The Goal of Piety

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Isaiah 14:24-27
• Hymn — O Father, You Are Sovereign (#233)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin
• Assurance of Pardon — Romans 8:31-32
• Hymn — Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow (#158)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Sermon
• Hymn — Glory Be to God the Father (#213)
• Benediction — Romans 16:20

---

Sermon Title: The Goal of Piety

Scripture: Hebrews 11:5-6; Hebrews 13:12-16

I. God Has All Glory in Himself

A. Glory (Hebrew and Greek) means that which is heaviest, weightiest, most deserving of fame and honor — that which makes a great impression by its very nature

B. God's glory is not a dependent glory — it does not depend on creation or on anything we do or don't do

C. The seraphim in Isaiah 6 declare that the whole earth is filled with God's glory — creation does not produce his glory but is filled and overflowed by it

1. God's glory fills creation as a vast waterfall fills a pool to overflowing
2. Numbers 14:21 — "All the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord"

D. God's glory is eternal and unchanging — Peter and Paul both speak of the eternal glory of God; God who does not change has unchanging glory

E. Kevin DeYoung: God did not create the world because he was thirsty for love, companionship, or greater glory

II. God Is Owed All Glory from His Creation

A. By the very nature of creation, all things glorify God — Psalm 19:1: "The heavens declare the glory of God"

B. Even inanimate creation cannot withhold praise — at the triumphal entry Jesus declared that if the disciples were silent, the very stones would cry out

C. Sin causes human hearts to suppress the right glorifying of God — we are by nature "glory thieves," wanting all glory for ourselves

D. Stephen Charnock: God framed the world with order, elegance, and variety so that reasonable creatures should admire and honor him in it

E. Salvation makes the obligation to glorify God even greater

1. Hebrews 12:28-29 — receiving an unshakeable kingdom calls for worship with reverence and awe
2. Ephesians 1 — three times Paul declares that believers exist "to the praise of his glory"
3. 1 Corinthians 6:20 — "Glorify God in your body"

F. Stephen Charnock: God created the world for his glory; he says of the redeemed, "I created you for my glory; I recreated you for my glory"

III. God Gets All Glory as Our Piety Brings Us into Conformity to Christ

A. Enoch as the model of Pious living — Hebrews 11:5-6

1. God took Enoch because he was "commended as having pleased God"
2. The Greek word for "pleased" is related to the word for a pleasing sacrificial aroma — what is fit and due to God
3. Even Enoch, born in the line of Adam, could only live this way by faith — "without faith it is impossible to please him"

B. The goal of piety is stated plainly in Scripture

1. Ecclesiastes 12:13 — "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man"
2. 1 Corinthians 10:31 — "Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God"
3. Colossians 3:23 — "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men"
4. Hebrews 13:15-16 — praise and doing good are sacrifices pleasing to God

C. Piety that pleases God is not pietism — it is not done in one's own strength

1. Enoch lived by faith in God's promises, trusting ahead in Christ
2. Jesus is the one in whom God is perfectly glorified; his life and death were the perfect pleasing aroma to the Father
3. The believer is called to look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12:2), and by faith be conformed to him through the Spirit's sanctifying work

D. Stephen Charnock: Since God is the most excellent being, we must render him the best of our affections, the flower of our strength, the cream and top of our spirits — not what he deserves, but the best we are able to offer

E. Practical application: in every vocation and sphere of life — studies, work, parenting, play — the Christian must keep the goal of piety in view: the glory of God