The sermon, titled 'O, the Depth of the Riches of God,' delivered by Scott Brown, delves into the profound doxology found in Romans 11:33-36. The passage underscores the unfathomable riches of God's wisdom and knowledge, highlighting the vast difference between human and divine understanding. The speaker emphasizes the importance of doctrinal preaching, asserting that the glory of God, as revealed through scripture, is the ultimate solution to life's challenges. The sermon further explores the centrality of God's wisdom, judgment, and grace, illustrating how these attributes surpass human comprehension and merit. Through a detailed examination of Romans, the speaker elucidates the transformative power of God's grace, which is not reliant on human works. The sermon concludes by urging the congregation to find joy in glorifying God, recognizing His sovereignty in all things, and applying these truths to the life and order of the church.

Let's find Romans 11 and verse 33. We'll be picking up where we left off. In this great passage of scripture, the first section in Romans, Romans 11, 33. This is the inerrant, all-sufficient, sweeter than honey word of God. Verse 1, Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.

How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has become his counselor, or who has first given to him, and it shall be repaid to him, for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever amen the grass withers the flower fades but the word of our God stands forever let's pray father we I pray that you would increase our delight in your great name, that you would give us such happiness in all of who you are, that even in this church you would shepherd this church to delight in the glory of God above all things and to find all of ourselves like this song of praise praising you for who you are. Amen. Go ahead and be seated. You know the Lord shepherds his people through the Word of God and I pray that this passage of scripture would shepherd this church more deeply into the love of God, the adoration of God.

You know there's so much here for us to understand. We often come to church and we want some technique to fix everything but there's nothing greater than the glory of God to fix you and That's what we have here all week. I kept thinking of Acts 20 verse 32. I commend you to God and the word of his grace. You know, it was really a delight to sing the songs this morning.

We were having Bible study on last Tuesday and we're just having a great time talking about this passage and you know at one point one guy says we should sing this so I texted it to Josh let's sing this and so like I think three of three of the songs were that they popped right out of Bible study Josh kept getting texts in the middle of Bible study, but they really have been glorious, glorious songs. So these are the last four verses in Romans chapter 11. It's a doxology. It's a little bit dangerous to preach on a passage like this. Charles Spurgeon said, there is no man living who can preach from this text a sermon worthy of it.

So I'm sorry to say that's what you're gonna get today. But it is a glorious text and God by His Spirit can help us to grasp it deep within our hearts. You can hang your life on this. You should hang your life on this. Isaiah said or Moses said in Deuteronomy, their rock is not like our rock.

This is your rock. This is your God. Behold your God. He's immortal. He's invisible.

He's the only wise God. And these verses also make it very clear that there's a vast difference between man and God. And it's like David said in Psalm 32, Psalm 135, I know that God is great, that our God is above all gods. So this is a passage of scripture that takes us into the doctrine of God. That's the doctrine that's here.

It's very important that we have doctrinal preaching in a church and here we find the doctrine of God. And you know who can know the value of knowing God who can calculate the blessing of his presence who can measure the depth of his word and how powerful it is and how you can You can read it over and over again and find something else even deeper. Who can understand the blessings of forgiveness? It's all right here. Who can weigh the value of God's wisdom?

It's more costly than gold. It's more precious than silver. And nothing you desire compares to it. So this is a doxology. I want to dedicate this morning to praising God for this immeasurable gift.

This is a doxology, that's what everybody calls it. It's just a soaring song of praise, which is what we ought to do when we get up in the morning, and here it is morning, thankfully. The word doxology comes from two words, two Greek words, doxa, which means glory and praise, and then logia, or logia, which means to speak. So this is a speaking of the praises of God we've recited this text twice already this morning you know we sing a song called the doxology praise God from whom all blessings flow praise him all creatures here below this is a doxology and it's a song that is very short and condensed here notice how it begins Go ahead and look at your Bible. It begins with the word O, the letter O or omega and this is this letter, this single letter is the counterpart to alpha the alpha and the omega and it's really designed to elicit wonder and praise toward God oh oh oh the depths and so that's how it begins Let's talk about the reason for this doxology.

I think it's important to understand. This doxology appears at the very end of the first section in Romans, at the end of the doctrinal section. Romans is like many of Paul's epistles. They state the doctrine in the first few chapters and then there's the practical application. What do you do about it?

Because doctrine without practice is idolatry. The doctrine is always meant to be lived out in real life, and so the first section is focused on this doctrine. And Why does this, these four verses, stand right in between these two sections? I'm gonna give you five reasons. First of all, it's really a summary of the underlying power of God's, of salvation.

It's a declaration of God's wisdom and salvation everything that we've read already so far in Romans it's summed up in God's wisdom and It's so it's also a conclusion of the section as well and it's also a bridge because it connects the two sections and it's an introduction as well. It's an introduction to church life, how church life is meant to be biblically ordered, how church life is not meant to be a concoction in the mind of man, but it's meant to be a demonstration of the commands of God. And that's what we find in the second section. And also I would just say it's a It's an apologetic for life in the church. It tells you why, why you should do all these things because God is great.

He's so marvelous, He's so wonderful. You should do everything that He has said to do. So that's how this doxology is placed in the book. And Paul has already answered so many questions about the gospel. Sin, grace, the role of the law and faith, and it ends with worship.

And in Romans 1 through 11, the Apostle Paul has been dealing with our greatest problem, and also, often, greatest misunderstanding in the church of what it actually means to be saved. And it's a problem that exists today, and Romans, of course, is timeless. In Romans chapter one, we're told about why we need to be justified by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ because of the wrath of God toward sinners and their unrighteousness. In chapter 2 We read about God's judgment toward sinners, but his mercy toward those who have faith. In chapter three, really every aspect of the structure of Romans revolves around justification by faith alone.

Many have called Romans 3 20 to 26 the theological center of the Bible. Other good reasons for that. In chapter 4 you have a summary of Abraham our spiritual father. Why is he there? Because Abraham was justified 600 years before the law.

In other words, no man is justified by the law. Every person who's ever been saved in the New and the Old Testament were saved by grace, by faith just like Abraham. In chapter five we see how justification actually guarantees final salvation and beautification along the way. In chapters six and seven we learn how the justified person wrestles with ongoing sin and then in in in chapter seven particularly the newness of life at work in the believer in the midst of the battle against sin in the body. And then Romans eight, kind of a collection, a summary of all of what's gone before there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And then in chapters 9 through 11 which we've spent months in is really a description of the doctrine of election. What is election all about? And so Paul gives many illustrations and examples to help us. Rebecca, Jacob, Esau, Pharaoh, the Potter and the clay, the prophets, Isaiah and Hosea. He gives all these illustrations about all these illustrations about election.

So there are there are two things that this section here in chapter 11 33 to 36 are helping us with. And first of all, the worship of God for the doctrine. I really pray that that's happening this morning. You're worshiping God, you're so grateful for the truth of the gospel in 1 through 11. And then that the worship of God for the way a local church operates, that's chapters 12 through 16, to uphold biblical church life, to restore the relational commands that are given to a church of Jesus Christ for how people relate to one another in the church.

And so it's a very rich and deep section, and we plan to try to mine the practicality out of it as much as we can. You know, in thinking about, in thinking about this section and the need, continued need for the reformation of the church. You know, I think most of us have been very very enthused about the victories, the political victories that have come down the line in sexuality and defending women from gender ideology and in the ending of DEI, the restoring of the death penalty, the enforcing of the Hyde Amendment in regard to abortion. But at the same time, while there are many political revolutions that we're grateful for, and hopefully they'll actually have some long-term effects in our country, but the truth is, a true Christianity has not changed. The Christianity on the street, a Christianity in evangelicalism hasn't really changed.

So while we can rejoice, the fundamental transformational power in society is the gospel of Jesus Christ through the church of Jesus Christ. But the church still remains compromised, the church still remains syncretized, the church is outflanked, will never be destroyed, but in the culture, often subjugated by the culture, and the gospel drowned out by a secular culture, and also a weak gospel. What you have, even though we have tremendous blessings in the civil realm, at the same time, and this is actually devastating to the culture, it's very difficult for modern Christians to think biblically about everything, and that's very serious. In other words, this is not the time for the church to rest. This is not the time for the church to say, well, the politicians have got it done.

Well, they don't. And because the church has actually accepted so much of the ways of the world. And the second section really speaks about how to have a church that is ordered by God, particularly the relationships in the church. So it's very powerful stuff. So with that, let's dive into the text.

You have six points on your outline if you have one before you. These are six reasons to rejoice, six reasons to rest in God, six reasons to be thankful that God has everything taken care of, six reasons that you should be really encouraged today and for the rest of your life because these things are immutable, they're unchangeable, and it's very very beautiful. There are also six marks of the gospel. So let's go into it now. The first is his riches are unfathomable.

His riches are unfathomable and I hope you believe that. I hope you believe that about your own life as well. It's another way of saying my God will supply all of your needs. Oh the depth of the riches. The issue here is the unfathomable depth.

Okay, so think about unfathomable depth. You know, there's the story that Magellan wanted to find out the depth of the ocean. And so he tied a cannonball to a rope. He had 2, 400 feet of rope and he dropped it down and it did not hit the bottom of the ocean. The ocean was 50 times deeper than 2, 400 feet And this is what the apostle is saying.

The depth of the riches of God is, they're unfathomable. You cannot get to the end of it. The wisdom of God is too deep for our knowledge. The deepest thing you can imagine, the smartest person in the world, the most insightful human being cannot get even close to the depth. He's like Magellan.

That's you and me. And that's why the apostle Speaks of the depth of the riches, you know, he he uses this language in Ephesians, too He said in Ephesians 1 7 in him. We have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace Which he made to bound toward us in all wisdom and prudence. In other words, it's the riches of his grace that's deeper than our sin. Nobody ever repented deep enough.

Nobody is holy enough, nobody's righteous enough, but God's grace is deeper still. And the gospel came to make us rich beyond imagination. I mean you might not even have enough money to buy a cup of coffee. Well I remember when coffee was cheap but it's not today. But if you're a believer and you don't even have enough money to buy a cup of coffee.

You're incalculably rich. Rest in that. Glory in what God has done. He's covered all of your long-term liabilities. The depth of his riches.

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure. That's what Jesus said in the parables. Now notice what it is. It's the riches of God's wisdom. That's really important.

In other words, He knows what to do with you and everybody else in the world. This is the riches of His wisdom. He knows how things work. He's working everything out for His own glory. And you know, this is wisdom.

You know, wisdom is knowledge applied. God is applying his wisdom particularly among his people here and in this case the people in Rome who really needed to understand that in the midst of a secular state with Nero at the helm. So you have the riches of God's wisdom and then second the riches of God's knowledge. This is the omniscience of God. He foresees everything.

There are no surprises to God and therefore we shouldn't be surprised because he isn't. There's nothing that the devil nor man nor the weather nor a nation state can do that God does not already understand and has covered by his sovereign hand. And it's not that God understands what's going to happen and he dances around to try to fix it. No. No, he's ordained it from eternity past.

There are no hopeless situations. God is the God of all knowledge. You know it's interesting you know when you talk to people and they don't believe you often find this, well I don't believe because I don't understand enough. I can understand how God can be sovereign. I don't understand how God could have created the world, so I'm not gonna believe.

Well, the truth is, nobody will ever have enough understanding to believe because it's too deep, it's too big, it's just it's too massive, it's too complex. We will never have all the answers. God does. You know we often ask why. We'll never really know why.

Here's a piece of counsel, okay? Particularly for you parents who are raising kids. Teach your children they don't need to ask why. They just need to ask what must I do? Because if you try to answer why, you might actually be wrong.

Because God is arranging hundreds of thousands, probably millions of activities that's controlling everything that's happening. And there's no way you can see it. But if you have some problem, God has wisdom. You know God's wisdom is so vast. You know, astronomers tell us that the Milky Way is so vast that it will take, it takes a hundred thousand light years to go from end to end.

And there are billions and billions of other galaxies and universes and they keep expanding. You know, I've had a front row seat about the blood system in my body, right? The complexity, the absolutely mind-boggling, mind-numbing complexity of the way blood works in the body, it's past finding out. And it's just miraculous. So his riches are unfathomable and I just want to translate into God will supply all your needs.

He's got all the riches you need. Second, his judgments are unsearchable And that means you know God judges everything right We read in verse 33 how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past Finding out that means that we can't get our arms around everything of God. You know we can write systematic theology books we're gonna fall short because the knowledge is too great. Interestingly enough the Apostle uses a word picture in this passage and he's referring to tracking something down. It's pacified.

You can't track it down. Many of you have tried to track down animals while hunting. You shoot an animal, you didn't hit it exactly right, now you're walking through the woods for three hours following a trail of blood. And in many cases you'll find the animal. But God is not like that.

You can never track him down. You can never get to the end of his tracks. It's just too vast. There's, Have you seen these videos of a journey into a cell? You know, it begins with just the basic rudimentary thing that we all saw, you know?

But there's like infinite complexity in smallness in a cell. And this is the way God has designed the world. You'll never get to the end of a matter of God. You won't even get to the end of a matter of your own life. And so you've been given commands to live and to worship God you don't need to know you don't need to track God down to the end and my guess is when you get to heaven you haven't even hardly just begun You know it's so funny when you think about Charles Darwin, he made from what we know today, he made some of the most ridiculous statements you can imagine about life.

Well he didn't know. He only knew a billionth of what God was doing in terms of the biological progress of a cell of any kind. He didn't know anything and the world believes it. They were just outlandish conclusions. You know there's actually a movement in the scientific community, real scientists, you know secular scientists are saying you know Darwin really didn't understand what was going on.

So they're creating new theories, not his. Well, what does this all mean? Unless you become like a child, You cannot enter the kingdom of heaven because you can't know it all. Don't even try. We may think that we know what God is doing, but we really do not know because He is past finding out.

Moses said in Deuteronomy 29, the secret things belong to the Lord our God. There you go. That's quite actually quite a lot of life, but those things which are revealed belong to us and our children forever that we may do all the words of this law. In other words there are so many secret things but here's one thing that's not secret God's can't commands. The word of God is not made secret it's for you and me and it's for you and me absolutely every day.

Here's what we know for sure. Solomon said it in Ecclesiastes, he has made everything beautiful in its time. That's what you can hang your hat on And that's what he's speaking about here. This should give tremendous confidence in the Bible because this is how God leads us. Our minds are weak in so many areas.

And God has given us the ability to understand what we need to understand. Even so, there's much that we don't understand. In even doctrine, in what Jesus meant when he said such and such that's the way God meant it it keeps us grasping it keeps us like children and not being so proud of ourselves about our towering knowledge. And then the so is that his judgments are unsearchable. They're just unsearchable.

You can't get to the end of it. And then his mind is beyond our comprehension. Now, this is a little bit like the previous, but he's speaking now of his mind, the mind of God. For who has known the mind of the Lord? And this is just a declaration that God operates in things beyond our mental capacity, His mind.

What's God thinking? Well open up the Bible. That's a good place to start. You know what's so helpful about this? Your life, my life, this church, the world, is governed by somebody who's a lot smarter than you and me and the smartest person in the world.

Can you imagine if our lives were dependent on our own understanding? You know, Solomon said, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will keep your path straight. I liked what Samuel Rutherford said, Rutherford that Scottish reformer, he wrote about this, he said your heart is not the compass that Christ sails by. He's got an accurate compass.

Isaiah 40 13 we sang a song this morning from that text, behold your God, who has directed the Spirit of the Lord or as his counselor has taught him, with whom did he take counsel And who instructed him and taught him in the path of justice? Who taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are a drop in the bucket. They are counted as small dust on the scales. The nations before him are as nothing.

They are counted to him as less than nothing." His mind is beyond comprehension. Fourth, verse 34, his plan does not need our counsel. His word is final. Says it right here, Or who has become his counselor. Job made that mistake.

And we read about it this morning. His plans are beyond our understanding. He does not need our advice. He does not need our critique. Because the role of man is to worship God and delight in him.

It is not to control the world. You know imagine how ridiculous it is to think of giving advice to Almighty God who created everything and who keeps your body working. How ridiculous is it that autonomous man would become God's counselor. Is prayer become God's counselor. Is prayer giving God counsel?

Well, it's different than giving God counsel because in prayer the desire of the believer is to pray in Jesus name. In other words to pray the things that we know are in the will of God And there's so many things we can pray You know one of the things that is very helpful and it happens in our church all the time Where where people pray the scriptures when you pray the scriptures? You know, it's the will of God We are called to make our requests known to God. He's a compassionate and he's a faithful high priest and we can come boldly before his throne. Doesn't mean we're telling God what to do, we're actually crying out to God in humility.

And he engages us in his work, and so we ask things of him, We make requests. That's not the same thing as commanding God. Have you heard people commanding God, demanding that God would do something? I mean, this is just rampant in the Pentecostal movement, telling God what to do. It's insane.

Making a request is not the same thing as telling God what to do. Because God already knows. Psalm 139, Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought from afar.

You comprehend my path and my lying down. You are acquainted with all my ways. There is not a word on my tongue but behold oh Lord you know it all together. You have hedged me in behind and before. You've laid your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. I cannot attain it. Behold your God. He knows everything. He has hedged you in behind and before if you're a believer.

He's protecting you. He's walking in front of you. He's walking behind you. He's walking beside you. And his plan does not need our counsel.

Number five, his grace does not require our merit. His grace does not require our merit. His grace does not require our merit. Verse 35, or who has first given to him and it shall be repaid to him. Now the Apostle is making the point that we have nothing to give God.

We are already bankrupt. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And the problem though with man all over the world and it's in all of our hearts is that we'd like to be saved by works. That's the essence of the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 where he said, Lord I've obeyed from my youth up. Twice a day I give alms to the poor." And then he says to Jesus Christ, now reward me.

He's saying reward me. You know I'm a good person. This is the culture of religion that we live in now. But Christianity is all of grace. But we have to understand what it means that salvation is all of grace.

Here's what it does not mean. It does not mean that God just lets you off the hook. It does not mean that God does not punish sin because God punishes every sin. It's not the same thing as saying God is a nice guy and he's just gonna have a soft heart toward you. No, God is just, he's righteous, he's holy, and therefore he will punish sin.

He cannot tolerate sin and so in his wisdom he's arranged such that all sinners will be punished with perfect justice and the righteous requirement of the law will be fulfilled because God is righteous. In Exodus 34 we learn he will not leave the guilty unpunished. God will punish all sin. God is not letting anybody off the hook in that sense. It's not cheap grace.

You know, all over the world, people think that they can pay God back and do what they should do to be righteous. The Hindu will say, to escape the cycle of birth, he'll say, I keep the way of works and of knowledge and the way of devotion. The Buddhist believes he will achieve nirvana by the elimination of greed and hatred and ignorance. The man on the street in America will say I'm a good person, my good outweighs the bad. The Muslim will say I keep the five pillars of faith I'm going to heaven.

The Jew says I keep the law I'm going to heaven. But here we learn that you can't repay God by your righteous works. Philip Melanchthon said it like this, the only thing you contribute to your salvation is the sin that makes it necessary. So we have contributed our sin. Jesus Christ has contributed the punishment for our sin.

And the wrath of God that we deserved was laid upon him. The wrath of God was transferred from our shoulders to his. So there is nothing in God that obligates him to pay us. God does not owe us anything because of our good works. You cannot repay him.

And then number six, he does all things for his glory. He does all things for his glory. This is this is so wonderful. For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever Amen. You know what's really striking about this?

Look at the very simple kindergarten language God uses to explain his centrality in all things. Three words to explain his majesty. For him, through him, and to him. First of all, he says that all things are of him and that means that everything comes from him. That means that he is the source of all things.

It means that wherever you are has come from him. Jesus said for a man can receive nothing unless it's given him from heaven. That was John the Baptist. Paul the Apostle said, by the grace of God I am what I am. So all things are of him, they come out of him.

That's the way the language works in that verse. They came of, out of him. And then secondly, through him. And this focuses on And this focuses on he is the conduit of all things. We are provided through this conduit.

It's the delivery system. In Psalm 104 we read about it, these all wait for you that you may give them their food in due season. What you give them they gather in. You open your hand and they are filled with good. All things are through him and then thirdly all things are to him.

This means that for all of time all things are for the purpose of his glory. God has done everything that praise would be directed to him. There is one single divine objective for the universe and that is to whom be glory forever. Amen. Everything ends in the glory of God.

What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. I will resist the temptation to sing the song. I love that song. Everything begins and leads and ends in God.

I don't know of any more comforting idea than that the glory of God is what all things point to. You think of the weaknesses of your life, the mistakes you've made, and they are weaknesses, and they are mistakes. But you can count on one thing. God will glorify himself even through the stupidest things you've ever done. Now you might pay a you might pay a temporal price for it but God will work it all out because he really is in the business to sum up all things in Christ.

I don't want to leave this point without saying something though. Whatever we do will either be for our glory or God's glory. That should be sobering. That's sort of our temporal challenge because we want to be so glorified, so exalted. But here's one thing that we all need to recognize.

You will not get the glory. You will not get the glory. You will not get the glory. God will get the glory. And whatever you're striving for to get the glory, it will fail.

Maybe not temporarily, but ultimately it will. And that's really all that matters. Well what should we say about all this? Oh my. As a church, find joy in the purpose of your existence to glorify God.

The purpose of our lives is to make God's name glorious. Also you might as well just put the nail in the coffin of self-righteousness. In the coffin of self-righteousness. You know, this was written to a local church. This was written to shape the consciousness and the focus of a local church.

And it's written to this church as well. That the chief hallmark of this church would be in praise of God, a church that says, oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has become his counselor or who has first given to him and it shall be repaid to him. For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever and ever. Would you pray with me?

Lord you are you are everything that you have said. All these songs we've been singing are true. Lord, wrap us all up in such a thing. Keep our focus on your glory and how we might glorify you and as now as we launch we begin to launch into the next section of Romans that you would give us great activity, great application, that we'd throw off the ways of the world in our church and in our lives. And we would be useful to you to build your church.

Amen.