Kennystix's podcast
To Him Be Glory Forevermore
The following resource is from desiringGod.org. Not to us, not to us, but to your name, give glory. And for the sake of your steadfast love and faithfulness, in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, get glory from us and from all your people around the world. And from millions not yet believing. Come now and help me make plain the ultimacy, the supremacy, the centrality, the foundational infinite depth of the glory of God. Glorious name, I pray, amen. So last time we focused on the word wise and the wisdom of God. And this time we focus on the word glory and the glory of God because of the way you see that verse 27 reads. Romans 16, 27, "To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ, amen." So now Paul is coming to the end. He is almost on the ground, last words out of his mouth, glory forevermore, and then next week through Jesus Christ, amen, and we will be finished. He's done explaining, he's done defending, confirming, teaching, and now he's just worshiping. Isn't he? Now and to the only wise God of said everything I know to say, to make it plain. Be glory forevermore, through Jesus Christ. Yes. So here's the plan. Step one, going to attempt the impossible, going to try to define the glory of God. Step two, I'm going to step back and look at verse 27 and say, "What does it mean when you say something like, "To someone be glory, what does someone be glory mean? What do you mean when you say that?" Step three, instead of doing what I love to do and usually do, namely linger right here and systematically unfold Paul's theology of glory, some of you like it when I just walk through a book. That's what we're going to do. You'll start chapter one, there are only three chapters in this book where glory does not occur. So 13 out of 16 chapters, glory is on the table. Somebody's going to walk right through the whole book and just let you see as Paul unfolds it. What's the point? Nothing systematic here except as Paul lays it out, what does glory have to do with everything I've said and we'll just let him show it as we go. So that's the plan. Here we are. Step one, attempting the impossible, namely defining the glory of God so we know what we're talking about. Defining the glory of God is impossible, I say, because it's more like the word beauty than the word basketball. So if somebody says they've never heard of a basketball, they don't know what a basketball is and they say define a basketball. That would not be hard for you to do. You would use your hands and you'd say, well, it's like a round thing made out of leather or rubber and button, 10 or 9 inches in diameter and you blow it up, you inflate it so it's pretty hard and then you can bounce it like this and you can throw it to people and you can run while you're bouncing it and then there's this hoop at the end, used to be a basket and you try to throw the ball through the hoop and that's why it's called a basket ball. And they'd have a really good idea. They'd be able to spot one, tell it from a soccer ball or a football. You can't do that with the word beauty. You just can't do it. There are some words in our vocabulary which we can communicate with not because we can say them but because we see them. We can point, we can point and if we point out enough things and see enough things together say that's it, that's it, that's it. We might be able to have a common sense of beauty but you try to put beauty, the word beauty into words, it'd be very, very difficult. One thing with the word glory, so how shall I do it? We've got to try because we just can't leave it for people to fill up on their own. So here's the way I'm going to try to do it. I'm going to take it and contrast it biblically with the word holy and ask what's the difference between the holiness of God and the glory of God and in doing that I think we'll get a little handle on the nature of this term, the glory of God. So that's the way I'm going to try to do it. The holiness of God is, I think, his being in a class by himself in his perfection and greatness and worth, his perfection and his greatness and his worth are of such a distinct and separated, you've been taught that holy means separate, distinct and separated that he's in a class by himself, infinite perfections, infinite greatness and infinite worth. His holiness is what he is as God, that nobody else is. It's his quality of perfection that can't be improved upon, that can't be imitated, that he's incomparable, that determines all that he is and is determined by nothing from outside him, it signifies his infinite worth, his intrinsic infinite value. Now, when Isaiah 6, 3 says that angels are crying holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, the next thing they say is this, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, the whole earth is full of his, and you might have expected them to say holiness, and he doesn't say holiness, he says, glory, intrinsically holy, intrinsically holy, intrinsically holy and the whole earth is full of his glory, from which I stab at a definition by saying the glory of God is the manifest beauty of his holiness, it's the going public of his holiness, it's the way he puts his holiness on display for people to apprehend. So the glory of God is the holiness of God made manifest, listen to this word from Leviticus 10, 3, God says, I will be shown to be holy among those who are near me and before all the people I will be glorified. I will be shown to be holy, and among all the people say it another way, I will be glorified, so to see, to apprehend and to reckon with his holiness and in some sense perceive it is to see glory, and thus to glorify him. So here's an attempt at a definition, the glory of God is the infinite beauty and greatness of God's manifold perfections. The infinite beauty and I'm focusing on the manifestation of his character and his worth and his attributes, all of his perfections and greatness are beautiful as they are seen and there are many of them, that's why I use the word manifold. So here it is, in other sentence, the glory of God is the infinite beauty and greatness of his manifold perfections, so I'm going to work with that definition. Step two, what does it mean in verse 27, or lots of other places and in our own language, when we say to God be glory, what's that mean? To God be glory. Well, we're helped, I think, in the original language, there's no word for be, there's no verb at all, it's just to God, glory, that's the way it is, to God, glory. Now that leaves open this possibility of breath in meaning. I think, if you ask Paul, what are you saying, what are you saying? He would say, I'm making, number one, a statement of fact. To God is and belongs glory, it's a statement of fact. And second, he would say, it's a statement of my own longing and desire. To God, may glory be given, may glory be given to him, that is, may he be seen and loved and cherished and admired and treasured as infinitely glorious, I think that's the double meaning of to whom glory, to whom glory in verse 27. So meaning number one, to whom is glory, that's a fact, see it or not, he's got it. See it or not, he's displaying it, fact. And then feeling and longing and yearning and praying and worship, oh God, to you be glory given, given not in the sense that he gets something he didn't have, but given in the sense that we acknowledge it, value it, say it back to him, live it out for him. So as we turn now to step three, namely the unfolding of the meaning of the glory of God and its function in the book of Romans, keep those things in mind because you don't choose to end a 16 chapter letter with words that you don't think are important. This is not a throw away moment here when he says, "To whom be glory forever through Jesus Christ, I am finished, let it be," you evidently think that's really big. Now the question is, has it shown itself to be big through the book of Romans? So here we go, chapter one, I hope you'll, do you have a Bible, I just hope you'll page with me right through the book, surprisingly perhaps, but once you see it, you won't be surprised. I'm going to start in a verse that doesn't have the word glory in it, namely verse five, and you'll see why. Romans 1, 5, we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations. So Paul states his goal, why he is an apostle, what his ministry is, what he hopes to achieve in the nations by saying, "For the sake of the name," and surely he means something like, "I want the nations to see that the name of Jesus is gloriously above all names," infinitely valuable above all names, infinitely beautiful above all names, more powerful than all names, more wise, more just, more loving, more kind, more truthful than all names in all religions, in all nations, surely this is about glory, the glory of Jesus and the name of Jesus. So there's the banner flying over the book from the outset, "I exist as an apostle to make the name of Jesus look gloriously great, beautiful in his manifold perfections wherever I can, God help me by opening people's eyes." However, the very fact that Jesus is the main point of the world shows that the world needs Jesus as a Savior. So Paul knows that, he set things up now to say, "Everybody needs this Jesus, I want them to see how great he is, but he's not a guy to go backwards and say, "Why does everybody need a Savior?" And that's what chapters 1 to 3 are, right? The need for a Savior. Chapter 1 verse 21, "Although they," he's just talking about all the non-Jews in the world. Jews are included here, but in principle, but he's got another section about the Jewish people we get to in a minute. He's addressing the nations as a whole, "For although they knew God," you've never met a person that doesn't know God. Some tempted to preach from eight years ago now, "I remember these sermons." You never met a person that doesn't know God, which is why you should feel very hopeful in evangelism, written down deep. God is, it's there in every heart. Although they knew God, they did not honor. Now there, I wish they had translated glorified because that's the word. They did not glorify him as God or give him thanks. So there's the problem, the universal problem. Every person in this room, every person on the planet does not glorify God as he deserves. That he doesn't acknowledge him as glorious, see him as glorious, love him as glorious, treasure him as glorious, follow him as glorious, reflect his glory, we fail every day. That's the problem. It's a glory problem. Verse 23, here's what we've done. Here's how we've done it. They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images. This is the great, horrible, outrageous, devastating exchange every one of you has made and I. Our exchange, glory of God, look at it, trade it and take an image. Today in America, the image that we trade him for is not generally carved out in wood or stone. The most common image for which we have traded him is the one we see in the mirror. It has been that way since Adam and Eve. You will be like, "God, if you want to see God in the mirror, then do your own thing." He does his own thing. You do your own thing. That's the trick. We bought it and we were born that way and everybody in this room is like that. You aren't like that. My way or the highway, God, and there's the problem we need a Savior big time. What about the Jews? Is there's a glory problem? Well, he's got a long section, chapter 2 on the problem with the Jewish people. We're in this together, Jews and Gentiles. That's his whole point. They're both under sin. They can't boast over each other. Romans 2, 24, this is the climax of his indictment of the Jewish people of his day. There are many indictments he says, "For as it is written, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." In other words, they were not glorifying God's name. They were so living in such a way, you read the prophets and it is breathtakingly horrible what God's people did to bring reproach upon his name. So we have done it as Gentiles, they have done it as a chosen covenant people, and we're all in this together. And now we come to chapter 3, verse 23, one of the most famous verses in the Bible that you learn when you are learning how to share the gospel. But I wonder if you noticed that the reason Paul goes here is because when he talks about sin and our need for a Savior, which he's just about to do with the glorious cross, he defines sin in terms of glory failure. He's got to see this so that we see the under centrality of the glory of God in the way Paul thinks for all have sinned. What is it, Paul? What is it? What do you mean everybody has sinned? And this is the way to say it, fall short or literally lack the glory of God. Now what, of all that I have said so far, would help you answer the question, how do we lack the glory of God? And the answer would be 123 explains 323, maybe you can remember that, 123 explains 323. We exchanged the glory of God for images. You name it, meaning we looked at the glory of God, we considered its value and we said less valuable than money, less valuable than sex, less valuable than progress, less valuable than growing a big church. And we trade him and you get to chapter 3 verse 23 where sin is defined and he said, that's it. You trade him, you lack him. That's sin. That's the root of sin, preferring anything to God, which we all do until we are born again. So there he has defined sin as a lacking or a falling short of the glory of God and oh how tempting it is at this point in the message to launch in the next week because what follows in verses 24, 25 and 26 is as good as it gets in all the Bible. But that we must save for next time. So stay on track with the word glory here, chapter 4. How do you receive the salvation which I've just passed over, receive the salvation wrought by Jesus Christ on the cross in the resurrection? How do you receive it so that it's yours so that there's no condemnation though we have offended his glory every day of our lives? How do you receive that? And the answer in Romans is by faith alone. Faith is a little child. Why did God decide to do it that way? Chapter 4 verse 20. Here he's using Abraham as a model. He was before Christ and we're supposed to read him now and learn how to do what he did after Christ, taking Christ as the object of our faith. So here's what it says about Abraham, Romans 4, 20. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God which are all bought by Jesus and filled by Jesus. But he grew strong in his faith, then literally giving glory to God. He grew strong in his faith giving glory to God. The reason God has ordained, there's probably more than this reason, but let's just say a key reason that God has ordained for you to be saved by faith alone is because when you believe he is glorified. You see that? Believing him, receiving like a little baby puts me in a weak position, him in a strong position. I'm the needy one, he's the rich one. I'm the foolish one, he's the wise one. I'm the hungry one, he's got the bread. I'm thirsty one, he's got the water. Faith is empty and he's full. That's why he did it this way. It's the best news in all the world that we only have to be empty to be saved. Just have to admit it and then go, fall down, just fall down, can anybody fall down? Who cannot fall down? Who cannot be weak? Who cannot be empty? It is not hard to be saved unless you want to be God, full, strong, self-sufficient. So beautiful, the way of salvation by grace through faith is so wonderful if you're willing to let God be God. His glory be everything to you. I just want to posture God, would you give me as a leader about to him a posture that would do that song? I don't know if you sang that song that we sang, not to us but to your name, give glory. I'm going to do that song with my life, it's my heart's desire, nothing no one more than for him to get it all. Now, when we're saved by Jesus through faith, we don't get perfect overnight and we don't get healed overnight and marriages don't get perfect overnight and kids don't get perfect overnight and jobs don't get perfect overnight and it is one mess of a world and we've got to live here as saved sinners and it just aches, it just aches, marriages aches, raisin kids, aches, jobs aches, bodies ache, the world is so full of aching, what's up? The answer is hope is up, hope is up for what, chapter 5, verses 1 and 2, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God, that's sweet. You can have that as a fact, you can have it as a feeling, it is a fact in Jesus and it should be a feeling, it goes up and down, I know, but enjoy it as much as you can. Have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, here comes through Him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. So it's coming. Now we see through a glass, darkly, then face to face, we will see this, there's got to be something more right, if this is it, Paul said if this is it, we're of all men most to be pitied with fools. But more is coming and what's coming is the glory of God. The greatest thing is that Christians will see and enjoy the beauty of the glory of God, the most valuable thing in the universe. Greatest good, greatest power, greatest justice, greatest grace, greatest truth, greatest love, greatest everything good, the glory of God, we will see it and enjoy it forever. We have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Now Paul is so helpful. Romans 8 is the best chapter in the Bible. Well maybe chapter 3 is, I'm not sure. Here's one of the reasons I love this chapter is because he's so blame realistic for me. You feel that way when you get to verse 18? I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us. So the glory that's coming is of such an all satisfying, infinitely beautiful, totally need meeting and joy producing kind, eighty years of pain will be as nothing. And I didn't say that, Paul said that in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, this slight momentary affliction. Now what was he referring to when he said that? My life. Do you ever read 2 Corinthians 11, danger on the seas, danger in the suburbs, danger on the streets, danger in the cities, five times 39 lashes, three times with rods, shipwrecked sea, rejected by my brothers, slight momentary affliction is working for us an eternal weight of what? Glory. This reality had for Paul such a central supreme dominating place that as he walked from city to city expecting be thrown in jail or beaten, he said, it's worth it. This is realistic. Life is not easy. I've been saying a lot these days that I've been talking to people. Life is hard and God is good. Life is hard and God is good. And everybody, I say that too, just nods knowingly. If you've lived longer than twenty years, I suppose, you've had enough experience to know life is hard and it gets harder and God is good. No comparison. How certain is it, how sure is it, and got some other news for you. Do you just see it or do you be it? This gets so good. Verse 21. Verse 21. The creation itself, we're talking frogs, baby, lions, bears, birds, fish, trees, grass, mountains, valleys, the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain what? The freedom of the glory of the children of God. To get this, Jesus comes back in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. We are changed and this mortal puts on immortality and this perishable puts on the imperishable. And you shine like the sun in a kingdom of your father so bright, the devils would be tempted to worship you. And once your glory is established, then God says only then, now we need a suitable universe for that. This one won't do and he fixes it according to your glory. That's amazing. That is amazing. He's got a word for what happens to you. Verse 30, Romans 8, 30, those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also say the word with me, glorified, glorified. That means that not only do we behold the glory of God so that every longing you ever had for beauty will be satisfied. But also every longing you ever had to become an undefiled, unbe-smurched, perfect reflector of God you become. Christianity, through Jesus Christ, is designed to satisfy every longing you ever legitimately had. Many of our longings are governed by our eyes. I want to see beauty, I want to see greatness. People wouldn't go to movies and sporting events and look at children and photograph albums and go on the web and make albums, they wouldn't do any of that if the eyes didn't matter. We didn't like to see greatness and beauty and preciousness and treasure, but that's not all we long for. We don't want to be sinful seers. We want to be perfect. We want to be whole. We want to be radiant with the glory of God. We want to be what we were designed to be, not just see. Maybe these two words can stick. We will behold and we will become, we will behold and we will become. We will behold the glory of God and we will become perfect reflectors of His glory. Number nine, Paul has now tackled the issue of the justice of God and the faithfulness of God in his covenant keeping with Israel and whether or not he is not only just that some of them are lost, but underneath that another question comes out in verse 14 about the righteousness of God in the freedom of his election and the presence of so much unbelief and lostness and pain in the world. How can God be righteous and the world be like it is? That's Romans 9. You understand now that we're surveying, we're not unpacking, you have to go back and look at the sermons to see and unpack, but what we're seeing now in verse 23 of Romans 9 is the most ultimate, actually verses 22 and 23, the most ultimate word that Paul has to give us concerning why the world is the way it is. So I'm going to read it carefully, slowly, you listen, read. What if God, desiring to show His wrath and make known His power has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? In order is the goal, in order to make known the riches of His glory for the vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory. The final argument by it or not by it, the final argument of the Bible and of Romans and of the Apostle Paul is that the reason the world is the way it is is because it displays the glory of God most fully. Whether it be the glory of wrath or the glory of mercy. God has so governed the world in His justice that He can never be faulted and no one will ever be treated in a way worse than they deserve. God is aiming that we see and savor and treasure His glory, the riches of His glory. In order to make known the riches of His glory for the vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory. It's very hard to overstate the centrality, supremacy, and importance of the glory of God at every turn in Romans and in the Bible and in the world. He comes to the end of chapter 9 to 11 and we saw this last time. He comes to the end of chapter 11, breaks out into a doxology and praise of the inscrutable wisdom of God and ends that doxology in verse 36. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things to Him be glory forever and ever. In other words, He's the ultimate origin from Him. He's the ultimate sustaining power through Him. He's the ultimate goal to Him of all things, therefore to Him be glory. It belongs to Him and we pray that He get it from every soul. Chapter 15, the wheels are coming down. He's finished, you remember, talking about how Christians should get along with each other when they're weak and strong. Remember that? Some are upset about wine, drinking, and others aren't. Some are upset about daykeeping and others aren't and some are upset about meat eating and others aren't. He's trying to help them be church, be the church. So what does He have to say about the ultimate meaning of the church? Chapter 15, verses 5 and 6, "May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Jesus Christ that together with one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." That's why He bought us and that's why He builds His church. I will build my church and my aim is that they would glorify me with unified voice, whether they're talking or whether they're singing, whether they're praying, whether they're groaning, or what unity here for one great purpose, the glory of God. He doesn't want little isolated, fragmented, glory producers. He wants a church, he wants people together, under the Word, in praise, making much of His glory and then going out red-hot to live like that, to come back again and a rhythm in life develops all about the glory of God. And then in verse 7, He gives Christ as the pattern for how it's done, therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you. How did you do it? For the glory of God. Christ welcomed you for God's sake. This is very humbling. We humans, we saints of God, we blood-bought children of the Almighty are never the final reason why God saves us. And that's good news because you wouldn't want it any other way, would you? The God and His value become subordinate to yours, you wouldn't want that, would you? For it is very good news to be told you are saved, I welcome you for the glory of God. It's what you always wanted at the bottom of your heart and didn't know. So I'm just satisfying your deepest desires. Good news. I am not central, thank God. So Paul underscores this pattern by telling us, and we're very close to Christmas here now, why Jesus came to do this, verses 8 and 9 of Romans 15, verses 8 and 9, for I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised, that is He became a Jew, to show God's truthfulness in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and this relates to especially to us Gentiles, in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy. So it came for two reasons, became a Jewish Messiah for two reasons, one to say to all the Jewish people, God keeps His promises. God is faithful, I'm it, every promise is yes in me, and to all those formerly passed over Gentiles to say, I came so that as I save you, you might glorify God for His mercy. That little phrase is the gospel packed, glorify God for mercy, glorify God for mercy. It's glorious that God is the main thing because mercy comes to us, glory goes to Him. He gets to glory, we get to joy, doesn't get any better, unless you want to be God, and then that's the problem. We're at the end now, back to chapter 16, verse 27, therefore in view of all that we've seen, Paul would say, to the only wise God, glory, glory, forevermore. Through Jesus Christ, amen, closing questions, is that the cry of your heart, cry, meaning you, glory from me and everyone, I want to be that way, I want everybody, I touch to be more that way to you, glory, that's the cry of my heart, is that the cry, is it the cry of your heart? God is calling for your attention tonight, today, and when you walk out of this room for you into the daylight and for us into the dark, because the Bible says two things. The heavens are telling the glory of God, Psalm 19 1. He means he's shouting at us, he shouts with clouds, he shouts with blue expanse, he shouts with gold on the horizons, he shouts with galaxies and stars, he shouts him, I am glorious, open your eyes, it's like this, only better if you know me. And the Bible says, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory. If you had eyes to see in this room, you would see the glory of God everywhere. We need eyes, we need eyes more than we need anything, the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the knowledge of the glory of Christ in the gospel. We need eyes, oh that God would give you eyes. So I ask, do you see it, do you love it, and I'll say again, you were made for this, deep down in your heart, if you're a totally disinterested person sitting there tonight, just eager for this service to be over, there will come a day, I hope tonight, when enough of the crust is scraped off that you will say, God he was right. I'm made for this, this is why I exist to see that, everything is pointing to that. All the glory that I thought was so attractive is going there, this is all husks and ashes. He was right, the Bible was right, Jesus was right, I hope it will not be too late when that happens for you. When it happens, do this. He came into his own and his own received him not, just don't do that, do the next thing, but to as many as received him, this is like a little baby again, this is faith, to as many as received him to them gave he power to become the what? Children of God and if children eventually chips off the obla, risky to say, you will not only see your father, for whom you were made, but John says, we know that when we see him, we will be like him, but we will see him as he is, and it will all come together for you, and you know, being saved is just that happening a few years earlier than when it will happen fully. It means that tonight, enough of the light shines into your heart, just enough, just a little teeny ray shines in that you say, okay, that's all I want. I don't see much now, but if I yield, maybe I'll see more, and then someday you see it all no longer through a glass darkly, and when you see it, you will be it, and you will never, ever regret it, let's pray. Lord, the wheels are down and the flaps are up, and we love the book of Romans because we love you. We love your glory. We want to live it, we want to see it, we want to be more of it for the world. We don't want to be tucked away in our little enclaves. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven, that's what we want to live for. So God, open our eyes, bring us to see, pray in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening to this resource from DesiringGod.org. If you found it helpful, we encourage you to enjoy and share from thousands of resources on our site, including books, sermons, articles, and more, available free of charge. DesiringGod.org exists to help you treasure Jesus more than anything else because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.
God’s glory shines throughout his word and in the world. To ignore it is to tragically miss the most beautiful and joyful reality in the universe.