Gospel Strength
by Pastor Jim Lincoln on July 22, 2007
I love the doxologies of the Apostles. They launch you into the stratosphere of God's wonder, grace, and majesty. They make everyone and everything that would compete with Him seem small and insignificant by comparison. They are always full of hope and encouragement for those who believe. It would be a worthwhile thing to commit a number of them to memory. I love this one from Jude.
"Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory without fault with great joy. 25 to the only God our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24-25)
Peter writes,
"The God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To Him be dominion, forever, and ever. Amen" (1Peter 5:10-11)
Paul burst out into one at the end of the first half of Romans in chapter 11:36.
"Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!...For from Him and through Him to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen."
And one of my favorites:
"May the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely and may your spirit, soul and body be preserved completely, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you and He will bring it to pass." (2Thess. 5:23-24)
Where else will you hear such words of hope and encouragement and words that speak of God's grace and commitment to you like these?
This morning we come to the last verses of Romans. This last paragraph is a doxology. The word doxology comes from two Greek words: doxa which means glory and logos which means word. A doxology is a word of glory. Paul wants to wrap up his letter by offering up a word of glory to God and not to himself. To glorify something is to draw attention to it or to shine the light on the wonder of something. That's what Paul wants to do here. He wants to shine a spotlight on God and the gospel.
A Long Sentence:
He says, "Now to Him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel: the preaching of Jesus Christ ... and then he doesn't end his sentence until fifty words later in v.27 with...to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ be glory forever. Amen"
Paul has a lot to say about this gospel that God uses to make us strong. It might give us a hint about why some of the Corinthians complained that he wasn't a good speaker. How many people do know who use seventy words in one sentence or save the main verb until the next to last word of the sentence? Paul stacks up reason after reason for us to be encouraged but he's a hard guy to follow. If you diagramed the sentence, you would have to turn the page sideways to get it all in. If Paul spoke the way he wrote this, he would have been a difficult speaker to keep up with.
So, my plan is to break this one long sentence up into two parts. This morning I want to talk about God's purpose to strengthen us in the gospel from verse twenty-five. Next week we plan to look at the many ways that Gospel both glorifies God and serves us as well.
Three Questions: So, today let's consider three questions:
- How is it that God wants to be glorified? - What does Paul means by saying, "my gospel?" - What kind of strength is he referring to?
How Does God Seek His Glory? First, I want you to notice how God goes about getting glory. There are an infinite number of good ways Paul could have drawn attention to God. He could have mentioned God's omniscience, omnipresence, purity, and holiness. He could have written about God's immutability, that he never changes. I like the weather forecast last week. After reading a number of predictions there was a note that said, "Subject to change". God is never subject to change. Paul could have listed the attributes of his dominion, majesty, and authority over all things. He could have mentioned how the earth is God's footstool and that He put the stars in place and has a name for each one of them. All of these things would have been appropriate. All of these things are true about God.
However, Paul takes a different tack. Paul writes that God seeks His glory by making His children strong! Isn't that great?! God plans, purposes, and commits all the resources of heaven itself and the holy Trinity to make His children strong in the faith.
Many Rulers Have Other Ideas About Getting Glory.
There have been many powerful rulers in history who have sought glory and honor. Many have sought it through their power, riches, wisdom, and influence. They have done so at the expense of others. They do it by keeping their people poor, uneducated, and powerless. By uneducated, I mean keeping their people uniformed by controlling what they are allowed to read and hear. If their people were educated they might get strong and become a threat to the ruler's power. I'm thinking of men like Kim Jong of N. Korea, Karimov of Uzbekistan, and Bashire in Sudan. They're not alone. There are businessmen who instead of making their employees strong and securing their retirement contributions exploit their employees. After thirty years of work at PGE, (an Enron company), an employee lost every last penny of his retirement. When their stock began to plunge the executives bailed out. However, they wrote it into the plan that the employees were not allowed to leave the plan. These executives didn't seek their glory by making their employees strong and secure. They sought glory by exploiting them and stealing their retirement. When members of congress took the money from our national social security account and started writing IOU's, (without any money in the bank to pay them), they were seeking a glory but not the kind that seeks the welfare of the people. It also happens in marriage and family. Some men find it empowering and glorious to keep women weak and insecure. Some women find it empowering to mock men and their husbands. Many attempt to gain power, influence, glory by keeping others just a bit beneath them and they will use anything to do it: race, gender, politics, wealth, health, where you live or even what kind of car you drive.
Beloved, God he doesn't do that. God seeks His glory by making His people strong. "Now to Him who is able to strengthen you.
Psalm 144:12
I love the blessing of s. 144:12.
"May our young sons be as mature plants and may our daughters be as corner pillars fashioned for a palace."
I just love this verse. The psalmist wants Israel's young men to be oaks of righteousness strong and secure. He wants young women to be corner pillars of a palace. Corner pillars of a palace were weight bearing pillars, not decorative and ornamental. They bore the weight of the building with confidence and strength. They were fashioned with intelligence. He wants the young women to be able, educated, and strong to bear the burdens of life, not weak, frail, and fragile.
Young girls, you do not want to be with a man who wants you weak, intimidated, frail, and insecure to boost his ego. Why not? Because, God doesn't want us that way. I love the Greek language here. The word for able, with reference to God, is the world dunamis (dynamite). The word for strengthen is the word sterizo. It's where we get our word steroids.
A Negative Example of Strength
Last week, something very striking happened at the All Star baseball game. When Barry Bonds came out on the field, ten's of thousands of people stood up and cheered him as he attempted to break Hank Aarons home run record. Here's the problem. Hank Aaron didn't use steroids. What message does that sends to young baseball players when they see the man getting all that glory and honor for using steroids to break a record? Strength by cheating is not the kind of strength God desires no matter how successful and famous or rich you get doing it.
What I want you to notice is that God gets His glory by committing to do us good and making His people strong. He is satisfied and full of joy when you and I get strong in the faith. It makes him enormously glad! He's not threatened in the least bit by your strength. He's teaching us how to love. You love someone when you make the well being of that person more important than your own well being. How does God make us strong? He does so through the gospel which Paul says here is the preaching of Jesus Christ. God gave up His only son to bear the penalty of our sin so that we could become strong, confident, and secure in our faith in Him. Isn't God so good?!
"My Gospel" Second Question: Why does Paul say, "My gospel" in verse 25? It's important that we don't take this the wrong way. He doesn't mean that his gospel is unique or different from Jesus' gospel or the gospel of the other apostles. He writes that it is in fact the preaching of Jesus Christ. He simply means the gospel that he has been preaching. This gospel that pronounces that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, (Jew and Gentile alike), and that by grace and through faith in the Lord Jesus we can be find peace with God...this gospel that he has been preaching didn't come to him from anyone but Jesus. Clearly, he didn't make it up. Before his conversion he hated the Christians. Neither did he get it from the other apostles. He got it through direct revelation from Jesus himself.
I think the best way to hear him on this is to read Galatians 1:11-24.
"For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure, and tried to destroy it; 14 and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. 15 But when He who had set me apart, even from my mother's womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased 16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.18 Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord's brother. 20(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; 23 but only, they kept hearing, "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy." 24 And they were glorifying God because of me."NAS
Fourteen years later, Paul went to Jerusalem and the apostles Peter, James, and John and the rest of the apostles gave him the right hand of fellowship and confirmed that Jesus had indeed revealed His gospel to Paul.
By what authority does Paul have to say these things about Jesus and the Gospel? He has the authority of Jesus Himself. Jesus gave him the message he has been preaching. So, we rely on Paul's word about his gospel as Christ's word.
What Kind of Strength? OK, God seeks His glory by making His children strong. He does so through the gospel of faith in Jesus that Paul has been entrusted to make known. Finally, this morning I want to ask what kind of strength is Paul referring to when he says to Him who is able to strengthen you? Again, notice that it is strength that is in accordance with the gospel and preaching of Jesus as Savior and Lord. Now God is free to make us strong in any way He wants.
For example:
He gave awesome physical strength to Samson and Jael.
He gave wisdom and a strong mind to Solomon, Abigail and Tamar.
He gave David strength to prevail in battle.
He gave barren Sarah, Rebekah, Rachael and Mary power to give birth.
He gave Elijah the power to heal.
God can give any kind of strength he wants. However, here Paul's not referring to this kind of strength. Here, he's referring to the specific kind of strength that comes from the gospel.
When I was competing in college track and field, we had and annual warm up meet at West Texas State University. I was always fortunate to do really well and won the pole vault competition every year we went. Now, there was a jumper from WTS that was faster, stronger, and bigger than me, but for some reason he would always jump about a foot lower than I did. In our senior year, he came up to me really frustrated. He knew I was a follower of Jesus so he asked me, "Why don't I jump higher than I do?" Then he showed me his pole. He had written Bible verses on his vaulting pole. One was, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." He managed to find some obscure verse that read, "I can leap over a wall with the Lord's help." He was really mad that God had been so unfaithful to him. After all, he had put these verses on his pole. Wasn't God obligated to make him a famous pole vaulter?
This young man took a promise of God out of its context and used it for his own glory and self aggrandizement. He was absolutely shocked that God wouldn't let him be famous! He blamed his poor performance on God instead of a flawed technique. But I had to remind him that being a follower of Christ meant to follow the Lord Jesus. And Jesus was killed, not admired by the people. God's promise to strengthen you and to give you the strength to do all things is always within the realm and scope of His good will for you. He remains God and He doesn't relinquish that throne to you or anyone else, ever!
What Paul is referring to here is a strength that surpasses everything and it does so all of the time. It's a power and a strength that will carry you through cancer, physical weakness, failure, emotional weakness and mental illness, crushing disappointment, heart ache, doubts, questions, backward steps as well as steps forward. God is able to do exceedingly beyond anything we ask or think. If you don't get what you ask for, God has something better for you...that's all. It is the strength that comes from the gospel. And in the gospel, he has given us His best. And, if He didn't withhold his best (His only Son) will he not give you all things? Yes! Yes! And when things go south and seem to contradict everything we know about God, what do we do? Well, faith turns to the goodness of God even when that goodness is hidden from our eyes. Beloved, this is gospel strength. God has not answered many of our prayers the way we have wanted. But, in the gospel he makes us strong and carries us through by His covenant love which he has given us in Jesus.
God is Our Fortress: Ps 46:1-47:1ff Look a Psalms 46. And when you do, two things will stand out. One is the presence of serious threat. The other is the greatness of God's love and power. Which one are you going to let dominate your thinking?
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah (The threat of natural disaster cannot prevail over the gospel)4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall (the threat of war and wicked men.); he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. 10 "Be still, and know that I am God ;I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." 11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
One minister I read this week wrote this,
"God is able to strengthen all of you--men and women--with a kind of inner strength of soul through faith in Christ that makes you stronger even in a wheelchair than ten thousand moral jellyfish drifting on two legs with the current of modern culture.: "Now to him who is able to strengthen you . . . be glory forevermore.'"
Through the gospel of Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again victorious over all his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who trust Him. Through faith in the Lord Jesus and His gospel, His victories are now ours. He shares His victories (strength) with us. God strengthens us with the gospel to the day we die. Beloved, this is the river that makes glad the city of God. It is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lean on it today. Lean on the Lord Jesus, He will be your fortress and shield.