God's glory can't be taken... (2)

Rev. Andrew Hunt, III

Walking through the Book of Acts • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

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God’s glory can’t be taken ...

Taking God’s Glory

, “Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king's country for food. On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. But the word of God increased and multiplied. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.”

“Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king's country for food. On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

But the word of God increased and multiplied. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.”

In this morning’s passage we are going to see two things being clearly pointed out. The sovereign divine judgment of God and the sovereign divine Word of God, which continues to grow the church. Both of these actions are predicated upon our God receiving all the glory for the things in which He has done.

Every action, every accomplishment, every achievement, every assertion, every audacious attribute in this age and in the age to come all serve to give glory to our God. Our God is great and greatly to be praise, from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, His name must be given glory for the things He has done. What Glorifies God, or what gives God honor.

To glorify and honor God means to bring Him glory and honor through everything we say and do – Doing everything for the glory of God. Honoring God, Glorifying God with our lives, words, thoughts, actions, songs, dance, and food, drink and in all we do. Acknowledging God’s glory, Appreciating who God is, and Valuing God far above everything else.

We glorify God by loving him, by obeying him, by trusting him and walking with him. We honor God when we have faith and trust in him, when we love him, and when we truly desire to know him, obey him and please him in all that we do. We were created to glorify God, enjoy him and walk with Him. When we glorify God and honor God, we get closer to him and enjoy him immensely. God is really pleased and rejoices over us when we glorify him and live for him.

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Let us pray…

The Sovereign divine judgment of God

Several months has passed since Peter’s angelic release and escape for jail in Jerusalem. When for reasons unknown to us, Herod became very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon.

These people were outside Herod’s jurisdiction, but since the Old Testament times their country had been fed by the region ruled by Herod. Realizing the danger of having Herod irate with them, with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain… Well pastor what is a chamberlain? A chamberlain is a trusted personal assistant to a high government official; the Greek literally means “the one over the bedroom,” but such a person would have had wider responsibilities than this.

We see that they were asking for peace, because Herod’s economic blockade was crippling them, and they needed to make peace with him quickly. They persuaded (possibly with money) Blastus the kings’ chamberlain to act as an intermediary.

Herod agreed to terms, but to further demonstrate his prowess,

He subjected the ambassadors from the two cities to a spectacle. On an appointed day (according to the Jewish historian Josephus the occasion was a feast in honor of Herod’s patron, the Roman Emperor Claudius), Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. They met in the amphitheater built by Agrippa’s grandfather, Herod the Great. Josephus describes the scene:

“ [Herod] put on a garment made wholly of silver, and of a contexture truly wonderful, and came into the theatre early in the morning; at which time the silver of his garment being illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun’s rays upon it, shone out after a surprising manner.

Overwhelmed by his splendor (or, more likely, seeking to flatter him), the people kept crying out, “The voice of god and not of a man!” Josephus notes that Herod “did neither rebuke them, nor reject them but accepted their impious flattery, he was clear taking God’s glory.

"What is the glory of God?" The glory of God is the beauty of His spirit. It is not an aesthetic beauty or a material beauty, but it is the beauty that emanates from His character, from all that He is.

, “Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.” James exhorts the poor to boast in their exaltation and vindication in God and the rich to boast in their humiliation. Why? (1) By realizing that their wealth is temporary and that it brings them no advantage before God, and (2) by identifying with the poor in their affliction.

The church is to be a “countercultural” community, which reverses the values of the world. Given the context here, James seems to be saying that the challenges of poverty and wealth may be one of the greatest “trials” for Christians. This understanding is suggested by his immediate emphasis on the “blessed” status of those who remain “steadfast under trial.” James also echoes Jesus’ warning that “You cannot serve God and money”

The glory of man is the beauty of man’s spirit, which is fallible and eventually passes away, and is therefore humiliating—as the verse tells us. But the glory of God, which is manifested in all His attributes together, never passes away; it is eternal. , says, that God created us for His glory. In context with the other verses, it can be said that man “glorifies” God because through man, God’s glory can be seen in things such as love, music, heroism and so forth—things belonging to God that we are carrying “in jars of clay” ().

We are the vessels, which “contain” God’s glory. All the things we are able to do and to be, find their source in Him. God interacts with nature in the same way. Nature exhibits His glory. His glory is revealed to man’s mind through the material world in many ways, and often in different ways to different people. The sight of the mountains may thrill one person, and another person may love the beauty of the sea. But that which is behind them all is God’s glory and it speaks to both people and connects them to God. In this way, God is able to reveal Himself to all men, no matter their race, heritage or location.

As says, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims handiwork. Day to day pours our speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.” calls heaven itself “glory.” It used to be common to hear Christian’s talk of death as being “received unto glory,” which is a phrase borrowed from this Psalm.

When a Christian dies, he or she will be taken into God’s presence, and in His presence will be naturally surrounded by God’s glory. We will be taken to the place where God’s beauty literally resides—the beauty of His Spirit will be there, because He will be there. Again, the beauty of His Spirit (or the essence of Who He Is) is His “glory.” In that place, His glory will not need to come through man or nature, rather it will be seen clearly, just as

says, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known.” In the human earthly sense glory is a beauty or vibrancy that rests upon the material, and in that sense, it fades.

But the reason it fades is that material things do not last. They die and wither, but the glory that is in them belongs to God, and returns to Him when death or decay takes the material. Think of the rich man mentioned earlier. The verse says, “The rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.”

What does this mean? The verse is admonishing the rich man to realize that his wealth and power and beauty comes from God, and to be humbled by the realization that it is God who makes him what he is, and gives him all he has. And the knowledge that he will pass away like the grass is what will bring him to the realization that God is the one from whom glory comes. God’s glory is the source, the wellspring from which all smaller glories run. Since God is the one from whom glory comes, He will not let stand the assertion that glory comes from man or from the idols of man or from nature. In , “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.”

We see an example of God’s jealousy over His glory; God will not share His glory with anyone. When Herod attempted to take the sovereign divine glory of God for himself, there was a great price to pay, and he paid with his life. This jealousy for His own glory is what Paul is talking about in

, “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”

When he speaks of the ways people worship the creature rather than the Creator.

In other words, they looked at the object through which God’s glory was coming, and, instead of giving God the credit for it, they worshiped that animal or tree or man as if the beauty it possessed originated from within itself.

This is the very heart of idolatry and is a very common occurrence. Everyone who has ever lived has committed this error at one time or another. We have all “exchanged” the glory of God in favor of the “glory of man.” This is the mistake many people continue to make: trusting in earthly things, earthly relationships, their own earthly powers or talents or beauty, or the goodness they see in others.

We must all stop taking God’s glory!!

But when these things fade and fail, as they will inevitably do; being only temporary carriers of the greater glory; these people despair.

What we all need to realize is that God’s glory is constant, and as we journey through life we will see it manifest here and there, in this person or that person, or in a story of love or heroism, fiction or non-fiction, or our own personal lives.

But it all goes back to God in the end. And the only way to God is through His Son, Jesus Christ. We will find the very source of all beauty in Him, in heaven, if we are in Christ. Nothing will be lost to us. All those things that faded in life we will find again in Him. God’s response was swift when Herod took His glory God took his life. The text says that, “immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory instead he was taking God’s glory.

A. W. Tozer once said, God is looking for men in whose hands his glory is safe.”

But because Herod did not give God the glory but took if for himself, God took his life because God’s glory was not safe in Herod’s hands. The Bible says that worms ate him.

The phrase “eaten by worms,” in Greek is skolakobrotos.

The root word skolax means a specific “head structure of a tapeworm.” Herod’s death was almost certainly due to a ruptured cyst formed by a tapeworm. There are several kinds of tapeworms, but one of the most common ones found in sheep-growing countries is the dog tapeworm. The heaviest infections come from areas where sheep and cattle are raised. Sheep and cattle serve as intermediate hosts for the parasite. The dog eats the infected meat, and then the man gets the eggs from the dog, usually by fecal contamination of hair of the dog.

The disease is characterized by the formation of cysts, generally on the right lobe of the liver; these may extend down into the abdominal cavity. The rupture of such a cyst may release as many as two million scolices, when a rupture occurs then cellular debris along with the worms may cause sudden death.

According to Josephus, Herod lingered on for five days, in terrible pain. Amid all his pomp and majesty, he suffered an ignominious and shameful death. So ended the reign and life of the man who dared to touch two of God’s apostles. His crime for which he was executed was that he did not give God the glory, the very crime for which all the unregenerate that reject God will one day be condemned. Herod did not respect the sovereign divine judgment of God towards all who seek to take His glory.

The Unrighteousness of the Gentiles and the unbelieving Jews are seen here is this passage. God’s wrath is righteously revealed because people suppress the truth about the one true God and turn to idolatry instead of turning to the truth. Earlier we read these verses now, let up pack these verses.

, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

The wrath of God refers to his personal anger against sin. God’s anger is not selfish or arbitrary but represents his holy and loving response to human wickedness. Some have understood God’s wrath in impersonal cause-effect terms, but that would be a deistic worldview rather than a biblical one.

God’s wrath is expressed for good reason since his power and divine nature are clearly revealed through the world he has made, and yet he is rejected by all people. These verses show that salvation does not come through “general revelation” (what is known about God through the natural world) since Paul emphasizes the universality of sin and concludes that “no one seeks for God” (3:11). Things that have been made. The entire natural world bears witness to God through its beauty, complexity, design, and usefulness. Without excuse. No one should complain that God has left insufficient evidence of his existence and character; the fault is with those who reject the evidence.

The root sin is the failure to value God above all things, so that he is not honored and praised, so that he is hallowed as the Lord prayer demands, as he should be. Human beings are foolish, not in the sense that they are intellectually deficient but in their rejection of God’s lordship over their lives. They knew God not in a saving sense, but they knew of his existence and his attributes.

says that even brilliant people who do not honor God miss the whole purpose of life and are therefore fools,

, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?” (cf. , ; ; ; ; ; ).

Idolatry is the fundamental sin. In addition to the images housed in great temples, Roman families commonly kept representations of individual “house gods” in their homes (examples found at Pompeii are particularly striking). Mediterranean and Near Eastern pagan religion worshiped idols in the form of beasts, or in the likeness of mixed beast/human deities such as the ancient gods of Egypt. Modern “idols” don’t look like ancient ones; images served today are often mental rather than metal. But people still devote their lives to, and trust in, many things other than God. Three times Paul says God gave them up (vv. 24, 26, 28). In every instance the giving up to sin is a result of idolatry, the refusal to make God the center and circumference of all existence, so that in practice the creature is exalted over the Creator. Hence, all individual sins are a consequence of the failure to prize and praise God as the giver of every good thing.

exchanged the truth about God for a lie. Paul implies that all other religions are based on false ideas about the one true God; they are not just “different paths to one God,” as some claim.

One the greatest truth we exchanged for a lie by taking God’s glory and adopting it as our own.

, “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

The Sovereign Divine Word of God

, “But the word of God increased and multiplied. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.”

Again Luke keeps us on track with the church’s growth by reporting that despite the furious opposition of men, the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied those who came to Christ. They could no more stop the spread of the gospel through the Word of God than we could ever stop the tide of the ocean from coming in. The purposes of God’s cannot be frustrated, but the Word of God requires two things of us for is successful grow.

(1) That we teach the living Word, (2) that we believe the living Word.

"What is the living Word? What does it mean that the Bible is the living Word of God?" According to , “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

The “word of God” here is the written or spoken Word, and it is “living” and active Word. The description of the Bible as “living” means that the Word of God has a vital power inherent to itself. The written Word of God accomplishes God’s purposes , “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

The preaching of the Holy Scriptures brings about God’s desired effects. The Bible is unlike other books, whatever emotional or social effects they may produce, the living Word of God brings about lasting, supernatural changes within a person. “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (). Jesus likened the Word of God to seed in His parable of the sower (). Seed, like the Bible, is not dead, but living, and it has the ability to bring forth more life abundantly. Seeds will always produced a crop. The Bible, as the living Word of God, is not passive or powerless, the Bible “penetrates” deep within us and “judges” our hearts and motivations. It is “active,” not passive. The Bible is resisted or ignored to our own peril,

, “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression of disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it is was attested to us by those who heard.” We see the living Word of God in action in the pages of the Bible. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached the Word of God, and his audience “were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” ().

Three thousand people were saved that day (verse 41). Later, as the apostles continued to preach, the number in the church grew to five thousand, because “many of those who had heard the word believed” (, ESV). God’s Word is living and active, does not return to Him void. The Bible is the living Word of God because it is the message given to us from the “living God” ().

The God who is alive works in this world through His living Word in conjunction with the Holy Spirit. Jesus spoke of the life-giving property of His words: “The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life” (). The word of our Lord is efficacious for our salvation and sanctification (; ). Other indications that the Word of God is alive include the facts that the word sustains mankind (), it brings faith (), it has freedom to accomplish God’s will (), it can be maligned (), it gives spiritual birth (), and it abides within believers (). We see the living Word of God in action every time a sinner repents and turns to Christ for eternal life. The believer’s changed life bears testimony to the living, active power of the Bible. Commentator Matthew Henry said the Bible, “convinces powerfully, converts powerfully, and comforts powerfully.

It makes a soul that has long been proud, to become humble; and a perverse spirit, to become meek and obedient.

Sinful habits, that have become as natural to our souls, and rooted deeply in it, are separated and cut off by this sword. It’s reveals to us our thoughts and purposes, the vileness of many, the bad principles they are moved by, the sinful ends they act to” The living Word is active in the lives of those who receive it. According to the psalmist, the person who meditates on and delights in the Word will be “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither” ().

The Scriptures today are often downplayed in favor of manmade philosophies, personal experiences, or a “new” word from God. But the Bible cannot be ignored as if it were dead or obsolete.

The Word of God is still powerful and very much alive.

“We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” ().

We need to receive the Word of the living God and also we must believe the Word of the living God!

"Why should I believe the Bible?" The Bible makes claims about (1) the creation of the universe,

(2) The nature of the God who created the universe and reigns supremely over it, and (3) the fate of mankind.

If these claims are true, then the Bible is the most important book in the history of mankind.

If the Bible is true, then it holds the answers to life’s biggest questions: “From where did I come?” “Why am I here?” and “What happens to me when I die?”

The importance of the Bible’s message demands it receive fair consideration, and the truthfulness of its message is observable, testable, and able to withstand scrutiny. The writers of the Bible claim that the Bible is God’s very Word. The apostle Paul writes that “all Scripture is God-breathed”

().

That is to say, all the words recorded in the original writing of Scripture originated from the mouth of God before ever reaching the minds and pens of the biblical writers. The apostle Peter also writes that “prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (). The phrase “carried along” is indicative of a sail being propelled by the wind. That is, that the Holy Spirit directed the writing of Scripture.

The Bible does not originate with man and is, then, a product of God and carries the authority of God. At this point, it is important not to let circular reasoning become the justification for believing the Bible.

We cannot say that one should believe the Bible simply because the Bible says it should be believed. If, however, the truth claims of the Bible are found true whenever it is possible to test their veracity or are proved true during historical and scientific discovery, then the internal claims of the Bible’s own trustworthiness are more compelling. The internal evidence works in tandem with the external. The internal evidence of Scripture’s veracity provides many compelling arguments for why one should believe the Bible.

First, the unique message of the Bible sets it apart from other religious texts. The Bible, for instance, teaches that mankind is inherently evil and deserving of eternal death.

If mankind were responsible for the content of the Bible, the view of humanity would not be so dark—we tend to make ourselves look good. The Bible also teaches that humans can do nothing of themselves to remedy their natural state. This, too, goes against human pride. The unity of the biblical message is further reason for why one should believe the Bible. The Bible was written over a period of approximately 1,550 years, with at least 40 human writers, most of who did not know each other and were from varying backgrounds (king, fisherman, tax collector, shepherd, etc.). The Bible was written in various environments (desert, prison, royal court, etc.). Three different languages were used to write the Bible, and, despite covering controversial subjects, it carries one harmonious message. The circumstances surrounding the writing of the Bible would seem to guarantee its fallibility, and, yet, the message from Genesis to Revelation is uncannily consistent. Another reason why one should believe the Bible is its accuracy. The Bible should not be confused with a science textbook, but that does not mean that the Bible does not speak to issues that are scientific in nature. The fact that God is omniscience means that He is all science. The water cycle was described in Scripture centuries before it was a scientific discovery. In some cases science and the Bible have seemed to be at odds with each other. Yet, when science has advanced, the scientific theories have proved wrong and the Bible proved right. For example, it used to be standard medical practice to bleed patients as a cure for illness. Many people died because of excessive blood loss.

Now medical professionals know that bloodletting, as a cure for most diseases is counterproductive. The Bible always taught, “the life of a creature is in the blood” (). The Bible’s truth claims concerning world history have also been substantiated. Skeptics used to criticize the Bible for its mention of the Hittite people (e.g., ). The lack of any archaeological evidence to support the existence of a Hittite culture was often cited as a rebuttal against Scripture. In 1876, however, archaeologists discovered evidence of the Hittite nation, and by the early 20th century the vastness of the Hittite nation and its influence in the ancient world was common knowledge. The scientific and historical accuracy of the Bible is important evidence of the Bible’s trustworthiness, but the Bible also contains fulfilled prophecies. Some of the biblical writers made claims about future events centuries in advance. If any one of the events predicted had occurred, it would be astounding. But the Bible contains many, many prophecies. Some of the predictions were fulfilled in a short amount of time (Abraham and Sarah had a son, Peter denied Jesus three times, Paul was a witness for Jesus in Rome, etc.). Other predictions were fulfilled hundreds of years later. The 300 messianic prophecies fulfilled by Jesus could not have reasonably been fulfilled by one person unless some greater power was involved. Specific prophecies like Jesus’ birthplace, activities, manner of death, and resurrection demonstrate the preternatural accuracy of Scripture. When it is put to the test, the Bible is proved true in every area. Its truth extends to the spiritual, as well. That means that when the Bible says the Hittite nation existed, then we can believe that there were Hittites, and when the Bible teaches that “all have sinned” () and the “wages of sin is death” (), then we need to believe that, too. And, when the Bible tells us that “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” () and that “whoever believes in [Jesus] shall not perish but have eternal life” (), then we can and should receive and believe also.

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