Turn back to 1 Corinthians 1. Frank Tate, the pastor of the
Hurricane Road Grace Church will preach for us tonight. I kind
of feel like one's all I can handle today. Maybe I could do two, but I'll
keep it this way for right now. Last phrase Verse 31, he that
glorieth. The word glorieth means to boast,
to rejoice, to have confidence in. He that glorieth, let him
glory in the Lord. I've entitled this message, Have
I gloried in the Lord? What a question. Have I gloried in the Lord? I want to piece together four
scriptures that will help us to answer this question. as to
whether or not we have actually gloried in the Lord. I want to know, have I personally,
do I know anything about glorying in the Lord? Now, here are three things before
we look at this text that can never be separated. First, knowing God. You can't trust somebody you
don't know. It's impossible. Knowing God. Now, if I know God,
there is one thing I know I will do. I will trust Him. I will believe Him. And if I believe Him, you know
what I'm going to do? I'm going to glory in Him. Now here are three things that
can't be separated. The knowledge of God. And I don't mean simply knowing
things about God and having accurate information concerning God. I'm
talking about knowing Him. The knowledge of God. You can't
trust an unrevealed Savior, a Savior that you do not know. And if
you know Him, you will believe Him. You will trust Him. And if you trust Him, you will
glory in Him. Now here's the first scripture
I want us to look at. Turn with me to John chapter
17. This is the Lord's Prayer. You know, when we hear, Our Father
which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, that's the disciple's
prayer. That's not the Lord's Prayer.
This passage of Scripture is so special because in it, the
Lord allows us to hear what He says to His Father. Isn't that
precious? The Lord's Prayer. And look how
he begins in verse one. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, this is the son speaking to his
heavenly father, The hour is come. And he's talking about
the hour of his death. How many times in the scripture
we read his hour was not yet come. But now his hour is come. And this is the focal point of
all of eternity and all of time. The hour of his death. This is why he came. to die. Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy son. Now, while his essential glory
as God the son could not be diminished or enhanced, he is who he is. and that can never be taken away.
It's also true that while he was here on earth, in some sense,
he laid aside his glory. Look in verse five. And now,
O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self, with the glory
which I had with Thee before the world was. He had laid this
aside and now He's asking the Father to bring it back to Him.
And you know that there's glory that He has achieved that He
could never have achieved had He not come for this hour and
died as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And here's His one singular reason
that He asks His Father to glorify Him. Look in the next phrase,
that thy Son also may glorify thee. That's his reason. Verse 2. As thou hast given Him
power, authority over all flesh, Now what is meant by flesh? Everybody
in this room and everybody outside of this room. All men without
exception. Thou has given him power over
all flesh. Now listen to this statement
real carefully. Your eternal destiny is in His
hands. Where you will spend eternity
is up to Him. You believe that? So whether
you believe it or not, you don't have any control in this thing.
Your salvation is up to Him. And look what he goes on to say.
As thou has given him power over all flesh, that he should give
eternal life to as many as thou has given him. Now this is the reason for his
power, that he should give eternal life to everybody that the Father
gave him. Now what's this a reference to?
It's a reference to a lecture. What do you think about that? You know, there's some people
that love this. There's some people that don't. I'm one of
them that does. That He should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given Him. Turn back to John 6 for
a moment. Verse 36. But I said unto you,
that you also have seen Me, and believe not. He's speaking to
those who do not believe, And how does he respond to that?
Oh, I wish you'd believe on me. This disappoints me. I wish you'd
believe. He doesn't say anything like
that at all, does he? What does he say? All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me. You don't believe, but I'll tell
you who will. those the Father gave me. Every
one of them will come to me. Look down in verse 39. And this
is the Father's will which is sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day. Now this is God's will. Our Lord
tells us that all the elect to be saved. I'm going to save every
single one of them. Look in John chapter 2. Verse 24, Then came the Jews round about
him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If
thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. As if he hadn't already done
it. Jesus answered them, I told you,
and you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not because you
are not of my sheep. And notice he doesn't say you're
not my sheep because you don't believe. He says you believe
not because you're not of my sheep. Verse 27, My sheep hear My voice,
I know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand, My Father which gave them Me. He is greater than
all, and no man shall pluck them out of My Father's hand. Look
in chapter 17 once again. Verse 2, Thou hast given Him
power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life. To
who? To as many as Thou hast given
Him. Look in verse 6, I have manifested
Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest. Look in verse 9, I pray
for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. Verse
11, last sentence, those whom thou hast given me. Father, keep
through thine own name those whom thou hast given me. Verse
12, those thou gavest me. I have kept." Look in verse 24,
Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with
me where I am. And once again, this is talking
about God's gift of the elect to his son before time began. Now, the only reason someone
would have an objection to election, you listen real carefully, The
only reason why someone would have an objection to God choosing
who would be saved before the foundation of the world, giving
them to his son, and them being saved by what Christ did. The
only reason someone would object to that is this, self-righteousness. A false sense of entitlement. If you believe you're a sinner,
you know the only way you'll be saved is if God elected you
and Christ died for you. If you have any objections, you've
got problems. You've got problems with God
and he's the wrong person to have problems with. My advice
to myself and to you is to bow the knee. God is God. Thou hast given Him power over
all flesh. You're in His hand. You and everybody
outside of this room. Me. You. That He should give
eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. Now look back in verse 3. And this is life eternal. John 17 verse 3. This is life
eternal, that they might know thee. Not simply know about you, but
know you. The only, now listen to the language,
the only true God. as opposed to the many false
gods. There are a lot of false gods.
Gods of men's imagination. Gods that men have forged in
their own wicked hearts that are not gods. False gods. He said this is eternal life.
That they might know Thee, the only true God. The God of the
Bible. The God who is holy. who is righteous,
who is sovereign, who is independent, who has no needs, who is immutable. He never changes. He's eternal. He never began to be. He's just. He's love. He's gracious. The God of the Bible. Any God
that's not just like this belongs in that demographic of the many
false gods that can't be saved. But this is life eternal. that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. There is no knowledge of God
apart from Jesus Christ, the one whom God has sent. Let me
ask you two questions. Do you believe God sent him? Do you believe that His Father
sent Him. What must we do to work the works
of God? This is the work of God, that
you believe on Him whom He hath sent. Here's a second question. First, do you believe that God
sent Him? And secondly, do you believe
that He did what God sent Him to do? Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. Do you believe
he did what God sent him to do? He said in verse four of our
text, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the
work thou gavest me to do. And what was the work the Father
gave Him to do? To save His people from their sins. And thank God
He did it. Now would you turn to Jeremiah
chapter 9. This is what Paul quotes in 1
Corinthians. Chapter 1, verse 23. Thus saith the Lord, Jeremiah
9, verse 23, 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, which
exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness of the earth.
For in these things I delight, saith the Lord." Now, he tells
us in this passage of Scripture what not to glory in. And remember, this thing of glory
means to boast, to rejoice, to have confidence in, to glory
in. Now he says, 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. Now here are three
things that everybody is pretty interested in. Having some true
wisdom, having some strength, and having riches. Everybody's
interested in that. Now, what's he talking about?
Could he be talking about spiritual wisdom? the gift of God that's
given in the new birth? Well, he could be talking about
that, but if you've got spiritual wisdom, don't you glory in it? Why would you glory in something
God gave you? If he's talking about the wisdom
to make great accomplishments, build
buildings, do good things, don't glory in that. It's the gift
of God. You don't have any reason to
glory in it. When He speaks of might, is He talking about spiritual
strength? Well, if you do have spiritual
strength, and you're able to believe, don't glory in that.
You're to glory in the Lord. Not His gifts, but the giver. If He's talking about the strength
to do, to perform the acts that wisdom has conceived, don't glory
in that. when he talks about riches. Oh,
the riches we have in Christ Jesus. Don't glory in those. Glory in Him who gave them. 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 understands and knows me, that I am the Lord. He's the Lord. He's the Lord
of creation. By an act of His will, He brought
the universe into existence. He's the Lord of providence.
He controls everything and everybody. He's in control of me, He's in
control of you, and He's in control of everybody outside of this
building. His will is always done because He's the Lord. Most
especially, He's the Lord of salvation. Salvation is in His
hands. And look what He says. Verse
24, but let him that gloryeth, glory in this, that he understands
and knows me, that I am the Lord which exercise. That means he
does whatever it is he purposes to do. He says three things. I exercise loving kindness. judgment
and righteousness. In these things I delight." Now,
this is who the Lord is. First of all, He exercises loving
kindness. Now, what's loving kindness?
Well, it's the word that's generally translated mercy. You remember
David praying in Psalm 51? Now, on his heart at this time,
he had just committed adultery, tried to cover it up, murdered
somebody in order to cover it up, and had other people implicated
in his crime. That's pretty bad stuff, isn't
it? Pretty bad stuff. Could a believer act like that? The only reason you'd ask that
question is because you're not a believer. Because if you're
a believer, you know, you have some idea of how sinful you are.
And you know that apart from God's grace, you would do anything. And the only reason you didn't
do it is because He kept you from it. Do you believe that?
Now David is praying and he says, have mercy upon me, oh God, because
I'm so sorry. because I promised to never do
it again. And I promised to straighten
my life up. Did he say anything like that?
No. He said, have mercy upon me,
oh God, according to thy loving kindness. I can't think of any other reason
why you'd have mercy on me but that. According to the multitude
of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgression, wash me throughly
from my sin, and cleanse me from my iniquity. for I acknowledge
my transgressions. My sin is ever before thee. Against
thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when you speak and clear when
you judge." Now, aren't you glad God exercises loving kindness?
David was. I am too. And then next he says, I exercise
judgment. Now, this is a reference, I have
no doubt, to the cross. On Calvary's tree, every believer
was judged and justified. When Christ died, every believer
was justified. That's God's judgment concerning
them. When I stand before God in judgment
because of what Christ did, he's going to say, he never sinned. He's justified because my sin
was put away. And all of those who do not believe
are condemned. Justice and judgment is the habitation
of thy throne. And then he says he exercises
righteousness. You see, the gospel is about
the righteousness of God. It's how He can be righteous,
and yet declare me to be righteous, when in and of myself, I'm not.
And yet, He does it in a way that glorifies His righteousness. And His righteousness is seen
in the condemnation of all of those who do not believe. Now,
He says, if you're gonna glory, glory in this, that you know
and understand me, that I'm the Lord, and I exercise loving kindness, judgment, and
righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight."
Now, this is the passage Paul quoted in 1 Corinthians 1. Would
you turn back there, 1 Corinthians 1. Verse 31, that according as it
is written in Jeremiah chapter 9 verse 24, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. Now, look back in verse 26 of
1 Corinthians chapter 1. See why he said this. For you see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called. Now I'm glad it doesn't say not
any, but it does say not many. I don't see any famous people
in here. I don't see any people in this room that the world would
esteem the great of this world. I know I'm not. But you know,
the Lord doesn't call people like that for the most part.
He's called some. I have no doubt He's saved some kings and some
presidents, some famous athletes, some movie stars. He saved some,
but not many. Not many. Verse 27. But... I love that word, don't you?
But God hath chosen, and that word chosen is elected. Now who
is it that God elects? Who are these people who were
given to Christ before time began? How would you describe these
individuals? Here's who God has chosen. Verse 27, the foolish things. of the world, to confound the
wise." Now that word foolish means the impious and the godless. If you'd look this word up in
Strong's Concordance, here's what he has to say. Dull and
stupid. Morally block-headed. Absurd,
heedless, and foolish. That's who God chooses. Where do you fit in there? He said, I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. Verse 27, and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world. Now, the word weak means powerless,
without strength. The same word is translated in
Romans 5, 6. When we were yet without strength,
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Those who are weak
are those who have nothing to bring to the table. Absolutely
nothing. There's no reason in me as to
why God would ever choose me. I can't find one reason in myself
why I would. Verse 28, and the base things
of the world, the ignoble, the cowardly, the lowborn, And things
which are despised hath God chosen, said it not to be made of no
accounts. Yea, here's who God has chosen,
yea, things which are nothing. What do you have to bring to
God? Nothing. Nothing. Now, if you've got something
to bring, you've excluded yourself. That's not the person who he
chooses. He chooses those who are nothing to bring to not the
things that are. Verse 29, I love this verse,
that no flesh is going to glory in his presence.
No flesh. I don't care if it's educated
flesh, or rich flesh, or moral flesh, or religious flesh, or
irreligious flesh, or immoral flesh. That's the one word to
describe being you. Flesh. No flesh is going to glory
in His presence. The key being His presence. He's the Lord. Ain't nobody going
to glory in His presence. He's the Lord. But, there's that
word again, but of Him are you. You who are foolish and weak
and base and despised and are nothing. Of Him are you in Christ
Jesus. The only place of salvation.
The only place of security. And look what he says. Who of God is made unto us. Wisdom. Now how wise is Christ? Can the Father have fellowship
with Him? That's how wise every believer
is. Because he is made into us by God. Wisdom and righteousness. His righteousness is my personal
righteousness and God can embrace me. He's made into us sanctification,
holiness. Now listen to me real carefully.
This person you're looking at right now is someone who is holy. sinless, fit for fellowship with
God, because he is made unto me holiness. And redemption,
in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. Full deliverance. That, verse
31, according as it's written, he that glorieth, He that boasts,
let him glory in the Lord. Now I want to close by asking
this question, what's that look like? What's it look like to
glory in the Lord? Have I gloried in the Lord? Turn with me to Galatians chapter
6. Now who is speaking before I
read this passage of scripture? Who is speaking here? It's Paul.
Paul the apostle. Paul the wise master builder. Paul who said, if any man thinks
he has whereof he may trust in the flesh, I've got more. That's what Paul said to every
man. You think you have a reason to glory in the flesh? If you
want to compare apples to apples or oranges to oranges, I got
more than you do. I was circumcised the eighth day of the stock of
Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, touching the law of Pharisee,
concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness
which is in the law. I was blameless. This is the one who God brought
into the third heavens. He said, whether in the body
or out of the body, I don't know. God knoweth. This is the man
God used to expound the gospel more than anybody else. This is the man who wrote 13
books in the New Testament. Paul, the apostle. What does
he have to say? Well, look in verse 12, Galatians
chapter six, He says, as many as desire to make a fair show
in the flesh. And isn't that what religion
is? A fair show in the flesh. Look at me. Look what God's enabled
me to do. Oh, my life's different. I'm
different. I've done something. as many as desire to make a fair
show in the flesh. They constrain you to be circumcised
only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of
Christ. They say you need to be circumcised. And the reason
they say that is they don't want to preach the naked truth. They're
afraid of it. For neither they themselves who
are circumcised keep the law. They tell you to keep the law,
but they don't. Pure, unmitigated hypocrisy. but they desire to
have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. Look
how I've influenced this person. Look what good I've done in their
lives. Look how they're different because of what I've done. I know what I got to say to all
that. Think of the word. That's it. You guessed it. Propriety won't let me say it.
One of these days I will when I get real old. Verse 14, here's what Paul had
to say. But God forbid that I should
glory, that I should have confidence in, that I should boast in what
the Lord has taught me, where the Lord has brought me, Anything
I've done, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and
I unto the world. Now Paul, this man that God had
used so greatly, says, God forbid that I should glory in any of
that, that I should have confidence, that I should boast in any of
that. There's only one thing I have
confidence in. There's only one thing I can
boast in. That's who he is and what he
did. That's all I have confidence
in. who he is, and what he did. Question. Do you believe he's
the son of God? Do you believe that he's the
uncreated, eternal son of God? Second question. Do you believe
that he's able to save you? with absolutely nothing done
by you, nothing you bring to the table, He does it all. Now
if you do, that means you are glorying in the Lord. You know what baptism means?
I glory only in the Lord. That's what it means. I glory
in this, that when He lived, I lived, and His righteousness
is my righteousness. I glory in this, that when He
died, He put away my sin, so it's all gone. And when He was
raised from the dead, I was justified wholly by what He did, who He
is and what He did. As it's written, He that glorieth
Let him glory in the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's blessed
name. that you would, by irresistible,
invincible grace, give everybody in this room the gift of actually glorying
in thee. Lord, let us say from the depths
of our heart, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Teach us what it means to glory
in the Lord. In Christ's name we pray, amen.