To Our Great God Belongs Eternal Glory

TO OUR GREAT GOD BELONGS ETERNAL GLORY

An Exposition of Philippians 4:20

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date:   April 28, 2019

Series: Philippians: Gospel Partnership on Mission in the World

Note:   Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard   Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Holy Scripture says, through the apostle Paul:

“To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Philippians 4:20)

INTRODUCTION

The famous first question of the 17^th-century Westminster Shorter Catechism asks:

“What is the chief end of man?”

The answer hits the nail on the head:

“Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”

The saints of God know that their ultimate goal is to glorify the Holy One, because all glory, honor, and praise rightly belong to Him. The repeated declaration “Praise the Lord!” throughout the Psalms testifies to this reality. And Psalm 115 beautifully captures the heart of God-glorifying worship:

“Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” (Psalm 115:1)

And yet, the mindset of sinners is to do the very opposite. By sinners, I mean ‘unredeemed sinners who remain fastened in the grip of their sin’. Saints are ‘sinners who have been redeemed and released from sin’s mastery’. But unredeemed sinners are still in bondage to their sin, and sin is fundamentally anti-God and anti-the-glory-of-God.

The Babel Debacle

Do you remember the Babel debacle? God had told mankind to “[be] fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28). After the flood, God repeated this instruction to “Noah and his sons”: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” (Genesis 9:1) Some people, however, didn’t want to trust God and carry out God’s mission. Instead, they turned their attention upon themselves and came up with a mission of their own. Mankind is always rejecting God’s mission and replacing it with the counsels of their own sinful hearts. Here was mankind’s self-oriented mission in Genesis 11:

“Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”” (Genesis 11:4)

Note these words: “let us make a name for ourselves.” To put it simply, they wanted to live according to their own plan, in their own strength, and for their own glory. They were glory-of-God-denying idolaters who made ‘man the measure of all things’. In other words, they were humanists – glory-of-man-affirming humanists – who wanted to live on their own terms and take refuge in their own works. They would find their significance and their security in themselves and in their own efforts. The Lord God was not pleased, and He visited their humanistic project with judgment: He confused their language (Genesis 11:7) and “dispersed them over the face of all the earth.” (Genesis 11:9)

From Babel to Babylon

Several centuries later there was a great king in the same part of the world where the humanists had attempted to build their tower. His name was Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and he was a proud man. C. S. Lewis said that pride is “the complete anti-god state of mind.”[1] And so it is: if you are full of yourself, then you are most certainly not full of reverence for the Holy One. Scripture tells us: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18) Here’s how Nebuchadnezzar went down:

“… [Nebuchadnezzar] was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”” (Daniel 4:29-30)

Nebuchadnezzar basically said, ‘My great kingdom is by me and for me!’ But the Lord God was not pleased, and He visited Nebuchadnezzar’s pride with judgment:

“While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar.” (Daniel 4:31-33) 

Nebuchadnezzar, like his forebears the tower builders, supposed that he had built a great kingdom in his own strength and for his own glory. He wasn’t just a humanist in general terms; he was a Nebuchadnezzar-ist, a glorifier and worshiper of himself, a man who put himself first.

The Fundamental Characteristic of Sin is Anti-God

Sinners far down the path from the humanism on display in Babel and Babylon might like to think that they are morally superior to these men of a bygone age. And yet, the fundamental characteristic of sin is its rebellion against God, its resistance to the glory of God, its refusal to honor God. In Romans 1, Paul tells us that as sinners we “suppress the truth [about God]” (Romans 1:18 in conjunction with Romans 1:25); we refuse to honor God as the eternally powerful and great Creator that He is (Romans 1:20-21), we do not give thanks to God for all that He has done (Romans 1:21), and we put the lesser glory of created things in the place of “the glory of the immortal God” (Romans 1:23). You might be an egoist, putting yourself first; you might be a humanist, putting mankind first; you might be an environmentalist, putting ‘the cult of Mother Earth’ first; you might be a materialist, putting possessions first; you might be a fleshly hedonist, putting bodily pleasure first; or you might be a fleshly religionist, putting your religious performance first. But one thing you are not: if you are still held in the grip of sin, then you are not a true worshiper who stands in awe of the glory of God.

How tragic that people would be all mixed up in the good gifts from God – the cities and towns, the towers, the great cathedrals like Notre Dame of Paris, the fields of agriculture, the vineyards and pastures, the marketplace, the homestead and family life, and all kinds of opportunities to work and turn a profit and use our wealth as a blessing to our community – I said that these are ‘good gifts from God’ and they are – but how tragic to be all mixed up in these good gifts and to forget the One from whom they came, and to forget the One for whose glory they were given. When sinners pursue a good, moral, beautiful, productive, peaceful, safe, and prosperous society for the wrong reason, when they pursue it without God, when they pursue it without dependence on the grace of God, when they pursue it without submission to the will of God, when they pursue it without regard for the glory of God – then it is a very wicked thing that they do. And the Lord God is not pleased.   

By contrast, we are who are saints ought to know and feel and think rightly about these things. We who are saints are saints not because we have sainted ourselves, but because God has begun a good work in us (Philippians 1:6) and set us apart as His holy people. We are holy because He has reclaimed us for Himself. And when He reclaimed us for Himself, He gave us a new heart, and that new heart that He gave us is fundamentally a heart for God. And over and over again, the Bible directs our hearts and minds to the glory of God, because all glory belongs to Him. And our chief end – the ultimate reason for our existence, the primary purpose of our life – ‘is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever’.

So I want to do a couple things in this sermon. The first thing I want to do is impress upon you that glorifying God is, in fact, our chief end. The way that I want to impress this upon you is by taking you on a tour of New Testament passages that are very similar to Philippians 4:20, and by means of the repetition I want you to be convinced in your mind that God’s glory must be your highest aim. After we do that, we will look specifically at Philippians 4:20 in the context of Philippians as a whole.

THE NEW TESTAMENT TEACHES US THAT GOD’S GLORY IS THE MAIN THING

So let’s begin. I want you to be convinced that the New Testament teaches us that God’s glory is the main thing, the big thing, the ultimate thing. Of course, the Old Testament also teaches this, but our focus right now will be on the New Testament. I’m going to ask you to turn with me to several passages so that you can see with your very own eyes that the truth of Philippians 4:20 permeates the New Testament. Even though saints have been delivered from the decisive power of sin, we are still affected by sin. And one way for us to be rescued from the ongoing influence of sin, is to see clearly the higher and nobler purpose to which we have been called. God wants to rescue us from our preoccupation with life in front of the mirror, and He wants us to see the far fields and rushing streams and high mountain ranges of divine glory – and God wants to see this glory in the Book. And here’s the lesson to learn:  

We should cherish God’s glory as the true and ultimate goal of all things, as the true and ultimate goal of each and every particular thing, and as the true and ultimate goal of our entire lives.

Nine Glory-of-God Passages in the New Testament

I am aware of at least thirteen doxological glory-to-God expressions in the New Testament, and I’d like to share nine with you. For each passage, I will read the text and then make a one-sentence comment about it, before going on to the next passage. Pay particular attention to the doxological phrase (such as “To our God and Father be glory forever and ever”) that occurs at the end of each passage.

1) Romans 11:33-36

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36, italics added)

Eternal glory belongs to our God, who is the source of all wisdom (“from him”), the sustainer of all wisdom (“through him”), and the goal of all wisdom (“to him”).

2) Romans 16:25-27

“Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith–to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.” (Romans 16:25-27, italics added)

Eternal glory belongs to our God, who is “the only wise God” who has brought His salvation to you and “who is able to strengthen you” as you walk the path of faithful obedience.

3) 1 Timothy 6:13-17

“I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time–he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:13-17, italics added)

Honor and eternal dominion belong to our God “who alone has immortality” and “who dwells in unapproachable light” and “who gives life to all things” and who has sovereign authority over everything.

4) 2 Timothy 4:18

“The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (2 Timothy 4:18, italics added)

Eternal glory belongs to our Lord, who is the great Rescuer and Protector of His people.

5) 1 Peter 4:10-11

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies–in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:10-11, italics added)

Eternal glory and dominion belong to our God, who is the generous Supplier of knowledge and strength to His people.

6) 1 Peter 5:10-11

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5:10-11, italics added)

Eternal dominion belongs to our God, who is the gracious Restorer, Confirmer, Strengthener, and Establisher of His people.

7) Jude 24-25

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 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, italics added)

Eternal glory belongs to our God, “who is able to keep [us] from” shipwreck and is able to bring our voyage to its appointed destination in His glorious presence.

8) Revelation 1:5b

“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 1:5b, italics added)

Eternal glory and dominion belong to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who loves us and laid down His life for our salvation.

9) Revelation 5:13-14

“And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb / be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.” (Revelation 5:13-14, italics added)

Eternal glory belongs to our God (“who sits on the throne”) and to our Lord (“to the Lamb”).

Why Eternal Glory Belongs to God

Now at this point I want to pause and ask a question: Why does eternal glory belong to God? One valid answer would be: Because God is God! Because God alone is the only God! Very true! But we can say something more on this point. Notice that the nine doxologies that I just read don’t explicitly state the reason why eternal glory belongs to the Father and to the Son. They proclaim that glory does belong to God, and they imply many reasons why this is so, but they don’t explicitly tell us why.

So while your Bible is still turned open to Revelation, let me show you three passages that tell us why.

Revelation 4:11

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11, italics added)

The Lord God is worthy “to receive glory” because He is the Creator of all things.

Revelation 5:9-12

“And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you (speaking to the Lamb) to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:9-12, italics added)

The once slain, now sovereign Lamb is worthy to receive glory and worthy to exercise kingship over the whole world because He had offered Himself as the Lamb and was slain for the salvation of His people.

Revelation 19:1-2

“After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” (Revelation 19:1-2, italics added)

Glory belongs to our God because He is the righteous Judge who enacts judgment against evildoers and who vindicates His people.

Why Glory Belongs to God: “The Giver Gets the Glory”[2]

When you put all this together, this takes me back to a very powerful truth that I shared with you when I preached from 1 Peter 4:8-11 earlier in the year. I shared with you John Piper’s profound insight that “the Giver gets the glory”[3], and that is the essential point in every doxological passage I have read. Think about it: the Creator, not the creature, gets the glory, honor, and credit. The Redeemer, not the redeemed, gets the glory, honor, and credit. The Righteous Judge, not the vindicated, gets the glory, honor, and credit.

Think about it further: If you are in the position of deficiency, if you are in the position of lack, if you are in the position of need, if you are in the position of inability, if you are in the position of incompetence, if you are in the position of dependence, that is not glorious. And this is our position: needy, and not glorious. Now I didn’t say that being needy is not good, for being a dependent creature is, in fact, a good thing. What I said that being needy is not glorious. And what is the consistent message that is echoed the doxological passages that I have read today. God is the great Giver and Supplier, and we are dependent receivers. We are like jars of clay who exist to glorify the grace of the Potter who has fashioned us as vessels of mercy (see Romans 9:19-24 and 2 Corinthians 4:7)). All the glory goes to God!

All riches and wisdom and knowledge and judgments and counsel and gifts are “from him” (Romans 11:36). “To him be glory forever” (Romans 11:36)!

We are weak, but He “is able to strengthen you” (Romans 16:25)! To Him be glory forever!

We are surrounded by evil and susceptible to discouragement, but He “will rescue us from every evil deed” (2 Timothy 4:18). To him be glory forever!

We are sinners who deserved to be eternal castaways, but instead we have been redeemed by Christ’s blood and now we are members of His priestly kingdom (Revelation 1:5b). To him be glory forever!

We don’t have the necessary wisdom and strength to minister to each other effectively, but God supplies wisdom to the one who speaks and strength to the one who serves, and thus we become conduits of His grace (1 Peter 4:11). To Him be glory forever!

We are prone to anxieties, attacked by the devil, and vulnerable to persecution, but “after you have suffered a little while” He will “restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:6-10). To him be glory forever!

Do you understand? The Establisher gets the glory, the Strengthener gets the glory, the Restorer gets the glory, the Supplier gets the glory, the Savior gets the glory, the Protector gets the glory, the Rescuer gets the glory, and – moving now to the specificity of Philippians 4:19-20 – the Provider gets the glory.

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Philippians 4:19-20, italics added)

DOXOLOGIES OFTEN OCCUR AT THE END OF LETTERS

Earlier I said,

We should cherish God’s glory as the true and ultimate goal of all things, as the true and ultimate goal of each and every particular thing, and as the true and ultimate goal of our entire lives.

There is significance in the fact that doxological statements such as “to him be glory forever” often occur at the end of the letter. There may or may not be a short greeting and farewell blessing after the doxology (as we see in Philippians 4:21-23), but either way the doxology often stands at the end of the main body of the letter. This is true in Romans, Philippians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Hebrews, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and Jude. Although these letters have different points of emphasis, the overarching goal is always the same: “To him be the glory forever” (2 Timothy 4:18)! Every line of thought, every aspect of Christian discipleship, every insight into the gospel of God’s grace, leads upward to the glory of God. In other words, everything gets taken up into that highest key called worship. The recurrence of doxologies at the end of these letters and at other times as well, is like a highlighter that says ‘this is what it’s all about, this is the main thing!’ Keep your eyes on the glory of God at all times! In every situation, in every consideration, and in every action, keep your gaze on the Majesty above!

THE GLORY OF GOD IN PHILIPPIANS

As it happens, Paul’s doxology in Philippians 4:20 is not the first doxological statement in Philippians.

So let me show you the two earlier passages that direct our attention to the glory of God.

Philippians 1:9-11

“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.” (Philippians 1:9-11, italics added)

In this passage Paul is praying that the church would be characterized by increasing love for one another, a love that is, in fact, characterized by wisdom and righteousness. Paul is praying that Christians would bear much fruit by living lives that are characterized by holy and discerning love. Growth in love is the way to prepare for “the day of Christ” – we do not want to be found impure and guilty of gross negligence when He inspects us on the last day, and we do not want to be found to have been unfruitful and thus appear emptyhanded before Him. Instead we want to be “pure and blameless” and “filled with the fruit of righteousness”. And get this: if on “the day of Christ” we are found to have been faithful and fruitful, we will not rush to find a mirror so that we can thank ourselves for a job well done. We will not say, ‘Look what I have achieved!’ We will not say, ‘Look what my hands have wrought!’ We will not say, ‘I have done it!’ Remember, ‘the Giver gets the glory’. If we are “filled with the fruit of righteousness,” we must recognize that this righteous fruit “comes through Jesus Christ.” The Source of fruit gets the glory.

This goes right along with what Paul taught in Philippians 2:13, namely, that our obedient lives are the fruit of God’s work in us: “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13). The Source of power gets the glory.

It also goes right along with what Paul modeled in Philippians 4:11-13, namely, that in every situation he was able “to be content” (Philippians 4:11) – “through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) The Source of strength gets the glory.

And when faithful believers are welcomed into the Lord’s joy on the last day, we will remember the truth of Philippians 1:6 – that it was God who had begun the good work in us, and it was God who brought that good work to completion. Praise God for His grace that saves us, sanctifies us, and sustains us to the end.

All our fruit comes from God! (Hosea 14:8) For this reason, our lives of fruitful love abound “to the glory and praise of God,” as Philippians 1:11 tells us. Therefore, the glory of God should not be an afterthought as we are walking in love, but should be the conscious goal toward which we gladly aim. In another passage in which Paul instructs us to walk in love (see 1 Corinthians 10:23-33), he says: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Now let’s turn to the second “glory of God” statement in Philippians.

Philippians 2:5-11

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11, italics added)

God is glorified when we make much of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus lived His entire life for the glory of His Father. He prayed, “Father, glorify your name.” (John 12:28) He prayed to the Father, “not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). He obeyed the Father “to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Jesus’ ambition was to glorify and honor His Father. The Father, of course, was perfectly satisfied with the wholehearted obedience and sacrificial love of His beloved Son. The Father vindicated His Son by raising Him from the dead and, as we see here in Philippians 2:9-11, by exalting and honoring and glorifying His Son, and by installing Him as the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. God the Father delights in the excellence of His Son, and God is glorified when you delight in the excellence of Son. God the Father planned the salvation of His people, and God is glorified when you praise the glorious Savior who purchased that salvation with His blood. God the Father is the high and holy Sovereign, and Jesus Christ is the perfect embodiment of the Father’s kingship and the perfect image of the Father’s holiness, and so God is glorified when you make much of His ‘Anointed One’.

On a related note, you may have noticed that some of the doxologies are directed to God the Father alone (e.g., Philippians 4:20), some of the doxologies are directed to God the Father through Jesus Christ (e.g., Romans 16:27), and some of the doxologies are directed to God the Father and Jesus Christ (e.g., Revelation 5:13), and some of the doxologies are directed to Jesus Christ alone (e.g., Revelation 1:5b). The lesson is clear: Eternal glory belongs to the Father and to the Son. And when we glorify the Son, we glorify the Father.

So, God is to be glorified by means of our worship (Philippians 2:5-11). That may seem like an exceptionally obvious point, but let’s be honest: it is easy for our worship to devolve into entertainment, socializing, or mere education or mere ritual. Let us be deliberate to honor God’s Son, and to do so to the glory of God the Father.

God is also to be glorified by means of our love for one another (Philippians 1:9-11). Christian fellowship that is worthy of the name is fellowship directed to the glory of God.

Finally, as we come to Philippians 4:19-20, we see that God is to be glorified by means of our dependence on Him.

Philippians 4:19-20

“And my God will supply ever need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Philippians 4:19-20)

The Provider Gets the Glory

Here again, God is the Giver – the wealthy and generous Giver – and ‘The Giver gets the glory’. He “will supply every need of yours.” And before and after the patient waiting, His peace “will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7) His resources are vast, and He cares for you. Some other person or entity might give you a gift, or write you a paycheck, or issue you a tax refund, or help you out in a thousand practical ways. But always remember: over and above that other person or entity stands the living God, and He administrates all things for the good of His people. To God be the glory![4]

We Must Speak and Shout and Sing ‘Glory to God’

Philippians 4:20, like every other doxology in the New Testament, stands forth as an expression of praise to God. And the obvious implication is that we ought to enter into it, and with hearts full of praise we ought to speak or shout or sing ‘glory to God’. Philippians 4:20 isn’t a dutiful statement of boring fact that Paul feels obliged to tack on to everything else. It is just the opposite: Philippians 4:20, like every other doxology, is the glorious overarching reality that gives meaning to everything else. It is the main thing, the big thing, the ultimate thing. Amid the well-deserved calamities and judgments that are writ large in the Book of Revelation, the angelic messenger proclaims the urgent message: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” (Revelation 14:7)

Unconverted hearts will hear Philippians 4:20 and find it boring or burdensome: ‘Why do I have to praise God?’ ‘Why do I have to give Him glory?’ As long as you are stuck in the ‘Why do I have to” mentality’, your heart needs to change. You need to be converted!

But converted hearts know better. He is the “Fount of every blessing.”[5] He is the source of every good. He is “our God and Father” as Philippians 4:20 puts it.

Eternal Glory Belongs to Our God

He is “our God” – we actually have a covenantal relationship with Almighty God. He has loved us with an everlasting love, He did not spare His only Son but gave Him as the sin-bearer for our salvation, He pours out grace and peace upon us, He is at work in our lives, He is leading us to the Promised Land of a new heaven and a new earth where we will ‘enjoy Him forever’ – He is our God, and we are His people, and He will dwell among us forever. To our God be the glory!

Eternal Glory Belongs to Our Father

He is “our God” and “our… Father”! What do fathers do? They protect their children (Philippians 4:7), provide for their children (Philippians 4:19), give their children good gifts (Matthew 7:9-11), and are diligent to instruct and correct their children (Hebrews 12:9-10). Sensible and grateful children honor their fathers for the love and care they have given (e.g., Hebrews 12:9). Our God is our heavenly Father, who does all this and much more. He is compassionate and patient toward us: “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:13-14) Our Father doesn’t despise our weakness. We are the Father’s beloved children because the Father has set His affection upon us. We are dependent children who should pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11) But before we pray for provision from the Father, we should pray for honor to be given to the Father: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.” (Matthew 6:9) The glory goes to the Father, not to the children. And as sensible and grateful children we say, “To our God and Father be glory” – glory and praise, majesty and splendor, dominion and authority, honor and riches.

Now and Forever

This word of praise to our God must not be confined to only this moment. Yes, we must praise God in this particular moment, but we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that this praise shall go on forever and ever. Did you notice how in doxology after doxology we encountered the words “forever” or “forevermore” or “forever and ever” or “eternal” or “before all time and now and forever”? Fellow Christians, we are worshipers – this is our eternal calling. It is our privilege to worship God now, and it will be our privilege to worship God forever. We ought to follow the example that these New Testament doxologies establish for us, and if we follow their example then we won’t get tunnel vision on this particular moment. We will appreciate this moment in which we are experiencing God’s grace and say to God be the glory now, but we will look beyond this moment to the ages afar off and we will lay hold of it and say to God be the glory forever. Remember this: the glory that belongs to God is so much more than the slice of glory that we are getting a glimpse of right now. Lift up your eyes, O Church, and behold your God, the everlasting God, to whom belongs everlasting glory.

Amen!

Finally, in case we didn’t get the point, we mustn’t forget the “Amen.” You may have also noticed that doxology after doxology, including Philippians 4:20, is immediately followed by “Amen.” “Amen” is another one of those highlighter words – in other words, a word that highlights the importance of what has just been said. “Amen” literally means truly, but as an exclamation it conveys the idea of ‘Yes!’ or ‘Let it be so!’ “Amen” is not a throwaway word. Instead it reinforces your glad and enthusiastic affirmation of the doxology: “To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (italics added) “To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Yes! Let it be so!

CHERISH GOD’S GLORY AS THE TRUE AND ULTIMATE GOAL OF YOUR ENTIRE LIFE

Although Philippians 4:20 points us beyond the now to the forever, we must remember the obvious: Philippians 4:20 is given to us now. We have it now. We are to live and think and feel and speak in this reality now. That is,  

We should cherish God’s glory as the true and ultimate goal of all things, as the true and ultimate goal of each and every particular thing, and as the true and ultimate goal of our entire life. 

Let us not be like King Nebuchadnezzar who looked out upon his kingdom and worshiped himself as the one by whom and for whom the greatness of his kingdom had been made. Instead we should look out upon the far greater kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, the kingdom of grace, the kingdom of lost sinners reclaimed for God, the kingdom of everlasting righteousness, and with a joy that rises up from the depth of our soul we should look upward and say, 

“Glory to God in the highest” (Luke 2:14)!

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all these things!

Praise His holy name forever!

Let us pray.

ENDNOTES

[1] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

[2] This phrase – “The Giver Gets the Glory”/“The Giver gets the glory” – is from John Piper. I learned this principle from Piper’s teaching ministry many years ago. As an example of his teaching – including the quote – see his short devotional article entitled “The Giver Gets the Glory,” published by Desiring God on January 26, 2012 and available online: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-giver-gets-the-glory. Further, it is worth pointing out that in an October 25, 2009 tweet, Piper specifically connected the statement “The Giver gets the glory” with 1 Peter 4:11.

[3] Ibid.

[4] The particular expression “To God Be the Glory” is well-known as the title and first words of a famous hymn by Fanny Crosby.

[5] The expression “Fount of every blessing” comes from the title and first line of a famous hymn by Robert Robinson (adapted by Margaret Clarkson). The full title and opening words are: “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”