God Found a Way to Give His Glory to His Enemy (Matthew 25:31-46).
length: 60:41 - taught on Jan, 14 2026
Class Outline:
Wednesday January 14, 2026
Glory of the Lord qualifies Him for judgment, and His scars settle the standard for judgment. Faith in Him, who He is, changes a person’s essence and vision, so as to receive and see His glory, so that when they do meet Him, they will experience the comfort of coming home and not the terror of being lost.
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.”
1. God alone is glory.
“I am the Lord, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to graven images.”
Glory Definition: the condition of being bright or shining (brightness, splendor, radiance); a state of being magnificent (greatness, splendor; lilies in MAT 6:29); honor as enhancement or recognition of status or performance (fame, recognition, renown, honor, prestige)
Fallen man, unable to see glory in himself (unless he is a fool), is shown the glory of God in the heavens and in a lily.
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars
The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
The problem: the fall of man makes him dull and arrogant.
“How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?”
We must be careful. Jesus warned us to be.
MAT 6:1; 7:11
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them” … “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing …”
2. But God does share His glory with another.
"I am the Lord, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to graven images.
Man made glory and stupidity are synonyms. Yet, in this passage God does give His glory to someone else, who is not someone else:
"Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 "He will not cry out or raise His voice,
Nor make His voice heard in the street.
3 "A bruised reed He will not break
And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 "He will not be disheartened or crushed
Until He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law."
5 Thus says God the Lord,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and its offspring,
Who gives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it, [all things and men belong to Him]
6 "I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness,
I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You,
And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the nations,
7 To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison [deepest dungeon].
“And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom,”
The Servant of the Lord, the One in whom His soul delights is sent to the world to accomplish, in the only manner that it can be done, the acts that would give mankind the glory that he, mankind, threw away.
He came to show and share the glory of God with the enemies of God who had already made many of their own idols.
The passage is written in poetry because it is a wide world of wonder. Of our God who is beyond who we could possibly imagine in both love and justice. Sometimes His poetic world makes no sense, but it is always wonderful.
That is every response to the glory of God in Christ Jesus.
3. Man, as he is (unrighteous) cannot enter in or see the glory of God.
Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!" 19 And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." 20 But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!" 21 Then the Lord said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; 22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. 23 "Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen."
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
In LEV 1:1, the very next lines of text in the Hebrew Bible, the Lord speaks to Moses from the tabernacle and instructs him on what will allow a priest to enter the holy place.
The one sacrifice that all of those Levitical offerings pointed to, was the only way that any man or woman could enter into God’s glory, structured for mankind in the kingdom of heaven, and faith in the person and work of Christ was the only way to stand before His judgment.
MAT 16:13-17:8 The Story of the first and second advents.
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
There is faith in Him. Peter expresses his faith in Christ the King, the Son of God.
And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." 20 Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.
21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day [Leviticus]. 22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You." 23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's."
None of it happens if mankind is still a slave of sin, a slave of being in Adam. Man’s interest is self-preservation; self-glory at all costs.
Then the Lord Jesus tells them that they, and anyone, has to die and then follow Christ as dead men (they would come to know later how God planned to pull this off).
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 "For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS (PSA 62:12; PRO 24:12).
28 "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."
Then comes the Transfiguration: dress rehearsal for second advent.
Glory to any man must be bestowed by God.
"When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this man,' and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place. 10 "But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. 11 "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Conclusion:
The cross has to come before the crown and in the same way, humility has to come before exaltation. Humble yourself and you will see God’s glory in Christ’s glory.
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