The doctrine of glorifying God, Part 8, John 15:8.

Title: The doctrine of glorifying God, Part 8, John 15:8.

 

d. Dying grace glorifies God, John 21:19.

 

Dying grace is for the mature believer and is the link between super-grace blessings in time and surpassing-grace blessings in eternity. It is filled with happiness and a lack of fear.

 

This leads us to the instance on the beach where the Lord commissions Peter as the leader of the 11 to teach the Church the doctrines of the mystery with an added prophecy concerning Peter’s future.

 

John 21:18 "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself, and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go." 

 

John 21:19Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me!" 

 

Just as the mature believer yielded to the will of God through his spiritual life, dying grace is the acceptance of the timing and manner of physical death.

 

Peter is going to fail this since he has not yet had the time to grow up spiritually and develop a life of yieldedness to the will of God, and so he uses a classic defense mechanism of dissociation or withdrawal which leads to the evil of socialism.

 

John 21:20Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His breast at the supper, and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays You?"

 

John 21:21Peter therefore seeing him said to Jesus, "Lord, and what about this man?"

 

John 21:22Jesus said to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!"

 

Every believer is given the plan of God for his life that is patterned after to the Lord’s plan for the incarnation, but each contains nuances that are unique to the individual.

 

This is the doctrine of predestination. What is also unique are the time and manner of one’s death. For the mature believer this is called niche orientation.

 

Niche (nest) orientation: a place, condition or status suitable to the capabilities, happiness, and merits of an individual mature believer.

 

There are many strands of contentment as a part of your unique niche identification in life:  social life, marital life, professional life, academic life, job or position, spiritual life, and Christian service.

 

This is why it is out of line for Peter to ask about John’s life or for any of us to desire, covet, or compete with the niche or nest given to another.

 

e. Unity in the local assembly that is based on doctrine glorifies God, Rom 15:6.

 

Unity doesn’t mean that we all like each other, but it does mean that we operate in impersonal unconditional love towards one another. That love is based on doctrine alone.

 

Rom 15:5 Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus;

 

Rom 15:6 that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

f. Understanding God’s mercy in your own election glorifies God, Rom 15:9.

 

Rom 15:7 Wherefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.

 

Rom 15:8For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers,

 

Rom 15:9and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy;

 

This is an understanding that you never deserved a thing from God yet He elected you to the privilege on honor that belongs to Christ.

 

As a positive believer I come to realize that I have more than I ever dreamed at the moment of salvation. What is the impact of that on your thinking daily? Everything else is gravy.

 

If right now I know that I possess more than I ever expected possible then I would appreciate every day and every moment of every day.

 

This understanding makes for a healthy branch that abides in the vine.

 

Isa 5:1 Let me sing now for my well-beloved

A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.

My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.

 

Isa 5:2And He dug it all around, removed its stones,

And planted it with the choicest vine.

And He built a tower in the middle of it,

And hewed out a wine vat in it;

Then He expected it to produce good grapes,

But it produced only worthless ones.

 

Isa 5:3"And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,

Judge between Me and My vineyard.

 

Isa 5:4"What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?, Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?

 

The Church-age believer has been given far more than any OT believer. 

 

1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

 

1 Peter 1:4to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

 

1 Peter 1:5who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

 

1 Peter 1:6In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,

 

1 Peter 1:7that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

 

1 Peter 1:8and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

 

1 Peter 1:9obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

 

1 Peter 1:10As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry,

 

1 Peter 1:11seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

 

1 Peter 1:12It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven —  things into which angels long to look.

 

Any complaining about your current status or situation is in essence saying to God that He has not done enough for you.

 

Angels in heaven have not a care or a need and yet they long to look into the doctrines that you have, which are freely given to you.

 

g. Serving God in the capacity in which you have been called glorifies Him, 1Co 6:20.

 

1 Cor 6:17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

 

1 Cor 6:18Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.

 

1 Cor 6:19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

 

1 Cor 6:20For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

 

Glorifying God in your body is the willingness to do God’s will no matter what it may be.

 

I again quote L.S. Chafer concerning yieldedness to the will of God.

 

“A yieldedness to the will of God is not demonstrated by some one particular issue: itis rather a matter of having taken the will of God as the rule of one’s life. To be in the will of God is simply to be willing to do His will without reference to any particular thing He may choose. It is electing His will to be final, even before we know what He may wish us to do. It is, therefore, not a question of being willing to do some one thing: it is a question of being willing to do anything, when, where and how, it may seem best in His heart of love. It is taking the normal and natural position of childlike trust which has already consented to the wish of the Father even before anything of the outworking of His wish is revealed.” (L.S. Chafer, He That Is Spiritual, p 113)

 

h. The observed nobility of the mature believer by the unbeliever glorifies God, 1 Pe 2:12.

 

1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.

 

1 Peter 2:12Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

 

Inevitably you are going to be observed by unbelievers and in many different types of situations. You may be going through adversity or prosperity, testing for blessing or even suffering under divine discipline and periodically some unbeliever is going to notice.

 

If you operate in excellence, which refers to the nobility of the believer under the RFHC, every now and then an unbeliever will take notice of your excellent behavior. This doesn’t mean they become saved but it shows that even an unbeliever will take notice of God’s character when he sees it and that brings glory to God.

 

i. Bearing under undeserved suffering by application of doctrine brings glory to God, 1Pe 4:16.

 

1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;

 

1 Peter 4:13but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.

 

1 Peter 4:14If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

 

1 Peter 4:15By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler;

 

1 Peter 4:16but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed [get emotional about it], but in that name let him glorify God.

 

The term Christian was not originated by believers but this name was given to them by unbelievers in Antioch and it was definitely a name of derision in the beginning. They were persecuted and experienced a certain element of danger under this name. When persecution backfired and actually made them strong they became proud of this name as a title of honor and that’s why it survived.

 

When Peter is writing the name he is therefore speaking of persecution by those who know nothing of Christ and persecute what they don’t understand and are therefore threatened by.

 

The early Church was taught by Paul and the others the words of the Lord the night before He died:

 

John 15:20

"Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

 

1 Peter 4:17For it is time for judgment [rebound] to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

 

1 Peter 4:18And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved [grace is difficult to comprehend], what will become of the godless man and the sinner [never get it]?

 

1 Peter 4:19Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.