For God's Glory

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.

Revelation 5:13

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,

Isaiah 1 · chapter mention

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.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

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,

Psalms 90:2

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

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,

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.

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

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

Leviticus 10:3

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

John 12 · chapter mention

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

John 12:41

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

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

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.

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

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,

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,

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

Psalms 37:4

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

Deuteronomy 28:47

28,

verse 47.

And that