A Life that Glorifies God
I Corinthians 10:23-33
23. All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
24. Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.
25. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake:
26. For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.
27. If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.
28. But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof:
29. Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience?
30. For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
31. Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
32. Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
33. Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
When General Lee heard that Stonewall Jackson had been wounded at Chancellorsville, he sent him a note which read:
General; I have just received your note, informing me that you were wounded. I cannot expre4ss my regrets at the occurrence. Could I have directed events, I should have chosen for the good of the country to be disabled in your place.
I congratulate you upon the victory, which is due to your skill and energy. Very respectfully your obedient servant, R.E. Lee, General”
When the note was delivered and read to Jackson, he turned to the wall for a few minutes and then look back at Lee’s aide and said, “General Lee is very kind, but he should give the praise to God.”
The great composer Bach said, “All music should have no other end and aim than the glory of God and the soul’s refreshment; hwere this is not remembered there is no real music but only a devilish hub-bub.”
He always headed his compositions “J.J.” The letters stood for “Jesus Juva” which means “Jesus Help Me.”
He ended them “S.D.G.” the letters stood for “Soli Dei Gratia” which means “to God alone be the praise.”
In our text Paul tells that in everything we do, God should be praised and glorified. We read in verse 31, “Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
The word glory speaks of something or someone that is worthy of praise or exaltation..
Giving the glory to God is to acknowledge Him as the One worthy of praise and exaltation and ascribing Him praise and exaltation.
The Psalmist said in Psalm 21:1-2; 1. Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength.
2. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Our Lord deserves glory, He desires glory, and the Psalmist declares, He is due glory.
As believers we give God glory both with our lips and our life.
As we look at Paul’s words we see that it is giving God glory with our life that is his focus. He talks about what we do and not necessarily what we say.
Paul describes in verses 23-33 a life that glorifies God. He describes a life that is ruled by certain principles.
Let’s look at the life he describes and learn about the kind of life that glorifies God.
In a life that Glorifies God we see:
1. A Gauge That Is Applied to Life!
In a life that glorifies God a certain spiritual gauge is applied to one’s personal life. It is a gauge by which all things in life are evaluated and assessed.
Notice the gauge that Paul Describes . In verse 23 he says, “all things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.”
Twice in verse 23 Paul speaks of that which is lawful. We have see the phrase earlier in I Corinthians.
It is a phrase that is used to speak about the freedom and liberty that we have in Christ.
Paul used it in reference to the gray areas of life. You know those areas that aren’t quiet black and white. Those areas where something isn’t identified as right or wrong.
Paul applied a two fold gauge:
A. Is It Expedient:
The word expedient means to bear together. It speaks of bringing something to a wholesome conclusion. When something is not expedient, it means that it does not produce spiritual benefits in the life. It is not spiritually profitable.
Whenever it comes to the gray areas of life, in those situations of life that the Bible doesn’t seem to speak specifically about, it could be possible that it might not be wrong for a Child of God to participate in it, what ever it may be.
When Paul said, “all things are lawful for me” That is what he was saying.
He was simply acknowledging that when a matter is not clearly defined as right or wrong, A Christian could possibly do such a thing and it would not be sin.
But the gauge that Paul applied to such things was whether or not it would bring about a wholesome conclusion in a believers life.
See, You can’t judge a situation by where it is at, but where it will take you.
What ever it may be does it glorify the Lord Jesus, does it Glorify God.
That is the gauge that Paul says we need to line our lives with. What a person does is filtered through whether or not it is expedient.
The truth is that oftentimes our life is built around things that aren’t wrong, they just don’t have any spiritual value.
We should ask ourselves, “How does this help me grow spiritually?; Is what I am doing or want to do is it going to benefit me in my Christian life? Will I glorify Jesus by doing whatever.”
A life that glorifies God applies that kind of test.
Then Paul asks himself, if whether it is expedient but He also asks:
B. Is it Edifying?
In the latter part of verse 23 Paul says, “but all things edify not.”
The word edify is a word that means to build a house.
It is a word in the New Testament that talks about the kind of life we are building, this spiritual house that we live in. The building up of our Christian life.
The flip side of the gauge Paul applied to what he did was whether or not it lent to spiritual growth and the development of spiritual maturity.
Ray Baughman said in his book Abundant Life; “He said of the 200 people that are found in the average church on Sunday Morning, about 25 of those people will be carrying the load for the entire congregation.
The rest of the people will help a little here and there, but they are not the kind that the pastor can really depend on.
Among the 25 working will be some who are not to be classified as spiritual workers, but are helping out in the church program just as they do in civic organizations and clubs.
After a year or so they get tired and quit.
Out of the 25 will be about 5 people who can be classified as spiritual Christians, people who have a strong devotional life, who spend time each day in prayer, and who love to read and study their Bibles, and who are concerned about the lost.
Even though that sounds hard, that is a pretty fair assessment in most churches.
The majority of the believers are not spiritually mature. The majority are not seeking to grow spiritually.
A life that glorifies God seeks to grow spiritually and desires to spiritually mature.
What a person does in life IS Tested by whether or not it is edifying.
We should all ask “will this be profitable for me as a Christian and will this help me grow as a Christian?”
In the Christian life if you are not moving forward you are moving backward, there is not such thing as static involvement with Jesus.
If God is at work, then you can’t stay where you are at and go with God.
So we should always ask: “is this expedient and is this edifying.”
1. Paul had a Gauge He applied to Life:
Next:
2. A Guide that He Adopted in Life:
A life that glorifies God not only is concerned about their personal spiritual life but also is interested in the spiritual life of others.
In a life that glorifies God, there is not only a gauge by which one measures their activities, but also a guide by which they monitor their actions.
Notice: There is
A. An Unselfish Life:
Verse 24 says: “Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.”
A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin who was 5 and Ryan who was three.
The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. The mother saw an opportunity for a moral lesson.
She looked at them and said, “If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, “let my brother have the first pancake.”
Kevin turned to Ryan and said, “Ryan you be Jesus.”
That can sound like many in the family of God. Often people are self-centered and all they do is for themselves.
A wife said to here friend, “My husband and I have managed to be happy together for 20 years. I guess that is because we are in love with the same man.”
Paul tells us that one of the characteristics of a life that glorifies God is that it is not self-centered or selfish.
The word wealth that is used in verse 24 is in italics meaning that it was added to clarify what was said.
The word used was not in reference to material things. It was used to speak of one’s well-being and profit.
A life that glorifies god seeks to lift, help, and profit others. It is not marked by selfishness but by selflessness.
Paul declared the same principle in Philippians 2:4 when he said, “look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”
Some people serve for what they get out of it. Some people do what they do for their own benefit. Those who seek to glorify God do what they do so others will profit.
An Unselfish Life, then there is:
B. An Unhindering Life:
After saying that a life that glorifies God seeks the well-being of others, Paul then demonstrates such a life in verses 25-29. Notice what is said,
25. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake:
26. For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.
27. If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.
28. But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof:
29. Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience?
Paul once again goes back to the matter of eating meat that has been offered to idols. If you Remember back in chapter 8 their was a detailed discussion over the matter.
Notice verse 25: “Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no questions for conscience sake.”
The word shambles is referring to the Greek Marketplace.
Again, Paul was reminding them that it was just meat, don’t worry about it being offered to idols.
Go ahead and eat if you want to. He gives the reason in verse 26-”For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”
Then in verse 27 he gives a scenario to illustrate the point.
He says, “If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and you be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no questions for conscience sake>“
Paul gives an illustration of Christian being invited to dinner by someone who is not a Christians. Paul says that if that person is disposed to go or if you really want or desire to go, then go ahead.
Then if that friend takes you out and orders a big steak, don’t ask or even worry about if it has been offered to idols.
Eat and enjoy yourself.
Then in verse 28, Paul gives another scenario of the same situation. Look at what He says in verse 28: “but if any man say unto you, this is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it , and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”
Paul adds a twist by adding another Christian coming along, and this brother notices that the steak came from the temple where it would have been sacrificed to an idol.
Paul says that this brother, who is not as mature as others and doesn’t understand that it is just meat.
He leans over and says to you, this has been dedicated in the temple.”
Paul says you shouldn’t eat for his conscience sake.
Now the mature believer knows that there is nothing wrong about eating the meat, but he does not seek his own, but the well being of the weaker brother, so he won’t eat the meat.
He doesn’t want to do anything that will hurt someone else.
Look at verse 29-”Conscience, I say, Not thine own, but of the other.” Paul says, it may not hurt you to eat it, but it would bother your weaker brother, so don’t do it to keep your testimony in tact and so it won’t hurt the weaker brother.
Then Paul adds in verse 29-”for is my liberty judged of another’s conscience?”
Paul was saying that he had the right to eat the meat even if the weaker brother didn’t understand but since it could hurt the other, and you are to seek the well being of others, he wouldn’t.
In verse 30, he talks to those who criticize and condemn those who did eat such meat.
He says, “For if by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?”
Paul just says, that it is not right for someone who things that it wrong to do such a thing to condemn anyone anyway. Because they should learn not to hurt others by what they say.
I recently read an argument where the Christian life was compared to a fax machine.. On a fax machine you can send an exact duplicate of a document anywhere in the world.
The receiving machine doesn’t receive the original but a duplicate. The writes says that in a Christian people see a copy of the Lord Jesus in your life. They don’t see the original but a duplicate.
When you think of someone living their life in light of others, the Lord Jesus is the supreme example.
When we practice the kind of selflessness that Paul describes, we are showing the life of Christ in our life.
The life that glorifies God is one in which a guide is adopted. A guide that says I will seek the well-being of others and not seek my own.
1. A Gauge that is Applied to Life!
2. A Guide that is Adopted in Life!
Then
3. A Goal that is Assumed For Life!
A life that glorifies God, not only has affect on one’s own spiritual life and one’s life as it relates to other believers, but also is concerned about those who are not saved.
In verses 32-33, Paul described a goal that He has assumed for life. Notice the goal that Paul describes as a feature of a life that glorifies God:
Notice There is:
A. A Godly Walk
In verse 32 the Bible says, “Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God.”
The word offence means to hit, or smite. Again, Paul is talking about doing nothing that will blow his testimony and witness.
The classes of people that he mentions are those that are saved, the Church of God. Then Paul makes reference to those who aren’t saved, “the Jews and the Gentiles.
Paul is saying, that he doesn’t want to do anything to hurt the Church of God, but now he says that he doesn’t want to do anything that would hurt his ability to win lost people to the Lord.
He is saying that he wants to walk godly before those that are unsaved.
One of the goals that Paul Assumed For His Life was a Godly Walk,
Then next you see he had another goal:
B. Godly Work
In verse 33, the Bible says: “Even as I please men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.”
Paul’s main goal was to win people to Christ.
A life that seeks to glorify God is one that seeks to win people to Christ. Winning people to Jesus should be the goal of every believer.
When you come to know Jesus as your Savior; now you recognize the Holy Spirit lives in you.
He gives you the desire, the determination to tell others about Jesus. It is a passion that every believer should possess.
We know that we can’t win everyone, but everyone can tell someone about who Jesus is and the difference that He has made in your life.
You can’t save anyone, but you can tell them about the one who does save. If a person really wants to know Jesus, God will reveal to them how to come to know Him.
We are all sinners by nature and choice (Romans 3;23); we all have this sense that one day we are going to die (Romans 6:23 says: the wages of sin is death)
Has God provided a way for someone to know for certain, that when they die they will go to heaven? I John 3:14 says: We know that we have passed from death unto life.
How do you get from here to heaven: Listen to Romans 6:23 again: The wages of sin is death; but gift of God is eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus died on the cross for you. He gave His life. Now in return; you give Him your life.
You are not buying fire insurance, you are receiving a relationship with God Himself through the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 17:3 tells us what eternal life is: “And this is eternal life, that they might know you the only True God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
Will Jesus always watch over me and care for me? Yes, According to John 10:25-29; Just listen to what Jesus says:
25. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
26. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30. I and my Father are one.
If you trust Jesus and what He has done then you will be saved: Romans 10:9 says: “if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
What do I do: Answer these questions from your heart:
Do you believe that you are a sinner? Do you believe that you have sinned against God, not just done things wrong, but you haven’t done what God wants you to do?
Do You want forgiveness for your sins?
Do you believe that Jesus died and was buried and then rose again?
Do you want to accept, right now, what Jesus has done for you on the cross?
If you do, all you have to do is ask Him to come into your heart and he will. Revelation 3:20 says; “I stand at the door and Knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with, and he with me.”
Do you want to live a life that Glorifies God? Then accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord.
Christian are you living a life that Glorifies God? If you aren’t, isn’t it time to come back now, and if not now, when?
Jesus told the Christians at Laodecia, in Revelation 3:15; “I know your works, that you are neither cold or hot; I wish you were either cold or hot. So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue you out of my mouth. 17. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
What is your decision?
