You would turn with me to the
Old Testament book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter nine. This morning I wanna talk to
you for a few minutes about the glory of God. The glory of God. Jeremiah chapter nine. Verse 23. Notice that verse 23 begins with,
thus saith the Lord. That should always get our attention. This is what the Lord says, thus
saith the Lord. May we never forget that the
Bible is the word of God. This book contains what God says. So what does God say here in
our text? He says, let not the wise man
glory in his wisdom. Neither let the mighty man glory
in his might. And let not the rich man glory
in his riches. Now here we have three categories
mentioned that men and women should not glory in. First, let not the wise man glory
in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory
in his might or in his strength. And let not the rich man glory
in his riches. Now why should we not glory in
these things? Well, the first thing that comes
to mind is because all these things, Wisdom, might, and riches
come from the hand of God, and they can all be taken away by
Him. It's the Lord that gives, and
it's the Lord that takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. But look at verse 24. But let
him that gloryeth glory in this. This is what saved sinners should
glory in, that he understandeth and knoweth me. We should glory
in the divine revelation that God gives. You see, all spiritual
understanding and knowledge comes from God, all of it. The man
and the woman that understands and knows God glories in these
things. Again, verse 24, they glory in
the fact that I am the Lord. which exercise loving kindness,
excuse me, judgment and righteousness in the earth. For in these things
I delight, saith the Lord. Now let's take this slow. I don't want us to miss this.
These are the things that God would have us to glory in. What's
the first thing? God says that I am the Lord. The believer knows that God is
God, the child of God. He knows that God is the Lord,
the only Lord. He's not trying to be Lord of
your life. Men tell you that. Make Jesus
Lord of your life. He's not trying to be Lord of
your life. He is Lord. He is the Lord of your life.
He doesn't want to be your Lord. God has never wanted to do anything
or be anything that he's not. He's your Lord, whether you know
it or not. One day, every sinner that's
ever lived, throughout all time, is going to confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord. But it doesn't stop there. It
says, to the glory of God the Father. Oh, this is what brings
glory to the Lord, that He is the Lord. The believer knows
that God is the sovereign Savior. If you're to be saved, if you're
to be reconciled unto God, if you're to be brought back into
fellowship with God, God's gonna have to do it. The believer knows
that God is a just God and a Savior. And then we see the second thing
here mentioned, and that is that God is the Lord which exercises
loving kindness. Aren't you glad that God exercises
loving kindness, especially to undeserving sinners? The child of God knows that it
is in and by and through the election of God that God loves. and that God chooses and God
calls and God saves and glorifies sinners in Christ. This was predetermined
or predestinated before the foundation of the world. Third thing mentioned in verse
24 is that God is the Lord which exercises judgment. You see that? We know and understand by divine
revelation, by God revealing to us that God is holy and just. We hear men talk today a whole
lot about the love of God, but we hear very little said about
his holiness. God is holy and just. He will by no means clear the
guilty. He's too holy and he's too just
to excuse sin. I had a man tell me recently
that he believed that if a man or a woman did the best they
could do, that God would be okay with that. No, he's too holy
and he's too just to excuse sin. You see, God is justified when
he speaks. God is clear when he judges. He's the Lord and all sin is
against him and him only. Now, if you don't know God to
be holy and just, then you just don't know God. It's true. You only know a God of your imagination
that is no God at all. God is not how we imagine him
to be, friends. God is God and he's holy and
he's just. The God of heaven exercises judgment. As I said, he can't excuse, simply
excuse sin. How then can any be saved? This
is how the believers sins are judged in Christ. And as our
substitute and as our sacrifice and as our savior, God punished
Christ for his people's sin. I never grow tired of hearing
that. Never grow tired of hearing it. God is a just God. He remains holy and at the same
time, he's a savior. He's both just and justifier. And as our just judge and Christ
is our substitute, God remains just and he justifies us by punishing
our sin in and on the Lord Jesus Christ. Fourthly, we understand
and know that our Lord is the God of righteousness in the earth. Do you see that? We have the
righteousness of God that is wrought by Christ in the earth. We have the righteousness of
God that is imputed to his people in their present state. We have
the righteousness of God whereby we have a right to eternal glory. One day when I stand before God,
I have the right to stand there as perfectly holy and innocent
and just before him. Why? Because I am. I am. Christ made me so. How do we
come about this perfect righteousness? For he, God, hath made him, Christ,
to be sin for us who knew no sin. that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. We're made, made the righteousness
of God in Him. That should give us great clue
that it's not anything that we've done. We're made righteous in
Christ. We're made so by the substitution
of the Lord Jesus. And we can only be made the righteousness
of God by God. We can't make ourselves that
way. God is the God of righteousness. We know according to the scripture
that we must be perfect to be accepted. God accepts nothing
less than perfect righteousness. And we're made the righteousness
of God, how? In Christ, no other way. Notice that the Lord here says,
for in these things I delight. How do I know? God says so. He
says, for in these things I delight, saith the Lord. What does God
delight in? Oh, what an amazing truth to
consider. God delights in showing mercy,
in showing grace, in showing favor to miserable, undeserving
men and women. And he does so by making his
son an offering for sin, making not just an offering for sin,
but actually by making him sin for us. And by Christ's perfect
righteousness, the very righteousness of God, whereby the law of God
is magnified and made honorable. These are the things that the
sinner glories in. These are the things that God
delights in. Now, what do we mean by glory?
Every man and woman, sinner, glories in something. So what
does glory mean? Well, it means to honor. It means
to exalt a thing or a person. It means to rejoice in. It means
to take great pride in. It means to worship. a person
or a thing, to give something or something preeminence, to
make something first. That's what the word preeminence
means, to make something first in their hearts and their minds.
So let me ask you, what do you glory in? What do you glory in? Men and women are going to glory
in something. And I've heard it said, and I
know you have too, Natural men, they glory in place, face, race,
and even grace. Men and women glory in place.
By nature, we're proud of our standing and our position. Men
and women glory in face. They're proud of their own beauty
and their own strength. And men and women glory in race. Men are proud of their heritage,
their birthright, and their lineage. And men and women, even glory
in what they think to be grace, their religion, their beliefs,
even if they're wrong. And when you make wisdom, when
you make your strength, your riches, your possessions, your
standing, your position, and even your religion, the source
of what you glory in, When you give those things the preeminence,
when you make those things first place in your life, you're in
great error. And that's what the Spirit of
God is telling us here. That's what our Lord told his
disciples. He said, rejoice not that the
spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your
names are written in heaven. Oh, rejoice that God has enabled
you to understand and to know Him. Rejoice that God has revealed
Himself to you. Rejoice that you understand and
know God. The Lord Jesus said this, and
this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true
God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." And I know it's somewhat
elementary, but it's so true. Only one thing can be first.
No man can have two masters. Now hear me on this. God doesn't
take away the believer's tendency to glory. We all have a tendency
to glory, but God gives us an object worthy of glory. God gives us Christ who's worthy
of tribute and honor. Christ is worthy of being first
in our lives. God tells us here that we better
not glory in man's wisdom, man's strength, or man's riches, but
he says, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. May we
give Christ the preeminence, first place in our lives. Glory
in this child of God, glory in the fact that you understand
and you know that God is the Lord. You know the chief end
of man is to glorify God. You know what the last verse
in the book of Psalms says. Did you know, do you know the
last words sung in the book of sacred Psalms, the book of Psalms
is? Let everything that hath breath
praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Now I'm convinced
that the more that we see God, the more that we see his attributes
and his character, the more that we'll be weaned away from the
things of this world that don't measure up to his perfection.
The more I see of his glory, And this isn't due to anything
in me. But the more I see his glory,
the less I'm interested in all the decaying possessions of this
world. Isn't that so with you? What
a token of God's mercy and grace. He that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. You can let your place go here
in Jeremiah and turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter one,
if you would please. 1 Corinthians chapter one. While you're turning, let me
remind you of the context in which Paul writes here. Some
in Corinth, in the church of Corinth, were glorying in Paul
and others as preachers. Some said, I like the way Paul
preaches. Others said, well, personally,
I'd rather hear Apollos. And others said, Peter's the
preacher that I get the most out of. And others seemed to
be in opposition to all three by saying none of them preached
like Jesus did. But in verse 13, Paul asked a
very pertinent question to those who carried on this way. He said
this, is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Did
Apollos die for you? Did Peter put away your sin?
Were you baptized in the name of Paul? And then Paul goes on
to say that he was glad that he didn't baptize any of them. He mentions a name or two. He
knew that if he had, they would have claimed to have been baptized
in his name instead of Christ. And let me say this so that there's
no misunderstanding as to what I mean. I know that all of us
enjoy listening to different men preach the gospel. Some men's
preaching may communicate the gospel to one in a way that's
more appealing or more interesting or even understandable than another. I get that. But when the true
gospel is preached, it doesn't matter who preached it. The truth
is this, unless God unless God makes the gospel effectual to
a sinner's heart. It won't matter who preached,
for only God can give the increase. One of God's servants plants
and another servant waters what was planted, but he who plants
is nothing. And he who waters is nothing,
but we give glory to God who gives the increase. We glory
in God who by divine revelation reveals Christ to us. And I think
that's what we'll see here in this chapter. Look in verse 17. Paul gets to the heart of the
matter in this letter to the believers at Corinth. And he
says, for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the
gospel. not with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. Oh, there's so much instruction
here for the believer. God didn't send his servants,
his pastors, his shepherds to baptize. He sent them to preach. How shall they believe in him
of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach lest they be sinned? You
know, we've got a lot of so-called preachers in religion today who
are doing a lot of baptizing, but they're not preaching. We
have a great many so-called soul winners that are supposedly winning
souls, but they're doing so apart from the God-ordained means of
gospel preaching. Verse 21, that's what Paul's
talking about. Paul said, God sent me to preach
the gospel. And then he tells us what the
gospel is not. Friends, gospel preaching is
not words of man's wisdom. Do you see that? To mix true
preaching with words of worldly wisdom makes true preaching of
no effect. Verse 18, for the preaching of
the cross is to them that perish foolishness. but unto us which
are saved, it is the power of God." Now you think about what
Paul is saying here. The gospel message is the preaching
of the cross. The preaching of the cross is
the message of substitution. Gospel preaching is the message
of Christ crucified. No wonder Paul said, I'm determined
not to know anything among you other than Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. Friends, that's the issue. That's
the issue. How are we gonna stand before
a thrice holy God? Only one way, in the Lord Jesus
Christ. who fulfilled the law for us
and satisfied God's justice in our place. Gospel preaching is
the message of Christ and Him crucified. Christ dying in the
room instead of those that God gave Him. Christ on the cross
taking my punishment for my sin. Oh, if we ever truly see our
sin and who it's against, that'll be important to us. And it's
here that we see how God put away our sin. He put it away
by putting it on Christ. The preaching of the cross is
foolishness to some. Who's it foolishness to? Paul
tells us, to them that perish. There are those who are perishing
that think what we're doing here today, preaching, is nothing
but foolishness. One time I had a man ask me that
very thing. He said, do you really believe
that you're saved? And do you really believe that
you're going to heaven by believing that Jesus Christ died for your
sin? And I said, I believe it with
all my heart, all my heart. That's what I believe. And you
know what he said? He said, that's foolishness. And you know what I told him?
I said, God said that you would say that. God said, it's foolishness
to them that perish. But that same preaching, that
same message that men call foolishness, the glorious message of substitution,
why, it's the power of God unto us which are saved. It took the
power of God to make one alive who was dead in trespasses and
sin, did it not? It took the power of God to enable
this dead sinner to believe. It took the power of God to put
away our sin. It took the power of God to make
Christ sin. It took the power of God to make
me righteous. preaching of the cross, the preaching
of substitution. Unto us who are saved is the
power of God. And I'm telling you, you will
not be saved apart from the gospel preaching of the cross. And Paul shows us how unreasonable
it is to question the gospel of the cross on the grounds that
the so-called wise men of the world claim it to be foolishness. Look at verse 19, for it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing
the understanding of the prudent. God renders useless men's wisdom,
men's learning, and men's philosophy. Men who are wise in their own
esteem become fools before God. Men who profess to see by the
light of human wisdom are struck blind. The wisdom of this world
becomes vain and worthless when it exalts itself against God. That's what Paul meant when he
said, listen to these words, and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for
this cause, God sent them strong delusion that they should believe
a lie, that they All might be damned who believe not the truth,
but had pleasure in unrighteousness. In another place, Paul said,
let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth
to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he might
be wise. All men can call me a fool if
they like, but I'm a fool for Christ's sake. And it's by the
foolishness of preaching that the Lord saves them that believes.
And that's why Paul asks here in verse 20, he says, where is
the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of the world? Where's the wise man that boasts
of superior wisdom and knowledge? Where's the scribe and the scholar
who thinks that they've got God figured out? Where is the debater
and the disputer of this world who doesn't get his wisdom from
the Holy Spirit, but from human understanding? Well, they're
not found among those whom the Lord uses to minister and preach
the gospel. Without Christ, who is the way,
friends, all roads lead to ruin, and all human wisdom is foolishness
to God. The gospel of Christ, the preaching
of the cross, the message of substitution exposes all worldly
wisdom for what it is, nothing but foolishness, foolishness. Verse 21, for after that in the
wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. when the world with all its earthly
wisdom failed to understand and know the living God by its own
means. God in his wisdom and his purpose
revealed himself and his salvation which was purchased and provided
by Christ through the very means that the world calls foolishness,
preaching the gospel. When the wise men of the world
are left to perish in their sins, being ignorant of God, the very
gospel that they despise has become the power of God and the
salvation to all that believe in Christ. And in verse 22, Paul
says, for the Jews require a sign. The Jews wanted a sign from heaven
that Christ was the Messiah. And the Greeks, they seek after
wisdom. They sought after the things
that satisfied human intellect. Listen, you'll never believe
the gospel with your intellect. Just won't. God's ways are past
finding out. You won't find out God's ways
with your intellect. But Paul said, but we preach
Christ crucified. There it is again. Christ doing
for me what I couldn't do for myself. And unto the Jews, it's
a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks, it's foolishness. We
shouldn't be surprised if our neighbors and friends who are
without Christ think that what we do is foolishness. It's a
stumbling block to them, the preaching of the cross, the preaching
of substitution, the preaching of Christ and Him crucified is
to many a stumbling block and foolishness, just as it was to
the Jews and the Greeks. But in verse 24, Paul says, but
unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, God's got some
people, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and
the wisdom of God. To those who are called and enlightened
by God, Christ crucified is not only the power of God to save,
but he's also the wisdom of God. How so? Well, in Christ, the
law of God is honored. In Christ, the holy justice of
God is satisfied. In Christ, every attribute of
God is glorified. In Christ, God is both just and
justifier. And in verse 25, because the
foolishness of God is wiser than man, and the weakness of God
is stronger than man. And what men call foolish is
if it's of God, it's wiser than man. And what men call weakness,
if it is of God, is stronger than man. And verse 26 tells
us to consider our own calling. Would you do that for a moment?
Would you consider your own calling? Look around you this morning.
When you leave, look around you. And I think it'll be evident to you
that know and love God that not many of you were considered to
be wise according to human standards. Not many of you were considered
influential or powerful or of high and noble birth, no. When we consider our own calling,
we say with Paul in verse 27, but God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty, And God has chosen the base things of the world
and the things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not to bring to naught things that are. And it's here
that Paul deals plainly with those three things that we saw
in Jeremiah chapter nine, that men should never ever glory in. You remember what they were?
He said, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Why? Because God's chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. He said, let not the
mighty man glory in his might, in his strength. Why? Because
God had chosen the weak things of the world to confound the
things which are mighty. He says, let not the rich man
glory in his riches. Why? Because God hath chosen
the base things of the world and the things that are despised
to bring to naught things that are. Why? Verse 29, that no flesh
should glory in his presence. God gets all the glory in the
salvation of sinners. No man can attribute his salvation
to anything in himself. Salvation is by the sovereign
grace and good pleasure of God. There's nothing left us in which
we may glory in his presence. But let him that gloryeth, glory
in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me. Do you understand
and know God? Give the glory. that I am the
Lord, which exercise loving kindness and judgment and righteousness
in the earth, for in these things I delight, saith the Lord. And
friends, this is the gospel. Look at it, verse 30. But of
him, but of God, are you in Christ Jesus? Right this very minute,
if you're trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, If you're trusting
in Him alone to put away your sin, to provide you a perfect
righteousness that God requires, it's of Him, it's of God. But of God are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. Now, listen to me a minute or
two longer. Christ is our wisdom, revealing
to us the mysteries of godliness and spiritual truth. He's our
wisdom. Christ is our righteousness.
He's the one who makes us upright and puts us in right standing
with God. We don't do that ourselves. Christ
is our sanctification, making us pure and holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in his sight. Christ is our redemption, providing
our ransom for the curse and condemnation of sin. Christ is
all we need, and Christ is all that God requires. Verse 31,
that or so then, according as it is written, Paul quotes the
very verse of our text in Jeremiah chapter nine. He says, he that
glorieth, Let him glory in the Lord. I know each of you can quote
Ephesians 2, eight and nine. It's one of my favorite verses
of scripture in all the Bible because it tells me exactly how
God saved me. For by grace are you saved through
faith and it's not of yourselves. Oh, can we get that in our hard-headed
minds, it's not of ourselves, it's the gift of God, it's not
of works, lest any man should boast. You know, if salvation
was by works, you can be assured that men would boast in glory
in their works. But salvation is of the Lord
from start to finish. So if you want to boast, if you
want to rejoice in something, if you want to glory in something
or someone, he that glorieth, Let him glory in the Lord. Moses
said, Lord, show me thy glory. God said, you can't see my glory
and live. But here's what I'm gonna do,
Moses. I'm gonna make all my goodness pass before thee. Jesus
Christ is all the goodness of God. God said, I'll proclaim
the name of the Lord before thee. Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
friends, is the gospel message that we proclaim. There's no
other message. There's no other way to be saved.
He said, I am the way and the truth and the life, and no man
cometh to the Father but by me. And then God said, I'll be gracious
to whom I'll be gracious, and I'll show mercy on whom I'll
show mercy. That's the glory of God. That's
the glory of God. His sovereign choice in saving
sinners. We can't see God's face and live,
so God tells us of a place that's beside him. There's a rock beside
God upon which the child of God stands. Do you know that rock? Do you know that rock? There's
a cliff of the rock where God will put every chosen sinner
and cover him with His hand. That's where we see the glory
of God in Christ. Christ is that rock. Salvation
in Christ is God's glory. The glory of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord Jesus. May God enable us to do so. May
God enable us to do so. Paul, would you dismiss us in
prayer, please?