Do you know what God's greatest
glory is? Is it His creation? Scripture
says the heavens declare His glory. The firmament showeth
His handiwork. Romans 1 verse 20 says the things
that are made declare His eternal power and Godhead. But no, it
is not His creation, although creation shows His glory. Is
it His providence the way the Lord provides for every living
thing? Is it God's providence? Is that
His greatest glory? Listen to Psalm 104. He sendeth
the springs into the valleys which run among the hills. They
give drink to every beast of the field. The wild asses quench
their thirst. The trees give the fowls their
habitation. They sing among the branches.
God watereth the hills from His chambers. The earth is satisfied
with the fruit of his works. He causes the grass to grow for
the cattle, and herb for the service of man, to bring forth
food out of the earth, and wine that maketh glad the heart of
man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengthens
man's heart. In verse 27 it says that All
wait on Him. They all wait upon the Lord. He gives their meat in due season. Man, beasts, the birds of the
air, the fish of the sea. Is that God's greatest glory?
His providence? No. Then there's the wrath of
God that shows something of His power in God's head. Romans 1
says, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. We see the wrath of God through
the hurricanes and tornadoes and the destruction of earth
and of man. No, it is not His creation that
is His greatest glory. It is not providence that is
His greatest glory. It is not His wrath. But look
at Exodus chapter 33 with me. In the book of Exodus, the second
book of the Bible, I hope you'll follow along. We'll see God's
greatest glory. Moses was a man of God. Moses saw much of the glory of
God. He saw God's great power and
glory. He saw the bush that burned and
was not consumed, which is, by the way, a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Moses saw the plagues, the wrath
of God upon Egypt, upon an ungodly world that rejected God, did
not believe God, did not worship God, but were idolaters. Moses
saw the wrath of God, the plagues of God upon Egypt. He saw the
death of the firstborn, which was the wrath of God against
their sin and unbelief. Moses saw bread come down from
heaven. Glorious bread to feed His people. Moses saw the Red Sea parted. The people of God walked through
the Red Sea upon dry land while the Egyptians essayed to do that
and were drowned, were destroyed, the enemies of God's people.
Yes, Moses saw much of the glory of God, but in Exodus 33 and
verse 13, Here's what Moses asked the Lord. He said, I pray thee, if I have
found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way. Show me your
mind. Show me your purpose in all things. Show me your will in all things. Why you do what you do. Why everything
is the way it is. Show me thy way. And in verse
18, he says, Moses said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Show me your greatest glory. Show me the truest revelation
of your person, of your work. Show me the reason for all things. Show me your glory, the glory
of thy person. Well, in verse 19, here's what
God said to Moses in response to his request to show him his
glory. God said, in verse 19, I will
make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the
name of the Lord before thee. and will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show
mercy." God said, I will show you my glory. I will make my
goodness pass before you. I will proclaim the name of the
Lord before you and will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I
will." Alright? Moses had already seen much of
God's goodness. But it was not the goodness of
God in His providence, in His creation, that he was to see.
God said, I will make My goodness pass before thee. I will proclaim
the name of the Lord before thee. Alright? Here is God's greatest
glory. Here is His essential glory.
Here is what declares God to be God more than creation, more
than providence, more than anything else. It is this. It is God's
sovereign grace and mercy to sinners. by sending His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, to save sinners. Someone may say, I don't
see that in this verse. Where do you get that in this
verse? Well, He hath hidden these things from the wise and the
prudent, and revealed them unto babes. Christ said to the Pharisees
one day, You search the Scriptures, and in them you think you have
light, but they are they which testify of Me. Scripture says,
to Him give all the prophets witness. It is all concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. God wrote this book as a testimony
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Alright, listen to it.
Listen again. In verse 19, God said, I will
make all My goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name
of the Lord before thee. The goodness of God. The word
gospel means good news, doesn't it? It is God's gospel. Romans 1 says it's the gospel
of God. The good news, the glad tidings
that come from God is the gospel. And he said, I will proclaim
the name of the Lord before thee. The Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ. That is His name. It pleased
the Father, Scripture says, that all fullness dwell in Him, in
Christ. That means all the goodness of
God is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. All the mercy of God,
all the grace of God, all the love of God, all the providence
of God. It is all found in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said, I will proclaim the
name of the Lord before thee. Peter one time was preaching
and said, Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby you must be
saved. It is the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. All the goodness of God is found
in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. in Christ coming to earth
to save sinners. All the grace of God, all the
mercy of God, all the love of God is in Christ Jesus. But wait, it is sovereign grace. Sovereign grace. What is meant
by grace is a gift bestowed, not offered. Salvation is not
offered to man. Salvation is bestowed upon man. Salvation is not an offer of
God. It is an act of God. When someone
is lost, it is God finding them. When someone is dead in sin,
it is God giving life to them. When someone is blind, it is
God giving eyes to them. When someone is deaf, it is God
giving ears to hear. Salvation is the work of God. Salvation is an act of God, not
an offer of God to man. Man is dead in sin. Salvation
is the work of God. Salvation is of the Lord, the
Lord God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Listen to
what he says. grace, sovereign mercy, the sovereign
act of God upon man. He says, I will, here's my goodness,
here's my name, I will. God who worketh all things after
the counsel of His will. God alone has free will. Whoever has free will is able
to say, I will do this, I will do that. Man cannot say that. Man doesn't have free will. You
cannot say, we cannot say, I will breathe 30 seconds from now. We cannot say, I will do anything.
We hope to. But if God wills, we will. Because
God worketh all things after His will. You say, what we're
talking about though in free will is man's choice. Hold on
now. Hold on now. It is God who chooses. It is God that wills all things. It is God. The choice is not
yours. It is God. Salvation is not man's
choice. It is God's will. It is God's
work. It is God's glory. He says, I will be gracious. God will give grace. We're saved
by grace, not by work, but by grace. We're saved by the work
of God, the Father. With the work of God, the Son.
The work of God, the Holy Spirit. He says, I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious. Not to who will let me, but to
whom I will. This is God's glory, you see. It is His grace to center. Grace
means the unspeakable gift of the Son of God to be sin, to
be made sin for God's elect. It is the righteousness of God
imputed, charged to men and women. It is a sin of men not imputed
by God. Sin is not imputed. This is God's
glory. This is God's grace. He says,
I will be gracious I will give my righteousness to whom I will. I will not impute sin to whom
I will." And he says, I will be merciful. Oh, it is the glory
of God that He shows mercy. He says, I will be merciful to
whom I will. Mercy, by definition, is always
sovereign. Mercy means not getting what
we deserve. If God spares you, if God shows
mercy to you, it is sovereign. He must do it according to His
will, according to His own good pleasure. We don't deserve mercy. Man is not worth saving. Listen
to me, people. Man is a rebel against God. Man
is unthankful. Man is full of sin. Man is full
of unrighteousness. Genesis 6, God looked down and
said the whole earth had corrupted His way. That's the way He sees
it now and then. Psalm 14 says, God looked down
from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any
that did understand. He says there are none. Romans
1 says, He's full of sin and unrighteousness. But God is rich
in mercy. He's merciful. He delights to
show mercy. No one deserves a chance to be
saved. Salvation is by sovereign mercy.
And it's Christ crucified. God said to Moses, there's a
place by Me, a cleft of the rock. I'm going to put you in this
cleft of the rock and cover you when I pass by. That's Christ
crucified. God's glory is seen in sending
Christ to die for ungodly, unworthy, hell-deserving sinners. by making
Christ to be sin for them. Not sparing His Son, but pouring
out His wrath upon His Son. And God does that for His chosen
people. Have you seen His glory in saving
a wretch like you? I pray that it may be so. Until
next Sunday, good day.