1 Corinthians 10. We've been
looking at glorifying God. What is it to glorify God? How do we glorify
God? Last week we looked at what is
it to glorify God. Let's look at 1 Corinthians 10.31. It says, Whether therefore ye
eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10.31 Whether therefore
ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of
God. So last week we looked at what
is it to glorify God, and we looked at that under four headings,
if you remember. Appreciation, Adoration, Affection,
and Subjection. Appreciation, Adoration, Affection,
and Subjection. Brother Matt and I were talking
this week, and he brought out something about those four points. that in glory we'll be praising
and worshiping our great King with appreciation. Adoration,
affection, and subjection. Same thing that we do here. So
we're being made fit for heaven. We're qualified for heaven, which
in the Greek means to be made fit. In Colossians it talks about
that in chapter 1 in Christ. But even in our worship and in
adoration of God here, we're being prepared for worship and
glory. And always remember that we're
being conformed to the image of the Son. We're being conformed
to the image of Christ. So let us consider this, that
God's glory is the end of all His works and actions. God's
glory is the end of all His works and actions in creation. He created
everything to receive all the glory. In providence, everything
He does, He does to manifest His glory. In grace, He gives
us grace, unmerited favor we receive. And what does it do?
It manifests his glory. It manifests who he is. A great
God and king. In election, in the fact that
he chose us in Christ based upon nothing in us at all. In fact,
everything in us would make him, would make, think of this, would
we choose our enemies? Would we choose to bestow grace
upon those who shake their fists at Him? At us? Probably not. But yet He has mercy on us, sinners. So His glory, we glorify God
because we see in our election that we're so unworthy. And He's
so magnificent. Think of the covenant. God's
made a covenant with His people, hasn't He? with His elect. Christ shed His blood to ratify
the everlasting covenant spoken of in Hebrews. That's a covenant
before all other covenants, beloved. That's a covenant that we were
chosen. My, what a great God. He does it all for His glory.
And we who are the recipients of that part of that covenant,
what do we do? We glorify God, don't we? We
glorify God. Think of the blessings and the
promises in the covenant of grace, in the everlasting covenant.
Think of the effectual calling of His people. The Holy Spirit
goes out and draws His people to Christ. And who gets all the
glory? God. See, it's all done for His
glory. It's all done for His honor.
It's all done for His praise. And He gets the glory in bringing
many sons to glory. In all the Lord Jesus Christ's
action as a man and as mediator, His doctrines and His miracles,
His obedience in our place, His sufferings in our place, His
death upon Calvary's cross, His interceding life, His substitutionary
work in the place of all His people, it's all done to glorify
God. It's all done to magnify Him.
Therefore, the glory of God should be the end of all our actions
as believers, which is what Paul is writing here. Whether therefore
you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do it all to the glory
of God. We are to aim at the glory of
God. We are to aim at the glory of
God in everything we do. The glory of God is the rolling
motive in the Christian's life. We don't seek to have our way
anymore. There was a time when we did. We don't seek that anymore. We
seek to glorify God in our lives. We seek to submit to His will. And we seek to give the glory
all to God, all to the great King. Because He's worthy. He's deserving of it all. Think of, just ponder what He's
done for us. So today we'll look at how many,
how can we aim purely, how can we aim, what are some ways which
we can aim to glorify God? We glorify God when we aim purely
at His glory. when we aim purely at His glory.
Turn, if you would, to John 8 and put your finger in Matthew 6.
John 8. In Matthew 6. John 8, verse 50. Our Master
says this. John 8, verse 50. And I seek
not mine own glory, there is one that seeketh and judgeth.
So the Lord is contrasting the fact that Christ does not seek
His own glory, but the Father's. John 8, verse 50, and I seek
not mine own glory. Turn, if you would, over to Matthew
6. Now the Jews and the religious
rulers of the day sought their own glory. And the hypocrite
looks more for his own glory than for God's. He seeks to get
all the glory. The hypocrite seeks to get all
the glory. All of it. I know, because when
I was in religion, I was a glory hound. Oh, I thank God He took me out
of that. Because we are to glorify God in everything we do. Look
at Matthew 6. Take heed that ye do not your
alms before men, to be seen of them. Otherwise, ye have no reward
of your Father which is in heaven. Verse 2. Therefore, when thou
doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee. Don't
trumpet. You know, when I was in religion
and we'd go out soul winning. Boy, did I brag about it afterwards.
My gosh. To my shame. Now we should witness
whenever the Lord opens the door. But He's the one who gets all
the glory for it. And it's not to make other people
feel bad just because they supposedly didn't do it. And that's what
happens in religion. We are all ambassadors for Christ.
All of us. All of us. Look at this. Therefore,
when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they
may have the glory of man. Verily I say unto you, they have
the reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth, that
thine alms may be in secret, and thy Father which seeth in
secret himself shall reward thee openly. And when thou prayest,
thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are. For they love to pray standing
in the synagogues and in the corner of the streets, that they
may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. I used to, when I was in religion,
oh, we were out at the restaurant. Oh, and you pray and often times
afterwards you look up just to see if you offended anyone. Oh,
so full of pride. So full of pride. I remember being out with a grace
preacher one time and him telling me about when he was a young preacher
he was out with an older preacher. And they stopped, and they were
getting ready, him and his wife, getting ready to pray. And they stopped and looked at
this old preacher. This old preacher just starts
eating. And they're like, what in the world? And this grazed
preacher kind of looked at them and said, well, we need to pray,
brother. And the old preacher, he's eating away. He stopped
and looks up at them and says, are you thankful? And the young
preacher said, yeah. Yeah, I'm thankful. Does God
know you're thankful? Yeah, let's eat. See? Right? No need to make no
big show. God knows our hearts, beloved. We don't do things for show.
When thou prayest, thou shall not be as the hypocrites are,
for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the
corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily
I say unto you, they have their reward. But when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet. And when thou hast shut the door,
pray to the Father, which is in secret. And thy Father, which
seeth thee in secret, shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray,
use not vain reputations. We don't pray the same prayer
all the time, do we? No. We pray our hearts cry. We pray what the Lord's put on
our heart. as the heathen do. For they think
that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye
therefore alike unto them. For your Father knoweth what
things ye have need of before ye ask Him." He already knows,
beloved. He already knows. He's God. So we're not to sound
the trumpet about what we do for the Lord. God's servants serve the Lord
out of a grateful heart. Out of a grateful heart for what
He's done for us. And we're not to do our alms
to be seen of men. And Scripture says, those who
do that, they have the reward. We need to take heed of self-worship.
We need to take heed of that. Sister Carol and I were talking
earlier this morning. You mentioned that about we want
to be our own gods before the Lord saves us. And then the Lord
saves us and we realize who's God. We realize who's God. So we need to take heed of self-worship,
even as grace believers. And every grace preacher will
tell you this. We seek God to have the glory. He's the one
who gets the preeminence, not us. Don't follow me. Follow Him. Follow Christ. He's the one. He's the only one who can save
us. He's our great God and King. And we came out of self-worship.
We came out of promoting oneself. Even if we came out of religion
or if we just came out of the world, we came out of promoting
ourselves. Now we want to exalt and glorify
the One who deserves all the glory and who's worthy of all
the glory. We aim purely at God's glory now. How can we know When
we're aiming at God's glory, when we prefer God above everything
else. We prefer Him above everything
else, beloved. Before we get any credit for
ourselves, when we were in the world, we
wanted the credit for things, didn't we? I know I did. We wanted others to know what
we did, either for ourselves or for others. We wanted others to know what
we did. We're seeking our own glory. But in the church of God,
beloved, we want God to get all the glory. And I tell you, I
know the difference between religion and grace. It's huge. It's huge. All the credit goes to our King.
And what do we do? Remember what I told you? We've
talked about this. What is witnessing? We looked
at the demoniac right last week, didn't we? Go and tell the great
things the Lord has done for you. There it is. There it is
right there. Tell the great things the Lord
has done for you. And now this self-glorification
still reels its head sometimes, and sometimes even in believers. But we must seek to give God
and give Christ all the preeminence in our salvation, and in our
lives, and in what we have, in our vocations, in our giftings. It's all from Him. It's all from
Him. We're to give Him all the glory,
honor, and praise. Now think on this, beloved. We
who believe and love God, we are to love Him before all things
because He's worthy of our love. He's worthy of it. And it's the
same for glorifying God. We who believe in Christ glorify
God for what He's done for us. Because again, He's alone. He
alone is worthy to receive all the glory. Turn if you would
to Lamentations chapter 3. Lamentations chapter 3. Do you
know that God's mercies are new every morning for us? That the
manna which we feasted upon yesterday is not sufficient for today?
That's why when we come and we hear the word, we're fed. And
we're strengthened. by the God, the Holy Spirit,
taking the scriptures and applying them to our lives. And me as
a preacher, I sometimes, I'm preaching what the Lord's put
on my heart for that week, right? But sometimes it's just what
you all need to hear. And I don't know that. And it's
amazing how the Lord will just, he'll just take it for each individual
and use it for his glory and for his honor. It's incredible. Some he may save. Some he may
strengthen. Some he may uphold. We preach the Gospel because
it's the only thing that can save a sinner. Christ and Him
alone. Nothing else. There's no hope
anywhere else. Look at Lamentations 3, verses
22 and 24. It is of the Lord's mercy that
we are not consumed because His compassions fail not. We're not
consumed by the wrath of God, we who believe, because of the
Lord's mercies. Look at this, they are new every
morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Let us remember that. Great is
the Lord's faithfulness to his people. Great, beloved. Great. The Lord is my portion, saith
my soul, therefore will I hope in him. We don't hope in ourselves
anymore. There was a time when I hoped
in myself and what I could do and what I could accomplish.
That was before I was even saved. But praise God, when the Lord
saved me, He gave me an understanding that I can do nothing in myself. And even before He saved me,
it was Him preserving me, Him keeping me. Him giving me the
understanding of things that I learned in this world to work
even. Do you know everything we've
learned for our jobs and things, God's given us the ability to
learn that? so that we can provide. It's incredible. So we can provide
for our families or we can care for our families. We hope in God alone, don't we?
We don't hope in ourselves anymore. There was a time when we did.
We hoped in what we could do and what we could accomplish.
I know that's how I was before the Lord saved me. It was all
about me. Look out for number one. You remember hearing that
all the time? No. No, I'm just a zero. Like Scott
Richard says, until the one. Oh my, the Lord's my portion,
saith my soul. Therefore I hope in Him. So we
hope in God alone. We seek to glorify Him. We aim
at God's glory. Matthew 26.39 says this, And
he went a little further and fell on his face and prayed,
saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from
me, nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt. Matthew 26-39. That's our Master in the garden. Nevertheless, nevertheless, not
as I will, but as thou will. He's totally in subjection to
God's will. He must redeem His people from
their sins. Submitting to God's will. Christ
our Master submitting to God's will in His life. Oh my Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not
as I will, but as Thou wilt. One commentator says about these
words of our Master, if God might have more glory by His sufferance,
He was content to suffer. Christ submitted Himself to God's
will. If God might have more glory
by His sufferance, He was content to suffer. So we aim at God's
glory. Turn if you would to John 12,
verse 28, and put your finger in 1 Peter 1. We aim at God's
glory when we are willing to suffer loss if God will get the
glory. We aim at God's glory when we
are willing to suffer loss if God will get the glory. Look
at John 12, 28. Father, this is the Master, Father,
glorify Thy name. Glorify Thy name. And turn, if
you would, over to 1 Peter 1. So we aim at God's glory when
we're going through various trials, and we ask God for more grace
to make it through those, strength to make it through those, that
we might glorify God while we are bearing a load or trial. We are willing to suffer, suffer
loss if God will get the glory. Look at 1 Peter 1, verses 5 to
11. We are willing to suffer loss
if God will get the glory. 1 Peter 1, verse 5, who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. Beloved, you who are going through
this world, look at that, who are kept by the power of God.
Beloved, we're kept by the power of God. Wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through
manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much
more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried
with fire, might be found into praise and honor and glory at
the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom heaven not seen, ye love,
in whom, though Now you see Him not, yet believe Him. You rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of
your faith, even the salvation of your souls, of which salvation
the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesize
of the grace that should come unto you. Searching what or what
manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did
signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ in the
glory that should follow. And verse 12, unto whom it was
revealed that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister
the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached
the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
which things the angels desire to look into. So look at verse
6 of that chapter. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though
now for a season, if need be, are in heaviness through manifold
temptations. Verse 7, that the trial of your
faith, being much more precious than of gold, that perishes,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and
honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. We glorify God
no matter what we're going through, in the good times and the bad,
don't we? We trust and rest in our Savior. Now we aim at God's glory when
we are content to be outshined by others in gifts, in esteem
for God's glory. This goes totally against the
grain of the world. Totally against the grain of
the world where it's all about you and how far you can obtain.
It's not like that in the church of God. It's not like that at
all. A dear friend of mine, a mentor
of mine, Brother Norm, says that he seeks in his preaching
that others would pass him by in what they know about Christ.
That's true. We as preachers want you to grow
in the grace and knowledge and truth of Christ our Lord and
Him. We seek God's glory. There was
a time when we sought our own glory, when we were in the world,
but not now. We're content to be outshined
by others, whether in gifts, in esteem for God's glory. When
we hear of a young preacher being raised or an older preacher being
raised up, we glorify God. Praise be to God. We hear about
something going on over there and a great work going on, we
glorify God. Give Him all the glory. Give
Him all the praise. Just be thankful. Be thankful. Turn if you will to Philippians
2, verses 3 and 5. We are to esteem others. We are
to esteem others better than ourselves. We are to esteem others
better than ourselves. And as I said, that goes exactly
against our nature, natural nature. which is to look out for ourselves.
But not in the church, beloved. Not among God's people. No, we
are to esteem others better than ourselves. Look at Philippians
2, verses 3-5. Let nothing be done through strife
or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other
better than themselves. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus." Now think of our Lord. He's the everlasting
God manifest in the flesh. He doesn't even have a place
to lay His head. My goodness. But why is he here? Why did he come down to this
earth? To save his people from their sins. You talk about condescension.
You talk about esteeming others better than themselves. In that
sense. Oh my. So we as believers are
to esteem others better than ourselves. Brother Donny Bell
commented about esteeming others better than yourselves. He says,
I don't care who God uses as long as God is magnified and
glorified. I don't care who God uses as long as God is magnified
and glorified. You esteem others better than
yourself. And this verse in Philippians speaks of not doing things through
strife. Not seeking to attain a higher
position by causing strife. Not seeking vain glory. Not seeking to be self-glorified. The preacher's a servant just
as much as everyone else, beloved. I'm called to preach the gospel,
and it's a great honor. It's an honor which I can't even
come close to telling you how much I'm honored to preach, but
I'm saved just like you are. I'm a child of God just like
you are. I'm washed in the precious blood of Christ just like you
are. We ought to esteem each other
better than ourselves. And I remember One Grace Church,
I preached that many years ago. One of the older believers told
me, we were sitting and having fellowship dinner, and he told
me, he said, well, we check our egos at the door. We check our
egos at the door. When we come in here, we try,
or he said, we try to. And we try to look at our wonderful
Savior. We try to look at our Redeemer
and what He's done. what He's done for us. Oh, beloved. We are so blessed to have one
another. We really are. We are so blessed. Again, let's
go back to Philippians chapter 2 and let's look at a little
more in this chapter. In light of our Savior leaving
the glories and splendor of heaven. He left the glories and splendor
of heaven to submit to the will of God and to accomplish the
Father's will for His people. Again, let's pick up Philippians
2. We'll look at verse 4 again starting
there. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Oh, that's
actually Philippians 2. I'm sorry. Yeah, verse 4. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ, who being in the form
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. So Jesus
Christ is God incarnate in the flesh. but made himself of no reputation.
He left the glories and splendors of heaven. We're gonna look at
the word everlasting today in our service. God is an everlasting God. He has everything. He has want
of nothing. He has all power, all majesty. And Christ himself left the,
and Christ is God. He's the Word. The Father, the
Spirit, and the Son, they're one. They're one. And he left
all the glories of heaven and became a man. And as I said,
didn't even have a place to lay his head, beloved. So when we read that, let us
think of that, but made himself of no reputation. Now he's a
king. He's born a king. Right? He's king in glory. He's born
a king. And he's king right now and he'll
be king for the rest of eternity. But he condescended and became
a man. He made himself of no reputation. He's a king born into this world
and he doesn't come in with kingly splendor. He's born in a stable,
in a manger. Oh my. Made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant. And he was a servant,
wasn't he? He was a servant. He was made
in the likeness of man. Now think of that actual, think
of that made in the form of a servant. Think of what he did for you
and I. through his life and through
his death. And then think of what he did for others, healing
the blind. It was incredible. A servant. In being found in the fashions
of a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross, that he might redeem his people
from their sins. What a great God. Wherefore God
hath highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things
in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth."
There's people right now who shake their fist at God, who
say this and that, and every single one of them is going to
bow their knee. They're going to bow their knee to Christ.
Every single, that's every human being that ever lived on the
top side of God's earth, is going to bow their knee to Christ. My. Remember hearing one preacher
say, bow your knee here, because you're going to bow it there.
Oh my. Oh my. Wherefore God hath also
highly exalted him, given him a name which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, things in heaven
and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." What? Look at
this. To the glory of God the Father. See, when we glorify
Christ on this earth, we're glorifying Christ. And that's what we'll
be doing in glory, beloved, unto Him who loved us and washed us
in His blood. Oh, what a great God we have.
So, here before us in Philippians, we see the humiliation of Christ
leaving glory, the glory and splendor of heaven. And let us
ponder this week. Let us ponder this week the wonders
of His person, the wonders of who He is, a man, yet fully God. Fully man and fully God. The
Son of God condescends in the Incarnation for one purpose,
the redeeming, the purchasing of those the Father had given
Him in eternity. What a great God. What a Savior. Gracious Heavenly Father, we
come humbly before Thy throne in awe, in awe of what Christ
has done for us and what You've planned and purposed in eternity.
And we seek to glorify Thee, Lord. We seek for You to get
all the honor and praise and glory. In Jesus' name, Amen.