Sermon – “Where Your Glory Dwells”

Sermon Notes – Where Your Glory Dwells
Impact Church London
Sept. 11, 2022 

Intro: “Where Your Glory Dwells”

We’ve undergone a building project, and so has Jesus. 

Matthew 16:18 (NKJV)
“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

1 Peter 2:4-6 (NKJV)
“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…”

What does this spiritual house look like? 

Sermon: “Where Your Glory Dwells” 

1. Glory 

Psalms 26:8 (NKJV)
“Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, And the place where Your glory dwells.”

2. Rest 

Isaiah 66:1 (NKJV)
“Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?”

Acts 7:48
“The Most High does not dwell in temples made by human hands…” 

Psalms 127:1 (NKJV)
“Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it…”

3. The Gate of Heaven

Genesis 16:16-17 (NKJV)
“Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

Jesus is God’s house and Jacob’s ladder.  We are the temple inso much as we are in Him and He in us. 

Eph. 2:20-22
“…Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

The Tabernacle: 

Moses built the tabernacle with very specific instructions:

Hebrew 8:5
They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: “Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.”

On the Mountain not the Valley. Jesus is the pattern and design!

Exodus 40:1-13 & 33-36
“…So Moses finished the work. 34 Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.”

Moses then instructed the people in the wilderness… 

Deuteronomy 12:10-14
“But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, 11 then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you…Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; 14 but in the place which the Lord chooses…”

David won the war but Solomon built the house. Two different expressions.

Proverbs 24:3-4
“By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

When Solomon completes the temple and dedicates it:

2 Chronicles 7:1-3
“When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple…” 

God’s reply to Solomon: 

2 Chronicles 7:19-22
“But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples….”  

This is what happened, they did forsake God, his glory departs, they get ransacked, but Ezekiel prophesies something new is coming…

Ez. 43:1-5
“Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east. 2 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters…; And the glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. 5 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple.”

His glory returned in Jesus! 

John 2:18-22 (NKJV)
“18 So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?” 19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.”

Now we are the temple, the temple of his body. 

Unlike the second temple, this temple was also consecrated by fire!

Acts 2:1-4
“..suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

God marked again the place of his dwelling, and his glory once again filled the temple. 

Few Thoughts for Consideration: 

• We are his house and we have been dedicated and consecrated to God by the blood of Jesus, but we can refresh our appreciation and our faith in that fact. 

• God will fill his church/temple with his glory… be filled and keep on being filled.

• The glory is not merely outward signs, but inward expression. The kingdom is within! “We’ve been given one spirit to drink.”

Luke 17:20-21
“Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Ezekiel the prophet who although he saw the glory depart he prophesied the glory was coming back, and prophesied what that glory would look like and what it would do. 

Ezekiel 47:9,12
“And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live… Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”

That river is the very presence, Spirit, and glory of God that flows from the throne into the world, but comes from within the temple. 

Ezekiel 47:1-2 (NKJV)
“…there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar…and there was water, running out on the right side.”

God would mark his house by filling his temple with his glory, with His Spirit, unto an inner release of the life of Christ. From within flow rivers of living water. 

Ephesians 4:14-21
“…that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. 

Amen.