I want to invite you to take
your Bible and turn to what I believe is the most important book in
the entire Bible, to the book of Romans, Romans chapter 11. And tonight I want to speak to
you on verse 36. The title of this message is,
All Glory to God. Romans chapter 11, I want to
begin reading in verse 33. And before I begin reading this
passage, I want to express my gratitude to my friend Josh Bice
for the way God has used him to bring to pass what we now
are all experiencing at the G3 conference. It's been a great
honor for me, a very humbling honor to have preached from the
very beginning at each one of these G3 conferences. And I remember
when I first received the email from Josh asking me to come speak
over a year before the first G3 conference began and to see
it grow into what it is now become. I believe in what God is doing
here at G3, and I think it has an enormous future ahead of it. Romans 3, beginning in verse
33, I want you to know that our focus will be upon verse 36.
But I want to begin reading in verse 33, and maybe just one
brief comment before I do. This is a doxology. This is a
hymn of praise that is offered to God, which could not be any
more appropriate for a conference on worship. These verses drip
with worship, and it is a worship that is produced by a towering
vision of God. Beginning in verse 33, O the
depth of the riches! both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God, how unsearchable are His judgments, and unfathomable
His ways. For who has known the mind of
the Lord? Or who became His counselor? Or who is first given to Him
that it might be paid back to Him again? Now here's our text. For from Him and through Him
And to Him are all things. To God be the glory
forever. Amen. This past summer, I led a tour
group through Switzerland as we studied the Swiss Reformation.
We started in Zurich. and traveled across Switzerland
to Geneva. And the entire way I lectured
on the life and the ministry of John Calvin. And we ended
up at St. Paris Cathedral in Geneva where
Calvin preached and across the way at the Auditoire in the auditorium
where he lectured and we went to the Reformation Wall. And
after the tour I took Those who wanted to go with me, we went
to Mont Blanc. Mont Blanc is the tallest mountain
in the Swiss Alps. Mont Blanc is 15,777 feet tall.
That is almost three miles tall. To go to the top of Mont Blanc,
you have to take first a cable car just virtually straight up. It took an enormous amount of
time before they could even lay the cable to take the cable car
straight up. But even at that, you're barely
halfway up. And you get out and into the
second cable car and you ascend yet higher and higher and higher. until you reach the very top,
and it's absolutely breathtaking. Mont Blanc stands at a three-way
intersection of France, Germany, and Italy. There are only 60
days a year in which that is cloudless. where you can see
the vast terrain without interference of clouds. And the day that we
were there was one of those days. And there from the top of Mont
Blanc, you feel that you are standing on top of the world.
And in a sense, you are. And in every direction that you
look, the vista is just jaw-dropping, it's breathtaking as you look
down and you see the sheer majesty and the glory and the magnitude
of the mountain range. That is exactly where we're standing
in verse 36. We're standing on top of the
world. And we are standing and given a vision of the theological
landscape of the gospel of Jesus Christ that in many ways surpasses
every other vantage that we have. As Paul writes the book of Romans,
we begin way down in the valley, down at the base of the mountain.
And in Romans 1, 2, and 3, we begin with condemnation. And
Romans 1, 18 says, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men. And then
we proceed up the mountain and we come to the next the next
stage, which is justification. In Romans 3, 4, and 5, Romans
5, 1 says, "...therefore, having been justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." But we're not
even halfway up this transcendent, towering mountain of truth. We
yet rise higher to sanctification in Romans 6, 7, and 8, and we
read how all who have been justified are sanctified, and we have died
to sin, we're alive to God. We're no longer enslaved to sin,
but now we are slaves of righteousness and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
but we climb yet higher to glorification. And we read that those whom He
foreknew, He predestined. And those whom He predestined,
He called. And those whom He called, He
justified. And those whom He justified,
He glorified. And we see that there is now
therefore no separation from the love of God for those who
are in Christ Jesus. But we still have not yet reached
the top of this mountain of truth. And in Romans 9-11 we see the
snow peak on top of the mountain. It is the doctrine of election.
So it does not depend on the man who wills or on the man who
runs, but upon God who has mercy. Jacob I loved, Esau I hated. And how the potter can take from
one lump of clay and make vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
and others vessels of mercy prepared for eternal life. And as we come
to the end of Romans 11, it is as though the cable car has taken
us to the very highest point. And as Paul steps out of that
cable car, if you will, and he looks back over the first 11
chapters of the book of Romans, he looks over the landscape from
which he has traveled with us and laid out such sound theology. And all Paul can say is, as he
looks at the broad expanse of the gospel of Jesus Christ, oh,
the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God. How unsearchable are His ways and unfathomable His judgments. For who has known the mind of
the Lord? For who has been His counselor?
Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to
Him again? And Paul, with verse 36, he is at the very pinnacle,
the very highest point of the summit. And he says, for from
Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To God be the
glory forever and ever. Amen. It is this one verse to
which I want to draw our attention tonight. And I want to break
this verse into two halves. I want you to note first a God-centered
theology. That is the first half of verse
36. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. That is a God-centered theology. And then the second half of the
verse will be our second heading, a God-centered doxology. To God be the glory forever and
ever. Amen. And these two halves are
inseparably bound together, and these two halves are in exactly
the right order. There is no true doxology until
you know the true theology. It is our theology that ignites
our doxology. And so I want us to open the
lens and I want us to look carefully into this one verse so that we
will have the worship of God that rightly belongs to Him. I want you to note first a God-centered
theology. This verse begins with an extraordinary
statement that is all-inclusive in its scope. Look at it again
in your Bible, verse 36, for from Him and through Him and
to Him are all things. This is the most all-inclusive
statement in the entire Bible. This is the most all-inclusive
statement in the entire world and in the entire universe. There
is nothing that lies outside of this statement. All things
is all things. This statement is as high and
as deep and broad and long as the entire universe and everything
that occurs within the universe. Here in these three prepositional
phrases, from Him, through Him, to Him are all things, is Romans
1-11 in summary. Here is the entire Bible in miniature. Here is a complete systematic
theology in itself. Here is a comprehensive Christian
worldview, the lens that we need through which to see all of reality
and see all of the world around us. Here is the Reformation in
a nutshell. For from Him says that God is
the source of all things. Through Him says that God is
the means. of all things. And to Him, God
is the goal of all things. To put it another way, from Him
means He is the architect of all things. Through Him, He is
the administrator of all things. And to Him, He is the aim of
all things. Or to put it another way, from
Him, that is His sovereign will. Through Him is His sovereign
activity. To Him is His sovereign glory. To Him is His sovereign will
from all eternity past. Through Him is His sovereign
activity within time. And to Him is His sovereign glory
throughout all of the ages to come. This is not unique to the
teaching of Scripture. This same truth is found in multiple
passages in the New Testament. Listen to 1 Corinthians 8, verse
6. There has been one God, the Father,
from whom are all things. and we exist for Him. And one
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through
Him. 1 Corinthians 11, 12 All things
originate from God. Ephesians 4, verse 6 There is
one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all,
and in all." Colossians 1 16. For by Him, referring to Christ,
all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers
or authorities. All things have been created
through Him and for Him. Hebrews 2 verse 10. For it was fitting for Him, referring
to Christ, for whom are all things, through whom are all things. It's been well said that the
Apostle Paul's theology is most succinctly summarized in prepositional
phrases. From Him, for Him, by Him, through
Him, over all things, in all things. That's exactly what Romans 11
verse 36 is saying. Now I want you to think with
me tonight, because this will affect the authenticity of your
worship. Worship is not generated by mood
music. Worship is generated by an understanding
of who God is. and what God does. And our worship
will rise no higher than our theology will rise high. And
so we must understand what these three prepositional phrases encompass
from Him, through Him, to Him. I want you to think of this under
three headings. Number one, creation. Number
two, history and providence. And number three, salvation.
Let's consider this first under creation. That all things are
from Him. Of course all things are from
Him. He is the Creator of all that there is. Genesis 1 verse
1, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. It
was God who said, let there be light. And there was light. John
1 and verse 3 says, All things came into being through Him. And apart from Him, nothing came
into being that has come into being. Verse 10, He was in the
world and the world was made through Him. He literally had galaxies dripping
out of His fingertips as He spoke everything into existence out
of nothing. Hebrews 1 verse 2 says that concerning
God's Son, through whom He made the world, concerning creation,
it all has come from Him. James Montgomery Boyce writes,
if anything exists, then God, who is the uncaused
First Cause, must exist and be the Creator of all. That is to
say, God is the uncreated Creator. That God is the First Cause that
has set everything into motion. But not only is all creation
from Him, All creation is through Him, meaning it is God in God
alone who holds the world in the palm of His hand. That God
moment by moment sustains and upholds the world that He has
spoken into being. God is the mighty atlas who has
all creation on His shoulder. Colossians 1 verse 17, In Him
all things hold together. Hebrews 1 verse 3, He upholds
all things by the word of His power. God was not upholding
all of creation this moment. The entire globe would disintegrate. We would disintegrate. The sun
and the planets would disintegrate and everything would just dissipate. It is God moment by moment. That which is from Him is held
together through Him and then it is to Him. It has been created
all for His own glory and for His own pleasure. Psalm 19 verse
1 says, the heavens are telling of the glory of God. John Calvin said the whole world
is but a theater to showcase the greatness and the grandeur
and the glory of God. It is all to put on display the
greatness of our God. Let me say that this is why we
so strongly oppose the devil's lie of evolution. Evolution is
a frontal assault on the glory of God. Evolution displaces God
as the source of all things and replaces it with a Big Bang Theory,
or a Steady State Theory, or a Pulsating Universe Theory,
or some random chance. Evolution says all things are
without divine purpose and without divine design. And when you replace
God as the source of all things, you replace God as the purpose
of all things. So it is true in creation. It
is also true second in history and in providence. Not only has
God created the entire world in which we live as a grand stage
for human history, but God has written the script of all that
will take place in human history, and God is the director who is
orchestrating all of the events of human history and bringing
all of history to His God-appointed end. All of this is from God. God is the grand architect. Before
time began, before the foundation of the world, God is the grand
architect of His master plan that includes not only the macro,
but the micro. Not only the planets and the
stars in the galaxy, but every hair of your head is numbered,
and not a sparrow falls apart from the Lord. This master plan
is called by theologians His eternal decree. It is God's one
plan from before the world was created, for everything that
comes to pass. There is no plan B. There is
no plan C. Acts 2.23 refers to it as the
predetermined plan. Ephesians 1.11 refers to it as
the counsel of His will. Ephesians 3.11, the eternal purpose. Romans 9.11, God's purpose. Hebrews 6.17, the unchangeableness
of His purpose. In Ephesians chapter 1 and verse
11 is a startling passage of Scripture of this eternal decree
of God from before the foundation of the world. And in Ephesians
1-11 we read that we have been predestined according to His
purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will. Come with me, if you will, back
to eternity past. Into the secret counsel hall
of God. Before the angels were created,
before heaven itself was created, before anything was created,
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit deliberated
among themselves with one mind and with one will. And first
came their counsel, which was their divine deliberation. as
they considered every conceivable possibility. They could have
created 10,000 worlds. They could have created one world.
They could have created the sky to be green and the grass to
be blue. And out of their counsel came
their will. Their one determinative will
by which they have chosen everything that will come to pass. It would
include even the fall of Lucifer to become Satan. It would include
the entrance of evil into the world. It would include the legions
of demons. All of this a part of God's one
master plan. Out of His counsel came His will,
and out of His will came His purpose. God was eternally resolved
that He would carry out His purpose, and that there would be no altercation
of the counsel of His will. Man proposes his ways, but God
determines his steps. Then, according to Ephesians
1.11, out of His counsel comes His will, and out of His will
comes His purpose, and out of His purpose comes His predestination. The word predestination, proorizo
in the Greek, you can hear the word horizon, and it means that
out on the horizon is the destination, and that the destination has
been determined before the journey even begins. And while God, in
eternity past, planned His master plan, He then sealed it and marked
out the final destination of all that He would create. All of this is from God. History is His story. And then it says, "...and through
Him, All of history and providence is going according to His eternal
plan and purpose. All that He planned in eternity
past, He is bringing to pass within time. He is the immutable
executor of His own sovereign will. Listen to Isaiah 14, 26. says, this is the plan devised
against the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched
out against all the nations. Isaiah says, for the Lord of
hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His
outstretched hand, who can turn it back? Those are two rhetorical
questions, the answer of which is no one. can turn back the
hand of God from fulfilling His eternal purpose and plan which
was designed by His inscrutable wisdom. Isaiah 46 verse 9, Remember
this and be assured. Recall it to mind, you transgressors. Why would He say that? Because
what He is about to tell us, we are so easily apt to forget. Verse 9, remember the former
things, long past. For I am God, and there is no
other. I am God, and there is no one
like Me. Now what distinguishes God as
God? He tells us in verse 10. declaring
the end from the beginning. In other words, God stands at
the beginning of all of creation, at the beginning of time, and
He declares the end all the way to the end, and it is a figure
of speech known as inclusio. that encompasses the whole of
everything in between. It's like saying from the East
Coast to the West Coast, God stands at the beginning, and
He declares the end and everything in between. Saying, my purpose
will be established, and I will accomplish all my good pleasure. Truly I have spoken, truly I
will bring it to pass, I have planned it, surely I will do
it. This is our God in heaven. Isaiah 48 verse 3, I have declared
the former things long ago, and they went forth from my mouth,
and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came
to pass. This is God. And anything less
than this understanding of God is a God of your own making,
is a God of your vain imagination, not the God of the Bible. Proverbs
16 verse 33, The lot is cast into the lap, which is like tossing
of dice, but its every turning up is from the Lord. God is micromanaging
the planet, and He is micromanaging even the smallest affairs of
providence. As R.C. Sproul has said, there
are no maverick molecules in the universe. Proverbs 19, verse
21. Many plans are in a man's heart,
but the counsel of the Lord will stand. Man will change his plans,
but God will never change His plans. Proverbs 21, verse 1,
The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever he wishes. I remember years ago, going down
the Nile River on a ship and looking to the side and seeing
the different farmers in their fields along the Nile River,
and how they would open up a channel for water from the Nile River
to flow into their field to water their crops. And there was a
series of channels, like mazes, where the farmer could direct
the flow of the water according to his own purpose and will.
And He would put down a board at a particular place and force
the water to turn this way. And He would put down another
board and force it to flow that way. Then He would lift a board
and allow it to continue to go its own way. What Proverbs is
saying is that the heart of the King, the mightiest man on planet
earth, it is an argument from the greater to the lesser. If
the mightiest King on earth who but speaks a word, and men go
and do it, that God holds His heart in the palm of His hand,
and God channels the heart of the King to fulfill God's own
sovereign purposes. As He raises up one king, as
He lowers another king, as He defines the boundaries of nations,
God is ruling over all as the sovereign Lord of heaven and
earth. Proverbs 21, verse 31, the horse is prepared for the
day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord. And we must hear from Psalm 33
verse 10. The Lord nullifies the counsel
of the nations. He frustrates the plans of the
peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands
forever. The plans of His heart from generation
to generation. To say it again, there is no
plan B. There is no plan C. God has only
plan A from before time began, and God is the executor of His
own plan, and God is bringing all things together according
to His sovereign will. He even says to Judas, what you
do, do quickly. Romans 8, 28, and we know And when Paul says, and we know,
it's his way of saying, we all know this. It is his way of saying,
this is Christianity 101. It is Paul's way of saying, this
is entry-level truth into the kingdom of heaven. Paul is saying,
this is kindergarten stuff. If you're saved and you're breathing,
you know this. And we know that God causes all
things to work together for good to those who love God, to those
who are called according to His purpose. This does not say all
things are good. Evil is not good. Sin is not
good. But what this is saying is that
God takes both the good and the evil and He weaves it all together
into an extraordinary tapestry of providence to bring about
the greatest good. And what is that greatest good
in your life that God, every moment of every day, is actively
working in your life to bring about? The next verse, Romans
8, 29, tells us it is that we would be conformed into the image
of God's Son. There is no greater good for
your life or for my life. And God, who oversees the affairs
of providence and our life, He is using both days of prosperity
as well as days of adversity, days of triumph and days of trials,
mountaintop days and dark valley days. And God, the sovereign
Lord of the affairs of our lives, He is causing it all to work
together for our good. When you look at an oriental
rug, there are two sides to the oriental rug. If you pull it
back and look at the bottom side, You do not perceive a master
design. You do not see a pattern. Everything
appears to be disjointed. There are muted colors in the
threads. There are broken threads and
dangling frays. But when you turn it back down
and you see it from the top, It is a stunningly beautiful
masterpiece in which every thread is woven together perfectly. The bright, brilliant colors
are vividly seen, and it all comes together. As you and I
live our lives, all we see is the backside of the tapestry.
We don't see the master plan that God has for our lives. If
we could only see as God sees, we would see the top side of
the Oriental rug and see that God with perfect precision and
intentionality is the Lord of the affairs of our lives. And
He is causing everything. to work together for good. He's
not a mere passive spectator, just observing what is taking
place here. But He has His hand on the pulse
of your life, and is working it all together to make you more
like Jesus Christ. And what He is doing in the micro
with your individual life, Not a sparrow falls apart from the
Lord, your every hair is numbered. He also does in the big picture,
in the scheme of things, with nations and the movement of history. No, even providence in history
is from Him and through Him and to Him. It is all for God's glory. Isaiah 48 verse 11, for my own
sake, for my own sake, he repeats it twice, I will act and my glory I will not give
to another. All that God is doing in your
life is for His glory and for your good. Any denial of the doctrine of
providence, is a direct assault on the glory of God. What robs
God of His glory? Any credence to the pagan myths
of good luck, bad luck, blind fate, random chance, accidental
occurrences, astrology, superstitions, etc., etc. It is all a blatant
denial of the sovereignty of God, and it robs God of His glory,
and we will never worship Him unless we understand He holds
us in our hands, and He holds the whole world in His hands,
and God is the Lord over history and over your life. And God is
bringing it all to a climactic end. But not only in creation,
and not only in providence, but God is doing the same in salvation. Nowhere is this verse more true
than in matters of His saving grace. In fact, that is the primary
context and meaning of this whole section. And in salvation, all
things are from God, and through God, and to God. All things are from God. Pointing
back to eternity past, Before the foundation of the world,
before time began, God chose His elect. He passed over others
and set His heart of distinguishing love upon those whom He would
choose. In Ephesians 1 verse 11 it says,
He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. to be
holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us to
adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself according to
the kind intention of His will. No, the doctrine of sovereign
election is from Him. Also, once He chose His elect,
He gave His elect to His Son to be His chosen bride. John
6.37 says, "...all that the Father gives Me." Verse 39, "...all
He has given Me." John 10.29, "...the Father has given them to Me." John 17.2,
"...all whom You have given Me." In verse 9, "...those whom You
have given Me." In eternity past, the Father chose His elect and
gave them to the Son, and then the Father designed the plan
of salvation and the gospel itself. Romans 1 verse 1 tells us it
is the gospel of God, meaning it is a gospel that has not arisen
from this world, It has never been drafted by a denomination.
It has never been crafted by a church. It's not the result
of any seminary. No. This gospel of God is an
out-of-this-world gospel. It was designed in the infinite
genius of Almighty God from eternity past. And only God could have
designed the simplicity yet the profundity of the gospel message. If all of us here tonight divided
up into small groups and we met for the next 10,000 years, not
a one of our groups would have come up with the plan of salvation. Who among us would have come
up with the virgin birth? Who among us would have come
up with the fact that Jesus would be truly God and truly man? That would have never dawned
on us. Who but God could have designed that He would be born
under the law, that He would obey the law on our behalf and
fulfill all righteousness and give His righteousness to us
in justification. No, all of this came spiraling
out of the brilliant, genius mind of God from all eternity
past. And salvation is through Him,
meaning that God is the One who sent the Holy Spirit to convict
of sin. God is the One by His Spirit
who calls His elect into relationship with Christ. It is God the One
who causes the spiritually dead soul to be regenerated. John
3 verse 8, The wind blows wherever it wishes. You hear the sound
of it and do not know where it is going. So is everyone who
is born of the Spirit. This is all a work of God's sovereign
grace, independent of man. And it is all to Him. It will
lead to Him in heaven one day, where we will be glorified and
stand, dressed in the perfect righteousness of Christ. It is
all to the praise of the glory of His grace. Ephesians 1.6 What robs God of His glory? What withholds glory in the fullest
extent being given to God is any belief in the free will of
man, in the foreknowledge of God that is merely foresight,
in a universal atonement of Christ for those already in hell. for
a synergistic regeneration in which man contributes to his
own new birth. Any baptismal regeneration, any
falling from grace, any universal salvation, annihilationism, Catholicism,
all of the false religions of the world, it is all an attack
on the glory of God and only the purity that salvation is
by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, that
it is the salvation of God from eternity past, throughout time,
unto eternity future. This is a God-centered theology. This is a biblical theology. And what does it produce? Well,
the second half of verse 36, In Romans 11 and verse 36, it
should inevitably lead to a God-centered doxology. This can be the only
right response to a God-centered theology. He says at the end
of verse 36, on the basis of the first half of verse 36, the
result of believing that from Him and through Him and to Him
are all things in creation and in providence and in salvation. The result is, to God be the
glory forever and ever. Amen. If you think that it's
half God and half man, then you will give half praise to God,
and you will keep half of the glory for yourself. But God will
not share His glory with another. And it is only this theology
that puts you on top of the Mount Everest of sound doctrine. will
give you the vantage point for your heart to be enthralled with
God, to rise up and to say, to God be the glory forever and
ever. Amen. Paul is far away from having
an intellectual coldness. Paul is anything but one of the
frozen chosen. Paul has a red-hot, blazing,
passionate love for God because he believes in the depth of his
soul that all things are from God and through God and to God. Very quickly, just four questions
to ask you about the end of verse 36. Number one, who is to be
glorified? To God be the glory. It is soli deo gloria. to the glory of God alone. Psalm 29, 1 and 2, Ascribe to
the Lord, O sons of the mighty. Ascribe to the Lord glory and
strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory
due to His name. Worship the Lord in holy array. And in His temple, everything
says, Psalm 96 verse 7, Ascribe to
the Lord, O families of the peoples, Ascribe to the Lord glory and
strength, Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name. Understand this, the higher your
theology, there should be the higher of your worship. And if
you have a low theology, You're going to have a low worship that's
going to have to be propped up by superficial synthetic props. It is the heart and the mind
that stands on that mountain peak and sees the vast landscape
of theology, that all things are from Him and through Him
and to Him. Your heart is ready to leap out
of your chest and give glory to God for who He is and what
He is doing. Second, what is the glory to
God? Theologians make a distinction between the intrinsic glory of
God and ascribed glory. The intrinsic glory of God is
all that God is. It is the sum and the substance
of all that God is. Ascribed glory is the glory that
we give to God once we see His intrinsic glory. The more we
see of His intrinsic glory, the more we will ascribe glory to
God. We cannot give intrinsic glory
to God. God is who He is. He is the God
who was and who is and who shall be forever. But ascribed glory
is what we give to God on the basis of our firm understanding
and belief that all things are from Him and through Him and
to Him. The third question, when should
we give God glory? The next to the last word, forever. To Him be the glory forever. The glory that we are to give
to God will be throughout time and into eternity future without
end. Literally the word forever means
into the ages. Into all the ages to come. Eternity
will not be long enough for us to give glory to our God. This is repeated again and again
and again. throughout Scripture. But as
John Newton wrote, when we've been there 10,000 years, bright
shining as the sun, we have no less days to sing God's praise
than when we first begun. And then finally, how should
we give glory? The last word of verse 36, Amen. Which in the Greek means, in
essence, Truly, truly, this is true. Yes, this is so. Surely, this is true. Yes, yes,
a thousand times, yes. And as Paul comes to the end
of Romans chapter 11, after covering the full expanse of the doctrine
of salvation, from condemnation to justification to sanctification
to glorification to election and even reprobation, Paul can
only conclude this tour de force through theology by giving his
resounding Amen. And I want to know tonight, can
you say amen to what we have said? Can you say amen that we
once were condemned and under the wrath of God? Can you say
amen that by faith in Christ alone we have been justified?
Can you say amen that the doctrine of sanctification means that
I am being conformed into the image of God's Son? And can you
say amen that my soul is heaven bound? I'm as certain for heaven
as if I've already been there 10,000 years. And can you say
your amen that God has taken from the same lump of clay and
has set you apart unto Himself, having sovereignly, royally elected
you from before the foundation of the world? Worship begins when God is big
and man is small. Worship begins when God is everything
and man is nothing. Worship begins when God is exalted
and man is eclipsed. Worship begins when God is seen
to be infinite and man is but finite. I will give Martin Lloyd-Jones
the last word. As he came to the end of his
sermon many years ago on this very text, the doctor concluded,
with this soul-searching crescendo. What does this amen mean? It
means that you confess that you are nothing. That you confess
that you are a vile, hell-deserving sinner. That you acknowledge
gladly that you are what you are solely by the grace of God.
And that you have ceased to defend yourself. If you have ceased
to try to excuse yourself, You have ceased to try to justify
yourself in any way whatsoever. I go further, Lloyd-Jones says,
that you have ceased to try to pit your mind against God's mind. Are you still arguing against
the doctrine of election? If you are, you have not said
your amen to this. The purpose of God, according
to election, Are you still standing up and putting your mind and
your opinions and your will against God? If so, you are not saying
your amen to this great doxology. The man who says his amen is
the man who says, I am nothing. God is all. I know nothing. I can do nothing. I have nothing. I am simply a vile sinner saved
by His grace. I owe all thanks to the grace
and the glory and the mercy of God, and I give Him all the glory. I am nothing. I say it is all
of God. To God be the glory forever and
ever. Amen. All glory to our God. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we are awestruck, we are stunned,
we are amazed, we are bewildered at the towering truth that has
been penned in this verse by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
as Paul has pulled back the veil and given us the big picture
of what it's all about. And we see that you are the Lord of history,
you are the Lord of creation, and you are the Lord of salvation.
And we fall down within our hearts before your throne of grace,
we say with the Apostle Paul, to God be the glory forever and
ever. Amen.