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[0:00] The writer to the Hebrews says in chapter 2 and verse 1, we must pay more careful attention! We must pay more careful attention therefore to what we have heard so that we do not drift away.

[0:16] ! So that we do not drift away. So you're on vacation, you're in Fort Lauderdale in January, and you go down to the beach one day and you rent a canoe and you put it out into the Atlantic Ocean, and you paddle out a ways from shore with your favorite book and lie down to read. Now that's a vacation. And yet the warm sun and the gentle tossing of your boat soon rocks you to sleep, and you wake up two hours later and you're far from shore. What happened? You drifted.

[0:59] You drifted on the prevailing tides and currents of the Atlantic Ocean. What do you have to do to drift? Nothing. Absolutely nothing is required of drifting. To be on the water is to drift. And it's the same way in life. So God says to you, you must pay more careful attention therefore to what you have heard so that you do not drift away. In other words, it's not enough that we have heard these things before.

[1:45] It's not enough that we know these truths. We must do something with what we've heard or drift will happen. We must pay more careful attention to what we've already heard or an hour or two hours or a day or a week or a year from now. We'll not be anywhere close to where we started. Some of you know that Harvard University was started in 1636 with a purpose to train Christian ministers for the gospel ministry. And according with that vision, they set out rules and precepts which read in part, let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well that the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 17 3. And therefore to lay Christ in the bottom as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing that the Lord only gives wisdom, let everyone seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of him. And everyone shall so exercise himself in reading the scriptures twice a day. And I could read on. And any of you know who know anything about Harvard University know that something has happened. They have drifted away from their starting point. And the same is true of nearly all the Ivy League schools. You can read the founding documents of our own nation, read the

[3:29] Constitution. And you open your eyes today and you say something's happened. We have drifted. We're not where we were when we started. Denominations that once were as solid as a rock today are ordaining homosexuals into the ministry and receiving such as good members in good standing into their churches. And indeed in the Bible itself, we see churches that were founded by the holy apostles just a generation later. They are ready to be spit out of Jesus' mouth. Because drift has happened.

[4:07] Drift is a very real danger. So we're beginning a new series of messages this morning. And it's our attention to, in the words of Hebrews 2 and verse 1, pay more careful attention to what we have heard.

[4:23] So that we do not drift away. And in doing this series, I intend to return to some very fundamental truths that are to shape us.

[4:43] We're going to get right back to the basics. And especially those truths where much drift is happening today. Not only in the world, but in the church itself. Drift is happening all around us.

[4:59] And you've got to do something or it will happen to you. And it will happen to this church. That is for certain. You've got to paddle against the tide to keep from drifting. You've got to throw down an anchor and ground yourself on something immovable. Even so, you've got to pay more careful attention so that you do not drift. But to do nothing is to drift. Some of you are not today where you once were.

[5:29] Your love and obedience to Christ is but a shadow of what it once was. Perhaps your zeal and your energy for Christ Christ is not today what it has been. In better days you've drifted.

[5:50] And this series and this book is meant to call us back from our drifting. How often do we hear the word in Scripture? Return! Repent! Turn back! Come back!

[6:02] And that's the call that will go out. I don't know about you, but I find that the current is so strong that unless I do something every day I will drift. And the deceptive thing about it is is you don't realize you're drifting, do you?

[6:18] You don't go from here to there, a mile away in ten seconds. That's not the way drifting happens. No, you drift an inch at a time. And it's almost before you realize it that you wake up one day and you say I've drifted.

[6:33] And that's what I trust that returning to some of the foundations these foundational truths will stand like a lighthouse. They don't move.

[6:45] And we're out here drifting on the sea of life and I trust that as these truths are reminded we give careful attention you'll see that lighthouse you'll see it standing there and you'll realize look how far I've drifted and you'll come back to the truth.

[7:01] Where I trust that these words and these foundational and basic truths will be as a clarifying voice to you in all the confusing sounds that surround us today that these words of scripture will ground us they will anchor us and keep us from being tossed to and fro drifting on the waves of modernity or of anything else that this present evil age throws at us.

[7:31] And as we begin it must be with humble gratitude for God's word. Truth unchanged unchanging that identifies our drift points us to the Savior who redeems us from our drift and who is able to keep us from drifting.

[7:50] Like its author this book is the same yesterday today and forever. And so we'll give more careful attention to it.

[8:01] So I had to begin where do you start with that kind of a plan? Where shall we go for the first message in this series of back to basics?

[8:15] Well there is nothing more basic than this to realize that it's all about God.

[8:25] everything. Your life, history, the world, everything you see it's all about God. Now let's turn to Romans chapter 11 and verse 36 and this will be our starting point for this morning.

[8:43] This is the key text for this basic reality. Romans 11 you remember in chapters 9 through 11 Paul is has been talking about the history of Israel and the history of the Gentile nations and how in space time history God worked among the Israelites and among the nations to call out a people for himself to save sinners and make them his own people.

[9:12] And when he comes to the end of chapter 11 he just erupts his heart erupts like a volcano. What he has been considering is so grand and great that he erupts in doxology and praise.

[9:25] And we have that in chapter 11 and I'm only going to read the last verse of it. Well let's read it all. Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God.

[9:37] Verse 33 How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out. Who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay him?

[9:52] And here's our text for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be the glory forever.

[10:04] Amen. From him through him to him everything. Therefore to him be the glory forever.

[10:16] Amen. It's about God not about us. Three simple points of the verse make it unmistakable for from him are all things. He's the source of everything. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and the same was in the beginning with God and without him was not anything made that was made.

[10:39] Everything is from him. The universe is all about God who created it. we cannot live in the universe without constantly bumping into God's handiwork because whatever we see whatever we touch whatever we taste whatever we smell whatever we hear whatever we read about in this world it's not the result of time and chance but it's the purposeful intentional thoughtful creation of our mighty God.

[11:09] And that includes yourself. From him are all things. Secondly through him are all things. Not only do all things come from him but they continue in existence through him.

[11:25] They came into existence by his creative word and they continue in existence through him. And this brings us to God's providence his preserving and governing of all his creatures in all their actions all the time.

[11:43] from the very decision of the king's heart Proverbs 24 1 to the decision of the lot that is cast into the lap Proverbs 16 33 it's through him.

[11:59] It's every decision is through him. He is the governor of the universe. From the rising and falling of nations to the falling of every sparrow and every snowflake.

[12:16] Everything that happened in the news this last week. Everything that happened in the news last year. The last millennium. These things did not happen willy nilly.

[12:31] No. The world is not without a pilot at the helm. It's through him that all things come to pass. Through him Paul says he's controlling ruling directing all things to their proper end.

[12:48] Listen to these statements of scripture. I won't give you the reference there's too many. Sustaining all things by his powerful word. In him all things hold together.

[13:01] By your will they have their being. He himself gives all men life and breath and everything else for in him we live and move and have our being.

[13:17] It's through him that we still exist today. You exist through him. You draw your next breath because he gives it.

[13:28] the cells of your body hold together because he holds everything together. From him creator through him we continue to exist and then thirdly to him are all things.

[13:50] From to or from through now to him. He's the end station to which this train is moving. And he stops along the way but it's going to him.

[14:02] That's the end. He's not only source and accomplisher but the end goal of all things. So this is where he's guiding all things. This is where he's moving this this universe to him to him to fulfill his purposes to bring him glory.

[14:24] And this is why he does all he does in the universe and in history it's for himself. And in one way or another all things will contribute to him being glorified in the end.

[14:39] Just like the rain that comes down from heaven and then waters the earth and then it returns to the heavens. So from him and through him and to him are all things.

[14:53] Now that just about wraps it up doesn't it? And what else is there besides all things and besides from, through, and to him are all things. Well it does wrap up everything.

[15:04] He is the alpha and the omega. The beginning and the end. The first and the last. And therefore Paul ends to him be the glory forever.

[15:16] There's no one else to give glory to but him. And he punctuates it with an amen. So be it. Let it be so. Oh, that's right. So here's the grand truth.

[15:28] It's all about God. Not about us. Now I wonder if you personally have come to grips with that reality. Have you come to terms with that?

[15:40] My existence is not about me. It's about him. What's happening to me? It's ultimately not about me.

[15:50] It's about him and his purposes and will and plan and glory. That I exist not for me but for God who made me.

[16:05] I've been made to demonstrate how great he is and that's why everything's happening in my life for him. And you see as clear and as basic as this reality is perhaps nowhere else is there worse drift happening.

[16:28] Some weeks ago in Sunday school we heard this illustration it deserves being told again. Paul Tripp the author was teaching kindergarten and he tells of a classroom birthday party for one of the little girls and the mother of the girl had come in and decorated the room and had brought gifts and treats and so on and one little boy was frustrated because the gifts and the main attention were not his and he was making a real nuisance of himself as little boys can do and he was well on the way to ruining the entire party.

[17:06] So one of the room mothers walked over and knelt down and stuck her face right in front of the little boy and held his face forward so that he could see nothing but her eyes and she said Johnny it's not your party.

[17:22] It's not your party. Now it seems to me that what God is saying to me in Romans 11 and over and over in scripture is Johnny it's not your party.

[17:34] It's not about you. It's about someone else namely me. And the reason he has to say it over and over again in scripture is because as one theologian said in defining sin every day in a thousand ways I am trying to put myself at the center of the universe.

[18:01] I keep gravitating. I keep drifting back to the center of the universe where I think I belong. And so God has to say John it's not about you.

[18:15] It's not your party. You see Johnny's problem is my problem. Johnny's problem is your problem. It's every man's problem.

[18:25] We want it to be our party. We want it to be all about us. We want our names on the presents. We want our name in the happy birthday song. And so in my marriage I want my spouse to serve me not me to serve him or her.

[18:45] And in my family I want my parents to let me do what I want to do. And I want them to take me here and there and wherever I need to go and to exist for me. And at work and at school and in sports and in academics it's got to be about me it's got to be about my way and how this makes me look.

[19:08] And the three year old says it over and over and over again. Look at me mommy look at me daddy look at me look at me no no no no look at me look at me. And at 13 and at 30 at 60 we're still saying it.

[19:21] We're gravitating to the center. Look at me. Look at my house look at my body look at my car look at my wealth look at my job.

[19:35] And it even comes into the church doesn't it? What's in it for me? What do I have to gain? It intrudes right into worship.

[19:47] What am I getting? As if that's the first thing about worship. It's not your party. We're here first and foremost to bring honor to the God who is watching and receiving our worship.

[20:07] Sometimes we expect God to order things in our life so it's all according to our will and our desire and every day and every way in a thousand ways I'm trying to I'm drifting back to the center.

[20:21] And so over and over God is saying lovingly yet firmly John it's not your party. Now that's what makes room mother Paul come alongside us in Romans 11 36 and say from him and through him and unto him are all things so to him be the glory forever amen.

[20:46] Now this radical God centeredness meets us everywhere in the Bible. It's not just Romans 11 36. I just use that as a taking off place. Indeed it seems like it permeates every page.

[20:58] God's the center. He's the main thing. Everywhere in the Bible we have this cure for our self-centered view of reality that expects everything to serve our will, our purposes, our fun, our ease, our comfort, our name.

[21:21] Phil Keggy used to sing a song, I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through. I have never had a selfless thought since I was born. You know the Bible goes after that self-centeredness doesn't it?

[21:37] Right at the very beginning. How does the Bible begin? Kids you can say this verse with me. Genesis 1 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

[21:48] Now that's a God-centered start to the book. Wouldn't you say? In the beginning God. And right away I'm put on notice that long before man even arrives on the scene, God's been here.

[22:04] Oh, well how long has he been here before man showed up? A million years? For a million years he was the center of the universe.

[22:16] There was nothing but him. He has to be the center. How long was he the center? From everlasting to everlasting you are God. Oh, then I'm not the center.

[22:34] God has existed forever and ever. God. And the only reason we even arrived on the scene was because he decided to create us and he created us by his word through his providence he keeps us alive and it's all for his purposes.

[22:57] So I exist for his glory not mine. So in the opening words of the Bible in the beginning God I hear him saying it's not your party. It's not your party.

[23:09] the Bible is not preeminently about man. Needy man. It's preeminently about God.

[23:22] And so my life and all I've made is preeminently about God. Not me. And when I flip to the end of my Bible it reads the same doesn't it?

[23:33] What do we have at the end? We've got God exalted at the center of the throne is not man. You've read Revelation 4 and 5 recently?

[23:44] Who's at the center? It's God and the Lamb. And they're getting all the glory. And so whether Genesis or Revelation or any place you pick in the middle the Bible is a God centered book.

[23:59] So read it. Read it all. Read it often. Keep it before your mind. Memorize it. Apply it to yourself. Pay more attention to it so that you do not drift from this central reality that everything is about God not about me.

[24:19] And the more our mind is saturated with the scriptures the more its core message will ooze into the pores of our life and our worship and our priorities and our life will reflect that we get it.

[24:35] We get the main point. It's all about Him. And so we seek Him first and His righteousness first and His kingdom first.

[24:48] You know as I thought about this the most God centered people I know are people of this book. That's the only that's just citing and observation in the ministry.

[25:02] The most God centered people know this book. And they know the God of this book. And that pushes them off the center and it puts Him front and center.

[25:16] The book anchors their boat and keeps them from drifting. Let's commit ourselves to knowing God's word better and living with it. let the word of Christ dwell in you rich.

[25:29] Let it live in you. Continually keep you from drifting. Now we're just going to drop in several places to see this point made. The first is Daniel 2. You don't have time to turn to it.

[25:40] You might want to later. 600 years before the birth of Christ we're in a palace bedroom where Nebuchadnezzar is sleeping. In fact we're right inside his mind because he's having a dream and he later recounts it to Daniel and Daniel's the only one who can interpret it.

[25:54] By the help of God and so saves all the wise men of the kingdom from extermination. There's two things in the dream. There's an enormous dazzling statue and it's made from gold and silver and bronze and iron and clay.

[26:09] And there it is and it represents all the kingdoms of men. Everything from the Babylonian kingdom that was presently Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom to the Medes and the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans.

[26:23] And yes your country and mine is there. The United States of America. You must see it in that dazzling statue and see Russia and China and Uruguay and Brazil.

[26:34] They're all there. This statue represents the kingdoms of men. Now the other thing in the dream is a rock. And strange things happen in dreams don't they?

[26:49] Strange things happen in this dream too. you've been driving through Tennessee or somewhere where there's mountains and beware of falling rocks and you look up and there are these rocks protruding out looking like they could fall down and crush you.

[27:03] Well they could if they fell. But it must have been something like that. And then that rock was cut out of the mountain not by human hands.

[27:15] That's a reference to God by the way. So there's this rock in the mountain and it's cut out and it starts to tumble down the mountain and it's gathering steam and it's gathering speed and it's heading straight for this dazzling statue.

[27:28] And sure enough it comes and it hits the statue. And it hits it with such force that it pulverizes it to powder and the wind blows it away so that you can't even see that a statue even used to be there.

[27:43] You know what the rock is? Well no wait we're not done. And then something amazing happens to the rock. It starts to grow. Have you ever seen a rock grow?

[27:54] It does in dreams. And it's growing. And it becomes a mountain. And it's not done growing yet. It keeps growing and growing until the mountain fills the whole earth.

[28:07] That's some rock. There's nothing left but the rock. What is God saying to King Nebuchadnezzar and to all of us? What is he sending?

[28:17] What's the message he's sending to the United Nations today? To Washington D.C. today? To us today? He's saying it's not your party.

[28:29] It's not about you. Here you are with all your might and power and wealth. And a rock is going to smash you to smithering. You know what that rock is?

[28:40] It's the kingdom that God would set up in the Lord Jesus Christ. Go back and read it. Daniel chapter 2. It's Christ, God's kingdom that will triumph.

[28:57] And so at the end what do we have? Is it about man? Man's pulver? Where's man? You can't find man. man. But God and his kingdom enduring forever and ever.

[29:11] So Isaiah says the arrogance of man will be humbled and the pride of men will be brought low.

[29:24] The Lord alone will be exalted in that day. So man's exalting himself today. God is being made low of in the earth today. But in that day he will be exalted.

[29:35] He alone will be exalted. And all men will be bowing their knees and confessing that he alone is Lord to the glory of God the Father because all things are from him through him to him.

[29:50] Therefore to him be glory. Now you know the gospel is designed in such a way as to bring us to that same position where God is everything and man is nothing. Man is humbled. God's exalted.

[30:01] Isn't that something? God designed the gospel. It's the way he saves men in a way that puts men low and lifts up God. God's exalted. Because he will not have any human flesh glorying in his presence.

[30:15] That's why the gospel isn't about your good works and about your reformation of life. Because then you would boast in his presence. The gospel is about empty hands of faith that receive everything from Jesus Christ.

[30:32] His work. On behalf of helpless, bankrupt sinners. sinners so that God is exalted. And yet even here men are so prone to put themselves at the center that they would twist the gospel into a statement about the worth of man.

[30:48] Have you heard that? After all, God paid so much to get us. Ooh, aren't we really valuable? I mean, he gave his own son to get me.

[31:02] See how valuable I am to God? Listen, that God would give his son for us says nothing about our worthiness.

[31:16] It says everything about the amazing grace of God for worthless sinners. You know what says something about our worthiness? Romans 3 verses 10 through 12.

[31:29] There's no one righteous, not even one, no one who understands, no one who seeks God, all have turned away, they have together become worthless. There is no one who does good, not even one.

[31:43] You want to talk about worth, go to Romans 3 12 and see that everyone has become worthless because they've left the worthy God to seek after their own worthless ways.

[31:56] And yet, the glory of the gospel is that while we were yet sinners, while we were yet worthless, while we were yet deserving hell forever for our rebellion, it was then that God sent Christ into this world to save us.

[32:12] It was then that Christ died for us. He is so worthy of praise. What is man's fascination with himself and the party being all about him?

[32:26] I'd like to see that salvation is all about me. Oh, worthy me. That he would give Christ for me. No.

[32:37] My salvation came from him. It was worked out through him. And it's leading me back to him and to giving him all the praise. Even my salvation was accomplished first and foremost to glorify God.

[32:53] The wonder is that he would glorify himself, not by damning me forever like I deserved, but by saving me by his mercy. Now let me apply this a bit further.

[33:04] This whole principle that it's not about me. So we're in John chapter 9 and there's a man there who's blind and he's been this way since birth and he's of age.

[33:19] He's a man. Now that's a long time to be blind. And the disciples say, why Lord? What happened? Was it his parents that sinned or was it he that he was born blind? Jesus says, neither.

[33:31] But this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. And somehow I hear in that God saying to me, John, it's not your party.

[33:49] It's not about your health. It's not about your eyesight. There's something more important. And it's that God be glorified. And if that happens by your being blind for many, many years, you need to realize it.

[34:10] It's not about you. It's about my glory. And then we go over to John chapter 11 and Jesus' friend Lazarus is sick and word is sent to fetch Jesus and Mary and Martha that when he heard this, Jesus said, this sickness is not to death but rather it's for God's glory so that God's son may be glorified through it.

[34:29] And so he stayed where he was two more days and Lazarus died and Mary and Martha wept their eyes out. Jesus always intended to go and to raise him from the dead.

[34:40] Indeed, that's why he delayed. It would be of greater glory to raise him from the dead than to raise him from a sick bed. But there's something more important. It says to me, John, there is something more important in life than sparing you of sadness and grief and loss.

[35:01] And it's my glory that I be glorified. And then we're in Acts 3 and there's a man crippled from birth and they carry him every day to the temple to beg.

[35:14] And the scripture says he's over 40. Some of you 40? Over 40? Around 40 and 50? Crippled?

[35:25] All those years? Why? And somehow I hear in that it's not about you, crippled man. It's about me. That Peter and John could come along walking into the temple one day and in the name and in the power of Jesus could raise you from your crippled state and give you health to run and shout the praises of Jesus.

[35:47] You see, it's not just the health, wealth and prosperity people that somehow think that God owes us good health, better health, more money, more ease, more fun, more comfort.

[36:04] No, I find that in my own heart. And then I bump into these places in God's word and it seems to be saying to me over and over, John, there's something more important than you're having fun down there, than you're being without a problem in your life, than you being pain free, problem free, debt free, and it's that I be glorified.

[36:31] And it tells me that He's the one who is choosing how it is that I will glorify Him and He's the one choosing how you will glorify Him and you will glorify Him and it's not the same for everybody.

[36:44] We glorify Him in different ways. And so He comes to a teenage girl named Johnny and He says, from here on out you will glorify Me in a wheelchair. And she dives into a lake one day and she comes out a paraplegic for life.

[37:00] And to add to it, she's recently been fighting breast cancer. And she struggled with it. But she finally embraced it.

[37:12] She saw it's not about her. It's not her party. It's God's. And God wants me to glorify Him as a paraplegic for the rest of my life.

[37:26] And He chose Jim Elliot to glorify Him by a short life. You've got 29 years and it's over. Jim embraced that.

[37:39] He had written earlier, what shall I pray thee? change thy will, my Father, until it be according to mine?

[37:52] No. No, that never will be. Rather, I pray thee, blend my human will with thine. And this God is choosing the way that His people will bring Him glory.

[38:07] and He chooses just the amount of ease and pain and affliction and prosperity. And it's ours not to fight with Him and to keep creeping as if we are in the center, but to acknowledge that He is and to ask, so this is my assignment in life.

[38:30] Then let me get on with it, whether it be for this week or for the rest of the weeks of my life. You are worth serving. You are worth glorifying.

[38:43] It's all about you. But you see, there must be a death to self if I'm to live at peace with this most basic reality of life. Before Johnny can ever enjoy the party, he's got to come to see the party is not his.

[38:58] He's got to surrender to that reality and as long as he's trying to act as if it should be his party, he'll not enjoy it and neither will anybody else that comes near him.

[39:13] And the sooner that you and I embrace that it's not about us, the sooner we can get on with enjoying God in life and stop making a nuisance of ourselves being so frustrated that things are not going my way.

[39:33] And so it's this truth that meets us right up front in the demands of the gospel. What does Jesus say? If anyone would be my followers, you must what?

[39:45] Well, you must deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow me. What's a cross for? It was for one thing, kids.

[39:56] It was to kill a man. That's where people died. And Jesus is saying, if you're following me, you'll need a cross because you've got to die. There's a part in you that keeps crawling to the center of the universe and that must be denied, that must be crucified, if you're to be my follower.

[40:16] Daily. Did you pick up that cross today, friend? It's a cross daily to be picked up every day. And so this truth meets us at the outset of the Christian life.

[40:31] I am to die to me and to live to God. That's why I was created. That's why I still breathe. That's why I get out of bed in the morning. That's why I'm saved.

[40:45] The Lord Jesus came as the God-man, didn't he? He came to save us from ourselves, sinful selves. And it's in Jesus that we see who God is because he is the radiance of God's glory.

[40:58] But it's also in him that we see what man is supposed to be because he's the perfect man. So let's look at Jesus. His was the perfectly God-centered life, wasn't it?

[41:12] He didn't view life as being all about his comforts. He'd never come here in the first place. It wasn't all about his ease and fun, but it was all about his father's glory.

[41:25] And so one day he's thinking, and he's greatly troubled because he's contemplating the horrific crucifixion where he, as the substitute for his people, will suffer the damnation that sinners deserve for their sins against God.

[41:41] And he's just thinking about it now. It's some ways off yet. But in thinking about it, he says, and now is my heart troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour?

[41:57] It's often what you and I pray. But no, Jesus says, no, it was for this reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.

[42:09] Something is more important than delivering Jesus from the horrors of hell on Calvary, and it's namely doing the will of the Father so that he is glorified in the salvation of sinners.

[42:21] His holiness is glorified. He's so holy, he'll damn his son when he bears the sins of his people. His grace and love is so great that look what he does. He punishes his son in behalf of sinners.

[42:36] And it's the Lord Jesus who teaches us then, not my will, but yours, be done. And on the cross, he's not only working out a perfect salvation for us, he's also teaching us how to live.

[42:51] Not my will, but yours be done. Not my name be known and hallowed, but yours. Not my kingdom come, but yours. Not my will be done, but yours.

[43:04] And isn't that what we saw in the Christmas themes that we've studied for the last several weeks? Isn't that the way Mary was, even as her Lord? Willing to lose her fiance and to live a single life if only God would be glorified in the birth of Messiah?

[43:23] And isn't that what Mary and Joseph together concluded? Willing to have people gossip about their supposed infidelity during their betrothal since Mary was found to be pregnant before they were married?

[43:37] Willing to have their own names drug through the mire of the rumor mills? If only God's name might be hallowed and glorified. And isn't that what we saw some time ago in Hosea?

[43:48] A man willing to endure the torture of living married to an unfaithful wife. If only God's kingdom might in some way be advanced.

[44:03] So what will you do? And what will you suffer? that God has given to you? Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

[44:17] That's the most important thing in the universe. It's all about Him. And so I welcome you today to a cross. If you're lost, you need to come first to the cross of Jesus Christ.

[44:31] But I'm welcoming believers today to the cross. Yes, and you unbelievers too. And I'm not talking now about Jesus' cross. I'm talking about your cross.

[44:43] The cross on which you must daily die. And die to yourself. That you might live to Him. And wonder of wonders, what do we find?

[44:56] What do we find? We find that as I die to the self-life and follow Jesus Christ, that I only then truly begin to live. He stoops and lifts me up to what?

[45:13] To the enjoyment of Him. To the joy of serving Him. He saves me from my worthless way of life. And He brings me excitement to serve something bigger than puny me.

[45:25] And to have my life swept up into this grand scheme of serving God and His kingdom that's forever and ever, of which we've sung this morning in our worship.

[45:40] And this is what we were made for. And that's what we feel when we take up our cross and follow Him. And we deny ourselves. And we say, no self, you don't belong here.

[45:50] That's God's place. And then we say, this is what I was made for. It was meant to be like this. Indeed, what's the chief end of man?

[46:02] To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. You see, we were meant to enjoy the party. We'll never enjoy the party.

[46:13] We'll never enjoy God or we'll never glorify God until we come to this place where, at least intentionally glorify Him, until we come to the place where we realize it's not about us.

[46:24] And surrender to that reality and embrace it as the will of our God in Jesus Christ who's redeemed us. You know, they get it in heaven. The Lamb is all the glory in Emmanuel's land.

[46:38] There they are this morning. And what are they? They're casting their crowns before Him. And what are they saying? What are they shouting? You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and blessing.

[46:51] For you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being. They're forever cured of that desire to put self at the center.

[47:06] of the universe. They're rejoicing that God is in the center. They're rejoicing to see Jesus Christ receiving the glory and praise He's due.

[47:17] And they're all greatly enjoying the party. And you and I here on this earth are invited and by faith we start celebrating early as we embrace this Savior and this glorious reality that we exist for Him and not ourselves.

[47:40] Let's pray. Oh great God, eternal, infinite, unchanging God, we bow before you thankful that you are God.

[47:51] Thankful that you've taught us your place and by grace have taught us our place. Thankful that you've stooped down so low to lift us up so high.

[48:02] thank you for saving us. Oh forgive us for the way we keep wanting to crawl back into the center of our own lives.

[48:13] Oh show us what robbery it is. Show us that's your place and bring us to be at home with that reality every day. Bring us to daily pick up that cross on which we die to self and live to Christ.

[48:27] Christ. And bring others to see the glory of this life. To see the delight and enjoyment that we have in our God. That they too might come and put their trust in this Savior.

[48:40]  We ask it in His name. Amen.