Bringing God Glory (part two)

I can recall 15 years ago, someone asking me, "What does it mean to bring Glory to God" They sincerely wanted to know, and I sincerely had no clue. I suppose, like most of us, I knew in a general sense, but did not truly grasp the depth of what that means and the importance of truly understanding how God is glorified in and through our lives.

As we ask the question and ponder the answer: What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever. We must go beyond the answer and ask another question. What does it mean, to glorify god?

Here is one mans answer:

Glorifying God consists in four things: 1. Appreciation, 2. Adoration, 3. Affection, 4. Subjection. This is the yearly rent we pay to the crown of heaven.

1. Appreciation.

To glorify God is to set God highest in our thoughts, and, to have a venerable esteem of him. Psalm 92:8. "Thou, Lord, art most high for evermore." Psalm 97:9, "Thou art exalted far above all gods." There is in God all that may draw forth both wonder and delight; there is a constellation of all beauties; he is prima causa [the first cause], the original and spring-head of being, who sheds a glory upon the creature. We glorify God when we are God-admirers; admire his attributes, which are the glistening beams by which the divine nature shines forth; his promises which are the charter of free grace, and the spiritual cabinet where the pearl of price is hid; the noble effects of his power and wisdom in making the world, which is called "the work of his fingers." Psalm 8:3. To glorify God is to have God-admiring thoughts; to esteem him most excellent, and search for diamonds in this rock only.

2. Glorifying God consists in adoration, or worship.

Psalm 29:2. "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." There is a twofold worship: 1. A civil reverence which we give to persons of honour. Gen. 23:7, "Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the children of Heth." Piety is no enemy to courtesy. 2. A divine worship which we give to God as his royal prerogative. Neh. 8:6,"they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces towards the ground." This divine worship God is very jealous of; it is the apple of his eye, the pearl of his crown; which he guards, as he did the tree of life, with cherubims and a flaming sword, that no man may come near it to violate it. Divine worship must be such as God himself has appointed, otherwise it is offering strange fire, Lev. 10:1. The Lord would have Moses make the tabernacle, "according to the pattern in the mount." Exod. 25:40. He must not leave out anything in the pattern, nor add to it. If God was so exact and curious about the place of worship, how exact will he be about the matter of his worship! Surely here every thing must be according to the pattern prescribed in his word.

3. Affection.

This is part of the glory we give to God, who counts himself glorified when he is loved. Deut. 6:5, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul." There is a twofold love: 1. Amor concupiscentiae, a love of concupiscence, which is self-love; as when we love another because he does us a good turn. A wicked man may be said to love God, because he has given him a good harvest, or filled his cup with wine. This is rather to love God's blessing than to love God. 2. Amor amicitiae, a love of delight, as a man takes delight in a friend. This is to love God indeed; the heart is set upon God, as a man's heart is set upon his treasure. This love is exuberant, not a few drops, but a stream. It is superlative; we give God the best of our love, the cream of it. Cant. 8:2,"I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate." If the spouse had a cup more juicy and spiced, Christ must drink of it. It is intense and ardent. True saints are seraphims, burning in holy love to God [from the Hebrew word saruph, to be burned up]. The spouse was amore perculsa, [an overwhelming love], in fainting fits, "sick of love," Cant. 2:5. Thus to love God is to glorify him. He who is the chief of our happiness has the chief of our affections.

4. Subjection.

This is when we dedicate ourselves to God, and stand ready dressed for his service. Thus the angels in heaven glorify him; they wait on his throne, and are ready to take a commission from him; therefore they are represented by the cherubims with wings displayed, to show how swift they are in their obedience. We glorify God when we are devoted to his service; our head studies for him, our tongue pleads for him, and our hands relieve his members. The wise men that came to Christ did not only bow the knee to him, but presented him with gold and myrrh. Matt. 2:11. So we must not only bow the knee, give God worship, but bring presents of golden obedience. We glorify God when we falter at no service, when we fight under the banner of his gospel against an enemy, and say to him as David to King Saul, "Thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine," 1 Sam. 17:32.

A good Christian is like the sun, which not only sends forth heat, but goes its circuit round the world. Thus, he who glorifies God has not only his affections heated with love to God, but he goes his circuit too; he moves vigorously in the sphere of obedience.

Tomorrow we will ask another question: Why must we glorify God?

High Standards

God's Glory, Our Excellence

If your heart is in functional awe of the glory of God, then there will be no place in your heart for poorly prepared, badly delivered, pastoral mediocrity. We should all be shocked at the level of mediocrity we tolerate in the life and ministry of the local church. No, I'm not talking about giving people room to grow and mature so we don't crush them with criticism. I'm talking about those places where our standards are simply too low. Mediocrity is not a time, personnel, resource, or location problem. Mediocrity is a heart problem.

We have lost our commitment to the highest levels of excellence because we have lost our awe. Awe amnesia is the open door that permits mediocrity in.

Awe of God inspires, motivates, and convicts. There is no replacement for such awe in the leadership of the church of Jesus Christ. Awe asks more of us than we would ever ask of ourselves. Awe reminds you that God is so glorious that it is impossible for you, as his ambassador, to have ministry standards that are too high. I'm not talking about lavish, expensively furnished buildings. I'm talking about a sturdy commitment to do everything you can to display the glory of his presence and grace as powerfully and clearly as you can each time his people gather. You are in such awe of, and have been so satisfied by, his grace that you have zeal to display that grace to those under your care.

You can get this zeal no other way. You never are just doing your duty. You never are just cranking it out. You never are just going through the motions. You never are just putting on a front. You are worshiping your way through life as the ambassador of an expansively glorious King. And you are in reverential fear of doing anything that would dent, diminish, or desecrate that glory in any way.

True Condition

Our ministries are not just shaped by knowledge, experience, and skill, but by the true condition of our hearts. Excellence in ministry flows from a heart that is in holy, reverential, life-rearranging, motivation-capturing awe of the Lord of Glory. Excellence is, in fact, a relationship. Only One is truly and perfectly excellent. He alone is the sum and definition of what excellence is and does. So the one who is excellence, in his grace, came to you when you were in a state of anything but excellence, and by grace offered you the promise of actually becoming a partaker of his divine nature. He then connects you to purposes and goals way higher and way grander than you would have every quested for yourself. By grace he causes you to think what you wouldn't have thought, and desire what you never before wanted. He opens your eyes to his glory. He opens the door to his kingdom. He calls and empowers you to display his excellency and the excellency of his grace. Only this excellency has the power to free us from the false excellency of human pride and the mediocrity that results when we are okay with ourselves and our world just the way they are.

When I am in awe at the reality that I have, by grace alone, been attached to what is truly excellent in every way, I want to be an ambassador of that excellence. So I will have high standards for every aspect of ministry under my care.

 Whether it is the children's or youth ministries, men's or women's ministries, small groups or outreach, leadership training or short-term missions, public worship or preaching, I will want all ministries of the church to faithfully display the excellence of the one who calls out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Pursuit of Excellence

This means we will be committed to the disciplines that cause these ministries to be as free from chaos and mediocrity as is possible between the "already" and the "not yet." First, we must be committed to preaching the gospel to ourselves, reminding ourselves of our ongoing need to be rescued from us and low standards. We constantly remind ourselves of how we are tempted to value what is expedient and comfortable, rather than what is excellent in the eyes of God. And we tell ourselves again and again that for these battles we have been given bountiful grace.

This also means we will do everything to maintain relationships of unity, understanding, and love between us. We know we are sinners. We know we will sin against one another. We know there are moments when we will be disappointed and hurt. We know we will be misunderstood and wrongly judged. We know we will be selfish and controlling, self-righteous and demanding. We know we will ask one another to give what we have already been given in Christ. So we determine to give ourselves the humility of approachability and the courage of loving honesty. We will commit ourselves to regular patterns of confession and forgiveness. And we will celebrate together the grace that enables sinners to live and minister alongside sinners in a community of unity and love.

And we will be committed to the discipline of adequate preparation that enables us to do well what we have been called to do. You cannot have a ministry that is committed to ambassadorial excellence if these things (disciplines) are not a regular part of your community. If you forget who you are, your ministry will be shaped by a smugness that is more about displaying how great you are, rather than how glorious is the Savior who still meets you in your weakness. If you are not committed to loving gospel community, you will minister out of frustration and discouragement, displaying God's glory in an abstract form, but not in its living, life-changing vitality. And if you are not committed to the discipline of preparation, you will offer sloppy leadership to poorly sighted people that will become more of a distraction to, rather than an enhancement of, their ability to see God for who is he and place their hope in him.

Paul Tripp  from his latest book Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry (Crossway, 2012).

AFFLICTION

"I have refined you in the furnace of suffering." Isaiah 48:10

One of the reasons why God uses afflictions, is to prevent Christians from backsliding. In times of prosperity . . .
  pride is apt to rise and swell;
  carnal security blinds their eyes;
  the love of riches increases;
  spiritual affections are feeble;
  eternal things are viewed as far off, and concealed by a thick mist.
These circumstances are, indeed, the common precursors of backsliding.

But to prevent this evil, and to stir up the benumbed feelings of piety--the believer is put into the furnace! At first he finds it hard to submit, and is like a wild bull in a net. His pride and his love of carnal ease, resist the hand that smites him; but severe pain awakes him from his spiritual sleep. He then finds himself in the hands of his heavenly Father--and sees that nothing can be gained by murmuring or rebelling. His sins rise up to view, and he is convinced of the justice of the divine dispensations. His hard heart begins to yield, and he is stirred up to cry mightily to God for helping grace. Although he wishes and prays for deliverance from the pressure of affliction--yet he is more solicitous that the affliction should be rendered effectual . . .
  to subdue his pride,
  to wean him from the love of the world, and
  to give perfect exercise to patience and resignation
--than that it should be removed. He knows that the furnace is the place for purification. He hopes and prays that his dross may be consumed, and that he may come forth as gold which has passed seven times through the refiner's fire!
(Archibald Alexander, "Thoughts on Religious Experience" 1844)

From where does your refreshment come?

"The tragedy is that many of us are living a desperate Christian life. Sunday comes and we get some strength, and then we lose some on Monday; a good deal is gone by Tuesday and we wonder whether we have anything left. On Wednesday it has all gone and then we exist. Or perhaps refreshment comes in some other way, some meeting we attend, some friends we meet.

Now that is the old order of things, that is not the new.  He puts a well within us. We are not always drawing from somewhere outside.  The well, the spring, goes on springing up from within into everlasting life."

Lloyd-Jones

'If this is Christianity; I may not be a Christian!'

The full quote is, "If this is Christianity, then I have never really known what Christianity is. In fact; If this is Christianity, I may not be a Christian". This was a quote from a pastor of a church, after he was introduced to the "Christianity" expressed and experienced by men who lived over 400 years ago. He was filled with sorrow and with joy (all at the same time) for the very first time in His walk with the Lord.

I have found this to be my own same experience and I have found that many genuinely "born-again" believers are moved in the very same way when they discover the depth of the hearts of these men for Christ. This is truly one of God's precious gifts to His people.

Why is this important? It is important because we are living in "shallow", "superficial", "man-centered times" and yet true believers hunger and thirst for Joy--for REALITY; for purpose.

Read this excerpt (unfortunately many of you won't) from Thomas Watson's treatise on "Men's Chief End" and tell me if this is your experience. Tell me if you hunger for this. Tell me if you experience this beauty and depth with the Lord while you attend His ordinances. This is "Christianity" and this is what our souls long for and can experience.

The enjoyment of God in this life. It is a great matter to enjoy God's ordinances, but to enjoy God's presence in the ordinances is that which a gracious heart aspires after. Psalm 63:2, "To see thy glory so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary." This sweet enjoyment of God is when we feel his Spirit co-operating with the ordinance, and distilling grace upon our hearts.

When in the Word the Spirit quickens and raises the affections. Luke 24:32, "Did not our hearts burn within us?"

When the Spirit transforms the heart leaving an impress of holiness upon it. 2 Cor. 3:8, "We are changed into the same image, from glory to glory."

When the Spirit revives the heart with comfort, it comes not only with its anointing, but with its seal; it sheds God's love abroad in the heart. Rom. 5:5, "Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ." 1 John 1:3.

In the Word we hear God's voice; in the sacrament we have his kiss. (Have you felt the kiss of Christ in the sacraments?) The heart being warmed and inflamed in a duty is God's answering by fire. The sweet communications of God's Spirit are the first fruits of glory. Now Christ has pulled off his veil, and showed his smiling face; now he has led a believer into the banqueting-house, and given him of the spiced wine of his love to drink; he has put in his finger at the hole of the door; he has touched the heart, and made it leap for joy.

Oh how sweet is it thus to enjoy God! The godly have, in ordinances, had such divine raptures of joy, and soul transfigurations, that they have been carried above the world, and have despised all things here below. (Is this your experience?)
Is the enjoyment of God in this life so sweet?

How wicked are they who prefer the enjoyment of their lusts before the enjoyment of God! 2 Pet. 3:3, "The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life," is the Trinity they worship. Lust is an inordinate desire or impulse, provoking the soul to that which is evil. There is the revengeful lust, and the wanton lust. Lust, like a feverish heat, puts the soul into a flame. Aristotle calls sensual lusts brutish, because, when any lust is violent, reason or conscience cannot be heard. These lusts besot and brutalise the man. Hos. 4:11,"Whoredom and wine take away the heart;" the heart for anything that is good. How many make it their chief end, not to enjoy God, but to enjoy their lusts; as that cardinal who said, "Let him but keep his cardinalship of Paris and he was content to lose his part in Paradise." Lust first bewitches with pleasure, and then comes the fatal dart. Prov. 7:23, "Till a dart strike through his liver." This should be as a flaming sword to stop men in the way of their carnal delights. Who for a drop of pleasure would drink a sea of wrath?

Let it be our great care to enjoy God's sweet presence in his ordinances. Enjoying spiritual communion with God is a riddle and mystery to most people. Every one that hangs about the court does not speak with the king.

We may approach God in ordinances, and hang about the court of heaven, yet not enjoy communion with God.

We may have the letter without the Spirit, the visible sign without the invisible grace. It is the enjoyment of God in a duty that we should chiefly look at. Psalm 13:2, "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God." Alas! what are all our worldly enjoyments without the enjoyment of God?

What is it to enjoy good health, a brave estate, and not to enjoy God? Job 30:28, "I went mourning without the sun." So mayest thou say in the enjoyment of all creatures without God, "I went mourning without the sun." I have the starlight of outward enjoyments, but I lack the Sun of Righteousness. "I went mourning without the sun." It should be our great design, not only to have the ordinances of God, but the God of the ordinances.

The enjoyment of God's sweet presence here is the most contented life: he is a hive of sweetness, a magazine of riches, a fountain of delight, Psalm 36:8,9. The higher the lark flies the sweeter it sings; and the higher we fly by the wings of faith, the more we enjoy of God. How is the heart inflamed in prayer and meditation! What joy and peace is there in believing! Is it not comfortable being in heaven? He that enjoys much of God in this life carries heaven about him. Oh let this be the thing we are chiefly ambitious of, the enjoyment of God in his ordinances! The enjoyment of God's sweet presence here is an earnest of our enjoying him in heaven.

Ah, yes! This is Christ and this is Christianity.