Shall we turn to Hosea 4:6-7
6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. 7. As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame. Let's look at the last part of verse 7. 7. therefore will I change their glory into shame?

We'll continue reading from the book of Jeremiah 2:11-13
11. Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. 12. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. 13. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

We'll continue reading in Psalms 106:19-21
19. They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped the molten image. 20. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass. 21. They forgot God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;

Finally, let's read from Exodus 16:6-7
6. And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At evening, then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt: 7. 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?

Shall we pray, Father, we thank You, Lord, for this morning to have remembered your son. O Father, we are grateful; because of Your Son, we can even come into Your presence and pray a prayer like this. We're grateful, father, because You sent Your only begotten Son. And You sent Him down for us. O Lord Father, we thank You, Lord, that when He was raised up on the cross, He drew all men unto Himself. And He drew even us. Thank you, O Lord, that He delivered us; those who were by reason of death and fear of death held bondage.
We thank You, Father, that He led captivity captive. And He came before Your presence, and You crowned Him as the King of Kings, as the King of glory. And you gave Him Your right hand where He can sit. O Father in Him, you have found us in Him, You have made us complete. O Father, we thank You, Lord, that in Him, we have seen Your glory. In Him, we have seen Your work. In Him, we can be beautiful. O Father, we praise You, O Lord, that You have created us for the praise of the glory of Your grace and to glorify You.
O Father, we pray this time as we open Your Word, and we read these verses. O Lord, we remember O Lord of all those people before us. Of all those people that saw Your glory and were changed for a lifetime. Father, we pray the same for ourselves. Help us, Lord, to see You. To behold our God, the Holy One of Israel. Help us Father to gain the treasure and the silver, the knowledge of God. Help us Father to behold You. Awaken our souls, O Lord. And Lord as we see You, we might be changed from glory to glory. We pray, O Father, for Your mercy and for Your grace, that in Your loving kindness because of who You are, because of how much You love us; We pray, O Lord, that You would answer this prayer in through the name of Lord Jesus Christ.


What is Glory?
Well, in all these verses that we have read. You can take a guess what I'm going to be speaking about. Anything that, anything that was common in all the verses. Glory! so if I have to ask you if you just say the word glory, what is the thing that comes into your mind if you could imagine it? How would you talk about glory? Yes, radiance, Okay. Anybody else? Light of the sun? Yes, and then come on glory? Shine, brightness, okay, but this all these expressions doesn't make sense when we say I will glorify You. So, what does glory mean? Or is glory, something, so phenomenal? Is glory something that is illuminance and light and radiance, or could be something very simple?

And I read this somewhere, somebody was saying this, that, that there is an inseparable relation between the glory of God and our spiritual health. If we miss represent the glory of God, it is inevitable that our spiritual life is going to go for a toss. So that were the verses we read, the first three verses we read in the beginning were all of that. Where the Lord first saw people that did not know God who said they are destroyed, because of the lack of knowledge. And then the Lord would say, I will turn their glory into shame. And then in Jeremiah, the Lord would say that these people have changed the real God for somebody who's not a God. And they have exchanged their glory.

And in Psalms again, they would say the psalmist would say they worshiped a Molten calf, and exchanged not God's glory, not reduced God's glory to the calf, but exchange their own glory, for the glory of the calf. So, we inherit the glory of things we worship, the things we admire, things we adore, the things we like, inevitably, its glory, its appearance, its likeness, its characteristics, comes into us. And if at all, we have got a myopic, diminished, disgusting view of the great glory of God, we will end up in a miserable state.

So that is what happened at Horeb. A God that was eternal, they reduced it to a God that is a calf or an animal of the field. A God that's infinite, they reduced it to a golden calf, that's a statue. A God that is living, they reduced it to a god that's inanimate. God that is immutable, unchangeable, they again reduced it to a god that cannot even speak. A God that's all powerful, they reduced it to a god, that's an idol.

Finally, you see a God that is so glorious, you can't even see, you can't even visualize, and the best they could visualize a God like that was a calf and make it golden. So, they reduced the whole glory of God, the whole Holiness of God, the attributes of God, everything about God, His sovereignty, His holiness, His likeness, everything was reduced to an animal. And they call that animal, Jehovah. They celebrated a feast to Jehovah. So, there were burnt offerings there, there were peace offerings there, there was a feast there, but it all ended in revelry, orgies, sensual sins, and at the end, three thousand people are dead. So, you can't deny this. If you do not have a vision of the glory of God, or true representation of who He is, your life will be messed up. There cannot be two ways about that.

And that's why the Lord would say, look upon me, all the people of the earth. That's why the psalmists would say we should meditate on the splendour of the glory of God. This is the reason why we were created. So, if we don't get this reason, right, we don't have a reason for existence. And the glory of God cannot be reduced to just illuminance or light and radiance because in that sense, in the 21st century, none of us have seen the glory of God. If we are going to reduce the glory of God only, or just talk about the glory of God in terms of the vision that Isaiah saw, or Jeremiah saw or Ezekiel saw, then none of us have ever seen the glory of God.


Glory in Manna?
The glory of God is definitely all of that all-powerful thing. But when Lord Jesus Christ was born as a baby, was that glory of God? When Christ was born as a helpless babe? when the Word became flesh, people saw a glory full of grace and truth. What about the verse we just read over here in Exodus 16? In Exodus 16, and verse 6 and 7, Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, at evening, you shall know that the Lord brought you out of the land of Egypt. And in the morning, you shall see the glory of the Lord. How's that going to be possible? In the morning, you shall see the glory of the Lord. So, you could reason it this way that perhaps it's talking about the pillar of fire and cloud perhaps it's talking of the tabernacle, or whatever. But it seems that this is given in the context of manna.

So, in the evening, the quails would come, they would eat non-veg and, in the morning, the whole land would be filled with this manna. And the Lord is saying in the morning, you shall see the glory of the Lord. This happened for 40 years. For 40 years, they saw God feeding a million people, right outside your doorstep, with God's own food right from heaven, food that nobody else got to eat, angel's food. For 40 years, this happened every day, they saw the glory of God, when they were seeing manna being laid down. By God, God was literally dropping food into their plates. And that's the way what God would say, you will see the glory of God in the morning.


Ways to see God’s Glory in life
First Way
So, can you see the glory of God now in your life? Every day God provides you His providence, can you call that the glory of God? Unfortunately, we see the simple things. So, 40 years they see, and they are all drop-dead, all of them. Except for Joshua and Caleb. For 40 years, they witness the glory of God, and the Lord would say you would see it every single morning, and yet they will drop dead. I mean, think about it every day of our life, if we can begin our life by seeing the glory of God. How would it be? Think of what happens in the morning. Does it ever cross your mind that I could see the glory of God this morning?

Just before going to work; you have so many things to do during the day. So many people to meet and interact and talk, and you have such a busy life. And that gives you reasons O, let me just No, pause the Bible reading or prayer or something like that. But someone would say this way that because I have so many things to do in the day, I will first start with a prayer. And this is such a beautiful principle that when you start the morning you see God's glory. But in the evening verse 6, you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt, or you remember yourself of how God has delivered you from Egypt from your sins.

You start the day by looking at God's glory. And you end the day remembering the cross. And you again start the day looking at God's glory, but you make sure every day at the end of it you remember that God brought you out of Egypt. These are two things you can never afford to forget. You can afford to forget only at your own risk. If you ever forget how God brought you out of Egypt, how God delivered you from your past life, you will return into it. So, in the evening, you remember that the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. But every morning, you start the day by looking at God's glory. So, one way of looking at God's glory is His providence.


Second Way
Another way we can see God's glory. Let's look at Psalm 66 and verse 10 onwards. For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place. Verse 18. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.

Remember the instance when the Lord was going through a town and His disciples saw a blind person? And the disciples asked the Lord, why was he blind? His sin? I mean the person was blind from birth, obviously, it could not be his sin, but they still ask, is it his sin or is it his parent's sin? And the Lord would say, he was blind, so that the work of the Lord can be shown. And when again, the Lord was in one place, and he heard that Lazarus is sick, and the Lord would say, the sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God. He would again meet Martha, and He would say, do you not believe that you will see the glory of God? And just before raising Lazarus from the dead, he had to convince the people just to open the grave? Because they said, he's stinking, and he said, Believe, and you will see the glory of God.

You must have heard of a phrase in English, it's said, Come, come Hell, come high water. It's like saying, you're going through the worst experience of your life. And that's what we read again over here in verse 12; God has caused men to ride over our heads, we have gone through fire and through water. It begins in verse 10; You God have tested us, You have refined us, You have laid affliction upon our loins, You have brought us into the net, you have caused men to ride over our heads, we have gone through fire and water. The psalmist is saying, Lord, you did all of this. You have made people go over our heads, we have gone through fire and through water. Why? Why would God do something like this?

You know, in business, there's something called service paradox. If you heard about it. For example, you are disappointed with the service in a product, you call up the company, and you say that I'm disappointed with it. And you are at the companies at the risk of losing your loyalty. So, the company does something out of the way, out of your way, beyond your expectation, and in turn, makes you more loyal than you could ever be. Service paradox. Service is not a good thing. But if the company can address the service, well, you like the company more. Sometimes, when we go through problems and trials, we address God like that.

We sometimes think God to be like a call centre, and prayer to be like that hotline, we can just pray call and the problem is fixed. And when God fixes our problems, you will love God more we serve God more. You know, that might be true. But let's understand this. If something goes wrong to our life, God could be bringing it purposely in our life. And he is no company, and we are no customers. We have not even a right, an iota of right to ask Him why. So, He could take us through what job took us, and we don't have the right to say why. And then you might rely on a prayer.

So, let's pray, let's let's make God change His mind. No, even that won't happen. You see in verse 18, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. So, the Lord has all the reasons to punish you. The Lord has all the reasons to afflict you to bring afflictions on your loins, to make people walk over your head, make you grow through fire and water, and you can pray all your heart out, and God will still have no reasons or in any obligation to help you out of it, because God is holy, and we simply are not. If I regard iniquity, then God will not listen to my prayer.

But guess what the psalmist found out the next verse, he says, but verily, God heard me. Now that is a representation of God's glory. That is a vision of God, that when God did not have to listen to my prayers, when I was a sinner, and I just cried out, because God was my only hope. God heard me and look how you would end it. Verse 20, Blessed be God, which has not turned away from my prayer, nor His mercy from me, that God answering my prayer was mercy on God's part, it was not an obligation. You see, when we go through afflictions and trials and high water and hell, and everything in between. God is trying to show us His mercy.


Third Way
What is the third reason, the third way in which we can see God's glory? We read this from Romans chapter 1 and verse 20; For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.

You can read a paradox right are there things that are invisible, are seen things that are invisible, or visible, and the invisible things of him that is of God from creation of the world are clearly visible, being understood by the things that are made? So, by looking at the creation of God, what are the things we can understand? In the later part of the verse, we can understand His eternal power. We can understand His Godhead, so that we are not without excuse.

Verse 21; Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God. So the creation is the open avenue for everybody to glorify God. To just look at His expense, to look at what God has created is to say that, God, You are worthy of our glory, of our praise, of our adoration. And when people did not do that, God gave them over to uncleanness.

And we read that in verse 24; Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

This is a known truth, that the heavens declare His glories and all what God has created was created by Christ and for Christ. So, when we look at the creation, we can see Him, and we sing the song that He is, you live in every you, but Christless eyes cannot see. So, a lot of people look at the creation, and they look at a mountain, and they worship it. They look at a tree, and they worship it. They look at stars, and they worship it. But when we look at the mountain with Christ-like-eyes, not Christ-less-eyes, but Christ-like-eyes, we look at the mountains, and we say that all of it can just melt under the feet of Christ. We can look at the stars, and we say that all of it declares his glory. We can look at all what God has created, and see that all the nation's, everything is just like a drop of the bucket. So the creation in itself shows us His glory.

But what has been the greatest declaration of God's glory? How God has declared His glory is what we read in 2 Corinthians 4:6. And we'll read verse 4; 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 we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. 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.

Christ is the greatest representation of His glory. Christ is the radiance of His glory. He is the express image of His glory. You see, what was the first thing God created? What is that? Light, He created light and what s light, light? Scientifically, we understand that light to be photons, traveling like at a speed of 3x108 m/s, the fastest ever particle to move...light. Here this person is saying, these verses are saying that in salvation also, just like in creation, God commanded light in verse 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine. What is this light now? What is the light of salvation? How is it different from the light of photons? How is this light different?

In verse 6, the last part, this light, is the light of the knowledge. That's the light, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. You want to see the glory of God. You can't separate the knowledge of God from the glory of God, because God in salvation commanded His light, that light itself is knowledge. And that knowledge is the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Lord Jesus Christ. So at salvation at the cross, God was commanding His light, and that light was God would make himself known. Knowledge of God, which is His glory.


Glory in the Bible
So you want to know in 21st century, how do we see the glory of God? It begins with this book. A privilege that people we read in this book, you name anybody, didn't have it. You name the great people like Isaiah, Jeremiah, who saw the glory of God, they don't have the privilege that we have. Name Apostle Paul, for example. Even he had this book and in fragments, and he would say, bring this part of the scroll for me. And this is the knowledge of God.

God has gone out of the way to preserve this book, despite all the people trying to burn this book and destroy this book. Why? Because this is the glory of God. We have it everyday we have it in our phones, and we have it in our tablets, and we cannot afford to not see the glory of God now. This is the way we see God because this is the knowledge of God and this knowledge is the glory of God and this glory of God is found in the face of Lord Jesus Christ. This is the question you got to be answering today. The same question that Lord Jesus would ask Peter, who do you think I am? What is your representation of the glory of God? The people thought that the glory of God is just like a molten calf. What about you? How about you? What do you think is the glory of God? How much do you know God? How much do you yearn after God? How much do you seek and look for His glory?

Today morning, we were just seeing this, there is a veil that blocked the glory of God, people couldn't go beyond that veil. But today, if you look upon Christ, the body of Christ, the body of Christ is a new and living way into the most holy place, that there is no veil, stopping that glory to come upon us. That Christ has made us and enabled us through His Spirit to see God when we read and understand and know God. When we experience God and this is the reason why we were created. This is the reason if we waste this reason up then we get it all wrong.

I was just reading a book, there's the title of a book, I couldn't read the whole book, but the title says that your God is too small. How big your God is? How glorious Your God is? How much do you know about the glory of our God? How much have you learned and known him? Because Hosea would say that My people are destroyed without the knowledge of God.

You see, you don't need to expect tonight that the Lord will show up in your dream like Isaiah. Every morning, we need to look at His glory. Every evening, we need to remember that we are brought out of Egypt. Every time we are provided for things; we remember that it is God's glory. Every time God answers our prayers when He doesn't need to answer our prayers, reminded of His glory. There are a million ways to know Him. A million ways to see His glory. And when we see His glory, what happens is what happened to Moses. He left the presence of the Lord, carrying the glory of God on his face.

May God's name be glorified.