In a teaching series that started in August, we're coming up on the finish line. After five months of digging into Paul's epic letter of Romans, we finally arrive at the breathtaking finale. Chapter 16 is like a doxology that puts everything in perspective. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl reminds us of a liberating truth. As Christians, it isn't our job to point people to a church or denomination.
As believers, our calling is far simpler and more profound. pointing people to Jesus Christ. For that reason, Chuck titled today's message, To God Alone Be the Glory Forever. Yeah. We have come to the end of this wonderful letter to the Romans.
And it's the final three verses. that form the final Doxology. In the Language of common Greek, Doxa. is the word for glory.
So not surprisingly, the focus of the daqsa Is the glory of God. And may I remind all of us that if a church has one challenge over all others. It is making certain that the living God Receive all the glory. Um The glory. No matter how large the place may become, No matter how many May participate in the worship.
to God goes all the glory. and to God alone. All the glory. It is all about our great God. And that isn't an automatic thought.
In the standard American culture mind. We will read of that in this magnificent doxology.
Now, to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel. and the preaching of Jesus Christ. According to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages. Past. but now is manifested.
and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment of the eternal God. has been made known to all the nations. leading to obedience of faith. To the only Wise. God Through Jesus Christ.
Be the glory Forever. And God's people said, Amen. You're listening to Insight for Living. While it's fresh on your mind, be sure to purchase both volumes of our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbooks for Romans by going to insight.org/slash offer. Chuck titled today's message, To God Alone Be the Glory Forever.
There is always something exciting about coming home. after a long journey. Often, the longer the journey, the more excitement we feel when we turn the corner into our street and then ultimately walk into where we are living. And we often say things like, it is so good to be home. Journey ended.
I don't know if you've traveled much internationally, but when you do, you will notice the culture of people who are international. When they land the plane, they often break into an applause. Have you noticed that? I remember the first time I took a flight abroad and we were landing and they started applauding. I thought, someone performing somewhere?
And in fact, I guess it was their way of saying, we're just so glad to be home, or we're grateful for the safe landing. Billy Graham, in his book, How to Be Born Again, tells an interesting story of a group of people that probably really did applaud when they landed that plane. This was a big jumbo jet that lifted up over O'Hare Field and finally reached about 40,000 feet elevation on its way to Los Angeles International. As they reached the right elevation, Over the loudspeaker, these words were heard. This is a recording.
You have the privilege of being the first to fly a holy Electronic. Jet. This aircraft took off electronically. It is now flying at 40,000 feet. Electronically.
It will ultimately land at Los Angeles International. electronically. The plane has no pilot. No co-pilot. And no flight engineer.
But Mm-mm-mm. Do not worry, nothing can be. Can go wrong, go wrong, go wrong, go wrong, go wrong, go wrong, go wrong. Landing in that plane would have been a thrill all its own, wouldn't it? Talk about applauding.
It's been quite a journey through this great letter to the Romans. We have begun with a clear view of the depravity of humanity. And if that wasn't enough, we found that God In realizing that so many have gone their own way and are determined to take it to the end in their own way, gave them over, gave them up. gave them up. I call the first three chapters of Romans cinerama in panorama, spelled S-I-N.
Cinerama in panorama. And then you get to chapter four. And you meet up not with the goodness of man, but with the grace of God. And in chapters 4 and 5, we are told of the... Peace that is possible to have with God through faith that is in Jesus Christ.
By faith alone. In Christ alone. Because of his grace. alone. And as the grace shines through chapter five, we realize now that we are in Christ.
We have the Spirit of God living within us.
However, we are still living with an old sin nature. Remember the justification definition we've been Hearing over and over the sovereign act of God. Whereby he declares righteous the believing sinner While we are still in a sinning state. Let it sink in. Christ saved us.
While we were sinners, He gave us his nature. The person of the Holy Spirit took up residence within us.
However, the old nature is still there longing to be obeyed. Habits have been formed. Sinful activities have gotten in a rut and Those activities don't want to give up the throne. Of our lives. And so there is, Galatians 5 tells us, a warfare.
Between The work of the Spirit. and the flesh in our lives. They war against one another. That's chapters six, seven, and eight. of Romans.
When you get to chapter 9, we learn of the sovereignty of God. He has it all under his control. No reason to panic. Really, there's no reason to worry. Though you cannot see him.
Though you cannot audibly hear him, You witness over and over again how all things are working together. For good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Chapters 9, 10, and 11 are full of that truth. And then, chapter 12, we come to the place. where we are challenged to have our minds transformed.
As we allow the Lord God. Full control. which is our reasonable Worship. our reasonable service of worship. We learn of our liberty in Christ in chapter 13.
And the importance of living that liberty, yet not to the abuse of it. Chapters 14 and 15. And then we learn a whole nother dimension when we get to chapter 16. Paul was a people person. All the way through the first 15 chapters, it's vertical.
Oh, there are moments where he addresses the things of this earth, but so much of it keeps going back to the living God. When you get to chapter 16. You come across names you don't find anywhere else. In any part of the Bible, there are Many of these names appearing here and nowhere else. And then another list of eight of them come in 21 to 23, as we saw last time.
As we realize that Paul never lost touch with people, And let me add that, the importance of that. No matter how deep your walk may be in Christ. No matter how serious you may get, regarding the Christian life. We need each other. You need others and I need you and you need me.
If you keep a journal, your journal should be full of others' names. People who have crossed your path. whose shadow has touched your life. Mentors. who have helped train you and shape your life and challenge you and even confront you.
people one after another. But I am so grateful in the final daksa. the closing doxology of the letter. People are set aside. Doctrines related to the Christian life are pushed away.
And the attention turns. Toward God. and only to him. It is Paul's way of saying. To him be all the glory.
And to him alone be that glory of God. forever. Again, just as an aside. Take time for 60 to 90 seconds of your day. Every day.
To pause. to pause and say Lord to you. Goes all the glory. Remind me of that now that I have gotten this promotion. Or remind me of that now that I have lost my position.
Remind me of that as I anticipate my wedding day. Remind me of that as I go through the. Struggles and the battles of a broken relationship. even a marriage. Remind me, Lord, that you get all the glory as I go into surgery next week.
Remind me, Lord. Bring to my attention that my times are in your hands. To you goes all the glory. Last week, I was with Dr. Howie Hendricks for just a little bit of time.
We've been in a meeting together that I'll talk about later in this message. driving home I I was so privileged to have him with me. He didn't know it, but I took a longer way home than I needed to. Just to be with him a little longer. And I said to him, Dr.
Hendricks. You never Dream that your later years would be like they have been, would you? He has lost his eye through a battle with cancer. Recently had back surgery. And it was a wonderfully successful surgery.
He's going to be the bionic man before long when All of this is said and done. He said, no, Chuck, I never would have. I have learned. No matter what. It's what God has for me.
That's another way of saying to God. be all the glory. That's what Paul does here. In fact, you will notice that the title I've chosen is directly from the text. And uh What Paul is doing is introducing us.
To the pilot. the tour guide of our trip. He's been invisible. It isn't Paul, the human writer. It isn't Tertius.
The one who is the scribe, verse 22, introduces himself to us. It's the living God. And so he pauses at this moment. as if to lift his hands and to look up, And say now to him, Be all the glory. To him.
and to him alone. But he doesn't stop with just the statement of praise. He reminds us that God is awesome. He is awesome in his works, and he names four of them for us here. Will you never forget what you've learned in these lessons in Romans?
Only God. is awesome. Reserve that word just for him. The iPhone. Isn't awesome.
It's Interesting. Takes too much of your time, but it isn't awesome. Your new car isn't awesome. No matter what the Make may be. Your house isn't awesome.
Your child.
Sorry. Isn't it awesome? Only God. Only God. To him.
The awesome one, the only awesome one. who was able to There's our first stop-off. Establish you. This is a reference to the invisible, albeit invincible, power of God. Supporting us.
The original word has in mind a prop. As in a support. And the prefix on the original word puts it inside of us. The one who supports you down within. The one who stabilizes you and holds you steadfast.
You're not aware, and I am not aware, of those threatening occasions in our lives when we miss death by just. A quick shadow. It happened years ago in the life of Ira Sankey. The song leader for Dwight L. Moody.
Years ago, when Ira Sankey was at the height of his ministry and traveling on a steamer in the Delaware River. He was recognized by some of the people on board that seen his picture in the newspaper. When he was asked to sing one of his own compositions, Sankey, said he preferred the hymn by William Bradbury. Savior, like a shepherd, lead us. He suggested that everyone there who knew the song join in with him.
and to sing it. One of the stanzas begins, We are thine, and do thou befriend us. Be the guardian. of our way.
Okay. When he finished the song, a stranger stepped out of the shadows and asked Sankey, Were you in the army, Mr. Sankey? Yes, I joined up in 1860.
Well, did you ever do guard duty at night in Maryland? About 1862, Yes, I did.
Well, he said, I was in the Confederate Army. And I saw you one night at Sharpsburg. You were wearing your blue uniform, and I had you in my gun sight. As you stood there in the light of the full moon, then Just as I was about to pull the trigger. You began to sing.
Sankey was astounded as he recalled the incident. It was the same hymn we sang tonight. said the stranger. And when I heard you singing, I just couldn't shoot you.
Well, that was nice, wasn't it? When I sing, people want to shoot me, but when he sings, it doesn't happen. Why wouldn't he shoot him? The establishing power of God. The same reason you didn't lose your child in that accident.
The same reason you lived through that event when others said you'll never make it. That we always focus on those who are victims of a situation, and seldom do we stop. and remember the remarkable stories of those people who made it through. I've talked to veterans who landed at Normandy. And they said, my buddy died here, my next buddy died there.
My commanding officer died right in front of me, and right in front of him, the blood from his neck splattered all over me, and I never got a scratch. Remarkable. How God establishes certain individuals for His own purpose and in His own time. But this establishment is more than just dealing with threatening situations. This is an establishment that makes us firm and strong when standing against error.
Some of us have been called to do that in our lives. And we sometimes wonder where we get the strength to do that. It's from the living God. It's not from our own Constitution. When you face temptation and you're tempted to move in the wrong direction and you say no and you stay pure.
That's the work of God. Establishing you from within. When we're given courage to stand under attack or under fire. From those who don't know us, who don't understand us. who don't realize our motives are pure.
They misinterpret. The ability to keep standing firm is the work of God. Let's learn, let's teach ourselves since the media will never help. In learning this, let's teach ourselves to say frequently, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.
You get all the praise, Lord. Thank you for watching over, Lord. Thank you. It's the establishing work of God. He's also the revealer of the gospel.
Keep reading verse 25.
Now, to him who was able to establish you, we've seen that. According to my gospel, he calls it my gospel because it's the one he's been proclaiming for years. It's the gospel he has embraced and preaches. According to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past. but now is manifested.
And by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations. God is the revealer of the good news. The good news is always linked to the person of Christ. Never forget that. You haven't given people the gospel until you've given them something to believe.
And you haven't given them something to believe until you've given them someone. to believe in. You could talk to people about the church, and that's not witnessing. That will never lead a person to Christ. You could talk to people about how your life has been changed.
And that's a great statement, it's a wonderful story. It's just not what will change their lives. But when you mention the name of Christ, You have moved into the territory of the gospel. May I give it to you again? Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and he was buried.
He was raised miraculously and bodily from the grave, and he still lives. to continue to forgive our sins. He paid the complete price for our sins on the cross. No other sins need to be paid for. All of it has been taken care of by his death.
And God's approval of that death is the resurrection of Jesus from the grave and from death, and He lives on and will someday return for it. That is the gospel.
Now, when you get to that subject, is when you will find eyebrows lifting. or frowns forming. Or, as happened to me, when I got through giving that message to a medical doctor friend of mine years ago, I worked on this little bridge illustration. I put it together so carefully, I even drew it out as if he were a kindergarten kid. I put the cliff on one side and the cliff on the other side, and I put the cross in the middle.
I thought as I was writing, this is going to really, really result in his salvation.
So, I turned it around, a little napkin on the table, and I said, Here, Dr.
So-and-so, that's the good news. And he said to me, Not in a million years would I ever believe that. How's that for the great evangelist Swindoll's work there at the table that day? He wasn't rejecting me. It wasn't about me.
He listened as long as I was telling him about all of these religious things, but when I got to the person of Jesus, suddenly that was the turning point. Don't be afraid of being that narrow. In our pluralistic world, we're offered all kinds of gods. Just so everybody's sincere. It doesn't matter who they believe in, just sincerely believe in whatever, and your sincerity will get you to heaven.
No, you'll wind up in the other place. And you'll wonder, how in the world did I not make heaven? Because you didn't sincerely believe in the only way. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.
And that sounds so narrow. It is. It is. You're listening to Insight for Living. We'll hear closing comments from Chuck Swindahl in just a moment, so stay with us.
Chuck titled today's message, To God Alone Be the Glory Forever. It's the final message in a comprehensive study through the entire book of Romans that includes 44 sermons. Our study in Romans started in August and it concludes tomorrow. If you plan to request the interactive Searching the Scriptures Bible study for Paul's letter, now's the time to reach out. It's perfect for individual or group study.
And because of the in-depth nature of Chuck's study in Romans, this Bible study comes in two spiral-bound volumes. You can find all the details for purchasing them at insight.org slash offer. To listen to Chuck's sermons for the study in Romans, well, just download the Insight mobile app. All 44 messages are available and there's no cost to listen. Inside for Living aired its first broadcast in July of 1979.
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Join us when Chuck Swindahl continues his message called, To God Alone Be the Glory Forever. Tuesday on Insight for Living. Yeah. The preceding message, To God Alone Be the Glory Forever, was copyrighted in 2008, 2010, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindahl, Inc.
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