Grace For Your Day May 18

May 18th, 2020

Grace For Your Day

A doxology can be defined as "a declaration of praise to God." It is a short statement of adoration to guide us in our worship. Such statements are found all throughout the Bible. For example, Romans 16:25-27 says:

Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets . . . to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.

This doxology has several elements in it such as a reference to the wisdom of God. Paul praises the Lord for keeping the Gospel secret in the past but choosing to reveal it now. Another element is the glory of God because it says that the Lord does not just deserve glory, but He deserves "glory forever." We should not just praise Him now, but we should praise Him for all of eternity for what He has done.

Another doxology is found in Second Timothy 4:18 where it says:

The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Here Paul gives glory to the Lord again because He will bring Him safely to Heaven. He praises the Lord for saving him from the evils that he is facing.

The interesting thing about these doxologies is that they come at the end of the Book. In each of these instances, the author puts this statement of praise at the end. However, the Book of Ephesians is not like that because it places the doxology in the middle of the Book. It is different because Paul does not praise the Lord at the close of the letter but long before that. He writes in 3:20-21:

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

While we will explain this passage more on Sunday, it is important to learn a lesson from it now. The lesson is that, we should praise the Lord in the middle of our studies and not just at the end. We should praise Him in the middle of the day and not just when the day is over. We should glorify Him every chance that we get.

This passage also teaches us that you can praise God wherever you are because 3:1 says that Paul was in prison as he wrote this. He was locked up in jail and, if Paul could praise God there, then he could praise Him anywhere. If he could make a declaration of praise in jail, then certainly you and I can do it through whatever we are facing today which is what we will talk about this week at Grace Fellowship Church.

Due to the ongoing restrictions concerning the Coronavirus, we will not be able to meet together as a congregation. However, the sermon will be recorded on Saturday night and posted online at our You Tube Channel on Sunday morning. Please join us for this encouraging study and come ready to praise the Lord!!!

-Jeremy Cagle

Posted in Grace Fellowship Chilliwack, Grace For Your Day, Bible Church in Chilliwack, Chilliwack Church