Latest / HBCWestminster / Proverbs: Cultivating A Teachable Spirit 9.1.19

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Proverbs: Cultivating A Teachable Spirit 9.1.19 · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Amen. Well, we are getting back into our Proverbs series. We've been going through the book of Proverbs for the last several months. And last week, we took a break from that for our Realignment Sunday. You guys were here last week. We'll recall that Worship Connect and Thrive, which kind of are the overarching ministry umbrella for our church, the three words that kind of signify what we're about.
• 0:23
  worshiping the Lord in spirit and truth, connecting with each other through fellowship, through friendship, through times of Bible study and praise, and then thriving by the bearing of fruit. And so we did that last week. I told you guys, and just reminded us, we do it every year, once a year at the end of the summer, reminded us of our mission and vision, our mission, right, to communicate the life-changing message of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 0:48
  By the equipping of the saints through the preaching of his word, empowering of the Holy Spirit. So that's our mission. That's what we do. But also our vision. And our vision is to train Christ followers in this mission to go and replicate that mission elsewhere. Our goal would be, and has always been the goal of Highland Baptist Church for 55 years, 54 years, to eventually, Lord willing, if God guides and provides, to plant churches, replant churches, help struggling churches in our...
• 1:16
  region where the church's influence is weak. And I am excited because what we get to have this morning is a man that I love, that many of you guys have never met, but a man that I love, who was trained up at my former church, was educated there, and eventually was sent from there.
• 1:38
  He is the senior pastor of one of the church plants from that other church. They did that exact thing. What we have is our vision and mission. They have as their vision and mission as well. And so about 10 years ago, they planted another church in a neighboring community about 30 miles away where there was no church. They are the only evangelical church there in that community. Planted that church about 10 years ago. And about six months ago, Christian and Anais Powers.
• 2:06
  were asked to go out there and to pastor that church. And so he's been the senior pastor there for about six months. He is in town on vacation, and I asked him to ruin his vacation by preaching for us. So he's still on the clock, but I love him, honestly, and I've known him since he was just a kid. I think I met him when he was 13 years old, and I've loved him ever since. And so he's here to preach the word to us this morning in the book of Proverbs. Would you welcome him up? Well, good morning.
• 2:37
  Danny, it was actually 11. You're getting a little old. You're forgetting time, so that's okay. Honestly, I am humbled for two reasons. As Danny even mentioned, knowing me for quite some time. I'm reminded of God's grace in my life, both through how he has grown me in sanctification, also through the wife and daughter he has given me. And so I'm humbled for that. And I'm also humbled for a second reason.
• 3:06
  It's just simply this, that more than any other man in my life, your pastor has had more of an impact than anybody else. The love I have for him, he has reciprocated that love towards me. I am the man, I am the pastor I am today because of his influence on my life. For me, I'm humbled to even have an opportunity to...
• 3:33
  Stand before you and deliver God's word.
• 3:39
  You know, the first time I'm in front of any kind of group, the first thing I mention is I tell a little bit of an illustration of the first time I taught in our college ministry, which I was under Danny during that time. And I was really, really nervous. And one of the reasons why I never wanted to be a pastor is because I didn't want to stand in front of people. So there was no way you'll ever get me to do that. And so Danny eventually had asked me to teach in front of the college students, my peers. I think Allegra might have even been there. And so I'm there and I'm nervous.
• 4:09
  My heart is beating, and one of my buddies comes up to me, and he says, hey, how you doing? And I said, I'm doing all right. I'm a little nervous. And his response was, dude, it's okay. Just know, we're all judging you. Perfect. I feel great now. So I know what you're thinking. I know what's going through your mind right now, and that's all right. Hey, it's good to be here. We're going to be in Proverbs, and you can have your Bibles. I'd really encourage you as we kind of...
• 4:38
  mention some of these verses. I'm really going to bounce around a lot. And so rather than having you turn all over the place, it's probably better if you just kind of mark down these verses that we're going to and kind of try to keep up. I don't know how fast Danny teaches normally, but I learned from him. And so I teach really fast. And so if you want to keep up, just write down those verses and I'd encourage you to go read them on your own after. Let me start with a question. Have you ever thought you were right on something only to realize later that you were wrong?
• 5:10
  Or maybe have you ever thought you were right on something only to realize later that the way you went about it, you were wrong, right? So you were right, but you really were wrong. It's never been true of anybody, just me.
• 5:21
  Okay, maybe it's maybe a lot of us. Probably thought we were right on something. Now, one of my wife and I, one of our first arguments, she would call it a disagreement. So we argued about what we argued about. So it was weird. But one of our first disagreements, one of our first arguments, a major one, if you can call it that, actually happened in front of the senior pastor's house. And it wasn't this morning, in case you're wondering. This was four years ago. We had come to visit Danny and Hallie five months after they had moved out here.
• 5:49
  And we were staying at their house, and we drove after church on Sunday in Lancaster, California. I drove here and got here on a Monday, and we left Friday. That morning, Hallie, you were headed to the airport. You were going to go to California for some kind of homeschool thing for Pearson, I think, if I remember correctly. And we were sitting in the car, and my wife, right, it's 1,000 miles back to Lancaster. My wife wanted to go up through Wyoming.
• 6:13
  And then kind of curve around, add about 200 miles or something to the trip, and curve back around. And then I got my business mindset on, and I listed all the reasons why we shouldn't. I didn't even take an account yet of why she wanted to go there. And I list all those reasons down. I said, now tell me, why do you want to go to Wyoming? And that's exactly how it was. And her response, because she's sweet and gentle and kind, she says, I don't know. I just wanted to go. That's kind of how it happened. I'm like, no, but you have to have a reason.
• 6:41
  You have to have a reason for going. Here are all my reasons why we shouldn't. It's going to cost more gas. We're poor. We don't have money. So it's going to cost more gas. There's going to be more mileage. I don't want to be on the road that long. Here are all my reasons. Why should we go? I don't know. I just want to. And if you ever want to just, in our relationship, my wife doesn't intentionally do it. At least I don't think you do. But the quickest way to my heart is if she starts crying.
• 7:10
  Like I realize how dumb I've been and I probably was wrong to begin with and why did I even open my mouth? We should have just gone through Wyoming. You want to know what we did? Can you guess? We went through Wyoming. We took the 200 miles. We sat in there. Danny, you weren't even there anymore. We sat there for probably 45 minutes in the driveway just waiting and me talking most of the time to convince her why we shouldn't go. And then we went. It would have been easier if we never went. You ever thought you were right about something only to find out that you were wrong or you went about it the wrong way? It's been true of anybody before. It's been true of me.
• 7:42
  When it comes to our lives as believers, one of the things that we realize very quickly is that we are wrong about a lot of things. And you only have to read the Word for a certain amount of time, for a small amount of time, to realize there are many things that we have gotten wrong as just people. And the Lord has given us His Word to communicate to us that there's an intention I have for your life, and by God's grace and through His power, the empowering of the Holy Spirit, He can change us.
• 8:10
  But you have to come to that position, and it's a continual position where you recognize, where I recognize that there are things in me that still need to change. And so this morning, the topic I chose as we go through Proverbs is cultivating a teachable spirit. And the question I would have is this, is what does it mean to have a teachable spirit? What does it mean to be teachable? And this isn't just for Christians, it's for anybody. What does it mean to be teachable? The dictionary definition is this.
• 8:40
  capable of being instructed, the ability to be taught. If I were to take that one step further, I would say this, is if you're a teachable person, you have a willingness to be corrected. A willingness to be corrected. Are we always excited about being corrected? No. There's a difference between a willingness to be corrected and loving being corrected. I hate being corrected.
• 9:06
  But I understand it's necessary. I have a definition for you. This is my definition of what it means to be teachable. And I'll say it at the end as well. It's this. Biblically, a person with a teachable spirit is someone who understands their proneness to sin, recognizes their need for others to point out their blind spots, has a willingness to be corrected for the purpose of being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ, which is God's intention for us. Let me say that one more time.
• 9:34
  A person with a teachable spirit is someone who understands their proneness to sin, recognizes their need for others to point out their blind spots, and has a willingness to be corrected for the purpose of being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. So know this, that idea, right, that growth that is in us, that isn't a one and done, right, you've learned to be teachable, you've been taught, and now you can just do whatever you want. It's a lifetime.
• 10:01
  process. And any one of us that are honest with our lives before the Lord will understand that I need him to correct me often. I need him to correct me often. And as God, by his gracious transforming power, he will change us. So let's pray and then we'll begin. Father, we do thank you for your word. We thank you for the time you're giving us to spend time with each other and studying your word. We pray that you would change us.
• 10:31
  God, help us to be those people that you have called us to be. God, we do claim the promises you have made, promises to change us by your power. Lord, we pray for your church, not just here, but God, I'm also reminded of the church out in Neenak and even just your several different local bodies around the world. God, would you just be with your people today? We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.
• 10:55
  Well, I'm going to have some rapid-fire points, like I said already. And I just encourage you, once again, write down these verses as we go. I'll have three big points, and then I'll have some sub-points under that as well. And eventually, hopefully, I will answer the question, how do we cultivate a teachable spirit? So the first thing I want you to note is this, is the reasons why someone's not teachable.
• 11:16
  The reasons why someone's not teachable. And I'm picking that first one. I could have ended with that, but I picked that first one because if you don't know what the problem is, you can't actually address the problem. So if you have no idea what's going on, why am I not teachable, then you can't...
• 11:32
  address it. I was at the doctor's several years ago. I hurt my back when I was in high school, and two years went by, and I never did anything about it, and I thought maybe it's about time I go see a doctor. So I go to the doctor. They're looking at my back. They ask me, or he asks me, hey, what's your pain level at? And I scale the one to ten. I look at him, and I say, I don't know. I've had it for so long, like maybe a six or a seven. If it's a bad day, it's an eight or a nine. It just hurt.
• 11:55
  And so he begins to write down on this piece of paper, and he hands this piece of paper to me, and he says, I'm going to prescribe you a steroid to begin taking. I've been in there one minute. I haven't been there very long. I'm like, Doc, you don't know what's wrong with me yet. You're giving me medication that you have no idea if it's actually going to treat the problem. And he says this, well, what would you like the pain to be at? Zero? I mean, I'd rather have no pain. And what if we can't do zero? One? I'll keep moving up if you want me to.
• 12:28
  He writes something else on that piece of paper, and he hands it to me and says, I'm going to prescribe you a steroid to help you with that pain. Doctor, I'm not going to take the medication. I want to find out what's wrong. If you don't know the reasons for the problem, you can't actually address the problem. So I have four reasons for us this morning. Reason number one, why someone isn't teachable. Foolishness. Foolishness. Listen to Proverbs 12, verse 1. Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof,
• 13:00
  is stupid. Now, in my house, for my wife, stupid's a bad word, but I think you're okay with that. It's biblical, so whatever. Stupid just simply means you lack sense. You lack sense. Now, perhaps somebody lacks sense because they just don't know. It's possible. They could be ignorant. But for whatever reason, it says, whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. And so somebody may not see the importance of being reproved,
• 13:32
  Because they lack that sense. But catch this. Catch what Proverbs 12, the same chapter, 12, verse 15 says. Why do some foolish people lack sense? Catch this. The way, this is Proverbs 12, 15. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes. But a wise man listens to advice. The reality is the wise man listens to advice. The fool, what? Doesn't.
• 13:59
  So the problem isn't just that this person does not have the right knowledge. The problem isn't that they don't have enough knowledge. The problem is what? That they don't want the knowledge. Do you see that? They're foolish. Proverbs 12, 1. They're stupid, not because they don't have the right knowledge, but because they don't even want it. And why don't they want it? Did you catch it? Proverbs 12, 15. The way of a fool is right where? In his own mind.
• 14:30
  eyes. In his own eyes. Do you know anybody like that? If you don't, it might be you. Just saying. Reason number two. I'll foolish this. Reason number two, unwillingness. Unwillingness. Proverbs 15, 12 says this, a scoffer does not like to be reproved. He will not go to the wise. Now, when you think of a scoffer, if you could put a sound to that, what sound would you put to a scoffer?
• 15:03
  I don't need to listen to anybody. Why do I need to hear that advice? That's not for me. Surely you can't be telling me that information. Now, perhaps, granted, perhaps this unwillingness in somebody's life is because they fear being corrected. Anybody like being corrected? Like, hey, you're being dumb. But nobody likes to hear that. I intentionally always had somebody around my life that would tell me that because I needed it.
• 15:27
  But maybe they fear being corrected. Maybe they fear just being transparent, like, man, I'm going to have to put myself out there, and then I'm going to have people see my mistakes, and I don't know if I'm ready for that. Maybe their fear is the fear of those mistakes themselves. Whatever the reason, though, what's their problem? They're unwilling. He will not go to the wise.
• 15:53
  He will not go to the wise. That's an attitude where I'm sticking my feet in the ground and I am not moving from this position. I will not go to the wise.
• 16:04
  One of the things I do for my sermon prep is I really do manuscript all of my sermons, and that's so I can be precise, and it's really what I prefer to do. I tried doing outlines before and talking points. It just didn't work for me. But one of the things I've done with that is I try to, with the church in Lancaster, to, after I finish a sermon, to give it to one of the pastors to read. You ever done this before? You want somebody to give you feedback, but you're, like, gripping onto it? Like, you can't take it from me, but I want the feedback?
• 16:33
  What do I fear in that moment? Really, my fear is I think they're going to find heresy or something, and I don't want them to tell me I'm a heretic until Sunday morning for some reason. I don't get it. Does anybody like to be reproved? No. Nobody likes to be reproved. But if we're honest, we know that we have to be. We know that each one of us, there are blind spots or whatever in our lives that we need people to show those things to us. And so the willingness is different from wanting.
• 17:03
  I'm willing for them to point out my blind spots. That was reason number two. Reason number three. Someone's not teachable. Immaturity. Immaturity. Proverbs 22.15 says this, Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far away from him. Now this verse primarily is addressing the need for, and I think the benefit of corrective discipline in the life of a kid.
• 17:30
  But the implication here is regarding teachability. Why is folly bound up in the heart of a child? Because if you have children, you know I have a year-and-a-half-year-old, life revolves around them. What do I want? I want it now. Give it to me. I'm king here. I'm queen here. Typically, though there are exceptions, children are typically wrapped up in what they want, even my one-and-a-half-year-old.
• 18:02
  I love her to death, and she can have half my kingdom, but wrapped up in herself. You ever told your kid not to do something, and the response they give is either no or why? Or why? And you try to give all the reasons, and then eventually what you say is what? Because I said so. My foot is down. That's the end of the matter. It is one thing for a four-year-old to question the wisdom of their parents.
• 18:32
  The wisdom from other people, the wisdom of those more mature, is another thing altogether when a 24-year-old or a 40-year-old does the same thing. It's immaturity and unwillingness. Listen to what the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13.11. When I was a child, what he's doing here is he's taking a physical reality and he's making a spiritual application. He says this, When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish things.
• 19:03
  You see, even in the life of the believer, there is the understanding that people should grow up. People should grow up spiritually. And when people do not grow up, how should we feel at that moment? There is something strangely, shockingly different about that person. They're just not growing.
• 19:23
  Years ago, I was out of high school already, but years ago, I went to lunch with an old high school friend, and we went to lunch in our old town, Rosemond, California. Danny knows it as the town of the golden tractor, if you remember, and it's still there. But years gone by, and we sit down, we're eating.
• 19:41
  Our waiter happened to be a guy who had graduated a year beforehand. So he's a year older than us. And we were acquaintances. We weren't really friends, per se, in high school. But we knew each other. And so we're catching up a little bit. We're talking. And he says, dude, we should totally hang out sometime, which I'm always open to that. Yeah, I'll hang out with you. And then he says, man, I got these sweet BB guns. We should just go out into the desert and just start shooting these things. And it wasn't the BB guns that was a problem. Because the problem was...
• 20:09
  That's what he was looking forward to. Like his whole goal in life was those BB guns. And I just, I sat there and I just thought, man, it's been six years since this guy's gone out of high school and his greatest goal is BB guns? Just hasn't grown up. And the life of the believer, spiritually speaking, right, there shouldn't be a point where we just plateau and we're just not growing anymore.
• 20:35
  The life of the believer is filled with growth. Yes, empowered by the Holy Spirit, by God's grace, his transforming power in our lives, but nonetheless, growth. And if somebody's not growing, it may indicate that we're still immature. Reason number four is this. This is the main one. Arrogance or pride.
• 21:00
  Arrogance or pride. Four different Proverbs for you. Proverbs 18.2 says this. A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. You could easily say they're her opinion too. This isn't just for the guys. But the guys are probably wrong. Proverbs 21.24 says this. Scoffer is the name of the arrogant hottie man who acts with arrogant pride. Proverbs 26.12.
• 21:26
  Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. And lastly, Proverbs 28, 26. Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. In my opinion, as I read the book of Proverbs, even as I read scripture, the number one reason why someone is not teachable is because we're arrogant. We're arrogant.
• 21:54
  I know everything. Nobody's going to tell me anything that I'm doing something wrong. I'm the smartest person in the room. I'm going to make sure everyone knows it. My wife and I have one of the shows we have been watching recently for the older crowd. Note that I didn't say old crowd, just the older crowd. Might be familiar with this, but Little House on the Prairie.
• 22:15
  We've been watching that. We've been loving it, honestly. It's just we've enjoyed it. It's clean. We think it's funny. And there was one character in there that almost every episode makes me lose my sanctification, which is okay. Her name is Harriet Olsen. You might know her. I mean, they, like, do one episode, and they make me like her a little bit, and then they ruin it all. She's a terrible lady.
• 22:39
  But Harriet Olsen, she's like the high class in Walnut Grove, and nobody else can tell her anything wrong, and she has all the answers, and if somebody tries to give her advice, her answers are typically, wow, no, you don't know anything. What is that? It's arrogance. Nobody can tell me what I'm doing wrong because I'm not doing anything wrong. And if you say I'm wrong, it's just because you're not as high class as me. You see, sometimes high class people are just rude.
• 23:09
  They're not high class. Arrogance, in my opinion, is the greatest enemy to teachability. Arrogance, pride, is the greatest trait to being taught and changed. Arrogance. And if we're honest, if I'm honest, there's a little bit of arrogance in each one of us. You know when it shows itself? When somebody tries to correct us. My initial reaction typically is, you're wrong.
• 23:42
  Instead of, man, thank you for telling me that. There's a family at our church that's been there now for 10 years. So they've been there well longer than we have. And sweet family. He's one of our elders. His wife leads our children's ministry at the church. And just a really, really sweet family. And probably 25 years ago, they were unmarried. They had kids together. But they were proclaiming themselves as Christians. And they very well were, but they were just living in sin.
• 24:09
  And a couple from the church they were attending took them to dinner and rebuked them. Said, hey, the way you're living isn't how a Christian lives. And they remember that to this day. It changed the trajectory of their lives as Christians, where they were confronted with sin and said, you know what? We are. We're living in sin. It was the presence of a humble spirit, a teachable spirit. So those are the reasons. Foolishness, unwillingness.
• 24:40
  immaturity, and arrogance. So let me ask you this with this in mind. Those aren't only reasons. Those are also character traits. And it's the character traits, it's that reason that reveals the heart of my character. So let me ask you this. Of those four reasons, which one or ones, if any, are true of you? Because we have to be confronted with that if we're going to respond to the Lord's conviction in our lives.
• 25:09
  So those are the reasons. Two more main points for us. We'll go through these fairly quickly. The second point is this. What are the risks for not being teachable? So you hear those reasons. You say, you know what? I'm content like this. My life's going okay. Nothing's wrong. Is it really that big of a deal? Look at these risks that Proverbs address for us of not being teachable. Risk number one is a hardened heart. A hardened heart. Now note this real quick before I read one of the Proverbs is this. A hardened heart.
• 25:36
  is grown, not born. And here's what I mean by that. It gets worse and worse over time if it's not addressed. It's like gangrene that first starts, and then it becomes nasty. So the process just gets worse. Here's where it starts. Listen to Proverbs 19.27. Cease to hear instruction. So somebody's giving you wisdom, somebody's giving you advice. Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge. Where it starts is a wandering from the truth.
• 26:04
  A wandering from knowledge. A wandering from wisdom. Regardless of the reason, whether somebody is foolish, whether they're unwilling, immature, or arrogant, regardless of the reason, when we cease to hear advice, no, no, I got this, I got this, we are on a sure road away from knowledge. We are on a sure road down to destruction. But it doesn't stop there. Listen to Proverbs 19.3.
• 26:35
  When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord. Now catch this real quick. Whose fault was it? When a man's what? When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, what does he do? He rages against the Lord. Proverbs 19, 27. So first it starts off with a wandering from the truth, but then when your mistakes get you in trouble, what do you do? I blame somebody else.
• 27:02
  Now, this is as old as original sin almost. Remember Genesis chapter 3? Adam and Eve, they eat the fruit, and it says that God comes into the garden. He begins to call out to Adam, and he says, where are you? Does God know where Adam's at? Yes, God knows where Adam's at. What is he doing in that moment? That's an opportunity for repentance. And they're hiding, and eventually God calls out again, where are you? And Adam and Eve come out, and he says, where were you? Does God know where he was?
• 27:28
  Yes. And Adam responds and he says, we were hiding because you came into the garden and we were naked and we were afraid. And then God says again, who told you you were naked and afraid? Did you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? What is he doing there? An opportunity for repentance again. Do you remember what Adam says? The woman you gave to me ate of the fruit and gave me some also. What's he doing there? Blame shifting. He's blame shifting. First he says it was the woman. It's really her fault. But then what does he do? Whom?
• 28:01
  You gave me. So God, if you really think about it, this is really your fault, not my fault. When a man's fault he brings his way to ruin, right? It's his fault. He didn't listen to advice. He wandered from the truth. What does he do? He rages against the Lord. It really wasn't me. It was you. And that's not even the end of a hardened heart. Notice what makes it so bad. Proverbs 29 verse 1. He who is often reproved yet stiffens his neck will suddenly be broken.
• 28:33
  beyond healing. We'll suddenly be broken beyond healing. Here's how I take that. There will come a point in somebody's life, barring God's gracious transforming power, because he can do that, but there will come a point in somebody's life where they have resisted the truth for so long that God will give them up to their sin. And we will look at that and say, well, no, no, he loves people and he pursues people, absolutely. But Romans chapter 1, three times in the same chapter, three times says God gave them up.
• 29:03
  up specifically to their sin. So they'll come a point in somebody's life where they resist the truth over and over and over again. Their heart is hard. They're blaming everybody, including the Lord, where eventually their heart is so hard that it cannot be softened, barring God's grace. That's a terrible risk to put ourselves in. Risk number two is the risk of influence. Proverbs 10, 17 says this, whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof
• 29:34
  leads others astray. It simply just means this. When I'm not teachable, I have great influence on others. Well, regardless, I have great influence on others. But it's especially...
• 29:45
  when I influence others down the same path. And we think about that and say, is that really that big of a deal to influence others away from knowledge? Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 18, 6. Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and be drowned in the depth of the sea. I don't know about you. That doesn't sound too pleasing to me. I'd rather get this big old bowl to wrap around my neck and we're going to throw you in the ocean.
• 30:14
  It's awful. Does Jesus take influence seriously? Absolutely. Absolutely. Risk number two is influence. Risk number three, ultimately the greatest risk, is judgment. Listen to Proverbs 28, 14. Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity. Proverbs 21, 16. One who wanders from the way of good sense, right, you see the heart and heart process there, wanders away from good sense, will rest in the assembly of...
• 30:44
  the dead. The ultimate risk for someone who's not teachable is ultimate judgment. Now people, myself included, might react against us and say, but wait, I've believed in Jesus. My sins have been covered. But note this, one of the indications that we have believed in Jesus is simply this, that when he tells me, stop doing that, I stop doing that. When he tells me, hey, you're walking the wrong line, I listen to him. Why? Because he's Lord. I'm going to do what he tells me to do.
• 31:11
  Now, my hope and prayer for somebody that is maybe not a teachable person is, yeah, that their sins are covered, but they're just living in disobedience. I know it's a weird hope to pray, but that's my hope and prayer for somebody. But if it's my heart, I'm not going to gamble with that. I'm not going to gamble with that. I'm not going to play with fire. I want to walk towards the Lord with confidence that I really do know him. And one of the evidences of that is a teachable spirit.
• 31:41
  Those are the risks. Third are the rewards. The rewards for being teachable. Are you the reasons you have the risk? It really is a bad thing. Now here are the rewards. I think it was J. Vernon McGee, if I'm not mistaken, who said he would love to, and I could be wrong on that, so don't quote me on that. Cut that out of the script. But who said, I wish I could take every Christian and hold them over hell for 30 seconds so that it would change the way they live.
• 32:05
  And I heard one person once say, you know, what I'd rather do is hold a Christian 30 seconds over heaven and remind them of what they're going to get. In my opinion, the reward is far greater than the fear of the risk. Like I know I'm headed somewhere specifically to the Lord. So listen to these rewards. Reward number one, preparedness for life's experiences. Proverbs 19.20 says this, listen to advice and accept instruction that you may gain wisdom in the future.
• 32:35
  Proverbs 15.5 says this, A fool despises his father's instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent. What makes somebody who heeds reproof prudent? What makes them prudent? Because regardless, if they ever find a practical reason of how that applies to their life, they already have the information in case it comes. Listen, anybody I've ever talked to has said something like this, I'm thankful.
• 33:05
  how God used the mistakes in my life to change the person I am. But nobody has ever told me, I wish I could make those mistakes again. I'm so thankful for those mistakes. No, I'm thankful for what God did through those mistakes. But I wish I would have never made those mistakes. The first reward is a preparedness for life's experiences. I may not be able to see some practical use for it, but when that use comes, I want to be prepared. That God has given me wisdom through others to apply to that situation.
• 33:36
  Rule number two, a soft, humble heart. Listen to Proverbs 9.9. Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous man and he will increase in learning. Proverbs 17.10. A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool. When we are teachable.
• 34:00
  we are humble. And when we are humble, we are receptive to truth. And when we are receptive to truth, we have a soft heart before the Lord. We have a soft heart before the Lord. Doesn't mean we always enjoy that process, but we're thankful for it. And then what happens is we begin to emulate what Jesus said in Matthew 5, 6. And he said this, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
• 34:25
  This last Tuesday, I hiked Mount Whitney in California, probably the worst decision of my life, to go up there just off like I didn't want to come to California because I saw mountains, and I was fearful it was going to happen. But coming down that mountain, I wonder what I was thinking about the whole time. What do you think? Cheeseburger. I just wanted a cheeseburger and a cup of coffee. That's it. I'm coming down. I'm 11 miles away, five hours away or whatever.
• 34:55
  And the only thing on my mind is a cheeseburger. Now, I had protein bars in my bag. I had almonds and cashews. I had beef jerky. I have all these things I enjoy. But I'm eating it, and what am I thinking about? Cheeseburger. It doesn't matter what I had in my pack. What would satisfy me at that moment? A cheeseburger. Guess what I got when I got down the mountain? A cheeseburger. And it was good. Satisfied. The person who has a soft, humble heart before the Lord.
• 35:25
  Will only be satisfied by the Lord. Right? So blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Why will they be satisfied? Because when we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we hunger and thirst for God. And I can only be filled by him. Reward number three. A future hope. A future hope. Listen to a longer passage. It says Proverbs 23, verses 12 through 14, and also verses 17 and 18.
• 35:54
  So 23, 12 through 14, 17 and 18. Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge. Do not withhold discipline from a child. If you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol. Listen to what he says in verses 17 and 18. Let not your heart envy sinners. Why would you envy sinners? Their life seems easy. It doesn't seem like anything's wrong. Everything's going well in their life. But catch what he says.
• 36:19
  but continue in the fear of the Lord, right? That would be obedience, listening. Continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. Catch what he says. Surely there is a future and your hope will not be cut off. What's he saying there? Saying just simply this, it will get far better for you in the end. It is worth it in the end. You see, sometimes people aren't willing to be.
• 36:47
  aren't willing to be teachable, myself included, because there's a fear in me that I'm going to miss out on something. I'm going to miss out on that and I don't want to miss out. But catch this. Even if we miss out on things, it is far better to miss out on something in this life than to miss out on God in the next. Because all of that is going to pale in comparison to that great day. Where only He can satisfy the longing in our hearts. And so it will be far better
• 37:13
  to miss out, but I'll tell you this much. There are things I've chosen intentionally not to do because I just don't think it'd be wise. I don't think I could honor the Lord through it. I don't think I'm really missing out on anything. God's been gracious through those things. So as I conclude, the greatest reward of heaven is simply what or who? It's Jesus. And that reward is far greater than anything we'd ever miss out here.
• 37:42
  So let me say this definition for you one more time, and then I'll answer the question of how does one cultivate a teachable spirit. Biblically, a person with a teachable spirit is someone who understands their proneness to sin, recognizes their need for others to point out their blind spots, and has a willingness to be corrected for the purpose of being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. And that is God's intention for us. So my question then is, is that you?
• 38:09
  He's like, man, I want to be that person. So how does one cultivate a teachable spirit? Four simple things. One, pray for a humble heart. A humble heart is not natural to me. I think about myself all the time. So pray, Lord, humble me, humble me. Give me a heart that listens. Number two.
• 38:31
  Identify personal areas of improvement. Here's what I mean by that. See, if you're like me, what I tend to do is I tend to elevate my strengths in order to hide my weaknesses. But if I get those high enough, then people won't think there's actually something wrong with me until they spend considerable amount of time with me. Then they'll find out there's something wrong with me. If I never address those personal areas of improvement, those weaknesses, whatever you want to call them, if I never address them, I'm never going to deal with them.
• 38:57
  And they're always going to be the sour spot in my life. So identify personal areas of improvement. Three, ask for input from others. Ask for input from others. I'm not as honest with myself as other people might be. So ask people who will be honest with you, who will tell you things, not just what you want to hear, but things that you need to hear. Ask them. And number four, probably the most important part, respond to the conviction God brings through that.
• 39:22
  See, if you have prayed for a humble heart, if you identify those weaknesses, if you have asked for input from others into your life, but then you do nothing with it, it was pointless. It bears no fruit in my life. But as soon as by God's grace, I respond to the conviction he brings, he will begin to change me and he will conform me, transform me into the image of his son. And that day will be far greater than the day I live today. Let's pray. Father, we thank you.
• 39:51
  For time that you've given us here this morning, we thank you for your word. Lord, help us to be attentive to how your spirit leads in our life. God, we're thankful that we can be your people. Give us ears that hear and eyes to see. God, hearts that obey you and your word. And we pray that many would come to faith because of the obedience of your people in a world that is rebellious. Lord, we love you. We thank you for our time today, and we thank you even for communion. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.