To God be the Glory #2
How to Glorify God, Part 2
Psalm 16
 
As I told you last week, the greatest knowledge anyone could ever acquire is the knowledge of God.  What you believe about God and His Word will determine everything else you believe in life. 
 
So the ultimate knowledge is knowledge of God and the ultimate purpose is to bring God glory.  So if anyone ever asks you “Why are we here?” or “What is the purpose of life?” you will know how to answer. 
 
Did you ever think about how the world answers the questions about the purpose of life?  It is always related to what we believe about God.  If I believe there is no god, and the world began as an accident in time by some cosmic explosion, then my life really has no significance.  Therefore, it’s o big deal to abort babies or kill off old and sick people.
 
If the chief purpose of life is just to be a good environmentalist and take care of the planet, then I am consumed with the here and now and how to improve society and living conditions, but what about life after death and eternity? 
 
Others will say, "No, we do have a purpose, but it's just not too clear what it is. There is a cosmic power somewhere, but he is impersonal, detached, and uninterested." Then that leaves man to try and figure things out on his own or wander aimlessly through life.    
 
 
 
If you're a thinking person, you can only live with that so long. And if there is no ultimate meaning to your life, then you will impose on your life some meaning. You have to. So some people live for all kinds of things, which they, themselves decide to live for.
 
Some people live for hate. Others exist for love. Some people live for family. Some people live for friends. Some people live for travel or their job.  Some people live for money, for fame, for success, for lust, for science, for education, for booze, for drugs, for a hobby, for Saturday...for Sunday.
 
And it’s not hard to understand why people do that.  All of us who are Christians can remember when life was empty and without purpose.  And what people are trying to do is take the meaningless of life and fill it with some kind of activity or relationship which allows them to look at themselves as something more than protoplasm waiting to become manure.
 
That’s why Christianity is so important.  Because only in a relationship with God will you find the real reason for living. See why I say what you believe about God determines everything else in life? 
 
And what we are learning is that God made us because He wanted to display His glory through us. And in return for us being willing to let Him do that, He allows us the thrill of enjoying all of His fullness forever. That's the meaning of existence. And until a man comes to the place where he lives purposefully to the glory of God, he does not have any meaning to his existence, nor will he ever know true happiness.
 
Psalm 16:8-9
 
Now we started last week answering some questions about what it means to glorify God.  We looked first of all at what it means to glorify God.  And we discovered two things. 
 
First of all, there is glory which God has in Himself.  It is intrinsic in His nature and being and it can’t be separated from Who He is.  We don't give it to Him. He has it if we don't exist. This is who He is. He is the God of glory.
 
Secondly, there is a glory given God by His creatures.
 
Now remember, we don’t add to His glory, we are simply revealing His glory to the watching world so that they may recognize His glory. You and I are display windows in which God wants to reveal His glory to the world as they pass by us.
 
That’s the “what”.  Then we looked at the “why”. 
Why are we to give Him glory? I gave you three reasons last time. 
 
First, because He made us and He deserves it.
 
Secondly, because He not only made us, but He made us specifically to glorify Him.
 
And, incidentally, whether we're good, whether we're righteous, or whether we're wicked, God will get His glory, willingly or unwillingly.
 
And that makes the third reason all the more important: 
We are to give Him glory because He made us and because He made us to give Him glory. But catch this:
 
He judges those who don't.
 
That's a good reason to do it. Romans 1:18, "The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness." Why is God displaying wrath? Why is God bringing judgment?"
 
Verse 21, "Because when they knew God, they glorified Him not." So God judges those who refuse to give Him glory.
 
Now that brings us to the third question, and that is
 
“How do we glorify God?”
 
And this is where we are going to spend our time today and next week.  How do we glorify God? There are ten things I want to give to you.  So we’ll try to cover five today and five next week.  Now, these are very practical, simple things, and I hope and pray that the Spirit of God somehow will really penetrate your heart with these truths.  
 
When it gets right down to the nitty-gritty, how do I glorify God?" First and foremost, I give God glory when
 
1. I receive Jesus Christ as Lord
 
Everything begins there. 
 
Philippians 2:9
It doesn't just mean to receive Him as a friend, or even receive Him as a Savior. It means to subject yourself to Him as Lord. God is glorified when you name Jesus as Lord.  It is at that point that all His plan begins to come together.  Did you ever think about that? 
 
God’s plan for you began before the world was created.  Before time as we know it began, God had foremost on His mind, not how He would create the world, but how He would bring glory to Himself by redeeming a fallen people through the blood of His only begotten Son.
 
And sure enough, right on cue, down through history all of that plan falls into place so that at a moment in time like today, someone can hear the gospel and be saved.
 
What an amazing God!  And He is given glory when we bow our knee and confess Jesus as Lord to the glory of God the Father.
 
So it all starts there.  Now, I’m going to go out on a limb and make a dangerous assumption.  I’m going to assume that the majority of my audience today has at least accepted Jesus as Savior.  I realize there are some, maybe several here who haven’t, and we’ll give you an opportunity to do that in just a moment. 
 
But for those who are saved, whether you realize it or not, Jesus is also Lord.  So the beginning point of giving glory to God is recognizing Jesus as Lord.  But what happens beyond that? 
 
 
The other nine things I’m going to give you today and next week will help you with that.  Once Jesus is Lord of my life, how do I rearrange my life to bring glory to God?
 
2. By aiming your life at glorifying Him.
 
You'll never glorify God in your life until you intend to do that. You say, "Well, what does that include?"
 
Think about 1 Corinthians 10:31, "Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, you do it all to the glory of God."
 
The point is that whatever you do, even as mundane as eating and drinking, ought to be done to His glory. That's what I mean by aiming at His glory.
 
If you get serious about glorifying God and you say to yourself, "I want to live for His glory then it’s going to have to impact you at a very foundational level.  Often I’m afraid we try to limit that to the “big” things of life.  Who will I marry?  Where will I work or go to school?  What will my vocation be?
 
But to glorify God is to aim your life at the purpose of glorifying God in everything.
 
Jesus said in John 8:50, "I do not seek My own glory, but the glory of Him that sent Me." In other words, "I live to bring Him glory. I live to radiate His attributes. I live to exalt God and honor God in the eyes of the world. This is the purpose of My life."
 
Now how do I know if I’m aiming at God’s glory?  Let me give you two or three evaluators to help:
 
- Do you seek glory for yourself?  When you aim at God's glory that means you aim away from your own glory. If you teach a class of people, or you teach a Bible study for your own glory, God's blessing is not on that. Anything you do in this life, whatever it is, eating or drinking, ought to be to His glory.
 
You may ask, “How do I know?”  Do you notice when nobody notices?  If you don’t get recognition are you offended?  Aim always and only and purely at God's glory and find the satisfaction and joy in doing what honors Him and nothing else. If you try to steal a little glory for yourself you wind up stealing a blessing from yourself and losing your joy.
 
Here’s something else: 
 
- Am I content to do God’s will no matter the cost?
 
John 21:18-19
 
God said, "I'm going to get glory when you are ultimately crucified Peter. How about it? Will you follow me?”  And what did Peter do? He followed Him. Peter paid the price. He died crucified. But, you see, in dying a death of crucifixion, he obeyed the will of God and brought glory to God.
 
Listen to the words of Jesus in John 12:27-28. "Now is My soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour?' But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name."
Back up to His prayer in the Garden the night of His arrest.  "Father, let this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless, not My will but Thine be done."
In other words, "God, if You're going to get glory out of this, I submit to it." What does He say? "'Father, glorify Thy name, whatever it costs Me.' And then there came a voice from Heaven, saying, 'I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.'" Aiming at God's glory means that I'm content to do God's will, whatever it costs.
 
Here’s another one: 
 
- Do you suffer when He suffers?
 
We like the idea that in Jesus we have a sympathetic high priest.  We tell people quite often, "Jesus feels our pain. Jesus hurts when we hurt." “Jesus knows what you’re going through.”
 
But I wonder if we ever look at it the other way around?  I wonder if we are ever sensitive enough to hurt when God's name suffers? Now, that's a little different...
 
Giving God glory means that I hurt when His name is dishonored. Listen to this.
 
Psalm 69:9
 
That’s a powerful statement. And David was speaking it from his own heart. And what he is saying is "God, the people who  smashed the blows against You are hitting me."
 
This is the verse that came to the minds of the disciples over in John 2:17 when they saw how Jesus cleansed the temple.  Why was Jesus so offended?  Because God was offended. 
Paul put it this way, "I bear in my body the marks of Christ. I'm hurting in Your place."
 
It’s one thing to be happy that God is sympathetic with me, but I need to be more sympathetic with Him. I need to be more zealous for His name. And I need to feel the pain more when His name is defamed.
 
Giving God the glory is to receive Jesus as Lord, it is to aim at His glory, It is to suffer when He suffers.
 
Here’s the third thing:
 
We give God glory by
 
3. The Confession of Sin.
 
Maybe you never thought of that. But when you confess sin, you glorify God.
 
Think about the thief on the cross.  Did he glorify God?  No doubt.  You know why? All his life he lived a life that didn't glorify God, but in the last moment, according to Luke 23:41, he said this. "We indeed suffer justly." You know what he did? He confessed that he was getting what he deserved. He was guilty. And in so doing He honored the Word of God and character of God.  And his confession glorified God.
 
It helps to understand the word confession.  To confess is to say the same thing. To confess means to agree with God that it's all your fault and repent of it. That's confession and that kind of confession glorifies God.
 
Over in Revelation 16, we see it spelled out from the other side. 
 
Listen to verses 8-9
 
If they had acknowledged their sin and repented, that would've glorified God, because they would have been saying, "You had to do what You did, God, our sin demanded it. You are just and holy and righteous and never make a mistake."
 
So we glorify God when we receive Jesus as Lord, when we aim our life at glorifying God, when we confess our sin.  Let me give you a fourth way to glorify God. We glorify God by
 
4.  Bearing Fruit
 
Glorifying God isn't just standing around saying words to God. Glorifying God is fruitfulness. 
 
John 15:8
 
God is glorified when you bear fruit. Why? Because then the world can see the results of a God-filled life. And they can say, "Wow, what a God this must be." Like the people of old who looked at Israel and said,
 
"Who is a God like unto their God who does these wonders?" The reason people have trouble with defining our God is because they can't see anything in us.
 
Listen to Philippians 1:10-11
 
 
2 Peter 2:9 says, "You're a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of His own in order that you should show forth the praises of Him who called you."
 
That's what we're for, to put Him on display to the world.
 
In contrast to that is Romans 2:24, "For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you."
 
Can you imagine that? Paul says to those Jewish people, "Instead of you living to give glory to God, God's name is getting blasphemed because of the way you're living." That's tragic.
 
Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Let you light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
 
That's the purpose of our life, to live for His glory and to bear fruit. Let me share one more before we quit for the day.  We give glory to God by
 
5.  Trusting Him
 
Romans 4:20
 
God is glorified when we trust Him. Why is that so?  It’s simple:  unbelief questions God.
 
Think about this:  God says through the Apostle Paul to the Philippian believers, "But my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
 
Suppose you come to a point in your life where you don't have your needs. So you begin to worry and fret and wonder and ask, “Where’s it going to come from?"
 
What have you done?  You’ve attacked the character and Word of God. 
 
You’ve suggested God can’t be trusted, therefore you’re going to have to look elsewhere to have your needs met.  "Yes, I know He said it, but, will it come true? Did He intend that for me?”
 
Therefore when you doubt God or question God you can’t glorify God.  We talk about glorifying God before the world. One of the biggest problems of getting God's glory to the world is that it has to go through us.
 
We say, "God is so wonderful. God can supply all our needs, when I’m afraid I can trust in Him. . .blah, blah, blah".
 
And then some crisis comes into our life, and we crash and burn annd everybody at the job knows it, or everybody in our life knows it. And they now have the opportunity to say, "Boy, that’s some kind of God you got. You don't even trust Him yourself."
 
Listen:  God is glorified when we believe in Him.  When He says, "I'll do it," and we rest in that assurance, that gives Him glory.
 
Listen to 1 John 5:10.
 
 
You don't make Him a liar in His nature. You make Him appear to be a liar. If you really believe God, then quit worrying about everything that comes along!
 
How much dishonor is brought to God when His children say, "Oh, I believe in Him, but I just can't cope with life. There's too much stress in my life.  If you only knew my problems.”
 
Listen:  “There hath no temptation taken you such as is common to man.  But God is faithful Who will not allow you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it.  Listen:  You can bear it.
 
But if you act like you can’t bear it, or go around telling the world how difficult it is to bear it rather than how great God is to enable you to bear it, then you smear God’s name and falsely present Him to the world and rob Him of His glory and yourself of His blessing. 
 
You want to know the most basic way to glorify God?  It’s simple. Trust Him. God honors faith, because faith honors God.
 
On Sept 16, 1620 two ships set sail from Plymouth, England.  One was called The Speedwell and the other, the Mayflower. The Speedwell encountered much difficulty as they began their journey springing many leaks in the ship. So when the 2 ships got to an available port, the Speedwell decided to go no further and 42 passengers from the Speedwell joined the 60 passengers and 30 crew members aboard the Mayflower..
Of the 102 passengers on board the Mayflower the majority were devout Christians. They were coming to America to shake loose from the bonds of the Church of England so they could worship God as they believed scriptures taught.
 
With great excitement and expectations that set sail for a new land. It wasn’t long before the trip became difficult for several reasons, as noted by William Bradford an historian on the Mayflower, who would later became Governor of the colony for 33 years.
 
Many of the passengers became sea sick as huge waves would crash over the deck of the ship. The nights were cold, damp and dark. Remember there was no indoor plumbing or electricity.
 
And to make matters worse one of the crew, a very large man, would constantly curse and abuse those who were sick saying he was going to throw them overboard and steal all of their possessions.
 
Bradford records, "but it pleased God before they came half seas over, to smite the young man with a grievous disease of which he died in a desperate manner. And so he himself was the first thrown overboard. Thus his curses light on his own head, and it was an astonishment to all his fellows for they noted it to be the just hand of God upon him."
 
But their problems were far from over.  They encountered many fierce storms which shook the ship with tremendous force, so fierce that many times they could not even keep the sail out.  The force of the wind eventually cracked and bowed the main beams when they had just gone over the half way point across the Atlantic.
And although the passengers and crew wanted to turn back, Christopher Jones, the ship’s master, assured all the vessel was "strong and firm under water." He ordered the beam to be secured. It was hoisted into place by a great iron screw that, fortunately, the Pilgrims brought out of Holland.
 
And upon raising the beam, they "committed themselves to the will of God and resolved to proceed." These 100 people; cold and wet, on a wooden ship in the middle of the ocean, put their hope, trust and lives into the hands of God. The battered ship finally came within sight of Cape Cod on November 19, 1620. Two had died at sea and two had given birth.
 
The Pilgrims scanned the shoreline just to the west of them and described it as, "a goodly land wooded to the brink of the sea," William Bradford writes, "after long beatings at sea they fell with that land which is called Cape Cod; and they were not a little joyful..."
 
Before going ashore they decided to write a document know as the Mayflower Compact.
At the heart of the compact lay an undisputed conviction that God must be at the center of all law and order and the law without a moral base is really no law at all.
 
The day the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact, according to William Bradford, "they came to anchor in the Bay, which was a good harbor...and they blessed the God of Heaven, who brought them over the fast and furious ocean... and a sea of trouble.
 
And they read the following from the Geneva Bible (the Bible the Pilgrims used) "Let them, therefore praise the Lord, because He is good and His mercies endure forever." (Psalm 106:1)
I would suggest to you that gives God the glory, does it not?  And did God honor that trust?
 
Here we are almost 400 years later still enjoying God’s blessing on the land to which they came. 
 
Listen:  if you want to know the best life you could ever have, both now and for eternity,  then learn to give God the glory by trusting Jesus as Savior and Lord, aim your life toward honoring Him, identify with Him in what pleases and displeases Him, confess your sin and trust God.
 
Let’s pray