This is a copy of God's Word, which I hope you have with you, that it's well read and treasured in your heart.
Turn with me to the book of Romans chapter 11, verse 33.
Today we're going to conclude our series on the solas of the Reformation.
And I'm going to preach from selected texts today.
I'm going to bounce this around a lot, which is not typically what I enjoy doing.
But I think to deal with the glory of God alone, we need to do so thematically this morning.
And so I want to begin our study with a reading from Romans 11, verses 33 through 36.
And then we're going to leave it.
I'll probably read it again in summary.
But I just want you to know, don't be thrown off when you go,
wait, Nathan's not talking about Romans 11, 33 through 36.
We'll bring other scripture.
And I want you to get ready, nimble fingers, to turn to other places with me this morning.
But I hope that this text will help draw your mind to the glory of God and the salvation of His people.
As Paul has spent the first 11 chapters of this great letter to the church in Rome,
outlining what the gospel is.
Our great need for justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
And then he writes this, beginning in verse 33 and following.
Oh, the depths of the riches and the wisdom and knowledge of God.
How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways.
For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been His counselor?
Or who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid?
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
To Him be glory forever.
Amen.
On Tuesday, we will celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
Specifically, on the 31st, we celebrate the day that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses
to the door of the Wittenberg Church.
The 95 theses was a document outlining 95 reasons why the selling of indulgences by the Roman Catholic Church
was not biblical.
The prologue to this document reads as follows.
Out of love for the truth and from desire to explain it,
the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology,
an ordinary lecturer therein at Wittenberg,
intends to defend the following statements and to dispute on them in that place.
Therefore, he asks that those who cannot be present and dispute with him orally
shall do so in their absence by letter.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
So we outlined his reasons and we will not get into them,
although you can find good English translations of them all over the place.
It's online.
It's especially easy to Google search this month.
One of the major concerns that Martin Luther had was that the selling of indulgences,
the teaching that justification could come by works of one kind or another,
were a degradation to the glory of God.
That maximized man and his work and it minimized God's working.
What precipitated from this document ignited a flame of doctrinal purification in Europe.
And we are beneficiaries of this purification.
God used the reformation in mighty ways that we might believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now, much of the reformers' teaching has been summed up systematically in what are known as the solas.
The reformers didn't write it systematically in the way that we are studying it across these past weeks.
But we've brought it together.
We've encapsulated it in this way.
The reformers loved the word alone or only because recall that they were speaking to audiences that considered themselves Christian.
There was not opposition in the day to Scripture or grace or faith or Christ or the glory of God.
But there was so much addition to or subtraction from these key doctrines that the reformers loved to say only.
So a number of weeks ago, five weeks ago, we picked up the topic of sola scriptura.
That is to say that the Bible is our final authority.
It's the reigning authority over all other authorities.
So the Scripture alone is our authority.
And it teaches us that we are justified, have a right standing before God by grace alone, sola gratia,
through faith alone, sola fide, with the proper object of that faith being Christ,
in Christ alone, sola Christus.
And all things are for the glory of God alone, sola deo gloria.
As we end this series with a consideration of sola deo gloria,
know that we very well could have began our series with it.
God's glory is His renown or His fame.
And while we cannot make God more glorious than He already is,
we can mitigate it in our own hearts and to the detriment of others.
This was the predominant issue of the Reformation.
The glory of God expressed in the life of the church.
What do we believe to be true?
And how does our doctrine either shed a proper light on the glory of God
or lessen it, in a sense I'll get into momentarily?
A book I want to commend to you, but I'm not going to give to you, this morning anyway,
written by John Piper in a series he did called The Swans Are Not Silence.
There's a series of biographies.
This one's called The Legacy of Sovereign Joy.
He writes of an example from John Calvin's life.
He writes,
In 1538, the Italian cardinal Sadele wrote to the leaders of Geneva
trying to win them back to the Roman Catholic Church
after they had turned to the Reformed teachings.
He began his letter with a long conciliatory section
on the preciousness of eternal life
before coming to his accusations of the Reformation.
Calvin wrote the response to Sadele in six days in the fall of 1539.
It was one of his earliest writings
and spread his name as a Reformer across Europe.
Luther read it and said,
Here is a writing which has hands and feet.
I rejoice that God raises up such men.
So Calvin writes this response to this cardinal
who's trying to draw the Reformer leaders back to Roman Catholicism.
And his response to a teaching that said
that justification was not by grace through faith in Christ
was this, and I quote,
Your zeal for heavenly life is a zeal which keeps a man
entirely devoted to himself
and does not, even by one expression,
arouse him to sanctify the name of God.
There he goes on to say that the goal of every person's life
ought to be to set before man
as the prime motive of his existence
zeal to illustrate the glory of God.
To make much of God.
To know God as he is
and to help others to know God as he is.
This was the great cry of the Reformation.
So we could have also started with
Soli Deo Gloria,
but it's also apt to end with this theme,
this idea of to God alone be the glory.
Now the Bible reveals God's glory in two ways.
And this will be the outline for our study this morning.
The Bible reveals God's glory in two ways.
Number one,
as God's intrinsic reality.
God is glorious.
And number two,
as the external manifestation of God's glory.
So his glory expressed in the world.
Number one is God's intrinsic reality.
And number two,
as the external manifestation of God's glory.
So number one,
God's glory expressed as God's intrinsic reality.
In the Old Testament,
the primary Hebrew word for glory,
which is pronounced,
I believe,
kabod,
meant a heavy weight.
Such as a rich man's possessions,
which,
when weighed,
added up to a great deal of weight.
The richer he was,
the more his possessions would weigh.
With this wealth came a degree of clout,
or a heavy influence upon others in the community.
Thus,
glory came to represent the greatness of a man,
which commanded the respect of others.
So not just how well a man would be known,
not famous like people are famous in our day,
and then they try to have influence on people,
right?
But famous for being famous in some respects.
But this is a fame that has influence.
God's weight,
or glory,
is the greatness of who he is.
His glory is the awesome gravity of his name.
I am who I am.
The infinite wealth of his divine attributes,
as is found in his holiness,
his sovereignty,
his wrath,
his justice,
his grace,
his goodness,
and so on.
Every aspect of his character
is immeasurably heavy,
weighty,
incomparably great,
beyond any human's character,
or ability.
Being absolutely perfect,
God is awesome in every way.
Steve Lawson,
who's a contemporary pastor,
told the following account in an article
concerning the intrinsic reality of God's glory.
He wrote this.
Years ago,
Donald Gray Barnhouse,
pastor of 10th Presbyterian Church
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
delivered a message that aired on CBC radio.
In this national address,
the noted Bible teacher speculated
about what would be
the most diabolical strategy
that Satan could employ
against the church
in the years to come.
You catch that?
He said,
this is what I think
would be most diabolical
that Satan could do
as a strategy against the church.
To the astonishment of many listeners,
Barnhouse imagined
that all of the bars in Philadelphia
would be closed.
Prostitutes would no longer walk the streets.
pornography would no longer be available.
The streets would be clean
and all the city neighborhoods
would be filled with law-abiding citizens.
All swearing and cursing would be gone.
Children would respectfully say,
yes, sir, and no, ma'am.
Every church in town,
Barnhouse added,
would be packed to overflowing.
There would not be one church pew
that could not contain one more citizen.
What, you ask,
could be wrong with this?
Barnhouse then delivered
the knockout punch.
The deadliest,
most diabolical danger,
he said,
would be that in each of these
filled-to-capacity sanctuaries,
Jesus Christ would never be preached
and the glory of God
would never be exalted.
And beloved,
this is all too true
in many of our churches today.
I have actually found myself
in these past five weeks
feeling a heaviness
about the state of American Christianity.
the degree to which
the heirs of Rome
have slipped into
our evangelical churches.
The magnitude
of a soft prosperity gospel.
Many call it
moralistic, therapeutic deism,
which goes something like this,
and you can pick this up
in so many sermons today.
Do good
so that you'll feel good
so that you'll get good.
Next Sunday,
we're going to
I hesitate on the word celebrate.
We're going to gather together
and consider
the persecuted church
as it's the International Day of Prayer
for the persecuted church.
Try to preach that garbage
at some places in the world.
Some of our pastors today,
great theologians,
well-studied,
doctors of theology,
would be shut down
by the simple faith
of suffering Christians.
around the world.
That they would say to them,
oh, but to be like Christ.
This past week,
a church called
First Baptist Dallas,
pastored by a man
named Robert Jeffers,
Dr. Robert Jeffers,
a church that is part
of our denomination,
invited Sean Hannity
to come and be interviewed
as part of the preaching.
This is last week.
Because he is the executive producer
of a film,
a faith-based film,
Sean Hannity has,
for a long time,
espoused himself
as a Roman Catholic.
So he sits on the stage
talking to Dr. Jeffers
and proceeds to talk about
how he's not sure
if he really considers himself
a Catholic any longer,
but more a,
and I quote,
born-again Christian.
And then he goes on
to talk about
how the ill feelings
he would have
as a young man
after partying all night,
he'd wake up feeling horrible.
He thought was God
working and speaking
in his conscience.
And so he stopped
doing those things.
He stopped partying.
He started hanging out
with other people.
He stopped working
in the restaurant industry.
He started working
in the construction industry
instead.
And he finds that
if he just will listen
to this conscience
God telling him,
helping him to do
good things,
that he feels good.
You're hearing
do good
and the feel good
in there.
And at the conclusion
of this,
Dr. Robert Jeffers
says to him,
brother,
I am so glad
that I'm going to see you
in heaven one day.
Trampled the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
Justification by,
through grace,
by grace alone,
through faith alone
in Christ.
Alone.
A horrible travesty.
And I hope you feel that.
I hope that you don't go,
I don't really understand
what's bad about that.
Sean Hannity said,
I'm earning my way
to heaven.
And a Southern Baptist pastor,
a well-known,
outspoken,
published Southern Baptist pastor
said,
yeah,
you sure are.
Dr. Jeffers
helped damn
Sean Hannity
this past Sunday
did not speak
clearly to him
the gospel
of Jesus Christ
and they were applauded.
It makes me tremble.
I'm so afraid
for American Christianity.
God's glory
may have already
left our churches.
He may have already
moved on
places like China
where it's reported
that 10,000 people
come to faith
every day.
He may have already
left us
to this
diabolical
strategy
of Satan.
let this not be
true
of us.
Despite all of this,
despite the troubling
state of American
Christianity,
God
is
glorious.
He is
intrinsically
glorious.
Nothing that we
feel,
think,
say,
or do
will add
to or subtract
from God's
intrinsic
glory.
King David
declares
in Psalm
138,
verse 5,
great
is the
glory
of the
Lord.
In Ephesians
3,
16,
the Apostle
Paul
asks that
the Ephesian
believers
be strengthened
with power
according
to the
riches
of God's
glory.
In Isaiah
42,
8,
God says,
I am the
Lord,
that is
my name,
my glory,
I give
to no
other.
So God
is himself
glorious.
And not only
that,
but we see
in Isaiah
42,
8,
that he
is a
glory
miser.
And this
is good
for us
because we
are glory
thieves.
We love
to have
glory for
our self,
to be made
famous,
to have
influence
for us.
We're always
wanting to make
more of ourselves
than we ought
to,
and in
so doing,
make little
of God.
God
is
weighty,
whether or
not we want
him to be,
and so
God is
right in
being zealous
for his
own fame.
Beloved,
it is so good
for us that
God is
God-centered,
that God is a
miser of his
own glory
because he
is
God.
It would
always be
wrong for
any one
of us
to try
to heap
up glory
for
ourselves
because we
are not
God.
But God
himself,
the Lord,
the great
I am,
the self-existent
one,
the intrinsically
glorious
one,
would do us
no favor
allowing us
to have glory
for ourselves.
He does
us
infinite
favor
in showing
us
how glorious
he is,
pointing to
himself
all the time
and in so
many ways.
Look at
me,
the glorious
one.
And that
we get this
right is so
important.
That in our
thinking and
therefore in our
living,
God is
huge and
we are but
tiny.
God is
glorious and
we are
humble.
It's a
massive
importance.
A.W.
Tozer said,
what comes
into our
minds when
we think
about God
is the
most
important
thing
about us.
So,
is God
glorious
in your
mind?
Is his
holiness,
his
separateness
from us
massive
to you?
Is it
humbling
to consider
God?
If not,
I would
suggest to
you that
you do
not know
the God
of the
Bible.
Get into
the
Scripture
and read
about this
glorious
God.
But also,
we come to
the second
way that
the glory
of God
is revealed
as the
external
manifestation
of God's
glory.
So we have
his glory
in the
Scripture.
We can
behold his
intrinsic
glory in
the Bible.
But also,
in the Bible,
we're taught
other ways
in which
and ways
in which
we read
it in
the Scripture,
the external
manifestation
of God's
glory.
And I
have four
ways in
which he
manifests his
glory
externally.
Number one,
God has
manifested and
is manifesting
his glory
in his
creation.
So we
look around
us.
The beauty,
I'm glad to
do this in
October because
things are really
beautiful right
now.
Are they not?
We live in a
beautiful place.
It gets
ignited with
beauty for a
couple of
weeks in
October.
I'm told you
should drive
north this
week, not
too far, and
the leaves are
just an
astounding
color right
now.
Beholding the
manifest glory
of God comes
in so many
ways in his
creation.
The psalmist
says in Psalm
19, 1-4,
the heavens
declare the
glory of God
and the sky
above proclaim
his handiwork.
Day to day
it pours out
speech and
night to
night reveals
knowledge.
There is no
speech, there
are their
words whose
voice is not
heard.
Their voice
goes out
through all
the earth
and their
words to
the end
of the
world.
So we
behold the
manifest glory
of God
in creation
and standing
at the edge
of the Grand
Canyon on
the north
rim watching
the sun
rise, in
catching a
brook trout
in a North
Georgia stream,
in skein,
heavy,
powdery
drift.
We see the
glory of God
and the
beauty of
his creation.
Psalm 104
verse 24 and
25 and then
verse 31,
psalmist says,
O Lord,
how manifold
are your works.
in wisdom
have you made
them all.
The earth
is full
of your
creatures.
Here is the
sea, great
and wide,
which teems
with creatures
innumerable,
living things
both small
and great.
May the
glory of the
Lord endure
forever.
May the
Lord rejoice
in his
works.
Paul writes
in Romans
chapter 1
verse 20,
of God
for his
invisible
attributes,
namely his
eternal
power and
divine nature
have been
clearly perceived
ever since the
creation of the
world in the
things that
have been
made.
God has
manifested
and is
manifesting
his glory
in his
creation.
And beloved,
we do well
when we enjoy
these types
of things,
but when we
begin to worship
the things
themselves,
we become
idolaters.
sometimes our
worship doesn't
go quite
high enough.
It needs
to go above
and beyond
the God
who made
these things.
This feels
a bit like
an obligatory
plug,
but maybe
once a year
I need to
say something
about football
because I
hear that's
what pastors
do.
Yesterday,
for UGA
fans,
it was a
pretty big
deal that
UGA beat
the Florida
Gators.
I had to
rehearse
that line
in my
head,
just so
you know.
I looked
it up
this morning
for your
benefit.
We don't
do well
when we
stop at
worshiping
UGA
football,
but we
do well
when we
enjoy UGA
football and
the God
who created
the incredible
athleticism of
these people.
We're created
as people
who worship.
We are
drawn to
look at
magnificent
things,
amazing
feats.
It happens
naturally.
There's an
impulse in
all of us
to do
that.
It channels
in all
kinds of
ways,
but every
bit of
it ought
to be
aimed
at the
glory of
God.
God
made
all
things.
Those
things that
are admirable
are to
pull our
minds
to Him.
So God
has manifested
and is
manifesting
His glory
in His
creation.
More
particularly,
number two,
God has
manifested
and is
manifesting
His glory
in the
person
of Jesus
Christ.
God
Himself
condescended
to become
a man.
Came as a
baby in a
manger,
so humble,
the son
of a
carpenter
in a
little town
called
Nazareth.
Colossians
1,
15-18.
Paul says
this of
this
Jesus,
Jesus
Christ
is the
image
of the
invisible
God,
the
firstborn
of all
creation.
For by
Him all
things were
created in
heaven and
on earth,
visible and
invisible,
whether
thrones or
dominions or
rulers or
authorities,
all things
were created
through Him
and for
Him.
And He
is before
all things
and in
Him all
things hold
together.
And He is
the head of
the body,
the church,
He is the
beginning,
the firstborn
from the
dead,
that in
everything He
might be
preeminent.
Now you need
to hear that
closing phrase,
not that He
possibly could
be first,
but that He
will be
first,
supreme,
exalted,
glorified.
Hebrews 1,
3,
the writer of
Hebrews says,
Jesus is the
radiance of
the glory of
God and
the exact
imprint of
His nature,
and He
upholds the
universe by
the word of
His power.
So God has
manifested and
is manifesting
His glory in
the very
person of
Jesus Christ.
And so when
we see
Jesus,
we see the
glory of
God.
Thirdly,
God has
manifested and
is manifesting
His glory in
the work of
Jesus Christ,
namely the
salvation of
His people.
So this
Jesus who
came and
lived a
perfect life
on our
behalf,
that we
might fulfill
the righteous
requirement of
the law,
we would have
His righteousness
imputed,
given to
us,
who died a
sinner's death,
the greatest
tragedy of
all history,
that He was
punished for
us in our
stead.
He bore the
wrath of God
on our
behalf,
was buried
three days
later,
raised again,
that by grace
through faith
in His person
and work,
we can be
saved.
God has
manifested and
is manifesting
His glory in
this.
Just listen to
some of what
Scripture says
concerning it.
Psalm 96,
2-4,
Sing to the
Lord,
bless His
name,
tell of His
salvation from
day to day,
declare His
glory among
the nations,
His marvelous
works among
all the
peoples,
for great is
the Lord and
greatly to be
praised.
He is to be
feared above
all gods.
Or Isaiah
43,
6-7,
God says,
I will say
to the north,
give up,
and to the
south,
do not
withhold.
Bring my
sons from
afar,
my daughters
from the
end of
the earth,
everyone who
is called
by my
name,
whom I
created
for my
glory,
whom I
formed
and made.
Or Ephesians
chapter 1,
verse 3,
and following,
blessed be the
God and
Father of our
Lord Jesus
Christ,
who has
blessed us
in Christ
with every
spiritual
blessing in
the heavenly
places,
even as He
chose us in
Him before
the foundation
of the world,
that we
should be
holy and
blameless
before Him.
In love,
He predestined
us for
adoption to
Himself as
sons through
Jesus Christ,
according to
the purpose
of His
will.
And then
verse 6,
so all of
this working
together,
God working,
verse 6,
to the praise
of His
glorious
grace.
Paul again,
2 Corinthians
chapter 4,
verse 6,
For God
who said,
let light
shine out
of darkness,
has shown in
our hearts
to give the
light of the
knowledge of
the glory of
God in the
face of
Jesus Christ.
If we have
beheld Him
in His
person and
His work,
we have
seen the
glory of
God and
it is now
given to
us to
help others
see the
glory of
God.
Spurgeon
quote of
the week,
it would
seem,
that's on
the front
of your
bulletin,
he said
this,
we endeavor
to glorify
Him now
by our
actions,
but then
He will be
glorified in
our own
persons,
in the fact
that we are
redeemed ones
of God,
He will be
glorified,
and character
and condition.
He is glorified
by what we
do,
but He is
at the last
to be glorified
in what
we are,
because He
made us.
We are saved
by grace alone,
through faith alone,
in Christ alone.
Regeneration
preceded our
faith, I would
contend,
and so all
praise is due,
to Christ.
Fourthly,
and lastly,
God has
manifested,
and is
manifesting
His glory
in the work
of His
church.
So having
been saved
by Christ,
now being
empowered by
His Spirit,
we are
about the
work of
bringing
honor and
glory to
God.
And do you
see the two
ways that it's
taught in the
Scripture?
God is Himself
glorious,
we can't
add to
that glory,
but we can
show Him
more as
He is.
John Piper
has this great
little analogy.
He talks about
magnifying God
being the same
as glorifying
God.
He talks about
how there's two
types of
magnification.
The type of
magnification that
a microscope
does makes
very tiny things
look bigger
than they really
are.
Sometimes people
think in this way
wrongly about
glorifying God.
God is not a
tiny thing
who needs
your help
to be made
look bigger.
But there's
also the type
of magnification
that a
telescope does
where it
makes a
massive thing,
a weighty
thing,
a glorious
thing look
more like
it actually
is.
So in that
way,
we bring
honor,
we bring
glory,
we glorify
God by
being reflections
of who
He is.
And you
see how
this is more
glory building
for God,
right?
Because we
have no way
of saying,
look at me
and how
great I
am in
following God,
but look
how great
God is
as I
follow Him.
It's a
humble posture
that brings
glory to
God.
In 1646
and 1647,
a group
of divines
met together
at a
synod
at Westminster
to help
bring the
Church of
England into
greater
conformity
with the
Church of
Scotland.
And they
wrote a
number of
documents.
We know
them as
the
Westminster
Confession,
the
Westminster
Shorter
Catechism,
and the
Westminster
Larger
Catechism.
Maybe well
known to
you,
the first
question of
the
Westminster
Shorter
Catechism
is this.
What is
the
chief
end
of
man?
And the
answer
that they
wrote is
man's
chief
end
is to
glorify
God
and to
enjoy
Him
forever.
And I
like
Piper's
alteration
on that.
I think
it's
correct.
I think
this is
what they
meant.
Man's
chief
end
is to
glorify
God
by
enjoying
Him
forever.
And just
to your
benefit,
I don't
know if
you're
aware
or not
of the
Westminster
larger
catechism.
Very few
of us
pay much
attention
to it.
Question
one is
a bit
different
and the
answer is
a bit
different.
And I
just think
it's
good.
It's
a little
expanded.
Question
one is
what is
the chief
and
highest
end
of
man?
So
not only
the
primary
but
the
best
end
of
man.
And
the
answer
is
man's
chief
and
highest
end
is
to
glorify
God
and
fully
to
enjoy
him
forever.
And so
we're
meant
to be
about
this
work.
This
is
the
chief
high
end.
Jesus
said
in
Matthew
5.16
Let
your
light
shine
before
others
so
that
they
may
see
your
good
works
and
give
glory
to
your
Father
who
is
in
heaven.
My
father
has
this
wonderful
analogy
that I
have
used
rather
widely
and
so
if
you've
heard
it
before
my
apology
to
you.
He
uses
it
and
I
have
used
it
most
specifically
about
church
leaders
but
today
I
want
to
expand
a
little
bit
to
all
of
us
all
of
those
who
claim
to
know
Christ
and
to
follow
him
and
it's
an
analogy
about
a
race
horse
versus
a
plow
horse
my
dad
always
starts
it
this
way
he
says
our
denomination
needs
more
plow
horses
and
fewer
race
horses
and
he
goes on
to
explain
that
race
horses
get
a
lot
of
applause
right
they
do
something
that's
not
extremely
meaningful
running
around
a
track
but
we
all
praise
the
race
horse
we
want
to see
the
race
horse
run
fast
right
and
crowds
gather
to make
see
this
happen
and
applaud
them
on
the
plow
horse
doesn't
really
get
applauded
by
anybody
right
the
plow
horse
gets
hooked
up
to
a
plow
and
it
puts
its
head
down
and
it
draws
a
long
straight
line
and
at
the
end
of
that
row
it
gets
turned
around
and
it
puts
its
head
down
and
it
does
it
again
long
straight
line
and
the
only
people
that
possibly
praise
the
plow
horse
are
the
family
for
whom
he
helps
provide
food
and
that
plow
horse
lives
a
long
faithful
life
to
that
family
and
one
day
passes
on
we
need
more
plow
horses
I
would
suggest
that
the
Christian
is
meant
to
be
a
plow
horse
humbly
!
serving!
loving!
Putting
our
heads
down!
And
simply
doing
the
next
right
thing
quietly
lives
lived
to
the
glory
of
God
teaching
the
truth
propagating
it
everywhere
we
go
if
we
would
have
more
plow
horses
Ephesians
2.10
Paul
says
for
we
are
his
workmanship
created
in
Christ
Jesus
for
good
works
which
God
prepared
beforehand
that
we
should
walk
in
them
so
whatever
it
is
that
you
do
in
your
life
you
can
be
sure
if
you
are
a
Christian
you
are
meant
to
glorify
God
in
it
you
work
to
the
glory
of
God
you
study
to
the
glory
of
God
you
sing
music
to
the
glory
of
God
you
cut
your
lawn
to
the
glory
of
God
Martin
Luther
famously
said
a
milkmaid
can
milk
cows
to
the
glory
of
God
and
glory
of
God
and
thinking
about
Soli
Deo
Gloria
it's
hard
for me
not
to
consider
Johann
Sebastian
Bach
if
you
don't
know
who
he
is
shame
on
you
need
to
listen
to
classical
music
he
was
a
late
17th
early
18th
century
German
composer
his
music
is
just
fantastic
and
you
may
not
know
that
he
signed
all
of
his
work
Soli
Deo
Gloria
you
find it
on
his
original
pieces
written
somewhere
on
there
and
then
later
in
his
life
he
simply
signed
things
S
D
G
and
if
you
received
an
email
from
me
you
may
have
noticed
a
lower
case
S
an
uppercase
D
and
a
lower
case
G
and
sometimes
my
name
in
lower
case
as
well
Soli
Deo
Gloria
Johann Sebastian Bach
and all of his
talent
wanted people
to be drawn
to the God
who gave him
the talent
he recognized
that he could
compose music
to the glory
of God
and so
right
doctrine
leads us
to this
a greater
magnification
of God
we do
not want
to make
much
of ourselves
we want
to make
much
of him
because
he is
worthy
of being
made
much
of
if
you
work
to make
much
of
yourself
you
will
find
yourself
a
liar
if
you
work
to make
much
of
God
he
will
never
fail
in his
intrinsic
gloriousness
so
the Bible
is our
final
authority
and teaches
us that we
are justified
by grace
alone
through faith
alone
in Christ
alone
and all
things
are for the
glory
of God
alone
I said I'd
read it again
and I will
Romans chapter 11
verse 33
and following
I hope it has a little
more meaning for you
now
oh the depth
of the riches
and wisdom
and knowledge
of God
how unsearchable
are his judgments
and how inscrutable
his ways
for who has known
the mind of the Lord
or who has been
his counselor
or who has given
a gift to him
that he might be
repaid
for from him
and through him
and to him
are all things
to him be glory
forever
amen
please join me
in prayer
thank you