No Crown (Robert Madu)

0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:04.680 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:07.160 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:10.520 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:12.559 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:18.480 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. Woo. 0:00:18.840 --> 0:00:21.040 How many thankful that you're feeling more than the air 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:24.639 conditioning this morning? Come on, do you sense the presence 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:28.360 of God in here? Y'all? To just look at your 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:31.760 neighbor that you're kind of socially distanced from, and even 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:33.880 right there on the e fam wherever you're watching us from, 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:36.280 just look at your neighbor right in their face. Say, neighbor, 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:43.800 I'm ready to receive everything that God's got for me. 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:47.800 Oh come on, find you another neighbor. Find you another neighbor. 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:52.320 Look at that other neighbor. Tell them I'm ready to 0:00:52.479 --> 0:01:07.160 receive everything that God's got for me. Whoo. See, you 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:09.759 have to be expected to receive what he has because 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:13.039 sometimes you don't even know what it is. That's why 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:16.759 I like the o's in that saw, because the o's 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:19.160 just articulate. I don't even know what you got for me, 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:26.280 But I'm ready to receive. So whatever it is, I'm 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:31.200 ready to receive it. Father. We honor you today. They say, 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:34.960 have your way in this place. Do whatever you want 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:39.520 to do, Shake whatever you want to shake, Move whatever 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:46.400 you want to move. We do have great anticipation. Even 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:50.760 in spite of what we've been through, We're still anticipating 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:56.680 you to move because we know that you work all things, 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:01.400 all things the good of those that love you, and 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:06.480 are called according to your purpose. Speak to our hearts 0:02:07.880 --> 0:02:14.040 in Jesus' name. Everybody said, come on. Everybody said, amen, 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:17.040 you may be seated in the presence of the Lord. 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:20.920 How you're doing elevation, Oh, come on, you can do 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:23.000 better than that. Are you glad to be in the 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:28.720 House of God this morning? I tell you what. It 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:32.560 is always a privilege to be an elevation church, but 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:36.640 it's a special privilege to be invited back, be invited. Fact, 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:39.400 this is like my sixth time here, and man, I 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.200 never take it for granted. I am truly honored and 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:45.840 humbled to be here, especially to be here this week. 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:50.200 This week. You know, time is measured in minutes, but 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:54.040 life is measured in moments. And I'll never forget this 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:57.680 time last year, we were right here in this room, 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:00.960 and the pandemic was upon us, and we didn't know 0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:04.360 what the future was gonna look like. But isn't it 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:08.200 awesome to see that we're still here and we're still standing. 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:11.200 Oh come on, don't act like you weren't scared this 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:13.720 time last year. You didn't know what was gonna happen. 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:16.440 But look at you. You're still standing. Come on, you 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:19.720 still got a pulse. That's the beauty of our God. 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:22.320 You didn't know this moment was hit on a comeback then, 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:27.080 but look at you, you're still here. So I'm just 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:30.000 thankful for God's goodness. I'm thankful for his grace, and 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:33.040 I'm excited to preach the word to you. I want to, 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:37.360 first of all, really and truly give honor to where 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:41.560 honor is due. I'm so thankful for the life and 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:46.200 really just the leadership pastor Stephen and Holly Ferdick. Come. 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:52.000 You know, y'all are crazy blessed. See y'all know them 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:54.720 as great pastors, y'all know them as great leaders, But 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:57.080 my wife and I just know them as great friends. 0:03:57.600 --> 0:03:59.880 And you can try to be better friends to the 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:03.440 than they are to you. But it's impossible. It's impossible 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:07.480 because they're incredibly loyal. They're just always there. They will 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:10.000 show up when you need them. And I don't want 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:12.440 you to ever take the gift that they are for granted. 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:14.400 In fact, one more time, would you let them know 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.480 how much you love them, how much you appreciate them. 0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:26.120 Come on, y'all, you're blessed, You're blessed. That's who I 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:29.160 listen to to feed my soul. I listened to your pastor, 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:32.159 Pastor Stephen Ferdick, and try not to steal his stuff 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:35.200 while I'm listening to him. And then during the pandemic, 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:38.040 I realize it's two verdicts in that house that can 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:44.559 preach because Pastor Holly have me shouting and throwing stuff 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:47.600 at the TV screen. So I thank God for her. 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:49.760 My wife and my family sends her love. I still 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:53.320 live in the great country of Texas, still married to 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:55.800 the finest woman on the planet, Taylor to do. We 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:59.560 still have three little humans and they're doing good. But 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:02.359 I guess there is one update. There is one update. 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:05.560 My wife and I we started this gathering in Dallas 0:05:05.640 --> 0:05:09.520 called Social Dallas in twenty nineteen, just once a month 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:12.719 gathering and I've told God. I told God, you have 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:15.479 to tell God something. I told him this. I'm not 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:18.159 a church planner, I'm not a pastor. That is just 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:21.360 the gathering that I told him, that specifically told him. 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:25.240 This is not a church plan I'm just having a gathering. 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:29.240 Oh but surprise. I mean, you know, you can tell 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:32.080 God your plan is, but he'll laugh at him. And man, 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:34.159 I'm excited to announce. I guess for the first time 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:36.680 on this stage that Social Dallas is now Social Church 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:44.240 and we're gonna have our opening Sunday this Easter. Come on, somebody, 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:49.200 so you're ever in the Dallas area, come check us 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:53.880 out and Social Dallas. And man, we are excited and 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:57.359 scared to death for all that God is gonna do. 0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:00.320 But man, I'm ready to preach the Word today, all 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:02.240 ready to hear it. I got some good back up 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:05.279 here to help me. Say Amen, So to turn with 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:08.360 me to the Gospel of John today. John chapter three. 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:14.600 I'm gonna look at verses twenty two through thirty. Well, 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:18.400 also look at the Book of Revelation or somebody else 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:23.080 say Revelations, even though that's not in the Bible. And 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:27.320 we'll look at chapter four, verses nine through eleven. John 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:31.440 Chapter three. We'll start at verse number twenty two. When 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:35.719 you're ready to read it, say yeah. If you ain't 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:39.440 ready to say hold up, come on, somebody that's on 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:44.840 the screen. Look at what it says. It says. After this, 0:06:46.120 --> 0:06:49.320 Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judaan countryside, 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:53.400 where he spent some time with them and baptized. Now, 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:58.080 John also was baptizing at Anne near Seline. Because there 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:01.800 was plenty of water, people were coming and being baptized. 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:06.240 This was before John was put in prison. An argument 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:08.920 developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:12.640 over the matter of ceremonial washing. And came to John 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:16.800 and said to him, Rabbi, that man who was with 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:19.280 you on the other side of the Jordan talking about Jesus, 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:23.960 the one you testified about. Look, he is baptizing and 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:27.320 everyone is going to him. Isn't it crazy the news 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:30.480 that some people will bring to you like that. These 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:33.120 are John's disciples talking about U. John, hold on, like 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:35.560 people are actually focusing on Jesus more than you. This 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:38.560 is a problem. That's what they came to say to John. 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:42.360 And look at what John said. A person can only 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:46.000 receive what is given to them from heaven. You yourselves 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:48.560 can testify that I said it. I told you I'm 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:51.800 not the Messiah, but I'm sent ahead of him. The 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:55.520 bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the 0:07:55.520 --> 0:07:58.360 bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:02.800 joy when he hears the bridegrooms voice that joy is 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:08.600 mine and it is now complete. He must become greater, 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:15.680 and I must become less. Show that is good. Go 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:22.040 to Revelation chapter four. Just a few verses here, starting 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:25.160 in verse number nine, and it says, whenever the living 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:27.880 creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to Him who sits 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:30.640 on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:33.800 twenty four elders fall down before him who sits on 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:36.840 the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever. 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:41.640 They lay their crowns before the throne and say, you 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:45.240 are worthy, o, Lord and God, to receive glory and 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:50.560 honor and power. You created all things, and by your 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:54.720 will they were created and have their being. Can you 0:08:54.800 --> 0:09:01.199 say amen? John says he must become greater, I must 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:07.720 become less, and the elders throw down their crowns before 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:11.280 the throne. Oh God, I want to preach today, not long, 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:15.800 about six and a half hours, just using this as 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:21.120 a title, No crown, no crown. Would you help me 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:24.240 preach and look at your neighbor one last time and say, neighbor, 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:33.400 I know you think you cute, but no crowd, father, 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:37.839 thank you for your word today speak to us a 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:44.320 bad elevation. Fam. Before the service started, we had a 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:49.440 pre service production meeting, little mini production meeting, And in 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:53.040 the production meeting, they asked me a question that I'm 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:57.480 actually often asked. Matter of fact, I've been preaching sixteen 0:09:57.559 --> 0:10:01.640 years now, and I am always asked this question before 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:06.079 I preach, either through texts, through email, through facts on person. 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:12.000 I asked this question. The question is, Pastor Robert, do 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:16.280 you have any props or illustrations that you'll be using 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:18.719 in your message today? Do you have any props or 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:21.920 illustrations that you'll be using? And I think it's my 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:26.880 familiarity with this question that's actually made me unaware of 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:29.760 how nuanced that is to what I'm called to do. 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:35.360 Some you know, preachers, we will use some props to 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:37.760 prove a point. I mean, we will use some if 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:39.960 you don't believe it, just scroll down your timeline tomorrow. 0:10:39.960 --> 0:10:42.520 Look at some preachers pages. You will see all kinds 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:46.239 of pictures with foreign objects of them trying to illustrate 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:49.000 some point. We will use some props. Preachers might be 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:51.920 the only people that will call you up before service, 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:53.760 call you for a service, say real quick, real quick, 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:57.400 I need some dynamite, some matches, a bull horn, and 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:01.400 a fire extinguisher, and nobody will question why in the 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:04.160 world do you need these items. They'll be like, yeah, 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:06.120 pastor Nesa, you're probably preaching on how you need to 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:08.840 be a dynamite witness for Jesus. Don't let the devil 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:11.800 extinguish your fire. I mean, people will just go get 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:16.959 the stuff and not ask you a question. Because preachers, 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:20.800 we use props. We love to use props to illustrate 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:24.600 what God is saying to us. And it's funny the 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:27.760 props that we use to illustrate what God is saying. 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:29.280 And the reason we do it is not just to 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:31.360 be cute. It's not just to be cute. It's because 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:34.760 we have been given the task, the daunting task. If 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:39.679 I might add, to articulate the gospel, the good news 0:11:39.760 --> 0:11:43.479 about Jesus, we have been given the task to express 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:48.040 that which is inexpressible, to talk about the intangible, to 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:51.960 talk about a kingdom that is so transcended, the Kingdom 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:55.280 of God, a kingdom whose ways are above your ways, 0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:58.600 and whose thoughts are above your thoughts. How in the 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:03.160 world can you aulate something that really your mind can't comprehend, 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:06.760 but your spirit has to comprehend it. Oh, it is 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:10.560 a difficult task to try to articulate the ideas of 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:13.000 the Kingdom of God. Even Jesus, when he preached the 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:15.000 Bible says, every time he preached to a crowd, he 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:19.199 told stories. He told stories. He had to use things 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:21.839 in the earth that you could understand to express a 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:27.840 kingdom that you could never understand. Jesus use parables, and 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:31.080 we use props. And so I'm just having fun with this. 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:34.080 I actually made a list of all the props that 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:37.360 I've used, like in my sixteen years of preaching. This 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:39.679 is fun. This is not a comprehensive list, but all 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:41.840 these props have been used in some shape or form. 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:46.800 A ladder, toy train, basketball, barbies, barbells, hammer, nails and 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:54.080 built sword, seeds, trolls, plants, dirt mannequins, buckspring, violin, cliometric boxes, 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:59.440 cardboard boxes, gift boxes, brooms, shovel trees, dog bull, toilet, 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:06.760 rug flowers, mirrors, magnifying glass, oversize sunglasses, candles, salt, dollar bill, dimes, 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:13.720 tiger pulls, inflatables, oils, extension cords, bunge of cords, ropes, keys, 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:18.800 Christmas tree, a cow tongue, cow tongk It's a long story. 0:13:18.800 --> 0:13:20.840 I'll tell you about it later. I'll tell you about 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:23.959 it now. I was a O was school. I was school. 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:25.760 I was preaching like a junior high camp, preaching like 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:27.400 a junior high camp, and you know, you gotta do 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:29.560 whatever you can a junior high And I brought in 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:34.600 a cow tongue and I say, young people, sit up, said, 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:39.800 in this bag, I have the most lethal weapon that 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:42.400 you have ever seen. What is it? Oh, I'm gonna 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:44.959 tell you what it is in this bag. It's something 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:49.120 that is deadly, It is poisonous, and it will kill you. 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:55.000 This bag has destroyed lives. What is it? Oh, I'm 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:56.560 gonna show you what it is. I pull out the 0:13:56.600 --> 0:14:00.280 cow tongue, put it everywhere, almost sudden like eh oh. 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:03.360 I'm like, oh, that's nasty. That's gross. Not as gross 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:04.679 as the things that come out of your mouth and 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:10.960 the cafeteria every second time. Whatever it takes to get 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:16.840 them to the altar that els use props, and I'm 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:19.360 adding to my list today. I'm adding to my list 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:26.280 of props today. I haven't used this one before. Anybody 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:32.160 know what This is a smoke detector. Yeah, I'm so 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:34.120 glad you said smoke detector. It looks like it's a 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:38.760 smoke detector. Smoke detectors are good, but the reality is 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:43.760 you can see smoke. Now, you can smell smoke. The 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:46.720 beep is a little extra. You can see a fire. 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:55.280 This is a This is a carbon monoxide detector. Carbon 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:59.120 dioxide detectors are vital. They are critical. As matter of fact, 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:03.239 you cannot build the building without having carbon monoxide detectors. 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:07.120 Every building, by code has to have a carbon monoxide 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:13.320 detector because carbon monoxide is lethally dangerous, always a lethally dangerous. 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:14.880 I don't want to start off morbid, but you have 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:20.000 to understand that almost twenty thousand people a year found 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:24.280 themselves in the emergency room because of carbon monoxide. Four 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:29.840 hundred people a year die because of carbon monoxide. And 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:34.360 what makes carbon monoxide so lethally dangerous is because it 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:38.520 is colorless and it is odorless. So it could be 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:42.520 in the room right now and you wouldn't even know it. 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:45.680 It could be in the room right now, seeping throughout 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:49.440 this room, and it would slowly start to affect your body. 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:51.760 All of a sudden, you just get nauseous, and you 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.920 would have a headache, and you would start feeling the symptoms, 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:58.760 and before you know it, you would die from motoxin 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:04.560 that you couldn't even see. The CDC calls carbon monoxide 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:09.440 the silent killer. Obviously, I didn't come all the way 0:16:09.440 --> 0:16:12.880 to Charlotte today to talk to you about carbon monoxide, 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:16.240 but I do want to talk about a silent killer. 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:26.120 The silent killer is pride. Pride is the carbon monoxide 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:31.960 of sin. Pride is the carbon monoxide slowly and secretly 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:37.320 and subtly seeping into your spirit, suffocating the plans and 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:40.680 the purposes of God. I'm telling you, Pride is the 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:45.840 silent killer. Pride will destroy your life. Pride will stop 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:50.240 God from doing exceedingly abundantly above all you may ask, think, 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:53.720 or imagine. It is nothing like pride that will shut 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:57.080 down the plan of God for your life. Pride is 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:02.560 what destroys marriages. Pride is what ruins relationships. Pride is 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:06.359 what tears apart families. Pride is what makes you hold 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:10.719 on to bitterness and refuse to forgive. Pride is the 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:14.639 reason why family members have been talked for years. Pride 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:20.200 destroys churches, It shuts down ministries, It kills companies. Pride 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:26.080 is the silent killer ood. There's nothing like pride that 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:28.760 will stop God from doing what he wants to do 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:33.080 in you and through you. Pride has always been the problem. 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:37.480 Who can I go there? But pride is America's stronghold. 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:41.160 You know, we got EFAM people watching all over the 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:44.280 world right now. But how many know different regions and 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:49.400 different nations, Sometimes different states and cities have particular strongholds. 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:51.359 And you ain't got to be prophetic or have a 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:57.000 sociology degree to know that pride is America's biggest stronghold. Oh, 0:17:57.200 --> 0:17:59.320 it is our stronghold. We read the Bible and think 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:03.640 the Bible just talking about us. Pride is a stronghold. 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:07.600 Don't mess with me. I'm from Texas. You know, Texas 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:11.480 really got some pride. It's just we're our own country. 0:18:11.560 --> 0:18:16.920 We think, how do you deal with pride? See, pride 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:21.280 is interesting because pride is the sin beneath the sin. 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:24.720 Can I just take my time real quick, let me 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:31.040 pause for a water break. Pride is the sin beneath 0:18:31.040 --> 0:18:33.480 the sin. That's what Augustine said. In other words, there 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:35.920 can be issues in your life that on the surface 0:18:36.000 --> 0:18:38.760 it looks like it's one thing, but at the bottom 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:41.920 it's really just pride. Give us some examples, Robert, Okay, 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:45.320 I give you some examples. So like, on the surface 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:50.480 of your life, you think the issue is anxiety or worry, 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:55.600 but at the root, it's pride. Because you told God, 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:58.360 didn't you tell me so? God? I specifically told you 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:01.159 that I had to be married by twenty eight. I 0:19:01.280 --> 0:19:04.520 told you that he had to be six four. Did 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:06.679 not tell you God that we had to live in 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:10.040 the suburbs. I specifically that we prayed about this. Our 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:12.439 house had to be mid century modern. I told you 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:14.560 the car had to be a BMW, nothing less than 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:17.200 a five series. Didn't I tell you? That was my plan? 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:23.600 And now you anxious and you're upset cause you're thirty 0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:28.760 eight and you're not married, or you are, but he's 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:33.280 five to two and you don't got the house or 0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:36.160 the career that you wanted, and you're driving the Prius 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:38.439 and you're like, God, what is woman? You're trying to 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:41.639 understand what is not happening? And it's not anxiety, is 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:46.919 just it was fried pride trying to tell God the 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:49.679 way you thought your life. Shit, Oh, I should have 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:54.480 preached something that will make you shall so so on 0:19:54.520 --> 0:20:00.159 the surface, on the surface, it looks like indecisiveness. The 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:05.439 root is pride. Because if I actually take a step 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:07.680 of faith and do what God has called me to do, 0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:10.760 what if I fail? What if I mess up? What 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:13.320 are people gonna think about me? If I don't show 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:15.280 up the way I'm supposed to show up. So I'd 0:20:15.400 --> 0:20:19.440 rather stay at the bay of procrastination and never step 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:23.240 into what God has for me, because if I do, 0:20:24.280 --> 0:20:27.160 I might fall flat on my face and I got 0:20:27.160 --> 0:20:32.760 a reputation. It's always pride is always at the root 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:35.200 of it. Oh, that's what's at the root of every 0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:39.000 fride fight in your life. It's pride. That's why you're 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:42.760 bitter because of pride, Because you're only bitter because you 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:46.920 think you're better than that person. Because it's pride. Yeah, 0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:49.760 that's why you're angry talking about I cannot believe that 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:52.639 she would do that to me. I would never do 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:56.520 that to anybody. I would never treat anybody like that girl. 0:20:56.560 --> 0:20:59.400 I would never talk behind anybody's back as you're telling 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:02.640 your friend. I would never ever do that. How could 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:11.320 she do something like that? The root it is pride. 0:21:12.520 --> 0:21:18.239 Pride is the sin beneath the sin. What do we 0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:23.680 do with the pride? Pride preceded the fall of man. 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:30.080 Pride is what turned an angel into a devil. It 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:32.800 made its way into heaven. Satan Lucifer, you know, it 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:34.680 used to be the praise and worship leader of heaven. 0:21:34.920 --> 0:21:38.080 But pride was found in his heart. And not only 0:21:38.080 --> 0:21:41.520 did he fall, two thirds of the angels, sixty six 0:21:41.600 --> 0:21:46.560 percent of the angels fail because of pride. I came 0:21:46.600 --> 0:21:49.240 to tell you that pride, hear me, is the dead 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:54.720 bolt that will block your access into the presence of God. 0:21:55.680 --> 0:22:02.800 But humility. Humility is the hinge upon which the heavens 0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:06.760 open up in your life. Humility is the hinge upon 0:22:06.800 --> 0:22:09.879 which the heavens open up in your life. If you 0:22:09.920 --> 0:22:12.159 ever want to see the heavens open up in your life. 0:22:12.240 --> 0:22:15.640 You gotta start saying, God, let me be humble, let 0:22:15.680 --> 0:22:19.080 me have humility. That's how the heavens will open up 0:22:19.119 --> 0:22:21.160 in your life. If you really want to see a 0:22:21.240 --> 0:22:24.640 miracle and a move of God, you start with humility. 0:22:24.960 --> 0:22:27.840 Begin your day, every single day, getting down on your 0:22:27.920 --> 0:22:31.399 knees and saying, God, I cannot do life without you. God. 0:22:31.440 --> 0:22:33.720 I need you. God. I don't know how to run 0:22:33.760 --> 0:22:35.920 this company without you. God. I don't know how to 0:22:36.000 --> 0:22:38.439 raise these kids without you. God. I don't know how 0:22:38.480 --> 0:22:40.280 to be a father. I don't know how to be 0:22:40.359 --> 0:22:44.280 a mom. God, you gotta help me. I need you. 0:22:44.280 --> 0:22:47.600 You're not in addition to my life, you are my life. 0:22:47.720 --> 0:22:52.240 I need you. Oh. When you begin your life like that, 0:22:52.480 --> 0:22:55.479 your day like that, That's what gets God's attention. He 0:22:55.560 --> 0:22:58.800 is attracted to humility. He has to show up when 0:22:58.800 --> 0:23:03.440 you get humble, because humility is the hinge upon which 0:23:03.480 --> 0:23:07.879 the heavens open up. God is attracted to the fragrance 0:23:07.920 --> 0:23:10.720 of humility. Who come here, James? Chapter four? What does 0:23:10.760 --> 0:23:14.840 it say? It says that God resists the proud, but 0:23:14.960 --> 0:23:18.440 he gives grace to the humble. He resists the proud, 0:23:18.560 --> 0:23:22.360 but gives grace to the humble. Later John James will 0:23:22.359 --> 0:23:27.360 also say that who resists the devil and he will flee. 0:23:27.520 --> 0:23:30.600 So wait a minute. I gotta resist the devil for 0:23:30.720 --> 0:23:34.160 him to flee. But if I got pride, God will 0:23:34.200 --> 0:23:39.680 resist me. I gotta resist the devil for him to flee. 0:23:39.840 --> 0:23:43.560 But if I have pride, God will resist me. So 0:23:43.600 --> 0:23:46.240 I wonder what the enemy is gonna constantly hit me 0:23:46.320 --> 0:23:54.360 with pride? Pride? I think that's what the enemy will 0:23:54.359 --> 0:24:01.080 always tell you. Do you boo? Do you Pride is 0:24:01.480 --> 0:24:05.720 the silent killer? God told me to preach this message. 0:24:05.760 --> 0:24:08.320 I don't know who this is for today. Because I 0:24:08.320 --> 0:24:11.000 love the core value, I love the ethos of Elevation Church, 0:24:11.680 --> 0:24:16.640 and see what God can do through you, See what 0:24:16.680 --> 0:24:20.080 God can do through you. I just came to tell 0:24:20.119 --> 0:24:23.879 you the thing that will stop what God can do 0:24:23.960 --> 0:24:31.159 through you. It's pride. So quick question, it's just us 0:24:31.160 --> 0:24:35.280 stopping and y'all at home etham, quick question and be honest. 0:24:35.800 --> 0:24:40.359 How many would just say by showing up hands that 0:24:40.560 --> 0:24:43.160 like you're super prideful. See your hand up, You're like prideful. 0:24:43.880 --> 0:24:45.640 Come on, you be honest, like raise your hand said 0:24:45.640 --> 0:24:49.480 like I'm I'm prideful, raising real high ephan raising high. Okay, 0:24:50.720 --> 0:24:55.200 let me see. Okay, if you didn't lift up your hand, 0:24:55.880 --> 0:24:59.600 I'm worried about you. I'm worried about you. I got 0:24:59.600 --> 0:25:07.760 some serious questions because the problem with pride is it hides. See, 0:25:08.119 --> 0:25:11.399 the people that struggle with pride the most will be 0:25:11.440 --> 0:25:15.000 the last one to lift up the hand because the 0:25:15.080 --> 0:25:19.320 pride stops them from saying that they have it. See, 0:25:19.400 --> 0:25:24.320 pride is like bad breath. You're generally the last one 0:25:24.359 --> 0:25:28.760 to know that you have it, but yet it's affecting everybody. 0:25:29.760 --> 0:25:32.320 Oh so you didn't lift up the hand. I'm worried 0:25:32.320 --> 0:25:36.600 about you because because because pride hides. Okay, I'm trying 0:25:36.760 --> 0:25:39.960 another question. How many of you say that like you're 0:25:40.040 --> 0:25:43.040 super humble? Like you're humble? I mean, come on, lift 0:25:43.119 --> 0:25:44.879 up your hand. Come on, like you're really, really humble. 0:25:45.800 --> 0:25:47.240 Now you don't lift up your hand. Come on, y'all 0:25:47.240 --> 0:25:48.760 don't want how many need to write the book on 0:25:48.840 --> 0:25:52.280 how I became humble? Come on, start your website. I'm 0:25:52.320 --> 0:25:56.639 the epitome of humility dot com. You see the challenge? 0:25:57.280 --> 0:26:02.080 What does humility look like? See, pride hides and humility 0:26:02.119 --> 0:26:06.600 is hidden. Generally when you come across a person that 0:26:06.680 --> 0:26:09.560 is humble, you don't walk away going, oh, they were 0:26:09.560 --> 0:26:12.600 really humble. You actually don't walk away thinking about them 0:26:12.600 --> 0:26:14.920 at all. You think about yourself going, man, they really 0:26:14.920 --> 0:26:18.800 made me feel seen and loved. So humility is hidden, 0:26:19.400 --> 0:26:23.640 but pride hide. So how do you know which one 0:26:23.680 --> 0:26:25.560 is it? I'm confused. I came here to ask y'all, 0:26:27.680 --> 0:26:32.399 how do you know that there's actually some things on 0:26:32.440 --> 0:26:37.800 the outside that looked like humility, but it's really just 0:26:37.960 --> 0:26:42.480 pride and costume. And there's some things on the outside 0:26:42.480 --> 0:26:47.240 that look like pride, but it's really confidence in the 0:26:47.280 --> 0:26:51.080 fact that God can do something through you. Okay, let 0:26:51.119 --> 0:26:53.840 me go to the Bible. You remember David. You remember 0:26:53.920 --> 0:26:56.240 David when he's showed up on the battlefield and he 0:26:56.320 --> 0:26:58.560 just came to drop the ham and cheese sandwich, and 0:26:58.600 --> 0:27:01.440 he heard the giant defy the armies of the Living God. 0:27:01.560 --> 0:27:03.600 And he's like, hold up, y'all, gonna let this giant 0:27:03.800 --> 0:27:06.440 talk about my God like this? He's like, no, no, no, 0:27:06.680 --> 0:27:10.359 is there not a cause? And remember David's brother accused 0:27:10.400 --> 0:27:13.200 him of pride. He said, what what are those sheep? 0:27:13.240 --> 0:27:15.280 You're supposed to be with the sheep? I know your heart. 0:27:15.520 --> 0:27:18.760 Pride is in your heart. But David didn't have pride. 0:27:18.880 --> 0:27:22.359 He just had confidence in his God. He had confidence 0:27:22.520 --> 0:27:25.040 that God could do something through him. He said, wait 0:27:25.040 --> 0:27:27.320 a minute, I know it's not me. I know it's 0:27:27.359 --> 0:27:29.480 God in me because I know I couldn't have killed 0:27:29.560 --> 0:27:32.399 that bear, but God showed up. I know I couldn't 0:27:32.400 --> 0:27:35.720 defeated that lion, but God showed up. And the same 0:27:35.840 --> 0:27:38.480 God that helped me defeat the lion and the bear 0:27:38.840 --> 0:27:41.400 is the same God that will help me knock this 0:27:41.560 --> 0:27:45.480 giant down. Somebody needs to take ten seconds and give 0:27:45.520 --> 0:27:48.600 God some praise. If you know that God can do 0:27:48.760 --> 0:27:53.800 great things through you when you trust him. Oh that's 0:27:53.800 --> 0:27:56.040 a cute golf clap. Give him a real praise in 0:27:56.119 --> 0:28:04.239 this place to you gotta be careful what you call pride, 0:28:04.480 --> 0:28:09.520 because godly confidence sometimes looks like arrogance, because there's something 0:28:09.560 --> 0:28:12.320 about stepping out saying I know God can do this 0:28:12.400 --> 0:28:15.080 through me. They accused him of pride, and it wasn't 0:28:15.119 --> 0:28:20.199 pride or remember another moment in David's life. Goliath was 0:28:20.240 --> 0:28:24.520 long gone. Now he's the king, now he's in the palace. 0:28:25.640 --> 0:28:30.240 The Bible says that one day he counted. He counted 0:28:31.200 --> 0:28:38.080 his Instagram followers. My bad, he counted his military He counted, 0:28:38.800 --> 0:28:40.320 and I looked at that from the outside, I said, 0:28:40.320 --> 0:28:47.160 he just counted. That's a military census. That's good stewardship. 0:28:48.520 --> 0:28:52.240 God know how many people in my army. That's not pride, 0:28:52.480 --> 0:28:57.920 not in the eyes of God. Seventy thousand men died 0:28:58.000 --> 0:29:03.560 that day because the David counted, because God could see 0:29:03.600 --> 0:29:08.400 what nobody else could say. The David, you forgotten when 0:29:08.400 --> 0:29:11.680 you're just a little shepherd boy and all you had 0:29:12.080 --> 0:29:15.400 was a sling shot and a big God, and your 0:29:15.440 --> 0:29:19.479 confidence was in me. But now you got an army, 0:29:20.640 --> 0:29:27.520 now you're in the palace, You've lost your humility. How 0:29:28.600 --> 0:29:31.800 do you find this out? I'm telling you this is 0:29:31.800 --> 0:29:36.960 difficult because pride hides and humility is hidden. I wish 0:29:37.240 --> 0:29:43.040 I wish there was like a pride monoxide detector. Don't 0:29:43.080 --> 0:29:47.080 you wish You're like, push it and it will let 0:29:47.080 --> 0:29:49.800 you know. I wish, because you can't tell see some 0:29:49.800 --> 0:29:52.200 of y'all even have the image of pride, and somebody 0:29:52.200 --> 0:29:56.000 who's inside with sunglasses on, that's your image of somebody 0:29:56.040 --> 0:29:57.960 to prove for like, oh, they think they all that, 0:29:58.440 --> 0:30:01.520 so you only see pride is superiority, but there's another 0:30:01.560 --> 0:30:06.280 level of pride that manifest an inferiority. That person is like, yeah, 0:30:06.360 --> 0:30:08.920 nobody ever cares about me, nobody ever thinks about me. Yes, 0:30:09.000 --> 0:30:11.160 nobody even calls on me, nobody ever checks on me, 0:30:11.200 --> 0:30:13.600 like the whole pandemic, Like nobody even called me, nobody 0:30:13.640 --> 0:30:15.240 even asked me how it was today. I got walk 0:30:15.240 --> 0:30:17.040 in to church and nobody even waved at me today. Man. 0:30:17.040 --> 0:30:18.640 I know they's social distancing, but I mean, can you 0:30:18.640 --> 0:30:20.400 at least wave and say hi to me? Nobody asks 0:30:20.440 --> 0:30:24.640 me how my they were? Me Me, Me, It's inferiority, 0:30:24.680 --> 0:30:28.840 but it's still pride because all pride cares about is 0:30:28.880 --> 0:30:32.440 that you are in the center of your world. So 0:30:32.480 --> 0:30:34.320 I'm trying to tell you you don't know what it 0:30:34.360 --> 0:30:38.520 looks like. You need a detector. How do I I 0:30:38.520 --> 0:30:42.320 wish this was a pride monoxide detector. Actually, I'm gonna 0:30:42.320 --> 0:30:46.640 give you the promele monoxide detector because I think humility 0:30:47.400 --> 0:30:52.040 and pride manifest and how you respond to situations in 0:30:52.080 --> 0:30:57.160 your life. How you respond. You want to test whether 0:30:57.160 --> 0:30:59.800 you got pride, whether you have humility? Number one, how 0:30:59.800 --> 0:31:04.880 do you respond to criticism. How do you respond to 0:31:04.920 --> 0:31:09.800 criticism when somebody criticizes you? What is your initial response? 0:31:10.760 --> 0:31:13.640 Is it to deflect, to immediately deny it? Up? Here 0:31:13.720 --> 0:31:18.600 goes another hater. Do you immediately deflect? How do you 0:31:18.680 --> 0:31:24.720 respond to criticism? That's a good test. Do you immediately 0:31:24.760 --> 0:31:26.680 go but no, that's nothing, that's something you get defensive? 0:31:27.800 --> 0:31:31.480 That's a good way to test. Or are you completely 0:31:31.520 --> 0:31:36.600 deflated when somebody criticizes you? Now your whole year is 0:31:36.720 --> 0:31:41.240 ruined because somebody talked about you one morning in five minutes, 0:31:41.360 --> 0:31:45.040 Now your whole year is over. That's the inferiority version. 0:31:45.720 --> 0:31:49.640 How do you respond to criticism? It's a good test 0:31:50.360 --> 0:31:54.600 of your pride and humility. See, humble people are able 0:31:54.640 --> 0:31:58.240 to laugh at themselves, like they're able to laugh at everything. 0:31:58.280 --> 0:32:00.720 They're able to get somebody of everything. You go to 0:32:00.760 --> 0:32:02.680 a person that's humble, you're like, man, your breast things. 0:32:02.720 --> 0:32:04.760 You're like, oh man, my bad bro. You know I 0:32:04.840 --> 0:32:07.239 switched toothpaste. I don't even realize that, man, Thank you, 0:32:07.280 --> 0:32:10.280 thank you, thank you for letting me know. And that's 0:32:10.280 --> 0:32:16.000 why humble people grow. Yeah, because they're open to hear. 0:32:17.120 --> 0:32:21.480 They don't deflect, and they're not completely deflated. They're open 0:32:21.520 --> 0:32:23.120 to see. What can I learn from this? I don't 0:32:23.120 --> 0:32:26.080 know if my brother was thinking, how do you respond 0:32:26.080 --> 0:32:31.200 to criticism? Here's another one? How do you respond to rejection? 0:32:33.920 --> 0:32:38.720 Who don't you hate to be rejected? Don't you hate 0:32:38.800 --> 0:32:42.440 especially from stuck up people? Come on, don't you hate 0:32:42.480 --> 0:32:45.480 stuck up people? Just stuck up people? Oh? I can't 0:32:45.480 --> 0:32:47.440 stand to be rejected by stuck up people. You don't 0:32:47.440 --> 0:32:49.040 know people don't just walk in act like they can't 0:32:49.040 --> 0:32:51.920 speak to anybody? Like? Really, you that's special? Okay, you 0:32:52.040 --> 0:32:54.200 floated in the room today, all right here? You can't 0:32:54.240 --> 0:32:57.040 speak to people, don't you? Oh, stuck up people. Don't 0:32:57.040 --> 0:33:00.680 you hate to be rejected by stuck up people? Oh? 0:33:00.800 --> 0:33:04.400 Who does he think he is? Don't even speak to anybody? Oh, 0:33:05.160 --> 0:33:09.360 you ain't better than me. I fact, I'm better than you. Like, 0:33:09.400 --> 0:33:11.760 you ain't gonna speak to me? Okay, I ain't gonna 0:33:11.760 --> 0:33:16.760 speak to you. You see the hypocrisy. You end up 0:33:16.760 --> 0:33:22.040 being stuck up to stuck up people. You'll end up 0:33:22.120 --> 0:33:26.080 rejected people that rejected you because you thought that they 0:33:26.080 --> 0:33:27.320 thought they ever better than you. You're like, no, I'm 0:33:27.360 --> 0:33:32.560 better than you. Can see, how do you respond to rejection. 0:33:33.480 --> 0:33:37.640 Humble people will talk to everybody, even the stuck up persons, like, ay, 0:33:37.720 --> 0:33:39.960 how you doing. I guess you didn't see me since 0:33:39.960 --> 0:33:44.400 you didn't speak. Yeah, oh, are you like your glasses 0:33:44.440 --> 0:33:50.080 that you're wearing inside? Are those very bad? How do 0:33:50.120 --> 0:33:54.480 you respond to rejection? Here's another test. How do you 0:33:54.560 --> 0:34:00.440 respond to advice? How do you respond to it? Advice 0:34:02.040 --> 0:34:06.800 people are funny people, especially church people. Church people will 0:34:06.840 --> 0:34:09.359 go around and ask people for advice, but they really 0:34:09.360 --> 0:34:11.880 don't want advice. They just want you to confirm what 0:34:11.920 --> 0:34:15.120 they already want to do. They just want to hear 0:34:15.120 --> 0:34:18.440 their opinion in somebody else's voice, So they go around 0:34:18.440 --> 0:34:19.839 to ask and like as soon as they say, well, 0:34:19.880 --> 0:34:21.319 I've been praying about something, what do you think about this? 0:34:21.360 --> 0:34:23.000 And this person says what you want to say, Yeah, 0:34:23.000 --> 0:34:25.120 I appreciate it. Yeah, i'mnna keep praying. I'm gonna keep praying. 0:34:26.760 --> 0:34:30.319 But the minute somebody gives them advice that's contradictory to 0:34:30.360 --> 0:34:32.680 the thing that they want to do, Oh, that's a 0:34:32.680 --> 0:34:36.440 good revealer of pride. As soon as somebody says, oh no, no, no, no, no, 0:34:36.719 --> 0:34:38.360 I wouldn't marry him, no, Like, did you see a 0:34:38.440 --> 0:34:41.000 driver's license. Like his first name is Freddie, his last 0:34:41.040 --> 0:34:44.719 name is Krueger, Like I wouldn't I wouldn't marry it, 0:34:44.840 --> 0:34:46.880 Like I don't know that that might not be. Oh no, 0:34:47.040 --> 0:34:49.040 well you don't know him. You don't know him like 0:34:49.120 --> 0:34:54.200 I know him. How do you respond to advice? It's 0:34:54.239 --> 0:34:59.279 a good test for pride or humility. Here's another one. 0:35:00.000 --> 0:35:08.480 How do you respond to praise? To praise, to the handclap, 0:35:10.360 --> 0:35:15.200 to the cheer, epham, it's just us talking, elevation, it's 0:35:15.239 --> 0:35:17.600 just us talking. Can I tell you what I don't like? 0:35:19.239 --> 0:35:24.279 I don't like how much I like to be liked. 0:35:25.920 --> 0:35:31.040 I can't stand it, how much I love approval. I 0:35:31.120 --> 0:35:33.000 have to have conversations with me, Chris, I have to 0:35:33.000 --> 0:35:35.200 have a conversation with myself before I step on any 0:35:35.200 --> 0:35:37.759 stage to preach. I have to talk to myself still 0:35:37.800 --> 0:35:40.120 to this day, before I get up and say, you 0:35:40.200 --> 0:35:44.319 have nothing to prove and nothing to lose, nothing to prove, 0:35:44.360 --> 0:35:46.080 because if I'm not careful, I get on stage and 0:35:46.120 --> 0:35:48.280 I'll be trying to prove to you that I'm funny, 0:35:48.680 --> 0:35:49.880 and I'll be trying to make you laugh, like I'm 0:35:49.920 --> 0:35:52.719 caring hard or something. I'll be trying to prove that 0:35:52.760 --> 0:35:54.399 I'm brilliant. I'll be trying to use a big word, 0:35:54.440 --> 0:35:57.600 be like super confunctionalistic, HBI. Do shit suck? Like, Oh 0:35:57.640 --> 0:36:03.239 my goodness, see it as doctor degree. That's because the 0:36:03.280 --> 0:36:05.960 praise the praise. And I think this is an issue 0:36:06.120 --> 0:36:10.120 now more than ever, because even psychologists are scrambling to 0:36:10.160 --> 0:36:13.520 do the research of what social media is literally doing 0:36:13.560 --> 0:36:17.080 to our brains, to the pleasure part of our brains, 0:36:17.320 --> 0:36:22.200 this incessant, unhealthy need to be noticed by other people, 0:36:22.560 --> 0:36:26.040 to get the validation and affirmation from other people, not 0:36:26.160 --> 0:36:28.239 in a healthy way, just from a community, but no, 0:36:28.400 --> 0:36:34.120 we need likes from strangers. They're saying that the pleasure 0:36:34.160 --> 0:36:37.120 principle in our brain, the pleasure part the dopamine when 0:36:37.120 --> 0:36:40.399 you get a like, when you get a notification. It's 0:36:40.400 --> 0:36:43.840 not as close to cocaine, but it's close. The thrill 0:36:43.920 --> 0:36:47.200 that you get, like they said, we couple goals, but 0:36:49.320 --> 0:36:52.040 the thrill that you get from that. Oh, you don't 0:36:52.040 --> 0:36:53.680 believe it. Put it to the test. I dare you 0:36:53.719 --> 0:36:56.400 post something today and don't look at it till next week. 0:36:58.440 --> 0:37:00.560 Just let us sit there. Oh, you ever had a 0:37:00.560 --> 0:37:03.719 conversation with somebody that posted something and they're waiting for 0:37:03.719 --> 0:37:06.080 the notification to come through. You talk about somebody that 0:37:06.200 --> 0:37:08.680 just will start twitching it like, yeah, you can't even 0:37:08.719 --> 0:37:10.440 listen to the conversation. Yeah you went to the monist. 0:37:10.440 --> 0:37:13.040 Excuse me one second. Let me see what they say that. 0:37:16.520 --> 0:37:21.440 How do you respond to praise? How do you respond 0:37:23.560 --> 0:37:28.799 to criticism? How do you respond to rejection? How do 0:37:28.800 --> 0:37:33.120 you respond to advice? How do you respond to praise? 0:37:37.040 --> 0:37:41.640 How do you respond to the crap in your life? 0:37:41.760 --> 0:37:45.440 That is a good test. That is a good test 0:37:45.520 --> 0:37:49.120 to see whether you got humility or prop That's all 0:37:49.120 --> 0:37:52.560 it is anyway, it's just crap. God wants to know 0:37:52.840 --> 0:37:56.600 how you respond to the crap of life. Oh I 0:37:56.600 --> 0:37:58.279 wish I had a church that would help me preach 0:37:58.320 --> 0:38:05.719 in here today. How do you respond? Because that's all 0:38:05.719 --> 0:38:11.800 it is anyway, That's all it is. Anyway, it's just crap, 0:38:13.480 --> 0:38:16.799 that's all it is. And that what Paul said, I'm 0:38:16.840 --> 0:38:19.640 landing on the plane. Isn't that what Paul said? In Philippians. 0:38:19.960 --> 0:38:22.920 You remember in Philppius chapter three, we quote this verse 0:38:22.920 --> 0:38:27.800 all the time. Paul says, one thing I do forgetting 0:38:28.880 --> 0:38:35.080 what's behind a press on to what's ahead? And how 0:38:35.080 --> 0:38:37.640 do we quote that verse? We quote that verse for 0:38:37.719 --> 0:38:41.239 like twenty twenty. You gotta forget twenty twenty, like that 0:38:41.360 --> 0:38:45.000 was in the past. Press on to what's ahead. Have 0:38:45.080 --> 0:38:48.360 you ever read the context of that verse? If you 0:38:48.400 --> 0:38:50.719 go up in that verse. In Philippians chapter three, Paul 0:38:50.880 --> 0:38:55.160 starts flexing. He starts naming all his accolades. He's like, oh, 0:38:55.239 --> 0:38:57.160 y'all want somebody to flex in the flesh. I'll let 0:38:57.200 --> 0:38:58.800 you know about what I did, Like I had a 0:38:58.840 --> 0:39:01.120 blue check before y'all were on the ground. He said, 0:39:01.120 --> 0:39:03.800 I'm of the tribe of Benjamin. I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews. 0:39:03.960 --> 0:39:06.640 I speak all kinds of languages. He starts telling you 0:39:06.719 --> 0:39:10.200 all his accomplishments and his pedigree, but then he says, 0:39:10.320 --> 0:39:16.759 I treat all that as a loss, as dune for 0:39:16.920 --> 0:39:19.439 one thing that I may know him. He said, all 0:39:19.480 --> 0:39:23.000 of that I counted as a loss. It's all crap. 0:39:24.960 --> 0:39:29.719 Why so that I may know who? Jesus says. So 0:39:29.760 --> 0:39:31.759 when he gets to that verse and he says, one 0:39:31.760 --> 0:39:34.520 thing I do forgetting what's behind, he's not talking about sin, 0:39:34.920 --> 0:39:38.080 he's not talking about pain. He said, I gotta forget 0:39:38.120 --> 0:39:41.680 all my successes. I gotta forget all of my likes, 0:39:41.800 --> 0:39:44.799 he said. I gotta forget all those notifications, he said, 0:39:44.800 --> 0:39:47.640 because those are the things my pedigree is going to 0:39:47.719 --> 0:39:51.439 produce a pride that'll stop me from receiving what God 0:39:51.520 --> 0:39:54.719 has to me. He said, I gotta forget my wins. 0:39:57.080 --> 0:40:00.759 If I keep reflecting on my winds, I'm going to 0:40:00.840 --> 0:40:05.360 lose the power that comes from humility, because it's in 0:40:05.480 --> 0:40:12.080 humility that I know Him. That's what he's said. Can 0:40:12.120 --> 0:40:17.200 you forget what's behind you? All the successes for one 0:40:17.239 --> 0:40:21.200 thing to say, God, I want to know you, the 0:40:21.280 --> 0:40:28.879 fellowship of your suffering, the power of your resurrection. It's 0:40:28.920 --> 0:40:35.520 all crap. What I love about my text today is 0:40:35.560 --> 0:40:40.440 that John the Baptist was able to forget the crap. 0:40:42.200 --> 0:40:46.759 It came to him with news trying to get him 0:40:46.800 --> 0:40:52.040 to be upset that people were noticing Jesus. John said, no, 0:40:52.120 --> 0:40:57.799 I'm not upset. Quite the contrary. My joy is complete 0:40:58.680 --> 0:41:04.400 in him. I have to decrease so that he may increase. 0:41:05.960 --> 0:41:10.000 I have to die because the heavens open up on 0:41:10.080 --> 0:41:13.400 the hinge of humility. Give me some of that water. 0:41:18.760 --> 0:41:27.120 I notice saying a shouting message. I notice saying the 0:41:27.120 --> 0:41:30.359 message that makes you want to run around. You knew 0:41:30.400 --> 0:41:35.120 the Holy Ghost two step and I'm telling you the 0:41:35.160 --> 0:41:43.720 heavens open up on the hinge of humility. Pride blocks 0:41:43.719 --> 0:41:47.640 the access. I'm just in a season of life where 0:41:47.640 --> 0:41:54.000 I'm like God, I just want to know you. That's 0:41:54.040 --> 0:41:59.880 the wind. It's him, not even what he does through me, 0:42:01.760 --> 0:42:05.719 but that I may know him. Don't let me get 0:42:05.719 --> 0:42:13.560 caught up in the crap that pride shuts me out 0:42:13.600 --> 0:42:19.600 from knowing you. Don't let me get intoxicated by the 0:42:19.600 --> 0:42:25.760 approval of men, and I miss out on the greatest treasure, 0:42:25.800 --> 0:42:33.880 which is knowing you. It's interesting in the days of 0:42:33.960 --> 0:42:40.400 caesars in Rome, they had what they called a triumph. 0:42:40.520 --> 0:42:46.960 It was after a victory, huge parade, people cheering and screaming, 0:42:49.520 --> 0:42:51.839 and the caesar would stand on his chariot and all 0:42:51.920 --> 0:42:56.920 his regal attire going throughout the towns as people were 0:42:56.920 --> 0:43:02.799 clapping and cheering, and behind the caesar you would see 0:43:02.800 --> 0:43:08.120 a servant, and the servant's job was number one to 0:43:08.239 --> 0:43:13.320 hold the crown of the caesar. Some of these triumphs 0:43:13.320 --> 0:43:17.800 would last several days. It's hard to have that crown 0:43:17.880 --> 0:43:22.239 on your head for that long, So the servant's job 0:43:22.400 --> 0:43:27.920 was to hold the crown. Servant also had another job. 0:43:30.000 --> 0:43:33.840 Servant was to whisper in the ear of the caesar 0:43:34.800 --> 0:43:42.400 while the crown is cheering, momentomorrey, momentomorrey. People would be 0:43:42.440 --> 0:43:44.400 shouting at the top of the lungs, but the servant 0:43:44.440 --> 0:43:50.000 is holding the crown, whispering in the caesar's ear. Momentomorray, mamentomorray, 0:43:51.080 --> 0:43:57.120 which means, remember you are mortal, Remember you die. You 0:43:57.200 --> 0:44:00.920 are just a man. Do not let the praise of 0:44:00.920 --> 0:44:05.680 this crowd go to your hand. Do not become intoxicated 0:44:06.320 --> 0:44:08.360 with the cheers of the crowd, because how you know. 0:44:08.680 --> 0:44:13.080 We were not created to receive glory. You cannot handle glory. 0:44:13.280 --> 0:44:16.520 I'm telling you, glory will crush you. We were created 0:44:16.560 --> 0:44:20.120 to reflect glory, to give it back to God. You 0:44:20.200 --> 0:44:23.799 cannot handle the weight of glory on your life. You 0:44:23.880 --> 0:44:26.160 were created to give it back to the one who 0:44:26.280 --> 0:44:30.000 made you, who created you, who farmed you. You can't 0:44:30.040 --> 0:44:38.080 handle the way it will crush you. The service job 0:44:38.200 --> 0:44:42.240 was to say, remember you irem mortal, so he wouldn't 0:44:42.239 --> 0:44:46.120 get intoxicated with the cheers of the crowd, because you 0:44:46.160 --> 0:44:52.840 can't handle the crowd. Then I remember John the Disciple 0:44:52.880 --> 0:44:55.160 who wrote about John the Baptist. He gets a vision 0:44:55.160 --> 0:44:58.680 of heaven and revelation. And as soon as it gets 0:44:58.719 --> 0:45:02.240 to heaven, what does he say? He sees a throne, 0:45:03.560 --> 0:45:06.239 and God is on the throne, and surrounded by the 0:45:06.400 --> 0:45:09.640 throne are the twenty four elders. Twenty four elders. Who 0:45:09.680 --> 0:45:12.719 are these elders? This is the church. Every time you 0:45:12.760 --> 0:45:15.560 see elders in the Bible, it's talking about you and I, 0:45:15.960 --> 0:45:18.959 the Church of the Living God. That's why it's twenty four. 0:45:19.280 --> 0:45:22.759 Come on, twelve tribes of the Old Testament, twelve disciples, 0:45:22.800 --> 0:45:25.920 and the New Testament twenty four. This is the church 0:45:26.200 --> 0:45:33.319 that is surrounded the throne of God. And all of 0:45:33.360 --> 0:45:37.839 the elders have a crown, and the crown represents the 0:45:37.920 --> 0:45:43.520 reward you receive for being faithful on earth. And I'm 0:45:43.520 --> 0:45:46.080 gonna pause right there and thank God that there is 0:45:46.120 --> 0:45:49.560 a reward for being faithful, that there is a reward 0:45:49.880 --> 0:45:52.360 even in the midst of your suffering. That God is 0:45:52.400 --> 0:45:54.840 a great record keeper. That's why you don't ever have 0:45:54.920 --> 0:45:57.920 to defend yourself. You don't never have to fight your battle. 0:45:58.160 --> 0:46:00.839 Please let the Lord fight your battle. He is a 0:46:00.880 --> 0:46:04.319 great record keeper. Come, you know, he will reward you 0:46:04.640 --> 0:46:08.120 for being nice to nasty people. He will reward you 0:46:08.400 --> 0:46:11.520 for loving your enemies and blessing them that curse you. 0:46:11.920 --> 0:46:17.120 There is a reward for being faithful. Oh when nobody 0:46:17.120 --> 0:46:20.920 else sees, Thank God that you see there is a crown. 0:46:21.040 --> 0:46:27.839 That is a reward. Thank God that he sees. Did 0:46:27.880 --> 0:46:33.600 I get a crown? But what did John see? He 0:46:33.719 --> 0:46:39.680 said that the elders take their crowns off in the 0:46:39.719 --> 0:46:44.040 presence of God because even though they got the reward, 0:46:45.120 --> 0:46:49.280 when then the presence of God, they realize, wait a minute, 0:46:50.000 --> 0:46:54.400 this isn't a reward. You are the reward. They realize 0:46:54.440 --> 0:46:57.319 in heaven what you should realize in the earth, that 0:46:57.440 --> 0:47:01.479 the greatest reward is His presence. The greatest reward is Him. 0:47:01.800 --> 0:47:05.600 So they cast down their crowds before Him for the 0:47:05.719 --> 0:47:09.520 greatest reward, which is just to be in this present. 0:47:15.480 --> 0:47:17.520 They just take it off, and they say, I thought 0:47:18.200 --> 0:47:20.360 this was something, but man, to be here with you, 0:47:22.560 --> 0:47:27.080 this is the greatest choice. Can I just imagine what 0:47:27.160 --> 0:47:33.720 a church would look like with no crowns, no crowns, 0:47:33.760 --> 0:47:41.560 or church that knows the greatest reward It's him greatest reward, 0:47:41.600 --> 0:47:45.680 not how he uses you, not how much you've known. 0:47:46.400 --> 0:47:54.799 You have the reward. It's his presence. No crown. Why 0:47:54.840 --> 0:47:58.799 do I need a crown when I have you? Why 0:47:58.800 --> 0:48:02.360 do I need a crown? But I'm in your presence? 0:48:07.239 --> 0:48:09.799 Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of 0:48:09.840 --> 0:48:12.839 you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of 0:48:12.840 --> 0:48:15.799 you that this ministry is possible. You can click the 0:48:15.800 --> 0:48:19.560 link in the description to give now, or visit Elevationchurch 0:48:19.719 --> 0:48:22.960 dot org slash podcast for more information and if you 0:48:23.040 --> 0:48:26.279 enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it 0:48:26.320 --> 0:48:28.640 with your friends. You can click the share button, take 0:48:28.640 --> 0:48:31.000 a screenshot and share it on your social stories and 0:48:31.040 --> 0:48:33.919 tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God 0:48:33.920 --> 0:48:40.160 bless you.