It used to be that if a pastor asked one of his church members what the 6th commandment was, he would instantly get the correct answer.
There once was a day when the children of our Baptist forefathers could quote and explain each of the ten commandments without hesitation.
But along came sin, antinomianism and apathy, and now few of God’s people can even name in order the precepts that God gave to all of us in Exodus 20.
What does the third commandment say?
“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”
If you would stop and prayerfully meditate on that verse, you’d realize how really frightening it is.
It forbids the light and irreverent mention of God’s name and any of this attributes.
And what should the guilty expect from the Lord?
I thought about introducing this message by quizzing you on the definitions of words like: blasphemy, cursing, swearing and profanity.
What is an imprecation? What is blasphemy?
Stephen, one of the deacons in the first church Christ was charged with committing blasphemy.
Lying witnesses – suborned men – were coached to say:
This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law.”
“We have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.”
They said that he spoke evil of the temple and the law.
To answer the charge against him,
Stephen spoke reverently and honestly about the Lord, the law and the temple.
And he began by calling Jehovah “the God of Glory.”
This morning, let’s think about what may have been in Stephen’s mind when he used those words.
This morning, let’s examine whether or not WE should use those words.
Like everything else about the Lord, those four words can be spoken in vain – or in reverence.
Or we can glorify the God of glory, just as Stephen did here in this sermon..
He has the CHARACTER of glory; He is a SAVIOUR of glory; and He is the GIVER of glory.
I wish that some talented child of God would put that to reverent and powerful music for us.
Verse seven begins “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.”
I can’t tell you all that was in King DAVID’S mind when he wrote those words,
But when Pastor David uses them, my first thought is very simple:
The word “glory” is sometimes a synonym for Heaven, the glorious abode of the glorious God.
When Stephen referred to “the God of glory,” he might have included the thought that Jehovah is the King of Heaven and Earth.
Was that the one and only thing on Stephen’s mind? Not hardly!
Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
One cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.”
As I began to study this theme, verse led to verse and then to another and another in wonderful succession.
In John 12, the apostle was making an editorial comment about the Lord Jesus:
That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,
He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.”
But it wouldn’t be a crime to say so.
And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.”
And when Moses was teaching Israel about the upcoming daily gift of manna, he said:
“And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.
And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt:
And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that he heareth your murmurings against the LORD: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?
And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.
And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings.
And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.”
At the dedication of the tabernacle and then again with Solomon’s temple GOD’S GLORY APPEARED.
“Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”
When Moses was reminding Israel about the way that Lord gave to them the law he said:
“And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness.”
Turn to Romans 9.
What do you suppose that Paul means when he speaks of God’s glory in verse 4?
That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to flesh:
Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.”
They saw it in the pillar of cloud that illuminated their nights for forty years.
Moses saw it on the top of Mount Sinai and in the burning bush
Isaiah saw it in his vision of the Heavenly throne-room.
Over and over again, Israel saw the glory of the Lord.
There are literally hundreds of verses which speak about the glory that is a part of God’s nature.
Please turn to Psalm 29 – One of the Psalms of David.
“Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.
The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory. The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.
The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.”
Can we really be the children of God and not continue this work of worship and praise?
One reason that we should give the Lord the glory due unto His name, is because . . .
I’m afraid that many people stop with the thought that they have forgiveness of sin through the blood of the Lord Jesus.
I fear that many of those people whose thoughts reach no higher than that are not truly born again.
We have been given His eternal life and the blessings which are properly His alone.
We shall be given a portion of the inheritance which is rightfully His.
We shall rule and reign with Him, even though we are so unworthy.
And among a million other things, we will share in our Saviour’s glory.
Turn to Romans 8 and look at verse 16:
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Now skip down to verse 28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
But the promise of God is that we shall be GLORIFIED.
We shall be given a share of the glory that belongs to the Lord.
There are no hidden codes in the arrangement of the Psalms.
There is no such thing as the Di Vinci Code, except as a piece of literary fiction on the best seller list.
When he spoke of the “God of glory,” was he thinking of God, the Father, or was it God, the Son?
Of course the Jewish Sanhedrin would only be thinking of the Father, or Jehovah,
But was Stephen thinking of Someone more specific?
For example, Stephen refers to the glorious God’s revelations to Abraham.
And Who was it Who came to Abraham on the plains of Mamre – was it th Father, or the Son?
And Who was it Who Moses spoke with face to face on the top of the mount?
In Isaiah’s vision of the Lord high and lifted up, he said,
Who was it that Isaiah saw upon that throne?
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.”
A few minutes ago I quoted from John 12 in regard to another point.
“But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:
That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,
He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.”
To Whose glory does Isaiah refer?
When Stephen referred to “the God of glory,” I wouldn’t be a bit surprised that in the back of his mind or in the depths of his heart, he was thinking about His Saviour, the Lord Jesus.
If Christ Jesus is not the Lord of glory,
To truly be a child of God, you must throw yourself on the holy ground before that glory, as Moses did.
You must believe on His Name and accept all those things which the Bible reveals about Him.
If this is not true in your life, then what evidence is there that you have been born again.
Remember that to the Jews pertained “the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.”
But “they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, [had] not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”
They intellectually acknowledged the glory of God, but they actually rejected that glory and the salvation of Christ.
What about you?
Do YOU relish and enjoy the glory of Christ today?
Are YOU living in humility, love and repentance and faith before the Lord?