I want to direct your attention tonight to Romans chapter 11 and look at one verse, the last verse of the chapter, verse 36. While you're turning, let me say in the beginning that I'm certain of one thing this weekend, and that is that you're going to consistently hear in every message preached the glory of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 11.36, I believe this verse stands as the clearest declaration of God's glorious majesty in all the Scripture. Just a few words. Look at it with me. For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. Notice the last words of the verse. to whom be glory forever. Amen. For of Him, God is the source. Through Him, God is the sustainer. To Him, God is the recipient. So the only fitting conclusion is to Him be glory forever. My title, God's Glorious Glory. The Word of God, God's Word to us. This book that we hold this morning in our hand, or this evening in our hand and in our lap, is the most valuable possession that we have. I was in a dollar store, Dollar Tree, something not long ago, and I found a Bible, Old Testament, New Testament, for sale for $2. I thought, what a bargain. What a bargain. most valuable thing in the world. But the Word of God, the Bible, God's Word to it, is not first and foremost about man. It's not. Men have made it that. All false religion is man-centered. It's about man. You know it is and so do I. I don't have to listen to somebody talk long or a man preach long to see that. It's about man. Every word in this book, every verse, every story, every promise, every law, every prophecy, every teaching, every judgment directs us to the glory of God. God's holiness, God's power, God's love, God's mercy, God's justice are revealed and magnified in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I was talking to Brother David briefly before services today, and when I was pastoring there in New Caney, he had a television program that came on every morning before our services started, and Teresa and I would always listen to it. And I'd always tease at the end of the message and say, he took my message again. And then I realized we had the same message. It's coming from a different text, but it's the same message. We don't have one message. Creation exists for God's glory. Did you know that? God said, fear not, I am with thee, even everyone that is called by my name, for I have created him for my glory. I have formed him, yea, I have made him, Isaiah 43, 7. The heavens declare what? The glory of God. And the firmament showeth His handiwork. Psalm 19, verse 1. History. I like to say His story. That's what history is. It's God's story. History unfolds according to God the Father's purpose of glorifying Christ as Lord over all. That's what this book is about. God's glory that's found only in His beloved Son. And this is especially true when it comes to salvation. That we believers should be to the praise of His glory who first trusted in Christ. Salvation is not just rescuing men and women from hell. I heard the Lord Jesus preached as a fire escape from hell all my life. But salvation is to sinners that they might be of the praise of His glory. God gets all the glory. Our redemption, like everything else, is for the praise of His glory. And God's glory shines most brilliantly in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. First, God must punish sin wherever and whomever it's found on. And God in His glory can by no means clear the guilty, even when it was charged to His perfect, sinless Son. The justice of God reveals His glory. And the glory of God is seen in the end of all things. Listen, one day, very soon, it's coming soon for us. You know that, so do I. It's like a vapor, isn't it? Yeah, just a little steam on a mirror. And one day, very soon, every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. How and why? To the glory of God the Father. That's what it said. So the Bible is all about the glory of God revealed in the person and the work of his beloved son. And this is the glory that defines truth and it reveals redemption and it anchors eternity. And this is where so many things are called into question. You know, the ongoing argument and debate today of God's sovereignty, His sovereign election, and man's free will is resolved with God's glory. You say, well, how so? Well, which message, the teaching of God's mercy and grace, or man's work, gives all the glory to God? You talk about the work and the worth of man, then man gets all the glory, but that's That's not what this book teaches. Man didn't do anything because man's dead. Never seen a dead man do anything. The message of Christ alone, grace alone, declares God's glory alone, friends, and man's choice and man's works and man's righteousness and man's effort glorifies man. Preaching and believing the free will, worth, works, and righteousness of man is nothing short of an attempt to rob God of His glory. He's not going to share it with another. Man cannot rightfully take what belongs to God, and yet pride is the cause of man's attempt to rob God. Men and women alike refused to see and acknowledge the glory of God's creation, even His eternal power in Godhead, which are easily seen in the world around us. That's what Romans 1 is talking about. Because of that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened, professing themselves to be wise. They became fools. And they changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds and to four-footed beasts and creeping things. Jeremiah 9.23, Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that glorieth. glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, saith the Lord. He gets all the glory. Where in theirs does man get any? Not by his mind, not by his powers, by God's Spirit. And this God gets all of it, every bit of it. Whenever men and women glory in their wisdom, strength, or wealth, anything for that matter, they're robbing God of the honor and the glory that's due Him alone. How so? Because everything that we have, I mean everything, is God's gift to us. Isn't that right? Someone says, I'm a self-made man. No, you're not. No, you're not. How about this one? I pulled myself up by my bootstraps. Nope. Sorry. Didn't do it. Our clarity of mind, our strength of body, our capacity to work and provide. Do anything for ourselves. Had nothing to do with us. Has everything to do with God and his mercy to us and therefore It's only right that He gets all the glory. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us. I like how He says that twice there. I need to hear things more than that. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory. Why? For Thy mercy and Thy truth's sake. He has all the mercy. It's all His, and He has all the truth. It's all His truth. Why should I get any glory? God will not have self-glory and God resists such nonsense. And Nebuchadnezzar boasted. He said, isn't this great Babylon that I have built? By the might of my power, he said, and for the honor of my majesty. And God instantly humbled him, driving him to live like a beast until he learned that God in heaven rules. And he gets all the glory. In Acts 12, verses 21 and 23, Herod received praise as if he was God. They said, well, he speaks like a God. And Herod, he didn't correct them. And immediately, the angel of the Lord struck him and he was eaten with worms. The one who takes the credit themselves for their salvation will meet a Similar end. That's what awaits all who attempt to rob God of His glory. The self-exalting glory of man is nothing before God. God has brought man's glory to naught, it says. You know what naught means? Nothing. We say zip, zilch, zero. Nothing. Naught. Why? That no flesh should glory in His presence. He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. There's no greater attempt of man to glory in himself than when he claims to be saved in and by and of himself. That's right. The majority of people in the world today claim to be saved and most declare that their salvation to be by a free will choice or a decision that they themselves made. I did for years. And God showed me I didn't have nothing to do with it. And I guess it appeals to man's pride to do so. It did me. It glorifies their self-sufficiency to declare so. It reveals their personal desire to be in control. Men claim to choose their own path, decide their own destiny, determine their own fate. It seems empowering to them. Makes them feel morally significant. Only one major problem with it. I've already told you what it is. They're dead. Dead. Dead in trespasses and sin. That's referring to spiritual death. Dead. Incapable of spiritual life. Just as physically dead. A physically dead person cannot move. They can't breathe. They can't act, they can't respond, they can't obey, they can't seek, they can't accept. Man's will is enslaved to sin. Our will is in bondage to sin. We don't have a free will. Only one has a free will is God. We gave up our right to that in Adam. Trespasses are deliberate violation of God's law. Conscious turning away. Sin's rebellion against God. Sin is lawlessness. Whatever is not a faith is sin, the scripture says. Sin not only acts outwardly, but inwardly with desire and pride and unbelief and self-rule. Sin is man's attempt, as I said, to dethrone God. Sin is anything in thought, word, or deed that contradicts God's holy character, rejects His sovereign authority, or falls short of His glory. And the result of sin is separation from God. I know you know these things. I need to hear them again. And again. And again. Isaiah plainly and simply declared, God's hand is not shortened that He cannot save. And then men say silly things like, give Jesus your heart. Let go and let God. You've heard all of them. God has not gone deaf. It's because of our sin that He will not hear us. The problem is not with God, the problem is with us. God is fully able to save and fully willing to hear. The barrier here is not God's weakness. God doesn't need your help to save.