How to Glorify God, No Matter Who You Are | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

We're going to take a pause and mark today.

So we won't turn there. We'll continue in that series in

the weeks to come. But today I want to I want to

answer a particular and important question that applies

virtually to every single person here.

And it's very likely that this question is something that has

bounced in your mind on different occasions since you

became a follower of Christ. And it's even possible for some

that this question was not just a visiting thought, but

something that you have wrestled with to the point perhaps, of

discouragement or even frustration, because you've

never arrived to a satisfying conclusion.

And it could be that the question that I'm going to

present to you is no longer a source of reflection to you.

Because I hope this is the reason you have arrived to your

answers through the word of God. Which is a wonderful

possibility, because we live in a time and we live in a nation

where you can have access to the complete revelation of God's

Word. But it can also be that this

question is no longer something you consider anymore because

it's been buried. It's been buried by busyness.

It's been buried by distractions.

It's been buried by the responsibilities you have

inherited throughout the natural course of your progression in

life. But my prayer is that this

message would for you, if you are here, not having answers to

what I'm about to revisit. This message would dig up that

consideration, Dust it off, and that it would be crowned once

again upon your affections and your priorities as a follower of

Jesus Christ. And more than that, that you

would leave those doors soothed. Because not only has this

question now revived in your heart, but you also have the

answers with it, to have the confidence to know how you can

walk in it. The question that I am referring

to sounds something like this. How can I, to the greatest

degree possible, glorify God with my life?

Every true born again believer in Jesus Christ has experienced

A yearning related to that thought.

Like Paul who asked the Lord after being encountered by him

on the road to Damascus, you not only inquire who are you Lord,

but you ask what shall I do, Lord.

Those are the two questions that every true person who's

encountered Christ will ask, not just in the moment that they've

met Christ, but perpetually as they walk with Christ.

Who are you Lord? And what shall I do Lord?

Now, it's possible that though that desire has been birthed in

your heart because the Holy Spirit inhabits the forgiven

soul and he brings with his occupation all these things,

it's possible even for a genuine believer to not be concerned

with that at some point, even for a long periods of time, for

a variety of reasons, that that doesn't become your chief

ambition. That doesn't frame everything

that you do and everything that you decide and everything that

you contemplate about. But I'm, I'm not here to discuss

about the variety of causes for that.

Instead, I want to buy the scriptures.

Present to you a blueprint from the scriptures that would give

you the confidence to know that you are in fact walking in a

manner where you are glorifying God day by day.

And this is something that should excite us, because you

and I can live in the reality of maximally glorifying God without

a shadow of a doubt, no matter who you are.

In fact, that's really the title of what I want to speak about.

How can you glorify God no matter who you are?

Because you have good hearted, passionate Christians and this

is especially true when you first come to Christ.

But it's even true for those who go on through life and walk in

with the Lord that you can't make the greatest impact for the

Lord unless you are in full time vocational ministry, unless you

sell everything, get on a flight and go to a foreign mission

field, and even plan to be a martyr.

You you have people who think that this is the only way that I

can make the most of bringing pleasure to God's heart.

People live under that conception and they love the

Lord and and they're part of their local church and they

serve in some kind of ministry. But they always have this

nagging thought. I don't know if if I'm like that

guy who's preaching to me every Sunday.

I I don't know if I'm bringing greater delight than these

conference speakers that I hear from or these books that I read

about these missionaries and these.

Whatever the case may be, you have people who live with that

nagging thought. The Scriptures make no such

claim that there is a separate category of Christians who bring

him greater honor because they serve him in the context of

dedicated full time ministry. That is a way of glorifying God,

and God equips some people to occupy that lane and to exalt

him in that place. But you, as a person who may not

be in that sphere, should never for a moment think that you

can't bring equal, if not even more blessing to the heart of

your master. You think just because people

are in full time ministry, they're glorifying God.

You don't even have to be in ministry.

When you're in ministry, you can you can see a lot of things.

But even if you're not in ministry with this Internet age,

you realize that not everybody in ministry is doing it for the

glory of God. And so here's how we're going to

move forward with this very straightforward, intensely

practical message. I just want to give you some

overarching principles that can clarify and give you the

assurance that I know that I am living for the glory of God.

I know it. I know it because the Bible

tells me how to do it. And these practical steps that I

want to present to you today will be the manners in which you

and I can know that we are praising and we are bringing

pleasure to the Lord. And here's what you're going to

realize of every single one of these things.

They are all achievable by every single one of us, whoever you

are in this place. What I'm about to tell you today

is accessible, which means that we are all invited into that

awesome privilege of bringing delight to God and not thinking

or doubting for a moment that if I just get there, or if I just

do that, or if I could just get rid of this, and if I position

myself in this way, then I'm there.

Now, I want you to understand that what you're going to hear

today can give you the rest. That for the rest of your days

you're giving everything you can to the Lord.

And hopefully this is a memorable message, because

there's three points here, and each of these points begin with

the letter C And so I want to speak to you about.

Though these are not exhaustive, I always have to give that

caveat. These are not exhaustive, but

they are major components, major askings of God for you to be

able to know. Yes, I'm living for his glory.

Turn with me to 2nd Corinthians for the first point.

Second Corinthians, chapter 3. What must I do no matter who I

2 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

am? A student?

A businessman? A stay at home mom.

A nurse? How can I know that I'm

glorifying God? Well, here's what you have to

first do #1 Cultivate, cultivate, and maintain a

devotional life. Cultivate and maintain a

personal, intimate, devotional life with your Saviour.

In this chapter, Paul gives a few reasons why the New Covenant

is superior to the old, and he does so by making a very bold

comparison. He declares how we are as a new

covenant people at a better advantage than those who were

under the Old covenant and not just the nation of Israel.

He even goes as far to say that you and I have a greater

advantage and we have been invited into a greater

experience than the man of God. Moses himself, the Jewish people

prized and championed Moses among other prophets of that

time. But for Paul as a Jew to come

now and say to these believers, hey, you've probably heard of

Moses, Do you realize that where you are today, because of

Christ, you actually are enjoying something more than

what he experienced? And the apostle here makes these

incredible parallels between the two covenants in this section of

Scripture. And I want to just give you one

example of that. Look at verse 13 of chapter

three. Since we have such a hope, we

are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his

face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of

what was being brought to an end.

Now this would be familiar to those who have studied the book

of Exodus, that at one at one point in the wilderness there

was Mount Sinai. And Moses, as the mediator of

this old covenant, would ascend and descend this mountain to

receive instructions from the Lord and then convey that to the

people. But something interesting

happened at one point when Moses would visit the Lord's presence

and then come down and explain to the people what he required

of them. At one point he he goes, and

then he makes his way down into the valley and the people notice

something. His skin was shining.

This is a supernatural manifestation.

There was a glow coming from his face, and we're told they're in

Exodus, that the people were afraid and did not come near to

him. And so Moses and perceiving this

does something. He veils his face.

He covers his face. Now that's what we assume of why

Moses covered his face, because he didn't want it to be any

hindrance for them receiving what God wanted to say.

And so this was out of his control.

But whatever he could do, he could and so he just he veiled

himself. But what Paul does here is that

he gives a deeper meaning to why Moses veiled his face.

You read it in the Exodus account.

You would think it's because he doesn't want to spook out the

people. But what does Paul say?

Paul says the reason why Moses veiled his face.

Look at it again. Is so that the Israelites might

not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.

You see, something was happening and it's there in Exodus.

And let me read this to you from Exodus 3433.

Just listen to it. When Moses had finished speaking

with them, he put a veil over his face.

Something happened as time went on.

When Moses was among the people, yes, he came down and that light

was shining bright. But over time it would dwindle

and it would faint. And Moses, according to Paul's

Holy Spirit inspired commentary, did this because he did not want

the people to see how this glory was fading.

And so he would wrap his face and he would make his way up to

the mountain, and then he would experience the presence of the

Lord. And then he would be, in a

sense, recharge, if I can use that word, and then revisit the

people. And that would be a cycle.

Now, what's interesting about what Paul is saying here is

because he takes that fading glory and he applies it not just

to this special manifestation that occurred at one point in

Israel's history. No, it was a picture of the

fading glory of the old covenant.

So in the same way that this glory was diminishing, it really

spoke of the diminishing glory of this covenant that God made

with the nation of Israel. There was a glory, but it was

not a permanent glory. It was 1 to soon be replaced by

an eternal covenant, one that would last and one that would

remain with no plan of obstruction or replacement.

And this is what Paul's trying to say to these believers.

Here's the practical implication of it.

By saying this in the beginning of verse 13, he wants to

encourage the people. We are not like Moses.

We have nothing to fear. We have nothing to be ashamed of

concerning our covenant. Because this gospel truth

outshines everything. It outshines the old covenant.

It outshines every philosophy and man made religion since

then, and anything that would develop, be developed after.

This is a covenant that is ours and it is permanent and nothing

can touch it, delete it, or eclipse it.

So you're bold, be bold, be encouraged.

Understand the privilege that you have in conveying the truth,

living for this truth, defending this truth, we have a better and

more glorious covenant. But then he takes this symbol of

a veil and he does a lot with it in this chapter.

He goes here and he goes there, and he even applies it in this

way, in the very same chapter. Look how he borrows Moses

veiling of his face and connects it to the New covenant

experience. As a parallel in the contrast,

look at verse 18 of chapter 3 and we all with unveiled face

beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the

same image from 1° of glory to another, for this comes from the

Lord who is the Spirit. So again, Paul's pointing to

Moses veil, but from a different angle.

Because remember now, when Moses would go up to that mountain, he

had because God allowed it the confidence and the liberty to

unveil his face and with open face, behold the glory of God

and talk with God and commune with God.

Was that privilege shared by anybody else?

Absolutely not. Not even the leaders, not even

the chief elders could go where Moses went.

Nobody could dare entertain and ascend that hill without being

struck down. And if anybody tried to do, and

even got a Glipse, they would never be able to live to tell

about it. This was exclusive to this one

man. This was reserved for this one

individual. He could approach the glory of

God and behold it with unveiled face.

And here's Paul as an ambassador of the New Covenant, now writing

to these believers, and look what he dares to say by the

Spirit in verse 18. And we all with unveiled face,

we all have You ever read the Book of Corinthians?

If you're ever discouraged about your local church, just read the

Book of Corinthians and you'll sober up.

They're not the most pleasant group of Christians.

They had a lot of issues. And yet Paul can say, because of

the power of the blood of Jesus Christ, that positionally puts

us in a place that you can't even imagine.

Can say we all, and we all with unveiled face, What can we do

now, Paul, because of this new glorious covenant beholding the

glory of the Lord? So now you and I are invited to

do something that only Moses could experience, and that is to

come before the presence of the Lord and to witness something

that is even better than what Moses saw singing.

Is this real? It is real, and you won't even

begin to enjoy it and know it for yourself unless you first

believe it. Because everything's accessed by

faith. And this is what he's trying to

pump in their hearts. We all would unveil faith.

Not some, but all. And who are they all?

Well, look at verse 16. What does it say in verse 16?

And say, Sir, But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is

removed. So if you want to be among the

company of those who have unveiled faces, giving you

through the eyes of your heart access to deeper glories in God,

the requirement is that you got to turn to the Lord.

That's called repentance and that's called faith in the Lord

Jesus Christ. And earlier, I won't get into

it. He talks about how there is this

metaphorical veil over the heart of the Jews.

They can't see this glory because that veil remains and it

can only be removed when Christ removes it.

One person turns to the Lord Jesus and faith, even simple

faith, miracles can take place. But here's the point that I'm

trying to get across. Moses, Moses with an unfailed

face and go. And now, because of Christ, we

can all go in, and we can not only have access to the glory of

the Lord through the means that He has provided to us, namely

through His word, namely through prayer, that gives us access to

His presence. Not only can we have access to

that, but listen in the same way that Moses directly experienced

a reflection of that glory. You and two, now you 2 now have

that access, not just to be in there, but for it to do

something to us and look at it again.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,

are being transformed into the same image from 1° of glory to

another. So you can continue this

contrast. Moses went up there.

Yes, he was the only one who had access.

And because he has the only access he has, only He was the

only one that had the benefit of seeing his face the way it was,

and for other people to witness it.

So unlike manner, when you behold the glory of the Lord,

something's going to happen to you, and it can happen to any of

us, because what's the condition?

We all. Who's the we all?

If you've turned to the Lord, so we all have access.

But not everybody has the experience.

Can I tell you why? Because it's not enough to just

turn to the Lord. That's the first step.

The second step is what people fail to do.

Behold him. I must consciously, and I must

with effort and desire, and even with some kind of discipline,

behold him beholding the glory of the Lord.

And here's the result. What you witness, like a mirror,

will now reflect off of you. And what's that mean?

I'm going to sparkle physically. No, something better.

What glory is, is Paul conveying here?

What kind of glory is it that's going to rub off on me as I

behold the glory of the Lord? His moral elegance, the

attributes that make him holy, are now shared with the one who

beholds him. You know what the word behold

means. I'll tell you what, it doesn't

mean this. That's a quick glance.

That's not what this word is speaking about.

Means to stare at it implies to study and to look at it long

enough for it to have its effect on you.

And he's saying if you do this, then you will know some kind of

reflection of his glory. And what more can we do to

glorify the Lord? How can I glorify the Lord?

What more can you do in the reflect His glory?

Well, how do I have access for me to reflect his glory?

Here's what Paul says. You got to take time to behold

him. And This is why Satan will fight

you, and he will frustrate you, and he will dangle things before

your face that you would never even give a minute to beholding

the glory of the Lord. Because he knows what he can do.

And that's why you and I have to build up the faith by the Word,

to believe that as I take the time to behold him, it's going

to do something to me. It's going to shape me, it's

going to chisel me, it's going to carve me.

And here's the encouragement, Not that we have access, not

that it's it's going to reflect on me, but that it's a progress,

It's a gradual thing. Don't think that if you just

have one week of beholding the Lord consistently that you're

going to come out shining. No.

What does he say from 1° of glory to another?

I thank God that even in this supernatural transaction, it

still takes time. That's a comfort to me.

That's a comfort to me because I don't always come out of my time

with the Lord and His word that this is, by the way, the main

way in which we will behold His glory.

I don't always come outside of my time and sitting at the feet

of the Lord looking like Moses. No, but I I trust that as I do

this, and as I give myself to it, even though everything that

morning is fighting me to stay in my warm bed or occupy myself

with 100 different things, I must behold him.

I must behold him. If I want to glorify him, then I

must reflect his glory. And if I'm going to have any

chance of reflecting his glory, I got to make time to ascend the

hill of the Lord and to look at him as beholding the glory of

the Lord. A conscious practice in your

life, The veil has been removed because of your faith in Jesus

Christ. But where are your eyes looking?

I get it, and I'm getting it more and more as I'm advancing

in life. Life can get hectic and life can

get crazy. But I have to understand that if

I'm going to have any chance of having the confidence that I can

long term, actually lifelong, glorify God, then I have to.

I have to make this a pillar in my life.

Cultivate and maintain a time with the Lord where I'm able to

without distraction, behold him and you'd be made to know what

you are able to give to. The Lord can do miracles in your

life, you are able to do it. This is accessible to all of us,

and that's the first thing. Cultivate and maintain a

devotional life. Paul by the Spirit says this is

the way to knowing transformation.

But it's not just that. Let's look to another place.

Go to Romans 15 with me, please. And let's go to chapter 15 and

verse 5. Paul again says to these Roman

believers, he's really praying for them in this May.

The God of endurance and encouragement.

Pause. Aren't you happy that one of the

titles that God gives himself is that he is the God of

encouragement? You want to be more like God?

Be more encouraging. He's an encouraging God.

He's an encouraging God. In fact, when you read about the

gifts of the Spirit and you speak about prophecy, it's

supposed to encourage you. Well, we we can't get into that

now. Romans 15/5.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live

in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus.

Look at this very carefully in verse six, that together you may

with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus

Christ. Therefore, welcome one another

as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God.

Twice in these verses, Paul speaks about glorifying God and

notice that they are both connected to a certain

condition. They are a glory connected to

the context of a togetherness. In other words, this particular

glorification of God in and through our lives cannot be

separated, is exclusively accessed with other believers.

How can I know, no matter who I am, what job I have, where I

live, how many kids I have, what's in my bank account, what

my giftings are, How can I have the assurance that I am living

for the glory of God? Well, number one, you have to

cultivate, maintain a devotional life.

That's step one. Number two, you have to commit

to the local church. You have to commit to the local

church, because notice here in verse six that together you may

with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus

Christ and look at the the surrounding instructions in

verse 5 to live in such harmony with with you, by yourself, no,

no, with one another. And then he speaks about

together, glorifying God with one voice.

And then verse 7. Therefore welcome one another,

so one another, one another together.

And So what Paul is conveying here here is that there is a

particular praise unto God and a particular lever of pleasure we

give to God in my life that must be connected to other believers.

You, if you desire to glorify the Lord, cannot afford to do

this solo. I don't care how much time you

spend alone beholding the glory of God in the place of His word,

in the place of prayer, you will never be able to know a certain

level of glorifying him apart from giving that sacrifice of

glory on the altar of the local church.

And besides, the glory that you get and I get from Beholding is

meant to shine on others, right? And so here's the point that I

want to make from this When a person chooses to have zero or a

shallow relationship with the church, he is denying, she is

denying a level of glory that God deserves.

So how am I because I'm looking at these verses?

How am I able to obey these scriptures?

For example, if I can't identify, if I can't identify

with a local assembly and say here are the people that I'm

called to live in harmony with. And here are the people that I'm

called to with one voice glorify the Lord every time we gather.

And here are the people that I'm invited to open my heart to and

be hospitable to and to interact with in a Christ, Christ like

manner. Who are those people in your

life? Where are those people in your

life. And this idea here is not that

if you attend church services and you'd be nice to people on

your way in and on your way out, that God is looking in and from

heaven with a clipboard in His hand saying, OK, you're you're

here this week and check it off, good job you're you're

glorifying me. Good job man.

Keep it up. That's not what he's after,

because pay very close attention to this.

Instead, When you practically invest your life into the body

of Christ, you unlock hundreds of ways of glorifying God.

All these avenues now open up because God has designed and

intended the church to be the arena where we experience a

place of glorifying Him in a special way.

So, so many things begin to open up in the one simple place, the

awesome place of a church on Canfield, so to speak.

Thanks for the time being where God expects us to glorify Him in

a special way. And and how many ways can you

and I glorify and remember, how can I glorify God no matter who

I am, no matter who you are? Again, so many ways, and this is

the one example that that came to mind.

So turn there to 2nd Corinthians 9.

I want to show you one, one among many, one among the great

catalogue of opportunities to be able to bring delight to the

heart of God. 2nd Corinthians, Chapter 9.

In this chapter, Paul is reminding the Corinthian

believers of their willingness and commitment to help some of

the Saints in Jerusalem financially.

Actually, And he says it's in 2nd Corinthians 913 to stir up

their affections and their convictions toward this.

Again, he says in verse 13, by their approval of the service

they they will glorify God because of your submission that

comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ and the

generosity of your contribution for them and for all others.

So he says, look Corinthian believers, you have an

opportunity as a church to glorify God as you extend help

in this way. And he says you'll do it in two

ways. One, because these Saints will,

who are Jewish believers, witness your submission to your

confession of the gospel. Remember, the Jews already had

issues with these believers being grafted in.

You see that in the book of Acts.

And Paul, mindful of this, says you have an opportunity, you

Gentile believers, to show that your confession of Christ

actually brought change in your life.

You can. And so this is a way for these

believers who have much to boast about a much more foundation

than you do, to say no, Our Messiah did a work in these

Gentiles as well and it will say something of the authenticity of

your confession but not just that he's like not only will

they be able to glorify God because of that, like hey guys,

look what just came in. Surely God is doing a work among

the Gentiles but that also look and the generosity of your

contribution for them and for all others.

Notice the connection between this is just one example of how

who no matter who I am, I can glorify God.

In the context of the Church, generosity is connected to

glorifying God. Do you see that that through

your generosity, your contribution, they will glorify

God? I reminded of a brother who

experienced something like this. It was on his heart to to give

in a particular way and it was just impressed randomly and

towards somebody that he knows that's serving a ministry in a

certain capacity. And so it was in a time where

there was other investments that he had to make.

So I don't know if there was hesitation or what but

eventually made that move and just without announcement just

God bless you and within a few minutes received the message and

that message was something along the lines of you don't

understand we've been praying and we're we're thinking of

doing something fresh and and and and this came in around that

same time and this is to us a confirmation that we're moving

in the right direction and my heart is so moved.

What happened there? You had one individual that was

prompted to do this, not knowing why at this time, not knowing

the reasons for it, does it and receives report that this was a

confirmation beyond just the simple donation and what took

place that person expressed, glorifying God.

That's just 111 sliver among so many threads that your hands in

the church can weave to bring a masterpiece of glorifying God as

you partner with others in the place that God has called you.

How can I glorify God no matter who I am?

You have to you. You will not know heights and

you will not know depths until you can say this is where I

serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Among these people and with

these elders and these deacons, there is a final way, not

limited this of course. Cultivate, maintain a devotional

life, walk beholding him, commit myself to the local church, and

watch the opportunities. Open up.

So many opportunities for you to be like this is awesome.

Lastly, and this is more general, but it covers really

everything. Conform.

Conform to Christ, likeness in every and any context you find

yourself in. So cultivate, commit, conform.

Because as you are aware, there are many practical ways that you

and I can explore and discover of how we can glorify God.

But I believe Paul summarizes it in a particular space of

Scripture. What's really the ultimate aim?

How am I to glorify God if there's one word or one phrase

to really summarize it? Be holy.

What did the Lord say? Be holy.

For I am holy. Be set apart like I am set

apart. But I wonder if we know what it

means to be holy, What does it look like for me to walk?

Well, I mean, let me put let me put it this way.

When you hear that man is holy, please don't answer out loud.

But what comes to mind? My mother is a holy woman.

What comes to mind? Paul writes not only about how

holiness is achieved, and I believe a way that we often

overlook. He actually talks about a

certain standard of holiness. He talks about a place where you

and I can be listen to this, blameless in holiness.

What does that mean? To be blameless, to be free from

any accusation, to be free from any condemnation.

And he's actually speaking about being blameless in holiness when

we stand before the presence of the Lord upon His return.

I know that you and I and I praise God that positionally in

Jesus Christ we are holy. But it does not cancel out nor

negate our ambition to be practically holy and practically

prepared to meet the Lord. That's what Paul is getting at.

He's not talking about your positional standing before God.

Christ did that. But I want to really know, Paul,

are you communicating that it's possible for me, no matter who I

am, to actually be blameless in holiness?

I want that not because I'm afraid of hell, not because I

have a lack of security in my standing before God, but because

I want to glorify God. So tell me, Paul, how is it that

I can arrive at a place where I, in the sight of God, can be

blameless in holiness? What do you think, stuffing

yourself in some room for hours and fasting?

Praying slavishly, doing things to the neglect of your own body

and health and the relationships in your life.

What do you think it means to be blameless and holy?

Let me show you in First Thessalonians chapter 3 First

1 Thessalonians 3 · chapter mention 1 Thessalonians 3 · chapter mention

Thessalonians chapter 3. Let's begin together.

In verse 11. Paul writes now another prayer.

May our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus direct our

way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in

love for one another and for all as we do for you.

Pause. That's not that's not the main

point. But I can't help but stop and

make a couple of comments. Notice here that he's He's

telling them and he's asking God to increase this God love in

them. And notice where he wants that

love to manifest, that you may increase and abound in love for

one another, but not just for one another.

Where else and who to us and for all.

So the deposit of God's love in my heart is to primarily

manifest and be shared and experienced here in this place

toward one another, receiving and giving that kind of love.

But this is where it begins. And Paul says it's going to

begin here. This is where it's going to be

fostered. But this love is so strong, it's

so real. It's a current that should, that

should occupy your soul, that it spills over into the others.

Get this. Who very likely will not love

you in return. This place I should expect and

you should expect that there is a mutual love.

But Paul says no. I'm praying that God would so

fill your heart with this love that it will actually overflow

into a place and with people that may not give it back.

You're saying that's that's a that's a tall order.

Yeah. It's the Christian life.

And be encouraged that we're not left powerless with these tall

orders. Because notice that Paul says

may the Lord, may the Lord increase and abound in your

heart. His love, meaning that kind of

way of life, is absolutely impossible without supernatural

intervention. So I'm not here mustering up

that string. I'm not here trying to get

myself to love. I'm here to come before a God

who is love to give me his heart for others, not just here, but

towards those who, in our estimation don't deserve it.

And if you feel discouraged, or maybe you're even angry and

maybe something in you just recoiled and your defense

mechanisms went up, oh, just be like Paul and ask him.

Ask him to flood your heart with this love and you won't even be

able to recognize yourself. Another thing.

Here, look again. This is not my main point, but I

can't help it. I can't.

The end of verse 12. Lord, may the Lord make you

increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do

for you. I was meditating on this and my

heart was so stirred. As we do for you.

You know what Paul dares to do here?

And he's doing it with a clear conscience and with the approval

of the Holy Spirit. If you want to know by way of

example how you can walk in this godly love that God is able to

help you walk in, look here. Look at how I have loved you.

Can you imagine arriving at a place again with a clear

conscience and with humility? It's kind of hard to imagine,

but Can you imagine? Try to walking in a way in which

you can tell your children, spiritually, spiritual children

or physical children, and invite them to look at your life if

they need a model of how to love.

Do you want to know how to love your wife?

Look at me. You want to know how to love

your brothers and sisters in the church?

It's been a few weeks with me. Do you want to know how to love

that irritating relative that seems to only add drama and

frustration to your already busy life.

Follow me. It almost sounds strange, right?

Who says that as we do for you, like, hey, I'm here, I can say

that as a leader, we're doing it.

And you might think, well, that's that's a little weird for

somebody to say that about themselves.

But I don't see it that way. I see it in this way that Paul

instead is communicating. If you want to know if it's

possible for one to increase and abound in this love for the

believer, for the unbeliever, look no further than me.

It is possible, yeah. This is not the main point.

Those are just extras. Look at verse 13.

He says here so that He may establish your hearts blameless

in holiness before our God and Father.

At the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His Saints, you have to

be able to connect verse 12 with verse 13.

Verse 12 He talks about even praise for this love to be a

waterfall in their hearts, in their community, and outside of

their community of faith. And he gives the reason why he's

praying for it. I'm praying for this love to be

enriched so that verse 13, He may establish your hearts

blameless in holiness. If you want to know how you can

walk in a holy way, you cannot separate that from the pursuit

of love. What does it mean to be holy?

According to Paul, in order to be established blameless in

holiness, your heart must increase and abound in love.

I'm not sure if we connect love and holiness, but the Bible

does. So that's the equation.

So let me present it to you in this way.

How do I have the assurance that I'm living for the glory of God

no matter who I am? Well, the Bible over and over in

different places says I'm called to be holy.

Ultimately, that that's the umbrella and it's all these

other things underneath it. Holy be holy, be like me.

But if I'm to be holy according to Paul, then I'm to arrive

there through prayerfully and practically increasing and

abounding in love. There are two words of another

verse that make that charge very clear.

It's in First Corinthians 14. One, you don't have to turn

there, I'll just quote it to you.

Just two words. The 1st 2 words pursue, love,

pursue, love. You know what that word pursue

is in the Greek, It's a very intense word actually.

Chase after it, chase after it, run after it, run after love.

And one way that I can run after love living in me and living

through me. Well, I believe Paul provides

one example that's that's going to occupy my prayer life.

I want to love better. Lord, I want to increase in this

love. I want to abound in this love.

If I'm going to be rich in anything in this life, let it be

in this kind of love. And I'm also by the Spirit's

help looking at again see how it all interconnects opportunities

around me. As Paul says, to love one

another and even outside of this place, to love others, run after

it. Here's we're going to end.

I wasn't planning to end here, but let's end here.

This is my final text. Go to 1st Corinthians.

Lastly in Chapter 7. And this is where we're going to

sign off together and go to verse 20.

I've spoken about this before, but it does get to remind

ourselves from time to time. People who wonder how do how do

I know what God's called me to do?

How do I know what I'm supposed to do at this point in my life?

How do I know what he's assigned for my life?

And actually, Paul speaks about that here.

And notice what he tells these believers who came to Christ.

And because they had such wild backgrounds, they didn't know

where to go from that place of believing on the Lord.

What do I need to change? Where do I need to move?

What do I need to do about my employment?

Is that not a common question that people ask when they come

to Christ? Yes, and the Bible knows that.

And the Bible gives us something to comfort us.

And maybe you need this to comfort somebody else who might

be agitated and flustered about. I want to make sure I'm in the

will of God and I don't have any clues or signs, but I just feel

like I need to do something because I'm not satisfied with

where I'm at. I don't feel like this is what

it is that I can do to really give him maximum glory.

Look at verse 20. Each one should remain in the

condition in which he was called.

Were you a bondservant when called, Do not be concerned

about it, but if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of

the opportunity. For he was called in the Lord as

a bondservant, as a freeman of the Lord.

Likewise he was free when called as a bondservant of Christ.

You were bought with a price. Do not become bondservants of

men. Now look at this in verse 24

again. So brothers, in whatever

condition each was called there let him remain with God.

So in whatever condition you were called when God rescued you

from your sin, Paul says in essence, everybody calm down.

Everybody calm down because the context here is, well, now I'm a

believer, but I'm married to an unbeliever spouse.

Do I need to move on from this relationship?

Do I need to break off, calm down.

And he expands the application to even people in terms of

employment, in terms of circumcision.

And so if I'm in a place where I do not have a clear direction

from the Lord about what to do, where to go, here's what he

says. Stay where you are and scroll

back here to verse 19. For neither circumcision counts

for anything, nor uncircumcision, but keeping the

commandments of God. So stay where you are and obey

God to the capacity and the revelation that he has given

you. That is actually you fulfilling

the will of God. Not being frantic, not not

pulling your hair, not wondering if I'm really glorifying God or

after. Yeah, I don't know if the Lord

told me anything, but I feel like I need to do this and just

burn everything to the ground. No, Stay where you are and obey

God where you are. And here's the comforting part.

Did you miss it? Look at verse 24 again.

In whatever condition each was called there, let him remain.

He could have put a period mark there, but he didn't let him

remain with God. God is with you there, and

because God is with you there, you can cultivate and maintain a

devotional life. You can commit to the local

church, and you can seek to by himself conform to Christ.

Like this in any and every context you find yourself in.

My prayer at the end of this message is really for all of us

here to be able to give a sigh of relief and know based on the

word of God, I can walk out of here in whatever condition I'm

in and be confident that I am glorifying God.

That's it. Let's pray.

Lord, we love your Word and thank you for the reminder.

Thank you for the realignment that your word provides.

Thank you, Lord, that we don't have to be in a particular place

doing something particular, trying to figure out this puzzle

of how to be in the will of God. But you've confident us to know

that no matter where we are, until you give a clear step, we

can be absolutely confident that we are giving you glory.

So help us leave here in the words of Paul, with the

simplicity of our devotion to Christ.

You've made it so simple that no matter who we are, we can bring

pleasure to your heart. And we ask, Lord, that we would

do so, That you would bring these things to remembrance.

That if there needs to be any change in these very areas that

we discussed, that we would not see these things as options, but

as necessary foundations of giving you your due low.

We pray that in this context, as Paul prayed for the

Thessalonians, that you would help us increase and abound in

love for one another. It has to be from the help of

the Holy Spirit and so low. We pray that as we grow

numerically, that we would more importantly grow in this

affection with and for one another.

Help us, Lord, Don't leave us to our flesh.

Don't leave us to giving into the offences that harbor our

hearts to rehearsing pains and hurts.

Lord, help us be overcome by this love and Lord we admit if

you don't do it, then we're in danger.

But if you do it, we will know wonders in our relationships to

one another. And so, Lord, we want to now

glorify you with one voice as one assembly.

We want to give you praises and give you what is your do.

In Jesus name, Amen. Amen.

Church, what we're about to do right now is a measure of

glorifying God. So come with your voices

connected to a heart that realizes I am in a place and

with a people where we are now giving to God the God of heaven

and earth. Glory, please stand.