Sunday Sermon: To God Alone be the Glory (Soli Deo Gloria)

You're listening to the preaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes, pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church in Casa Grande, Arizona.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday on this podcast, we feature teaching through a New Testament book, an

Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday. Each Sunday we are pleased to present our sermon series.

Here is Pastor Gabe. We've come to our text today in Romans chapter 11.

This is the fifth and last of the five solos that we've been looking at over these five Sundays, the five solos of the

Protestant Reformation. Every single one of these solos has presented its own kind of challenge. Every week as I've been in these five particular doctrines, there's been something that I knew was going to be lacking in whatever it was

I was preaching. This one in particular, soli deo gloria, to God alone be the glory, how do

I quantify the glory of God in a single sermon? Even in what scripture says to us, the 750 ,000 words that we have in the

Bible aren't even enough to speak of God and all of his gloriousness, let alone me trying to do it in 45 minutes here.

I can't even do a 45 -minute sermon. What am I talking about? We began by talking about sola scriptura,

Latin for scripture alone, followed by sola gratia, by grace alone. We then looked at sola fide, understanding the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

And last week we considered solus Christus, all of this in Christ alone.

And today we come to soli deo gloria, to God alone be the glory.

Keith Matheson, professor of systematic theology at Reformation Bible College said the following, soli deo gloria is not precisely parallel to the other four solas because in one sense it is both the beginning and the end of the other four.

The Holy Spirit inspired the scriptures to the glory of God alone. Christ humbled himself to the point of death and was raised and exalted to the right hand of the

Father to the glory of God alone. Grace and mercy are offered to rebellious sinners to the glory of God alone.

Justification is by faith alone to the glory of God alone. So soli deo gloria, therefore, is central.

Which text would I choose to consider praise to God's glory?

I settled this morning on Romans chapter 11, verses 33 to 36. In honor of the word of the

King, would you please stand? This is Romans chapter 11, beginning in verse 33.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways.

For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?

For from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be glory forever. Amen. You may be seated as we pray.

Heavenly Father, as we come to this text today, as we look at some other texts, that we might come to understand the glory of God, I pray,

Lord, that you show us your goodness and that you alone are worthy of our praise.

How could we possibly fathom the depth and the riches of God? Even as Paul has expressed here in Romans chapter 11, we could hardly do it.

We could try on our own just observing how marvelous all of creation is.

We sang this morning from Psalm 8, Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth?

Looking into the heavens beyond even the farthest star, the glory of God fills the universe.

And how can we as finite creatures on this earth possibly understand that very thing?

We can barely walk from point A to point B, let alone fathom the depths of God.

And so, Lord, I pray that you would show us your glory through your scriptures this morning, that we might come to know you all the more.

Seeing the greatness of God all the more, more today than we knew yesterday. And we see the wonderful gift that you have given to us through your precious son,

Jesus Christ, who died for us and rose again so that all who believe in him will not perish.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But yet through Jesus Christ, we are forgiven our sins and given to be partakers of that glory.

Guide us in your truth this morning, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. One of the most famous and influential composers of all time was

Johann Sebastian Bach, the German musician of the Baroque period who lived from 1685 to 1750.

That's not too much after the Protestant Reformation. His most well -known works include the

Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, the

Well -Tempered Clavier, and the Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, also known as Air.

Even if you don't know any of those titles, I'm certain that everyone in here would recognize every one of those pieces of music if they were played for you.

Every classically trained pianist knows the Well -Tempered Clavier. Every organist knows

Toccata and Fuga in D minor. Every cello player knows Suite No.

1 for solo cello. And Josh White, are you familiar with Bach's flute sonata in B minor?

Bach also wrote the music to several famous hymns. The tune to O Sacred Head Now Wounded was composed by Bach, as well as O Thou Who Camest from Above, and All Things Are Thine, No Gift Have We.

He also loved A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, the battle hymn of the

Protestant Reformation, written by fellow German Martin Luther, and Bach incorporated

Luther's famous hymn into his cantata No. 80. Later composers gave great praise to Bach for his contribution to the history of music.

The name Bach is German for brook, and to this Ludwig von Beethoven said, no, brook shouldn't be his name, ocean, rather, should be his name.

Frederick Chopin said of him, Bach is like an astronomer, who with the help of ciphers finds the most wonderful stars in the universe.

The great American composer Aaron Copland said, if one were asked to name one musician who came the closest to composing without flaw,

I suppose general consensus would choose Johann Sebastian Bach. In the 1970s, a group of astronomers were considering the use of electromagnetic signals for communicating with possible civilizations throughout space.

But what sort of message should they send to alien beings should they exist?

Physicist Louis Thomas proposed this. Perhaps the safest thing to do at the outset, if technology permits, is to send music.

This language may be the best we have for explaining what we are like to others in space with least ambiguity.

I would vote for Bach. All of Bach streamed out into space over and over again.

But this would be bragging, of course, as if by beaming Bach out into space, we would be sending our best, according to Thomas.

But Bach never thought so highly of himself. He considered himself a mere instrument in the master's hand.

Whenever somebody would praise him for his musical ability, or even his musical knowledge, he would say, playing is easy.

I just put my finger on the right note at the right time and music comes out. But Bach believed that all glory belonged to God.

On almost every piece of music that Bach composed, he signed it with a pair of three letters. The first set of three was

JSB, simply his initials, Johann Sebastian Bach. The next set of letters were

SDG, meaning Soli Deo Gloria, Latin for to God alone be the glory.

Said Bach, quote, the aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.

Where this is not remembered, there's no real music, but only a devilish hubbub.

Unquote. In another place, Bach said, I have always kept one end in view, namely to conduct a well -regulated church music to the honor and glory of God.

And among Bach's last words, he said, don't cry for me, for I go where music was born.

Christian, can you say that the aim and final end of all that you do should be to none other than the glory of God?

And where you do not remember to do all unto God's glory, then what you do is simply a devilish hubbub.

I'd be willing to wager that every single one of us would probably be embarrassed by how little of ourselves we have given to God's glory.

I know that it's true for me, even as I was preparing for this sermon today, of what do

I say and do unto God's glory, and what do I say and do unto myself?

The fact remains that I deserve nothing, and God deserves everything.

And as we think about this today, I want to look first at our text.

We're actually going to work kind of backwards today. In previous messages, as we've been going through these five solos, you're used to me beginning with some sort of history lesson in the

Protestant Reformation. Here's what the Roman Catholic Church was doing, and the Reformers were saying, no,

Scripture says this. This is what we should be giving unto God. But I'm going to save that until the end this time around, and do something of a summary of these five solos that we have looked at.

So we're going to begin with our exposition of this text in Romans 11. And after that, I want to present to you three reasons why

God deserves all the glory. And then at the end, we'll look not only on the

Reformation, but even sum up everything that we have been studying over these five weeks.

Even as we do this exposition here in Romans 11, even here,

I'm going to work backwards. We're going to actually start with verse 36 and work up. I don't know if you've ever done this before, but sometimes my reading through something in order, something can get lost.

Like my brain will go somewhere else, or I'll just get lost in my train of thought.

But I'll read backwards to try to capture the information better. Has anybody ever done this? I don't mean reading from right to left, but I'll read the bottom paragraph first and kind of go up, and then capture the information as I'm going.

And things sometimes can make more sense to me that way. That's what we're going to do in the exposition of this text. So in Romans 11, verse 36 is where we're going to start, and we're going to work up as Paul is laying out this praise, this something of a doxology unto

God. Now, just to give you a little bit of context here, this is the end of a major section of the book of Romans.

Next week, we're going to do our introduction to the book of Romans. And one of the things I'm going to mention to you again, so you hear it this week and you'll remember it for next week as well,

Romans can really be divided into two parts, doctrine and duty. Chapters 1 through 11 are doctrine, and then chapters 12 through 16 give to us what now in light of this doctrine should a

Christian be doing in their lives. This is the conclusion of the doctrine section.

And here, Paul lays out this glorious doxology, this praise unto

God, after fathoming all of this wonderful truth that is given in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

And so, Paul says and closes the section with this in verse 36, for from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be glory forever. Amen. Now, let's start by asking this question, what is glory?

What even is that? If we're supposed to give glory to him in all things, then what is it we're giving to him?

Glory is translated from the Greek word doxa, meaning honor, renown, or of a divine quality, the unspoken manifestation of God, or another synonym for this might be splendor.

Helps Word Study says, doxa corresponds to the Old Testament word kabo, meaning to be heavy.

Both terms convey God's infinite intrinsic worth, his substance and his essence.

Doxa literally means what evokes good opinion, i .e.

that something has inherent intrinsic worth. So, it might be kind of crude to say it this way, but when we read to him be glory forever, amen, we might also say to him be the good opinion.

Now, if there's anyone deserving of being thought well of, it's

God. Who deserves your gratitude? But God.

Who deserves your trust? But God. Who deserves your celebration?

As we have done this morning, but God. Who deserves to be honored, but God?

Who deserves your praise and adoration? But God, look not in the mirror to gaze upon yourself until you have first gazed upon the goodness and the character of God.

Jonathan Edwards puts it like this, quote, all that is ever spoken of in the scripture has an ultimate end of God's works is included in that one phrase, the glory of God.

The refulgence shines upon and into the creature, and is reflected back to the luminary.

The beams of glory come from God, and are something of God, and are refunded back again to their original.

So that the whole is of God, and in God, and to God, and God is the beginning, the middle, and end of this affair, unquote.

So how do we give glory to God? It's first that we behold his glory, Edwards says, his beams of glory shine into us, and then we reflect back to God the glory that we have beheld according to his word.

And so that as we have read here, from him and through him and to him are all things, to him be glory forever, amen.

Now there is actually something of a caution that we should issue here.

I think Chris said it well this morning when we were reading from our confession that we are to give glory back unto

God. This is the responsibility that we all have. And we read from our confession how

God is in all things, and to him belong all things, but where is the caution that must be issued in this?

It is true that God is everywhere, but it does not mean that he is everything.

We don't want to risk becoming pantheists or panentheists. Pantheism is the idea that the universe and God are the same thing, or that the universe is the manifestation of God.

Not that he created it, but it is actually God himself. Everyone and everything is

God, and truly, you can see the problem with that. You can bow down to a rock and claim you're worshiping

God, because after all, God is everything. Or you can think of yourself as being divine, because if God is everything, then

I get to be God too. So yes, it's true that God is everywhere, but that doesn't mean that he is everything.

God is present in the depths of the sea or in the high reaches of space, as we've read in Psalm 139, but that doesn't mean

God is the sea or space. God is spirit, as Jesus says in John 4, and there is a distinction between the spiritual and the material.

God and the universe cannot be the same thing, because the universe, as big as it is, is still finite.

It has a beginning and it has an end, whereas God is infinite with no beginning and no end.

While pantheism claims that God and the universe are coextensive, panentheism likewise claims that God is the universe, but God is greater than the universe.

All of the universe is contained within God, in other words. It is a part of himself.

But if that's true, then whatever change happens in the universe also changes

God. And God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever,

Hebrews 13, 8. As we read last week of Christ in Colossians 1, remember that he is the image of the invisible

God. So everything that we could ever want to know about God, we see in Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 1, 3 says, he is the radiance of the glory of God.

The exact imprint of his nature. And he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

Not that he is the universe, but he upholds it. Not that the universe is within him.

He is outside the universe. He is above and beyond it, and yet within it.

He is the creator of all things, visible and invisible, as said in Colossians 1 and John 1, and he is omnipresent within all of it.

As David said in Psalm 139, where can I go from your presence? If I go down to the depths, you are there.

If I go up to the highest heights, you are there. We sang that this morning as well from Psalm 8.

My friends, even hell itself is filled with the presence of God.

Often it is said that hell is a place where the condemned will live apart from God forever.

Oh, God is present even within hell, my friends. It is there that he is pouring out his wrath forever on the devil and on the devil's angels and all who followed after the devil's ways.

Hell is the absence of hope, but it is not the absence of God.

We have this life now to turn from our sin and believe in him. As said in the

Old Testament and the New, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.

As 2 Corinthians 6 says, behold, now is the favorable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.

Romans 9 tells us that God demonstrates his glory not only in saving the righteous unto himself, not only in making us righteous and saving us for himself, but he will also be glorified in the destruction of the wicked.

In Revelation 15, we read about how we one day will be gathered around his throne, and we will be singing the

Psalm of Moses from Exodus, after the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea. And we will be praising

God because he destroyed his enemies. God will be glorified in the destruction of the wicked and the saving of sinners unto himself.

And so really, it comes down to this, my friends. God will be glorified in you one way or the other.

Is he going to be glorified in your destruction? Or will he be glorified in your salvation?

And so once again, now is the favorable time. Now is the day of salvation.

The testimony of God and of Jesus Christ has been given to you.

How do you respond to it? Do you turn from your sin to the

Lord Jesus Christ and thereby in Christ glorify God?

Or will you continue to rebel and come to destruction? And even in that, you will be made to glorify

God. As R .C. Sproul has said, if there is any word in the

Bible that most characterizes God, it is the word holy. He is holy, and we are not.

Our book of the month being Holiness of God by R .C. Sproul, and it's there that he makes this argument.

There's only one word in the Bible used three times in succession to characterize

God, and that is the word holy. Holy, holy, holy. The angels around the throne sing holy, holy, holy.

The saints in the book of Revelation, that picture of praising God forever in glory, we also will be singing holy, holy, holy.

It's one of our favorite hymns. We sing it many times here at Providence. To be holy means that he is set apart.

That's primarily what it means. He's set apart. There is a uniqueness to God that no other creature, person, creation, anything shares with God.

He is other. He is greater than. He is not the same.

He is above us. And in this, God is holy.

Of anything else we will read about God, he is first and foremost that. The light just came on and shined upon me.

Yes, 1 John 4, 8 says God is love, but there isn't anything in the Bible that says

God is love, love, love. Psalm 54, 4 says God is my helper, but the

Bible doesn't say he is helper, helper, helper. It says he is holy, holy, holy.

Or another way might be to understand this. He is holy. He is holier.

He is holiest. He is perfect and we are not.

And again, as we have read in Romans 3, 23, for all have sinned and fallen short of his glory.

If we are ever going to be deserving of standing in the presence of God, we need a holiness that comes not from us because we cannot make ourselves holy.

It is the holiness of God that he gives to us through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

And by faith in him, righteousness has become our garment so that we can enter into the presence of God and therefore become worthy to say to him that he is holy, holy, holy.

Our words are not even enough. We're not even worthy to speak unto

God unless he makes us worthy. I mentioned to you last week from Isaiah 6, Isaiah seeing the glory of God in his temple and saying,

I am undone because I'm a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips.

Isaiah is not even worthy to speak the praise of God. Later in the book of Isaiah, all of our best deeds are as filthy rags before a holy

God. Even the best words that Isaiah could conjure up would not even be worthy of the praise and glory and honor that God deserves.

And so God makes Isaiah pure so that he could have this conversation with God that God means to have with this prophet, this priest who was already serving in the temple.

And an angel takes a coal from whatever altar it was there in heaven that Isaiah beheld and he comes down and touches the mouth of Isaiah so that his lips would be purified and now he can speak with the

Almighty. But if God would not do that for us, we would not be worthy to stand in his presence.

If you're familiar with the story of Esther, there is at one point her cousin Mordecai is speaking to Esther about how she needs to be the one to stand up for her fellow people after the wicked

Haman had made this deal with King Xerxes and said, hey, why don't we wipe out all the Jews?

And so Esther, being the wife of Xerxes, can she come into his presence and plead on behalf of the

Jewish people from which she was taken when she became Xerxes' wife? She says to Mordecai, I can't even go into his throne room and be in his presence unless he summons me.

And if I enter into the throne room and he doesn't extend to me that golden scepter, I could be killed.

So even though she's his wife, even she's not worthy to go stand in the presence of the king unless he extends some grace to her.

So this was really a risky thing for Esther, really putting her life on the line to plead for the lives of her kinsmen.

And it's in that picture, in that story, that we also come to understand that we have no inherent worth to walk into God's throne room and stand in his presence unless he extends to us some grace.

None of us are worthy to come into the presence of God. It is Christ who makes us worthy.

He alone is worthy of all praise and glory that we can give.

And so we read, for from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be glory forever. And all God's people said, amen, but don't go anywhere.

That's not the end of the sermon. That's just the first line. We've read the last line first.

Let's go up from there to that next section. You see those two references in verses 34 and 35.

For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?

Both of these lines, verses 34 and 35, are taken from the book of Job. And if you've been in my

Sunday school class the last couple of months, well, you've heard me reference these verses. First, in verse 34, who has known the mind of the

Lord? This is from Job 15 .8. Have you listened to the counsel of God?

And do you limit wisdom to yourself? Who are you to know anything?

Let alone that we boast in ourselves to think that we know everything. My kids once asked me, one of my children,

I don't remember which one it was, that said, dad, do you know everything? And I said, well, between me and my brothers, I know everything.

They're like, really? Wow. So they asked me a question. I don't even remember what the question was, but my answer to that was, that's one that my brother knows.

We'll boast in ourselves to think that we know all that there is to know. I mean, it is absolutely absurd that you could think that of yourself.

I don't even know more than a physicist knows. But yet we boast in ourselves to think that we could know anything and that even our ways are higher than God's ways.

Job 36, 22 to 23 says, behold, God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him?

Who has prescribed for him his way? Or who can say to God, you have done wrong?

This may also have been in Isaiah's mind when he said in Isaiah 40 .13, who has measured the spirit of the

Lord or what man shows him his counsel? Then here in Romans 11, we see in verse 35, who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?

This is a question that God asks of Job. In Job 41 .11, who has first given to me that I should repay him?

Whatever is under the whole of heaven is mine. And if you'll remember back to a few weeks ago in our

Sunday school class, it was in Job chapter 41 that God had showed Job the largest living creature on the land, that was in chapter 40, the behemoth.

Then he shows him the largest living creature in the sea, chapter 41, which is Leviathan. Do you have the ability to tame either one of these creatures?

Can you tame behemoth? Can you put a fish hook in Leviathan's mouth? Can you put a leash on him and make him a pet for your girls?

I love that line. You can't even tame these creatures on earth.

What makes you think you know better than I? Do you obligate

God somehow? And this is essentially what a doctrine of justification by faith plus works does.

It obligates God to make him have to give us something.

I'm not just saved by my faith. I'm also saved by all these things I've done.

So as if you could walk up to heaven's gates with your checklist and you could show God, God, look at all these things

I've done, you have to let me in. The altar call in American evangelicalism.

There's an aspect of this that has become exactly that. I've said the magic words.

I prayed and asked Jesus into my heart. And so because like a wizard,

I've said the magic incantation. You have to grant my spell and let me into heaven.

And we'll tell people, what day was it you prayed that prayer? Did you write it in your Bible? Then there's your assurance of salvation.

And you look to your works instead of the work that Christ has done on your behalf.

And this is to obligate God. You have to give me something because I did this.

My friends, none of us will enter through heaven's gates proclaiming our own glory. We get through heaven's gates proclaiming

God's glory. If you have indeed prayed a prayer and asked

God to forgive you of your sins, which we all must do. It's not because you prayed that prayer that you are saved.

It's because God was gracious toward you. And then the fruit of recognizing God's grace to you and the salvation that he's given to you in Christ, that it came out in your words.

And you said, God, I am undone, I am a sinner,

I am worthy of destruction, but you have loved me by giving your son for me.

That I might be forgiven my sins and be given a relationship with the almighty creator of the universe.

Your words don't save you, your words would be the evidence that God has saved you.

And to him be all the glory forever. Now consider the first verse of this section that becomes the last verse in this section that we'll look at.

The depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways.

Inscrutable meaning untraceable, they're incomprehensible. If you work backwards through God's thoughts and ideas as we've kind of worked backwards through this text here, you still won't get to the end of it.

You will be searching and searching and never really come to know the depths of God's knowledge.

My friends, we'll be doing this for all eternity. When we are with God forever in his glory, he is so deep we will spend all of eternity trying to fathom his greatness and never come to the end of it.

I don't know if you saw the rocket catch that happened a few weeks ago.

SpaceX launched a rocket into space and brought it back down to Earth and the tower from which it was launched caught it.

Did anybody see this? It was remarkable, an incredible feat of engineering. Essentially, what

Elon Musk did is that he launched a skyscraper into the air. And he brought the skyscraper back down to Earth and caught it.

That was a pretty incredible thing. I watched that video 20 times. I thought it was amazing.

I showed it to my kids. Watch this, guys. You're kind of losing the size and the scope of this.

But this rocket is over 200 feet tall and weighs like 250 ,000 tons.

And this tower is going to catch it. And yet, we would barely scratch the surface of what

God has done and what God has accomplished. I'm also fascinated by deep sea exploration.

Do you know how much of the ocean we have explored? 5%, 5 % of the ocean.

Do you know how many people have been to the deepest part of the sea called the

Challenger Deep? It's the deepest part of the Mariana Trench of the Pacific Ocean. How many people have been down there? Six.

How many people have been to the moon? 12. There are more men who have walked on the moon than have been to the deepest part of the ocean.

And that's the best we can do. Elon wants to populate

Mars. Oh, great, Mars. How much more universe is out there? And we can barely get to Mars.

I don't think we're ever going to accomplish that, incidentally. There won't be civilizations living on Mars. But even if that were to be a feat that man could accomplish, how much bigger a universe is out there that we can barely reach out and touch?

We can't see the smallest particle. We can't see or fathom the end of the universe.

And how great is God above all of these things? Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable his judgments and how inscrutable his ways.

And all of these things should make us to realize how the glory alone belongs to God.

Who are we to glorify in ourselves for anything that we have accomplished? But all of this glory to God, he alone deserves our worship.

If we don't worship him, then we are sinning. Isn't that kind of arrogant of God to demand all of this worship of himself?

Maybe you've encountered a skeptic who has said such a thing. Oh, I have to praise God for the rest of my life?

God is so full of himself, he demands his creatures to worship him? And maybe you've even asked that very thing.

Maybe not in such a blasphemous way, but still it's crossed your mind. Giving all this worship and glory to God, why?

Well, there are three reasons I wanna give you why God deserves the glory. Number one is one that we've already understood, one that we've already read.

He alone is worthy. And that's it, that's really the only reason that I need to give you.

These next two reasons are just bonus reasons. God alone is worthy of our worship. He demands our worship, and so we must worship him.

He made us, he gets to decide what to do with us. And it's not at all unjust or selfish of God to say this.

Because really, at the heart of that question, isn't it selfish of God to demand our worship? That question itself is selfish, isn't it?

Because who do we really want to be glorified? Do we wish God would glorify the

Earth? God gives some glory to the stars. No, at the heart of this, we want the glory for ourselves.

Why doesn't God glorify me? How dare God glorify himself when he should be sharing it with me?

The sinner believes that God is sitting in his seat. But the moment that God exalts someone or something else higher than himself is the moment that he is no longer

God above all. Humble yourself and glorify

God, for indeed it is God whom even God glorifies.

As I quoted to you last week from Isaiah 66, to God says, this is the one to whom

I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit and who trembles at my word.

Let's consider together Psalm 23. You have your Bible open, turn to Psalm 23 with me.

Psalm 23 is a song of praise written by David, a shepherd before he was

Israel's great king. And throughout this Psalm, he uses shepherd imagery in his worship of God.

The very first word or very first line you probably know, the Lord is my what? Shepherd, I shall not want.

And the rest of the song flows from this statement. This is who God is, and this is what

God gives to me. John MacArthur points out that in verses two through three, we read of four characterizing activities of the

Lord as shepherd. 2A, he makes me lie down in green pastures. 2B, he leads me besides still waters.

3A, he restores my soul. 3B, he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Now, this all sounds like God is for me. He is doing all this for my sake. But notice the underlying motivation that is given to us in verse three.

He leads me in paths of righteousness. Why? For his name's sake.

Yes, God shepherds you. Yes, God provides for you. He loves you, but not because you're great.

It's because he is great. And this is echoed throughout the

Psalms. Let me read to you some others. Psalm 2511, for your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.

Psalm 313, for you are my rock and my fortress. For your name's sake, lead me and guide me.

Psalm 799, help us, O God of our salvation. For the glory of your name, deliver us and atone for our sins for your name's sake.

Psalm 1068, yet he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make known his mighty power.

Psalm 10921, but you, O God, my Lord, deal on my behalf for your name's sake.

Because your steadfast love is good, deliver me. And Psalm 14311, for your name's sake,

O Lord, preserve my life. In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble.

And this isn't just in the Psalms. It's even in the New Testament. The apostle John wrote, I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.

1 John 2 .12. And we read in Ephesians 1, 4 through 6. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace.

God saves us for his glory, and he alone is worthy.

That's the first reason. Reason number two, why God deserves all the glory, it's because Jesus Christ himself gave

God the glory. In Philippians 2, 5 through 11, I was going to read this, but for the sake of time,

I'll just summarize it for you. It's in Philippians 2, 5 through 11 where we read of all that Christ had accomplished in his humanity, his death for us, his being risen from the grave, and God giving him the name that is above every name.

And verse 11 says that Jesus did all of this to the praise of God the

Father. Everything that Jesus did was to the praise and the glory of God.

He himself prayed in John 17, 1 through 3, Father, the hour has come.

Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you. Since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him, and this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true

God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. In that high priestly prayer that Jesus gives in John 17, we get a glimpse of what

God was doing for all eternity, even before he made us. What was God doing before we were made?

He was glorifying himself. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit glorifying

God. And a day will come when all of us in Christ Jesus, we will likewise be welcome to become partakers of that glory that God has had with himself from before time began.

And that's the third reason why we give glory to God. Number three, because God has invited us to become partakers of that glory.

Peter says in 1 Peter 5, 1, I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed.

In 1 Peter 4, 13, Peter said, But rejoice insofar as you share

Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

He says in 2 Peter 1, 4, He has granted to us his precious and very great promises so that through them, you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

And Ephesians 3, 6 says that we are partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Here are a few more verses for you. Isaiah 43, 7, Everyone who is called by my name, whom

I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. Matthew 5, 16,

Jesus says, In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your

Father who is in heaven. 1 Corinthians 10, 31, Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

My friends, I know the smells of that good chili are filling this room right now. And we are going to eat and drink to the glory of God.

Revelation 4, 11, Worthy are you, O Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they existed and were created.

God deserves our praise. To him be the glory because he alone is worthy.

To him be the glory because even Jesus Christ glorified God. And to him alone be the glory because God has invited us to be partakers of that glory forever.

Let me bring this to a conclusion. The five solos are five doctrines that have been singled out and summarized looking back on what was valued and preached during the time of the

Protestant Reformation. The Protestant Reformers didn't get together and said, we need five basic doctrines, we can all settle upon these truths, and this is what we're going to be preaching on as we go out in protest against the church in Rome.

That wasn't what they agreed upon. This is us looking back on what happened there during that period of time and what was central to their message.

And what was central to the preaching, what they believed had been lost because of all the man -made doctrines that Rome was forcing upon the people, could be summarized by these five doctrines.

According to the authority of scripture alone, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and this is all to the glory of God alone.

It's like we might study scripture to understand the trinity or the incarnation, neither of which are words that actually appear in the

Bible, but we know these are doctrinal truths that are taught from the Bible. Or we might look at the

Bible to understand soteriology, which is the study of salvation, or eschatology, the study of the last things and the return of Christ.

These are biblical doctrines, they are essential biblical doctrines, as we have considered over these five weeks.

So we see that the drive of the reformers could be summarized by these five essential truths, which are all biblical truths.

What did Rome teach? Rome taught scripture plus tradition.

Yeah, the word of God is authoritative, but so is our tradition, so is the church, and you have to do whatever we tell you to do and whatever we teach.

Rome taught grace plus merit. It's by the grace of God, but you got to work yourself up to the grace of God.

You got to do some things, make yourself worthy of the grace that God would give to us.

In which case, grace isn't grace. Rome taught faith plus works.

Yes, it's by faith you've been saved. Absolutely, scripture says that. We teach the same thing, but you must also work.

It's believing, and then there are works, which they would equate as being the same. Faith is works.

If you're working, therefore, you are faithing. However, they would word that in their catechisms.

Rome taught Christ. By Christ, we're saved, absolutely, plus other mediators.

We looked at that last week, this whole Roman system that they had created. So that anything that you get, you never go to God yourself.

You're always going to a priest, or you're going to the pope, or you're hearing some sort of declaration that the church has given.

But it's in Christ alone who is the one mediator between God and man.

And lastly, Rome taught glory to God, sure, but glory also to the church, and to Mary, and to other dead saints that you can pray to.

But it is to God alone belong all glory, and honor, and praise.

To him be glory forever, amen. Let me come back to J .S.

Bach, and let me finish with the lyrics to a song that one of his pieces of music was used for this hymn.

The hymn is called All Things Are Thine, No Gift Have We. And here are the words to that hymn.

All things are thine, no gift have we, Lord of all gifts to offer thee.

And hence with grateful hearts today, thine own before thy feet we lay.

Thy will has in the builder's thought, thy hand unseen amidst us wrought.

Through mortal motive, scheme, and plan, thy wise eternal purpose ran.

No lack thy perfect fullness knew, for human needs and longings grew.

This house of prayer, this home of rest, in fair the garden of the west.

In weakness and in want we call, on thee for whom the heavens are small.

Thy glory is thy children's good, thy joy thy tender fatherhood.

O father, deign these walls to bless, fill with thy love their emptiness.

And let their door a gateway be, to lead us from ourselves to thee.

You've been listening to the preaching of Pastor Gabriel Hughes, a presentation of Providence Reformed Baptist Church in Casa Grande, Arizona.

For more information about our church, visit our website at providencecasagrande .com. On behalf of our church family, my name is

Becky, thanking you for listening. Join us again Monday for more Bible study, when we understand the text.