WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:02.360 God, can somebody tell me what series we are in? 00:05.750 --> 00:11.070 Thank you, Judy. Thank you, Judy. We are in a series called Lowliness of Mind. 00:13.630 --> 00:17.430 And I'm not kidding you. I've been praying ever since even before this series and now 00:17.430 --> 00:22.010 being in this series, I'm praying and I'm asking, Holy Spirit, convince your people 00:22.010 --> 00:27.030 of how important this is. Literally, convince your people how important this really is. 00:27.030 --> 00:33.210 And I just want to give a quick overview and then we'll pray after I give the quick overview. 00:33.390 --> 00:39.690 So the foundational scripture, there's much scripture that I've built around as I was 00:39.690 --> 00:44.230 studying, as I was getting ready for this series. There was much scripture that I had, 00:44.330 --> 00:51.770 but the foundational scripture to this series is found in Philippians chapter 2 starting at 00:51.770 --> 00:56.310 verse 1, all the way to verse 11. And as the series go, I may literally, one of the Sundays, 00:56.310 --> 01:01.230 I may just hang and go verse by verse. We'll see as the Lord leads because I got so much 01:01.230 --> 01:04.770 notes for these series. But that's the foundational, we talked about this last Sunday, 01:04.870 --> 01:10.230 that's the foundational scripture for these series. Last Sunday, I also answered the five 01:10.230 --> 01:15.050 questions of the what, the why, the how, the where, the when, all these questions. 01:15.170 --> 01:19.190 I felt like it was important for me to ask myself these questions and I wanted to ask 01:19.190 --> 01:24.610 these questions with you and answer them for our house here. We also really touched 01:24.610 --> 01:31.350 based on how lowliness of mind has to do more with the internal state 01:31.870 --> 01:37.630 than the external state of a person. You guys remember that? To be lowly doesn't mean that 01:37.630 --> 01:41.990 you're the most poor and poverty person, just because you're in that state does not make you 01:41.990 --> 01:47.630 the lowly person. But a person that's of a lowly mind actually has to do with more of their 01:47.630 --> 01:53.390 internal being, their inner man, their mind, what they think about, how they respond, 01:53.390 --> 01:57.970 their heart posture, what their heart posture is towards on and so forth. 01:58.250 --> 02:01.410 And I actually got a scripture here for you that I wanted to read last Sunday, 02:01.810 --> 02:08.330 but I didn't get a chance to. It's in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verse 16. It says, 02:08.710 --> 02:16.030 Therefore do not lose heart even though our outward man is perishing yet the inward man 02:16.030 --> 02:22.290 is being renewed day by day for our light affliction which is but for a moment 02:22.290 --> 02:28.930 is working for us a far more exceeding and more eternal weight of glory while we do not look at the 02:28.930 --> 02:34.810 things which are seen but at the things which are uns that are not seen for the things which are 02:35.330 --> 02:40.550 for the things which are seen are temporary but the things which are not seen are eternal. 02:41.990 --> 02:47.150 The apostle Paul is saying listen your internal state is far more important than your external 02:47.150 --> 02:51.730 state because from the dust we came from the dust we shall go back. That's what the 02:51.730 --> 02:57.790 scriptures tell us. Here's another thing that I want to throw into the mix. On the external 02:58.530 --> 03:04.690 people can look at you and say wow he or she is gifted look at the way that he's preaching 03:04.690 --> 03:09.430 look at the way that she's singing look at the way that they're serving which is all good and I'm 03:09.430 --> 03:14.830 sure to some extent it's true but here's the way that God looks at things. When you're not up 03:14.830 --> 03:20.190 here and when you're not in the eyes of people in public when you're at home do you know 03:20.190 --> 03:27.610 what God sees? He sees you internally. He sees your character which is within. God can care less 03:27.610 --> 03:34.070 if you're wearing Gucci's or not wearing Gucci's. He don't care. God can care less if you're wearing 03:34.070 --> 03:39.950 Goodwill or you're wearing Walmart. He doesn't care. What God is more concerned about and 03:39.950 --> 03:45.450 actually what the apostle Paul is writing what is eternal is that which is within us. 03:46.490 --> 03:54.150 It's my spirit man that is to inherit everlasting life. My flesh man is going to stay here 03:54.150 --> 03:59.010 and with all the corruption of the earth. It's my inner man. Remember, Thessalonians, 03:59.110 --> 04:03.050 we're made of three. I'm giving you a quick little... we're made of three. Paul writes 04:03.050 --> 04:07.050 we are body, soul, and spirit. What is our body? It's simply a shell. I'm a shell. 04:07.690 --> 04:12.930 What is my soul? It's my characteristic. It's my thinking. It's my heart posture. It's 04:12.930 --> 04:18.570 all these things. And what is my spirit? That is the eternal man. That weather is doomed to 04:18.570 --> 04:22.830 everlasting... or I'm sorry, not doomed. Ever is one that is to inherit everlasting life 04:22.830 --> 04:30.510 or one that is doomed to hell. I bring this to you to really drill it in your mind. 04:30.790 --> 04:36.990 Lowliness of mind has to do far more with your internal state than your exterior. 04:37.950 --> 04:41.950 I'm telling you, you can have a huge house and you're probably... some of you probably 04:41.950 --> 04:45.250 do have big houses. I don't know. I've never been at all of your houses. Some of you probably do 04:45.250 --> 04:50.010 have mansions and you're probably thinking, well, I'm not lowly. Wrong. You can have a mansion 04:50.010 --> 04:54.410 and be one of the lowliest people. I brought some examples up last Sunday. You still with me? 04:55.990 --> 04:59.390 Lowliness of mind, I touched on this yesterday. And Sarah, can I have you come up here real 04:59.390 --> 05:07.070 quick? Lowliness of mind precedes the outpouring. Acts 2, Joel 2. Okay. Remember 05:07.070 --> 05:11.930 I told you? I said that before the great... you can come up. I know you're nervous. It's 05:11.930 --> 05:16.770 before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, there is a pattern that has to happen, the way that God 05:16.770 --> 05:23.590 just works. And the way that he works, he has to have a people come to a place internally, a body, 05:23.730 --> 05:31.370 a house, come to a place where they know, Lord, we are nothing without you. We have to be 05:31.370 --> 05:37.930 lowly in our mind to be able to see the outpouring of the Spirit. Quick little nugget. We're 05:37.930 --> 05:41.430 going to see many churches that think they're going to experience the outpouring of the 05:41.430 --> 05:47.890 Holy Spirit, and they're going to miss it. I shared this with a friend yesterday, so sorry, stay up 05:47.890 --> 05:53.830 here. I'm just having you collect your thoughts. I shared this with a friend yesterday. I learned 05:53.830 --> 05:58.790 this from a pastor that I esteem, and I love this man of God. He said momentum and the Holy 05:58.790 --> 06:04.650 Spirit are two different things. And can I tell you the truth? A lot of the church rides in the 06:04.650 --> 06:11.670 momentum, and we say it's the Holy Spirit. Momentum and the Holy Spirit are two different things. 06:12.470 --> 06:17.070 I'm going to let you share. Before you share the date, share what the Lord spoke to you. 06:23.020 --> 06:30.420 Prior to every outpouring or shift in the life of Jesus came an opportunity of lowliness. 06:30.980 --> 06:38.420 obedient humility always precedes outpouring. The one with the greatest crowns in heaven 06:38.420 --> 06:47.000 are the ones who forfeit the most crowns here. A lot of times the greatest tests are not 06:47.470 --> 06:50.260 in the criticism they are in the compliments. 06:55.320 --> 07:04.300 This the Lord spoke to me in January, January 26th. And he's been, I feel like this whole year, 07:04.400 --> 07:11.140 even all the way back to December of last year, speaking to me about lowliness. And 07:11.780 --> 07:18.620 when Igor said that, like I'm when he prays and he speaks, I am nothing without you, Lord. 07:18.620 --> 07:24.920 And I've been saying this for a while because I truly am not nothing without him as a mom, 07:25.920 --> 07:34.540 as a wife, as a friend, as a daughter, more and more. The deeper I go with Jesus, 07:34.840 --> 07:41.660 the more I know that anything that's good in me comes from him. And it is an honor to be able 07:41.660 --> 07:51.400 to serve him. And so he spoke to me something in July. And I really took it as something 07:51.400 --> 07:59.600 personal for me because I have been in this journey to looking at myself, to be closer to him. 08:00.440 --> 08:07.600 And as the worship was going, he wanted me to share part of it. So I will... 08:11.570 --> 08:13.870 My phone, the port notebook, 08:15.830 --> 08:25.350 he said that it is time to see eye to eye. You cannot fix what you don't know is broken. 08:26.110 --> 08:33.870 All the process is to show us just that. Look and don't run. Healing is available. 08:34.540 --> 08:40.790 You are not responsible for anybody else's healing. Take responsibility of what is yours. 08:41.250 --> 08:48.930 Look inside. Give it to me. Every lie exposed, bitter roots removed, stones moved. 08:49.830 --> 08:58.590 What I am doing is deep. It is necessary. Do not take offense. Choose not to. Or it will 08:58.590 --> 09:07.910 blind you. I am for you. I want to heal you. And he kept saying that healing like you've 09:07.910 --> 09:14.410 never experienced before, but it is a choice. You know, and one thing that he wanted me to share 09:15.750 --> 09:22.630 as... because I really thought this was just very personal. A lot of times before, 09:22.630 --> 09:35.310 as we sit through this series of lowliness, the message sometimes will remind us of somebody else 09:35.310 --> 09:41.210 that should be listening to that message. But he said that, don't worry about somebody else's 09:41.210 --> 09:46.550 journey. What I'm doing in their hearts, how deep I'm going in somebody else's hearts, 09:47.130 --> 09:52.050 you don't know. We don't know. So is that for us to look at ourselves? 09:53.430 --> 09:59.030 Otherwise, we will miss it. If you're worried about somebody else and they should listen to that 09:59.030 --> 10:04.970 and they should change and I wish they would see it, we're going to miss the work he's 10:04.970 --> 10:13.790 trying to do in us. And as we allow him to do it in ourselves, then it will just happen. 10:13.790 --> 10:25.550 It will just... he's doing the work, not us. Yeah, that's to the Lord. That's to the Lord. 10:28.690 --> 10:32.030 Miss Sally, can somebody help Miss Sally come up here? She doesn't even know what I'm about to do. 10:32.250 --> 10:42.690 Miss Sally, come up here. I love to pray before I get into the actual message. I only 10:42.690 --> 10:47.930 give you the overview. Miss Sally doesn't even know what I'm about to do. Help Miss Sally up here. 10:49.670 --> 10:54.550 Hey, Tim, what's that thing you told me last Sunday? What is it? 10:56.510 --> 11:01.670 Did you guys hear that? Let me say it again. So last Sunday, remember I was encouraging you 11:01.670 --> 11:05.310 guys to have your physical Bibles? So Tim comes up to me after church and he goes, 11:05.430 --> 11:09.190 you know, he goes, I have a saying. It's called you're out of uniform if you don't have your 11:09.190 --> 11:15.910 Bible. I'm not being legalistic. I'm just encouraging you. I know that you can have 11:15.910 --> 11:20.550 your Bible on your phone. I'm just encouraging you to get yourself one of these, 11:21.370 --> 11:28.230 to get yourself one of these. And the older the better. And let it look like Sarah's notebook. 11:29.630 --> 11:35.730 So this morning you came in and you told me, you said, if you need me for something, I'm 11:35.730 --> 11:44.350 there. But the Lord has a sense of humor. He does. I love the Lord. I love his sense of humor. 11:45.430 --> 11:52.090 Amen. Yeah. Last night, as I was with the Lord and he was talking to me, you know what he told me? 11:52.610 --> 11:56.270 Because I love to pray before and I love to pray that God would cut us deep 11:56.270 --> 12:00.890 in his word as we're going into it. The Lord told me, he said, I want you to have Sally 12:01.630 --> 12:04.190 come up and pray before you begin to even speak the message. 12:05.230 --> 12:10.890 I know. So can you pray for us that as we are to receive the seed today, the word, 12:11.230 --> 12:14.090 that it would go deep into us? Can you do that? Yeah. 12:17.640 --> 12:24.200 We come to you now, Father God, in Jesus' name, expecting, excited, looking forward to what you 12:24.200 --> 12:29.660 have to say. Because you're going to speak words of life, words that are going to change us. 12:29.780 --> 12:34.840 None of us will leave the same as we entered. Not a one. Not Igor. Not a one. 12:35.560 --> 12:41.780 We will all be changed because we cannot be in your presence and change and not change. 12:43.660 --> 12:51.560 You increase every time we decrease as we yield and submit and as we pour out our 12:51.560 --> 13:00.780 elder master boxes on you, Lord, emptied ourselves, looking to you, Jesus, high priest, 13:00.780 --> 13:08.380 author, and finisher of our faith, to see that we are filled, filled to overflowing, 13:08.780 --> 13:15.660 that we might be a witness that we have as were the disciples. They recognize that they had been 13:16.260 --> 13:25.340 with him, with you. We love you, Lord. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. 13:25.340 --> 13:30.740 Thank you so much. Can somebody help Sally back if need be? You are doing wonderful. 13:31.860 --> 13:39.340 See, in our culture, we were raised to be such gentlemen that we always helped our women. So 13:39.340 --> 13:51.880 I'm talking to Ken, you know? Praise God. If you have your Bibles, open up to Luke 3 for me 13:51.880 --> 14:01.840 real quick. Luke chapter 3 verse 2 to 6. So last Sunday I read the Greek definition of what 14:01.840 --> 14:05.780 lowliness of mind is, and I'll read it again today, and you're probably going to hear me 14:05.780 --> 14:10.800 read that throughout the series. Now, just giving you a heads up, we may go past 12 today, 14:10.900 --> 14:20.480 but is this still good? Is the Lord still good? Praise God. The word lowliness in the 14:20.480 --> 14:26.960 Greek, I'm going to butcher it, so just be patient with me. It's called tapinorus. That's what, that's 14:26.960 --> 14:32.160 how the Greek translates it. And there's words that are like it that give definitions and descriptions 14:32.160 --> 14:38.580 that complement it. And one of those words is actually tapinou is the way that I have it 14:38.580 --> 14:44.080 written up, tapinou. See, I'm not Greek, so. But what that word means, that word that 14:44.080 --> 14:52.820 complements the actual word lowliness of mind, it means to bring low, to make low, to make level 14:52.820 --> 15:01.820 and reduce to a plane. Now, as I was reading that, that complimentary definition to what 15:01.820 --> 15:07.640 lowliness of mind is, as I was reading the description and the definitions of it, I was 15:08.800 --> 15:16.080 reminded of John the Baptist and what John the Baptist actually proclaimed when the Pharisees 15:16.080 --> 15:21.960 and the teachers of the law of what they came to tell him, they said, who are you? They said, 15:21.980 --> 15:25.960 are you the Messiah? He said, I'm not the Messiah. They said, are you a prophet? He said, I'm not 15:25.960 --> 15:30.600 a prophet. They got so frustrated with him that they said, well, what are you then, man? 15:30.800 --> 15:35.580 Tell us, because people are coming to you by the multitudes and you're baptizing them 15:35.580 --> 15:41.280 in the river Jordan. What are you then? And John the Baptist says something that is so profound. 15:41.520 --> 15:45.140 I've studied the life of John the Baptist and there's a lot of things that we're not going to 15:45.140 --> 15:49.140 get into it now. Maybe one day we'll get into it. But there's something so profound 15:49.140 --> 15:54.900 in the response of John the Baptist. Instead of him making a claim that, hey, 15:55.280 --> 15:59.580 I'm the best friend of Jesus, I'm the guy that's baptizing people in water, 15:59.880 --> 16:03.720 look how many people are coming to me. Listen, he was out somewhere far, 16:03.720 --> 16:06.780 like in the desert. People had to leave the city to come to him. 16:07.740 --> 16:14.300 And John the Baptist replies this, and we can read it here in John chapter 3, verse 2, 16:16.560 --> 16:20.940 of verse 3. And he went to all the region around Jordan preaching the baptism of repentance 16:21.470 --> 16:26.020 for the remission of sins. Let me just go down there a little bit. And he actually quotes, 16:26.120 --> 16:31.880 so verse 4, he actually quotes the prophet Isaiah. And he claims in another translation, 16:31.880 --> 16:37.260 or not another translation, in another author of the Gospel writes that John said, I am a voice. 16:37.900 --> 16:46.020 So here he reads, he says, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. 16:46.860 --> 16:57.520 Make his paths straight. Let every valley be filled, and every mountain and hill brought low. 16:57.520 --> 17:04.320 The crooked places shall be straight, and the rough ways smooth, and all the flesh shall see 17:04.320 --> 17:10.840 the salvation of God. Do you see that the word that compliments them, the word tap I know, 17:11.400 --> 17:16.760 it compliments the actual meaning of lowliness of mind. It's to make low, it's to make a plain, 17:16.920 --> 17:24.420 it's to make straight. And to me it's profound that John the Baptist was literally the last, 17:24.420 --> 17:32.620 let's call him a mile marker. He was the last mile marker that ushered Jesus Christ, listen carefully 17:32.620 --> 17:43.120 to me, he ushered Jesus Christ to come as the sacrificial lamb. John the Baptist had the honor 17:43.120 --> 17:51.240 to usher Jesus in unto the scene. For 30 years our Lord was hidden away. He was a carpenter, 17:51.960 --> 17:55.700 building furniture, hanging out with family, doing things that we do, 17:55.980 --> 18:02.380 eat, celebrate birthdays, go to weddings. Jesus did all these things. But now John the Baptist 18:03.740 --> 18:11.320 has the honor to bring our Lord onto the scene and say something that to this day 18:11.320 --> 18:20.840 it cuts me deep. He says, behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. 18:22.400 --> 18:30.060 Now that's an honor. Now that's an honor. And we need to pick something out of the life of 18:30.060 --> 18:38.800 John the Baptist by that one response of John, not claiming I'm the prophet, not claiming I'm some 18:38.800 --> 18:44.460 great teacher, not claiming I'm a pastor, not claiming I'm an evangelist. John the Baptist 18:44.460 --> 18:54.460 says I'm a voice. Now that's low. Do you see the pattern of the people that God actually, 18:54.780 --> 18:59.540 I'm not even going to say use because God doesn't want employees in the kingdom. God wants partners 18:59.540 --> 19:04.800 in the kingdom. And we have a lot of churches that have become employees in the kingdom of God. 19:05.200 --> 19:10.120 We always say, well God is wanting me to do this. And I get that phrase, but I've been 19:10.120 --> 19:16.660 learning to change my language and say God has graciously chosen to partner with me. 19:17.800 --> 19:25.260 There is a difference. I'm not saying that the phrase God is using me is bad, but I think that 19:25.260 --> 19:31.180 there is a deeper meaning to things if we can change our language. If we can say God has 19:31.180 --> 19:39.360 graciously chosen to partner with me to preach the gospel. God has graciously chosen me to 19:39.360 --> 19:45.520 heal the sick. God has graciously chosen me and partnered with me to cast out demons. 19:46.980 --> 19:53.620 There's a difference there. So John the Baptist, in his lowliness of state, it was internal. It 19:53.620 --> 20:00.120 wasn't external. I mean, Reed studied the life of John. That man ain't locust and honey. 20:01.200 --> 20:05.740 He was wearing, he didn't care. He didn't care what he was eating. He didn't care what he was 20:05.740 --> 20:10.120 wearing. Now don't take that to the extreme and say, I'm going to go eat McDonald's because 20:10.120 --> 20:14.580 John ate locust and McDonald's is as close as locust. No, it's not. It's worse. It's worse, 20:14.700 --> 20:21.480 man. It's worse. But the point being is that John, like Matt was talking about today, John 20:21.480 --> 20:28.580 was captivated by this man Jesus. And in his captivation, it caused him to be lowly. And 20:28.580 --> 20:33.800 when, like Sarah was reading today, that most of our working is not in the trials and 20:33.800 --> 20:42.450 tribulations. It's in the high points. It's when we're up here is where God is really looking at us, 20:43.470 --> 20:49.930 is when everything is good. The money's good. The business is good. My family is healthy. 20:50.450 --> 20:56.250 Everything is good. Nothing is wrong. I'm getting married. I'm having a baby. 20:56.690 --> 21:00.090 All these things are good. And I'm not saying we shouldn't rejoice in those things, 21:00.090 --> 21:04.790 but it's in the high places that I have learned in the ministry that people walk away from God. 21:08.170 --> 21:12.550 It's when people are in their high spots is where they desert the Lord and they say, 21:12.570 --> 21:19.210 we don't need him anymore. I got this. Look, I got it. I've made it. But did you really? 21:20.390 --> 21:27.510 Did you really make it? So here, John the Baptist has these leaders. That's a high point. 21:27.650 --> 21:30.990 Friends, I guarantee you, it's probably a high point because these rabbis, these leaders, 21:31.270 --> 21:33.870 they weren't just people that were like, all right, let's hike out to the desert 21:33.870 --> 21:37.830 where the Jordan is. Let's go out there out to the wilderness, not necessarily the desert, 21:38.070 --> 21:42.730 but out to the wilderness. And let's go talk to this guy. They didn't do that every day. 21:43.110 --> 21:49.210 So that in itself was high. And here, these leaders, they come to him. 21:49.730 --> 21:52.910 There's a lot of examples we can get from John the Baptist. Here, these leaders, 21:53.050 --> 21:57.850 they come to him. And this was John's so-called quote, unquote. It's your time to shine, 21:57.850 --> 22:03.470 bro. Come on, man. Make a claim. Make a claim. You've done something. Look. 22:04.430 --> 22:11.350 And they come to him and they say, who are you? Are you the Messiah? Can you imagine if somebody 22:11.350 --> 22:15.250 came up to you and they thought you were the Messiah? What would that actually do in you? 22:16.190 --> 22:18.410 I'm being real with you. What would that actually do in you? 22:20.830 --> 22:24.970 They said, are you the Messiah? He said, no. He said, no, I'm not. 22:26.010 --> 22:30.610 Are you the prophet then? Okay. No, let's go. Let's go a step lower. Are you a prophet then? 22:31.270 --> 22:38.430 He says, no. He says, I'm not. What he says is, he says a statement that every time I read this, 22:39.210 --> 22:47.370 I'm caught up in it. And I'm like, God, let this be in me. Let this be in me. That when people 22:47.370 --> 22:51.750 come to me and they ask, I'm not here. Well, I'm a pastor of Word of Life, y'all. Check it. 22:51.750 --> 23:01.790 But I can simply say, I am a voice. I'm a voice. I am one that God has graciously chosen to partner with, 23:02.410 --> 23:06.070 to once again, listen to me, listen to me, to once again, 23:06.970 --> 23:14.570 reestablish the message of the cross in the church. I didn't choose him. He chose me. 23:17.430 --> 23:22.070 That's lowly. Now, here's the honor part I want to let you know again, kind of reverting back. 23:22.490 --> 23:28.150 John had the honor to welcome Jesus to come as the Lamb of God. Do you know what we as his church 23:28.150 --> 23:39.270 and his bride have the honor to do? As who? As king. You're right, Dobani. The Lord of lords. 23:39.790 --> 23:43.270 The king, ah, you're not catching it. You're not catching it. I just feel like it just went 23:43.270 --> 23:52.950 boop and it bounced off. We as a people, as a creation, have the honor, the privilege, the 23:52.950 --> 24:03.090 opportunity to welcome Jesus to come as king, to usher the Lord, to come in on the cloud 24:03.090 --> 24:09.350 with a heavenly host and forever defeat this wretched earth so that we would be caught up 24:09.350 --> 24:17.450 with him in heaven forever. We have that honor. I said we, the church, not just this church, 24:17.790 --> 24:23.950 the church, the bride of Christ, those that are desperately crying out, saying as revelations 22, 24:24.470 --> 24:34.210 come Lord Jesus, the spirit and the bride, say come. That's our privilege. That's our opportunity 24:34.830 --> 24:41.010 to be in the camp of people, to be in a generation of people that is ushering him through worship, 24:41.290 --> 24:47.350 through song, through breaking of the alabaster jar, the exchange of love with our bridegroom, 24:47.710 --> 24:53.130 what song of Solomon writes. We are love sick for you Lord. We're love sick. We're breaking 24:53.130 --> 25:01.710 ourselves. And that type of heart posture, that type of church is a church that has the 25:01.710 --> 25:07.310 privilege, the opportunity and the honor to have the Lord coming on the clouds. 25:08.650 --> 25:14.870 The Lord once showed me an image years ago. He showed me an image. He took me back to 25:14.870 --> 25:20.710 the Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the donkey. And the Lord showed me something. 25:21.590 --> 25:26.430 He used it as an example. He said, son, he said, you see the cloaks and the clothes 25:26.430 --> 25:30.950 that were thrown on the road for the Lord to come in in a triumphal entry. 25:30.950 --> 25:37.710 I said, yes, Lord. I said, I do see that. He said, son, those cloaks, those clothes are a 25:37.710 --> 25:44.110 representation for the end time church of the songs of adoration of the oil that they're 25:44.110 --> 25:49.910 going to pour out on my feet, which will have him come, have him come, but not on a donkey this 25:49.910 --> 25:55.030 time. This time it's on a white horse because he's not coming as a lamb. He's not coming 25:55.030 --> 26:00.570 as a lamb to be sacrificed. He's coming as a king to establish a kingdom that is forever 26:00.570 --> 26:07.870 to ring. Our songs that we sing should not just be lyrics that we're repeating, empty. 26:08.630 --> 26:15.430 That's not worship. Our songs that we sing, the things that we do in life, worship is far more 26:15.430 --> 26:20.790 than just singing. Worship is our life. You want to know what true worship is? Read Romans 12, 26:21.130 --> 26:24.970 verse one and two. That's true worship. I'm not even going to tell you what it says there. 26:24.970 --> 26:33.310 You go look at it. That's true worship. And that is the type of worship that is represented as the 26:33.310 --> 26:39.170 cloaks that are laid down. They're laid down and Jesus was entering on a donkey. Why? Because 26:39.170 --> 26:45.450 he was a sacrificial lamb. But he says, son, now he says, as my people, as my as my bride, 26:46.390 --> 26:53.090 as the spirit and the bride sing together in harmony, in unity. When they sing to me, 26:53.090 --> 26:59.030 come, Lord, come, Lord. It's a song they're singing. That's a song they're singing in Revelation 22. 27:00.270 --> 27:07.110 So the cloaks are songs and adoration and our affection and our love and our oil 27:07.110 --> 27:12.530 that is being poured out and it's laying out. Think of it this way. It's laying out a road 27:12.530 --> 27:20.150 for the Lord to now return for his bride. We have that honor and we have that privilege. 27:20.150 --> 27:29.990 But I promise you, I promise you. If you are not lowly in mind, it will pass you by. I promise you that. 27:33.060 --> 27:39.000 I promise you that if you choose to not look at yourself like Sarah was just talking about, 27:39.380 --> 27:47.940 I promise you, if you choose to not, to not crucify this wretched flesh, 27:47.940 --> 27:53.480 if you choose to not allow the Holy Spirit to conform you into the image of Christ, 27:53.880 --> 27:55.200 I promise you, you will miss it. 27:58.280 --> 28:03.800 God is not looking for people to be experts at preaching and teaching. God is not looking 28:03.800 --> 28:09.480 at experts of worship. God is looking at people that are desperately crying out, 28:09.680 --> 28:14.360 saying, I need you, God. I'm worthless. There's absolutely nothing good in me, Lord. 28:14.360 --> 28:19.960 There is nothing good of me, my God. From the dust I came back to the dust I shall go. 28:24.740 --> 28:31.400 You with me? Let me touch on that real quick. I touched on this last Sunday and I want to 28:31.400 --> 28:34.780 elaborate a little bit more on what it means to actually say, Lord, I'm worthless. 28:36.180 --> 28:41.700 Can I say something? A greater majority of Christians, I'll probably say even 28:41.700 --> 28:49.940 over 95% of Christians, it's hard for them in their skull to think of this phrase, I'm worthless. 28:51.300 --> 28:57.940 Because as soon as somebody says you're worthless, all of a sudden it arises past trauma. It arises 28:57.940 --> 29:03.860 the things of the flesh in you and you begin to live a life of condemnation. Oh, my pastor 29:03.860 --> 29:09.380 just said I'm worthless. Oh, man, I thought we're supposed to come to church and it's 29:09.380 --> 29:15.020 supposed to be encouraging and it's supposed to be daisies and butterflies and all this. I thought 29:15.020 --> 29:19.860 that's what church is. I'm sorry to tell you, but I'm not that pastor that's going to pat you on the 29:19.860 --> 29:24.440 back and say, hey, you're doing great. We're in reality, you're not doing great. You hired 29:24.440 --> 29:32.360 the wrong guy. You can fire me if you want. Let me elaborate on worthlessness of being worthless 29:32.360 --> 29:38.780 before the Lord. Because here's where the church over the decades has twisted it from the pulpit. 29:39.580 --> 29:55.310 If we, if we can catch this part, if we can catch the fact that Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, 29:55.430 --> 30:02.510 the Son of God, if we can catch this part right here, that this man Jesus found me worthy enough 30:02.510 --> 30:09.530 to die for, that should be enough. No, no, no, listen to me, listen to me. 30:10.870 --> 30:19.470 If we can understand that what the Lord has done for us, if we can let that 30:19.970 --> 30:25.810 sear our hearts, if we can let that cut us deep, I promise you what people say about you won't 30:25.810 --> 30:30.770 even matter. People will give you compliments and you'll receive the compliment. You say, 30:30.850 --> 30:33.330 thank you, but it doesn't make a difference. It doesn't change your posture. 30:35.250 --> 30:39.110 People will speak negatively about you. It won't change your posture. 30:42.450 --> 30:46.990 Why? Because when I read my book, when I read the Bible and I read the Word of God, 30:47.370 --> 30:53.890 I find in this book that the Lord counted me worthy enough to die for. That's enough for me. 30:57.110 --> 31:03.210 Why have we come to a place in the church where the body and the blood of Jesus is not 31:03.210 --> 31:09.650 enough anymore? Listen to me, follow me, follow me here. Why have we come to a place in the church 31:09.650 --> 31:15.330 where the body, the broken body of Jesus and the precious blood of Jesus that was spilled for us, 31:15.670 --> 31:20.510 how come it's become not enough for us anymore? We're always looking for, okay, somebody prophesy 31:20.510 --> 31:26.030 over me. Somebody give me a word of knowledge. Somebody do something spontaneous. Do something, 31:26.550 --> 31:31.910 you know, kaboom, kabam, whatever the case may be. Why can't the body and the blood be enough? 31:34.230 --> 31:39.930 Why can't we look at the scriptures and see that a perfect lamb of God that was sinless, 31:40.070 --> 31:45.690 he was God that chose to come down to earth? Why can't that be enough for us that this man 31:45.690 --> 31:50.510 chose to die so that we could have life? Why can't that be enough for us? 31:52.490 --> 31:57.450 We're always looking to fill the gaps in something. We're always looking for somebody 31:57.450 --> 32:01.310 to give us a word of encouragement. And friends, all these things are good, 32:01.310 --> 32:06.530 but what's happened in the church is they've been flipped. It's been flipped. 32:08.510 --> 32:12.710 We have churches and pastors and leaders and mentors and other people 32:12.710 --> 32:18.150 constantly staying on people's cases of you're worthy, you're worthy, but you're not. 32:19.330 --> 32:24.650 You're not worthy if the Lord, if you do not realize that the Lord died for you. 32:25.790 --> 32:30.010 We're nothing without him. What good is there in me? 32:31.070 --> 32:34.930 Somebody told me they said, Igor, I love to listen to you preach. I said, do you know why? 32:35.370 --> 32:39.770 Because it's the Lord. Trust me. I'm not that interesting. Trust me. Ask my wife. I'm not 32:39.770 --> 32:46.630 that interesting. It's the Lord. It is literally the Lord. And if the Lord doesn't 32:46.630 --> 32:53.010 show up here, you would not be sitting here past 12. I promise you. I promise you. 32:55.830 --> 33:06.680 So if we can catch the revelation of my God, you died for me. Lord, you died for me. 33:09.180 --> 33:10.780 You bled for me, Lord. 33:14.040 --> 33:18.940 You would choose to be obedient onto death and even death on the cross. 33:22.240 --> 33:28.760 Lord, you chose for me to leave the heavenly throne and to come down to this broken world, 33:28.760 --> 33:32.320 to re-establish a relationship with me. 33:35.040 --> 33:44.710 Lord, but I'm not even interesting. I'm boring, Lord. There's nothing good in me, Lord. 33:46.190 --> 33:49.470 And he says, I know. But he says, I love you. 33:51.330 --> 33:55.990 He says, I love you, and that's why I did what I did. Because I counted you worthy enough 33:55.990 --> 34:00.470 to be my son and to be my daughter. That's why I bled on that cross. 34:02.630 --> 34:06.950 That's why I allowed them to humiliate me. That's why I allowed them to mock me and 34:06.950 --> 34:11.190 spit me just because I love you. That's it. It's not because you're good. 34:11.190 --> 34:22.500 If we can catch that revelation, friends, if we can catch that revelation as a house, 34:23.100 --> 34:29.040 as a house, if we can catch that revelation, I promise you, I promise you, not because I'm 34:29.040 --> 34:33.920 promising, but because what God tells us when we catch that revelation, the things God will do 34:33.920 --> 34:38.560 as we corporately gather, because when we're corporately gathering, we are no longer 34:38.560 --> 34:42.380 focused on the horizontal, but we're focused on the vertical. 34:43.620 --> 34:48.400 We're no longer coming. Now, please hear me correctly here. Please, just let me break this 34:48.400 --> 34:54.280 down a little bit, because it is a fine line. It's good to come to church to receive support 34:54.280 --> 34:58.880 and encouragement. It's good to come to church and be around people in community 34:58.880 --> 35:01.940 and fellowship. All the things that you're thinking right now is like, oh, 35:01.960 --> 35:06.140 maybe I shouldn't do that anymore. That's not what I'm saying. My goal is what I'm telling you 35:06.140 --> 35:11.080 is that we as a church, when I say church, I'm talking about as a whole. We as a church 35:11.080 --> 35:17.260 have flipped the two. We have put what Christ done for us on the back, and we're seeking approval 35:17.260 --> 35:26.140 from man. That's the horizontal. Why do we hold ourselves back during worship? Why do we not 35:26.140 --> 35:32.580 publicly break our elabaster jars before the feet of Jesus? Because we're horizontal. We're 35:32.580 --> 35:40.080 horizontal. We hold it back because we're thinking, well, what if I don't have enough? 35:41.440 --> 35:47.360 What if what I have is not as good as the person next to me? What if people look at me? Who cares 35:47.360 --> 35:54.740 if they're looking at you? Who cares that they're looking at you? What if God is talking to you? 35:55.020 --> 36:00.620 The Genesis one God is talking to you, and he's saying, I want to exchange today, today, 36:00.880 --> 36:06.180 today I want to exchange this oil with you. Break and give everything so that I can fill you 36:06.180 --> 36:15.180 afresh. What if we could be a church that's vertical and not horizontal? What if we could 36:15.180 --> 36:19.380 be a church that would walk out the first and greatest commandment over the second? 36:21.240 --> 36:25.300 Because what I've learned is when you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, 36:25.380 --> 36:33.140 and mind, it naturally happens to love others. You want an example, a biblical example? Look 36:33.140 --> 36:40.020 what Mary did. What did Mary do at the feet of Jesus? She did something public. She fulfilled 36:40.020 --> 36:44.740 the first and greatest commandment. That's why the Lord talked about Mary, and he says, 36:44.920 --> 36:50.340 What this woman has done for me shall be spoken about for generations. For generations, 36:50.780 --> 36:57.300 Mary comes, brings an alabaster jar of oil. She comes to the feet of Jesus. Now this is 36:57.300 --> 37:04.640 public. She doesn't care who's there reclining. She breaks the oil. She anoints the feet of Jesus. 37:04.880 --> 37:10.940 What is she doing? She's fulfilling the first and greatest commandment. And what did it do 37:12.060 --> 37:19.080 without her even wanting to? It affected the horizontal. What did Judas say? 37:19.900 --> 37:26.260 Why did she do that? That's expensive. It affected the horizontal. What she did 37:26.260 --> 37:35.320 vertically affected the horizontal. So what if we come in on Sunday? What if we come in on whatever 37:35.320 --> 37:40.640 day of the week, whether you're at home with your spouse, with your kids? What if you did the 37:40.640 --> 37:49.720 vertical and let God, by the Holy Spirit, deal with the horizontal? What if that's the way that 37:49.720 --> 37:58.500 we thought? What if that's the way that this house could be? Of where we're coming in and we don't 37:58.500 --> 38:04.960 care who's preaching. Pastor Vern, Pastor Mary, Pastor Igor, Pastor Tanya. Who cares? We want Jesus. 38:06.080 --> 38:09.820 And if they're not giving us Jesus from the pulpit, then remove them. 38:11.880 --> 38:15.660 And I promise you our pastors give us Jesus. They're watching us online. 38:19.540 --> 38:24.300 But what if we could be that type of house? That would be vertical. 38:30.120 --> 38:35.460 See, that's lowly. You say, well, how is it lowly? 38:37.500 --> 38:42.840 Because we're catching the revelation of he counted me worthy. That's lowly. 38:44.480 --> 38:48.380 Because what culture, society, and church, everything that they're preaching, 38:48.380 --> 38:53.640 and they're presenting, they're feeding a generation, friends. They're feeding a generation with this stuff. 38:55.040 --> 39:01.600 And they're eating it up like sugar pie. They're eating it up. They're filling themselves. And 39:01.600 --> 39:09.300 then in the reality of things, when something does not happen a person's way, all their 39:09.300 --> 39:13.600 foundation that they built their faith on, well, they said I'm worthy. My pastor said I'm worthy. 39:13.600 --> 39:20.820 That guy who prophesied said I'm worthy. But why do I feel this way when I'm alone? 39:22.560 --> 39:26.720 Because your pastor, your leader, the person who's mentoring you and discipling you, 39:26.880 --> 39:32.120 took one thing and made it more important than the other. If we can teach, if I as a pastor can 39:32.120 --> 39:37.560 teach you, friends, you are worthless without Christ, and you need to catch the revelation 39:37.560 --> 39:43.220 that Jesus counted you worthy. All I will be doing as a pastor is I'll be fanning the 39:43.220 --> 39:49.760 flame. Yeah, he did die for you, man. He did bleed on the cross for you. He did all this for you. 39:50.820 --> 39:56.640 I'll just fan the flame. I'm not removing my position of a pastor. I'm not. 39:57.780 --> 40:02.220 What does a shepherd do? He herds the sheep. You're going a little bit this way. Just come 40:02.220 --> 40:06.700 this way a little bit. Come on, come on. I'm not removing myself. I'm simply trying to drill 40:06.700 --> 40:13.400 something in your mind and in your heart that you would be seared in this, that Jesus of Nazareth 40:13.400 --> 40:20.280 counted you worthy to die for. And a death that was far more brutal than we can even imagine. 40:24.160 --> 40:28.860 Can I share with you an encounter I had? Can I share with you an encounter I had? 40:29.020 --> 40:30.540 Okay. You're still with me? 40:33.160 --> 40:37.480 A few years ago, I want to say it was like maybe three, four years ago. Thank you, brother. 40:38.220 --> 40:42.420 I need one of those napkins. Like one of those fiery preachers. 40:44.320 --> 40:49.640 A few years ago, I was with the Lord. Now, mind this. 40:51.760 --> 40:54.820 Three, four years ago, my wife and I, we were, it was more so me. 40:55.560 --> 40:58.800 Well, my wife was there too. I'm not going to discredit her. She was there with me on this. 40:59.580 --> 41:03.220 We were wrestling with the Lord for over two years. We were wrestling with the Lord 41:04.060 --> 41:07.760 because God was calling us out of the church. We were pastoring, which is my father's church. 41:08.520 --> 41:13.000 And I was, for two years, God was wrestling with me on this. And he kept on telling me, 41:13.100 --> 41:20.700 son, I'm calling you out. I'm calling you out. And it was hard. It was difficult 41:21.600 --> 41:25.420 because there are so many things that to this day are never the same. 41:26.200 --> 41:28.600 And you'd ask me, do you regret it? Not at all. You know why? 41:28.800 --> 41:31.020 Because Jesus showed me himself in greater ways. 41:35.570 --> 41:39.770 These temporary trials and tribulations, the Apostle Paul writes, he says, 41:39.910 --> 41:45.250 they do not compare with the glory. They don't. But for over two years, we were wrestling. 41:47.610 --> 41:50.570 My biggest thing, and let me just give you, I'm getting real vulnerable with you here as a 41:50.570 --> 41:55.810 pastor. My biggest thing was when I was in the ministry, my father brought me into the ministry. 41:55.810 --> 42:02.970 And one of the key things that my father taught me, and to this day, I thank him for it. I thank 42:02.970 --> 42:07.190 my father for this. He taught me character over giftings. 42:10.210 --> 42:17.090 That's what my father taught me. He taught me character over giftings. You know, it's interesting 42:17.090 --> 42:22.690 that we oftentimes preach 1 Corinthians 12 over Galatians 5 more often. Why do we do that? 42:23.510 --> 42:29.030 Why can't we preach Galatians 5 that speaks about the fruit of the Spirit? Because what is that? 42:29.110 --> 42:33.890 That's the characteristics and the attributes of the Holy Spirit. The gifts will come. Don't worry 42:33.890 --> 42:38.870 about that. I'm not against the gifts. I'm all about the gifts. But to me, when I gauge somebody, 42:39.090 --> 42:45.770 like a preacher or somebody, what I'm looking at is character. That's why I always encourage 42:45.770 --> 42:53.430 people. And I say, you want to get to know me? Come, let's hang out. Come learn. If you want to see 42:53.430 --> 42:58.890 Isiah, a man of integrity, come and spend time with me. My wife and I are open. So my father 42:58.890 --> 43:03.970 taught me character over giftings. I thank him for that. He brought me into the ministry. Me 43:03.970 --> 43:07.730 and my wife, Tanya, he brought us into the ministry. He ordained us into the ministry. 43:09.790 --> 43:16.490 And being even just a PK kid, a pastor's kid for many years growing up, I saw the struggles of 43:16.490 --> 43:36.220 ministry. I saw it. I saw people... I saw people backstab my father. I saw people accuse my father. 43:38.800 --> 43:42.500 I was little, so I don't remember it. But I saw, and I've shared this before, 43:42.500 --> 43:49.260 I've seen mafia hire his assistant pastor. I've told this story before. His assistant pastor back in 43:49.260 --> 43:54.160 Ukraine hired mafia to take him out so that the assistant pastor could take his position. 43:56.720 --> 44:01.080 In America, I saw, as my father planted the church here in America, I saw 44:02.220 --> 44:08.800 my father raise up young men, young men and women in the ministry. And people that he 44:08.800 --> 44:13.400 poured in and gave, he gave himself to these people because he saw the anointing of the Lord 44:13.400 --> 44:17.620 and he wanted to, you know, sand down some of the rough edges, make sure that they were following 44:17.620 --> 44:24.620 the straight and narrow path. I saw young people, some left, right, like rightly, because there 44:24.620 --> 44:29.520 is a right way to leave a church. And I saw a lot of people leave very incorrectly. 44:32.040 --> 44:36.060 You see, and behind the scenes as a kid, when you're seeing your father go through this 44:36.060 --> 44:42.940 stuff, it's different. It's different. So when my time came, when the Lord was 44:42.940 --> 44:48.740 wrestling with me for over two years, one of the hardest things for me 44:51.760 --> 44:59.960 to be that person that was going to leave, I said, I don't want to, Lord. And this is all 44:59.960 --> 45:03.940 part of the encounter that I had a few years ago. I said, Lord, I said, I don't want to. 45:06.160 --> 45:10.440 I said, Lord, I've seen my father hurt far too many times. I don't want to do this. It's my dad. 45:10.620 --> 45:14.400 I didn't even care really too much about what my mom thought. I cared about what my father 45:14.400 --> 45:20.740 thought, though I love my mother. But I was concerned. I said, Father, what? I was talking 45:20.740 --> 45:24.720 to the Lord. I said, Father, what is this going to do with the relationship with my dad? 45:26.000 --> 45:29.980 I was worried about all these things that were horizontal. I was worried about all these 45:29.980 --> 45:36.380 things. And one night, as I was with the Lord, at that time we lived in our new hope house. 45:37.520 --> 45:42.680 We had a three story with a walkout basement home. And usually I spent my time with the Lord 45:43.260 --> 45:49.120 in one of our lower levels. My wife was all the way upstairs in our bedroom. And as I was with 45:49.120 --> 45:53.680 the Lord and I'm wrestling with God, I'm talking with him. I'm saying, Lord, I don't want to 45:53.680 --> 46:00.750 do it. And the Lord spoke something to me that broke me. And even to this day, I cry 46:00.750 --> 46:15.000 about it. He said, Son, He said, I've counted you worthy to die for. Would you count me worthy to follow 46:15.000 --> 46:26.660 me? Broke me. It broke me. He said, I counted you worthy to die for. Would you count me worthy 46:26.660 --> 46:32.760 to follow me? Would you do what the Scripture say? If you love your father and mother more 46:32.760 --> 46:36.400 than me, you're not worthy of me. That's the Lord. It's not a pastor. That's what the Lord 46:36.400 --> 46:41.120 writes. That's what the Lord says. He says, you're not worthy of me. 46:44.200 --> 46:48.480 It broke me, but it forever changed me. Because in that level, when the Lord told 46:48.480 --> 46:52.560 that to me, I literally, nobody even prayed for me. I fell flat to my face, 46:52.980 --> 46:56.460 wept like a 12 year old girl that my wife heard me all the way upstairs in our bedroom. 46:57.640 --> 47:07.660 It broke me. You see, if we can catch the revelation of Lord, you counted me worthy to die for. 47:08.360 --> 47:14.940 If we can catch that, I promise you it'll change the gears in your brain and thinking about it 47:14.940 --> 47:23.000 and life and Christianity in a whole other way. If we can allow the Holy Spirit to renew 47:23.000 --> 47:29.620 our minds today. Leaving today, I encourage you to say, Holy Spirit, give me that revelation. 47:29.900 --> 47:37.020 Spirit of revelation and truth, give me that revelation. There's a difference of me talking 47:37.020 --> 47:42.840 and you hearing it and a whole other difference of it becoming revelation. And the word becomes in 47:42.840 --> 47:45.660 you and you begin to actually live it out. There's a difference. 47:48.720 --> 48:00.120 He met me. Why wouldn't he meet you? But see, what that did with me obeying the Lord 48:01.060 --> 48:08.680 after over two years of wrestling with me, this vertical affected the horizontal. 48:10.480 --> 48:13.720 You would ask me right now, how is your relationship with your father better than it 48:13.720 --> 48:19.480 has been? Was it difficult for my parents? Of course it was difficult. 48:21.200 --> 48:25.300 Was it difficult for my siblings? Of course it was difficult. Was it difficult for that house 48:25.300 --> 48:29.620 down in St. Louis Park? Yes, it was difficult. But I was just down there earlier this year 48:29.620 --> 48:36.000 speaking. They're a thriving church who loved the Lord. And the main thing when I was there, 48:36.080 --> 48:39.400 I'm always looking for this when I go to houses of worship. When I was at my father's 48:39.400 --> 48:44.220 church in June, I came there and guess who was there? The presence of God was there. That to me is, 48:44.720 --> 48:51.860 okay, they're on the right track. So what if we caught the revelation? Lord, 48:54.220 --> 48:58.300 I'm worthy enough. You've counted me worthy enough to die for. 49:02.430 --> 49:06.770 Let me read the definition here of the word lowliness. Man, I'm going to have to tell 49:06.770 --> 49:09.010 Pastor, I'm going to need a few more Sundays to get through this series. 49:11.810 --> 49:13.810 This is what the Greek definition of it is. 49:15.910 --> 49:22.490 This virtue, a fruit of the gospel exists. Let me pause there for a second. 49:25.950 --> 49:28.550 You cannot... Can you give me another napkin, please? 49:29.410 --> 49:34.250 You cannot have an internal state of lowliness of mind 49:34.250 --> 49:46.020 if you don't read your Bible, the gospel. It's this word right here 49:47.880 --> 49:52.280 that then produces a lowliness of mind. 49:55.000 --> 49:59.160 It's this thing right here that causes us to make decisions 49:59.160 --> 50:05.420 and change things in our life that end up producing the fruit of lowliness of mind. 50:08.380 --> 50:17.820 The fruit, listen, a fruit, it refers to the lowliness as a fruit of the gospel exists 50:18.400 --> 50:24.920 when a person, me and you, most genuinely... This is what Sarah was talking about today. 50:26.000 --> 50:28.120 Okay? Listen, this is what Sarah is talking about today. 50:29.280 --> 50:33.260 You wrote that in... Excuse me, you wrote that in January, right? 50:34.640 --> 50:38.100 She came up to me last Sunday and she goes, I got to talk to you. 50:38.620 --> 50:42.580 I was like, what is it? What is it? She goes, look, and she read me that and I said, 50:42.600 --> 50:47.600 next Sunday you're preaching. And there she was. She gave her seven-minute sermon. Good job, Sarah. 50:48.080 --> 50:52.720 That was your beginning. That was your beginning. Do you hear me? I said, that was your beginning. 50:54.120 --> 50:56.180 Let me say that again. That was your beginning. 50:59.040 --> 51:06.760 The virtue, a fruit of the gospel exists when a person through most genuine self-evaluation, 51:07.120 --> 51:12.380 looking at themselves genuinely. You're not looking at, oh, their journey or his or her journey. 51:12.480 --> 51:16.540 You're looking at yourself through the eyes of the Holy Spirit. Try to do that. 51:16.880 --> 51:19.300 Because if you're going to look at yourself through your flesh, you're not going to be 51:19.300 --> 51:25.540 going to be like, dude, wow. But let the Holy Spirit light you up so that you can see yourself 51:25.540 --> 51:29.840 through his eyes. And sometimes even your own. They can do that sometimes. 51:30.980 --> 51:40.000 Deems himself worthless. It involves evaluating ourselves as small because we are so. 51:41.200 --> 51:49.000 The humble person is not stressing his sinfulness, but his creaturelessness of absolute dependence 51:49.880 --> 51:54.620 on possessing nothing and of receiving all things through God. See, that's interesting. 51:55.540 --> 51:59.600 That to me is interesting. And I'll get into this as the series go. 52:00.240 --> 52:14.670 But lowliness of mind actually produces rest. I said lowliness of mind actually produces 52:14.670 --> 52:18.470 rest for the soul, for the spirit, for the mind, for the heart. 52:20.750 --> 52:27.870 That's what lowliness of mind is. It produces a rest that our world cannot give us. 52:28.830 --> 52:35.510 Because according to what he says here, the definition of it is the humble person. In other 52:35.510 --> 52:41.950 words, a lowly person. They're not stressing about their sinfulness. Oh, I'm such a sinner. 52:42.270 --> 52:46.890 I sin here. I sin there. They're not worried about it. They already know that. They already 52:46.890 --> 52:52.790 know that they're worthless. But they are looking at their creaturelessness, meaning that I am, 52:52.790 --> 52:58.730 I have been created by somebody. Somebody made me. Somebody breathed life into me. 52:59.090 --> 53:04.550 Somebody gave me a destiny. His name is God. His name is Jesus. So they're looking at him 53:04.550 --> 53:10.670 with full dependence. Yes, I know I'm a sinner. I know I'm a sinner. But I know that my God died 53:10.670 --> 53:16.610 for me. Yes, I know that I have areas in my life that I have to work on, that I have to 53:16.610 --> 53:21.390 die for. Yes, God is wrestling with me on it. But I know that my God died for me, 53:21.390 --> 53:26.190 and he counted me worthy. That's a person that's lowly in mind. And when you're in this place, 53:26.470 --> 53:31.790 when you're thinking about it here, you're actually resting because the Holy Spirit, 53:32.030 --> 53:38.530 He will deal with all this stuff right here. He'll deal with the sin in your life. He'll 53:38.530 --> 53:43.530 deal with this. He'll deal with the shortcomings. He'll deal with the drinking problem. He'll 53:43.530 --> 53:48.310 deal with the smoking problem. He'll deal with your pornography addiction. He'll deal with 53:48.310 --> 53:53.430 all these things. But what He's trying to get you to is to this place. God, I'm worthless. 53:55.290 --> 54:01.390 I can defeat that without you, God. I'm worthless. I have struggles, Lord. 54:03.170 --> 54:10.170 When we're here, He'll deal with that. He'll deal with the marriage. He'll deal with your kids. 54:12.750 --> 54:19.330 Where He's trying to bring us to is to a place of lowliness of mind. This is as a house as individuals 54:19.330 --> 54:26.070 and as corporate. He's trying to bring us to a state of where we're a church out in Princeton. 54:26.290 --> 54:30.750 We're in the middle of nowhere, Lord. We're worthless, God. If you don't show up here, 54:30.850 --> 54:39.330 God, we're worthless. I don't want to have church service without Him. 54:41.970 --> 54:46.950 I don't want to have church service without God. I don't want to have church service without the 54:46.950 --> 54:54.990 Holy Spirit. I don't want to do life without Him. I've been there. I've been there. 54:57.430 --> 55:03.910 I've been in a place of where I've worked for things. Trying to see God. Can you notice me, 55:03.910 --> 55:13.940 Lord? Do you see me, God? I want to be a house that's found lowly. 55:17.130 --> 55:21.390 I want to be a house that's found and known for the message of the cross. And this is the 55:21.390 --> 55:26.090 message of the cross. Did you know that tithing is the message of the cross? Did you know that? 55:27.430 --> 55:31.990 You say how? If you really look at tithing, Pastor covered it. It's all about love. 55:33.570 --> 55:36.510 Tithing is all about love. That's how it's part of the message of the cross. 55:36.510 --> 55:41.670 The message of the cross is love. The message of the cross is death. The message of the cross 55:41.670 --> 55:48.750 is our worthlessness and His worthiness. That's all the message of the cross. That's what the 55:48.750 --> 55:54.410 Apostle Paul says. He says, I have known nothing among you, but Christ and Him crucified. 55:58.080 --> 56:03.200 He didn't come with eloquent speech. He came preaching the gospel. The message of the cross. 56:05.560 --> 56:14.140 I was telling a friend this week. I said, the message of the cross has become a back row seat 56:14.140 --> 56:20.300 in many churches. We're coming in on here. Stick with me. The message of the cross has 56:20.300 --> 56:26.200 become a back row seat now in churches. And what's on the front row. Now again, hear 56:26.200 --> 56:30.140 me correctly here. We have pastors, preachers and leaders preaching morals. 56:33.400 --> 56:37.980 And you say, well, that's not bad. It's not. But the message of the cross should always, 56:38.120 --> 56:43.220 I said always, I said always be priority and first in churches. 56:47.100 --> 56:51.920 Just do me a favor. Ask a pastor. Any pastor. You could be out somewhere. You could be talking 56:51.920 --> 56:56.280 to a Christian. Ask any Christian. If you remove the message of the cross or if you remove 56:56.280 --> 57:06.090 the cross, what do you have to your faith? Nothing. Ask any Christian that. And if they 57:06.090 --> 57:15.010 give you a different answer, I don't know if they're even saved. Morals are good. Righteousness. 57:15.130 --> 57:19.010 All this stuff is good. But it should never be in front of the message of the cross. 57:19.010 --> 57:25.130 Should always be front row in our churches where we're preaching Christ and Him crucified. Always.