August 21^st, 1996 “Live to Glorify God” Bro. Johnstone

John 17:4 “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do."

The Lord is speaking of two things here.

1. "I have glorified thee on the earth." When the Lord lived physically on this earth, He had the one motive of glorifying God. He wants us also to live only to glorify Him. How to glorify God? We must understand that unless we arc converted we cannot glorify God. After conversion we must do the will of God. Then only we can glorify God. Jesus said, "I always do the will of my Father." We must seek the glory of God in all that we do in our lives. We must build our lives to glorify God. We must build our families to glorify God. We must bring up our children to glorify God. We must keep ourselves clean and pure to glorify God. We must work for the glory of God. We must be good students to glorify God. We must seek the glory of God in our lives as the Lord Jesus did.

Matt. 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven." The Lord wants our light to shine. The Lord doesn't want our light to be put under a bushel. Our self-will and selfishness must not hide the light. He wants our light to shine. When does the light shine - only when you become a praying man. On the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus was praying, the light began to shine out of even His clothes. Only when we become praying people the light of God will shine out. When you begin to pray, you will absorb power from God and your life will shine brighter.

When we look into the Bible we see every man of God was a man of prayer. Without a strong prayer life, a person cannot build his spiritual life or serve God. When we look at the life of Brother Daniel, we see how he built up his prayer life as a young student in Machilipatnam. When I was newly converted, I had a great desire to pray like that to build my spiritual life. We must grow in prayer life. Brother Daniel used to say that this Fellowship was the result of prayer. It takes prayer to glorify God.

2. John 15:8 "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples."

We must bear much fruit. How to bear much fruit for God? John 15:2 "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. The Lord says that He will purify us so that we may bring forth more fruit. More purifying means more fruit. This is the privilege of God's servants in God's service. The Lord purifies them and lifts them when they draw closer to Him and do His will. Purity is essential for soul-winning. When we are purified, soul-winning is easy. We need to be purified and sanctified in our thoughts and in our secret life, in our ambitions and motives. We need to be sanctified by God so that God's spirit can make use of us. One of Brother Daniel's friends said, "He was converted at the same time as Bro. Daniel, but brother Daniel fought and fought on his knees for holiness. That is the secret. We need to be purified and sanctified in our thoughts and conscience. Only then God can make use of us. "Every vessel that is purified is prepared for the Master's use."

Rom. 15.5,6 "Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God." God wants us to have oneness amongst us to glorify Him. Oneness brings glory to God. First we must be in oneness with God, then one with God's servants. Then the spirit of God will make use of us. The early church maintained great oneness. Acts 4: 32. "And the multitude... common." Oneness is a very important thing in Christian life for fellowship, among believers in God's work. But only the spirit of God can bring that oneness. We cannot do it. Only the spirit of God can unite us. Eph. 4:3 'Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.' The spirit of God creates that oneness. In families when the husband and wife pray together the spirit of God unites their hearts. When we pray together with God's servants, our hearts are united to pray with the same burden and the same oneness.

John 17.21-23. Here the Lord Jesus is speaking further about oneness. The oneness with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit must be in our midst - V.23. When we are one with God's servants, the devil can't pull us down because their prayers will also support us and strengthen us. The devil wants to divide us and destroy us. When you loose this oneness you are in danger. You get closer to the devil. The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are one! What the Father says, the Son does and what the Son says the Holy Spirit does. They unitedly protect the world. No power can separate them. We should also be so united with God's servants in God's work and then the strength of God will be upon us to guide us, preserve us and support us.