Sermon Tone Analysis

Copyright June 12, 2022 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

In our study of Isaiah we have been continuously reminded that God wants us to trust Him.

He wants us to trust Him because He is trustworthy.

He wants His people to honor Him and bring Him honor and glory.

Today I am going to spend most of my time reflecting on one verse in Isaiah 43:14-28.

God describes the work He is about to do in Israel and then says in Isaiah 43:12,

I have made Israel for myself,

and they will someday honor me before the whole world.

We are going to ask the question, what does it look like to honor God and live for His glory?

This is not a new concept.

Back in 43:7 we read, “Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory.”

Back a little further in Isaiah 42:8 we read,

“I am the Lord; that is my name!

I will not give my glory to anyone else,

nor share my praise with carved idols.

The New Testament talks about our purpose in glorifying God in Eph 1.14, Acts 21:20, Romans 15:9, 1 Cor 6.20, and 1 Peter 2:12.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism (which is a theological teaching tool made up of questions and answers used to instruct those new to the faith) begins with this question: “What is the chief end of man?”

The answer is: “To Glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

The idea is God’s purpose in making us is for us to honor Him and glorify His name.

In other words, God made us so we would see what a great God He is.

I want to give you four ways we can glorify God in our lives.

God is Glorified When We Live for His Praise Rather than our Comfort

In Romans 14, the Apostle Paul wrote,

7 For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves.

8 If we live, it’s to honor the Lord.

And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord.

So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

(Romans 14:8)

This is a tough concept.

We naturally default to living in a way that brings US the most satisfaction and pleasure.

If we are honored, we feel things are good.

If we are suffering, we feel things are bad.

But, if we are living to glorify the Lord, then it may just be the opposite that will be true.

If through our suffering, God’s sufficiency is revealed; if He is praised because of our suffering or even our death; if a disease leads us to praise and honor Him more deeply, then what others might call bad, is actually, good!

Living for His glory means we evaluate every circumstance not by our pleasure or enjoyment but by the honor it brings to the Lord.

Think about the way this radically transforms our thinking!

Peter wrote,

12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.

13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

(1 Peter 4:12-13)

As Jesus was facing the prospect of His own suffering and death He said,

27 “Now my soul is deeply troubled.

Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’?

But this is the very reason I came!

28 Father, bring glory to your name.”

(John 12:27,28)

This should be our prayer: “Father, bring glory to your name.”

We glorify God when we testify to others of his greatness.

The Psalms are filled with invitations to “magnify His name among the nations.”

When we “brag on God” we glorify His name.

That sounds strange, doesn’t it?

Right after the birth of a baby you want to tell everyone.

You want them to see the hundreds of pictures you have of the baby in the same position!

You are completely taken with this little person and you want others to share in the wonder.

What if we treated God that way.

Let’s make a few distinctions here.

First, this is not the same as bragging about our church.

Talking about how great a particular church is, is not glorifying God, it is glorifying an organization or a group.

You might even say it is magnifying yourself because you are smart enough to be going to such a great church!

The best church is not the one with the best advertising campaign.

The best church is the One people are drawn to because they see Jesus in the church and encounter the greatness of God (as opposed to the worship team, or rock-star Pastoral team).

To glorify God means to testify to His attributes or character.

In other words, we tell others about God as sovereign (or Ruler) over all things.

We point to Him as the one who guides history and is perfect in purity, holiness, and wisdom.

As I said earlier, it is in essence to brag about how great God is.

We glorify Him when we recount all His deeds in history and in our life.

We talk about the events recorded in the Bible and the things we have witnessed firsthand.

We must be careful however that we are not doing this to promote ourselves but to underscore His greatness.

Sometimes our testimonies about how messed up we used to be, is actually bragging about how really great a sinner you used to be!

You often get the feeling they wish they could go back to those days!

To recount His grace in our life requires a humility that comes from an awareness of the depth and destruction of OUR sin contrasted with HIS staggering grace.

We Glorify God when we live in the way he’s called is to live

In Isaiah 42:6 we read, “I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness.”

In other words, God has called us to show others what it means to live the right way.

Rather than be swept up in fads, or movements, the Lord calls us to be steady and walk with Him in obedience.

Everybody is “spiritual” today.

Someone has said, “In our world it’s cool to search for God, but uncool to find him.”[1]

In other words, everyone is fine with a theoretical God; the problem is when we say there is a real God and He has called us to live as He designed us to live.

This means there is a standard by which our lives are measured and that is seen as arrogant today.

It is as if people are saying, “Who does this God of yours think He is?”

People may respond with, “Why are you pushing your religion on me?” (Which is not what you are doing at all.)

God calls us to live righteously to show the world His character by the things we do.

He wants us to see that He is right in the way He calls us to live.

This will lead us to glorify Him.

We glorify God when we don’t just hear what He is saying . . . it is when we LISTEN to what He is saying.

We can hear and do nothing.

Listening results in a response.

In 1 John 5:3 John tells us that the commands of God “are not burdensome.”

Let’s be honest, that is not the same as saying they are easy!

It is not easy to swim in the stream of God’s ways when the strong current of the world is fighting against us.

However, the only real hope for the world is to learn about the grace of God and begin to live it out in our lives.

God gave us the commands He gave us because, first, it is the best way to live.

Every electronic gadget out there works best when you use it the way it was designed to be used.

When we live guided by our whims and desires we are generally living according to the perverted ways of the world.

This may be easier (because everyone is doing it and it means we don’t have to develop any discipline) but it is not better.

When we live the way God has commanded us to live, we find

· greater joy in our living,

· greater peace in times of difficulty

· we have better relationships with others

· we receive greater respect from the people around us