All of God

Chapter four is where we find
ourselves as Paul wraps up this precious gospel to his beloved
church, the Philippian church places there in your bulletin
for notes, if you choose. Paul wrote these final words
to his Philippian church beginning in verse 20 of chapter four,
now to our God and father, Be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me
greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s
household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Be with your spirit. These are
Paul’s parting words to the saints in Philippi. And even here, Paul
is instructive. Even here, Paul is passionate
to proclaim the supremacy of his God. Even here, Paul wants
to teach the Philippians. Even in these closing greetings,
what some might consider a glorified address label, To whom the epistle
is from or to whom the epistle is written and from whom the
epistle is written. That it’s nothing more than that,
some would say, but Paul, even here, even here, Paul wants to
extol the virtues and the supremacy of his God. I just want to spend a few minutes
as we wrap up this epistle in looking at these. Elements of
God’s supremacy that Paul. He can’t even help. But proclaim. First of all, God is supreme. In eternal glory, God is supreme
in eternal glory. Paul says it simply now. To our
God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen. I want you to take a brief tour,
if not literally, in your mind’s eye. If you want to just sit
back and hear these verses out, that’s fine. If you would prefer
to turn, turn to Romans 11. Romans 11. Pardon me. At the end of almost These eleven solid chapters of
doctrine. These solemn words are recorded
and really echo the words that Paul wrote to the Philippians
in Romans 1136, it says, for from him and through him and
to him are all things. Speaking of creation and the
whole plan of redemption that Paul has just detailed. From
him and through him and to him are all things to him be the
glory forever. Amen. The one feature that if
you are turning and if you are flipping, the one feature that
I would have you just continue to call your attention to is
the italicized word be in most of your translations. That’s
how it’s construed. That word isn’t there in the
original. To Him, the glory forever, is literally what it says. If
you would, take your Bibles and turn to Romans 16. Just a couple
of chapters, over. In Romans 16, verse 27, Paul writes, To the only wise God through
Jesus Christ be the glory forever. Amen. And again, the feature
that provided word that supplied word be in italics. If you’re flipping. Turn to Ephesians,
chapter three, verse 21. In Ephesians, chapter three,
likewise, Paul is wrapping up there. three chapters of just
rich doctrine, at the end of which he begins to pray for his
Ephesian believers. And yet he cannot help but end
with the doxology, having imparted this knowledge, this wisdom to
them about the deep things of God. Paul says in verse 21, to
him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations
forever and ever. Amen. Again, the feature of that
supplied word be from the epistle that we’ve been studying, Paul
echoes it now to our God and Father, be the glory forever
and ever. Amen. Turn, if you would, to
First Timothy chapter one. In 1 Timothy 1, Paul encapsulates
this study really in a single verse that all is directed toward
the worship of God. And Paul summarizes this great
theme with a single verse, verse 17, when he says now to the king,
eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God. The honor and glory. forever and ever. Amen. And again, as I have suggested,
the supplied word be there in italics. And then, if you would,
to 2 Timothy chapter 4. One book to the right. 2 Timothy
chapter 4. Paul there speaking of the great
courage that he has in Christ, the great confidence that he
has in the Lord when he says the Lord will rescue me from
every evil deed and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom
to him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. And yet, as we might
begin to suppose, this was not a formula that Paul alone used. You might begin to suppose that
this is such a common feature in Paul’s writings that it was
perhaps even Paul’s way of closing his letters, but it wasn’t. There
are other gospel writers who use the same formula. Listen
to second Peter, chapter three, verse 18. Where Peter urges grow
in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
to him Be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Again, the supplied word be and then finally, in the book of
Jude, that solemn, even heavy book that just exposes false
teachers for what they are and. Calls us to vigilance, closes
with these words in verse 24 now to him. who is able to keep you from
stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory,
blameless, with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through
Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority
before all time, now and forever. Amen. So it is not just a formula
that Paul uses. This is a formula, a greeting,
a formal greeting that many used in that day. As I’ve suggested,
as I pointed out with regards to the word be, there is no verb
in the original. Which provokes us to ask the
question, what exactly is being said here? To God, the glory
forever and ever. What is Paul saying? What are
these writers saying? Is it just a standard greeting
that we can just breeze past? God’s glory. Have a great day. Farewell. Godspeed. One suggested that it is an exclamatory
act of praise, which doesn’t even require a verb. And evidently,
that is partly the case. It must be. Otherwise, we would
have to say that scripture is an error for leaving out the
verb. One suggested that it was an acknowledged fact. God is
glorified. God will be glorified forever,
ever and ever. There was a third suggestion,
and it’s that third sense that I really take it. It was a passionate
prayer. That God’s glory might fill the
earth. That’s what Paul wanted. And
as Paul, in his closing words to the Philippians, he wanted
the Philippians to know the supremacy of the glory of God forever and
ever. He wanted them to know about
that God. The book of Romans. And now this
is where you’ll have to do some backtracking in the book of Romans
as Paul closes out that great epistle. Pardon me. As Paul closes out that great
epistle, he says from him and through him and to him are all
things. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. It is for the
display of God’s character in everything that exists, everything
that He created as the greatest and highest and
most noble things of all, not the least of which is humanity
that He created. All of this human knowledge,
whatever power, whatever virtue we have, Anything that we possess
that is good and God-honoring is just a reflection, really,
of the divine glory. To this Almighty Creator, Paul
says, be the glory. In Romans 16. In Romans 16, it’s
a fascinating context as well as he’s wrapping up that epistle.
Literally, the last words, the last sentence of that great epistle. But in its entirety, Paul says
now to him. Who is able to establish you
according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according
to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for
long ages past, but now is manifested. You know what Paul did? He started
a sentence that he didn’t even finish. Not yet now to him. according to the revelation of
the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but
now is manifested. And by the Scriptures of the
prophets, according to the commandments of the eternal God, has been
made known to all the nations, leading to the obedience of faith
to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. As one said, as Paul often calls
The gospel, the wisdom of God, in contrast with the wisdom of
men here, when he’s speaking of the plainly of the redemption
as the product of the divine mind and as intended for all
the nations, addresses his praises to the author as the only wise
God. As that being whose wisdom is
so wondrously displayed in the gospel and all other works that
he alone can be considered truly wise. It is to him, Paul says,
be the glory. It is because of the gospel.
It is because of the fruit of the gospel. That Paul prays,
may God be glorified in the book of Ephesians. In the book of
Ephesians, as I pointed out a moment ago, Paul is wrapping up three
chapters of heavy doctrine. The very place where we find
the great doctrine of election and predestination and
all the deep things of God and those of Christ at the end of
chapter one. Paul says now to him, And before
he can even finish his sentence, he’s off and running again. Now,
to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that
we ask or think, this is the great God. This is the God of
all ability. Not to him who is able to do
more abundantly, exceedingly 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. After these three chapters
of doctrine and the prayer that Paul prays on their behalf, Paul
closes with this declaration of praise to God. Philippians
4.20 is no different. Philippians 420 is the declaration
of praise to God, a prayer that God’s glory would fill the earth. And having seen God’s wondrous
work in the Philippian church, there’s no no doubt why Paul
included this as a declaration of a doxology, a praise. Neither are any of the other
examples. First Timothy 117, Second Timothy
418 and others. As one pastor looking over the
grand scope of these doxologies said. He said in every part of
Scripture. Jehovah is seen to be glorified
in his judgments, as well as in his grace, in his wrath, as
well as in his mercy, in those who are lost, as well as those
who are saved. However disagreeable this may
be to the mind of the natural man, it is truly reasonable. Can there be a higher end than
the glory of the divine character? The obvious answer is no. Paul
prays that God would be glorified. And we’ll look at that in a moment.
But there are other places in Scripture that clearly tell us
how we may bring God glory. How do we bring God glory? Verbal praise for one verbal
praise, credit or acknowledgement, or at least gratitude. That’s
how it plays out in the Scriptures. Listen to just a few, and I’m
not going to go through all of these. Luke 17, 18. Remember, in the Gospel of Luke,
you remember the Gospel of Luke in the Gospel of Luke. There
were 10 that were healed and only one turned back. And Jesus
said was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except
this foreigner, the Samaritan. Giving glory to God is just acknowledging
God for what He’s done, thanking Him for it. And we are all called
to do that. We can glorify God. John 9, 24, the man born blind,
one of my favorite passages in all of Scripture, because God
not only went after the man’s blindness, but Jesus went back
and went after his spiritual blindness. So a second time they
called the man who had been born blind and said, give glory to
God. We know that this man referring
to Jesus is a sinner. We can. We are called to give
glory to God. We are called to honor the Lord
and to testify of him in whatever way that we’re able. Acts 12,
23, Romans 4, 20, similar passages that call on us to give glory
to God. There is also and related to
that the renown or the the notoriety that we give to God. John 11,
four says when Jesus heard of this, he said this sickness is
not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that God’s
name would be known. And you say, well, we don’t add
to that, we don’t. Yes, you do. How you live your
life, you live your life as a Christian. It proclaims Christ and God’s
name is known because of us. Second Corinthians 415 said it
very clearly when we went through it for all things are for your
sakes. So that the grace which is spreading
to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound. Overflow to the glory of God,
his name is to be known far and wide. In fact, even believers,
redemption in Christ is said to be a cause of God being glorified. Romans 15, seven, except one
another, just as Jesus Christ also accepted us. Our very election is a cause
to the glory of God. Ephesians 114, he gave us this. He gave us the spirit as a pledge
of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God’s own
possession to the praise of his glory. Not only that, but the totality
of our lives brings God glory. First Corinthians 1031 gives
us the greatest opportunity of all, whether you eat or drink
or whatever you do. Do all to the glory of God, we are called
to glorify God. In all of our lives, and this
strips away that false dichotomy of the sacred and the secular,
because it makes even the mundane things of our life. It gives them the possibility
of pleasing and glorifying God, even in those tiny things. professing
faith in Christ, exercising our giftedness. All of these things
bring glory to God. What is it? What does it mean? The word glorify essentially
means to esteem, to value, to set a value, to objectively evaluate,
establish a value and then treat it accordingly, act accordingly. Essentially, what you have in
your mind is scales. And in that scale, you have your
estimation of God on the one hand and your treatment of him
on the other. Our view of God affects. Our
perception of what it means to glorify God, if you have a low
view of God, you’re going to have a very easy time pleasing
him, you’re going to have a very easy time thinking that you are
glorifying him and what you do. The lower our view of God, the
easier it is to please and bring Him honor and glory. As one Puritan
said, by glory we understand that the infinite and incomprehensible
excellence by which Jesus Christ excels all and for which He is
to be honored above all, the glory of a thing is that excellence
which causes it to be in high esteem and procures fame and
renown unto it. The glory of his excellence is
the Godhead itself. The glory is the fountain of
all glory and excellence in creatures. All the creatures shine in any
excellence. With beams borrowed from God’s
glory, in other words, he says there is no good in you apart
from the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s it. All the creatures shine in
any excellence with beams borrowed from God’s glory as the stars
shine with the light that they receive from the sun. Stars don’t
produce any light. They don’t plug in and recharge
anywhere. It’s the sun that they reflect
and it’s us. We bring nothing to the table.
We merely reflect back God’s glory. And he closes and says,
and its brightness obscures all other glory. The glory of God
is without measure, infinite, above comprehension, a light
to which no one. May approach. Glory. Glory is the very nature of God. It speaks of the the radiant
shining forth of his being. As if it were a visible image. What Paul is praying here is
not more physical light, not a bright and shining light. What
he wants is for God’s character, God’s excellencies to be manifest
and. Known throughout the world. Spurgeon had a handle on it.
Spurgeon have a handle on it, what it meant for us to reflect
back this glory? When He said, let nothing ever
set your heart beating so mightily as to love Him. Let this ambition
fire your soul. Let this be the foundation of
every enterprise upon which you enter. And let this be your sustaining
motive. Whenever your zeal would grow
chill, make God your only object. Depend upon it, because where
self begins, sorrow begins. It’s God and God alone. The Puritans
said it simply this way. Among all their other solas of
the Reformation, the chief was sola deo gloria. Solo deo gloria. Only God’s glory. And when the
saint sets his sight on that, that it is only God’s glory,
that that is my only and chief concern, then everything else
falls into place. No wonder in the writing of the
confessions, the chief end of man was so plainly seen to glorify
God and enjoy Him forever and note the order. To glorify God
and enjoy Him forever. This is difficult. It is difficult
in a self indulgent self-seeking, self-promoting, self-absorbed
world to put God. As chief before our eyes to make
his glory our most important endeavor. And still, you say, how can we
bestow on him anything, especially glory? As I’ve already suggested,
we don’t bestow upon him anything, we merely reflect back We’re
good mirrors. We merely reflect back what He
has shown down upon us, that God would be more manifested,
more acknowledged, more highly esteemed among others because
of what they see in us. As one said, it is ascribed glory
that we return to God, a reflection of His own glory Thomas Watson,
likewise, said it this way. The glory we give God is nothing
else but are lifting up his name in the world and magnifying him
in the eyes of others. And finally, another said it
this way. He said this description of praise
to God be the glory. Is the language of spiritual
instinct What he basically says is that, look, it was the most
natural thing in the world for Paul to end a letter like this
with a doxology so grand. It is the language of spiritual
instinct which cannot be suppressed. Let the child realize its relation
to the father who feeds it, clothes it, keeps it alive. who enlightens
and guides it, pardons and purifies, strengthens and upholds it. And
all this in Christ Jesus. And it cannot but in its glowing
consciousness cry out now to God, our Father, be glory forever. But there’s a second proclamation
of God’s supremacy in this passage. Not only God’s glory, But God
is supreme in salvation. God is supreme in salvation. And just know, I was tempted,
I was so tempted to go with the three G’s. I was so tempted to
go with glory, greetings and grace. But I restrained myself. I want you to take a look here,
I didn’t want to obscure the main point of this passage, it’s
not about greetings, it’s about God and his glory, it’s about
God in the work of salvation. And when Paul says, greet every
saint in Christ Jesus, what Paul is acknowledging there is that
the gospel was marching on, the gospel was bearing fruit. That
long after he left Philippi, the gospel continued to bear
fruit and continued to be proclaimed. Others had come to Christ that
Paul had never even met. And for Paul to say greet every
saint, I want you to say hello to them for me. Can you imagine
what this did to the most obscure new Christian? As soon as the
newest Most obscure Christian heard this. Their heart must
have swelled with admiration of this apostle, this Paul, somebody
they had. It was a person of legend they’d
only heard of. But loving enough to mention
them by name. The great name of Saint. Greet
every saint and note how this rings to the modern ear. Just six days ago now, The media
fell all over itself, covering his high and holiness, the pope.
As he declared and pronounced sainthood on five or six new
saints. Five or six, I can’t remember,
and it doesn’t matter. We’ve allowed the Catholic Church
to steal this word, to take it away from us, to make it an unbiblical
thing. Not to Paul. Hear it. Greet every saint, everyone who
names the name of Christ, everyone who has come to faith in Christ,
no matter how young they are, no matter how young in the Lord
they are, no matter that the fact that they do not possess
a life of good works. That they have not worked with
lepers or the poor, what have you? The important truth is that
they are in Christ Jesus. And as such, with biblical warrant,
they are saints set apart for God. Paul says, greet every saint. And by doing so, Paul says, look,
the gospel has borne much fruit. Salvation is to God’s glory. God is doing his work and he’s
having his way in the world. And then he goes on and says,
the brethren who are with me greet you, all the saints greet
you. And here, in case you were previously
unconvinced, he equates immediately the brethren and the saints.
The only difference being the brethren Paul refers to here
were likely those Christians, those saints that the Philippian
church had already met. They were Paul’s companions,
Paul’s friends in the gospel. They knew him. They knew them. They were brethren with the Philippian
believers, but the rest are saints, brethren that they had never
met. They were brothers in the Lord and they would be brothers
throughout eternity. But he quickly adds, does Paul,
that this family had grown. They had other brothers in the
Lord whom they had not met yet, and therefore, he adds, all the
saints greet you. God’s kingdom is bursting at
the seams. The church is flourishing here
in Rome is essentially what Paul says. And don’t miss this. All the saints greet you, especially
those of Caesar’s household, and this must absolutely knock
them over. Caesar’s household. Caesar’s
household. And while it’s true that the
joy of Christians is to see others come to faith in Christ. And
when Paul mentions all the saints greet you, their hearts welled
with gratitude to God. But when Paul mentioned Caesar’s
household, they must have been absolutely floored. The Philippians
were Roman citizens, remember, they knew The horrible nature
of Rome, they knew who this included. This included everyone from a
slave to the king’s son himself. It was all of Caesar’s household. And Paul purposely does not name
them. He knew it was probably a life
and death matter. These people likely had the privilege
of visiting Paul during those years that he was in prison and
as Philippians, Philippi rather, being a Roman colony with all
these soldiers and all these citizens. Perhaps there were
even some that they knew. And Paul said, even those of
Caesar’s household, the gospel had gone as far as the gospel
wanted to go. There was no stopping it. As one clarified, he said the
word here does not signify members of the imperial family necessarily,
but the whole realm of the imperial palace, slaves, freedmen, household
servants, other dependents, possibly even some of high rank. Many
Christians were doubtlessly numbered among them. In today’s language,
we would call them federal employees, right? Of Obama’s household. What he basically points to here. Is that the gospel had spread
and was spreading, the roots were already running deep, the
gospel was going to have its way and was already having its
way even into Caesar’s very household. John Calvin seized upon this
thought to say this, he said, it is worthy of remark as being
no common instance of divine mercy. In other words, he says
this is nothing to be overlooked. No common instance of divine
mercy that the gospel had penetrated that abyss of all wickedness
and debauchery, the imperial palace. What a triumph, said one of my
favorite Puritans. What a triumph of divine grace
these words bring before us. The gospel, which is the power
of God to salvation, known and loved in the house of that emperor
whose name has become known for all generations as a byword for
cruelty and universal wickedness. But God has his way because God
is supreme and God is supreme in salvation. Thirdly, and I
close, God is supreme, not only in eternal glory. God is supreme
in salvation and God is supreme and perpetual grace. Paul’s closing
words are simple and yet profound. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
be with your spirit. And when he says that, he tells
the Philippians, not on your own. Not on your own, you don’t. You weren’t saved on your own
and you’ll never make it on your own. That same unmerited favor that
we received at salvation continues. It is
the ongoing gift of redemption that is given to us by Christ
that brings to us not only spiritual blessings, but ultimately that
glorification, the process of sanctification that is culminated
at our passing. Paul wanted them to know that
they had need of more grace. Paul didn’t need to point out
just like I don’t need to point out to you all the areas where
we need the applied grace of God. But Paul wanted them to
know that they were not yet complete. And that God was not yet finished
with them and that God would be supreme in bestowing this
grace through all eternity. It is grace that encourages us,
it is grace that strengthens us, it is the grace that blesses
and makes us to be happy. And I close with this, as one
pastor said, the resource of all believers. The resource that
all believers need most is the grace that comes from the Lord
Jesus Christ. Grace, the unmerited favor or
undeserved, beneficent love of God in Christ that brought about
the believers redemption. God’s work of grace and believers
lives continues until their glorification. Believers are not only saved
by grace, they are sustained by grace. They are governed by
grace, guided by grace, kept by grace, strengthened by grace,
sanctified by grace and enabled by grace. Paul wanted the Philippian
believers. I take it that the Spirit wanted
us to know just how supreme God is, how overwhelming, how awesome
is the God that we’ve come to know. Let’s thank him for that. Our God, you are abundantly merciful
to us. In preserving your word down
to this day, in ordaining the canon of your word to include
this precious epistle that has been so instructive to us Father
God, we lay ourselves at your feet and pray that you would
indeed be glorified. We thank you that your supremacy
reigns even to this day, touching us with salvation. And those
that we know. That by your grace in a mighty
way, you have brought salvation to each of us who have come to
know Christ. And Lord, we thank you that we
are not finished. We thank you that we do not have
to rest on our own resources. But You will give to us everything
that we need for life in godliness, the grace of God. Father, we
thank You and praise You. We pray these things in Jesus’
name, Amen. you