Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / Equipped 2026: Ladies: "Lessons on Pride from the Tower of Babel" by Rebekah Colley

Transcript

Equipped 2026: Ladies: "Lessons on Pride from the Tower of Babel" by Rebekah Colley · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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Okay, can I be heard? Are y'all good?
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Hey, thank y'all for sticking around this afternoon. I'm excited to be here with you. This has been such a great
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place to be. A wonderful morning. And I thought I would introduce
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you briefly to my three babies. Only one of them is here.
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Now my son is the middle child. And the other day I said
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to him, I said, Ellis, you are so good to your little sister.
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I said, are you just as good to your big sister? And he
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paused and he said, well, maybe not. And I said,
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well, I said, buddy, are you working on that? And without missing a beat, he said,
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well, none of us is perfect.
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So, we of course have to talk about the difference between just lacking
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perfection and willful disobedience. And as we have
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seen over and over today, the first part of Genesis is the
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sad and unfortunate story, not just of mankind falling short,
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but of mankind and willful disobedience. God creates the world
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in chapter 1. By chapter 6, He destroys it with a worldwide, or He makes
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the plans to destroy it in a worldwide flood.
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Noah gets off the ark in chapter 9. And by chapter 11,
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what has once again happened? Humanity is once again
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plunged into widespread willful disobedience
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against God. And so we are going to start in Genesis 11 and let's just
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jump in and read the passage. Now, the whole earth used the same language and the
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same words. And it came about as they journeyed east that they found a plain
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in the land of Shinar. Now, in the back of your mind, stick this in. This is likely
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the place where Babylon would be built. So, just touch that away for the end.
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Okay? They settled there. And they said
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to one another, come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. And they used brick
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for stone and tar for mortar. And they said, come, let us build for ourselves a
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city and a tower whose top will reach into the heavens. And let us make
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for ourselves a name. Otherwise, we will be scattered abroad over the face of the
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whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons
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of men had built. And the Lord said, behold, they are one people and they all
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have the same language. And this is what they began to do. And now nothing which they
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purposed to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down there and confuse
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their language so that they will not understand one another's speech. So, the Lord
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scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth. And they stopped building the city.
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Therefore, its name was called Babel because there the Lord confused
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the language of the whole earth. And from there, the Lord scattered them abroad
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over the face of the whole earth. So, our specific title
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today is Lessons on Pride from the Tower of Babel.
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So, before we jump into those lessons, I think we need to define what pride is.
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Because you can't get a good secular definition
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of pride. You look it up online. You look it up in the dictionary. Here are some of the things
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that come. A feeling of deep pleasure or
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satisfaction derived from one's own achievements and the
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achievements of those with whom one is closely associated or from qualities
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or possessions that are widely admired. I think that falls a little flat.
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Listen to this one. Reasonable self-esteem. Confidence
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and satisfaction in oneself. It may be used that way sometimes.
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But that one falls flat. Pleasure that comes from some relationship,
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association, achievement, and possession that is seen as a source of honor, respect, etc.
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All of these fall flat. Do you know why? Because they don't
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bring the Lord into it. God wants us to have a feeling
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of deep pleasure and satisfaction when we work. He wants us to have reasonable self-esteem.
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He wants us to have pleasure that comes from relationships.
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Pride is something very different from this. It's wickedness. And it's a front
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against God. Biblically, here's how we're going to define pride.
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An attitude or action that elevates
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oneself above God. Let me say it one more time.
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An attitude or action that elevates oneself above God.
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I think that is going to be borne out as we go. Let's go ahead and let's jump in.
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Here's number one of our six points about pride from the Tower
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of Babel. The first is this. Pride transgresses
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God's commands. Genesis 11.4 is the verse I want to focus on.
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And they say, come let us build for ourselves a city and a tower whose top will reach
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into the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves. And let's focus on this
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phrase first. Otherwise we will be scattered or brought over the face
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of the whole earth. Pride directly goes against God's command.
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There is nothing sinful about building a tower. Why
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is this so egregious to God? Why is this tower so egregious?
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It's because of God's commands. Go back to Genesis chapter 1.
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In verse 28. This is the very beginning of the creation account.
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It says, God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and increase in number.
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Fill the earth. Fill the earth and subdue it.
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Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and over every living
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creature that moves on the ground. This was the very first commandment
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that God gave to humanity is fill the earth. And then he reinstates it after
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the flood to make sure they know nothing has changed. Genesis chapter 9
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starting in verse 1. And God blessed Noah and his son.
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And said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
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Then he talks about man's dominion over the animals. And in verse 7 he says it
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again. As for you, be fruitful and multiply.
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Populate the earth and multiply in it. It is not a sin to build a tower.
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But it is a sin to defy God's commandments. And pride
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always defies God's commandments. Directly. So that's the first
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thing we're going to say. It just directly defies God because God commands humility.
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Micah 6.8 says, He has shown you, O man, what is good.
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And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly. To love mercy
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and to walk humbly with your God. 1 Peter 5.6 says
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humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he might exalt you
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at the proper time. And of course James 4 starting in verse 6. But he gives
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more grace. Therefore it says God resists the proud but
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gives grace to the humble. And skip down. He says humble yourselves in the side of the Lord
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and he will lift you up. Pride defies God in his face.
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But also, here's another thought. Pride keeps us from
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fulfilling any of God's other commands. In verse 5
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it says the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
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And the Lord said, behold they are one people and they all have the same language.
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And this is what they began to do. And now nothing which they purposed to do
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will be impossible for them. So why does God confuse their language?
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You know at first reading, critics of the Bible have said it sounds like God's intimidated.
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Like they're about to get too big for him and he's got to do something about that.
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And we know from the whole of scripture that's not possible. But we also see it in this account.
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And how do we see it in this account? Because he confuses
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their languages in a moment. Let's just stand
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in awe for just a second at the power of God.
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That in one moment he changed the synapses in their brains
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to make it where they spoke a whole different language than they had ever heard before.
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That had ever existed. Is God intimidated by mankind?
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He scrambles them in one moment. He changes their language. It would take a lifetime
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for us to create a language. And how many did he create?
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We don't know but it was many. He created many languages in one moment.
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But he's also not literally saying nothing that mankind does
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is going to be impossible for them because we know that he had already limited mankind
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with what? With death. He numbered mankind's years
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and so they won't literally be unlimited. So what do we think God is saying here?
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Why does he want to stop it? Here's what I believe.
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I think what he is saying is that if mankind works together like this
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they are going to become so powerful that they're going to forget
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their need for God. You see they're going to be incapable of looking
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toward God because they have worked together so well. And they have
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accomplished so much. It is possible for us in our lives to become
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so full of ourselves and full of our lives, so blessed
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and so capable that we forget God. Think about
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Proverbs chapter 30 verses 6 and 7 where the writer says two things
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I have asked before I die. Do not refuse me. Keep falsehood
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and lies far from me. And then what does he say? Give me neither too much
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nor too little. Lest I be full and
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deny you and say who is the Lord? It is possible for us
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to become so full that we can no longer search for God.
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Let me ask you a question. Have you ever tried
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to convince somebody who needs a hearing aid that they need a hearing aid?
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I'm guessing by the laughter that you have
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here's the irony. Everyone at the table knows that they can't hear.
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Everyone at the table hears exactly what they're missing. But does
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the person who needs the hearing aid? They have no idea what they're missing. They think
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they're hearing everything. But they're not. And that's how the
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prideful person is. Is he doesn't know what he's missing
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because he doesn't think he needs it. I suppose that there's many sins
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that we can commit where we still see our need for God. But with
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pride we become deaf. We become deaf to God's voice and deaf to
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our need for God. God hates pride. Proverbs chapter
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6 verses 16 through 17. Six things the Lord hates yet
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seven are an abomination. What's the first thing listed?
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A haughty look or what's a haughty eyes or a proud
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look. That's two different translations. God hates pride because it makes it
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where we cannot rely on him. Alright moving on to our next point
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pride forgets it's place in the world.
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Now as I showed you earlier I have three children. And my oldest daughter
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is just precious. And I know that I am biased.
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I stand before you very biased. But she is a gentle and quiet
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spirit. And she thinks about other people more than any child that I have
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ever seen. I say as a biased mother. But there was a time
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in her sweet little life where she was the only child.
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And every move the family made revolved around her. And guess
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what theme keeps repeating through her life. How many times a week
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how many times a day do I have to say Maggie the world does not
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revolve around you. This is why I say you are a very
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important part of our family. But that's all you are is a part
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of our family. There's four other people in the family. And how many times do
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adults also forget the world does not revolve around them. And worse than
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what other people are doing. How many times do I as a
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Christian woman who is seeking maturity still get stuck in this and think
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the whole world revolves around me where it ought to. Anyway pride forgets
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it's place in the world. Now I put Genesis 11 verse 4 up
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there again. And I want to key in on the phrase let us
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make for ourselves a name. Let us make for ourselves a name.
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Pride forgets it's place in the world because our place in the world is
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never ever to make for ourselves a name. What is our
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place in the world? It's to make a name for God.
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To make God look as good as he really is to the people around us. That is
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our place in the world. In making for
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themselves a name. In defying God. In elevating themselves
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in their actions and their attitude above God. They forgot their place
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in the world. So what's our practical application? We've already said this and we'll probably say
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it again. The practical application is not don't build a tower. What's the
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practical application here? It's worship.
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Because our place and Ms. Kathy talked about this so well in the 11 o'clock hour
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today. Our place is to prostrate ourselves before
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God and to worship him. That's what we're here for.
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That's why we exist is to worship God. Let me ask you
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have any of these ever come out of your mouth? I will admit before I even say
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these phrases that I'm guilty. That song leader is awful.
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He just can't carry a tune in a bucket. Well I didn't
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get much out of that sermon today. Why do we just sing all the old
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songs all the time? Or better, well equally good.
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Why do we just sing all the new songs all the time? No one
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came to talk to me today. I sat down five minutes before worship started
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and not one person came and talked to me. I worked for hours on that
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tower arrangement and nobody thanks me. Not ever.
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There's all these programs for golden agers, but why doesn't somebody start something for my age?
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Why don't the elders do fill in the blank?
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You know, I just don't fit in here.
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How many times do we say these phrases about the church?
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And when this is our attitude, is what can I get from the church?
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What can people do for me? We're forgetting our place in the world. Think about
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what happened to Grypho when the people started to worship him in Acts chapter 12. What happened to him?
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They said, the voice of God and not of a man.
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And he went right along with it and he was struck with worms and died.
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Because he forgot his place in the world. But then ironically
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just two chapters later the same thing happens in Acts 14 to Paul and Barnabas.
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And what do they do? They rip their clothes
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in grief and they start preaching Jesus because they
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knew their place in the world was not to be worshipped, but was to worship.
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I have to read Psalm 95 and I want us to think about our place for
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poor God. Oh come let us sing with joy to the Lord.
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Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence
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with thanksgiving and let us shout joyfully to him with psalms. For the Lord
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is a great God and a great king above all gods. In his hands
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are the depths of the earth. The peaks of the mountains are his also.
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The sea is his for he made it and his hands formed the dry land.
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Come let us worship and bow down. Let us
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kneel before the Lord our maker for he is our God and we are the people
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of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. If our hearts are right we can get
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anything out of any worship service. But more than that we can give
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to God in any worship service that is pleasing to him. My place in life
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is to bow before my creator. It is not to get attention. It is not
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to be served. It is not to be recognized. It is not to feel gratified.
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My place is to worship and pride forgets that. Pride forgets
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its place in the world. Number three, pride hurts other people.
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Let's think back to the tower of Babel. In their quest for pride
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all of humanity was punished forever and
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ever because when God sees the tower he said let us go down there
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and confuse their language so they will not understand one another's speech.
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The Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth so they
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stopped building the city. Imagine the unity that we could have in the world
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if we all spoke the same language. How much less
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racial strife there would be? How easy travel would be?
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How easy evangelism would be? My daughter the other day met a little girl
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who spoke Spanish on the playground and she was so upset. She said mom she understood
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what I was saying and I couldn't understand what she was saying and I didn't know what to do
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Even down to the little children are punished because of what happened at the tower
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of Babel. But pride on a personal level is the same way today.
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Pride hurts other people. Unkindness, gossip, backbiting,
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cliques, judgment, all of these are nasty things that come from Romans 12
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verse 3 that says do not think more highly of yourself
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than you ought to think. But Colossians 3 verse 12
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gives a very different picture and it says those who have been chosen by God
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holy and beloved put on a heart of compassion, of kindness,
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of humility, of gentleness, of patience, and whenever we are
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less than that my friends we are in pride because we're
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putting ourselves above God and above other people.
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When we bow before God, when we're humble and we bow before our maker in worship
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do you know what the natural result of that is going to be?
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It's going to be that we bow before other people as well. Go over to John chapter 13
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and let's start in verse 1. It says now before the feast of the Passover
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Jesus knowing that his hour had come and that he would depart out of this world
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to the father having loved his own who were in the world he loved them to the end
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during supper the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot
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the son of Simon to betray him and Jesus
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knowing that the father had given all things into his hand and that he
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had come forth from God and that he was going back to God got up from
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supper and laid aside his garments and taking a towel he girded himself
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and then he poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples feet
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and wiped them with the towel with which he was girded. Can we sit with that
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for just a minute? God
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who we've heard this today so well
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spoke the whole world into existence and as we're talking about right now
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could snap his fingers and scramble our brains in a moment and what did
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he do? He took up a towel and he washed
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his feet. Now look at verse 3. Before this lesson I had never really keyed in
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on this phrase. It says knowing that the father had given all things into his
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hands, listen to this, that he had come forth from God
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and was going back to God and it really stuck
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with me. I was like what if I made that the motto for my life?
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Now Jesus wasn't a created being but I am. I've come forth from God. My life is
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a gift from him. I originate from him. I'm alive right now because he allows
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me to be. I have come forth from God and I'm going back to him
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to stand before him, to answer to him
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and if all of my choices were made with this
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phrase in mind would there be any room for pride in my life?
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Absolutely not. So let's get practical for just a second.
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Now when I visit other congregations do you know
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who is the most likely to come introduce themselves to me? It's the
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sweet older people. They're the most likely to come and to make me feel welcome
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and to connect to me and to introduce themselves and make sure I know where the nursery is
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and I love that so much. Now I'm going to tell you
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who is the least likely. It's the people my age.
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Now here's what I'm not saying. You better come talk to me or you are
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prideful. People have a lot going on in their lives and we can never
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look at someone who is a busy mom on a busy morning and say oh they're prideful
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because they didn't introduce themselves to me. That would be kind of like a prideful
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attitude to admit. But I just want to lovingly say
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that I have seen this as a pattern. That millennials and under
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are not as social. We're not as friendly. We don't have
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that problem at North Jackson where I worship and I don't think you have that problem
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here at Cumberland Trace. I think that there are many wonderful people who are
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my age. But here's what sticks with me when I go somewhere and the young people
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never introduce themselves to me. Is what if I was a real visitor?
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See I don't count myself as a visitor. I can introduce myself to them just as well as they can
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introduce themselves to me. But what if I was a real visitor? Like someone who
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never darkens the doors of a church building and I left without one
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young person ever coming to speak to me. And that breaks my heart.
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And that makes me want to do better. Because friendliness is
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the most simple and profound way that we can kneel before others.
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We can learn the art of conversation. We can learn to
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step outside of our comfort zones and serve those around us. Of course there
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are more ways to serve others. But if we are friendly outside
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of the building, that's called evangelism. And when we're friendly inside of the
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building, that's called family. And both things are going to bring people
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to the Lord. Now I'm going to read to you just real quick from C.S. Lewis. And he's not a member
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of the church. And I don't recommend everything that he's ever written.
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But in his book, Mere Christianity, he has a section on humility. And I think that this is
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very profound. To even get near humility, even for a moment,
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is like a drink of water to a man in a desert. Do not
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imagine that if you meet a really humble man, he will be what most people call humble
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nowadays. He will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person who's always
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telling you that of course he is a nobody. Probably all you'll
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think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest
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in what you said to him. And if you do dislike him, it will be because you feel
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a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily.
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He will not be thinking about humility. He will not
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be thinking about himself at all. Lord, help me to be that
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kind of a person. Number four, pride makes us
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insecure. We're going to go back to verse four. Read it with me.
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They said, come let us build for ourselves a city and a
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tower whose top we'll reach into the heavens and let us make a name
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for ourselves, otherwise we'll be scattered abroad over the face of the
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whole earth. Do you know what I smell when I read this verse? Fear.
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I smell fear. The people who built
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the tower of Babel were desperately insecure because they were afraid.
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They were afraid to be scattered abroad over the face of the earth, so they
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built this tower thinking it's going to help them feel better, thinking this tower
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is going to fix something. Where was their security? It was in a building.
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And even if God had not come down and confused their languages and stopped
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the tower from being built, what would have eventually happened to that building?
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It would have crumbled. It would have fallen apart.
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Pride brings insecurity
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by holding to something that can change.
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Pride brings insecurity because it means that we're holding to something that can
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change. We all struggle with pride, and we're going to talk about that
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a little bit more in a minute, but you know that there are some people who exude
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pride. You've met these kinds of people.
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They're not interested in you. They're not interested in what you have to say, and they come
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across as very prideful. When I would meet somebody like that, I used to think,
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I wonder if they're actually really prideful, or I wonder
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if they're actually really insecure and feel bad about themselves.
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I used to think of it as a spectrum, where on one side we have insecurity,
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and on one side we have pride, and we should probably as Christians try to hit somewhere
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in the middle. But I don't think this is true. Here's what I think is true
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now. On one end of the spectrum, we have pride
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and insecurity. And on the other end of the spectrum, we have
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humility and security. Because on this end, well let's see,
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this end, pride, brings insecurity. Because what are you
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holding on to? What are you basing your life on? Something that can change.
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But then when you say, I have nothing, and I bow before God,
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and He is my maker, and everything that I feel about
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myself comes from God, how do you start to feel? Safe and secure
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because His love never changes. Hold to God's unchanging hand
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and we will be both humble and secure. Now who
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do I think of in the Bible when I think about this pride-insecurity connection?
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Haman. Do you all remember wicked old
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Haman in the story of Esther, who is so prideful and so
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insecure that it's humorous, right? He's been raised up to this place
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of immense power by the king himself, and he comes to pieces
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because of what? The opinion of one man. Mordecai
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wouldn't bow, and because of that, Haman goes into this tailspin and ends up
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hanging on his own gallows all because of his insecurity. He should have
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had everything he wanted, but his security was all based on how other people
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thought of him. And as soon as one person didn't think well of him,
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or showed that he didn't think well of him, Haman came apart. Now do y'all remember
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when the king says to Haman, and he says,
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what should be done for a man who the king wants to honor?
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And Haman immediately starts thinking, ooh, this is me. Here's what I want
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done for me. Are you ready? Let them bring a royal robe, which the king
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has worn, and the horse on which the king has ridden, and on whose head
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a royal crown has been placed. And let the robe and the horse be handed over to one
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of the king's most noble princes, and let them array the man who the king desires
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to honor, and lead him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him
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that which shall be done for whom, done to the man for whom
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the king deserves, desires to honor. Okay, so he ends up having to do
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this for Mordecai, which is just funny. Anyone who says the Bible is not funny
25:00
has not read some of these stories. The irony of that, I mean, that's a literary
25:04
masterpiece. That is hilarious. But how insecure do you
25:08
have to be to dream something like that up? I don't think any woman in this
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room would want that. That's humiliating, actually. But Haman is
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so puffed up that all he wants is for people to see him, and he
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is insecure. Some people postulate that narcissism, which is basically
25:25
pride that has become so out of control that it becomes a whole personality
25:29
disorder, actually comes from self-protection, from
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feelings of worthlessness. Saying, I have to protect myself at all costs from
25:37
ever feeling worthless, because pride fosters insecurity. But let's think
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about how humility brings security. And I'm going to give you just kind of a personal
25:45
illustration of this. You know, I ran track when I was in middle school, and early
25:49
high school. And I always joked, and I said that I was the slowest of the fast
25:53
people. So, I would get put in the faster heat. But y'all, I would
25:57
be lining up next to these girls getting ready to run, and I would be like,
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I mean, they were in a whole different bracket than I was. They were running close to Olympic times,
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and let's just say I was not. So, it was kind of humorous, but
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my dad, bless him, was my biggest fan. And everyone else would have to wait
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for their times to get posted, but I would look across the field, see my dad
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making nice with the scorekeeper, so he could come and tell me what my time was.
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And he would always come over so excited and say, look, you beat your best time,
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or you broke into this new bracket, or whatever. And I would say, Dad,
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did you see that race? I was less in the dust. You know, I was the last
26:34
person in the heat by a significant amount. And he would say, but you did better.
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I said, but Dad. And do you know what he would always say to me?
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Never did he ever say, oh, we're just going to train harder. You can get
26:46
them next time. We'll work harder. That's what a good sports dad would have done.
26:50
But what my dad did was something, and I don't even know if he knew how profound
26:54
it was, but he would just look at me, and he would shrug his shoulders, and he would say this,
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no matter how good you are, there's always someone better.
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And at the time, I just thought, wow, thanks for that, Dad.
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But now, looking back, I realize that that was foundational
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to my self-esteem, my God-esteem,
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because I realized that my self-esteem can never come from who else
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is in the room. It can never come from something as changing as
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am I better or am I worse than somebody else, because you'll always be better than somebody else,
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and you'll always be worse than somebody else. That doesn't change your worth.
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Poor God. I will never be the smartest girl in any room.
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I will never be the funniest girl in any room. I will never be the most accomplished
27:38
or the most well-spoken or the prettiest girl in any room.
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Motherhood has hit me, y'all, like a ton of bricks. Y'all know what I'm talking about?
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I remember when I was 17 years old, hearing someone say that women peak in their
27:50
physical beauty at 21, and I was like, that's not true.
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And now I look at pictures from when I was 21, and I think, oh no, maybe they were right.
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It doesn't matter, because is our self-esteem based
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in something as fleeting as how we look or how good we are compared to other people?
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It can only be based in who God is, His love
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for us and our role in His kingdom.
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Alright, next, pride is sneaky.
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So without background on why the Tower of Babel was a sin,
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at first reading, you may think, what's so bad about building a tower?
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But as we went back and we read, God had given explicit instructions
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for them to spread over the face of the earth. Now here's the verse I put down
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for pride being sneaky. The Lord came down
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to see the city and the tower which the sons of men
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had built.
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I can imagine the people who built the tower
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justifying it, can't you? I mean, they were family. So they would say,
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hey, we're family. We want to live together. We love each other. Isn't that
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glorifying to God? Or, look at this teamwork. We can build this tower
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together. Doesn't God value teamwork? We're getting along so well.
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We can bless other people through this tower. Imagine how much
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we can bless humanity by building this tower.
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But the question is not, can we justify our behavior? What is the question?
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What does God think when He comes down to see it?
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What does God think when He comes down to see it?
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Anytime we defy God by putting ourselves in His place,
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just like the people at the Tower of Babel, what we're saying is that our wishes are more
29:35
important than God's commands. And it is easy to justify pride.
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And I'll be honest with you. Before I really sat down and did this lesson,
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I would kind of, in my mind, check off pride as something that I'm not.
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Because, I mean, here's the truth. I submitted myself to God.
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Every single person in this room has submitted themselves to God. We are not
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obviously prideful people. We come to worship all the time. We bow
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before God. We try to do His will. Our lives are not
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characterized by puffed up pride. But pride is sneaky.
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And pride can get into our lives in so many different ways.
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Pride was sneaky at the Tower of Babel. And pride can be sneaky in our hearts today.
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Here's the first practical
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application for this. Pride can be sneaky in our Christian service.
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Matthew chapter 6. Beware of
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practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them.
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Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father who is in Heaven.
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And then go down to the end of verse 2. It says,
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So anyone who practices their righteousness
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to be seen by other men has their reward already in full.
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That's haunting words to me. Anyone who prays to be seen by men
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already has their reward. How? In full.
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That means we have no treasure with God. We have no reward with God.
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And even if we look like the best Christian servants there's ever been, if our
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little bit is to be seen by men, well then that's our reward. Whatever men gives us,
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we can just be content with that because God has nothing for us. We can have
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pride in our spirituality. This makes me think about Peter. Peter had a little bit
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of a pride problem. Think about Matthew 16, starting in verse 21.
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It says,
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Peter looked pretty righteous, didn't he?
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Because he's all to fend Jesus. But what's he actually doing?
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Rebuking the Lord to his face. And what does Jesus say?
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He turns and says to Peter,
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Those are scathing words.
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Well, Peter does almost the exact same thing when Jesus washes
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the disciples' feet. So he came to Simon Peter and he said to him,
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Lord, do you wash my feet? Sounds really righteous.
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And Jesus answered and said to him, what I do now, you do not realize. But you will understand better.
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And what does Peter do? Again, absolutely just confronts him
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to his face and says, Lord, you shall never
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wash my feet. Well, that looks pretty honorable, right? You don't want Jesus
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bowing before you, washing your feet. But Jesus has already said it must be done.
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And Peter defies him to his face. And Jesus says, if I do not wash
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you, you have no part with me. Paul was prone to struggle
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with this as well because of the thorn in the flesh in 2 Corinthians 12 verse 7.
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It says, Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,
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for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh,
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a messenger from Satan to torment me, to keep me from exalting myself.
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And if Peter and Paul are in danger of this pride
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in their spirituality, then I surely am too. And number three,
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we can have pride in our suffering. Now, I'm going to give you a little bit of a personal
33:03
example here about this. We've had our
33:07
third baby in the last year. And I prayed to God. I said, please let this
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be a manageable baby. Our first baby was so difficult that I didn't
33:15
have any others to take care of. I was like, just let this one be that easy one
33:19
that you hear about that sleeps through the night. Well, God said yes. And I had the most
33:23
angelic newborn that you could ever imagine. I had an easy birth. I had no
33:27
postpartum symptoms. It was just, it was beautiful. And then she woke up.
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Okay. She popped ten
33:35
teeth out of her mouth, into her mouth in the first year of her life.
33:39
And we had about a four to six month period where this child screamed at me
33:43
every second. I joked, I said, teething is her whole personality now. We don't
33:47
know who she is without teething. She stopped sleeping. And it became quite difficult.
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Now, all this time I knew I was very, very blessed. And I was so thankful for this
33:55
very difficult teething baby. I love her. But, I had
33:59
some days, friends, where I felt like I couldn't keep going. I think most of you
34:03
in this room feel for this. You understand. You can be overwhelmed
34:07
with blessings. And that's how I was. And one of the things I really struggled with was
34:11
worship. Because I just, whoa. I mean, when you hit the building
34:15
with three kids, and your husband is in the pulpit,
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it's not easy. And you have your own things you're supposed to be taking care of.
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And I just thought worship should be a haven for me. Right?
34:27
It should be somewhere I go to escape from the suffering. And yet, I go home
34:31
on a Sunday feeling like I don't know that I'll ever be able to get out of bed again just to get
34:35
out of bed and do it again. And it's one thing to suffer.
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You know, we're called to suffering, aren't we? 1 Peter chapter 2 says
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that we're called to this because Christ suffered for us. And in 1 Peter 4, it says
34:47
don't think it's strange when you suffer. And then, of course, James 1
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says it's not at all joy when you fall into various trials. I was not
34:55
counting it all joy. It's one thing to suffer, friends. It's another thing to get angry
34:59
in your suffering. And that's what I was. Knowing I was blessed,
35:03
knowing full well, but also just feeling a little bit of
35:07
bitterness. And what I was really struggling with this.
35:11
It was daylight savings. Caleb was at a gospel meeting. I was struggling hard.
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It was a lesson on the importance of worship. And it hit me
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that I'm angry because I don't want to sacrifice for worship.
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I want to go to worship and it be fun and easy for me.
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And I don't want to sacrifice in motherhood. I want it to be fun and easy for me.
35:32
And I don't want to sacrifice in my marriage or being a preacher's wife. That makes me
35:36
mad because I want it to be fun and easy for me.
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But guess what? If we're worshiping correctly,
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it will not always be fun and easy. And if we are parenting correctly, it surely
35:48
will not always be fun and easy. If we're grandparenting correctly, it will not
35:52
always be fun and easy. If we are living the Christian life, it will
35:56
not always be fun and easy. And it humbled
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me because I realized my suffering was not just suffering.
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My suffering was pride. And that pride was sneaky.
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And it got into me. And here's what I want to challenge you with before we go to our last point.
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Think about today, tomorrow, Sunday,
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whenever you have a moment to stop and think. Think about
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what are you really struggling with? What are you really struggling with?
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And just see if there's any chance that it can be traced
36:28
back to pride. See, my pride issue was coming from thinking that
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either other people should be serving me more or that God was not
36:36
treating me fairly. And in both of those situations, that's elevating
36:40
myself above God. See if there's any chance that what you are
36:44
struggling with so much may be linked back to pride. And if it is,
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my friends, then we need to humble ourselves. Because here's our last point.
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Pride must be stopped. So as we read, God went
36:56
down and he confused their languages so that they may not be so self-reliant
37:00
that they forgot God. And the Lord scattered them from there all over the
37:04
earth. They stopped building the city. And that is why it was called Babel.
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Because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. And from there
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the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
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Proverbs 6.18 says, pride goes before destruction and a
37:20
haughty spirit before stumbling. 1 Corinthians 10.12 says, therefore let him
37:24
who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. And then of course
37:28
James 4.5 says, God is opposed to the proud but
37:32
gives grace to the humble. When we think about God at the
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Tower of Babel, what he did, we think of it as a punishment. And in some ways it was.
37:41
But wasn't it also the nicest thing that he could do for them?
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If they were about to get so puffed up that they could no longer turn
37:49
to God, then isn't the nicest thing that God could do for them to go
37:53
in and confuse their languages? I believe it was.
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There's something very natural about wanting to be recognized.
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I don't think it's wrong to want to be recognized. From a very young age, you know how many
38:05
times I hear, look mama, in one day. We want recognition.
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And here's the interesting thing is that God is not trying to stop us
38:13
from getting recognition. God is trying to get us to
38:17
a place of humility so that we can be with him
38:21
forever. Submit ourselves to him. Live with him forever and be
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recognized by him for all of eternity.
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Deep and satisfying, real recognition is what we're going to get.
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Daniel 12.2-3 says, many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground
38:37
will awake. These to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting
38:41
contempt. Those who have insight will shine brightly
38:45
like the brightness of the expanse of heaven and those who lead the many to righteousness
38:49
like the stars forever and ever. Now, I'm not going to keep you all day, but I'm going to
38:53
take one extra minute and I'm going to talk to you for just a moment about Nebuchadnezzar.
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Now is this an odd person to say is your favorite Bible character?
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Maybe. He may not be what jumps to your mind, but I will say lately
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Nebuchadnezzar has been just about my favorite Bible character. And here's why.
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He was wicked. He was vile. He was
39:14
violent. He was proud. He was a Gentile dictator.
39:18
And God loved him. And God went through
39:22
extraordinary lengths to reveal himself to Nebuchadnezzar
39:26
and to help humble Nebuchadnezzar. And if we take the
39:30
text at face value, I think we might see him in heaven someday.
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And if God can love Nebuchadnezzar and gently and lovingly
39:38
lead him to humility in a relationship with him, then he can do that for me
39:42
as well. The first time Nebuchadnezzar comes face to face with God is after
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Daniel reveals his dream. And it says, the king answered Daniel and said, surely
39:50
your God is a God of God and a Lord of Lords and a revealer of mystery
39:54
since you have been able to reveal this mystery. So here's his first
39:58
encounter with the real God. He says, your God is pretty great.
40:02
He's one of many great gods. Okay, so he's making progress
40:06
but he's missed the memo just a little bit. And then he sees what happens at the
40:10
fiery furnace. And in his confession he says, therefore, I
40:14
make a decree that any people, nation, or tongue that speaks anything offensive
40:18
against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn from
40:22
limb to limb and their house is reduced to a rubbish heap. Inasmuch, there is
40:26
no other God who is able to deliver in this way. So here's what he says.
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He's the greatest of many gods. Okay, he's progressed. The greatest of many gods
40:34
and if you don't serve him, I'll tear you limb to limb. Alright, still kind of
40:38
missing the memo, but we're making some progress, aren't we? So he has more vision
40:43
and here's what he says in chapter 4 verse 3. He makes
40:47
more progress. He says, how great are his signs and how mighty are his wonders.
40:51
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and his dominion is
40:55
from generation to generation. So Nebuchadnezzar is growing and growing
40:59
and growing, but then he takes a fall. Daniel chapter 4 verse 29
41:03
it says, 12 months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon.
41:07
The king reflected and said, is this not Babylon the great?
41:11
Which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of
41:15
my power and for the glory of my majesty.
41:19
And while the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven saying, King Nebuchadnezzar
41:23
to you is declared. Sovereignty has been removed from you.
41:27
And then as we know, God makes him to be like a beast and drives him away
41:31
from the city. Don't miss the irony.
41:35
Here stands Nebuchadnezzar in the plain of Shinar
41:39
exactly where the tower of Babel was built
41:43
and looks at his kingdom and says, look what I have
41:47
done by the power of my might. But then reason returns to him
41:51
and listen to this incredible confession of faith. But at the
41:55
end of that period, I Nebuchadnezzar raised my eyes toward heaven and my
41:59
reason returned to me and I blessed the most high and praised and honored him who
42:03
lives forever. And his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom
42:07
endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth
42:11
are accounted as nothing but he does according to his will in the host of
42:15
heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and no one can
42:19
ward off his hand or say to him, what have you done? And at that time
42:23
my reason returned to me and my majesty and splendor were restored
42:27
to me for the glory of my kingdom and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me
42:31
out so I was reestablished in my sovereignty and surpassing
42:35
greatness was added to me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise
42:39
exalt and honor the king of heaven for
42:43
all his works are true and his ways are just and he is able
42:47
to humble those who walk in pride.
42:51
Was God being mean to Nebuchadnezzar when he made him like a beast?
42:55
Or was God doing the kindest thing that anyone could have done for
42:59
Nebuchadnezzar? Because now I think there's a chance that Nebuchadnezzar is
43:03
shining like the stars up in heaven forever and ever because he humbled
43:07
himself because God humbled him and God wants to humble us too.
43:11
He's working through the word, through his providence, through other people
43:15
working all things together for our good to bring us to humility also
43:20
before it's too late. We can't have a lesson on pride
43:24
and humility without reading from Philippians chapter 2 starting in verse 3.
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Do nothing, nothing from selfish ambition
43:32
or empty conceit but in humility of mind regard
43:36
one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own
43:40
personal interests but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude
43:44
in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus who although he
43:48
existed in the form of God he did not count the qualities of God a thing to be
43:52
grasped but he envied himself and being found as appearance in a man
43:56
he humbled himself to the point of death even death on a cross
44:00
and for this reason also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him
44:04
the name which is above every name so that the name of Jesus every name
44:08
will bow of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the earth
44:12
and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
44:16
and to the glory of God the Father. So here's the question will we bow the knee to God
44:20
now or will we bow it later? Thank you God
44:24
for including the Tower of Babel in our Bibles. Thank you God for
44:28
including Nebuchadnezzar in our Bibles and most of all
44:32
thank you God for Jesus. Please help us. Help us to be like
44:36
Jesus Christ so that we too can shine like the stars forever and ever. Thank you.