WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.339 It's about 12 years, roughly, since I met the most famous person that I've ever met. 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:11.720 Some of you would have heard me tell this story before, and so it's a great story. 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:20.199 So listen, when I say we met, what I mean by that is he waved at me. 00:00:20.620 --> 00:00:26.199 And when I say me, it could have been the person standing beside me, but I claim it was me. 00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:29.759 See, I was in Sacramento, California for a conference. 00:00:30.500 --> 00:00:35.479 At the end of the conference, a small group has decided to go and grab some lunch in this mall off the convention center 00:00:35.479 --> 00:00:37.979 before we hopped on a plane to come back to Sydney. 00:00:38.140 --> 00:00:47.299 And as we walked out from the convention center into the mall, I immediately noticed two black SUVs parked there. 00:00:48.219 --> 00:00:55.159 And what I noticed was the fact that one of them had a submachine gun pipe just sort of sticking above the dash, 00:00:55.159 --> 00:00:58.599 and the other one had a shotgun sticking just above its dash. 00:00:59.239 --> 00:01:06.840 And each car had a couple of guys in them with black suits and white shirts and black ties and black sunglasses. 00:01:08.099 --> 00:01:16.799 And so it was either a Men in Black 3 being filmed or it's Secret Service, is what I was figuring. 00:01:16.939 --> 00:01:20.459 And the fact that they had these dangly things from their ear and they were constantly doing this, 00:01:20.459 --> 00:01:23.179 kind of gave it away from my mind as a Secret Service thing. 00:01:23.299 --> 00:01:29.879 So I decided that I'm going to grab a front row seat to see what was unfolding. 00:01:30.019 --> 00:01:35.799 And hopefully it wasn't some kind of raid or something was unfolding, but something more important. 00:01:36.419 --> 00:01:44.679 Like what I was hoping the whole time I was in Sacramento was to run into the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. 00:01:44.680 --> 00:01:50.560 Now Arnold, this was at the height of his political power, if that's what you can call it. 00:01:52.220 --> 00:01:58.080 He hasn't been famous necessarily for being a great politician. 00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:04.140 He's more famous for being one of the greatest actors of all time, in my opinion. 00:02:05.540 --> 00:02:08.879 And I wasn't disappointed. 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:15.019 I'm sitting there, front row seat in the mall, barricades around and chomping on a burger. 00:02:16.060 --> 00:02:26.060 And I got my face down when I hear some murmuring going on over here, over in a bit of a distance. 00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:27.639 And I'm like eating my burger. 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:34.419 And I look up and there he is, like literally 50 metres away from me. 00:02:34.419 --> 00:02:41.619 The greatest actor of all time, Arnold Schwarzenegger, walks out of a slightly more high class restaurant than I was sitting at. 00:02:42.079 --> 00:02:44.539 We're surrounded by Secret Service guys. 00:02:44.939 --> 00:02:50.000 And there's me and a friend of mine there chomping on our burgers. 00:02:50.239 --> 00:02:56.459 We both immediately jumped up onto our seats, like a couple of teenagers at a Bieber concert. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:02:59.799 And just out, hey, Arnie! 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:01.639 The thoughts of our voices. 00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:04.299 And this is it. 00:03:04.500 --> 00:03:05.439 He turned. 00:03:06.099 --> 00:03:07.579 We had his attention at that moment. 00:03:07.699 --> 00:03:10.559 He turned and he looked at us. 00:03:10.579 --> 00:03:12.179 I mean, he looked at me, is what he did. 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:14.819 He looked at me, as did the Secret Service. 00:03:15.139 --> 00:03:16.739 Looked at me at that moment. 00:03:17.679 --> 00:03:23.519 And it's like one of those things that, you know, you're thinking, you know, what do I say next? 00:03:23.879 --> 00:03:25.679 You know, I've got his attention. 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:26.419 What do I say next? 00:03:26.419 --> 00:03:32.239 And both of us at the exact same time just yelled out, I'll be back! 00:03:33.079 --> 00:03:33.719 That's it. 00:03:33.780 --> 00:03:34.959 That's all we could think of. 00:03:35.379 --> 00:03:42.879 And to mark this personal milestone, I quickly fumbled, you know, grab my camera to take some photos of this moment. 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:46.460 And so we've got these photos and there's Arnie. 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:48.579 See the pole there? 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:50.819 And the blue suit? 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:53.240 That's Arnie disappearing behind the pole. 00:03:54.419 --> 00:04:00.060 And the next one's a bit clearer because the next one, you can just see his face poking out from behind the tree. 00:04:00.740 --> 00:04:01.419 That's it. 00:04:01.419 --> 00:04:04.419 And I thought, well, yeah, look at these photos. 00:04:04.539 --> 00:04:05.179 That's not good enough. 00:04:05.399 --> 00:04:13.839 So I ran around the block thinking that I will run up to Arnie and, you know, get a photo with him, 00:04:13.879 --> 00:04:20.419 which halfway around I thought, I'm not sure how that will look with the Secret Service, me running straight at Arnie. 00:04:20.419 --> 00:04:22.839 But I got around there. 00:04:22.899 --> 00:04:24.699 It's quite a long block, actually, it turns out, in America. 00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:26.219 I got around there and he'd gone. 00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:30.419 That's all I've got of this momentous moment. 00:04:30.420 --> 00:04:33.680 And I remember it like it was yesterday. 00:04:34.540 --> 00:04:36.020 I'm sure he doesn't. 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:44.319 Our culture, particularly the Western world, has this weird fascination with celebrity. 00:04:45.580 --> 00:04:55.420 Recent survey in the United Kingdom said that something like 69% of teenagers wanted to be famous more than anything else. 00:04:55.420 --> 00:05:04.620 Of those surveyed, something like 70-something percent of those said that they wouldn't know how they would become famous, 00:05:04.900 --> 00:05:15.920 but they figured things like Britain's Got Talent or, you know, one of those shows will be their sort of road to fame in some way. 00:05:15.980 --> 00:05:18.160 You know, I could play the spoons better than anyone else or something like that. 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:31.020 But reality TV has become so, so popular because in our psyche, the reason why it's become so popular is because it holds out the promise 00:05:31.020 --> 00:05:37.140 that any average schmuck can be famous for virtually anything. 00:05:37.800 --> 00:05:39.500 You can get on TV for virtually anything. 00:05:39.500 --> 00:05:43.500 That's why reality TV is so, so popular. 00:05:44.120 --> 00:05:51.439 Now, the first famous person in the modern sense, and I use the word modern loosely here, was Alexander the Great. 00:05:54.259 --> 00:05:58.819 Leo Baudry, a professor of English at the University of Southern California, 00:05:59.339 --> 00:06:02.339 he's the author of the book, The Frenzy of Renown. 00:06:02.339 --> 00:06:06.659 He writes about Alexander the Great. 00:06:06.739 --> 00:06:11.259 Not only did he want to be unique, but he wanted to tell everyone about it. 00:06:11.719 --> 00:06:14.159 And he had an apparatus for telling everyone about it. 00:06:14.699 --> 00:06:18.839 He had techniques for doing famous things and recording those famous things. 00:06:19.419 --> 00:06:28.539 He had historians, painters, sculptors, gem carvers follow him wherever he went to record his exploits. 00:06:28.540 --> 00:06:37.000 Now, we don't need to employ those people nowadays because we've got things like Instagram and Facebook and selfie sticks and that sort of stuff 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:44.040 where we can record and show the world anything we do at any particular time. 00:06:46.060 --> 00:06:50.939 And the more likes you get, clearly, the more people like you, apparently. 00:06:52.780 --> 00:06:56.740 Our renown is a major goal in life. 00:06:56.740 --> 00:07:03.040 Every one of us, in one way or another, wants to leave a mark, be known for something significant, 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:05.540 be regarded highly or as an expert in a field. 00:07:05.780 --> 00:07:08.259 May not be worldwide fame, but if we can get that, that'd be brilliant. 00:07:09.540 --> 00:07:14.939 May be famous in a country, famous in a city, have a street named after you. 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:20.379 Relatives of Nat has got a park named after him. 00:07:20.920 --> 00:07:21.480 A park. 00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:26.340 And there's a big ceremony, local council, big ceremony, named this park after him. 00:07:26.640 --> 00:07:32.379 He had two albums of photos showing everyone this park that's named after him. 00:07:32.420 --> 00:07:34.560 It's just a suburban park, you know. 00:07:34.900 --> 00:07:37.640 Well, I mean, I haven't got one named after me, but, you know, a park? 00:07:38.939 --> 00:07:43.620 It might just be that we want to be the best person, the best in your family at something. 00:07:43.700 --> 00:07:47.040 It might be that you want to even get a plaque on church. 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:50.520 I read a few of the plaques this afternoon around the church. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:56.080 Or just simply ensuring that you're remembered by someone. 00:07:56.740 --> 00:08:00.280 You see, the default position in our human hearts is to make a name for ourselves. 00:08:00.379 --> 00:08:05.640 It goes right back, beginning of the Bible, in Genesis chapter 11. 00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:12.819 We want to pursue our renown, our reputation, our glory. 00:08:14.459 --> 00:08:17.099 And here we come to the end of this series on Here We Stand. 00:08:17.219 --> 00:08:21.560 We've been reminded of what has been rediscovered in the Protestant Reformation 500 years ago. 00:08:22.699 --> 00:08:26.240 What has been passed down to us is five phrases. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:43.299 To bring it to a close, we're focusing on the end of it. 00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:49.659 And indeed, I would say the purpose and the goal of all things, and that is the glory of God alone. 00:08:49.659 --> 00:09:04.279 All the glory, all to the glory of God, this one, the fifth one, is to be understood as the glue that holds the other four statements in place. 00:09:05.500 --> 00:09:12.539 It's the center that draws the other four phrases into a grand unified whole. 00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:16.899 It's the logical implication of the other four statements. 00:09:16.899 --> 00:09:30.579 Simply put, the fact that salvation is by faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, without any meritorious contribution on our heart at all, ensures that everything is for the glory of God alone. 00:09:31.620 --> 00:09:37.220 You see, when we remember and celebrate the Reformation as we've been doing over the past four weeks and a bit, 00:09:37.220 --> 00:09:49.200 ultimately, what we are remembering and what we are celebrating is the exaltation of the glory of God. 00:09:49.940 --> 00:09:53.300 That's what we're remembering in this 500 year anniversary. 00:09:54.680 --> 00:10:01.680 The glory of God is implicit in the sheer being of God, which is where I began this series and where I'm going to end this series. 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:05.959 And it's explicit right throughout the teaching of the Bible. 00:10:07.079 --> 00:10:14.179 Now, what is interesting is that as we've gone through the previous four, we've said Christ alone, not Christ plus. 00:10:14.599 --> 00:10:16.359 Grace alone, not grace plus. 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:18.679 We've gone all the way through the series. 00:10:19.539 --> 00:10:25.259 Because there was a distortion in the 16th century Roman Catholic Church in its teaching and those things. 00:10:25.259 --> 00:10:31.840 And yet, when you get to the glory of God alone, the Roman Catholic Church did not have glory of God alone plus. 00:10:33.139 --> 00:10:34.200 There's no added here. 00:10:36.779 --> 00:10:38.799 They believed in glory of God alone. 00:10:40.220 --> 00:10:43.460 And yet, there's a danger. 00:10:43.460 --> 00:10:56.820 The danger is, you can use all the language of biblical Christianity, and yet the center of it becomes all about me. 00:10:59.820 --> 00:11:10.180 Christianity can so easily slip into being about my need for salvation and what God is doing for me. 00:11:11.040 --> 00:11:12.080 It's about me. 00:11:13.460 --> 00:11:18.340 And John Calvin saw it in his day. 00:11:20.340 --> 00:11:36.500 In 1538, the Italian cardinal Satelli attempted to win back the city of Geneva, back into Roman Catholicism and away from the Reformation, the Protestant faith, which they had shifted into. 00:11:36.500 --> 00:11:42.780 And they had rejected Roman Catholicism, moved into the Protestant faith, and so Satelli is trying to win the whole city of Geneva back. 00:11:43.460 --> 00:11:47.840 And he wrote this massive piece of work for them. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:12:06.420 And in the introductory section of his paper to the city council, he wrote this lengthy piece extolling the preciousness of eternal life before he got to quite vicious criticisms of the Reformation and of John Calvin in particular. 00:12:06.419 --> 00:12:12.299 And Calvin was asked by the city council. 00:12:12.299 --> 00:12:14.479 Calvin wasn't in Geneva at this point. 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:22.899 He was asked by the city council to write a response to Satelli in the autumn of 1539. 00:12:22.899 --> 00:12:26.279 And he wrote it in six days. 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:31.100 Such was the incredible mind of Calvin. 00:12:31.740 --> 00:12:33.779 He blitzed this guy in six days. 00:12:33.779 --> 00:12:41.600 Martin Luther, who was 25 years older than Calvin and the instigator of the Reformation, read this piece of work from Calvin. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:46.879 And his only comment on it was, this is a writing with hands and feet. 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:54.720 And Calvin's response to Satelli established him as the reformer of Europe. 00:12:57.240 --> 00:13:04.080 In his response to Satelli, he didn't begin with priestly abuses. 00:13:04.560 --> 00:13:05.600 Didn't begin with transubstantiation. 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:09.220 Didn't begin with papal authority. 00:13:09.220 --> 00:13:22.200 The issue of first importance for John Calvin was the centrality and the supremacy of the majesty and the glory of God. 00:13:24.019 --> 00:13:29.899 You see, Calvin saw in Satelli's piety a fundamental error. 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:33.480 He wrote this to Satelli. 00:13:33.480 --> 00:14:02.279 You see, Calvin's main contention with Roman Catholicism was that you can take true language 00:14:02.279 --> 00:14:09.139 and you can skew it so badly that it loses its whole meaning. 00:14:11.539 --> 00:14:13.579 Calvin aimed to do something very different. 00:14:13.839 --> 00:14:16.259 He put this before Satelli as a better way. 00:14:16.959 --> 00:14:17.319 He says, 00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:34.940 And that is the central meaning and the end goal of the Protestant Reformation. 00:14:35.379 --> 00:14:40.879 The recapturing and exalting the glory of God. 00:14:40.879 --> 00:14:52.980 And I want this church to be a church where the dominant aroma and the sound and the feel and the expression 00:14:52.980 --> 00:14:59.679 is the preciousness of the weight of the glory of God. 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:04.979 If we're to sit within this heritage. 00:15:06.459 --> 00:15:07.679 So let's get a glimpse of it. 00:15:08.500 --> 00:15:09.239 I want to take it there. 00:15:09.299 --> 00:15:10.379 I want to go to a familiar passage. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:12.419 You've heard me say this before. 00:15:12.859 --> 00:15:13.259 Go back. 00:15:13.379 --> 00:15:16.739 Go to Isaiah chapter 6 in your Bibles. 00:15:16.859 --> 00:15:20.699 If you haven't got a Bible, stick your hands up and help us to come and get you a Bible. 00:15:20.700 --> 00:15:23.000 I want to have it in front of you right here, right now. 00:15:23.620 --> 00:15:24.560 Isaiah 6. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:30.060 And we're going to start at verse 1. 00:15:31.740 --> 00:15:38.320 I want to get from here seven glimpses of God in these first four verses. 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:39.520 This glorious God. 00:15:39.780 --> 00:15:44.820 Try and paint a picture, a very brief picture, but a picture of the magnificence of God 00:15:44.820 --> 00:15:46.540 and why He is worthy of all glory. 00:15:46.539 --> 00:15:51.719 Firstly, first picture we get of the seven glimpses, God is alive. 00:15:52.179 --> 00:15:58.099 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne. 00:15:58.199 --> 00:15:59.779 So Isaiah gets a vision of God. 00:16:00.379 --> 00:16:06.159 And in the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah died as the most powerful man in the world at that time. 00:16:06.439 --> 00:16:12.240 In the year that he died, Isaiah gets a vision of God alive, seated on a throne. 00:16:13.159 --> 00:16:14.099 Uzziah's dead. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:15.939 God is alive. 00:16:17.219 --> 00:16:18.819 Psalm 90 verse 2 says, 00:16:18.919 --> 00:16:27.120 You are God. 00:16:28.819 --> 00:16:33.719 You are God when this universe was spoken into existence. 00:16:34.959 --> 00:16:39.079 He was a living God when the Great Wall of China was built over its history. 00:16:39.080 --> 00:16:46.379 He was living God when in 1966, Time magazine put on its front cover the title, God is dead. 00:16:48.160 --> 00:16:52.700 He will be the living God 10 trillion ages from now. 00:16:52.700 --> 00:17:02.100 There's not a single head of state in the world right now who will be ruling in 90 years, including Donald Trump, even though he probably thinks he will be. 00:17:02.100 --> 00:17:15.700 In a brief 120 years, this planet will be populated by more than 10 billion brand new people who are not here right now. 00:17:15.700 --> 00:17:23.700 And all 7.52 billion of us who are alive right now will vanish off the face of the earth, just like King Uzziah did. 00:17:24.700 --> 00:17:25.600 But not God. 00:17:26.600 --> 00:17:27.519 Never had a beginning. 00:17:28.080 --> 00:17:29.120 Never had a end. 00:17:29.319 --> 00:17:32.299 Therefore, it depends on nothing at all for his existence. 00:17:33.180 --> 00:17:35.700 He always has been and always will be alive. 00:17:36.380 --> 00:17:37.059 That's the first one. 00:17:37.059 --> 00:17:39.059 Secondly, we see that God is authoritative. 00:17:39.940 --> 00:17:40.440 Verse 2. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:43.279 I saw the Lord seated on a throne. 00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:59.159 You go through the whole scope of Scripture and there's no vision of God whatsoever where you catch a glimpse of him plowing a paddock or cutting the grass or shining shoes or filling out reports or loading a truck or nothing like that at all. 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:03.659 Every vision of God is him seated on a throne. 00:18:03.660 --> 00:18:07.200 All is at peace. 00:18:07.900 --> 00:18:09.420 He's at total control. 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:14.140 And the throne is his right to rule. 00:18:16.300 --> 00:18:19.560 You see, we do not give God authority over our lives. 00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:21.340 He has it whether we like it or not. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:24.360 And I think that few things are more humbling. 00:18:24.560 --> 00:18:32.740 Few things give us that sense of the raw majesty of God as the truth that he is utterly authoritative. 00:18:32.740 --> 00:18:37.420 After him, there is no court of appeal beyond him. 00:18:38.460 --> 00:18:39.079 He's it. 00:18:40.380 --> 00:18:42.319 Thirdly, we see that God is all-powerful. 00:18:42.420 --> 00:18:44.880 He not just has all authority, but he's all-powerful. 00:18:46.980 --> 00:18:52.019 The throne of his authority is his right to rule. 00:18:53.579 --> 00:18:55.859 His power is his ability to rule. 00:18:55.859 --> 00:19:02.139 I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted. 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:06.679 You see, that God's throne is higher than every other throne. 00:19:06.779 --> 00:19:11.019 Signifies his supreme power to exercise his authority. 00:19:11.419 --> 00:19:15.979 There's no opposing authority that can nullify any of his decrees. 00:19:16.359 --> 00:19:18.139 What he purposes, he accomplishes. 00:19:18.199 --> 00:19:19.559 What he decides, he does. 00:19:19.959 --> 00:19:21.500 Nothing can get in the way of that. 00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:26.119 But as Isaiah says, as God says in Isaiah 46, verse 10, 00:19:26.220 --> 00:19:30.359 I make known the end for the beginning from ancient times, what is still to come. 00:19:30.359 --> 00:19:34.380 I say, my purpose will stand and I will do all that I please. 00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:42.980 To be gripped by the all-powerful sovereignty of God is either marvelous because you know it's for you 00:19:42.980 --> 00:19:46.319 or it's terrifying because you know he's against you. 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:48.000 Indifference. 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:56.200 Just means you have not seen him for who he is. 00:19:57.579 --> 00:20:04.860 The sovereign authority of the living God is a refuge full of joy for those who are his in Christ. 00:20:04.859 --> 00:20:07.819 Fourthly, we see that God is magnificent. 00:20:08.819 --> 00:20:14.679 I saw the Lord sit on the throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 00:20:15.939 --> 00:20:23.679 The picture here is, imagine a wedding ceremony where the train of the bride's dress sort of, 00:20:23.679 --> 00:20:26.000 you know, dragged a couple of meters behind her. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:37.279 But imagine the picture here is of the train that fills the aisles and the seats of the choir lofts and the pulpit. 00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:44.259 And the whole cathedral is filled with this cloth, which is all one piece. 00:20:44.259 --> 00:20:56.059 And you see, what it is, the fact that God's robe fills the entire heavenly temple means that God is incomparable in his beauty and his splendor. 00:20:57.420 --> 00:21:00.539 It's indescribable, his beauty and his splendor. 00:21:02.259 --> 00:21:06.680 The fullness of God's splendor shows itself in millions of ways. 00:21:06.680 --> 00:21:15.200 His magnificence and his splendor spills over into excessive creative beauty. 00:21:16.080 --> 00:21:19.740 It's what we see in the wonder of creation all throughout this universe, 00:21:19.860 --> 00:21:25.740 from the tiniest atoms to the depths of the ocean to the furthest reaches of the universe. 00:21:25.740 --> 00:21:31.620 And we keep exploring and exploring, exploring those things because it just never ends. 00:21:32.759 --> 00:21:36.640 God's glory, his magnificent, his splendor never ends. 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:40.340 And we marvel every time we find something new. 00:21:42.560 --> 00:21:45.259 Fifthly, we see this God is revered. 00:21:46.600 --> 00:21:50.120 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings, two with wings. 00:21:50.220 --> 00:21:53.880 They covered their faces, with two, they covered their feet, and with two, they were flying. 00:21:54.880 --> 00:22:03.360 It's not really clear what these strange six-winged creatures with feet and eyes and intelligence actually are. 00:22:03.980 --> 00:22:05.299 But according to verse 4, 00:22:05.299 --> 00:22:11.899 When one of them speaks, the foundation of the temple, which is heaven itself, shakes. 00:22:11.900 --> 00:22:24.100 So, it's really helpful to see these are not chubby little babies with little fluttery wings floating around God's ears kind of thing. 00:22:24.099 --> 00:22:30.559 There are no puny, silly creatures in heaven, only magnificent ones. 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:43.700 And the point is that not even these creatures look upon their creator God and feel worthy to even leave their feet exposed in his presence. 00:22:43.700 --> 00:22:55.340 As good and as great as they are, untainted by human sin as they are, they revere their maker with great humility. 00:22:55.339 --> 00:23:06.919 And when an angel, you look at the Bible, an angel appears to a human, they normally begin their dialogue with the human with fear not. 00:23:08.339 --> 00:23:11.039 Because that's exactly what you do if one of these things appeared to us. 00:23:11.099 --> 00:23:12.299 They're not chubby little babies. 00:23:12.619 --> 00:23:13.879 They are awesome creatures. 00:23:13.880 --> 00:23:22.960 But these angels hide in holy fear and reverence in the presence of their God. 00:23:25.100 --> 00:23:27.420 Six, we see that God is holy. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:30.860 Let me try and capture the sense of verse 3. 00:23:30.859 --> 00:23:42.819 And they were calling to one another, holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord almighty. 00:23:45.579 --> 00:23:47.359 It's not a holy, holy, holy. 00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:57.000 It is a definite, emphatic, loud declaration of who God is. 00:23:57.000 --> 00:24:05.940 You see, the possibilities of language carry the meaning of God. 00:24:06.019 --> 00:24:08.920 To carry the meaning of God eventually kind of run out for us. 00:24:10.019 --> 00:24:13.619 The word holy, if you like, carries us to the edge. 00:24:13.740 --> 00:24:14.880 It carries us to the brink. 00:24:15.539 --> 00:24:20.079 And from that point on, the experience of God is beyond our words. 00:24:20.519 --> 00:24:22.380 His holiness is as far as you can get. 00:24:22.380 --> 00:24:31.240 Every effort to define the holiness of God ultimately comes winding back by saying, 00:24:31.900 --> 00:24:36.760 God is holy simply means that God is God. 00:24:38.020 --> 00:24:42.200 You see, the meaning of holy is to cut or to separate from. 00:24:43.580 --> 00:24:49.560 You know, that is a holy thing can be cut off or can be separated from common use. 00:24:49.559 --> 00:24:58.379 Earthly things, people are holy as they are distinct from the world and devoted to God. 00:24:58.819 --> 00:25:04.740 But what happens when you get that definition and you attempt to apply it to God himself? 00:25:06.419 --> 00:25:10.839 From what can you separate God to make him holy? 00:25:12.279 --> 00:25:17.579 The very godness of God means that he's already separated from everything that's not God. 00:25:19.559 --> 00:25:25.339 God exists in a different way than we exist. 00:25:27.419 --> 00:25:33.220 We, his creatures, exist in, as does all of the universe, 00:25:34.059 --> 00:25:40.619 exist in a dependent, derived, finite, fragile way. 00:25:40.619 --> 00:25:50.139 God, our creator, exists in an eternal, self-sustaining, necessary way. 00:25:51.979 --> 00:26:01.899 Now, necessary in the sense that God does not have it within him to go out of existence. 00:26:01.900 --> 00:26:17.280 God's exact opposite to us. 00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:24.519 You see, we, by necessity, age and die because it is our present nature to do that. 00:26:24.519 --> 00:26:33.900 God necessarily continues forever unchanged as he always has, as he always will be. 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:39.779 The God of the Bible needs no support system. 00:26:42.220 --> 00:26:44.619 I survive on a support system. 00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:46.220 I'm hooked up to a support system. 00:26:46.220 --> 00:26:51.120 I got an insulin pump and I'm pumped up with pseudoephedrine and other things right now. 00:26:53.900 --> 00:26:55.259 You see, God is one of a kind. 00:26:56.339 --> 00:26:58.240 In that sense, he is utterly holy. 00:26:58.380 --> 00:27:03.920 But when you say that, nothing's said anything more than he's God. 00:27:06.420 --> 00:27:08.279 God has life in himself. 00:27:08.539 --> 00:27:12.140 He draws, he's an ending energy from himself. 00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:14.460 He's not connected to anything else. 00:27:14.460 --> 00:27:16.079 He draws it from within himself. 00:27:16.660 --> 00:27:21.440 He is the absolute reality beyond which there is just simply more of God. 00:27:22.340 --> 00:27:26.319 His being and his character are utterly undetermined by anything outside of himself. 00:27:26.579 --> 00:27:27.360 He is absolute. 00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:29.500 Everything else is derived from him. 00:27:29.819 --> 00:27:31.319 All life flows from him. 00:27:31.579 --> 00:27:33.180 All existence flows from him. 00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:40.100 His holiness determines all that he is and all that he does. 00:27:40.259 --> 00:27:42.480 But it's not determined by anything or anyone. 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:44.500 Call it his majesty. 00:27:44.700 --> 00:27:45.519 Call it his divinity. 00:27:45.720 --> 00:27:46.500 Call it his greatness. 00:27:46.980 --> 00:27:48.460 Call it his supreme value. 00:27:50.759 --> 00:27:53.039 Get to the point and language runs out. 00:27:55.099 --> 00:27:58.059 Unless he gives us more language to help us describe him. 00:27:58.059 --> 00:28:06.779 And that brings me to the seventh and final thing we learn from God. 00:28:08.779 --> 00:28:11.240 God chooses to communicate who he is. 00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:19.019 Because without what he's revealed about himself already, this side of the brink, we would not know him at all. 00:28:20.819 --> 00:28:23.200 He chooses to communicate who he is. 00:28:23.480 --> 00:28:26.319 And that is, holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. 00:28:26.779 --> 00:28:30.240 The whole earth is full of his glory. 00:28:30.660 --> 00:28:31.120 Verse 3. 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:40.339 God's glory is the revealing of his holiness. 00:28:40.939 --> 00:28:42.299 That's what glory is. 00:28:42.759 --> 00:28:43.899 What is... 00:28:43.899 --> 00:28:52.919 God is glorious means that God's holiness, that is, his divine character and his divine being, has gone public. 00:28:53.059 --> 00:28:54.419 He's displayed it. 00:28:54.459 --> 00:28:55.179 He's revealed it. 00:28:55.199 --> 00:28:55.879 He's communicated. 00:28:55.880 --> 00:28:58.860 Verse 19 says, 00:28:59.180 --> 00:29:02.080 The heavens declare the glory of God. 00:29:02.700 --> 00:29:04.820 The skies proclaim the work of his hands. 00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:07.360 Day after day, they pour forth speech. 00:29:07.820 --> 00:29:09.820 Night after night, they reveal knowledge. 00:29:12.380 --> 00:29:20.600 The created order is God making himself known. 00:29:21.740 --> 00:29:23.020 His character and his being. 00:29:23.019 --> 00:29:28.379 And unless he reveals himself, we would not see him for who he is. 00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:32.639 The universe displays his glory. 00:29:33.240 --> 00:29:44.359 And when God reveals his glory to his creatures, the response of his creatures is to give glory to him. 00:29:44.359 --> 00:29:51.299 Even the trees clap their hands. 00:29:52.299 --> 00:29:56.459 Even the stones will sing out and declare his glory. 00:29:59.419 --> 00:30:03.579 And that is what the creation was made for. 00:30:04.199 --> 00:30:05.719 Declare his glory. 00:30:05.720 --> 00:30:11.440 Let me just want to close out this first point a little bit. 00:30:12.299 --> 00:30:13.740 We'll make another point. 00:30:14.700 --> 00:30:23.779 The Reformation motto of glory to God alone cannot be reduced to just a call for moral action. 00:30:23.779 --> 00:30:32.240 That is, we Christians should pursue all activities for the glory of God as our only supreme end. 00:30:32.899 --> 00:30:34.799 Now, there's nothing untrue about that statement. 00:30:34.879 --> 00:30:35.920 That is a true statement. 00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:52.039 There seems to be something a bit imbalanced about focusing this grand motto of everything to the glory of God alone exclusively to being about Christians acting for God's glory. 00:30:52.039 --> 00:31:02.339 It produces this awkward and ironic result that glory to God alone becomes centered on me bringing glory to God. 00:31:03.139 --> 00:31:04.720 Because me centered, again. 00:31:06.339 --> 00:31:11.319 Now, on many occasions, the Bible calls Christians to give glory to God in their worship. 00:31:11.480 --> 00:31:15.480 And a couple of places it exhorts Christians to do everything for the glory of God. 00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:16.420 We're going to look at that in a moment. 00:31:16.420 --> 00:31:26.360 But more often, though, the Bible appeals to God's glory as the way of describing God, especially as he reveals himself. 00:31:27.900 --> 00:31:33.300 Glory to God has much to do with our Christian moral life. 00:31:33.300 --> 00:31:42.960 But biblical integrity demands that we first reckon with how the glory of God is truly about God himself. 00:31:42.960 --> 00:31:55.519 While God's glory should indeed be Christian's chief motive and goal in all conduct, 00:31:55.519 --> 00:32:06.740 we must remember above all that glory is the Lord's and that in all his works, he glorifies himself. 00:32:07.680 --> 00:32:08.759 It's about him. 00:32:08.759 --> 00:32:17.559 And that response is exactly the right response according to Habakkuk 2. 00:32:18.299 --> 00:32:19.559 The Lord is in his temple. 00:32:20.119 --> 00:32:22.480 Let all the earth be silent before him. 00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:26.140 In reverent awe. 00:32:26.140 --> 00:32:34.520 Now, it probably shocks us to think that God's goal for all things is his glory. 00:32:34.620 --> 00:32:39.360 That is, he's designed everything for his glory. 00:32:39.460 --> 00:32:41.540 All history is history because he determines it. 00:32:42.440 --> 00:32:43.860 He speaks it and makes it history. 00:32:43.940 --> 00:32:46.020 So everything is about his glory. 00:32:46.700 --> 00:32:51.120 And we think it sounds a bit like divine egotism. 00:32:51.119 --> 00:32:57.199 Which it would be true if it was me designing all things for my glory. 00:32:57.959 --> 00:33:01.159 If I designed everything, St. Paul's Chatswood, for the glory of Steve Jeffrey, 00:33:01.859 --> 00:33:04.759 start calling it St. Steve's instead of St. Paul's. 00:33:04.859 --> 00:33:06.879 And you'd be right. 00:33:07.459 --> 00:33:12.039 It is egotism because I am not worthy of glory. 00:33:12.039 --> 00:33:17.079 But this is the biggest issue for us. 00:33:17.859 --> 00:33:19.440 We live for our renown. 00:33:19.539 --> 00:33:20.619 It's the heart of sin. 00:33:21.700 --> 00:33:28.119 The heart of sin is exchanging the glory of God for lesser glories where I'm at the centre. 00:33:28.279 --> 00:33:30.079 Where I create God in my image. 00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:31.659 That's at the heart of sin. 00:33:31.660 --> 00:33:43.000 But for God, it actually points not to divine ego, but in fact to divine love. 00:33:43.140 --> 00:33:47.360 You see, God doing everything for his glory is the foundation of his love for us. 00:33:47.900 --> 00:33:51.279 God's glory and our joy are not two separate ideas. 00:33:51.420 --> 00:33:52.740 They are intimately connected. 00:33:54.180 --> 00:33:56.840 To glorify God is to respond to his glory. 00:33:57.080 --> 00:34:00.620 And you cannot glorify God without engaging with his glory. 00:34:00.619 --> 00:34:06.759 And the New Testament writers, and more than engaging glory in terms of the created order, 00:34:07.059 --> 00:34:13.319 because the New Testament writers proclaim that the supreme public display of God's nature, 00:34:13.719 --> 00:34:22.219 his character, his power, and his purpose, that is, his glory, the supreme public display of God, 00:34:24.299 --> 00:34:29.380 is there in the person and the role of God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:34:30.619 --> 00:34:36.460 In John chapter 12, verse 41, verse that you would just skim straight over, 00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:40.799 unless you just pat your face in Isaiah 6, 00:34:41.880 --> 00:34:43.679 this is what John writes. 00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:54.739 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him. 00:34:55.739 --> 00:35:02.299 The magnificent picture of the vision of the throne room of God and God sitting on his throne that Isaiah sees, 00:35:02.359 --> 00:35:05.859 it's recording Isaiah 6, what he saw was Jesus. 00:35:07.079 --> 00:35:08.559 He saw the glory of God. 00:35:08.559 --> 00:35:11.119 He saw Jesus sitting on that throne. 00:35:12.019 --> 00:35:18.219 And Jesus radiates, reflects, mirrors, displays the character, the purpose, and the power of God. 00:35:18.799 --> 00:35:26.059 The magnificence of what went public in Jesus was the plan and the work of grace, 00:35:26.059 --> 00:35:36.559 whereby Jesus saves sinners by laying aside his glory and becoming a mockery for us. 00:35:38.219 --> 00:35:43.199 Laying aside his renown and becoming a mockery for us. 00:35:44.460 --> 00:35:50.139 His commitment to his glory is the foundation of his love for us. 00:35:50.139 --> 00:35:57.759 It's just mind-blowing that the way God seems most delighted to glorify himself 00:35:57.759 --> 00:36:06.799 is by enabling his treasured people to enjoy him in the glory of his new creation 00:36:06.799 --> 00:36:09.239 through the shaming of his Son, 00:36:10.239 --> 00:36:13.699 who holds equal glory with him. 00:36:13.699 --> 00:36:20.079 Through the finished work of salvation achieved in Christ alone, 00:36:20.079 --> 00:36:24.019 by grace alone, that we grasp through faith alone. 00:36:24.759 --> 00:36:28.859 God's desire to glorify himself in all things 00:36:28.859 --> 00:36:33.539 sweeps us up into a plot 00:36:33.539 --> 00:36:37.599 whose unending finale 00:36:37.599 --> 00:36:40.880 leads us into his presence 00:36:40.880 --> 00:36:46.259 where God is supremely glorified 00:36:46.259 --> 00:36:49.739 in our glorification. 00:37:04.659 --> 00:37:07.299 God does, however, call us to respond to his glory. 00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:13.779 His glory revealing by giving him glory. 00:37:15.059 --> 00:37:17.819 And the first and most basic way we glorify God 00:37:17.819 --> 00:37:20.099 is by putting our faith in Jesus Christ alone. 00:37:21.599 --> 00:37:25.179 You see that in 2 Corinthians 1 and into 2, 00:37:26.460 --> 00:37:32.319 that putting your faith in the Lord Jesus is glorifying to God. 00:37:32.320 --> 00:37:39.500 That is, responding to his glory revealing 00:37:39.500 --> 00:37:44.680 by putting your dependency on this God. 00:37:45.539 --> 00:37:48.320 To give glory to God is to reckon God to be what he is, 00:37:49.100 --> 00:37:51.580 to rely upon his power and his faithfulness 00:37:51.580 --> 00:37:54.380 and his plan of salvation in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:37:54.780 --> 00:37:58.180 That is the first way and the first starting point 00:37:58.180 --> 00:37:59.260 in bringing glory to God. 00:37:59.260 --> 00:38:02.380 God is glorified in faith 00:38:02.380 --> 00:38:05.660 because he is honoured as the all-sufficient one 00:38:05.660 --> 00:38:07.760 who can meet every need. 00:38:08.680 --> 00:38:09.560 That's the first. 00:38:10.680 --> 00:38:11.440 Secondly, 00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:14.440 and seemingly primarily, 00:38:16.440 --> 00:38:20.560 the way that we as Christians glorify God 00:38:20.559 --> 00:38:21.559 is worship. 00:38:24.340 --> 00:38:27.860 This is one activity that the Bible associates far more 00:38:27.860 --> 00:38:30.159 than any other in glorifying God. 00:38:30.960 --> 00:38:31.940 At its heart, 00:38:32.159 --> 00:38:36.000 corporate worship ascribes all glory to God alone. 00:38:37.000 --> 00:38:40.279 We can glorify God in a multitude of ways, 00:38:40.280 --> 00:38:43.740 but the Bible indicates that nothing we do 00:38:43.740 --> 00:38:45.640 delights God more 00:38:45.640 --> 00:38:50.540 than calling upon his name with sincere hearts, 00:38:50.960 --> 00:38:54.400 declaring that all glory belongs to him. 00:38:57.060 --> 00:39:01.980 Now, I'm referring here to a distinct, specific activity. 00:39:01.980 --> 00:39:05.539 It's where we set aside other tasks 00:39:05.539 --> 00:39:08.440 and we set our minds and our hearts 00:39:08.440 --> 00:39:10.820 fully upon our God 00:39:10.820 --> 00:39:14.519 in order to receive his word 00:39:14.519 --> 00:39:18.260 and to respond to him with prayer and song 00:39:18.260 --> 00:39:21.599 because he reveals his glory to us through his word. 00:39:21.820 --> 00:39:23.019 You receive his glory 00:39:23.019 --> 00:39:24.519 and we respond to that 00:39:24.519 --> 00:39:26.440 by bringing glory to him in prayer and song. 00:39:27.099 --> 00:39:29.420 Now, that specific activity can be in private. 00:39:29.420 --> 00:39:31.019 It can be in families. 00:39:31.139 --> 00:39:32.340 It can be in a community group 00:39:32.340 --> 00:39:34.079 and it's especially in the corporate 00:39:34.079 --> 00:39:36.380 worship gathering of the church. 00:39:39.599 --> 00:39:42.900 And if I might say that your commitment to that 00:39:42.900 --> 00:39:45.780 will be an indicator of whether you are living 00:39:45.780 --> 00:39:48.400 for your glory or for God's glory. 00:39:51.180 --> 00:39:53.680 Now, a third way in which the New Testament speaks 00:39:53.680 --> 00:39:55.539 of Christians glorifying God 00:39:55.539 --> 00:39:58.500 is glorifying God in all that we do. 00:39:58.500 --> 00:40:00.139 That kind of just covers everything else. 00:40:02.159 --> 00:40:05.519 Deb read out 1 Corinthians 10 for us 00:40:05.519 --> 00:40:08.260 and it's probably the most famous text 00:40:08.260 --> 00:40:11.159 calling us to glorify God in all things. 00:40:11.239 --> 00:40:12.639 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, 00:40:12.699 --> 00:40:13.739 do it all for the glory of God. 00:40:14.079 --> 00:40:16.699 Now, Paul mentions eating and drinking here 00:40:16.699 --> 00:40:19.000 because earlier in 1 Corinthians 10 00:40:19.000 --> 00:40:20.599 and in fact in 1 Corinthians 8, 00:40:21.199 --> 00:40:24.219 he dealt with this controversy about Christians, 00:40:24.219 --> 00:40:29.199 whether Christians are permitted to eat meat sacrificed 00:40:29.199 --> 00:40:30.099 to false gods or not. 00:40:30.319 --> 00:40:32.239 It was an issue in Corinth at the time. 00:40:33.599 --> 00:40:35.899 And Paul teaches here that Christians 00:40:35.899 --> 00:40:38.659 have a broad range of liberties in Christ, 00:40:38.879 --> 00:40:42.259 but he warns them not to use those liberties 00:40:42.259 --> 00:40:45.239 to trample on the consciences of other Christians 00:40:45.239 --> 00:40:48.919 who may disagree with them on that issue. 00:40:50.399 --> 00:40:53.199 And then they can, 00:40:53.579 --> 00:40:55.959 verse 25, sorry, 1 Corinthians 10, 00:40:56.959 --> 00:40:59.779 eat everything sold in the meat market 00:40:59.779 --> 00:41:02.119 without raising questions of conscience. 00:41:02.119 --> 00:41:08.980 But they should follow an even more fundamental principle 00:41:08.980 --> 00:41:10.960 and that is the very verse before, 00:41:11.779 --> 00:41:13.739 no one should seek his own good, 00:41:14.099 --> 00:41:16.239 but the good of others. 00:41:17.380 --> 00:41:21.099 See, Paul's point in 1 Corinthians 10 31 00:41:21.099 --> 00:41:23.519 becomes evident in the next two verses 00:41:23.519 --> 00:41:24.539 straight after that. 00:41:25.859 --> 00:41:27.480 In all activities, 00:41:27.659 --> 00:41:30.920 including the divisive issues of meat and drinking 00:41:30.920 --> 00:41:34.139 and we should, 1 Corinthians 10 32, 00:41:34.760 --> 00:41:36.480 not cause anyone to stumble, 00:41:36.840 --> 00:41:39.940 whether Jews, Greeks, or the church of God, 00:41:40.039 --> 00:41:42.000 even as I try to please everyone in every way, 00:41:42.360 --> 00:41:44.320 for I'm not seeking my own good, 00:41:44.539 --> 00:41:47.440 but the good of many so that they may be saved. 00:41:49.639 --> 00:41:50.440 See what he says there? 00:41:52.039 --> 00:41:52.740 Paul says, 00:41:52.840 --> 00:41:55.240 encourages us to glorify God in all things 00:41:55.240 --> 00:41:57.519 by seeking the good of others. 00:41:57.519 --> 00:42:04.639 For the ultimate goal of seeing people saved to Christ 00:42:04.639 --> 00:42:07.139 and the church strengthened. 00:42:08.219 --> 00:42:09.239 Put it another way. 00:42:09.300 --> 00:42:10.300 See what he's saying there is? 00:42:11.920 --> 00:42:13.619 Live in such a way 00:42:13.619 --> 00:42:17.539 that you do not pursue your glory. 00:42:19.820 --> 00:42:21.159 Live in a way 00:42:21.159 --> 00:42:24.199 that you are centered on other people 00:42:24.199 --> 00:42:27.359 rather than being centered on you. 00:42:28.919 --> 00:42:30.019 Other person centered, 00:42:30.139 --> 00:42:30.719 not self-centered. 00:42:33.199 --> 00:42:34.379 And John Calvin wrote, 00:42:36.279 --> 00:42:38.859 we never truly glory in him 00:42:38.859 --> 00:42:45.379 until we have utterly discarded our own glory. 00:42:45.380 --> 00:42:49.539 And is that not the problem 00:42:49.539 --> 00:42:51.740 when we live for our renown? 00:42:53.780 --> 00:42:55.300 I was nine years old 00:42:55.300 --> 00:42:57.920 when I got my first taste of fame and glory. 00:42:58.680 --> 00:42:59.700 Got a taste of it 00:42:59.700 --> 00:43:01.160 and frankly, I loved it. 00:43:02.440 --> 00:43:05.200 It was a PSSA soccer match. 00:43:06.420 --> 00:43:07.740 Our game was in overtime. 00:43:07.960 --> 00:43:08.380 All the others, 00:43:08.519 --> 00:43:09.559 it was a big sporting complex. 00:43:09.700 --> 00:43:10.940 All the other games had finished. 00:43:12.099 --> 00:43:12.539 Overtime, 00:43:12.860 --> 00:43:13.880 it was a nil or draw. 00:43:13.880 --> 00:43:18.039 All the other games had finished 00:43:18.039 --> 00:43:21.200 and everyone had got onto the waiting buses. 00:43:21.360 --> 00:43:22.619 There was three buses there 00:43:22.619 --> 00:43:26.099 taking our school back to its school. 00:43:27.460 --> 00:43:31.000 And we were in the opposition's quarter 00:43:31.000 --> 00:43:33.480 and they were locked in a soccer scrum. 00:43:33.840 --> 00:43:35.220 If you do not know what a soccer scrum is, 00:43:35.320 --> 00:43:36.300 watch underage soccer. 00:43:37.079 --> 00:43:38.240 It's where a ball gets caught 00:43:38.240 --> 00:43:39.200 in a bunch of group of kids 00:43:39.200 --> 00:43:41.019 and they just kick and kick and kick and kick 00:43:41.019 --> 00:43:42.820 and hope the ball goes somewhere. 00:43:42.820 --> 00:43:45.980 And I learned early on 00:43:45.980 --> 00:43:47.080 as an eight-year-old, 00:43:47.660 --> 00:43:48.360 I'm now nine, 00:43:48.760 --> 00:43:51.880 that getting to mix the scrum, 00:43:52.360 --> 00:43:53.620 it doesn't work. 00:43:54.059 --> 00:43:55.200 Stand to one side. 00:43:55.800 --> 00:43:58.100 And I became a prolific goal scorer 00:43:58.100 --> 00:43:59.600 because I understood 00:43:59.600 --> 00:44:00.640 that the ball would eventually 00:44:00.640 --> 00:44:01.559 come out of the scrum 00:44:01.559 --> 00:44:03.260 and if I'm standing there by myself, 00:44:03.440 --> 00:44:04.440 I got a free-range kick. 00:44:04.940 --> 00:44:05.640 Prolific goal scorer. 00:44:05.720 --> 00:44:07.140 I had scored four goals that season. 00:44:07.740 --> 00:44:08.280 It was big. 00:44:08.280 --> 00:44:10.500 I'm standing there. 00:44:11.220 --> 00:44:11.920 Buses are waiting. 00:44:13.240 --> 00:44:15.140 The ball comes out to me 00:44:15.140 --> 00:44:17.420 and I just went boot. 00:44:18.220 --> 00:44:19.640 Straight over the keeper's head 00:44:19.640 --> 00:44:21.000 and straight into the goal 00:44:21.000 --> 00:44:22.760 and as it hit the back of the net, 00:44:22.860 --> 00:44:24.340 the referee blew the whistle. 00:44:24.760 --> 00:44:25.620 It was full time. 00:44:26.980 --> 00:44:29.620 My team surrounded me 00:44:29.620 --> 00:44:31.620 and attempted to do an awkward 00:44:31.620 --> 00:44:32.760 sort of lift off the field 00:44:32.760 --> 00:44:34.160 because they've seen that done on TV 00:44:34.160 --> 00:44:36.480 and fortunately they didn't drop me. 00:44:38.000 --> 00:44:39.540 The three bus drivers 00:44:39.540 --> 00:44:40.540 are tooting the horn. 00:44:41.420 --> 00:44:42.760 Kids are hanging out the windows 00:44:42.760 --> 00:44:45.260 and I walked onto the bus 00:44:45.260 --> 00:44:46.300 in that moment 00:44:46.300 --> 00:44:48.800 and I got a hip-hip-a-ray 00:44:48.800 --> 00:44:49.740 from the whole bus, 00:44:49.840 --> 00:44:51.240 cheered, patting the back. 00:44:52.240 --> 00:44:53.040 That day, 00:44:53.820 --> 00:44:55.300 I was the centre of the world. 00:44:56.640 --> 00:44:58.320 Eight-year-olds wanted to be me 00:44:58.320 --> 00:45:00.100 in that moment, 00:45:00.260 --> 00:45:01.540 in my school. 00:45:01.539 --> 00:45:03.219 People, kindergarten kids, 00:45:03.300 --> 00:45:03.800 I'm sure, 00:45:03.920 --> 00:45:04.559 wanted my autograph. 00:45:05.460 --> 00:45:07.860 It was the biggest moment 00:45:07.860 --> 00:45:09.519 of glory for me 00:45:09.519 --> 00:45:11.599 and it lasted about a day, 00:45:12.920 --> 00:45:13.900 the rest of the day. 00:45:15.539 --> 00:45:16.719 39 years later, 00:45:16.759 --> 00:45:17.880 I still remember it 00:45:17.880 --> 00:45:21.179 and I can guarantee 00:45:21.179 --> 00:45:22.139 no one else would. 00:45:23.219 --> 00:45:23.559 In fact, 00:45:23.900 --> 00:45:24.480 I'd be lucky 00:45:24.480 --> 00:45:25.739 if those kids even knew my name. 00:45:26.000 --> 00:45:26.920 I don't know their names. 00:45:27.019 --> 00:45:27.880 I'm pretty confident 00:45:27.880 --> 00:45:28.739 they don't know mine. 00:45:28.739 --> 00:45:32.500 Our glory fades 00:45:32.500 --> 00:45:34.839 so easily 00:45:34.839 --> 00:45:37.519 and you would not have even known 00:45:37.519 --> 00:45:39.219 about that moment of glory 00:45:39.219 --> 00:45:41.399 unless I told you about it. 00:45:43.159 --> 00:45:44.339 And that's what we do, 00:45:44.419 --> 00:45:44.799 isn't it? 00:45:46.279 --> 00:45:46.859 It fades 00:45:46.859 --> 00:45:47.639 and so we just keep 00:45:47.639 --> 00:45:50.519 putting ourselves 00:45:50.519 --> 00:45:51.719 in the centre of the world 00:45:51.719 --> 00:45:52.779 again and again 00:45:52.779 --> 00:45:53.479 and again, 00:45:54.059 --> 00:45:55.199 recognising me 00:45:55.199 --> 00:45:55.980 and making sure 00:45:55.980 --> 00:45:56.739 that you identify 00:45:56.739 --> 00:45:57.659 who I am 00:45:57.659 --> 00:45:58.399 and know my 00:45:58.399 --> 00:46:01.299 because the glory fades. 00:46:03.919 --> 00:46:04.759 It's pretty sad. 00:46:04.839 --> 00:46:05.539 I've got to think back 00:46:05.539 --> 00:46:06.339 39 years 00:46:06.339 --> 00:46:07.500 to try and remember a time. 00:46:08.559 --> 00:46:09.719 But the glory fades. 00:46:12.460 --> 00:46:13.019 One day, 00:46:13.099 --> 00:46:14.159 you're the centre of the world 00:46:14.159 --> 00:46:15.779 when you're the bride 00:46:15.779 --> 00:46:16.659 walking down 00:46:16.659 --> 00:46:17.799 and it all ends 00:46:17.799 --> 00:46:18.980 when the next wedding comes. 00:46:22.179 --> 00:46:22.899 The joy, 00:46:23.039 --> 00:46:23.579 the euphoria 00:46:23.579 --> 00:46:25.539 doesn't last 00:46:25.539 --> 00:46:27.319 and yet the default setting 00:46:27.319 --> 00:46:28.079 of my heart 00:46:28.079 --> 00:46:28.920 is I want to keep 00:46:28.920 --> 00:46:29.539 pursuing it. 00:46:29.679 --> 00:46:30.960 I want to keep pursuing it 00:46:30.960 --> 00:46:32.659 and it never satisfies. 00:46:38.599 --> 00:46:39.779 The magnificent God 00:46:39.779 --> 00:46:40.539 of this universe 00:46:40.539 --> 00:46:42.259 has a glory 00:46:42.259 --> 00:46:43.879 that never 00:46:43.879 --> 00:46:45.019 fades. 00:46:45.019 --> 00:46:48.639 We are like grass, 00:46:48.759 --> 00:46:49.400 we're like the flowers 00:46:49.400 --> 00:46:50.099 of the field. 00:46:51.000 --> 00:46:51.599 We come, 00:46:51.900 --> 00:46:52.380 we go 00:46:52.380 --> 00:46:53.420 but His glory 00:46:53.420 --> 00:46:54.860 endures forever. 00:46:56.599 --> 00:46:57.679 And this God 00:46:57.679 --> 00:46:59.139 has revealed 00:46:59.139 --> 00:46:59.900 His glory 00:46:59.900 --> 00:47:00.639 most clearly 00:47:00.639 --> 00:47:01.119 to us 00:47:01.119 --> 00:47:02.000 in the Lord Jesus 00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:03.659 and what He has revealed 00:47:03.659 --> 00:47:04.000 to us 00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:04.800 in the Lord Jesus 00:47:04.800 --> 00:47:06.920 is that He loves us, 00:47:07.780 --> 00:47:09.539 that He knows us 00:47:09.539 --> 00:47:12.179 and that in Christ 00:47:12.179 --> 00:47:13.579 He has given us 00:47:13.579 --> 00:47:15.840 a name, 00:47:17.079 --> 00:47:17.920 a status, 00:47:19.299 --> 00:47:20.099 a renown 00:47:20.099 --> 00:47:23.619 that will live on 00:47:23.619 --> 00:47:25.119 forever in Him. 00:47:26.340 --> 00:47:27.840 And that revelation 00:47:27.840 --> 00:47:28.759 and that hope 00:47:28.759 --> 00:47:29.519 and that status 00:47:29.519 --> 00:47:30.480 means that we're being 00:47:30.480 --> 00:47:31.360 set free 00:47:31.360 --> 00:47:33.539 from this crippling 00:47:33.539 --> 00:47:34.099 pursuit 00:47:34.099 --> 00:47:35.199 of our glory 00:47:35.199 --> 00:47:36.099 and enabling 00:47:36.099 --> 00:47:37.659 and He's enabled us 00:47:37.659 --> 00:47:39.139 to live for His glory 00:47:39.139 --> 00:47:42.699 and be glorified 00:47:42.699 --> 00:47:43.099 forever. 00:47:44.819 --> 00:47:45.239 And therefore, 00:47:45.500 --> 00:47:46.440 as we stand 00:47:46.440 --> 00:47:48.299 in 500 years 00:47:48.299 --> 00:47:49.659 of Reformation heritage, 00:47:51.199 --> 00:47:52.460 we individually 00:47:52.460 --> 00:47:53.319 at St. Paul's 00:47:53.319 --> 00:47:54.199 and as a church, 00:47:54.940 --> 00:47:55.659 we abandon 00:47:55.659 --> 00:47:56.119 the pursuit 00:47:56.119 --> 00:47:56.879 of our glory, 00:47:57.599 --> 00:47:58.659 we embrace 00:47:58.659 --> 00:47:59.579 this salvation 00:47:59.579 --> 00:48:02.119 that is 00:48:02.119 --> 00:48:03.639 in Christ 00:48:03.639 --> 00:48:05.639 by grace 00:48:05.639 --> 00:48:06.539 through faith, 00:48:06.539 --> 00:48:10.059 and together 00:48:10.059 --> 00:48:10.519 we make it 00:48:10.519 --> 00:48:11.360 our purpose 00:48:11.360 --> 00:48:12.079 to know 00:48:12.079 --> 00:48:13.139 Jesus, 00:48:13.400 --> 00:48:14.420 to treasure Jesus 00:48:14.420 --> 00:48:15.960 and to represent 00:48:15.960 --> 00:48:17.420 Jesus for God's glory 00:48:17.420 --> 00:48:18.639 and the joy 00:48:18.639 --> 00:48:19.599 of all people. 00:48:19.599 --> 00:48:22.539 for God's glory 00:48:22.539 --> 00:48:25.579 for God's glory 00:48:25.579 --> 00:48:27.259 and that's 00:48:33.000 --> 00:48:33.960 to the doctrine 00:48:33.960 --> 00:48:34.559 of God's glory 00:48:34.559 --> 00:48:35.219 and that's 00:48:36.039 --> 00:48:37.000 for God's glory 00:48:37.000 --> 00:48:38.099 and that's 00:48:38.099 --> 00:48:40.219 a true 00:48:40.219 --> 00:48:41.139 of all people 00:48:41.139 --> 00:48:41.659 and that's 00:48:41.659 --> 00:48:42.960 дал 00:48:42.960 --> 00:48:43.679 of all people 00:48:43.679 --> 00:48:44.539 that are 00:48:44.539 --> 00:48:46.279 and that's 00:48:46.279 --> 00:48:46.880 this 00:48:46.880 --> 00:48:47.460 that's 00:48:47.460 --> 00:48:48.219 who