The Glory of God - Part 1 — David Platt

Praise the Lord from Heaven and Earth

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights above, praise him all his angels, praise him all his heavenly hosts, praise him sun and moon, praise him all you shining stars, praise him you highest heavens and you waters above the skies, let them praise the name of the Lord for he commanded and they were created, he set them in place forever and ever, he gave a decree that will never pass away, so praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on the earth, young men and maidens, old men and children, let them all praise the name of the Lord for his name alone is exalted and his splendor is above the earth and the heavens and he has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his saints of Israel, the people close to his heart, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints, let Israel rejoice in their maker, let the people of Zion be glad in their king, let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with a tambourine and harp, for listen, let this soak in, the Bible says the Lord takes delight in his people, he crowns the humble with salvation, let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds, may the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them, this is the glory of all the saints, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, praise God in his sanctuary, praise him in his mighty heavens, praise him for his acts of power, praise him for his surpassing greatness, praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals, let everything that has breath, praise the Lord, praise the Lord.

The Glory of God as the Church's Purpose

One purpose, the glory of God, he has created us, he has commissioned us, he has commanded us to devote our lives and our churches to his glory in all the world. This is our purpose. I stand before you tonight with great hesitation.

I have been a pastor for a very short time and if I can be completely honest with you tonight, I don't have a clue what I am doing. If you could keep that a secret from the church that I pastor, I would appreciate that.

I'm not trying to be self-effacing. I really am clueless. I am like Solomon in First Kings 3. I am only a child and I do not know how to carry out my duties. And I know that as a pastor, I have nothing to bring to the table apart from the Word of God.

And I know that standing before a group of pastors and wives who are much wiser than I am, I know that I have nothing to bring to the table tonight apart from the Word of God. And so I want to go right there to Hebrews chapter 13.

And I want to invite you to follow along with me in God's Word. I want to read to you from what I believe is a summary statement of the entire book of Hebrews. And based on this passage, I want to ask one question tonight.

Dying in Religion or Devotion

And the question is this, are we going to die in our religion or are we going to die in our devotion? This is a question I'm convinced God's people have had to face throughout her history. I believe it's the question the believers in the book of Hebrews were facing and I believe it is a central question facing the church today.

Are we going to die in our religion or are we going to die in our devotion? Hebrews chapter 13 verse 11 says, the high priest carries the blood of animals into the most holy place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp.

And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us then go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

The Jewish Christians' Costly Call to Follow Christ

Obviously, we have many questions surrounding the book of Hebrews. Who wrote this book? When it was written? We know that this book was most likely written to Jewish Christians in a time when it was not easy to be a Jewish Christian.

Full conversion to Christ was costly in the first century. And apparently, many believers that are the audience in this book were being tempted to shrink back from their faith and not just to shrink back from their faith, but to fall away from their mission.

They had been given a mission to take the gospel from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. They were holding back. Basically, I think when you look at the whole of Hebrews, the author is addressing two primary struggles in the church.

Formalism and the Loss of Christ-Centered Worship

Number one, they were driven by formalism. Somewhere along the way, how they worshipped had become more important than who they worshipped. It was style without substance. And the author of Hebrews spends chapter after chapter showing how the religious practices of Judaism pointed to the glory of Christ.

They were in danger of missing Christ, driven by formalism. Second, they were paralyzed by fear. Whether it was expulsion or persecution from the unbelieving Jewish community, it was costly for them to follow Christ.

Fear, Retreat, and the Mission of the Church

And many of them were trying to figure out a way to stay in the camp of Judaism and still follow Christ. And the author is saying it can't be done. They had been given a mission to declare the glory of Christ to the ends of the earth.

And basically, he is saying to them, you have two options. Number one, you can retreat from the mission that you have been given. Or number two, you can risk everything for the mission you have been given.

Retreat or Risk Everything

Retreat or risk everything. I believe God's people throughout redemptive history have had to face these same two options over and over and over again. Much of the background of the book of Hebrews is the scene of the people of God at Kadesh Barnea, back in Numbers chapter 13.

If you want to go back there with me.