Soli Deo Gloria - part 1
Glory to God Alone
Soli Deo Gloria Acronym with G. F. Handel’s initials. This signature is found on Handel’s musical manuscripts.
To begin this morning, I would like to show you this image. This is the inscription G. F. Handel would place at the end of his musical manuscripts. If you are unfamiliar with Handel, you are probably still familiar with most famous work “Messiah” (Haaaa-lelujah! Hallelujah!…that guy). The initials you see are S. D. G. In large letters above his own initials G.F.H. ‘SDG’ stands for ‘Soli Deo Gloria’—“glory to God alone”. This phrase developed over the course of time after the Reformation. During the series of reforms that has come to be called “The Reformation”, five particular phrases came to popularity, ‘Scripture alone’, ‘Faith alone’, ‘Grace alone’, ‘Christ alone’, and ‘Glory to God alone’. These phrases encapsulate the essentials of Reformed doctrine. Though the reformers themselves would disagree on many things, these were their five commonalities. As we finish this year and look forward to the next, I would like us to consider this phrase: ‘glory to God alone’. When you plan for this year, and the coming ones, consider where this church has been and where it is going. We must remember that our sole purpose as a local body of believers is to give glory to God alone. We are not here to glorify any particular group or person, nor any particular cultural ideal. We are here to glorify God. To that end, for the next several weeks we will examine how we glorify God through our local church. As our guide for our discussion, I would like us to turn to 1 Peter chapter 1.
The End Matters
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:1-5
As we begin, I want to keep this phrase at the front of our minds, “the end matters”. We must always keep the end in mind, because it helps us remember the goal and keeps us from being distracted by the present. Peter will spend many verses exhorting his readers towards holiness, however he also knows where they are at the moment. In verse 1, we read they are scattered across the eastern side of the Roman Empire. They are facing trials of various kinds, and they will continue to face persecution as history unfolds. They are facing the temptations of pleasure and wealth that this world offers. During the latter first century, and into the second, there will be little reason for someone to convert to the Christian faith in regards to societal standing or economic benefit. Whole books have been written on the great irony that when Christianity is least acceptable in society, it flourishes even more. Peter understands his audience, and yet, he reminds us ‘the end matters’. They are called to live differently, because there will come a day when this world is no longer the same.
Tribulations are symptoms of a dying earth.
Notice, also, the Trinitarian invocation of verses 1 & 2. Peter is addressing the elect exiles (in the various places) according to three things: the foreknowledge of the Father, the sanctification of the Spirit, and for obedience to Jesus Christ. Right at the front, Peter reminds Christians the Father has known the outcome since the beginning. He knew who would be saved, and He knew what they would face. He also reminds Christians their election is for a purpose. They are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Where we were tainted by sin, we are becoming cleansed from it by the Holy Spirit. And with that, we are elected for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood. That last phrasing evokes the Old Testament Law. Where the Jews were bound to the sacrificial system as means of repentance and forgiveness, Jesus has fulfilled the Law of Sacrifice by making Himself the final sacrifice. We are sprinkled with His blood for forgiveness and are bound by His law of love.
God is all in for our salvation, so we can be all in for Him.
The invocation continues with a blessing to God, because according to His great mercy, He has given us new life in Christ. The ESV uses the verb phrase “caused to be born again”, and the KJV uses “hath begotten again”. The Greek is one verb that has been inflected to give the effect of ‘causing or giving new birth’. This is one example where I think the KJV nuances the translation a bit better. However it is translated, the point is the same: Because God is so merciful, He has given us new life in Christ through Christ’s resurrection. Because Jesus lives, so shall we. And look further, this new life comes with an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
When a person surrenders to Jesus Christ, they receive new life.
This new life:
Will never perish
Will never be tainted
Will never be less than its fullness
It maintains these properties because it is not a life found here on earth. We know this earth is perishing—death is all around us. We know this world is tainted—we don’t have to go far to feel the effects of sin. And, we know that everything in this life fades—what was once sparkling new eventually gathers dust and fades in color. But, this new life is kept in heaven for us where moth and rust cannot destroy, where the thief cannot steal. It is guarded by God through faith, and it is salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
And, that is what matters most. Whatever happens today is nothing compared to what is to come. We are being prepared for eternity. The Father created this world, but saw that it would perish being corrupted by sin. Christ has come to give us new life so we can exist in eternity. The Holy Spirit is sanctifying us to be eligible for eternity. This life is merely the birth pangs of a new and glorious creation.
Christians are being prepared for eternity.
When C. S. Lewis had to put pen to paper and end his great Chronicles of Narnia series, this is how we described the children entering heaven:
And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the tile page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.
The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis
If this is our end, then how do we live today? How does this affect how we operate as a local body of believers in this lost and dying world? Turn to chapter 2.
Living Stones and Holy People
So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:1-5
The first step is to rid ourselves of all wickedness, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. These things have no part in our church, because they have no part in our lives. These are remnants of a dying world, echoes of a former age, and last gasps of a coming corpse.
If sin has no part in the Christian life, then it certainly has no part in the Christian Church.
Are you guilty of any of these? It is a simple test, simply ask:
Do I seek the good of others, or just for myself?
Am I known for honesty, or for hiding the truth through lies?
Do I denounce the evil in others while being unwilling to examine myself?
Do I rejoice with others’ success or find myself coveting their gain?
If someone printed out my social media pages, and typed up all my casual conversations, which would be easier to discover—what I hate or what I love?
Yes, it takes time, and yes, your old dead self will continue to fight your new life in this world, but these are not excuses, these are obstacles to overcome. Put in the time, crucify the sinful nature. Desire that spiritual milk, so that you can grow in your salvation. If you have tasted that the Lord is good, then do not go back to spoiled milk.
The answer to overcoming sin is to nourish yourself in the goodness of God.
Some Christians taste the goodness of God, thank Him for His blessings, and then go back to the curdled milk that’s been in their fridge for way too long. And, when someone asks them about their sin, they just look at them and say, “What? I like chunky milk. Don’t judge me.”
But, we have to throw out that old milk, because as verse 5 says, we are being built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood. And, Christians, listen, there is no chunky milk in heaven—only pure milk for a purified people.
Last, this holy priesthood is to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. We will continue in the next few weeks to examine what these spiritual sacrifices look like. But, as we finish today, I want us to complete this year with renewed resolve to get rid of all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and all slander. We must have regenerated hearts and a focus on the eternal things of God if we are to make this church work as she should in 2020. If we cling to the old, sinful ways, then it does not matter what good we attempt. Christ does not want our token rituals, He calls for our whole beings. We must first seek to glorify God in all things before we can glorify God at all.