Discipleship According to Jesus – Part 4
Luke 6:37-38
April 22, 2018

If you’ve been with us recently you know that
We are currently listening to Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount”.

He is confronting the massive crowd that has gathered to listen to Him.

We already listened as He addressed the first two groups.
#1 TO THE COMMITTED
Luke 6:20-23

• Here Jesus reminded those who had left everything to follow Him that they should not mourn because they are blessed.

• And if they could only see what their true treasure is for trusting in Him they would be leaping for joy.

#2 TO THE COMFORTABLE
Luke 6:24-26

Jesus next turned to the crowd who had not forsaken all to follow Jesus.
• They were only here because Jesus could make their lives more comfortable via His ability to heal their diseases.

• But they weren’t interested in giving up their money or their comfort or their reputations to follow Jesus.

• Jesus told them that this was a foolish decision for rejecting Jesus for comfort in this life would mean certain weeping in the next.

It was a foolish decision.

And then Jesus turned to the 3rd group in the crowd.
#3 TO THE CURIOUS
Luke 6:27-49

These are the people who are basically still on the fence.
• They are feeling Jesus out.
• They are here to be healed.
• They are here to listen.

And Jesus now addresses them.

And as we said last week, His main objective here
Is to crush them under the weight of their own guilt
And to condemn their self-sufficiency.

As we said,
Many times when preaching the gospel to our world we find it necessary to first get a person lost before we can see them saved.

That’s NOT TO SAY that they aren’t lost already, it’s just that they don’t realize it.
• They are content in their own goodness
• They are content in their own morality
• They have compared themselves to their culture and figured that they’re fine.

Just go to a funeral some time.
The worst theology in the world is spewed at funerals.
Everyone goes to heaven at funerals.
All you have to do is love your kids, love your momma, and love your dog.

The point is people are notorious for self-justification.
• We hear it all the time, “I’m a good person”, “I have a good heart”
• Some can even list their good deeds, “I go to church”, “I donate my time”, “I give to charity”

As humans we are masters of self-justification.
And that is precisely what Jesus has set out to expose and to destroy.

In this sermon He is kicking the crutch right out from under them.
He is showing them that their goodness isn’t nearly good enough,
And if they judged themselves rightly they would not be so confident.

He started last week by CONFRONTING THEIR MERCY.

Mercy is vitally important because it is a chief characteristic of God.
• God first showed mercy in the Garden of Eden when He clothed Adam and Eve instead of killing them.
• And God showed mercy continually since then.
• Even His altar is known as the “Mercy Seat”

When God introduced Himself to Moses, He did so like this:
Exodus 34:6-7 “Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

David spoke of God’s mercy:
Psalms 103:6-14 “The LORD performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.”

The point is that God is clearly merciful,
And if you are one who considers yourself a child of God
Then you’d better be able to demonstrate your mercy.

And so Jesus was clear.
Demonstrate your mercy like this:
“love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

He went on to reveal
If your love or your goodness or your generosity is only given to those who deserve it and can give it back to you then your mercy isn’t really mercy at all.

God’s mercy is defined by the fact that
He does good to those who don’t deserve it.

SO if you want treasure in heaven and if you want to be considered as a child of God then Jesus said, (36) “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

And we noted last week, that that is a condemning statement.
I might think I’m more merciful than someone else,
But who can say they are merciful like God is merciful?

And that’s the point.
No one. We need Christ.
• We need forgiveness.
• We need to be clothed in His righteousness.

So you can see that Jesus is driving these people to desperation.

Well THIS MORNING Jesus continues beating the drum regarding mercy.
We approach an often quoted, but rarely understood passage.

(37-39) “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure – pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

Now before we dive into it,
It is important that we set the record straight here.
THIS VERSE IS NOT A MANDATE TO JUST LEAVE SIN ALONE.

This verse is about offering mercy,
Not eliminating the message of repentance.

Mercy and tolerance are not the same thing.

Consider Jesus confrontation with the religious elite and that story commonly known as “The woman caught in adultery”

• You know the story recorded in John 8 where the woman is brought to Jesus
who has been caught in the very act.

• Her accusers have the Law on their side and they ask Jesus if they should
stone the woman as Moses commanded?

• Jesus of course writes in the sand, but then says, “Let him who is without
sin cast the first stone at her.”

• Of course they leave.

And then Jesus looks at the woman and says:
John 8:10-11 “Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

THE POINT IS CLEARLY SEEN THERE.
Tolerating sin and offering mercy are NOT the same thing.
We are not commanded to tolerate sin,
But we are commanded to offer mercy.

Now that’s important because our world wants to use this verse
As a command to never confront anyone else’s sin.

But this verse is NOT saying that
If you’ll just refrain from ever disapproving of other people’s actions
Then God will never disapprove of yours.

Jesus’ statement, “For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

DOES NOT mean that in the judgment
You will only be judged by the same standard that you lifted up.

Obviously that is not the message of the Bible.

The Bible reminds us that in judgment, we are judged according to God’s perfect and holy standard.

He says in Isaiah:
Isaiah 28:17 “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place.”

Paul preached in Athens
Acts 17:30-31 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

The Bible promises that
The standard of judgment will be God’s perfect righteousness.
It will be the righteousness of Christ,
Not the standard you choose to adopt.

NOR is Jesus saying that no one should ever confront the sin of anyone else.

That is perhaps when this verse is quoted the most.
You tell someone in sin that they ought not do such things
And they immediately fire back with “Judge Not!”

But that is not Jesus point either.
In fact, later in the passage when speaking of having a plank in your eye Jesus says that after you remove it “you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

It was also Jesus who said:
John 7:24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

It was Jesus in Matthew 18 who taught us that
• When we see our brother in sin, we are to confront him,
• And if he doesn’t listen to take a brother with us,
• And if he still doesn’t listen to tell it to the church,
• And if he still won’t repent to pronounce judgment on him.
• He is to be treated as a Gentile or a tax collector.

This was also what Paul had in mind concerning the immoral brother when he wrote:
1 Corinthians 5:9-13 “I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler — not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.”

And we could go on and on here.
The message of the Bible is not to just leave sinners alone
And so long as you don’t confront anyone
Then no one will confront you either.

That is NOT what Jesus is saying here.

Jesus is here addressing people who are steeped in their own goodness
And who see no need for mercy at all.

They don’t care if their enemy repents or not.
They don’t care if a person is in need or not.
THEY DON’T WANT TO OFFER MERCY.
• Remember this is the group who didn’t want to love those who hated them or to pray for those who mistreated them.

• They only wanted to love people who loved them and to give to people who would give back to them.

• These people saw no need for mercy in their way of life.

WELL JESUS IS CONFRONTING THAT MINDSET HEAD ON.

And I think I can ask a question that will sum up His point.
DO YOU REALLY WANT TO ELIMINATE THE REALITY OF MERCY?

Now that’s a question to ponder.
Do you want to just throw out the standard of mercy altogether?

Now, this is not the only time we see such an argument in Scripture.

TURN TO: MATTHEW 18:15-35
This is such an important passage on this concept.

It begins with the passage we alluded to a moment ago about church discipline.
(READ 15-20)

Now some read that as cold and harsh
And I’ve been told numerous times by people that they just don’t see how a church could ever adopt such a policy.

Well, we adopt it because Jesus commanded it.

But what you must understand about this passage is that
It is not a passage about judgment, it is a passage about mercy.

This passage drips with mercy.
• It is filled with chance after chance after chance for a brother to repent and be brought back to full fellowship.

• In fact, the only way a person ever reaches the point of discipline is if they are extremely stubborn and strong willed about keeping their sin.

• And even then it’s not permanent. If at any time they are willing to repent they get to come back.

This passage drips of mercy.
And we know that because Peter picks up on it.

(21) “Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

Peter DIDN’T say, “Lord I just don’t think we can be so harsh with people.”

That wasn’t the point.

• Peter saw Jesus’ teaching as a loop-hole for too much mercy.
• Peter saw a system which he thought could be abused.
• He was fine with mercy but he still saw the need for a limit.

But Jesus blew the limit off the hinges.
(22) “Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

And the point obviously is that if you do the math you’ve missed the point.

And then Jesus gave a striking parable.
(READ 23-35)

We covered this recently with our youth, but it is such a vivid picture.

We have a man who is in debt over his head.
The Scripture says he owes 10,000 talents.
• 1 talent = 15 years wages.
• So if $40,000 is an average yearly salary, 1 talent = $600,000
• And 10,000 talents = 6 billion dollars

And that makes his case absurd.
He’s never gonna pay that back. His talk is cheap.
He’s just hoping for a long shot of mercy.

But, to the glory of the king, HE RECEIVES IT.
(27) “and the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.”

It’s the next part that is shocking and which makes Jesus’ point.

This slave then goes out and finds one who owes him money.
• A man owes 100 denarii.
• 1 denarii = 1 days wages
• To earn $40,000 a year you need to bring home around $19 and hour.
• That’s $152 a day.
• 100 denarii = $15,200

Now, that’s not nothing, but it’s certainly not insurmountable.
People take out car loans or mortgages that far exceed that.
This man really might have repaid.

But the first slave was unwilling and started choking him
And threw him in prison where he’d never be able to repay.

When the other slaves told the king, the king was enraged.
(32-35) “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

Now we chase that rabbit to look at that passage
Because the point there is the same as the point here.

Peter asked how many times he should forgive his brother
Jesus basically answers, “Well, I guess that depends on how many times you want to be forgiven.”

Isn’t that what Jesus taught us about mercy last week?
Luke 6:31 “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.”

That is the point of the two verses we see here.

The passage starts with 4 commands, 2 are negative and 2 are positive.

(37) “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned;”

“judge” translates KRINO and it means “to judge or to decide”
“condemn” translates KATADIKAZO and it means “to pass sentence upon”

And Jesus says “Don’t do it”

Now again, this is NOT a message regarding the confrontation of sin.
Jesus said this in the context of talking about mercy.

And the point is that when someone approaches you
And wants mercy then don’t judge and don’t condemn.

When they want your coat…
When they need your help…
When they desire a pardon…
“Do not judge…and do not condemn”

In other words, when they desire mercy, give it to them!

Which explains the two positive commands as well.
“pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you.”

• When someone comes wanting to be forgiven, give it to them.
• When someone comes wanting a pardon, give it to them.
• If your brother comes 70 times asking for forgiveness then give him forgiveness 70 times.

AND THE REASONING IS CLEAR.

If you don’t judge “you will not be judged”
If you don’t condemn “you will not be condemned”
If you pardon “you will be pardoned”
If you give mercy “it will be given to you.”

WHAT IS JESUS SAYING?
He is merely asking you what kind of standard you desire to live under.

Several years ago we had a young lady get pregnant out of wedlock.
By all accounts she was a very good and moral young lady, she just made a mistake. (She certainly was not alone)

I just happened to walk upon a conversation of some other young girls who were saying, “She got what she deserved.”

Well, that’s true.
That’s what we call justice.
Justice is when you get what you deserve.

And when you make the mistake this girl made, then pregnancy is what you deserve.
And that’s what I told those girls.

And then I asked them, “It’s true she is getting what she deserved, but is that the way we want to play the game?”

Is that the way we want it; where everyone just gets what they deserve?

I don’t think so.
If I read in my Bible correctly, I’m in pretty big need of mercy.

Ephesians 2:1-5 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved),”

Titus 3:3-7 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

I’m one who desperately needs mercy to be a reality.
If mercy isn’t available then I am sunk.

AND THAT’S THE POINT JESUS IS MAKING.

PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO DESIRE TO OFFER MERCY
ARE PEOPLE WHO DON’T UNDERSTAND THEIR OWN NEED OF IT.

Those who have been broken before God under the weight of their own sin and guilt, are definitely those who love mercy.

People who are unwilling to give mercy
• Are those who have never understood the value of it.
• And that is only because they have never understood the measure of their own guilt before God.

TURN TO: JAMES 2
• Starting in James 1:26 and running through James 2, James is making the point about the importance of mercy.
• In particular he is bothered by the presence of favoritism in the church and the lack of mercy that the poor man and the widows and orphans are receiving.
• He sees a church that doesn’t understand the value of mercy.
• And James sets out to show them how important it is.

He actually uses the 2nd greatest commandment as a jumping off point,
Since that is a command they were breaking
By not loving the poor man as much as they loved themselves.

(READ 2:8-11)

I hope you see what James just said.
You are those who don’t want to offer mercy, but you are those who desperately need it.

WHY?

Well it is true that you haven’t broken those “Big” commands
Like murder and adultery and such.
The only command you are guilty of is a failure to extend mercy to the poor.

But let me tell you the problem in that.
(11) “He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.”

What is his point?
In regard to breaking the Law,
It’s not about THE command you break,
It’s about WHOSE command you break.

We’ve been covering this with our youth and I shared with them the story of our popular UPS driver Graylon.

“Oh, you’re going to do the dishes…”

It wasn’t about that little command regarding dishes, it was about the fact that Graylon had offended the chief authority of his house.

Now do you understand why breaking even the little commands lands you in just as much hot water as breaking the big ones?

They are all an offense to God, and thus we all need mercy.

And after James reveals that he says:
(12-13) “So speak and so act as those who are to be judged bythe law of liberty. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Which is again the same point Jesus is making here.
• If I were you, I wouldn’t be so quick to eliminate mercy.
• If I were you, I’d hold on to mercy as tightly as I could.

“For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

Jesus looks at this crowd that doesn’t want to offer mercy.
And Jesus is merely asking, “Ok, but is that the way we want to play this game?”

Do you really want Jesus treating you the way you treat others?

And that is the problem with this crowd.

One more object lesson and we’ll wrap this thing up.
TURN TO: JONAH

Everyone remembers the story of Jonah and how God told him to go to Nineveh, but Jonah didn’t want to go.

And we know why he didn’t want to go.
• Nineveh was the Assyrians, they had done awful things to the Jews and Jonah didn’t even want to warn them of their sin for fear that they would repent and God would forgive them.
• Jonah didn’t want them to be forgiven.
• In fact, after Jonah does preach and they do repent and God was merciful Jonah was livid!

(READ 4:1-4)

• So Jonah is mad, and the Bible says next he sat down outside of the city and waited for God to incinerate them.

To comfort Jonah, he received an object lesson.
• God caused a plant to grow and shade Jonah and then God caused a worm to come and kill the plant, and Jonah was mad again.

And God’s answer is profound.
(READ 4:9-11)

It’s the only book in the Bible that ends with a question.

It’s there for you to ponder.
And the question is this:
SHOULD GOD BE MERCIFUL?

Be careful how you answer because “by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

In fact, Jesus even speaks of THE DEGREE OF THE MEASUREMENT. It will be “pressed down, shaken together, and running over.”

SO DO YOU WANT HIM TO BE MERCIFUL OR NOT?

Well we’ll look into the expected answer of this crowd next time,
But this morning I think it’s a question we should answer.

HOW MUCH MERCY SHOULD I BE EXPECTED TO GIVE?
Well, I don’t know, how much mercy would you like to receive?

HOW MANY TIMES CAN I BE EXPECTED TO FORGIVE?
Well, I don’t know, how many times would you like to be forgiven?

HOW MUCH OF A PARDON SHOULD I BE EXPECTED TO OFFER?
Well, I don’t know, how much of a pardon would you like to receive?

Jesus is addressing a group of people here who don’t offer mercy,
But all it actually reveals is that
They have never contemplated how badly they need it.

And that is true for us.
• Do you know how badly you need mercy?
• Do you understand your offence of God?
• Do you grasp what James said that ever sin is an offence to God even if you just think it is a little insignificant one?

Let me ask you,
What great immoral thing did Adam and Eve do which brought about their removal from the garden and the curse of this whole world?

They ate a piece of fruit.

It wasn’t about the fruit, it was about their defiance against God.
And God cursed this whole world.

Do you really suppose that you don’t need mercy?
Do you really suppose your sins to be so small?

Jesus is driving this crowd to understand that
They need Him for forgiveness and that mercy is a good thing.

I would say the same to you.
Friend, you need the mercy of Christ.

And if your life is characterized by bitterness and a lack of forgiveness and holding grudges and refusing mercy
Then how is it that you can expect to receive the mercy of Christ?

Only a self-righteous person would have a disdain for mercy.
And that is the point here.

This morning let me encourage you to see the value of mercy
And run to Jesus that you may receive it.

Soli Deo Gloria and The Fall of Man
Genesis 3:1-24
April 15, 2018

Well as you know we have now begun the study of our final SOLA.
It is SOLI DEO GLORIA, or “The Glory of God Alone”

And I don’t mind telling you that this one SOLA makes my head swim.

Paul wrote:
Romans 11:34-36 “For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”

When you are talking about studying the glory of God
You are talking biting off an enormous concept.

John Piper defined God’s glory as:
“the radiance of the intrinsic worth and beauty and greatness of his manifold perfections.”
https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/soli-deo-gloria

So the study of the glory of God
Is a study of the depths of who God is
And all God is worth as He reveals all of who He is in all things.

I tend to agree with Charles Spurgeon who,
When commenting on Moses request that God would show him His glory, said:
“That was a large request for Moses to make. He could not have asked for more. “I beseech You, show me Your glory.” Why, it is the greatest petition that man ever asked of God!…“I beseech You show me Your glory.” Had he requested a fiery chariot to whirl him up to heaven. Had he asked to cleave the water-floods and drown the chivalry of a nation. Had he prayed the Almighty to send fire from heaven to consume whole armies, a parallel to his prayer might possibly have been found. But when he offers this petition, “I beseech You, show me Your glory,” he stands alone—a giant among giants—a colossus even in those days of mighty men! His request surpasses that of any other man—“I beseech You, show me Your glory.” Among the lofty peaks and summits of man’s prayer that rise like mountains to the skies, this is the culminating point. This is the highest elevation that faith ever gained—it is the loftiest place to which the great ambition of faith could climb—it is the topmost pillar of all the towering structures that confidence in God ever piled! I am astonished that Moses himself should have been bold enough to supplicate so wondrous a favor. Surely, after he had uttered the desire, his bones must have trembled, his blood must have curdled in his veins and his hair must have stood on end!”
http://www.spurgeongems.org/vols52-54/chs3120.pdf

To venture to see the glory of God is very intimidating thing indeed.

Beyond that, in the things in which God has revealed to us there is a depth that still cannot be fathomed.

When asked about the glory of God, it was Augustine who said, “I see the depth, but I cannot see the bottom.”

I don’t mind telling you that I am intimidated beyond my limits
To even approach this subject.

I am afraid of what I might find,
• No doubt a “Woe is me” moment as Isaiah did when he saw the Lord.
• Or like John who fell on his face like a dead man in the book of the Revelation.

You don’t just casually dig out the glory of God.

And I am also afraid that I might somehow mess it up.
• It is not false humility when I say I am in no way qualified to approach this.
• I’m not even really sure where to begin with it.

But here is where we are going to start,
And only God knows where we will go from here.

At least at the outset I want to study SOLI DEO GLORIA
As it is qualified by the other 4 SOLAS.

Certainly the glory of God far exceeds just the notion of justification
(As we noted last week.)
However, those other 4 SOLAS all speak in regard to justification.

We have even noted how they are not all necessarily true in regard to sanctification.
• Where we do not say Grace alone since man is clearly also required to work
out his salvation with fear and trembling.

Those SOLAS deal with regeneration and salvation.
And so I at least want to begin with our study of SOLI DEO GLORIA
As it relates to justification.
I WANT TO LOOK AT IT AS THE FITTING END TO THE OTHER 4 SOLAS.

And just to remind you of what we said last week.
SOLI DEO GLORIA requires that those first 4 SOLAS be true.

If salvation is not by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed in God’s word alone, then it cannot be to the glory of God alone.

If you add any measure of human merit or works or inherent goodness to salvation then humanity can at least share in the credit.

THEY STAND OR FALL TOGETHER.

And because last time we read:
Isaiah 48:11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”

We are supremely confident that the first 4 SOLAS are true
Because we know the fifth one is.

But let’s begin our discussion of SOLI DEO GLORIA,
Especially as it relates to the concept of justification.

And this we said last time as well.
The concepts of Regeneration, of Justification, of Redemption
Are all for the glory of God alone.

• Just as creation is not meant to glorify us…
• Just as judgment is not meant to glorify us…
• Neither is redemption meant to glorify us…

The justification of sinners is NOT a testimony to the sinner’s worth,
It IS a testimony to God’s grace and glory.

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

There is no doubt from passages like that
Who deserves the glory regarding salvation.
IT IS ABOUT GOD REVEALING WHO HE IS.

And to kick things off, let me say it like this.

GOD COULD NOT FULLY GLORIFY HIMSELF
APART FROM REDEMPTION.

To put it another way:
If God were to fully reveal Himself in all His glory, then He must be a God who saves.

After all, if there were no salvation, if there were no redemption,
Then 90% of our hymnal would be erased.
We sing of His grace, we sing of His mercy,
We sing of His patience, we sing of His forgiveness.

We could not know any of those things about God
If redemption never occurred.
And I’m sure everyone agrees with me at that point.

But it’s at that point that I want you to THINK A LITTLE DEEPER tonight
And in so doing begin to see not only how glorious God is,
But also how passionate God is about His glory.

You already know we are looking at the text which reveals the fall of man.

So I want you to think about
The necessity of tragic events as they pertain to God’s glory,
And think about God’s sovereign prerogative over them.

I want to begin by having you think of some rather difficult or harsh events in the Bible of which we know why they happened.

Think for a moment about the story of Joseph.
• It is a harsh story.
• A young Jewish boy about 14 years old sold into slavery by his brothers, and seems to get one bad break after another.
• Until ultimately he becomes the salvation of his entire family and of the kingly line of Judah.

Now the question, which you all know the answer to is:
WHO SOLD JOSEPH INTO SLAVERY?

Genesis 45:4 “Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come closer to me.” And they came closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.”

Well that verse clearly says that Joseph’s brothers sold him there.

Then we read:
Genesis 45:8 “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”

And that verse says it was God who did it.

We have here the doctrinal issue known as COMPATIBILISM
Compatibilism is the belief that: “God’s predetermination is compatible with voluntary choice.”

In other words it is the theological answer to reconcile that every event in history is ordained by God without violating the free will of man.

And that is what was on display with Joseph.
• God allowed Joseph’s brothers to do exactly what they wanted to do,
• Which was sell their brother into slavery,
• And yet it was also exactly what God ordained to happen.

• God didn’t force Joseph’s brothers
• God gave them full autonomy to do whatever they wanted,
• But in the end they did exactly what He would decree.

• They certainly did it for different motive.
• They did it to destroy, God did it to redeem,
• But regardless of the different motive, the action was exactly the same.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE would be the affliction of God’s people by neighboring nations.

Consider Isaiah 10 and what God said about bringing Assyria to afflict Israel.
Isaiah 10:5-7 “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation, I send it against a godless nation And commission it against the people of My fury To capture booty and to seize plunder, And to trample them down like mud in the streets. Yet it does not so intend, Nor does it plan so in its heart, But rather it is its purpose to destroy And to cut off many nations.”

There you see the compatibilism show up again.
• It was God’s will that Assyria afflict Israel.
• It was Assyria’s will to afflict Israel.

Again, the motives were different, God was using them to discipline, Assyria wanted to destroy, for which God would judge Assyria.

But again you see sinful man doing exactly what they want,
And it is also according to the ordained plan of God.

But without a doubt, the GREATEST EXAMPLE of this is found in the cross.

Acts 2:23 “this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”

Acts 4:26-28 “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.”

• There we have Satan and the sinful Jews all doing to Jesus exactly what they wanted to do to Jesus.
• And yet, it was the perfectly ordained plan of God.

• God didn’t force them to crucify Jesus,
• They fought to do it,
• And yet that is precisely what God had ordained.

It is God working out His sovereign plan
Even through the will of sinful creatures.

And this is a mind-blowing reality
That God can have such providential and sovereign control.

Paul put it like this:
Ephesians 1:11 [God] “works all things after the counsel of His will,”

Do you believe that?

Do you believe that God “works all things after the counsel of His will”?

“all things”?

Scripture certainly seems to affirm that.

He ordains the fall of the sparrow
Matthew 10:29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.”

He ordains the casting of the lot
Proverbs 16:33 “The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the LORD.”

He ordains the decisions of kings
Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes.”

He ordains the handicaps of the human body
Exodus 4:11 “The LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?”

He ordains the sickness of children
2 Samuel 12:15 “Then the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s widow bore to David, so that he was very sick.”

He ordains the loss and gain of money
1 Samuel 2:7 “The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts.”

He ordains the belief and suffering of His people
Philippians 1:29 “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,”

He ordains the repentance of sinners
2 Timothy 2:25 “with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,”

He ordains life and death
1 Samuel 2:6 “The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.”

He ordains the slaughter of His people
Psalms 44:11 “You give us as sheep to be eaten And have scattered us among the nations.”

So you understand then what we are saying when we say that God ordains all things?

That’s good because we’re going to push that a little tonight.

We all seem to be ok with the tragic events in Scripture in which the human purpose is clearly revealed to us.

• We are ok with Joseph being sold because we see the human benefit to his family.
• We are ok with Israel being afflicted because we see the human benefit in their sanctification.
• We are ok even with the cross because we see the human benefit of salvation that comes with it.

But it’s the events of our world
Where the human benefit cannot be seen
That we struggle with.

When Carrie and I lived in Crawford a 90 year old great-grandmother pulled out in front of a pickup and had a wreck. She survived, but her two great-granddaughters were killed.

It is a seemingly inexplicable tragedy.

• Or we talk of young mothers who die of cancer leaving behind their families.
• Or we talk of young children with cancer fighting for life.
• Or other health deformities and such.

• Or we could talk about the more global issues like the tsunami or hurricane Katrina or the recent flood in Houston

They are difficult because we can’t see the human benefit in them.

More than one person has
Looked at those types of situations and blamed God.

We hear the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

Or the philosophical argument which we referenced last time that:
If God is good He cannot be all-powerful and if He is all-powerful than He cannot be good.

And that rationale comes from tragedies like those listed above.
They don’t believe that a good God would allow such things to happen
If He had the power to stop it.

So based on the presence of inexplicable suffering
Either God’s goodness or His power is called into question.

Now MOST EVANGELICALS have tried to answer that question
And to absolve God of any blame by pointing to the fall.

They say, “Those things are not the way God intended it to be. He certainly didn’t create the world like this. Rather, sin did this, and now we are living in a society that suffers under those effects.”

(And I confess, in the past, I was one of them)

And that answer has seemed for the most part
To pacify believers who aren’t interested
In thinking any deeper about the subject than that.

But let’s look back at this fall for a moment.
(it’s an abbreviated look)

#1 THE CALL OF SIN
Genesis 3:1-7

Now certainly you remember the story.

Adam and Eve live in perfection.

What is more, Adam and Eve are perfection.
• They have been created in God’s likeness.
• Adam has no predisposition to sin.

Is Adam able to sin? Obviously
But Adam was not in bondage to sin.
Adam certainly had moral liberty to do whatever he desired.

And yet, here came sin.
It came in the form of a serpent tempting Eve to eat of the forbidden tree.

Satan sort of accuses God of being stingy by asking “Indeed has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

And of course you know that was an exaggeration.
There was only one tree of which they could not eat,
And Eve revealed that to the serpent.

Eve even revealed that if they ate of that tree, or touched it they would die.
To which Satan accused Eve of being too literal in her Bible interpretation, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like god, knowing good and evil.”

And then we read the awful event that Eve looked at the fruit
And saw that it was good,
And it appealed to her and she ate it
And gave some to Adam who was there with her.

And verse 7 reveals the immediate shame which resulted.
“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”

Now I will tell you that WHY ADAM ATE has been a mystery to the church for centuries, and it will forever remain a mystery.

No one can figure out why Adam transgressed the command of God without having a sin-nature which would have caused him to desire it.

It’s simply a mystery and we are ok with mysteries.
It causes us to remember that we aren’t God.

But there are some things I want you to ponder about that story, especially as it relates to the concept of unexplained tragedy in our lives.

As we said, this is where theologians love to go
When looking for an answer for senseless suffering.

I remember a pastor I tutored under for a while who referenced a wreck where a young girl lost her life and while visiting with the family one family member said, “I guess it was just God’s will.”
To which he quickly replied, “It’s not the will of God to kill innocent children. God didn’t do this, sin did this.”

Well that certainly sounds good,
But IF THAT IS TRUE then we have a few more questions left to answer.

An Armenian, who seeks to maintain his belief in free will, will say,
“Well, Adam did this of his own free will, but that is not what God wanted.”

And so they pin the blame all on Adam.
And again, that sounds good.

So we ask our Armenian friends.
(as many atheists have done in debate over the years).

Could God not have prevented this?
An Armenian has to answer “yes” because he believes God is omnipotent.

The next question then is, why didn’t He?
• And the Armenian says because God was preserving the precious right of free-will.
• God was refusing to violate man’s free-will so even though He could stop it, He chose not to so that man would always have a choice.

And this is where Atheists point both barrels at our theology.
They simply say, “So God had the ability to stop cancer, or tsunamis, or hurricanes, or drunk-driving accidents, or miscarriages, or mass shootings, but He chose not to because He didn’t want to offend Adam’s sense of free-will”

And I’ve seen many evangelicals squirm under that scrutiny.

Because here is what Armenians cannot escape.
The ability to do the right thing
Constitutes a responsibility to do the right thing.

That is basic ethical morality.
If you see a car wreck on the highway in front of you, you can actually be prosecuted if you fail to stop and render aid.

And this is where the Atheists tee off on God.
If God knew it would happen then why didn’t He stop it?

I’ll go farther than that.
• If God knew it would happen, why did He put that tree there?
• If God knew it would happen, why did He give Eve to Adam?
• If God knew it would happen, why did He allow Satan to enter the garden?

Have you ever pondered this?

Well certainly God did know it would happen, and yet He did all those things.
• He created the tree
• He created the woman
• He created the devil and turned him loose

Ponder that for a moment.

The Call of Sin
#2 THE CULPRIT OF SIN
Genesis 3:8-13

Now this we almost find humorous because here
God confronts Adam and Eve in the middle of their sin
And the blame game quickly commences.

And look, we CAN accurately say at this moment that God did not do this, nor did God cause this.
• Did God tempt Adam? No
• Did God make him eat? No.
• God didn’t do this, sin did this.

And to an extent that is also true of those senseless tragedies.

But what I want you to see here is that
EVEN ADAM IS AWARE OF THE DILEMMA
That we are now discussing.

Namely, If God knew it was going to happen, then why did He not stop it?

Did you hear Adam’s response to God?
(12) “The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”

Adam is asking that same question as the atheist.
If you knew she was going to cause this, then why did you give her to me?

And you’ll notice that when God turns His attention towards Eve she says basically the same thing.
(13) “Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Now she doesn’t say, “The serpent that You let in the garden”,
BUT I THINK THAT’S HER POINT.

She also wants to know, why didn’t You stop this?

They are referring to who is the real culprit here.
And that is what we are asking.
Whose fault is it?

• If God could have stopped it, why didn’t He?
• If God knew it was going to happen, why did He let it play out?

The Call of Sin, The Culprit of Sin
#3 THE CURSE OF SIN
Genesis 3:14-19

And we are also familiar with the curses that are listed here.
• We know about the enmity of the serpent
• We know about the pain of the woman.
• We know about the toil of the man.

But the question we have to address here is the SOURCE of the curse.

As I said, we see tragedies in this world all the time
And the main question that people ask is why did God do this?
And someone will answer, “God didn’t do it, sin did, this is a result of the fall.”

But let me ask you, “WHO CURSED THIS WORLD?”
• God did.
• God pronounced the curse on the serpent.
• God pronounced the curse on the woman.
• God pronounced the curse on the man.
• God pronounced the curse on the ground.

Later, when Noah is born we hear his father say:
Genesis 5:28-29 “Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of a son. Now he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed.”

They knew who cursed this world.
God did it.

Do you see where I am going with this?

To blame all human suffering and unthinkable tragedy on the curse
DOES NOT GET GOD OFF THE HOOK.

Instead of cursing the world, why didn’t God just squash Adam and start over?
• It wasn’t the ground’s fault that Adam ate.
• It wasn’t my fault that Adam ate.
• It wasn’t that baby with cancer’s fault that Adam ate.

It’s starting to make God look bad again.

That’s why so many have tried to separate God from the event
And claim He didn’t want it to happen.
He just let man have free will and that’s what happened.

But even that answer doesn’t get around
Why God allowed it when He knew full-well it was coming?

Well, let me take you one step further.

Friend God did not allow the fall.
GOD ORDAINED IT.

• God didn’t just know it was going to happen, God predetermined it.
• God arranged it.
• God appointed it to occur.

The fall of man was as much the predetermined plan of God
As the sale of Joseph, the affliction of Assyria,
And the crucifixion of Christ.

Like those events, at the fall you have God allowing man to do what he wills, and at the same time he ends up accomplishing exactly what God predetermined to occur.

Paul Washer put it like this:
“God’s ordaining of the fall does mean that it was certain to happen. It was God’s will that Adam be tested, and it was God’s will to let Adam both stand and fall alone without the divine aid which could have kept him from falling. God could have hindered Satan from laying the temptation before Eve, or in the face of such temptation He could have given Adam special sustaining grace to enable him to triumph over it. From the testimony of the Scriptures, we understand that He did not.
God’s ordaining of the fall also means that it was a part of His eternal plan. Before the foundation of the world, before the creation of Adam and Eve and the serpent that tempted them, before the existence of any garden or tree, God ordained the fall for His glory and the greater good of His creation. He did not merely permit our first parents to be tempted and then wait to react to whatever choice they made. He did not merely look through the corridors of time and see the fall. Rather, the fall was a part of God’s eternal plan and He predetermined or predestined that it should and would happen.”
https://austind90.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/did-god-ordain-the-fall-by-paul-washer/

Now, that DOES NOT mean that God ordains sin.
• He does not.
• God did not make Adam sin.
• God did not tempt Adam to sin.
• God is not the author of sin.

When we talked about the culprit of sin a moment ago,
The emphatic answer is that IT WAS NOT GOD.
He did not cause them to sin.

But He did ordain the fall.
It is that compatibilism we spoke of.
He ordains an event to occur and then
Brings it to pass through the willful sin of men.

God ordained the fall.

And if God ordained the fall, then we must say by extension
That all of the suffering and all of the pain and all of the tragedies
Which we see in this world were also ordained by Him.

How else could you possibly see it?

When a car wreck takes a young life are we really to say, “God couldn’t do anything about that, sin just beat Him there.”?
Are we to look at a tsunami and say, “God tried to stop it, but Satan was just too strong”?

CERTAINLY NOT!

What did we read earlier in Ephesians?
“God works all things after the counsel of His will”

GOD ORDAINED THE FALL.

And that most certainly brings up a universal question.
WHY?
Why would God do such a thing?

One more point:
The Call of Sin, The Culprit of Sin, The Curse of Sin
#4 THE CLOTHING OF SIN
Genesis 3:20-24

What occurred there?
It was the first ever act of grace and atonement.

(21) “The LORD god made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”

• It was the first picture of the coming death of Christ.
• It was the first picture of substitutionary atonement.
• For the first time God punished one who didn’t deserve it that He might benefit one who did deserve punishment.

Now think about this for a moment.
If Adam doesn’t sin and creation doesn’t fall.
• Then we never now of mercy
• And we never know of grace
• And we never know of redemption
• And we never see Christ exalted in death
• And we never see Christ raised in glory
• And we never see heaven exalting the Lamb who was slain

There is glory and truth about God that we never know without the fall.

And do you remember what we said at the very first of our sermon?
(which you agreed with)
“God could not fully glorify Himself apart from redemption”

Romans 11:30-32 “For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.”

And this is true, not just for sin and forgiveness.
• If there is no sickness, we never know God as healer.
• If there is no danger, we never know God as protector.
• If there is no hunger, we never know God as provider.
• If there is no poverty, we never know God as sufficient.

But through the fall we know see God as the glorious redeemer that He is.

BEYOND THAT, through Christ our salvation and our glory is now more secure than even Adam’s was.

Adam was clothed in perfection in the garden,
A perfection that was NOT SECURE.
Adam proved that.

But now we are clothed in Christ
And our glory in Christ is secure, and CANNOT BE LOST.

John Owen said that God’s design through the ordaining the fall is: “to recover things to such an estate as shall be exceedingly to the advantage of his glory, infinitely above what at first appeared, and for the putting of sinners into inconceivably a better condition than they were in before the entrance of sin.”
http://thecripplegate.com/john-owen-on-why-god-decreed-the-fall/

According to Owen
• By reason of the Fall and the subsequent redemption that is found in Christ,
• Not only has God revealed more of His glory,
• But He has also succeeded in now placing us in a better condition than Adam
was in.

• Adam didn’t know about mercy before the fall, but after the fall he did.
• Adam couldn’t sing about grace before the fall, but after the fall he could.
• Adam couldn’t rejoice in the love of God before the fall, but after the fall he
could.
• Adam wasn’t secure in his status before the fall, but after the fall he was.

So let’s sum this thing up
And I’m sure we’ll come back to many areas of it later.

WHY DID GOD ALLOW THE FALL?

And here is the reason:
BECAUSE REDEMPTION
IS MORE GLORIOUS THAN CREATION.

God did it for His glory.
And we benefit from that.

Everything God ordains is for His glory.
• Even the fall of man
• Even the cursing of this world

We have trouble with it because we can’t see the human benefit.
(It’s there, we just don’t readily see it)
We benefit because we know have more knowledge of God,
And we have a more sure standing before Him through Christ.

It all works to the ultimate glory of God
And the benefit of man whose greatest satisfaction
Is to enjoy God who is glorious.

We’ll stop there and continue on next time.

Discipleship According to Jesus – Part 3
Luke 6:27-36
April 15, 2018

If you’ve been with us the past few weeks you are aware of the fact that Jesus has now begun to address the crowds who are following Him.

We likened it to what James says about God’s word being a mirror
Which reveals to us what we are.

Jesus is certainly doing that.
He is exposing all those who have come to Him.

At the heart of this sermon is Jesus explaining
The necessity of being one of His disciples.

In fact, the whole PURPOSE OF THE SERMON is to drive men to Him.

The Sermon on the Mount is without a doubt
The most CONVICTING and even CONDEMNING sermon ever preached,
But it was preached for a purpose.

It was preached to shake men
Out of their complacency and self-righteousness
And to cause them to fall on Jesus for mercy and salvation
Regardless of the cost.

You are certainly aware of the Great Commission in which we are called to “Go and make disciples”

And yet many times we have acknowledged that in a society as religious as ours (and certainly as religious as the society of Jesus’ day)
It is often necessary to get people lost before you can get them saved.

Most of the time when we approach people with the gospel
Our First Priority is NOT salvation, it is condemnation.

• Now that is not to say that it is our desire to condemn men, certainly it is not.

• Rather I mean our first objective is to show men that despite their religious affiliations and despite their supposed moral goodness they are not in good standing with God.

We first have to lift high the righteous standard of God
That men come to an understanding of their sin
So that they see their infinite need for Christ.

It was the equivalent of the purpose of the Law.
• The Law (Paul says) is a tutor to lead men to Christ.
• The Law condemned so that in Jesus people would see their only hope.

The problem was that by the time Jesus came,
The Jews had totally maligned and misunderstood
And even minimized the true message of the Law.

Jesus first came to reestablish the righteous standard of God
• That men may first be condemned under it
• So that when He offered righteousness found only in Him they would run to it no matter the cost.

And really this is what the Sermon on the Mount is about.

I’ve heard many preachers over the years preach through the Sermon on the Mount as though it were a guide for Christian living.

I think that is a TRAGIC MISTAKE and is greatly missing the point
Of why Jesus preached here on this day.

Does that mean that Christians shouldn’t live according to these standards?
Of course not!

Jesus speaks of mercy and love and obedience and purity in thought
And lack of hypocrisy, and not being judgmental
And surely all of those concepts are encouraged throughout
The New Testament as fundamentals of Christian living.

But that’s not why Jesus preached this sermon.
He preached this sermon to first and foremost show men
Just how far they were from the divine requirement.

And hasn’t He already been doing that?

We’ve look at the first two points of this sermon already.

We are breaking it down by looking at
The various people in the crowd that Jesus addressed.

#1 TO THE COMMITTED
Luke 6:20-23

And of course you will remember that these were the people who were first poor in spirit (as Matthew’s gospel reveals).
• That is to say they understood their spiritual poverty and that they had nothing of value which God would accept.

They threw themselves in full submission to Christ no matter the cost,
And as a result they also happened to be the actual poor.

In order to follow Christ they had lost the world.
They were now poor and hungry and experiencing difficulty accompanied by mourning and were mocked and ill-treated in the world.

But Jesus told that group to rejoice!
In fact He told them how blessed they were.

Because their decision to follow Christ had gained for them
A tremendous eternity and treasure in heaven.

They had already come face to face with their condemnation,
As a result they ran to Jesus, and in Him they found
The greatest treasure that God has ever offered.

Then last week we saw the second group.
#2 TO THE COMFORTABLE
Luke 6:24-26

These people were just the opposite of the first group.
• They were not yet convinced of their sinful condition.
• They had not reached the point of spiritual poverty.
• And because they were not certain of their guilt they had not seen the need to follow Jesus at such a high cost.

Instead of forsaking the world, they kept it.
• They determined to stay rich
• They determined to stay well-fed
• They determined to stay happy and keep their laughter
• They determined to keep their good reputation

They were not willing to leave all that to follow Christ.
They loved the world more.

And Jesus told them that it was
THE MOST FOOLISH DECISION THEY EVER MADE.
For all the joy that they will ever receive,
They are receiving right now.

It will not last, eternity has nothing for them but judgment
And Jesus pronounced that woe upon them.

But you can see very clearly what Jesus is doing here.

He is revealing that men are far from what God requires.
The only hope of salvation is in rejecting this world and gaining Christ.

Those who have done that will rejoice for eternity.
Those who have failed to do that will weep for eternity.

This sermon is about exposing men.
It is about forcing men to examine their own inadequacy before God.

And this is what the gospel first does.
It first crushes men.

There is a very telling verse passage in Matthew’s gospel.
Matthew 21:42-44 “Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’? “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. “And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

Jesus is of course that stone.

And the analogy is perfect.
• If you fall on Jesus you will be “broken to pieces”
• Which is to say you will come to full understanding of your own inability.
• Recognizing Christ brings you to the end of yourself.

But for the one who refuses Christ, He will be the rock of judgment
Which will fall on him and scatter him like dust.

THAT’S THE REALITY.
• In order to be saved, man must first be broken.
• He must become one of those poor in spirit
• He must be so convinced of his own inadequacy that he would be willing to leave the world behind that he might gain Christ.

I remind you of that because this morning
Jesus is about to ADDRESS THE THIRD GROUP in this crowd.

This morning He addresses those on the fence.
These are those who are perhaps
Becoming acquainted with Jesus for the very first time.

We already learned that not only was that crowd of disciples here, but also there was a great crowd (6:17) “from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon”

Jesus is about to begin confronting that crowd.
• They are not yet committed to Him as those who have left everything to follow.
• But they are also not yet in that group who have chosen comfort over Christ.

They are neither COMMITTED nor COMFORTABLE
#3 TO THE CURIOUS
Luke 6:27-36

Now this morning we are only covering through verse 36, but in all honesty, this third point spans all the way to the end of the chapter.

Those first two groups that Jesus addressed
Were in a way an illustration meant to prepare this group
For the preaching of Jesus.

These are the people who have come to hear Jesus.
And that is who is addressed in verse 27, “But I say to you who hear…”

And I think now the WHOLE SCOPE OF THE SERMON
Should be coming more into focus.

• He told this crowd about the blessing of following Him at all cost.
• And He told this crowd about the curse of loving the world at the expense of
gaining Christ.

And now, with that illustration planted firmly in the minds of these hearers
Jesus is about to hold the mirror up to them.

It is time to expose them.
It is time to show them how badly they need Him.

And He will do that in three main ways.
1) He will challenge their mercy (which we’ll see this morning)
2) He will question their standard of judgment
3) He will expose their confession

All of these are used of Jesus to show this crowd
How far they are below the divine standard,
To show them how useless their self-righteousness is,
And to clarify exactly what it means to confess Him as Lord.

Jesus is preaching the gospel here.

But let’s begin here as HE CHALLENGES THEIR MERCY.
And for ease of study I want to break this point down a little further.

Let’s look at it in 3 divisions.
1) MERCY EXPLAINED (27-31)

What we find here is extremely enlightening
And it is really a masterful job of Jesus
In the way that He confronts and exposes these religious people.

We look first at verses 27-28 “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

Now what you find in that statement is both
An EXPECTED mandate and an UNEXPECTED one.

The basic commands are certainly expected.
Look at the verbs.
“love” – “do good” – “bless” – “pray”

Certainly every religious person who ever lived
Understands the obligation of commands like those.

“love” means to sacrifice self for the good of another

And it is hands down the chief requirement of Scripture.
• The greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
• The second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.

The Bible teaches that it is God’s love for humanity that motivated redemption.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

And it’s God’s remarkable love for sinners that brought about the cross.
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

It was also Jesus’ love for sinners that brought about His own personal sacrifice.
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

You really can’t read the Bible without seeing that
This is the chief requirement.

And any religious person would have understood the command to love.

Then there is the command to “do good”,

And it just comes from a basic understanding that
Your life should be a benefit to other people.

Certainly this is God, isn’t it?
• He “sends rain on the just and the unjust.”
• He “causes His sun to rise” for the wicked the same as it does for the righteous.
• We even learn from James that “every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights”

GOD DOES GOOD TO PEOPLE.

So it stands to reason that God also expects people
To be a benefit to this world and not a liability.

In this command is the basics of
• Servant hood
• Civil duty
• Being a good employ
• Being a good spouse
• Being a good child
• Being a good parent

It is the understanding that your life should benefit other people’s lives.

Jesus reveals the command to “bless”.

The Greek word there is EULOGEO
It’s where we get our word for Eulogy, it means “to speak well of”

You shouldn’t gossip, or run down, or slander, or belittle,
Or harm with the tongue.

God’s people should be those who lift others up and encourage others and use their tongues for edification instead of impurity.

And again, that’s basic.

And the final command is of course to “pray”

This would be to petition God for the well-being of your brother.
To lift up his burdens and to request for his deliverance.

And all of this is really just understood and basic religion.

• No one in the crowd would have even batted an eye at the
expectation of such commands.

• What is more, it is highly probable that everyone in the crowd to
some extent did all those things.

The shocking part is not the command,
But the object of the command.

Jesus didn’t just say to “love” He said here to “love your enemies”
Jesus didn’t just say to “do good” He said to “do good to those who hate you”
Jesus didn’t just say to “bless” He said to “bless those who curse you”
Jesus didn’t just say to “pray” He said to “pray for those who mistreat you.”

So let me get this straight:
• You want me to sacrifice myself for the good of a person who wants to destroy me?
• And You want me to benefit someone who hates me and will not appreciate it?
• And You want me to speak well of a person who doesn’t speak well of me?
• And You want me to pray for a person who actively seeks to harm me?

That’s what He said.
That sounds absurd doesn’t it?

While I’m betting EVERYONE in the crowd
Kept those commands in their basic sense,
I’m willing to bet NO ONE in that crowd
Kept them to the extent which Jesus just outlined.

But that’s not all.
He goes on.

(29-30) “Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. “Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.”

Now we aren’t just talking about people whom I don’t get along with,
Here we are talking about people who have actually harmed and cheated me before.

When Jesus speaks of someone who “hits you on the cheek”
And then He wants you to “offer him the other also”

Jesus is saying that you shouldn’t write someone off
Just because they have harmed you in the past.

Ever been burned by someone?
Worldly wisdom says “Wise up, don’t let them do it again.”

How does the old adage go?
“Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.”

Well Jesus just blew that logic up.
He said to keep giving chances to people who have harmed you.

He ALSO SAID to keep being charitable to people who have taken advantage of you.

Here we have a guy who asked to borrow “your coat”.
The problem is, he never gave it back.
And now he wants to borrow “your shirt”

And you’re thinking, “yeah right, you’re not gonna cheat me again.”

These aren’t just people who we are at odds with,
These are people who have wronged and cheated us in the past.

• These are people who do not deserve love.
• These are people who do not deserve good.
• These are people who do not deserve blessing.
• These are people who do not deserve prayer.
• These are people who do not deserve your shirt.
• These are people who do not deserve a second chance.
• These are people who do not deserve mercy.

And yet Jesus is flat out telling this crowd that they should give it.

In fact He says, “Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.”

So if any old person out there comes and wants what is yours,
• Even if they have taken advantage of you in the past,
• And even if they still have your coat,
You’re just supposed to love them and do good to them and bless them and pray for them and be merciful to the even though they don’t deserve it?

Is that what You’re saying?

And of course you know the answer:
YES, that’s exactly what He’s saying.

That is an absurd expectation!

BUT DO YOU KNOW WHY JESUS PRESENTED IT?

You might say, because that’s what God does.
Well that’s true, but that’s NOT the first standard Jesus appeals to.

The first reason Jesus gives this expectation
Is not because it’s God’s expectation.

DO YOU KNOW WHERE JESUS GOT THAT ABSURD EXPECTATION FROM?

He got it from you!
• From someone who has sat in the courts of Heaven listening to all the requests that sinful humans have made of God.

This expectation of mercy is not just God’s expectation of you,
This is your expectation of God.

And Jesus just wants you to offer the mercy you always expect to receive.

(31) “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.”

All Jesus did with this crowd
Is outline for them the type of mercy that they expect to receive.

And then He told them that
This is the exact type of mercy they should be willing to give.
(Do we need to go read the story about the King who forgave the slave?)

• Do you not want to be loved even when you don’t deserve it?
• Do you not want people to do good to you even when you don’t deserve it?
• Do you not want people to bless you even when you don’t deserve it?
• Do you not want people to pray for you even when you don’t deserve it?
• Do you not want people to loan you something even if you’ve burned them in the past?

Do you see what Jesus just did?
He revealed to this crowd that
They live by two different standards of mercy.

They have the mercy they want to receive
And they have the mercy they are willing to give.
And the two aren’t the same.

There is problem number one. (they are hypocrites)

Mercy Explained
2) MERCY EXPOSED (32-34)

And this is a particularly difficult section to swallow.
• For Jesus here exposes just how far off the mercy of this crowd is from the mercy that is expected of them.

See, people often come to God with this basic
And yet horribly wrong belief that they are in fact good people.

If Jesus had only told them to “love” and to “do good” and to “bless” and to “pray” and to “lend” without revealing the object of those affections,

Then everyone in the crowd would have said, “This I do!”
I do all those things, I’m a good person.
I’m like God.

UNTIL Jesus reveals just how sinful and fallen our mercy really is.

(32-34) “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.”

You see the point there in the repetition.

Jesus said to love our enemies, which shocked some people.
• They in effect responded, “But wait, they don’t deserve it.”

To which Jesus responded, “Well if you only “love those who love you, what credit is that to you?”

The word “credit” there translates CHARIS
It is the New Testament word for “grace”

What Jesus is saying here is,
If you only love people who deserve it, and not people who don’t, then how is that grace?

How can you consider yourself to be a gracious person?

I wonder how many people in here would consider themselves to be generous and gracious people?
• Oh yes, I’m gracious.
• Oh yes, I give grace to people.

Well Jesus asks, “Really, to who?”

Because if you only give it to those who give it back,
Or to those who deserve it,
Then I’m not really sure you understand the point of grace.

Jesus just said to be merciful in the sense of loving your enemy.
• We said, “yes, but they don’t deserve it.”
• And Jesus asks, “Do you even understand the concept of mercy?”

Mercy by definition is not giving someone what they deserve.
Grace by definition is giving someone what they don’t deserve.

And if you never do either of those, how can you legitimately claim to be merciful, and how can you legitimately claim to be gracious?

Mercy doesn’t count if you only give it to your friends.
Grace doesn’t count if you only give it to your grandkids.

And He says the same thing about doing good.
(33) “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.”

Where’s the grace in that?
Find me any old sinful wicked man in the world and he’ll scratch the back of the man who scratches his.

There’s nothing remarkable in that.
There’s nothing God-like in that.

(34) “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.”

Giving to someone who gives back is not called mercy.
• That’s called a loan.
• That’s what bankers do.

Do you see what Jesus is doing here?

He is not only explaining mercy at a level
At which they have never offered it,
He is also exposing that the mercy they do have
Really isn’t mercy at all.

That’s kind of hard to swallow isn’t it?

I just found out from Jesus that I’m really not as merciful as I thought.
• For one I expect mercy, but I don’t give it.
• For two, the mercy I do give, isn’t really even mercy at all.

My level of goodness isn’t any better than the sinners I live around.

And I really think we have to stop and internalize that for a moment.
I think we have to look in that mirror.
• Can I say that I love my enemies?
• Can I say that I do good to those who hate me?
• Can I say that I bless those who curse me?
• Can I say that I pray for those who mistreat me?

Or, is it more likely that
• My love is reserved only for those who love me back?
• My good is really only for those who do me good?
• I’m really only generous so long as it doesn’t cost me?

What we learn is that the righteousness we are counting on
And the goodness we are trusting in
May not actually be goodness or righteousness at all.

If I was planning on STANDING BEFORE GOD
And declaring that I SHOULD GET TO GO TO HEAVEN
Because I am a loving and good and merciful person,
I may have just learned that my evaluation was a little high.

I’m not what I thought I was.

Mercy Explained, Mercy Exposed
3) MERCY EXPECTED (35-36)

Well here is where the command comes.

This is the absolute uncompromised standard
That is expected for anyone who desires
To receive treasure in heaven and to be considered a child of God.

Are you ready?
“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Now pay attention for a moment.
• Is this the divine standard? Absolutely
• Is this the divine expectation? Absolutely
• Is this the absolute requirement? Absolutely

If you don’t do these things,
You WILL NOT be considered a child of God
And you WILL NOT have treasure in heaven.
You can’t miss that.

And don’t try to lower the bar here.

Jesus DOESN’T say “love your enemies most of the time and do your best at doing good and lend at least once in your life without expecting return and then you’ll have treasure in heaven and will be called sons of the Most High.”

Jesus did not say that!

In fact, if you want to know where the required standard is.

Jesus removes all doubt in verse 36, “Be merciful, JUST AS your Father is merciful.”

Did you catch the standard?
You have to be as merciful as God, or you aren’t getting in.

Here it is in Matthew’s gospel.
Matthew 5:43-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? “If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

It’s the same thing.
You have to be like God or you’re not getting in.

Does that condemn you?
• It does me.
• And if you’re honest, it does you to.

Now, is that what I strive for? Yes
Do I agree with it and try to apply it? Yes
But do I fulfill it like God does? No

And if I listen to what Jesus has to say here
Then I must come to the conclusion
That by own efforts, I am still under condemnation.

By my own abilities and efforts
I will never be a child of God and will never earn eternal reward.

Now that sounds harsh, but that’s the ONLY POSSIBLE CONCLUSION
I can draw from what Jesus said.

WHY WOULD HE PREACH SUCH A SERMON?
TO DRIVE ME TO HIM!

From time to time we sing the song, “I Look Up”
It’s a beautiful song of the gospel.

“When I look all around me And all I can see Are my mountains of failure and sin. I will hope in the One Crucified in my place Jesus Christ the Redeemer of men. When I’m standing accused And I’m guilty as charged And I’ve nothing that I can defend; I will trust in the righteousness Given to me By Jesus my Savior and Friend. When I measure my heart By Your holy decrees All my motives and deeds I despise. I will claim all Your sacrifice Purchased for me By Your death I will stand justified”

• I’m not merciful like God is merciful.
• I don’t love like God loves.
• I don’t bless like God blesses.
• I don’t do good like God does good.
• I don’t lend like God lends.

BUT JESUS DOES.

And the offer of the gospel is that
• If I will admit that I am the worst of failures,
• And deny all my efforts of earning my own salvation
• And see them as being totally worthless,
• And if I will place my faith in who Jesus is and what He has done for me,
• Then I can stand before God fully clothed in His righteousness.

In Jesus I can fulfill this lofty expectation.

Certainly these standards are the aim of life.
Certainly these standards are what we work toward.
Certainly these standards are our desire.
But these standards are only fulfilled in the righteousness of Christ
Which is credited to me when I place my faith in Him.

Again and again and again we see it.
We need Christ!
We are condemned men apart from Him.

And that is the point of this message as well.
• This not a sermon on the expected benevolence of man.
• This is a sermon the total need for Christ.

When Jesus spoke to the COMMITTED,
He encouraged their faith.
When Jesus spoke to the COMFORTABLE,
He exposed their judgment.
And now when Jesus speaks to the CURIOUS,
He explodes their hope.

That is, He totally destroys any hope they have
Of trusting in their own righteousness.

They are not righteous enough.
And neither are we.

Through Christ alone can we be made pleasing to the Father.
• This is the hope of the believer.
• This is the call to those who do not believe.

Soli Deo Gloria
Selected Scriptures
April 8, 2018

Tonight we come to our final of the 5 SOLAS
We are discussing SOLI DEO GLORIA
It of course means, “The Glory of God Alone”

And here is what you need to understand at the outset.
THIS IS THE PRIMARY SOLA

In fact, if you were forced to pick only 1 of the 5
As the one upon which you would stand, it must be this one.
To put it another way, the first 4 SOLAS all exist to make this one known.

Perhaps you remember that analogy we gave back at the beginning of our study about the 3 pillared building.
• We said the foundation is SOLA SCRIPTURA
• Then we said there are 3 pillars which are SOLA GRATIA, SOLA FIDE,
SOLUS CHRISTUS
• But the roof and pinnacle is SOLI DEO GLORIA

THE OTHERS ALL SUPPORT THIS ONE.

In fact, we can also say it like this.
If SOLI DEO GLORIA is true then all of the other 4 must be true as well.
But if any of the other 4 are not true then this one cannot be true either.

In order to believe SOLI DEO GLORIA
• Then you must believe that salvation is by grace alone apart from any merit
or ability found in the sinner.
• Then you must believe that salvation is by faith alone apart from any works
performed by the sinner.
• Then you must believe that salvation is in Christ alone apart from any
righteousness added by the sinner.

Because if you add any merit to the equation
Or if you add any works to the equation
Or if you add any righteousness to the equation
THEN GOD DIDN’T DO IT ALL
AND THEREFORE HE CANNOT RECEIVE ALL THE GLORY.

He might be able to receive most of the glory,
But if He didn’t do it all, then He can’t receive it all.

This is why we have held so closely to
That tremendous passage in 1 Corinthians 1
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

• But if it’s the smart who come to Christ, then they at least get a little bit of credit for being smart enough to receive Him.
• Or if it’s the noble who come to Christ, then they at least get a little bit of credit for desiring good things over detestable ones.
• Or if it’s the strong who come to Christ, then they at least get a little bit of credit for being strong enough to resist the temptations of the world.

And that’s why God didn’t choose them.
He was making the point that salvation
Is a matter of His glory and His glory alone.

Paul made the point again to the Romans:
Romans 3:21-27 “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.”

There Paul reminds of the mystery of justification by faith alone.
• God saved men apart from their work, but purely through His grace.
• God satisfied His own holy wrath through the death of His Son.
• Man contributed nothing to the salvation process.

This made God alone just.
And this made God alone the justifier.

Man can’t take any credit for either of those things.
To which Paul asks the question:
“Where then is boasting? It is excluded.”

If SOLI DEO GLORIA is true
Then all of the other SOLAS must be as well.

As R.C. Sproul put it:
“No semi-Pelagian can ever say with authenticity: “To God alone be the glory.” For the semi-Pelagian, God may be gracious, but in addition to God’s grace, my work of response is absolutely essential.”
https://www.ligonier.org/blog/soli-deo-gloria-god-alone-be-glory/

If you don’t remember the term semi-Pelagian…
It stemmed from that debate between Augustan and Pelagius.

It was Augustine who prayed: “Oh God, grant what Thou commandest, and command what Thou dost desire,”

• Pelagius hated the notion of asking God to grant what He commanded.
• Pelagius wanted man to bear some of the responsibility.
• Pelagius was deemed a heretic, but semi-Pelagianism survived.

It is that belief that man isn’t dead by reason of the fall,
He’s just really really really sick, but he still has in him the ability to choose good
And therefore the moral responsibility to choose good.

The semi-Pelagian does not say that salvation is by grace alone
Because they believe man must also work towards regeneration.

And therefore if salvation is not by grace alone
It cannot be to the glory of God alone.

No semi-Pelagian can ever say “To God Alone be the glory.”
Nor can any Armenian say that
For they also don’t believe that salvation is a work of pure grace.

To further understand it, consider this question.
Do you know anyone who heard the same gospel you heard, but who is still lost? (of course you do)

The question then is this:
Why did you respond positively to Christ and them negatively?

• Would you say it’s because you are smarter than them? (no)
• Would you say it’s because you are more righteous than them? (no)

But think about it.
• If it’s a matter of free-will, you made the right decision, and they made the
wrong decision,
• So how else could you consider it than to say that you are saved and they are
not because you are more righteous than them?
• You make right decisions when they make wrong ones.

That’s absurd!

But that’s what Armenians and semi-Pelagians basically say.
Actually they don’t say it but that’s what makes their theology inconsistent.

But if that is true then salvation cannot be to the glory of God alone.
And that is the real problem.

BUT THAT IS ALSO THE PRIMARY REASON
THAT THE CHURCH TODAY RUNS INTO ARMENIANISM.

The church today is running so quickly into semi-Pelagianism
& Armenianism because deep down they want a piece of the glory

THERE IS NO GLORY TO BE HAD FOR US
If we believe that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

But if there is one sliver of human assistance in there
Then all of a sudden I find where I can share in the glory.
• And I can get glory for making the decision to follow Jesus
• And I can get glory for being a good enough preacher to persuade you to
follow Jesus
• And we can get glory for being a good enough church to make you want to
follow Jesus

We’ll sing “To God be the Glory”
We just don’t want God to get all the glory.

It is the most blatant idolatry of the current American church.

That is why I say this SOLA is the most important.
Not only does it require the first 4 to be true,
But it also most directly confronts the fallacy of the American church.

I think this is an area in which we have so badly missed the point.

I actually heard a preacher (on a video debate) the other day
Make this statement.

That, “The primary message of the Bible from Genesis to maps is ________________”
And what do you think he said?

I’ll bet you can answer it.
He said the main message is REDEMPTION.

That sounds good doesn’t it?
Now what if I tell you that that is the wrong answer?

The primary message of the Bible is not redemption,
The primary message of the Bible is the glory of God.

As David VanDrunen said:
“Nevertheless, many writers have suggested that Soli Deo Gloria is in fact the central strand that holds all of the Reformation solas together. I’m inclined to think they’re correct. Consider the main point of the other solas. They communicate that salvation does not come by our own works, no matter how noble, and that the final authority for Christian faith and life is never our own word, no matter how wise. God is the one who saves, and God is the one who speaks pure and life-giving truth. But this is another way of saying that all honor and renown belongs to God, not to ourselves. Only the Lamb who was slain is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll (Rev 5:1-7)—“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever” (Rev 5:13)!
This reminds us that the heart of the Christian message is not that the Bible is God’s inspired word or that salvation comes by grace through faith in Christ, as crucial as these truths are. The heart of the Christian message, in other words, is God himself, not how we are saved or what source of wisdom we seek.
This is always a timely message for us, who are inclined toward a variety of vices that keep turning our sights sinfully inward.”
https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/common-places-the-five-solas-soli-deo-gloria/

THE HEART OF THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE IS GOD HIMSELF.

Now, is God glorified in redemption? ABSOLUTELY

Consider that chapter we just looked at a couple of weeks ago
While talking about being IN CHRIST

TURN TO: EPHESIANS 1

We remember there in verse 3 how Paul began by saying:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”,
• Certainly that is a statement reflecting Glory.

But then Paul went on to say how God chose us in Christ.
He spoke of election and predestination.

Do you remember why God chose us?
(READ VS. 4-6)

God did that “to the praise of the glory of His grace.”

Paul also spoke about us having an inheritance in Christ.

Do you remember why God gave us an inheritance?
(READ VS. 10b-12)

“to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.”

Paul also spoke about our security in Christ and how we were sealed in Him.

Do you remember why God sealed us in Christ?
(READ VS. 13-14)

“to the praise of His glory”

Yes, God is certainly glorified in redemption.
God’s glory is the whole point of redemption.

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL that God is glorified in,
And therefore redemption is not the only point of Scripture.

Let me give you a couple of others this evening.
GOD IS ALSO GLORIFIED IN CREATION.

Psalms 19:1-6 “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.”

Or consider what Paul wrote in Romans 1
Romans 1:18-20 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

David looked at creation and said:
Psalms 8 “O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!”

When God responded to Job from the middle of the storm, do we not remember God’s rebuke?

TURN TO: JOB 38:4-38

God was speaking of the glory that is due Him simply because of creation.

But that’s still not the only way in which God glorifies Himself.
GOD ALSO GLORIFIES HIMSELF IN JUDGMENT OF THE WICKED

Isaiah 5:16 “But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.”

Ezekiel 28:22 “and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, And I will be glorified in your midst. Then they will know that I am the LORD when I execute judgments in her, And I will manifest My holiness in her.”

Ezekiel 39:21 “And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them.”

Consider Revelation 19 and what is referred to as the Hallelujah Chorus where all of heaven glorifies God because of His destruction of the wicked.

Revelation 19:1-5 “After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.” And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.”

God is certainly glorified in the salvation of sinners
But He is equally glorified in the judgment of sinners.

This is why we say that the glory of God is the main point of Scripture.
It’s not just redemption even though that is a tremendous point.

The main point of Scripture is the glory of God.
The Bible is about Him, not you.

And this is really a problem that I think the church must remedy.

The shift I see taking place so often in the American church
Is that Bible stories and Bible doctrines
Are taking on a much more narcissistic feel.

We tend to think it’s about us.
We tend to think it all revolves around us.

God’s existence is for our happiness…
• He is there to heal us when we hurt…
• He is there to protect us when we are in danger…
• He is there to provide for us when we are in need…
• He is there to comfort us when we are mourning…

We tend to think the story is about the sovereignty of man and his little genie named God who exists for the sole purpose of making man happy.

But nothing could be more backward.

Have you ever for once even considered your own insignificance?

Look at what you are in the context of CREATION.
Consider how small a part of it you are.

Are you really supposed to look at the grandeur of creation and come to the conclusion of your own importance?

Absolutely not!

John Piper wrote:
“This universe is not intended to portray the importance of man. It is intended to give some inkling to the grandeur of God. And it is an understatement!”
https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/soli-deo-gloria

Steven Curtis Chapman wrote in his song “Much of You”
“How could I stand here And watch the sun rise Follow the mountains Where they touch the sky Ponder the vastness And the depths of the sea And think for a moment The point of it all was to make much of me?”

Or we remember the famous lyrics by Stuart K. Hine
“O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee; How great Thou art, how great Thou art!”

Or the song by Laura Story
“From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea Creation revealing Your majesty. From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring; every creature unique in the song that it sings. all exclaiming, Indescribable, uncontainable, You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name. You are amazing God. All powerful, untameable, awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim You are amazing God. Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go, or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow? Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light, yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night? None can fathom.”

You ought to be able to look at creation and see that
It DOES NOT EXIST to reveal your greatness.

David said:
Psalms 95:1-5 “O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land.”

When you contemplate the very world in which we live,
You should quickly see that it’s not about you.

Colette Goodall “You are not the center of the universe.”

In fact, I’d shock you even further by reminding you that
Even the rock on which you dwell is not the center of the universe.

Creation is not about you or your glory.

You don’t have free reign over creation,
• God has set a boundary for your habitation.
You’ll never grasp the far expanses of space,
• God alone dwells in immortality and unapproachable light.

When you ponder creation, it’s not about you.

Now consider who God is in regard to creation.
Isaiah 40:12 “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales?”

After building the temple Solomon confessed:
2 Chronicles 2:6 “But who is able to build a house for Him, for the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain Him? So who am I, that I should build a house for Him, except to burn incense before Him?”

Isaiah continues:
Isaiah 40:21-26 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble. “To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.”

Now you tell me who creation is meant to glorify.
Creation glorifies God, and we know that.

Or ponder your own insignificance in REGARD TO JUDGMENT

Are you really to assume that the reason millions are cast into hell and undergo the tortures of judgment for all eternity is because of the way they offended you?

• Does hell exist because you have been offended?
• Does hell exist because you have been wronged?

• Was the flood because men had offended Noah?
• Was the judgment of Sodom because men had offended Lot?

Of course not, that is absurd!

Hell is there because men have offended God.
Judgment is because men have rebelled against God.

Romans 1:18-21 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

It is not primarily about you.
And certainly you understand that.

Judgment is the place where God demonstrates
His unfailing justice in the destruction of the wicked
Who have dared to rebel against His sovereign rule.

Judgment, like creation, is about the glory of God.

• Your glory was not at the center of creation.
• Your glory is not at the center of judgment.
And I think we know both of those things.

So why do so many in the church today
Think that redemption is all about them?

IT IS NOT.
It is not about these valuable little humans who are so important that God just couldn’t bear to exist without them.

Redemption is about the glory of a God who chose to save
The most wicked and vile and detestable part of His creation;
Namely sinful man.

• It is a testimony to His grace, not your value.
• It is a testimony to His mercy, not your desirability.
• It is a testimony to His power, not your worth.

Just consider for a moment what a little part you are in the grand scheme of the story of redemption.

How did James say it?
James 4:14 “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”

Psalms 39:4-5 “LORD, make me to know my end And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am. “Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah.”

Psalms 144:3-4 “O LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You think of him? Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow.”

Ponder for just a moment what a small speck you are in the story.
God’s plan of redemption is not revolving around you.

• You are not the center of the universe.
• You are not the reason for judgment.
• And you are not the pinnacle figure of God’s redemption.

God is not bound to bring about any form of result in your lifespan.
• Consider how He didn’t put Moses into service until he was 80 years old.
• Consider how Joseph was forced to endure years of slavery and prison.
• Consider how Isaiah was sent to a people who couldn’t hear.
• Consider how John the Baptist or the apostles were martyred early.

The story wasn’t about them.
They were merely people God used under His own sovereign prerogative to glorify Himself.

It wasn’t about them, and it’s not about us.
Redemption is certainly all about the glory of God.

That is why in heaven people don’t sit around in groups
And discuss how much they deserve to be there.

• They aren’t running from one heavenly golf course to the next…
• They aren’t pulling slots in some heavenly casino…
• They aren’t fishing in some heavenly lake…
• As though the creation of heaven had anything to do with the gratification of
their human flesh.

In heaven there is no confusion regarding who gets the glory.

Revelation 4:8-11 “And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY,WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.” And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

Revelation 5:8-14 “When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.”

Revelation 19:1-6 “After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.” And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”

God is being glorified.
• Glorified for creation
• Glorified for salvation
• Glorified for judgment

If we could just say it clearly and plainly.
IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU.

• It’s not about your glory
• It’s not about your happiness
• It’s not about your fulfillment
• It’s not about your comfort
• It’s not even about your salvation

(Yes those things are bi-products which we certainly receive from God)
BUT THE PURPOSE OF ALL THINGS IS THE GLORY OF GOD.

The Westminster Confession states it beautifully:
“Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”

It was precisely what the Psalmist said:
Psalms 115:1 “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.”

The story of Scripture is not the story of the value of man.
The story of Scripture is the story of the glory of God.

IT IS NOT THE STORY of how wonderful and important man is
And how God loved them so much that
He just couldn’t bear to go through eternity without them.

THE STORY OF THE BIBLE IS ABOUT how wonderful and important and gracious and majestic and holy God is.
He proves grace through the salvation of sinners
And He proves justice through the destruction of sinners.

It is important to note that:
God does not exist because of man,
But rather man exists because of God.

As Paul wrote:
1 Corinthians 8:6 “yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”

And really tonight I didn’t want to do anything more
Than remind you of that.

EVERYTHING IS ABOUT SOLI DEO GLORIA.
• This is the pinnacle
• This is the chief end
• This is the purpose of it all

Everything God does He does for His own glory.
• This includes creation
• This includes the fall of man
• This includes the period of the patriarchs, the judges, the kings, and the exile.
• This includes the sending of Christ and the redemption of the cross.
• This includes the rejection of Israel, the grafting in of Gentiles.
• This includes the return of Christ and His glorious reign
• This includes the judgment of the wicked

It’s all about the glory of God.

And to that end let me remind you of a very important aspect of this.

Isaiah 42:8 “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.”

Isaiah 48:11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”

GOD DOES NOT SHARE HIS GLORY.

This is actually one of the reasons we are so confident that
SOLA GRATIA, SOLA FIDE, and SOLUS CHRISTUS are in fact accurate.

Because only through them does God actually receive all the glory.
And God would have it no other way.

So tonight I just put that out there for you and we’ll talk some more about it next time.