FATHER, Be Glorified by Pastor Afolabi Ghandi-Olaoye . May 9, 2010. Watch photo album of the All Nation Praise Celebration
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Sermon Synopsis
1 Corinthians 6:20 says
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
And in 1 Peter 4:16 we see that not even a man’s overwhelming situation should stand in the way of God’s glory: “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” The truth is we were made to glorify God whatever the circumstance; but our lives only glorify God when we are dead to the flesh.
John 17:1-5 shows how God was glorified through Jesus’ death to the flesh:
These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
In 2 King 3:1-27 we meet Jehoram the king of Israel whose territorial authority was being questioned by one of his subjects, the king of Moab. After the death of Ahab, Jehoram’s father, the Moabites rebelled against Jehoram by refusing to pay to Israel their usual due. Jehoram seeks the help of Jehoshaphat the King of Judah, and the king of Edom to quell Moab’s rebellion. But as they set out on the journey to fight against Moab, they suffer a setback. They ran out of water for both the host and the cattle. Amidst the lack, and staring defeat in the face, Jehoshaphat suggests seeking out God through his prophet on the way out of their challenge. Elisha, the prophet, tells them what to do in verses 16-19:
And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches.
For thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.
And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.
And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.
It must be good that victory is coming but has anyone forgotten that the host and the cattle were already weak and dehydrated from lack of water? How were they going to be able to make ditches in that state?
But see what happened in verse 20 when they in spite of their tired state followed God’s instructions:
And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.
Water came to them in the valley and the lives of the host and cattle were restored. They sacrificed and got rewarded for their efforts. And of course the three kings overcame the Moabites at great costs to the king of Moab. He sacrificed the heir apparent, his son, in order to get victory, to no avail.
Sacrifice is the forfeiture of something greatly valued for the sake of one of a higher value. You bet the Kings and their hosts would ordinarily not want to dig the ditches in their weak ness nor would the king of Moab rather sacrifice his son. But they forfeited something greatly valued for another of a higher value to them. Is glorifying God of a greater value to you? Would you sacrifice what matters to you to glorify God? Sacrifice comes in different forms. Here are some:
- Sacrifice of Thanksgiving
- Sacrifice of Obedience
- Sacrifice of Labor in God’s vineyard
- Sacrifice of Love
- Sacrifice of Consecration (Romans 12)
- Sacrifice of Prayer
- Sacrifice of Commitment ( 1 Samuel 3:15)
- Sacrifice of Giving
