Is God Less Glorified in the Judgment of Sinners?
00:00:00.000 | [Music]
00:00:02.000 | Peter writes and asks this, "Pastor John, is the statement, 'God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in him,' a
00:00:13.520 | universal statement or meant only for believers?
00:00:17.200 | For those who are judged, is there a different way to say it that God is most glorified in them through His judgment
00:00:23.360 | upon them? In other words, what is the flip side of the positive side of your famous statement?"
00:00:30.000 | This is a crucial clarification that needs to be made. So thank you for the opportunity.
00:00:35.700 | Yes, I love to say God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in
00:00:43.040 | God, in Him.
00:00:45.760 | Which naturally raises the question,
00:00:48.080 | do I think God is less glorified
00:00:51.300 | in people who don't even believe in Him
00:00:57.120 | and thus find no satisfaction in Him at all? Which is really another way of asking,
00:01:02.160 | is God less glorious because evil exists?
00:01:05.280 | Is He less glorious because unbelief exists? Because judgment in hell exists? And my
00:01:12.320 | statement also raises the question whether God is less glorious if I have a low season
00:01:19.040 | of joy
00:01:21.040 | in Him. So let me start with that last question.
00:01:24.000 | When I say God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him, I mean
00:01:29.120 | in the act of enjoying God,
00:01:32.480 | we make God look more glorious in that moment, in that act, than we would if we were bored with Him or
00:01:40.720 | hostile to Him. That's what I mean.
00:01:42.800 | An enjoyed treasure is an honored treasure. A neglected treasure
00:01:50.560 | is a dishonored treasure. That's what I mean. So I am talking about any given moment in the life of a
00:01:58.800 | believer. God commands us to glorify Him all the time in all that we do. First Corinthians 10 31,
00:02:06.720 | 620.
00:02:08.720 | So at any given moment, the question arises, am I, by my thoughts, my feelings, my bodily actions,
00:02:16.240 | showing God to be the treasure that He is or not?
00:02:20.480 | That's what I think it means to glorify God, show Him to be the treasure that He is. The point of my little saying
00:02:27.680 | is simple and limited.
00:02:30.240 | In our reckoning of whether we are showing God to be our supreme treasure,
00:02:36.400 | one key issue, not the only one, one key issue is whether we are satisfied in Him at that moment. If other things in that
00:02:44.160 | moment are more satisfying than God, then we're not making God look supremely valuable and supremely satisfying.
00:02:52.180 | So in that moment, God is not most glorified in us. That's what I mean by it. It is a
00:02:59.360 | pervasively relevant question
00:03:02.060 | because it is a valid question at any moment and has to do with our ultimate calling at every moment to glorify
00:03:10.240 | God in those moments and make Him look supremely valuable. And not only is it pervasively relevant,
00:03:16.880 | this point in this question, but it is for many people and some theological traditions
00:03:22.260 | shocking and threatening because it says
00:03:26.560 | your emotions, your spiritual affections,
00:03:30.500 | and those spiritual affections are real emotions, though they're
00:03:36.480 | never merely worldly emotions since they're aroused by the Holy Spirit, they're always crucial in obedience.
00:03:42.960 | There's a lot of traditions and a lot of people don't like that thought that our emotions are crucial
00:03:48.180 | in glorifying God in any given moment in obedience
00:03:51.780 | to God.
00:03:53.680 | You can't obey the command to glorify God fully
00:03:57.280 | if your emotions towards God are non-existent for Him or unengaged in Him
00:04:04.160 | or less than they are for other things. You can't.
00:04:07.280 | That's the point of that statement.
00:04:10.400 | But even though my little statement that God is most glorified in us when we're most satisfied in Him is
00:04:16.080 | pervasively relevant and
00:04:18.940 | valid in every moment and is shocking and threatening to some, it is only one
00:04:25.360 | important question to ask about how God is glorified.
00:04:31.200 | That's why the question we're addressing here
00:04:34.240 | is so important. So in answer to the question, "Is God
00:04:39.040 | less glorious if I have low seasons of joy in Him?" the answer is no, He's not.
00:04:45.840 | His glory does not rise and fall
00:04:48.560 | as my effectiveness in showing Him glorious rises and falls.
00:04:54.720 | He remains glorious in my low seasons and my high seasons, and though I don't show His glory
00:05:01.360 | as clearly as I should
00:05:03.760 | in those low seasons,
00:05:06.160 | even those seasons
00:05:08.480 | will be used by God's
00:05:10.880 | overall scheme
00:05:13.360 | to show Himself in other ways
00:05:15.920 | more glorious, though I may lose some of the pleasure of being a part of those ways.
00:05:23.120 | Now, I would say the same thing about that other question. Is God less glorious because evil exists?
00:05:29.360 | Is He less glorious because unbelief exists or because judgment or hell exists?
00:05:35.680 | No, Satan and his devils and his people cannot hold God hostage
00:05:40.560 | and rob Him of His glory as they rebel.
00:05:44.880 | They can't successfully say, as they are thrown into the lake of fire, "Ha!
00:05:51.680 | At least we robbed you of your glory by not being satisfied in you
00:05:56.080 | and not making you look like a supreme treasure."
00:05:59.620 | The word "hallelujah"
00:06:03.520 | occurs in the New Testament four times,
00:06:05.680 | all of them in Revelation 19, 1-6.
00:06:08.420 | And what is God being praised for there? I'll read it.
00:06:14.800 | "After this, I heard what seemed to be a loud voice
00:06:20.480 | of a great multitude in heaven." That's us
00:06:23.280 | crying out, "Hallelujah!
00:06:25.920 | Salvation and glory
00:06:28.700 | and power
00:06:30.400 | belong to our God, for His judgments are true
00:06:34.480 | and just, for He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality
00:06:42.820 | and has avenged on her the blood of His servants." Once more they cried,
00:06:50.060 | "Hallelujah! The smoke of her goes up forever and ever."
00:06:55.820 | The prostitute represents Babylon,
00:06:58.460 | the archetypal city of unbelief and hostility to God.
00:07:02.780 | And one thing is clear here,
00:07:05.900 | such opposition from Satan
00:07:08.700 | and from men
00:07:11.020 | will not result in everlasting
00:07:13.840 | frustration in heaven,
00:07:17.580 | but is an everlasting praise.
00:07:20.220 | Not because sin is praiseworthy, but because God's response to it is
00:07:26.300 | truth
00:07:28.300 | and justice.
00:07:29.880 | "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for
00:07:35.260 | His judgments are
00:07:37.900 | true
00:07:39.340 | and just, for He has judged the great prostitute."
00:07:44.860 | So, is God less glorious because evil exists? Is He less glorious because unbelief exists?
00:07:52.140 | Is He less glorious because judgment and hell exist? The answer is
00:07:56.220 | no. As Psalm
00:07:58.940 | 76 10 says,
00:08:00.940 | "Surely the wrath of man
00:08:02.940 | will praise you."
00:08:05.660 | Thank you, Pastor John. And on a related note of our emotions and God's glory, see episode number 30 in this podcast series.
00:08:14.540 | And as you probably picked up in this conversation, our emotions are crucial for our obedience to God.
00:08:20.060 | And if this is news to you, check out a little four-minute video we created
00:08:24.060 | that explains this point. Go to DesiringGod.org and click on the "About Us" tab at the top of the page,
00:08:29.900 | and you'll see the video.
00:08:31.340 | And it will give you a good little sense of what we're all about at DesiringGod.org.
00:08:35.360 | I'm your host Tony Ranke. We'll see you tomorrow on the Ask Pastor John podcast.
00:08:40.640 | you
00:08:42.640 | You
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00:08:47.600 | [Code Red Defense]