God’s Glory And Our Glorification

After all the pain of this world is over, the people of God have a glorious inheritance awaiting them. Those that believe in Jesus will one day be glorified, transformed into eternal beings, awash in the very glory of God Himself. And that glory is our subject on today's broadcast.

Stay with us. From Chicago, this is The Moody Church Hour, a weekly service of worship and teaching with Pastor Erwin Lutzer. On this broadcast, you'll hear the last message in a nine-part series on Nothing Else Matters, how the glory of God gives meaning to all of life. Later in our program, Erwin Lutzer will speak on God's glory and our glorification.

Pastor Lutzer comes now to open today's service in prayer. Father, we're reminded of the book of Revelation where it says, Worthy are you, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, because you created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created. And so today, Father, we do give you honor. Open our hearts to your word, open our hearts to the music. And above all, O Father, we pray today that those who do not know Christ as Savior, they've never trusted Him. May they come to saving faith. And we ask that those who know Christ as Savior, today may we walk with Him more closely than we ever have in our lives before. We honor you and we love you.

Direct us now. In Jesus' name, amen. O creatures of our God and King, lift up your voices with a sing, Alleluia, Alleluia. The burning sun with golden green, the silver moon with softer gleam, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Oh, the praise Him, Alleluia. Love will shrink with their hearts so strong, ye clouds that sail in them now home, Alleluia, Alleluia. Oh, rising morning, praise rejoice, ye light of evening, find a voice, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Oh, praise Him, Alleluia. Oh, flowing water, pure and clear, make music for Thy Lord to hear, Alleluia, Alleluia. Thou were so merciful and kind, that gave to them both hope and light, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Oh, praise Him, Alleluia. There's a place that creates a place that worships the new of all things, oh, praise Him, Alleluia. Praise, praise the Lord, praise the Son, and praise the Spirit clear for all. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Oh, praise Him, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Thank you. Lord of almighty, early in the morning, life sounds surprising. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, Lord in the earth and soul, blessed and free. Holy, holy, holy, Lord of the darkness I hear, Holy, I am a single man, my glory came unseen. Holy, now I'm holy, there is none beside me, heaven and heaven, love and glory be. Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, Lord of almighty, Holy, now is the day, when the sky is clear. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, Lord in the earth and soul, blessed and free. But like this week, earth and heaven will pass away.

It's not a dream, God will make hope into the day. Oh, is the curse from which I saw, the curse from which I stumbled and fell, be established to eternal hell. Love for time, love for pain, love for tears, never crying again. Praises to the praise I am, living with the might of the rich and blind. See on the ground, how the nations bow down to see, the only song is the praises to Christ our King.

Oh, in the name of the book of heaven, I know the King has no need to tread. Love for time, love for pain, love for tears, never crying again. Praises to the praise I am, living with the might of the rich and blind. See on the ground, is a mansion prepared for me, where I can live with my Savior eternal in.

Love for time, love for pain, love for tears, never crying again. Praises to the praise I am, living with the might of the rich and blind. See on the ground, is a mansion prepared for me, where I can live with my Savior eternal in. Hallelujah to the rich and blind. Praise God the Lord, all blessings hold. Praise Him all, praise His yearly Lord. Praise Him all, all ye heavenly Lord. Praise God the Son and Holy Ghost. Amen. Our scripture reading this morning is taken from the book of Romans, chapter 8.

Please follow along with me on the bold print. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to the futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, we hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, are known inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees?

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined, to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

This is the word of the Lord. Have you ever asked yourself what God is doing in this world? How is it all going to end, and where is history going, and where are you going as a part of this history? There are many people today who believe that all that we have is individual stories. I have my story, you have your story, there's this incident over here, there's this incident over there, but there is no coherence, there is no big story, no meta-narrative, as some people say. To illustrate it, possibly this will work. Let us suppose that you were given a puzzle with a hundred thousand different pieces, but there was no picture on the box. So you didn't even know where to begin to put it all together and make sense out of the total picture.

Can you imagine living your life that way? You have this piece and that piece, but you have no coherence, nothing that puts it all together, because you don't know the picture on the box. Perhaps another illustration will help us. Here is a person who is asked to make some cloth.

Another person is asked to take the cloth and to sew some curtains. Somebody else is making bricks, somebody else is making lamps and furniture, but they don't know how it's going to be used, so all that they can do is to do what is before them. But there's no picture on the box. How different it would be if, instead of those individual experiences, what if they all knew that they were contributing to a huge and beautiful cathedral?

That would give more meaning to what they were doing, because they would see the whole, they'd find the picture on the box. In the Bible, we have that picture. Of course, everything ultimately comes down to the glory of God. This is the last in a series of messages entitled, Nothing Else Matters, How the Glory of God Gives Meaning to All of Life. Once you experience the glory of God and you begin to live for His glory, what other people think, you will not be in bondage to their opinions.

You will discover that your life is simplified. And I hope that for the rest of your life, as I've been admonishing you, when you wake up in the morning, you will always pray and say, Oh God, today glorify yourself in my life at my expense. And if you ever wonder how you can glorify God, I'm going to be giving you two scripture references.

I'm pausing now because I want you to take your pen or pencil, no matter where you are listening, and write down these references. Then I want you to type out the verses and put them on your refrigerator or the dashboard of the car or somewhere where you see them so that you never forget how you can glorify God. The first one is Psalm 50, verse 23. Who so off with praise glorifyeth me? You want to know how to glorify God? You begin to praise him.

And then there's another one, 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 7. The trial of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Two ways that you can always glorify God. One way is to praise him.

The second way is to trust him. Both contribute to God's glory. But now as we move on today, I'm going to speak to you on the topic how our own glorification glorifies God.

And what a stretch that is going to be. But everything that I present to you today is biblical. I'm going to be quoting a number of verses.

This is actually a topical message because there is no one place in the Bible where this is explained. There's this verse here and then the verse over there. And we're going to put some of them together and talk about your personal glorification. If you know Christ as Savior, this is going to be a tremendous encouragement. If you don't know Christ, just know that at the end, I'll take time to explain how you can get in on the unbelievable mind boggling blessings that await those who have trusted Christ as Savior.

Thanks for joining me on this journey. On two or three occasions, I'm going to ask you to take your Bibles and turn to a passage. I could quote the passage or read it for you, but the reason I don't is because unless you see it in the Bible, you might not believe it's there. It is so overwhelming that you need to have this riveted in your mind. If you take the Bible that is there in the seat in front of you, I may even give you the page number on two or three occasions.

You've got to see this. We begin today with the 17th chapter of the book of John. John chapter 17, a very famous passage of Scripture, and Jesus is praying to the Father. He prays for the disciples, and then beginning in verse 20, he prays for all of us. And now notice, and it is on page 903, notice what the text says. John 17 verse 22.

You won't believe it unless you see it. And the glory that you have given me, I have given to them. Jesus, are you saying that? The glory you have given me, I've given to them that they may be one even as we are one. I in them and you in me that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you love me. And Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am to see my glory. And then he goes on to say, because you've loved them even as you've loved me from before the foundation of the world.

Today I want only the phrase, the glory which you've given me I've given to them. The Bible talks about the fact that for believers there will be an eventual glorification. Now imagine that you have gone to heaven and also imagine that the resurrection of the body has taken place. Those who are in heaven today, they do not have their permanent bodies.

Their soul is taking on the characteristics of the body so that they can communicate and so forth, but they are not totally complete. But let us suppose that you are in heaven and the resurrection of the body has taken place. What will that be like? What will that glorification be like? And at the end of the message, I'll explain how your glorification glorifies God. First of all, the glorification of the soul, the glorification of the soul.

When I speak of the soul, I want you to think of your mind, the glorification of your mind or your soul, perfectly glorified. It'll be glorified because of what it knows. Our knowledge in heaven is not going to be complete.

It's not as if we are God, nothing like that. But everything that we know in heaven will be accurate. The Bible says we will know even as we are known. We'll know a whole lot more than we do today and everything will be accurate and complete in itself, though undoubtedly we'll go on learning throughout all of eternity.

Kids in heaven, no homework, even if your teacher should happen to be there. We'll be glorified because of what we know. We'll also be glorified because of what we experience. Now, here I'm talking about the moral purity and glorification of the soul. You know, the Bible says that in Jesus Christ, we are made perfect legally. That's how come we go to heaven when we die. We're welcomed into heaven as if we are Jesus because His righteousness is credited to us. But in heaven, that righteousness now becomes ours by experience. Let me give you a few reminders found in Scripture.

For example, at the end of the service, I frequently quote the last verses of Jude. Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless, or our translation says blameless, into the presence of the Lord. Imagine being faultless or blameless. Nobody can lay anything to your account. You cannot be accused. You cannot be censored or censured, I should say.

You are there and you are completely blameless. You remember in the fifth chapter of Ephesians, the Bible says that husbands are to love their wives even as Christ loved the church. And then it goes on to say how He loved the church. Through the washing of water by the word that He may present the church to Himself. What an interesting phrase, the church being presented to Jesus.

The one who purified the church, died for the church, is being presented now with the church. But notice without spot, without wrinkle, that she may be holy and blameless and without blemish. Have you had some wrinkles this past week? Maybe in your body, maybe also in your mind, maybe you live with someone who isn't perfect and your perfection is rubbing up against their imperfection.

And you're finding it very difficult. It's a strain on your perfection to be sure. Imagine being holy and blameless in His sight. We could use some positive words too.

We could say clean, pure, transparent. Imagine it. Johnny Erickson Tada, who as you know is a quadriplegic, who has led many of us into understanding suffering biblically in wonderful ways, says that what she looks forward to in heaven is not just parking her wheelchair at the door, though thank God she'll be able to do that, and it's not just the ability of running toward Jesus and then falling at His feet, though she looks forward to that too. She says what she looks forward to is such purity of mind that never would any sin ever come between her and the unmediated fellowship and presence of God. See, today everything that we have in worship is mediated. It's mediated through Jesus. But in the end, walking with God without a single hint or tint of sin. Now, in order for us to get a handle on this, let me ask you a question today.

It's just you and me. How would you like it if all of the thoughts of your mind were perfectly and completely known to your spouse, to your friends, to your parents, and to your children? How would you like that?

Or, you're laughing, I know. We'll take you first. Or have them all on a screen. How would you like that? We'd all be so ashamed. We couldn't stand the shame.

We'd all want to live on a desert island somewhere. My dear friend, imagine being in the presence of God with our thoughts so pure, so clean, so transparent, that God can see all of them and all of our friends can see all of them. Never any embarrassment, never any shame, never any regret, never anything inappropriate, just one thought after another that is holy and totally acceptable to God. Imagine it. Say, amen, somebody. Isn't that great?

Won't that be great? Amen. All right, now, think of it. That's the glorification of the soul. Now, let's talk about the glorification of the body. Your body is important. It is not true, scripturally, that all that our body does is sort of a prison of the soul, so you get rid of the body so that the soul can go to God.

You are a body that is ensouled, and you are a unit. That's why God is going to raise you from the dead. Now, you think of the resurrection of Jesus. We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Now, I asked you to turn to the 17th chapter of John because I feared that if you didn't see that verse, you might think that it's not in the Bible. I'm going to ask you to turn to another one, and this is found in the book of Philippians. Philippians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians.

Actually, I'm finding it also along with you. Philippians chapter 3, verse 29. Excuse me, verse 20. Philippians 3, 20, page 982. But if our citizenship, our citizenship is in heaven, from whence we await for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body.

And right now it is lowly, isn't it? Like a doctor said to one of his patients, if you were a building, you'd be condemned, he said. He will transform our lowly body to be like his. Are you saying that this is true? That God is going to transform our lowly body, sunmorphe is the Greek word, like onto his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself? Imagine that. Your body is going to be transformed like onto his glorious body.

Now let's clarify something. In heaven, you are not going to be a spirit. You're not going to be a spirit. You're not going to be a spirit. You're going to actually have a body. Jesus said to his disciples, handle me because a spirit doesn't have flesh and bones.

He had flesh and bones, and Thomas saw the nail prints in his hands, and they were able to touch him. So we're not going to be spirits. We're not going to be angels. We'll have physical bodies, and those bodies will be raised so that they will be like onto his glorious body. Now we think immediately of the Mount of Transfiguration where Jesus Christ's glory was veiled, and we think of the fact, will our glory be to that extent?

I'm not sure, but this much I know. The body we are going to have is going to be absolutely glorious. It'll be a glorious body. Redemption, body, soul, and spirit totally redeemed. The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians, it is sown, a perishable body. It is raised imperishable. He says it is sown in weakness, and it is raised with strength, and that's why we bury bodies.

They are like a seed in the ground. Yes, it is true that they disintegrate, but in the end, God sovereignly puts them together, and we shall have a body that is fit for eternity. This body is fit for this life, but we're getting one that is going to be fit for eternity. Will we ever have perfect health care? The answer is yes, but not in our lifetime. We're going to have to wait for that. Imagine, never any pain, never any problem with the body. Eternal, 10,000 years, and you don't look a bit older. It's coming, folks. So we have the glorification of the soul, the glorification of the body, and why such a beautiful body, a glorious body like unto Jesus Christ's body, with all of its power, His ability to go from one part of the land to the other, go through doors, different molecular structure, all the rest.

Why? Because we'll be fitted for a different environment. We're talking now about heaven. Now here's a theological concept you need to grasp. Let's think of Adam and Eve there in the garden. As we contemplate them, what was unique about their situation is that there was no, what shall we say, there was complete harmony. Harmony between them and nature, harmony between the man and his wife before the fall, harmony within the man's own heart. There was no civil war going on in him like there is in some of you today.

Nothing but peace, nothing but shalom, peace, happiness. Now as a result, of course, of the fall, you know what happened. Man fell. But the minute man fell, all of creation, the Bible says, was cursed. It was cursed because there could be no such thing as an imperfect, sinful, cursed man living in a beautiful, uncursed, pure, holy environment. And everything was cursed.

And so you have earthquakes and tornadoes and you have all kinds of other things happening in nature. Now here's what it says in the book of Romans. I won't ask you to turn to it, but it is there and you need to find it on your own at another time. Eighth chapter of Romans. There what we discover is, I think it's in verse 31, where it says that the creation fell after man fell. Man falls, creation falls. And now the whole creation, Paul says, is waiting on tiptoe, as one translation puts it. Eagerly waiting, the redemption of our bodies as sons, we read it in our scripture reading today, eagerly waiting for that so that then it can be redeemed too.

We lead. Whatever happens to us happens to nature. We fall into sin, nature is cursed. We find the redemption of our bodies at the time of the resurrection. And what happens is nature is also redeemed. It is also redeemed, the Bible says. And then after nature is redeemed and the earth is recreated, you remember what John said? He said, I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. Isn't it interesting that the Bible begins in a garden, but it ends in a city?

Why? Why don't we all go back to the garden? Why isn't heaven just one state of Iowa, where you have a lot of people living in different little places?

Why the city motif? Well, because we are social beings. And while it is true that you can walk independently with God in your own little condo out on the prairie somewhere, the fact is we are going to worship God together. There is a togetherness of the people of God. That's why we sorrow not as those who have no hope, because we shall be together in heaven. And that togetherness is best expressed when we all live together, we'll do things together, we'll worship together, and we will serve together in the city.

But what a place it is. It is the place of the presence of God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, with them, and they shall be my people and I shall be their God. Walking with God in complete openness and purity and transparency, without any mediation, us and God, my God and I will walk the fields together, as the song says.

We'll experience the presence of God, we'll experience the comfort of God. Twice in the Bible, it says, God himself shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And what it really means is, according to the Greek text, he will wipe the tears out of their eyes. It's almost as if God is going to say, I want to get to the very source of your regret.

I want to get to the very source of your pain. I want to get to the very source of what caused you tears. And notice who does the wiping of the tears. God doesn't delegate it for one believer to wipe the tears of another. But God himself shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there shall be no more sorrow, nor crying, nor death, for the former things have passed away.

Wow. We will experience there the presence of God, the comfort of God. No more, the Bible says, shall heat beat down upon us.

The imagery there is being in a desert with nothing to drink, and the sun is just pounding down on you. The Bible says no more of that. But God himself leads us to refreshing waters. God does it. God does it. God and God alone.

To borrow the words of a song. Now, we'll experience his presence, his comfort, but also his reign. You see, if we are glorified, the Bible says we are glorified, and we are going to sit on the throne of the universe.

You've heard me quote it many times, but some of you, God bless you, still don't know it by memory, do you? The Bible says, He who overcomes, to him I shall grant to sit with me on my throne, I overcame and sat with my Father on his throne. You're glorified, the Son is glorified, together we shall rule in the heavenlies, and redemption shall have been complete. At last we have seen the picture on the box, and the puzzle of life makes sense now because of what God put us through here to prepare us for what lies ahead. You say, well, where does this leave us?

I'd like to make some transforming comments, if I may. First of all, please know that the glorification of God's people, the glorification of God's people, is certain. It's certain. You don't need to turn to it, but I will read verses of Scripture that you may be acquainted with from Romans chapter 8.

This is what it says. And we know that all things work together for good. The letter that you received in the mail this week, the forces that are against you eventually work together for good. You can be having a terrible day, and yet really from God's standpoint having a great day.

All things work together for good to them who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, that is new ahead of time, really means forechose, and those whom he foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers, whom he predestined, he called, those whom he called, he justified. Are you ready? Are you ready?

Yeah? You're ready? You're ready? In the balcony.

Anybody ready now? And those whom he justified, he glorified. Hey, he glorified? I don't look very glorified this morning. Even some of you who are beautiful aren't yet glorified. God says if you believe in Christ, it's done.

There's an unbreakable link. You are foreknown, you are predestined, you are justified. God calls those things which are not as if they are, and says you are glorified. It's a done deal. And some people already know it on earth. I called my mother yesterday, as I always do on Saturday. She's 101. I didn't ask her yesterday, but I have in the past, Mom, are you sure that you're going to heaven?

And you've heard me give her reply many times. I'm as sure as if I'm already there. If you are here today, and you're not sure, probably you are not going. Because believers have that assurance because they've trusted Christ. They've not trusted their own good works. They've trusted the finished work of Christ with such confidence. They have trusted Christ alone so that if God should demand anything else, they'd have to turn away and be lost and be damned forever.

Why? Because they have so put their trust in Christ. We use the expression, all of their eggs are in that basket. But they believe that Jesus is able to take us all the way into God's presence because we get in on His behalf. And so, for Christians, it's already a done deal. Now, if you are here today, or you're listening in any other way, maybe by radio, internet, and you have never trusted Christ as Savior, I invite you to do that. Admit your sinfulness.

Come and trust Him. Get over your infatuation with your own righteousness because it falls short. And come to a Savior who actually saves.

There's a second revolutionary idea, and you need to get this. Our glorification, our glorification contributes to God's own glory. Maybe you've been a little uneasy during this message because you say, Pastor Lutzer, you're talking about our glorification, and doesn't that detract just a little bit from the glory of God, the fact that we also are going to be glorified with bodies like unto Christ, with minds that are absolutely pure? The answer is no. It doesn't detract from His glory.

It adds to His glory. Let's think it through, Adam and Eve again. Let us suppose that they had not sinned. Most of us wish they hadn't.

Whether or not that would have been best is a huge, huge, huge discussion that thankfully, because I'm speaking, I can conveniently sidestep today. But let us suppose they hadn't sinned. What would they know of God?

Well, they'd know that He was the Creator. They could certainly sing the song of creation, but they could not sing the song of redemption. They could have never sung, worthy is the lamb that was slain.

They could never have done that. And as I like to explain to people, the death of Jesus Christ on the cross is God at His best. It is there where God's holiness and God's love were in tension, and the tension between them was resolved. Love wanted to redeem.

Justice said, no, you can't. Justice now is paid, and so justice says to love, now you are free to redeem humanity. And there, like a kaleidoscope, the righteousness of God and the holiness of God, none of which could have been known without a fall, the righteousness of God and the holiness of God and the mercy of God and the redemption of God and the generosity of God could never have been known. And that's why, that's why our glorification contributes to the glory of God when forever we will sing. We will sing praises that these undeserving people could be so exalted. It won't have anything to do with us.

We'll just stand in amazement. You remember it was Mozart who said in one line, help me to remember that I was the cause of your long journey, and in heaven, we will never forget that we were the cause of God's long journey in Jesus. I'd love to tell that story about Paul, Paul Gibson. When he was being honored at Cambridge University, a picture was painted in his honor.

He had been principal of Cambridge. And when it was unveiled, he paid tribute to the artist and said in years to come, no one will ask who is that man, but they will ask who painted the picture. And my friends, throughout all of eternity, nobody is going to ask who are the redeemed. But throughout all of eternity, the question is going to be who is their Redeemer? Who is the one who would take people from the pit and tell them that they can now walk in a palace? Who is the one who can do that? Who is the one, you know, who can take us from the mud and make us walk on marble? Who is it that can dig us out of our addictions and our sins and our selfishness and dig us out like that and then make us to rule with Christ? Well, the question is not who are the redeemed. The question is who is the Redeemer?

That's the question. When I was in England a few years ago, I wanted to go to the grave of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, great preacher in England. I love to go to the graves of people. I like it when they have gravestones with actually something on them.

Sometimes you can't have that today, but good old days, they actually put something on the tombstone. One of Spurgeon's favorite hits was written by William Cooper, there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. And some of the stanzas of that hymn are on Spurgeon's tomb.

I love this one. Since ere by faith I saw this stream thy flowing wounds supply redeeming love shall be my theme and shall be till I die. When this poor listener when this poor lisping stammering tongue lies silent in the grave then in a nobler sweeter song I'll sing thy power to save.

At the end of the day, that's the picture on the box. You and I going through trials, going through heartache, disappointments, family troubles, bills that can't be paid, situations that can't be remedied, injustices that do not fit. We take heart because we know that the suffering of this present time is not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us because someday we'll stand in the presence of God redeemed and think of this forever. If you love Christ, would you bow your head now in prayer? And if you don't know him, would you bow your head also in prayer? Father, who are we to to have spoken about such things? Who are we to imagine heaven and the glory that awaits the humblest child of God? We thank you. And we ask only that you'll make us better worshipers, better trusters, if we can use that word, better at our praise, and may we always remember that it doesn't matter if we get our way, doesn't matter whether we're famous or popular or rich, nothing else matters except your glory.

Simplify our lives by showing us that it's not about us, it's all about you. But Lord, there are pockets of resistance in our hearts. Some people are resisting right now because they have this corner that they don't want to give to you. Father, overcome and show them it is best to embrace everything that you have and submit to you. For those, Father, who have never trusted Christ as Savior, I don't know who they are, but they're listening. Would you, Father, break into their lives and show them the glory of the gospel and the wonder of what Jesus did for us? Do that, O God, we pray.

Pursue them until they say, here am I, I give up the weapons of a rebel and submit to Christ, receiving Him all for your glory. In Jesus' name, Amen. Let's stand as we conclude this morning and sing number 648, Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.

Let's sing. On today's Moody Church Hour, Pastor Lutzer spoke on God's Glory and Our Glorification, the final message in a nine-part series on Nothing Else Matters, how the glory of God gives meaning to all of life. It's because of the investment of many people that The Moody Church Hour is heard around the country. We'd like to ask you to consider becoming an endurance partner, someone who stands with us on a regular basis with your prayers and gifts. For full information, go to our website at moodyoffer.com and click on the endurance partner button. That's moodyoffer.com. Or call us at 1-800-215-5001.

That's 1-800-215-5001. Or write to Moody Church Media, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Join us next time for another Moody Church Hour with Pastor Erwin Lutzer and the Congregation of Historic Moody Church in Chicago. This broadcast is a ministry of The Moody Church.