Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. In Acts chapter 7, Stephen gives
his defense against a four-fold accusation that was made against
him. The Pharisees, the religious people, accused him of speaking
against Moses, against the law, against the temple, and against
God himself. Now he's giving his defense to
these men and he begins in a very, I shouldn't say unusual because
it's the only way a message should begin, but it's not what is heard
in religion because religion generally begins with man and
his need of God and what God can do for him. And that is completely
wrong. Now let's look at how Stephen
begins his message. Verse one, then said the high
priest, are these things so? These accusations that have been
brought against you. And he said, men, brethren and
fathers, hearken, and here's his beginning point, the God
of glory. That's what I want to attempt
to preach on this morning, the God of glory. God's glory is the infinite beauty
of his perfections. Now I realize ahead of time that
everything I say is going to fall short of what should be
said with this glorious subject but God's glory is the infinite
beauty of his perfections. Now, we understand that about
the way we understand the holiness of God. Not very much, but I know this,
God's glory and God's holiness always go together. Now, let
me show you that in the scripture. In Isaiah chapter six, Isaiah
says, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord, high,
sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled
the temple. Above it stood the seraphims.
Each one had six wings. With two, he covered his face.
Even a seraphim couldn't look at the Lord. With two, he covered
his feet. Even a seraphim was ashamed of
his walk. He had no sin, but he knew if
the Lord didn't prevent him from it, that's what would happen
to him. He knew he was a mutable creature. And with two, he did
fly, ready to do God's will. And look what they said. And
one cried to another and said, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole
earth is full of His glory." Now do you see the way the two
go together? They cried out, He's holy, holy, holy, the whole
earth is full of His glory. And then we have an event that
took place in Leviticus chapter 10, and Adab and Abihu, the sons
of Aaron, these were the sons of the great high priest, They
took either of them his censer that you were supposed to burn
incense in, which represents the intercession of Christ and
the prayers of Christ. Either of them took his censer
and put fire therein and put incense thereon and offered strange
fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. You see,
there was only one fire to be offered. It was the fire that
came off the altar. And to light up the incense with
some fire that didn't have something to do with the sacrifice was
wrong. Now look what happened as a result
of them doing this. They, I suppose, thought, well,
as long as we're sincere, everything's all right, we don't have to have
fire off the altar as long as we have fire. And what happened?
And there went out fire from the Lord and devoured them, and
they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, this
is that that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified.
I will be regarded as holy. and then come nigh me, and before
all the people I will be glorified. Now there we have the two things
together again, God's holiness, God's glory. Now what is God's
holiness? Well, the best way to describe
God's holiness is his otherness, his otherness, his separateness,
the infinite perfection of all of his being and all of his attributes
that cannot be improved, imitated, or there's nothing to compare
him to. Holiness defines all that he is and is not determined
by anything outside of himself. It's the adjective of his attributes. His love is a holy love. His wrath is a holy wrath. His justice is a holy justice. His omnipotence, His all might,
His power is a holy power. His sovereignty, His absolute
control over everything is a holy sovereignty. God is holy. That's why He can't look upon
sin. God is holy. Now God's glory is the infinite
beauty of all of his manifold perfections and attributes. It's
his honor. It's his splendor. It's his majesty. It's his brightness. It's his
magnificence. It's his excellence. It's the
beauty that emanates from his character. Now, many people,
most people don't see this beauty, and the reason is they have no
saving faith. God has not given them faith.
They don't have life. You know, the Lord said to, Martha,
said I not to you that if you would believe, you'd see the
glory of God? You have to have faith. You have
to believe God, the gift of God's grace, in order to see anything
of his beauty and his glory. But understand this, when we're
talking about God's glory, God's glory is the reason for all things. Now let me repeat that. God's
glory. is the reason for all things. The creation of the universe
was for the glory of God. The creation of man was for the
glory of God. The fall of man was all according
to God's purpose to glorify Himself. Had there been no fall, there'd
be no cross, there'd be no grace, there'd be no mercy. God is in
control of everything, and even the fall of Adam was according
to the glory of God, and the salvation of men is for the glory
of God. Oh, how God is glorified in saving
a sinner. Every attribute of God is in
full display in the salvation of a sinner. Every attribute
of God is in full display in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The cross was for the glory of God. All things are for the glory
of God. I think of when our Lord was
thinking of his death, he said, What shall I say? Father, save
me from this hour. For this cause came I into this
hour. Father, glorify thy name. And when he was facing it during
this prayer, the great high priestly prayer for his people, he begins
with these words. Father, the hour has come, the
hour of my death. Glorify thou me that I might
glorify thee. And he said in John chapter 17,
verse four, I've glorified thee on the earth. I have finished
the work that thou gavest me to do. Now, God is called the
God of glory. The Lord Jesus of Christ is called
the Lord of glory. The Holy Spirit is called the
Spirit of God and of glory. And the gospel is called the
gospel of the glory of the blessed God. We read these words in 2
Corinthians 4, verse 6, but God, who commanded the light to shine
out of the darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Now, his glory. David said in his temple, does
everyone speak of his glory? When our Lord described heaven,
he said, Father, I will that they whom you've given me be
with me where I am that they may behold my glory. Heaven is a beholding of his
glory. Sin is defined as all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Anything short of the glory
of God is sin. Listen to this description of
faith. Speaking of Abraham, he staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God. My dear friend, if you believe
the gospel, if you rely on the Lord Jesus Christ only as everything
in your salvation, you give glory to God. Repentance. Revelation 16, nine, they repented
not to give him the glory. Now, when you repent, that's
what you do. You give him the glory. This is the issue. It's always
been the issue. Who gets the glory? I'd like
to read a passage from Romans chapter one, beginning in verse
18. We read, for the wrath of God,
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold or hold down the truth in unrighteousness,
because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for
God hath showed it to them. And he talks about the creation.
This is what God has demonstrated. For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead. So they are without excuse because
that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. Neither were thankful, but became
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened,
professing themselves to be wise. They became fools and changed
the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to
corruptible man. They took God and made him like
a man. or even worse, a four-footed
beast or a creeping thing. Now that's what men have done
with the glory of God. They have refused it. They refuse
to acknowledge it or see it. But understand this, this is
the issue, particularly in the salvation of the sinner, but
this is the issue. This is why God does everything
he does for his own glory. And it's only right that it should
be that way because of who He is. Now, if you and I seek our
glory, it's wrong, it's sinful, it's selfish and self-centered
and self-serving and egotistical, but not God. He would be beneath
the dignity of His person and the excellence of His character
to have any other motive short of His own glory. That's how
glorious He is. His glory is the only motive
He has. Now, in creation, Who gets the
glory? God does. He didn't have any
help in creation. In providence, who gets the glory? Who's the cause of everything?
God is in control of providence. The Lord said, not a sparrow
falls to the ground without your heavenly father. He controls
everything, all the disasters that happen, all the good things
that we would call good, all the bad things. God is the cause. Somebody says, God didn't do
that. Yeah, he did. Yeah, he did. He's God. Anything
less is not even a God. A God that's not worthy of worship.
He gets the glory in all things in providence. He's doing what
he's doing for his own glory. And the scripture says, all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose. And most especially in the salvation
of a sinner, he gets the glory. You see, if I'm saved, I can't
say I'm saved because I did anything. I'm saved because he saved me. You know what really bothers
me when I hear somebody say, I got saved, or you need to get
saved. No, that's not scriptural language. The Lord saved me, and he gets
all the glory. He chose me before time began.
He came in time and kept the law for me. He died for my sins. He put them away. He gave me
his righteousness. He's in heaven right now interceding
for me. He gets all the glory. And I don't want any because
I know I don't have any coming to me. He gets all the glory,
the glory of God. Now I want to go to a passage
in Exodus chapter 33 where God tells us what his glory is. Now this is the setting of the
children of Israel making a golden calf in Washington. And during
this prayer that Moses prays, he says, I beseech you, show
me your glory. And God answers that prayer. Let me give the setting. Moses
has gone up to Mount Sinai to receive the law. He's gone 40
days. While he's gone, the children of Israel make a golden calf
and worship it, and say, These be thy gods, O Israel, that delivered
thee out of Egypt." Now, what wickedness! Now, while they're
doing this, the Lord tells Moses what they've done. He comes down,
and oh, he's angry. He breaks the tables of stone
and the golden calf and straws it in the water and makes him
drink it. And he goes back up to pray and seek the Lord's blessing
and seek the Lord's favor for these people. Now we read beginning
in verse 9 of verse 8 of chapter 33. And it came to pass when
Moses went into the tabernacle that all the people rose up and
stood every man at his tent door and looked after Moses. until
he'd gone into the tabernacle and came to pass. As Moses entered
into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended and stood at
the door of the tabernacle and the Lord talked with Moses. And
all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle
door and all the people rose up and worshiped every man in
his tent door. And the Lord spake to Moses face to face. This was a pre-incarnate appearance
of the Lord Jesus Christ. and he spoke to Moses face to
face as a man speaks with his friend. And he turned again into
the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man,
departed not out of the tabernacle." Now here's where he begins his
prayer, and this is right preceding this request, show me your glory.
Verse 12, And Moses said unto the Lord,
see thou sayest unto me, bring up this people. That's a good
place to begin with prayer, what the Lord said. He brings up what
the Lord said. And Moses said unto the Lord,
see thou sayest unto me, bring up this people. And yet thou
hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me, yet thou hast
said, I know thee by name. And thou hast found grace in
my sight. Now therefore I pray thee, if
I found grace in your sight. Show me now your way that I might
know thee, that I might find grace in thy sight. Now, Moses didn't bring up how
he left Egypt and he left all the wealth and the education
and the fame and the position of Egypt, and he did. He was,
he was, the son of Pharaoh's daughter, what wealth, what power,
what position this man had. But when God appeared to him,
he left all that. And he didn't bring that up.
Well, look what all I've left. I hate it when religious people
do that, when they talk about all the things they've given up for
the Lord. And Moses was interested in one thing. I want to find
grace in your sight. I want to know your way, the
way of grace, the way of Christ. I want to know your way that
I might know thee. That's what Moses wanted. He
wanted to know the living God. Very much like Paul when he said,
oh, that I might know him. I want to know him so that he
knows me. So that when I use his name, it's not name dropping.
I know him and he knows me. Oh, that I might know him. That's
what Moses wanted. He wanted to know the living
God. And then God makes this promise
in verse 14, and he said, my presence shall go with thee.
and I'll give thee rest, and oh, that's what I need. I need
his presence, I can't be left to myself, and I need the rest,
the rest of faith, the rest of not working, the rest of knowing
that Christ is all in my salvation. They which have believed do enter
into a rest, for they that have entered into his rest have ceased
from their own works, as God did from his. I need his presence,
and oh, I need to rest in him, Here's Moses' reply, and he said
unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up
hence. I don't want to go. For wherein shall it be known
here that I and thy people have found grace in your sight? Is
it not that you go with us? So shall we be separated, I and
thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the
earth. And the Lord said unto Moses, I'll do this thing. I'm gonna go with you, I'm gonna
give you rest. I'll do this thing also that
thou has spoken, for thou hast found grace in my sight. Oh,
that's what I need, grace, unmerited favor. And I know thee by name. I know you, Moses. And he said,
I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Now this is the highest request
a human being can ever make. He wanted to see the glory of
God. This is a greater request than
when Solomon asked for wisdom and the Lord was so pleased with
that and he gave him wisdom and riches and so on. I beseech you,
show me your glory. There's something I'm not seeing.
There's something I've never seen. Now, Moses had seen the
burning bush that could not be consumed, and the Lord speak
to him from that. Remember when the Lord said, take off your
shoes, the place you're standing is holy ground? He had seen the
plagues, the 10 plagues. He had seen the parting of the
Red Sea. He had seen the destruction of
Pharaoh's army. He had seen the manna fall down
from the sky, from heavens, and feed the children of Israel.
He had seen water come out of the rock to give them drink.
He had seen the giving of the law. He was there when the finger
of God wrote the Ten Commandments on the tables of stone. He'd
seen all these things, and he says, I've not seen your glory. I beseech you, show me your glory. Now listen to God's answer. Verse
19, and he said, I'll make all my goodness pass before thee,
and I'll proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and I will
be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy
to whom I will show mercy. God's glory by his own definition
is his goodness. God's good. God's holiness is a good holiness. God's grace is a good grace.
God's wrath is a good wrath. is controlled by the goodness
of God. God is good. He's entirely good. Everything
about him is good. When he talked about his name,
I proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, that's talking about
his attributes. It's the person behind the name. It's his sovereignty. It's his justice. It's his omnipotence,
his omniscience, his immutability, his eternality. Every attribute
of God is good. It's a declaration of his goodness.
He says, I will be gracious. That bunch that made a golden
calf, he said, I'll be gracious to him. It's his capacity for
mercy. But he says, I'll be gracious to him. I will be gracious. And
I'll show mercy to him. I will show mercy. You know,
Paul quotes this in Romans chapter 9 when he's talking about election.
He says in Romans chapter 9, verse 11, for the children being
not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand. Not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger. As it's written, Jacob of a loved, but
Esau of a hated. What should we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? Is God unfair? God forbid, for
he saith to Moses, and he quotes this passage of scripture, I
will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I'll show mercy
on whom I will show mercy. You see, his mercy is sovereign
mercy. That means he gives it to whom
he will, and if he wants to pass you by, he's right, just, holy,
and true in doing it. And if you believe you're a sinner,
you'll agree with that. But this is his glory. Now he's gonna go on and proclaim
his name. He says in verse 20, and he said, thou canst not see
my face, for there shall no man see me and live. No man can see
his face. And the Lord said, behold, there's
a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock. This is where
the hymn Rock of Ages comes from. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. and it shall come to pass while
my glory passes by that I'll put thee in a cliff of the rock,
a place of safety, a place of protection, and I will cover
thee with my hand while I pass by, and I'll take away my hand,
and thou shalt see my back parts. What are God's back parts? I
don't know, but I know it's what we can see. It could simply refer
to his works. It's what we can see, but I know
he dwells in a life that no man can approach to. No man can see
his face and live. Now at this time, God is revealing
and concealing, blessing and protecting. And so we read in
verse, 1 of chapter 34, this is the same thing going on. And
the Lord said to Moses, you, the two tables of stone, like
the first. And I write upon these tables, the words that were in
the first table, which thou breakest. Verse four, and he, you two tables
of stone, like unto the first. Moses rose up early in the morning
and went up into the Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him
and took the stone. And the Lord descended in the
cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the
Lord. And here's what he said, and
the Lord passed by before him Jehovah the self-existent One,
the Lord God, Jehovah El, the self-existent Almighty One, merciful
and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and
truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin, that will by no means clear the guilty. Now somebody
says, well, how can he have mercy and grace, and how can he forgive
iniquity and transgression and sin, and yet say, I'll by no
means clear the guilty? Because in the gospel, the glory
of the gospel, is that God makes his people not guilty, perfectly
righteous. That's why their sins can be
forgiven, because their sins have been put away by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, I by no means clear
the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,
upon the children's children, unto the third and fourth generation.
And Moses, it's what everybody does who God reveals himself
to. And Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth
and worshiped. You'll only worship this God. Any other God is a false God. It's a non-existent God, but
this is the God who is to be worshipped. And look what Moses
says, and he said, if now I found grace in thy sight. Oh, that's
what I want. Oh, I want to find grace in his
sight. If now I found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord,
I pray thee, go among us. We need your presence, for it's
a stiff-necked people. If you don't do this by your
grace, it won't happen. Let thy people go among, let
thy presence go among us, for it's a stiff-necked people, and
pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance. That is our desire. Now this
is how God answered Moses. When Moses asked him this question,
show me thy glory. May you and I beseech the Lord
for the same view of himself. We have this message on DVD and
CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Kniper, praying
that God would be pleased to make himself known to you. That's
our prayer. To request a copy of the sermon
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