus Christ, the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world. We walk in the light as he is in the light.

The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. And we have fellowship one with another. No matter what happens, no matter the pitfalls we encounter, we must not surrender confidence in him serving and adoring him. Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6 says that he who began a good work in you will complete it at the day of Christ. That’s why I mentioned Colossians 2, 12 and 13 in the sermon a year and a half ago. Those who have been buried with him in baptism have been made alive. On the basis of Jesus’ resurrection. We have been made alive to walk together with him. We’ve been circumcised. Our hearts have been changed from a dead conscience to serve a living and true God. In Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6.

He who began a good work in you will complete it at the day of Christ. I think too often we’re concerned too much about steps in the road rather than the entire journey. How’s this going to happen in the end? You’re going to serve the Lord all of these years faithfully. In dedication, picking yourself up when you stumble, continuing on the path, and somehow it’s all going to end miserably.

That’s not what Philippians 1 and verse 6 says. How am I going to go to heaven? How is Tony going to make it? My God’s going to finish the job. He’s the one that provided my salvation to begin with. Hose. He’s going to complete the job. He himself will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Peter says. And this, we are saved by hope. Romans chapter 8 and verse 24. If hope is not real to us, if hope is not that to which we cling, if hope is not a confident expectation. You see, hope saves us. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope. For why does one also hope for what he sees? It is beyond what we now see, but if we hope for what we do not see with perseverance, we wait eagerly for it.

6. Not Already Perfect, But I Press On

Look, if there be some hurtful way in me, if there’s something that I do not see yet about my walk, then I need to ask God to lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139 verses 23 and 24. And I find in conclusion, confidence from Philippians chapter 3 from the Apostle Paul. When he says, Whatever things were gained to me, these things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. That is precisely the same thought as Romans 12 and verse 1 in the passage that Mike read about being living sacrifices. He says, Whatever things were gained to me, I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.

For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, in order that I might gain Christ, and may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. Notice this, that I may know it. And the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, in order that I might attain, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I’ve already obtained it, or have already become perfect. But I press on. There’s a lot of conjecture about what Paul is talking about when he talks about attaining to the resurrection of the dead.

Is he talking about ultimately the glorification of our bodies from this physical state being transformed into a spiritual and eternal immortal body? I think there’s definitely a hint at that here, but that would seem pretty obvious in this context. When he says, Not that I have already obtained it. Well, of course you haven’t, Paul. You’re still here on the earth. But then he says, or have already become perfect. I sort of look at Paul in the New Testament. I’m pretty close to perfect. Paul says, I’ve not achieved everything that I am pursuing. See, and I think that’s our problem. I can’t speak confidently of going to heaven because I haven’t got everything worked out. I don’t always love in every instance. It may be characteristic of my life, but I don’t always love.

You know, sometimes I find out too when I’m studying the Bible that I was wrong about something. I came to a wrong conclusion there. Oh, and I was 45 when I did. Wow, I should have known better than that. I had an attitude that really was a becoming of a Christian. And that passage about doing all things without murmuring and complaining. Sort of messed that one up a few times. Always being thankful. That’s me 100% of the time. Always think. I think we look at these passages that are admonishing our growth, and we say to our, I just can’t do it. But even the apostle Paul says, I’m not there yet. There are still things to pursue. Let’s go back to 2 Peter 1 just quickly.

If these qualities are yours and are increasing. Increasing. You’re not there yet. I haven’t already obtained it. I have not already become perfect. But I press on. Look, you keep pressing on, and you say, I’m going to glory. That’s what you do. When by your grace, I’m going to look on your face. I’m going to find myself in the saving arms of God. That I may lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ. Oh, that’s Philippians 1 6 again. I was laid hold of by Christ. We can say that too. Paul really had a sense of that because of his road to Damascus experience. I mean, that’s he was laid hold of. But we were laid hold of too. He will lay hold of us eternally.

Conclusion

So he says in conclusion, I press on toward the mark. You who are confident of glory. May I admonish you to do one important thing. Keep pressing on toward the mark. For the prize of the upward call of God. You’re not where you should be. Paul said, I’m not where I should be yet. I’ve not yet attained. It is the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Verse this morning, can you confidently say you are in Christ Jesus? Are you progressing toward the mark? Can we assist you this morning in putting on Christ? Because that’s where this journey begins. While we stand and sing.