A. We are nearing the end of our sermon series “It’s All About God – Living A God-Centered Life.”
1. I hope this series has been inspiring and enlightening and challenging for you.
2. In the first half of the series, we sought to get a clearer picture of our God.
3. We sought to behold God’s glory and holiness, we sought to understand God’s eternal and unchanging nature, and we sought to grasp the fact that God is love.
4. But the reason we sought to behold God, was so that we could properly emulate and reflect God.
5. In the second half of this series we have been exploring how to properly emulate and reflect who God is by making our message and our salvation all about God, and by making our bodies and our struggles all about God.
6. Today, we want to explore how to make our success all about God.
B. The subject of success is an interesting one.
1. What may be defined as success is debatable, and formulas for success are a dime a dozen.
2. Someone has said: “Ability is what you need to succeed if the boss doesn’t have a daughter.”
3. One Texan’s formula for success is: Get up early, work late, and strike oil.
4. I heard about a newspaper reporter who was interviewing an old rancher and asked him to what he would attribute his success as a rancher.
a. With a twinkle in his eye the man replied, “It’s been about 50 percent the weather, 50 percent good luck, and the rest is brains.”
C. For the people of God, it should be our goal to make our success all about God, and not about us.
1. Let’s explore what that means and how to put that mindset into practice.
2. Let me start by asking you how well you know these successful people and organizations.
a. What do you know about Jack Tinker and Partners, or Doyle Dane Bernbach, or BBDO, or Foote, Cone and Belding, or J. Walter Thompson?
b. Do any of them ring a bell? Probably not.
3. Guess what? These successful people and organizations are pleased that most of us have no idea who they are.
4. Why would they be pleased that we don’t know them? Because Advertising agencies don’t exist to make a name for themselves – rather they exist to make a name for others.
5. While we may not be acquainted with the companies, we are very familiar with their work.
a. Do you recognize this: “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is”? That’s the work of Jack Tinker and Partners for Alka-Seltzer in 1976.
b. Do you recognize this: “We try harder”? That’s the work of Doyle Dane Bernbach created as a slogan for Avis Rent A Car in 1962.
c. Do you recognize this: “M’m! M’m! Good!”? Credit BBDO with that catach-phrase Campbell’s Soup has used since 1935.
d. While you’ve never heard of Foote, Cone and Belding, you have heard of the motto: “When you care enough to send the very best.” Hallmark began using that line in 1934.
e. You don’t hum the name of J. Walter Thompson, but you have likely hummed the jingle his agency wrote for Kellogg’s “Snap! Crackle! Pop!” Rice Krispies.
D. The people of God can learn a lesson from the example of those companies.
1. What those companies do for their clients, is what God wants us to do for Him.
2. Like the moon reflects the sun, God wants us to reflect Him.
3. Our goal should not be to attract attention to ourselves, but to point people’s attention to God.
4. As heaven’s advertising agency, we are supposed to be promoting God in every area of our lives, including our struggles (as we saw last week), and including our success (as we want to talk about today).
E. The Bible is clear about the fact that God is the giver of every good thing.
1. Romans 11:36 says: For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.
2. James 1:17 says: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.
3. Our very lives and all our abilities ultimately come from God.
4. Without God’s provision of a working body or a sound mind, none of us could do anything.
5. Do you have a beautiful voice for speaking or singing? Guess where it came from?
6. Are you fast as a jackrabbit or strong as an ox? Guess where that came from?
7. Do you have a brain that can crunch numbers as fast as a calculator, or process and store information as good as a computer? Guess where that came from?
8. If God didn’t give any of these things to us, then we wouldn’t have them, right?
F. These gifts and abilities are given to us for our good and our use, for sure, but more importantly they are given to us to be used for God’s glory.
1. As you know, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt to Mt. Sinai where God gave them the Law.
2. Then they traveled to the Promised Land, but because of their unbelief they were not allowed to enter it, but were forced to wander in the wilderness for 40 years.
3. When the 40 years of wilderness wanderings were over, Moses reissued the Law to God’s people and challenged them to obey it after they entered into the Promised Land – Canaan.
4. Moses warned them not to forget the Lord, and reminded them of the reason for their success.
5. Moses said: 10 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give you—a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build, 11 houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. (Deut. 6:10-12)
6. Moses continued: 11 “Be careful that you don’t forget the Lord your God by failing to keep his commands, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving you today. 12 When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in, 13 and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, 14 be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. 15 He led you through the great and terrible wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty land where there was no water. He brought water out of the flint rock for you. 16 He fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your ancestors had not known, in order to humble and test you, so that in the end he might cause you to prosper. 17 You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,’ 18 but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm his covenant he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. (Deut. 8:11-18)
7. Those are important warnings and reminders for Israel and for all of us.
a. Where does success come from? It comes from the Lord – It is the Lord who gives the power to become rich and be successful.
b. Why did the Lord give the Israelites success? It was for His reputation – to fulfill the covenant He had made with their ancestors.
c. God blessed Israel in order to put His faithfulness on a billboard for all to see.
d. When foreigners saw the fruitful farms of the Promised Land, God did not want them to think about the farmer, but to think of the farmer’s Maker.
e. Their success was to advertise God, not themselves.
G. What God did for the Israelites in order to bring glory to Himself is the same thing God wants to do through us.
1. Here’s a general principle from Proverbs 22:4.
a. It is important to keep in mind that biblical proverbs are not promises, but are general statements about the way things often turn out, but they aren’t a guaranteed outcome.
b. Proverbs 22:4 says: Humility, the fear of the LORD, results in wealth, honor, and life.
c. The NIV says: Humility is the fear of the LORD; its wages are riches and honor and life.
d. The NLT says: True humility and fear of the LORD lead to riches, honor, and long life.
e. The ESV says: The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life.
2. If we walk with God in humility, then God will often bless us with riches, honor, and life.
3. If and when God grants us success, then God wants us to make it known that it is because of God and not because of us.
4. A life of godliness often does lead to many kinds of success.
H. Let’s take a construction worker for example.
1. Let’s imagine that there is a construction worker who didn’t know the Lord and was a trouble-making, hard-drinking fellow.
a. In truth, he’s not a very good employee – he has frequent hangovers, he sneaks out early on Friday afternoons, and he pads his expense account.
2. But then he finds Jesus and puts his faith in Christ.
a. Not only does God save his soul, but God begins to help the man straighten out his life and his work habits.
b. The guy now shows up on time and is sober.
c. The guy takes more pride in his work and stops fudging his time sheet and expense account.
d. Everything improves – his attitude, his productivity, and his character.
3. And guess who notices this? His boss.
a. And guess what happens? His boss offers him promotions and pay increases.
b. And guess what else happens? His boss asks him what has made the difference.
4. That’s when the Christian must make the decision – who do I want to get the glory?
a. Do I want to glorify God? Or do I want to glorify self?
I. Do you remember the Old Testament story of Joseph?
1. He was sold by his brothers into slavery because they were jealous of him.
2. As a slave in Potiphar’s house, he climbed to the top position because God was with him, but then when he refused the advances of Potiphar’s wife she falsely accused him of impropriety and he landed in jail.
3. But in jail, God was with him again and he climbed to the top position in charge of all the prisoners.
4. Two people with top positions in Pharoah’s court ended up in jail under Joseph’s supervision and both had dreams that troubled them.
5. When Joseph heard about it, he didn’t come to them and say, “I have the ability to interpret dreams, rather he said, “Don’t interpretations belong to God?” (Gen. 40:8)
a. God gave Joseph the interpretation and he passed it along to them.
b. One of them, the cupbearer, was restored to his position, but even though Joseph asked him to put in a good word for him with the Pharoah, the man forgot all about Joseph.
6. He forgot all about Joseph until Pharoah had a troubling dream that no one could interpret.
a. Then the cupbearer remembered about Joseph, and Pharoah sent for Joseph.
b. Then Pharoah said to Joseph: “I have had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said about you that you can hear a dream and interpret it.”
7. How easy would it have been for Joseph to say: “Yup I’m the man who can do it, but before I do it for you, what’s in it for me?”
a. Joseph could have easily taken credit for the power and leveraged his ability for personal gain and glory.
b. But rather than doing so, Joseph said: “I am not able to, it is God who will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
c. Joseph wanted all the credit and glory to go to God, where it belonged, and not to himself.
J. Daniel found himself in a similar position.
1. The King of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that troubled him and he asked his wise men to tell him and the dream and its interpretation.
2. Of course, none of them could – it’s hard enough to interpret dreams when someone tells you what the dream is, but it’s impossible to interpret dreams when the person won’t describe the dream.
3. Daniel went to the king and asked for more time, and then asked his three friends to pray with him that God would give the dream and the interpretation.
4. God revealed the dream and the interpretation to Daniel which caused Daniel to sing a song of praise to God.
5. Daniel then sent a message to King Nebuchadnezzer that he could offer the interpretation.
6. When Daniel stood before the king, the king asked: “Are you able to tell me the dream I had and its interpretation?” (Daniel 2:26)
7. Just like Joseph, Daniel could have said: “Yup I’m the man who can do it, but before I do it for you, what’s in it for me?”
a. And just like Joseph, Daniel could have easily taken credit for the power and leveraged his ability for personal gain and glory.
b. But just like Joseph, Daniel replied to the king: “No wise man, medium, magician, or diviner is able to make known to the king the mystery he asked about. But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has let King Nebuchadnezzar know what will happen in the last days. (Daniel 2:27-28)
c. And Daniel proceeded to tell the king both the dream and its interpretation.
8. How did King Nebuchadnezzar respond? The Bible says: The king said to Daniel, “Your God is indeed God of gods, Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.” Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. At Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to manage the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court. (Dan. 2:47-49)
a. This is how it’s supposed to work: God gives Daniel (or any of us) an ability and Daniel uses it to bring glory to God, then Daniel receives a blessing and reward.
b. Had Daniel sought to bring glory to himself, rather than to God, things would not have turned out well.
K. For example, let’s see what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar many years later when the king glorified himself, rather than give glory to God.
1. God gave King Nebuchadnezzar another dream many years later and the king looked to Daniel and to Daniel’s God for the interpretation.
2. The dream was a prediction that God would humble the king because of the king’s pride.
3. Daniel urged the king to separate himself from his sins by doing what is right, and that perhaps God would extend the king’s prosperity.
4. Unfortunately, King Nebuchadnezzar did not take Daniel’s advice.
5. The Bible says: At the end of twelve months, as he (the king) was walking on the roof of the royal palace in Babylon, the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built to be a royal residence by my vast power and for my majestic glory?”
a. If you or I ever experience any level of success, of any kind in any way, and if we stand over it and look at it and say: “look at this thing I have made, look at this business I built, look at this life I have built – whatever it is – if we don’t say, “glory be to God, all the credit goes to God,” then we are in big trouble.
b. The Bible continues: While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared that the kingdom has departed from you. You will be driven away from people to live with the wild animals, and you will feed on grass like cattle for seven periods of time, until you acknowledge that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms, and he gives them to anyone he wants.”
At that moment the message against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people. He ate grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky, until his hair grew like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.
But at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity returned to me. Then I praised the Most High and honored and glorified him who lives forever… Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and glorify the King of the heavens, because all his works are true and his ways are just. He is able to humble those who walk in pride. (Dan. 4:29-33; 34, 37)
L. Those are three powerful contrasting stories from Scripture.
1. Joseph and Daniel are good, “good examples” for us, while Nebuchadnezzar is a good, “bad example.”
2. It is very easy to allow our success to go to our heads.
3. There’s an old fable about an elephant with a flea on his back who together were lumbering across a wooden bridge.
a. As the gigantic animal with the flea on his back crossed the worn-out structure, it creaked and shook under the elephant’s weight.
b. When they reached the other side, the flea said to the elephant: “Boy, we sure did shake that bridge!”
c. What a flea-brained declaration! The flea contributed almost nothing to the shaking of the bridge – it was all the elephants doing!
d. We make the same flea-brained mistake when we take credit for our abilities and success, when in reality if it weren’t for God, we could do nothing.
M. David Robinson is someone who understands this all too well, and therefore, he gives all glory to God for his abilities and success.
1. God gave David Robinson a 7 foot-tall body, and blessed him with athletic power and grace.
2. Robinson played for the San Antonio Spurs and for 14 seasons he dominated the NBA.
3. Robinson was an MVP, All-Star with 2 championships and 2 Olympic gold medals.
4. But in addition to his athletic prowess, Robinson’s character caught the attention of the public.
5. These words appeared in the Washington Times the day after Robinson’s departing championship victory: Robinson showed that a player did not have to be cheap or dirty to be effective. He did not have to clutter his body with tattoos or litter the NBA cities with illegitimate children. Robinson never felt the need to bring attention to himself, to shimmy after a good play or point to the crowd, as if to say, “Look at me. Aren’t I something special?” The good guys won. Robinson won. Decency won. We all won. (Tom Knott, “Admiral Deserves a Salute from All,” Washington Times, 17 June 2003)
6. Minutes after hoisting the trophy overhead, David Robinson was interviewed by a national network and said, “People in San Antonio know what I’m going to say,” he told the reporter.
a. The people of San Antonio had heard Robinson say and live it for years.
b. Robinson said: “All the glory goes to God.”
7. Thankfully, there are many other Christian athletes, and movie stars and music stars who are equally outspoken about their faith in God and their desire to give all the glory to God: including Tim Tebow, Russel Wilson, Olympic runner and gold medalist Allyson Felix, Mark Wahlberg, Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Carrie Underwood, and Justin Bieber, just to name a few.
N. Three thousand years ago another David (the king of Israel) declared the same truth we have been exploring: “Riches and honor come from you, and you are the ruler of everything. Power and might are in your hand, and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all.” (1 Chronicles 29:12)
1. I’ve told you before about a frog who needed those verses.
2. The frog was facing a serious problem - the pond where he lived was drying up, and if he didn’t find a new pond soon, he would be like the pond, all dried up.
3. He heard that there was a good pond over mountain, not too far away.
4. But how could he get there? His legs weren’t made for climbing and long journeys away from the water.
5. Then a great idea came to him.
6. He asked his two duck friends if they would fly him over to the new pond.
7. They would each hold the end of a stick in their beaks while he held on to the center of the stick with his mouth.
8. His plan worked beautifully – two ducks, one stick, and a frog in the middle holding on by his teeth.
9. It was quite a sight, and down below a cow on the side of the mountain saw them passing over head and yelled to them, “Who came up with such a great idea?”
10. The frog proudly replied, “I diiiiiid!”
O. Someone has said: “Success has made failures of many people.”
1. The Proverbs warn us: Pride goes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall.” (Prov.16:18)
2. Let’s be sure we don’t make the same mistake.
3. Let’s be sure that all glory goes to God for our abilities and success.
4. Why has God given us our abilities and opportunities and success? Is it for our self-esteem or our pleasure or our advancement? No, it is for God’s glory.
5. We must make our success all about God.
6. If we don’t make it about God and make it all about us, then we might end up like the frog, or worse yet, like King Nebuchadnezzer.
7. Let’s remember that “Humility, the fear of the LORD, results in wealth, honor, and life.” (Pr. 22:4)
8. To God be the glory!
Resources:
• It’s Not About Me, Max Lucado, Thomas Nelson, 2004.
