The Earth Is Filled With His Glory

The Earth Is Filled With His Glory 

Matthew 5:8: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

·        Jesus told us this important truth on the Sermon on the Mount.

·        For several weeks we’ve been exploring how we are to use our hearts instead of our minds to turn our relationship with the Lord from theology to experience. We must cross into the Promised Land of His manifested presence.

·        Jesus says we must keep our hearts pure. In other words… we must attach our hearts to Him instead of worldly things.

·        It’s like clouds blocking the sun… the sun is still shining but the clouds of our making are keeping us from seeing the sun.

·        A pure heart focuses on eternal things, not temporary things.  

·        A pure heart will be searching for God in all the right places, and a pure heart will see Him there.  An impure heart will miss the moment.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18: Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

·        Paul says, “Don’t lose heart,” don’t get discouraged, (don’t lose focus), difficult things are going to come our way and they can affect our hearts. When we look at these things that “are seen” they seem more real than those things that are unseen; but they are not. 

·        Things like x-rays, bills, debts, etc. are only temporary.

·        We are going to have difficult times, we are going to have tribulation, but we must keep our hearts focused on the eternal things… things that are unseen if we are to overcome the seen!

·        Things that are eternal are more real than the temporary! Temporary things do not last; they’re here today and gone tomorrow! They’re not worth focusing our hearts on them.

·        He has put eternity in our hearts; our hearts are created to attach to eternal things. Look, we’re just passing through here; we’re pilgrims going to a far better place…focus your heart on that.  This is not our home!

·        We cannot be like the unbelievers who believe that the things that are seen are more real than the unseen. They can only believe if they see things with their eyes, therefore, their hearts become dark and hardened, they are unthankful and their thoughts are affected.

·        They cannot know the things of God, spiritual things become foolishness to them, and this affects their destiny.

·        They attach their hearts to worldly things like their possessions, jobs, status, education, etc. Therefore, this is their home.

·        Today, we will see how we can find the Lord in creation and attach our hearts there.

Isaiah 40:21-22: Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

·        Here’s the truth I want to show you today; God has hidden deep truths for us in His creation.  God’s word gives us some “earthly examples” that we “can see” to help us understand “eternal things” we “cannot see” with our eyes.

·        There are things He has put in creation to help us see with our hearts. We can focus our hearts on these truths by faith.

·        The earth, the heavens, the entire creation is working together. None of these things are an accident. He is in charge!

·        Proverbs 25:2: It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

·        The Word of God reveals these truths to us that are hidden in creation, for our benefit. We can learn many deep truths about our Creator and how the kingdom of heaven works if we will look carefully at the creation.

·        I can teach my heart to see the unseen, by looking at the things seen in creation; things that are pointed out to us in His word!

Isaiah 55:8-11: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. 10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

·        He tells us His ways and thoughts are higher than ours, therefore we are to learn His ways. The Lord uses the rain, the snow, seeds, and bread to reveal to us His ways.

·        These are created things to teach us about uncreated things.

·        I can look to the rain, the snow, seeds and to understand more about His kingdom and His Word. Every time I see it rain or snow I see His Word coming down and His provision for us. I can attach my heart to it, and my heart is blessed.

·        These scriptures tell us an obvious yet important truth; He is the source of everything.

·        We are not the source; therefore He wants us to be dependent on Him.

·        When we see ourselves as our source we make the same mistake that Adam and Eve made. This will only cause us to be unthankful, futile in thinking, and our hearts will be darkened.

·        His Word comes down from heaven, and His Word always works. We live on every word that comes from His mouth.

·        Romans 10:17: So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

·        And the words of His gospel are still the key to what He is doing on planet earth. 

·        This is true with His Word becoming flesh and dwelling amongst us. Jesus, as the Word accomplished His purpose and returned in glory. And so we are to accomplish His purposes and return in glory.

·        Jesus teaches us many of these same truths but in a New Covenant context.

Mark 4:10-14: But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables. And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.

·        The parable of the sower compares our hearts to soil. Some hard, some shallow, some full of thorns, but some is good soil able to receive and produce a large crop from the Word of God. The Lord wants us to be fruitful. We cannot be fruitful unless our hearts are pure.

·        We have been called to be “sowers of the word of God.”  God’s word is perfect seed, it never fails… we just fail to use it properly, or not use it at all.

·        We must learn how the His Word works in the kingdom of heaven in our hearts on this earth, or we will completely miss out on all that the Lord has for us in this life as well as the next.

·        Jesus is using this parable in the context of the gospel, but it is also true in how our own hearts operate. If we plant the promises of His Word in our hearts, it will grow if our hearts are good (pure) soil, and come to fruition in the manifestation of the promise.

·        If our hearts become hardened, shallow, and filled with weeds, we will not be able to connect with kingdom things. It’s the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom, but we have a part to play in cultivating the soil in our hearts.

Matthew 6:25-26: “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

·        Jesus is addressing our fears and worries that are directly related to our independent ways of thinking. Our worries and fears lead to unbelief, they contaminate our hearts, and we stay miserable. They create a wall of worry between us and our God.

·        Jesus tells us to look at the birds of the field. He points us to these truths in nature to reveal to us “kingdom truths.” We are continually trying to store up worldly things because of our fears, but our Heavenly Father wants to take care of us.

·        It’s pretty rare to see skinny birds of the field; they’re pretty fat and happy. Do you look at the birds and let your heart thank the Lord?

Matthew 6:31-33: “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

·        Seeking the kingdom means forsaking other things like the worries and fears over worldly things that contaminate our hearts.

·        Those things we’re seeking we attach our hearts to; and may miss the kingdom.

·        The worries of this world, shipwreck our faith, contaminate our hearts and keep us from operating supernaturally in the kingdom.

·        But the promise here is to seek the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and the Father will take care of our earthly needs. So we need not focus our hearts on earthly needs.

·        I think it’s interesting that Jesus includes “His righteousness.” Our tendency is towards “self-righteousness.” It’s depending again on self rather than the Lord. That’s depending on our fallen nature. We rely on our own goodness rather than God’s goodness.

·        Everything I receive from the Lord is by grace through faith; from my salvation to my provision.

John 15:1-5: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

·        Jesus returns to earthly things to explain heavenly things.

·        He uses vines, branches and fruit to explain these principles to us. He says that if we connect our hearts to Him and Him alone like a branch to a vine…we will be very fruitful.

·        But if we do not we are useless to the Father.

·        I must so attach my heart to Jesus so that my home is in Him, my ears and my eyes are on Him.

·        I’m following so close I’m abiding in His shadow. In other words, I am following Him wherever He leads me because I trust Him.

·        Unfortunately too many Christians are still seeking their own independence and their own ways of doing things. It’s as if the branch doesn’t need the vine.

John 15:5-8: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

·        Without the vine the branches will wither.

·        There are many withered Christians, unfortunately they don’t even know they are withered because their hearts are not abiding.

·        Their hearts are abiding here, they’re abiding over there, they’re abiding anywhere the wind blows because they are still unwilling to submit to the vine!

·        But if we’re abiding in the vine and producing much fruit, our Father is glorified, and our prayers will be answered because we trust Him and He will trust our hearts…that’s relationship!

Hebrews 11:1-3: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained good testimony. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

·        My faith and your faith are effective… only if we believe with our hearts by focusing on the unseen. Here, the word attaches our hearts to the creation again.

·        Therefore guard your hearts against worldly concerns, they are thorns and weeds that pollute your heart.

·        My heart was made to focus on Jesus, therefore that is where my focus should be, the king of the kingdom. Seek first the kingdom!

·        Next time you are looking up into the sky, the stars, the moon, the sun and clouds, or at the rivers of flowing water, or at the mountains reaching to the sky, or the oceans deep and wide, or the birds and flowers, let them speak to you the deep truths of the Word of God.