Giving Glory

INTRODUCTION

Good morning and welcome again to First Christian Church. I am so glad that we can gather together today for worship. It is always a privilege to get to open the Word of God with you, and I consider it a great privilege to get to shepherd this flock that we call First Christian Church.

If you would go ahead and turn in your Bible to 1 Corinthians 10, and we will start in verse 23 today. If you don’t have a bible, I would encourage you to use the one in the pew in front of you, or you can follow along on the screen as well.

Before we get into the scripture today, I want to acknowledge something. We are in week 13 of this 1 Corinthians series. For some of us, that may seem like a very long time to be in one book of the Bible, and I understand that. I teach in an expository style of preaching. Expository simply means I ground our message each week in the Word of God. It is careful study of the text, the context and history of the people it was written to. I work to interpret the scripture in its normal and correct context, seeking to understand the original God intended meaning of the scripture and apply it to our context of today.

I also prefer to preach a text systematically, meaning we work through the book of the Bible we are in, so that we might rightfully understand and see the context of the whole message. This works as a guardrail for both me, the speaker, and the audience. I want to make sure that the application of the text comes from the text. I am not seeking to come to the text looking for verses to support my opinion. I am forming my opinions, ideas, and convictions from the text itself. When we look at a book of the Bible as a whole, we are less likely to twist scripture to make it support whatever preconceived notion I may have.

This means that when we look at a book of the Bible, like 1 Corinthians, we will be in that text for the amount of time that it takes us to work through it. That doesn’t mean we won’t have topical series, or look at bigger ideas of scripture outside of a study of a book, but that we will take care to rightfully divide the word and handle it correctly. I hope this helps you understand where I come from when I approach a text and a sermon series. If you want to talk more about this idea or have questions you can ask those after the service is over this morning.

If I were to ask you what the most glorious thing you have ever seen is, what would you say? Maybe a sunset on a beach with your family. Maybe you have been to the Grand Canyon or you have seen a wonder of the world that took your breath away.

I love going to my parents' in northwest Michigan and watching the sun set over Lake Michigan in the summer. I have been in some natural wonders of this world that could take your breath away. I have watched my favorite teams win games in dramatic fashion that you could ascribe glory to.

For those who know Jesus as their savior and call themselves Christ followers, our goal should be to give glory to God alone. Today, we will tackle the question of how to glorify God. Would you join me in prayer this morning?

PRAY

What Is Glory?

Would you join me in reading the passage from 1 Corinthians:

23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— 29 I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:23–11:1.

If we viewed today’s passage as a mountain, the peak of that mountain would be verse 31:

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31.

Our passage today will be building up to this statement from Paul. Whatever we do, we should do all to the glory of God. When the Bible says all, it means all! So, if we are to give the glory to God in all that we do, what does it mean to give glory to something?

What is glory? We would define glory as something that is worthy of praise, is beautiful, and is full of renown. When we praise something, call something beautiful, or worthy of being talked and shared about, we are giving glory to something.

In the opening, I shared about different things that we would call glorious. Our eyes will point us to things that we find glory in. But even then, glory can become subjective to us as humans. For instance, some of us love going to the beach. It is the pinnacle of your summertime. There is nothing better than sitting in the sand, hearing the waves,and soaking in the sun. You see beauty in all that is around you. For some of us, like me, I am ok not going to the beach in the summer. I would rather be up in the mountains. We see glory in different things.

When it comes to God, though, we should not have a subjective view of His glory. God’s glory is not subjective to the eye of the beholder. It is more glorious than discussing being a beach or mountain person. His glory is worthy of more praise than even the most glorious sunset at the beach or the peace of an afternoon rain shower in the mountains.

When we think of the glory of God, we can see it play out in two different ways. First, the glory of God is inherent. It is built into who God is. It is the magnificence of God on His own. No one has to give this glory to God; it is who He is. Just as man is naturally sinful, sin is in us; God is naturally full of glory. And at times, we see that glory that is inherent become external. We think of Moses being put in the cleft of a rock and able to see the back of God as He passes. We think of the Mount of Transfiguration in the New Testament when Jesus is seen in His glory.

The other type of glory we see is the ascribed glory of God. This is the glory that mankind gives to God. Psalm 29 says:

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

Psalm 29:1–2.

When we ascribe glory to God, we are saying that God is the source of glory. So, the glory we see around us in nature, we recognize that comes from God. That sunset or rain shower, the Grand Canyon, nature itself, is giving glory to God. We give glory to God for the glory of the creation we see around us.

Ultimately, when we talk about giving glory to God, we are saying that God is worthy of praise, that He is beautiful, and that He is full of renown. And the peak of our passage today tells us that all we do should be giving glory to God.

What does this look like for us as believers in 2025?

How Do We Glorify God?

We Build Up

The first way that we glorify God is by being known as people who build each other up.

All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.

1 Corinthians 10:23.

The end of chapter 10 is the end of Paul talking about the liberty/freedom that a believer has in Jesus. He repeats this statement that we have seen throughout the book of 1 Corinthians, that yes, all things are lawful, but not all are helpful. Not all things build up.

Building up is not easy. If you have ever built anything before, you know that it takes time, it takes effort, and it takes intention. You have to be willing to spend the time to build something. You have to be willing to put the effort in to build something, and you have to have the intention to do it, and do it right.

The same can be said for how we build up each other, and how we, in turn, build up the Church. Building up does not come naturally to us. If we are honest, it is so much easier and natural to tear things down. To try and put others down, because in doing so, we think we are building ourselves up. But the call is not for us to build ourselves up, but to build up others.

When we do this, though, we are glorifying God. We are recognizing that those people who are not like me are also made in the image of God. That person who may have a different sin struggle, a different opinion, or a different conviction on something, is someone that Jesus went to the cross for. Jesus died for their sins, just as much as He died for mine. I should not be trying to tear them down, but build them up. In kindness, even telling a hard truth, we should do it to help build a brother or sister up, not tear them down.

Others Before Us

The first way we glorify God is through lifting each other up, and hand in hand with that, we also should put others before ourselves.

Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.

1 Corinthians 10:24.

But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— 29 I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

1 Corinthians 10:28–30.

When we are looking to build each other up, we should naturally then be looking to others before us. Again, this is not what we are naturally inclined to do. It takes time for us to start to do this. We have to be intentional in looking out for others before ourselves.

Notice how Paul describes this, though. He tells us not just to care about others, but to look to the good of your neighbor. In the first-century context of this writing, your neighbor would be easy to see; they are around you all the time. But what about today? Our “neighborhood” has spread immensely. We have a social connection now that Paul could have never dreamed of.

What does it look like to look out for the good of your neighbor in 2025? What does it look like to love our neighbor in 2025? What does it look like for us to care for the “least of these” today? These are questions we have to answer individually, but also corporately.

Loving others, as Jesus loved us, means acknowledging that no one is perfect, but worthy of us still showing kindness and respect to. Paul even explains later in the passage that we should be aware of their conscience, not exploiting our own freedom so that another’s conscience is burned. How often do we think like this? How often do we consider what another may struggle with when it comes to our own actions? When we are serious about putting others before ourselves, our minds will start to look more like Christ’s mind. Jesus is the perfect example of setting aside his desires to look to the needs of others.

Reject Legalism

The final point we see in this passage is that we must reject legalism.

Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience.

1 Corinthians 10:25–27.

Paul is discussing questions that have arisen around the food laws for believers. Remember that most of these food laws were actually being traced back to the Old Testament Jewish food laws. Paul quotes Psalm 24:1, that the earth is the Lord’s, thus that all food is ultimately the Lord’s, and we are ok to eat. Our conscience does not have to be burdened by food laws.

The early New Testament church was gripped, often, by legalism. When we think about legalism, we may think about a man applying his own standard and making it a non-negotiable for people. You may see legalism applied to dress standards, music standards, and many other things that we would call 3rd tier issues.

In the first century, the church was more gripped with legalism that was centered around the Old Testament Law. It occurred more when people took standards from the law and applied them to the church. Laws that were not meant for the Church, laws that had been fulfilled in Christ. Why would this be wrong? Because the law does not save us. The law can only point us to our sin and need of a Savior. We are not capable of saving ourselves through the law. If we could have, we would have.

Today, there is a rise in people in the church who want to bring back Old Testament law and ceremony to us. This movement is nothing more than legalism dressed in 21st-century clothes. We are not to go back to being under the law, and so we reject legalism in this sense. Just as we reject the manmade legalism that wants to rise when we start making rules for people.

Legalism is man centered hope. It is not centered on giving God glory, but focuses on the glory that man himself can achieve through his own work. It is the opposite of verse 31, it does not seek to glorify God in all that it does.

All We Do Should Glorify God

The pinnacle of what Paul is teaching in this passage is that all we should do should glorify God. All of our actions, our thoughts, our intentions should be focused in on glorifying God. No area of our life gets to be shut off or put away from this intention. Just as we have asked God to take control of our whole life, and to save us from all of our sins, we should be consciously attempting to glorify him in all that we do. Our words, thoughts, actions, and beliefs should reflect our attempt to glorify and praise God.

Our faith should not just be a Sunday morning thing; it must be a 24/7, 365 action. Why? Because we have that example given to us by Paul and Jesus. He ends this section by saying that we should imitate Paul as he imitates Jesus.

Paul has humbly served God. He has been submissive to the call of the Spirit in his life, just as Jesus was submissive to the call of God to come to earth and die for our sins.