PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 160: LET’S GET BACK THE GLORY, Part 2
FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell
EPISODE 160 – LET’S GET BACK THE GLORY, Part 2
God is clothed in glory. He also wants us to clothe ourselves with glory. He wants us dress in a way that represents His glorious, majestic, and royal kingdom. What does this mean? How can we make this happen in our lives?
Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, From Our Home to Yours, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.
Nancy Campbell: Hello, again! We are talking about “Let's Get Back The Glory.” I hope you were blessed last week as we talked about that beautiful revelation of God dripping down His glory, right to the hem of our garments. And we learned how that, when God has filled the tabernacle, and filled the temple, now He wants to fill us, because we are now His house, that it was just His footstool. We are His footstool.
I'd love you to just say that with me.
“I am God's footstool.
I am God's feet on this earth.
I am God's feet in my home.
I am created to reveal His glory.”
So, whatever you're doing today in your home, once again, God wants to drip that anointing down, right down to the very edge of your garment, right down to the skirt, right down to the hem. To bring His glory, to bring His healing, to bring His comfort, to bring whatever need our children have.
We can bring it to them, because that's what God wants us to do. We are mothering on His behalf. Isn't that wonderful? We're not doing it on our own. We're mothering, we're parenting on God's behalf. He gives us our children, and so we are now caring for them, teaching them, training them, parenting them for Him.
All right. So, we do this. Of course, we reveal God's glory through our lifestyle, through our attitude, through our actions, through our speech, and through our clothing. Now, ladies, we're getting on to this point that I didn't share with you way back when I did that series on “The Glory of Motherhood.” I was a little scared. I mean, I've always been radical and bringing radical things to you. I thought, “Oh my, I wonder what they will think if I start talking about clothing.”
Because it seems to be a controversial subject today. But it's something that I have looked at in the Word of God. In fact, I was reading, going through my journals again this morning. I was looking at a study that I did on all the Hebrew words and all the Greek words about clothing.
When I did this study, it was just amazing to me. I have to admit that I had to step on my own toes. God had to show me things that I had never looked at or thought about before. I have been meaning to share these with you. I looked back and thought, “Wow, I did this over three years ago!” So it's time that I did.
But it's not all going to be bad. It's going to be great! Really great, because this point is, God wants us to dress with glory. This is all part of the glory. I think this is something that we don't, well, maybe you haven't looked at these Scriptures. So I want to take you today into these beautiful, glorious Scriptures.
First of all, let's go back to the one I started off with last week, Lamentations 1:6: “And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty (all her glory) is departed.” Now I do believe that this has happened with the clothing of God's people, because number one point (and there will be many pointers. we won't get through them all today).
NO 1: GOD WANTS US TO E CLOTHED WITH GLORY
Number one point is that God wants us to be clothed with beauty and glory. God Himself clothes Himself gloriously.
Isaiah 63:1: “Who is this that is glorious in His apparel, traveling in the greatness of His strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”
This is speaking of God and speaking of His glorious apparel. Yes, it talks about God's clothing! God clothes Himself and His clothing is glorious. It's the word hadar. We learned about that last time, that beautiful word hadar. Remember what it means? “Glory, magnificence, splendor, beauty, excellency, honor, majesty,” and so on.
Let me give you some other translations of Isaiah 63:1.
The Common English Bible: “This splendidly dressed One, striving with great power.” Many translations use the word “splendor.”
The Complete Jewish Bible says: “So magnificently dressed, so stately in His great strength.”
The New English Translation says: “Who is this One, wearing His royal attire?”
And the New Living translation describes Him “in royal robes.”
You see, precious ladies, we belong to a royal king. We belong to a royal kingdom. And our God is dressed, clothed, with royal, glorious, magnificent, splendid clothing.
The Young's Literal translation says: “He is honorable in His clothing.” We read in other Scriptures, Psalm 104:1-2: “O Lord my God, Thou are very great. Thou art clothed with honor.” Now that's another Hebrew word, hode, which is meaning “beauty, excellency, glorious, honor, majesty.” You notice, they all have similar meanings.
“And majesty. Who covereth Thyself with light as with a garment.” So once again, we read that He's covered with beauty and majesty. But once again, ladies, what is ascribed to God is also ascribed to us.
I read that verse from Proverbs last week. Here it is again, Proverbs 31:25: “Strength and honor (or glory, the word hadar) “are her clothing.” We also are to be clothed with glory. Now, of course, that's going to mean our hidden glory, that which emanates from us, but also what we put upon our body.
The clothing on our bodies. It's also meant to be glorious, glorious. Well, this really gets to me. I mean, as I look into the Scriptures, and we'll look at many today. Maybe a few more podcasts to get through this. I've had to keep stepping on my toes all the time, because, wow, I can't really testify that I just wear glorious, majestic, beautiful clothing all the time. Especially around home. Goodness me, I don't always look very glorious as all!
I do like to, when I go out, when I go to church, when I go to a function, I do like to dress as gloriously as I can. I'm sure it's not really to the biblical standard but I do it as much as I can. Because this is not my idea, ladies. This is the Word of God. If God, Who is the Head, and we are His body on the earth, if the Head Himself is clothed gloriously and magnificently, so shouldn't we, His body, be clothed gloriously and magnificently?
Let's read Psalm 145:10-12: “All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord: and Thy saints shall bless Thee. They shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom, and talk of Thy power; To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom.”
Ladies, are we really getting it? Do I really get it? We belong to a kingdom. Not just any kingdom. It's God's kingdom, a royal kingdom. The glorious majesty of His kingdom. And God uses two glory words to describe His kingdom. One word is not enough. “Glorious” is kabad, and “majesty” is hadar. Two Hebrew words that speak of God's glory and yet which are also ascribed to us!
And so, if we truly believe that we belong to a glorious, majestic kingdom, don't you think that it will change the clothing that we wear? Truly, don't you really think that we should seek, to even in a little way, clothe ourselves gloriously and majestically? Because we belong to this glorious, majestic kingdom.
Aren't we meant to represent His kingdom on earth? I'm sure that's what we're meant to do. I know I fall short, but I want to begin to reveal more and more that I belong to a glorious, majestic kingdom.
I believe, dear mothers, that we should be training our daughters. and our sons, who we are raising to be princes in all the earth. That's what it talks about in Psalm 45, that we are raising princes in all the earth. And we are raising daughters who are princesses who belong to a royal kingdom.
And yet, we let them go out dressing like rags. Well, not quite. I mean, they're fashionable rags. But when you think about it, now I'm going to say something here that some of you may not like. I'm not going to say it in that, “Oh, well, you can't do this.” You can do what you like.
But as I think of these Scriptures, do you really, truly, do you really think that holey jeans that are all tattered at the knees, and holes everywhere, do you think they really can be equated with God's royal, majestic, and glorious kingdom? Oh, I know they're the fashion. Yeah, they're the fashion.
But isn't it amazing, how we, even as the people of God, are so taken up with fashion. We just do, and we're all prone to doing it, we all do what society is doing. I'm not saying, “OK, you can never wear those.” Young people love them. They think they look great. But they really, actually, look horrible.
I mean, they look fashionable. But truly, are they beautiful? No, they're not beautiful. They're not majestic. They're not glorious. OK, they're good for around home, but I think if, you know, we're going out, if we're going to church, we should rise to who we are, subjects of a royal kingdom. It's worth thinking about, isn't it? You go to think about it.
OK, let's go to some other Scriptures, shall we? Exodus 28:2. Now, this Scripture is in the chapter that talks about the high priest's garments. Now the garments that God planned for the high priest to wear were absolutely glorious. They were made of glorious colors of blue and purple and scarlet. And he wore on his breastplate these beautiful jewels that were shining and sparkling. There were beautiful jewels on his shoulders. The garment was just one piece of glory.
Exodus 28:2: “And thou shalt (now this was a commandment) And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother (speaking to Moses) “for glory and for beauty.” Isn't this amazing? When God wanted clothes for His high priest, and he was just going to be there in the tabernacle, later in the temple, in the Presence of God, God wanted to behold beauty. God wanted to look upon glory.
Because as the high priest, he was representing God. And, therefore, he couldn't just wear any old thing. He had to wear clothes that represented God. God Himself was clothed with majesty and glory. So He commanded that the clothes of the high priest were also to be majestic and glorious. “For glory and for beauty.”
Now ladies, here in the New Testament, the Word of God says that we have been “made unto God kings and priests” (Revelation 1:6 and 5:10). We are now priests unto God. And therefore, He wants us too, to wear clothes that are for glory and for beauty.
So, when we're choosing our clothes, the first thing, because this is our point number one, the first thing we're going to think about, “Is this beautiful? Is it glorious? Will it represent God's kingdom, which is a kingdom of majesty and glory?” So that's number one thing to think about when you're choosing clothes. Will they glorify God? Will they match His kingdom that we represent?
Then we go to Psalm 45. Oh, this is a beautiful Psalm. Here it's talking about the king's daughter. And it says: “So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty.” Did you know that God loves beauty? Yes. He made a beautiful world. He made so many beautiful things. His creation is beautiful. And He delights in beauty.
I mean, as we have just read, He said, when you make the high priest's clothing, it's got to be for beauty and for glory. “So the king greatly desired thy beauty. . . The king's daughter is all glorious within. Her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework.”
The king's daughter. Are you a king's daughter? Yes. Yes, if Christ dwells within you, you belong to the King. You are the King's daughter. You belong to a royal kingdom.
Please, dear mothers, please impart to your daughters and your sons that they belong to a royal kingdom. Encourage your daughters to dress like daughters of the King. Amen? Yes.
Oh, and that word there, “The king's daughter is all glorious within.” She's glorious and beautiful within and without. That word is not kabad, but the word that comes from that is kebuddah. It means “magnificence, carriage, the way you carry yourself, stately, interesting.”
Now, it's talking not only about the clothes we wear, but how we wear them. How we walk. Our carriage. We have to even teach our daughters how to carry themselves, how to walk stately, how to walk like a daughter of royalty. All these things are in the Bible, ladies.
Let's go to Ezekiel 16:14. This is a beautiful description of Israel, and how God found Israel, and what He did for her: “And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty (here we have another Hebrew word, yofee) for it was perfect through my comeliness (that’s hadar) which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord.” And so, here again, He's talking about clothing with beauty.
We'll go to 1 Chronicles 29:25. Now it's talking about King Solomon here, but we also learn something if we read this Scripture: “And the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.” This is just a little tiny picture of God's royal majesty.
You see, God revealed little glimpses on earth of His heavenly majesty. And He did this through Solomon. Solomon revealed this. God bestowed upon him, but he also revealed it, this royal majesty. And he dressed in a way that revealed God's royal majesty. That word there is the Hebrew word hode, another word for “glory,” meaning “glory, grandeur, imposing form and appearance, beauty, excellency, glory, majesty.”
NO. 2: GOD WANTS US TO DRESS WITH DIGNITY
All right, number two. God wants us to not only clothe ourselves with glory and beauty, but to look dignified. Now this is all part of the same Scripture, Proverbs 31:25: “She is clothed (the virtuous woman is clothed) with strength and honor,” or strength and glory. When I looked this Scripture up in other translations, I found nineteen different translations that used the word “dignity.” And there could even be more because I didn't exhaust every translation of the Bible.
This was the one that was used mostly to describe that word hadar. “Dignity.” Dignity goes along with royalty and majesty, doesn't it? This is the thing I think we have to come up to, ladies, in our clothing, is to get away from, perhaps, that which is not really dignified.
You know, there's a lot of clothing today that's not dignified. Can you believe it? I have even seen a lady preacher preach in holey jeans. Not h-o-l-y, but you know, h-o-l-e-y, with holes. OK, maybe go around the house in them. But to preach in them? Shouldn't someone who is holding and imparting the Word of God dress with majesty and dignity? I believe we've got to raise the standards up to a royal standard. Amen? Can you get with me, ladies?
NO. 3: GOD WANTS US TO DRESS IN A HOLY WAY
All right, number three. God wants us to wear holy clothes. We're going back to another Scripture we've read, Exodus 28:2, about the high priest's clothing. And it says: “And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.” So, we see three adjectives there—holy, glory and beauty. So, they're triplets, all going together, holy, glory, and beauty.
That's another thing we need to ask ourselves when we're choosing our clothes. Is this going to be holy? Not holey, with holes, but holy unto the Lord. Is it something that will give an impression of holiness? That's a big thing, isn't it? But it's something we do have to ask ourselves, because this is what God commanded for the clothing of the high priest.
And let's remind ourselves again. We are now His priests. You see, it all changed from the Old Testament to the New. We are now His priests. Amen? So we've got to begin to dress like priests. Well, we won't use the exact clothing the high priest used, of course, but we will seek to wear clothes that will have something about them that is holy. And of course, glory and beauty.
HOLINSS AND BEAUTY ARE TWINS
and
HOLINESS, BEAUTY, AND GLORY ARE TRIPLETS!
Psalm 110:3 talks of the beauty of holiness. Some people say, “Well, how can you have holy clothes and beauty going together?” They've got this idea of holy clothes being boring old clothes. Long dress down to your feet, all drab and bland, and just looks so boring.
No. Holiness and beauty go together! You combine them, ladies! God wants both! He wants both holiness, and He wants glory and beauty! That's who our God is. He is holy. He's clothed with majesty and glory and beauty.
And so, this is what He wants us His people to do, because we are His representatives. We are manifesting Him on this earth. I believe, on this point, that we should learn to use discretion in our clothing, because we do use different kinds of clothing for different things.
USE DISCRETION
Now, you're not going to go out to the garden in your beautiful, glorious, long, gorgeous dress that you would wear out to a function. No! Goodness me, when I go out to the garden, I put on my oldest clothes because I'm kneeling down in the dirt. Many times, it's been raining and I'm kneeling down in the mud. I come in, and my old pants are caked with mud, and my gardening shoes are caked with mud, and I'm just really dirty.
And so, we have clothes for getting down in the dirt when we're out in the garden. Maybe you're out riding horses, or if you're doing some kind of sports. When you're going to do sports, you're going to put on your shorts and go out to the volleyball court. You're going to play the sport that you love to play. OK, you're not going to wear this glorious, long, beautiful dress. You're going to wear clothing that is suitable for what you are doing.
So of course, you'll wear shorts for those kind of things. But even when we're wearing shorts, well, I don't wear shorts now. I did when I was younger. But even when we wear shorts, be careful how short they are. So many shorts today, even on lovely, God-loving Christian girls, are so short they just barely cover their bottoms! Help! And all you can see is these legs! Oooh!
I mean, I think shorts are short, but you don't have to make them skimpy. Remember, even shorts, if we're going to be out there playing sports, doing things and all this kind of stuff, well, just have them reasonable. Let's have a little bit of the fear of God about it.
But of course, you won't wear those kind of clothes to church. This is the sad thing today. I am amazed, because we have to use discretion. I've seen people come to church as though they're on their way to the beach, I've seen them come in shorts to church. I beg your pardon? I don't mind shorts for sports and doing those things. You're going to the beach. But coming to church?
In Ezekiel 42:14, it's talking there of how the high priests had to change their clothes. They could not wear what they wore amongst the people when they went in to the Holy Place to minister unto the Lord. They had to change their clothes, to wear suitable clothing if they came to minister unto the Lord.
And so we also should use discretion when we come into the house of God. We're going to change from the things we wear out on the sport field, or out on the beach, and we're going to come in something more appropriate for what we're doing. I think it's just common sense, don't you, to wear clothes that are appropriate for what you are doing.
When you come into the house of God, when you come to a prayer meeting where people are crying out to God, you're not going to come in shorts. I've seen people come in shorts and I find it really takes my mind off what I'm doing, because what I'm seeing is these legs—and this is in the holy place of prayer?
OK, it doesn't matter if you're on your own in your bedroom. You can do it there. But we're amongst the people of God. We learn to use discretion. And learn to use appropriate clothing for the situation where we're going to be. I believe it's time for people to come dressed ready to minister unto the Lord, just as God wanted His priests to change their clothes when they came into the Holy Place, to minister unto Him. We now are the priests. We're coming to church to minister unto the Lord, to worship Him, and to meet with our fellow brethren in the place of the Presence of God.
So we're not going to wear what we wear to the beach! We're going to wear appropriate clothing. And for glory, and for beauty. We're not going to come with cleavage. Oh, goodness me. You see that in church today. Unbelievable! Even bare shoulders. No, that's not for church. That's not for church. It can be a hindrance to people. It can be a hindrance to young men. Yes, it really is a hindrance. We have got to guard what we wear in the house of God. Let's use discretion, and wear appropriate clothing.
Even just going to certain things. Recently there was a function. It was a party. It was going to be where people had to get dressed up. One of my granddaughters, I saw her getting dressed and she was just in jeans. I had to say to her, “I beg your pardon? You're going to a very special function, where you should dress up. You don't just wear jeans. Go and find a lovely dress.” And so she did.
We have to think. Today, people don't think. They think, “Oh well, you can wear jeans to church and jeans to a beautiful function.” No. There's certain clothes for certain things. Let's have discretion. Amen?
Well, lovely ladies, we've got lots more things to talk about. So, I hope you're going to tune in next week and find out what more the Word of God has to say. because there is so much more. Oh, goodness me! It's unbelievable. In fact, when I come to do a study in the Word of God, I always find so much more that I can hardly believe it. So I want to take you into it so we can know what God says.
You see, I think mostly, and sometimes these things I've been saying to you, people who do these things, oh, goodness me, I know some of these people. And they're such beautiful hearts who love the Lord! Oh, goodness me! And they just don't know because they haven't read the Scriptures.
But we do have to know the Scriptures, don't we? We have to know God's heart, what He says for us to live and belong to this beautiful, royal, majestic, glorious kingdom.
Father, we thank You that You do not leave us in the dark. We thank You that You have shown the way for how we are to live. Lord, Your Word is filled with such practical things, even how we're to dress. It's all just for us. We pray, Lord, that You will teach us, that we will be teachable, and we will learn to dress, Lord, in the way that is a beautiful testimony to Your royal, majestic, and glorious kingdom to which we belong. In the precious Name of Jesus, Amen.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell * www.abovwerubies.org
Transcribed by Darlene Norris * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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