I'M A GLORY CARRIER!

By Pastor Tayo Adeyemi
 New Wine Church, London

Sunday 22nd January 2012

Foundation Scripture: Isaiah 60:1-3
Last week, we looked at the ‘how to’ of ‘Arise and shine’ and we learned that ‘Arise’ means both a change of posture and a change of position. We understood that when God calls you to arise, He expects you to play your part.  We discovered that in order to arise we must raise our thinking, we must raise our expectations, we must raise our perspective and we must raise our praise. Now today, we are going to move one step further and examine the next stage of this powerful mandate.
In our foundation scripture God gives us the charge to ‘Arise and shine’.  But He goes one step further and gives us two cogent reasons why we need to do so:  First He gives us the positive reason – ‘Your light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you’ but also the negative reason – ‘darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness will cover the people’. These are two powerful reasons why we cannot afford to ignore the mandate to ‘Arise and Shine’. When I say I’m a glory carrier, what exactly do I mean?  What does it mean to carry the glory of God? Well, to answer that question, we must first understand exactly what it means when the Bible says the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. The word glory is the Hebrew word ‘kabod’, which means weight, weightiness, splendour, magnificence, wealth or honour. My definition of the word ‘glory’ is very simple: The glory of God is the tangible manifestation of the presence of God. The glory of God is the splendour of God.  The glory of God is the majesty, the weightiness, the resplendence, the magnificence, the wealth and the honour of God. The glory of God is something that can be experienced. When you encounter a person who is carrying the glory of God, you know it.  You can feel it, and sometimes you can see it. And you don't be a Christian to experience the glory of God. (Isaiah 40:3-5). The glory of God distinguishes you; it makes you attractive and magnetic and is a trigger for favour.
When you carry the glory of God, you command such a powerful magnetic force that nations are attracted to you; so much so, that they begin to move towards your light. Isaiah 60:3 says ‘The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.’(NKJV) Now when we say kings, notice we're not just talking about the Queen of England, or the King of Brunei, or the Emperor of Japan, or the President of America. The word ‘kings’ also refers to heads of corporations, CEOs etc.  People in high places will be attracted to the glory that is upon you. The day is coming when all the majestic powers of this world will come and bask in the light of the glory of God’s people.
Now, the glory of God can be upon a person; it can be among a people; and it can be in a place. When the glory of God is upon a person, God is saying “I like this person, and I want to hang out with him.” When the glory of God is among a people, God is saying “I like this people, and I want to be among them.” That is exactly what He did with the children of Israel and that is why they were formidable. When the glory of God is in a place, God saying; “I like this place; I'm going to hang around here.”That is what Jacob experienced in Genesis chapter 28.  He woke up from a dream and said “Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it.  How awesome is this place!  This is none other than the house of God; and this is the gate of heaven!” Likewise, at the dedication of Solomon's temple when the glory of God filled the temple.  Now, God’s glory does not just show up anywhere, anytime or anyhow. God is very selective about where He places His glory.  And He has chosen to place His glory upon you, His covenant child. So here’s the deal, if you don’t carry the glory of God, His glory will not be seen because the glory of God does not operate in a vacuum – there must be a carrier.
It is important therefore that you embrace your office as a glory carrier because you’re the only hope that the world has. If you don’t carry the glory, the glory cannot be seen.  If you don’t shine your light, the world is doomed to dwell in darkness. Isaiah 60:2 says ‘For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people’.  You can see that this scripture is being fulfilled in our day. Almost all the signs of the end times that Jesus prophesied are being fulfilled in our day: Wars and rumours of wars; famines and pestilences; natural disasters of the epic proportions – they’re all happening right before our eyes - previously unheard of diseases; outbreaks of epidemic proportions; viruses and bacteria that we cannot control. But none of these things take God by surprise.  In fact He assures us in His word that in the middle of all this chaos, His glory will be revealed. And how does He intend to achieve this?  Through you. That is exactly how He did it in Genesis 1 in which the world was without form and void and darkness was on the face of the deep. In the middle of the darkness and chaos, God spoke and said “Let there be light”. Today, God is still saying let there be light.  But guess how He’s saying it today? Through you and me. Now when you hear that God has called you to be a glory carrier, it is very easy to become flaky and spooky.  But I have come to realise that God is very down to earth.  Even in subjects that we consider to be very deep, God is very pragmatic and very practical. So today, let’s take this subject of the glory of God and break it down to a level that we can relate to. I am going to share with you three keys that will help you to be a glory carrier.
(i)      Live the Word: John 1:14 says ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth’. Jesus carried the glory of God because when He walked the earth, He was the living manifestation of the word of God. Whenever the word becomes flesh, the glory of God is revealed. This has always been God's answer to the problems of the world. Whenever God wants to address the darkness in the world, He always releases His word. In Genesis, He released His word when He said; “Let there be light.” All through the Old Testament, He released His word through the mouth of the prophets. For 33 years in the New Testament, Jesus was the living manifestation of the word of God - wherever He went, He carried the glory of God with Him and everyone saw it. Now today, you and I have been charged with the responsibility of carrying the glory of God and revealing it to the world and one of the most effective ways that we do this is that we live the word.   It is not enough just to be a Christian; it is not even enough to know the word.  Your life must become a living, breathing expression of the word of God. Remember, there are many people who will never pick up the bible; and you are the only bible they will ever read. Now, you cannot live the word if you do not know the word; and you cannot know the word if you do not study the word, meditate on the word and obey the word.
To live the word is to live by the word.  God wants His word to be planted in your heart then He wants to plant you as the living word in the world, to manifest His glory. This is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 13, when He shared the two parables of the sower and the seed. In both parables, there is the sower, there is the seed and there is the soil. In the first parable, the seed is the word, and the soil is the heart of the believer.  In the second parable, the seed is the believer, and the soil is the world. We are planted in this world to be the living manifestation of the written word of God. In order to achieve this, we must study the word, meditate on the word and obey the word.   Now you may find that you are not able to study the word everyday but I encourage you to find at least two or three days in the week where you engage in studying the word.  We are encouraged in Joshua 1:8 to meditate on the word day and night. This means you must meditate on the word at least once a day, preferably twice a day.  To obey means to do what the word says.  Don't rationalise it; don't argue with it; don't make excuses; don't make exceptions.  Just obey the word. If you truly want to be a glory carrier, you must develop a vibrant and dynamic relationship with the word, to the point that you become one with the word of God.               

(ii)     Do the Works: Matthew 5:16 ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.’ When most people hear the phrase ‘good works’, they immediately think of spiritual works; like preaching, praying for people, or serving in a church related context. However, this phrase goes beyond that. The word for works in this passage is the Greek word ergon, from which we get our English word ergonomics, the science of maximising efficiency and increasing productivity. So, as a glory carrier, you have the responsibility to maximise your productivity in every aspect of life.  And this is how God is glorified through your life. There are many ramifications of good works.  Let me give you six quick examples: Professional good works, domestic good works, relational good works, social good works, charitable good works, and of course spiritual good works.  Professional good works speaks of your performance at work.  As a believer, you should be the best at what you do at work.  Excellence should be the hallmark of your professional life. Domestic good works speaks of your input at home - helping with the housework.  Yes, you do glorify God by doing the dishes or vacuum cleaning the floor. Relational good works speaks of performing acts of service for the people in your life - your spouse, your parents, your children, your friends, and other members of your family. Social good works speaks of making a contribution to society and there are hundreds of ways to do this. Charitable good works are very closely related to social good works but here your works help the less privileged. And of course, Spiritual good works speaks of your service and contribution to advancing the kingdom of God, especially through your local church. Every single person should be involved in serving in one area or another in church. As believers, we are not saved by good works; but we are saved for good works. (Ephesians 2:10)
       

(iii)       Fight the War: What does fighting have to do with carrying the glory?  Good question!  Let me show you with a few scriptures. 1 Timothy 6:12 says ‘Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life’. Not every fight is good, but there is such a thing as a good fight.  A good fight is a fight at the end of which there is a noble prize to be won.  When you win a good fight, the prize you gain glorifies God and advances His kingdom. Now what does all this have to do with glory?  2 Timothy 2:3 says ‘You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ’. This passage shows us that there is a connection between warfare and hardship or affliction. To ‘endure hardship’ means to partake of afflictions. It takes a fight to endure afflictions and stand your ground and maintain your faith.  That is the good fight of faith. In the midst of afflictions, you're fighting a spiritual battle - against the devil, against temptation, and your flesh. You're fighting to maintain your faith; fighting to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus; fighting the urge to give up and quit.  That is the good fight of faith. Now what happens when you fight this fight, and you gain the victory?  Let me give you one final scripture to connect all the dots: 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 says ‘Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory’ You see, affliction is the raw material that produces glory in our lives.  So wherever you see affliction, especially in the life of a believer, look out - there's glory coming round the corner. Affliction has weight; and glory has weight.  But Paul tells us that the weight of glory far exceeds the weight of affliction. So every time you go through affliction, be assured there is a far more exceeding measure of glory, coming your way. God allows the weight of affliction to precede the weight of glory because He uses the weight of affliction to train you and to strengthen you in preparation for the weight of glory. It's very simple really - if you cannot handle the weight of affliction (which Paul says is light) you will not be able to handle the far exceeding weight of glory. If you want to be a glory carrier, you need to be prepared for the training that affliction brings your way. Paul describes the affliction as being light - that means it is of no consequence and he says it is but for a moment - that means it is temporary. But in contrast, He describes the glory as being far more exceeding in weight, and far more eternal in duration.

Remember I told you earlier in this series, that this phrase ‘arise and shine’ is not merely a suggestion; it is a divine command – a divine imperative. Again, remember I told you that embedded in this imperative is the power for its own fulfilment.  So in essence, God is saying “Arise and shine because you can!”. God has already empowered you and anointed you to be a glory carrier.  Now you have the responsibility to go forth and manifest that glory.