To God Be the Glory

The folks that usually sit in
the front. Usually it’s the Hutton’s, but today it’s the Frasco’s.
Whoever sits in the front when I’m preaching moves to the back.
I don’t get it, but you know, it’s kind of no complex or anything. Ron welcomed Jim and Sandy. And I was going to say Jim and
Sandy are responsible for Carolyn and I, but not quite. But he
did our marriage counseling. Frasco’s, Lernod’s and Magnuson’s
were all at La Crescenta First Baptist together. Jim had a great
ministry. When Jim and Sandy decided to
go down to San Diego, there was not great rejoicing at La Crescenta. There were a lot of heartbroken
people. And I know throughout their ministry
years, they have just made a bunch of friends that will never forget
them. And they had a great ministry. And it’s a privilege that they’re
here. And again, especially at this point in time as we begin
our 10th anniversary celebration. Next week is the actual celebration
date. And so as we prepare for that
anniversary, Myself, obviously, Trey, Kevin,
Ron, Steve Camp, a guest, will be preaching. And pretty much it’ll be about
something about the church. Something about maybe the church
in general. I’m sure Providence will be in there. I will be today
speaking a lot about Providence Bible Church. This week, I have
run the gamut. Tracy, can you preach on this
stage? Sure. Just preach about something
in the church. Okay. I had an idea and it was
coming and coming and coming. And on Thursday night, I couldn’t
sleep. And I said, okay, I’m going to
change the passage. Okay. Friday all day, I was submerged
in Zachariah. About four o’clock in the afternoon
said this is not it was a great dissertation on the church and
someday you’ll have to hear it, but it was not what I was meaning
it to be. I was looking to help the primary
purpose of the church is to glorify God. And in that I thought, OK,
let’s go back. Do a little history, who are
we, where we come from and that and that was. So I went over
and talked to Ron. And he said, this was not meant
to be this difficult. So I went back
to Ephesians and looked at it and kind of tweaked things. And
that’s what we have today. I mentioned as we talked this
morning, to him be the glory in the church. And when we get to that portion,
it’s not going to be necessarily about the church in general.
I’m going to apply it here to Providence Bible Church. And
as I do that, I am in no way trying to say that we are the
perfect church. There is no perfect church. There will be no perfect
church until we’re all up in heaven. I’m not trying to say
we do everything right. But I am using my experience
and what I have seen and just acknowledging that in the way
we do things here, our goal is to honor God. Says right there
on the bulletin for the honor of God, for the glory of Christ
and for the salvation of the souls of men. So as I’m not speaking
loud enough, That’s probably the first time
I’ve been accused of not speaking loud enough. But our passage
is Ephesians 3, verses 20 and 21. A great doxology. One I’m sure you’re all familiar
with. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond
all that we ask or think according to the power that works within
us. to Him be the glory in the church and in Jesus Christ to
all generations forever and ever. Amen. Great doxology. And it follows
a prayer that begins in the 14th verse of chapter 3. It also concludes
a section which began the book. So, Ephesians 1-3. which has
encompassed a great deal of theology and links together a new section
of practical application which begins in chapter four. It’s
a section in which Paul has laid out the blessings that believers
have in him and has talked about the great love in which he loves
us, which manifested itself in the grace and mercy of God in
making alive sinners that were dead in their sins. but God being
rich in mercy. Paul also, in this section, expounds
on the great mystery which was undoubtedly difficult for the
Ephesian to grasp. That ministry. The oneness of
the Jew and the Gentile in Christ. Therefore, he encouraged the
Ephesians and all believers down the line not to lose heart. But although tribulations come
through them, come God’s goodness, blessing, and glory. We know
from James that trials and tribulations, they’re planned. They’re promised. And there’s a purpose to them. The first three chapters of Ephesians
contain two prayers. I mentioned the first one. That
is in 3.14. That’s the second of the two.
The first one is in chapter 1, verses 15-23. And it follows
one of the most famous run-on sentences that we know. In Him. In Him. In Him. You have all
this. But then comes the prayer. And
as I mentioned earlier, it’s a deep section. That first 14
or so verses And it’s one that the Ephesians,
again, might not be able to grasp. So, his prayer is one in which
he asks God to give the Ephesians, and again, everyone else, a spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. That is God. Paul wants us to know God. Really know Him. Now, there are
different ways of knowing about people, things. OK, let’s take
the most popular person in the United States today. If somebody
said to me, hey, you know Sarah Palin? Yeah, governor of Arkansas,
John McCain’s running mate, five kids, three girls, two boys.
The youngest one has Down syndrome. The oldest one is being deployed
to Iraq on 9-11. Her husband’s name is Todd. I
know about Sarah Palin, but I don’t know Sarah Palin. Paul wants
us to know God. He doesn’t want us to know about
God. He doesn’t want us just to know
about the things that God has done for us. He wants us to know
them. Really grasp them. Know God. The prayer continues to ask that
God would open the eyes of our hearts so that we would be enlightened
to the hope of God’s calling for us. Not only that, but also
to know the riches of the glory of His inheritance and the surpassing
greatness of His power. Paul wants us out of the fog
so that our eyes can see clearly the spiritual blessings that
are ours and to understand the power that is in us in Christ
because of Christ. That’s the first prayer. The
second prayer occurring in chapter 3 is similar. Now, I know I’m
running through this quickly because I’m just trying to give
you a background on this doxology. Paul is asking God to help us
understand some things. It’s similar again to the first
prayer. That through the power of the Holy Spirit, He would
strengthen us and allow us, as we exercise more faith, to have
Christ gain more control in our lives. The result is to be rooted
in love. Not just love for Christ, but
for others. And as this process continues
to grow, we will understand with other believers, the saints,
what is the full dimension of Christ’s love for us. And in
turn, be filled with the fullness of God. Again, a quick summary. There is a lot to these prayers. Both of them. Even for us, for
whom the mystery, Jews and Gentiles being one, is not necessarily
new, because we’ve heard about it, we’ve read about it. But
can you imagine Paul’s elation as he explains this and writes
this to the Ephesians, to whom he was called the Gentiles, who
are for quite possibly the first time hearing this and understanding
that That promise is for us also. We, who were at one time objects
of His wrath, were enemies of Christ, unrighteous. We are those who love darkness,
whose heart is deceitful and desperately sick and slaves to
sin. Separated from God, we are now,
because of God being rich in mercy, because of His great love
with which He loved us through the work of His Son, Jesus Christ,
are now the called, the chosen of God, justified, sanctified,
declared righteous, heirs with Christ, and beloved of God. That’s
quite a change. That’s quite a turnaround. Paul,
so elated in sharing this news that one wrote, he is overcome
with wonder, love, and praise. so that he utters this wonderful
doxology we find in Ephesians 3, 20 and 21. Again, following
that prayer, now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly
beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works
within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Now to Him who is
able Along with being a fitting conclusion to that section, but
it’s also an appropriate expression of gratitude for all that God
has done for us. As I mentioned, the prayer is
a hefty one. It asks for a lot. Hendrickson writes, it is Paul’s
way of making known his firm conviction that in his prayer,
he has asked much. but God is able to grant far
more. Think about that. Whatever we
may ask or think, God can still do not only more, but exceedingly
abundantly more. What is amazing to ponder on
is that He is able to do far more than we can even conceive.
I can come up with, I think, some pretty amazing things. Okay? I think I can Boy, that would
be great. But to think that he can do exceedingly,
abundantly more than that, more than we can ever think or dream
of or conceive. Now, I do little odd things. And yesterday I was walking and
thinking about this. Have you ever tried to think,
OK, this is going to enlighten you to what a doofus I can be,
but Not so much lately, but in years
past, I will, okay, what is the farthest thing from my mind?
I’m going to bring up the farthest thing from my mind. How do you
do that? So yesterday I was thinking,
what is it that I’m not conceiving? What am I not thinking of? What
is it I can’t think of that God could do exceedingly abundantly
more of? I couldn’t do it. My mind is puny. But God can
do so much more than we can ever conceive. I wonder, when Abraham
was told that he would be great, that his descendants would be
as numerous as the stars in the sky, did he have any clue what
that would look like? Did Joseph, as he was in a pit
while his brothers ate and talked about what they were going to
do with him, When he was sold to the band of Ishmaelites and
then he was put in jail later because of a false charge, the
one who later said to his brothers, what you meant for evil, God
has meant for good. Could he have ever imagined what was coming? Did Peter imagine that 3000 people
would be saved in the sermon he preached? And we can read
in Acts 2. Obviously, disciples had no clue
that they would feed over 5,000 people with five loaves of bread
and two fish and had leftovers. Yeah, but that was Peter, not
us. He’s a biblical star. Everybody
knows Peter. God’s going to do great things
for him. We’re talking about us here today. And with the disciples, Jesus
Himself was there. Jesus knew what was going to
happen, so that’s not a good example. Well, it says, Jesus and all
the power that accompanies all His glorious attributes are within
us today. So, what about Providence Bible
Church? Has God done exceedingly, abundantly
all that we could ask or think? What things qualify for Providence
Bible. It may not seem like a big deal,
but when Ron was working full-time, a lot of you stepped up and filled
a void. Did things that couldn’t be done
as easily because Ron was working full-time. And by the way, now
that he’s back at the church full-time, don’t let that stop
you or continue. Previously, a church I served
in in California, the last one in which we served, we averaged
about 220 on a Sunday, had eight full time staff people. We didn’t
have four men who could come up and preach. Now, you may say,
well, we only have three and I will take no offense. Now, I’m going to mention a few
people. Ron mentioned some people to me yesterday. Some of them,
I was not here when they were here, so I’m not going to mention
them. I just don’t know enough about
the situation and all, but as I mention some names, do not
go away from here saying, he didn’t mention me. Okay? We are all called. God has us
here for a reason. You are all blessings. But at
crucial times, when Ron and Barbara were called upon to do pretty
much everything from Sunday school to everything involved in the
service, he brought the Santinis. Well, Aaron could preach. Aaron
could teach. He helped with the load. He brought
Kevin and Carly. And that’s a blessing we have
today. The Hungerfords came. He could teach again, lifting
some of the burden that was on Ron’s shoulders. The Hutton’s at a crucial time
came up and took over Sunday school. Don’t take these as little things.
Take these as God’s blessings. And if you say, well, you know,
that’s not exceedingly abundantly OK. Then what are we asking for?
What are we looking for God to do in our church that would qualify
for that? I woke up Saturday morning and my mind was racing. I got to
get up and write these things down. So I had to write them
down for the sermon. They were just ideas that were
coming. So I wrote them down. And after thinking on these things
and seeing that all God has done that he can do exceedingly abundantly
more than we can ever ask or think for a moment. And it’s
good that I didn’t, but I wanted to subtitle the sermon. Do you
want fries with that or will that be all? Because so many
times we ask for things and God has so much more to give that
we’re not even thinking of. What about a church building
that we could call our own? We wouldn’t have space issues
that we have for Sunday school. Ron might even want a pulpit
that goes up and down. If you don’t know what that is,
ask him after. It has to do with Grace Community Church. But what about a building? Oh,
you know, we don’t have the money. That’s a lot to ask, really. Hodge wrote, God is not only
unlimited by himself, but is unrestricted by our prayers and
knowledge. No definite bounds, therefore, can be set to what
they may expect in whom Christ dwells and those who are objects
of his infinite love. Is it that we believe God can
do it, but he doesn’t do it for a little Providence Bible? What about training men and women up to go serve
on the mission field? That can be done. What are we
looking for a Providence Bible in the next 10 years? God is
able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we can ask or think.
One example here, what about Olive Tree? More than four years
ago, Ron felt that some things in homeschool education was lacking.
Things like PE, science, and music. At the same time, the
public schools opened up a program in which homeschool kids could
go and take some of these classes. Many of the folks who took advantage
of these programs were believers. And so Ron thought about, why
can’t we do this and have it with a Christian worldview? As
Ron explained, all of a sudden he was standing in front of 12
couples, seeing what they thought, came up with, we will need 40
kids to make this work. That year they had 42 students
for a K-5 program. The next year was K-6. They had
60 plus kids. The next year, because it’s K-7,
opened up junior high. 80 plus kids. This year they’ve
added a senior high. And it’s full. So if it’s that we don’t believe
that he will do things for us, could it be a lack of faith?
And I can’t imagine that. I can’t believe that anyone here
doubts that God’s ability. That’s in God’s ability, because
we can look at Scripture and see countless examples. We can
even think of modern examples here. The same power that raised
Christ from the dead, the same power that commanded the sea
to be still, the same power that parted the Red Sea, the same
power that sustained the nation of Israel while in the wilderness
for 40 years, the same power that caused the walls of Jericho
to fall by blowing horns, the same power that gave victory
to an army of 300 men over the Midian army. That same power
is with us and in us today. God has unlimited power. Supply
does not run out and he gives lavishly. the One who spoke the
world into existence, the One who is not subject to the laws
of nature, the One who is timeless and unchanging, the One who was
and is and forever shall be dwells in our hearts. To Him be the
glory. One wrote that the greatest theme
in the Bible is the glory of God. The Westminster Shorter
Catechism, in answer to the question, what is the chief end of man,
says the chief end of man is to Enjoy God and glorify Him
forever. Psalm 19 starts out, the heavens
declare the glory of God. Isaiah declares that the whole
earth is full of His glory. We know that one day every knee
shall bow and every tongue confess to the glory of God the Father,
that Jesus Christ is Lord. Ephesians tells us that the glory
of God is the supreme purpose and redemption. Everything God
does is for his glory. So it should be no surprise that
Paul concludes his doxology by calling for God to receive glory. And the first entity mentioned
is the church, which should be a given, especially in light
of the fact that church is built by God and the materials he uses. Our believers are us. And he
continues to build his church. We, his church, should be the
foremost leaders in giving God glory. He is the image of the
invisible God, says Colossians 1, 15-16. The firstborn of all
creation. For by Him in all things were
created, both in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All
things have been created through Him and for Him. So to Him be the glory in the
church. How is this accomplished? I’m going to have to go quick.
Let’s bring this to an application level. How does Providence Bible
and the people that make up this body glorify God? God is glorified
at Providence Bible Church as we worship. Everyone’s been made
to worship. It’s a natural thing for everyone. Unfortunately, It is misdirected
many times. Worship is three things. Number
one, it’s an everyday, 24-hour thing. It’s not just here. It’s just not music. It’s at
the store. It’s at work. How do we glorify
God when we get too little change or too much change? How do we
glorify God One person working at the post office goes back
for a break and you’re next in line. And the only one left is
getting mail for someone who’s been on vacation for six weeks. How do we act? Do we glorify
God or do we grumble and complain? Second thing is, worship is value.
We worship what we value. Matthew 6, verse 21 says, Where
your treasure is, there your heart will be. Everyone worships. The believer directs his worship
towards God. We praise God for what He has
done in our lives. And if for some reason we can’t
think of anything He’s done, we worship Him for who He is. Thirdly, Worship is a response. We react when our favorite team
does something. Worship is a response. One wrote,
we respond to God. He reveals, we respond. He discloses,
we respond. He unveils, we respond. We respond when we learn more
about who God is, when we are able to see him clearly as Paul
prays. I like the different definition
that a man named Louis Giglio came up with. Worship is our
response, both personal and corporate to God for who he is and for
what he has done. Great is the Lord and greatly
to be praised. Our view of God affects our worship.
If our view of God is small, our worship will be small. If
our view of God is great, our worship will be much bigger.
God is glorified. at Providence Bible Church as
we worship, which occurs as we place a high value on Scripture,
which I believe we do here. We believe, as 2 Timothy 3 states,
that all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness,
so that the man of God may be adequately equipped for every
good work. We believe that we are sanctified, and sanctification
comes as we learn, know, and apply the truth. John 17 says,
sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth. We are called to be pillars of
the truth, so we are not ashamed to preach the truth. In 1 Corinthians, Paul writes,
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel,
not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would
be emptied of his would not be made void. Unfortunately, that’s
not true in many churches today, they want to go for topical preaching
that is relevant, which is just saying the Bible is not relevant. Let me read to you an article
I read this week. The devil has seldom done a cleverer
thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is
to provide entertainment for the people with a view to winning
them. If it is a Christian work, why
didn’t Christ mention it? Mark 16, 15 says, go into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature. That is not
clear enough. So it would have been if words
had been added and provide amusement for those who did not relish
the gospel. Those words, however, are not found because it did
not seem to occur to him. I do not hear Christ say run
after those people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different
style of service tomorrow. Something short and attractive
with little preaching. Tell them they will be sure to
enjoy it. Jesus pitied sinners, cried and wept over them, but
never sought to amuse them. Lastly, the mission of amusement
fails to affect the end desired. Let the careless and scoffers
who thank God that the church met them halfway speak and testify.
Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment has been
God’s link in the chain of conversion stand up and testify. There are
none to answer. The mission of a music produces
no converts. The need for today is biblical
doctrine so understood and felt that it sets men on fire. This
article was written in the 1800s by Charles Virgin. Let me continue here. God is
glorified at Providence Bible Church as we worship, which occurs
as we place a high value on scripture and in our music. I have placed
music under a subheading for a reason, because what do you
think of when you hear the word worship? A lot of times it’s
music. OK, if you’re that way, you’re
not alone. OK, but worship is so much more. But we try to honor and glorify
God in our music. You’ve heard me say that we worship
through music. There are many songs that have
beautiful melodies, but the words are lacking. It’s frustrating
because I hear a great song, beautiful tune, melody, and I…
What did they say? What are they saying? It says
nothing. So we don’t sing that here. Another way to glorify
God in our music is to do it the best we can. to glorify God in the way we
do our music here. God is glorified at Providence
Bible Church as we place a high value on scripture in our music
and as we proclaim Christ. And this is different than preaching.
It’s more of an individual thing as we go out to the world and
tell others about Christ. One said that Telling others
about Christ completes the act of praise. Have you ever been
to an event, a concert, been in a beautiful setting that you
were just filled? It was just amazing. I have to
go back and tell somebody about this. Well, telling someone else
about what God has done for you completes the act of praise.
You have shared that with somebody else now. You have not only experienced
it, but you have shared it with somebody else. That is glorifying
God. I am going in a huge hurry right
now because I have two minutes and I have about six pages. So
let me skip and go to glorified from generation to generation
because that is where I applied it also. to Providence Bible. God is glorified
to all generations as we teach our children. You don’t have
to be a parent. You don’t have to have young
kids to appreciate the value we place on children here. That
we want to teach them. We want to instruct them. I can
remember as a child sitting in the service, my mom would take
out my little Gumby And my little yellow rubber dump truck and
a thing of, if you remember, helps. They were this breath
thing and they were awful. But she gave them to me so I
would be able to be quiet and sit in church. And although I
didn’t hear everything, it was being preached, some things got
in there. I can remember sermons from when I was a kid sitting
in church. I can remember Bible stories from Sunday school teachers
when I was in early elementary age. We believe and encourage
kids to be in the service. We believe it is important to
teach kids early. It’s never too early. I have
seen the result of kids that have been brought up
in a program where it’s pizza and movies. And they go to church
and they’re bored. And they say church has nothing
for them. We place a high value on our kids. Kids are a blessing.
Proverbs 22 tells us that train up a child in the way he should
go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it. We believe
kids are valuable. And they need to hear about the
love of God and what He’s done for them. Well, I apologize. I have a lot more. And maybe
at another date we will pick that up. But to God be the glory. for ten years. Now again, some
of us haven’t been here ten years, but God has done some wonderful
things here that I’m sure you will hear in the next few weeks.
Let’s thank God and praise Him for His work in our lives and
in this church. Father, we thank You so much
for Your faithfulness. We thank You for Your power that
is within us. Lord, I pray that You would increase our faith to as it applies to
Providence Bible Church. Lord, we look forward to what
You will do in our midst in the next 10 or 20 years. Lord, I
pray that we would be faithful in praying for this church. And
we will glorify You as Your work is done and seen over the next
several years, Lord. To You be the glory and to You
alone. In Your name, Amen. you