To God be the Glory
1 Corinthians 10:23-33
Introduction-
Last several weeks we have looked at parables and passages of Scripture that has had us looking at our lives.
We talked about emotional needs, attitudes, and last week we looked at change.
No one likes changes because it involves change and usually takes us out of our comfort zone.
Remember the maze from last week and the 4 mice that represented us running in this rat race we call life.
We will continue to do the same things repeatedly until we determine what we are doing is not working.
That will work for every aspect of our lives if we will apply the principal.
This morning I want to look at God getting honor and glory by what happens in and through our lives.
Christians are great at throwing out language that most unbelievers don’t understand and most Christians talk about but never do.
1. Surrendering to God- What does that mean and how do you do it? “I gave it to the Lord”
2. To God be the glory- Are we deflecting praise to God? Meaning that we could not do something without God’s help?
3. We say praise the Lord! - When we say that are you thanking God for doing something good?
We live in a day and age when there are a lot of people praising God and claiming to be surrendering their lives to Him but we don’t see the fruit of that in their lives.
We lived in a day where most people think that this world revolves around them or their families.
“The my world” My wants, My needs, My happiness, My pleasures!
Max Lucado- “it’s not about me”
Talks about 450 years ago, everyone believed that the universe, sun, planets, revolved around earth. In 1573 Capernicus told them that the earth was not the center of the universe. 50 years later Gallileo said that the planets revolved around the sun. People were so opposed to this idea that they threw him in jail and threw him out of the church.
The very thought that we are not the center of the universe.
If we are not the center of the universe, and if God is the one that ought to be getting the honor and glory, then God has some work to do in us because that does not come naturally. If His priority is not our comfort, our happiness, all of my pleasures taken care of, then we need a shift of attitude from ourselves to being all about God.
Listen to what Paul records for us in 1 Corinthians 10:23-10:33
1 Corinthians 10:23-10:33
As believers we have freedoms found in Jesus Christ.
As followers of Christ we can stand on promises God gives us and enjoy benefits of being a child of God.
Nowhere in God’s word does He tell us we are the center of the universe, and no where does it say that our freedoms should cause others to stumble.
“Everything is permissible- but not everything is beneficial. Everything is not constructive.”
I would not stumble if at another church they had real wine for communion, but some would. Nazarenes use juice instead of wine. Some are so dogmatic that they feel eternity rests on every decision. It is permissible and not beneficial.
I would not fill my table with turkey, filling, and all the trimmings and invite my neighbor who is on a restricted diet to come over for dinner. It is permissible but not beneficial.
Apostle Paul had to address some problems with permissible and practical. The people of that day dealt with idol worship and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.
He tells them that food sacrificed to idols should not be eaten in the temple of foreign gods. You are partaking at the table of demons, but if that same meat was sold in the market that it would be acceptable to eat because you are not worshiping other gods and you have asked God’s blessing upon it.
Paul tells us that it is an attitude of the heart. If you are not convicted by the Lord and you are not doing it for the wrong reason, you can freely enjoy that meat-even if it the butcher had wrong motive.
If you are convicted, then for you it would be sin because you would be doing it under conviction that you should not.
Illustration-
In over 20 years of Becky cooking for me, she has never cooked me a piece of liver. I was raised on liver. It was a cheap meal as a kid and eaten once a week. It is permissible! Me coming home with liver and expecting Becky to make it for me knowing that it would probably make her sick and demanding that she make it would not be beneficial , nor constructive, and would not be smart on my part. I took part of that meal as a kid with thanksgiving, but to have it today in my house because of Becky’s upbringing would cause her to stumble and probably would not have me in her blessings.
(31) “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. (32) Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks, or the church of God.”
The exercise of one’s freedom is to be governed by whether it will bring glory to God, whether it will build up the church, and whether it will encourage the unsaved to receive Christ.
The principal that governs is that God should be glorified in everything that a Christian does.
Break it down
We should glorify God
We should build up the church (God’s people)
We should be encouraging the unsaved to get saved.
Not purposefully cause others to stumble. We will come back to that in a minute.
We should bring glory to God;
I. In Everything we Do
How? Understanding our freedom in Christ is an issue of maturing in Christ and growing in our faith to where Christ has brought us.
Romans 14:1-3
“Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything but another man whose faith is weak eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.”
The early church struggled with some of the freedoms of Christ because they were hung up on the laws. The dietary restrictions, keeping the Sabbath.
Listen, I work 49-50 Sundays a year, it is not my Sabbath, but it is some of yours. I could go out on Sunday and mow my lawn. It would be permissible. I don’t because it would cause some of you to stumble seeing me doing that.
Some would not even have to go to our church to be offended. “Look at that preacher!” what you do should bring honor and glory to God. Whether you are the president of the United States or a maintenance man at a refinery. God has given you that job, he has given you the talent to do that, and requires that our lives reflect and give Him honor.
Part of maturing as a Christian and being a believer is realizing that people will be watching your actions and seeing if they line up with the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Believers and unbelievers love to watch the lives of others ready to poke holes in their faith or make excuses for the way that they live.
Do you see that the work of others can appear to be wrong, just because it does not line up with our lifestyle. Example, you have the belief that Sunday is a day of rest, a day to go to church and spend time with people that you care about. But yet we go to restaurants that people have to work to serve us and give us the ability to be with the people that we care about. To them it is not a Sabbath, it is a work day.
They can be doing their job to the very best of their ability and bring honor and glory to God. As well as us sitting at the table and reflecting good Christian conduct as we eat those meals.
II Everything we say
Matthew 5:16-
“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
By our actions and by our words
Probably hard to glorify God if we would be cursing God in our talk, or not building God’s people up but tearing them down with our words.
If we could not control our tongue and exploded in temper on a daily basis.
WWJD or WWJS What would Jesus do? What would Jesus say?
We give God honor when we keep control of what we say.
Watch what jokes we tell. (May be permissible, but is it beneficial?)
Watch what pictures we look at or distribute.
Watch how we talk to and about the opposite sex.
Closing,
Are we willing and determined that you will bring honor and glory to God in your life? That would be a yes or no answer.
Yes would mean that everything you do – EVERYTHING! That you would do it to the best of your ability and that you would seek God’s approval as you do it. That would include what you say, how you say it, and be as careful as you could that it is not taken wrong and cause someone to stumble.
Here are a few things to ask yourself, especially if you are not sure
1. Does what you do violate the teachings of the Bible? If it does, you don’t do it. If you are convicted by the Spirit of God, you will respond.
2. Does it cause my brother/sister to stumble?
Will something I do effect someone else’s walk with God.
If we are to be a reflection of God, does my life do that?
3. Does what I do stop the will of God in my life?
Sometimes we settle for less because we are not willing to wait for the Lord to finish what He has started in our lives.
Last one
4. Can and would God be able to bless what I am doing?
Does what I am doing, even if maybe it is permissible bring honor and glory to God or does it just cause someone to stumble and cause confusion in the body of Christ.
Amen.
