God will glorify the God’s glorious church

“…  And I shall glorify My glorious house.” (Isaiah 60:7b).

                What is the church?  Is it enough for the church to be healthy?  Is it enough for the church to be revived and grown?  Personally, I like phrase “A church that is the church” rather than “A healthy church” or “A happy church”.  The reason is because I think the church is not so church these days.  It means that I think the church these days is the Lord-centered church.  The church must be the Lord-centered church.  The reason is because the people-centered churches show people's glory rather than the Lord's glory.  And in the church where the glory of man appears, all kinds of sinful things that cover the glory of the Lord are so prevalent that the church must become the Lord-centered church.  Our church must be a church that gives glory to the Lord, a church that obeys the word of the Lord, and a church that shows the glory of the Lord.

                In Isaiah 60:7b, God promised to the Israelites through Prophet Isaiah “I shall glorify My glorious house.”  This promise of the prophecy is that God would glorify Jerusalem (Zion) by freeing the Israelites who had been in captivity for 70 years in Babylon to return to the land of Canaan.  I have applied this prophetic word to the Lord’s church, the house of God.  In other words, the word of the Lord's promise to the Lord's church is, ‘I will glorify my glorious church.’  I want to meditate on how the Lord is fulfilling His word of promise and how He will complete it in the future in three ways:

                First, the Lord will reveal the glory of God over His church.

Look at Isaiah 60:1-2: “Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.  ‘For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you.’”  The Lord has revealed the glory of God upon His church, causing His church, the body of the Lord, to shine forth the gospel of Jesus Christ in this dark, sinful world.  The Lord is causing His church to shine forth the gospel “to the ends of the world” (Rom. 10:18).  As a result, the Lord is causing the church that shines the gospel in this dark and sinful world so that the people who are chosen may repent and return to God from the Satan's kingdom (Isa. 60:3-4).  The Lord is causing His Church to shine the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world, gathering God's people into the Church of God “from the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south” (Ps. 107:3).  In the future, the Lord will cause “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations will worship before You” (22:27).  Then the glory of the Lord will fill the house of the Lord (2 Chron.7:2).  Also, “the glory of the Lord will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together” (Isa 40:5).  We will see “the glory of the Lord, The majesty of our God” (35:2).

                Second, the Lord will make His church everlasting pride and eternal joy.

Look at Isaiah 60:15 – “Whereas you have been forsaken and hated With no one passing through, I will make you an everlasting pride, A joy from generation to generation.”  Now the Lord's church is abandoned and hated.  In addition to the people of the world, and even those who attend church, there are more and more people who abandon the church and hate it.  Therefore, fewer people are going to church.  Just as the Jews were invaded by Babylon, Jerusalem was desolated, and they were taken captive by the Babylonians and suffered, now we Christians are invaded by Satan and his people, and the church is desolated, and we are also servants of injustice and are suffering due to committing sins against God.  No matter how big the church building, no matter how many church members, what is the use when the church is the true church, and the church doesn’t shine the light of Jesus Christ in this dark world?  As a result, the Church is now criticized, cursed, and fingered by even Christians as well as by the world.  What church is this?  As time goes by, the ugliness of the church is being manifested more and more.  So even we Christians are leaving the church because we hate the pastor and the church.  No one seems to care about the church anymore.  But the Lord, the Head of the Church, cares His church whom He bought with His precious blood (cf. 2 Chron. 36:15).  The Lord loves His church (Eph. 5:25).  Therefore, the Lord is building His church (Mt. 16:18).  Now the Lord is building His church to be a radiant church, “without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Eph. 5:27).  The Lord will make His church everlasting pride and eternal joy (Isa. 60:15).  The Lord’s church will receive the glory of the Lord (35:2).  The Lord's church will be filled with His joy (Jn. 15:11; 1 Jn. 1:4).  This is because “the Lord delights in you, And to Him your land will be married” (Isa. 62:4).  Like “a young man marries a virgin, So your sons will marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So your God will rejoice over you” (v. 5).  That is, on the day of Jesus' return to this world, we Christians will be suddenly transformed (1 Cor. 15:51), wearing glorious spiritual bodies (vv. 42-49), and will enter the New Jerusalem, Heaven (Rev. 3:12) and will participate in the wedding of the Lamb (19:7, 9).  “People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God” (Lk. 13:29).  Then we will see the eternal beauty and glory of the Lord.  And we will be full of joy.  Therefore, as we experience the beauty of the Lord and the joy of the Lord, we will pray to God: “One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple” (Ps. 27:4).  We ask God this way because “We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple” (65: 4).  We will see “will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God” (Isa. 35:2).  And because of the God who exult over us with joy (Zep. 3:17), we will exult over the Lord with joy.

Third and last, the Lord will be an everlasting light to His church.

                Look at Isaiah 60:19-20: “"No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory.  ‘Your sun will no longer set, Nor will your moon wane; For you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And the days of your mourning will be over.’”  We are the people of God who go forth daily to that high place, the Heaven.  Although we now live in a world full of pains, sins, troubles, and deaths, we look to the Heaven day and night.  That is why we pray to God “Amen Come, Lord Jesus” as we hold onto the Lord’s promise, “Yes, I am coming quickly” (Rev. 22:20).  The day the Lord comes back to this world, we will enter in Heaven, the glorious New Jerusalem, in a glorious spiritual body.  At that time God will wipe every tear from our eyes (7:17).  “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away” (21:4).  “No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory.  ‘Your sun will no longer set, Nor will your moon wane; For you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And the days of your mourning will be over’” (Isa. 60:19-20).  There is no need of the sun or moon to shine in Heaven (Rev. 21:23).  This is because “the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb” (v. 23).  In eternity God will be filled with the light of God's glory in Heaven, because He will be the everlasting light in the church of God's glory.  Before the throne of God, who is the light of its full glory (Rev. 15: 2), we will “bear good news of the praises of the Lord” (Isa. 60:6) and sing the song of salvation (v. 18).

                The Lord loves the church and gave Himself up for her (Eph. 5:25).  That’s why He is sanctifying her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless” (vv. 26-27).  The day Jesus comes back to earth, He will establish His church completely and build the glorious church.  The Lord will glorify His church of glory.  The Lord will reveal His glory over His church.  The Lord will make His church everlasting beauty and eternal joy.  The Lord will be an eternal light to His church.