R549 Glorifying God

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton on The Encouraging Word. Today Dr. Wilton takes us to the small book of Jude to talk about glorifying God. As we study the word together, know that we'd love to connect with you in a couple of ways, both on our website at www.tewonline.org. Great place to sign up for Dr. Wilton's daily devotional. Again, that's online at www.tewonline.org. We're also taking your calls at 866-899-WORD.

Jot it down, store it in your cell. 866-899-9673 will connect you with us for prayer or to connect you with wonderful resources. Later today I'll tell you about The King is Coming.

Wonderful resources online at www.tewonline.org. And now Dr. Don Wilton. Thank you so much. Please take your Bibles this morning and turn with me to the small letter called Jude. Jude. Right before the final book of the New Testament, the book of Revelation, you'll find a very short 25 verse letter. The letter to Jude.

And I want you to turn there with me this morning. God has blessed each one of us. And He's blessed us in so many different ways. He's blessed us as individuals.

Thank God for the United States. He's blessed us as a nation. He's blessed us as a people. He's blessed us in our lives. God has blessed us. Do you realize that, in a sense, even those who need the most in the United States are in many ways far more blessed than many other people around the world. Even the most needy.

And I know that that's relative. But God has blessed us. Has God blessed you? I want you to just listen for a second.

I'm going to ask a very, very important question. If God has blessed you, and if God has blessed me, are we giving God all the glory? Are you glorifying God because of your blessings? Your position? Your job? Your family?

Your circumstances? Now I know this sounds a little strange, but do you know the Lord tells us to glorify Him even when we're down in the dunce? God tells us to call His name blessed in everything, to give thanks. God has blessed us in our church. God is blessing us in so many different ways.

We're just seeing an outpouring of the blessings of God. Now I want to show you something this morning. I'm going to read to you from Jude and verse 24.

Jude and verse 24. Now, I know I've told you to look there. I want you to look back at me before we read it. What we're going to read is a doxology. We've all sung the doxology, praise God from whom all blessings flow. When you go and begin to study what God has to say about doxologies, God is trying to tell us very something very significant. The word doxology comes from the root word doxa, D-O-X-A, to transliterate from the Greek text.

And it means to glorify. And in this context, what God's word is telling us is that a doxology or to doxologize means that we are conferring, as it were, glory upon the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords after His death. A doxology is the placement of ultimate honor in thanksgiving and gratitude to Almighty God for all that He has done for us. A doxology is the ultimate statement of praise. When all is said and done, there is a sense in which a tombstone is a doxology.

All of us are going to die someday. And there is a sense in which on every tombstone of every one of our lives ought to be written a doxology, which will be a synopsis of all that we have done. And in so doing, we are placing glory upon the one who is deceased. We are conferring honor on the one.

Well, let's look at this doxology here in Jude 24. The Bible says, To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy. To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all ages, now and forevermore. Amen.

I want to speak this morning from God's Word on glorifying God. What is the significance of this doxology as we apply it to our own lives? It's significant.

Number one, because it focuses on the right person. Now, folks, listen. We make heroes out of people.

There's nothing wrong with that per se. We make heroes out of politicians. We even make heroes. I know you won't believe this, but some people make heroes out of preachers.

You can turn on your television set. Folks, there's some TV shows that are just TV shows with a preacher doing a performance up there and literally thousands of people going berserk and they worshiping a preacher or they worshiping a show or a program or an entertainment. And we are a people who worship and who glorify people and objects. But God says we need to place all our focus on the right person. Jesus Christ, what does this doxology do to Him? What is God trying to tell us when we read this doxology to Him?

What does it say about this right person? It gives to Him glory, majesty, power, authority. That's what God is saying to us. God is saying, let it be said once and for all, thou shalt have no other gods before me.

That's what a doxology is. It is conferring ultimate glory on the right person. May I just say, would you just watch me for a minute, sir? Has God blessed you? Are you giving glory to God?

Is your focus on the right person a doxology? But I want you to notice something else about this. It not only focuses on the right person, but it speaks of His divine capability. Look there in verse 24, to Him who is able.

I love that. That word able, there speaks of God's divine capability. I'm going to ask a question.

Are you ready for this? Can you name anything today that God is not able to meet? God is capable of doing anything. There is not a single thing that God's capability does not reach to.

There's not a single circumstance. I want you to be encouraged today, Steve. There's a song that goes, He is able, He's able, He's able, He's able, He's able. I'm not going to sing it, but it's got a whole lot of He is able. You know that song, cry or nod like this, He is able. I love that song.

I wish you could get up here and sing it right now, Steve. But you know what it's all about? It's the fact that God's Word confirms to us what God teaches us. And that is when we doxologize, when we focus on the right person, we are speaking of God's divine capability of God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. What is He is capable of doing? God is able, here it is, God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, what?

Above all that we could ask or even think. That means, uh-uh, can't do that. Yes, I can. No, Lord, that's just too much.

No, it isn't. That's too far. I can do anything.

God says, I am God and my divine capability extends way beyond any kind of human reason or understanding. Now be encouraged. There's someone here today, you want to give up? Maybe you've been going a long time.

Maybe you're worn out today. Don't do it because of God's divine capability. But I want you to note in the third place, it defines His sovereign ability.

Yeah, we're dealing with a doxology. We're talking about glorifying God. Number one, it focuses on the right person. Number two, it speaks of His divine capability. And number three, it defines His sovereign ability. Not just what God is capable of, but what God actually does.

That's such an incredible thing. God just doesn't say, you know, I'll think about it. God does it. Well, what does He do? The Bible says that God's sovereign ability extends to two major areas.

These are major categories. Number one, the word here in verse 24 says, first of all, He prevents us from falling. Did you notice that? Now, folks, that word falling there is very interesting if you want to study it with me for a moment. That word falling there literally means when we try to relinquish God's grip on us. Most of us in life, all of us in life, we belong to the Lord Jesus. But do you know that we try jolly hard to get God to let go?

Say, Lord, I don't need you around me. I'm self-sufficient. I can do it on my own.

I can paddle my own canoe. And listen, here's what happens. As soon as you and I turn away from God, guess what happens? We begin to fall. Now, the word fall there means that we are literally moving away from the upholding hand of God. Well, God says that when you come to grips with who He is, the very essence of His sovereign ability is the fact that God prevents us from falling. And what happens when you fall? You hurt yourself. That's what happened to Clint Tolison on Friday.

Riding in a golf cart, fell out of the golf cart and the golf cart rolled over him. There is a sense in which God says, listen, as you're going through life in the golf carts of life, I want you to know because you're a human being, you are going to have the tendency to fall out and get run over. I am going to uphold you and prevent you from falling.

Boy, what a word of encouragement. God sustains us. But there's a second component to His sovereign ability. He not only prevents us, but I want you to note in the second place, He presents us. I love this.

This is great. Watch this. Watch what happens here. He not only prevents us, He holds me up, but He turns me around and He presents me to Almighty God. And the Bible tells us how He presents me. First of all, He presents me to God without fault. Excuse me?

Without fault? Me, a sinner? Someone who's filled with pride and arrogance and selfishness and sinfulness? God meets me in Christ Jesus and I am presented to Him without fault.

First Peter writes about it. We are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. We are washed and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. We are presented to God through Jesus Christ by His death upon the cross. And we are presented as blameless and without fault. Wow.

What a reason to glorify God. You're listening to Dr. Don Wilton. Please don't go away. He'll be back to complete today's message, glorifying God in just a moment, but he insists I remind you that we're here for you. Connecting on our phone at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. And on our website, TEWOnline.org. That's TEWOnline.org. While you're there, you want to take a look at this fresh book, Erwin Lutzer's The King is Coming, paired with Dr. Wilton's message, Is This the End? You know, when you hear someone shouting out, The end is near, sometimes it sounds like insane rambling, but it could also be a sensible presentation of the truth. Again, you'll find more details about The King is Coming and the message, Is This the End, on our website at TEWOnline.org. While you're there, be sure to follow Dr. Don on his social media, as well as sign up for the daily devotional, it's all there, TEWOnline.org.

At the bottom of our front page, you'll find a way to sign up for a daily word of encouragement from Dr. Wilton, and it will bless your life. Unbelievable. Now I'm going to show you something interesting here, because he doesn't just leave it there. He says that when we are presented to Him, we are not only presented without fault, but we are presented, look there in verse 24.

Did you notice something there? He says we are presented with great joy. You know what that means?

It means that when Jesus presents us to God, He presents us with no reluctance whatsoever. You know folks, we were overseas a couple of weeks ago. This happens to me time and time again. And we're over there somewhere, and I see one of my favorite chocolates. I've just got to confess to you, every now and once, every six months, I will eat a chocolate.

So now, I've got that out of the way. So we're overseas, and I see one of the chocolates that I've grown up with, and I turn to my wife, because she grew up in the same place, and I say to her, Hey, doc, look at that. Oh, I have got to have one of those. I mean, I have got to have one. I said, let's get one each.

She looks at me and she says, no, no, I'm resolved. I'm not going to have one of those. No, it's going to ruin my diet. I will not touch it. I'm not going to have, I said, just have one. I mean, we're not in, you know, just one. Just have one of these.

No, no, absolutely not. I'm resolved. I'm not going to have it. So I buy myself one.

I don't have, I don't have any pride, folks. And I just go ahead and I buy myself, and I sit there, open that thing, and I savor it, and I get down to the last bite. And you know, the last bite is always the best, because the whole back end is covered in double chocolate. And I've got that, and I'm just about to put it in my mouth, and my wife says to me, are you going to offer me any or what? And I say, excuse me, you didn't want any of this. She said, oh, but I just want a taste. I said, well, this is a very important taste.

My whole life depends upon this. I have savored this. I've eaten everything else.

I've got to this point. Now you want a bite. You didn't want any.

I'll tell you what, I'll buy you 10 of them. No, I just want a bite of yours. Well, folks, you know what happens, don't you? I end up giving her that last bite, and I'm just going to tell you, in my heart, as she takes it, I say to myself, I hope she chokes on that thing. Hey, don't look at me like that, guys. You've all been there. You know we play this game. I say, I hope it breaks all your front teeth as you eat that thing.

You know you're giving it, but there's a kind of reluctance. Just listen for a minute. Don't you think that Jesus Christ went to the Garden of Gethsemane? His agony was so intense that he sweated drops of blood. He went through the Kidron Valley. He went up to the house of Caiaphas where they beat him to a pulp. They placed him in a prison, my friend, that's not like Spartanburg County Prison. It was a dungeon.

They had to be let go. The psalmist spoke about the agony of the darkness of the dungeon that surrounded Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of God. They took him out of there. They maligned him all the way to the house of Pontius Pilate. They took him and flogged him down the Via Doloroso. They took him up to the place of the skull and they put him in a public place. One of the major thoroughfares outside the walls of Jerusalem. The place of the skull and they beat him to a pulp and they spat in his face and they mocked him.

And soldiers even began to gamble for the garments that lay around the cross. And he gave up the ghost and they took our Savior down and they put him in a tomb, in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea and he rose gloriously on the third day. Don't you think, don't you think that Jesus Christ would have every right to present someone like me to God the Father and say to him, God the Father, I present to you Don Wilton. He belongs to me.

I died for him. But God, if I could just put this in your ear, whatever you do, don't forget that he's one of them that crucified me. Yes, let him go to heaven, God. I don't mind that.

I hope that's all right with me. He can come to heaven. He can be here for eternity.

He can receive his ward. But I want to tell you something, my Father, if you just understood what they did to me, how they treated me, how they abused me, I want you to know it's okay with me that he comes into paradise. But I want him to suffer.

I want him to pay for what he did for me. And yet Jesus hung upon that cross and he said, my God, my God, please forgive them because they don't know what they are doing. And the Word of God says to him, who is able to present you without fault and with great joy. No reluctance. No misgivings.

No second thoughts. What a doxology. It focuses on the right person. It speaks of his divine capability. It defines his sovereign ability. It settles his eternal existence.

What does it tell us? Before all ages, he was there in the past. Now he's here in the present forever.

He's in the future. He's there before we've even got there. But fifth and finally, my friends, it seals his glory as an absolute certainty. Do you notice there in Jude 24 verse 25, he signs it all by saying, amen.

He seals his eternal nature as an absolute certainty. Do you know what amen means? Amen means thus it has been written and thus it has been said. It means it is finished.

It is completely complete. There's nothing else that can be done. Giving glory to God. My friend, that's what it's all about. Giving glory to God.

Nothing else is more important than that. And our prayer as a church is that is all we should do. Glorify God. When we glorify God, everything else falls into place.

Because God inhabits the praise of his people. I pray that as you've been listening to Dr. Don preach, you would now open your heart to him as he steps into the studio to just share from his heart. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much. And I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin.

I confess my sin to you. And I invite you to come into my heart and into my life by faith. In Jesus name I pray. If you prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey.

And in just a moment, I'm going to come back with a final word. It could be that moments ago, as Dr. Wilton was leading in that salvation prayer, you gave your life to Jesus. Either for the first time or you rededicated your life to Jesus and you know that this is a brand new beginning. We rejoice with you in that and would love to be putting resources in your hands that will help you succeed in deepening your roots and stretching out your branches to serve God in more powerful ways than ever. As a matter of fact, Dr. Don has some wonderful free resources he wants you to have if you just gave your life to Christ or just rededicated your life to Jesus. Call us and get your copies right now at 866-899-WORD.

Jot the number down, store it in your cell. It's not just answered during the broadcast, but 24 hours a day at 866-899-9673. You can also connect with us on our website, TEWOnline.org.

That's TEWOnline.org. There you'll find not only today's broadcast and other video presentations of Dr. Don Wilton, but also great resources like this. Believers around the world are asking these questions. Is Jesus about to come back? Is this the end of the world? Join Dr. Wilton as he answers these questions straight from God's word in his message, Is This the End? Also, as a bonus, you will receive The King is Coming by Erwin Lutzerk, renowned theologian and friend. Both of these ministry resources will greatly bless, motivate and encourage you in anticipation of our Lord Jesus's return. Be assured, God has everything under control.

He is our living hope. Call us at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673 and request Is This the End?

In the bonus book, The King is Coming for yourself or your friend today. Thank you for listening and thank you for supporting The Encouraging Word. Now it's time to spread the gospel.

Again, that's just one of the great resources online at TEWOnline.org. I pray you'll join us tomorrow. Dr. Wilton's message is called When God Enlages Our Tent. That's tomorrow's message here on The Encouraging Word. Between now and then, let's stay connected on our website, TEWOnline.org. And before we get away, closing thoughts from Dr. Don Wilton, our chief encourager here on The Encouraging Word. Well, here I am again.

What a day this has been. You know, one of the things I want to say to you is let's stay connected. You know, we've got so many means to be able to do that.

You can write to us, email us. You've got all the details right there in front of us. We are. We're a family together. We stay connected in so many ways and your life is very important to me. I see you there and God shows me and I want to be able to pray with you and connect with you and be a vital part of your relationship, your growth.

Your needs are maintained. I'm walking in your shoes and I want to pray for you. Please don't stop. Call us.

Write us. Keep praying. Keep giving. Keep connecting. Keep rejoicing. Keep celebrating. Keep striving. God is on His throne. This is The Encouraging Word.

And now you know why. Let's stay connected online at TEWOnline.org. The Encouraging Word.