The doctrine of glorifying God, Part 13, John 15:8Title: The doctrine of glorifying God, Part 13, John 15:8.
Point 3: The person and work of God brings glory to Himself.
a. God alone is worthy of glorification and this has been and will always be true whether there are creatures to acknowledge it or not, Eph 1:3.
Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
“blessed” – euvlogeto,j[eulogetos] = worthy of praise and glorification.
Isa 46:9 "Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me,
Often man takes the best part of himself and magnifies this to the nth degree and calls that God, when in fact this comes far short of the mark. God says that there is no one like Him.
This error makes for man to then turn around and think that same self-improvement that they think is the essence of God is actually God’s goal for them. This also falls very far from the mark.
This is made clearer in heaven, when after the Rapture of the Church, but before the beginning of the Tribulation, the winner believers of the Church-age described as the 24 elders sing to their King and Lord:
Rev 4:4 And around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.
We have a description of the scene around the throne and the four living creatures and then we receive great insight into one of the functions of the winner believers from the CA.
Before I can move on with one of my points, the main point being that God alone is worthy of glory, we must identify the 24 elders. Some very sound doctrinal teachers believe they are angels, some that they are men, and others still that they are men from the Church. I believe they are a distinct group of men from the Church that are overcomers, winner believers, those who have fulfilled their election, born fruit, and glorified God in time.
First we see that they are clothed in white and they have crowns. The white clothes can definitely be the uniform of glory, which is only worn by winners, and the crowns [Greek word stephanos] are victors crowns and not diadema which are Sovereign crowns.
Rev 3:5 He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments;
Rev 2:10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Rev 3:11'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, in order that no one [world, OSN, KOD, people, etc.] take your crown.
By having crowns it means that they have already been judged or evaluated. The only group to this point to be evaluated is the Church. This alone does not fully negate that possibility that they could be angels, but further scripture does.
Also, they are sitting around the throne of Jesus Christ.
Rev 3:21 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Not only this, but they are described further in Rev 5.
Rev 5:8 And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Rev 5:9And they sang a new song, saying,
"Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “men” is not in the original. However, tribe and tongue and people and nation being purchased with His blood speaks of those on earth who have been redeemed. This points to the church, Eph 1:7.
Rev 5:10"And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth."
A kingdom of priests:
1 Peter 2:5 You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
Reign upon the earth:
Rev 2:26 'And he who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations;
Numerology of 24 indicates a priesthood. It also is a doubling of 12 which in reference to the 12 tribes of Israel indicates that the church receives a double portion as being in union with the first born. Also, 12 can refer to government and 24 therefore can refer to a heavenly government where the winners are fellow rulers with Christ.
Though the number 24 has meaning in terms of numerology, there are more than 24 winner CA believers in total.
Rev 5:11 And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands [winner angels and winner believers make up an untold number],
Rev 5:12saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing."
Rev 5:13And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever."
Rev 5:14And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped.
So… Rev 4:9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,
Rev 4:10the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Rev 4:11"Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created."
The word “worthy” is the Greek a]xioj[axios] and it originally meant weight as in the right weight to balance scales. So one could imagine God’s person and work on one side of the scale and worthiness or glorification on the other side.
Whether there are creatures to acknowledge it or not there is a glory on the scale that must perfectly balance His essence on the other side.
This word is also applied to the believer in the Church in the balance of what he has been elected to in Christ.
Election, unique to the Church, is God’s desire for every believer which is to receive His highest and best, which has been predestined for us as the unfathomable riches of Christ.
Eph 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
Eph 4:2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love,
Eph 4:3being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
A believer living in the cosmic system in reversionism is completely out of balance which results in confusion and stress, which is unworthy of our so great election.
This believer must resort to defense mechanisms in an effort to correct his instability, but it is like trying to balance a baseball bat on your chin where there is adjustment after adjustment which only results in more stress and confusion and instability. Being born again to a new life, a new hope, and new union makes the kosmos disagreeable to what you are.
We must also live in balance. That balance consists of election on one side of the scales and God being glorified on the other side as the only One worthy.
Notice the words used in Eph 4:1-3; humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance in virtue love, diligence in unity and the bond of peace.
These are all systems of thinking that are associated or “with” the believer’s calling to the super-grace life.
Humility – objective thinking in terms of grace Gentleness – sensitivity to others Patience – with others and the timing of God
Forbearance – stability in the face of antagonism In love – RMA and a lack of mental attitude sins Diligence – does not quit despite disappointments Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace – like mindedness in the prosperity that we all share.
All of these are supernatural and never natural. Christ told us that He was going to give us a life and a peace not as the world gives. He said it was His peace and His life, as in Eph 3:19-20 it is a life beyond gnosis and a life beyond dreams.
The new creature in Christ is designed to live that life. If he does not he is out of balance and out of the environment that he can prosper in. God has designed it this way. There is no other way!
John 14:6 "I am the way, and the truth, and the life;
The 24 elders around the throne of Christ, a picture of all the winner believers from the CA who glorified God in time are going to be the only ones who understand what “worthy” truly means and so they are the only ones singing that song to Him.
Don’t misunderstand me. All believers in heaven will realize that He is worthy, but only a certain percentage have actually come to know what it means to walk in a manner worthy of their calling, who conquered undeserved suffering like the Lord and experienced the resurrection life in time. One cannot experience these things in heaven since suffering and testing will not exist there. The winner believers who fulfilled their election can sing about worthiness since they are the only ones that truly understand how worthy the Lord is.
Residing in the plan of God and abiding in Christ is the only way to gain stability on the firm foundation of Christ, His word, and His Holy Spirit that He sent to us as Helper so that we grow to maturity and glorify God by receiving His highest and best. This is the only balance or stability for the believer.
[Justice scales slide]
You must understand that you are not remodeled. At salvation you were made a brand new creature in Christ. A brand new creature can only flourish and prosper in a brand new environment – PPOG. |