 hearts and we've been going over a number of months now and we have a glory of God series going on. We've gone through the Old Testament, we've gone through the Gospels, we've gone through the Book of Acts, Paul's epistles with Pastor Michael and now we're going to cover the general epistles. So you might ask, what are the general epistles? It's not a term that we throw around very regularly. The general epistles are the books of James, 1st Peter, 2nd Peter, 1st 2nd and 3rd John and Jude. That's what most people call the general epistles, but we're also going to include Hebrews in that bunch. So we're going to do the general epistles and Hebrews. So how are we going to go through these epistles? They're all rather different. There's a number of different authors. They're not naturally related together. Obviously they're related because they're the Word of God, but they're not naturally related to one another. So what we're going to do is we're going to just take them book by book. We're going to walk through each book, consider the theme of each book, and look at the references to glory in each book. And today we're going to cover 1st Peter, 2nd Peter and Jude and James as well. And next week we're going to cover 1st through 3rd John and Hebrews. So what kinds of references to glory are we going to be looking at? We're going to see references to glory as an attribute or a summary of attributes of God. God has glory in himself. You may have heard some of us speak of that as intrinsic glory. God in his nature is glorious. It is who he is. God is glory. And we're going to look at some references to that. We're going to see that in some of our references. And also when I say summary of attributes, when we speak of glory, many times glory is connected with other attributes of God. And when the Bible speaks of glory, you can see that all of God's attributes contribute to his glory. And some, when they think of glory, a good way to think of glory is all of God's attributes wrapped up together. All of the goodness of God, all of the wonderfulness, if that's a word of God, wrapped up. That is God's glory. It's who he is. Another way we'll see glory is God's revealing of himself. That's probably the simplest and most helpful definition of glory. What is glory? God's revealing of himself. When you see who God is, you see his glory. When God reveals himself to you, that is his glory that is revealed to you. And also we'll see references to God sharing his glory with his people. We see in the scripture that glory isn't something is something that God gives and takes. God's people take on his glory and they reflect it. Within the Trinity, the persons of the Trinity, they share glory with one another. You see the Father gives glory to the Son. The Son has glory within himself. The Spirit is the Spirit of glory. We're going to see that in one of the texts today. And also we'll see references to how we glorify God, glorifies in a verb. We glorify God and we'll see what that looks like, what that says about God when we glorify God. We have a duty not only to see God's glory, but to ascribe honor and obedience to him, glorifying him. So our first book this morning we're going to look at is the book of James. We're going to look at the book of James. So if you turn with me to the book of James, James is called by some the proverbs of the New Testament. In James, we see what faith looks like practically in the Christian life. He makes it clear to his readers, James does, that true faith is a working faith. True faith is a working faith. Faith without works is dead. Faith is alive. You can't say, I have faith in God. I believe in Christ and not live for him. Faith is a working faith. And he explains what it looks like for that faith to be tested. And he goes through a number of practical matters on what it looks like to live by faith. Matters from partiality to taming the tongue, receiving wisdom from God, staying clean from the world, how to avoid strife with one another, not to quarrel in war with one another, murdering one another in our hearts, how to stay away from boasting and corruption, selfishness, covetousness. So in James, there's only one explicit reference to glory. And that's in James chapter two, verse one. And even though he only has one explicit reference, it's a very special reference. And let's start reading at James chapter two, verse one says this, my brothers show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. And we'll stop there for a second. You see here, he goes out of his way here a little bit to show that Christ is the Lord of glory. He's trying to say something he could he could make in this whole chapter, he can make the statement that he's trying to make for the most part without referring to Christ as the Lord of glory. So he's trying to say something here, he's going out of his way to call Christ the Lord of glory. And he says, starting in verse, not going on in verse two, for from man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly. And the poor man in shabby clothes, clothing also comes in. And if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, you sit here in a good place. While you say to the poor man, you stand over there or sit down at my feet. Have you not been made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him. But you have dishonored the poor man are not the rich, the ones who oppress you and the ones who drag you into court. Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by what you were called? If you really fulfill the royal law, according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. You are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors for whoever keeps the law, keeps the whole law, but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, do not commit adultery also said, do not murder. If you do not commit adultery, but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty for judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy, mercy triumphs over judgment. So James is making a statement here. He's making a statement about what the Lord of glory requires from his people and the Lord of glory requires that his people do not show partiality one to another. So what can we see about glory here? We see one that God is impartial. We see that God is impartial and we also see that we are required as his people to in turn be impartial. God's impartiality is part of his glory. We also see in general that God's glory makes demands of us and you see that all throughout, all throughout the Bible. God's glory makes demands of us. It's God's glory is connected with judgment and his all seeing eye. God speaks here about fulfilling the royal law according to the scripture and may be not being partial with one another. There's many. There's a number of texts to that Paul Paul references in terms of God's impartiality in Romans two and Ephesians six and Colossians three speaking of God's impartial judgment. God is an impartial God. Our glorious God is impartial. So let's look, let's move on now to first Peter. Yeah, yeah, sure. Verse one something that's very easy to overlook, you know, or to breeze, breeze by, especially in light of what we learned for the last three weeks and the glory of God and the epistles of Paul and Christ being the Lord of glory is in verse one it says, as you hold faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. So we should in our mind connect Christ as the Lord of glory with the fact that he is our Lord Jesus Christ in these titles that Jesus holds, right? Yes. When we think of Christ as being Lord Jesus, it's speaking of Jesus as being the one who is exalted and given the name above every other name, right? Lord, like that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord. So in Jesus being the Lord of glory or the glory of Christ is associated with his Lordship, right? His exalted state. It's also associated with Jesus as being the Christ, the Messiah, right? His fulfillment, the fulfillment of his mediatorial work in humiliation and exaltation, right? In that sense, you know, I would say from that flows, you know, from that flows, you know, the manifestation of his character. So that his glory is his, is the fact that he is the exalted Lord and the Christ who has fulfilled his work as mediator. Yeah, thank you, brother. It's very helpful. Appreciate that. Yeah. So let's move on now to first Peter, first Peter. And if James is called by some to be the proverbs of the New Testament, then first Peter is the Job of the New Testament. Peter covers suffering and submission to God's glory. Christians are pilgrims and we should expect to suffer, suffer for the name of Christ. We must learn how to suffer properly, especially given Jesus as our example. God shares his glory with those with his people, those who suffer here on earth. And we should not be surprised of our suffering for the name of Christ here on earth. We were exiles here. We have a permanent home in heaven. We don't belong here. We have, we will be with the Lord one day. So in first Peter, there is an overarching theme of glory. There are eight explicit references to glory in this little book of first Peter. It's, it's greater in proportion to many other books in the New Testament. And let's start by looking at first Peter chapter three, first Peter, I'm sorry, first Peter chapter one, verse three, first Peter chapter one, verse three, starting at verse three, it says this, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this year rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ, though you have not seen him, you love him, though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning the salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be your search and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves, but you and the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. So you see a number of references to glory just in this one, these two paragraphs here. In verse seven, we see that there is a glory received by the Christian when Jesus Christ comes back, when Jesus Christ himself is revealed in glory. In verse seven, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. There is a glory to be received at the revelation of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ himself is glorified when he comes back, when he is revealed. And this this glory that you will receive, it's preceded by a faith that you have that is being tested now and is shown to be genuine now. God is glorified in your preservation. God is glorified in your own faith. And faith, faith being tested by fire in this way, it shows that what is glorious doesn't always look so glorious. God is fully glorious. He has all glory within himself. But he decides at different times to reveal his glory and greater magnitude. And there are times when your faith is being tested and you may you may not think readily of the glory to come. So we should set our minds to the coming glory, the coming glory of Christ. In verse eight, we see where he says, though you have not seen him, you love him, though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. So your own joy, the joy of the believer, the inward rejoicing, that itself is filled with glory, the joy that God gives to you and your salvation. That has, that is God's, there's glory in that, God's glory revealed in that. And we in turn, we glorify God when we rejoice in him. In verse 11, which is inquiring what person or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. This is interesting here. This is speaking of the prophets who they, they prophesied of the coming Messiah. They prophesied of his coming sufferings and his exaltation. And they searched what it was they were speaking about. And when Peter here mentions glories, he, he uses a plural, a plural noun here, subsequent glories. He's showing here, in using a plural noun, the fullness of glory. There are many facets to Christ's glory. All the goodness of his attributes and rewards of God's work are on display and the glories of Christ in his suffering and in his resurrection and in his future coming. Let's, let's go a little further in chapter one and let's look at starting at verse 20. It says, he was foreknown before the foundation of the world, speaking of Christ, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God. Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart. Since you have been born again, not a perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and abiding word of God. For all flesh is like grass and all its glory, like the flower of grass, the grass withers and the flower fails. But the Lord, the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you. So we see two references to glory here. First in verse 21, we see Jesus receives glory from the father. You see the operation of the Trinity here. Jesus eternally receives glory from the father. And he also receives glory from the father in his resurrection when he who raised the father who raised him from the dead. And we also see this quote from Isaiah chapter 40 verses 6 through 8 and verse 24, 6 and 8. And in contrast, there's a contrast being made here. There's a contrast being made between the glory of flesh and the word of the Lord. And we see that any glory that any flesh has, any of us who are mortal, any of us who are finite, it's a fading glory. It's not the glory that is from God, but the word of the Lord remains forever. God's glory is an infinite glory. Any glory that we try to amass from ourselves, any fame, any honor, any reputation for ourselves will utterly fail at some point. But God, his glory never, never ends. And particularly the word of the Lord, the message of his word, it remains forever. The glory of that. So moving on here in 1 Peter, going into chapter two, we see here in verse 11, he says, Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles who have stained from the passions of the flesh, which weighs war against your soul, keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. So now we have a reference here to God's people glorifying him. God's people glorifying him. And they do that through their obedience and suffering, particularly the suffering of persecution. And they're to keep their conduct among the Gentiles honorable. And so that when the Gentiles will speak of them as evildoers on that day of visitation, that day of judgment, God will be glorified. This speaking of glorifying God here is very similar to when Joshua calls upon Achan to give God the glory and to confess his sins before the people of Israel. It's to tell the truth about God. And these people who persecute Christians on earth, who look, who cause Christians to suffer on earth, even an evildoer will give glory to God one day. Everyone glorifies God in the end. Everyone glorifies God. The question is, how will you glorify God? Not if you will glorify God. God will be glorified. So moving on a little further in chapter four and starting in verse seven, you see says, the end of all things is at hand. Therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another. As good stewards of God's very grace, whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies. In order that in everything, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. So one of the ways we glorify God in the midst of our suffering is by using our gifts, the proper use of our gifts for the edification of one another. We should seek to serve one another by using the gifts that God has given us. And we also see in one statement here and in verse 11, God, God the Father is being glorified through Jesus Christ. And then the doxology following, Christ has glory in himself. That last statement, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, the Father being glorified through Jesus Christ. So the Father, Christ glorifies the Father. And then in that very last statement, the little doxology here, to him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. So you have the Father who is glorified, being glorified by Christ, and you have Christ having glory in himself. So there's an exchange, there's a sharing of glory within the Trinity. Each person of the Trinity glorifying one another and each person of the Trinity having glory in themselves. Now moving on to starting in verse 12 here, says, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you, but let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evil doer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name, for it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God. And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? You see here, we see two references to glory here too, don't we? We see one in relation to the spirit. We see, and that's not something you see often. We see the spirit of glory in verse 14. The Holy Spirit has glory within himself and we are blessed because we, and we having the spirit, we are blessed having the glorious person, a glorious person of the Trinity resting upon us. And in verse 16, we see that suffering as a Christian is a blessed suffering. And we have a duty to glorify God in that suffer. We glorify God in that suffer. So let's move on to 2nd Peter. And are there any questions so far? I've gone through a number of texts. I'm just going staccato through the book. Are there any questions at all in 1st Peter regarding glory? Okay, let's go to 2nd Peter. And 1st Peter, that was, 1st Peter dealt with suffering. If 1st Peter was suffering in the streets, 2nd Peter is poison and abuse. 2nd Peter deals with false teachers, false teachers in 2nd Peter. And 1st, there's false teachers and false doctrines that Peter is fighting against here. And there are four references to glory in 2nd Peter. And one of them, one of these references is actually just a stand in word for describing fallen angels, the glorious ones or the majesties in chapter 2 verse 10. But we're going to take a look at chapter 1 starting at verse 2. It says, Make grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. So this is a very special reference to glory here. We see that we're called by the Father's glory and excellence. If you have an ESV it says to his own glory. It could be read that way. But a better way that many have looked at this is to say by his own glory. But even though it might say to his own glory in some translations, even in verse 4, speaking of glory, you see in verse 4 it says to his own glory and excellence by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises. So you see God is working through his glory. God's glory is an active glory. Remember when we went through the, as we're going through the book None Greater and that chapter on immutability, we looked at the fact that God is pure act. Sometimes when we think of God's attributes we think of them as very static. You know we think of glory as a thing that doesn't do anything. But God's glory is active and God works in his glory. It's not some passive attribute of God's. Now look starting at verse 16 in chapter 1. He says, for we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. We ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Knowing this first of all that no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man. But men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. So we see here Peter, he's referring to the Transfiguration when he was on the mountain and Christ was revealed in glory. You had Moses was there, Elijah was there, and he experienced God's glory face to face. He saw God's glory with his own eyes. He experienced the fear of being and the presence of God. And he heard the voice from heaven by the majestic glory that he refers to here in verse 17, where the Father says, this is my this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. He's telling these people, I've experienced this. I've seen this. What I have to say to you isn't a lie. When I fight against these false teachers here, I'm fighting in truth. And we see here that we see here glory in Jesus. So he's referring to a glory that he has seen. He's referring to the Father as the majestic glory. That's almost like he's using synonyms here a bit when he calls the Father the majestic glory. Also, we understand he says that Jesus received honor and glory from God, the Father. So again, we see that giving and receiving of glory within the trinity between the persons of the trinity. And he's making he's making a point here that God's the revelation that that he is writing to these people. This is true revelation. He's seen God's glory. Thus he is able to reveal God to these people in the scripture. And when he speaks of these false teachers, he's able to speak authoritatively. And why is he able to speak authoritatively? Well, he's seen God. He knows God. He knows God's glory. He's seen it with his own eyes. These false teachers can't make that same claim. These false teachers are making up their own stories. And that's the same today, isn't it, when it comes to false teachers? They don't they don't see God in the scripture. They make things up. They make up doctrines and their God is their own belly. Their glory is their shame. So he's making a point here. But he's making a point by referring to the glory that he has seen, the glory that he has seen. So lastly, let's move on to the second to the last book of the Bible, Jude, Jude. And in this very little book, there are three references to glory. And the first is actually a direct echo of 2 Peter regarding fallen angels. Jude uses the same terminology, calling them the glorious ones or the majesties. But the second two are at the very end of Jude. And they are in this very beautiful doxology in the book of Jude. And Jude, the theme of Jude is very similar to the theme of 2 Peter. He's contending earnestly for the faith. This is another fight against false doctrines false doctrines and false teachers. And he's calling for these Christians to persevere and to not give in to this this wickedness. So let's take a look at verse 24 and 25 here. He says now to him who was able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. To the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, dominion and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. So you see here, glory here is referring to the presence of God himself, this glory in God's presence. Now God is present everywhere, but there's an understanding that we will have a realized understanding of his presence one day, right? And one day we will stand in his presence in heaven and glory. And there's a this preservation from stumbling is a work of God only. It's not a work of our own. God is glorified. God is glorified in preserving his people. He's glorified in preserving his people of keeping their faith to the end. And you see glory here is clearly connected with blamelessness, with blamelessness, with being faultless. We're not just a stand before him in glory, in his glory, in the presence of his glory, but we're to stand before him in blamelessness and we're to be without mark, without fault, without blemish. That's what blamelessness is. The accusations that they don't stick. Now this is something that obviously is accomplished by Christ's work. None of us can say that within ourselves we are blameless in every way. This is accomplished only in the Lord Jesus Christ, only in him. But at the same time, all those for whom Christ has accomplished this blamelessness, what do we do? We're to live blamelessly, aren't we? Understanding God's glory, we're to live blamelessly. And it is God who will keep us from stumbling. It is God who will keep us from ultimately falling away. It reminds me, this text always reminds me of that song, He Will Hold Me Fast, that we sing often. God is glorified in holding us fast, and we ought to glorify Him in living blameless lives before Him. Now there's a second reference to glory and this doxology. And Jude ascribes glory to God, he says in verse 25, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. You see how God's glory is connected with all of these, these attributes of His, His majesty or His greatness, His dominion, His rule, His authority, His power. All of these attributes contribute to His glory. His glory is a summary of all of His goodness, all of His, all of that, all that is good in God wrapped together in one. That is, that is His glory. And there's, there's natural overlap with all of these terms, right? Each of these, you can't say that any of these attributes is, if one of these attributes about God is untrue, then they're all untrue, right? If God can't be majestic and great and not have dominion, He can't have all authority or all power, you know, and not be glorious. And we also see at the very end here that God's glory, again, is eternal. God's glory is eternal. It will never end. It always was and it always will be, and it is even now. So we see God's glory as a summary attribute. We see that we have a duty to glorify Him. So I want to call upon you to consider how you're to glorify God. One, especially thinking of a book like First Peter, right? In First Peter, a number of the references to glory are, is, it referenced, is our duty to glorify Him, our duty to glorify Him in our obedience. When we see God's glory, we're to, we're to respond in kind. We're to respond with obedience, with love for Him. And we're to praise Him with our lips. We're to proclaim His excellencies. We are to, and we're to do that even through the worst difficulties. And God is glorified in that. Or we could even say God glorifies Himself in that. And one last thing to consider when we think of glorifying God. Sometimes when we think of glorifying God, we think of somehow adding to God's glory. And that's not correct. God's glory can't be added to. But when we glorify God, what we're doing is we're putting on display that which is already true about God. So when you glorify God, it's not that God is somehow dependent upon you to, to amass glory to Himself. But what you're really doing is you are increasing the perception in your own mind and in the minds of those around you about who God is. When you suffer as a Christian out in the world and you live obediently to God, you glorify Him and other people will understand Him. They will see His glory. He will be revealed to them. When you preach the gospel, you glorify Him. And their perception of God is now increased. His majesty is now proclaimed. They see Him better than they did before. It's not that He wasn't who He was. He always was. He is. And He always will be. But now when we glorify Him, we show who He is to everyone and to ourselves. So let's resolve to do that together. Let's resolve to do that in our worship this morning. Let's resolve to do that when we go out into the world, when we go to work during the work week, when you talk to your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers, when you speak to your children at home, consider how you have a duty to glorify Him and ponder His glory in your own heart. Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord, I thank you for all of these references to your glory. It is indeed tough. It's hard to understand you because you are inunderstandable. But Lord, we thank you that you reveal things about yourself. You reveal who you are to us and we're grateful to you for that. Help us, Lord, to see your glory. Help us to see your Son Jesus Christ and how you are glorified in Him, Father. Help us to desire to see you glorified in the way that we live. Help us desire to make your name famous among the lost that they too would be saved and follow you. And may the Son, may Christ receive all glory, honor and praise. May He receive the reward for His suffering. May we stand before Him in His presence, blameless in glory, reveling in your glory. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.