Good Works Glorify God

Please turn your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter four. Message today will be from 1

Peter 4 11. I'll read verses seven through 11 in preparation for the message.

So as you know, we've been bouncing back and forth between a series in Luke and then a series on Motivations for Good Works.

Now the past two segments of that series in Motivations for Good Works has been

How Salvation Empowers Good Works, and then next we looked at How Good Works Bless Your Neighbors.

Now in these next likely eight messages, we will look at how good works bless the kingdom of God.

So before we talked about neighbors, now the kingdom. And we begin with good works glorifying

God. Good works glorify God. Please stand when you have 1 Peter 4 for the reading of the word.

1 Peter 4, beginning in verse seven. The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be self -controlled and so reminded for the sake of your prayers.

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling as each has received a gift.

Use it to serve one another as stewards of God's very grace. Whoever speaks is one who speaks oracles of God.

Whoever serves is one who serves by the strength that God supplies in order that in everything,

God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever, amen.

You may be seated. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for our Savior, Jesus Christ. We thank you for this purpose that you have given us to glorify you and that in everything, you may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

We know that to him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. We ask that you would bring that glory about through us in the service that you have called us to, that we would serve as people who serve by the strength that you supply, and we pray that we would be equipped to do so by your word here for us today.

In Jesus' name, amen. Perhaps you're familiar with the

Westminster Shorter Catechism. It is printed, question number one, on the back of your bulletin.

What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

This is a very fundamental truth that really shapes all of life. If you are aware of what your purpose is, you're going to act very differently than if you are not aware of what your purpose is.

It's a common way of describing people. They are purposeless. They don't know what they're doing. They're basically dissipating all of their efforts because they do not know what their purpose is, but one who has purpose, has focus, who knows what he is about, what his goal in life is, is one who is very successful, very happy.

God wants you to be happy. Now, I do not mean that in the way that many preachers mean it, where our happiness is the chief end of man, apart from the glory of God, but rather in understanding happiness as a fulfillment, as a blessedness.

We are most happy glorifying God. We are most fulfilled when we are fulfilling this purpose.

Today, I would like you to have that happiness, for you to have that blessedness, to know what your purpose is and to be able to fulfill it so that in everything,

God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. Peter, in this passage, prepares people to live the

Christian life in light of the fact that they are nearing the end. He says in verse seven, the end of all things is at hand, therefore, and he continues explaining how they ought to live in light of this end that is coming swiftly.

So it is the case today, even more so than it was for them. If the end was close for them, it is 2 ,000 years closer for us.

The end is coming swiftly, and given that the end of all things is at hand, therefore, we ought to live in a particular way in order that our purpose might not be missed.

We have a limited time on this earth, 70 years or 80 by reason of strength, as it says in the

Psalms, and in that limited time, you would not want to wake up in your final years and find out that you have not lived as God has called you.

You have not fulfilled your purpose and you have lived purposeless life. God gives us very clear direction here that the chief end of man is to glorify

God, and we understand more, it's not just to glorify

God, but particularly in the way that it explains here, by serving him as serving with the one, with the strength that God supplies, and secondly, doing so so that God may be glorified, not directly through us, but through Jesus Christ.

If you understand the way that God has called us to serve, serving one another by the strength that he has supplied and the means by which this glorifies him, through Christ, you'll be better equipped to fulfill your purpose and have a happy life in that classic sense of the word happy, meaning blessed, fulfilled.

Walking according to God's purposes for you. Just consider this passage that we have here.

It speaks in verse 10 of each of us having received a gift, using it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace.

We've all received different gifts. God's grace is varied. No person has received exactly the same gifts that other people have received.

The gifts that you have received are different than the gifts that the next person has received, and so you have a task that is different than the task that everyone else has because you have a particular set of gifts with which you must serve

God. He has given varied gifts. He has given you varied gifts, and how are we supposed to serve him?

We are supposed to serve him as good stewards, serving one another, serving as one who serves by the strength that God supplies.

We're supposed to serve one another, and we're supposed to serve as serving by the strength that God supplies.

If we are serving by our own strength or failing to acknowledge God's strength, we are not serving him in a way that glorifies him, but rather we are robbing of him of glory.

So it's important to understand that we must serve him as by the strength that he supplies, and it gives the reason here.

It says that we must do this in order that in everything, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

Now, the ESV says in everything, and I think this is what most translations say. This does seem to be a sensible translation.

At the same time, what is literally said here is in order that in all, God may be glorified.

Now, if you thought of this as just all, that word either being neuter or masculine, it could mean all men, but if it were to mean all men, then us serving him in order that God may be glorified in all men really ends up hinging

God being glorified in a man based on the obedience of that same man, in which case we already have an assurance that not all will glorify

God in that way, and so it seems that this would be a quixotic task that all would glorify him by serving him.

Instead, it makes much more sense to understand it the way the ESV says here, in that everything, not every man, but everything

God may be glorified still through the activities of men, but an even greater goal, not just each man glorifying

God, but all things glorifying God through the obedience of God's people.

Then he ends here with a doxology. A doxology, you're probably used to hearing that refer to the song that we sing after the

Lord's Supper. Doxology just refers to praise. The prefix dox means glory, so doxology is words of praise, words of glorifying

God. It says, to him belong glory and dominion forever and ever, amen.

Now, the most typical interpretation of this, which is very reasonable, is in order that in everything,

God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, that to him refers to the Father. If it says in everything,

God may be glorified, then to say to him belong glory, it would make sense that it's speaking of the

Father as being the one glorified. However, I believe there's a couple of reasons to doubt that particular interpretation and rather think that this doxology is referring to Jesus Christ, to him belong glory and dominion.

The first is that when we speak of dominion, we do speak of the reign of a king.

And Jesus, as the God -man, is king in a particular way that the Father is not. That is the first reason

I think that you ought to consider this as referring to Jesus Christ. The second is that the exact same doxology is given of Jesus Christ in Revelation 1 .6.

It says, to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priest to his

God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever, amen. So it starts off with to him who has loved us and freed us from our sins by his blood and then ends with to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

So here in Revelation 1 .6 gives the exact same doxology speaking of the one who has shed his blood for us, speaking of Jesus Christ.

And this should shape our understanding of the passage as well, because if it's talking about in everything

God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, and if it says to him belong glory, then it's not just talking about the purpose of glory being ultimately to the

Father, but the significance of him using Christ as the means by which all that glory be given to him.

If this is just saying that all glory is to go to God, it deemphasizes him having chosen this necessary means through which he be glorified, that necessary means being

Jesus Christ. If to him belong glory and dominion forever and ever, then it must shape every single way that God receives glory, that it must be through Jesus Christ.

So with all this in mind, the main things we need to understand here are simply

God's glory, the means by which he is accomplishing that glory through Jesus Christ, and then through us.

So what glory is, how he's accomplishing it through Jesus, and how he's accomplishing it through Jesus through us.

Okay, those three things. All right, first of all, what is God's glory?

This is very difficult to find, and I have read a number of books on God's glory, and one thing that I have found is they are usually lacking in any definition of his glory because it is something that is so basic it's kind of hard to define.

If you were studying mathematics and you have an axiom, an axiom is something that has no proof, it's just kind of the base thing that the rest of mathematics is built off of, it's really hard to explain the axiom because it's just so basic, it's not built off of other things.

God's glory is the same way. We might talk about it as his splendor, as his brightness, as his greatness.

Really, greatness might be the best thing that you could say, but then you have to define what these other words mean in the context of God, and it's very difficult to describe, but it is his greatness, and in a special way, his greatness as experienced in creation and by creation.

Now, there are two different ways that we could consider God's glory. It's God's glory inherently in himself and his glory as revealed to us.

God is glorious, he is inherently glorious. We might distinguish between his intrinsic and his extrinsic glory.

Okay, he has an intrinsic glory, he is glorious in and of himself, and he is perfectly glorious.

His glory cannot be increased, but yet the Bible talks about him receiving more glory.

It speaks of us giving him glory, him receiving glory, so how can both of these things be true?

That God is all glorious, his glory cannot be increased, and yet at the same time, we must give him glory, and he receives more and more glory.

It speaks of glory in two different ways. Bible frequently speaks in this way, like for example, the word blessed.

Bible says that without exception, the lesser is blessed by the greater, and yet at the same time, the

Bible ends up saying that we bless the Lord. So the word blessed can mean two different things.

On one hand, it can mean the giving of a blessing as one who is bestowing some actual goodness versus one who is recognizing and appreciating that goodness.

So when the Bible talks about us glorifying God, what it's talking about is not us giving

God glory such that his intrinsic glory is increasing, his inherent glory is increasing because that is perfect.

Rather, it is speaking of us experiencing and knowing that glory more and more.

This can be distinguished in a couple of other ways too. We might speak of his glorious transcendent and imminent.

His glory transcends all creation. He has been glorious long before there was any creation, and yet his glory is present in all creation.

Romans 1 says that man sees his power. God's excellence is known in all of creation because his thumbprints are on all of it.

The heavens declare the glory of God. And so God's glory, while being transcendent, while transcending creation itself, is also imminent.

It is present in every aspect of creation, not in a pantheistic way where God himself is creation, but in a way where his thumbprint as creator is on all creation.

So his glory is both transcendent and it is imminent. You can also see that his glory is unshared, and it is shared, speaks in Isaiah 48, 11, of never sharing his glory with anyone.

And yet the Bible speaks about how we will share glory with Jesus Christ, that we will be glorified provided we suffer with him, we'll be glorified with him provided we suffer with him.

These are incredible truths to think about in prayer. On one hand, God cannot, his glory cannot be increased.

On the other hand, we have been given the task of appreciating and glorifying him, ascribing more glory to him.

One hand, that inherent glory cannot be shared. He is God, his Godness, his deity is not something that we will ever have.

We will never become God, we will always be creatures, we will never be the creator. And yet at the same time, there is some sense in which he has permitted us to enjoy his gloriousness and even be glorified.

God's glory is an incredible attribute of his that while it cannot be fully fathomed, must be understood in some measure for you to have an appreciation for the world you live in, an appreciation of him, an appreciation of even who you are and to live in the way that he has called you.

And so if you consider that when it speaks of us glorifying him, it is speaking of us acting in a way that ascribes more glory to him, in a way that shows that he is glorious, why are our good works important for glorifying him?

We live in a world that's full of sin, we live in a world that is marred with all kinds of evil. When man who has been transformed by God acts according to his law, remember good works simply being sincere obedience, when he acts according to God's law, he shows the glory of God's transformative power.

When you operate according to the strength that God has provided, you are displaying his goodness because they are seeing a resounding effect of his goodness toward mankind.

So your good works means that he has chosen an order that he would be glorified in that way.

And not only this, but he has permitted the world to fall into sin in order that that glory might be more fully seen.

If you consider a candle, if I were to light a candle here, it would not increase the brightness of this room, it would not look very glorious, but if this room were completely dark, it would be incredibly bright.

It would lighten up the whole room and you would see it as a much brighter thing than if you were, if I were to light it in full day.

Well, the same thing is true with our good works. God has permitted this world to fall into sin in order that we might see his glory in the good works of men as they obey in a world marred by sin.

Peter says we are called to shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life.

Now, many people look at God's purpose for man that they glorify him and they see this as selfish on God's part, right?

He wants glory for himself. He has created man to glorify him. He's asked man to engage in difficult works in order that man might do these difficult tasks and glorify him.

That's just all seems very self -centered, focused on God. Hasn't God told us that we should be selfless, we should be doing things for others and here

God is primarily orienting all things around himself. What is the answer for this objection that many might have to God having purposed all things for his glory?

There's several answers we could give. First is the fact that because God's glory cannot be increased, it would be impossible to understand this as any way selfish in the way that we would say where you're trying to get more for yourself.

God cannot get more. He has sufficient glory. So when

God calls us to glorify him, we know implicitly because his inherent glory cannot be increased that he is not doing it for his own sake as though he could be happier, as though he could be more blessed, as though he could be more glorious.

Instead, he has done this for our sake in order that we might experience his glory more fully.

The more we appreciate his glory, the more we glorify him, the more we are brought into what is truly good, what is truly glorious and are able to experience it with joy.

Now, not only that, but it would be impossible for God to arrange things otherwise such that there would be a different purpose for man.

There are not multiple senses of goodness or multiple things that are good in this world apart from God.

Rather, God himself is goodness itself. Imagine what it would be for God to arrange all things for the glory of something other than him.

If he were to arrange all things for the glory of something other than him, that would be some other ultimate good because it would not have any purpose of glorifying him.

So you would have two ultimate goods, two ultimate standards of good even. But God being absolute, not just good, but goodness itself, it is necessary that any lesser purpose have its own purpose of his glory.

And so given that he is absolute, given that he is the creator of all things, it could not be arranged otherwise that there could be some other purpose other than the glory of God.

So those two things are, this is for our good, it's not for his good since his good cannot be increased.

And secondly, God could not arrange it otherwise. He can't make a rock so big that he cannot lift it, right?

It's just a contradiction. He could not create this world such that our ultimate purpose would be some glory other than his.

It is simply an impossibility. And so he has given us this task of glorifying him, not for his good, which cannot be increased, but rather for our good so that we might more appreciate his glory.

And the more we appreciate his glory, the more we enjoy what is truly good. Given that, we are supposed to glorify him by serving him as one who serves with the strength that God supplies.

That means that good works are not just a way that we can glorify

God, but are rather the primary way that we glorify

God. Him having saved us to make a people for himself of his own possession fit for good works, as we see in Titus.

This is God's purpose for us. So our purpose is not just to glorify

God, but to glorify God, particularly in good works. Maybe you never thought of good works as being the chief end of man, but this is what it is.

God has purified a people for his own possession, making us suitable for good works.

This is our purpose, and we will be most happy. We will be most fulfilled when we fulfill that purpose.

Perhaps some of you are familiar with John Piper's Christian Hedonism. He takes the Westminster Shorter Catechism and modifies it, says, instead of man's chief end is to glorify

God and to enjoy him forever, he says, man's chief end is to glorify God by enjoying him forever.

So to glorify God is to enjoy him. We should enjoy him, and that by enjoying him, we are glorifying him, because by enjoying him, that we are recognizing his glory and experiencing that.

Now, there are some criticisms of Christian Hedonism that I'm not talking about here.

For example, a lot of people would look at some of the ways that it is presented and say that it is requiring a certain kind of demeanor of people that is unsustainable, a certain kind of outward joy that is unsustainable.

I think there's some legitimacy to that criticism, but given as it is, just that statement, man's chief end is to glorify

God by enjoying him forever, I would agree, but I would not want it to be lost that perhaps the opposite of this or the inverting of these things is perhaps even more true that man's chief end is to enjoy

God forever by glorifying him, not just to glorify him by enjoying him, but to enjoy him by glorifying him.

How is it that you are to have joy by glorifying him, by serving him and giving him glory?

The more that you do that, the more that you are aware of his glory, the more that you experience his glory, the more that you enjoy him.

Think about why it is that so many people are so sad. It is because they are living for something less than the glory of God.

God has given us the task of glorifying him in order that we might have true joy, in order that we might be fulfilled.

And so when we live for lesser glories, to glorify ourselves, to glorify other things, we rob ourselves of the opportunity to experience the glory of God.

Romans 1, 23 talks about idolaters saying, claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal

God for images resembling mortal man, and birds and animals and creeping things.

So idolaters are exchanging the glory of God, the glory of the immortal

God, instead for derivative glories. Man being made in the image of God is the glory of God in a lesser sense.

And then animals being underneath man or images of man representing man's glory in another derivative sense.

If you take something that is derivative of a derivative of a derivative, it is less pure, it is less good.

And so people try to grasp onto these lesser glories that seem more attractive because maybe they appeal to the senses better.

Idols appeal to the senses, you can touch them, you can see them. Same thing is true of any kind of priority that you would set up in your life, any kind of idol that you would set up in your life, that you are drawn to that because it seems like it is more appealing to God, but it would always, and leading you away from the glory of God towards some other glory, rob you of joy and instead fill you with a lack of fulfillment, an ultimate sadness.

Consider the person who wants some kind of light, but they want it without the sun. All right, let's say we take that candle example again, right, and they want that glory of a lesser thing, of a created thing, but without the sun.

Well, where do you get the wick from for the candle? Well, that comes from cotton that needs to be grown by the power of the sun.

Where does the wax come? Well, it's from beeswax, it comes from the bees that would put it together who also need the sun.

So you might be able to, for a short time, pursue some lesser glory, but apart from pursuing the ultimate glory of God, these things will ultimately give way.

And this is what each person is headed towards. Each person is headed towards death, where apart from salvation in Jesus Christ, apart from that which would reorient man to give glory to the true

God, to the one who is, in this analogy, the sun itself, the ultimate brightness of the universe, you will miss out on the true glory and there will be none left.

You will not even have the derivative glory to enjoy, but none at all. Now, God has given us this task in order that in everything,

God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. This is through Jesus. And understanding this is really key to understanding what

God is accomplishing here. In Colossians 1, verse 15, I'm gonna read several verses here.

It says, he is the image of the invisible God, this is speaking of Jesus Christ, the firstborn of all creation, for by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

So it says first that all things were created through him and for him. But in the end, it says that God was pleased, for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

So this is not just speaking of all things being made through Christ, the eternal son who has fashioned all things, but it is talking specifically about the incarnation, the fullness of God being pleased to dwell in him, in order that all things would be reconciled to him.

So when this passage speaks of Christ, even when Peter speaks of all things being glorified through Christ, it is not just saying through the son as eternal

God, but it's speaking specifically of the son as the incarnate Christ through Jesus Christ, through the

Messiah. God has planned that all things would give glory to him, not in some way that would be possible without the son, but in a way that is only possible through the son.

Apart from the son, God would not receive glory the way that he has intended to receive glory.

It's not merely the case that he would not receive some of the glory, but rather that any glory that he would receive would be incomplete apart from the means that he has chosen, which is

Jesus Christ. Consider how it is that glory works.

Father is all glorious. Hebrews 1 .3, speaking of Jesus Christ, says that he is the radiance of the glory of God.

So he being incarnate, him displaying to us all his glory.

Then beyond this, it speaks of the son through us demonstrating this glory.

Speaks of us being made further in his image, right? And if that image is a glorious image and we are being conformed into it,

God's glory is being demonstrated through us, through the son and the salvation that we have in him. Romans 8 .29

says, for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, to be conformed to the image of his son.

Second Corinthians 3 .18 says, and we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.

We are being transformed into the same image of glory from one degree of glory to another.

He is making us more and more with the glory of the image of the son.

So it was through Jesus Christ that we are being made more glorious. Now he is accomplishing that by the power of the spirit.

So this glory is from God, it's through Christ and is by the power of the spirit. We have the spirit within us.

He giving us the mind of Christ in order that we might know this glory. We might know the salvation that comes from God.

We might know how great God is in a way that we actually respond to it and do not reject it. The world hears of this glory, they see of this glory in creation, but they still reject it.

God through his spirit has given us the mind of Christ in order that we might receive that glory and experience it.

More than that, he has given us the spirit that we might declare it, that we might have the words to say in order to give glory to him, not just in our own hearts glorifying him, but even to others causing them to recognize the glory of God and give him glory.

And then third, so to know it, to declare it, and then to share it, that we might enjoy the glory of Jesus Christ having actually been transformed from one degree of glory into another.

He has given us the spirit for all these reasons. And so all things, all things are to receive,

God is to be glorified in everything through Jesus Christ. Now, it is possible that you could read this quickly and think that maybe this is saying that this is the missing puzzle piece that's needed in order for that last bit of glory to be restored.

God receives glory through all creation. All creation glorifies him. The plants and the birds and the forest, they all glorify

God. But in order that everything glorify God, we need that last little piece.

We also need humanity to glorify God, and then God will be completely glorified. I do not think that that is what this is saying.

Rather, given that this is saying that this glory comes through Jesus Christ as we serve him and that God desires to be glorified, not just directly, but through Jesus Christ, through the incarnate

Savior, it is necessary for humanity to be involved in order that everything may give him glory in this particular mode.

Okay, if the birds of the air give glory directly to God without any involvement of Jesus Christ, then they are not,

God is not receiving glory in the way that he intends to. Okay, if the birds of the air give

God glory without the involvement of mankind, it is not possible because the whole reason that Jesus has become incarnate is to join himself together with mankind in order that through us,

God may be glorified. So God is glorified through Jesus Christ, but he's glorified through Jesus Christ being united with us, transforming us to give him glory.

So everything that exists gives glory to God, but it is not sufficiently giving

God glory the way that he intends unless it is doing so through the means of his son, unless it is doing so through its connection to us.

God has placed man over all of creation. He has created all these things in a sense for the sake of mankind, man having dominion over these things.

And man being redeemed in Jesus Christ to have that dominion restored, God has established his plan of glorifying himself through our salvation, all things having been created for our good.

Romans 8, 28, even just the previous passage from the one I mentioned, all things work together for good to those who love

God. How can that be the case? That is only the case if all things are working together for God's glory and that has some connection to us.

Everything that exists, God has brought about so that it would reinforce his purposes in us to give

God glory through our union with Jesus Christ. There's nothing that he has created that does not reinforce this.

It doesn't matter if it's flower of the field, et cetera. All these were created in order that through man benefiting from these things as God has given them to us to benefit from them would give

God greater glory having been unified to Jesus Christ, being made into his image, glorifying him as we ought.

I hope that you can appreciate this truth because it means that God's glory in the way that he intends to be glorified requires this particular element.

It requires your good works. Now, this will happen regardless of whether or not you praise him because it is not every person's good works that are needed for this.

There will be many who refuse to praise him and they will be glorified in their condemnation. That too will serve the purpose of those who love him who are joined together with the savior and are glorifying

God. They will praise him further because of the ways that this reveals God's glory to them.

God showing his glory to us, us acknowledging it and responding back having been saved by Jesus Christ, having been united to him in order to recognize that truth.

You cannot appreciate the glory of God apart from being united to Jesus Christ.

Maybe you think that you can appreciate some good things but those things will quickly fade. The more you leave him out of the picture, you are headed to an end where there will be no more enjoyment of any of those things.

Rather, if you are to enjoy his kingdom forever, you must be united to him. You must trust him in faith.

It is only through salvation this will happen. And this is the case more and more as we reach the end.

It says in verse seven, the end of all things is at hand, therefore, et cetera. God is building up his church.

He is glorifying himself more and more through Jesus Christ as every last brick is added to that temple which he describes as the church.

The body of Jesus Christ, the head, becomes more and more complete, more and more mature to fit him.

More and more, the church gives glory to Jesus Christ. More and more, it is the case that in everything,

God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. And so you have a task before you today to glorify

God, that you would glorify him in all things. 1 Corinthians 10, 31, so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

In everything that you do, you must do all for the glory of God. You must do all for the glory of God.

You must recognize that when you are acting, you are acting out of the mercy of the

Savior with the strength that God has provided you. And in recognizing this, you are giving glory to God because you are recognizing that your actions do not just come from yourself, they come from the strength that God provides.

God, therefore, being glorified. So how is it that you ought to glorify him?

By recognizing that your strength comes from him. By recognizing that it is a gift.

You know, the word for gift here is charisma. You might be used of a, or charisma, right? To use a more

Greek pronunciation. But you might be familiar with the term, the charismatic gifts.

A lot of people think of the gifts of the spirit as being primarily things like tongues and prophecy, miraculous healings.

But here, it uses the same word to describe even natural gifts that you may receive.

Supernaturally empowered, but somewhat natural in their character because we are talking simply about strength in their appearance, so we're talking about strength.

So here are several ways that you ought to glorify God. First is in acknowledging that that strength comes from him.

If you were to serve him as one who is strengthened by God, then you should acknowledge that strength.

You should acknowledge it to yourself. When you act, that God is the one upholding you, you should acknowledge it to others.

When others praise you, return that glory to God. Do not just take it for yourself, but return it to God.

I will frequently say that the Lord upholds me. That is a phrase that comes to mind often as I go through this particular season, the

Lord upholds me. It really is him being glorified, his strength through me.

Why is it necessary to acknowledge him? If you don't acknowledge him, this is robbing him of glory because it's suggesting that it actually comes from yourself and so you are not glorifying him.

You're not glorifying him in Jesus Christ because it's not through your union in Jesus Christ that he is accomplishing these good things.

You should also obey him without grumbling. It had said in verse nine here, show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

What are you saying if you grumble? If you grumble, you're saying that he has not given you sufficient strength.

The one who grumbles is one who is bearing under a heavy load that does not have enough strength to carry that load.

If God is a good God who gives sufficient strength, then you grumbling is saying that he does not give enough strength.

That's why it is important that you do not grumble. You ought to serve

God, trusting in him for the strength that he provides. Why should you do that?

Well, if you are anxious about it, if you're not trusting in him, then you are expressing either internally in your own heart or even outwardly if your anxiety is seen, you're expressing doubts about whether God is good enough to supply you with strength.

So every time you are anxious, every time you express anxiety, you are publicly denigrating

God as the supplier of strength through Jesus Christ. And so you are robbing him of glory in that way.

How can you trust him? The Bible gives us clear ways, gives prayer. And it means that when we act, we should not act with any kind of, when we act for the sake of the

Lord, we should not act with a, don't wanna just reuse the word anxiety here, but we should not act with a fear.

We should not act with cowardice. We should act with authority and confidence, knowing that it is the strength that God has supplied.

Consider the previous passage here in 1 Peter. It had said, as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's very grace.

Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves the strength that God supplies.

So it gives these two examples here of speaking oracles or simply serving. Now, speaking oracles of God, it's pretty evident that this is primarily talking about preaching.

Now, can you imagine if someone came up to this pulpit and declared the words of God in an incredibly hesitant way?

Now, occasionally I will explain those parts where I have not developed perfect conclusions because I am fallible.

Yet if I were to present that God may be a savior, God may be strong enough, God might be able to help you, that would be publicly denigrating

God in his glory. If I were to proclaim the words of God as though they are not the words of God, as though they were just my opinions, here's some thoughts that I have that seems pretty good to me, that would be taking away from the strength that God has given.

God has given his words to be proclaimed with authority. The same thing is true even in the way you serve.

God has given you the strength to serve and to obey him with authority to serve him and obey him.

You know, there are gonna be a lot of times in your life where you have to make a hard decision and you have to tell somebody else about it.

And you might be tempted to frame it as, well, this is just my personal decision.

Yeah, I think I need to do this thing, et cetera. But if it is something that God has called you to do, if it's a matter of right and wrong, if it's a matter of morality, you know, let's say that you're asked to go to a wedding that does not honor

God. So many weddings don't honor God, right? Homosexual weddings. Weddings that have pagan rituals in them.

So maybe it's a right marriage, but the wedding ceremony itself is a mockery of service to God, right?

There are a lot of weddings that you might not be able to go to, for example. And if you were to approach something like this and you say, yeah,

I've just decided that for my sake, you know, my own conscience, et cetera.

If you do it with a timidity, not as having been given strength by God, what you were doing is publicly doubting the strength that God has given.

And so when God has called you to obedience, you ought to do it with a full confidence, with a full authority, with courage, not with cowardice.

And you also ought to serve as a steward of God's very grace, recognizing that stewardship, arranging your priorities to his.

If God has supplied you with a particular strength and he has supplied you all with strength, if he has supplied you with strength, and you take that and you go and you work on your own priorities, building up your own kingdom, then you are suggesting that the strength that didn't come from him, that it actually came from yourself because you have free reign over it to do with it what you please.

So many people, God has given them the ability to really pitch in to the kingdom, but they go and they use all that strength primarily for building up their own kingdom, not just building up their home in a way that glorifies him, certainly you can do that, but in a way that even detracts from his kingdom.

Ignoring the worship of the Lord, really deprioritizing it, making it very secondary in their life, this fellowship.

These are all ways that you're saying that the strength that I have is something that comes from me. I'm a steward of it.

I'm not a steward of it, rather it is just mine. I have plenary authority over it, I have full authority over it, so I can do with it whatever

I want. It is showing that your strength comes from you and it doesn't come from God, and so it is robbing

God of glory. Here in verse 10, it had said, as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another.

What are God's priorities? God's priorities are serving one another. You can know that you are using the strength as a steward if you are serving each other.

If you are building one another up, that is a good way of knowing that you are using it in the way that God has intended it, that you are following his priorities.

As one example of this, Paul describes this dynamic in 1 Corinthians 9. In 1

Corinthians 9, he describes the possibility that instead of proclaiming the gospel free of charge as he does, he could proclaim it for a price.

He could charge the people that he preaches to for it. And he says that if he does this, he no longer has his stewardship.

He has a reward, but he doesn't have his stewardship anymore. Essentially what he's saying is, if he were to do that, he'd be showing that he's a free agent, that the gospel comes from him, it's his to do with it, what he will please.

But when he does not charge for it, when he serves one another with it, he's demonstrating that he is receiving oracles from God, that he is receiving the strength that God provides.

And so he is operating as a steward. That's how you need to operate, in service to one another.

That is demonstrating that it's something that God provides, and that gives him glory. It gives him glory because it shows that the strength is not coming from self, it's rather coming from God.

There are all kinds of counterfeits to this glory. People do all kinds of things that are outwardly good, but are not really good inwardly, because they are not truly coming from a heart that glorifies him.

They're not coming from a divinely provided strength through union with Jesus Christ.

They're not coming from abiding in the vine. Given that there are so many counterfeits out there, it is important that our light shine in a distinct way.

It is not supposed to shine the same way that the world and their darkness shines. It's not supposed to shine with anxiety, with cowardice, with self -serving priorities.

All these things make our activity, our good works, identical to the world's good works.

Rather, the true good works that God has given us come from a strength that the world does not have, and so they must look different.

They must look different in these ways that are informed by that strength coming from outside of us, from God, through union with Jesus Christ, glorifying him in the salvation that we have in Jesus Christ.

Speaking of counterfeits, you might imagine that there are, if you had a product and it had a particular brand, and there were colors associated with it, and there were other things that mimic those colors, right, you go to the store and you see other things mimicking other brands, trying to look similar to it, you would want your product to stand out, to be distinct from the others if it is a more high -quality product.

This is how God has organized his kingdom. The world can produce its counterfeits, but he has called us to shine in a particular way as with the strength that he provides.

So how ought you to do this? Consider the gifts that God has given. Consider the gifts that God has given you.

Speaks of his varied grace, his grace is varied. Every person has a different set of gifts.

You have a different set of gifts than the next person. You have a very particular assignment to figure out how

God would have you use your gifts. Now a lot of people will look at their gifts primarily thinking about the things that they enjoy doing.

Remember that God has organized things that you will enjoy him the most when you are glorifying him.

And so that means you should not reverse this such that you think about what things do I enjoy and that's how

I should glorify him. Rather you should think how can I glorify him and I will resolve myself to enjoying him in that particular way.

So when you ask yourself how can I glorify him, the focus becomes less about what do

I have and a little more on what is needed. And then you can think about what you have secondarily to fulfill what is needed.

How are you to serve one another? If you have a particular gift that is simply not needed, then that is not the gift that you are supposed to be using.

You are supposed to use the gifts that are needed. Look at the needs that need to be fulfilled and determined to glorify

God in that way. God has placed you in a particular time, in a particular place.

He's placed you in this region, in Silicon Valley. There are certain needs that this area has and you should be strategizing.

Think why has God placed me this way? Maybe I will not know every reason but given that he has placed me here and given that he has placed me in the particular home that I'm in and the particular church that I am in, how is it that I can best serve him?

How is it that I can strategize to use what he has given me, using the position that he's given me and the capabilities that he's given me and the strength that he has given me to serve him?

This is not a question that I can answer for you because the way that you are, what he has given you is different than what he has given me.

The position he has put you in is different than what he has put me in. I might be able to help you if I were to talk to you one -on -one but I cannot give a blanket answer because each person is sitting in a different situation.

And so it is important that you do not just ignore the importance of the providence of God in placing you in this particular time and place but asking yourself, what have

I been called for? Like Mordecai to Esther, perhaps you were called for such a time as this.

Think about the opportunities that God has placed in front of you. Think about your stage in life.

There are some here who are older. You have opportunity to help those who are younger in ways that those who are younger do not have the capacity to.

Maybe if you're retired, you have more time. If you have experienced certain difficulties in life, you have more wisdom in order to pass on.

Be engaged in passing that on as a strength that God has provided that must be used for the sake of others.

It's not just to be hoarded. It's supposed to be shared with others. If you are in other positions, if you are a parent, you ought to be trying to pass off those good things that God has given you to your children.

If you are a child, you ought to praise the Lord in the capacities that he has given you.

Now children, I know that there are a lot of ways that you are not able to serve the Lord but there are a lot where you are.

Every one of you can sing. When we all sing together, you have no idea how much it encourages the adults to hear the kids singing loudly.

That is one example where kids can sing. And every stage of life, at least the earlier stages of life, we should all be considering how we can prepare ourselves for the future in order to serve

God more. Don't just be thinking about what can I do here and now but be thinking how can I prepare myself to be ready to serve

God in the future. There are all kinds of ways that you could be preparing even if it is simply through his word and prayer.

And then lastly, I would have you consider this verse that says, whoever speaks is one who speaks the oracles of God.

Whoever serves is one who serves by the strength that God supplies. Now I believe that this applies broadly.

It applies to those who would proclaim the gospel in any capacity but it especially applies to those who would do it in the office of elder.

When it talks about service, given the context here, seems very clear that it's right to apply it to all kinds of service as I've been doing today.

But given that it's right next to this passage about speaking the oracles of God, is it not particularly the case for those who would take the office of deacon?

The word for service is diakone. Okay, diakone meaning it's the same root as deacon as you can see.

God may place you at some point in a particular office, maybe an office in his church, maybe a civil office, maybe authority in the home.

Given that he has placed you in a particular authority, use that authority as something that God has given you, something that he has divinely provided for you.

And then not only that, but he has provided you with special strength, you being united together with Christ, being transformed more into his image in the order that you might use that authority rightly.

Use that authority for his glory, leading those under your care towards God, towards him, giving glory to him.

He has given us a wonderful thing with his glory. When he calls us to good works for the sake of his glory, he is not engaging in some kind of self -serving activity because his goodness cannot be increased.

Rather, he has given this for your good in order that you might enjoy him more fully.

And you can enjoy him more fully when you realize that the way that he wishes to be glorified is not just through any means, but particularly through the incarnate

Jesus Christ and your union with him, you being empowered by that strength to glorify him so that all things might be reconciled through him to the salvation that he has accomplished in his people, the church, amen.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this wonderful truth. We ask that you would permit us to have a clearer view of your glory, that we might serve you more fully, that we might enjoy your glory more fully, that our purpose might be greater fulfilled.