I hope we don't take for granted the music of our church. The musicians that God has blessed our church with is a wonderful blessing from the Lord. We've heard some of that tonight. We heard some this morning. We hear it every week. And we are so blessed with the instrumentalists that we have, the choir that we have, the congregational singing is a major part of our services each Lord's Day. It's a blessing to listen to the songs, to engage our hearts together in the message of these songs. And I trust that each week that you allow yourself to be warmed by the words of the tune of the text that we sing, that are sung or played for us. It's a wonderful thing. And I appreciate so much all the work that goes in by everyone who participates And thank you very much. Let's take our bowels please tonight. I'm going to ask you to turn to the book of Isaiah and to the 44th chapter. Isaiah chapter 44 tonight. As I mentioned earlier, the new year or the end of a year is often a time that we take to reflect upon the previous year. And sometimes we have a lot that has happened in a particular year, a lot of things that are memorable. Sometimes a year can be a year of great spiritual growth. And sometimes it can be a year of great spiritual trial. I will be open and honest tonight with the last year in my own life that I have found 2017 to be a year that was quite trying for me personally. I won't go into details as far as why, but there are some spiritual battles going on in my own heart that I really had to wrestle through based on a number of issues that I was facing. And God really worked me over through a variety of means to get me to see something about myself that I didn't quite realize existed to the extent that it did. We all, if we're honest with ourselves, we all know we're sinful. We're not hiding anything from anybody else. But God has a knack for revealing certain things or certain aspects of us that we didn't know quite existed or existed to that extent. And that was the kind of year that I had in 2017. I was struggling with what I called, it's not unique to me, but I call it the idea of self-glory. And what I found really toward the tail end of the year in this long struggle, I found myself coming to that realization through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. that I was fighting for self-glory but in the process of doing that I was robbing God of his glory. Robbing God of the glory that he alone was due. And God really brought me to a point where I had to just repent and humble myself before him And I'm very thankful for his work of grace in my own life. I've got a lot of growth to do. And God is still working in me. But as I've been mulling that over, that whole issue over, and particularly even the last couple of weeks, I would like to preach a short series based on some things that I've learned. And that series, the title of the series broadly is it's not about If I were preaching this just to myself, it's not about me. But for the church setting, it's not about us. And each evening of the Lord's Days this month, I would like to take that theme, it's not about us, and kind of break that down into several key components. The thoughts that I intend to bring are not going to be new. They're not going to be earth shattering. But perhaps you can identify with some of the struggles that I've had, and maybe some of these things will be helpful, at least reminders to recalibrate our hearts at times perhaps, or to refresh ourselves on what we ought to believe and act on. Life is not about us. We are players certainly in our lives, but we are not the key actors. We will never be nominated for the best actor or actress in this play of our life. We will not even be up for best supporting role, nor will we have an opportunity to be nominated for best director because life is not about us. And really that's a foundational philosophical issue that people wrestle with all the time. One of the great philosophical questions of life is why am I here? What is this life all about? And people wrestle with that. Particularly unsaved people wrestle through that idea. Why am I even here? Why do I even exist? And in our fallen humanity we have embraced the false notion that we are on this earth for the primary purpose of our own pleasure or our own happiness. And therefore if I'm not pleased or if I'm not happy then something has to change because this ain't right. Because in our faulty thinking We have believed that our happiness or pleasure is our God. But life isn't about that. There's nothing wrong with pleasure per se. There's nothing wrong with happiness per se. But when they become the idols of our hearts, they're sin. One thing that the Bible wants us to understand is this notion that life is not about us. We live, we eat, we breathe, we sleep, we grow, we do things, and then we die. And we leave behind us things to the next generation, and they do the same thing, and then they'll die. And I don't mean that to be a morbid thought to anyone, but that's the reality of life. All of us are expendable people. By that I mean life does not depend on any one of us. Life goes on. Your work goes on. The church will go on after we die, Lord willing. Things will progress because life is not about us. Our problem is that because of our sin tarnished mind, we have defined things incorrectly. We believe incorrect notions and we seek after improper goals. And the goal that we have set for ourselves most often is I have to be happy. I have to have pleasure because I am the reason for my existence. And I want to confront that notion because that's what God confronted in my own heart. I want to confront that idea, why are we here? If life is not about us, then who is it about? And there is an authoritative answer that we find in the scripture. Life is not about us, it is all about God. And tonight I want to point our attention in this series to that first notion. that there is one general truth and one necessary response to that truth. And for this purpose, I want us to read a lengthy passage here in Isaiah 44. We're gonna read the whole chapter, 28 verses, and then I'll highlight just a few phrases in chapter 45. But I want us to see and to hear what the Lord says through the prophet Isaiah. Verse 1, chapter 44, Yet now hear, O Jacob, my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen. Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee. Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, and thou, Jasurin, whom I have chosen. That's just another name for Israel. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground. I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring. and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses. One shall say, I am the Lord's, and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. Thus said the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first, and I am the last, and beside me there is no God. That's the first instance of that. and mark how often the Lord repeats that notion. Verse 7, and who as I shall call and shall declare it and set it in order for me since I appointed the ancient people and the things that are coming and shall come let them show unto them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid, have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? Ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no God, I know not any. They that make a graven image are all of them vanity. and their delectable things shall not profit, and they are their own witnesses. They see not, nor know, that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image, that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed, and the workmen, they are of men. Let them all be gathered together, let them stand up, yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together. The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms. Yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth. He drinketh no water, and is faint. The carpenter stretcheth out his rule. He marketh it out with a line. He fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with a compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house. He heweth him down cedars, taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest. He planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn, for he will take thereof, and warm himself. Yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread. Yea, he maketh a god, and worshipeth it. He maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. He burneth part thereof in the fire, With part thereof he eateth flesh, he roasteth roast, and is satisfied. Yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire. And the residue thereof he maketh a God, even his graven image. He falleth down unto it, and worshipeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me, for thou art my God. They have not known nor understood, for he hath shut their eyes that they cannot see, and their hearts that they cannot understand. And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire, yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof, I have roasted flesh and eaten it, and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? Shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feedeth on ashes. A deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand? Remember these, O Jacob and Israel, for thou art my servant. I have formed thee. Thou art my servant. O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins. Returneth unto me. For I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath done it. Shout, ye lower parts of the earth. Break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forests and every tree therein. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob and glorified himself in Israel. Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things, that stretcheth forth the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself, that frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad, that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish, that confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers, that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited, and to the cities of Judah ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof. that saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers. That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built, and to the temple thy foundation shall be laid. Now look in chapter 45, verse five. I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me. And in verse six, that they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord and there is none else." Go down to the end of verse 14. The last statement there, surely God is in thee and there is none else. There is no God or no other God. In verse 18, For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth and made it, he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord and there is none else. Look at the end of verse 21. Have not I the Lord and there is no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior, there is none beside me. And then in verse 22, Look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else." We'll end our reading there. My message tonight has two main points. The first one is the general truth and the second one will be the general response. The general truth is this, the Bible clearly establishes the teaching that there is only one true and living God. Now that's not a novel concept, at least it shouldn't be for us. We all claim to be monotheists, there is only one God. But when you highlight this text in chapters 44 and 45, you find in these two chapters alone, eight times that God declares, I am God. There is none else. There is nothing else beside me. This was to the people of Israel. This was spoken to his own people who claimed to be monotheists. And God saw fit to remind them here eight times, there was no other God. Now just to put this in context here, the prophet Isaiah lived before the Babylonian captivity. He was one of the last, not the last, but one of the final prophets before the Babylonian captivity. Roughly, let's just call it a rough year, roughly around 700 BC, give or take. But what's a few years amongst friends? And yet, he speaks of Cyrus in verse 28 of chapter 44. He's speaking prophetically of how God, God will call this man Cyrus. And we know, of course, at the end of the Babylonian captivity, God used Cyrus to call the people of Israel to go back, just like this verse says. This is in that context of the people of Israel For decade after decade, really century after century at this point, they had been declining into greater depths of spiritual idolatry, spiritual adultery against the Lord. And God had brought prophet after prophet to warn them, turn back or else. Some kings sought to bring them back and they made some reforms. Some kings rammed headlong into greater deaths of wickedness. But here God speaks to his own people through the prophet Isaiah and eight times he tells them there is no other God than him. Now that is not a claim. God is not making the claim that there are no other gods beside me, meaning my equal. but there are other gods. He's not saying that he is the greatest or the biggest or the most prominent God amongst a lot of other lesser gods. That would be a form of something called henotheism, where you worship one amongst the many. That's not what God is saying. God is saying there are none other, No other gods in existence at all. Oh, you can try to fashion something, and we read about that in chapter 44, whether it's carving out a piece of wood, making a fire with some, you know, baking your meal with one, and fashioning an island, bowing down to the rest of the tree. It's like taking a tree. Take ten feet of your tree, cut it down, and split it into three or four sections. And with part of it you make a meal, part of it you stoke your fire, and part of it you make an idol and bow down to it. How ridiculous is that? And that's exactly what the people were doing. They were making idols out of things that were not God. Things of creation. What God is doing here is he's making a claim of uniqueness. He is unique. The only one of his kind. There is no other God, only him. God is the one who created it all. No one created God. He is uniquely creator. God makes this claim of using his anointed person of Cyrus, a man who would order the return of Israel from captivity for the purpose of displaying God's power, God's greatness, and God's uniqueness to all the earth. God is the only God of salvation and even the nation of Israel could give testimony to that. God's point here is that there is irrefutable evidence and undeniable teaching that Jehovah God is alone the one true and living God. There is no other God there never has been there never will be. God is eternal. He is unchanging. He is immense. He is independent from his creation as he exists apart from creation. God does not exist because we exist. We exist because God exists. If there were no God there would be no us. Yet in our faulty thinking we can twist that notion and think to ourselves, God exists for me. And we can begin to make demands, have expectations which easily and quickly become demands that we place upon God. As if God is kind of like a divine cosmic Pez dispenser. You know what a Pez dispenser is? I used to eat Pez when I was a kid. You flick back the head, and if you've loaded it, there's candy inside. You flick back the head and a piece of candy shoots out for you. Just for you! And we can think that if we just flick God's head just the right way, ah, there's what we want. God's not like that. God's not like a divine Santa Claus, where we think, okay, I've got to be really good this year. I've got to get on the nice list of God. So when the time comes, he has to give me what I want. God's not like a magic genie in the bottle. We would rub him just the right way and he'll grant whatever wish we want. Those are faulty notions that twist reality, that make it appear God exists for me rather than I exist for God. There is one God and therefore it's not me. It's not me. It's God's existence that holds everything together. Without God we would not be. Look again in chapter 45 verse 6. He says that they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord and there is none else. I want to highlight that verse for this reason, primarily for the first part of the verse. From the rising of the sun and from the west. In our perspective, which direction does the sun rise from? It rises from the east and sets in the west. What this is saying is that God is trying to get all of the earth from the furthest eastern point to the furthest western point to get all of creation to know there is none beside him. He is the Lord and there is none else. All of creation is meant to point our attention to the beauty and the glory of its creator. I personally love the snow. I don't mind at all. It can be heavy at times, I know. But I love the snow for the beauty that it creates and the reminders that it creates of God's glorious truth in salvation. Washes us whiter than snow. Beautiful truth. Every season affords its own set of beauty to remind us of the beauty and the glory of the creator. Now, there's nothing wrong with admiring the creation, but the purpose of the creation is to worship the creator. It's not to bask in the glory of the created thing. When we do that, we fail. We fail to see God's purpose that there is none else. I alone am God. I created that. I created that thing. Look at its beauty, its majesty, its coloration, its distinguishing marks. I did that. You didn't do that. I did it. Worship the one true and living God. Chapter 45 verse 18 also highlights this. For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth and made it, he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited. And here's this declaration, I am the Lord and there is none else. And then verse 22 of the chapter 45, he links this to salvation. Look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth. Well, why? Why should we do that? Because I am God and there is none else. There is salvation in no other. Salvation is of the Lord. Our God is utterly unique. He is unique in his majesty, in his creativity, in his essence, eternality, so many things. God does not exist for us. He's not our butler. He's not our maid, but he is our master, our Lord, and our God. It is He alone that has made us and not we ourselves. It is He alone who holds the universe together. By Him we live and move and have our being. It is by the gracious and merciful act of God that we are not consumed, but that we woke up even this morning and were able to breathe the cold, fresh winter air. As God's people, we should know this theology. And we claim that we do. We would affirm, I have no doubt, if we had some kind of creed that affirmed, that call us to affirm that we are monotheists, we would all sign it. Because we know we should. But practically speaking, and Israel was doing this, practically speaking, we struggle with polytheism. And one of the key ways that we do, is with the worship of self. Self-glory. We know God says he is the only God, but we struggle because we want a piece of that. We want a piece of that glory. We want some of the pie. And we get upset when we don't. If that is true, that there is only one true and living God, There's a lot of truths that necessarily stem from that one truth. But the one that I want to highlight for us tonight is this, we are not God. And since that is true, that's the one general truth, there is only one God, parentheses, and we're not him, there is one general response that I want to call us to then tonight. By necessity, If we are not God, therefore we are not to be worshiped, nor are we to worship anything or anyone else. We're not God. We're not unchangeable. We're not eternal. We're not a creator. We're not those things. There's only one true living God and we are not him. We make mistakes. We have errors of judgment. We sin. We make horrible choices. And unfortunately, this is not just a periodic thing that kind of creeps into our lives from time to time. That's who we are. It's what we struggle with on a daily basis. For instance, in our skewed and elevated view of ourselves, we are quick to judge the motives and actions of other people with harshness, with condescension, and with pride. While at the same time, we easily excuse, dismiss, or just ignore our own faults and our own sinfulness. Why do we do that? Because it's a lot easier to point out someone else's fault and to highlight someone else's sin because it makes us feel better. Or we want to make ourselves feel better. Or we want to look better because we want glory. We want to elevate ourselves. And when and if someone does dare to approach us about our sin, we bristle. And we're very quick to defend ourselves and our sin, and very slow to listen and humble ourselves. We do these things because we have a faulty view of self, of life, and of ministry. By being quick to defend ourselves and accuse others, we're fighting for self-glory and for others to bow down to our own whim and desires. In other words, we want people's allegiance, submission, and worship. And we fight this. Pride haunts us all. Self-glory is not a foreign idol, but flaunts its ugly head to many people, even within professing Christianity. But since there is only one true and living God in this universe, and I am not him, then by necessity, the only person to worship is God. And it's not me. And when we struggle with self-glory, like I have, what we essentially say is, I want the glory. I want the worship. Now we would never say that because that would sound really bad and we don't want to appear bad. So we put a Christian face to it. But in our heart that's what we want. The general truth there is only one true and living God. The general response worship only him. And I say this from one center to another, from one who struggles to another, the sooner we recognize our struggle for self-glory, the sooner we can be freed from its satanic grip. There is great frustration in the grips of self-glory. Frustration because no matter how hard we want it and no matter how hard we try to get it, glory for self is never realized. It cannot be. Because God will not share his glory with any other. Because he is the only God. There is none else. We may experience some kind of accomplishment. We may have some kind of accolades that are given to us. And those are fine. But that's not enough. We don't want just that. We want more. We want the glory that is behind those things. See those things are just the tip of the sinful iceberg. We want the whole thing. We want the glory that is due to only God. That's the ultimate goal even as it is Satan's. But as Christians, that is not our destiny. It is not our purpose for living. And perhaps the greatest text in all the Bible is Deuteronomy 6, 4, and 5, what the Israelites would call the Shema. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. And you will love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. There's a reason why they would say that day after day, week after week. And there's a reason why we should remember that, too. There's only one God. It's not me. Therefore, worship God. The pursuit of self-glory always brings frustration, but the worship of God and the pursuit of his glory always brings freedom. We're free to live as we were created to live, free to live in obedience to God, free to pursue all the things that are good and right and eternal. There is freedom, right? We sang this morning, my chains fell off and my heart was freed. Freed to do all that God intends. There's freedom to that. There is tremendous frustration when all we do is fight for self. And if you know that struggle, you know the frustration very well. I do. It is frustrating as all get out. You know what? That's a blessing from the Lord. It ought to be. It's the red flag going off to say it shouldn't be a joyful thing because that's not how I created you. Submit yourself to me. I am the Lord there is none else worship me and there's freedom there. Oh the weight is lifted off the shoulders and the freedom to honor the Lord is there. There should be great joy in the truth that there is a God and we are not him. We should revel in the theological beauty of being completely, utterly, and thoroughly monotheists. There is only one God. There are no other gods before God or after God, nor are there any other gods in addition to him who are lesser than him. But we should also be quick to make very practical and personal applications of this truth. Since there is only one God and his name is Jehovah, I am not him. This earth and all of creation exists because of Him, not me. People do not exist for my own benefit or to meet my needs or to worship me. You apply that to your life personally, apply that to your marriage, apply that to your home, apply that to your work, apply that to this church. We exist to honor God. to worship Him. And as we begin this new year, let's recalibrate our hearts and minds to this truth. Life is not about me. It is all about God. I must worship Him rightly. I must pursue His goals. I must seek out His will. I must proclaim His message. Let's do away with the self-glory. I speak that to me. Fight it with the truth of scripture. Deny yourself and follow Christ. And may 2018 be a year that is not marked by the pursuit of self-glory but rather marked by perpetual worship of the one true and living God. He is creator, He is sustainer, He is Lord, He is Savior, and He is our God. There is none else. To God be the glory. Alone.