What are some of the situations
that we go through to glorify God? And let us remember this,
that we live to His service. We're living to God. When we
live to His service, we're living to God. And let us also remember
that we're ambassadors here. This isn't our home. This isn't
our home at all. We're just passing through. This
is not the country that we're... We seek a better country. We
seek glory, to heaven, to be with Christ. And so we desire
to see others come to Christ as well. Because we're ambassadors. What does an ambassador do? An
ambassador tells of where they're from. We proclaim the wonderful
things of Christ and what He's done for us. And by us being
ambassadors, we desire to see others come to Christ, and we
support the Gospel ministry, the ministry of the Word, the
preaching and teaching of the Gospel of God's free grace in
Christ. And we desire, what is our desire
as ambassadors for Christ? We desire that Christ would be
magnified, don't we? That He'd be magnified, that
He'd be glorified. in the world, but in our lives.
In our lives. That others would see what Christ
has done for us. What He's done for us. And that
the kingdom of God and His righteousness would increase, which we know
can only happen by His doing. By His doing. But we're ambassadors
for Him, aren't we? In this world. We're ambassadors
for Christ in this world. Philippians 1.20. says this,
that Christ might be magnified whether by life or by death. That Christ might be magnified
whether by life or by death. Paul desired that Christ would
be magnified in his life, or that Christ would be magnified
in his death. He just desired that Christ would be magnified
all the time. All the time. And three desires
that Paul had, which we looked at in the last message, were
all about Christ. We're all about Christ. Paul
desired that he might be found in Christ. Paul desired that
he might be with Christ. And Paul desired that he might
magnify Christ. That's what Paul's desires were.
So how do we glorify God in our lives? Turn, if you would, to
Psalm 115, verses 1 to 3. How do we glorify God in our
lives? Let's look at a few points. The
first point is this. We glorify God by standing. by standing for His truths. Psalm 115, verses 1-3. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto Thy name give glory. We're not to desire the glory,
are we? Not unto us. No. But unto Your name, Lord. but
unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Oh, what mercy he has had upon we who believe. What mercy
he has had upon us, and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should
the heathen say, Where is now their God? But our God is in
the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased." Notice it says, "...for Thy truth's sake." Much of God's
glory lies in His truth. God has entrusted us with His
truth, and we are to proclaim this wonderful truth and publish
this wonderful truth. When a Gospel preacher gets up
and he's proclaiming Christ, he's proclaiming wonderful truths
of God. Wonderful truths of God. We are advocates for the truth.
We're ambassadors and we're advocates for the truth. We glorify God
by telling others of the great things that He had done for us.
Turn, if you would, to Jude. Jude. One chapter. I always used
to say Jude 1, but no, just turn to Jude. There's only one chapter. Jude. Let's look at verse 3.
Look at this. And this will tie in with our
morning message where we're to stand fast. Look at this though. Beloved, verse 3, when I gave
all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, It was
needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should
earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto
the saints." So we glorify God by standing up for His truce,
by standing for His truce. The Greek word for contend there,
when it says earnestly contend, the Greek word for contend means
to contend strenuously in defense of. The Greek word signifies
a great contending. A great contending is one would
contend for his land. If someone was going to take
your land away, you're not going to let them, are you? It's like
that. It's contending. Like, no, no,
don't ever let this right, suffer this right of land, your land,
say, to be taken away from you. That's how we should contend
for the truth. We hold on tight, beloved. We contend for it. And we glorify
God by doing that. Turn, if you would, to Proverbs
23, 23. Look at this wonderful, wonderful little verse here. And then put your finger in Matthew
13. So we are to contend, we're to
hold on tight to the truth. Contend for the truth. Be in
defense of the truth. Look at Proverbs 23, 23. By the
truth, and sell it not. Oh, don't ever let it go. Also,
wisdom and instruction and understanding. Now, this does not mean that
we purchase our salvation. It doesn't mean that. It means
that when you have the truth, you hold tight and fast to it.
You hold tight and fast to it, beloved. We have the truth of
salvation in Christ alone, which is spoken of in the New Testament
as a pearl of great price. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 13. And first of all, we'll look
at the parable of the hidden treasure in verse 44. Look at this. Matthew
13, 44. Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like unto a treasure in a field, the which when a man hath found
it, he hideth. and for joy thereof goeth and
selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that filled." He gives
up everything for that. Everything. He holds the truth. And then he tells others, Look
what I've found. And then look at verses 45 and
46. Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who when he hath
found one pearl of great price. That's Christ, beloved. Christ
is the pearl of great price. Pearl of great price. Went and
sold all that he had and bought it. See, that ties in by the
truth and sell it not. We know our salvation's not something
we earn, is it? No, but when God reveals Christ
to us, oh, we want nothing else. Nothing else. Because we know,
in God revealing Christ to us, he reveals to us our sinfulness
too, doesn't he? And our desperate need for Christ.
And then we flee to him. And we never, ever want to let
Him go. Ever. Ever. We hunger and thirst
after righteousness, and we stand firm for the truth when we contend
for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. And
in doing that, we glorify God. We glorify God. One commentator
proclaims truth is a being that shines from God. And we contend
for that truth, don't we? And we do not budge. Others may
come and say, you've got to do this to be saved. No, salvation's
in Christ alone, plus nothing. I will not be moved. By the grace
of God, I will not be moved. Some contend for ceremonies,
some contend for works, but they do not contend for the truth,
beloved of God. They do not contend for the truth,
but we contend that salvation is in Him alone. And may God
grant us grace and strength to earnestly contend for the faith,
to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints.
The next point I'd like to look at is we glorify God by walking
cheerfully, joyfully in all circumstances. We glorify God by walking cheerfully
and joyfully in all circumstances. It brings glory to God when the
world sees a Christian who despite whatever they're going through,
they have joy in the Lord. And we know, I know this personally,
this joy and this peace doesn't come from me. Because I've been
through many a circumstances where I've been so despondent
or so just down and just, oh my goodness, what am I going
to do? And the Lord lifts us up. And He gives grace and strength
in time of need, doesn't He? He does it. He does it. And we
give Him all the glory. We give Him all the glory. During
the worst of times or the best of times, what is the strength
of the believer? The joy of the Lord is our strength. The joy of the Lord. We are the
people of God. And being the people of God,
we who are saved and redeemed, we have much to be cheerful for.
We have much to be joyful for. Much. Much. We who are the people
of God are what? Are justified in Christ. Justified
in Christ. We're adopted in Christ. We're
made heir. Oh, it brings the believer great
joy. And what peace the believer in Christ has when they contemplate
the fact that they have forgiveness for all their sins. All of them. Not just a couple. Not just the
really bad ones. But they're all bad, aren't they? All sins. What a Savior. What joy and strength that can
bring the believer no matter what we're going through. And
when we think on this, what does it do? It creates inward peace,
doesn't it? It creates that, what Paul wrote,
the peace that passes all understanding. And it keeps our hearts and minds
upon Christ, doesn't it? And what does it do? It fills
us with joy. No matter what storms are swirling
around, it fills us with joy. And we rejoice. And we marvel. We marvel at what Christ has
done for us. Turn, if you would, to 2 Corinthians
1, verses 3-7. We have this illustrated in the
life of Paul in the Scriptures. And by the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, he penned these words in 2 Corinthians 1, verses
3-7. Now, we've looked at in previous
messages some of the things that Paul went through. My goodness. Look at what Paul writes. And
we know that he was beaten and cast into prison. And look what
he writes in 2 Corinthians 1, 3-7. Blessed be God, even the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And here are two names that I
absolutely love of our great King. The Father of mercies and
the God of all comfort. There's a nail in the sure place,
beloved. The God of all comfort. No matter
what you're going through. The God of all comfort. The God
of all comfort. Who comforted us in our tribulation.
Now look, now we all go through things, don't we? But look at
what it says. That we may be able to comfort them which are
in any trouble. by the comfort wherewith we ourselves
are comforted of God. So, with us going through trials
and tribulations, and I can't tell you how many times this
happened, where the Lord will put someone in my life after
I've went through something, and I'm able to help them out,
point them to Christ. It probably happened to all of
us. And the thing is, too, you can have empathy with the person,
real empathy, too, not just saying, well, I'll pray for you, but
real empathy, real empathy. knowing that I lived through
that. I know what that's like. I know how that hurts. I know
the pain you're going through. But the Lord gave me strength
to get through it. He sustained me through it. And think of this,
believer. Think of this, you who are in
Christ. Even before you're saved, God's love was set upon you. Who gave you all the strength
to go through the things you went through before you were even
saved? It's amazing. It's amazing grace. I'm telling
you, this grace is amazing grace. For as the sufferings of Christ
abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ." So
whether we be afflicted, it's for our consolation and salvation,
which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings, which
we also suffer, or whether we be comforted, it is for your
consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is steadfast,
knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye
be also of the consolation." So we go through things, we suffer
through things, but we're to have joy. And it's hard to be
joyful when we're going through things, isn't it? It's tough.
It's hard. But our hope is in Christ, isn't it? Our hope, we
set it upon Him and Him alone. Turn, if you would, over to 1
Thessalonians 1. Paul wrote of the church at Thessalonica,
they were examples to other believers amidst the affliction that they
were going through. That they were examples. They
were examples. Examples to other believers amidst
their affliction. And who received all the glory?
God received all the glory. Look at 1 Thessalonians 1, verses
4-8. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God, for our gospel came not unto you in word only,
but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.
As you know what manner of man we were among you for your sake.
And you became followers of us and of the Lord. Heaven received
the word in much affliction. They received the word in much
affliction, beloved. They were persecuted. in much affliction,
look at this, with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that you were
examples to all that believe in Macedonia and Oceania. For
from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia
and Oceania, but also in every place your faith to God word
is spread abroad, so that we need not speak, not to speak
anything. They were examples. Through all
the afflictions they went through, through all the sufferings they
went through, They were examples. And we know, we know, we know
who gave them the strength, don't we? We know that it wasn't their
own, and they knew that too. And they glorified God. And this
is what God does for a believer. There'll be times, beloved, there'll
be times when you'll be going through something, I know a family
that went through something, and everyone marveled at how
they went through it. It was by God's grace. And they're
examples to other believers in the church. And this is what
happens. You won't even know it. You'll
be going through something. Other people will be knowing
what you're going through. And they'll be watching. It's incredible. And who knows? Who knows what
the Lord will do with that situation? If we consider what Christ has
wrought for us by His blood... When we're down, when we start
to say, oh my, think about what Christ has done for you. Think
about what Christ has done for you. If we consider what Christ
has wrought for us by His blood, by the shedding of His blood,
what did He wrought for us? Redemption. He paid everything
God demanded for us. Forgiveness of all our sins,
past, present, and future. I'm so thankful. Justification
before God. To be able to stand in God's
presence. To be able to stand in God's presence, clothed in
the righteousness of Christ. When we ponder these marvelous
truths, it brings us great joy. If we consider what the Holy
Spirit has done in us. Regeneration. Born again. Revealing Christ to us. It brings
us great joy. It's a ground of great joy for
us. And great cheerfulness. Which comes from these precious
truths. And they glorify God. They give
Him all the honor and all the praise for His work. See, religion tells you what
you've got to do. Grace tells you what Christ has
done. What He's done. Oh my. We serve the Lord with
gladness. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
100. Psalm 100, we serve the Lord with gladness. You know,
I remember, I remember when, before I was saved, when I was
out living a riotous life, I always thought, oh, those Christians,
they're all missing out. I used to think that. I used
to think they're missing out. See? And all I had saw was religion,
right? Oh, they don't get to do this,
and they don't get to do that, and they don't get to enjoy.
They have to sit at home and read the Bibles and be all stuff-shirted. Now, that was my idea of religion. That was my idea. See, I didn't
know about grace. I didn't know about free grace.
I didn't know about a sovereign God. I didn't know the joy that
can fill a believer's heart. I didn't know the freedom and
liberty that we have as believers. I had no clue. All I knew and
all I thought about was the things that I couldn't do. But oh my, when God works a work
in us, and when he saves us and redeems us, and when we realize
the liberty and freedom we have in Christ, oh my, and when we
realize what Christ has done for us, The joy of the Lord fills
our hearts, doesn't it? Look at Psalm 100, verses 1-4. Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Why? Because look what He's done for
me. Look what He's done for me. Come before His presence with
singing. Know ye that the Lord, He is
God. It is He that hath made us, and
not we ourselves. We are His people, and the sheep
of His pasture. And God reveals all this to the
believer, doesn't He? Enter into his gates with what?
Thanksgiving. Oh, I'm so thankful. Are you
thankful? Are you thankful for what Christ has done for you?
Oh, it fills your heart with joy, doesn't it? Absolute joy. Enter into his gates with Thanksgiving,
and into his courts with praise. Oh, our lips drip with praise
for our King, for what he's done for us. Think of this in your everyday
life. A thought will come into your head, and you just start
rejoicing. You just start rejoicing. We don't just worship God on
Sunday. We worship Him all the time, don't we? All the time.
We don't have to pray just in a public situation. No, we can
pray when we're driving down the street. We can pray whenever
we feel we're moved to talk to our King. to give Him praise
and glory for what He's done for us. He saved my soul. Oh, my. Enter into His gates
with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Be thankful
unto Him and bless His name. Oh, beloved, bless His name.
Bless His name. Be thankful for what He's done.
Oh, my. The next point I'd like to look
at is we glorify God by praising Him, and that ties right in here.
Turn, if you would, to Psalm 50, verse 23. We glorify God
by praising Him. When we praise God, we're glorifying
Him. Look at Psalm 50, verse 23. Whoso offereth praise, what?
Glorifieth me. Glorifieth me. And to him that
ordereth his conversation aright, will I show the salvation of
God. Whoso offereth praise glorify me, and to him that ordereth
his conversation aright, will I show the salvation of God. Oh my, what a great king we have.
What a great king. Turn if you would to Psalm 150,
one of my favorite Psalms. Look at this. So it says there,
I'll read that Psalm again, that verse in Psalm 50. Whoso offereth
praise glorify me, Whoso offereth praise glorifyeth me. Look at
Psalm 150. Look at this. This is one of my favorite Psalms. I used to sing it way back when
and I'm not going to do that right now, but I had a friend
of mine that played it on the guitar and sang this and it's beautiful. Praise ye the Lord. Praise God
in his sanctuary. Praise him in the firmament of
his power, so in his sovereignty. Praise Him for His mighty acts
of redemption and salvation. It just goes on and on. Praise
Him according to His excellent greatness. Beloved, words cannot
say. Words cannot even comprehend
His greatness. Praise Him with the sound of
the trumpet. Praise Him with the psaltery and harp. Praise
Him with the timbrel and dance. Praise Him with stringed instruments
and organs. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals. Praise Him upon
the high sounding cymbals. Praise, or let everything that
hath breath. Everything. Let everything that
hath breath. Praise the Lord. And then he goes, praise ye the
Lord. Oh my. And that brings glory to God.
Because we know from Psalm 50, Whosoever offereth praise glorifieth
in him. David was often praising God. The psalmists were often praising
God. David was called the sweet singer
of Israel, and praising God continuously in song. And in doing so, he
was glorifying God. Psalm 96, 12 says, I will praise
thee, O Lord my God, and I will glorify thy name. I will praise
Thee, O Lord my God, and I will glorify Thy name." We glorify
God by praising His name, by giving Him all the glory and
all the honor and all the praise for what He's done. And think
of this though, remember this, nothing can add to God's essential
glory, right? Nothing can do that. Nothing.
We can't add a thing to God's essential glory. Yet praise exalts
Him in the eyes of others. Praise exalts Him in the eyes
of others. When we praise God, we proclaim His fame. We proclaim
His fame, His renown. We proclaim His excellency. We proclaim His greatness. We
proclaim His majesty. We proclaim His sovereignty.
We proclaim that He's all-powerful, and that He has all wisdom, and
that He's all-powerful, and He has all wisdom in His providential
works, as well as his redemptive works. And we give him all the
glory. All the glory. The angels glorify
him, right? They're continuously praising
him. They trumpet forth his praise. Raising God is one of the highest
and purest acts of religion, a commentator said. And when
he says religion there, it was Thomas Watson. He's not talking
religion like us out there. He's talking free grace. It's one of the highest and purest
acts that we can offer to God. And may God keep us from murmuring
and being discontent, because we easily go that way in our
flesh. We do. We do. We're sinners.
May God keep us from murmuring and being discontent, and may
we glorify God in praise and adoration for the great things
that He has done for us. And when we praise Him, we are
simply ascribing to Him what is due Him. What is due Him? Now remember that. When we praise
Him, we are simply ascribing to Him what is due Him. We praise
Him for His greatness, because He's great. We praise Him for
His majesty, because He's majestic. We praise Him for His mercy,
because He's merciful. We praise Him about His sovereignty,
because He's an absolute sovereign King. See, we're just ascribing
to Him what is due Him. The praise is due Him. And we
pray, the believer prays, O Lord, give us lips and hearts to praise
your name, and take away our murmuring and our complaining,
and give us hearts that seek to praise you for all you've
done for us. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
29. Psalm 29. As I said, we're ascribing to
Him what is due Him. Look at what David does here
in Psalm 29, verses 1 and 2. Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty.
Give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord
the glory due unto His name. Worship the Lord in the beauty
of His holiness. Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty.
Give unto the Lord glory and strength. Just praise Him. Praise Him for what He's done.
Praise Him for what He's created. Praise Him for the new creation
in us. Praise Him for what Christ has done. Praise Him. Praise His name. Let everything
that hath breath praise the Lord. Oh my. Next point I'd like to
look at is we glorify God by being zealous for His name. Being
zealous for His name. Turn if you would to Numbers
25, verse 11. We see Phineas here, the son
of Eliezer. And there's a really neat little
section in this text here Numbers 25.11, look at this. Phineas, the son of Eleazar.
Numbers 25.11, sorry, Numbers 25.11. Phineas, the son of Eleazar,
the son of Aaron, the priest, look at this. Note these words
right here. Hath turned my wrath away. from the children of Israel,
while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consume not
the children of Israel in my jealousy. Note there, hath turned
away my wrath. What a shadow, what a picture
of Christ, beloved, right there before us. Who has turned away
the wrath of God from us? Christ. Christ alone who has
he turned the wrath of God away from his people the Israel of
God What a picture Galatians 418 talks about being
zealously affected afflicted look at but it is good to be
zealously afflicted Affected always in good things and not
only when I am present with you. So a zealous affliction, when
right, is very commendable. As in the instance of Phineas,
Elijah, John the Baptist, and the Lord Jesus Christ. When the
Lord Jesus Christ flipped them money tables over. Remember those
money changers and he went and flipped them tables? He was being zealous. Zealous
for the glory of God. And we are to be zealous against
errors and heresies which spring up and seek to yoke believers
under bondage. The last point I'd like to look
at today is this. We glorify God when we keep our
eyes upon Christ in our lives and in our actions. We are to
do all things, turn if you would to 1 Corinthians 10.31. We are
to do all things to the glory of God. Look at 1 Corinthians
10.31. Whether therefore you eat or
drink, do all to the glory of God. Therefore, you eat or drink. This can be applied to common
eating and drinking or to ordinary meals, which is food, which is
by God's providence. Remember every time you sit down
for dinner? Remember this? Every time you have a plate of
food put before you? Every time you have a drink of
water or milk or whatever you're going to have to drink? It's
by God's providence that it's right there before you. Oh, what
a provider. What a king. And give him all
the glory. were to give him all the glory
and honor and praise for his provision for us. And the apostle
concludes the subject by them, the church at Corinth, the general
rule. That's what one of the commentators says when he says,
whether therefore you eat or drink, do all to the glory of
God. A general rule which will regulate every man's conscience
and practice that whether they eat or drink or whatsoever they
do, Do it all with a habitual aim to the glory of God. Do it
all with a habitual aim to the glory of God. By considering
this general world, they will consider the glory of God in
their actions. In their actions. Colossians
3.17 says this, And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all
in the name of the Lord Jesus, given thanks to God and the Father
by Him. So today, We've looked at how
we glorify God by standing up for His truths. We glorify God
by walking cheerfully, joyfully in all circumstances. We glorify
God by praising Him, giving Him all the glory and honor and praise.
We glorify God by being zealous for His name. And we glorify
God when we keep our eyes upon Christ in our lives and in our
actions. And the believer's prayer is,
God, give me the strength. Give me the grace. Gracious Heavenly
Father, we come to Thy throne, and we are so thankful for Your
mercy and grace to us. We pray that You'd be glorified
in the service coming up, the Sunday morning message and this
message too, that You would use it for Your glory and for Your
honor and for Your praise, and that we, as believers, might
glorify You more and more in our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.