Good morning, everyone. Great to be with you again this morning.
If you'd like to keep your Bibles open there at Isaiah, that would be fantastic.
This vision series, the title of it is All Your Life.
It's up there on the screen. All Your Life.
And yet, it's not about you.
Well, this is what Rick Warren says in the opening of his book, The Purpose Driven Life.
He goes on to say that the purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment,
your peace of mind, or even your happiness.
It is far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions.
If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God.
You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.
That, in essence, is what we've been engaging with over the course of this term,
as we've looked at this topic of all of your life and God's purpose for you,
for us as a church here at St. Paul's.
But a church like this, multi-ethnic, as we've already heard multiple times,
multi-ethnic, multi-generational, is but a mere reflection of God's ultimate goal in history.
The final picture of history and the goal of God's plan for history is in Revelation 5.
We just had a little bit of it read out to us because we wanted to end there at the point
where there's great tears in the heavenly realms because no one can open the scroll.
That's a problem.
It's a massive problem because this scroll is the revelation of God's plans and purposes
for all of history.
And if you don't know what it is, if you can't open it, you can't read, you don't know what it is,
then everything is purposeless.
And so there's tears because there's purposelessness in life.
And then in verse 9 of chapter 5 of Revelation, the Apostle John tells us that Jesus is able to open the scroll
and tells us why Jesus is worthy to open this scroll, this book of the end of history,
so that everything unfolds according to the plan of God.
And he declares there that Jesus is worthy because of how his death relates to all races and tribes
and peoples of the earth.
We read,
You are worthy to take the scroll to open its seals because you were slain.
And with your blood, you purchased people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.
That is the reason why Jesus is the one who can open the book of history
and bring history to its ultimate goal and ending,
is that by his death, he has ransomed for God,
that is for the glory of God and for the worship of God,
people from every tribe and language and nation.
Notice too that everyone who has been ransomed by Jesus is called a priest.
That is, a Christian by definition is a full-time worshipper of God.
That's your job, if you like.
That's your role, your full-time.
You have been rescued from non-worship for worship.
Jesus died to ransom worshippers for God from every race and language and cultures of the earth.
And the goal of all things is in Revelation 5, verses 13 and 14, if you've got that open.
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea
and all that is in them singing,
to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb,
be praise and honour and glory and power forever and ever.
The four living creatures said, Amen.
And the elders fell down and worshipped.
That's it there.
That's the end of all things.
That's the purpose of all things right there.
That right there is what creation is about.
This is what history is about.
It's what the nations are about.
It's what the races are about.
It's what language is about.
It's what St. Paul is about.
It's what my life is about.
It's what your life is about.
Right there.
We exist to worship the magnificent and the gracious God.
And in the end, God's purpose is that we have been ransomed through Christ to do that,
not just now, but for all of eternity, for our joy.
And we will never live out that purpose now or follow through with any commitment that we might have made in this vision series
unless we are captivated by him.
Mere self-will won't do it.
Pulling up our socks and trying harder will not do it.
We must be captivated by Christ.
And our lives will never be captivated and giving glory to God,
worshipping him,
while ever we are captivated by far lesser glories.
While ever we are gazing on far lesser glories,
we will never be captivated by the ultimate glory.
That ultimately, to cut to the chase, is what your devotional life is about.
Your devotional life is about God's presence,
is about seeing Christ in his word for his glory.
We need to see God.
We need to gaze on his glory, to live life well.
That is, we don't exist by bread and water alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
And my thinking of it is that we need that now more than anything.
Anxiety and apathy are rising in our society
and rising in the church after two years of COVID.
I think that the languishing stuff that I've spoken about previously
is a very real thing for us.
One example is our NextGen project.
Now, don't even, you know, scold you on this.
That's not my intention here.
We've got four days to go,
and so far we've raised about $13,000 of our $70,000.
Let me tell you, my experience here is
I've not seen a response like that in 10 years at St. Paul's.
And so therefore, my conclusion is
that what we need now,
even more than we need the rest of that money
to make up the $70,000 that we're after,
we need to see God.
We need to see his glory and be captivated by him.
And so I want to take, as we finish off this vision series,
just take one last glimpse of our great God
and why he is worthy of all of your life.
Why he is worthy for you to be captivated by him,
to worship him, to adore him,
to magnify, glorify him,
and do everything to align to him.
So let's go to Isaiah 6.
Isaiah 6 in one hand
and St. Paul's app in the other,
if you've got that.
If you haven't, I think there's little code things,
QR codes at the back of the seats.
We can get St. Paul's app up.
Isaiah 6, which was just read out to us,
towers like a majestic peak
over the surrounding terrain of Isaiah.
And it is of central importance
to the prophecy of Isaiah.
You see, in Isaiah chapters 1 to 5,
the problem of God's people there
is posed as corruption.
They're described as being corrupt.
And they were corrupt
because their increasing affluence,
God's blessing on their life,
their increasing affluence and wealth,
led them to a dim view of God.
That is, they looked at God
and they loved their shiny money
and bank accounts.
They loved, they were captivated by that,
by the ease of their life,
the comfort of their life.
And so vision of God went like this
as vision of their possessions went like that.
And they felt secure.
They were secure in their mediocrity.
They were secure in their sin.
Just so long as they went through
the rituals of their religious performance.
What they need to see,
what Isaiah need to see,
was God, a greater glory.
And I'm convinced that what we need to see
is a greater glory.
Because right now,
after two years of COVID
and a whole heap of other things
happening in our world,
frankly, just my own life
in this start of this year
has been awful start of the year,
is to realize
that those things are mere myths.
But God endures forever.
So let's do that.
Isaiah chapter 6.
Three points.
First point, glorious God.
Like Revelation 5,
the scene of Isaiah 6
is the throne room of God.
And there are at least seven glimpses
of the greatness of God
that I see here
in the first four verses.
And I just want to go through
those seven things real quickly.
So you need Isaiah 6 open
so that you don't look at me.
I'm not glorious.
God is glorious in his words.
So let's look at there.
First of all,
we notice that God is alive
in the year
that King Uzziah died.
I saw the Lord
seated on a throne.
So Uzziah is dead.
He's no longer sitting
on his throne.
He's dead.
But the King of Kings
still sits,
is seated on his throne.
Psalm 90 verse 2 says,
of this God,
before the mountains were born,
or you brought forth
the earth and the world
from everlasting
to everlasting,
you are God.
That is,
he's the living God.
He was alive
and reigning
on his throne
before he banged
this whole universe
into space
just by the simple
speaking of a word.
He was the living God
when the Great Wall of China
was built
in magnificent feet.
He was the living God
when in 1966,
Time magazine
put on its front cover,
God is dead.
He was alive then.
He will be living
10 trillion
ages from now.
Right now,
that is,
every head of state
that's currently
sitting on a throne
or ruling a government
right now
will not be in existence
within 90 years,
including Putin.
He will not be sitting
on any kind of throne.
He will not have
any palace at all.
But the King of Kings
will be ruling
all things
still.
In a brief
120 years,
this planet
will be populated
by more than
apparently
10.9 billion
brand new people.
And the almost
7.9 billion
that are currently
alive today
will be just like
Uzziah,
dead and buried.
Gone.
And in no time
at all,
the face
of the events
of world history
will bear
no recollection
of our even existence.
We'll be gone.
But not God.
He is
and he always
will be
alive.
He never had
a beginning
and he never
had an end.
That just blows
the mind.
I don't know,
there's nothing
in our world
that never
had a beginning
and never
had an end.
Everything
has a beginning
and an end.
Secondly,
we see this God
is authoritative.
Verse 2,
I saw the Lord
sit on a throne.
There is
no vision
of heaven
in the Bible
that ever
catches a glimpse
of God
cooking a meal,
cutting the grass,
shining shoes,
filling out forms,
loading a truck.
Nothing
like that.
He always
sits
on a throne
and that throne
is his right
to rule
the universe.
We do not
give God
authority over
our lives.
He has it.
He has it already.
We don't give it
to him
and he has it
whether we like it
or not.
I think there are
a few things
more humbling.
Few things
give us that
sense of the
raw majesty
of God
as the truth
that God
is utterly
authoritative
over everything.
That is,
beyond him
there is no
appeal.
There is nowhere
else to go.
Thirdly,
we see that he
is all powerful
and beyond
manipulation.
The throne
of his authority
is not one
amongst many.
He says,
I saw the Lord
sit on a throne
high and exalted.
That is,
that God's throne
is higher
than every
other throne
signifies God's
superior power
to exercise
his authority.
No opposing
authority
can nullify
the decrees
of God.
Nothing.
Power,
sorry,
authority is the
right to rule
power,
power is the
ability to
rule.
And God's
got both.
Nothing
can stand
in the way
of his purposes
being accomplished.
Nothing.
And as
powerful
and beyond
manipulation
he is,
he is the
just judge
of all
of humanity
and he
in the
end
will hold
every
single
person
accountable.
And so
friends,
to be
gripped by
the all
powerful
sovereignty
of God
is either
marvelous
because
you know
he is for
you in
Jesus
or it
is
absolutely
terrifying
because you
know he's
against you.
indifference
kind of
response
simply means
that you
have not
seen him
for who
he is.
Which
much of
western
Christianity
has not
seen him
for who
he is,
we have
domesticated
God into
our image.
the
sovereign
authority
of the
living
God
is a
refuge
full of
joy and
power for
those who
are his.
It is
terrifying
for those
who are
not.
Fourthly,
we see
that this
God is
magnificent.
As I
said,
I saw
the Lord
sit on
a throne
high and
exalted
and the
train of
his robe
filled the
temple.
Now
whenever I
read this,
my mind
goes back
40-something
years
at the
wedding of
Diana Princess
of Wales
back in
1981.
I was
a kid,
I was 11
or something
at the
time when
she got
married.
I remember
having to
endure the
wedding service
as an
11-year-old
in the
middle of
the night
because
parents wanted
to see
this.
It was
like a
wedding
party,
not like
a reception,
I mean a
wedding
party.
I just
remember
going to
this
house,
all these
kids there,
we had
all our
beds lined
up because
we had
to go to
sleep and
get woken
up at
like 1
o'clock in
the morning
or something
like that
to watch
the royal
wedding.
And I
remember
on the
little dodgy
TV,
they were
colour back
in those
days,
but this
little TV
were all
watching
this royal
wedding.
And I
remember
as she
gets out
of the
carriage
and starts
to walk
up the
stairs of
St.
Paul's
Cathedral
and the
train of
her dress
just kept
going and
going.
And as
she's walking
up the
steps,
I think it
was mainly
the women
in the
house,
just went
ooh,
ah,
gasp,
you know,
all this
stuff.
And I'm
sitting there
going,
oh,
let me go
to sleep.
But I
just remember
the gasping
that was
happening in
the room.
It was
spectacular.
It's like it
covered the
steps of
St.
Paul's
Cathedral
in London.
So what
would it
mean if
the train
filled the
aisle and
covered the
seats and
covered the
entire
cathedral and
the choir
loft and
the pulpit
and it
was all
woven from
one single
piece of
thread?
What would
that mean?
Oh,
massive
gasp.
You see,
that God's
robe fills
the entire
heavenly
temple,
not St.
Paul's
Cathedral,
but the
heavenly
temple means
that this
God is
a God
of
incomparable
splendor and
beauty,
magnificence.
When you
look at it,
it's just
gasp.
The best
scenes in
all of
creation is
just a
fraction of
the representation
of the
God who
made it,
of his
magnificence.
I don't
even know
if it's
even
possible
to get
the
Swiss
Alps
and to
make it
even more
spectacular.
But you
gaze on the
Swiss Alps
and you
look at
God,
oh,
he is
phenomenal.
It just
reflects him.
His
magnificence,
his splendor,
his beauty
spills over
in excessive
creative beauty
in the
world,
the wonder
of
creation,
right from
this world
to the
depths of
the seas,
to the
farthest
reaches of
the universe,
from the
tiniest
atoms to
the largest
landscape,
simply
displays
him in
some
measure.
Fifthly,
and you
can see
why number
five is
important,
this God
is revered,
above him
were seraphs,
each with
six wings,
with two
wings,
they covered
their faces,
with two,
they covered
their feet,
and with two
they were
flying.
Now,
no Bible
commentator
really knows
what these
six wing
creatures really
are,
they've got
eyes,
they've got
feet,
they've got
intelligence.
One thing
is for sure,
when you
look at the
heavenly throne
room,
we should not
automatically have
in mind,
when we think
of angels,
chubby little
babies with
wings,
fluttering around
the head of
God in some
way.
It's very
crucial that
when we see
here that when
one of them
speaks,
in verse
four,
the foundation
of the
temple shakes,
the foundation
of the heavenly
throne room
shakes.
That is,
these are not
chubby little
babies with
wings on,
they are no
puny creatures,
there's no silly
little creatures
in heaven,
only magnificent
one.
And the point
of this
scene is
that not
even they
can look
upon
this
God
and nor
do they
feel worthy
to leave
and leave
their feet
exposed in
his presence.
As great
and as good
as they are,
untainted by
human sin
as they
are,
they revere
their created
God with
great humility.
humility.
Now,
this is crucial.
This is
helping us to
see the gap
between you
and me
and him
because when
one of these
angels,
these seraphs,
appears before
a human being
in the Bible,
they normally
begin their
dialogue with
the human being
with the words
do not fear
or fear not.
That's because
when we're
confronted with
one of these,
we fear.
That's immediate
response is
the fear.
We automatically
realize our
lack of power,
our impotence
at that point.
But these
angels themselves
hide in
holy fear
and reverence
in the presence
of God.
And the only
appropriate response
to this God
is reverence,
service and
worship.
The sixth thing
we see is that
God is holy.
Verse 3,
And they were
calling to one
another,
holy,
holy is the
Lord Almighty.
The whole
earth is
full of
his glory.
So what we
have here is
the possibility
of language
runs out.
That is,
how do we
describe God?
It kind of
runs out.
The word
holy carries
us to the
brink,
to the very
edge,
if you like,
of the
possibilities
of language,
of description,
and beyond
which experience
of God is
beyond our
words.
The reason
I say that
is that
every effort
to define
the holiness
of God
ultimately
winds us
back,
right back
around,
and simply
say,
God is
God.
The meaning
of the word
holy in the
Bible is to
cut or to
separate.
A holy
thing is to
cut off or to
separate it
from the
common
use for
devotion to
God.
That's what
it means to
be holy.
So what
happens when
you take
that definition
and you
apply it to
God?
From what
can you
separate God
to make
God holy?
holy?
And the
answer is
the very
godness of
God means
that he is
in fact
separated from
everything else.
He's
separated from
everything that's
not God.
He spoke
every single
thing into
existence.
He exists
in a very
different way
than all of
the creation
exists.
We his
creatures
exist
independent
deprived
finite
fragile
way
but our
creator
exists in
eternal
self-sustaining
necessary
way.
Necessary
in the
sense
that God
does not
have it
in him
to go
out of
existence
in the
same way
that we
do not
have it
in us
to not
go out
of existence.
We
necessarily
age
and die
because that
is our
present nature
to do
that.
We cannot
do anything
else
but that.
Oh the
blessing of
eternal life.
The
blessing of
eternal
life.
Only God
necessarily
continues
forever
unchanged.
The God
of the
Bible
doesn't
need a
support
system.
He
doesn't
need our
praise
and glory.
He is
one of a
kind.
He is
separated from
everything.
And in that
sense it's
just saying
he's holy.
God has
life in
himself.
He draws
his unending
energy from
himself.
His beginning
being and his
character are not
determined by
anything outside
of himself.
He is
absolute.
Everything that
exists derives
itself directly
from him.
Everything
derives itself
from him.
He is
incomparable.
His
holiness
determines all
that he is
and all
that he
does.
And it's
determined by
no one
and by
nothing.
Call it his
majesty.
Call it his
divinity.
Call it his
greatness.
Call it his
worth.
Call it his
value.
Call it his
magnificence.
In the end
language runs
out to
describe this
God.
There may be
a lot more
to know about
him but it's
beyond language
to comprehend
it.
And so
God
graciously
reveals it.
And that's
the seventh
and final
thing that we
see about
God.
That is he
is glorious.
Verse
three again
holy holy
holy is the
Lord almighty
the whole
earth is
full of his
glory.
Now
this is the
picture here
trying to
get the
magnificence of
this God.
We start
here in the
heavenly throne
room and we
end Isaiah
in the
earth the
world.
The very
last chapter
we're given a
glimpse of God's
grandeur again.
Let me read
to you what
Isaiah this is
what God
says.
This is what
the Lord
says.
Heaven is my
throne.
That's where we
are.
Isaiah 6.
And the
earth is my
footstool.
This is the
only place in
the Bible where
the earth is
described as the
footstool of
God.
So just to
give you some
visual help
here.
This is mine.
The cat
sleeps on it
most of the
time and
scratches it
up.
This is
mine.
My footstool.
God's
footstool that
he rests his
foot on is
almost 6,500
kilometers straight
through.
40,000
kilometers if
you go all
the way around.
It weighs
something like
60 million
trillion tons.
I can lift
this one up
with two
fingers.
It has a
surface area
of 510
million square
kilometers, a
volume of
approximately 10
trillion cubic
kilometers.
It spins at
1,600 kilometers
an hour.
And God
says this is
where I rest
my foot.
My throne is
a throne over
all the
universe and I
rest my foot
on the world.
And so as
Habakkuk 2.20
says, the
Lord is
seated in
his holy
temple.
Let the
entire earth
be silent
before him.
In other
words, how
dare humanity
make God
in his own
image?
How dare we
decide that we
can give him
the crumbs
of our
life and
he'll be
just happy
with that
because he's
just a
gracious
God?
How dare we
determine what
discipleship looks
like?
How dare we
think we can
negotiate with
him about
levels of
commitment?
Visions of
all tend to
leave us
speechless
momentarily,
but not for
long.
God's glory
is the
revealing
of his
holiness.
That's what
glory means
here.
God is
holy, the
whole earth
will see me
as glory.
Glorious.
God is
glorious means
that God's
holiness, his
divine being and
his character
have gone
public and
when it goes
public there is
only one
response.
Leviticus 10
verse 3.
Among those
who approach
me I will
show myself
holy in the
sight of all
people I
will be
honoured.
When God
reveals his
glory to his
creatures the
response of
his creatures
is to give
glory, is
to acknowledge
what they have
seen.
Glory, praise,
adoration,
magnification.
To magnify
God is to
respond to
his magnificence.
We cannot
glorify God
without engaging
with his
holiness,
with his
character, with
his being, with
who he is.
You see, God
wants to be
praised for
his praise
worthiness,
magnified for
his greatness
and his
goodness.
He wants to
be appreciated
for who he
is.
God's glory
showing requires
glory giving
and this
is at the
very heart,
the very
heart of
true
fulfilment
for all of
God's creation
and especially
humanity.
glory giving
joy to
people as
we glorify
the glorious
God.
Now, here's
the kicker for
us.
The New
Testament
writers declare
that the public
display of God's
nature, his
character, his
power, his
purpose, his
grace, who he
is, has
gone public
for all
people to
see in the
person and
the role of
God's son,
Jesus Christ.
Now, in
John chapter
12, there's a
little verse
there that,
you know, you
do your daily
Bible reading and
you read straight
past this, you
wouldn't notice it
much.
But John
chapter 12,
verse 41, is
very explicit on
this.
Isaiah said
this, because
it quotes from
Isaiah, and
then it says,
Isaiah said
this because
he saw
Jesus'
glory and
spoke about
him.
See what
John's saying
there?
John is saying
that Jesus
Christ is
who Isaiah
saw in
the throne
room of
Isaiah
chapter 6.
That's who
he saw,
Jesus Christ.
And Jesus
is the one
who radiates,
reflects,
mirrors,
displays the
character, the
purpose, the
power and the
grace and the
magnificence of
our creator
God.
The
magnificence of
what went
public in
Jesus was
the plan,
the work of
grace whereby
he saves
sinners.
And
gathers them
to himself
as his
new people,
his new
humanity,
through his
death and
resurrection,
for his
glory,
for the
worship of
his honour.
He's a
magnificent
God.
But in
Jesus we
also see
he's a
gracious
God.
God's
glory reveals
that he's not
just magnificent,
but he's
gracious.
You see,
if my goal
in life was
to bring
glory to
myself,
which ironically
because of
sin it is,
but imagine
I existed in
my role here
at St.
Paul's,
your job is
to glorify
me.
We would
call that
narcissism,
we would
call that
egotism,
there's a
whole range
of things
we would
probably
call that.
And that's
because I
am neither
glorious nor
praiseworthy.
I'm like you,
I'm a human
being.
For God,
however,
it's not
egotism and
narcissism.
It doesn't
point ultimately
to God's
divine ego,
but to his
divine love.
That is,
his magnificence
is directed
towards love
for us.
God doing
everything for
his glory
is in fact
the foundation
of his love
for us.
God's
commitment
to his glory
means his
commitment to
love and
life for us,
forgiveness
and eternal
fame for
those who
live for
his glory.
But Isaiah
didn't see
this initially.
This vision
of God
produces in
Isaiah not
worship but
sheer terror
initially.
Have a look
there.
Woe to me,
I cried.
I am ruined
for I am a
man of unclean
lips and I
live among a
people of
unclean lips
and my eyes
have seen
the king,
the Lord
almighty.
Woe to
me.
Woe to
me are the
very first
words that
Isaiah speaks
in his
entire 66
chapter prophecy.
Woe to
me.
He pronounces
judgment upon
himself is his
first response
in seeing God
because he
acknowledges that
he himself is
unclean.
The word
there unclean
is a general
term in the
Old Testament
for all that
is unfit to
be in God's
presence.
I'm not
worthy to
see this and
I'm not
worthy to be
here in his
presence.
And for the
very first
time Isaiah
sees that he
is typical of
his generation
whose faith
was unthinking,
was glib,
response to
God was just
rote.
Their mouths
were not filled
with worship
but with
flippant
repetitions and
self-justifying
excuses.
And now
Isaiah sees
his heart for
the first
time because
he sees God
for the first
time.
And something
wonderful happens.
A seraph
peels off
from his
flight path
around the
throne,
diving straight
for Isaiah.
He's
holding a
burning coal
that he has
taken from
the altar
with the
tongs.
But he's
taking it from
the altar
with tongs
not because
it's hot.
It's not
that.
He took
this coal
with tongs
because what
he has
taken is a
holy thing.
It's a
holy thing.
It belongs
to the place
of sacrifice.
and atonement
and forgiveness.
And with
it the
seraph flies
to Isaiah
and gets
this burning
coal and
it touches
his lips.
My immediate
response there
is to go
oh man
burn.
But not
with Isaiah.
It doesn't
hurt him.
It in fact
heals him.
The seraph
says to Isaiah
your guilt
is taken
away and
your sin
is atoned
for.
What we
must see
in the
context of
the whole
Bible is
that burning
coal right
there symbolizes
the finished
work of
Christ on
the cross
for you
and for
me.
Jesus is
the one
who went
to the
place of
sacrifice
for us.
His dying
love is
the only
power that
can awaken
people as
dead to
God as
we are
and his
death
heals
us.
What should
hurt us
has healed
us and
he comes
to us
today through
his word
by his
Holy Spirit
and he
says to
us again
and again
your guilt
is taken
away,
your sin
is atoned
for,
welcome
into the
overwhelming
delight of
my presence
until one
day you
will be
there in
my actual
presence
physically
forever.
Which brings
us to the
last point
of treasuring
Jesus because
this is what
stands as
John said,
stands right
over this
church is why
this treasuring
Jesus is
our mission
statement,
it's why we
exist.
You see when
the magnitude
of God's
grace touches
Isaiah,
he's awakened
in that moment
to live for
God.
In that
moment,
God reveals
himself to
Isaiah,
Isaiah is
immediately
terrified,
sees his
guilt,
he's terrified,
his sin
is atoned
for and
he rises
to serve
God with
joy.
When God
says,
well,
okay,
so who
am I
going to
send now?
Pick
me,
pick
me.
Oh,
oh,
oh.
At least
one major
purpose in
God revealing
his glory
is for
us to
experience
his
compassion,
his mercy,
his grace,
and his
forgiveness
for our
joy.
And what
overflows
from that
is a
life lived
for the
glory of
Christ.
Service of
others.
Every other
glory that we
might have in
our world
gets diminished,
diminished,
diminished.
You see,
to effectively
bring glory
to God,
it's got to
be so much
more than
just mere
external
behaviors.
Genuine
worship is
seeing God's
glory and
being moved
with all of
our life,
our
affections,
affections that
overflow with
singing and
praise and
thanksgiving and
living to
please God.
This God
wants us to
love him
according to
Deuteronomy
6, 5.
He wants us
to light
ourselves in
him according
to Psalm
37,
verse 4.
He wants us
to worship
him with
gladness
according to
Psalm 100.
In fact,
he condemns
dutiful
obedience where
there is no
gladness and
no joy in
him in
Deuteronomy
28,
verse 47.
And that
is our
experience in
life.
I mean,
imagine I
was to buy
my wife
Nats and
flowers and
she is
overjoyed in
that moment.
She thanks me
for the
flowers.
Doesn't
happen that
much.
Just to
retrieve
something there,
she is away
for the
weekend,
so it's a
little bit
more than
flowers.
But imagine
in that
moment she
gets the
flowers,
oh, she
comes home
this afternoon.
Thank you,
thank you,
thank you.
And my
response to
her is,
don't mention
it, it's
my duty.
It's my
duty as a
husband.
It's what I
must do.
I must do
this.
I must
sacrifice my
money and
my time for
you.
I'm
assuming in
that moment
she's going
to be
offended in
some kind
of way.
It's an
insult to
her honour
and to
our
relationship.
She is
honoured when
I sacrifice
and I
give because
it's my
delight to
do so.
If it
is a
great
sacrifice
for us
to do
anything
for the
glory of
God,
it shows
that we
value
something
else more
than him.
It shows
us what
we value
more than
him.
If we
can't read
our
Bibles
because
I don't
have time
because of
the TV,
it's telling
me that my
comfort is
more valuable
than him
or my
entertainment
is more
valuable than
him.
When he
is our
greatest
treasure,
then choosing
him over
lesser things
is not
even a
sacrifice.
When we
delight in
his power,
in his
perfection,
in his
beauty,
in his
mercy,
then our
worship and
service of
him will
glorify him.
God is
dishonoured
when all of
our worship
is just
purely a
service to
him,
just done
as a
duty.
God is
God desires
to
see him.
That we
savour his
mercy and
his
forgiveness
and his
acceptance,
that we
serve him
with all of
our lives
with joy
and gladness.
God is
so let
me just
end very
briefly.
My
sense is,
as I said
at the
beginning of
this,
so many
of us are
struggling
right now.
Plans are
shifting so
fast.
people who
were signed
up to
serve today
are now
in isolation
and lockdown
because COVID
in their
families and
bang,
bang.
Last night,
this morning,
a number of
us are going
bang,
having to
make changes
shift.
Anything that
we got in
paper lined
up, it
just shifts.
And what
happens there
is constant
fatigue all
the time.
I've not
seen my
parents for
nearly two
and a
half years,
face to
face for
two and
a half
years,
because of
COVID.
And there's
a fear now
that if I
book a
ticket,
if the
airline doesn't
get cancelled,
I might get
cancelled because
of COVID.
And that if I
go there,
a rat test
may be
negative,
but I might
be positive
and give it
to...
I mean,
it's like
multitude of
decisions.
And so
many people
are struggling
right now.
Anxiety,
apathy is
just rising,
languishing.
I've spoken
about that
before.
So if you're
struggling right
now, or if
you're in a
rut spiritually,
maybe you're
steeped in sin.
Your one
prayer right
now should
be, help
me see
you.
Help me
see you.
I'm
captivated by
lesser
glories.
I want
things to
return that
they were
because to
me that
was glorious.
When I
could plan
my travel
and I
could plan
my life,
but now I
can't.
Captivate me
with your
glory as
you open
God's word.
And this
might be the
challenge for
every single
one of us
right now
and God's
word.
Your one
prayer might
be, as I
read your
word, help
me to see
your face
and to know
your presence.
I want to be
captivated by
you.
Thank you.