Lawful vs. Helpful
Practical Church (1 Corinthians) • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Announcements
Good morning. Welcome to Southern Hills Baptist Church. Thank you for joining us today.
If you are a first-time guest with us, you will find a Connection Card in the pew rack in front of you. We would appreciate it if you would fill that out and place it in the offering plate. That gives us a record of your visit and allows us the opportunity of reaching out to you this week to answer any questions that you might have.
Online giving is available at our website, southernhillsbc.com. By clicking on GIVE, it will take you to our giving page where you can easily give by electronic check or credit card. You can also give during our offertory time or in the box at the info table. If you are a guest, please know that we do not expect you to give. Our members and regular attenders provide for the ministry of the church.
See bulletin for Calendar Updates
If you are a guest with us, know that this is our weekly Family Worship service. Our children will remain with us for the entire service. We do have a nursery available for children under 4 just down the hall if you would like to use it.
Please stand as I read our Call to Worship. This morning, we will be doing a responsive reading. I will read the words in white and we will all read the words in yellow.
Call To Worship
Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
For your name’s sake, O Lord,
pardon my guilt, for it is great.
Who is the man who fears the Lord?
Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
His soul shall abide in well-being,
and his offspring shall inherit the land.
The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,
and he makes known to them his covenant.
My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of my distresses.
Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.
Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent hatred they hate me.
Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for you.
Opening Hymn
Scripture & Prayer: Pastor Bob 1 Peter 2:9-12
Song #1
Missions Minute: Women’s Ministry & Heartland Church Network (HCN)
Today, we are again discussing two things during our Missions Minute.
First, is our Women’s Ministry that we have here at Southern Hills. We desire to build both Men’s and Women’s groups who are growing in discipleship and helping each other through life. Two years ago, we relaunched both ministries, but we need more engagement on the Women’s side. I would encourage you to get involved.
Jessica Gieselman has just agreed to step in as our Interim Women’s Ministry Director for this year. And we have signed up for a Women’s Conference coming up at the end of August in Lincoln. I sent out information to you through email this week, but I also want to show you this preview video.
VIDEO
All that being said, ladies, I highly encourage you to get involved. The cost for this conference is expected to be around $200. If you need help with the financial portion, let me know and we will provide a scholarship for you.
Secondly, the Heartland Church Network, or HCN, is our local association. We partner with 62 other churches in Siouxland to encourage each other and to plant and replant churches. This week is the HCN is putting on our Kids Kamp in Louisville, Nebraska. This camp if for kids 3rd to 6th grade. We have 2 kids going this year as well as 2 of our youth serving as Junior Counselors. Please be praying for them this week.
Offering & Prayer
Song #2 (Always Only Jesus)
Lord’s Supper
Please be seated.
(beat)
We were just reminded that we sing of the Name of Jesus—“the Name that hushed the sea.”
Jesus did that on the sea of Galilee. He proved to the disciples His power over the waters—not once, but twice. First, He walked on the water. And again, He calmed a raging storm simply by commanding it. What kind of man has this power?, the disciples wondered. But they knew the answer—that only One who carried the divine Name of Yahweh; only God in the flesh.
At the beginning of the gospel of John, John writes that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” and that “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
Jesus has power over the chaotic waters because He is God the Son. Only God has the power to order creation through the spoken word. The disciples saw this first-hand. And yet, there were many who refused to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, God with us.
And one of the reasons why I love the John’s gospel is because, in it, Jesus makes explicit who He is. It is not secret to anyone paying attention that He is God in the flesh. He claims to be the divine Son of Man and Son of God. He claims to be the root of Jesse and the promised Messiah. He claims to be “I AM.”
We’re going to continue our reading about Jesus from the book of John. Today we will continue in chapter 8:
They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
At this time, I am going to have our ushers come forward. If you are a follower of Jesus, in that you have accepted Him as Savior, bowed to Him as King, and been baptized in obedience to His commandment, we invite you to participate with us. In just a moment, we will pass the plates. Please take a piece of bread and a cup and hold it until we take together.
Pass
Instruction from Jesus: Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Prayer of Blessing on bread and cup
Song #3
Pastoral Prayer
World - Increasing hostility in the Middle East
Country- Flooding
State- Heat wave
City- Need of rain
SHBC- May we use our Christian Freedom to glorify God and disciple well
Introduction
If you have your bibles this morning, please turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 10.
Over these last two chapters, Paul has been discussing Christian Freedom and how it should be used by members of the body of Christ. It seems that the Corinthians had been thinking of their freedom as a license to fulfill their own selfish desires rather than something to be used for the kingdom.
In chapter 10, Paul has specifically pivoted this discussion to address the issue of believers using their freedom to visit pagan temples and to partake in fellowship with their former pagan associates. He explained that this use of freedom violated their need to care for their personal witness and for other Christians who may be weaker in conscience.
Last week, we explored the concern behind this pagan temple fellowship. Not only were these believers harming their witness to the world and potentially to their brothers and sisters in Christ, but they were actually communing with demons—enemies of God who wished for nothing more than to see these believers fall. For while idols are nothing but wood, stone, or metal, the power behind them is very real. The “gods of the nations” are not idols; they are demons masquerading as gods.
Jeremiah put it this way when writing to the exiles:
Jeremiah 16:19–20 “O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit. Can man make for himself gods? Such are not gods!””
These “so-called” gods are simply demons in disguise. And fellowshipping at the table of demons places the Christian’s eternal status in jeopardy because God will not share His glory with any other, especially those who are actively working against His will. As Paul wrote to them, “You cannot drink of the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.” For the cup of the Lord is mercy and grace, and the cup of demons is judgment and death.
The Christian should be careful, then, how they use their freedom that they have received from Christ. We should not use our newfound freedom to willingly walk back into bondage. And yet, that is what many of the Corinthians were doing.
This week, as we begin to close out chapter 10, Paul will wrap up his instruction on Christian Freedom by summing up his argument to that which is lawful and that which is helpful.
[TITLE SLIDE]
For surely what is lawful is not always helpful.
And for your entertainment, I have compiled some of our weird state laws as examples of things that are lawful, but not necessarily helpful. In no particular order:
In Maine, it is legal to keep your Christmas Decorations up all year. However, I don’t know if your neighbors will be too happy with you.
In Montana, it is legal to keep a sheep in the cab of your truck, but only if it has a chaperone. However, if you do have a sheep in your cab, it may be hard to stop and help someone in the community.
In Ohio, it is legal to get married while drunk. But I’m not sure if this helps anyone except YouTube.
And in Vermont, it is legal to keep an alligator in your living room without an enclosure. But I don’t expect you to be having many dinner parties. How will you show hospitality to your community if they won’t enter into your home?
Back to our text.
Paul is making the point that many of the members of the church at Corinth are abusing their rights by using their Christian Freedom to do things that are not helpful to anyone, including themselves. And so, today he will offer them a final piece of advice on the subject. Look with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 10, starting in verse 23:
[MAIN PASSAGE SLIDE x3]
“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” (/) 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. 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— (/) I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Paul sums his argument up nicely for us at the end, but let’s work through the passage to see how his argument unfolds. He starts by setting up a contrast between that which is lawful and that which is helpful.
[POINT 1 SLIDE]
The Contrast (v 23)
As I pointed out in the introduction, just because something is lawful doesn’t make it a societal good.
Eating Frosted Flakes or a box of Twinkies is enjoyable, but it is damaging to our human bodies because it floods our systems with more sugars than they were designed to process in one sitting.
In the same way, Christians should learn to deny their freedoms when they are not helpful to the body of Christ, which we call the church. Look back with me at verse 23:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.
If you remember, back in chapter 6, Paul used this Corinthian slogan “all things are permitted,” which the Greeks used to champion their spiritual and sexual freedom in Corinth. If you recall the beginning of our series, the geography of Corinth was unique. It sat between 2 very active naval ports and served as a way station for sailors and philosophers to fulfill their selfish desires, much in the way that Las Vegas does for Americans today in the desert. It was the “sin city” of Greek and Roman times.
In chapter 6, Paul borrowed and repurposed the slogan to speak against using Christian Freedom for sexual immorality. There, he said:
1 Corinthians 6:12 ““All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.”
Paul now repackages the slogan again to make his latest point. He is not questioning the Corinthians “right” to utilize their Christian Freedom, but their wisdom in how they employ it.
To review, he says, in Greek, that “all things are possible, or lawful.” That is, in the Christian sense, there is no longer the hindrance of a slave-master, for Christ has freed us from sin and from the law.
However, not all things are “helpful.” This word, in Greek, means good, better, profitable, or advantageous. The CSB renders it as beneficial. So, he says, “Corinthian believer, Christ has freed you from the bonds of all things, but not all things are good for you or beneficial for others.”
Christians should only engage in the activities which are helpful to them in furthering their, and others’, walk with Christ.
Does this activity assist you toward the goal of imaging Christ? Does it help you maintain holiness and your witness within the community? Does it help or edify others and draw them to Jesus?
In this context, Paul is referring to their participation in pagan temples. How is this—at all—helpful to them? They are not presenting themselves as holy people, or setting themselves apart from the pagans in the community. How is it helpful or edifying to others? Their actions are not profitable to anyone… Not to unbelievers, not to the pagans in the temple, and surely not to their fellow believers in the church.
Paul then gives the second clause: “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.
The word that he uses here for “build up” is a compound word in Greek. Those words are oikos, which is household, and doma, meaning roof. In other words, Paul says that “All things are lawful,” but not all things “put a roof on the house”.
This is the common phrase for building a structure, or for general construction. He is saying that just because something is lawful doesn’t mean that it is constructive.
Think of modern building construction for a moment. Over time, we have learned to install beams and headers above doors and windows and rooms to help bear the load of the roof. Most places in the U.S. have building codes to ensure that those beams and headers can hold the load that they will carry. But if you lived in a place without building codes, it would be legal to do without beams and headers. That would probably save them money, and it would be legal, but would it be helpful for a the longevity of the structure and the safety of the people inside?
Also, if these Corinthian church-members are to be “putting a roof on the house,” whose house is it?
Are they constructing a shabby roof on their own house, over their own lives?
Possibly, and in doing so, it may collapse upon them.
But they, as the body of Christ, have been commanded to engage with the Holy Spirit in building God’s house—the church, His kingdom on earth. Paul comments on the church as God’s house in his letter to the Ephesians:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
That word for structure is the same root words that Paul has just used for “build up” in our passage. The church, which represents God’s kingdom on earth, is the structure—the building—that must be built up.
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
And if the use of the Corinthian believer’s freedom fails to build up God’s house, then it is a poor use of said freedom. The only thing that is helpful, or beneficial, is that which builds up the church. All else should be abstained from the exercise of rights. And the exercise of rights without good purpose merely fulfills ones ego and human experience.
For as Paul said in chapter 8, this kind of “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.”
So, without commanding them, Paul has instructed them to stay out of pagan temples and to stop knowingly buying meat which has been sacrificed to idols. But his instructions are given as Godly wisdom: a tool to be used rather than a new commandment that must be followed.
Being freed from the law, the last thing Paul wants to do is heap on them more laws. Instead, they need to learn how to access and employ the wisdom of the Holy Spirit—that which comes from above.
God has spoken all of Creation into being. And yet, John tells us that He molded humankind by the hands of Jesus. These Christians in Corinth were created by their God and Savior for a purpose. And that purpose is to glorify God through making Him known to all peoples; through building up His house. Paul then, metaphorically, calls to these Corinthian believers as Haggai did to the exiles in Babylon,
Haggai 1:7–8 ““Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord.”
(beat)
Around the year 200, the church father Clement of Alexandria wrote that “those who take advantage of everything that is lawful rapidly deteriorate into doing what is not lawful.” (Paedagogus 2.1.14)
Paul is trying to help the Corinthians see that they are playing with their freedom dangerously close to this slippery slope. They should walk away, fleeing from idolatry and sexual immorality and focusing all of their Christian Freedom on the building up of the church. By restraining their freedom and narrowing their focus, they will both exhort their fellow believers and help unbelievers by drawing them to the church.
[POINT 2 SLIDE]
Our Witness (vv 24-28)
Paul will go on to clarify further in verse 24 as he speaks of the outward focus that we are called to. For maintaining holiness and our witness in the community is vital to the trustworthiness and growth of the church. He says:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.
In the Greek, Paul says, “let no one look to the self, but to the other.”
(beat)
In the use of our freedom, our primary reason to use any of our rights should not be for the purpose of fulfilling our own desires, but for the good of others.
So, the question becomes: who are these others that we should look out for?
Well, the word “other” in Greek, here translated as neighbor, is indiscriminate. It does not single out any type or class of people. Instead, it can refer to anyone and everyone who is not the self. In other words, to properly use your freedom as a Christian, you should seek the welfare of everyone else ahead of your own.
In support of Paul’s position here, I offer you two extreme illustrations. One from the Old Testament and one from the New.
First, the prophet of Jeremiah speaking the words of God to the exiles in Babylon and beyond:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE x2]
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. (/) Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
God’s chosen people are in the midst of enduring discipline from God for their unfaithfulness to Him. They have been conquered, humiliated, and exiled hundreds of miles away to a foreign land. And His instructions for repentance and the fruit of new faithfulness includes not only praying for their captors, but seeking their welfare above their own.
(beat)
Secondly, remember back to the story of the good Samaritan. In Luke 10, Jesus responds to a question about who a neighbor is, He shares a parable of a Jewish man who has been beaten up and left for dead by robbers. Soon thereafter, both a priest and a Levite pass by and avoid the man, who they assume is dead. They are worried that if they come into contact with a dead body, it will leave them ritually unclean and they will not be able to enter the Temple courts.
But then a Samaritan then passes by, this Jewish man’s sworn enemy. Look at what Jesus says next:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE x3]
But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. (/) And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” (/) He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Jesus commands this Jewish lawyer in the crowd to go and demonstrate love to his enemy—to put his neighbor’s needs above his own. This is the height of Christian love: it is the proper use of the Christian’s freedom to image God well in sharing His love and grace and mercy with fellow human imagers. This is the chief example of stewarding God’s creation well. And it is exactly how Jesus lived in His every moment on earth.
Church, seek the good of others above your own. Paul continues in verse 25:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” 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.
Our Christian Freedom allows us to go and buy meat in the market in good conscience without asking questions as to where it came from. Paul would go on to tell Timothy that God created all food to be received with thanksgiving. Therefore, it is not the concern of the church-member to know its origin. “The earth is the Lord’s,” and therefore every animal in it belongs to Him and can be eaten with thanksgiving.
And if someone invites you over and provides you with a meal, you don’t need where every ingredient came from. Barring any deadly allergies, you should receive it and eat with gratefulness for their hospitality. However, Paul offers a caveat.
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
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—
Again, Paul emphasizes the right for the Christian to leave their anxiety behind and partake with gratefulness to God and to their hosts. But he emphasizes the conscience of the other. If you are at the market and someone tells you that the rack of lamb has been sacrificed to a false god, you should not buy it. Not because you will be infected or possessed by their demon god, but for the sake of that individuals well-being—so that they will know the truth.
And that truth is this: that you, as a follower of Christ, are set apart from the world for your Holy and Most High God. And that God wants them to also experience freedom from the bonds of sin by throwing off the heavy yoke of false gods and taking up the light yoke of King Jesus.
And the same is true when you are in someone’s home. You should receive their hospitality gratefully. But if they tell you that the food has been sacrificed to anything other than Yahweh God, you should abstain for the purpose of having a conversation about all that is true and good and beautiful.
For if we are to properly demonstrate love to our neighbor, then we should desire to share with them the truth: that Yahweh is the Most High God who created them for a purpose, and while that purpose has been diminished by their sin, Jesus has come as Yahweh in the flesh to pay for that sin and restore them to their original purpose by offering them a new life of freedom.
That is how we love our neighbor. Not by tolerating them. Not by affirming their sin. But by proclaiming the truth and offering them the grace of God.
That other person’s conscience should always be forefront in our minds as we utilize our freedoms. For that is how we glorify God among man.
[POINT 3 SLIDE]
Glorify God (vv 29-31)
Our aim should be to live a life of gratefulness as we give glory to God through faith and obedience. And that obedience manifests itself in authentic acts of love to God and to our neighbors.
Paul continues in verse 29:
[PASSAGE SLIDE]
I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Our Christian freedom is not bound to the conscience of the weak believer, nor the expectation of the unbeliever. But if our goal in all things is to glorify our God and Savior Jesus Christ, then we will rightly give up our freedoms for the sake of our neighbors. This denial is not compulsory, but completely voluntary. It is our love for God and others that moves us to give away all of our freedom.
I’m sure you’ve heard the arguments that people make for Communism from the Bible. They’ll say, “didn’t Jesus command you to give to the community; to pool your resources to help those in need?”
But these people miss the point. The church we see in the Bible is a community who voluntarily give of their own resources for the common good of their Christian brothers and sisters. The church leaders don’t take it away to distribute it. Instead, each member gives what they can as a free will offering out of love for God and their spiritual siblings.
And then, when the church has been properly cared for, they will use any additional resources to love their neighbors. That is not a form of communism. That is the Great Commandment being lived out.
As Jesus said to the Pharisee,
Matthew 22:37–40 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
You see, when believers are rightly aligned in their relationship with God—seeking to bring Him glory in all things—then they will begin to learn what it is to properly love their neighbor for they will begin to live and love in the way that Jesus does.
Paul closes this passage by saying, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
His argument about the Corinthians engaging in communion with pagans, both inside and outside of their places of worship, has come to an end. But I want us to extrapolate this principle this morning. We should not limit our desire for God’s glory to only what we eat and drink. Instead, let us focus on the word “all” in this last verse.
“Do all to the glory of God.”
Is it possible for us to live a life where everything that we do brings God glory?
For that is the call of the believer. Pulling this understanding from scripture, the Westminster Catechism claims that the chief end of man is to “glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
Paul clarifies this concept further in his letter to the Colossians:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
The underlying principle of all of this is living a life of thankfulness to God. Christian, Jesus has set you free from your bondage to sin. You now live in complete freedom.
The question is: will you use that freedom to bring God glory and further His kingdom?
Will you abandon freedom to grow spiritually and to lead others to know Christ?
Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to mold you into the image of Jesus?
For scripture is clear that the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives gives us the power to choose to bring God glory in every circumstance.
Once again, Paul writes on this topic to the church at Rome:
[SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
Do everything for the glory of Jesus by living lives of gratefulness to God.
Did you wake up this morning? Praise His name in word and deed. For the King of glory still has work for you to do.
Application
So, as we close, let us get practical. How can we honestly bring God glory in everything?
Well, ultimately it comes back to the posture of our hearts.
Let me give you a few examples by walking through a normal day for many of us:
When you wake up in the morning, begin your day with prayer. Thank God for letting you get some rest, even if you didn’t sleep as well as you would have liked. But set your day on the right foot by thanking God for something before you get up.
As you shower and brush your teeth, you can thank God for your health. If you can stand in the shower, thank God for that ability. If you have teeth to brush, thank God for these tiny tools that help you to enjoy the food that He provides for you each and every day.
When you drive to work, don’t focus on the bad drivers around you. Instead, thank God that He has given you a vehicle to ride in, so that you don’t have to walk in this sticky Summer weather.
When you are at work, don’t be distracted by your annoying co-worker, your demanding boss, or your nit-picky clients. Instead, be grateful that God has provided you with a job that allows your family to live in relative comfort.
When you sit at home in the evening, paying the bills, thank God that He has provided shelter and a table at which to sit and pay a bill. And set aside money for Him before paying those bills, thanking Him for His provision and asking Him to continue to provide for you and your family.
And when you fall into bed at night, exhausted from a long and frustrating day, thank God for sustaining you through the day by the power of the Holy Spirit. You didn’t yell at a customer. You didn’t punch your boss. You stayed out of jail… It was a good day.
(beat)
Paul would later write to the Corinthians about the thorn in his flesh:
2 Corinthians 12:8–10 “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
You see, living a life of thankfulness to God doesn’t mean that we have nothing to complain about. It means that we choose to be thankful for the good things. And the fact that we experience bad things in our lives should remind us that God is still using our circumstances to shape us into the people that He wants us to be.
He is still molding us into the image of Jesus.
Follower of Christ, the Father loves you and will continue to provide the things that you need. Learn to be content and find joy in every circumstance. Live lives of thankfulness, sacrificing your freedoms for the glory of God and for the good of your neighbor. For that is what love is.
Invitation
Now, if you are here this morning and you have not yet made the decision to follow Christ. Let this be the moment. Wouldn’t it be a joy if you could learn to be content with your life the way it is right now? Don’t be fooled by this notion that Jesus will fix all your earthly problems and give you health and wealth. Instead, He wants to walk with you through the struggle. He wants to help you endure the consequences of human sin. And He wants to shape your heart so that you too can learn to find joy in any circumstance.
Financial success won’t buy you happiness. Not a promotion, new job, or a salary increase. Winning the lottery won’t help. Every day in the news, we see celebrities and wealthy people take their own lives because they are hopeless.
Jesus offers you hope. He offers you a family. He offers you freedom from your bondage to sin and dissatisfaction.
Come and see what it is to follow Jesus. Come and see what it is to live a life of thankfulness and to be content in every circumstance.
[PREVIEW SLIDE]
Next week, we will begin a short break from 1 Corinthians as Pastor Atreju begins to walk us through Paul’s letter to Philemon. So, plan on joining us for that.
CLOSE IN PRAYER
CLOSING HYMN
CONGREGATIONAL BLESSING
