Ultimate Purpose for the Divine Directive

Introduction: The Ultimate Purpose of Existence

0:03 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, November 14th, 1999, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Let us turn together in our Bibles to 1 Peter, chapter 4.

0:25 As we have done for several Lord's Days, we will read verses 7 through 11 of 1 Peter, chapter 4. But the end of all things is at hand. Therefore be of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer, above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves. For love covers a multitude of sins, using hospitality one to another without murmuring, according as each has received a gift, ministering it among yourselves as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak...

1:14 Speaking as it were oracles of God. If any man ministers, ministering as of the strength which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. I'm wondering if you, and by you I mean moms and dads, older men and women, boys and girls, I wonder if you, and by you I mean moms and dads, older men and women, boys and girls, I wonder if you, and by you I mean moms and dads, older men and women, boys and girls, I wonder if you, and by you I mean moms and dads, older men and girls, I wonder if you, and by you I mean moms and dads, older men and girls, I wonder if you've ever asked yourself the question, what, if anything, do I have in common with the sun, the moon, the stars, and even the distant galaxies? Have you ever asked that question? What, if anything, do I have in common with the sun that shines, the moon that reflects the sun's light at night, the stars that...

2:18 are scattered across the heavens, and then those massive displays of God's might and power and immensity, the distant galaxies? Well, there are some, and there are not a few, who would answer that question in our day in this way. All that we have in common with the sun, the moon, the stars, and the distant galaxies, and even with the fish, the birds, snails, and earthworms, all that we have in common is that we are different parts of a measureless universe that came into being who knows when, that exists for who knows what, and that will continue for who knows how long. And the people who give that answer to the question, what, if anything, do we have in common with these other realities of stuff and things, that we see, animate and inanimate? Many of them have PhDs next to their name. They have tremendous facilities to analyze everything from the galaxies to the earthworm.

3:34 And yet, at the end of the day, when asked, what do they, the thinking scientist, the thinking astronomer, the thinking philosopher, the thinking physicist, the thinking anthropologist, what do they have in common with the sun? The things that they are constantly trafficking in, many would say the only thing we have in common is that we are different piles and arrangements of cosmic dust.

4:04 We have no idea of when all this came into being, why it exists, and how long it will exist, and to what end, if anything, it exists. Well, while unbelieving philosophers and physicists and anthropologists and astronomers stumble in their futile attempts to answer this question, humble believers, from children to people tottering on the edge of the grave through that affliction that will overtake all of us, called old age. That's one affliction that's not covered by your medical insurance. We're all going to get it.

4:42 Old age.

4:45 And there are, within the full range of that age bracket, those who, in humble faith, in the word of God, they know the answer to that question. What do I have in common with the stars, the sun, the moon, the galaxies, the fish, the snail, the earthworm, unseen subatomic particles? We all have this in common. We are the created realities of God, and each of us created for a different purpose.

5:20 And yet, all of it together created to the end that the God who created it and us might be glorified in that which he has created. And tucked away in the midst of a passionate pastoral letter, seeking to comfort and encourage distressed and persecuted saints, Peter locks into one of those marvelous statements in which the reality of the Christian's conviction about all that exists is so beautifully stated. Look at the words, the end of verse 11, that in all things, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen or amen.

Context: Peter's Directives for Church Life Amidst Suffering

6:15 Now, it's those words that I want to attempt to unpack this morning, but since they come as the concluding statement. Of a paragraph, I must take just a moment to pick up the threads of thought that lead into it and precipitate it. You've been reminded again and again that beginning with chapter 3 and verse 13, Peter has come to the heart of his pastoral and apostolic burden for these believers scattered throughout Asia Minor. One commentator suggesting gathered in at least probably 10 different churches whose presence and existence is recognized.

6:52 In other parts of the New Testament and as Peter is writing to them seeking to give them the stuff by which they will not merely endure and make it through difficult times of affliction and persecution, but that the gospel may be validated and God be glorified. He has unpacked one principle after another and that which is found throughout all of them is a constant reference to Christ as the great sufferer. The substitutionary sufferer, the exemplary sufferer, the one whose sufferings we share as we bear reproach and opposition for his name's sake. Now in the midst of giving that instruction, he starts in verse 7 through 11 or he starts in verse 7 to make it plain that whatever happens in the way of external opposition to the people of God. It is not to disrupt their commitment. To the norms of healthy church life and so he's going to give them some directives concerning their horizontal relationships to their brothers and sisters within the fellowship of the church. And so he begins in verse 7 by saying the end of all things is at hand.

8:10 The next great event in redemptive history is the coming again of our Lord Jesus the consummation of the ages in the coming of Christ. And in the light of this Peter says you are to maintain a sound mind and you're to be spiritually sober resulting in a life of prayerfulness. It is only Peter is saying as your vertical relationship is kept warm and vibrant in the light of reality a reality continually perceived with a sound mind and a spiritually sober heart. Then he said out of that.

8:51 Intimate warm vibrant fruitful vertical relationship you will be able to relate to one another as you ought even in the midst of your suffering and your opposition. And so he tells them then in the directive to mutual love verse 8 above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves a love that will cover sin a love that will constrain you to be hospitable. One to another then he gives the directive concerning mutual service and we looked at that last Lord's Day the directive concerning mutual service. There's the foundational assumption that each has received a gift the heart of the directive ministering it among yourselves looking upon every gift as a call to the basin and the towel to serve your brethren and then the governing perspective. We are to. Those gifts conscious that we are stewards we have had something entrusted to us to be administered according to the will of the master and we have this passion to be recognized by the master as good stewards not unfaithful wicked or unprofitable stewards and then he gives two specific examples two major categories of those gifts speaking gifts and serving

10:17 gifts. Now then we come to. Verse 11b in which we're going to consider together what I'm calling the ultimate purpose for these divine directives Peter why have you enjoying the people of God in the midst of their present and even intensified future suffering that he's going to address starting in verse 12. Why are you telling them out of the crucible of warm intimate communion with their God to have fervent love among themselves a love that will cover sin that will cause them to cultivate an open heart and open door in a shared table hospitable one to another Peter. Why are you anxious that the people of God heed this directive to mutual service each one soberly recognizing his gift or gifts and seeing every gift or gifts as a call to the towel and basin to serve one another Peter. Why are you so anxious? That in that service they constantly remember their identity they are stewards of the manifold grace of God why should they have this passionate desire to be recognized by the Lord in the last day as good stewards Peter what is the motive

11:37 for these things yes you've given the directives fervent love mutual service but Peter why may I suggest that Peter could have answered follow these directives that you may have. Peace and joy in your life together and that would be a legitimate motive it's a motive that is addressed in other portions of the word of God which enjoins similar duties upon the people of God but Peter doesn't say that or he could have said these directives are to this end in order that you as a community of God's people may be a convincing witness and validation of the gospel he says something similar to that two other places earlier in the. Epistle but as in what he says here or he could have said do this that you might together grow up into true spiritual maturity in Christ even as Paul suggests in Ephesians chapter four but Peter does none of those things he goes beyond each of those and many others that are set out as legitimate purposes to comply with divine directives to the people of God in their corporate life and he goes to that crowning purpose that supreme that pinnacle motivation with these words all of these things Peter says is to this end in order that you Greek

The Ultimate Purpose Identified: God May Be Glorified

13:02 students a hint of clause of purpose all of these things here not in order that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ whose is the glory and dominion forever and ever a man now I want to attempt to open. Up this that I'm calling the ultimate purpose with these divine directives under four headings that come very naturally out of the text first of all the ultimate purpose identify it is identified as to its essence and to its extent look at the language of the text in order that everything I have told you in this particular section of my letter is to this end that God may be glorified. in all things. Now, what is the essence of this ultimate purpose? It is that God may be glorified. And in this context, to glorify God is to extol, exalt, honor, or praise Him

14:10 for who He is and for what He has done. And to the extent that we see who He is in what He has done, we take the unfolding of His gracious work as the springboard to magnify, to praise, and to extol His glorious being. Think of it this way. God's essential glory is the outshining of all that He is as God. And in that sense, God has been a glorious God from eternity. I know it strains the brain of the most brilliant person here and of the most brilliant person here. And I know it strains the brain of the most brilliant person here and of the most brilliant person here. And I know it strains the brain of the most simple-minded child to think of a being who has no beginning. Everything we deal with had a

14:57 beginning. God has no beginning. The little child asked, Mommy, God made all things? Yes. Next question. You've heard it. I've heard it as a parent. Who made God? And you have to say no one made God. He just always was. From everlasting to everlasting, the psalmist says, you are God. And because God has always been and has always been what He is, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He is the God who is and the God who shall be, His essential glory, the outshining of His perfections has always been the same. God being who He is, the outshining

15:44 of His glory has always been an accompaniment of His being. Now, when God creates, what He creates is a manifestation. It reflects something of that glory. The psalmist celebrates it with these words, the heavens declare His glory, and the firmament shows His handiwork. Now, what happens when the creature perceives some of those beams of the outshining of who God is and what He is? The heavens declare His glory. The heavens capture some of the beams of His glory. The heavens declare His glory. The heavens capture some of the beams of God's glory.

16:22 God's beauty and God's glory and God's magnificence. We see his wisdom, his power, his kindness. And when we see those beams of glory and we trace them back to the central sun from which they come, God himself, and we give vent to what we perceive, then we are glorifying God. We are magnifying, extolling, honoring, and praising him for who he is, particularly when what he is is revealed in what he does. You see, this is the great indictment there in Romans chapter 1. What may be known of God is manifest in them. In other words, God has revealed himself in his creation. And the indictment Paul brings is this. They did not glorify him

17:15 as God, but became vain in their imaginations. Their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like unto man and beasts and forfeited beasts and creeping things. What's the indictment? The indictment is that all men, when they look up and behold the expanse of the heavens, even with the naked eye, when they see what God has revealed, has made, as they look up and see sun and moon and stars, there is an outshining of God's glory. There is a revelation of aspects of who he is. Paul says even his everlasting power and his godhood or his godness. So that they know if they are to glorify this God, they must praise him that he is bigger and greater and grander than anything in this world. But instead, what do they do? They bring him

18:15 down into an image, and they bow down to that which they've made with their own hands. They do not glorify him as God. Now all of that is simply to give us a fresh feel for what Peter had in mind when he said, in all of these things, these directives that I've given to mutual love and to mutual service with all of the qualifying aspects is to this end that in all things God may be glorified. You know, we usually say to God, I will give you anything you ask for and I will give you anything you ask for. But in this case Jesus said that whatever you are and what you do in your relationships one to another, as you keep up a sound mind and are spiritually sober and consider a life of prayerfulness and out of that intimate warm relationship with your God, you grow in fervent love one to another. A love that delights to cover sin and to show as you do this, there will be an outshining of God's glory. And he said, I'm urging you to do it, that in response to that outshining of God's glory, God will be praised, God will be magnified, God will be extolled, God will be honored.

19:36 When men see in you that which has no explanation but the grace of God working in you, the God who has worked it is then praised. And then not only notice the essence of that ultimate purpose, but the extent of it. Peter writes, in order that in all things. Now the word we translate in all things may be a masculine or a neuter.

20:05 In the Greek, that particular form can either be masculine or neuter. And some would suggest that what Peter is saying, in all people. That is, those who manifest love one to another, those who engage in being hospitable, those who speak as oracles of God, and those who serve out of the strength that God supplies, that in them, God will be glorified. But there are a number of other commentators, and I side with them that this is a neuter, that looks back not only over the remained or the previous part of verse 11 or verse 10, but the entire paragraph.

20:45 This is the capstone motivation that Peter puts before these believers. The ultimate purpose, when they sit in the pew, when they sit where they are sitting when the letter is read, and anyone asks the question, yes, in the light of the fact that the end of all things is at hand, and I am by God's grace determined to give myself to that prayer which is the handmaiden in the accompaniment of sober-mindedness, and soundness of mind, and through the grace of God, I will seek to increase in love to my brethren in being hospitable and covering their sins. Right down through the whole paragraph, Peter wants them to leave that morning with this conviction. I have heard how I may be an instrument to bring more glory to God in all things. As this goal or purpose was fixed in the mind and heart of the apostle, giving these directives for no less an end than the manifestation of God's glory, his concern ought to be our concern. And this is not something that is unique to Peter. We will see, God willing, when we read 1 Corinthians 10 next week, that when Paul is coming to a concluding statement on this whole issue of what shall I eat and what shall I drink and what shall I not eat and not drink, not only what do I have liberty before God to eat and drink,

22:14 but what will advance the gospel, what will cause unnecessary offense, what may embolden the conscience of another to partake of something that he still believes is wrong and thereby jeopardize his soul. Paul gives this great crowning motive, 1 Corinthians 10.31, whether therefore you eat or drink, do all to what end? To the glory of God.

22:41 You see, that's plumped down, not in some great profound theological, logical statement about the decrees of God, the eternal, free, sovereign, electing love of God. It is stuck right down in the midst of this issue. Shall I buy that hunk of meat and eat it or shall I not? Shall I drink that glass of wine or shall I not?

23:03 Paul says, let this be the governing principle, the glory of God. Will what you indulge in or what you refuse to indulge in, will that redound to God? Will God be seen in some aspect of his glorious being? Will it precipitate praise and honor and adoration of God?

23:26 If not, it is to have no place in my life, in your life. As God's chief end in all that he does is the manifestation of his glory, so that's to be the chief end in all that we do. What is man's chief end? Question number 1 of the Shorter Catechism.

23:45 Man's chief end, man's supreme end, man's apex of motivation and goal is what? To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.

The Ultimate Purpose Qualified: Through Jesus Christ

24:00 So here in this very practical section, we are taken again into the very nerve centers of those matters that lie close to the heart of God. Well, having noted the ultimate purpose identified, now notice secondly, the ultimate purpose qualified. Qualified. The ultimate purpose qualified.

24:19 You English grammar students know that a qualifying word or phrase is one that limits or modifies a word or a group of words, and that's precisely what we have in our text. That in all things God may be glorified, and he could have jumped right over to whose is the glory, but he didn't. There's a qualifying phrase that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus. Now, what does that qualifying phrase mean?

24:51 As surely as all of God's love and grace and saving power all come to the people of God. How? Through the person and work of the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus. You agree with that, do you not?

25:06 You have no distinct spiritual blessing conveyed to you in any other conduit by any other medium, but through Christ. Ephesians 1.3, the apostle breaks out in a eulogy and says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies, where? In Christ Jesus.

25:32 All that God funnels down to us in the way of distinctive, redemptive privilege and blessing, he funnels through Christ, and he has ordained that as we receive those blessings, and as the blessings of his salvation are worked out in us, that we, in return, through Christ, will bring glory to the God who conveyed those very blessings to us through the Mediator. So without appearing crassly material, if you can think of it this way, that in all of God's approaches to us in grace and mercy, Christ stands between God and us, himself God, but in his appointed place as Mediator, and all the blessings come down to us through Christ. And we stand here and acknowledge that they come down to us from the Father of lights, with whom is no variable, nor shadow of turning. He's the giver of every good and perfect gift, but it does not come to us unmediated. It comes through Christ, and therefore in our returns, we don't bypass Christ.

26:43 We, through Christ, glorify and magnify. And praise our great and glorious and gracious God, so that when these virtues that are worked out in his people are manifested, and God is to be extolled and to be praised, here is the qualification that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. You remember back in chapter 2, when Peter was using the imagery of believers being brought into vitality. He said, And they are made living stones in a living spiritual temple.

27:23 Notice verse 5 of chapter 2. You also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, how? Through Jesus Christ. Peter does not envision even these living stones, who are no longer dead sinners, but they are live sinners.

27:50 They've come into living union with Christ. They are part of a living temple. But they do not offer their spiritual sacrifices unmediated. They offer them through the Lord Jesus.

28:04 Do you see, children? This is why those of us who lead in prayer, so often in the opening prayer, we will ask God to accept our praise and our worship as we come in the name and in the righteousness and the glory of God. And through the merit of Christ. That's not just language we learn from somebody else and we're parroting it.

28:22 That's the consciousness that those of us who sit in this place, including those of us in the pulpit, if we were to come before God with unmediated praise, it would be utterly unacceptable to Him. He must smell the fragrance of the perfect righteousness of His Son, of the present intercession of His Son. Everything that we offer upon a spiritual altar unto God. It's to be fragrant with the consciousness that we offer it through Christ.

28:53 Hebrews 13, 15. Similar emphasis. Hebrews 13 and verse 15. Through Him.

29:01 That is Christ who suffered without the gate.

29:06 In fellowship with His sufferings, we live, we labor, we worship. Verse 15. Through Him. That is through Christ.

29:14 Through Him then. Let us offer up a sacrifice of praise. To God continually. That is the fruit of lips which make confession to His name.

29:25 How do we offer up acceptable praise? It is through Christ. And then even when we are unable to do those works that are pleasing to God, how are we able to do them? Look at Paul's prayer in Philippians chapter 1 for one final parallel passage.

29:42 Paul writes to the Philippians, takes them into his prayer closet and lets them know what he's praying for them. Verse 9. Philippians 1. And this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and discernment so that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and void of offense until the day of Christ being filled with the fruits of righteousness.

30:07 Now notice, which are through Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. It's like Peter and Paul sat down and said, Let's compare notes.

30:21 Even the fruits of righteousness in the context of 1 Peter chapter 4. That fruit of righteousness called fervent love. Love that covers a multitude of sins. Love that disposes us to the open heart and the open door and the shared table.

30:38 Love that disposes us to discern our gifts and gird ourselves with the towel and take the basin to serve our brethren. That which brings praise and honor. Honor to God. These works are through Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God.

30:58 And as it is the grace of God and the enablement of God funneled to us in virtue of our union with Christ, I can do all things through him, through Christ who strengthens me. So when God is glorified, that praise returns through Christ unto God. And so our text sets before us, first of all, the ultimate purpose identified. That in all things God may be glorified.

31:29 The ultimate purpose qualified through Jesus Christ. And I want to make this word of application at this point. Do you see how once again, as we've seen again and again through Peter's letter, that the person and work of the Lord Jesus are foundational and central, to the entire fabric of the Christian faith and life. Christ is not just there on the front end with respect to forgiveness and the marvelous privileges of justification as we heard in the previous hour and as we shall hear of adoption.

32:08 But no matter where Peter is taking these people in Asia Minor in their thinking, from the opening words right through to the end of the epistle. Whether he's speaking to Jesus or not. Whether he's focusing upon redemptive privileges in a heightened way. The forgiveness of our sins, redemption through his blood.

32:27 Or whether he's talking about having an open door and a shared table. And manifesting our commitment to serve one another with our gifts. Christ is there wherever you turn, Christ pops up, Christ pops out. And so Peter is reminding us, even in this section, that Christ is central in the entire fabric of saving religion.

32:50 I had a little fun. I don't often do this because quoting numerical instances of certain words in the Bible doesn't prove too much, but it may point to something. And if you were to take your concordance. Take your strong, exhausted concordance, and look up Jesus Christ.

33:08 But particularly the word Christ, either with or without Jesus. For you have in the first part of First Peter 4, not Christ, Jesus or Jesus, you have Christ. Not Jesus Christ. or Jesus Christ, you would find that in the book of 1 Peter, that official title, that's not one of his personal names, that's the name of his official title. He is Jesus Messiah. He is Messiah Jesus, God's anointed prophet, priest, and king. You would find in 1 Peter, 20 times he uses Christ. This is the 16th time in this relatively brief epistle that that official title that designates Christ as God's long-awaited and finally revealed final prophet, priest, and king, Peter's bringing him in again and again and again and again and again. But on the other hand, he does not have a view of this foundational and central place of Christ that obscures, let alone does not obliterate, a consciousness of the activity of God the Father. I took the same concordance and looked

34:15 up every reference to God. And where you have a generic reference to God, unless the context indicates otherwise, we're to assume it is a reference particularly to God the Father, sometimes to the entire Godhead. But here in 1 Peter, there are 39 references about God. This one in this text is the 29th. So in the same letter, where a person is a prophet, he is a prophet. He is a prophet. He is a prophet. He is a prophet.

34:40 He is a prophet. He is a prophet. He is a prophet. He is a prophet. He is a prophet. He is a prophet.

34:40 To now, there are 16 explicit references to Christ. There are 29 references to God the Father. Now, what's that tell us? I hope you get the message. While Christ is central in the whole fabric of revealed religion, in the Christian faith, and while his presence and place must never be obscured, the Christian faith is not a Jesus-only cultism, where everything is Jesus' and you would have no notion that Christ has come to reveal who? The Father. He that has seen me has seen the Father. No man can come to the Father except through me. When ye pray, say,

35:28 Dear Jesus, no. That isn't how he taught us to pray. There are times when, in private prayer, it is right to pray, Dear Lord Jesus. 2 Corinthians 12, Paul says, For this thing I sought the Lord three times.

35:42 Clearly a reference, not to the Father, but to Jesus as the supreme healer. But the basic pattern of scripture is beautifully stated in Ephesians chapter 2. For in one spirit we have access through Christ unto the Father. Lord, teach us to pray. And Jesus said, When ye pray, say, Our Father who is in the heavens. Now, people, this is not just playing with words. If you want a little litmus test, to a certain extent, you have to be a Christian. You have to be a Christian.

36:12 You have to possess any specific climate that purports to be a reflection, albeit imperfectly, but genuinely and truly, of biblical Christianity. Look for those realities of the place Christ has and the place the Father has in the prayers, in the praise, in the preaching, in the interaction with the people. Some of you come out of a background where everything was God's. Not even as Father, but God as His exalt, in His exalted, transcendent, majestic, sovereign, enthroned, might and power. And you can remember how you were offended when you first came to this church and you heard some of us pray, addressing God as Father. Some of you sitting here, you've made that testimony to me. You see, that was a distorted view of God. And when people have a God at a distance, you can always count on it that Christ doesn't have His proper place.

37:14 But when Christ has His proper place, then the desire of the Father is realized. John chapter 4. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. For such does the Father seek to worship Him. And so, as you think of these matters, as you think of your own prayer life, ask yourself, does Christ have the place accorded to Him in Scripture? And is He in that place as the one through whom and in whom I have communion and fellowship with my gracious, loving, heavenly Father? One other text, Philippians 3. Paul says, We are the circumcision who worship God in the Spirit, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh. And wherever you have true and vital and saving

38:13 religion, all three will be. present. Worship God in the Spirit. Glory in Christ Jesus. Put no confidence in the flesh.

38:24 Or the praise recorded in Revelation 5 and verse 13. I said one more. I must quote this one as well. And every created thing that is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things that are in them heard I saying unto him that sits on the throne and unto the Lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the dominion forever and forever.

38:51 And here the praise of heaven is focused upon him who sits upon the throne and unto the Lamb.

39:02 Frankly this is what disturbs me. Disturbs me about the movement in our day that is away from a lot of shallowness and into a more intimate heart engaged. Form of praise. But it seems to me that so many of the praise songs and praise choruses have an imbalanced preoccupation with Jesus. And do not naturally lead through Jesus to the Father.

39:33 I only issue a caution particularly for young people. I know you feel much more at home with contemporary music. And that's not all to be faulted. But remember the music is the medium to float the text into your mind. And that's not all to be faulted. But remember the music is the mind and heart. Beware of contemporary praise songs that will distort the emphasis of Holy Scripture in this area. And don't get upset with me as a crotchety old man. It's God's honor through Jesus Christ that I want jealously to promote. Well we move on from the ultimate purpose identified in order that in all things God may be glorified. The ultimate purpose qualified. Through Jesus Christ. Now the ultimate purpose exemplified. Notice what Peter does. No sooner does

The Ultimate Purpose Exemplified: Peter's Doxology

40:27 he set out that purpose. Give the qualifying statement. But he breaks out into a doxology himself. Whose is the glory and the dominion forever and forever. This is the ultimate purpose exemplified. Peter thinks about the divine purpose in those directives. He identifies it that in all things God may be glorified. He identifies it that in all things God may be glorified.

40:49 He qualifies it through Jesus Christ. And when he thinks of those realities he can't move on to his next subject in verse 12. He's got to pause and break out in praise to God. Whose is the glory and the dominion or the power forever and forever. Now just a moment without being pedantic. What does he mean when he says whose is the glory. Our English word for doxology is made up of the word glory. And we have two words doxa which is excuse me glory and logos or logia not certain which was in mind a saying or a word. So a word that glorifies God is a doxology. Doxology is defined in our English

41:37 dictionary as a hymn of praise to God. And this is what Peter does. He breaks out in doxology and he says that these two things belong to God. Whose is not whose may be or whose ought to be but whose is right now and ever has been and ever shall be.

41:58 Whose is the glory and the dominion. Whose is the glory or the splendor and the dominion. That is the rule the sovereignty the power or the might. Now these words particularly the first one glory is not a simple word to try to precisely define. And I felt frustration even when I left the study about 10 o'clock last night. One of my commentators Selwyn a more technical commentary has a section of an appendix with very very tiny print. I mean the kind that almost makes me think I've got to go to trifocals. Five pages sorting out all of the subtle nuances of the meaning doxa glory. Then I went to

42:48 Hendrickson's commentary page 75. Four of Romans. Lo and behold he demonstrates at least 10 categories of significance with the meanings of the word doxa. So it's difficult and I I don't want to be simplistic but the basic concept is whose is the glory that is whose is the right to receive praise and honor and blessing. He who alone contains in himself those things which in their. Out shining are worthy of the praise and adoration of all of the creatures and so he says this thing is his whose is the glory and the might the dominion the power the rule the authority. Most commentators suggested in this setting perhaps what Peter is doing is saying as we contemplate all that God has done in redeeming a people and as he has established them in these different provinces of Asia Minor and as Peter contemplates all that they have in Christ as he has written of it in the

43:58 preceding chapters and now as he gives them these directives about their life together and thinks of what will come out of those assemblies to the watching principalities and powers in the heavenly places Ephesians 3 10. What will come forth from them of praise and honor that what he is saying is to this God to this God. Is the glory he contains it all in himself and this is what the unfolding of a few dimensions of that glory that is essentially his and then that redemptive power and might that is made it operative in those people to whom I write but then the question comes to whom does this pronoun refer whose is the glory is that Jesus Christ or is that God the Father.

44:52 Well grammatically it could be Christ theologically it could be Christ you have several doxologies in the New Testament where Christ is clearly the focus of the doxology and I want you to look at a couple of them. I hope this is not tedious this is my task to try to make you at home in your Bible second Peter notice the same writer Peter under the same inspiring spirit yet he writes in his last words of the second. The third chapter the end of the second epistle but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to him and there is no question who the only antecedent is it is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to him the glory both now and forever there is a doxology directly ascribed to Jesus Christ and either Christ is essentially. And truly God or Peter was fostering idolatry. No middle ground revelation one in verse six they have a similar doxology clearly directed to Christ himself.

46:10 Look at verse five John says I'm writing to the seven churches and this message comes from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness the firstborn of the dead the ruler of the kings of the earth. On to him that loved us and loosed us from our. Sins by his own blood and made us to be a kingdom priest unto his God and father to him now who is the subject of all that preceding context it is Jesus Christ faithful witness ruler of the kings of the earth the one who loved us loosed us from our. Sins made us kingdom a kingdom of priests unto his God and father to him be the glory and dominion forever and ever behold he comes here obviously. It is Christ who is in focus though the father is the immediate antecedent grammatically it is clear from the context Christ is the subject and therefore Christ is the object of this. Doxology well in the same way we come back to this passage and it is my present understanding that Christ is not the focus of this part of our text three times. God.

47:25 Has been mentioned first 10 according is each have received a gift ministering it among yourselves as good stewards of the manifold grace of God if any man speaks speaking as it were oracles of God if any man ministers ministering as of the strength which God supplies God is the dominant subject in this section I therefore believe with many of the commentators that it is God the father who in a special way is in focus when he says. That in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ whose is the glory and the dominion forever and forever now what happened to Peter he's fulfilling his role as an apostle commissioned by his Lord to feed his sheep to feed his lambs to shepherd his sheep and as he is seeking to give them instructions about facing their present and future and more intensified sufferings.

48:26 He has paused as it were to digress for a little bit into the area of their corporate life as the people of God in that very real situation saying in essence persecution and opposition in the cause of Christ is no call to lower your commitments to one another in the fellowship of the church crank them up and intensify them fervent love among yourselves ministering your gifts among yourselves and all to this end that God may be glorified. Through Jesus Christ and when Peter comes to that statement Peter the apostle becomes Peter the worshiper and from instructor to others he now becomes worshiper himself several of the commentators have stated this very very strongly that here we have the passion of the truly pious heart here we have the out bursting as it were of a man who was not.

49:29 A mere talking head or a writing hand under the guidance of the Holy Spirit he was a thoroughly Christian man suffused with the wonder and the glory of what he's seeking to convey to others and what a lesson he is to all of us who are privileged to instruct others fathers and mothers when you speak of God and living to the glory of God and all that God does is to the end that he may be glorified is this. A present. Deep inward passion within your own soul or is it all just stuff you've said it so often you can say it without present feeling and I choose my words carefully you can say them without present feeling you cannot convincingly communicate the truth of God to others on the basis of past feeling in conjunction with that truth it will be hollow it will be unconvincing. Peter.

50:31 Writes out of the pressure not only of a mind enlightened and supernaturally guided by the Holy Spirit in the choice of his words but he writes out of the pressure of present religious healing and passion he can't speak of the great end of God's works without making it plain that his heart is aligned with that end in all of its energy and in all of its faculties whose is the glory and the glory of God. Toiri. The greatest. And for how long is he worthy of this.

51:07 Under the ages of the ages the phrase used twenty one times in the New Testament always refers to eternity the picture is of one age being swallowed up by the next and those twobuster Robert up of the next. And they being swallowed up of the net it is the closest thing to the concept of eternity found in the New Testament and when Peter since of the purpose for which these directives have gone out to those. Representatives our nature 2923 when Peter thinks of the purpose for which these directives have gone out to those believers and it goes that will cup over damn it does not essentially have to Station for all of us. And that great end of God being glorified, his own heart runs out in deep sympathy.

The Ultimate Purpose Ratified: Amen

51:43 And he says, whose is indeed the glory and the dominion forever and forever. And that brings us finally and briefly to what I'm calling the ultimate purpose. Not only identified, qualified, and exemplified, but the ultimate purpose ratified. Ratified.

52:02 Now you know when you're doing, you ratify something. You put your seal of approval upon it. An amendment is proposed, an amendment to the Constitution. It must be ratified by a certain number of the states within the United States.

52:18 And when the states ratify it, they embrace it. They make it plain that they accept it as a statement of their conviction and their perspective. Now that's exactly what Peter does here. You say, where does he do that?

52:31 The last word.

52:34 Amen.

52:36 Now some would look upon the... The presence of this word is simply a kind of a little liturgical throwaway.

52:42 No, it's not a liturgical throwaway.

52:45 When Peter has expressed his mind with respect to the will of God for those believers, that they are, by the grace of God, to be of sound mind, spiritually sober, in the context of prayerfulness, constantly increasing in fervent love one to another, love that covers, love that is hospitable. They are to discern and exercise their gifts. One to another, all to the end, that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. And then when he gives vent to his own internal desire that God be glorified, he says, and I want you to know I really mean this.

53:22 So to these words I add my what? My ratification, my amen. My so be it. My yes, let it be.

53:33 Lenski perceptively says this is not an expression of mere intellectual conviction, but of an... Exalted, God-praising conviction of faith.

53:42 Placed at the end and meaning truth, so be it. This amen is a solemn, confessional expression of the apostle Peter. Now think with me for a minute. Use your imagination.

53:58 When John is completing two of his epistles, the second and third epistle of John, you remember what he says in verse 12 of 2 John, similar words, at the end of 3 John. Having many things to write. I would not write them with paper and ink. You would not write them with the existing tools of written communication.

54:20 Parchment, called here paper and ink. Now obviously if you're going to get the ink on the paper, you need a what? Children, what do you need? If you're going to get the ink on the paper, what do you need?

54:32 A what?

54:34 A pen, right? You need a pen. You don't just take the ink well and...

54:40 A, B. You need a pen. So when he says, I didn't want to write, I would not write with paper and ink, but I hope to come and speak face to face. Then in verse 13 of 3 John, I have many things to write to you, but I'm unwilling to write to you with ink and pen.

54:59 Here he tells us the third commodity in the communication. Paper, ink, pen. Pastor Martin, you must be getting hungry. Where are you going?

55:07 Well, you follow with me now.

55:10 I'm not hungry yet.

55:12 Any of you written with a quill pen? You ever had the privilege of actually writing with a quill pen? Someone took a feather from a bird and shaped it so that it would hold ink and dispense it at the end, and they put a little split on it. Now, if you want to make a letter light, what do you do?

55:30 You lift up on the pressure of your quill. You want to make a bold statement, you press down. Even my ink pen that I've had for 20 to 25 years that transfers the thoughts that I want onto my notes. If I want something to be bold, I put a little more pressure on it.

55:47 And more ink flows out. Now, I want to ask you a simple question. As Peter comes to the end of this part of his epistle, and he has articulated, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the great purpose for all of these directives about their internal life, their corporate life, and he says the great end is that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is the glory forever and ever. How do you think he wrote this?

56:17 He wrote that next word. Amen in Greek. At least Erasmian pronunciation of Greek. Our Greek friends can tell us what current modern Greek pronunciation is.

56:28 But the Erasmian pronunciation, Amen. Very similar, one of those few words coming over from the Hebrew. A word like Hallelujah and Amen, almost in any culture, in any linguistic context, they seem to be the rallying cries of the people of God in every language. Amen.

56:48 And Hallelujah. How do you think Peter wrote it? Do you think he lifted his pen up a bit and said, well, the last thing in the world I want is for anyone to think I'm overly enthusiastic. No.

57:01 We have every reason to believe he pressed down when he wrote the letters. Amen. So be it. With all of my heart, I'm committed to this great end that God has in all of his works of both creation and redemption.

57:17 And that is that he will be glorified through Jesus Christ. For to him and to him alone belong all glory and all power and dominion forever and forever. Amen. I set my seal to it.

Application: Focus on God's Glory

57:34 And he ratifies that purpose. Now what does all of this say to us? Well, I hope, I hope it gives a fresh sense of focus for us as God's people. In the word now and in athletics, you've got to keep focused.

57:51 Well, if anything, it should keep us focused, dear people, in every facet of life. But in this context in particular, seeking to live out the directive to mutual love and the directive to mutual service. It's that the glory of God is at stake in these matters. And we who love the God revealed to us in Christ cannot regard with indifference whether or not he is glorified in the life and ministry.

58:18 And we who love the God revealed to us in Christ cannot regard with indifference whether or not he is glorified in the life and ministry. Men come and go. But there is one to whom belongs all glory and might and power. Whose is the glory?

58:28 And that is our great and glorious God, whom we approach through the Lord Jesus. But as I reflected upon this, I thought in a very real sense. It's a text like this that perhaps more clearly than many others will really show you where you're at spiritually. It's a text like this that perhaps more clearly than many others will really show you where you're at spiritually.

Application: Spiritual Litmus Test

58:54 It's a text like this that perhaps more clearly than many others will really show you where you're at spiritually. It's like having someone in your presence praising with enthusiasm a person or a thing you detest. What does it do to you? It stirs up the negative feelings.

59:04 For example, some of you guys when you get together and talk baseball. Some of you are avid Yankee fans. You know who can draw out your Yankee zeal more quickly than anything else? Let somebody start bragging about the Mets.

59:20 And when they're bragging about the Mets, when you say you're bragging about any team in the New York metropolitan area, call it an area, it's Yankees or nothing. Doesn't it draw out your anti-Met feeling, the more enthusiastic the Yankee fan talks? Or maybe your teams are the Giants and the Jets. What happens in the presence of someone whom you envy, towards whom you have that bitter, horrible, hellish spirit of green-eyed desire for what God has given them and not given you? What will stir up that envy more quickly than someone in your presence speaking in a commendatory way about that person and the very things in that person that you envy? That'll stir up your envy into a wild internal passion, doesn't it? Am I the only one? Now, we've been thinking for the last 50 minutes about Peter's great desire to unfold to these believers.

60:24 That the ultimate purpose for all of God's works, and his works especially in grace and redemption as they terminate upon his people, is that he would be glorified. What's been your disposition as you've had to listen to this whole spate of stuff about God being glorified? Have you found it stirring up your heart saying enough is enough already? If so, that's proof of Romans 8-7. The carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subjectivity. It is subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can it be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. And you've sat there irritated to the gills because somebody's had the nerve to stand up here and say, the end of all God's work is not you, it's him. His glory, his praise. And that's the last thing in the world you want. But my dear unconverted friend, listen to me. You will glorify God, either by stacking arms.

Application: Glorifying God in Salvation or Damnation

61:26 And going to his dear son and pleading for pardon and mercy. But when God casts you into hell, it's frightening. I read the words earlier this morning from Revelation 19. As you descend into hell, you will be the choir master to call out the praises of heaven for your judgment.

61:47 Yes, that's not my imagination. That's not an unwarranted rhetorical flourish. Listen to the language. And after these things I heard as it were that God had created, you a great voice of a great multitude in heaven saying, Hallelujah!

62:03 Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. For true and righteous are His judgments. For He has judged the great harlot, her that corrupted the earth with her fornication and has avenged the blood of His servants at their hand. And the second time they say, Hallelujah!

62:22 And her smoke goes up forever and forever. And when you compare this with Revelation 14, you know that that smoke that goes up forever and ever is the smoke of the torment of all those who are cast into hell. And God will be glorified in your damnation. But glorify God, you shall and you must.

62:46 But oh, my unconverted friend,

62:49 now that the door of mercy is open, glorify God for the infinite patience that He's shown towards you. For the amazing, the amazing grace that we heard about in the previous hour that God Himself conceives and implements a way whereby through the giving of His own dear Son all of the wrath we deserve is swallowed up by Him. And He invites us to come and by faith lay hold of His Son and all of the salvation that is in Him. May God grant that even this day you might seek the Lord while He may be found.

Closing Prayer

63:28 And call upon Him while He is near. Let's pray.

63:39 Our Father, we thank You for Your Holy Word. We thank You for this portion of Your Word and for the very clear reminder that Your own glory manifested and then perceived and returned in praise and honor is the great end of all of Your works. And how we pray that this great principle will be realized. Written upon our hearts by the Spirit through the Word and we would be bold to plead that those who have no desire to glorify You would this day see the folly of their way repent of their self-centeredness and their creature worship and fall down before You in true brokenness and faith and lay hold of the salvation so freely offered in Jesus Christ. We pray that You will have mercy upon us as a congregation that as we seek to work out obedience to these directives to brotherly love and to mutual service that we will ever keep in view the great end for which You have required these things of us. And therefore we are bold to pray that for greater glory to be brought to Yourself through Jesus Christ increase in us our present measures of brotherly love increase in us our commitment to serve one another

65:08 in the exercise of our gifts. Help us, O God that these will not be more words that just pass through our minds and out into space but may they filter down into our hearts regulating thought and life and motivation. Help us, our Father, we plead accept our thanks for the privilege of once again being able to open Your Word unmolested. Thank You that we have our Bibles in our own language.

65:40 Thank You for the gift of being able to read. O Lord, for all of Your mercies we give You thanks and praise through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.