Turn with me, please, to 2 Peter
chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 17. Peter has told us in verse 17
of the great danger which we must beware. It is the danger
of falling by error, by the error of the wicked, falling away from
Christ, falling away from the gospel, falling unto perdition,
and perishing with apostate religious professors. Ye therefore, beloved,
seeing ye know these things before, Beware. Don't be presumptuous. Beware. Don't be heady and high-minded. Beware. Lest ye also, being led
away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. Now, beware of that, how many
have And then in verse 18, he describes that which is our responsibility. It is our responsibility to grow. He says, don't fall, but grow. Don't perish, but grow. Don't
wither and die with mere professors, but grow. Grow in the grace and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That is, it is your responsibility
to grow in grace, to grow in the knowledge of Christ and not
be drawn away from Christ. It is our responsibility to keep
ourselves in the love of God and in the grace of God. We must
do it, but we can't do it. In and of ourselves, we can do
nothing. Though it is stated here, Peter
assumes that we are aware of that. Though it is not stated
here, he assumes that we're aware. You just can't do this. Though
it's not stated, he assumes that we who believe are aware of the
fact that we are helpless and that if we are kept in life,
if we are kept in faith, if we grow in grace, if we grow in
the knowledge of Christ, if we persevere in life, grace, and
faith, it is because we are kept by the power of God. And therefore,
he concludes this epistle of warning and this admonition that
we grow in grace with these words, to him, to the one who causes
us to grow, to the one who keeps us in life, to the one who makes
us to know and causes us to grow in the knowledge of Christ, to
him, Jesus Christ, our Savior, to him, be glory both now and
forever. Amen. Now, this is the message
I have for you this evening. We are required to grow in grace.
And here's the doxology. Because of his grace, we shall. Because of his grace, we shall.
If we're his, we're going to grow. We're going to grow in
Christ Jesus. and grow in the knowledge of
Christ until God's pleased to bring us home to glory to be
with Christ and make us perfectly like Christ. And therefore we
render all praise to him. We looking to him Knowing full
well our responsibility, we must grow. We must exercise faith. We must exercise that hope that's
ours in Christ Jesus. We must exercise love to Christ,
to his gospel and his people. But we'll do it because of him.
And we're going to grow in grace. Therefore, we'll praise him for
his goodness. You see, it is not our ability
that keeps us from falling, but our Savior's ability. It is not
our faithfulness to God that makes us secure, but his faithfulness
to us. It is not our growing in grace
that preserves us from the error of the wicked, but it is rather
his keeping us in grace. And therefore, he alone deserves
the praise. He alone shall have the praise.
And we desire that he alone be praised in all things, both now
and forever. Now, Peter's doxology here is
very much like that that is found in Jude, which we read earlier.
In Jude, verse 24. As a matter of fact, Peter and
Jude are telling us exactly the same thing. Jude is giving us
a little bit more of an elaborate form of the doxology, but the
doxology is the same. Here's what it says. Now unto
him that is able to keep you from falling. He's able to do
it. He's able to do it. He's able to keep you from falling. No matter what your temptations,
no matter what your trials, no matter what your difficulties,
no matter what your weaknesses, no matter what your infirmities,
no matter what the error is you face, He is able to keep you
from falling and to present you faultless before the presence
of His glory. with exceeding joy to the only
wise God our Savior. Our Savior is God and he's the
only God and the only wise God. To him be glory and majesty and
dominion and power both now and ever. Amen. So be it. We affirm that it is so. He shall
have the glory. Our faith attests that it is
so. He shall have the glory. Our hearts desire that it be
so. He shall have the glory. Now,
as we look at this doxology that's given here in 2 Peter 3.18, I
want to show you three things that I know are clear from the
scriptures, and I pray will be blessed of God to our hearts
good. Now, this is the desire of every
believer's heart. And this is the greatest ambition
of every believer's life. To God be the glory, both now
and forever. But learn this. This is the whole
duty of man. The whole duty of man. The Catechism asks the question,
why did God create man upon the earth? And it answers correctly,
to glorify God forever. Now that's the sum total of your
responsibility and your duty as God's creature in this world.
That's the sum total of why God put us here. He did not put us
here for pleasure and gain and happiness and prosperity. He
did not put us here to entertain ourselves. He didn't put us here
because he needed us. He put us here for the glory
of his own great being. Now that's the reason why God
made the world. The Lord God Almighty, for this
one reason, has made us to live today. You and I, right here
and now, have this one reason for our existence. However it's
accomplished, however it's brought to pass, God has put us here
in this world, in this place, in the circumstances in which
we live, with the abilities we have, now, here, and forever,
to glorify His name. And one way or another, we're
going to do it. One way or another, we're going to do it. The Lord
God not only has put us here for his glory, but that's the
reason that God does everything. That's the reason he has created
all things. That's the reason he brings all
things to pass. And it is our responsibility
and the responsibility of every creature to glorify his creator. You see, God alone deserves praise,
honor, and glory. The psalmist said, given to the
Lord, O ye mighty, given to the Lord glory and strength, given
to the Lord the glory due unto his name, that which is owed
to his name, that of which his name is worthy, worship the Lord
in the beauty of holiness. You see, God has the right to
your praise. It's only right that God be glorified. He made you. He sustains you. He feeds you. He clothes you. He upholds you. He has your breath
in His hands. You live by His bounty. Therefore,
glorify Him. Glorify Him. It's only right
that he have the glory. He's the creator. You owe him
honor. You owe him worship. You owe
him praise. You owe him gratitude. You owe
him faith. It's only right that men worship
the living God. Not only does he deserve it,
but God's desire is the glory that he shall have from his creatures.
God desires to be glorified. Now with us, it's a sinful thing. With God, it's the right thing.
With us to desire honor is the highest presumption because none
of us deserve honor. With us to desire that men should
recognize us is the height of presumption and pride and sin
because not one of us deserves to be recognized. But with God,
it's only right. It's only right that you and
I glorify Him and God desires that we glorify Him. In fact,
God so desires to be glorified in men that He has arranged the
whole scheme of redemption by Christ and the whole scheme of
salvation by grace primarily for this purpose to glorify Him. You read it a minute ago, three
times in those first 14 verses of Ephesians. He says he did
it to the praise of his glory, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, to the praise of his glory. Three times he says that.
Why did God choose us to the praise of his glory? Why did
God send his son to redeem us to the praise of his glory? Why
does God call us, preserve us, and keep us to the praise of
his glory? That's why God did it. Turn back
to Psalm 106. Let me show you two or three
passages in the Old Testament. Psalm 106. Mike read this for
us back in the study before services began. In verse 8, he's talking
about the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, but it was a picture
and a type of our deliverance by Christ. Nevertheless, he saved
them. Why? For his namesake. Why does God have mercy on sinners?
For his namesake. Why does God call sinners? For
his namesake. that he might make his mighty
power to be known. That's why he shows you mercy.
That's why he's gracious and good and kind to his own. Turn
over to Isaiah 42. Here's a prophecy of the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 42 and verse 6, I the Lord have called thee in
righteousness, talking about calling Christ to be our substitute
and surety. I have called thee in righteousness,
and I will hold thine hand. I will keep thee, and give thee
for a covenant of the people, for the light of the Gentiles.
God shut Israel up in darkness, in blindness, in desolation,
and sends Christ to be the light of the world, the Gentiles. For
this purpose, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners
from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison
house, I am the Lord, that's my name. My glory will I not
give to another, neither my praise to graven images. He said, now
I'm going to raise up Christ in righteousness. I'm going to
sustain the God-man in this world, the substitute for sinners, to
open blind eyes, to set the prisoners to free, to cause the dead to
live. Why? Because I'm not going to share
my glory with anybody. I'm going to see to it everybody
glorifies me. Now turn over to 1 Corinthians
1, 1 Corinthians chapter 1. You see, God has a purpose in
all things. His purpose in all things is
a purpose of grace toward his elect. But his purpose of grace
and his purpose that is all-inclusive of everything in the world is
for the glory of his name. That's the primary focus. And
this is the reason for our existence. This is the reason why I preach.
I preach the gospel. Yes, I preach for the salvation
of sinners. I want to see sinners saved by
God's grace, but that's not number one. That's not number one. That's
not the primary purpose. Our primary motive in all that
we do in missionary endeavors and in every effort we make for
the furtherance of the gospel is not primarily to see men converted. If that's the primary goal, Oscar,
sooner or later, to accomplish that object, we'll compromise
the message. If that's the primary goal, sooner
or later, we'll start toning down. If that's the primary goal,
sooner or later, we'll start doing what it takes to get the
job done. Our primary goal is not that sinners be saved. Our
primary goal is that God be glorified in the salvation of sinners.
And that's why we preach the gospel. Now look here in 1 Corinthians
1 and verse 26. You see your calling brethren.
Not many wise men after the flesh. Not many mighty men. Not many
noble men are called. God doesn't call many folks like
that. He calls some. He calls some. The wise, the
mighty, and the noble are not shut out. But God doesn't call
many, because if he did, flesh would be praised. But God hath
chosen things like us, foolish things of the world, to confound
the wise. And God hath chosen weak things
of the world, weak-minded, weak-spirited, weak-hearted, weak-bodied things
of the world. Weaklings. Weaklings. That's
what we are. Weaklings of the world to confound
the things which are mighty and base things of the world. That's the off scouring. That's
the filth. That's the trash of the world.
That's the useless things. That's the contemptible things. Those are the things God's chosen
and things which are despised, yea, and things which are not,
non-entities." Jesse Jackson pops his suspenders and he says,
I am somebody. Repeat it after me, I am somebody. No, you are nobody. And I am
nobody. And all of us together are a
bunch of nobodies. That's the kind of folks God
saves. And that's the kind of folks God uses to bring to naught
those folks who think they're somebody. Why? That no flesh
should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God has made unto us wisdom, and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. In other words, Christ is made
to be all I need. Why? That according as it is
written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. God desires
glory from his creatures. In fact, our Lord God has designed
all things and does all things in his wise providence for the
glory of his name. I can't hardly tell you what's
going to happen tomorrow. I can't even tell you what happened
yesterday. I just have a just a little surface knowledge of
a few things that went on around me in my little isolated world
today. But I can tell you this. The
reason why God created the world and the reason why God allowed
the fall of Lucifer and the fall of Adam and the fall of the angels
and the fall of men And the reason why God rules the world as he
does, and he does rule it, and the reason why God redeems sinners
by Christ, and the reason why God brings to pass everything
that comes to pass in this world, both the good and the evil, is
for the glory of his name. Here's what he says in Romans
11 and verse 33. God hides the gospel from some
men. And I can't explain all that.
I can't explain most of what I preach. But I'll tell you this,
if God hides the gospel or reveals the gospel, if God sends judgment
or sends mercy, if God sends death or God sends life, he does
it for his glory. Look here in Romans 11 verse
33. He's talking about the judgment of God, verse 32. God hath concluded
them, the whole nation of Israel, all of Abraham's physical seed,
all of those who were of the physical line and heritage of
Abraham and the nation of Israel. He's concluded them all in unbelief. The Lord said, your house is
left to you desolate, empty, vain, meaningless. It's forsaken. Forsaken. Why? that he might
have mercy upon all. God shut the Jews up in unbelief
so he might show the gospel to you. That's exactly what he's
saying. Why is it the Jews didn't have
Christ as their king? Why is it the Jews could not
see who he is and what he's done? Why is it that they could not
bow to him and would not bow to him? Why didn't God make known
to them his son? Because he's determined to show
Joey Browning mercy. That's why. That's why. He's
brought them in unbelief, concluded them in unbelief, that he might
have mercy upon all his elect, scattered throughout all the
world, Jew and Gentile, black and white, rich and poor, male
and female, bond and breed. And when Paul wrote that, he
said, my soul, that's too much. I can't understand that. Oh,
the depth. of the riches, both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord? Or who hath been his counselor?
Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed to
him again? For of him, and through him,
and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. God Almighty deserves all glory. He desires it. He's designed
it. And he's determined to have it.
He's going to have it. I've read the last chapter of
the book. When it's all over, I read how that every creature
bows down before the throne of the glorious triune God and says,
thou art worthy. For thy pleasure, all things
were and are created. for thy pleasure, for the glory
of thy name. God's gonna get glory in everything. One way or another, in the end,
I will give God glory. One way or another, in the end,
you will give God glory. One way or another, in the end,
like it or not, every creature in this world will give God praise,
honor, and glory. That's man's chief point of rebellion
and sin against God. Fallen man, just flat, can't
stand for God to be God. That's his problem. Melchizedek
had the judgment of God against him. Read Daniel 5, verse 23,
I believe it is. The prophet said, this is why
it's happening, because you gave God not the glory. That's why
it happens. That's the reason judgment fell
on Adam. He gave not the glory to God. That's the reason judgment
falls on all men. Because man, all men have come
short of giving God the glory. Now man likes to have a God,
but he will not worship at a sovereign God's throne. Man likes to have
a Lord, but he will not bow to the rule of an absolute Lord.
Man likes to have a savior, but he will not acknowledge his need
of a substitute. Man likes to be saved, but he
will not be saved by grace alone. Man likes much about religion,
but he flat will not believe God. Why? Because he won't give
God the glory. That's the only reason. That's
the only reason. Man by nature, fallen, sinful,
depraved, proud, self-righteous man. despises the fact that God
is God. And I'm saying you will not,
you cannot be saved until you give God his due. Glory, honor,
praise, dominion, and faith as God. To him be glory, both now
and forever. This is the whole duty of man.
But secondly, I want you to see that this is the delight of some
men. When Peter said, to him be glory,
he's saying, this is what I want. This is the thing I desire. This
is what I live for. This is the thing that motivates
my heart. This is the thing that rules
my life. This is the governing principle of my being. To him
be glory. And that is the desire of every
believer. There are some men and women
in this world, sinners saved by the grace of God through the
merits of Christ. who have no greater delight or
desire than the glory and honor of God our Savior. This is our
joy, our desire, and our prayer. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Our experience compels us to
give all glory to God our Savior alone. Turn over to Ephesians
2. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1 you hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins not only were you dead but
you walked According to the course of this world, you live like
everybody else. For numero uno. For self. You live like everybody else.
Course of this world. For gain, for pleasure, for applause,
for pride. You lived according to the prince
of the power of the air. That is, you lived according
to the will of Satan. The spirit that now works in
the children of disobedience. among whom we all had our conversation. That is, we all lived just like
everybody else. This was our manner of life in
times past. We lived in the lust of our flesh. We lived to fulfill the desires
of our flesh. We lived to satisfy the cravings
of our minds and were by nature the children of wrath. That is,
we deserve to die just like everybody else. We deserve to die just
like everybody else. But God. But God. That get a hold of your
heart, Bobby? But God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love, wherewith he loved us, hath quickened us
together with Christ. By grace ye are saved. Before all worlds he loved us. chose us and predestinated us
to everlasting glory? When we were under the just sentence
of the law, children of wrath condemned to die, He redeemed
us from the curse of the law. When we were lost, He found us.
When we were dead, He gave us life. When we would not call
upon Him, He called on us. When we would not come to Him,
He came to us. When we were not willing to come
to Christ, He made us willing in the day of His power. When
we could not believe, He gave us faith. When we had no hope,
He gave us a good hope through grace. No saved sinner will rob
him of his glory. Every saved sinner says to him,
be the glory now and forever. That's his desire. No saved sinner
will ever object to giving God all glory for his great saving
grace. Never, never. You show me a man
or a woman who even wants any credit for himself. You show
me a man or a woman who objects to the exaltation and the glory
of Christ alone in this business of salvation. You show me a man,
a woman, or a preacher who has any objection to say that man
is nothing, Christ is everything. Man deserves nothing, Christ
deserves everything. Man does nothing but sin, Christ
does everything. You show me one who checks to
it, and I'll show you a lost set. Lost is everything. Lost is everything. God's people
know He does it all. God's people delight for Him
to have all glory. God's people say, not unto us,
to Him alone. Not to me, but to Him. He gets
the glory. He gets the praise. Not only
does our experience compel us to say so, but our knowledge
demands it. To Him be the glory. My soul. He's God. He's God. I know that. I know that He's
the totally sovereign ruler of the universe. That means He gets
glory, Mark. He gets it. That's just right.
If I was God, I'd get it. That's right. If I was God, I'd
get it. If I were good, I'd want men to know I'm good. If I were
righteous, I'd want men to know I'm righteous. If I were holy,
I'd want men to know I'm holy and to praise me for my holiness
and they better do so. They better do so because I'm
the only one who is. That's God. That's God. Not only
do we know his total sovereignty, but we know, we know that we are all each
of us and all of us unworthy. My soul, we're unworthy of grace,
much less glory. We're unworthy of mercy, Hubert,
much less majesty. We're worthless, helpless creatures
of the dust. That's all we are. And God's
people know it. Every now and then I'll be preaching
somewhere Hasn't happened here, but happens most places. If I'm
preaching for a week somewhere, somebody sometime will come along
and send a preacher. I'm just not that bad. I'm just
not that bad. I know I've got some faults,
but I'm not like you say I am. My heart's not that evil. I haven't
done the things you describe. God's people know better. Merle
Hart and his wife and Don and his wife were all worthless in
God's sight. Worthless creatures. And we know
it. We're delighted for him to have
the glory. He's the only one worthy. More than that, we all
know if we're born of God, the salvations of the Lord. And the
one who does the saving ought to get the glory for it. Ought
to get the glory for it. We object strenuously Now, we
don't usually say it. We usually kind of keep our mouths
shut, and we'll wait our time to kindly, slyly slip it in.
But we object strenuously in here if we do anything and somebody
else gets credit for it. Now, we just, whoo, you don't
like that? You just don't like that? No,
Don, no, no. Shirley didn't do that. I did
that. I did that. Now, you don't usually say so,
but he ought to know I did that. He ought to know that. I'm saying
if God saves, God gets the glory. Now, if you save yourself, you
get the glory. You get the glory. Matter of
fact, if you have anything to do with salvation, somewhere
along the line, whatever it is you do, you ought to be praised
for it. As a matter of fact, if it is
your will and your work that distinguishes between you and
the damned, then God Himself is owing you praise and must
give you praise. That's right. God not be worshipped
by men who are his equals. God not be worshipped by men
who hold him in their hands and who determine what his glory
is and what part of his will he can accomplish. But above
all else, we delight to give God, our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, all glory because our hearts desire him to have all
glory. It's the present heart desire
and the eternal satisfaction of all believers that Christ
be glorified. To Him be glory both now and
forever. Oh, thank God. Thank God. Thank God. It's a voice inside
here. When I read that and hear the
Spirit of God say to Him be glory, that says, amen, amen, amen,
to him be glory, to him be glory. You see, we will praise and adore
him who can keep us from falling. Because we need to be kept, we
need to be kept. Though we are saved by the grace
of God and redeemed by the blood of Christ and justified by his
righteousness, though we're born again by his spirit, We're still
fallen, sinful, depraved, fickle men and women. Prone to wonder,
Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart. Oh, take and
seal it. Seal it for thy courts above. Only His grace can keep us from
falling by the error of the wicked. You read 2 Thessalonians 2, and
Paul described the coming of Antichrist with great power. He's going to come preaching
free will doctrine and the whole world's going to go after him. He's going to come preaching
Pentecostal power, pulling down fire from heaven, and the whole
world's going to go after him. You know who I'm talking about,
don't you? I'm talking about the whole religious world. And
Paul said, God has sent them this strong delusion that they
should believe a lie that they might be damned. And the only
reason we don't fall by the delusions of the religious world is because
God has chosen, and God has kept us, and God preserves us. Not only is the doctrinal error
of the wicked present, but the inward error mean spirit, lovelessness, gracelessness,
hardness, selfishness. Those things are so natural to
us. And if we're kept from it, God keeps us from it. And outward
evil. Oh, When any turn from Zion's way,
I think I can hear the Savior say, wilt thou forsake me too?
But if we're kept, He keeps us. He keeps us. None but God our
Savior can keep us from falling. We can't keep ourselves. The
church can't keep us. Prayer can't keep us. Communion
can't keep us. Eating at the Lord's table can't
keep us. Nothing can keep us but Christ the Lord. No rules
or regulations can keep us. None can. My soul. Things we
read in our newspapers ought to tell us that strict rules
and regulations in religion won't keep a man from falling. No,
that won't help. No experience can keep us from
falling. No power we have in this world
can keep us from falling. But blessed be God, Christ our
God and Savior can and does and will keep us from falling. He's
willing to. He's wise enough to. He's the
only wise God. He's able to do so and He will
do so. He has strength and power to
keep us no matter what surrounds us. He will keep us for He is
honor bound to keep us. Where would His glory be? If
one whom he said I will keep should perish, where would his
glory be? If one whom he said I will save
should perish, where would his honor be? If there were one of
whom he said, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved,
and one comes along and believes and is baptized and he's not
saved, where is his glory? He's got none. He's lost it all. God has ceased to be. If even
one whom God determines to save is perishing at last. My name
from the palm of his hands, eternity will not erase. Impressed on
his heart it remains, and marks of indelible grace. Yes, yes,
yes, by his grace in Christ Jesus, I to the end shall endure, as
sure as the earnest is given, more happy but not more secure,
the glorified spirits in heaven. We will praise, honor, and adore
Him who will finally present us faultless before the presence
of His glory. You can't stand in the courts
of the divine glory unless you're faultless. No spot of sin, no
wrinkle of infirmity, but perfectly righteous. For nobody and nothing
can make faulty sinners faultless saints, but Christ the faultless
substitute. And he who has made us faultless,
who has washed away our sins in his blood and robed us in
his spotless righteousness, is able and will present us faultless
before the presence of his glory. Can you imagine that? My soul! Well, we're going to have exceeding
joy, yeah? The text talks about Him having
exceeding joy. Exceeding joy! The Lord Jesus
Christ, when He presents all the innumerable company of His
saints before the throne of the glorious Trident God, and says, Lo, I am the children
which God has given me. He brings all the sheep, and
he says, Father, all that you've given me I've kept, none of them
lost. Look here. Look here. When he brings all
of those for whom he has prayed, saying, Father, I will that they
also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they
may behold my glory. All that great multitude. will shout his praise and sing
to him be glory, to him be glory, to him be glory, and their hearts
bursting with joy. Oh, but somehow the joy of the
covenant God our Savior as our mediator is wrapped up in our
everlasting salvation. And he gonna rejoice. There shall
be joy in the peasants of the over one sinner who repents in
the presence of the angels. The angels rejoice, but Christ
will rejoice. He will rejoice. And were one of them to perish,
there would be no joy for him who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross. When our Lord went to the cross,
There was a joy out in front of him, a prize, an object for
which he reached, a goal to which he strove, set out in front of
him. What is it? He shall see of the
true veil of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify me. The pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper He saw out before Him, through that cross, through
the agony, through the blood, through the death, through the
imputation of sin, through the falling of divine wrath, He saw
the joy of presenting every soul with a redeeming face before
the presence of His glory with ecstasy and joy and exuberance. Oh, children of God, redeemed
sinners, Let us adore God our Savior with the highest descriptions
of praise. To Him be glory, both now and
forever. Let every sinner, saved by grace, add his own amen
to the doxology. I will gladly praise Him who
has kept me. I will praise him who is keeping
me. I will praise him who shall yet keep me. And oh, how I will
praise him when he presents me faultless before the presence
of his glory. To him be glory both now and
forever. This is the whole duty of man.
And this is the heart delight of some men. And one last thing
I'll send you home. This is the final destiny of
all men. For God hath highly exalted his
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, giving him a name that's above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things
in heaven, all the angels and principalities and powers, all
the redeemed sinners justified and made perfect before the throne,
and of things in the earth, every man, woman, child, every demon
that's ever roamed the earth, everyone, every animal, every
event, every element of the creation, things in the earth, things under
the earth, all the regions of the devil, the angels that fail,
Lucifer, the prince of darkness, and all the rebels fallen into
hell, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, listen, to the glory of God the Father. Amen. And so it shall be. Every creature
and every event in history will glorify the wisdom and power
of God. Every rebel will glorify the
justice and truth of God. And every saved sinner will forever
glorify every attribute of the triune God, His wisdom and power,
His justice and truth, His grace and His love. To Him be the glory,
both now and forever. Amen. He shall be glorified because
He's kept us. He's kept us. My flesh says, Don Fortner will surely fail. That's what my flesh says. And it says it all the time.
And it says it more loudly today than it's ever said it. Don Fortner will surely fail. The world says I'll deceive him. I hear it. Oh, I hear the beckoning
voice of this world. I'll deceive him. The allurements
and the charms and the riches. Some folks are troubled with
material riches. Other folks trouble with other
kinds of riches. The riches of the world's applause. The riches of the world's name.
The world says I'll deceive him. The devil says, I'll devour him. And I hear him roar like a devouring
lion, seeking whom he may devour. But I hear the Son of God declare,
I will keep it. I'll keep it. That's good enough. That's good enough. There's my
safety. To him be glory. and ever. Amen.