ROMANS 11:33-36
PRELUDE TO PERSONAL WORSHIP Worship Series #2
“Bible teacher E. Schuyler English told of a visit to the Orient by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. In one city, the local orchestra performed Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony for the visiting musicians. According to reports, it was not done very well.
“At the end of the first movement, the host conductor passed the baton to Eugene Ormandy. What a transformation! You would have thought he had been conducting the local orchestra for years. As the members of the Philadelphia Orchestra listened, they were impressed in a new way with Ormandy’s talent and genius. They realized that they had begun to take him for granted and had lost sight of his greatness.” Our Daily Bread, January 20 (year unknown)
We often take people for granted. One of the best things a wife can do for a husband sometimes is to be away for a few days. It is then when we husbands realize how much you wives do, and how much we have taken you for granted!
We often take our nation and our freedoms for granted. We don’t think about our freedoms of security, of speech or of movement until they are threatened as they were on 9-11.
It is wrong for us to take people or things for granted. It is a greater sin to take God for granted. And yet throughout the day or even when we are supposed to be worshipping in church, we do tend to take God for granted. He’s there, and were glad, but we don’t often feel led to express our appreciation for Him and to Him.
Originally this morning, I was going to speak on Romans 12:1-2 and “A Life That Worships”. I was going to try to show you how we should worship throughout every day.
However, in preparation for this sermon, I was struck with the fact that before we can truly respond in worship to Romans 12:1-2, we must first deal with Romans 11:33-36.
For in the original writing of the Bible there were no chapters as we know them today. They were added later.
That means the end of chapter 11 ran right into the beginning of chapter 12 without any chapter division.
Romans 11:33-36 is a doxology of praise to God. Paul shows his appreciation for God and does not take God for granted. As a result of this praise, Paul then says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
I see Romans 11:33-36 as a prelude to the personal acts of worship that God wants from each one of us. Our worship will only be enhanced when we truly grasp these verses.
This morning, let’s consider:
GOD’S CHARACTERISTICS– Vs. 33
GOD’S COMPETENCE – Vss. 34-35
GOD’S COMPLETENESS – Vs. 36
GOD’S CHARACTERISTICS – Vs. 33
Romans 11:33 - O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Do you ever have a sense of wonder concerning God?
That is are you ever in awe of God because God is so awesome, and so beyond us?
Warren Wiersbe – “True wonder reaches right into your heart and mind and shakes you up. It not only has depth, it has value; it enriches your life. Wonder is not cheap amusement that brings a smile to your face. It is an encounter with reality, with God, which brings awe to your heart. You’re overwhelmed with an emotion that is a mixture of gratitude, adoration, reverence, fear – and love. You’re not looking for explanations; you’re lost in the wonder of God.” Warren Wiersbe, Real Worship - Playground, Battleground, or Holy Ground? Second edition (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 2000) p.43
My friend this sense of wonder, which needs to become part of our worship is exactly what the Apostle Paul was experiencing when he said, O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
What brought Paul to these words of wonder?
All through Romans he had been teaching on such subjects as sin, grace, atonement, salvation, and sanctification. God’s work in these areas is enough to elicit wonder. But then in chapters 9-11, Paul talks about God’s sovereignty, and the salvation of the Gentile, and the eventual salvation of Israel.
Romans 11:26 - And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Romans 11:32 - For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
And now Paul breaks into this doxology beginning in verse 33. This verse shows us some of the characteristics or attributes of God. This is certainly not all of them by a long stretch, but enough that we should stand in wonder before God.
· GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING
Romans 11:33 - O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
There isn’t anything that God doesn’t know. God doesn’t have to learn anything.
God knows everything about creation. He knows everything because he created everything.
Genesis 1:1-3 - In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. [2] And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. [3] And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Colossians 1:16 speaks of the Lord Jesus, For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Revelation 4:11 - Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Think! God knows everything there is to know about elephants and insects, lions and lizards, giraffes and gerbils.
God knows everything about the sun, moon, and stars.
God knows everything there is to know about medicine, psychology, the weather, building houses, keeping house, computers, engines, and everything else.
God knows everything about history and He knows at accurately.
The most astounding thing is how well He knows you and me.
Psalm 139:1-7 - O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. [2] Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. [3] Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. [4] For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. [5] Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. [6] Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. [7] Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
God knows every time I’ve been hurt.
God knows every time I’ve done well.
God knows every time I’ve been mistreated.
God knows every time I’ve been misunderstood.
God knows every good thing I’ve ever done.
God knows every bad thing I’ve ever done.
God knows me and understands me better than anyone else.
· GOD IS WISER THAN ANYONE
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
There are many people who know much but don’t have enough sense to come in out of the rain.
Wisdom is the right use of knowledge.
And it is God in His wisdom who has made salvation a matter of grace and not works.
Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.
It is God in His wisdom who sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins. Romans 5:6 says, For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
It is God in His wisdom who has not only made salvation a matter of faith, but the Christian life also a matter of faith.
Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
1 Corinthians 1:25 - Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
When we don’t know something, we know that God knows.
When we don’t understand what God is doing, we know that God is wiser than we are.
These qualities make God worthy of our worship.
· GOD’S JUDGMENTS ARE UNSEARCHABLE
Romans 11:33 - O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments,
When we see the word “judgments” we naturally think of the judicial end of things. When God judges, you can’t search it out and find a loophole.
However the word here probably refers to more than judicial judgments. It probably refers to the decrees or plans of God.
God has a plan for the universe, and He’s carrying it out.
God has a plan for the unsaved and He’s carrying it out.
God has a plan for the church and He’s carrying it out.
God has a plan for each individual and He’s carrying it out.
God has a plan for the Jews and He’s carrying it out.
God has a plan for the world and He’s carrying it out.
We know some of God’s plan because He has chosen to reveal it to us. But there is more to God’s plan than we can possibly know. His judgments are unsearchable.
· GOD’S WAYS (OR PATHS) ARE PAST FINDING OUT
Romans 11:33 - O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
I have seen many times when God’s ways are past finding out. I’ve discovered that I don’t always have an answer for why God does what he does.
· I don’t understand why there was a fire in a friend’s nursing home several years ago in which residents were killed.
· I don’t understand why my mother had a miscarriage before I was born and why I was granted life and not the child. If the other child had been born, I wouldn’t have.
· I don’t understand why a friend of mine took some live ammunition off a firing range and shot himself in an army latrine.
· I don’t understand why God has permitted misunderstandings between Christians which should never be.
· I don’t understand why so many people have to have cancer.
· And I don’t understand how God chooses to heal some and not heal others.
· And I don’t understand why God has protected some saints and allowed others to be martyred.
BUT WAIT! There are also good things I don’t understand.
· I don’t understand why God in His love has saved a wretch like me.
· And I don’t understand all the workings that God does to put us in the right place at the right time.
An example: Ben Clever never makes truck deliveries in Tennessee. This week he did. He was about 40 miles from Nashville, where his mother was dying on Wednesday.
Ben spent a couple hours with her. And within half an hour after he left she went home to be with the Lord.
· And I don’t understand how God blesses us as parents in spite of our mistakes.
· And I don’t understand why God would use simple people like you and me to bring people to faith in the Lord Jesus and to teach His saints.
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
· GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING
· GOD IS WISER THAN ANYONE
· GOD’S JUDGMENTS ARE UNSEARCHABLE
· GOD’S WAYS (OR PATHS) ARE PAST FINDING OUT
These are GOD’S CHARACTERISTICS– Vs. 33
GOD’S COMPETENCE – Vss. 34-35
Romans 11:34 - For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
God has used my wife, Dottie, and some of you to counsel me so that I made right decisions.
God has used many Godly men to give counsel to great spiritual leaders.
No president, or prime minister, or king is without his counselors.
Every person growing up has had counselors, most often, parents.
BUT GOD HAS HAD NO COUNSELORS.
GOD NEEDS NO COUNSELORS.
GOD DOESN’T NEED ANY HELP.
Oh yes, God has chosen to work through us and to use us.
However God doesn’t really need us, if He didn’t want to use us.
“William Beebe was a biologist, explorer, and author, and he was also a friend of Theodore Roosevelt, the twenty-sixth president of the United States. He used to visit Roosevelt at Sagamore Hill, his home near Oyster Bay, Long Island, and he tells of a little game they used to play together. After an evening of talk, they would go outside onto the lawn surrounding the great house and search the sky until they found the faint spot of light beyond the lower left corner of the great square of Pegasus. One of them would recite: ‘That is the Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda. It is as large as the Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It consists of one hundred billion suns, each larger than our sun.’
“Then Roosevelt would grin at Beebe and say, ‘Now I think we are small enough! Let’s go to bed.’” James Montgomery Boice, Romans, Volume 3, God and History (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Books, 1993) p. 1149
If God is competent enough to take care of this vast universe, He is competent enough to take care of a little speck like you or me.
Romans 11:35 - Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
God is so competent that He is obligated to no one.
Any gift we ever give to God is something that He owns anyway.
And anything we have that’s good in this life is because of the grace of God. It is God who has given it to us.
We have salvation by the grace of God.
We have the ability to live the Christian life by the grace of God.
We have abilities to help others by the grace of God.
We have answers to prayer by the grace of God.
We have money to share by the grace of God.
And although God does choose to reward us for doing right, He is not obligated to do so.
God has given so much we can have eternal life. He owes us nothing. He will never be in our debt. He is competent.
GOD’S CHARACTERISTICS– Vs. 33
GOD’S COMPETENCE – Vss. 34-35
GOD’S COMPLETENESS – Vs. 36
Romans 11:36 - For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
All things are of God – He is creator
All things are through God – He brings His purposes to pass
All things are for Him – Everything exists for His good
pleasure
That means there is only one person who should get glory in our lives and that’s the triune God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!
And yet it is so easy to give glory to things, hobbies, sports, and people.
Isaiah 42:8 - I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
I want you to leave here this morning with one central thought. Only God is worthy of your worship, adoration and praise.
If you understand that, you have understood the prelude to personal worship.
Next week, based on this week’s Scripture, we’ll show you the life that worships.
GOD’S CHARACTERISTICS– Vs. 33
· GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING
· GOD IS WISER THAN ANYONE
· GOD’S JUDGMENTS ARE UNSEARCHABLE
· GOD’S WAYS (OR PATHS) ARE PAST FINDING OUT
GOD’S COMPETENCE – Vss. 34-35
Nobody has been God’s counselor.
Nobody has ever given to God what God didn’t already own.
GOD’S COMPLETENESS – Vs. 36
Romans 11:36 - For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.