Glorify (1392) (doxazo from doxa = ) has a secular meaning of to think, suppose, be of opinion, (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Xenophon, Plato, Thucydides) but strictly speaking is not used in this sense in Scripture which has two basic meanings
(1) To influence one’s opinion about another so as to enhance the latter’s reputation - most often Scripture speaks of glorifying God, the Father or the Son. Miracles caused people to glorify God. (Mt 6:2; Rev 18:7 Mt 5:16, 9.8" class="scriptRef">Mt 9:8; Mt 15:31; Mk 2:12; Lk 5:25, 26; 7:16; 13:13; 17:15; 18:43; 23:47; Ac 11:18; 21:20; Ro 15:6, 9; 1Pe 2:12; Gal 1:24 1Co 6:20; 1Pe 4:16.God’s spirit is honored 1Pe 4:14, because of something seen and heard = Lk 2:20; Ac 4:21; 2Cor 9:13; 1Pe 4:11. Ro 1:21 (the cardinal sin is not to be grateful for benefactions; reciprocity requires glorification of the benefactor, hence the freq. reference to the effect that one knows how to acknowledge benefits, Rev 15:4 Of Christ Lk 4:15;Ro 11:13. 1Cor 12:26)
John 15:8 (Jesus said) “My Father is glorified by this (What?), that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples."
Comment: Fruit speaks of something produced by a outside power. We bear fruit as the Spirit supernaturally works in and through us (Gal 5:22-note, Gal 5:23-note). This fruit is synonymous in this context with good deeds or good works (Good Deeds - study). If this "fruits" are "our" self initiated, self empowered, "good" works, most likely we will receive the glory (praise - cp Pr 27:21) from men, but if they are Spirit initiated and empowered works, God can receive the proper glory and honor He alone deserves. "Good" works must be "God" works so that our Father in heaven might be properly glorified by men. Mt 5:16-note teaches the same principle - men see the works but these works are such that they are not natural works but point to and give a proper estimate of the Supernatural One, our Father, Who is the source of all "good" works. Amen!
(2) to cause to have splendid greatness - clothe in splendor, glorify, of the glory that comes in the next life. (Jn 7:39, 12:16 = of Jesus glorified state;
The simple definition of glorify is to give a correct opinion, a correct estimate of Who God is. How? By the way you behave (your "fruit" Jn 15:8, cp Mt 5:16-note) and in the present context, by what you do (or better yet "don't do") with your physical body.
THE
CHIEF END
OF MAN
The Westminster Catechism asks...
Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man's chief end is to glorify God [a] and to enjoy him for ever. [b]
[a]. Ps 86:9-note; Php 1:11-note; Is 60:21; Ro 11:36-note; 1Co 6:20; 10:31; Re 4:11-note
[b]. Ps 16:5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11-note; Ps 144:15-note; Is 12:2; Lk 2:10; Php 4:4-note; Re 21:3,4-note (The Westminster Shorter Catechism)
Practically this means to manifest His qualities in one's life (not that we are to be "little gods" but we are partakers of His divine nature 2Pe 1:4-note). When we obey Paul's command to continually discipline ourselves for godliness, we are well on the "road" to glorifying God, for godliness in simple terms is "God-likeness"! As we imitate Him (Paul = 1Cor 11:1, Eph 5:1-note - What does this look like? see Eph 5:2-note; What is the response to imitation of God? 1Th 1:6-note, 1Th 2:14-note; He 6:12-note, 1Pe 2:21-note = walk in Messiah's footprints), empowered by Him (His Spirit - Eph 3:16-note), the lost world sees something that is not natural but which is in fact supernatural. When our supernatural lives (or better His supernatural life, Gal 2:20-note) glorify God, some observers will be drawn to the aroma (2Co 2:15, 16, cp Ep 5:2-note), while others will shrink back (He 10:39-note, cp Jn 3:20), but both groups will know they have witnessed a proper estimate or opinion of the invisible God! When we properly glorify God to others, a neutral response is not really an option (cp 1Ki 18:21 when Elijah gave a "proper opinion" of God!). Even as the Holy Word, spoken with unction and the enduement of the Holy Spirit, will comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, so too, a holy life empowered by the Holy Spirit will elicit a response! Believers are to live for "the praise of His glory" (Ep 1:12-note, Ep 1:14-note, 1Cor 10:31, Php 1:11-note, the "fruit" of prayer, Php 1:9, 10-note). (For a more erudite elucidation see Puritan Thomas Watson's discussion Man's Chief End is to Glorify God)
John Witmer writes that
To glorify God (Ro 15:6-note) or to give Him glory (Jer 13:16) means to show forth His virtues (1Pe 2:9-note). Our worship is to give Him glory (Rev 4:11-note, Re 5:12-note). Even the answers to our prayers bring glory to the Father (Jn 14:13). His glory will be rewarded in believers when they are in His presence in heaven (Ro 8:18-note). As Paul wrote, God is the One "to Whom be glory for ever and ever." (Gal 1:5, Jude 1:25) Display in your daily life the qualities of the Holy Spirit that will allow others to see Christ in you and to glorify God. (The Theological Wordbook, page 138-139)
Glorify is in the aorist imperative is a command calling for an immediate (no procrastination, no delay) response. Don't hesitate. Don't rationalize. Like the popular secular commercial slogan says "Just Do It!". The active voice signifies you are the one who must carry out the performance of this command. From other Scriptures, we know that although we must carry out this command, it is God's provision of His strengthening grace and His enabling Spirit which allow us to carry out this command and even give us the desire to do it in such a way that it is pleasing to our Father. (Php 2:12-note, Php 2:13-note, cp Ezek 36:26, 27 which is an OT allusion to the New Covenant of grace and the promised Spirit). Don't try to obey this command in your own strength beloved! You can't and God never said you could (remember Jesus' words "I am with you even to the end of the age" Mt 28:20 and the writer of Hebrews reminder from God that "I will never leave you nor forsake you" He 13:5-note) Do you feel weak and inadequate to obey Paul's command? Good! You're in the place of grace, for when you are weak, then the Spirit of Christ can be strong (2Cor 12:9-note, 2Co 12:10-note). Remember that you are under grace, not law, so don't try to draw up a list of do's and don'ts to help you obey. The Law could not justify (past tense salvation) us, so why do we think it can it sanctify (present tense salvation) us?! The law will only arouse the old nature (Ro 7:5-note), that intractably anti-god flesh nature that still resides in our mortal bodies (Gal 3:1, 2 and especially Gal 3:3). Instead of rules, continually choose to yield to the Spirit's prompting, and you will not fulfill the evil desires of your fallen flesh (Gal 5:16-note). And remember that God will not test you beyond what you are able to stand against (1Cor 10:13-note; cp Gal 5:1). If you fail to stand (we all fail, for we are not yet glorified!), then don't "throw in the towel", don't "get down" on yourself. Instead, get back up (Pr 24:16), confess and turn from you sin (1Jn 1:9), and submit yourself afresh to the Spirit (Ep 5:18-note) and walk in a manner that glorifies God (Mt 5:16-note). Walking is not easy for babies, and it takes weeks to months before they are steady and confident. Spiritual walking is not much different. It's just taking one step after another, making steady progress in the right direction. Our spiritual walk is not an arrival (in this life at least) but a process. So make the decision to glorify God in your body, once and for all (that's the idea of the aorist imperative). Then every time you are tempted not to obey the command to glorify God, take that next step in faith, trusting in the truth that the Spirit will lead you and empower you (Gal 5:18-note; Gal 5:25-note). God is for us (Ro 8:31-note) and His Son is interceding for us (Ro 8:34-note), so who can be against us in this battle (cp 1Pe 2:11-note) for purity and holiness in the midst of a increasingly crooked and perverse society (Php 2:15-note). God has called us to be more than conquerors through Christ (Ro 8:37-note) and given us everything necessary for life and godliness in a true knowledge of Him (2Pe 1:3-note, 2Pe 1:4-note). Walk out in confidence that the battle is the Lord's (2Chr 20:15. 17, Ps 24:8, Pr 21:31, Zech 14:3) and that the victory has already been won at Calvary.
Doxazo - 61x in 53v - 16" class="scriptRef">Mt 5:16; 6:2 = self glory/honor; 9.8" class="scriptRef">Mt 9:8 = they glorified or gave a proper estimate of God; Mt 15:31; Mk 2:12; Lk 2:20; 4:15; 5:25, 26; 7:16; 13:13; 17:15; 18:43; 23.47" class="scriptRef">23:47; Jn 7:39; 8:54; 11:4; 12:16, 23, 28; 13:31, 32; 14:13; 15:8; 16:14; 17:1, 4, 5, 10; 21:19; Acts 3:13; 4:21; 11:18; 13:48; 21:20; Ro 1:21; 8:30; 11:13; 15:6, 9; 1Co 6:20; 12:26; 2Co 3:10; 9:13; Gal 1:24; 2Th 3:1; He 5:5; 1Pe 1:8; 2:12; 4:11, 16; Re 15:4; 18:7.
NAS renders doxazo as - full of glory(1), glorified(20), glorifies(1), glorify(19), glorifying(12), had glory(1), has...glory(1), honor(1), honored(2), magnify(1), praised(1), praising(1).
Doxazo - 5.6" class="scriptRef">67v in the Septuagint (LXX)- Ex 15:1, 2, 6, 11" class="scriptRef">11" class="scriptRef">11, 21; 9-Exod.34.30" class="scriptRef">34:29, 30, 35; Lev 10:3; Deut 33:16; Jdg 9:9; 13.17" class="scriptRef">13:17; 1Sa 2:29, 30; 15:30; 2Sa 6:20, 22; 10:3; 1Chr 17:18; 19:3; Ezra 7:27; 8:36; Esther 3:1; 4:17; 6:6, 7, 9, 11; 10:3; Ps 15:4; 23" class="scriptRef">23" class="scriptRef">22:23; 37.20" class="scriptRef">37:20; 50:15, 23; 86:9, 12; 87:3; 91:15; Pr 13:18; Isa 4:2; 5:16; 10:15; 24:23; 25:1; 33:10; 42:10; 43:4, 23; 44:23; 49:3, 5; 52:13; 55:5; 60:7, 13; 66:5; Lam 1:8; 5:12; Ezek 39:13; Da 1:20; 2:6; 4:34, 37; 5:23; 11:38; Mal 1:6, 11
In your body - The Living Bible expands on Paul's thought of the "body" rendering it "So use every part of your body to give glory back to God because he owns it."
Paul has just stated that the believer's physical body is the Temple of the living and holy God. "What was the purpose of a temple in Paul's day?" Clearly a temple was a place where one would worship. The believers, many of whom had been idol worshippers, understood Paul's allusion, for they had often frequented the pagan temples and "worshipped" the false gods by committing lewd acts with the pagan priestesses ("temple prostitutes".) Paul is saying now the believer's body has the supreme purpose of glorifying God. Practically he as calling for the Corinthian believers to walk in a manner worthy of their holy calling so that they would cause others (both believers and pagans) to have a proper opinion of the one true God. The way the believer lives and uses his or her body influences the opinion of others in essentially one of two ways, either enhancing God's reputation or denigrating it! Let us walk worthy so that we might obey this urgent call to glorify God in our bodies in a sex saturated society that is doing anything and everything to and with their bodies!
MacArthur tells a story illustrating the point of this section...
A friend once took a visitor to a large Catholic cathedral in the east. The visitor wanted to pray at the station of his favorite saint. But upon arriving at that station, he was startled to find no candles lit, and a sign saying, “Do not worship here; closed for cleaning.” The Corinthians provided no divine focus, either, no place for seeking souls to worship, since they were unclean. That, Paul said, had to change. (MacArthur, J: 1Corinthians. Chicago: Moody Press or Logos)
Zeisler remarks...
What a possibility, that God himself could be glorified by our bodies! Furthermore, remembering the context here, Paul is saying that God is glorified when we resist temptation to involve ourselves in sexual immorality. But it is also true to say that God is glorified when we use our sexuality for the purposes he intended. Husbands and wives should rejoice in their sexuality. They should grow in it and experience it more fully. That too is glorifying to God. There is nothing of an anti-sexual bias in these verses. The warnings are against being controlled in ways that are ungodly. Proverbs 5:18 (note) says,
"Rejoice in the wife of your youth. As a loving hind and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be intoxicated always with her love."
There is a sense in which denying what is wrong and agreeing to what is right in our sexual behavior is an extraordinary gift. Paul is not saying we should run from it, rather he is saying we should use our bodies to glorify God.
It seems perhaps ironic, perhaps not so ironic, that of all the people alive today who can look forward to a future in which there can be joy attached to their sexuality, it is precisely those people who have listened all along; those who have decided that monogamy or abstinence are the only options for them. We can be married to one mate, or else we can trust the Lord to keep our sexuality channeled solely for that purpose. People who have decided to act in this fashion do not need to fear sexually transmitted disease, and death.
And, as far as those who claim to be liberated are concerned, those who claim to know more about human sexuality than the Bible knows, increasingly their sex lives will be tainted with fear, restriction and uncertainty. They will find themselves living in a world filled with passions that may very well kill them. Those who have determined to glorify God in their bodies, however, are the ones who can look forward to their sexuality with joy, not fear.
Sex for Christians should never be considered casual. It is not something done in private, as if God were not present. It is always important. God is always present, and will be either honored or dishonored by our behavior. Sexual sin is demeaning and costly.
But whatever your past has been does not have to determine your future. If you are in Christ, as we have already seen, "you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified." (1Cor 6:11) A great price has been paid for you (1Pe 1:18, 19-note). "Therefore," says Paul, "glorify God in your body." Make the choice to glorify God. Then, because he loves us, in choosing to glorify him we will find ourselves given life, joy, and a sense of approval. (GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODY)
McGee commenting on 1Co 6:19, 20 observes...
Here is a remarkable truth which many believers have not received. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Because our bodies belong to God, we are not to share our bodies in fornication. This leads to a discussion of marriage, which will be the subject of the next chapter.
James Rosscup in his article on "Fruit in the New Testament" writing on the topic of sacred versus secular exhorts us as believers to ...
avoid any secularistic spirit (i.e., worldly or empty of true spiritual attitudes) and (instead to) commend a sacred spirit. But one can labor under the self-imposed burden of a false sacred-secular antithesis. He can compartmentalize life artificially by the criteria of external tasks and surroundings per se. He may feel at ease in a church pew. But when he ventures into the “world” at the office, he is bothered by a gnawing doubt that Christ can ever relate Himself as closely to secular acts in sacred service or surroundings. The truth is, however, that fruit is basically a product of Christ’s life from within the Christian. God dwells in his body, which is a spiritual temple, so that wherever the believer goes and whatever his task, his work can be a sacred ministration that is God-centered and God-glorifying (1Cor. 6:19, 20; 1 Co 10:31; Col 3:17, 23). In a chapter entitled “The Sacrament of Living,” Tozer has shown that spirituality toward God cannot be relegated into a cramped sacred-secular mold. Sacredness and fruitfulness can relate to events of a variety as infinite as life itself. The Christian today can say of the total myriad of activities in which life inevitably involves him, just what Christ says in John 8:29, “I do always the things that please Him.” (Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 125: Issue 497. Page 63. 1968) (Bolding added)
Harry Ironside...
In our Authorized Version (See KJV above) it adds the words: "And in your spirit, which are God's." I think somebody making a copy of this in the old Greek text got down this far and had not got the thought at all, but felt that there was something left out and so added these words in the margin. That is the very thing the apostle is not saying. What he is saying is, "Keep to this thought; your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit; if you glorify Him in your body, you will in your spirit." Glorify God in your body and the spiritual side will take care of itself.
Rich Cathers...
Have you ever had to borrow another person’s car for a day? You usually want to be extra careful about how you drive. The car doesn’t belong to you. You are especially careful if the car is a costly one. Your body doesn’t belong to you anymore. The equipment no longer belongs to you. Don’t trash the equipment.
Story from Kay Arthur...describing a letter she received from a friend who writes...
“It all began last October when I was listening to a message on the Cross by Irwin Lutzer. In this message he told the story of a homosexual that had been healed and how his story was still being used by God to heal others even long after his death of AIDS. This message gave me the courage I needed to say, ‘I will come out of the closet.’”
Now this man had become a Christian. He was a homosexual. He was also a murderer. He didn’t tell Kay about the homosexuality, only the murder. He was afraid to tell her and now he was writing to tell her.
He continued, “I’ve got men that I never thought of coming to me trying to get me to perform things that I won’t, even though they try to force it on me. I think you would be proud of me in the way that I’ve been handling it. I remember what you told us during the 1 Corinthians study. When he tried, I told him that I couldn’t do that. He asked why. I said, ‘I just don’t do that anymore.’ Then he stated, ‘It’s just you and me. No one else will know.’ I stated, ‘But I’d know—and God would.’ Another time my response was, ‘I just can’t drag God into that.’ He said, ‘What do you mean?’ I told him that the Holy Spirit of God lives inside of me and everything that I do God is doing with me through His Spirit. I’m not going to drag God into something that He calls an abomination in His sight. Through Jesus Christ, I’ve been victorious through all these trials. I really don’t look forward to them but I do know that they’re helping to strengthen and prove my faith.”
That’s the story of Kay’s friend. How could he resist? It’s because of what he knows. (Lecture)
Nor Silver Nor Gold
by James M Gray
Nor silver nor gold hath obtained my redemption,
Nor riches of earth could have saved my poor soul;
The blood of the cross is my only foundation,
The death of my Savior now maketh me whole.
Refrain
I am redeemed, but not with silver,
I am bought, but not with gold;
Bought with a price, the blood of Jesus,
Precious price of love untold.
Nor silver nor gold hath obtained my redemption,
The guilt on my conscience too heavy had grown;
The blood of the cross is my only foundation,
The death of my Savior could only atone.
Refrain
Nor silver nor gold hath obtained my redemption,
The holy commandment forbade me draw near;
The blood of the cross is my only foundation,
The death of my Savior removeth my fear.
Refrain
Nor silver nor gold hath obtained my redemption,
The way into Heaven could not thus be bought;
The blood of the cross is my only foundation,
The death of my Savior redemption hath wrought.
Refrain
Spurgeon in his notes writes...
Glorify God in your body—
By cleanliness, chastity, temperance, industry, cheerfulness, self-denial, patience, etc.
Glorify God—
In a suffering body by patience unto death.
In a working body by holy diligence.
In a worshipping body by bowing in prayer.
In a well-governed body by self-denial.
In an obedient body by doing the Lord's will with delight.
Glorify God in your spirit—
By holiness, faith, zeal, love, heavenliness, cheerfulness, fervor, humility, expectancy, etc.
Remember, O redeemed one, that—
1. You will be closely watched by Christ's enemies.
2. You will be expected to be more gracious than others; and rightly so, since you claim to be Christ's own.
3. If you are not holy, the sacred name of your Redeemer, your Proprietor, and you Indweller will be compromised.
4. But if you live a redeemed life, your God will be honored.
Let the world see what Redemption can do.
Let the world see what sort of men "God's Own" are.
The "opposite" of glorifying God in our body is the tragic picture in Romans 1 where Paul writes...
For even though they knew God, they did not honor (glorify) Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened....Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. (Ro 1:21-note, Ro 1:24, 25-note, Ro 1:26, 27-note)
Comment: Our bodies were originally created in God's image (Ge 1:26, 27) that we might give Him glory (See Man's Chief End is to Glorify God by Thomas Watson), a purpose that was derailed when sin entered the world. But believers have been redeemed so that they might fulfill one of their original purposes - to glorify God in their body! In this tragic section of Romans, Paul explains how a failure to glorify God spirals downward until finally God turned them over to the power of their depraved nature with the result being that their bodies were dishonored. They were of no value to glorify the Creator. But praise God that because of His great mercy and grace and the cleansing blood of Christ, even those "dishonored" bodies can be redeemed and restored to a state of usefulness in which they can glorify God.
I like how Gene Pensiero summarizes 1Corinthians 6...
The church on earth, and each individual Christian in the church, is called to kingdom living right now. We should be showing those lost in the kingdom of darkness what it is like to be in the kingdom of heaven. Suing your brothers and sisters certainly does not show a kingdom lifestyle. Neither does indulging yourself in sexual immorality. Free yourself from lawsuits; flee from sexual immorality. Live as though you are in the Lord’s body, and as though the Lord is in your body. (Notes)
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Traveling from his own province through Germany on his way to the city of Paris, Count Zinzendorf, then a young man, halted at the town of Dusseldorf where there was a fine collection of paintings. He entered the art gallery to spend an hour or two admiring the works of some of the great masters. Coming to a picture of Christ suffering on the cross, he stood transfixed before the scene and read the words that the artist, Steinberg, had added to his painting:
“All this I did for thee.
What hast thou done or Me?”
This was the turning point of his life. Abandoning his journey to Paris, he returned to his home and consecrated himself to the claims of the Lord Jesus Christ. Devoting himself and his wealth to the Master’s service, he became the leader of the Moravian brethren (1 Corinthians 6:20; Galatians 2:20).
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Motivation to Obey the Command to glorify God - Winston Churchill - A wealthy English family once invited friends to spend some time at their beautiful estate. The happy gathering was almost plunged into a terrible tragedy on the first day. When the children went swimming, one of them got into deep water and was drowning. Fortunately, the gardener heard the others screaming and plunged into the pool to rescue the helpless victim. That youngster was Winston Churchill. His parents, deeply grateful to the gardener, asked what they could do to reward him. He hesitated, then said, “I wish my son could go to college someday and become a doctor.” “We’ll pay his way,” replied Churchill’s parents.
Years later when Sir Winston was prime minister of England, he was stricken with pneumonia. Greatly concerned, the king summoned the best physician who could be found to the bedside of the ailing leader. That doctor was Sir Alexander Fleming, the developer of penicillin. He was also the son of that gardener who had saved Winston from drowning as a boy! Later Churchill said, “Rarely has one man owed his life twice to the same person.”
What was rare in the case of that great English statesman is in a much deeper sense a wonderful reality for every believer in Christ. The Heavenly Father has given us the gift of physical life, and then through His Son, the Great Physician, He has imparted to us eternal life.
May the awareness that we are doubly indebted to God as our Creator and Redeemer motivate us to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto Him. - D J DeHaan (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
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The Total Package - Our family had lived in the same house for many years, and it was time for a change of scenery. When we finally discovered a house we liked, we began negotiating for its purchase.
We had to find out if the refrigerator stayed. And the stove. But we knew some things were not going to stay. The furniture didn't come with the house. And I jokingly wondered if we could keep the cars in the garage.
When you buy a house, you may not get the total package. The owner takes his belongings with him, although you may have the option to buy some of them.
Many things in life have purchase options. But that's not how it is with our faith in Jesus Christ. When Jesus purchased us with His blood on the cross, He didn't get only a portion of us. He's not just the Lord of the religious stuff; He owns everything. So why do we sometimes live as if parts of us don't belong to Jesus? That's not fair to the buyer.
"You were bought at a price," Paul wrote. "Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's" (1Corinthians 6:20).
Christ bought us—body, soul, and spirit. Let's make sure we let Him use the total package for His glory.— Dave Branon (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
You have bought us, and no longer
Can we claim to be our own;
Giving freely, naught withholding,
We shall serve You, Lord, alone. —Murray
Jesus gave His all; He deserves our all.
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Is your living room the site of daily murders? Do you routinely entertain guests who swear at you and make fun of your faith? Have you ever had somebody drop by and try to convince you that sexual sin is a joking matter and that violence is entertaining?
You've had all these things happen in your house if you've watched many of the programs on TV. This is not late-breaking news. The moral content of television has been on the decline for years. But that doesn't mean we have to go down with it.
The psalmist, who knew as much about TV as most of us know about tending sheep, said, "Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things" (Ps. 119:37). That's a good verse to post over our TV set.
For the most part, the entertainment world is serious about casting off restraints. Just as seriously, we should protect our minds. These guidelines can help:
Avoid jokes about sex (1 Cor. 6:18; Eph. 5:3-4,12).
Don't listen to vulgar language (Eph. 5:4).
Don't let ads cause you to covet (Ex. 20:17; Col. 3:5).
Don't let your eyes cause you to sin (Mt. 18:9).
Honor God with your viewing habits. When it comes to entertainment, watch what you watch. — Dave Branon (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
Temptation's face is young and soft
And smooth in its appeal;
But when it's through it ruins lives
With velvet fists of steel. --Gustafson
Use self-control with your remote control.
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A NEWSPAPER carried an article entitled "Victimless Crimes Get Second Look." The writer stated that practices such as prostitution and gambling are being reevaluated by state and federal authorities. Because laws governing these activities are hard to enforce, some think they should be legalized. Some states no longer consider drunkenness a crime. And a few have no laws against illicit sexual acts between consenting adults. It's claimed that such behavior is victimless because no one gets hurt.
We must not be fooled by this faulty reasoning. Sin always hurts people, the one committing it as well as others. No person lives in isolation, and a society is only as strong as the individuals in it.
Pressing even deeper, we see that sin offends a holy God who made us in His image and who tells us what's right and wrong. His commands are always for our good. To disobey them is to miss knowing His best for us.
As Christians, we do not belong to ourselves—we are the possession of another. To violate body, mind, and soul through indulging the lusts of the flesh, therefore, is to strike out at God who made us and indwells us by His Spirit.
We may think some things are harmless. But even when no one else is directly affected, we hurt ourselves and grieve the One who created us. —D J De Haan (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
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J C Philpot - "You are bought with a price." –1 Corinthians 6:20
How deep, how dreadful, of what alarming magnitude, of how black a dye, of how ingrained a stamp must sin be, to need such an atonement--no less than the blood of him who was the Son of God--to put it away. What a slave to sin and Satan, what a captive to the power of lust, how deeply sunk, how awfully degraded, how utterly lost and undone must guilty man be to need a sacrifice like this! "You are bought with a price." Have you ever felt your bondage to sin, Satan, and the world? Have you ever groaned, cried, grieved, sorrowed, and lamented under your miserable captivity to the power of sin? Has the iron ever entered into your soul? Have you ever clanked your fetters, and as you did so, and tried to burst them, they seemed to bind round about you with a weight scarcely endurable?
But have you ever found any liberty from them, any enlargement of heart, any sweet going forth from the prison-house, any dropping of the manacles from your hands, and the fetters from your feet, so as to walk in some measure of gospel liberty?
"You are bought with a price." You were slaves of sin and Satan; you were shut up in the dark cell, where all was gloom and despondency; there was little hope in your soul of ever being saved. But there was an entrance of gospel light into your dungeon; there was a coming out of the house of bondage; there was a being brought into the light of God's countenance, shining forth in his dear Son. Now, this is not only being bought with a price, but experiencing the blessed effects of it.
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