God Magnifies His Name

Morning, church.

So I ran across a blog entry the other day titled 22 Little Known Ways to Make a Name

for Yourself. On the list were such things as grow the trust, ask the unaskable, avoid

the always, court the irrational, and on and on and on. I had to laugh when I read number

eight on this list, which was embody the values. Right after number seven, which was eliminate

the losers. I wasn't sure at that point what values we were embodying. But anyway, why

are we so obsessed with making a name for ourselves? In his book, The City of God, Augustine said

that one of the undeniable elements of the human condition is that we have an insatiable love

of praise. We want to make a name for ourselves thinking that if we have human praise, if we

make our mark, if we make a name for ourselves, we will then be happy. Right?

But so often it's the opposite that happens in our pursuit to make a name for ourselves. We end up

in our pursuit of our pursuit of our pursuit of our pursuit of our pursuit of our pursuit. We

always want more. Why is that? The late David Foster Wallace put it this way in a commencement

address he gave at Kenyon College in 2005. It's a bit of a long quote, but I think you'll be able

to follow it. He says, in the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there's actually no such thing as

atheism. There's no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what

to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of God or spiritual type thing

to worship is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money

and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel

you have enough. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure, and you will always feel ugly.

And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you.

Worship power. You will end up feeling weak and afraid. You will need ever more power over others

to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect. Being seen as smart, you'll end up feeling stupid,

a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. But the insidious thing, he goes on to say,

about these forms of worship is not that they're evil or sinful. It's that they're unconscious.

They are default settings.

Now Wallace wasn't a Christian,

but he's right. Isn't he here?

We all worship something,

and that thing

often crushes us.

And isn't the same thing true of our love of praise,

worship approval and success,

making a name for yourself, and you'll

always end up feeling like a failure,

that nothing you do matters,

that you never measure up, and there's always one more

hurdle to get over.

Remember,

this is our default setting,

as fallen human beings.

And the question is, is there anything to get us off

that default setting?

To get us to not worship things,

which in the end will destroy us?

Again, from that same address,

David Foster Wallace goes on to say,

the so-called real world

will not discourage you

from operating on your default settings.

Because the so-called real world

of men

and money

and power

hums merrily along

in a pool of fear

and anger

and frustration

and craving

and worship of self.

Cynical?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Maybe not.

It seems we have to look somewhere else then,

than the so-called real world.

And where do we look?

Well, this morning,

we're going to look at Exodus,

Exodus 7 · chapter mention

chapters 7 through 10.

To a biblical text

that I think is aimed

at nothing less

than the utter destruction

of our so-called default settings.

It's aimed at the realignment

of our hearts

to that which is truly

and alone

worthy of worship.

So why don't we turn there together?

That's page 49

in the Pew Bibles.

Exodus

Exodus 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7 through 10.

Page 49.

We're going to look at a big chunk

of scripture this morning,

so let me encourage you

to turn there.

Even if you're not

super familiar with the Bible,

just go to page 49

and you'll be able

to follow right along.

Now, as you turn there,

you'll notice,

maybe from some of the subject headings,

that Exodus chapter 7

Exodus 7 · chapter mention

begins the famous story

of the ten plagues.

In fact,

this section of Exodus

begins back in chapter 6

with the genealogy of Moses

in verse 14.

In the ancient world,

in ancient texts,

genealogies were sort of ways

of marking out

a new section in the work.

It was sort of a signal

of a new chapter

in the story.

You see that in the book of Genesis

over and over and over again.

Whenever the story

takes a new turn,

it's introduced by a genealogy.

The same thing's happening here

in Exodus.

This new chapter

is starting

and this,

at last,

will be the chapter

in this story

of how God rescues

his people

from slavery at last.

Here we go.

And we're going to take

the next three weeks

to look at this narrative

of the plagues.

Next week,

we're going to get into

the hardening

of Pharaoh's heart.

Sorry if you were really hoping

we'd get into that

this morning.

You've got to come back

next week.

Two weeks from now,

we're going to look

at the Passover,

which is the sort of

climactic

and last

tenth plague.

But today,

what we're going to do

is we're going to look

at the first nine plagues

in chapters 7 through 10

as a whole.

And we're going to ask

the big,

overarching question

of,

what are the plagues

all about?

Why

the plagues?

Now,

you might be saying

to yourself,

well,

gee,

I thought the plagues

were all about

the Israelites

being rescued

from their oppressors

in Egypt.

And that is true.

But as we look

a little more closely

at how this story

unfolds,

we find that there's

an even bigger purpose

at work.

And it's a purpose

that strikes

to the very core

of our hearts today.

A purpose that seeks

to conquer

those default settings

in our hearts

of misplaced worship

and our love of praise

and our obsession

of making a name

for ourselves.

Because you see,

the plagues,

what the plagues

are all about really

is God

magnifying

his name.

It's about God

making his name

great.

Turn with me

to Exodus 9,

Exodus 9:13

verse 13.

That's page 51.

As I mentioned,

the first nine plagues

in the story

span chapters 7

through 10.

And we're going to cover

as much of that terrain

as we can

this morning.

But I want to begin

by giving us

a foothold

right here

in the middle

of the story.

We're going to jump

right into the middle

and begin here

in Exodus 9,

Exodus 9:13–16

verses 13 through 16.

So Exodus 9, 13.

This is the beginning

of the seventh plague.

Then the Lord said

to Moses,

Rise up early

in the morning

and present yourself

to Pharaoh

before Pharaoh

and say to him,

Thus says the Lord,

the God of the Hebrews,

Let my people go

that they may serve me.

For this time

I will send

all my plagues

on you yourself

and on your servants

and your people

so that you may know

that there is none

like me

in all the earth.

For by now

I could have put out

my hand

and struck you

and your people

with pestilence

and you would have been

cut off from the earth.

But for this purpose

I have raised you up

to show you my power

so that my name

may be proclaimed

in all the earth.

It's hard to miss there,

isn't it?

God does what he does

in these chapters

so that his name

may be proclaimed

in all the earth.

In other words,

for the purpose

of making his name great

before the whole world.

That's the big idea.

And that runs

like a refrain

throughout chapter 7

through 10.

Let me show you.

Let's skip around.

Let's take a cross section

of this section

of scripture.

Turn to chapter 7

verse 5.

If you're new

to the Bible,

by the way,

the big numbers

are the chapters

and the small numbers

are the verses.

Exodus 7 verse 5.

Exodus 7:5

Let me read.

We're going to jump

through these pretty quickly.

The Egyptians

shall know

that I am the Lord.

There it is.

When I stretch out

my hand against Egypt

and bring out

the people of Israel

from among them.

Exodus 7 verse 17.

Exodus 7:17

Thus says the Lord,

by this you shall know

that I am the Lord.

Behold,

with the staff

that is in my hand

I will strike the water

that is in the Nile

and it shall turn into blood.

Exodus 8 verse 10.

Exodus 8:10

Pharaoh says,

tomorrow.

And Moses says,

be it as you say.

Why?

So that you may know

that there is no one

like the Lord our God.

Exodus 8 verse 22.

Exodus 8:22

Look at the end

of that verse.

That you may know

that I am the Lord

in the midst of the earth.

We saw it twice

in chapter 9 verses 13 through 16.

But turn to Exodus 10 too.

Here God's speaking

to the Israelites.

So that you may tell

in the hearing of your son

and of your grandson

how I've dealt harshly

with the Egyptians

and what signs

I have done among them

that you may know

that I am the Lord.

The plagues are about God

making himself known

and magnifying his name.

But how does God

go about doing that?

How does he magnify his name

that we might know

that he alone is the Lord?

Well, as the plagues progress

we see how God does that.

And that's what we're going

to try to unpack this morning.

And the first thing

that we see is that God

magnifies his name

in judgment.

This is our first point.

Turn back again

to chapter 7.

Kind of start at the beginning.

In the beginning

of this chapter

God recommissions Moses

after the disappointment

and discouragement

of chapters 5 and 6.

Then in verses 8 through 13

Moses and Aaron

perform a preliminary sign

before Pharaoh.

Aaron's staff

turns into a fearsome snake,

a fearsome serpent

and ends up swallowing

the staffs

of Pharaoh's magicians

which is a bit of a preview

of what's to come.

And then in verse 14

the plagues begin.

And in order to understand

sort of the meaning

of the plagues

and how they sort of unfold

this theme of God

magnifying his name

I think it's helpful

to see that the way

in which the biblical author

has structured this account

is that the first nine plagues

kind of come at us

in three sets of three.

The blood and frogs

and gnats

are sort of one cycle

and then the flies

and the livestock plague

and the boils

are sort of a second cycle

and then lastly

the hail

and the locust

and the darkness

are kind of the last cycle.

And where do we get that?

Where do we see that?

Well actually

the literary structure

is pretty clear

once you see it.

Again let's fly over

the passage together

and notice a pattern

that starts to emerge.

We're going to look at

plagues 1, 2, and 3

real quick

just at the beginning

of each of the plagues.

You can probably

just follow along

by looking at the subject headings

in your ESV.

Look at 7.15

the beginning

of the first plague.

How does God describe it?

He says 7.15

Go out to Pharaoh

in the morning

as he goes out

to the water.

Now jump down

to 8.1

the next plague.

The Lord said to Moses

go into Pharaoh.

Now go to the third plague

8.16

and there's no warning at all.

Go out

to Pharaoh

in the morning

go into Pharaoh

no warning.

Now watch that same pattern

happen again

in plagues 4, 5, and 6.

8.20

Rise up early

in the morning

present yourself

to Pharaoh

as he goes out

to the water.

Oh that sounds familiar.

Plague 5

then the Lord said

to Moses

go into Pharaoh.

Plague 6

9.8

no warning.

And again

the same thing happens

for plagues 7, 8, and 9.

Go out to Pharaoh

in the morning

go into Pharaoh

and then the last one

comes without a warning.

You see those are signals

that the biblical author

is giving us

so that we can understand

how this thing

is unfolding.

And once you see

that threefold structure

you begin to realize

that each cycle

of three

brings out

a different element

of God magnifying

his name.

Each one

building

on the last.

And as this first cycle

kind of breaks upon us

as we've said

God shows us

that he's magnifying

his name

in judgment.

You see

when God

through Moses

turns the Nile

into blood

in verse 7, 14

and following

he's not just

sort of doing

a random

act of power

it's not sort of

a large scale

party trick.

Ha ha!

You see

for the Egyptians

the Nile

as Greg mentioned

a few weeks ago

was worshipped

as a God.

It was their life source.

So right from the start

God is enacting

a judgment

on the so called

gods of Egypt.

Proving

that they are

no gods at all

but that they are

mere idols.

And that the one

who really controls

the life source

of this people

and all peoples

is the God

of the Hebrews

the Lord.

But just when things

start to get off

the ground

Pharaoh's magicians

enter the scene

again.

And they too

it seems

can turn water

to blood

by their secret arts.

and so the battle

is on.

Round one

seems to be a tie.

What about round two?

God unleashes

hordes of frogs

from the Nile

so many

that they begin

to infest

the cookware

the ovens

the beds.

Imagine that

crawling into bed

at night

finding nothing

but frogs.

In Australia

actually

there are things

called cane toads

which are giant

they're like this big

they're disgusting.

Rhys

you know what I'm

talking about.

And they're everywhere.

Imagine that

opening up

your pot

to cook

and out

jumps a frog.

But the magicians

step up

and they too

it seems

can make frogs

appear.

But it's a bit

of an irony

isn't it?

This is only

a sort of

partial victory

for the magicians

because

haha

they can make

the frogs appear

and yet

that's not really

the problem

is it?

We want the frogs

to go away.

So

Pharaoh

wisely

appeals to Moses

and he seems

to concede

okay Moses

fine

you win.

but as soon

as the Lord

removes the frogs

Pharaoh

hardens his heart

and refuses

to let the people

go.

Then comes

round three

and this time

there's no warning

and there's

no contest.

Aaron

strikes the dust

of the earth

and as the dust

rises from the

strike of his

staff

suddenly gnats

mosquitoes

begin to rise

and sweep

over the land.

and the magicians

try to do the same

and yet

they are bested

and in 819

the magicians

admit defeat.

This is the

finger of God

they say.

But you see

this contest

is about more

than God

foiling

some ancient

magicians.

This is a

contest

about who

controls

creation.

Who

is the

rightful

authority?

The gods

of Egypt

or the

one true

God of Israel?

Pharaoh

and his

magicians

or the

Lord?

And as the

Nile

runs with

blood

and as the

piles of

dead frogs

fill the land

with their

horrible smell

and as the

gnats fill

the air

God is

giving them

a clear

uncomfortable

sign

that he

is the

Lord

of creation

and not

them.

And as the

cycles continue

the plagues

intensify

in severity.

You know

this first cycle

is kind of gross

as it might be

blood

and frogs

and irritating

as it might

be with gnats

not necessarily

the most

hygienic

situation.

It's a bit

unfortunate

it's a bit

uncomfortable.

But then comes

the second

cycle

and flies

will swarm

their houses

and ruin

their land

and a severe

plague will

kill the

livestock

which is a bit

like your

401k losing

50, 60,

70 percent.

And then

finally

soot from

a kiln

will again

sweep

through the

land

and this

time

not just

irritating

gnats

that you

need to

flick away

but boils

on the

skin.

And the

magicians

at the

end of

plague

six

at the

end of

the second

cycle

now can't

even stand

before Moses

because they're

so sorely

afflicted.

But then

the severity

increases even

more with the

final cycle

of three.

Hail

and locusts

and darkness

what was

painful and

costly in

the second

cycle

has now

become

utterly

devastating.

By the

end of

the ninth

plague

there'll

be nothing

left

in Egypt

of value.

It's all

gone.

And you

see what's

happening

across these

plagues.

Again

they're not

mere random

displays of

power.

this is the

creator God

exercising his

judgment

on a

rebellious

people

in an

unfolding

act

of

un-creation.

That the

one who

brought

creation

into being

is now

letting it

fall apart.

Piece by

piece

layer by

layer

the land

of Egypt

is reverting

to chaos.

The

created

order is

coming

unraveled.

Frogs

don't stay

where they're

supposed to

stay.

Hail

isn't the

size it's

supposed to

be.

And with

each new

cycle the

breakdown

deepens.

Order in

life is

stripped away

until the

ninth plague

ends in

total

darkness.

darkness.

Do you

remember the

creation week

of Genesis

1?

Begins with

what?

The creation

of light.

And now

it's as if

creation has

completely

rewound

into darkness.

The light

is made

black and

the un-creation

is complete.

And all

this Exodus

tells us

throughout this

narrative is

a sign.

the plagues

are a sign.

They point

to something.

They point

to the fact

that to

reject our

creator,

to reject

the Lord,

ends

in

disintegration,

chaos,

darkness,

and death.

Of course

the judgment

of God is

not a popular

topic.

But friends,

it is a

reality.

And on

the one

hand,

if it is

a reality,

if God

will judge,

then that

does mean

that our

lives aren't

just a

string of

meaningless

events,

that what

we do

does actually

count in

the grand

scheme of

things,

and they

will be

counted in

the grand

scheme of

things.

God's

judgment

isn't

just

real,

it's

also

perfectly

just.

Like the

Egyptians,

we often

live our

lives without

any reference

to the true

God.

We ignore

him in the

world that

he has

made.

We reject

his law

and want

nothing to

do with

him.

we choose

other gods

and so

God gives

us exactly

what we

ask for.

The wages

of sin

is death,

Paul will

say in

Romans 6.

And friends,

what that

means is

that this

God,

this God

is the

one with

whom we

really have

to do.

The most

important thing

in your

life is not

what job

you have

or what

college you

graduated

from.

The most

pressing

issue of

your life

is not

how beautiful

or successful

or wealthy

you can

become,

how much

comfort you

can stock

up,

how much

status you

can win.

It's not

about getting

a spouse

or starting

a family.

The most

pressing

issue before

each and

every one

of us

is to

be

reconciled

to God,

our

creator.

What does

it profit,

Jesus said,

to gain

the whole

world

and lose

your soul?

And the

plagues are

here before

us like a

megaphone.

They're like

smelling salts

getting us

to wake up

from our

stupor

to realize

that God

is God

and he

must be

the center

of our

lives.

And all

the pursuits

that we

wrap our

lives around,

no matter

how great

they may

seem in

the world's

eyes,

work and

sex and

wealth and

success,

all right,

all good,

in their

proper place

are nothing

compared to

God.

And to

reject God

for those

things can

mean nothing

but eternal

death.

It's like

we're sawing

the branch

that we

stand on

at any

moment.

Down we

go.

My friends,

the message

of the

plagues

is not

just that

God magnifies

his name

in judgment.

In the

second cycle

of plagues

we see

that God

magnifies

his name

in salvation.

As the

judgments

increase,

as the

destruction

mounts,

what do

we find?

We find

the Lord

sheltering

his people

from the

coming wrath.

Look at

the beginning

of the

second cycle

in chapter

8,

verse 20.

Chapter

8,

verse 20.

I'm going

to read

these first

few verses.

Then the

Lord said

to Moses,

rise up

early in

the morning

and present

yourself to

Pharaoh as

he goes out

to the

water and

say to him,

thus says

the Lord,

let my

people go

that they

may serve

me.

Or else,

if you

will not

let my

people go,

behold,

I will send

swarms of

flies on you

and your

servants and

your people

and into

your houses.

And the

houses of

the Egyptians

shall be

filled with

swarms of

flies and

also the

ground on

which they

stand.

But on

that day

I will set

apart the

land of

Goshen where

my people

dwell so

that no

swarms of

flies shall

be there,

that you

may know

that I am

the Lord

in the

midst of

the earth.

Thus I

will put a

division between

my people

and your

people.

Tomorrow this

sign shall

happen.

God

Why does

God stop

the plagues

from ravaging

the people

of Israel

living in

Goshen?

Are they

more deserving

than the

Egyptians?

Do they

have a more

impeccable

moral record?

No.

They are the

recipients of

God's grace,

of his

undeserved

favor.

And he

sets them

apart so

that all

the world

might know

that he

is the

Lord.

We see

this highlighted

again in the

fifth plague,

and in the

seventh plague,

and in the

ninth plague.

We're told

that God

keeps his

people safe.

You know,

I wonder for

those living

through the

plagues at

that time,

was it more

of a wonder

to see the

flies swarm

and the

livestock die

and the

hail fall

and the

darkness

descend?

Or was it

more of a

wonder to

see the

flies and

the hail

inexplicably

stop right

at the

border of

Goshen?

Was it

more of a

wonder to

see their

livestock

remaining

healthy?

Was it

more of a

wonder to

see the

sun shining

there,

though all

else had

gone black?

God was

magnifying his

name in

salvation.

I mean,

think about

it.

After all,

there's glory,

isn't there,

when a team of

firefighters show

up on the

scene and

they just

douse a

home with

water.

That's a

home that's

on fire.

They just

put it out

and blow

it away.

That's pretty

awesome.

glory.

But isn't

there more

glory when

they enter

the burning

building and

bring out the

survivors in

the midst of

it?

And,

friends,

just so,

God's glory is

seen in his

judgment, his

sovereignty, his

justice, his

holiness, but

how much more in

his salvation

through judgment?

We see this

again and again in

the Bible, don't

we?

Think of the

flood.

The flood was a

display of God's

power and holy

justice, but

rescuing a family

in the ark through

the flood made

God's name great.

Jump ahead to the

exile to Babylon,

which was a

display, again, of

God's perfect

character.

But rescuing and

preserving a

remnant through the

exile displayed God's

faithfulness and his

mercy.

And just so here,

bringing the

Egyptian nation to

its knees in

judgment made God's

name great, but how

much more carrying

out a whole people

safely through the

midst of those

plagues, protecting

them, sheltering

them.

And here's where the

rubber hits the road

for us.

Have you ever

wondered, have you

ever doubted whether

God is willing to

save?

Friends, the reality

is that right now,

during this sermon,

you, right in your

seat, can turn from

sin, trust in Christ,

Christ, and be saved

from death and

judgment.

But do you wonder

whether God would

really receive you

with your sins and

your fears and your

doubts and your

pride?

God.

But remember, friend, he

doesn't save because of

how great you are.

He saves because of how

great he is.

And look at how great he

is.

There is none like him.

He shelters his people.

He sets them apart for the

sake of his great name.

He's incomparable like

none other.

And that leads us to our

third point.

God magnifies his name in

judgment and in

salvation.

And the third cycle of

plagues, chapter 9,

verse 13, through the

end of chapter 10, God

shows us that he

magnifies his name beyond

all compare.

That he's like no other.

God judges, God saves,

and God does what no one

else can do.

Where do we see that?

As the last three plagues

rain down their

destruction, it's the

totality and it's the

magnitude of them that

set them apart from the

previous plagues.

Look at chapter 9,

verse 24.

Chapter 9, verse 24,

there was hail and fire

flashing continually in the

midst of the hail, very

heavy hail such as had

never been in all the land

of Egypt since it became a

nation.

And that same thing is said

of the locusts in chapter

10, verse 14.

Chapter 10, verse 14, the

locusts came up over all the

land of Egypt and settled on

the whole country of Egypt,

such a dense swarm of

locusts as had never been

before nor ever will be

again.

Like nothing that ever had

been or ever will be.

And the magnitude of the

hail and the locusts and the

other devastation that they

bring, verse 10, 15 says,

not a green thing remained,

neither tree nor plant of the

field through all the land of

Egypt.

That complete devastation,

all of that is matched by the

complete darkness of the ninth

plague.

A darkness so thick you could

feel it, the writer says.

And that ninth plague would have

been perhaps the most powerful

symbolic message to the

Egyptians.

Because you see the sun in

Egyptian culture was their

supreme god, the god Ra.

Its worship was pervasive,

especially in the official palace

and in the rituals there.

But this last plague is saying

to the Egyptians, and for that

matter saying to us, take the

greatest, take the highest

conception that you have of God.

Take your highest, most exalted,

most powerful thing that you can

imagine, whatever that God is.

And the reality is, the blazing

glory of the Lord, the true God,

makes such a God seem like

darkness in comparison.

There's none like him, none

greater, none higher.

He is beyond all compare.

And so great is this God, so

unexpected, so incomparable, that in

this last cycle of plagues, he

actually does the unthinkable.

And he offers mercy to his enemies.

Though Pharaoh's heart is hardened

toward ever-increasing destruction,

as this third cycle of plagues

begins, the Lord warns and invites

the Egyptian people.

He says, come.

Look at chapter 9, verse 19.

Now, therefore, get your

livestock and all that you have in

the field into safe shelter, for

every man and beast that is in the

field and is not brought home will

die.

God calls out to them in mercy and

invites the Egyptians to take

shelter from the coming wrath.

And what about us?

Friends, the reality is that God

will come.

The Creator will one day come in

fullness to his creation and put it

right again.

God, our true judge, will come and put

an end to evil and wrong.

And the question is, where will we

find shelter?

Now, as we think about that

question, I hope you see, I hope you

see that this passage that we're

looking at actually offers much hope

to a hurting world.

Because what we have on display here,

in no uncertain terms, is the great

truth that the oppressive schemes of

Pharaoh and of every Pharaoh who's

come since then, all those oppressive

schemes will not have the final word

that in justice and slavery and evil,

God will put it all to rights with

perfect justice and with perfect

judgment.

And that is good news.

When the Psalms tell us of God's

return as king to judge, do you know

how the scene is pictured?

The trees are clapping their hands

and the oceans are roaring in praise

because God's finally going to release

creation from the evil that has

infested it.

God's judgment is good news for the

world.

The days of evil are numbered.

But the pointed question is, is God's

judgment good news for me?

Because friends, I see my heart and it

is so often on the side of selfishness

and wrong and so often callous to the

suffering of others and so often greedy

for my own comforts.

God's judgmental.

And when God's justice is revealed, what hope

is there?

Not just for me, but for you.

Where will you and I find shelter?

And you have to see that that's a problem

that runs throughout the Old Testament.

God again and again and again promises

to judge, to rescue the world from darkness.

But the question remains, what fallen human

being would be left to stand when the light

shines in?

And the answer finally comes in the New Testament.

God comes in human flesh.

The true and rightful judge of all walks among us.

But in the most surprising and in the moment

confusing turn of events, the judge of all creation

salvation is judged.

We've read earlier that Jesus saves us

from the wrath to come.

How does he do it, friends?

How does Jesus save us from the wrath to come?

From darkness and death.

He does it by going into the darkness for us.

You see, those three days of darkness in Egypt,

that ninth plague, does it not point us ahead

to the cross where for three hours of darkness,

the Son of God died in the place of sinners,

going into the darkness of God's judgment

so that we don't have to.

Christ died and rose again to rescue all of those

and everyone who would turn from their sins

and believe in him.

God magnifies his name most supremely at the cross

for it's there that his judgment

and his salvation meet

so that his enemies might become

his beloved friends

so that we can all find shelter,

so that we can all know protection.

And when you see that,

when you see that,

and when you know that,

and when you come to take hold of him by faith,

suddenly,

you don't need to obsess

about your name being great anymore.

When your heart is captured by who he is

and what he's done,

suddenly you're freed from having to make a name

for yourself

because instead,

you want his name to look great.

That's what drives you.

Finally, you're worshiping

the one thing worthy of all our praise.

Now the reality is, friends,

that maybe the Lord

will give you success in the world's eyes.

Maybe he won't.

At the end of the day,

all of that is in his hands.

Our little match will flicker

one way or the other,

but his torch is going to burn bright

for all eternity.

And our desire is to be close to his heat

and to bask in his light

and to know that there,

that is freedom.

That is the worship for which we were made.

His is the name

that is worthy of making great.

We want to magnify his name,

not ours.

And we want to make him known

in all the earth.

We want his mark to be left

on our communities

and on our families

and in our neighborhoods.

And if we leave a mark,

so be it.

But we want his name to be known.

And we want it to be known as great.

Let's pray.

And now, Lord Jesus,

we pray that you would do just that.

You would help us by your Holy Spirit

to make your name great

in our actions,

in our thoughts,

in our words and deeds.

Lord, help us,

depending on your grace,

to make much of you

as a church,

to make much of you

as students,

to make much of you

in our workplaces,

to make much of you

with our neighbors

and our friends.

Lord, free us

from the obsession

of pride

and the love of praise

and help us

to be lost

in you,

lost in wonder,

love,

and praise.

We pray this

in Jesus' name,

Father.

Amen.