To say I'm excited to get into these series, it's probably not the best word that I would describe.
It's a really good series.
I'd say the feeling that I have inside going into this series is, yes, I definitely feel the leadership of the Lord
in going into what we're going to be talking about for the next few Sundays.
And the way it's going to go is I actually want to break down the series.
The name of the series is going to be Lowliness of Mind.
And oftentimes, just quick right out of the gate, people think, well, that's just being humble.
It's far more, far more.
And we'll get into that as these, as the Sundays unravel.
But as I'm getting into these series, I sense the leadership of the Lord on this, most definitely I do.
But the feeling I have inside, it's like I'm swimming against the current.
Honestly.
And I'm not saying that you guys are the current.
I'm not saying that somebody, an individual, is the current.
When I say I feel like I'm swimming against the current, it's literally against our culture.
And not just our culture and society outside the walls of the church, but literally even within the walls of the church.
What Lowliness of Mind is, is literally against what has been preached and taught in churches for the last, I don't know, over a decade, I'd say.
Which has produced some things and has brought some fruit.
That from the outside, you ever held an apple and it looks good from the outside and then you bite into it and you're like, oh man, it's rotted.
That's what I really do believe. There's churches that are producing fruit.
But on the outside, they look good. But as soon as you bite into it, you're like snap, there's a worm in there and it looks nasty.
So getting into these series, I do feel the leadership of the Lord. I say that again and you'll probably hear me say that more and more.
But I really sense that I'm swimming against the current.
Just because some of the things that I'm going to say and some of the things that the scriptures will talk about and the perspectives that I will give as the series go,
it's going to challenge a lot of you. And I say that because it's challenged me. Genuinely, it's challenged me.
To be lowly in mind is not something that comes very natural to us. It doesn't.
Being that we are of a sinful nature, yes, bought at the price of Jesus, but our flesh, it's of a sinful nature.
So to be lowly in mind is not something that just comes to us naturally.
It's actually something that we have to learn to live by and to learn to possess this character.
And I'll get into it more as we're going to be unraveling these series.
If you have your Bibles, open up to Philippians chapter two.
I'm not hearing a lot of ruffling of paper. I encourage you just real quick.
I'm not telling you you have to. I'm not telling you you have to.
But I encourage you to get a physical Bible. I really do.
And if you can't afford one, thank you. Thank you, Tim.
And if you can't afford one, friends, we have them at our church.
I'd be more than happy to give you a Bible for free.
But I encourage you to have a physical Bible. I honestly, I miss hearing the ruffles of pages
when you say, hey, open up to this and all of a sudden all you hear is...
That's all you're hearing. I really do miss that.
Do you guys have your physical Bible or even if you have your electronic Bible?
If you have it open, can you say amen so I know?
Amen.
All right. Let us pray before we get into it.
And now we'll get to reading this.
So Father, we thank you. Father, we thank you for your Word.
We thank you that it is true, that it is alive, that it is sharper than a double-edged sword.
We thank you, Lord, that it is your Word that measures us, Lord.
And we measure ourselves to your Word, Lord.
We thank you for it, God. We thank you that your Word is a lamp unto our feet.
We thank you that your Word is an exhortation, an encouragement.
It is a building up. It is an edification unto us, Lord.
And Holy Spirit, I'm asking you this morning that as the Word is being preached
and taught, Lord, that you, Holy Spirit, would drill this into us.
That you would sear it into our hearts. That you would sear it into our minds.
Lord, I know that my speech can only go so far.
But you, Holy Spirit, can minister to the depths of our inner man.
And I pray that you would do that in us this morning.
And as these series unravel and go forward.
We thank you, Jesus. We love you.
And may you be glorified in this. In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Philippians, I was going to say second Philippians. See, it's Philippians 2.
What would happen if I said, hey, guys, open up the second Philippians?
How many of you would actually go and look for that?
There was a pastor one time who said, open up to the second book of Jude.
And you could just hear everybody trying to look for it, look for it, look for it.
And the pastor standing there watching, watching, he goes, friends,
there is no second chapter in the book of Jude.
So I just thought I'd say that.
So anywho, Philippians chapter 2.
This scripture right here from verse 1, all the way to verse 11.
This is literally the foundational...
You can put that up on the screen, Philippians 2 verse 1.
This is literally the scripture.
All these 11 verses are literally the foundation of these series.
And we'll be unpacking these verses as the series goes forward.
But this is literally the foundation of this series.
Lowliness of mind.
This right here actually describes it in so many different ways.
The apostle Paul describes it.
And then he even goes later on starting at about verse 5.
He even goes on to talk about Jesus and how Jesus was lowly in mind.
And I plan as the Lord leads and as the Lord has been leading me.
As the series unfolds, I actually plan towards the end of the series.
I actually want us together to walk through the life of Jesus.
Through the scriptures.
I'm literally going to be walking through the life of Jesus in this series.
It's going to be a little bit later in this series.
But I'm literally going to be walking through the life of Jesus from the way that Jesus came into the world.
A God that is now incarnated.
Meaning that a God that created the universe now stepped into flesh and walked into his own creation.
We're going to be talking about that.
And then I'm literally going to be walking and showing you how lowliness of mind
is literally what led the Lord throughout his whole life.
Let me give you a little bit of a sneak peek.
In the little that we know about Jesus in his teen years.
In his preteen and even teen years.
The little that the scripture tells us.
You're going to be mind blown that in that little that we know about it.
You will find lowliness of mind in Jesus.
Everything that the authors, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Wanted to talk about the teen years.
The very little that they probably even knew.
They chose to talk about the lowliness of Jesus.
The lowliness of mind of our Lord.
So we're going to be walking through that.
So let's start here at verse one.
And I'm not going to be so much unpacking verse by verse today.
But I want to read these 11 verses to kind of lay the foundation.
I want to lay the groundwork today.
Verse one it says,
Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ.
If any comfort of love.
If any fellowship of the spirit.
How many of you fellowship with the Holy Spirit in this place?
So I'm talking to the right people, right?
Okay.
So if any fellowship of the spirit.
If any affection and mercy.
How many of you are affection towards your spouse?
Just Dean is.
Wow. Tracy. God bless you Tracy.
That is amazing.
Dean is the only one that shows affection to his wife.
Come on.
We got to do a marriage conference or something.
That's right man.
I'm going to have you speak Dean.
If there is any...
See now I lost my spot.
If there is any affection and mercy.
Fulfill my joy by being like-minded.
Having the same love.
Being of one accord.
Of one mind.
Verse three.
Let nothing be done.
Through selfish ambition or con...
Is that conceit?
Thank you. See my English.
Working on it.
But in lowliness of mind.
Let me read that again without butchering that word.
Let nothing be done.
Through selfish ambition or conceit.
But in lowliness of mind.
Let each esteem others better than himself.
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests.
But also for the interests of others.
Just want to pause there real quick before I get into verse five.
Do you see what I mean when I say swimming against the current?
Do you see what I mean?
When I say this is literally swimming against the current.
And the culture and the society that we are living in.
If you look at all the influencers.
The people that are quote-unquote influencers.
Whether they're on YouTube or different platforms.
Everybody tells you love yourself.
Do for yourself.
Get better.
Da da da da.
It's all these things.
So then you get into Philippians two.
And you start reading this.
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests.
But for the interests of others.
That's literally against the current.
Against culture.
Against society.
And here's the truth.
Is that a lot of that has actually bled into the church.
It has.
You know, we think...
We think that sometimes we do something bettering somebody.
But deep in our hearts we're doing that thing.
Because it promotes us.
You see, false humility has a way of hiding itself.
It does have a way of hiding itself.
We do something.
Serving somebody else.
But yet deep in our hearts we're doing it.
Because it promotes us.
You see what I'm talking about?
It's bled into the church.
It's bled into the people of God.
It's bled into our hearts.
It's bled into our characters.
It's bled into our principles.
The way that we even do life.
What if we did something for somebody.
Without literally deep in our hearts.
Saying, even if I get nothing, I'm still going to do it.
Even if it hurts me to do this, I'm still going to do it.
See, that's what lowliness of mind is though.
That's what it means to go low.
To be low or to be of a lowly mind.
Or to have a lowliness of mind to live in that.
Is to literally go and be unpromoted.
Be unrecognized even sometimes.
It's not let's build myself up.
Let me see what I can do so that pastor can notice me.
Let me see what I can do so that people can talk better about me.
But lowliness is even if I do this.
And there's absolutely of no benefit to me.
I'm still going to do it.
Amen.
You see, I want to get into like the meat of the messes.
But let me just give you a sneak peek.
It's Jesus.
Washing the feet of Judas.
Yet knowing this man already has betrayed him in his heart.
Knowing there's actually no benefit for the Lord of doing this.
Jesus could have actually came up and he could have walked away from Judas.
And washed the eleven and not washed his feet.
But then that would contradict the scriptures of who the Lord is.
And the Lord is lowly.
So false humility actually has a way of hiding itself.
The apple looks really good from the outside.
It looks fantastic.
It's ripe.
It's beautiful.
It smells.
But you bite into that apple and you realize,
my God, there's a worm in there.
That's disgusting.
You with me still?
Verse 5.
You see what I'm talking about swimming against the current?
Verse 5.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
So the apostle Paul is encouraging us.
He's saying, listen, be of a lowly mind
because our Lord Jesus was of a lowly mind.
He's encouraging us.
Have the same thinking.
Not the external but the internal.
Not the external appearance of lowliness
which then actually is false humility
but the internal appearance of lowliness
which is true, pure and holy.
You still with me?
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
Verse 6.
Who being in the form of God
did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.
But made himself.
Who made Jesus?
Did somebody force Jesus to be lowly?
No, it says he made himself to be lowly.
It's a great example for us.
Verse 7.
But made himself of no reputation.
That talks about lowliness.
Taking the form of a bondservant
and coming in the likeness of man.
Just for a second.
I'm trying not to get into the meat of this whole series.
I'm just trying to lay some groundwork today.
But just for a second.
Just think about it.
Let me read that again and just think about this
because I literally every time I read this I pause
and I try to think about this
and let the Holy Spirit minister this to my heart even deeper.
But listen.
Verse 7.
But made himself of no reputation.
Taking the form of a bondservant
and coming in the likeness of men.
We're talking about a God.
We're talking about the one that's the Genesis 1 God.
That literally spoke and made all things.
We're talking about he was there with the Father and the Spirit.
He was there creating everything.
Now this God makes himself.
He is a God.
Makes himself of no reputation.
And then actually steps into the thing that he created.
Literally steps into his very creation.
You can sit on that for years friends.
Literally I could say amen I could shut the Bible
and you can sit on that for years.
We often times I feel like our brains can't fathom
some of these things, these mysteries.
It's like we read it and we skim through it
and we're like oh wow that's so good of you Jesus.
But it's like pause.
I don't think you're catching what the Apostle Paul is writing here.
The God that made all things then decides to
I'm going to step into that thing that I made.
And be of no reputation.
I'm not even going to seek for glory.
I'm not even going to seek, I'm going to go there to serve them.
I'm actually going to go there to die
and even die on the cross for them.
See now that's against culture.
See now that's against society.
See now that's against even some of the pastors
and the things that pastors and preachers will teach and speak on.
Verse 8.
And being found in the appearance as a man
so the Apostle Paul testifies hey there's a
an account, a multitude of witnesses
that have actually seen this God man Jesus
in the flesh, the incarnated God.
That's what he's saying there.
And humbled himself and became obedient
to the point of death and even death on the cross.
Now we're going to touch that more as the series go forward
but he wasn't just obedient to the point of death
but when the Apostle Paul is emphasizing
even to the death even on the cross
there is a reason why the Apostle Paul is emphasizing that
and I'm not going to get into it right now but I just want to
I'm just laying some groundwork here.
It's like I'm feeding you some treats
like hey you're trying to train a dog
you're not a dog that's a really bad analogy.
Let me step back real quick.
That wasn't a good analogy.
It's like it's trying to intrigue somebody
with something and say hey
come and hear the rest of the message of lowliness
because there is a lot of stuff here.
If I gave you the meat right here and right now
some of you probably wouldn't even show up the next few Sundays
you're like yo I'm going to set out this series
go ahead pastor I'm just going to set out some of these series
but that was a really bad analogy.
Lord forgive me.
Verse 9. Let's carry on.
Verse 9.
Therefore God also
has highly exalted him
and given him the name which is above every other
which is above every name
we're going to touch verse 9 in this series as well
of where
where the full exaltation came of Christ
am I going to touch it now I'm just giving you again
sneak peeks of some of the things that we're going to be touching
so verse 9. Therefore God
also has highly exalted him
and given him the name
which is above every name
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow
of those in heaven and those on earth
and those under the earth
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father
amen. If you agree with me can you say amen.
So again that's the foundational
scripture through these series that we're going to be walking through.
Now I felt right as I was
preparing for these series as I was in the study
I felt right that as I'm laying the groundwork
I asked myself these questions and I'm going to ask them
publicly and we're going to kind of go through them
but it's like I felt the Lord
lead me to start the series in this way is
asking myself and then yet answering the questions of
why are we getting into these series
what's the purpose of it
how is it going to look like
where is it going to take place
and when is it going to take place
I want to go through those with you so the first question I have written down is
Why the why for these series? Here's the why. I believe, and you guys have probably heard me
say this before, if you've been to this church for some time, and you've been here since my
wife and I have come. I believe that lowliness of mind, and you'll understand why I believe
that as the series go, I believe that lowliness of mind is actually the blueprint of the end
time revival. I do believe that. I believe that a church that is low will actually understand
that that is the blueprint to the great outpour that we are all anticipating, waiting for,
praying for on and so forth. Because if you actually pay attention to the previous moves
of God, whether you read them in the scriptures, you know, the early church, whether you
read them just through church history, you will actually see this pattern of where lowliness
of mind precedes the outpour. There's actually a saying, and I didn't know this, but as
I was studying it, I began to see it in different places. Mark Anderson, how many of
you know Mark Anderson? So, he's familiar to this house. Mark Anderson wrote a book,
I believe it's called Humility. And in his book, he wrote it in a different way.
He used, I should say, different verbiage, but it's in the same context where he writes,
and he says that humility literally precedes the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. So lowliness
of mind is more than just humility. And we'll see how much time is for me or against me
today. I'll show you that lowliness of mind is more than just humility. So I believe
that lowliness of mind is literally the blueprint. Now, when I say blueprint, think
of it this way. It's the actual physical paper, and everything that's within it
describes how to build the house. Does that make sense? So lowliness of mind is
that blueprint that we're looking at, and everything that's within lowliness of
mind is literally, it gives us the understanding, the instructions, the
characteristic, the principles, different things, and even the house of the
whole... of how the outpouring is to be. Now, is there some details there
that are still a mystery? Most definitely there is. You know, when I... when I think
about or when I talk to the Lord about the end time revival and the great
outpouring, has there been things that the Lord has given me of how things are
to be, and what are important, what are not? Yes, he has, but there is details
that are just still a mystery. You know what I mean? And the Lord just keeps
it this way. I think I've shared this here before, but a man of God once
said it this way. He had... it was a vision or a dream that he had. I can't
remember, but he said in this vision and dream, they were like on a school bus
or something, and the school bus was like crazy driving like through the mountains
and on the edges and all this stuff. And people that were in the bus, I think
it was a dream that this guy had. And when he was in the bus, he didn't
know who was driving this bus. And he's like, this bus driver is crazy.
Like he's flying where you should not be flying and taking sharp turns,
where you should not be taking sharp turns. Long story short, when the
bus came to a stop, the person that turned around, the driver of the bus,
turned around and it was actually Jesus driving the bus like that. And the man
actually from there, the man said, if Jesus was to open up his playbook,
the full playbook, and if he laid it out in front of pastors, leaders, evangelists,
apostles, if Jesus showed us his full playbook, like right here, right now,
he says, I believe nobody would sign up for it. He said, I believe nobody
would sign up for the plays that Jesus had there. Blitz 42 and Hail Mary and all
that stuff. So the why to these series is because I believe that lowliness of
mind is the blueprint of the end time revival. And it's on the forefront.
It precedes the outpour. Humility precedes the outpour. Now the what?
The what to these series is, I asked myself the question, I said, Lord,
what is the purpose of this? What's the purpose, Lord, of us to go through it
now? And the purpose of it is for us to be prepared and to produce both the
character and live by the principles of lowliness of mind. So the purpose of
why we're going through it right now as a house, as a church is to
prepare us. And I will just quickly underline this, just a little bit in
there. As the Lord leads, but I can see myself
re-speaking this series some years down the road. Maybe not years, maybe
months, I don't know. I do see us hitting the series again as time
progresses, as the church grows, as the Lord begins to make things
clear and know. I honestly do see myself hitting this series again to
possibly even take, for us that are already sitting here, to possibly even
take us deeper and to abide and to live by the character and by the
principle of lowliness of mind. The how for this series is, how is this
going to be? I'll start here. How is the characteristic or the principle or
even us receiving this is by us being real with ourselves? I think that's
the how. How are we going to see this? How is this series going to produce
anything in us? It literally starts with us being real with ourselves. It
starts with us admitting certain things. I'm not saying you got to come
up to somebody and admit something to somebody. I'm talking about
admitting and confessing to the Lord of some things that maybe you've
been holding back and not have been confessing and thinking that you're
right in. Tanya, my wife this morning was leading prayer and she said
something that was so profound. She said, Lord, we want you to come and
wrestle us with the things that we are not yet willing to give up, wrestle
us with that Lord. And she was speaking from the story of Jacob
wrestling the Lord. If you missed it this morning, I highly encourage
you to watch what she spoke about. So the how is being real with
ourselves and when we're real with ourselves allowing the Holy Spirit
to work in us. You know, it's one thing when we say Lord, work with us or
you know, do what you want to do Lord. It's a whole other thing is when
we're being real and then we're saying Lord, come and work with us
because we're being real. Amen? It's realizing, I'm hoping the
Lord gives you this as he has given it to me. It's realizing the
importance of lowliness of mind and seeing the things of God come
forth both in our lives as individuals and corporately. So this,
this will be produced, the how in this, it'll be produced in us as
individuals and this will be produced in us as a corporate
house. It's a twofold. It is a twofold. If we allow the Lord,
if we are real with ourselves and we allow the Lord by his spirit
to work this in us as an individual, I promise you it'll
play an effect corporately. It will. That's just how God does it.
The, the win, now. Honestly, like I asked the question, I said
Lord, I said win. And he just brought me to that scripture
where he said, the day of salvation is to date. Other
translations say now is the day of salvation. So I truly do
believe that God wants to produce this in a, in us now. And
here's why. I've learned something with the kingdom of God.
I've learned a lot of things, but here's something that applies
to what I'm saying. I've learned something with the
kingdom of God, that the urgent hour in the kingdom of
God is before the event happens. Let me give you a
little bit more context. Oftentimes we as a society, as a
people, a state, a country, a nation, whatever, we are
always reactive to a situation where God is actually, if
you read the scriptures, God is always proactive to
situations. God actually always forewarned the
prophets before things happened. He was talking
about Jesus, the Messiah in the Old Testament. I kid
you not, you can read the Old Testament out of every
book in the Old Testament, you can read, and you can
literally find the scriptures talking about one
person. And his name is Jesus. Genesis 3 is one of
the first mentions of the Lord. Read it. I'm not
going to tell you what it says. Find it in Genesis
3. Literally. It's one of the first scriptures that
talk about the Lord. So God is always proactive,
meaning that the urgent hour in the kingdom of God is
before the event happens. And a lot of the times
people struggle with that. Because they say, well,
prophets and pastors and evangelists are saying
these things, but we're actually not seeing them
come. It's like, well, why isn't it happening?
Where is the great falling away? Where is all
these things? But we need to understand God. We
are in time. We are in time. God is not in time.
So he is actually telling us, hey, the urgent hour is
now because in a blank amount of time, this is
going to happen. Because he wants us, as as
bright as his people, to be proactive. So we're
not reacting to the thing that happened, but
we're coming in it with faith, with grace, with
stillness, with reassurance, with steadfastness.
It's all these things that God actually wants us
to walk into every situation. And I don't know
about you, but when you read the scriptures,
things are going to get ugly. Things are
going to get ugly. If you lived in the
Soviet Union, there was a glimpse of what
they experienced in the Soviet Union. The
stories my dad tells me, it's a glimpse
of what the scriptures tell us the end
times are going to be. And I'm not saying
this as doomsday, because right away
people are like, oh, he's a doomsday
preacher. I'm not a doomsday preacher.
I'm reassured that I'm going to be in
safety. Why? Because of Psalm 91.
He who abides under the shadow of the
Almighty. Now, quick thing. You can't
claim the rest of the verses in Psalm 91
unless you're living out verse 1.
Did you hear me? I said you can't
claim the rest of the verses in Psalm
91 unless you are actually abiding
under the shadow of the Almighty.
People are so quick to make claims of the
different verses, and a thousand will
fall, and ten thousand will fall, and
then they fall, and we're like,
well, they were claiming Psalm 91, but
were they actually living under the
shadow of the Almighty?
So God is preparing us now for what's
ahead, so that we would understand how
important it is for us to walk in
lowliness of mind, to go low, to
submit, to serve, to die to self.
All these things and many more fall
under the camp, where I should say under
the blueprint of lowliness of mind.
All these things, and God is preparing
us now saying, listen, now is the
urgent hour. That's what he says.
He says, today is the day of salvation.
Well, Lord, I got a week next Sunday,
God, because this Friday I got this
party that I'm going to, Lord. It's
going to be wild, God. It's going to
be cool. It's going to be legit.
Not realizing that the Bible actually
find me one scripture in the Bible,
please do, that promises you tomorrow.
So that's what he says today is the
day of salvation. Be ready today to go
low. Be ready today to be lowly.
Be ready today to be of a lowly mind.
Be ready today to obtain the
characteristic, to possess the
characteristic of lowliness of mind,
to live by the principle of lowliness
of mind. This is the win. When do we
do this? Now, we learn today. We leave
these doors with a decision that we've
made in our heart. I'm doing it today,
Lord. I want to learn today. Speak to
me on it. Show me how important this
is. It's one thing that my pastor says
it. You, God, show me. Seer it in my
heart. Let me understand how
important it is for me to be
lowly. My words can only go so far.
The things that I teach you can
only go so far, but if the Lord
can convince you, it'll be totally
different. It'll be totally different.
And I pray that he does that. I truly
pray that he does that. As he has
done it in me, I'm asking that he
would do it in you as well.
The where to the series.
It is similar to the how, but the
where it is in us as individuals first
and then corporately, our corporate
gatherings, our church services.
That means the where it's in my heart.
Lord, where is this lowliness of mind?
Where is it supposed to affect me? Where
is it supposed to change me?
Where is it supposed to transform me?
It's in my mind. It's in my heart. And
it's in my spirit.
Sneak peek. Lowliness of mind.
Okay, listen to this. Lowliness of
mind has very little to do with
your external appearance.
Let me say that again. Lowliness of mind
has very little to do with your external
appearance, but has much. And when I say
much, I'm talking about very, very much
has a lot to do with your inner
appearance, your inner man.
I have friends, close friends, people
that I know personally that are very,
very wealthy, very wealthy. Yet these
people are some of the most
lowliest people I ever know.
Living a life of lowliness actually has
very little, if not none, to do with
the things that you wear, the cars
that you drive, and the type of house
that you live in. Because these people
that I know, there's a gentleman
that I know personally, that I do know
personally, has the biggest
sheetrock company in Minnesota. It's
called APV sheetrock. Some of you have
probably seen their trucks. I know this
man personally. I've sat over the table
with him. I've broke bread with him. I
know him personally. This man is
wealthy beyond my even imagination,
wealthy beyond my imagination. But
this is one of the most lowliest
men that I know. If you saw him
and the cars that you drive, you'd
say, oh man, that guy's prideful. He drives
the Mercedes Benz and it's an AMG. Did
you see that? But that's what we do
though. That's literally what we do.
When I see people drive nice cars, and
maybe because I like nice cars, I'm
like, man, that's a sweet ride, man.
Where'd you get it, you know? But the
clothes that we wear, the cars that
we drive, the houses that we live
in, has very little to do with
being lowly. There was one time,
this was some time ago, I went with a
close friend of mine
out of state to purchase a vehicle. And
this close friend of mine, he's very
wealthy. And him and I went to
to purchase a vehicle that I have
dreamt about for years. And I finally
saved up enough money and I went and
I bought it. And this friend flew
there with me. And if you saw this
guy in the street, you'd be like, oh,
he's just your typical country folk,
you know what I mean? He's got his
Levi's on, he's got his plaid shirt,
he's just chilling, you know, he's
just walking. And me and him, we
flew down to Texas to pick up this
car. And in that in that dealership, as
I was working with that dealership, there
was a really nice car there. Really
nice car. Does anybody know what a
Rolls Royce is? Okay, very nice car. Now
this man is to that wealth that he
could have bought that car for cash.
He literally could have. And as he's
talking to the salespeople, and he
seriously is wanting to buy it,
I'm just standing on the side as I'm
working and do my paperwork with the
other sales guy. He's talking to
another sales guy, and he's truly
inquiring. He's like, hey, he's like, you
know, how much is this going for? So
they're telling him the price and he
goes, what if I write you a check
right now for cash? Can you give me a
discount? And do you know what they
did? They laughed at him. And I'm
standing here and I'm laughing because
I'm thinking only if you knew who
that is right there. That man can
buy that car for cash and you're
laughing at him. But this man that
I'm describing to you is one of the
most lowliest people that I know.
But yet he's got wealth and he's
prosperous, but he's lowly. And you
would never even know. You literally
would never even know if you met this
man. I have another story. I'm just
giving you some examples here. There
was a pastor or a minister, I don't
remember exactly what position he
held, but he was within the church
of a leader. And this is what a lot
of people think lowliness is. Is
this this man that I'm talking about
a new man, not the guy that I was
just talking about, this other pastor
leader guy. He thought that lowliness
was of the external appearance. So do
you know what he did? He went and he
bought a brand new car from a
dealership, brand new car. Brought it
home and spray painted it. Do you know
why? Because he said, I don't want
people thinking that I'm high, mighty
and proud. I'm like, is that not
false humility? You're trying to show
yourself, you just bought a new car.
Praise God, I want to be excited
with you. This man bought the car,
brought it home, spray painted it
with one of those cans you probably
get at like your, you know, nearby
Ace Hardware or something. Just so
that people would think that he is
humble, that he is lowly, that he walks
in humility. To me, I'm like, my friend,
you're, you're missing it. You're
missing it.
Something that my wife and I heard
that her and I disagreed with. And I,
and I'm just sharing with you all
these stories to, to really have you
understand that lowliness of mind
is of little when it comes to our
external, but very much so when it
comes to our internal. And something
that my wife and I heard when we got
into the ministry, this is some years
ago, is somebody told us, they said,
well Igor, you can't have your nice
suits anymore, you can't have your
nice cars anymore, you can't have your
nice house anymore, you're a pastor
now, you have to be an example to
the sheep and this and that. And I
looked at this person and I said,
man, that's strange, because I don't
agree with that.
Where is, here's a question for you,
just to challenge your minds.
Where is the level of poverty that we
have to come to to be considered to
be called holy?
Did you catch that?
To what degree of poverty do we have
to come to for people to say, oh now
he's holy, or now she's holy?
We have a mentality thinking that
if a person has less, or if they're
not driving the fancy cars, then
they're probably more holy.
What if that person is still holy, but
they just like cars?
What if that person is still holy, but
they have the capability and the
ability to build themselves a house
that's big?
Lowliness of mind is our internal
state, it's the way we think, that's
why it says lowliness of mind, it
doesn't say lowliness of your exterior
appearance.
Lowliness of mind, it's the internal,
it's the way I think, it's my heart
posture, it's my soul, it's my spirit,
it's the way I approach things, it's the
way I go about things.
Because you can be lowly in your
external appearance, you can go to
Goodwill, and I have nothing against
Goodwill. Goodwill's got some good
clothes.
You can go to Goodwill and buy
yourself some cheap pants, but serving
somebody, not realizing you're
serving them and self-promoting
yourself inside.
It's the apple that looks good and
right from the exterior, but you
bite into it and you realize
my God, there's worms in there.
Lowliness of mind has very little to do
with the external appearance.
Now the fruit, let me just quickly say
this, now the fruit that lowliness
of mind actually produces
is people that are lowly in mind
can care less about the materialistic
things.
They can care less about them.
If God says I want you to sell the
car,
okay Lord, I'll sell it.
If God says I want you to donate the
house, okay God, I'll donate it.
See, that's what lowliness of mind does.
It's the internal, it's the
characteristic of lowliness of mind
in us that produces us to do things
like that.
You still with me? I haven't lost you yet?
Okay, oh man.
Is this good so far though? You guys
catching what I'm saying?
I got you thinking?
You see what I mean by swimming against
the current?
Okay, let me try to hit this. Time is
against me today.
What is lowliness? So in the, in the
Greek, and I'm probably butchering
this in the Greek, but that's okay
because I can barely speak English too,
but in the Greek the word is
tapinorus. I'm kind of breaking, I
have it literally broken down here
in my notes.
Tapinorus, and I'm probably butchering
that.
But let me read this, and this is
probably where we will pause for
today. But let me read the
definition and the explanation of
what lowliness of mine in the Greek.
This is, this is incredible, and I'm
going to be touching this as the
series go. I'm going to be literally
reverting back to this a lot because
this is, this really gives us an
understanding of what lowliness is.
So the definition of it is this
virtue, so it refers to it as being
a virtue. Does somebody know what a
virtue is? Who knows what a virtue is?
Raise your hand if you know what a
virtue is.
Somebody, Sally, do you know what a
virtue is?
Well, that's okay. Tell me what you
think, tell me what you think.
I think it's a, it's a quality.
First of all, it's a, it's not
judging. It's, it's, I don't know.
Tell me. I think, I think you got it.
No, this is, this is not like a
quiz question. I'm just asking.
Does anybody else know what a
virtue is? You know what a virtue is?
Oh, are you okay? I wasn't sure. You know
what a virtue is?
Hold on a second. Hold on a second.
It's a character quality. Okay, good.
Good, good, good. That's what Sally
said. I'm just making sure you know.
The Bible says in the account of one
or two witnesses let it be. So one,
two.
So lowliness, this virtue, a fruit
of the gospel exists.
When a person through most genuine
self-evaluation deems himself
worthless. Pause.
It's a fruit of the gospel.
When a person most, through most
genuine self-evaluation deems
himself worthless.
Let me pause there for a second.
I was talking to my wife about this
this week as I was getting ready for
today's message. And I told her... I said
so much, I said, is this a...
I said, is this a hard statement for me
to make? And I made the statement and
she goes, it's scriptural. And I said,
okay, so I'm not crazy.
This is the statement I made to my
wife this week.
Without Jesus, now listen very carefully
because we can, this is a very fine line,
very, very fine line. Without Jesus,
without the Lord, we are worthless.
Without the Holy Spirit working in my
life, I am a worthless husband.
Without the Holy Spirit working in my
Without the Lord, I am
literally nothing.
You see, and this is a very fine line.
And this is not bad, but it's also not
that good either if it's not presented
properly. But we're always quick to
say, well you're worth it, you're
worth it, you're worthy, you're worthy.
You know, and it's like there's some
truth in that, like we pray over
people and we tell people all the
time, hey you're worthy, you're worth it.
And I understand the hard intention, but
here is the reality that we oftentimes
don't tell people. The reason that
you're worthy, the reason that you're
worth it, is because the Lord found
you worthy to die for. That's it.
So now in the church, and when I say
in the church, not just our church,
but in a church as a whole, when we
have this type of language of you're
worthy, you're worth it, you're this,
you're that, what that actually does
in people, it actually creates the
self-image of I can do this. Rather, I
can't do this. The reason why I am
worthy, the reason why I am worth
even something, is because the Lord,
the Lord, the Lord counted me worthy
to die for. That's it. That's it.
There is absolutely no other worth
in me, but the fact that Jesus
saw me 2000 years ago, he saw me
broken in my sinful nature, and he
said, that's the one I'm going to die
for. That's the one I'm going to be
crucified for. I count him worthy
enough to die for. I count her
worthy enough to die for. That's
where our worth is. Our worth is not
in, well I'm this person, do you see
my family lineage? Friends, I could
sit here and like the Apostle Paul,
I can tell you my family lineage.
I can tell you that my grandpa
sat in prison for Christ. I can tell
you that my uncle was in prison for
Christ, lost his eye for the sake of
the gospel. I could tell you about my
father and his story. That means
nothing. That literally means
nothing. The reason why I'm even
worthy is because Jesus saw me and he
said, you're worthy for me to die for.
That's it. So when it talks about
loneliness of mind is somebody
looking at themselves, internally
looking at themselves and deeming
themselves, Lord I'm worthless.
I'm worthless, God. But the only
reason why I can even think that I'm
worthy is because you died for me
and you found me to be worthy to die for.
See, that's not preached in churches.
See, that's not spoken off pulpits.
See, that's not taught in classrooms
and in discipleship areas.
They tell you how good you are,
find your identity, and all these
things are good. But if we can start
with the things that actually matter
that precede the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit, if we can get those
things right, we'll walk right into it.
We'll walk right into the outpour
of the Holy Spirit. We won't even
stress about it. It won't even miss
us because God will look at this
house. He'll look at this church
and he will see the characteristics
and the principles that this church
is choosing. I said choosing to
live by. Choosing to do. And the Lord
will say, on them I will pour out my
spirit. On them I will.
You can't claim Joel 2 and you can't
claim Acts 2, the outpouring of the
spirit, unless you actually belong
to him. How can the outpouring come
on you if you don't even belong
to him? Though Joel 2 and Acts 2
says that I will pour out my spirit
on all flesh. But my question is
what flesh is God talking about?
What flesh is he talking about?
Because if he's talking about, he's
probably going to pour out his spirit
on the flesh that doesn't belong to
him to convict him and judge them
and show them their sin. But those
that belong to him are going to be
walking in signs, miracles, wonders,
revelations of Jesus, angelic
encounters, visitations to the
Third Heaven. All these things are
those are to those who belong to
the Lord. Are you with me?
Are you with me? The only reason why
I'm worthy, friends, you can think
however you want. I pray the Lord
convinces you. I'm not here trying to
convince you. I'm here preaching you
the scriptures, the word. But I told
my wife this week, I said, it's almost
guy, I said, I'm worthless without
the Lord. I'm worthless. The
scripture actually says I'm but dust
from the dust that came back to the
dust I shall go. My life is but a
vapor here today gone tomorrow. I'm
worthless without the Lord.
Can I add days to my life if I worry?
Can I stop the Lord from what he wants
to do? No. My wife covered it this
morning. However you want to do it, the
will of God will happen. Do you want to
obey or do you want to disobey? Do you
want to be moldable or do you not
want to be moldable? But the will of God
will go.
I'm worthless friends. I'm a worthless. Listen
to me, listen to me. I'm a worthless
husband if the Lord is not in my life.
I'm a worthless father if the Lord is
not in my life. People will look and
they'll say, Igor, you're such a
great father. I'm like, really? I don't
think I am. It's only for the Lord that
you can even say that. People always
came up to Tanya in our early days
of ministry when we used to mentor
and disciple a lot of people in our own
home. A lot of young girls, they'd come
to Tanya and I say this with humility
friends because I'm worthless. They would
come to Tanya and they would ask, you
know, can you pray for us so that we
would get a husband. You know, a
husband like Igor, a husband like Igor.
And you know what Tanya would do? Tanya
would giggle and she would say, you
guys didn't know the Igor before the
Lord encountered him.
And they're like, well what do you mean?
You didn't know the Igor before the
Lord encountered him.
Without God, I'm worthless. I'm worthless.
There is nothing good in me. There is
literally nothing good in me, but the
Holy Spirit in me and the fruit of the
Spirit in me and the mind of Christ
in me and the heart posture of the Lord
in me. That's it. But where do all
these things come from? They come
from him.
That's it. You still with me?
Yes.
Listen to this.
When a person through most genuine
self-evaluation deems himself worthless,
it involves evaluating ourselves
as small because we are so.
The humble person is, and this is, this
is wild, the humble person is not
stressing his sinfulness but his
creaturelessness of absolute
dependence of possessing nothing and of
receiving all things from God.
That's a lowliness of mind. That's all
the Greek describes lowliness of mind.
Nothing. Lord, there is nothing that I
can do but simply submit to you
knowing that everything I have within
me, around me, every blessing I have
is because of you, Lord.
So to be lowly in mind is to be in
complete dependence on God.
That's it.
Some of our close friends here, we'll
come close to a conclusion here.
Some of our close friends that are
from Kansas City, my wife and I, we
visited them earlier this week.
Oh man, my scriptures are falling out.
We visited them earlier this week and
they, I should say, were past tense.
I've shared this story before but I want
to share it again.
They were part of a very large
ministry, very vibrant ministry, very
healthy ministry and this ministry
got attacked long story short.
We were sitting and having brunch
with them. This is earlier this year.
We were sitting and having brunch
with them and we were talking
and they're in a very different
season of life right now. It's like
a season of hiding but I'm going to
get into that right now.
But I'm sitting there, it was me, Tanya
and our two friends, husband and wife
and I'm asking him, you know, just
some of the things that God is
showing him and, you know, speaking
to him now post everything that
happened. This is about over a year
after this occurred.
And he sat there and he told me, he
said, Igor, he said what we're
going through and where the Lord
has brought us to some degree, the
Lord has brought us to another
degree, he says it's just demonic.
There's no other way to describe it.
He said, here's what I'm realizing
is he said before this happened, he
said I used to preach, teach,
disciple people in the things that
we are now going through. And he
goes, if there's one thing that
I've learned or I've heard the Lord
speak to me, is that he said I am
comically, he used this word, he
said I was comically unprepared
for where we're in right now.
For over 20 years he was preaching
and teaching and showing the things
that they are actually in now.
And he said Igor, he said I am
comically, I feel comically
unprepared for what we're actually
in. I walked away from that
brunch as Tanya and I were driving
home. I walked away from that
brunch with one thing in my heart.
My God, how I have to depend on you.
I'm up here, I'm preaching this stuff.
I'm teaching. Do you know how sobering
it was for me as a pastor, as a
preacher, as somebody who teaches
the scriptures? Do you know how
sobering it was for me coming from a
man that is more advanced in the
kingdom, has more experienced in the
kingdom for over 20 years has been
preaching and teaching this stuff.
And then he said, I'm not
telling me I was comically unprepared
for what actually is happening.
That to me was the fear of the Lord
and my God, how I am dependent on you.
That's lowliness of mind.
That's going low.
That's not self-promoting myself.
Look what I'm teaching my congregation.
I am teaching, friends, I'm in the
same boat as you are.
I'm just doing my part in the boat.
You're rowing the boat there. I'm rowing
the boat behind you.
And we're doing this thing together.
We're in the same boat.
We're rowing the same way.
And it feels like we're going against
the current.
We're going to save the rest of it
for next week.
Can I get a, Felicia, can I get you
on the keys?
Friends, lowliness of mind is
literally of the essence.
I pray that even starting today
from the first day of our series,
I pray that the Lord convinces you.
I truly pray that God would enlighten
your hearts by the Holy Spirit
and have you understand
how important lowliness of mind is.
And next week we're going to get into
more of the depth of it.
I'm going to explain to you that
because people think, well, lowliness
is just being humble.
It's far more than just being humble.
And we'll get into that next week
because you just, you just
heard me read the definition
about lowliness of mind is.
Deeming oneself worthless.
Dying to myself.
Putting myself in full dependency on all these things
speak about more than just humility.
Lowliness of mind is literally
on the forefront.
If we are wanting to, as a house,
if we are wanting to experience
the outpour of the Holy Spirit,
we must, friends, we must
have lowliness of mind within us.
We must live by it,
by that characteristic
because it's a characteristic
and it's a principle.
A characteristic is something we possess.
A principle is something we choose
to live by.