Welcome to Mill Creek Church in Belleville, Texas, where our worship service is in progress. Today, Pastor Monty Byrd continues with his sermon series on the Book of Romans. And now, Pastor Byrd. Join me in prayer, please. Father, we do thank you that you do lead us, that you are our shepherd, that we're guided by you, that we're protected by And I pray, Lord, that you'd speak to us through your word this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. Last week, I preached through what was titled the doxology in Romans 11, which we found at the end of the 11th chapter. And before I begin, let me make note, because I think this is important. Chapter and verse are human inventions. The Bible was not written in chapter and verse, but we divided it up in chapter and verse. And thank God we did, because it would be really hard to reference scripture and have you follow along without chapter and verse. But sometimes we can take that human invention, and while it's very good and I'm glad that we have it, but sometimes we can take it and think that it's always been there. And I saw people in commentary say, well, the doxologies just had to do with chapter 11. But when Paul was writing this, there wasn't a chapter 11. He was writing a letter. So the doxology that Paul is interjecting here at the end of 11 is fitting for what he has written so far to the church at Rome. in what caused him to break out in an expression of praise, because that's what doxology means, an expression of praise, what caused him to break out in an expression of praise at the end of 11. is that he had just finished writing about the depravity of man, the holiness of God, and that salvation comes through faith. And as he gave the entire plan of salvation through Romans 1 through 11, it caused him to break out in an expression of praise. And I covered so far verses 33 through 35 in that doxology, but I saved verse 36 because to do verse 36 justice, that I would need an entire sermon. But to get the meaning of the doxology in total, let's start from the beginning of the doxology in Romans 11, 33, and we will read through verse 36. And Paul wrote this, he said, oh, the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments in his ways past finding out. For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become his counselor? Or who has given first to him and it shall be repaid to him? For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. And as we read this doxology, I would have to say that as Christians, we should come away with a spirit of humility because it expresses what God has done for us in our inability to do anything for God. You can see here in the doxology that we can't bring anything to God. We cannot fathom the depths of his knowledge. He isn't obligated to us at all. He doesn't need us at all. We owe him everything and he owes us nothing. And as I prepared for verse 36, it reminded me of what Thoth mentioned in his commentary on these verses. He said, you can't have a doxology unless you have a theology. And that's true, isn't it? If your theology is wrong, then your praise is going to be wrong. If your praise is wrong, then your theology is wrong. They both are built upon one another. And it's so important today that we have a correct praise of God, and it is theologically based, it is doctrinally based, because unfortunately, as we live in a world of cheap grace in the modern church, the praise is wrong because they're identifying with a God that quite frankly does not exist. So to really praise the one true God, it has to be built upon the proper doctrine. So let's read the doxology on the last verse again. For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever, amen. This is doctrinally correct. And we're gonna spend the balance of our time looking at it in more detail. which poses my first question, who is him? You might think that this is a ridiculous question, but throughout the church age, there has been a debate about who is the him in verse 36. In fact, early on, they said, well, the Trinity was contained in divided segments of each of these phrases. And then they moved from that. Some could argue, well, it's Christ. and Christ and the Holy Spirit and God are all wrapped in one in the Trinity, and you could actually preach this that way. But in the context in which Paul is writing, because he just completed part of the doxology and the questioning of the Father, verse 36 has to be the Father. because that's what the questions were regarding that he just posed early on at the beginning of the doxology, which leads me to my next question. What does the father do? And let's look at each segment so we can understand it completely. When you look at the verse, it says, for of him, are all things, right? If I wanted to remove those other phrases and look at the subject matter, four of him are all things. In other words, he's the creator, isn't he? We praise God, we worship God because he is the creator and he created with the power of his word. Turn with me to the 11th chapter of Hebrews as we look at verse 1 through 3. It says, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, for by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. This thought is reiterated in the 33rd Psalm, starting in verse six, The psalmist wrote, by the word of the Lord, the heavens were made. By the word of the Lord, the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap. He lays up the deep in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him, for he spoke and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. Take me to the most beautiful vista. Allow me to visit the most awe-inspiring wonder of the world. And as you stand and as you observe the beauty of his creation, it becomes that much more beautiful when you realize that he spoke and it was. He spoke and it was. If we come and worship God as the creator, we recognize the awesomeness of God. And one of the things that the modern world has tried to do is remove the act of creation away from God, because if you remove the act of creation away from the Father, you have a God that you feel like you can control. But when you look at his heavens, when you look at his creation, when you look at the world, it makes you feel so incredibly small because he spoke and it was. And we are to give him his due as the creator of the world. So now let's look at our verse again. For of him and through him and to him are all things. And we're dividing those up. So we just said for of him are all things. Now we're at the second part. And through him are all things. In other words, not only did God create, but he also sustains. He sustains. And not only does our modern world try to remove God as the creator, but right now, the modern world is trying to remove God as the sustainer. Humankind, the modern world tells us, is going to destroy the world. Now, I will agree with them that the world will be destroyed. but it will be destroyed by God. It will not be destroyed by the hand of man. And the Bible tells us that God sustains his creation. Turn with me to the 38th chapter of Job as God questions Job and reminds him of his omnipotence. Job 38, starting in verse eight. Or who shut in the seas when it burst forth and issued from the womb? When I made the clouds its garment, and the thick darkness its swaddling band, when I fixed, and here in verse 10, it's important as you look at this, as you look at the sustaining power of God in verse 10, when he declares, when I fixed my limit for it and set bars and doors. He goes on and in verse 11, and he says, when I said this far, you may come, but no farther in here, your proud waves must stop. Have you commanded the morning since your days began and caused the dawn to know its place that it might take hold the ends of the earth and the wicked be shaken out of it. It takes on form like clay under a seal and stands out like a garment. From the wicked their light is withheld and the unpraised arm is broken. He created and He sustains. When you look at Hebrews 1, It says in verse 1, God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds. who being the brightness of his glory in the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than thee, Christ was appointed by the father and he is upholding all things by the word of his power. He is our sustainer. I think because the world in vast numbers has moved away from an agrarian society, we've gotten to where we kind of take things for granted. But unfortunately in our modern world today, we are being reminded that God is our sustainer through the current geopolitical environment that we find ourselves in. Russia and Ukraine are the two largest producers of fertilizer in the world. And guess what? Because of the war, fertilizer costs have been driven up, and some farmers say, well, it's too expensive, so I'm not going to fertilize. And if you don't fertilize, you automatically have 25% less crops than you had if you do fertilize. Well, we don't get fertilizer out of thin air. We're using one thing to produce another. We're using one aspect of God's creation to create fertilizer. And unfortunately, people will go hungry over the next couple of years because of a war in a distant land. And we forget about the bounty that God has given us, we take it for granted. We experienced a little bit of this when we went through the government shutdowns and you'd go into the grocery store during the pandemic. Well, why don't I have this or that? Why isn't this on the shelf? We've gotten to the point to where we think that food is our right. that it's not a bounty, it is our privilege. We're deserved it. And when we want it, and that's been going on for years. We've forgotten to give God the thanks for providing for us. I remember my dad telling me a story. that when he was a kid in Oklahoma, everybody would get excited when the grocery store would have bananas delivered to the store. That was a real treat. And my great granddad loved bananas. He would go down and buy a whole stock of bananas and then make himself sick eating bananas because it was such a neat thing to have. And we went from that to, I remember getting up on Christmas morning and I would have an apple and an orange in my stocking. And I thought, well, why in the world do I have an apple and an orange in my stocking? It had ceased to be special, but yet my family carried on that tradition. to where a piece of fruit was a real treat. And that fruit is part of the creation of God. And we should come together and we should give thanks not only for His creation, but the fact that because we have seasons and times and produce, it all happens every year because He is sustaining it. We shouldn't take that for granted. It's not our right. We're living in his kingdom and he is providing for all of humanity. We worship him because he is creator. We worship him because he is sustainer. And we worship him because all things point to him. Let's look back at our focal passage. For of him are all things, and through him are all things. And then here finally, and to him are all things. In other words, all things are used to glorify God. Now, someone may pose the question, well, how about bad things? Doesn't he use just good things? No, He uses all things. We've already studied this, but turn with me into Romans 9, verse 15. There Paul wrote, what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion. So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the scripture says to the Pharaoh, For this very purpose, I have raised you up that I may show my power in you and that my name may be declared in all the earth. Therefore, he has mercy on whom he wills and on whom he wills, he hardens." Now, was Pharaoh a good guy? No, he wasn't a good guy. but he was used by God as an instrument to declare his name in all the earth. Not only do you see that in the Old Testament, but if you fast forward to the end of time in Revelation chapter four, as you see the church gathered around the throne of God, you see the church of God giving glory to the Father. Turn with me, if you will, to the fourth chapter of Revelation, starting in verse nine. It says, whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, who lives forever. The 24 elders fall down. That's us. That's the church. The 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne saying, you are worthy, oh Lord, to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things. Sound familiar? For you created all things. and by your will they exist and were created. Now who wrote Romans? Paul. Who wrote Revelation? John. Isn't it interesting that two different people at two different places say the exact same thing? One writing the church at Rome, John on the Isle of Patmos getting the revelation of God himself in the church in the future. It will be saying, you are worthy, oh Lord, to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they exist and were created. All things point to him. All things point to him, both good and bad. Now, I think it's fair to say that we have not lived in a more stressful environment since World War II. Think about it. Think about the last several years and what we have had to go through. We've seen cities burn. We've seen societal stress. We've seen a global pandemic. We have been at odds with one another. We've been at odds with countries. We're at war, de facto declared war right now, whether we want to admit it or not, we're at war. We're living in a time of stress. And it's so easy during times of stress to take our eye off the ball, if you will, and not focus on God, but focus on the things of man. In fact, unfortunately, in some ways it has become our sport. It's become our sport. But let me remind you that we can be assured right now at this very time that everything that is happening is being allowed by God. Every single thing. And in fact, Daniel said this in Daniel chapter two, starting in verse 20, he said, blessed be the name of God forever and ever for wisdom and might are his. And he changes the times and the seasons. That's sustaining, isn't it? He changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and raises up kings. That's political, isn't it? He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things. He knows what is in the darkness and light dwells with him. In other words, as I look around and as I see the world in all of its institutions, in all of the things that you and I have taken for granted for years, and as I look upon the world, I can have great confidence that God is in control. He's in control. Now, for the natural man, it doesn't seem like it, but I know one thing. I know that as we are gathered around His throne, and as I and you are in our completed and perfect body, in our completed and perfect mind, I know that we'll be able to look back and go, wow, that makes perfect sense. He was in control all the time. He was in control all of the time. Unfortunately, people look at the Christian community And they look at the Christian community as one of weakness. We're weak. But we should be the exact opposite. The Christian community should be one of confidence. We should be confident. We should be so confident that we should be able to stand up and declare His teachings and His truth in the public square without apology or without fear. And it's all wound up in this 36th verse of Romans 11, for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory, not for the moment, not for the day, forever. forever. He is on His throne. He was on His throne yesterday. He's on His throne today. He will be on His throne tomorrow. He will be on His throne a million years from now because we worship an eternal King who is powerful and is over all. To Him, we give Him the glory And that is our doxology. Join me in prayer, please. Father, we just come to you recognizing at times we're inadequate, woefully inadequate in our praise. And Lord, we come to you and we confess the times when we've just been selfish. that we've been self-consumed and we've not taken time to give you the praise and the glory. Lord, we recognize that you created us and called us into your kingdom to glorify you. And I pray, Lord, that we would grab hold of that fact and that each day we would stop and give you thanks and give you praise in all the glory in Jesus name, amen. Thank you for joining us as Pastor Bird continues this sermon series. If you wish to hear more, you may find him at millcreekchurch.org or go to sermonaudio.com slash millcreekchurch. Prayer requests may also be left at millcreekchurch.org. Our church services are as follows. Sunday morning Bible study is at 9 a.m., followed by our worship service at 10 a.m. We have Wednesday night prayer meeting and Bible study, and they are at 6.30 p.m. For more information and our mission statement, please visit our website millcreekchurch.org.