My Glory or God's

I'll be preaching on the sin of 'selfishness' this afternoon.  At the heart of selfishness is the belief that I am at the center of the universe, but the truth is that God, alone, is at the center of the universe.  The world revolves around God; the world does not revolve around me.  Here is a sampling of verses, teaching that God is the center, and therefore God alone is worthy of worship...

Isaiah 43:6-7  

I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth, 

everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”

Psalm 106:8

Yet he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make known his mighty power.

Ezekiel 20:14

But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.

Exodus 14:4

And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

John 14:13

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

John 16:14

He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Acts 12:23

Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

Philippians 1:9-11

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Psalm 23:3

He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Luke 2:13-14

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

John 12:27-28

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”  

2 Thessalonians 1:9-10

They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10  when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

Habakkuk 2:14

For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

1 Corinthians 10:31

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Isaiah 26:8

In the path of your judgments,
O Lord, we wait for you;
your name and remembrance
are the desire of our soul.

Matthew 5:16

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Ephesians 1:5-6

he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6  to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Isaiah 43:25

“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.

Psalm 25:11

For your name's sake, O Lord,
pardon my guilt, for it is great.

Isaiah 48:11

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for how should my name be profaned?
 My glory I will not give to another.

Luke 21

In Luke 21 Jesus sits down his disciples and tells them about their future.  Their painful future.

(paraphrased) "The temple will be destroyed; earthquakes, famine, and disease will ravage you, people will hate you, you will terrified and beaten, and your own family is going to turn you in to be imprisoned and killed.  Others will be stabbed and led into captivity.  All of creation will seem to be working against mankind - the wind, the ocean, the sun, moon, and stars.  People will feel small and endangered.  The horror will be so great that there will be 'people fainting with fear.' "

Yet, in the middle of this daunting prophecy, Jesus ensures them that, even when life is its darkest, God is working for their good.

"This will be your opportunity to witness." (verse 13)
"I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict." (verse 15)
"By your endurance you will gain your lives." (verse 18)

With this confidence, Jesus calls them to "straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near" (verse 28) and to "watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with... cares of this life." (verse 34)

We too can raise our heads in the middle of relentless pain.

 

Temple Gatekeepers

I'm reading through the Bible this year, using the daily ESV Study Bible plan.  One of today's chapters was 1 Chronicles 26.  In this chapter, the author gives an account of David's appointing of gatekeepers for the sanctuary of God (known previously as the "tabernacle" and later in 2 Chronicles as the "temple").  The sanctuary is where the glory and presence of God would come down to meet with his people.

Most people worshipped outside the sanctuary as God was very specific about who could go in, and what could be done inside.  The gatekeepers were men responsible for safeguarding the sanctuary from unauthorized worshippers and defiling practices.

Today, God's powerful presence is not restricted to a temple in Jerusalem.  Rather, God's presence now dwells within every believer.  Christians under the New Covenant enjoy God's presence continuously and can commune with him without geographical limitations because "[we] are God's temple and God's Spirit dwells in [us]" (1 Corinthians 3:16). 

Assuming that God is still zealous for the purity of his temple, gatekeeping must not be discarded as an isolated need under the Old Covenant.  While its form will be different. God's temple (his people) can still be defiled and gatekeepers are still necessary.


Who or what is gatekeeping the temple today?

"Sin is Cosmic Treason" by R.C. Sproul

While preparing for the Respectable Sins sermon series, I came across this from R.C. Sproul's "The Holiness of God:"

“Is the death penalty for sin unjust? By no means. Remember that God voluntarily created us. He gave us the highest privilege of being His image bearers. He made us but a little lower than the angels. He freely gave us dominion over all the earth. We are not turtles. We are not fireflies. We are not caterpillars or coyotes. We are people. We are the image bearers of the holy and majestic King of the cosmos.

We have not used the gift of life for the purpose God intended. Life on this planet has become the arena in which we daily carry out the work of cosmic treason. Our crime is far more serious, far more destructive than that of Benedict Arnold. No traitor to any king or nation has even approached the wickedness of our treason before God.

Sin is cosmic treason. Sin is treason against a perfectly pure Sovereign. It is an act of supreme ingratitude toward the One to whom we owe everything, to the One who has given us life itself. Have you ever considered the deeper implications of the slightest sin, of the most minute peccadillo? What are we saying to our Creator when we disobey Him at the slightest point? We are saying no to the righteousness of God. We are saying, ‘God, Your law is not good. My judgment is better than Yours. Your authority does not apply to me. I am above and beyond Your jurisdiction. I have the right to do what I want to do, not what You command me to do.’

The slightest sin is an act of defiance against cosmic authority. It is a revolutionary act, a rebellious act in which we are setting ourselves in opposition to the One to whom we owe everything. It is an insult to His holiness. We become false witnesses to God.

When we sin as the image bearers of God, we are saying to the whole creation, to all of nature under our dominion, to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field: ‘This is how God is. This is how your Creator behaves. Look in his mirror; look at us, and you will see the character of the Almighty.’

We say to the world, ‘God is covetous; God is ruthless; God is bitter; God is a murderer, a thief, a slanderer, an adulterer. God is all of these things that we are doing.’”

–R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1985), 115-16.

Saint Boniface and Christmas Eve

The German missionary Saint Boniface (or Winfred of Wessex) loved Jesus and he was not afraid to die for Him.  Legend tells us that he nearly died one Christmas when he chopped down the great tree of Thor in front of an angry village of Thor-worshippers.  Click here to read May Louise Harvey’s account of that great night, “How Saint Boniface Kept Christmas Eve.”

Saint Nicholas the Gift-Giver

I should have posted this picture with yesterday's blog.  It's from the cover of Shane and Shane's Christmas album and it captures the truth of Saint Nicholas' (Santa Claus) devotion to God's glory.

Perhaps the most well-known legend about Saint Nicholas tells of him rescuing three girls from slavery:

"One story tells of a poor man with three daughters. In those days a young woman's father had to offer prospective husbands something of value—a dowry. The larger the dowry, the better the chance that a young woman would find a good husband. Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry. This poor man's daughters, without dowries, were therefore destined to be sold into slavery. Mysteriously, on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared in their home-providing the needed dowries. The bags of gold, tossed through an open window, are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left before the fire to dry. This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas. Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags of gold. That is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas. And so St. Nicholas is a gift-giver." (from "Who is St. Nicholas?")    

The Real Santa Claus

For two millenniums people have annually celebrated the nativity (birth) of Jesus Christ.  We call this celebration Christmas.  Historically, God’s people have made this a 4 week celebration (called Advent) leading up to the actual day of Christmas.

Unfortunately, Christmas has been commercialized and conjures more thoughts of Santa Claus than Jesus.  As a teaching tool, we can bring our children into the truth that the real Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas) was just a man who loved Jesus (Veggie Tales has a great movie about Saint Nicholas).

The real Santa Claus was not magical, but he loved a magical God.  He would not appreciate being the center of our Christmas celebration.  If he were here today, he would want to celebrate Christmas with us.  He would sit down and sing songs like “O Holy Night” and “O Come Let us Adore Him.”  Here are some more questions and answers to help you and your family prepare for Sunday. 

What was Santa Claus’ real name?

Saint Nicholas, born in the year 270.

Where did Saint Nicholas grow up?

Saint Nicholas grew up in a village next the Mediterranean Sea in Turkey.

What was Saint Nicholas’ childhood like?

Saint Nicholas’ family was very wealthy.  He always had a warm place to sleep and plenty of food to eat.  His parents were Christians and they taught him to love Jesus more than their wealth.  They both died when Saint Nicholas was just a boy.

How did Saint Nicholas’ use his wealth?

Saint Nicholas believed that everything he had was from God and that it was his duty to share with others who did not have what they needed.

Why was Saint Nicholas’ so generous with his wealth?

Saint Nicholas was generous because he knew God had been generous to him by sending Jesus to die for his sins.  He loved to give much because he had been given much. 

Why do we find gifts in our stockings on Christmas Morning?

The gifts that appear in our stockings on Christmas Eve remind us of the secret gift-giving of Saint Nicholas.  Some nights, the poor in his village would leave their shoes outside, and Saint Nicholas would leave in them gold coins (which is what chocolate coins wrapped in gold paper are a symbol of). 

Name something Saint Nicholas was known for?

Devotion to Jesus.

Generosity.

Love of children.

Secret gift-giving.

Merry Christmas.