In this sermon, the preacher discusses the turning away of the land from God and the consequences that come with it. He compares the current state of the land to Israel, stating that they have turned their back on God and are experiencing judgments. The preacher emphasizes the importance of true worship and seeking the face of God, rather than just going through rituals and entertainment. He also talks about the glory of God and how it was witnessed by early believers, emphasizing the need for belief in order to be saved.

I'm glad you joined us today on Eagle's Wings. If you would turn with me to the book of John, I'd like to read you a few verses, then we'll pray. John chapter 1, verse 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. This is when Jesus came into the world. Verse 14, and the Word was made flesh. This is the virgin birth, when Christ was born in the stable, which is what we're celebrating this time of year, which, of course, those of us that know Christ know that the roots of this holiday is pagan to its core. But the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Heavenly Father, I pray that You'd open up our eyes to see today about what this means when John said, and we beheld His glory. We pray that You'd open up our eyes, that we might behold Your glory also, in Jesus' name. Amen. You know, the early Christians, they didn't celebrate the birth of Christ. They celebrated His resurrection, and this is what Christ said, doing remembrance of me. But what we've done today is we've taken a pagan holiday and tried to Christianize it, and, of course, Santa Claus has nothing to do with Christ, and all this other stuff, can get us diverted from Jesus Christ. The main thing is that we keep our mind on Christ. They saw Him. You know, the shepherds came, and they saw Him, and it says they fell down and worshiped Him. They worshiped Jesus. Many today are worshiping other things, even claiming to be Christians, but yet worshiping other things, even worshiping themselves. But I'm convinced that once you see Jesus and once you know Him, you'll never be the same. Matter of fact, if you meet Jesus and you turn away from Him, you won't be the same either, because you'll go down deeper and deeper and deeper. And many of us have darkness in our lives because we've turned away from the light, and we've brought this upon ourselves. You see, God is trying to help us. God is interested in you. He wants you to be free. Jesus came to set the captives free. We wonder, why did He come? He came to set you free. He came to die on the cross, and He paid the price for your sins to set you free. But our own unbelief will send us to a Christless eternity in hell if we won't believe. But these early believers, John said, We saw Him, we beheld His glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. I'd like to talk with you a little bit this morning about His glory, when they saw His glory. What did they see? And also, how does that affect us today? But I'd like to take you back, first of all, to the book of Isaiah. You see, in Isaiah 6, when Isaiah saw the Lord, verse 1 and verse 3, he comes up and he says, And one cried, talking about the seraphim, And one cried, these angels cried, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory. The whole earth is full of His glory. And of course, later on, Isaiah said, Who hath believed our report? God is going to do a wonderful thing on this earth again. But right now, we have darkness. And wherever there's darkness, there's the absence of Jesus Christ. Whenever Christ is present, there's light. Tremendous light. Matter of fact, there was the Shekinah glory. I'm going to talk to you a little bit about this morning. That was manifest. The Shekinah glory. I was reading over in Acts chapter, or not Acts, John chapter 12. And those verses in around 41, 37 to 41. And this is a reference to Isaiah's passage. Because it says in verse 37 of John chapter 12, 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. Going back to Isaiah chapter 6. You know, talk about God hardening your heart. Actually what happens when he exposes himself to you, And you refuse to respond to his love, And to the light that's given to you. This is the hardening process. That happens in your heart. Just like with Pharaoh, when God displayed his power. All it did was it hardened his heart. And God may have been trying to do this for you for years, And you've just been getting harder, and harder, and harder in your life. And it's not God that's making us hard, It's us that's making ourselves hard. We harden our own heart. And so when it says that he had hardened their heart, This is what it means. That by exposing himself to them, Showing him his love and his light, When Jesus came, he showed them the miracles. It was to show them that he was God, That he'd come in the flesh, And it just hardened their hearts. He had blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, That they should not see with their eyes, Nor understand with their heart, And be converted, And that he should heal them. 2 Corinthians 3.18 tells us that, We all with open face beholding as in a glass, The glory of the Lord are changed into the same image, From glory to glory, Even as by the Spirit of the Lord. You want to be like Jesus? I have a desire to be like Jesus, That I might know him. I must spend time in his word, And this is what we do, As we behold in a glass, The glory of the Lord, Looking in here, We'll be changed into the same image, From glory to glory, Even as by the Spirit of God. You see, though you have to have the Holy Spirit, And if any man have not the Spirit of God, He's none of his, it says in Romans 8. And this is why, Many times it's so frustrating, For those of us that are not really born again, That do not really know Jesus Christ as our Savior, To try to change ourself, Because we can't do it. It is God that does it, In us and through us, By his Spirit. Now, this glory that John talked about, We beheld his glory. What was this? You see, in the Old Testament, The Shekinah glory was hid, In the Holy of Holies, In the Tabernacle, And we talked to you about this. But when Jesus came, Man saw the glory of God in Christ. The glory of God was revealed to man. And when men saw Jesus, They saw different aspects of God's glory, Revealed to them. For instance, They saw his deity, His omnipotence. In verse 14, it says, The glory is of the only begotten of the Father. Well, this was evidence in his virgin birth. If you go back, Oh, there's all kinds of evidence of this, But if we just go back over to, Say Luke, chapter 2, And verse 8 and 9, It says, And there were in the same country Shepherds abiding in the field, Keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, And the glory of the Lord shone round about them, And they were so afraid. Here is the glory of God being manifested, The virgin birth. And the miracles, And the miracles that Jesus did, If you go back, say, If we just go back over to one, Like Matthew 9, Verses 1 through 8, Whenever Christ did these things, He was revealing the glory of God to them. And 9, 1 through 8, Is the story about when he entered into a ship, And he passed over in the other city, They brought this man. Remember, in verse 2, He was sick of the palsy, And he's lying on the bed, And Jesus, seeing their face, Said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer, Thy sins be forgiven thee. And, of course, this got the leaders all upset, Because only God could forgive sins. And here was Jesus forgiving this man Of his sins. And it says, And, behold, a certain of the scribes Said within themselves, This man blaspheming. And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, He said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts, Where there is easier to say. You know, for God, It's just as easy to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, Or to say, arise and walk, But that you may know That the Son of Man Hath power on earth to forgive sins. Basically saying that you might know That I am God. Then said he to the sick of the palsy, Arise, take up thy bed, And go unto thine house. And he rose and departed to his house. Now, what happened? What was the reaction? But when the multitude saw it, They marveled and glorified God, Which had given such power unto men. Of course, at this point, They are not really recognizing What's happening. But the scribes and the Pharisees, They see this. And they have to make a choice, Just like you will have to make a choice. When God gives you a chance to be saved, You better take it. You're a gambler. If you think you can wait And get saved another day, You're a gambler. And most gamblers lose, Some time or another. Now, I'd like to take you back Into the Old Testament, So that you might understand a little bit What this meant when it says That they beheld his glory, The glories of the only begotten of the Father. I'd have to take you all the way back To maybe Exodus chapter 40, Verse 33. And in this passage, This is when Moses had finished Building the tabernacle. We talked to you about that. Verse 33, and it says, He reared up the court round about The tabernacle and the altar, And set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. Now, when he was finished With his tabernacle, what happened? It says, Then a cloud covered the tent Of the congregation, And the glory of the Lord Filled the tabernacle. We don't have any videos of this, Of what happened, So we have to go through To the meaning of the Scriptures To understand what's happening. But as far as we can see, The glory of God was evidenced By this Shekinah glory, This cloud, this bright cloud, They'd call it. And actually, God's glory Probably just blinded them, Even with their eyes shut. I imagine, just with their eyes shut, If he hadn't had this special cloud To sort of shield his glory. Now, if you come over to 1 Kings chapter 8, 10 and 11, The same thing happened When later on the temple was built. You see, the tabernacle was a temporary Dwelling place of God. And then he prepared David To prepare him a place To dwell more permanently Among the people. And he did for several hundred years. But Solomon built this temple. And when he finished the temple, In 1 Kings 8, 10, it says, And it came to pass When the priests were come out, They'd done everything they were supposed to do, Everything was in order, Everything was in there, When they came out of the holy place That the cloud filled the house of the Lord So that the priests could not stand to minister Because of the cloud, For the glory of the Lord Had filled the house of the Lord. So bright, they had to back out of there. The glory of God was manifest By this cloud, the Shekinah glory, Was the standing sign Of God's presence. You know, John said in John 1, 26, There standeth one among you Whom you know not. Do you know Jesus Christ? Do you know Him? John said, He it is who coming after me Is preferred before me, Who shoelatcheth. I am not worthy to unloose. I wonder, do we really know God? So many times, I think, in our worship services today, All we have is a man-made thing. A man-made system. We go through this ritual, And maybe a lot of entertainment, And we give our applause, Because men are performing well. And applause, it's all right. It has its place. But in worship of God, There's to be a holy, reverent attitude. And basically, our public services today Are anything but worship services. More like preaching services, Entertaining services, Or whatever yours happens to be. But worship is a holy, reverent time Where we seek the face of God, And the glory of God. John said, We beheld His glory, The glories of the only begotten of the Father. He said, We saw God. We saw Him. John later on, over in 1 John, Said that we touched Him. We were there with Him. Now what did they see? The glory of God. You know, I might ought to take you back Into the Old Testament again. You see, The glory of God had not been around For probably, You can correct me if I'm wrong on this, Probably about 500 years or so. Because if you remember, Back in Ezekiel chapter 9, Ezekiel had this vision Of the glory of God leaving the temple. It was a sad time, Because God was having to move out, Because they had chosen to worship Satan Over Him. There was, If you go back to 8.14, He says, Then He brought me to the door Of the gate of the Lord's house. Here is God, Taking Ezekiel to the gate of the Lord's house, Which was toward the north. And behold, There sat a woman Weeping for Tammuz. You go down to the last part of 16, And it says, With their backs toward the temple of the Lord, And their faces toward the east. They turned their back on God, And they worshipped the sun Toward the east. And then in 17, About in the middle of the verse there, They have filled the land with violence, And have returned to provoke me To anger and loathe. They put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury. Mine eyes shall not spare, Neither will I have pity. And though they cry in mine ears With a loud voice, Yet will I not hear them. Now it's a serious thing For a land to turn its back on God. That's why, my friend, As we have our last Sunday here in 1993, And we're going to go into a new year next week, I don't think 1994 is going to be anything like 1993. Ninety-three was a bad year. As a land, We are turning our back on God. And we have experienced some judgments of God. But as we go on, Year after year now, They're getting more severe. Times are getting darker and darker. We as a land, We're like Israel. We have turned our back on God. God gave us this land. As one of the president's founding fathers said, We had a republic. If we could keep it. We're losing it, Because we're turning our back on God. As we turn our back on our Constitution, We turn our back on God. And the glory of God pulls away from us, As it pulled away from Israel. Now, in Ezekiel 9, in verse 3, Ezekiel said, And the glory of the God of Israel Was gone up from the cherub. Whereupon he was. Here's the glory of God. He goes up above the mercy seat. And he's hovering there. And then you come over to chapter 10. In verse 3, Then he moves. Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house When the man went in. And the cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of the Lord Went up from the cherub And stood over the threshold of the house. And the house was filled with the cloud. And the cloud was full of the brightness Of the Lord's glory. Now, what is happening? God is removing His presence from Israel. They are so wicked. They'd set up their worship Right in His presence there To worship Satan. By worshiping Tammuz. You know, the Semiramis and Tammuz. We've got this going on in our country today, In the world. It's still going on all over. And many that don't realize That this is what they worship. The worship of the mother child. It's what it was. And it's been, It's in several different aspects In different religions. Now, here's the glory of God. He's pulling away. And it's said in verse 4 That the cloud in the court Was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory. Notice the brightness of the glory of God. And then you come over to chapter 4. Or chapter 10 in verse 18. Then the glory of the Lord Departed from off the threshold of the house And stood over the cherubims. And the cherubims lifted up their wings And mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, The wheels also were beside them. And everyone stood at the door Of the east gate of the Lord's house. And the glory of the God of Israel Was over them above. A sad time that God is leaving. Now we flip over to chapter 11. In verse 22. Then did the cherubims lift up their wings And the wheels beside them. And the glory of the God of Israel Was over them. Now notice 23. And the glory of the Lord Went up from the midst of the city And stood upon the mountain Which is on the east side of the city. This of course would be Mount Zion. And as far as I know, This is the last they saw of the glory of God. Because in verse 24, Ezekiel said, So the vision that I had seen Went up from me. And God's glory was removed from Israel. Now, Here's why I shared this with you. Because in Luke 2, 8 and 9, It says, And the glory of the Lord shone round about them. For about some five hundred years, The glory of God has been gone. And now all of a sudden, Here is the glory of God again. There. Presence. God is visiting Israel again. How is he visiting him? He's coming back personally this time. And he takes on a body. Jesus Christ, the God-man. Virgin born. Mary had this little baby. The seed was planted by the Holy Spirit. No human man involved. Just Mary and God. And out comes Jesus. And he comes, And John said, We beheld his glory. He grew up into a man, And for three years he ministered among men in his public ministry. And he said, We beheld his glory. The glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Let me challenge you with this. Do you know Jesus in his glory? Have you experienced him? Have you spent time with him? Do you understand him? Do you love him? Do you even know him? You know, In Acts chapter 1 and verse 9, When Jesus left, The last they saw him, It says, And a cloud received him out of their sight. I believe this was a Shekinah cloud. A cloud of his glory. How does it affect you and me? To know that he loved us enough to come down And dwell among us. They saw his glory. So they saw him, They saw him, They saw his deity, But let me tell you something else. They saw his glory as a king. 1 Peter, Or 2 Peter 1, 16, Peter said, We made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, But were eyewitnesses of his majesty. And of course, you know, If you go back to Matthew 17, He's talking about the transfiguration. When, Six days later, When Jesus took Peter and James and John, You know the story, And his brother, And, Peter, James, and John, His brother, And he brought them up into a high mountain apart. And it says, And was transfigured before them, And his face did shine as the sun, And his raiment was white as the light. And behold, There appeared unto them Moses and Elias, Talking with them. Then answered Peter, And said unto Jesus, Lord, It is good for us to be here. If thou wilt, Let us make here three tabernacles, One for thee, One for Moses, And one for Elias. And there's Peter. We identify with him, Because he's always getting in trouble. And while he yet spake, Behold, A bright cloud overshadowed them, And behold, A voice out of the cloud, Which said, This is my beloved son, In whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. When the disciples heard it, They fell on their face, And were sore afraid. But you know, They saw the glory of God there. So this is what Peter wrote about In 2 Peter 1.16. They saw his majestic glory. A bright cloud overshadowed them. And I could take you over to Some more passages And show you some things on this. But look at John 1.14. John said, We beheld his glory, The glory as of the only begotten Of the Father. Think about the privilege Of knowing Jesus that way. But we can know Jesus too, Because they said they didn't know him After his resurrection. They didn't know him Like they did in the flesh. They know him as we know him By faith. But how does it affect you To see Jesus? How does it affect you? He was full of grace and truth. You know another way they knew Jesus? They knew him, And this is just an astounding thing. They saw his moral glory By seeing his meekness And his gentleness And his kindness. It said in 1.14, He was full of grace. Very graceful with men. Full of grace and truth. Nothing that was not truth Got past him. He didn't wink at sin. He didn't wink at things That went contrary to the nature. He confronted it, But he was very graceful. He said he was meek. From the manger to manhood, He was meek. Luke 1.52, And Jesus increased in wisdom And stature and favor With God and man. You know, David, We've got this tremendous book, The Psalms, Mostly by David. And he said, Thy gentleness Had made me great. Someone said, Greatness is never so glorious As when it takes the place Of lowliness. Is the greatness of Jesus Seen in your life And my life? Greatness is never so glorious As when it takes the place Of lowliness. You know what the Lord Jesus said? He said, Come unto me, All ye that labor And are heavy laden, Do you have a burden? He said, Come unto me, All ye that labor And are heavy laden, And I will give you rest. Do you need rest? He said, Take my yoke upon you And learn of me, For I am meek And lowly in heart, And ye shall find rest Unto your souls. For my yoke is easy And my burden is light. The yoke of men is heavy. The yoke of sin is heavy. These yokes will crush you And break you As we get under the bondage And traditions of men. The bondage of sin. These burdens. But Jesus has come to me. He's gently calling you To come to Him. I had somebody years ago Said, If you can get a man to Jesus, He'll be alright. But it's so hard for us To get to Jesus Because we have to go through All kinds of traditions Of religion. And we have all these onslaughts Of the thoughts of Satan Where he's saying, You're no good. You're not worthy. You've got to get yourself fixed up So God will accept you. No. Those are lies. You come just as the old song says. You come just as I am. Without one plea. We come before God And we say, Oh God, I am a sinner. He knows that. But when you come like that And just confess All that you are To Him And all that you've done. Whatever He prompts you. You just come And He will forgive you And cleanse you. You see what man needs Is forgiveness. We have so much guilt That's piled up over the years. And we need forgiveness. And this is why Jesus came into this world. He didn't come So we'd have a nice little time With the manger scene. And all these lights. No, He came to die on the cross So that you could have Forgiveness of sins. Wouldn't you like to come To Jesus today? Just as you are. And say, Dear Jesus, Would you forgive me? Would you pray right now? If you'd like to receive Christ As your Savior. You just pray And say, Dear Lord, I come just as I am. I recognize that Jesus Died on the cross For my sins. And I now by faith Accept His forgiveness For my sins. And I accept Jesus As my Savior In His name. I pray. Did you pray that prayer? If you'd like to You write me And let me know That you did that. And I'll send you some material And try to help you out However I can. Or you tell your pastor If you go into a church Where they preach The blood of Christ Was shed for your sins. And tell them you prayed To receive Christ So you can be helped alone. Well, our time's about gone. I need to be thinking about Closing down. Jesus, He was so wonderful. And this has shown us That our God Was so wonderful. How does it affect you When God said We beheld His glory? It should affect us. You know, Paul said that you walk Worthy of the location Where ye are called With all lowliness And meekness With longsuffering Forbearing one another In love. A meek and quiet spirit. Many times Wives can't win their husbands To Christ Because they don't do What 1 Peter 3, 4 said. They don't have this Meek and quiet spirit. And they don't see The glory of God There in their life. Why do some Christians Get so upset If they are not recognized Or appreciated or whatever? It's because we're living For ourselves And others don't see The glory of God In our lives When this is happening. Paul said, Now I beseech you By the meekness And the gentleness of Christ. John said, We beheld His glory. Do others see His glory In you and me? What would happen If Jesus showed up Somewhere in our area? I'll tell you what, Crowds would drong there. How come crowds Do not come to us? People do not come to us So many times Because they see us And they need to see Jesus. How far Are you and I Willing to go In order that The glory of God Will be seen in us? You see, Jesus had a manger And then He had a cross. And He's going to give us Something that we can have too That will cost us something That His glory Might be seen. He came to us By way of the manger But it was the cross Because He poured out His soul into death That the power And the love of God Was manifest. Whose glory Will be seen in us today? God help us, Father help us That Your glory Would be seen. Well, I've got to go. My time's gone But let me remind you of this That Jesus Christ Is all you need But is He all you want? Till next time May God richly bless you My friend.