How to Glorify God, Part 2
Selected Scriptures
This is part two of our study on giving God glory, or how to give God glory. Now, the ultimate question of the meaning of existence is answered many ways by many voices. Some people say, for example, that we're...we're here in this world, and it's all a result of a cosmic accident. That we really don't mean anything. Some kind of a fortuitous concourse of random atoms came together and began to perpetrate the evolutionary cycle, and here we are. Recently, we've all been told via the Chariot of the Gods, that we were brought here by beings from another planet who arrived in Peru in space ships. They landed there some millennia ago and left life, which propagated itself to the degree that we know existence today. And that just transfers the problem to another planet.
Now, some people would 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, amoral, and relatively uninterested." Now, whether you accept the total atheistic view of evolution, or whether you wanna transfer it to another planet and buy the...the Chariot of the Gods kind of theory, or whether you're gonna allow for some kind of a deistic god, who at least is responsible for the machinery, if not involved in its operation, you're going to find that, in all of those cases, there really isn't any meaning to life. None of those solutions offers us the slightest idea of why we're here.
You know, if you're 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. And so people live for all kinds of things, which they, themselves decide to live for. Some people live for hate. They just exist to hate. Other people exist for love. They live for love. Some people live for family. Some people live for friends. Some people live for their job, their work. Some people live for travel, for money, for fame, for success, for lust, for science, for education, for booze, for drugs, for a hobby, for Saturday...for Sunday. There's all kinds of...of imposed meanings placed on life, and you can understand why people do that. And what they try to do is take the meaningless of life and jam it back into the subconscious, and in the conscious mind put some kind of substance which allows them to look at themselves as something more than protoplasm waiting to become manure. And it's important that man be able to do that.
But, you know, when you get into the Bible, and you get into Christianity, you find out that there is a reason for living. That there is a meaning to existence. And it is this, and it's said in the old catechism this way: "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." That's the meaning of existence. God made us because He wanted to display His glory. And in return for us being willing, 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.
Now, we saw last time that the Westminster Shorter catechism had stated in a question and answer kind of dialogue, the basis of theology. To many Christians through many centuries, this was the pattern of learning. And we saw that the word "catechism" comes from the Greek word katakao which means, really, to catechize or to instruct by repetitious oral teaching. And this is a good Biblical term used in the New Testament for instruction. And we said that the catechism began with this first thing: "What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." And we said we agreed with that. That that is true. That is man's chief end.
You say, "But that's a statement of theology written by men. That's not a Bible verse." Well, there is a Bible verse, Psalm 16:8 and 9, and I think it just crystallizes into Biblical authority, that same truth that says this: "I have set the Lord always before me." That means I live to give Him glory. "Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices." Now, there you have the same two things. "I live for the glory of God." Result, "I enjoy God's person to the fullest."
We're just gonna take those two parts to our little study. First of all, to glorify God. Secondly, to enjoy Him. Now, first of all we started with to glorify God. You have a little outline. It's perforated there in your bulletin. You can keep, and you can write some things down. We just really...the outline is kinda sketchy and scratchy, because this whole message is kind of in the process of evolving. And, in fact, as I go along, in many senses the Lord has been bringing things to my memory. But to begin with, we were talking about to glorify God. What's involved in that? We said we needed to cover three things: what, why, and how. What does it mean to glorify God? Why should I glorify God? And how do I glorify God?
Now, you remember, and we're reviewing now from last time, that we saw that when we said, "What do we mean by God's glory," we had to give two answers. First of all, there is glory which God has in Himself that I can't give Him. In other words, there is intrinsic glory. For example, Acts 7:2 says that, "God is the God of glory." And in Isaiah 6, you know, the angels are saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts," and praising Him and giving Him glory and all that there in that passage. And this is God's glory by virtue of His nature. I don't give it to Him. He has it if I don't even exist. Right? This is who He is. He is the God of glory. If nobody in the world ever acknowledged it, it would still be so. And we covered many passages in that study to show that God is a God of glory by virtue of who He is. Glory meaning the manifestation of all of His attributes. And that's who God is.
But, secondly, there is a glory given God by His creatures...There is a glory given God by His creatures. Now, notice, beloved, this does not mean that we add to His nature anything. Right? And we pointed out the statement of Paul to Titus that the believer does not adorn God, but he adorns what? The doctrine of God. In other words, giving glory to God is not adding to God's nature, but it is...it is revealing God's nature to the watching world that they may recognize His glory. You see? You and I are channels. We are, perhaps a better definition, we are display windows in which God wants to reveal His glory to the world as they pass by us.
Now, in 1 Chronicles 16:24, we see these two facets of glory put together in the same passage. And you could look at many passages, but this is just one. First Chronicles 16:24, listen. "Declare His glory among the nations." Now look at verse 27. "Glory and honor are in His presence." Now, stop there for a minute. He says here, "God is a God of glory. Glory and honor belongs to God." You don't give it to Him. You just declare it. Okay? God doesn't need us to give Him glory. That's intrinsic to His nature...Not that kind of glory. We cannot add to God. He simply says here, "Declare it." It's a fact. But then he says, "Give unto the Lord ye kindreds of the people. Give unto the Lord glory." Verse 29, "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name." Then, "Worship the Lord in the beauty of... what?...holiness."
Now, what's he saying? He's saying God has intrinsic glory, but you can actually, in the eyes of the world, exalt God when you live a holy life. So it is not that we're adding to His nature. It is simply that we are allowing God to be visible to the world as we live lives that reveal His glory. And there's only one way to do that, friends, and that's to have Him living through us, right? That's to be, according to Ephesians 3, "Filled with all the fullness of God." And then in verse 21, he says, "Unto whom be glory in the church." In other words, we, the church, have been designed by God to be a vehicle though which He can display His glory...That's our purpose. We're commanded to respond to that end.
So then, when we're talking about God's glory, there is that glory which is His intrinsically. And there is that glory which we give Him, not in the sense that we add to His nature, but in the sense that we bring His glory to the attention of the watching world, who, in turn, can recognize Him for who He is. Perhaps best defined in a simple statement of Jesus in Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and...what?...glorify your Father who's in Heaven." That is our calling in terms of giving Him glory.
Now, what about the why? We see what it means to give Him glory. And, again, we're reviewing. Why are we to give Him glory? Three reasons I gave you last time. One, because He made us, and He deserves it. Romans 11:36 says, "For of Him and through Him are all things to whom be glory forever." In other words, Paul glorifies God for creating everything. So we are to glorify Him because He made us, and He deserves it. I mean anyone who could...who could what He did deserves our praise.
Secondly, because He made us to glorify Him. He didn't just make us, He made us to glorify Him. In fact, in Proverbs 16 verse 4, it says, "The Lord hath made all things for Himself." Get that. "He has made all things for Himself." Colossians 1:16 says of Christ, "All things were made by Him and for Him to bring Him glory." And, incidentally, whether we're good, whether we're righteous, or whether we're wicked, God'll get His glory, willingly or unwillingly. Remember that verse I gave you last week where God said to Pharaoh, "I will get Me honor from Pharaoh." He'll get it.
You know, all the creatures that God has made give Him glory. Creatures beneath us in terms of the level of Creation give God glory. For example, the stars. Psalm 19:1, "The heavens declare the glory of God." And even animals, yes, even beasts of the field give God glory. Isaiah 43:20, "The beasts of the field shall honor Me." God's creation does that. Creatures even below us in the creation. But then there are creatures above us in...in...certainly in celestial terms. The angels, and they give Him glory. Why, that's really the purpose of the angels. You hear them giving Him glory, for example, in Luke chapter 2 about verse 13 and 14, where they appear at the birth of Jesus Christ, and they cry out, "Glory to God in the highest." That's...that's what they're doing. They're giving Him glory.
You say, "The...the animals, the creation beneath us, gives Him glory. The creation above us gives Him glory." Lemme give you another thought. In regard to Creation, God made man, Hebrews 2:7, "A little lower than the angels." Right? But because of redemption, we have been exalted above the angels. Do you realize that someday when we enter into Heaven, we will occupy a place like no created being in history? We will not have angelic righteousness. We will have the righteousness of God Himself. If the creatures lower than us, the animals, the stars, and the angels give Him glory, how can man do less?
You see, we are to give Him glory because He made us and because He made us to give Him glory. Lemme give you a third reason. Because He judges those who don't. He judges those who don't give Him glory. 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." You say, "Why is God displaying wrath? Why is God bringing judgment?" Verse 21, "Because when they knew God, they glorified Him not." See? And verse 23, "Changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man." So God judges those who refuse to give Him glory.
Now, how do we glorify God? And this is where we wanna spend our time. How do we glorify God? 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.
First of all, we glorify God, I told you last time, by aiming at His glory. Oh, what an important point that is. When you learn to live to aim at His glory, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "Whatever you do, even something as mundane as...what?...eating, drinking, do it all to glory of God." You aim your life at that end. We talked about that. What does that mean? Well, we gave you several suggestions. First of all, we said it meant that you have to eliminate self-worship. If you're gonna live for His glory, you gotta get rid of you, right? 'Cause if you're stealing any of the glory, then He's not getting it.
Second thing, you have to prefer Him above all things. Money, fame, honor, success, maybe friends, maybe family. If you're gonna give Him glory, you prefer Him above all things. Thirdly, we said that if you're gonna give Him glory, you have to be content to do His will, whatever the cost. Jesus, John 12:27 and 28, expressed that so simply and so clearly. Listen to what He said. "Now, is My soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? For this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name." See? Whatever the cost. Father, You get the glory.
Then we said another thing. Aiming at God's glory, and I love this point, means that you hurt when God's name suffers. Boy, that's a...that's a tremendous concept. You remember Psalm 69:9? "The zeal for Thine house has eaten me up. The reproaches that have come on Thee have fallen to me also." In other words, when God hurts, I hurt. And that's what Jesus...that was Messianic. He was David, but it was also Messianic. Yes, that's suffering when God suffers.
You know, I was sitting in my office just thinking over this point, and I just, in my own heart, I was asking myself if I really...if I really aim at God's glory to the point that when God's name is defamed I hurt inside. And a letter came to my attention, and I don't often do this, but I wanna read it to you. It was a little gal who came into my life and my sister's last summer through a terrible series of circumstances, living in a terribly immoral situation, just a little gal, 17 years old. And one day she had the opportunity to be exposed to the Gospel, and through some conversations with my sister and with myself, she gave her heart to Christ. But the problems in her background were just unbelievable. Just...you couldn't even begin to believe the things this girl had done and tried to do to herself and terrible things.
So you never know. Well, no sooner had she received Christ than she took off. All she had was a Bible and some people praying for her, and she headed back home. No church in this town. No nothing. No Christian friends. And a few months later, this is the letter that comes from her. She has had no instruction from anybody, but she's read her Bible. This is what she writes. "I hope everything is well with you. I have really begun to put things together in the Bible. By reading the Old Testament, I have been able to see how God deserves much more recognition than He's getting." That's good.
"I can see how He gave people so many chances and how they continued to break His heart by worshipping idols and sinning. God wanted the Israelites to sacrifice lambs, goats, oxen, and things like that as an atonement to Him for sin. He is God, after all, and He had to have some payment for the trouble and the sins of men. To think that God actually talked and was in the visible presence of these people, and yet they kept on complaining and sinning...Listen...I can almost feel the unbearable sadness that God feels when someone rejects and doesn't glorify Him. He's God!...exclamation point...He made us. He gave us everything. We continue to doubt and reject Him. It's awful. When I think of how I hurt Him, I hope I can someday make it up." Listen to the last part of the letter.
"I have a soft spot in my heart for God. I can feel His jealousy now when I see people worshipping idols and other gods. It's all so clear to me that God must be glorified and worshipped. He deserves it, and it's long overdue. I can't wait to just tell Jesus and, thus, God indirectly, that I love Him and just kiss the ground He walks on, because He should be worshipped. I want God to be God and take His rightful place. I'm tired of the way people put Him down."
All by herself with her Bible, she realized that life was all about the glory of God. I know some people who have been Christians for decades and don't know that. I hope you know it after we've studied it. We live for that end. That is the purpose of our existence, to give Him glory. And part of it is hurting when He hurts. Like Martine said, "I couldn't endure existence if Jesus was always dishonored."
Lemme give you another angle on this. Aiming at God's glory also involves, and think this one through, it means this: We aim at God's glory when we are content to be outdone by others in gifts and honors just so God gets the glory. Think that one through. We really aim at His glory when we're content to take a backseat and see somebody else lifted up, somebody else honored just so long as God gets the glory. That's a tough one, isn't it? Tough one.
Lemme illustrate that to ya from the life of Paul. Dear Paul, all his life, since the time of his conversion, was lost in the cause of Jesus Christ, wasn't he? Haven't we seen him through the Book of Acts in such pain and such agonizing and such weariness, and so spent? And yet he's...he's relentless. He's relentless, because he has as his goal the exaltation of God through Jesus Christ. And so he never stops. Well, you know, it came time for him in his life to find himself in prison, and he is shelled. Well, you can imagine the, you know, the normal human reaction of such a man as Paul to being shelled, but he took in stride, because he was a trusting man, and he knew God had a purpose in it. He turned it over to God, and God really used him in prison. People in Caesar's household kept getting saved, you know. God used him there. No question about it there.
But he has an interesting comment in Philippians 1, which I think gives us an insight into the heart of the man who is content with God getting the glory, even if He isn't in on it. In Philippians 1:15, he says, "Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife. Some have good will. The one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds." Here he is in prison, and some people are saying, "Hey, you know that Paul? We told you he was wrong. See where he wound up? God's punishing him." And they were trying to...they were...they were adding pain to already what was painful. And they were saying, "See, we're vindicated. We're free, and God has allowed us to preach, and look what He's done to Paul. He's shelled him." And there's some new guys coming along the trail, and they're gaining the love of the people, and they're the ones that the people are...are learning from. And they're they ones that people are loving. They're the ones that are winning people to Jesus, and there are even some who are wailing away at Paul and adding hurt to already what hurts...
Well, lemme show you nature of the man in verse 18. "What then? How do I react? What's my response? Notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in that...what?...I do rejoice. Yea, and I will rejoice." Now, you see, that is aiming at God's glory to the extent that you don't care who the vehicle is. That's maturity.
You can look at your own life and tell whether you really aim at God's glory. What's your inner feeling when somebody who does just what you do does it to the place where it gains honor? How do you react to that? How do you react when somebody does what you do better than you? And God gains the glory. It's a good thermometer on whether you're concerned with His glory or your own.
Lemme give you the second thing. Still reviewing. This is why we always get in trouble, but we're throwing in new things, as you know. Second thing in glorifying God is receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. And, you know, this is basic. I mean you can't begin to give God glory unless you come to Christ, right? But you haven't even acknowledged God. It is Jesus Christ who is full of grace and truth. It is He who is the One who carries within Him the glory of the Father. So to come to Christ is to give Him glory. And that's Philippians 2:9, as long you're there, look at it. "Wherefore God has highly exalted Him, given Him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow." Then verse 11, "And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God." God is glorified when we bow the knee and confess Jesus as Lord. You really wanna give God glory, it all begins there. You'll never, in your life, give God glory apart from Jesus Christ. And if you never give Him glory, you'll never enjoy it...
Let's go to the third thing, and we'll start with where we're gonna start for today. We give God glory by the confession of sin. And, you know, confession is one area where we can give God glory. Maybe you never thought of that. But when you confess sin, you really glorify God. I think of the thief on the cross. He glorified God. 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...Confession glorifies God.
Lemme give you an illustration of that in the Old Testament, and then we'll broaden the thing, 'cause I think it's so important. Joshua, you remember a man named Achan? If you were in Sunday School when you were a little kid, you heard about Achan, 'cause God told the children of Israel when they got into Jericho, "Don't take anything." He called it the cursed thing. And he didn't want 'em to touch anything. And what did Achan do? Oh, Achan gathered up a whole lotta goodies, and he went, and he thought, "I'll hide 'em, and nobody'll find 'em." And he buried 'em in a hole in his tent. "God'll never know. Can't see through dirt."
So what did he do? He buried it in there, and God wasn't happy. And you remember the terrible story that ultimately ended in his own death and the death of his family. And it ended in the defeat of Israel at Ai, didn't it? But listen to verse 19 of Joshua 7. Very interesting verse. "Joshua said to Achan, 'My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel." "What are you talking about, Joshua?" Says this. "Make confession unto Him." Now, just that verse, confession of sin glorifies God. You say, "John, why is that so?" Listen, and I'll tell ya. Whenever you excuse your sin...you are impugning God. You're saying, "I'm helpless." And, ultimately, you're saying, "You got me in this mess in the first place." Have you ever thought that? You've committed a sin, and you say, "Why did God ever let me get into that mess?" You know what you've done? You've impugned God.
Listen to this one. Want an illustration? Adam. You know, Eve had offered Adam the opportunity to take the apple, and he had taken it. And what happened? Genesis 3:12, listen to what Adam said, "The woman"...and we all stop there and say, 'Yeah, he blamed the woman.' No he didn't blame the woman. What the next word? "The woman Thou gavest me." See, "You did it, God. If you hadn't given me that woman, this never woulda happened." Men...thought that one through? "I wouldn't be in this mess if I...if You hadn't put me in it."
Listen, whenever you do that, you're assigning to God the possibility of unrighteousness. No. God was not at fault. God is never at fault. God does not ever, ever, in any way, act unrighteously. And whenever an individual tries to sneak out from under the absolute responsibility for his own sin, he impugns the character of God, you see. That does not glorify God.
In 1 Samuel 5, to give you another illustration, there is an incident there that is interesting from the standpoint of confession and the idea that it glorifies God. The Philistines stole the ark of God. It was really kind of a funny thing if it wasn't so sad. Some of Israel hadn't paid any attention to God for years, and they got into a big battle with the Philistines. Somebody said, "We're in trouble. We gotta get God up here." So they said, "Go down there and get that ark up here." The ark representing God. So they all ran down and the ark arrives. "Hurrah, hurrah, the ark is here, the day is won." Philistines stole the ark. See, God is not a utilitarian genii.
And so when the ark arrived on the scene, the Philistines hauled it of