Exalting God for His Glory
E.A. Johnston challenges believers to reject a diminished view of God and instead passionately exalt Him for His infinite glory.
In this compelling sermon, E.A. Johnston confronts the modern tendency to diminish God's majesty and calls the church to reclaim a high and holy view of God. Drawing from Scripture and the example of historic preacher George Whitefield, Johnston urges believers to passionately exalt God for His glory. This message challenges listeners to deepen their reverence for God and to make His exaltation central to their faith and ministry.
Full Transcript
We live in a day, friends, where the church has shrunken God down to the size of man. I'll never forget the Baptist pastor who made the following comment. He said, I can't wait to get to heaven to see Jesus and shake his hand for all he's done for me.
I guess this seminary-trained pastor wasn't familiar with the text in Revelation where the apostle John encounters the risen Christ and falls down as dead. No, he's just gonna walk up to Jesus and shake his hand like he would greet a deacon at church on Sunday. The church today, friends, serves a shrunken God with a diluted gospel, and we can say with Jeremiah the prophet, the harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved, but rather we should be exalting God for his glory.
When I read my Bible, I see an exalted God and his servants who were jealous for his glory. I see an exalted view of God in Isaiah 57, 15, which declares, For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place.
And I see God's servants fighting for the glory of God in the pages of my Bible. God visits the fleeing prophet Elijah in a cave by asking, what doest thou hear, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts. Now, friends, we have to ask ourselves, are we preaching an exalted view of God? And are we jealous for God? And are we exalting God for his glory? It was said of George Whitefield, he could get a congregation of thousands any time of day or night.
He could get them and hold them in snow, sleet, frost or rain. It did not matter what the conditions were. Well, why was that? It was because Whitefield preached an exalted view of God.
Whitefield was so full of God when he spoke. His hearers sensed this exalted view of God. I listened to his journal entry in 1740 while in America preaching in New York.
A sense of God's goodness overwhelmed me. A little boy was much concerned on the pulpit stairs. One of my friends asked him why he cried.
Who can help it, he said. Mr. Whitefield's words cut me to the heart. But we have no Whitefield among us today, friends.
But we can still preach up Whitefield's God. Exalting God for his glory should be our chief aim. Let us pray.
Sermon Outline
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I
- The danger of shrinking God to human size
- Example of a pastor misunderstanding Christ's majesty
- The church's diluted gospel and its consequences
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II
- Biblical portrayal of an exalted God
- Isaiah's vision of God's holiness and eternity
- Elijah's jealousy for God's glory
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III
- The legacy of George Whitefield's exalted preaching
- The power of preaching an exalted God to move hearts
- The need to reclaim a passionate, God-centered ministry today
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IV
- Self-reflection on preaching and living with a high view of God
- Call to exalt God for His glory as the church's chief aim
- Encouragement to pray and seek God's presence
Key Quotes
“The church today, friends, serves a shrunken God with a diluted gospel.” — E.A. Johnston
“I see an exalted God and his servants who were jealous for his glory.” — E.A. Johnston
“Exalting God for his glory should be our chief aim.” — E.A. Johnston
Application Points
- Examine your own view of God and seek to deepen your reverence for His majesty.
- Preach and live in a way that consistently exalts God's glory above personal preference.
- Encourage your church community to embrace a biblical, exalted view of God.