and then put your finger in Romans
chapter 15. The name of the message is glorying
in God alone. Now, since there's nothing new
under the sun, the actions of man do not change from 6,000
years ago. Man still commits the same sins
that our fathers did in the past. There's no change that way. And
one of the chief things that men and women like to do is self-glorification. And we're all guilty of it. We're
all guilty of it in our natural state and We are told to make
Christ the preeminent one from the scriptures, so it can even
become a problem for we who are the born-again people of God. We have to be reminded that all
glory and honor and praise goes to our great King. He gets it
all. He gets the glory. And oftentimes we want recognition
for things that we accomplish. Or some people even try, some
preachers even try, false preachers. And I hope it doesn't happen
to we who are preachers, true preachers of the gospel, they
want a following. And that should never be so. I want you to follow Christ. I'm a mercy beggar just like
you are. So let's all give the glory to
our great God, hey, for what he's done. Henry Mann used to
say, God makes the preacher. I stand in front of you, a called
man of God, only by the grace of God. I don't have anything in me that
that would have naturally made me a preacher of the gospel.
It's God's doing. God saved me and changed me,
and now he's equipped me. So he gets all the glory. And
it's the same for you with your giftings in the body too. God
has saved us, he's equipped us, and we give him all the glory.
We're quick to give him the glory. It's how it should be. Again, one of the cheap things
that men like to do is self-gratification, self-glorification. Look at this
in Philippians chapter 3, and we'll read verses 4 to 9. And
this is just a precursor to the main text, which we'll look at
in Romans chapter 15. But look at this. Now, if someone
had something to brag about, It was Paul, right? Really. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees.
He was taught under one of the greatest teachers of his time.
You know, it would probably be one of the seminaries of his
time that he went to there. Nothing wrong with learning,
though, is there? You have to be careful that way. Nothing
wrong with learning. Just don't let it puff you up. Look at this,
though. Philippians chapter three verses
four to nine. Though I might also have confidence
in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof
he might trust in the flesh, I more. So Paul's bringing forth
here that out of all the men that he knows, If any of them
might have confidence in their flesh, confidence in what they
do, confidence in who they are, he more. Look what he's telling
us here. Circumcised the eighth day of
the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, in Hebrew of the
Hebrews, is touching the law of Pharisee. Concerning zeal, persecuting
the church, and that's the true church of God there he's talking
about. That's the people, remember? He wasn't persecuting a building.
He was persecuting people. Remember the Lord said, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me? He's persecuting God's people.
And the Lord says, you're persecuting me, why? Because he's the head
and we're the body, beloved. He goes on here. touching the righteousness, which
is in the law, blameless. He thought he was perfect. He
thought he absolutely kept the law. Little did he know he broke
every single one of them. And this was before he was saved.
But what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for
Christ. Look at that. Something happened
to Paul, hasn't it? There's been a great change in
Paul. Look what he says. Yeah, doubtless
I count all things but loss. So all those things he counted
precious, he's saying I count them all now loss. All his learning
under those great teachers, the fact that he was circumcised
the eighth day at the stock of Israel. He had the lineage, didn't
he? He had the pedigree. He says
he was of the tribe of Benjamin, the favored tribe, and Hebrew
of Hebrews, such and the law, a Pharisee. He had reached the
pinnacle. I count it all loss. Count it nothing. Something's
happened to Paul, isn't it? Paul's been born again by the
Holy Spirit of God, granted faith to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's a changed man. He used to think he was, he had
arrived. He thought he was blameless before
the law. Now he says what? At the end
of his life, I'm the chief of sinners. Oh, something's happened. And
it's not Paul who's made it happen. He's been born again by the power
of God, the Holy Spirit. Yea, doubtless and I count all
things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. All those things he counted precious. Look what he says. For whom I
have suffered the loss of all things. Now, some think Paul
was a very wealthy man. I would lean that way too. He's
probably a very wealthy man before the Lord saved him. He says,
I've suffered the loss of all things, his position, his power,
Right? His pedigree. When the Lord saved someone who
was an Israelite, they were cast out. They were cast out from their
families. They were like they weren't even born. They were
cut off from everything. He says, I've lost it all. Do count them but done that I
may win Christ. Worthless. I count it all worthless
that I may win Christ. Look at this. And be found in
him. Now look at the difference here.
Remember he said he was blameless before the law? That would be
his own righteousness, right? That would be his own doing,
right? Look what he says here. And be found in him, not having
mine own righteousness. Oh my, what a changed man here. Which is of the law. but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness, which
is of God by faith. The only way that we can stand
as sinners in the presence of the holy God is to be clothed
in a perfect righteousness. What Paul just says here, his
righteousness, it meant nothing. How are we clothed then, how
can we stand in the presence of God to be clothed in the righteousness
of Christ? That's by faith. That's by God-given
faith. That's by the power of God. See,
he gets all the praise and glory, doesn't he? It all goes to him. So with that in our minds now,
let's turn to Romans chapter 15. We see Paul speaking about
his ministry to the Gentiles here, and he brings forth that
which will be our subject for the message today, which is glorying
in God alone. In Romans chapter 15, verses
8 to 21, we will see that Paul has been called and sent to be
the minister of the Gentiles. He's been called by God, he's
been equipped by God, and he's been sent by God. And we will
see that here. And what is he to do when he
goes to the Gentiles? He is to preach the only hope
for sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is to preach to the Gentiles
the only hope for sinners, Jesus Christ. The one thing needful,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look and start in verse eight.
Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision
for the truth of God to confirm the promises made unto the fathers.
He came unto the Jews. And that the Gentiles, look at
this, might glorify God for what? For his mercy. Why do we glorify
God? For his mercy. that he's showing
us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, don't we? We praise his
name for his mercy. Undeserved, unmerited mercy. And we praise his name for that.
We give him all the glory. Lord, I'm amazed that you had
mercy upon me, but my lips are going to sing your praises. And
they're going to sing his praises here while I'm on earth. There
are some times when we don't feel like singing his praises,
do we? Because we get down, but we still do, don't we? When we
look to Christ, we get lifted right back up again, don't we?
And so we sing his praises whether we're on the mountaintop or whether
we're in the valley or whether we're in between. We sing his
praises. And you know what? We're going
to glorify him in heaven forever after that. After we pass through
death's door, we're going to glorify him forever. we who are
the people of God, we are born again by the Holy Spirit of God,
washed in the precious blood of Christ, and we will glorify
him. We see the saints in glory doing
it, don't we? Worthy is the lamb, worthy is
the lamb that was slain to receive all power and glory and honor. He gets it all, he gets it all. And that the Gentiles might glorify
God for his mercy, as it is written, for this cause will I confess
to thee among the Gentiles and sing unto thy name. And again
he saith, rejoice ye Gentiles with his people. Rejoice we who
are the born again people of God. Rejoice with all the people
of God. Rejoice. We're saved by his mercy
and his grace. What a gift. And again, praise the Lord, all
you Gentiles, and laud Him, all you people. We're not to walk
around with faces low, are we? No, we're to praise our Lord,
even when it's hard. Give Him the glory. Remember
that all things happen according to His will and purpose, all
things. Praise the Lord, ye Gentiles,
and laud him, all ye people. And again Isaiah said, there
shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over
the Gentiles, in him shall the Gentiles trust. Who reigns over
us? The Lord Jesus Christ does, doesn't
he? Who do we trust? Who's our only hope? The Lord
Jesus Christ. the scriptures being fulfilled
by God granting us faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in it
you know wonderful now the God of hope Oh, our God,
our God's a God of hope. He's not, he's not a piece of
stone that you got to say, you know, you take a piece of wood
to the, to the idol maker and he makes or fashions this wood
and put some gold on it, you give him some gold, put some
gold on it and, and then, and then you, you have to take him
home. He can't walk himself. You got to take him home, right? You take him home, oh, this is
a good spot for this idol. Oh, yeah, right here, right? That's what people do. That's
what they did in those times. And then they go out, and they
go, I'm going to go out and do my work, and oh, man, the house
is on fire. My God just burned up. He can't help himself, can he?
He can't do anything. He's a piece of wood that they
put some gold on. And then he, I think I mentioned this a few
weeks ago, he goes back in the house, and there'd been a huge
fire, everything's wiped out, and there's just a little pool
of gold sitting there. That's all that's left. That God cannot
help. There's no hope in that God,
is there? That's a little g, isn't it? That's a God of people's
imagination. But our God, the scripture says,
is called the God of hope. What a title. That's one of the
titles of our Lord. He's the God of hope. Isn't that
wonderful? And we hope in Him, don't we?
He's our only hope for the salvation of our souls. Look at this, fill you with all
joy. Well, joy is the fruit of the Spirit. And peace, fruit of the Spirit.
In believing, that's because we've been granted faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. You see the pattern here? It's
amazing. It's amazing. That ye may abound
in hope. And that means overflowing. Our hope in Christ is overflowing,
how? Through the power of the Holy
Ghost. See, we can't naturally do that. But we sure do, after
the Lord saves us and we're born again by his Spirit, we sure
do rejoice, don't we? We sure do overflow with joy. So we look at what Paul brings
forth next. He's called to be the minister
of the Gentiles. And I myself am also persuaded of you, my
brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all
knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Nevertheless, brethren,
see, it's written to the believers, isn't it? I have written more
boldly unto you in some sort is put you in mind because of
the grace that is given to me of God. Wow, Paul's a changed
man because of the grace that was given to him of God. We who
are born again are changed people because of the grace that's been
given to us by God. That I should be the minister
of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God,
and that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable,
being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. I have therefore, wherever
I may glory, through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain
to God. Look at that verse right there.
Paul doesn't glorify in himself anymore. We saw that in Philippians.
He doesn't have glory in himself, but look what he says here in
verse 17. I have therefore whereof I may
glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to
God. Well, here's who Paul glories in. He glories in the Lord Jesus
Christ. For I dare not speak of any of
the things which Christ hath not wrought by me. Look at that. He says, I dare not speak about
the things that I've done that haven't been wrought by Christ.
to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed. So he's saying
it's not by anything I've done, not by works of righteousness
which I have done, but according to his mercy he saved me. Paul
dares not tell them that there's something you have to do to be
saved. That's what he's telling us here. I dare not preach anything other
than Christ to them in his finished, accomplished, sin-atoning work. Paul don't want a glory in himself
at all. Because it's not him that's made them obedient. It's
by the word of God and by the power of God that the Gentiles
have been obedient to the word of God like we saw in Sunday
school. Now God's people were hearers and doers of the word
simply by believing on the word. Believing what God has said in
his word. Though mighty signs and wonders
by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and
round about unto Icarulem, I have fully preached the gospel of
Christ, yea, so I have strived to preach the gospel, not where
Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation,
but as is written, to whom he was not spoken of, they shall
see. and they that have not heard shall understand. So he's speaking
to the Gentiles here. He's called to go and preach
the gospel to the Gentiles, who it says there, to whom he was
not spoken of. They didn't know who he was.
They were worshiping a bunch of idols they'd manufactured
from trees they cut down. And they made them their God.
They didn't know who the one true God was and where Christ
was named. They didn't know the name of
Christ. And then it says, and they that have not heard shall
understand. Oh my. Look in verse seven, it says,
wherefore receive ye one another as Christ also received us to
the glory of God. Christ received we who are his
people, sinners. purchased by his blood to the
glory of God. So we should receive one another
then it says. We should be gracious to one
another. Because of not only what Christ
has done for us, but what he's done for our brethren too. It's amazing. We as believers
are to welcome into our hearts our communion and our fellowship
with all believers in Christ, whether weak or strong, poor
or prosperous, male or female, bond or free, Jew or Gentile. And why are we to do this, beloved?
Well, we are to love them as Christ loved us. And just again, as he received
us, we're to receive those whom he saves. Why? For the glory of God. It all
goes back to him. For the glory of God. And Paul
brings forth, look at verse eight, that the Lord Jesus was born
a Jew, made under the law, circumcised and obedient to the laws of Moses.
Look at verse eight. Now I say that Jesus Christ was
a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm
the promises made unto our fathers. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ is
the promised Messiah, right? He's promised in the Old Testament.
He's coming. He's the promised Messiah. And
you know, all those prophecies and types were fulfilled in Christ. All those prophecies that spoke
of the Messiah were fulfilled in Him. My. Why? To confirm the promises
made unto the fathers. Says in verse eight. And this was not to indicate
as some thought that his mercy and salvation was not for the
Gentiles, because some of the Jews thought, well, this is just
for us. Why would God give this salvation
to Gentile dogs? See, but they, they were thinking
naturally, weren't they? And God's thoughts are what?
Not our thoughts. And God's ways are not our ways.
And we're all Gentiles here. Aren't you glad that God included
the Gentiles? Amen. Because we're all Gentiles here. No, the text here in Romans chapter
15, let's read this verses nine to 12, bring forth that God will
be merciful to the Gentiles. And we're living proof of that
as believers right now in 2021. We're living proof. Each born-again
blood-washed believer is living proof who is a Gentile that these
promises have been fulfilled. Isn't that amazing? That's incredible
that God's been merciful to the Gentiles. Look at verses 9 to
12 in Romans chapter 15. and that the Gentiles might glorify
God for his mercy. As is written, for this cause
I will confess to thee among the Gentiles and sing unto thy
name. And again, he saith, rejoice, ye Gentiles. If you're saved,
rejoice. Rejoice, ye Gentiles. It's wonderful. With his people, let us rejoice
with all God's people. And again, praise the Lord. and
your Gentiles, laud Him, all your people. And again Isaiah
said, there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise
to reign over the Gentiles in the hymns shall the Gentiles
trust. Well, there's a prophecy about the Messiah right there.
There's a prophecy about the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you trusting
in Him? Is He your only hope for salvation?
Because without Him, we perish in our sins and go into a Christless
eternity. But, oh, those who are in Christ,
we enter into the rest of Christ, which is so wondrous and so beautiful
that I have not seen nor heard the things that God had prepared
for those that love Him. It's amazing. Now these verses here in verses
9 to 12 are prophecies from the Old Testament. I'll read you
a few of these. It says here in verse 9 that the Gentiles
might glorify God for His mercy. And then verse 10, rejoice, you
Gentiles, with His people. And in verse 11, praise the Lord,
all you Gentiles, and laud Him, all you people. Well, in Psalm
117, verse 1, it says, oh, praise the Lord, all you nations. Not
just Israel, all you nations. Praise Him, all you people. And then in verse 12, speaking
of the Messiah in our text, it says that He shall rise to reign
over the Gentiles, and Him shall the Gentiles trust, right? In
Isaiah chapter 11, the scripture says this, and in that day there
shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of
the people, a banner for the people. To it shall the Gentiles
seek. That's Christ. He's the banner. He's the ensign. He's the one
we seek as Gentiles, eh? By the power of the Holy Spirit
of God. And it says, and His rest shall be glorious. I ask
you, is not salvation in Christ the complete, finished, synatonic
work of Christ? Is it not rest? Is it not perfect
rest? to know that all our sins are
forgiven? What rest to know that we cease
from our labors trying to gain favor with God and we just trust
and rest in Christ? Now, do we still serve him? Absolutely,
we still do. Absolutely, we serve him, we
study the word, we rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ, but as
far as our salvation, it's complete, isn't it? It's a perfect rest. We just trust in him. We're saved
by his mercy and grace. That's why that's why it says
salvations of the Lord It's all his doing And what a rest So
the rest that Isaiah spoke of is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
the banner. He's the ensign and He's the
one who we trust in. He's the one we rest in. So we
see that which was prophesied in the Old Testament is brought
forth right here in our text. And then it says in 2 Samuel,
chapter 22, verse 50, it says, therefore, I will give thanks
unto thee, O Lord, O Jehovah, among the heathen. That's the
Gentiles. And I will sing praises unto
thy name. My, oh my. Now look at verse
9 in Romans chapter 15, it says that the Gentiles might glorify
God for His mercy. You know, this is the highest
object of all God's work, His glory. That He might be glorified. That He might be glorified. Marvel
at the word mercy there as well, as we who are the born again
blood-washed people of God We glorify God for His mercy that
He's had towards us in Christ Jesus our Lord. See, outside
of Christ, there's no mercy. No mercy for sinners outside
of Christ. But in Christ, oh, Paul wrote,
I've obtained mercy. And then look at verse 13. Look
at verse 13, it says, Note again the wonderful title of God brought
forth. He's the God of hope. Is He? Is He the God of hope? Every believer says,
oh yeah, He's the God of hope, isn't He? I hope my I hang the hope of salvation
of my eternal soul on Christ alone, do you? If you do, then he's the God
of hope, isn't he? Not just because we do that.
No, he's the God of hope even before we do that. We just acknowledge it after
we're saved. He's the God of hope. He's the
God of my hope. He's the one true living God. And God is called the God of
hope because all true hope with respect to forgiveness of sin
and divine favor is from God. There's no forgiveness of sins
outside of God sending Christ to die for our sins and God incarnated
in the flesh dying for our sins. There's no hope of forgiveness
of our sins outside of Christ. So he is the author and the giver. And do you know what? Any other
hope If you're hoping in anything you do for salvation, if you're
hoping in anything, I mean anything, I mean just a stitch of it too,
just a pinprick of works, that's a false hope. That's a false hope because salvation
is only in Christ and Him alone. He's the only hope for sinners. The only one. And salvation of
sinners is only accomplished in Christ. It's not, well, Christ
did this, plus something we do. No. It is finished. And what do we say? Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise be to God. It's done. The work is finished. And he's, for those who say that,
he's the God of hope, isn't he? He's the God of hope. And the
only reason we say that is because God's done something for us,
hasn't he? We're not the same people we were before, before
the Lord saved us. We're born again now by the Holy
Spirit of God. Now joy and peace generated by
human philosophy and fleshy comforts are only temporary. And there's
only pleasure in sin for a season, but the joy of the Lord is eternal,
it's enduring. And it's real, even in the midst
of human misery, it's real for us. We can be going through just
incredible things, but yet we still have a hope in Christ.
It could seem like everything's crashing. You know how when the
waves, I love watching the sea and when the waves hit those
big cliffs and they just dash against those cliffs and go back,
right? And you think of them sailors
that used to get dashed against those rocks, they had no hope,
did they? The old sailors and the ships. But if there was a
lighthouse, right, to warn them that there's some rocks over
there. Oh my. We have hope. In Christ. And it says there, fill you with
all joy and peace and believe in. And who's the who's the fountain? Who is the fountain of this hope?
Well, it comes from the regenerating power of God, the Holy Spirit.
Look, it continues in that verse that you may abound in hope through
the power of the Holy Ghost. Why do you keep on keeping on
in the Lord? Why are we not, why when things
come against us, and there's many times things that happen
in our lives, right, that really when we look back on our lives,
we think, man, how did I live through that? Because the Lord
kept you. Because he kept you through the
power of the Holy Ghost. There's things I think in every
believer's life that we can say that would have crushed me. But we keep on because the Lord
keeps us. We keep rejoicing in Christ because
the Lord keeps us rejoicing in him. He's the God of all hope. And the agency of that hope is
the power of the Holy Spirit. It's so easily or so clearly
defined here that ye may abound in hope through the power of
the Holy Ghost. Look at that, that ye may abound in hope. May abound in hope. So there's
times when we're not abounding in hope. But this is an exhortation
for us to abound in hope. Right? Because we need that,
don't we? We need that every day, right? It's an exhortation
to abound in hope. And hope in who? The God of all
hope. Isn't it wonderful? See the instruction
for us in these verses? And you see how wonderful it
is? It's absolutely wonderful. The
more we know of this joy and peace, then the greater will
be our hope. The more we learn of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the more we learn of what God's done for us, the
greater our hope will be in Him. Right? That's why we need to hear the
gospel all the time. It's hope. It gives us hope. And it's all by the power of
God the Holy Spirit. So think of this. The more we
trust in Christ, the greater our hope will be. Is it not true? Do you not hope
more in God now than you did If the Lord saved you 20 years
ago, 20 years ago, do you not have a greater understanding
of God's absolute sovereignty and power in keeping you and
saving you? And does that not give you a greater hope in God?
It does, doesn't it? It does. And that's all by the
power of the Holy Spirit of God. We can't glorify in anything
because we've been taught that. It's God who's teaching us that.
And it's absolutely wonderful. So let we who are the people
of God rejoice in our blessings in Christ. And let us enter into
the peace and rest in Christ. And then our confidence and our
hope will grow. Look at verse 14. And I myself also am persuaded
of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled
with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Paul's
confidence was in Christ, in him alone. And he believed that
what God had started, he was able to finish. And he glorified
God for that. And he knew that anything he
learned was by the power of God the Holy
Spirit. Anything he knew about Christ,
anything he knew about God, was by the power of God the Holy
Spirit. He had revealed that to him. And Paul himself said,
in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, right? So he's telling those he's writing
to that what you have, joy and peace, faith and repentance,
all comes from God. It's all a gift from God. And think of this, the knowledge
that we have now as believers, as we've grown in grace, the
knowledge of our sin has led us to a greater understanding
of our utter dependence upon Christ. Again, when Paul started his
ministry, he said, I'm the least of all saints, and at the end
of it, he said, I'm the chief of sinners. He had a greater understanding
of his own sinfulness, and a greater understanding of the mercy and
grace of God that he had received, and he glorified God because
of it. Look at verse 15. knowing our completeness in Christ
and knowing that we are able to counsel and admonish and encourage
one another and sympathize with one another. Look what it says in verse 15.
Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto
you in some sort as putting you in mine because of the grace
that was given to me of God. Now Paul knew that those he wrote
to already knew these truths, but he was still gonna set them
forth before them. See, gospel preachers don't preach
anything new, do we? We set truth before you from
the scriptures. That's what Paul's saying right
there. He wants them to glorify God
more, even by reminding them of things that they already know,
that they might glorify God more as a scent called preacher of
the Lord Jesus Christ, he wrote boldly of these things. Boldly of the things that we
have looked at in our text so far today to remind them of God's
mercy to them. A person may be acquainted with
these truths, but they still require a minister of Christ
to exhort them, to practice them. Be not only hearers of the Word,
but doers. Believe it. Believe what the
Word of God says. And we who are called to preach
are exhorting ourselves as well while we're preaching. I used
to go to Rescue California, and on the pulpit there, Gene, dear
brother Gene, had a mirror on the pulpit, so every preacher
I had the privilege of preaching there a couple times, and go
up there, and there was this mayor right in the center of
the pulpit. You know what that mayor was for? To remind us that
we're preaching to ourselves. Isn't that neat? To remind us that we're preaching
to ourselves, as well as those who we speak to. Boy, I never
forgot that. That's incredible, right? And
that's true. That's true. Paul was sent to
preach the gospel. He was sent to exhort the brethren.
He was sent to call sinners to Christ. But it was a constant
reminder for him that God had called him to Christ, that God
had saved him, that he had obtained mercy in Christ. Look at verse 16. You'll see
that it's God who made Paul a minister to the Gentiles. Why? That he
should preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to them. Look
at Romans 15, 16. That I should be the minister
of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God,
that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified
by God the Holy Spirit. Now notice who's done the sanctification.
It's not man, is it? Look at that. that the Gentiles
might be acceptable, who are we acceptable in? Christ. And
then it says here, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit of God. We're
sanctified in Christ, beloved, by the Holy Spirit of God. That's
what that verse is telling us right there. We're made holy
by God. We can't make ourselves holy
by anything we do. But it says right there in the
scripture, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, being made holy
by the Holy Ghost. And Paul brings forth here that
he's called to preach the gospel of God to the Gentiles. He's
not called to minister to the service of the tabernacle, nor
the law of Moses, nor the tradition of the fathers, but he's called
to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he's
called to do. Why? That the Gentiles might
be acceptable to God through Christ, being sanctified by the
Holy Spirit of God. And we who are the people of
God are only acceptable to God in the beloved, in Christ. There's
no other way that we're acceptable to God. It's God who's made us to differ.
Now let's read verse 17. This is our main text here. I
have therefore wherever I may glory through Jesus Christ and
those things which pertain to God. Here's cause for our rejoicing. Here's cause for our rejoicing
right here. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only cause
for our rejoicing. The only cause for us to glorify
God is what Christ has done for us. He saved us by his grace
and by his mercy. And it's in him alone that we're
saved. And we glory in the salvation that we have in Christ by giving
all the glory to God, don't we? We don't glory in anything we've
done, because there's nothing we've done. We glory in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and we give God all the glory for doing that,
for saving our eternal souls. Was he obligated to do that?
I have people say, people say, well, God, he should save everyone. He's not obligated to save anyone. But he does, according to his
mercy and his grace. And rejoice if you're one included
in that number. Rejoice, give God the glory,
give Him all the praise, give Him all the honor. Shout hallelujah
to Him. Oh, He's so good to us, beloved.
So we have much cause to rejoice, we who are the people of God,
not only because what God has accomplished for us, but what
He's accomplished in us. And remember, He's conforming
us to be conforming us to the image of Christ. And that's his
work, not ours. Oh my. And we who believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, we rejoice in glory in God for the great
things he had done for us. And God uses men, he uses vessels
of clay to preach the gospel, to take the gospel to those he
shall call, and that's what being brought forth in this text, too.
But notice that Paul didn't say, well, I'm gonna glorify, or glory
in the fact that I'm one called to be preaching to the Gentiles.
No, he gives all the glory to God, just like every gospel preacher
does. Anything we have, anything we
as believers have, again, Anything that's good comes from God. Comes
from him. God uses man, he uses vessels
of clay to take and preach the gospel, to take the gospel to
those he shall call. And then we all rejoice in the
greatness of God. We rejoice together, don't we,
in what God's done. And he gets all the glory. As
a preacher of the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ,
I will not take to myself any of the praise for the work of
others. It all goes to God. He gets all the praise. He gets
all the glory. He gets all the honor. We preach
the gospel, and God is pleased to bless His word. To some, it's
a savor unto death, and to some, it's a savor unto life. But it's
God who makes it a saver unto life for us, isn't it? In others,
He just passes by. If you're a believer, give praise
to God, give glory to God that He didn't pass you by. That He saved you by His grace.
Turn, if you would, to Philippians chapter 1. We'll read verses
12 to 17. Look at this. Paul was very careful throughout
his ministry, not to glory or boast or brag in the things that
he's done. And he taught others not to do
so too. That's what he's teaching us here. He's teaching us not
the glory in ourselves, but the glory in God. That's what's being
taught by God the Holy Spirit here to us. Again, I'll read
our verse. It says, I therefore, wherever
I may glory through Jesus Christ and those things which pertain
to God. So again, we're to give all the glory to God. Look at
verse 12 to 18 of Philippians chapter one. But I would, you
should understand, brethren, that the things which happened
unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel,
so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and
in all other places. And many of the brethren in the
Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to
speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even
of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. The one preached
Christ of contention, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to
my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the
defense of the gospel. What then, notwithstanding every
way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and
I therein do rejoice and will rejoice. He's gonna glorify God no matter
what. He's in prison and he's glorifying
God. He's glorifying God. And there's
even some that are preaching to add sufferings to his bonds. He says, I'm still gonna rejoice.
Because there's some out there who are preaching and they're
bold to preach because here I am shackled in jail for what I'm
preaching. And it's emboldened them to preach
the gospel even more. That's how he's gonna rejoice.
He's gonna rejoice in the things of God. He's gonna glory in God
and God alone. And again, he was very careful. Turn, if you would, to Colossians
1. He was very careful not to boast or to brag in the flesh.
And again, he taught others not to. Look what he says here in
Colossians 1. He very clearly says here, that
Christ is the one who should receive all the preeminence,
which means all the glory. He gets the glory. He gets the
glory. Look what he says here. Colossians
1, verse 17 and 18. And he, that being Christ, is
before all things, and by him all things consist. Here's a
wonderful verse to go and show us, show people that it's God
who created all things. And then it says, and he, being
Christ, is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might receive
what? The preeminence, that he might be made first, that he
might be the one we glory in. Don't glory in a preacher, glory
in the message of the one who the preacher talks about, which
is Christ Jesus, our Lord. Glory in Him. Glory in Him. We're just messengers. Clay pots. Isn't that amazing? And we glory with you who are
believers in Christ because the God of hope has given us a hope.
And that's the Lord Jesus Christ. five quick things that we why
we should glory in God. We should glory in Christ incarnate
who is the only hope of sinners. Scripture says this, God was
manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received
up the glory. 1 Timothy 3.16. So we should glory in the Lord
Jesus Christ, God incarnate in the flesh, as the only hope for
sinners. Two, we should glory in Christ
crucified as the only remedy to put away sin. We could not
put away our own sin. but there is one remedy to put
away sin. Scriptures declare this in 1
Peter 3, 18, Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just
for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to
death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. So when he died,
he reconciled us back to God, we who are his people. He saved
us from all our sins. We ought to glorify God for that,
right? We ought to glorify God. We glory in Christ Jesus, who
is all our sufficient righteousness and acceptance before a thrice
holy God. Outside of Christ, there's no
acceptance with the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. But in Christ,
in Christ, the scripture declares this, wherein he hath made us
accepted in the beloved, in whom we have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his
grace. Ephesians chapter one, verses
six and seven. My oh my. Number four, we glory
in Christ Jesus, exalted and seated at the right hand of the
Father right now, who is all our justification before God. It's Christ and Christ alone
who was delivered for our offenses, who died on Calvary's cross for
our sins. It's my sin that nailed him to
the cross. If you're a believer, it's your sin that nailed him
to the cross. He has delivered for our offenses,
but praise be to God, he was raised for our justification.
Death couldn't hold him. So we ought to glorify God. And
number five, we glory in the Lord Jesus Christ who's coming
again, and he's all our hope. He's all our hope, isn't he? We've hung the salvation of our
eternal souls on Christ, the sure nail. Scripture says this. My soul
shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof
and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me.
Give him glory, give him glory, and let us exalt his name together.
Let we who are the people of God glorify God together. Psalm 34 verses one to four.
and may we seek to give our great God all the glory, honor, and
praise. May we leave here rejoicing in
the wondrous things that Christ has done for us, and may we give
him all the glory. Listen to these words in Jeremiah,
chapter nine, verses 23 and 24. These are just wonderful. Thus
saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither
let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this, that
he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord, and that's
Jehovah in Hebrew, which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and
righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, saith
the Lord. Amen and amen. I'm gonna read this last part
again. But let him that glory in this, that he understandeth
and knoweth me, for I am the Lord. What a wonderous Savior. Is Jesus
Christ my Lord? Is he your Lord? I pray that if he's not, that
God would make it so. May we leave here glorifying
God. This week, may we glorify God
in the things that we do. May we think about the wondrous
grace and mercy that has been shown us, we who are the born-again,
blood-washed people of God. And may it cause us to be filled
with joy and have peace through this week. Heavenly Father, we
thank you for, again, your mercy.