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How To Drink Orange Juice to the Glory of God

September 15, 1986 | by John Piper | Topic: Christian Hedonism Subscribe to...

When I asked two weeks ago, "Is the Doctrine of Total Depravity Biblical" my answer was, Yes. And one thing I meant was that all of our actions (apart from saving grace) are morally ruined. In other words, everything an unbeliever does is sinful and thus unacceptable to God. I said that one of my reasons for believing this comes from 1 Corinthians 10:31. "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." I asked, "Is it sin to disobey this Biblical commandment?" Yes. So I draw this somber conclusion: It is sin to eat or drink or do anything NOT for the glory of God. In other words, sin is not just a list of harmful things (killing, stealing, etc.). Sin is leaving God out of account in the ordinary affairs of your life. Sin is anything you do that you don't do for the glory of God. But what do unbelievers do for the glory of God? Nothing. Therefore everything they do is sinful. That is what I mean by saying that, apart from saving grace, all we do is morally ruined. Some of you then asked the practical question: Well, how do you "eat and drink" to the glory of God? Say, orange juice for breakfast? One answer is found in 1 Timothy 4:3-5: "[Some] forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer." Orange juice was "created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe the truth." Therefore, unbelievers cannot use orange juice for the purpose God intended namely, as an occasion for heartfelt gratitude to God from a truth heart of faith. But believers can, and this is how they glorify God. Their drinking orange juice is "sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer." The word of God teaches us that the juice, and even our strength to drink it, is a free gift of God (1 Corinthians 4:7; 1 Peter 4:11). Theprayer is our humble response of thanks from the heart. Believing this truth in the word, and offering thanks in prayer is one way we drink orange juice to the glory of God. The other way is to drink lovingly. For example, don't insist on the biggest helping. This is taught in the context of 1 Corinthians 10:33, "I try to please all men in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved" (RSV). "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). Everything we doeven drinking orange juicecan be done with the intention and hope that it will be to the advantage of many that they may be saved. Let us praise God that we have escaped by his grace from the total ruin of all our deeds. And let us do everything, whether we eat or drink, to the glory of our great God! Seeking to saturate all of life with God, Pastor John

Our Weakness, Gods Weapon


I Corinthians 1:25-2:5 Gods ways are no mans ways. Unlike humans, when God is looking for a man to do a great job, he chooses the foolish to confound the wise and the weak things to confound the mighty. According to God, the greatest man that ever lived-apart from Jesus Christ was John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11). In the eyes of the world, John the Baptist was a nobody from nowhere with nothing. That is exactly the reason god used him. God uses nobodies from nowhere with nothing who are willing to depend upon Him for everything. I. God Uses Our Weakness (1:26-28) God uses men and women who abandon their reliance on their own natural abilities and resources and cast their dependence totally upon God. (I Corinthians 1:26). It is only when one is content to be nothing and depend upon nothing but God that God can be everything. It is only when God is everything that God is content to display His power. (Isaiah 40:29; II Corinthians 3:5; II Corinthians 12:10). In other words, when we see our own inadequacy, our own inability, our o wn insufficiency, then we will see Gods ability and His sufficiency in every area of our life. II. Weakness Demands Humility (2:1-4) (II Corinthians 2:1-4) In this passage, Paul showed the true meaning of humility. A humble man recognizes his own inability and his own insufficiency and depends upon God alone. A humble man has a proper evaluation of himself. (II Corinthians 12:7) God often brings infirmities, difficulties, sicknesses and various types of suffering into our lives in order to humble us and to keep us dependent upon Him so that He can display His power and use us in the lives of others. III. Humility Brings Dependence (2:1-4) God requires humility to keep us weak. We are to be weak so that we are left with no choice but to depend upon God. Our strengths; though they are good, can actually be a hindrance and rob us of our usability. God uses people who are dependent upon nothing but Him alone. (Story of Moses/Gideon) That is how God works. He has to first remove our strength and bring us to the end of ourselves so that we will look at the task and say, God, I cannot do this without Your strength. Weakness demands humility, and humility brings dependence. IV. Dependence Displays Gods Power (1:27-28) God displays His power in the foolish, the weak, the base and the despised to show the world that it is not the work of man but unmistakably the work of God. (Story inMalaybalay Mindanao) God uses weak things, and weakness demands humility. Humility brings dependence, and dependence displays Gods power. Our weakness is Gods weapon.
September 16, 2010 (Pathway to Power by Michael A Redick)

Wanted Dead and Alive Romans 6:1-14 Romans chapter 6 is Gods wanted poster. However, God is not looking for criminals. He is looking for Christians. He wants us dead and alive- that is, dead to sin and alive to Him.Victory over sin begins when we become aware of and appropriate the reality that we are dead to sin and alive in Christ. I. An awareness of our position in Christ (vv. 1-10): when Christ died on the cross, He died as our substitute. He died for us and as us, setting us free from the penalty of sin and identifying Himself with us and setting us free from the power sin and giving us new position in Christ.

A. We are one with Christ (vv. 3-5): the word baptize in verse 3 pictures our oneness with Christ when He died for us and as us. It refers to our Spirit baptism or to the day of our salvation (I Corinthians 12:13). Salvation totally identified us with Christ, making us one with His death and resurrection. B. We are dead to sin (vv. 1-2, 6-8): crucifixion of the old man is not something that we do; it refers to something that has already been done. (Ephesians 4:22 & 24; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:5) C. We are alive in Christ (vv. 9-10): our salvation identified us with Christs death and resurrection. Christ defeated the penalty of sin, broke the power of sin, and placed His power within us, thus empowering us to walk in the newness of life. II. An appropriation of our provision in Christ (vv. 11-12): the word reckon is a bookkeeping term and means to impute to ones account or to count on a fact as being true. It is being aware of the fact that Christ has made adequate provision for you and depending on this fact to be true. A. Appropriation terminates the dominion of sin (v.11a): Faith is not based on feeling; it is based on Gods word. He, by faith, imputes victory to our account. B. Appropriation empowers for Holy living (v.11b): the power of Christ is absolutely adequate for our every need. III. An abandonment of our person to Christ (vv. 13-14): in order to maintain victory over the power of sin, we must continually yield ourselves to God. A. Abandonment begins with a decision (v. 13): we are to surrender ourselves to God. This includes the body, the hands, the feet, the eyes, ears and tongue-our entire being. B. Abandonment brings with it deliverance (v.14): we can anticipate daily deliverance and continual victory over indwelling sin. Victory over sin begins by being aware of our position in Christ. It is realized by appropriating our provision in Christ, and it is maintained by abandoning our person to Christ.
August 19, 2010 (Pathway to Power by Michael A Redick)

Carrying Burdens November 11, 2010


Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. ~Galatians 6:2~ When someone we know is struggling under a heavy weight, we can do one of the three things. We can pretend not to notice, we can criticize the person for being weak, or we can offer to help carry the load. People carry all kinds of burdens; some are piled on them by lifes circumstances. Maybe theyre dealing with grief, or an abusive parent, or a broken home. Others have made foolish choices, and now they struggle with the consequences: pregnancy, addiction, public embarrassment. You may think their burdens are none of your business; its your obligation. You can ease their load by showing love, acceptance, and encouragement rather than indifference or criticism. When you are a friend to those in need, you help ease the load they are carrying. There should be no room in the Christians heart for selfishness when so many people need help with their burdens. If we are surrounded by hurting people and we are not moved by compassion, the love of Christ is not in us. Its a great joy and an unparalleled privilege to get alongside someone who is heavyhearted and help lift the burden. Ask God to lead you to a hurting person today, and then watch to see how God wants you to help. Let us help one another in prayer and any ways we can show that we love them as Christ had loved us.

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