Okay. Today we're going to continue
our study in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31. And the name of the
study is Glorifying God. This will be Glorifying God Part
2. It will probably be about a 5 or 6 part series. The main thrust of today's message
is man's purpose or privilege. Man's purpose or privilege in
glorifying God. So 1 Corinthians 10.31 and also
turn if you would, put a finger in Psalm 29 verse 1. Psalm 29
verse 1. 1 Corinthians 10.31 and Psalm
29. 1 Corinthians 10.31, Scripture
declares, whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you
do, do all to the glory of God. And then turn, if you would,
to Psalm 29, and we'll look at verses 1 to 11. Now last week we looked at the
chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. And
this week, as I said, I'd like us to look at man's purpose or
privilege in our study of glorifying God. Look at Psalm 29, verses
1 to 11. 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 holiness. The voice of the Lord is upon
the waters. The God of glory thundereth. The Lord is upon
many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful.
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the
Lord breaketh the cedars. Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars
of Lebanon. He maketh them also to skip like
a calf, Lebanon and Cyrene like a young unicorn. The voice of
the Lord divideth the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord
shaketh the wilderness. The Lord shaketh the wilderness
of Kedash. The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calf and
discovereth the forest. And in His temple doth everyone
speak of His glory." They speak of His glory. The Lord sitteth
upon the flood, yea, the Lord sitteth king forever. Now let
us keep that in mind as our dear sister reminds us to pray for
our nation. He's a king. He's a king and he's a king forever,
beloved. He's a king forever. The Lord
gives strength unto his people. The Lord will bless his people
with peace. So last week we looked at, again, the chief end of man
is to glorify God, and that we should glorify God in all things.
All things. So today I'd like us to look
at, again, man's purpose or privilege in glorifying God. Now why must
we glorify God? Because of Him we live and have
our being. And all that we have, everything we have, think of
this, everything we have comes from Him. Comes from Him. Know
ye that the Lord, he is God, and it is he that hath made us,
and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep
of his pasture. Psalm 100, verse 3. Psalm 95,
verses 5 and 6 says this. The sea is his, and he made it. And his hands formed the dry
land. O come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before
the Lord, our Maker. God's people are the sheep of
God. They're the sheep of God. And
the shepherd, the great shepherd, cares for his sheep. He feeds
them. He watches over them. He provides
for them. And beloved, this is what our
great King has done for us in the past, even before we knew
Him. And this is what our great King continues to do for us.
Now that He's revealed Himself to us. And this is what our great
King will do for us forever. He takes care and tends His sheep.
And watches over us. Turn, if you would, to Acts.
Acts chapter 17. Now His dominion, the dominion
of our Lord is a vast dominion. It encompasses everything. Everything. He's a king over a vast domain,
which includes everything. Everything we see, everything
we don't see, this earth, the heavens. There is nothing that
is not under His authority. There is nothing that is not
under His authority. So therefore, He's worthy of
all glory. He's worthy of all. In God's
people, let us worship and adore our great King. Let us glorify
Him. Let us glorify Him as our Lord
and as our Maker. And as the one who's given us
everything. He's given us life. He's given
us family. He's given us, for those of us
who are married, wonderful spouses. And those of us who have believing
spouses, spouses that we can share our faith with. It's incredible. It's amazing. Look at Acts 17
verses 24 to 28. Why must we glorify God? Because
in Him we live and have our being. God that made the world, verse
24, in all things therein. So there's no question that God
made the world. Scripture declares He did. seeing
that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples
made with hands, neither is worship with man's hands, as though he
needed anything." God needs nothing from us. We don't add anything
to God. He's self-sufficient. He's God. He's nowhere near what we think. as though he needed anything,
seeing he giveth to all life and breath in all things." Now
think of this, he gives life and breath to believers and unbelievers, even to those who curse his name. "...and hath made of one blood
all nations, of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth,
and have determined the times before appointed in the bounds
of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord, if happily
they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far
from every one of us. For in him we live and move and
have our being, as certain also of our own poets have said, for
we are his offspring. In Him we live and move and have
our being. All that we have is by Him, all
from His mercy. And He's worthy. He's worthy
to receive all the praise and all the glory. He's worthy. Why
must we glorify God? The second point is this, because
He hath made all things for His glory. Turn if you would to Proverbs
16, verse 4. He made all things for His glory.
Remember last week we saw that He won't share His glory with
anyone. No one. No one. Now you've got people
in religion who like to steal glory. Or I like to puff up about
it, and I was one of them. I'm not speaking out of putting
down because I was one of them. Man naturally wants to boast
about what they do, about what they don't do. But God is the
one who gets all the glory. He won't share his glory with
anyone. And we must glorify Him because He's made all things
for His glory. Look at Proverbs 16, verse 4. The Lord hath made
all things for Himself. For Himself. Yea, even the wicked
for the day of evil. Now look at that portion of Scripture.
The Lord hath made all things for Himself. Yea, even the wicked
for the day of evil. We saw in our last point that
the Lord is the maker of all, all things, but not only But
not only His people, but here it says, even the wicked for
the day of evil. He makes His people to glorify Him. Everything is under Him. Everything
is under Him. We're told here, yea, even the
wicked for the day of evil. Here before us we see His kingdom
of providence rules over everything. Over everything. Everything is appointed to God.
He has foreordained whatever comes to pass. Now there's a
purpose for everything under heaven. There's a purpose of
where you were born. There's a purpose of who your
parents were. There's a purpose that you heard the gospel when
you did. It was purposed by God and planned
by God. Think of that. It's amazing.
It's absolutely incredible. Where you now live is purposed
by God, your work, your life, and even your death. And even
your death. God's in full control, beloved.
He's in full control. Why should we who believe on
Christ, glory, glory in God, let us think this, we were chosen
in Christ in eternity. We were redeemed by Christ according
to God's decree. That's enough right there for
us to glorify God, isn't it? The times of Christ coming to
this earth, the times of Him actually coming, His incarnation,
the times of His coming to this earth, the time of His suffering
for our sins, the time of His death, the time of His resurrection
was all planned and purposed by God for our good and for His
glory. The conversion of God's elect,
the exact time, the exact place, the means, these are all according
to the purpose of God. If you're saved, it's on purpose. It's on purpose. Oh my. And this, and let us think on
this. One commentator said this and
he said the times of our affliction, the times of our temptation,
the times of our desertion, the times of our joy are all planned
and purposed by God for our good. For our good. Now think of this
too when you're going through something. Think of this. Look
back to when the Lord's good. How much has He brought us through? That's what I try to do when
I'm going through something. I don't look back. Because sometimes
something comes up and I'm thinking, oh my goodness. Don't we all
do that? Let's be honest, right? And you
think back, look what the Lord brought me through. My, it gives
us joy and comfort and strength through the trials and tribulations
that we face. And knowing that He is in full
control, knowing that He is in full control brings such rest
to the saints' hearts. Such rest. Romans 11.36 says this, "...for
of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things, to whom
be glory forever." See, He's to get all the glory. All of
it. And do you know, turn if you would to Exodus 14, do you
know if people don't give God the glory willingly, that He'll
get it from them in their destruction? This was pretty sobering when
I looked this up this week. Look at this. My goodness. If people don't give God the
glory willingly, here, get it from them and their destruction.
Look at Exodus 14, verses 17 and 18. God's will will be done
and no man will ever thwart it. Look at Exodus 14, 17 and 18.
And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians,
and they shall follow them. And I will get me honor upon
Pharaoh, and upon all his hosts, upon his chariots, and upon his
horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know
that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh,
upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen." What happened to them?
They were buried in the Red Sea, weren't they? When the wrath
of God was poured out upon them. God's will will be done. Romans
9.17 says this, For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for
this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my
power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Those other nations, after the
Israelites came out of Egypt, they knew what had happened.
They had heard. They had heard of the great destruction
of Pharaoh and all his armies and the mighty power of God. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
76, verse 10. Now God raises up kings and leaders,
governments as He pleases, right? He does as He pleases. And let us always remember this.
Whomever He raises up, they're raised up to accomplish His will,
whether we were for them or against them. And He raises up governments
to show His power. And He takes down governments
to show His power. That His name might be declared
through the whole earth. Look at Psalm 76, verse 10. Surely
the wrath of man shall praise Thee. The remainder of wrath
shalt Thou restrain. And let us think on this as we
ponder this verse here in Psalm 76, verse 10. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee, the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." Let
us think of Joseph, his brethren, selling them into slavery. But the Lord turned it around
for good, didn't He? In the preservation of the house
of Jacob. So again, the wrath of Haman against Mordecai laid
the foundation for the Lord's praise in the ruin of Haman and
the exaltation of Mordecai. And all those examples that we
see pale in comparison to the death of Christ. It says, Surely the wrath of
man shall praise thee, the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
Everything else, all the other examples, pale in comparison
to the death of Christ, in which the malice and wrath of the Jews
accomplished God's will in the salvation of His people. Christ must die, the sinners
substitute. He must, and He did. And they
cried, crucify Him, crucify Him. And think on this, that which
was meant for evil by them, that which was meant for evil by them
and left to ourselves, we would have been right there with them. But think on this, that which
they meant for evil. will prove the ground of everlasting
praise and glory to God for the millions who are redeemed, for
the number that no man can number who are redeemed by the precious
blood of Christ. What man meant for evil, God
used for good. My, my. And this will resound
through all eternity, won't it? With the blood-bought saints
of God giving glory to God. in honor to God and praise to
God. God's will will be accomplished. And the Lord uses all things
to accomplish His purpose, even the enemies of His people. And
even His enemies will serve the purpose of His own glory, will
serve the purpose of His own glory. And the remainder of that
wrath, like the waves of the sea, He'll keep back. Just think
if He didn't restrain us and didn't restrain the wrath of
man. My goodness. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
2. In Psalm 2 we see the heathen rage and we see the reign of
the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, the heathen rage against
Him. Psalm 2, verses 1-12. Why do the heathen rage and the
people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
His anointed. They're taking counsel trying to figure out
how we stop this. Let us break their bands asunder
and cast their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall live. Oh, puny man. Oh, animated dust. This is the God of the Bible
right here. And if you're saved, this is
our Savior. He that sitteth in heaven shall laugh. The Lord
shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them
in His wrath and vex them in His sore displeasure. Praise
God, the redeemed will never see that. because Christ bore
that, satisfied that wrath for us. Yet have I set my King upon
my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree the
Lord hath said unto me. Thou art my Son. This day have
I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance and the othermost parts of the
earth for thy possession. He has a people that no man can
number, beloved. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's
vessel. And that picture there is like when you take a pot and
you just smash it to pieces. There's so many pieces you can't
put it back together. Oh, what power our Lord has.
What power. Be wise now, therefore, O ye
kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the
earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. That's
not a slavish fear. That's a reverent fear, beloved.
That's a reverent fear of having revealed to us who He is. He's
God. He's sovereign. He's almighty. Oh, my. Rejoice, too. Rejoice with trembling,
but rejoice. Rejoice. We've been redeemed,
those of us who are bought with the precious blood of Christ.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish from the way.
When His wrath is kindled, but a little, just a little. Blessed are they, blessed are
they. If you're saved, blessed. Blessed are you, blessed am I.
Blessed are they that put their trust in Him, that put their
trust in Him for their eternal souls. Rest. Blessed. I'll turn, if you would,
to Isaiah 37. We see where the enemies of God
are turned back by the mighty hand of God. They're turned back
by the mighty hand of God. And may we never lose sight of
this as we see world events unfold around us, that our God is absolutely
sovereign, beloved. He's sovereign. Look at Isaiah
37, verses 27-28. to 29. Therefore, their inhabitants
were of small power. They were dismayed and confounded.
They were as the grass of the field and as a green herb as
the grass on the housetops and as corn blasted before it be
growing up. But I know thy abode, and thy
going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me, because
thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears. Therefore will I put my hook
in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee
back by the way which thou comest." He just turns the enemies however
he pleases. Tonight we're going to look at
that, how the Lord is our great God and our great shield and
our great refuge, and He is a defender for His people against His enemies
and against our enemies. And our enemies are His enemies.
And He just turns them to however He pleases. Oh, but here, He
just turned them, just like putting a hook in thy nose, wherever He wants them to go.
May we never lose sight of that, that our God is absolutely sovereign. You know, saints were made to
glorify and to praise Him. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
43, 21, just a few chapters over. We're formed to praise the Lord. Now, think of that. Sister Nancy,
we didn't know the Lord before He saved us, did we? We didn't
have any idea that we were formed to praise Him, but that's what
Scripture declares. And when was this planned? And
when was this purposed? Before the foundation of the
world. Oh my goodness. Oh my, what a God we have. Look
at Isaiah 43, 21. This people have I formed for
myself. We are formed for God. We who
believe. For they shall show forth my
praise. My goodness. I could just sit
there. That's incredible. We're made to show forth the
praise of God and to give Him all the glory. 1 Peter says this
about God's people. But ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a particular people, that ye
should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out
of darkness into His marvelous light, which in times past were
not a people. But now, the people of God, which
had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. We've obtained
mercy, beloved. We've obtained mercy. And it's
all through and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now why should we glorify God?
Because the glory of God is of infinite value. Brother Donny
Bell said this, God has no more than His glory. His glory is
worth more than heaven and worth more than the salvation of all
man's souls. Better for worlds to cease and
kingdoms to perish, men and angels to be annihilated, than God to
lose one jewel from His crown. One beam of His glory. He's glorious. It's part of his intrinsic nature.
Remember we looked at that? His glory is part of who he is. Why must we glorify God? Because
heaven and the angels and creation bring glory to God. So should
men. Psalm 19 says this, verses 1
to 3, the heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament showeth
His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech
nor language where their voice is not heard." There's nowhere
on this earth where the glory of God is not shown. Nowhere. Nowhere where man speaks,
where the glory of God is not revealed, just in this world
with what we see. We wake up every day and the
sun's rising. And it's beautiful. We see the
sunset at night. It declares the glory of God,
beloved, right before our eyes. It's incredible. The sun, the
moon, the stars, the color of the sky, the oceans. We used
to go to the ocean when we lived in Oregon. It's incredible just
to sit there and see these waves crash in, crashing in, the power
behind it. Spurgeon said the waves clap
in adoration. as they hit. I never forgot that
when I read that. And when I sit there, and I'd
sit there at the coast, the Oregon coast, and we'd see these waves,
and it would just... Wow. And he's preaching about
the trees, wave in adoration in the wind to the Lord. Creation
praises God. The birds, they drink, and then
they put their heads up. My. Angels bow down before Him
and fall before Him. The heavens and the angels and
creation bring glory to God and so should men. Christ didn't
take upon Him the form of angels, did He? He took upon Him the
form of men. Hebrews 2.14 says this, For as much then as the
children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself took
part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage. For verily he took on him not the nature of angels,
but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Here's a contrast between
men and angels. Man has redemption in Christ,
the angels do not. Man has been joined to Christ. He's the head, we're the body.
The angels have not. Man is clothed with the righteousness
of Christ. Angels are not. He took upon
the form of man. Even the beasts of the earth
honor the Lord. Scripture declares this in Isaiah 43, verses 20
and 21. The beasts of the field shall
honor me, the dragons and the owls, because I give water in
the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give drink to my
people, my chosen. This people have I formed for
myself. They shall show forth my praise. So we see why we should
give glory to God. One last point. We must bring
glory to God because we as believers, He's our only hope. Turn, if
you would, to Psalm 42, and I'll read Psalm 39.7 and Psalm 62.5. Christ is the believer's hope.
Psalm 39.7 says this, And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in Thee. Psalm 62.5
says, My soul wait Thou only upon God, for my expectation
is from Him. And then turn to Psalm 42. Psalm
42, and we'll read verses 1-5. As the heart panteth after the
water brook, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth
for God. For the living God, when shall
I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day
and night while they continually sang to me, where is thy God?
When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me. For
I had gone with the multitude. I went with them to the house
of God with a voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that
kept holy day. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? And why art thou disquiet in
me? Hope thou in God. For I shall yet praise Him for
the health of His countenance. Hope thou in God, believer. O
beloved of God, hope in Him. hope in Him. And we who believe,
if you want to turn here, you can, 2 Thessalonians, I'll read
it. We who believe, and we're closed
with this, we have a hope, a good hope through grace. A good hope
through grace. 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 13-17. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you. You see who's doing all the work?
Whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast,
stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether
by word or our epistle, Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and
God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and oh, he's loved
us from eternity, and hath given us everlasting consolation and
good hope through grace. Comfort your hearts and establish
you in every good word and work. We have a good hope through grace. We have a good hope through grace.
And we give God all the glory and all the honor and all the
praise. Oh, Heavenly Father, we come
before Thy throne of grace, and we marvel. We who believe, we
marvel that You saved us, that You've redeemed us. We know what
we are, we know what we were, and we know what we're going
to be. And we're not that yet. But we
give You all the praise and all the glory. And we seek to honor
You in our lives. And we seek to honor You each
day as we live upon this earth. May You be glorified today through
the preaching of the Word. May the Holy Spirit move with
power. Oh Lord, we just pray that You'd
be with us and that You'd receive all the glory today. In Jesus'
name, Amen.