Pride vs Humility | Pastor Patrick Weikle

Come on, United City Church.

Can we just continue like in an attitude and spirit of praise this morning?

Can God really do the impossible?

Do you believe that this morning?

Hey, I'm really glad you're in the room.

Go ahead and uh get your Bible ready for 1 Peter chapter 3.

1 Peter 3 · chapter mention

That's where we're gonna be today.

My name is Pat Weichel.

I'm a student pastor here at United City Church, and uh I get to preach from time to time, and unfortunately for you, it's today.

So, you know, here we are.

I'm gonna continue today in our series called Nomad.

Um but before we do, I really just honestly I do want to welcome everyone in the room if it's your first time.

Man, we're really glad you're here, and maybe it's your first time in a long time, or maybe you're uh on spring break and we're all jealous of you, you know, and you're watching online as you drive to some beach, someplace, or Disney, or whatever.

And I'm not bitter, but uh man, we're really glad that you can be here too.

Can we also give a special welcome to everyone streaming our service from a correctional facility through the Pando app?

We're especially glad that you get to be here.

Excited to potentially one day meet you in person as well.

Um, in the Nomad series.

Um, we've been looking as Peter has been writing to Christians who are marginalized and who are persecuted, and they're trying to figure out how to live life as nomads in this world where they have to reside, but ultimately aren't going to be forever.

And I just want to give a uh disclaimer up front.

Today's message is not fun.

It's tough.

It's tough, and um, it's gonna be hard to receive, it's gonna be hard to stomach, hard to swallow, but the truth is if you can, I believe it has the potential and the power to change everything about your life.

And so we're gonna have to navigate through some raw and vulnerable places together, but I promise that we're gonna go someplace good.

And so, with that, I just want to pray for you.

And uh pray for your mind and your perspective.

I'd ask that you pray for me as well as I preach, and then let's just pray for each other, maybe the person that you brought or the person you know in the room who needs to hear from God this morning, and we'll jump in and continue our series, Nomad.

So, Jesus, thank you for being alive.

God, thank you that the song that we just sang is true.

It's not just a good song, it's a true song.

That you are more than able, that you're not done with us yet.

And God, I pray that by the power of Holy Spirit, you would continue a good work in us until it is complete, that we would grow into the fullness and the stature of the head of the church, which is Christ Jesus.

And it is in his name that we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

So I could beat LeBron James in a race.

Okay, okay.

Alright, okay, so I guess before we get started, something about me, um, I make outlandish claims.

Anybody else in the room make outlandish claims?

Anybody?

This you've been known to make an outlandish claim before.

I I so make outlandish claims that in our staff retreat this year we did an award ceremony and uh we're voted on awards, you know, who should win what, and I won the award called the Outlandish Claims Award, okay?

Because sometimes I say outlandish things, like I could eat 50 hot dogs in a minute, okay, which I think that I probably could do.

And I say outlandish things like I could beat LeBron James in a race.

Now, look at me.

Okay, obviously, I'm not talking about a race on land.

Here's what you don't know about me, okay?

Let me qualify my outlandish claim.

Um, as a member of the 2000, 2007, 2008 JV Moreau Four Size swim team, okay, I'm pretty good at swimming.

Alright.

That's me and my brother.

Gosh, dude, I'm so cool.

Anyway, students in the room are never listening to me preach the same again.

Alright, so listen, I'm not saying that I could beat LeBron in a foot race.

That's ridiculous.

No one would ever say that.

Um, I am saying that water is the great equalizer.

You know what I'm saying?

You put me and LeBron in a 50 minute meter freestyle, like just straight up race.

Oh, I win that battle.

I win that battle nine times out of ten.

I'm not gonna lie, okay?

Like I can swim.

I'm a really good swimmer.

And uh I get it, like I get it.

LeBron just, you know, surpassed 40,000 points all time, right?

Zach, that's right.

Fact check me, big NBA guy.

And uh he is six foot nine, he does have a seven-foot wingspan, he does have a size 15 shoe.

I did Google all those things this morning.

He's he's massive, he's an athlete.

I'm just saying that um, I guess what I'm saying is I think I'm better than LeBron.

Like, I think I'm better than LeBron.

And uh, I think it's easy for you to laugh at me for thinking that I'm better than LeBron because it's silly.

But the truth is that you think that you're better than a lot of people, too.

That's the truth.

The truth is it's easy to laugh at me when I say something that's an outlandish claim, like I could beat LeBron James in a race in the pool, but it's it's easy for you to think that you're better than someone you work with.

It's easy for you to think that you're better than someone you follow on social media.

It's easy for you to think that you're better than the other parents in your community.

It's easy for you to think that you're better than your neighbor.

It's easy for you to think that you're better than the person you go to school with, it's easy for you to think that you're better than the person that you play on a team with.

It's it's easy for you to think that you're better.

Can I go there this morning, than someone who shares your last name?

Why do we think this way?

Well, we think this way because the tension in the room this morning is this is that we all wrestle with the sin of pride.

We all wrestle with the sin of pride.

And pride works both sides of the equation.

Can I tell you that?

United City?

See, pride works like when you're at work and someone gets a promotion, you're better than them.

Why did they get the promotion?

I deserve that promotion, I'm better than them.

And pride works on the other side when some when you get the promotion and you look at everyone else and say, I got the promotion because I'm better than you.

You understand?

Pride is all-encompassing, it has nothing to do about situation or position, it has everything to do with your heart because listen to me, pride is arrogance.

Pride thinks that it knows better and is better.

Pride sets itself in first place, pride has an inflated view of itself, pride explains itself instead of apologizes.

I'm gonna say that again.

Pride explains itself instead of apologizes.

That's some of y'all's marital issue, right there.

You just need to go home and work through that one.

Pride bows to no one but itself.

Pride has always got a bigger and better story.

Pride doesn't listen, instead, it waits its turn to talk.

And we all wrestle with this thing called pride.

Deeply ingrained into the fiber of the human experience is the experience to be proud.

Listen to what author and theologian C.S.

Lewis writes about pride in a famous, wonderful book, if you haven't read it, called Mere Christianity.

He says this pride is spiritual cancer.

And eats up every possibility of love, contentment, or even common sense.

And I guess what I'm saying this morning is if pride is spiritual cancer, then look at me, church, then we're all sick.

And if you think that that's a hard quote to swallow this morning about pride, wait until I read to you what the Bible says about pride.

Proverbs chapter 8, verse 13 says, This pride and arrogance in the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

Proverbs 8:13

And I'm gonna give you a I'm gonna give you a chance to guess who's talking here.

It's not Solomon, it's God.

God, the creator of heaven and earth.

God the Father.

God looks down from heaven and says, Man, pride, arrogance, perverted speech, I I hate that.

I hate it.

I hate it.

And why?

Why does God hate pride and arrogance?

Because pride and arrogance cause you to live like you are the king of your universe.

When the reality is only God can be king.

Pride and arrogance lead you to believe that you know best, are best, and do best.

And unfortunately, that puts God in second place.

And can I tell you this morning, God will not settle for second place.

And so he hates pride.

But he doesn't just hate pride.

He doesn't just hate pride.

You know, that would be easy enough to just say, man, God really doesn't like it.

God has really strong emotion against it.

But the brother of Jesus would write in James chapter 4, verse 6, therefore it says, God opposes the proud.

James 4:6

Look at me, church, he doesn't just hate it, he doesn't just feel strongly against pride and arrogance.

He actually sets himself against prideful people.

Now you gotta understand this before we go one step further.

Pride is a magnet that draws the opposition of God.

And scripture doesn't settle just to say that God disapproves.

It would be easy to say, man, God disapproves when you're prideful.

He just looks at you and says, Hey, be better.

Hey, I don't I really don't like it when you do that.

No, God does feel that way, and he takes it a step further and says, Man, I'm I'm actually in active opposition.

You want to know what the Greek word oppose means?

I know we read it in English as God opposes the pride.

You know, you want to know what the Greek means?

I had to look it up as I was studying for the text.

It's actually quite terrifying.

It means to rage in war against.

So let's uncover the spiritual reality this morning.

That means, church, that the terrifying reality is every arena of your life that is marked by pride, God is violently opposing you.

It means he's raging in war against you.

Why?

For his own glory and for your good.

Because God is God and you are not, and because God won't let you sit in a place of pride that is gonna damage and destroy your soul.

So he hates pride and arrogance, but he's actively raging war against pride and arrogance, which means this.

Let me just step into this real quick and love you enough.

Come close, let me tell you something.

Your biggest problem might be God.

Maybe because you're prideful in your work and God is opposing you.

Why are my relationships all upside down?

Maybe because you're a prideful person and God is opposing you.

Might it be this morning, United City Church, that God is so actively at work against the cancer of pride in your life that you feel the weight and the sting of his loving grace and mercy, which is to bring you low when your sin wants you to live high?

You glad you're in church this morning?

So the question I want to try to answer for you this morning from our text is this How do we guard our life and our relationships from the sin of pride?

How do we guard our life and our relationships from the sin of pride?

1 Peter chapter 3, verses 8 through 12.

1 Peter 3:8–12

Since 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 13, Peter's been talking to specific groups of people, and he's been giving them inspiration and direction on how to suffer well, how to endure authority.

1 Peter 2:13

You know, you go back and you think about he talks about how to live in relationship with the government, how to live in relationship with masters and slaves.

And in verses 1 through 7, he talks about how to live in relationship with your spouse.

And if you think, you know, that I'm the guy who just doesn't want to go there and preach it, just know after Easter we have a new series coming up called Wedlocked.

Okay, I promise you we're gonna go all in on 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 1 through 7.

1 Peter 3:1–7

So that's a that's another buckle up message.

But in this buckle up message, I want to address verses 8 through 12, where Peter shifts from talking about specific groups of people, and he turns his attention to the church as a whole, to believers as a group, and says, This is how you're supposed to live.

1 Peter chapter 3, verses 8.

1 Peter 3:8

Hopefully you've had time to get there.

Peter starts by saying this.

Finally, all of you, unfortunate news for you, that means all of you.

Like, maybe, maybe it's not me.

Nope, it's you.

All of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, a humble mind.

Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called that you may obtain a blessing.

You know, here's what I find so interesting about today's passage in 1 Peter chapter 3 is that Peter doesn't give us a list of things to do.

1 Peter 3 · chapter mention

Praise God, you know?

Peter doesn't give us a list of things to do, which is encouraging because if Peter gives us a list to do, that means if we fail on just one thing, we've what?

We've blown it.

We've missed it all.

Instead, Peter doesn't give us a to-do list, he gives us a picture of a type of person we are to be.

Peter doesn't say do this, Peter doesn't say practice this, Peter doesn't say exercise.

No, Peter says all of you have.

Have.

He's saying, all of you, this is who you are to be.

Meaning we're not supposed to be practicing and working out these behaviors and attitudes.

It means we're supposed to be being formed by these behaviors and attitudes.

Let me make it make sense like this.

I have a seven-year-old son, his name's Theo, and he is crazy.

Okay?

So pray for me.

Like he really is.

And um Theo got a little older.

I said, hey dude, um, so you're a boy, like you're male.

Let's get that out there.

And um, because you're a boy and because you're male and you're my son and you're a Wycle, you are a protector.

God made you to be a protector.

And I want you to think that way, and I want you to live that way.

And he's like, five, and he's like, okay, what does that mean?

I don't know what that means.

I said, that means that you guard women.

Okay?

Amen.

Dads, amen, husbands, like you guard women.

You take care of women, you look out for women, you protect women.

Um, but it also means, as a protector, we take care and we protect people who are weaker than us.

So if you see somebody you're stronger than, you don't need to take advantage of them, you need to help them, you need to protect them.

And this mindset, this idea, this mind has created in Theo a set of values and actions that we see to this day.

Like in our house, he's the bug killer, right?

Not because his dad's afraid of bugs, but because he's the protector, and that's his job, right?

So when Phoebe sees a cockroach or whatever, or a spider, he's like, he's the bug guy, he kills the bug.

We see that in his life.

You also see things like he opens the door for his mom.

It's really sweet.

Because he's a protector and he knows that he guards his mom, he pumps gas for his mom, seven years old.

If y'all want, I'll write the book, okay?

And uh he's he's he's living like a protector, and we see this in his life.

So I picked the kids up from school the other day.

We're driving home, they go to foster elementary, and um driving home, and because I'm an amazing, excellent dad, and I always ask about the emotional well-being of my children, I said, Hey, Theo, did you have a good day at school days?

He's like, I mean, it's a great day.

It's a great day.

Day computers, PE, awesome.

Playground, like, what more could you want, you know, as a seven-year-old?

I said, Phoebe, how was school today?

She said, Well, it was a little good and a little bad.

I said, Okay, what was a little good?

She's like, I got ice cream next Friday, you know, shout out foster elementary.

And I said, Okay, well, what was a little bad?

And Phoebe just got her haircut, she like chopped all her long hair off to chin length, and um, I'm still recovering.

And so she says, Well, it was a little bad because on the playground, people made fun of my new haircut.

And as if he was living for this moment, I hear my son say, What?

Nobody makes fun of my sister.

I was like, You dad gum right, dude.

But then he took it a step further.

And he said, When I see them tomorrow, because she said the name of the kid, and I don't know if your kids go to foster, alright?

So I don't wanna, you know, out them.

But also tell them to keep my daughter's name out of their mouth, you know.

But anyway, so Theo goes, that's my sister, nobody makes me my sister.

When I see them on the playground, I'm gonna punch them in the throat.

So if your kid comes home having been punched in the throat, and you go to foster elementary, you know that your kid was running that mouth about my daughter.

But Theo acts that way because he believes in his mind he's a protector.

And it's like Dave Kinney preached last week when he preached on submission.

That God wants to do a deep work in you and as a result move through you.

Yes?

And that's what Peter's saying here.

Peter's saying, hey, I want you to be so unified in your mind that this is the way you live.

And let's look at that list.

Peter describes a type of people who have unity of mind, which means here's what it doesn't mean.

It doesn't mean that we have to agree about everything.

But I would put before you that it means we have to agree about something.

And so Peter says at the base, man, you guys, you're in agreement.

The idea here, the the Greek root word is same mind.

The second is sympathy.

But you feel what others feel.

Deep down in your heart, you have emotions when other people have emotions.

That's why you go to a funeral and you may never have known the person and they never had really any impact on your life, but you can cry.

Why?

That's the work of God, it's sympathy.

And then he says, have brotherly love, which doesn't go over very well in 2023, 2024, cancel culture.

But the idea is you can't get rid of family.

That got amens in the first service.

Somebody was like, Amen, I've been trying, you know.

It's like you can kick them out of like the family reunion and the dinner and Christmas, but they're still a part of your tribe.

They're still part of your family.

And Peter's saying, hey, you have unity of mind, have sympathy, have feelings for each other, share those feelings, and have brotherly love, which means I'm never gonna cancel you.

You're not gonna get kicked out of the community.

And then he lands in tender hearts.

And in the Greek here, it's an interesting word.

It literally means to feel in your guts, like your literal intestines.

It means you have this deep disposition towards one another, that you're really for each other, that you really want the best for one another.

And then he ends with, and have humble minds, which I know you all struggle to say, humble, okay?

Have humble minds.

It means this, it means we think less of ourselves and more of others.

And that means when we could go high, we go low.

It's very reminiscent of Mark chapter 12, where Jesus says, Love your neighbor more than yourself.

Mark 12 · chapter mention

And can I teach you something really quick about the Bible?

I got time.

When you come to a list in God's Word, it's really important or helpful to examine that list.

And to look at the items that make up that list and say, okay, well, let's compare and contrast.

What's the same, what's different, what seems to be in agreement, what seems to be in disagreement, and then to look at the order.

How does the list start and how does the list end?

And here's what I want to show you really cool about 1 Peter 3, 8 through 9, is that Peter's list both begins and ends, look at me, with the work of your mind.

He says, have unity of mind, and then he ends with have the humble mind.

And here's what I think Peter's getting at here.

This is really important if you're going to understand and apply this text.

I think Peter is saying, none of the things happen in the middle if you all don't have the humble mind.

None of the three things in the middle happen if we don't all share the mind of humility.

Because look at me, because pride doesn't sympathize.

Does it?

Pride does not exhibit familial love.

It cancels and cuts out, doesn't it?

Pride doesn't have a deep feeling of affection and community in your guts, does it?

No, it has hatred.

And Peter is saying, unless you all get to a place where you share the mindset of humility, you will never see the deep work formed through your life, just like my son is a protector.

And so you have to pursue the humble mind.

And what does the humble mind do?

Well, he talks about it in verse 9.

The humble mind does this it doesn't repay evil with evil and instead repays evil with good.

You know, revenge is sin in the Bible?

We live in a get-even culture.

And the Bible says, no, you need to get low.

It's sin for you to want to repay someone for what they've done to you.

That's why the Bible literally says, vengeance is mine, says who?

Pat Weichel?

No, the Lord.

Pride is vengeful.

Humility returns evil with good.

It doesn't repay insults with insults.

Instead, it repays insults with a blessing.

My God.

Give me help.

Because this ain't me.

Is this you?

Hey, you insult me.

Buckle up, dude.

It's time.

Like, I know I'm a pastor, but we're gonna go there, right?

The moment you open the door to insult me, it's fair game, baby.

It's on, you know?

I'm just I'm not always the guy that where you curse me, I go, in peace and blessing to you.

You know, it's like that Southern will bless their heart.

Now I can say whatever I want about them.

That's what my mom does all the time.

Bless it.

No, it repays insults with blessing.

And this is just, it's so against the grain of human nature.

Anybody with me?

Just me being vulnerable.

Anybody else vulnerable in the room this morning?

It's just so against who we are.

It's so against the human experience.

And as if to pour salt in the wound, Peter says, For to this you've been called.

Not just all of you have it, for to this you have been called.

And you might be thinking in your head, wait, Pat, you said that Peter's not giving us a list to do.

This kind of sounds like Peter's saying this is a list to do.

Well, let me let me explain something for you.

I'm trying to prep to preach this passage, and I couldn't get away from the for this, for to this you have been called.

And so I looked at it, because when you want it to say something else as a preacher, you look at it in the Greek, you know?

So it's like maybe it says anything else than what it says.

And what I found to my horror is it does mean something else, but it's it's even almost worse than what it says in English.

You could read it in Greek better as, for to this you have been invited.

That Greek word called sometimes translates to invitation, which means this: the world is inviting you into a lifestyle of pride, of treating yourself as ultimate and everyone else as secondary, and the payout of that is the opposition of God, the fiery wrath and power and presence of God set against you in every arena marked by pride.

But what Peter is saying is the invitation from God is to live a lifestyle where instead of taking on pride, we take on humility in our mind.

And that invitation comes with a blessing.

Well, what is that blessing?

In verse 9, Peter says, For this to you've been called, so you may what obtain a blessing?

To this you're invited, so that way, if you say yes to this invitation to live this way, to view yourself this way, to function this way as followers of Jesus, you get a blessing.

Well, what does that look like?

What is Peter getting at?

What does it look like to live that way and what is the blessing you receive?

Well, it's almost like he knew you were going to ask that.

And so he writes verses 10 through 12.

And in verse 10 through 12, Peter gives us a picture of what this lifestyle looks like, and he gives us a picture of what the blessing is, and he does so by roughly, and I really do mean roughly, quoting Psalm 34.

Now, verses 10 through 12 aren't actually Peter's words.

It's a rough quote of David in Psalm chapter 34.

Psalms 34 · chapter mention

But Peter writes this: He says, For whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit, let him turn away from evil and do good, let him seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

David opens his in Psalm 34 with like a rhetorical question.

He says, Who wants to enjoy life?

And Peter just says, probably from memory, hey, do you want to enjoy your life?

Do you want long good days?

And the answer is, of course, what?

Yes, yes.

We all want to enjoy life, and we all want long good days.

And he says, then put on the humble mind.

And would you live in humility?

And look at how he echoes what he wrote in verses 8 through 9.

He says, Hey, then go ahead and do me a favor and watch your mouth.

I don't know who needs it this morning, but with pastoral authority, look me in the eyes, let me say this.

Hey, watch your mouth.

Watch your mouth.

He said, get evil out of your mouth.

What kind of evil?

Deceit.

And what is that?

Gossip?

Slander?

Talking to everyone else except the person you're talking about?

Because that's not humble.

That's pride.

That's arrogance.

God hates that.

He's against it.

He said, You want to live this out?

Then watch your mouth.

And get evil speech and humility out of it.

Or humility into it.

Stop lying and gossiping and slandering and cutting down people.

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceit.

The second thing he says is this turn away from evil, which might be easy, except then he says, and do good.

Can I tell you this morning?

It's not enough to turn away from evil.

You have to turn away from evil and do good.

That's what humility does.

It doesn't just turn away from the offense, it goes low and then does good to the other person.

So you get evil speech, you get deceit and slander out of your mouth.

You turn from acts of evil, and instead you do good to people.

You don't repay curses with curses, you don't repay evil with evil, you repay with a blessing, you do good.

That's what it looks like.

Then what does he say third?

He says, seek peace and pursue it.

And this is where the knife goes right into my heart.

He says, you don't battle.

Because when you battle, you try to win.

And to win, someone has to die.

Can I tell you that?

That's pride.

Look at me, look at me.

That is not your personality.

That's not just who you are.

That's not just how you speak to people.

It's not something to make a concession for United City Church.

It is the deep depths of sin and hell coming out in your life.

And Peter says, man, if you want to live the humble life, you don't seek to be right.

You don't seek to repay evil with evil and to get vengeance and to when you look for peace in the situation and you pursue that.

Which means you might have to go, okay, hey, I'm wrong here, even if you're not wrong.

You might have to go, hey, that's a good point.

I understand.

Even if you don't.

And why?

Why?

Why should we live this way?

Why should we respond this way?

Why should we take on this mindset of humility and reject the world's invitation to be a person of pride?

Because of verse 12, my God, in heaven.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

You really want to be scared.

You go read David's version in Psalm 34.

He doesn't just say that the face of the Lord is against the evil.

He says the face of the Lord is against the evil so he may wipe them from the face of the planet.

Why do we step into the invitation from God to put on the humble mind instead of live a prideful life?

Because God rejects the prideful, but he turns his eyes and his ears towards those who walk in deep humility.

So why do you live this way?

Look at me.

You live this way because you want the presence of God in your life.

And let me just say this is where religion falls short.

This is where going to church for benefits and good morality just doesn't cut it.

The sacrifice isn't worth the payout.

But when you want God, when you're driving ultimate desires, go God, I want you to look at me.

I want you to hear me.

God, I want you to be near me than I put on the humble mind.

Why?

Because the blessing that Peter is talking about in verse 9 is that I get the presence of God.

It's a better invitation in every way.

And you might be experiencing God's removal of his manifest presence in your life because your pride is directly in defiance to the character and the nature of Almighty God.

But if you want to invite him into the situation, then get rid of pride and go low in deep humility.

Why?

Because James chapter 4, 6 doesn't just say that God opposes the proud, it says this, but he gives grace to the humble.

James 4 · chapter mention

It means he looks at those who walk in humility and says, I'll give you my favor, I'll give you my power, I'll give you my presence, I'll give you my attention.

And I say it all the time, and people think I'm joking, but church, the reality is this favor ain't fair.

You want the favor of God in your life?

Get humble.

Get pride out your mouth.

Get pride out of your heart.

Get pride out of your relationships.

Go low and take on humility.

Accept the invitation to be the type of person who rejects pride but instead walks in humility.

It's like, okay, Pat, I get that.

That makes sense.

I may not like it, but it makes sense.

But that's not me.

Anybody else feel that?

That's just not me.

So how do I do that?

How do I get that humble mindset?

What do I do?

It's just it's just not in my nature.

It doesn't come easy to me.

It's hard.

It's difficult.

I just see all the areas in which I'm such a prideful person.

Hey, listen, peace and blessing to you because me too.

But let me leave you today.

Let me wrap up today with a little bit of inspiration since I've kind of punched you right in the mouth, you know?

A little bit of inspiration.

How do we do this?

If this is so anti-the human experience, how do we get humility?

How do we get humble?

Listen to how Paul teaches this truth in Philippians chapter 2, verses 3 through 8.

Philippians 2:3–8

Probably two to four years before Peter writes it.

Maybe Peter stole it from Paul, okay?

Paul says this: Teaching the same truth, he says, Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourself.

Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also the interests of others.

Have this mind among yourselves.

That's good Peter language, right?

Have this mind among yourself.

And here's the kicker, which is yours.

It's your mind.

How?

In Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not account a quality with God as a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Do you want to reject the world's invitation to live in pride and to draw the opposition of God?

Do you want to accept the invitation of God to put on the mindset of humility and be deeply formed in such a place that you begin to live that way and go low and seek peace and get rid of deceit?

And you are in relationship with people, not putting yourself first, but putting yourself last.

Do you really want God's eyes and ears and attention to be on you, church?

If you do, then there is one thing you have to know, one thing you have to write down, one thing you have to understand, and it's this that you have to receive Jesus to respond like Jesus.

That's the only thing you need to remember this morning that you need to receive Jesus to respond like Jesus.

Let me wrap up and preach to you a little bit.

We call God father.

You know what good fathers do?

They leave their children an inheritance.

They leave them something.

You know what God has left you?

Look at me.

I mean this so serious.

You know what God has left you in Christ?

The mindset of humility.

That is your spiritual inheritance.

That Paul says, have this mind about you.

You want to be you want to be humble, you want to live in deep humility, you want to count others as more significant than yourself, you want to look not only to your own interest but the interests of an others.

Well, then you're gonna have to have this mindset about you, and it's this it's yours in Jesus.

Because, can I love you enough to think?

God knows you can't be humble, my my goodness.

He knows you can't be humble.

There's nothing in you that's humble, because humble isn't human.

I walk up these stairs every time to preach, whether it's a Wednesday or a Sunday, and I just say, God, help me be humble because humble isn't human.

Fill me with the Holy Spirit.

Because I don't want God to oppose my preaching.

But the truth is, there's nothing in you that's gonna naturally be humble in your relationships.

There's nothing in you that's naturally gonna be humble in your life.

Instead, you need a different mind.

And the invitation to put on the humble mind is an invitation to put on the mind of Christ.

And God didn't send Jesus just to model it for you and show you what it looks like.

Look at me.

He sent you Jesus so Jesus can give you access to the inheritance that is the humble mind.

That is through belief in Jesus and turning from a life of sin and submitting yourself to God's control and receiving the power of the Holy Spirit by grace through faith, you get the same mind.

What mind?

The humble mind.

And you see it in Jesus that he empties himself, full of glory and power and eternity in heaven, and he puts on this human flesh and he steps into earth, and you get the ability to do the same thing through the Holy Spirit when you say yes to Jesus because you're really saying no to yourself.

And you never graduate past the gospel.

Man, I wish it was something better.

I wish it was something bigger.

Man, go try it and tell me how it's working for you.

When you master this, I'll give you something better and deeper.

But you got to respond to Jesus, you got to receive him.

Jesus, I receive you in my mind.

We want Jesus to save us from hell.

We don't want Jesus to save us from our pride.

I don't want to have to lay down the things I want and how I'm better.

I just don't want to go to hell.

But Jesus wants to give you an inheritance that's a new mind, the humble mind, that makes you tender, that gives you sympathy, that that leads you to see people through a familial lens that says, Man, there's nothing you could ever do to have me cut you out of my life.

So why live this way?

Well, the only motivation for living this way, for receiving this blessing, is if you want the power and presence of God.

You can be prideful, but look at me, and I'm looking at the camera for those that are online.

You can be prideful, but the promise of scripture is God will ruin you.

And it's actually good for you that he would.

Because God sets himself against any idol that claims to be God, even when it's you.

And so, church, the call today is to run from pride because it draws the opposition of God.

Church, the call today is to receive and accept the invitation to become people of the humble mind, which is to receive the mind of Christ, our spiritual inheritance, which is to look at the God who became man and lived a life that we could never live, died the death we deserve to die, and then gave us access to an inheritance, to every rich and good spiritual blessing that is in Christ Jesus, so we might not just receive him, but so we can respond and live like him.

And that's the invitation that's on the table for you this morning.

You want to turn from a lifeline for yourself?

Jesus, the last thing he says to the disciples in Matthew 28, he says, All authority has been given to me.

And the sin of pride says, No, authority is mine.

Some of you today, you need to receive Jesus for the first time.

Life has always been about pride, it's always been about your way, your wants, your needs, your desires, on your timeline.

And the truth is this morning is that God has a better invitation for you than the world.

You got to talk to a young man right here.

I just not super young.

But he said, He's crying.

I don't know why I'm crying, I just know that my life is ruined.

And I'm exactly who you were talking about.

And I hate my life.

He said, I want your life.

But God could never forgive me.

And right there, I got to pray and talk with a man and take him backstage and say, hey, there's nothing you can do.

It's so bad that God wouldn't want to forgive you.

He wants to take your pride and erase it and give you the humility that sent Jesus to the cross.

That's that's the invitation he wants to give you.

And some of you, you're just like that guy.

And you need the same experience this morning of laying down all authority and receiving Jesus for the first time.

And some of you in this room, you've received Jesus.

But the truth is, you've grown very prideful.

There are so many areas of your life that are marked by pride and not humility.

And this morning, you need to repent.

Because God is opposing you, he's setting himself against you, because he will not allow your pride to flourish and take his place in your life.

Those are two really personal responses.

And this is a really impersonal room.

And the best way I know to make an impersonal space personal is like this.

I want you to just close your eyes.

Right, we are.

Just close your eyes.

Because with your eyes closed, it's just my voice in your head, and all of a sudden you're alone with God right here in a very full room.

So, can I just start by asking?

I know you're in the room, but I don't know who you are.

But who in the room would be bold enough to say, Pat, I've never received Jesus.

I've never laid down my pride and my authority, and I've never submitted myself to Jesus and received him as my Lord and Savior.

But I know this morning that that is my next step.

I need to give my life to Jesus.

If that's you, would you just raise your hand?

With everybody's eyes closed, just be bold.

Would you just raise your hand?

Say, Pat, that's me.

Anybody all across this room.

I see you, I see ya.

Okay, here's the second group of people.

Would anyone be bold enough to just say path the truth is I've received Jesus as my Lord and Savior, but there are areas in my life where I've allowed pride to grow.

And I know I need to repent and get low.

Because God is opposing me in some areas of my life and I need to put on the humble mind.

Would you raise your hand and say that's me?

Yeah.

Okay.

Here's what I'm gonna do.

Leave your hands up.

If you raised your hand and said, man, I need to receive Jesus, put your hand up.

If you raised your hand and said, Man, I I've got pride in my life and I need to go low, leave your hand up.

And here's what I'm gonna invite you to do.

Not for me, not even for God, but for you.

I'm gonna invite you to prove it to yourself by doing something you haven't done.

And that is this.

If your hand is raised, I want you to stand up and come grab one of these staff members and talk to them about that.

And I need to, I need to confess, I need to go low, I need to repent, I need Jesus.

Yeah, way to lead the way, dude.

See, because it's easy to raise the hand, it's hard to turn from evil.

And right here where the moment's never gonna get any more personal, everyone else's eyes are closed.

If you just raise that hand, you're not letting me down, you're not upsetting me, but you're missing out on an amazing experience of connecting with people who want to pray for you and encourage you and show you a better way.

I mean, I need to I need to just get some pride out of my life, I need to repent.

Maybe you need to give your life to Jesus.

But so maybe if you can't come and connect with someone and you had your hand raised, would you just come and fall down at the face of this altar?

Would you just come down and hit a knee and say, God, that is that is me.

God, there's some stuff I need you to get out of my life.

God, there's some stuff I need you to put into me and it's humility and its relationship with Jesus.

Here's what's gonna happen.

I'm gonna I'm gonna pray.

And if you need to come, you come.

And the invitation is open to just and do work with God, respond.

Don't don't leave early.

This is what you this is what you came for.

So I'm gonna pray and we're gonna sing, but don't you leave this altar if you're here until you're ready.

And if you need to come, you come at any moment.

So Jesus, thank you for making a way for us.

Holy Spirit, thank you for empowering us to leave our pride and put on the humble mind.

God, I pray for the people who've responded in the room and the people who still need to respond.

Give them the courage and the conviction to stand.

It's in your name we pray.

Amen.

Wow, what an amazing message we got to hear this morning.

I hope the Lord showed himself to you in a fresh, new way.

Hey, if you made a decision today to follow Jesus or a decision for Christ, we would love to process that with you, and so text the word next to 55498, and someone from our team will be more than happy to reach out and process that with you.

If you missed the message or you missed a note or two and you want to go back, don't worry, we've got the option for that as well.

It's gonna be available on Spotify as well as Apple Music.

This has been an amazing morning.

We love you guys so much, and we hope to see you next week.