WEBVTT

NOTE
Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver
Episode: The spirit Of This Age-1
Publishing Date: 2020-01-26T05:00:44-08:00
Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca
Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/the-spirit-of-this-age-1/

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I'm talking about how this is the year of the Holy Spirit.

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And that's why I read Joel chapter two.

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And if you go look at Joel chapter two,

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just have a look at Joel chapter two.

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Joel chapter two.

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Joel is so hard to find.

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Do you know where it is?

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Old Testament, where?

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After Hosea.

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Ah, sure.

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Okay.

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So if you look at Joel,

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the first part of Joel from verse one to 11

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is basically how difficult and disastrous the times are.

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Disastrous the times are.

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That's verse one to 12.

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One to 11.

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Around verse 12, you see things changing.

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What happens with Christians is

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we go straight to Joel 2.28.

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We usually go to Joel 2.28.

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And so if you go to Joel 2.28, it says,

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and afterward, I will pour out my spirit on all people

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your sons and daughters will prophesy,

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your old men will dream dreams,

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your young men will see visions.

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That's usually where most Christians go.

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But it says, and afterwards, after what?

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And to find out after what, you got to go to verse 18.

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And then when you go to verse 18, you see, it says,

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then the Lord will be jealous for his land

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and take pity on his people.

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The Lord will reply to them,

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I'm sending you grain, you wine and oil.

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Strange thing, eh?

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That God sends provision before he sends the Holy Spirit.

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We always think that the Holy Spirit

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has to come for provision to come.

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And we connect the Holy Spirit again

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with supply of provision,

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where God is already saying,

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that let me send you provisions first.

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And then after sending you provisions,

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after that, I'll pour out the Holy Spirit upon you.

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We'll talk about that another time.

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So then in verse 18, it says,

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then the Lord will be jealous for his land

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and take pity on his people.

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So the question is, what happens before then?

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And so then you got to go to verse 12.

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Because if it says then, then there's a question when.

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And so you got to go to verse 12.

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In verse 12, it says, even now declares the Lord,

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return to me with all your heart,

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with fasting and weeping and mourning,

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rend your heart and not your garments,

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return to the Lord your God

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for he is gracious and compassionate.

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So that's where it starts.

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Say, you live in a time of disaster and tragedy

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and great trouble,

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but if you rend your heart and not your garments, Jacob,

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then I will begin to first restore provision to you,

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give you a new grain and new wine.

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And by the way, after all that is done

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and the years that the locusts have eaten have been restored,

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I also want to say to you that after that,

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I will pour upon you the Holy Spirit

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and the Spirit of God will cause the young men

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and the old men, the young men and the old women

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to prophesy.

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So today what I want to deal with is this whole idea

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of rend your hearts, humble yourself,

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rend your hearts, humble yourself,

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because there is a direct correlation

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between humility and the Holy Spirit,

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humility and the Holy Spirit.

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There is a direct correlation.

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And one of the things that affects us in this world

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is the spirit of this age, as I was talking about,

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and the spirit of this age is a spirit of pride.

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Man is proud.

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I don't think man has ever been as proud as he is today.

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With the accomplishments that we've had,

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with the way we function, like Dano was saying,

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between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs,

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they can provide us everything that we need from God.

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It's just that we don't know them.

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The spirit of this age is a spirit of pride.

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And it's not surprising if you go to 1 John 2.16,

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1 John 2.16, if you go to 1 John 2.16,

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you will see in 1 John 2.16,

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three things mentioned that we have to be careful about.

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It says in 1 John 2.15 and 16,

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I'm reading from verse 15,

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do not love the world or anything in the world.

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If anyone loves the world,

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the love of the Father is not in them.

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Verse 16, for everything in the world,

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the cravings of sinful man, the lust of the eyes,

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and the boasting of what he has and does

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comes not from the Father, but from the world.

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As in, there are three things

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that work against us in this world,

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and that defines the spirit of the age

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in every generation that has stood upon this earth.

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The pride of life, the lust of the flesh,

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and the lust of the eyes.

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Today, we only talk about the pride of life.

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Yeah?

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And so guys, when it comes to pride,

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it's literally a spirit.

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You read about it in Job 41, verse 34.

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Job 41, verse 34.

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Job 41, verse 12, kind of mentions the name of the spirit.

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You may call it by other names,

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but one of the names that's given to this ruler

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over those with haughty hearts

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is the name Leviathan.

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In Job 41, verse 12, it talks about the Leviathan.

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And in Job 41, verse 34, it says that Leviathan rules

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over those that have a proud heart.

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Leviathan is ruler over the children of pride.

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Now, I'm not saying that we are a proud stiff-necked people,

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but I am saying that we are susceptible

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and often operate under the spirit of the age

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where we begin to take pride in ourselves.

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And I'm saying that that must go

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if the Holy Spirit is to have his way,

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because there's a direct correlation between humility

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and the ways of the Holy Spirit.

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Any questions?

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We are not a proud and stiff-necked people.

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I do not believe so.

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If that were the case, we wouldn't be where we are today.

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But even though we are not a proud and stiff-necked people,

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I'm talking about us gathered here right now,

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I would like to say that the spirit of the age

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is a spirit that lends itself to man being proud,

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and that we are susceptible to it.

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I am susceptible to it.

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And we often come under the sway

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of this really wicked spirit called Leviathan,

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who is ruler over the children of pride.

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And may I suggest to you that you have that problem

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and I have that problem.

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Any questions?

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Can I have some pens, man?

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Oh, I got them.

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Any questions?

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Guys, someone said this line, I really love it.

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This person said,

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humility follows God like a shadow.

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Humility follows God like a shadow.

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Humility follows God like a shadow.

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Like a shadow.

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If that is the case, we can infer then

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that where God is, humility is.

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And when God goes, humility goes.

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This is such an important equation.

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I was quite surprised at how easy it is

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to slip into this place of pride.

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Humility follows God like a shadow.

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If that is the case, we can infer

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that where God is, humility is.

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When God goes, humility goes.

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And if you wanna define redemption differently,

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then here's one way of defining redemption.

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Redemption is the regaining.

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Redemption is the regaining or the restoration.

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Redemption is the restoration of lost humility.

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Redemption is the restoration of lost humility.

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Or in other words, an entire dependence

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on God.

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That's another way of defining redemption.

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Redemption is the regaining of lost humility

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or an entire dependence on God.

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So here's the thing, guys.

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Man left alone will always be proud.

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Man left alone will always be proud.

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When man is present with God, humility is present.

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When man is left alone, pride is always present,

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which then means that in a 24-hour day,

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if God is not present in some hours of your day,

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pride will be present.

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The Bible tracks this.

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There was a time when even Adam

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were not present with God, pride came in.

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There was a time in Hezekiah's life where God says,

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I left him alone for a while to test his heart.

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And Hezekiah begins to go into pride

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and calls the envoys from Babylon

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and begin to show them everything that he has.

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Nebuchadnezzar was given his riches by God,

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but he denies the presence of God

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and becomes like an animal who's running around

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for seven years in the wilderness,

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claws grown long, nails grown long like claws,

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hair grown like a wild animal till he acknowledges God.

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It is strange how when man is left alone, pride is present.

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When man is present with God, humility is present,

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which then means that every moment that I spend alone,

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pride seeks to have me.

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Jesus put it this way, apart from God, I can do nothing.

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We say this, apart from God, I am something.

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Strange how this works.

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When man is present with God, humility prevails.

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When man is by himself, pride abounds.

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Pride seeks and finds you when you're apart from God.

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It always has.

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You see it with Adam and Eve, you see it with Hezekiah.

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You see it with this guy called Uzziah.

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Uzziah was a marvelous king.

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Very few accomplished what he did.

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And then it says pride got him.

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Pride gets you when you are a man or a woman on your own

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when God is not present.

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But here's the problem.

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We are in the same situation as Jacob in Genesis 28,

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where Jacob, I know you've heard this many times,

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but I'm saying it for the sake of the tape.

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When Jacob was at Bethel with his head resting

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on a stone, he gets up and he says,

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this is the gateway of heaven.

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God is present, but I did not even know it.

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I wanna say to you that every time in my life,

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when God is present, but I do not recognize it,

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then the only other person I recognize is me.

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And whenever I recognize me, pride is present.

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The only way to beat it is to be highly aware

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of the presence of God.

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Because when God is absent, pride is present.

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When God is present, humility prevails.

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Any questions?

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Man left alone, pride seeks you.

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And when I say man left alone,

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man has to find himself alone by separating himself from.

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Any questions?

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First Peter 5, 5 and many other scriptures,

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James chapter four, it says,

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clothe yourselves with humility.

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Clothe yourselves with humility.

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It's a deliberate putting on,

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clothe yourselves with humility towards one another.

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Why?

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Because God resists or God opposes the proud,

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but gives grace to the humble.

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It's the spirit of the age guys.

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Where do you find humility in this world?

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Where do you find humility in this world?

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But where Christ dwells?

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Where does Christ dwell but in a people?

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Where do you find humility in this world?

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Where?

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Even in the most altruistic of acts

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where people are giving themselves,

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you go back to 1 Corinthians 13,

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even if you laid your body down for sacrifice,

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yet you will find pride there.

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The only place you don't find pride

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is when God is radically present.

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Sometimes the need to acknowledge, recognize

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and dwell in his presence is just so that

00:13:20.680 --> 00:13:23.440
you can continue in this place called humility.

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And there's a direct correlation between humility

00:13:25.560 --> 00:13:27.800
and the Holy Spirit and we'll talk about that.

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It doesn't matter whether it's politics,

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whether it's pastoring, whether it's church,

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or whether it's the world,

00:13:36.420 --> 00:13:38.840
the one thing that's constantly present is pride.

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And remember, it is natural for pride to be present

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because pride came before fear.

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The first sin committed was pride.

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The first evil thing that entered the cosmos was pride.

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The second evil thing that entered the cosmos was deception.

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The third evil thing that entered the cosmos was fear.

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The fourth evil thing that entered the cosmos

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was working to earn one's wages.

00:14:06.640 --> 00:14:10.080
But the first evil that entered the cosmos was pride.

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It entered in heaven's backyard.

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Then it was brought into Eden

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and there was deception that caused one.

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Deception as in lies.

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And then the next thing that entered the cosmos was fear.

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But the first one was pride.

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It's ancient.

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When I read this thing that,

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Jacob, every time you're left to your own,

00:14:40.640 --> 00:14:43.200
pride will try and seek you.

00:14:44.120 --> 00:14:45.120
I brought up two thoughts.

00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:49.480
One, dwell in the presence of God to walk humbly, Jacob.

00:14:49.480 --> 00:14:53.720
And two, there will be times when God will leave you alone

00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:57.800
to test your heart, just as he did Hezekiah.

00:14:57.800 --> 00:15:01.360
Where he'll say, Second Chronicles 32, verse 31,

00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:03.520
or 21, I'm not sure, 31.

00:15:03.520 --> 00:15:05.800
Second Chronicles 32, verse 31 says,

00:15:05.800 --> 00:15:09.920
and then God left Hezekiah alone to test what is in his heart.

00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:15.160
One of the things I've since got saying

00:15:15.160 --> 00:15:17.640
when I was preparing this was,

00:15:17.640 --> 00:15:19.040
he said, Jacob, as you're preparing this,

00:15:19.040 --> 00:15:21.560
don't think of anybody else but yourself.

00:15:21.560 --> 00:15:24.800
So unfortunately, I couldn't think of any of you.

00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:27.560
That's proud.

00:15:27.560 --> 00:15:29.240
I could only think of myself.

00:15:29.240 --> 00:15:31.600
Though I'd have loved to put you in picture.

00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:32.800
But it didn't work out.

00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:36.400
So as it says at first, Peter,

00:15:36.400 --> 00:15:38.920
I'm not sure if you're ready to be a part of this,

00:15:38.920 --> 00:15:40.760
but I'm sure you are.

00:15:41.640 --> 00:15:44.200
So as it says at first, Peter, five, five,

00:15:44.200 --> 00:15:45.920
clothe yourself with humility,

00:15:45.920 --> 00:15:47.480
clothe yourself with humility,

00:15:48.560 --> 00:15:50.760
especially as you deal with each other.

00:15:50.760 --> 00:15:52.640
Because God opposes or resists.

00:15:52.640 --> 00:15:54.160
The idea of resist or oppose,

00:15:54.160 --> 00:15:57.120
I was just checking what the picture of that word is.

00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:00.160
It is a hostile military stance.

00:16:00.160 --> 00:16:04.680
So God actually gets into this hostile military stance

00:16:04.680 --> 00:16:06.560
when I'm proud.

00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:11.040
And by the way, guys,

00:16:11.040 --> 00:16:15.120
besides you being someone who walks in humility,

00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:18.240
know that when you associate with people that are proud,

00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:20.320
it'll get you, eh?

00:16:21.800 --> 00:16:22.640
It'll get you.

00:16:22.640 --> 00:16:25.400
You think that by associating and kowtowing

00:16:25.400 --> 00:16:27.600
and hobnobbing with people who are proud,

00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:28.560
you can escape?

00:16:28.560 --> 00:16:29.400
You can't.

00:16:29.400 --> 00:16:33.720
Because Proverbs 16, 18 says that pride comes, Jacob,

00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:35.240
with destruction,

00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:40.160
and a haughty look will always precede a fall in your life.

00:16:40.160 --> 00:16:42.200
Every time, Jacob, you are proud,

00:16:42.200 --> 00:16:44.480
know that the destroyer is at work

00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:48.760
because destruction is just an inch away.

00:16:48.760 --> 00:16:52.280
And every time you look at things with haughty eyes,

00:16:52.280 --> 00:16:55.880
know that you are just preparing yourself for a fall

00:16:55.880 --> 00:16:56.880
because you're too blind for it.

00:16:56.880 --> 00:16:57.840
And therefore, Jacob,

00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:00.440
be careful how you associate with ones who are proud

00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:02.400
because the same thing will happen to you.

00:17:04.560 --> 00:17:07.000
I love what 1 Corinthians 4.7 says.

00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:08.920
1 Corinthians 4.7 puts it this way.

00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:10.720
I'll read it, but as far as I can remember,

00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:12.080
it says, hey, Jacob,

00:17:12.080 --> 00:17:15.400
what do you have that you actually created yourself?

00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:17.600
Anything you have comes from me.

00:17:17.600 --> 00:17:19.000
So what are you boasting about?

00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:20.240
1 Corinthians 4.7.

00:17:29.080 --> 00:17:31.760
For who makes you different from anyone else, Jacob?

00:17:31.800 --> 00:17:33.920
What do you have that you did not receive, Jacob?

00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:34.800
And if you did receive it,

00:17:34.800 --> 00:17:37.400
why do you boast as though you did not?

00:17:37.400 --> 00:17:39.720
For who makes you different from anyone else?

00:17:39.720 --> 00:17:42.120
Who makes you different from anyone else?

00:17:42.120 --> 00:17:44.920
Who makes you different from anyone else?

00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:47.560
What do you have that you got yourself,

00:17:47.560 --> 00:17:49.600
that you created yourself?

00:17:49.600 --> 00:17:51.560
Everything that you have came from me.

00:17:51.560 --> 00:17:53.160
So what are you boasting about?

00:17:53.160 --> 00:17:55.280
It's very hard, guys, to derive your value

00:17:55.280 --> 00:17:57.360
and your greatness and your beauty and your glory

00:17:57.360 --> 00:17:59.120
and your worth from God alone.

00:17:59.120 --> 00:18:00.400
It's very hard.

00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:01.720
It's very hard.

00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:04.680
That's what I've been trying to do

00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:06.200
through the time of worship today.

00:18:06.200 --> 00:18:09.720
Can we make God big enough so that we see our smallness?

00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:14.080
That's why it makes sense to hear what Dan was saying.

00:18:14.080 --> 00:18:15.120
Because my God,

00:18:15.120 --> 00:18:17.520
He's the only God who can make us big enough

00:18:17.520 --> 00:18:19.040
to see our smallness.

00:18:19.040 --> 00:18:20.280
That's why I'm saying,

00:18:20.320 --> 00:18:22.600
it makes sense to hear what Dan was saying.

00:18:22.600 --> 00:18:23.840
Because my God,

00:18:23.840 --> 00:18:27.160
what if that is the only thing He offers

00:18:27.160 --> 00:18:29.760
and that is the beginning and the end?

00:18:29.760 --> 00:18:31.360
Salvation and that is all.

00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:46.800
Sometimes you need to consider,

00:18:46.800 --> 00:18:50.000
sometimes I need to consider my flawed,

00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:52.680
filthy separateness

00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:57.160
before I consider my forgiven sin-free holiness.

00:18:57.160 --> 00:19:00.040
Problem with churches like ours is we are so into,

00:19:00.040 --> 00:19:01.680
you are as holy as God,

00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:03.320
you are a much loved child,

00:19:03.320 --> 00:19:05.320
you are precious to God,

00:19:05.320 --> 00:19:06.560
He loves you,

00:19:06.560 --> 00:19:09.280
you are sin-free because Christ took all your sins.

00:19:09.280 --> 00:19:11.000
We are so into that,

00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:16.000
that we forget that our actual condition on any given day,

00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:18.000
except for the blood of Christ,

00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:21.920
is flawed, filthy separateness

00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:24.680
that cannot even approach someone

00:19:24.680 --> 00:19:26.280
who is just remotely holy,

00:19:26.280 --> 00:19:27.760
leave alone God.

00:19:27.760 --> 00:19:29.720
So we don't acknowledge that enough

00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:34.720
because we come from a Christian viewpoint

00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:38.600
where those things are taken care of by the blood of Christ.

00:19:38.600 --> 00:19:40.680
But sometimes I need to consider that

00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:43.840
before I can realize how sin-free, forgiven,

00:19:43.840 --> 00:19:45.000
and holy I am.

00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:47.680
I have to consider how actually filthy,

00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:50.160
separate, and unholy I am.

00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:54.040
And that doesn't happen

00:19:54.040 --> 00:19:57.800
till I keep seeing God as a very, very big,

00:19:57.800 --> 00:20:02.200
very, very holy, very, very self-separated God

00:20:02.200 --> 00:20:03.920
who cannot be approached.

00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:05.360
The mind cannot comprehend it.

00:20:05.360 --> 00:20:07.200
Something has to happen to my spirit.

00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:09.760
And so I'm not trying to create an image for you

00:20:09.760 --> 00:20:12.160
where I make you feel like filth

00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:14.520
and make him look like super holy.

00:20:14.560 --> 00:20:16.240
Because even if I did that,

00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:17.560
it doesn't do you any good.

00:20:17.560 --> 00:20:18.720
It's just an image in your mind

00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:20.560
and all our images will be different.

00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:23.160
So that doesn't help.

00:20:23.160 --> 00:20:25.920
But in my spirit, I need to understand

00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:28.080
the bigness of God and the smallness of Jacob,

00:20:28.080 --> 00:20:31.360
because if not, Jacob will walk as a man.

00:20:31.360 --> 00:20:33.680
And if he walks as a man,

00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:36.600
pride will seek him and will find him and get him.

00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:39.560
Any questions?

00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:42.240
No questions, no thoughts?

00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:48.000
It depends.

00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:49.360
What's your last name?

00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:53.800
Okay, you go first.

00:20:53.800 --> 00:20:54.640
Here's a theory.

00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:55.480
Yeah.

00:20:55.480 --> 00:20:56.320
Yeah.

00:20:56.320 --> 00:20:57.160
So.

00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:04.760
With what part do you think that the concept

00:21:04.760 --> 00:21:09.440
that you're doing is a big, big, big, big, big, big, big,

00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:12.680
Jacob, you're always aware that,

00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:15.600
Jacob has no pain, he's just a person with an edge.

00:21:15.600 --> 00:21:16.800
He's always there.

00:21:16.800 --> 00:21:18.560
How can he be a part of it?

00:21:18.560 --> 00:21:19.400
He doesn't.

00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:22.240
But sometimes he...

00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:34.640
Sometimes God will let something really good happen to me

00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:38.440
and check how I will respond to that really good thing.

00:21:38.440 --> 00:21:41.160
Or sometimes God will bring a lot of applause

00:21:41.160 --> 00:21:44.320
and recognition my way, and then check and see

00:21:44.320 --> 00:21:47.280
how I will respond to that applause and recognition.

00:21:47.280 --> 00:21:50.240
Sometimes God will bring plenty of provision

00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:51.600
and blessing into my life,

00:21:51.600 --> 00:21:54.200
and then see how I will respond to it.

00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:57.160
And he won't tell me how to respond to it.

00:21:57.160 --> 00:21:59.080
He'll just sit back and look and see,

00:21:59.080 --> 00:22:01.040
so how's Jacob gonna handle this?

00:22:01.040 --> 00:22:02.800
You do that with your children, you know?

00:22:02.800 --> 00:22:06.280
You give them something and then you watch and see

00:22:06.280 --> 00:22:08.560
how is this person going to respond?

00:22:09.960 --> 00:22:11.120
I do that with you.

00:22:12.440 --> 00:22:14.000
One on one, I do that with you.

00:22:15.080 --> 00:22:16.840
Where I will either give you something

00:22:16.840 --> 00:22:19.840
or hold back something from you to see how you will respond.

00:22:21.360 --> 00:22:22.280
And God does that.

00:22:24.360 --> 00:22:27.920
Because God knows what Jacob's fallings are

00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:30.240
and what Jacob's non-fallings are,

00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:32.400
and he wants to see, has this boy learned

00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:34.080
over the last couple of years?

00:22:34.080 --> 00:22:36.280
Will he be any different this time than before?

00:22:36.280 --> 00:22:38.440
And if I am not, he'll start all over again

00:22:38.440 --> 00:22:39.840
to help me get to a place

00:22:39.840 --> 00:22:41.640
where I look more like Jesus Christ.

00:22:43.320 --> 00:22:45.360
It's not that, it's not earth shattering

00:22:45.360 --> 00:22:48.160
if I don't get it right, it's just time shattering.

00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:50.640
It means I'll require more time to work on it.

00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:53.240
But God will see, how does Jacob respond?

00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:55.280
How does Jacob respond?

00:22:57.320 --> 00:22:59.600
If there's anyone who has the right to test my heart,

00:22:59.600 --> 00:23:01.440
it is God, not the devil.

00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:04.040
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from.

00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:08.760
There is no recurrence like Job's anymore

00:23:08.760 --> 00:23:09.680
in the new covenant,

00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:11.600
but there is a testing that comes from God.

00:23:11.600 --> 00:23:14.960
Everything that you believe you have learned will be tested.

00:23:17.880 --> 00:23:19.080
Because it's only in testing

00:23:19.080 --> 00:23:20.880
that what you have learned is proven.

00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:25.480
So Abraham was called the father of faith.

00:23:25.480 --> 00:23:28.400
But then he was called the father of faith in Genesis 15.

00:23:30.080 --> 00:23:33.040
But when was Isaac asked of him?

00:23:33.040 --> 00:23:33.880
Later.

00:23:38.600 --> 00:23:42.280
So know that when you are being taught something by God,

00:23:42.280 --> 00:23:44.360
he will test you so that you can prove

00:23:44.360 --> 00:23:45.720
that you have learned well.

00:23:49.720 --> 00:23:51.480
Oh, I can swim, really, yeah.

00:23:51.480 --> 00:23:52.320
Where have you swum?

00:23:52.320 --> 00:23:54.440
Ah, any ocean, you just throw me into the ocean

00:23:54.440 --> 00:23:55.400
and I can swim, really?

00:23:55.400 --> 00:23:57.400
Okay, let me just push you into this pool.

00:23:59.320 --> 00:24:01.560
This is not God, this is just me doing it to you.

00:24:01.600 --> 00:24:06.600
So, but there is a proving of what you say you have learned.

00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:12.960
Any questions on that?

00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:14.960
And he does it in a very fatherly way.

00:24:16.320 --> 00:24:19.880
There's not some, that usual sergeant you see

00:24:19.880 --> 00:24:22.600
in most American movies who shouts and hollers at you

00:24:22.600 --> 00:24:24.520
and wakes you up at five in the morning.

00:24:24.520 --> 00:24:28.520
No, there's a very fatherly God.

00:24:29.320 --> 00:24:31.520
And so he will sometimes leave you alone

00:24:31.520 --> 00:24:33.840
to see how you will respond to the things he gives.

00:24:33.840 --> 00:24:34.680
Firi?

00:24:38.920 --> 00:24:40.000
Hottie eyes.

00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:43.160
Hottie eyes, you don't really see them.

00:24:43.160 --> 00:24:45.680
Christians know how to disguise pride like crazy.

00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:50.680
Christians have become experts at disguising all such things.

00:24:50.680 --> 00:24:52.960
So, hottie eyes is when,

00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:54.440
hottie eyes is when,

00:24:57.760 --> 00:24:59.840
when he says that,

00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:05.200
you know, I just got a new house

00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:10.200
and I disguise my haughtiness and think to myself,

00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:12.800
she's only got three bedrooms, I got four.

00:25:14.120 --> 00:25:15.120
That's hottie eyes.

00:25:16.040 --> 00:25:19.060
You won't say it, but in your heart,

00:25:19.060 --> 00:25:21.480
you begin to despise, you hold in disdain,

00:25:21.480 --> 00:25:23.280
you do not hold an equal value.

00:25:24.200 --> 00:25:25.960
Or, hottie eyes can be the other way too.

00:25:25.960 --> 00:25:29.000
Where, wonder where he got his money from.

00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:32.880
He's 34, where did they get their money from?

00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:33.800
Goes either ways.

00:25:33.800 --> 00:25:35.720
Pride is something that is so subtle.

00:25:35.720 --> 00:25:37.640
C.S. Lewis put it this way,

00:25:37.640 --> 00:25:40.800
pride is the subtlest of vices

00:25:40.800 --> 00:25:43.640
where one can be proud of Christian things

00:25:43.640 --> 00:25:46.480
without even having Christ factored in.

00:25:48.560 --> 00:25:50.200
It's the subtlest of vices.

00:25:50.200 --> 00:25:52.400
If you read the screw tape letters,

00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:55.140
what the devil tells the little demon to go

00:25:55.140 --> 00:25:57.520
and do to the guy in the stories,

00:25:57.520 --> 00:26:00.240
he says introduce pride and do it so subtly

00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:04.400
because these Christians do not know when pride has entered.

00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:07.000
It is the subtlest of vices, you can get them.

00:26:09.160 --> 00:26:11.480
Another time he says this about pride,

00:26:11.480 --> 00:26:13.440
pride should be,

00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:16.120
humility is when you can build a cathedral

00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:20.000
and everybody is applauding you for it

00:26:20.840 --> 00:26:21.680
and then someone else goes,

00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:24.840
builds another cathedral that is as good or better

00:26:24.840 --> 00:26:26.480
and you don't feel bad at all

00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:27.920
but you actually applaud the person

00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:29.480
who built the other cathedral.

00:26:33.880 --> 00:26:37.160
And that's my paraphrasing it but that's what he says.

00:26:37.160 --> 00:26:38.440
You have just sung a song,

00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:40.560
people have just come and told you how wonderful you are

00:26:40.560 --> 00:26:42.120
and just before the applause stops,

00:26:42.120 --> 00:26:44.200
up comes Jane and she sings

00:26:44.200 --> 00:26:45.720
and they start applauding her

00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:47.640
and you feel happy for Jane.

00:26:47.640 --> 00:26:49.520
Not sad that while you were singing,

00:26:49.520 --> 00:26:51.760
she came up and sang and stole your thunder.

00:26:53.400 --> 00:26:54.880
Pride is very subtle, eh?

00:26:56.880 --> 00:26:59.600
I got to leave you alone to test your heart.

00:26:59.600 --> 00:27:00.560
Why am I bringing this up?

00:27:00.560 --> 00:27:03.440
Because the spirit of the age encourages pride.

00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:07.960
Your children are encouraged to be that at school.

00:27:07.960 --> 00:27:10.560
When they come home, you encourage them to do it.

00:27:10.560 --> 00:27:14.040
Pride spawns rivalry, pride spawns competition.

00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:18.080
Pride spawns one-upmanship, pride spawns,

00:27:18.120 --> 00:27:20.360
look at how the other lady's son is doing.

00:27:20.360 --> 00:27:22.160
Pride spawns, you got to practice more,

00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:24.040
you got to be better than them.

00:27:24.040 --> 00:27:28.320
Pride is behind most of the evils that presently persist

00:27:28.320 --> 00:27:32.280
and this spirit of the age is so strong, so strong

00:27:32.280 --> 00:27:34.320
that it is very hard to walk free of it

00:27:34.320 --> 00:27:38.120
unless I decide that I will be present with God

00:27:38.120 --> 00:27:40.600
and God is so big that I will be so small.

00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:45.800
Any questions?

00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:52.080
Why is pride when you don't care about

00:27:52.080 --> 00:27:54.080
how people are proud of you?

00:27:55.280 --> 00:27:56.120
Sorry?

00:27:56.120 --> 00:27:57.240
Because you haven't just used it

00:27:57.240 --> 00:28:01.240
about people are proud of you and then you even talk

00:28:01.240 --> 00:28:02.920
and then now you're saying it's good for her

00:28:02.920 --> 00:28:05.800
because she's better, how's that?

00:28:05.800 --> 00:28:08.480
I'm saying it's not pride when I applaud Jane, yeah.

00:28:12.200 --> 00:28:13.160
Any other question?

00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:15.720
Yep.

00:28:15.720 --> 00:28:20.040
Is there any scripture that says something similar

00:28:20.040 --> 00:28:23.040
to the pride of the Salamence on the site?

00:28:24.440 --> 00:28:28.040
No, except for C.S. Lewis who is not scriptural

00:28:28.040 --> 00:28:29.600
but based on scripture.

00:28:31.240 --> 00:28:32.080
Yeah.

00:28:35.080 --> 00:28:36.600
Pardon?

00:28:36.600 --> 00:28:38.160
Yeah.

00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:39.000
Go ahead, Firi.

00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:50.560
Surprisingly, both pride and humility are not recognized

00:28:50.560 --> 00:28:51.880
by the person who has it.

00:28:51.880 --> 00:28:53.560
It's recognized by people around.

00:28:54.920 --> 00:28:58.440
Both pride and humility are not easily recognized

00:28:58.440 --> 00:29:00.080
by the person who has it.

00:29:00.080 --> 00:29:02.680
When you are proud, you are usually not the one

00:29:02.680 --> 00:29:04.200
who recognizes it.

00:29:04.200 --> 00:29:06.760
When you are humble, you're usually never the person

00:29:06.760 --> 00:29:09.480
who recognizes it but whether you are proud or humble,

00:29:09.480 --> 00:29:11.120
people around you recognize it.

00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:17.920
Do you have pride in your pride, for example,

00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:20.920
like you praise God or any other way?

00:29:24.280 --> 00:29:28.360
I would say that every time I acknowledge and derive

00:29:29.280 --> 00:29:32.960
my value, my greatness, my beauty, my glory, my worth

00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:35.560
from God alone, then it is okay.

00:29:35.560 --> 00:29:38.920
But if I derive my value, my greatness, my beauty,

00:29:38.920 --> 00:29:41.680
my worth from any other source,

00:29:42.520 --> 00:29:46.560
then it goes into this evil place called pride

00:29:46.560 --> 00:29:49.280
and God takes a hostile stance against it.

00:29:50.560 --> 00:29:54.720
It is very hard for us humans to get to a point

00:29:54.720 --> 00:29:57.440
where everything I do, let's assume this teaching

00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:02.160
was really good, I must accept your applause

00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:06.760
but I must also derive the absolute fact

00:30:06.760 --> 00:30:09.480
that anything I say that affects your life,

00:30:09.480 --> 00:30:12.960
the words that I speak, the way I say it,

00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:15.320
the knowledge that is behind it,

00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:18.560
the revelation that may come with it,

00:30:18.560 --> 00:30:22.680
all comes from just one source and that is never Jacob.

00:30:23.920 --> 00:30:26.880
Even the hard work that Jacob puts into a sermon

00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:28.960
comes because of the grace of God.

00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:33.680
Why is this important?

00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:36.160
Because if we go down this route, I'm saying to you

00:30:36.160 --> 00:30:38.600
that the year of the Holy Spirit will be far more effective

00:30:38.600 --> 00:30:40.720
in this church because corporately,

00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:43.320
if a people can walk with great humility,

00:30:43.320 --> 00:30:45.880
corporately, a people will experience

00:30:45.880 --> 00:30:48.040
the jealous yearning of the Holy Spirit.

00:30:49.920 --> 00:30:52.160
This must then begin to affect how you deal

00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:54.360
with your children, how you deal with your family affairs.

00:30:54.360 --> 00:30:57.920
Everything has the same thing going in again and again.

00:30:57.920 --> 00:31:00.160
I really hate the spirit of the age

00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:01.560
because of what it is doing to the church.

00:31:01.560 --> 00:31:03.800
Another thing the spirit of the age has done to us,

00:31:03.800 --> 00:31:05.640
I'm not talking about any other church but us,

00:31:05.640 --> 00:31:07.720
it has smothered us into silence

00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:10.760
and we become politically correct inside church.

00:31:10.760 --> 00:31:14.120
This church suffers from this evil attack

00:31:14.120 --> 00:31:16.240
of the spirit of the age which has silenced us.

00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:19.560
We do not speak and even the ones who used to speak

00:31:19.560 --> 00:31:21.920
when they come to Acts 29 will stop speaking.

00:31:25.360 --> 00:31:26.600
I'll give you an example.

00:31:26.600 --> 00:31:30.440
You see that lady there sitting next to Jason?

00:31:30.440 --> 00:31:32.280
That's Jason's mother.

00:31:32.280 --> 00:31:34.520
When she used to first come to Acts 29,

00:31:35.480 --> 00:31:37.560
she used to, during the middle of worship,

00:31:37.560 --> 00:31:40.120
during a between songs, praise the Lord, hallelujah,

00:31:40.120 --> 00:31:41.800
praise the Lord, praise the Lord.

00:31:41.800 --> 00:31:45.400
It was like a stone in a pebble in your shoe.

00:31:45.400 --> 00:31:48.640
Because the rest of us were pretty decently behaved.

00:31:49.640 --> 00:31:51.640
And she would just keep doing this between songs.

00:31:51.640 --> 00:31:53.080
I remember this very clearly.

00:31:53.080 --> 00:31:54.600
Guess what has happened to her now that she comes

00:31:54.600 --> 00:31:56.440
to Acts 29 regularly?

00:31:56.440 --> 00:31:57.560
You won't hear it much.

00:32:00.680 --> 00:32:03.040
We have the ability to smother the voice

00:32:03.280 --> 00:32:04.920
of people in this church.

00:32:04.920 --> 00:32:05.880
We do not speak.

00:32:05.880 --> 00:32:07.840
We have our own reasons for it.

00:32:07.840 --> 00:32:09.680
This is for next week's sermon.

00:32:09.680 --> 00:32:11.040
We have our own reasons for it.

00:32:11.040 --> 00:32:13.520
But my God, the spirit of this age knows

00:32:13.520 --> 00:32:17.000
how to silence the voice of praise.

00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:21.200
And it has affected this church dramatically, drastically.

00:32:22.760 --> 00:32:24.080
I don't know how to break it.

00:32:24.080 --> 00:32:25.600
It requires more than teaching.

00:32:29.040 --> 00:32:31.440
What bothered me is that it silenced her.

00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:34.560
Why?

00:32:34.560 --> 00:32:37.000
Because what do you do when you keep coming to a church

00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:39.480
and nobody speaks, you have to lower your volume.

00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:44.080
And you may have your own good reasons.

00:32:44.080 --> 00:32:45.720
I'm not giving the drama.

00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:46.560
The Holy Spirit is.

00:32:53.520 --> 00:32:54.560
That's for next week.

00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:01.360
So here are some things that

00:33:01.600 --> 00:33:02.440
pride does to me.

00:33:02.440 --> 00:33:04.640
Pride makes me offended easily.

00:33:04.640 --> 00:33:07.400
Pride makes me offended easily.

00:33:07.400 --> 00:33:09.840
Pride gets me upset easily.

00:33:09.840 --> 00:33:13.080
Pride makes me disheartened easily.

00:33:13.080 --> 00:33:17.600
Pride, my pride doesn't allow me to face criticism easily.

00:33:18.800 --> 00:33:20.440
Pride gets me offended easily.

00:33:22.120 --> 00:33:22.960
I cannot think of you.

00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:23.800
I wish I could.

00:33:25.040 --> 00:33:27.440
Then I could think of one or the other of you

00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:28.280
and try to put it on you.

00:33:28.280 --> 00:33:30.120
But I'm not going to put it on you.

00:33:30.120 --> 00:33:30.960
I'll try to put it on you.

00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:33.000
But unfortunately, this is about me.

00:33:33.000 --> 00:33:36.000
Pride makes me offended easily.

00:33:37.480 --> 00:33:40.000
You say something and it just, I'm all offended.

00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:42.320
And once I'm offended, you know how difficult it will be

00:33:42.320 --> 00:33:44.320
to reach me or to connect with me.

00:33:44.320 --> 00:33:46.760
Pride makes me disheartened easily.

00:33:46.760 --> 00:33:49.600
Pride makes me wither away in criticism.

00:33:49.600 --> 00:33:51.960
Pride makes me get upset easily.

00:33:51.960 --> 00:33:54.200
You know how difficult it is to run a church

00:33:54.200 --> 00:33:56.200
with the people who take offense easily?

00:33:57.240 --> 00:33:59.800
You know how difficult it is to counsel someone?

00:33:59.800 --> 00:34:02.680
Counsel me if I'm offended by you easily.

00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:07.760
Even a couch won't help.

00:34:13.200 --> 00:34:14.040
Next one.

00:34:17.400 --> 00:34:19.000
I hadn't read this story for a while

00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:20.880
and it really bothered me.

00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:23.100
It was from Second Kings, chapter five.

00:34:23.100 --> 00:34:24.680
It's a story of Naaman.

00:34:24.680 --> 00:34:26.440
Some of the things we read in Sunday school

00:34:26.440 --> 00:34:30.880
become so blasé that we don't read them anymore.

00:34:30.880 --> 00:34:34.000
Naaman had to be cured of his pride and offense

00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:36.000
before he could be cured of his leprosy.

00:34:37.960 --> 00:34:41.200
Second Kings, chapter five, verse 11 says,

00:34:41.200 --> 00:34:44.680
that Naaman said to himself, who does he think he is?

00:34:45.600 --> 00:34:47.200
I'm the general of the Syrian army.

00:34:47.200 --> 00:34:49.960
I come here and he doesn't come out to see me.

00:34:49.960 --> 00:34:52.760
He doesn't come out and wave his hand over me.

00:34:52.760 --> 00:34:55.720
And he tells me to go dip myself seven times

00:34:55.720 --> 00:34:56.560
in this river.

00:34:56.560 --> 00:35:00.000
Aren't there better rivers like Farpar in Syria

00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:01.840
than for me to come to the Jordan?

00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:08.000
I wanna say to me and to you that sometimes

00:35:09.400 --> 00:35:11.700
to be cured of something incurable,

00:35:11.700 --> 00:35:14.220
you have to be cured of your pride

00:35:14.220 --> 00:35:17.400
and your easy ability to take offense.

00:35:23.120 --> 00:35:25.560
This goes back to the African violets.

00:35:26.640 --> 00:35:27.920
That we talked about earlier today.

00:35:29.040 --> 00:35:32.040
You can take Benadryl and keep healing your hives

00:35:32.040 --> 00:35:36.560
or you can remove the African violets from your room

00:35:36.560 --> 00:35:38.120
and your hives will disappear.

00:35:41.440 --> 00:35:46.440
Third one, pride refuses to trust

00:35:48.320 --> 00:35:51.600
and tries to secure things by one's own strength

00:35:51.600 --> 00:35:53.480
because of past experiences.

00:35:53.480 --> 00:35:55.400
Pride refuses to trust.

00:35:56.560 --> 00:36:00.120
And tries to secure things by one's own efforts

00:36:00.120 --> 00:36:02.680
because of past experiences.

00:36:02.680 --> 00:36:05.960
This is something that prevents us from coming back to God

00:36:05.960 --> 00:36:08.080
when we think God has failed.

00:36:08.080 --> 00:36:09.440
Like Dana was saying,

00:36:09.440 --> 00:36:12.780
there are areas in our lives where we have fired God

00:36:12.780 --> 00:36:15.360
because he doesn't seem to come through.

00:36:15.360 --> 00:36:19.320
I've waited for a week, a month, a year, two years.

00:36:19.320 --> 00:36:23.440
All right, father, in this area of my life, you're fired.

00:36:23.480 --> 00:36:26.640
In this area of my life, I'll do things on my own.

00:36:26.640 --> 00:36:29.240
I don't know how Abraham managed for 25 years, man.

00:36:32.680 --> 00:36:35.900
But it is pride that prevents me from going back to God

00:36:35.900 --> 00:36:38.160
in the areas where I haven't experienced

00:36:38.160 --> 00:36:41.600
what I thought I should be experiencing from God.

00:36:41.600 --> 00:36:43.480
Matthew 25 verse 24,

00:36:43.480 --> 00:36:46.360
the servant, the third servant, he was given one talent,

00:36:46.360 --> 00:36:48.320
comes back to the master and these are his words.

00:36:48.320 --> 00:36:51.440
He says to the master, I know you're a hard man,

00:36:51.440 --> 00:36:53.800
that you harvest where you haven't planted

00:36:53.800 --> 00:36:56.000
and knowing that you're a hard man, here's what I did.

00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:58.320
I went and buried the talent so that I don't lose it

00:36:58.320 --> 00:37:00.400
and I give back to you, what is yours?

00:37:06.480 --> 00:37:09.040
We might think it's just that my experience

00:37:09.040 --> 00:37:10.560
does not allow me to trust God.

00:37:10.560 --> 00:37:13.040
True, your experience may prove otherwise,

00:37:13.040 --> 00:37:16.720
but my God, it's pride that prevents me from going back.

00:37:16.720 --> 00:37:19.020
There is a humility to saying,

00:37:19.020 --> 00:37:21.200
oh God, I don't know why this happened.

00:37:21.200 --> 00:37:22.720
This just happened last Monday,

00:37:22.720 --> 00:37:25.400
where after a rather difficult trip,

00:37:25.400 --> 00:37:28.800
I remember going back, I spent Sunday talking to God

00:37:28.800 --> 00:37:33.800
about how I was not happy and I was just whining

00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:35.480
and then on Monday morning I woke up and said,

00:37:35.480 --> 00:37:37.080
don't know why all this happened,

00:37:37.080 --> 00:37:40.040
but please, I just come to you and wanna start again

00:37:40.040 --> 00:37:43.440
because you are absolutely God and I'm absolutely Jacob.

00:37:43.440 --> 00:37:45.120
So let's just start again.

00:37:46.280 --> 00:37:47.720
What choice do I have, man?

00:37:48.720 --> 00:37:51.320
I have choice, but what choice do I really have?

00:37:51.320 --> 00:37:53.240
Knowing who he is, what choice do I have?

00:37:53.240 --> 00:37:56.120
Knowing how he is, not who he is.

00:37:56.120 --> 00:37:57.160
Didn't have a choice.

00:38:00.480 --> 00:38:01.360
Any questions?

00:38:03.600 --> 00:38:05.800
I hope some of this is hitting home, eh?

00:38:05.800 --> 00:38:08.780
Cause it hit me and I hope it hits you.

00:38:10.680 --> 00:38:15.520
Fourth, pride is satisfied with where you're at.

00:38:15.520 --> 00:38:16.720
Pride is satisfied.

00:38:16.800 --> 00:38:18.720
Trust is always humbling, guys,

00:38:18.720 --> 00:38:20.320
just to go back to the last point.

00:38:20.320 --> 00:38:23.120
To trust somebody when you haven't seen any results

00:38:23.120 --> 00:38:26.500
and in this case, God is humbling.

00:38:30.120 --> 00:38:34.880
The next one is pride is satisfied with where you're at.

00:38:34.880 --> 00:38:38.120
Hosea chapter 13, Hosea chapter 13.

00:38:38.120 --> 00:38:41.280
Hosea is again somewhere near Joel, which is near Hosea.

00:38:41.280 --> 00:38:42.560
Hosea chapter 13.

00:38:46.720 --> 00:38:51.720
Verse four to six.

00:38:56.080 --> 00:38:58.360
But I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt.

00:38:58.360 --> 00:39:00.440
It goes back to what Dan was saying.

00:39:00.440 --> 00:39:03.120
You shall acknowledge no God but me.

00:39:03.120 --> 00:39:04.600
No savior except me.

00:39:06.440 --> 00:39:09.780
I cared for you in the desert, in the land of burning heat.

00:39:09.780 --> 00:39:11.340
When I fed them, they were satisfied.

00:39:11.340 --> 00:39:13.400
When they were satisfied, they became proud

00:39:13.400 --> 00:39:15.040
and they forgot me.

00:39:15.040 --> 00:39:18.680
There's something about satisfied and pride.

00:39:18.680 --> 00:39:21.320
When you're satisfied with where you're at

00:39:21.320 --> 00:39:25.200
and it leads to pride and pride then leads to satisfaction.

00:39:25.200 --> 00:39:29.400
As in I have done well enough, this is good enough.

00:39:36.320 --> 00:39:38.040
Some of these things I don't know well enough

00:39:38.040 --> 00:39:40.440
to explain them except what the scriptures say.

00:39:41.400 --> 00:39:42.640
I don't fully understand it,

00:39:42.640 --> 00:39:45.960
but there is something to being satisfied

00:39:45.960 --> 00:39:48.520
with what you have received, which is nowhere near

00:39:48.520 --> 00:39:50.960
who God is and what he can provide.

00:39:50.960 --> 00:39:53.800
But that satisfaction gets you into a place

00:39:53.800 --> 00:39:58.800
where you now become, strangely, you become proud.

00:40:05.320 --> 00:40:09.360
This is why I kind of appreciate what Francis Chan has done.

00:40:10.280 --> 00:40:14.760
Francis Chan has a mega church and he's had it for a while,

00:40:14.760 --> 00:40:17.480
but he was not satisfied with a mega church

00:40:17.480 --> 00:40:19.120
because he knew there was more to God

00:40:19.120 --> 00:40:22.520
than a huge church that is thriving.

00:40:22.520 --> 00:40:25.560
And so he resigns from the church and moves to Hong Kong

00:40:25.560 --> 00:40:28.320
to start things from scratch and run households.

00:40:28.320 --> 00:40:31.760
That is what dissatisfaction does.

00:40:31.760 --> 00:40:34.160
Satisfaction has the ability to look at

00:40:34.160 --> 00:40:36.720
what you have achieved and be quite proud

00:40:36.720 --> 00:40:37.920
of what has been done.

00:40:37.920 --> 00:40:40.880
Dissatisfaction has the ability to always look

00:40:40.880 --> 00:40:43.920
for the next thing that God wants to give you.

00:40:43.920 --> 00:40:46.520
You're not greedy, you are hungry.

00:40:46.520 --> 00:40:48.760
There's a difference between greed and hunger.

00:41:01.880 --> 00:41:03.920
Yeah, mediocrity and complacency.

00:41:04.480 --> 00:41:08.960
It's one of the most violent things in Christian lives,

00:41:08.960 --> 00:41:10.760
complacency and mediocrity.

00:41:10.760 --> 00:41:15.200
Violent, because it destroys you.

00:41:15.200 --> 00:41:17.440
The complacency of fools will kill them.

00:41:17.440 --> 00:41:21.480
Mediocrity will kill them, Proverbs 1.32 or thereabouts.

00:41:23.960 --> 00:41:25.600
Meaning it kills you.

00:41:26.800 --> 00:41:29.320
Mediocrity has the ability to kill you.

00:41:29.320 --> 00:41:31.600
Killing is to destroy you, it's violent.

00:41:34.040 --> 00:41:36.820
Fortunately it is violent but you'll be happy with it.

00:41:38.160 --> 00:41:59.780
There's a lot of pressure on visual

00:41:59.780 --> 00:42:00.980
that can be left unscathed.

00:42:00.980 --> 00:42:08.260
struggles to receive anything from God for free, especially love. Struggles. One

00:42:08.260 --> 00:42:19.320
who is proud... One who is proud struggles to receive things from God

00:42:19.320 --> 00:42:27.580
that are free. Struggle to receive love. Because pride makes me self-reliant. One

00:42:27.580 --> 00:42:34.060
of the things I've... I try very hard and I'm not making a statement

00:42:34.060 --> 00:42:40.900
immodestly. I'm saying it just to help. Is that Jacob, you must not get to a place

00:42:40.900 --> 00:42:45.540
where you don't need Acts 29. You must not get to a place where you don't need

00:42:45.540 --> 00:42:49.060
the people of Acts 29. You must not get to a place spiritually. You must not get

00:42:49.060 --> 00:42:52.700
to a place financially. You must not get to a place physically where you do not

00:42:52.700 --> 00:43:01.940
need to depend on the people of Acts 29. Because if I do, then I will get to a

00:43:01.940 --> 00:43:06.020
place of self-reliance. Like I always say, you have to be God reliant and body

00:43:06.020 --> 00:43:10.340
dependent. God reliant and body dependent. As in the body of Christ, you

00:43:10.340 --> 00:43:14.260
have to be God reliant and body dependent. And as you get spiritually

00:43:14.820 --> 00:43:25.460
it is so easy to be God reliant but not body dependent. If I get a million dollars

00:43:25.460 --> 00:43:28.580
tomorrow and there's always a chance that I could get it tonight, I would

00:43:28.580 --> 00:43:36.260
still receive what you give me to honor. I would still take it gratefully and I

00:43:36.260 --> 00:43:42.100
will still be in a sense obliged and free. But I would still take it from you.

00:43:42.100 --> 00:43:45.180
I could do with it whatever I wanted now that I have the million but I would

00:43:45.180 --> 00:43:49.420
still take it and receive it so that I would be obliged to you in a sense and

00:43:49.420 --> 00:43:52.140
yet not obliged.

00:43:56.020 --> 00:44:02.660
Next one. You want to look at Deuteronomy 8. Just as a scripture

00:44:02.660 --> 00:44:06.540
before Sam asks for a scripture. This one is not by C.S. Lewis. It's in the

00:44:06.540 --> 00:44:13.580
scripture, Sam. Deuteronomy 8, chapter 11 to 17.

00:44:36.540 --> 00:45:05.580
Guys, it's good when God is big and you need him.

00:45:05.620 --> 00:45:11.740
It is a scary place when you have gotten all you want. It's a scary place

00:45:11.740 --> 00:45:22.100
because when God is absent, pride is present. When God is absent, pride is

00:45:22.100 --> 00:45:27.620
present. Never become a man or a woman on your own. Never because pride seeks you.

00:45:27.620 --> 00:45:31.740
It's like a guided missile. We will survive but not for too long when we

00:45:31.740 --> 00:45:36.180
stand alone. What that means is that in a 24-hour day period, do you realize that

00:45:36.180 --> 00:45:40.260
our actual awareness of the presence of God is hardly four or five hours. The

00:45:40.260 --> 00:45:43.820
rest of the time we are on our own.

00:45:50.540 --> 00:45:57.940
Okay, next one. Pride animates your relationship with your possessions and

00:45:57.940 --> 00:46:02.380
can turn into an idol. Pride animates your relationship with your possessions

00:46:02.380 --> 00:46:06.580
and it can turn into an idol that you will have to serve. Pride animates as in

00:46:06.580 --> 00:46:10.580
pride gives life to. I don't have a scripture for this one. Not because there

00:46:10.580 --> 00:46:14.500
are no scriptures but because I couldn't find one before I left. Pride animates

00:46:14.500 --> 00:46:20.380
the possessions you have to the point that it becomes an idol. Once it

00:46:20.380 --> 00:46:23.980
becomes an idol, you'll have to serve it. As in, let's assume that I have a nice

00:46:23.980 --> 00:46:29.860
car. Pride can animate that car to a point where it now becomes an idol, where

00:46:29.860 --> 00:46:33.820
I look at it with great love, where I look at other cars and compare, where I

00:46:33.820 --> 00:46:38.460
look at it and think to myself, aha, where I look at others who should have it and

00:46:38.460 --> 00:46:44.700
think, huh. Now pride begins to animate the possession I have and makes it an

00:46:44.700 --> 00:46:53.620
idol and once it becomes an idol you will have to serve it. The moment you see

00:46:53.620 --> 00:46:58.100
pride begin to animate your possessions as in give life to your possessions, my

00:46:58.100 --> 00:47:02.860
God, kill it immediately because anything inanimate that is animated by pride will

00:47:02.860 --> 00:47:07.860
become an idol. And by the way, it doesn't have to be a thing. It can be your

00:47:07.860 --> 00:47:14.060
education. It can be your doctorate. It can be a thesis. It can be your wife or

00:47:14.060 --> 00:47:25.740
husband. It can be your child. How did it go, Betty? So everything was fine? Okay.

00:47:26.220 --> 00:47:32.340
Just in case you were wondering why she came late, she had reasons because the

00:47:32.340 --> 00:47:37.980
way she walked in it almost looked like church was just starting. Yeah. Next one.

00:47:37.980 --> 00:47:44.660
Ah, guys, don't let this happen to you. I must not let this happen to me. Pride

00:47:44.660 --> 00:47:51.420
does not take instruction. Pride does not take instruction. Pride does not take

00:47:51.420 --> 00:47:56.660
instruction. It cannot be instructed. It stubbornly refuses to be taught. It

00:47:56.660 --> 00:48:01.580
stubbornly refuses to be taught. That's okay. If you stubbornly resist to be

00:48:01.580 --> 00:48:05.100
taught, that's okay. At least everybody knows that you're stubbornly resisting.

00:48:05.100 --> 00:48:09.740
What is scary is this. Pride has the ability to choose which truth to accept

00:48:09.740 --> 00:48:16.460
and when to accept it. That is super dangerous. Pride cannot take

00:48:16.460 --> 00:48:20.260
instruction. There have been many times where people come and tell me things

00:48:20.260 --> 00:48:24.780
that I will not take it because I'm too proud. I've made a decision. God may have

00:48:24.780 --> 00:48:28.620
said something to me. I don't want you to add anything to it. This is the way I'm

00:48:28.620 --> 00:48:31.740
going to go. And so I don't take instructions. That's one part. The second

00:48:31.740 --> 00:48:38.700
part is that pride makes you stubbornly refuse to be taught. Doesn't matter how

00:48:38.700 --> 00:48:43.100
hard a person teaches, you stubbornly refuse to be taught. Jesus went through

00:48:43.100 --> 00:48:46.340
this. He went through this when he came to Israel. The stubbornly refused to be

00:48:46.340 --> 00:48:50.280
taught and he was an ace teacher. So it wasn't the problem with the teaching. But

00:48:50.280 --> 00:48:57.380
here's the thing that really bothers me. That pride allows, pride affords you the

00:48:57.380 --> 00:49:04.100
license to choose which truth to listen to and when to listen to it. That will be

00:49:04.100 --> 00:49:11.100
the end of you. When you decide when you will listen to the truth and you decide

00:49:11.100 --> 00:49:15.420
which truth you will listen to because your pride will not allow you to be

00:49:15.420 --> 00:49:21.060
instructed. Have that fits you because it occasionally fits me. Don't wear it

00:49:21.060 --> 00:49:24.900
proudly. Bend your head.

00:49:27.380 --> 00:49:44.180
Your will and agency should come under the word and if the word being spoken

00:49:44.180 --> 00:49:49.820
is true and you are not always the right assayer or discerner of that which is

00:49:49.820 --> 00:49:54.540
true, you will have to trust that sometimes those set over you, if they

00:49:54.540 --> 00:49:58.700
actually reflect the father, may have an insight into something that you do not

00:49:58.700 --> 00:50:03.460
have and that you are not to assay it and discern it but to receive it. James

00:50:03.460 --> 00:50:08.900
1.21 puts it this way, receive meekly the word that has been grafted so that you

00:50:08.900 --> 00:50:13.860
may grow in it. When you become the assayer, as in the discerner or the prover

00:50:13.860 --> 00:50:18.060
or the filter that decides what is good for you and what is not good for you, you

00:50:18.060 --> 00:50:23.180
have just become the chief authority in your life. And there's another word when

00:50:23.180 --> 00:50:28.980
one becomes an authority unto oneself. You know what that word is? Witchcraft.

00:50:34.060 --> 00:50:40.100
Witchcraft may be simply designed as being an authority unto oneself.

00:50:40.100 --> 00:50:52.900
Don't ask me why because that will take another 25 minutes.

00:50:52.900 --> 00:51:06.580
Two more and we'll stop. Pride owns what God does and basks in it. Pride owns what

00:51:06.580 --> 00:51:19.420
God does and basks in it. Pride owns what God does and basks in it. Herod did it.

00:51:19.420 --> 00:51:25.620
Herod spoke well. They started clapping and said what an orator and he was eaten

00:51:25.620 --> 00:51:33.820
up by worms. Daniel chapter 4, it happens again where Nebuchadnezzar falls into

00:51:33.820 --> 00:51:38.640
that trap. Matthew chapter 23 verse 6, Jesus puts it this way, there are these people who go

00:51:38.640 --> 00:51:44.980
for banquets. They sit at the chief tables, the chief places of honor and so pride, I mean it

00:51:44.980 --> 00:51:51.460
will be so easy for me to be so full of myself in terms of the things that I do. And so what then

00:51:51.460 --> 00:51:56.740
happens is God does it, Jacob owns it and Jacob begins to bask in it. When Jacob begins to bask

00:51:56.740 --> 00:52:03.340
in it, then what happens is that he's found in a place of pride and when he is found in a place of

00:52:03.460 --> 00:52:12.940
pride, destruction and a fall is just inches away. The last one is a very odd one. I found

00:52:12.940 --> 00:52:20.300
this scripture and it really challenged me. Pride is afraid of the future. Pride is afraid of the

00:52:20.300 --> 00:52:28.020
future. Pride is afraid of the future. Pride is afraid of the future. Just look at this scripture.

00:52:28.580 --> 00:52:42.540
Isaiah 51, look at what God is saying. Isaiah 51 verse 11, verse 12. Just look at the scripture,

00:52:42.540 --> 00:52:50.180
I've never read it before even though I've read it before. God is saying in Isaiah 51, 12,

00:52:50.180 --> 00:52:57.420
I even I am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal man, the sons of men who are but

00:52:57.420 --> 00:53:01.540
grass, that you forget the Lord your maker who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations

00:53:01.540 --> 00:53:05.340
of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor

00:53:05.340 --> 00:53:10.020
who is bent on destruction. So here is what God is saying. Who do you think you are Jacob to be

00:53:10.020 --> 00:53:16.660
afraid? I am your comforter. I'm your protector. I'm the one who stretched out the heavens and the

00:53:16.660 --> 00:53:24.980
earth. I am Lord. Who do you think you are to be afraid after I am all that to you? Who do you think

00:53:25.100 --> 00:53:35.420
you are? It's almost questioning my right to be afraid because of who he is. How strange is that?

00:53:35.420 --> 00:53:43.820
I've never seen it before. How dare you be afraid is what he's asking when I am who I am and you are

00:53:43.820 --> 00:53:48.820
who I said you are to me. How dare you be afraid? Who gives you the right to be afraid?

00:53:54.980 --> 00:54:06.940
It's an affront to the king. It would be like you were in Saudi Arabia or Bahrain and you're

00:54:06.940 --> 00:54:14.420
walking next to the king and a policeman comes towards you and you start shivering in your pants

00:54:14.420 --> 00:54:19.900
and you begin hiding and you begin crying and the king looks at you and says what's wrong with you?

00:54:19.900 --> 00:54:25.380
I'm the king of this land. You see a policeman in khaki coming towards you and you begin to

00:54:25.380 --> 00:54:30.780
shudder and shiver like who gives you the right to fear like that when you're walking next to me?

00:54:30.780 --> 00:54:38.860
Who do you think I am? Because it's an affront to him that you are walking with the king of that

00:54:38.860 --> 00:54:46.660
country and a mere policeman who is dressed in khaki comes towards you and you get afraid though

00:54:46.700 --> 00:54:52.980
you're walking next to the king and now God is saying who do you think you are to be afraid?

00:54:52.980 --> 00:55:03.220
I gotta wrap my head around the scripture man. It's almost taking my right away. Now what is my

00:55:03.220 --> 00:55:07.460
right? I have the right to be afraid and God is saying who do you think you are to be afraid?

00:55:07.460 --> 00:55:17.620
You don't have that right. Don't ask me any questions on it. I just read the scripture

00:55:17.620 --> 00:55:28.940
one day ago so I won't be able to answer you. Pardon? Isaiah 51 verse 12. Pride makes you

00:55:28.940 --> 00:55:39.820
afraid of the future. Humility makes you not afraid of the future. Let me finish. Make war

00:55:39.820 --> 00:55:46.740
on every iota of pride in your life. Make war on every iota of pride in your life. Make war on it.

00:55:46.740 --> 00:55:55.700
Make war on it. Make war by laying your fig leaves down. Make war by laying your crowns down. Fig

00:55:55.700 --> 00:56:01.420
leaves are the things you protect yourself with. Crowns are the things you have achieved. Make war

00:56:01.420 --> 00:56:07.060
by laying your fig leaves down. Make war by laying your crowns down before his feet as in

00:56:07.060 --> 00:56:14.220
Revelation 4, 10, and 11. That's what it means to be humbled under the hand of God. Humble yourself

00:56:14.220 --> 00:56:18.700
in the sight of the Lord. That's what it looks like. Laying your fig leaves down saying oh God

00:56:18.700 --> 00:56:23.900
these are the things I've used to protect and cope. I lay them down and oh God these are the

00:56:24.380 --> 00:56:29.500
crowns that I've achieved that I take great pride in, strength in, derive much worth in. I lay them

00:56:29.500 --> 00:56:37.420
down. I lay them down oh God. Fig leaves are anything you use to hide your deficiencies.

00:56:37.420 --> 00:56:43.780
And we all had them. This is one of the first times guys you won't believe this but this is

00:56:43.780 --> 00:56:53.380
one of the first times in the last 31 years that I have led worship without a guitar. Why? Because

00:56:53.380 --> 00:56:57.740
a guitar is my security blanket. I always like it around my neck so that I can play it and do

00:56:57.740 --> 00:57:02.820
whatever I want with it but to not have anything and be at the mercy of someone else on the piano,

00:57:02.820 --> 00:57:11.900
no thank you. One by one we lay things down. The great thing about the Holy Spirit is when

00:57:11.900 --> 00:57:18.020
he gets Jacob without any pretense then he can be the Holy Spirit without any pretense.

00:57:23.900 --> 00:57:29.860
The more the layers he has to work through the less the treasure is seen. The more the layers

00:57:29.860 --> 00:57:40.940
that he has to work through the less he is seen. Treasures in jars of clay.

00:57:40.940 --> 00:57:56.340
James chapter 4 verse 5 and 6 I'll end with that or Psalm 25 9. James chapter 4 verse 5 and 6.

00:57:56.340 --> 00:58:06.860
It says do you not know that the Spirit yearns jealously over you and then it says humble yourself

00:58:06.860 --> 00:58:11.580
in the sight of God so that he may lift you. Go to James chapter 4 verse 5 and 6.

00:58:11.580 --> 00:58:22.620
James chapter 4 verse 5 and 6. But he gives us more verse 5 or do you think the scripture says

00:58:22.620 --> 00:58:29.460
without reason that the spirit he causes to live in you envies intensely or jealously yearns over

00:58:29.460 --> 00:58:34.900
you but he gives us more grace that is why scripture says God opposes the proud but gives

00:58:34.900 --> 00:58:42.460
grace to the humble. Guys humility and the jealous yearning of the Holy Spirit over me

00:58:42.460 --> 00:58:50.020
are connected. God gives grace to the humble and opposes the proud. The Spirit of God is called

00:58:50.020 --> 00:58:56.020
the Spirit of grace. Humility the humbler Jacob is the more powerful the work of the Spirit of

00:58:56.020 --> 00:59:02.940
God through him is. The humbler Jacob is the more powerful the work of God through Jacob is. The

00:59:02.940 --> 00:59:11.540
humbler Acts 29 is the more powerful the work of the Holy Spirit through Acts 29 will be. Psalm 25

00:59:11.540 --> 00:59:19.620
verse 9 is so beautiful so beautiful it says Psalm 25 verse 9. Learn it by heart it'll remind you

00:59:19.620 --> 00:59:27.780
of how you should be. It says that to him who is humble God teaches his ways and guides. To him who

00:59:27.780 --> 00:59:34.020
is humble God will guide and will teach his ways. Both. God will not just guide you if you're humble

00:59:34.020 --> 00:59:47.220
God will teach you his ways when you are humble. Psalm 25 verse 9. Any questions? I'm done. Any

00:59:47.220 --> 00:59:55.940
questions? Yeah go ahead. When am I going to use the hammer? I saw the hammer and I wanted it

00:59:55.940 --> 01:00:04.900
because I felt like this is a stronghold we needed to break but I didn't know who to break

01:00:04.900 --> 01:00:11.860
it on and I didn't want to break it on my own head so I decided to leave it alone so yeah but

01:00:11.860 --> 01:00:23.380
you know it's like you got to take this and break it brick by brick man because my greatest takeaway

01:00:23.380 --> 01:00:27.700
because all of us have different takeaways from this teaching my greatest takeaway was this that

01:00:27.700 --> 01:00:36.540
that humility follows God like a shadow where God is humility is where God is absent pride is present

01:00:36.540 --> 01:00:44.100
therefore Jacob when you are on your own when you are just man pride will seek you out but when you

01:00:44.100 --> 01:00:53.180
are present with God humility you will wear and so I have to learn how to be present with God because

01:00:53.180 --> 01:01:01.660
apart from God I become something and I don't want to be anything one of the ways that what's

01:01:01.660 --> 01:01:11.300
his name CS Lewis defined humility was you are a jolly beggar you're a jolly beggar you're a

01:01:11.300 --> 01:01:18.340
beggar but you're a happy beggar you're a jolly beggar that's one of the ways he defined it and

01:01:19.100 --> 01:01:23.660
another thing he said about humility I like quoting him on this because I read about his

01:01:23.660 --> 01:01:29.620
read read read him on this topic another thing he said is Jacob humility would be nothingness

01:01:29.620 --> 01:01:35.300
and self-forgetfulness nothingness and self-forgetfulness where you don't think much

01:01:35.300 --> 01:01:41.860
of yourself you think nothing of yourself that's one and then two even when you are applauded you

01:01:41.860 --> 01:01:47.300
go into this place called self-forgetfulness where you savor for a moment the applause and then you

01:01:47.300 --> 01:01:55.700
forget again self-forgetfulness beautiful places to live yeah