All To the Glory of God

Q: What does the Bible say about doing everything for God's glory?

The Bible instructs us to do all things for the glory of God, as stated in 1 Corinthians 10:31. In 1 Corinthians 10:31, Paul emphasizes that whatever we do, whether in eating or drinking, should be done for God's glory. This principle reflects the central theme of a believer's life: all actions must point to the greatness and goodness of God. The purpose of our daily activities is transformed when seen through the lens of glorifying God, which leads us to a deeper appreciation of His sovereignty and provision in every aspect of life. By glorifying God in all endeavors, we are reminded of His supreme authority and grace, thus fostering a life that honors Him above all else.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to avoid idolatry?

Avoiding idolatry is critical because it robs God of His glory and distracts us from His truth and goodness. Idolatry is a recurring theme in the Scriptures, highlighting the human tendency to elevate created things over the Creator. As Paul warns the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 10, we must be vigilant against anything that takes our focus away from God. When we allow idols to infiltrate our lives, we risk losing sight of God's sovereignty and grace. This distraction not only leads to spiritual unrest but also deprives us of the peace that comes from recognizing God as the first cause of all things. By turning away from idolatry, we affirm our commitment to worshiping God alone and acknowledging His rightful place in our hearts and lives.

Q: How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

Scripture consistently affirms God's sovereignty over all creation, asserting that He is the first cause of everything. God's sovereignty is profoundly established throughout the Bible. In Isaiah 45:7, it is declared that God creates both good and evil, underscoring His absolute authority over all circumstances. The narrative of scripture portrays God not as a distant observer, but as an active player in the affairs of humanity, guiding history according to His divine will. Furthermore, the concept of God's sovereignty reassures believers that nothing occurs outside His control, offering hope and rest in His perfect plan. By recognizing God's sovereignty, we find solace in His omnipotence and the assurance that all things ultimately work for His glory and our good.

Q: Why is grace essential for salvation?

Grace is essential for salvation because it is the unearned favor of God that offers forgiveness and redemption through Christ. Grace is at the heart of salvation, as it exemplifies God's love for unworthy sinners. Ephesians 2:8-9 states that we are saved by grace through faith, indicating that our salvation is not based on our merits or works, but solely on God's grace. This grace is freely bestowed upon those who believe in Christ and His redemptive work on the cross, providing a means of reconciliation between a holy God and sinful humanity. Understanding grace leads us to acknowledge our total dependence on God for salvation, driving us to worship and glorify Him for His matchless gift of eternal life. Without grace, there can be no hope of salvation.

That's always the last thing I do, because that is not me. Darwin's got a brilliant mind. I don't. Turn with me, if you would, to open our service this evening to Psalm chapter 66. Psalm 66. Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands. Sing forth the honor of his name. Make his praise glorious. Say unto God, how terrible art thou in thy works. Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee. All the earth shall worship thee and shall sing unto thee. They shall sing to thy name.

Come and see the works of God. He is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. He turned the sea into dry land, They went through the flood on foot. There did we rejoice in him. He ruleth by his power forever. His eyes behold the nations. Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. O bless our God, ye people. Make the voice of his praise to be heard, which holdeth our soul in life and suffereth not our feet to be moved.

For thou, O God, hast proved us. Thou hast tried us as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the net. Thou laidest affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads. We went through the fire and through the water, but thou broughtest us over into a wealthy place.

I will go into thy house with burnt offerings. I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered, my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble. I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings with the incense of rams. I will offer bullocks with goats.

Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. But verily God hath heard me. He hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor turned away his mercy from me.

Amen. Let's pray together. Our Holy Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us this time to meet together once again as a family. I pray that you send your spirit, that we worship you in spirit and truth, and that you be with us. This not be a vain time, but rather be a time of worship together, that you would edify your saints, Give peace to your people, bring glory to your name, and call sinners to repentance, all according to your will. Our Father, I pray that you give us faith and increase our faith according to your will, that we can see you and we thank you. Most certainly, we thank you for Christ, for his life, for his work, for his perfect, willing sacrifice took away sin as far as the East is from the West. In reality, we're thankful.

We think of many in our congregation that are away, who are traveling. We think of those that are undergoing different health trials. Think of Bill Hoxton. We think of Novi. Pray that you comfort and be with them as only you can. We pray this thankfully in Christ's name for his sake, amen. Okay, Sean. Okay, if you would turn in your hand those to song number 34, we'll sing Immortal Invisible. Song number 34. Immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light inaccessible, hid from our eyes.

Most blessed, most glorious, the ancient of days. Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise. Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light, Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might. Thy justice, like mountains high soaring above, thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love. To all life thou givest, to both great and small, in all life thou livest, the true life of all. We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree, and wither and perish, but not changeth thee. Great Father of glory, pure Father of light, Thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight. All praise we would render, O help us to see. Tis only the splendor of light hideth thee.

And if you would, turn to song number 209. We'll sing Grace Greater Than Our Sin. 209. ♪ Marvelous grace of our loving Lord ♪ ♪ Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt ♪ yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured, there where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.

Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all our sin. Sin and despair like the sea waves cold, threaten the soul with infinite loss. Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold, points to the refuge, the mighty cross. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all our sin. Dark is the stain that we cannot hide. What can avail to wash it away? Look, there is flowing a crimson tide, Whiter than snow you may be today. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within.

Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all our sin. Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe. You that are longing to see His face, will you this moment His grace receive? Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all our sin.

Good evening. Turn with me, if you would, to the book of First Corinthians. First Corinthians chapter 10. First Corinthians chapter 10. And our text is just gonna be just one verse this evening. Verse 31. And we'll look at a lot of verses, but our text here is in First Corinthians 10 verse 31.

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Do all to the glory of God. Now, throughout this chapter, Paul gives a warning to these Corinthians who had just been so blessed. And if you read through the chapter, which we'll touch on some verses, I mean, haven't we been just so blessed with the constant outpouring of the gospel for years and years and years. We're more blessed than any generation in the history of man. And the Corinthians had been so blessed by the gospel.

And in this chapter, Paul warns those who had been so blessed, as he warns us, against turning away from Christ, against turning away from Christ. In chapter, or excuse me, in verse five, Paul calls that being overthrown. Overthrowing, he refers to the children of Israel in this chapter as an example of being overthrown in the wilderness and turning away from Christ.

Look in the same chapter here in chapter 10, look at verse eight, starts, neither let us commit fornication. Turn away, turn away from sexual sin, he says, Verse 9 says, neither let us tempt Christ. Don't presume, as blessed as we have been, we're not to presume on Christ's mercy. Take it for granted.

And doesn't that just speak to who we are? I mean, how sad is it that we need this warning? To turn away from things that are so evidently and clearly bad for us. They put that poison bottle, logo on the back of bottles for children who don't know any better. We know better. We know better. But we still have to be told and reminded.

Turn away from fornication. Turn away from tempting Christ. Don't presume on Christ's mercy and take it for granted. We have to be told these things, which is an indication of who we are in our nature, in our flesh. Verse 10 says, neither murmur ye. Don't complain against God's providence.

We're to share our hurts with one another. We're certainly to share our hurts with God in prayer. And we share our weaknesses with God in prayer. And we're to do so in private prayer in a raw manner, right? In an open manner, we're to pour our hearts out before God.

And sometimes that can sound like murmur. But we're to pray that way to God in honesty. And we murmur in this world. We do. We're to turn away from murmuring. That's what Paul says. But we do. We do all these things that Paul warns us against because we're prone to do them. And it's very evident in the scriptures that you do one thing in your mind and you're guilty of breaking all of the commandments. We do these things. And we're to turn to God in Christ for forgiveness.

That's a word to do. But Paul warns us to turn from these things. But in warning these Corinthians, in warning us who have been so blessed, in warning us, what does he mention very first? In verse seven, the first thing he mentions is neither be ye idolaters. Don't be an idolater.

Growing up, I think I always pictured an idolater, a totem pole, or a golden calf, or what was that ridiculous thing outside of Dayton? Do you remember coming out of the pond? They had this enormous statue of something that they thought must look like Christ. It was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. And that's what I pictured, right, growing up.

And certainly, yeah, those can absolutely be idols, but Primarily, what is an idol? What's an idol? An idol is anything that we attribute in our minds as a cause of something else. And especially if we attribute that as the first cause of something. That's why we don't use words like luck. We know that God is the first cause. of all things. We know that God is the first cause of all things. He reveals that in his scriptures. He revealed that to us through his word that God is the first cause. And shame on us. Shame on me for my flippant use. Mother Nature's angry at us today. Oh, for pity's sake. I mean, how ridiculous is that?

God is the first cause of all things, and we sure are better off when we keep that in mind and acknowledge. When I was around Gerald's age, do you remember Henry saying, you're not better? Do you remember him saying that? I remember that message. And he said, you're being brought up under the sound doctrine, being brought up to know.

I'm not attributing what just happened to luck. I'm not attributing it to some unknown factor that is the first cause, because I know the first cause is God. And that doesn't make me any better, but it sure does make us better off, doesn't it? It sure does make us better off. We know that God is the first cause of all things. Isaiah 45 says, I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, L-O-R-D, capital Lord, I, Jehovah, I do all these things.

His sovereign right and his power is without question. And we're not to forget, how he displays that sovereign right and power in the very next verse in Isaiah. He says, how does he display this sovereign right, this sovereign absolute power to do as he will? He displays it in the very next verse.

He says, drop down ye heavens from above. Let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open and let them bring forth salvation. Let righteousness and salvation spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it in his sovereign right and might and power and authority.

Contrasted to how we as men would use that, right? Absolute authority corrupts absolutely. How, you know, especially in In countries of democracy, our whole government is set up to divide that power so that no one has all that power in one place because we know if men have all that power in one place, we will corrupt it, right? We will use it in an evil manner for our own greed.

God actually does have, he is the head of all that power. And how does he use it? Salvation and righteousness springing up together. I, the Lord, have created. And that can only be in Christ, right? Salvation and righteousness together can only be in Christ. As Dan brought out so well Sunday morning, he talked about when we sing that song, Rock of Ages, right?

Save from wrath and make me pure. Salvation in Christ who knew no sin being made sin for us, the scripture says, and righteousness, make me pure, save from wrath and make me pure. The rest of that verse says that, you know, so Christ who knew no sin was made sin for us, save from wrath, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him and make me pure. As Isaiah says, salvation and righteousness springing up together.

The Lord in his sovereignty said, I, the Lord, have created that for his glory, definitely, and for the good of his people. I, the Lord, have created it in Christ. Paul talking of idolatry, God is the first and only cause of all things, of all things. He uses means and he uses people as he will.

But through this chapter, and Paul's talking about the Israelites, Those Israelites knew that. I mean, think of all the things they had seen. They knew that God himself was the first cause of all things and how they robbed themselves of peace and understanding, the understanding of God by worshiping the means rather than the God, rather than the father, the good father that created the means, that used the means. They worshiped the means rather than God, the cause.

And that's idolatry. And that's the first thing he warns us against is idolatry. How some of these Corinthians, again, rob themselves of that peace and understanding by taking God's goodness for granted. By focusing on the means rather than focusing on God's grace. And how prone we are, how prone I am to focus on the means rather than Christ who provides. Which again, it's an indication of my natural flesh, my flesh of death, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Right? Unbelief, just, it's the stench of death is what it is. Some examples, and I'm speaking from experience because I know from talking with y'all that we're all pretty close to the same. the silly things that we take comfort in that Paul warns us, don't let these become an idol. Don't let these become an idol.

Having the right doctrine. I'm thankful for the old writers and I'm thankful that John Calvin put T-U-L-I-P in a manner that he took the doctrines of grace and put it in a way that I can remember, right? Outlined it in a very, very clear manner. And I'm very, very thankful for that. It helps us summarize the doctrines of grace.

You think of, Oh my goodness, the preachers that we have heard in our lifetime. Kings in my mind, right? I mean, just those, I mean, even Henry talked about his messages were so sweet. His writings are so sweet and clear and good. His ministry was so blessed.

And both of them would tell you. John Calvin and Henry would both tell you, don't you dare put me anywhere there, right? Don't you dare put me anywhere between yourself and Christ. Don't you, don't you dare do that. And they would warn you that. In fact, I heard Henry, those are practically his words. He said exactly that. Heard Scott Richardson say, don't put a pastor or preacher or anybody on a pedestal. Don't hold them up. Make God break your fingers to drop them. And Paul, we're no different than the Corinthians, Paul warns of that.

There's nothing, there's nothing between us and Christ, right? Christ is the only mediator. If anything comes through a man, comes through a means that is a blessing to you, let's glorify the one from whom it came, right? Not from the means, we don't glorify the means, we glorify the creator.

God says, I the Lord have created this. And that brings us to our text here in verse 31. Paul, while talking about turning away from idolatry, speaks to the other side of the same coin, which is liberty in Christ. So he's been talking through the last verses of this chapter about liberty, which is found in Christ. The liberty found in Christ because we should do all the things he mentioned, right?

We should turn from fornication. We should not live a life that tempts God. We should have the right doctrine. We should, right? We should listen to sound preaching. We should live a modest life. We should be giving generous people. We should be the kind of people that are examples to our children and to others. We should be good neighbors. We should be an encouragement to one another. These are all things that we should be. We should believe. We should pray. We should have faith. We should live in it.

And none of those things are the cause of salvation. If we look at any of those things for our comfort, they become an idol, which is why Paul talks about all those things and then talks about the liberty in Christ. Because none of those things are causes of salvation. They're evidence of salvation. That's what scripture says about faith, right? Faith is the evidence. It's not the cause.

If I'm left to my imagination, I'll focus on all those things and I'll make them my hope for my comfort. the things that our flesh will do. How many churches count church attendance? You're going to mark that up as something to commend you before God. We talk about jewels in our crown. Christ is the jewel. Christ is the crown, for pity's sake. All those things that we would look at, left to my own imagination, I'll focus on those. I'll make them my hope. I'll make them my comfort. I'll make something there reason for my right standing before God.

And there is nothing but Christ. There's nothing but Christ. They'll all, all of these quote unquote good things, all of these blessings, all of these gifts will become an idol. And Paul warns against that. And then he talks about the other side of the coin, which is the liberty that we have in Christ. It's all of Christ.

And Paul says whatsoever, therefore in verse 31, whatsoever you eat or drink, Whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. And I've been thinking about this verse for years. Gene Patterson and I were standing over there talking one day about how God saw fit in his wisdom to create life.

Because he wasn't constrained by science. He wasn't constrained by anything, physical laws, and what I mean by that, and this is what we were talking about, have you ever thought about the fact that God didn't make us so that we have to sleep at night? He didn't have to make us where we rested. Now He chose to, but He didn't have to. He didn't have to make us so that we eat, or breathe, or see, or hear. have to make us to rest. He didn't have to make us to breathe, but he saw fit to.

And there are many, many examples that tie into our text here in verse 31. I'm just going to focus on those six though. Sleep, breathe, eat, drink, see, and hear. All those, those traits, if you will, those needs were all built for us by God. And every single one of them is such a clear picture of Christ and is used many, many times as examples of Christ and of salvation. And Paul says, whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God, right after talking about idolatry. So maybe If I make a habit of looking at God as the first cause of all things, if when I sleep I see a picture of Christ, if when I breathe I see a picture of Christ, Paul is pointing us to that right after talking about idolatry.

Maybe, maybe if I make a habit of looking for God as the first cause in all things, I'll be better able to avoid seeing any other cause. And I'll be able better to avoid robbing God of his earned of his rightly earned glory. Maybe I'll be better at not robbing myself of peace. When I see our good father as the first cause in all things in this physical world and also in salvation, Maybe I'll not rob myself of the peace as often as I do, if that makes sense.

And I think that's what Paul was talking about right after talking about idolatry. He talks about the freedom that we have as believers in Christ. Maybe one of the reasons God has us do every one of these six things every single day is an example of him further revealing himself to us. And just the thought of that is amazing, that God would see fit to communicate with sinners. We hesitate to use the word want when it comes to God, because we know that God doesn't want anything, right? God purposes, God declares, God decides, God's sovereign. but that it would be his will, right? That it would be his will out of his goodness to communicate who he is, to make himself known to sinners is just remarkable. And of those six things, sleeping, breathing, eating, drinking, seeing, and hearing, I want to turn to a few verses and the scriptures will pretty well speak for themselves.

I'll keep my comments brief. In the sake of time, I'll have for each of these, I'll have you turn to one verse and then I'll read a few others that support and kind of go to that rather than us turn into 40 verses. Um, let's focus first on to sleep. Uh, turn with me if you would, to Hebrews chapter four, Hebrews chapter four.

And I'm going to read a few other verses first in the hopes, that when we're tired and when we rest and when we wake up, we remember. I pray that I do. I pray that I remember how the Lord uses sleep as an example of his salvation and his goodness in Christ. So we're at Hebrews 4 verse 9 through 11. But before we get there, let me quote a few other verses first. Psalm 4 verse 8 says, I will both lay me down in peace and sleep. Why? For thou, Lord, only, makest me dwell in safety. Why do we, I promise I will keep my comments short, but I don't know. Why do we sleep in this world? Because we know that we dwell in safety under his hand. Why do we rest in salvation?

Because Christ said it is finished, that's why. Because it's in his hand, it's all in his hand. Therefore, we sleep. Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, I shall not lack. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. We lie down. Matthew 11 says, Christ says, come unto me, all ye that labor, all ye that are heavy laden, all ye that are weary, come to me. He beckons, he commands, he says, Come to me. The door is open. Come, come to me. And what?

I will give you rest. He that has ears to hear, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I'm meek and lowly in heart. Ye shall find rest unto your souls. If your soul is weary, count that a blessing. Maybe the Lord is teaching you something. My soul is weary of sin and I turn to him and cry over it. That's when I'm at my best state. He says, you shall find rest unto your souls.

And now to what we turn to in Hebrews chapter four, verse nine says, there remaineth therefore a rest, a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into that rest, he hath also ceased from his own works, just as God did from his on the seventh day. When God created the heavens and the earth, he rested on the seventh day because the work was finished. Those of us that rest, he says, there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

We enter into that rest because the work is finished in Christ. It was started in Christ before the foundation of the world. It was finished in Christ in time. for all of eternity, it was finished for his people, and therefore his people enter into that rest. The rest of belief, the rest of Christ, the accepted sacrifice, saying to the sinner from the cross, what did he say to the thief on the cross right beside him? Today, thou shalt be with me in paradise. And can't you just feel that thief's shoulders relax through all of that pain, Right? He had only one light and one hope, and that was it. And that's us. And that's us. We have one light, we have one hope, and that is Christ saying, today thou shalt be with me in paradise, he said to him, and moments later he said, it is finished. It.

The salvation, the redemption, the purchase, the giving of life to his people, the giving of a right standing before God to sinners who had rebelled against him. And I always think when I hear someone say right standing, I also think it's the right to stand. The right to stand before a holy God, as me, because of what Christ has done and what Christ has accomplished. Now I can rest. Now I can sleep. That Christ alone has the right, the authority, and the power to save. That Christ alone has the goodness and the will to save. And He did it. That Christ alone accepts sinners. I say, will He accept me? Will He accept me? And there's absolutely no condition on that, right? The answer to that question has no condition. Will He accept me?

In my wisdom, I'd say, well, yeah, if you, everybody you ask from a worldly standpoint is going to answer that question. And they're going to start with the words. Yes. If you, that's how that answer is going to start. And that's wrong. It's not. Yes. Will he accept me? There's no condition on that question. The answer is not he'll accept you. If you ask your asking is not the condition. It's not the condition.

Christ calls dead hopeless sinners who have no right to ask. That's who Christ calls. Those that have no right to ask. And he tells them, ask. So he says, those that come to him, he will in no wise cast out, right? Under no circumstance will he cast them out.

And there's rest. That's where sleep is. So he says, if your soul is weird, If your soul is weary, if your soul is weary, he's made it such. If your soul is weary of sin, if it's weary of being other than God, unholy and separate, if it's weary, on Christ's authority, he says, come to me and I will give you rest. Not because you came. If your soul is weary, he's made it such. Come and rest. And even if you've been doing it for 100 years, come and rest again. Come and rest. Come to Christ and rest.

So I pray that when I rest, I think of those things, that I think of Christ my rest. I don't know if you all just collapse in bed every night. I feel like I do, right? By the time I hit bed, I feel like I'm just falling into it. Maybe I remember my weary, sinful soul and think of Christ my rest as I go to sleep. I'll have a more peaceful day, no doubt. Because Paul says, whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

We breathe. We breathe. Turn with me to Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17, and then we're going to start in verse 25. But first I'm going to read a few verses about breathing. Genesis 2, verse 7, and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.

And man became a living soul. He breathed life into dust of the ground. So I remember every time I take a breath, that breath, that life, is from God himself. And there would be no life there if he hadn't already breathed life into this dust. And I remember when I believe that faith is given from God. It's not a condition of God's love to me. Faith is the gift. Anytime I see him and the spirit rejoices, it's a breath. It's evidence of life, and I think of no different than when God breathed life into dust Adam, how he breathes life into us. Life in Christ. Job 33 says, the spirit of God hath made me, the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. Job knew.

John 20, then said Jesus to them again, peace be unto you. As my father hath sent me, even so send I you. When he had said this, he breathed on them and said unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost. Comes all from God above, right? We only receive. And that is a gift of God. He says, receive ye the Holy Ghost. And now to Acts that you've turned to. Acts chapter 17, verse 25.

God that made the world and all things therein, Seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshiped with men's hands, as though he needed anything. Seeing he giveth to all life and breath in all things, so that every time we take a breath, we are reminded of the physical life from God above.

Remember, he didn't have to make us so that we breathe. Maybe we breathe so that we're reminded that he gave us that breath. We're reminded of that physical life given from God above and the spiritual life which is given from above. Scripture says every good and perfect gift comes from God above, right? That breath. And we're so blessed, we don't have to remember to breathe.

We don't even have to hold on to it. God not only gives the spiritual life, he sustains it. He holds us. Do we hold him? Yeah. Yeah, we do. Yeah, but that's not what holds us to God. We hold him because he's good and that's to whom shall we go, the disciples said, right? But that's not what keeps us to Christ. What keeps us to Christ is him holding on to us.

What keeps us breathing even while we rest, even at night while we sleep, right? My grandmother had Alzheimer's for years and years and years and years. What reminded her to keep breathing? She didn't know her own name, let alone Christ's. She wasn't holding on to him. She was gone. Christ held on to her. Right?

When we sleep, when we rest, when we're not even conscious, our bodies are still breathing. That breath is still there. And when it comes to our spiritual life, it will never stop. We eat. I turn to John chapter six. we eat. We're going to look at John chapter 6 verse 35. As we turn there, back to Psalm 23, I'll read, Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.

And if I would remember that every time I take a bite, maybe I would be more prepared to be like we heard on Sunday. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, right? Maybe I would be more prepared to give an answer the way they gave an answer that honored God before the terrifying, all-powerful King Nebuchadnezzar. If I would remember that God prepares the table before me in the presence of my enemies. If every time I took a bite, I remembered that, maybe I'd be more ready to give an answer as those boys did before Nebuchadnezzar.

John chapter 6 verse 35, for the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. And they said unto him, Lord evermore give us this bread. Maybe they were blessed to have experienced hunger, perhaps. I can't imagine considering that a blessing, but maybe the people at this time experienced what it felt like to be truly hungry. And they hear him say, I'm the bread that cometh down from heaven, I giveth life into the world. They said, Lord, evermore give us this bread, right? Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall never thirst.

If I had to remember that he's the bread of life, physical life and of spiritual life, every time I take a bite, maybe I'd be better off. First Corinthians chapter 11, When he had given thanks, Lord Christ break it and said, take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you, this do in remembrance of me. Every time I took a bite, I remembered that. If I remembered God's presence, even in the midst of my enemies, God prepares the table before me in the presence of my enemies, which is namely myself, right?

And my own sin. I know David fought enemies on every side. He hid in caves and there was someone after him most of the days of his life. That's a picture of our sinful nature before us is what that is. My nonstop enemies that come from within mine own heart. But God has prepared a table in the presence of mine enemies. And if I would remember that, wouldn't that bite be sweeter? We drink. We drink. Turn with me, if you would, to Matthew chapter 26. Matthew chapter 26. And I have a few verses to read before I get to Matthew 26.

But I went canoeing when I was probably Gavin's age, somewhere around there, with the Boy Scouts. And all of our stuff, our water, our lunches, everything, We had the bright idea of putting it all in my dad's canoe because all us boys wanted to tip each other. So we put all of our stuff in dad's canoe. And there were three grown adults to hand all of our stuff in a canoe. My dad was in the middle. And they hit the first little rapid and the whole thing capsized. And we lost all of our water. We lost all of our lunch.

And I don't know how many miles we were canoeing that day. And I was thirsty. I mean, we were near the end of our day, all day, out on the murky turkey out there towards West Portsmouth. You might know that. We were canoeing all day out there. And I was thirsty.

And I finally just dipped my hand in the stream and took a drink. And I mean, it was all muddy, and we had all already splashed through it. Right over there, there was even an old coal mine that was dumping out into the water. It was the grossest, nastiest thing. But I was thirsty, and I slurped it up. I drank till I got my fill of all that nasty, muddy coal water, right? That's how we come to Christ. We come to Christ desperate, desperate.

And he says in John 4, whosoever drinketh of the water I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John 7 says, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. If my soul is thirsty like that over my sin, I don't have to drink muddy creek water.

Christ says, come to me. If any man thirst, come to me and drink pure, righteous water. Isaiah 55 says, ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. That's, we were talking on the way here, that's where all the ships came in. That was their store. All the ships came in and that's where they sold their goods. And Isaiah says, ho, Everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

And now, Psalm 75 and the verse that you're on, Matthew 26. So look at Matthew 26, verse 39. I'll read another verse and these two go hand in hand. Psalm 75 says, for in the hand of the Lord there is a cup and the wine is red. The dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth, shall wring them out and drink them. In Matthew 26, our Lord says, Oh, my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou will.

So when we take a drink and we remember the spring of water of spiritual life that is given inside every child of God, we remember that our thirst for righteousness is both given by Christ and it's quenched by Christ. without price to us, but rather the full price was paid by Christ in his perfect life and in his perfect sacrifice for sin on the cross. When Psalm 78 said that the wicked of the earth shall wring them out and drink them, that's the same cup that Christ drank, for he was made wickedness. He drank the cup for us, the wicked. He drank the dregs dry. He drank the cup of God's wrath. so that we don't, so that we never will. Not a drop of it. We don't share in that wrath. It's all, Christ took all the wrath. And if I remembered to think that, every time I do something so common as take a drink, wouldn't my day be better?

We see. We see. Turn with me, if you would, to Hebrews chapter 11. We see. And I'll quote a few verses before then. We'll turn to Hebrews chapter 11, and we're going to look at verse 1. But first we'll read Luke chapter 4 says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. That was Christ speaking, and then he sat down. He quoted that and they knew he was speaking of himself. Recovering of the sight to the blind. Why? God didn't have to create us with vision. That was his choice. Maybe he created us with vision to use this as an example to reveal himself.

Recovering of sight to the blind. Acts 26, Christ sends Paul to preach to the world and he tells him to open their eyes and turn them from darkness, which is what we naturally see, from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins. And how do sinners turn from darkness to light?

From our natural blindness that we're born with, inherited and earned by our father Adam, right? Spiritual blindness, which is our right state. That's how we're born. That's our human fleshly state, spiritual blindness. How are sinners to turn from darkness to light? John 8, Christ says, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Christ is the light. And now to your verse that you turn to there in Hebrews chapter 11. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

I was thinking of you, Gary, in your recent trip to Grand Tetons. You all have been there. A lot of us have been. And you think of some of the visions that are in this world that we talk about. It seems like the further you get away from the city, the better things look, right? The less man has put his hand on something, just the better it is. Those amazing sights that you're thinking of right now from the Grand Tetons, and you're all strip out wet. I mean, there's nothing better, was it? the sights that you saw, there's just nothing better than seeing all the amazing things that God has made and we think to ourselves, if I would think to myself, when my vision is full of the beauty of this earth, if I would stop and think to myself, the gift of faith is even more miraculous than my vision.

The fact that he has given me eyes to see him, is even more miraculous than any of the sights we could possibly see on this earth. And if I would think to myself when I see something, and if I would thank God, the first cause, wouldn't my day be better?

And then finally we hear. And turn with me for this one to Revelation chapter three. We hear. Revelation chapter three, and we're gonna turn to verse 20. Remember, he didn't have to make us so that we hear. Romans 10 says, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We see that faith is a gift granted by physically, right? Hearing the word of God as it is revealed by Christ, who is the word of God. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. By hearing the word of God, faith cometh from the word of God, Christ. Faith is the gift of God.

John 10 says, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. He knew them before they ever heard his voice. Now to your verse there in Revelation chapter three, verse 20 says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him. Because he opened the door? No, because he knocked. Because he first knocked, that's why. Matthew 13 verse 9 says, who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Do I not hear? Do I not see? Do I not eat God's word? Do I not rest? Years I spent indifferent. And if that's you, ask God to give you eyes to see. Ask him to give you ears to hear. Do I not care for my own soul? Do I not realize that not caring for my own soul is actually evidence that God's word is true? Right? Because God says you're born dead in trespasses and sin. So in my natural state, dead in trespasses and sin, and having no concern whatsoever for my soul, doesn't just logic say? The word of the Lord is right, and I don't care for my soul.

This has no effect whatsoever on me. Any more than CPR. CPR doesn't have any effect on a dead man. CPR has effect on somebody with a little bit of life left in them, right? That's not how God deals with sinners. God deals with sinners who have no life left in them. He's not performing CPR. He's giving breath. He's giving life. He's giving a concern for your soul.

And if that's not you, then ask Him. None will come to the Father unless He draws them. Then we ask, ask, ask to be drawn. Ask to be drawn again, right? Ask, ask to see Him again. I use your dad as an example all the time. How long did he believe and study and see Christ? And still, when I heard him pray, he would say, Father, would you increase my faith?

Ask him. Ask him to give you a thirst. Ask him to give you a hunger. Ask him. You don't feel that need in your soul? That makes you normal. Ask him to make your soul tired so that you will come to him for rest. and ask Him. Back to our text, just to close, so that when we sleep and breathe and eat and drink and see and hear and whatsoever we do, we give all to the glory of God. Amen. Okay, Sean. Okay, if you would, turn your hymnal to song number 67 and sing as we sing, How Can It Be.

O Savior, as my eyes behold the wonders of thy might untold, the heavens in glorious light arrayed, the vast creation thou hast made. And yet to think Thou lovest me, My heart cries out, How can it be? How can it be? How can it be? That God should love a soul like me? Oh, how can it be? As at the cross I humbly bow and gaze upon thy thorn-crowned brow, and view the precious bleeding form by cruel nails so bruised and torn. Knowing thy suffering was for me, in grief I cry, how can it be? How can it be? How can it be that God should love a soul like me?

Oh, how can it be? Oh, how can it be? How can it be? Was ever grace so full and free? From heights of bliss to depths of woe, in loving kindness thou didst go. From sin and shame to rescue me, O love divine, how can it be? How can it be? How can it be? That God should love a soul like me? Oh, how can it be?

All To the Glory of God

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about doing everything for God's glory?

Why is it important for Christians to avoid idolatry?

How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

Why is grace essential for salvation?

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All To the Glory of God

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about doing everything for God's glory?

Why is it important for Christians to avoid idolatry?

How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

Why is grace essential for salvation?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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