Matthew Pt. 66- Pride, Humility, & The Kingdom

Matthew chapter 18 is where you're going to go in your

Matthew 18 · chapter mention

Bible. So you'll remember we've, uh,

we've turned the corner. Umm, I've heard some scholars

say that they think now at this point, we're in the last month

of Jesus's life. So we're at the finish line for

sure. He understands what's about to

happen. We're we're most definitely

within the last six months, but some say they think even in

within the last month. So he's certainly turned the

corner. His whole focus is I am

preparing my disciples and I'm preparing myself for the cross

and for what comes after. And he's just dealt with Peter,

the temple tax situation last week.

And now really we go into a powerful sermon again of Jesus

where it starts with him asking his disciples a question.

Mark actually shows us the same account but gives some different

detail. So in Mark we find that Jesus

asks the disciples, hey, what were you talking about while we

were coming up on the road? And then they begin to answer

that question. And that goes into this whole

powerful sermon that the Lord gives us.

And of course, unfortunately, I'm not as good a preacher as

Jesus, so it takes me a lot longer to say the things that he

says. And we're just going to take 6

verses today and we're going to stop right in the middle of his

sermon and we're going to pick it back up next week.

Matthew chapter 18 though verse one.

Matthew 18 · chapter mention

At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying who is the

greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?

And calling to him a child. He put him in the midst of them

and said, truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like

children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.

Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in

the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child

in my name receives me, but 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 depths of the sea.

Heavenly Father, we love your word and we honor Your word

today as we look at pride, humility, and the Kingdom, that

we ask that You would make us humble, and that You would help

us to humble ourselves so that You would exalt us at the right

time. But Lord, even if there wasn't

an exaltation, I pray that our hearts would be just be so

tenderized. I pray you would make us the

soil that's soft, not the soil that's rocky, not the soil

that's the hard ground, not the soil that has the thorns and the

weeds in it. But God make us the soil where

you can plant the seeds of your word.

And things would sprout and things would grow.

That we would not be eager for status or power or glory or

position, but that we would be joyfully thankful to be a part

of your Kingdom and to take our role in it, whatever the Master

would determine that to be. Open the eyes of our hearts

today. Help us to grow in deeper love.

Help us to be more protective of one another so that we would

That we really would be our brother's keeper.

That we would love him enough to tell him the truth.

That we would love our sister enough to tell her the truth.

And that we would be humble enough to receive the love, the

care, the maintenance, the correction, the encouragement,

the rebuke. Whatever is needed, Lord, make

us childlike in our faith. Make us childlike in our

humility. We humble ourselves right now to

your word, knowing it'll cut us to the heart, knowing it will

divide between soul and spirit. Mature your church and sanctify

us in Jesus name, Amen. At that time the disciples came

to Jesus saying who is the greatest in the Kingdom of

heaven? So, you know, just a few verses

back, Jesus told them again, the Son of Man is about to be

delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, they will

crucify him and he'll be raised. The disciples are greatly

distressed, greatly distressed, but they get over it pretty

quickly. Apparently.

Now they're arguing about who's the greatest in the Kingdom,

who's the greatest, who's the greatest?

That's what they were doing. They were arguing along the road

and when they finally arrived in a house in Capernaum, Jesus

goes, what are we guys talking about?

While we were walking, you know, I heard y'all put some back and

forth going on back there. Well, you know, funny you should

ask. Lord, we, you know, we're just

discussing who's the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.

Can you relate to that church? I sure can.

Worried about your status, worried about your position,

worried about how you look right.

That's all pride is. And there's pride's an

interesting thing. We we often think about pride

only as the pride of I want to be seen.

Strangely enough, pride is the two sided coin.

There's the other side of that coin is don't look at me, don't

look at me, don't look at me, don't look at me, don't look at

me. I don't want to be seen at all.

You know, an extreme shyness or an extreme brashness.

They're actually both the same pride.

They just manifest differently. Can you explain that, Pastor?

Yeah, the extreme shyness would be an extreme self focused

still, I'm still so concerned about what others would think

about me. I don't want to be seen.

So it's easy for us to rebuke the brash one who goes everybody

look at me, make it all about me.

I have to get all the glory. But extreme shyness would also

be it's not a God consciousness. It is an extreme self

consciousness. I'm still very proud.

I'm a very prideful person. They're not prideful, they're

super shy. Well, interestingly enough,

that's also pride because they're still self self absorbed

and self. But don't look at me why?

Because I feel a certain way instead of freedom, you know,

both of those people are in bondage.

The one who's who's got to be looked at and the one who can't

be looked at. They're both in bondage and they

haven't been set free by the sun to say look at Jesus.

And if I can point you to him, that'll be a good thing as well.

But we can relate to the disciples here.

Have you ever found your prayers lacking love for Jesus and being

consumed with yourself? I have, of course.

We want to grow in devotion to him in in a prioritizing him.

You know, obviously, I'm sure afterwards the disciples look

back and you go remember the last month as we were heading

towards Jerusalem. How stupid, you know, I mean, we

didn't know anything. We were 18, we were 19, we were

20, whatever. But we were with the master in

his last month and everything that was weighing on him and we

and we argued that day about if we were the greatest in the

Kingdom, while the greatest in the Kingdom.

God, thank you for your mercy. And they went on faithful and

they went on continuing. They went on repenting, and they

went on growing. Why is this happening?

Though? There's some theories as to why

they might be doing this. They could be worried about

Peter's victories, that he's had.

Peter, the one who walked on water.

It's a big deal, right? That's the claim that he's got

that nobody else has. Peter, the one who has the

revelation and the confession that Jesus is the Son of God.

Are they jealous that they didn't get invited on the

mountain that day? What happened up there?

Peter, James and John seem different.

They probably rubbed something. And you all don't know what

happened on the mountain. What happened?

I can't tell you. We can't talk about it.

Well, tell her. No.

No, you weren't. You had to be there.

So is some of that going on? Do they notice the closeness of

the three? Do they notice the closeness of

John to Jesus? And now are they worried?

Is this a competition? Is Peter rubbing it in?

In any case, they have an unhealthy desire for glory and

for prominence. I don't want you to mishear, so

I'll just give this quick disclaimer.

There's nothing wrong with ambition when ambition is

pointed in the right place with the right motive.

Christian culture has downplayed and minimized ambition to the

detriment of the body of Christ, unfortunately, and to the

detriment of men in particular, who God made to be ambitious.

However, the issues come into motive.

So of course my motives for ambition need to be Kingdom

focused instead of me focused instead of my own glory.

So, and, and at the same time, it is a natural thing to want a

particular. There are healthy glories and

there are unhealthy glories, but it all comes down to, am I

walking out the obedience that the Lord has called me to?

So for every man who is ambitious to provide for his

household, that's a good and wholesome ambition, that's a

good glory that he would like to provide for his wife and he

would like to provide for his children, and he would like to

leave an inheritance to his children's children.

Those are the appropriate and righteous glories that the

Scripture takes for granted that a man would want to accomplish

and achieve. And yet this is not what the

disciples are talking about. They're saying who's going to

have the position of prominence? Who's going to have the position

of greatness? This is an unhealthy pride.

This isn't the healthy pride and joy you feel.

You go, I cut the grass. Look at those stripes.

Job well done. Got a healthy pride and joy.

This isn't the healthy pride and joy of your children.

But this is a comparative pride where you're saying I am greater

than, I am greater than, and you are lesser than.

Not just I'm delighting in my victory, not just I'm delighting

in what I've been able to accomplish and what the Lord has

done through me. That is a sweet satisfaction.

And look at what I've accomplished.

Look at the harvest that the Lord has brought in my life

through His faithfulness and goodness.

That's the healthy celebration of gratitude.

It's different though, when I go look what I've done and compared

to Chris. Oh, what was that?

Joe Michael? That was filth.

That was pride. That was gross.

Who do you think you are? Instead of delighting and

receiving what you've got, you compare to others.

This is what the disciples are doing among each other.

Hey, is it me? Jesus put us in a in a ranking,

put us in the order. Show us where we stand in

comparison to one another, not in comparison to the motives of

Christ, which are the only thing we're to compare to.

I'm going to grow up in the head that is Christ.

I want to make sure that I'm beating John, the John Michael

of yesterday, instead of anybody else.

But what do they feel? They feel that they need to be

distinct and we can see ourselves here.

This is where we need people to know us.

Instead of happily taking the seat, the low seat at the table,

we crave the high seat. Ministers can be especially bad

at this. I've witnessed this many times

and I have sinned in this way personally.

Ministers can often need titles like Pastor, elder, apostle,

prophet, minister, reverend, professor, doctor.

Instead of happily serving the flock with those gifts from

Jesus, they can be used to increase status.

Hey, I just want you to know about my status instead of

recognizing. Well if that is your office and

if that is your status, then just serve the flock with that

gifting and the flock, your flock will receive it.

Your those who aren't of your flock won't receive it, but

those who are of your flock will receive it.

But you don't need to argue for position or argue or fight for

power. Keep going here in verse 2.

So how does Jesus solve this? Hey Lord, we wanted to know

who's the greatest in the Kingdom and calling to him a

child. He put him in the midst of them.

So the scripture, when the the language that Jesus uses or the

language specifically that Matthew uses to describe when he

says he calls to him a child, almost everybody believes that

this was a little child. So are different words for

child. But the word that Matthew uses

here is this a little one, probably 2 years old or younger.

So we're in somebody's house and Jesus calls a child to him and

the child comes to him, which of course, what does that imply?

Children love Jesus. They love to go to Jesus.

Jesus love children. Remember, Jesus is not just what

we've seen in movies and in books, just the stoic statue

robot person, but he was loving, he was kind, he was gentle, He

was the right thing at the right time.

So there's some little boy in the room.

Some have speculated maybe it's Peter's son, maybe it's somebody

else's child. But Jesus goes, hey, come here

and he runs up to Jesus. He's happy to be invited in.

In Jewish culture at this time especially, children do not have

a position of prominence. They are they are not there's

certainly not what they are today where you know, they can

become very easily become idolatrous focus for parents.

But Israel, ancient Israel had the opposite extreme happening.

So Jesus among all these young men who are excited his

disciples and they go, who's the greatest, who's the greatest,

who's the greatest? Jesus goes looking at the 12.

Let me see who's there. Hey, buddy, come here, come

here. I'm going to teach you who the

greatest is. So what does Jesus want us to

learn from a toddler? Well, from all of their faults,

and there are many right? In a 2 year old, I think we all

know this. One thing they don't have is

they don't have ambition. A toddler doesn't seek a title

and a little child doesn't pursue glory.

A2 year old doesn't seek to promote themselves.

A 2 year old doesn't compare their status to others.

What else do we learn from a 2 year old?

They did. They don't depend upon

themselves and they trust fully in their parents.

These are the lessons that we're supposed to take from being

childlike. Not to be confused with

childish, which would just be immaturity.

Those would be all the negative traits that we don't want from

our 2 year olds. But to be childlike in our trust

and our devotion. And Jesus is making the point

about humility. Mark goes, Mark goes farther and

gives even more teaching and instruction on what Jesus said

that day. But we're going to stay here in

Matthew, so keep going. Verse 3 calling to him, sorry.

Verse 2, calling to him a child. He put him in the midst of them

and said, truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like

children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.

Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in

the Kingdom of heaven. This is a heavy, heavy word that

Jesus brings to them. This is a firm rebuke.

He said unless you turn. So he's saying become a child of

God like this, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.

He didn't say you won't have high status in the Kingdom of

heaven. Make sure you listen to exactly

what Jesus said. He didn't say, hey, you have a

low spot in the Kingdom. He said you will never enter the

Kingdom of heaven unless you are like a child in your faith.

Pastor, you're staring at all of us in our eyes very

deliberately. Yes, I am.

Are you saying this for me? Yeah.

Who else would I be preaching to?

This is the warning and this is the rebuke that Jesus brings to

them. You must be like a child in your

faith or you will never even enter into the Kingdom of

heaven. The disciples are arguing about

being the greatest in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus reframes them very quickly.

It's like they're discussing what they're going to have for

dessert after dinner. And Jesus said, you're not going

to have dinner unless you do this other thing.

You're you're arguing for something that that's never

coming. You don't pass go.

You don't collect $200. You start here, you don't enter

the Kingdom unless you enter the Kingdom like a little child.

There's no other way into the Kingdom.

There's no other way in. We know we come in by the name

and by the blood of Jesus, but you can't come in by the name

and you can't come in by the blood unless you come in as a

little child. It is a humility.

It is the lack of I am a grown up, I am an adult, which is

Jesus saying I don't want you to be that.

Yes, in areas of other maturity he does, but in areas of

dependency and humility and lack of status and position.

You come in and you're nothing. The rich, the poor.

Oh, I don't know if you happen to know pastor, but I have a lot

of money and we could really tithe pretty large to this

church like you and your money perish together.

You you have to go into the Kingdom of Jesus as a child and

go, I'm nobody. I got nothing, but I can love

the Lord and I can love his people.

What would the Master have for me now?

What would the King like for me to do?

What would please you, Lord? Whatever makes you happy.

That's what makes me happy. I can vanish into obscurity.

As long as that pleases you, then I'm pleased.

You want me to have a position of prominence and influence.

If that pleases you, Lord, then I'll be pleased.

Please protect me, though, if that's what you call me too.

Please keep me safe from the the pride and the temptation.

That's easily going to come in that situation.

It's also amazing that Jesus didn't say when they when they

asked who's the greatest in the Kingdom, he didn't just say.

You're looking at him like the Holy Spirit who inspired Moses

to write the words. Moses was the most humble man in

all the world. In other places, Jesus doesn't

shy away from his title, his deserved glory, his eternal

reign. But here Jesus, our great God

and Saviour, anointed by the Father with the Holy Spirit,

tells them whoever humbles themselves like this child is

the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven, Just the wisdom of

Jesus. He would have been absolutely

right to say who's the greatest in the Kingdom?

I am. I am the Son of man, the one who

will reign over the Kingdom forever and ever and ever.

I'm the greatest in the Kingdom. But he says whoever would be

greatest, and Mark, he says whoever would be greatest, let

him serve. Let him be the servant of all.

And that's why Jesus is the greatest in the Kingdom, because

the greatest in the Kingdom came and he served all of us by

forgiving us, by rescuing us from sin.

True Kingdom greatness is childlike humility, childlike

belief, childlike trust, childlike love, childlike

obedience, childlike dependence. And of course, no one is more

humble than Jesus. How so?

Well, first of all, he became human.

Like we said last week, He emptied himself so already for

him to do that, it's incredible then.

But then Scripture says he became obedient.

How obedient even unto death. What kind of death?

Not just any death, a humiliating death on a cross

that he didn't deserve. But you're going to hold a

grudge against somebody because why?

Because of your own pride, because they sinned against me.

But who are you? Who do I think I am that I get

offended at a stranger on the Internet?

But they lied about me and they did.

That happens to me all the time. And I and if I get offended and

I go, who are you? Who are you?

Who are you, hotshot? Who are you that it matters?

Instead of the Lord's glory, instead of his priority, His

priority? Can I be like a little child

though? Can I go?

I can take the low spot at the table.

I can overlook a slight. I didn't even get the joke.

Joke's on you. I don't even know what you're

talking about. It went over my head.

Why? Because I don't have time for

that. I don't have room for that.

This is what Jesus is saying. A little child's life.

Little children are quick to forgive, aren't they?

Don't they move on quick? They're just going, OK, it's

over. You bit me.

We scream together. I bit you back.

All right? 5 minutes later we're playing

together. What would happen if I bit you?

Church, would you forgive me? Can we play together in 5

minutes? Probably not.

I mean, I don't know if I'd forgive you in 5 minutes if you

hit me. It'd be tough.

Why? Because we've become hardened.

We become adults instead of childlike.

Quick to forgive, quick to believe, quick to be humble.

Why? Because I have an unhealthy.

Like the Disciples, I have an unhealthy and inappropriate view

of myself. I think of myself more highly

than I ought and that is why I'm so offended when you sin against

me because do you know who I am? You've sinned against me.

That's a big deal because I'm my favorite person.

So instead of realizing I'm just, I'm just here.

The two year old goes. There's other people of

prominence around here. Daddy and mommy get the

prominence. I'm loved and I need love, but I

don't think of myself more highly than I ought.

I'm treated like the two year old.

I'm loved, I'm cared for, but I don't have a position of

prestige. I don't have a high position of

honor. Jesus says, I want you all to be

like that, see yourselves as love.

Someone sinned against you. I can forgive them.

I mean, they shouldn't have. It was wrong.

I don't minimize it. It's a big deal.

Their sin is so bad that Jesus had to die for it.

And still, because they sinned against me, I can also release

them. You need to be like a little

child because adults. Why?

Because adults can't be told anything.

Adults are set in their ways. Adults are cynical, Adults can't

be corrected, adults can't be coached, adults aren't

submissive. All the things that a 2 year old

is, I can differ, I can yield, I can forgive.

But adults, we have other ways, we have other rules and and

everybody goes along with it. We all work at it together, so

it keeps this system going. We have to come back to the Word

and Jesus goes. I want to show you what

greatness looks like. Who is teaching you?

This is the question I want you to answer in your own heart and

in your own head. Who do you submit to?

What I'm doing is I'm helping you to assess whether or not

you're childlike, and if you're not good news, we can repent.

Who do you submit to? Who can correct you?

Well, you can pastor. Well, that would be a good thing

as long as it's true. But for many people, their

pastor isn't actually their pastor.

Many people only have a preacher.

Am I only your preacher or am I actually your pastor?

Because there's actually a huge difference between those two

men. Preachers are men who you will

allow you to give, who you will allow them to give you a sermon.

Preachers, that's all they're allowed to do.

A pastor is someone who can actually give you correction.

Most people want a sermon, but they won't allow a conversation.

They'll sit through a message, They'll nod along.

They'll even say Amen. They want information.

They want inspiration. Sometimes they even want

conviction. But the thing they really don't

actually want is transformation. They're adults.

They're not children. They're not childlike in their

faith. A sermon from the pulpit is

fine, but a correction across the kitchen table?

How dare you, preacher? You think I'm childlike?

Well, I was praying and hoping that you would be.

I'm going to go find a loving church.

Well, if that's your standard of love, I have no doubt that

you'll find exactly what you're looking for.

But wherever you end up, make sure you obey Hebrews 13 when

you get there. Hebrews 13 is where it tells

you. Remember your leaders.

He's referencing the the church leaders.

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you, the word of God.

Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their

faith. Obey your leaders and submit to

them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who

will give an account. Let them do this with joy and

not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

So these are the commands that that God gives to the people of

God, to His church. And again, church culture builds

around people who just want to feel like adults, people who

don't want to be childlike, which is why church hopping is

just such a prominent thing in the United States because

anytime there is ever any correction in the church, and

not just from the pastor, but from one another, Saints just

over the breakfast table together.

Hey, brother, I need to talk to you about this thing.

I feel judged. Well, you are judged.

That's literally what I just did.

I just was making a judgment, an assessment, and I want to help

you and encourage you. I'm going to go find a place

where I'm loved. You were you were just being

loved. You were just being loved.

I was just loving you. Well, I'm going up the road.

So that's a what what just happened there?

I I, I was dealing with an adult, somebody.

How dare you? Do you know who I am?

I'm not childlike. I'm not able to receive.

I mean, pastor, you can kind of like sprinkle some stuff in on

all of us during a sermon, but don't you like pastor me?

Like do do good sermons, give me a service to invite some friends

to. But like, you're not going to

shepherd my soul or to your brothers and sisters or to

people in your small group or in your Bible study.

Hey, dude, that's none of your business.

What do you mean? That's another business?

They're loving you. They're looking out for you.

Well, they could have done it better.

That might be true, too. Hey, you know what?

Let's work on that later, later. But that's not the point we're

making right now. Later, you can come to them and

go, hey, in the future, you think you could maybe approach

me like this instead of that. Thank you.

But not in the moment. Because in the moment you need

to take your medicine. And it's almost like maturity.

It's almost like sanctification. It's almost like growing up.

This is the difference between transformation and I just want

information. I want information.

I want inspiration. Every now and then I'll take

some conviction to go, oh, that was a good word.

But transformation actually requires that my life looks

different and I'm not the same person I was 12 months ago.

And I'm actually going. I'm walking in obedience.

I have an obedience in my life and there are people who I'm

accountable to for these obediences and there's things

that I'm confessing to people about these obediences and I

have a tenderness to the Lord. Welcome to child likeness.

One thing about a 2 year old is they're going to be a different

person in a year, aren't they? That's so true.

That's so true. If we're not humble like

children, we will never even enter the Kingdom of heaven.

So don't make the mistake of thinking that this is next level

Christianity. This is literally entry level

Christianity. There is no Christianity without

child likeness. Now there's pride that gets

repented of, which we'll we'll go on to talk about, but we need

to understand the difference between pride and humility and

Jesus's standard for the Kingdom.

Let's keep going. Follow him here in verse 5 and

6. Whoever receives one such child

in my name receives me. But whoever causes one of these

little ones to believe in, who believes in me to sin, it would

be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around

his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

He continues his point in verse 7.

Read ahead this week, read his whole sermon so that you can get

the whole context and the whole weight of it.

But we're going to take those verses next week on their own.

Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.

But 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 to be drowned in the depths of the

sea. So when Jesus says, But whoever

receives this little child, he's actually making a shift here

from a literal child. And now he's teaching his

disciples that anyone who causes spiritual children to sin,

anyone who causes a spiritual child to sin, there will be a

terrible penalty for them. And in case everyone isn't clear

on his earlier sentiment, he clarifies for his disciples.

And like we said, never entering the Kingdom of heaven.

Man. Sounds like the Kingdom

standards are strict. Yeah, he told us that in Chapter

7. Narrow is the way that leads to

life. Wide is the path that leads to

destruction, Man. It's.

But it seems like really narrow. Yes, it is.

We have to keep reminding ourselves that God loves

everybody. He sure does.

But his standard is narrow. I love everybody, but my

standards for my wife are very narrow.

You have to be Natalie Clark. That's it.

It's the only person you could be.

You seem confused. Oh, OK.

Just taken aback. Oh, you have to be her to be my

wife. That was the point.

Got it. You sure?

You get it? OK, so you can love the whole

world, and you should. But you have certain standards

for certain relationships, don't you?

And the Lord has a certain relationship and a certain

standard for His bride. God does love the world, and God

did send His Son to save the world.

And here's how. You will be saved by the name

and by the blood of Jesus, but you won't receive and you won't

respond to the name and to the blood of Jesus unless you're

actually childlike in your faith.

Whoever receives this little child, he explains that there is

going to be a harsh penalty for stiff necked people who cause

any humble Christian to sin. So here's who he has in mind.

Now, he's not talking exclusively about a little

child, but he's saying now for anyone who has adopted this

attitude and the spirit of humility about them, he says, in

fact, the judgement will be so bad for the guilty, it would be

better for them. They will wish that they had

been drowned. So the millstone, it's this big

stone, It's got a hole in the middle of it and it's used to

grind things. So they're taking it around.

They're doing different, different work with it for the

grain. It's very, very, very heavy.

This thing is tied to your neck and you're thrown off the ship.

She's saying that would be ideal for you.

You would wish that that be your penalty compared to what would

come for one who, who, what? Let's get clear on the

standards. Who leads someone else, one of

the tender Saints of Jesus, into sin while the shepherd takes

seriously the care for his flock, doesn't he?

The other point is that we should protect each other from

sin. How?

One way we mentioned last week is to surrender our liberties.

I've got all these freedoms. But we said, hey, if Jesus would

pay a debt that he didn't owe because of love, how much more

can we do The same? But I, I deserve this thing.

You deserve a lot, that's fine, but you're willing to give it up

out of love because you know that that could cause your

brother or your sister to stumble.

If you don't know, you don't know.

But if you do know, you do know. What else can we learn here?

We also need to avoid more deliberate sins.

Maybe you're prone to gossip. Maybe you run your mouth to a

weaker but pure believer who isn't strong enough yet to tell

you to stop. Maybe you're better with words

and quicker on your feet and you skillfully manipulate your

spouse into doing what you would have them do instead of what God

would have them do. Maybe you lead your boyfriend or

girlfriend into sexual sin. The lambs have a shepherd and he

gives a serious warning. Do not overlook it and do not

dismiss it. Repent.

What does repent mean? Repent does not mean to say I'm

sorry. Repent means to change

direction. Repentance is not saying I'm

real sorry about that wreck that I caused on I 64 W Repentance is

saying I'm literally going to exit and get on I-64 E and I'm

not going to return to my old ways.

I have changed direction entirely.

I said I was sorry. That didn't do anything really.

And if you are sorry you will repent.

But repentance and saying sorry aren't the same thing.

Behavior shift, behavior change to go.

Lord, help me to pursue and actually go in the direction

that you've called me to go in. So do go and say to your brother

and sister that you're sorry and tell them that you're turning

your car around and then keep going in the right direction.

This is what humility and child likeness is that Jesus is after

in you. That's how to be great in the

Kingdom. I do want to be great in the

Kingdom. I do, and the Lord tells us that

we can. He tells us to store up

treasure. The Lord is not opposed to

storing up treasures. The Lord is not opposed to

greatness. It's just that His ways are

right side up compared to the world which is upside down, and

my flesh which always messes it up.

If you're truly mature, then you know how sinful you are and

you're very aware of your need. The longer you walk with the

Lord and the more closer you get to Him, the more you go.

This sin in me, Oh, there's pride in me.

Oh, this, this stuff that keeps creeping up.

The more you walk with them, the closer you get, the more you

feel it, the more you're aware of it.

If you only think that you're mature, then you won't even

remember the last time that you were genuinely wrung out before

the Lord in humility and prayer. That's the difference.

One of those shoes fits you Saints right now.

One of those fits I can't really remember the last.

I mean, because I'm so that's a warning light to say the least.

It's not just a warning light. Your engine is out of oil

completely. But the mature Saints, they know

and they go, God help me, God help me.

They're praying mature prayers. They're they are praying flesh

murdering prayers, things that I don't even want to pray this

prayer, but they say it because their spirit is willing, even

though the flesh is weak. That's what maturity looks like.

Oh my goodness, this feels like it's called consecration.

It's called being a living sacrifice.

It's called being a 2 year old saying not my will but your will

be done. And this is hard stuff, but

Jesus did it first. He modelled it.

Our God has not asked you to do anything he hasn't already done.

He has modelled it for you. He will give you the will and

the desire and the strength to do it.

But his assessments are true. His assessments are right.

I can't weasel out of them and you can't either.

We can't squirm away from this one and go, oh, I don't think

I'm childlike. Then just test yourself.

Who can correct you? Who can correct you across the

kitchen table? Well, this is podcast.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no way too easy.

Oh, there's this sermon. There's this YouTube all like,

no, way too easy. Who can get up in your business

and bring encouragement? Oh, anybody can encourage me.

That's good. Who can bring you some

suggestion? Oh, I'll take, I can take some

suggestion. Who can bring you some rebuke?

Well, I mean, you know, here comes the stiff necks.

Well, I mean, you know, as you know, it depends.

Well, it does depend. Absolutely.

Like we're not just open to the whole world.

Like I said, I take a lot of criticism, we'll say from the

Internet and not it's not all created equal.

But Ken Cramer, when he speaks, I say, yes, Sir.

When Alex Feliciano speaks, I say, yes, Sir.

There are a few other men of God in my life.

When they speak, when I get that text message, I go, oh, Lord,

give me medicine, keep me safe. What a protection, what a gift,

what a love, what a blessing. This is the kindness and the

mercy of God. God, please keep me safe.

One of the prayers I've started praying and this is one of those

that the flesh doesn't even like it and every time I pray it, the

flesh is like don't say that is Lord.

I wrote it down but not here for you today because I wasn't going

to share it. But I pray that the Lord would

not allow my influence or my reach in any way, whether it be

with the sermons of the church or the influence of the church

or the influence of the family captain, the business that I

own, that my influence and reach wouldn't increase beyond and

that it would never outpace my love for the Lord, my maturity

and my sanctification. So if there's a ceiling on my

reach and my influence in any way as a pastor or as a as a

coach to men who wants to see Kingdom things, I pray that it

would always have the ceiling on it that it could never

breakthrough of my love for God, my maturity and my

sanctification. So if I stay in one place for

the rest of my life, praise God for that protection, but also

shame on me that I never grew in maturity, wisdom, sanctification

and love for him. But my flesh goes no, no, no,

I'd like to outpace that. What a fool I would be to to

wish for that. What a fool.

I could lose my very soul and I don't want to because I'm scared

of Jesus, but because I love Jesus.

God keep me humble, make me childlike.

But that's a hard prayer to pray for the flesh and the flesh

doesn't like that at all. So what?

This is what Jesus called us to. We're going to close.

I'm going to take you to James chapter 4.

James 4 · chapter mention

And James chapter 4. I want to read verses one

James 4 · chapter mention

through 10. I thought James left my Bible

there for a minute. What causes quarrels and what

causes fights among you? Is it not this that your

passions are at war within you? You desire and you do not have

so You murder, you covet, and you cannot obtain.

So you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do

not ask. You ask and you do not receive

because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions.

You adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with

the world is enmity with God? This is a pastor writing this

letter, not a preacher. Therefore, whoever wishes to be

a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Or do you suppose that it is to no purpose that the Scripture

says he yearns jealously over the Spirit that He has made to

dwell in US? So pastor brought strong rebuke,

very strong rebuke. And now verse 6.

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says God opposes

the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Submit yourselves therefore to God.

Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Cleanse your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts, you

double minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep.

Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you.

How many books have you seen over the past 20 years written

by a big famous Christian pastor, preacher guys about

turning your laughter to mourning?

Trying to count them all up. How many you have so far?

At least zero. I don't know of any, right?

All my all my favorite Youtubers, all your favorite

Instagram preachers. I mean, I don't, I don't.

Do they have that sermon series? Is that coming?

Maybe next month. Cleanse your hands, you sinners.

James is writing to Christians. Purify your hearts, you double

minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep.

Let your laughter. Why are they?

Why? Why should their laughter be

turned to mourning? He's talking about because

they're not repentant. He's saying you're cluelessly

and foolishly living in your sin.

He's saying you need to turn and repent.

Blessed are the broken hearted. Blessed are those who mourn, for

they shall be comforted. You're already laughing and

rejoicing. There's no comfort coming for

you. This is as good as it gets.

The pleasure and the delight of your sin, your empire of dirt.

Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy be turned

to gloom. Why?

For repentance. Humble yourselves before the

Lord and He will exalt you. God will exalt you.

God's not going to leave you there.

But it will require genuine humility, genuine repentance,

genuine lowliness. Not the safe lowliness that all

adults are comfortable with. Not the private lowliness, but

the personal lowliness in relationship.

Where I'm where I'm being inspected, where I am being

assessed, where I am being judged by those who love me, but

those who will give me the medicine that I need.

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way

is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter

by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the

way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

God, I pray that you would make us childlike.

Lord, pride is such a an ugly and tricky thing.

What can get through it? Accept your word and I know Your

word has come and cut to the heart this morning.

I pray that for every St. and for everyone listening under the

sound of my voice to recordings in the future or any other time.

Lord, I pray that that we would have the response, not that they

had to Steven when they gnashed their teeth at him, but they

would have the response when Peter preached and they said

what must we do to be saved, nor make us childlike and make us

delight in it or would help us to enjoy the low position.

There's such a freedom in taking the low position.

All the pressure comes off. Things get simple again.

We get to love you. We get to seek counsel.

We get to seek help. We get to seek wisdom.

We get to be the learner. We get to be the listener.

We get to be the low man and we get to be taken care of.

We get to be dependent and we get to be blessed and received

from the shepherd who always provides.

Lord, I thank you for your mercy.

That's new every day for the humble hearted, for those who

are already childlike in their hearts and childlike in their

faith. Lord, I pray that you would keep

them humble and soft and also make them strong.

Give them a, give them a wise child's instinct, not a not a,

not a naivete that would cause them to be destroyed by the

devil and God. I pray that we would be

protective of our brothers and sisters, that we would be

watchful over them. First of all, to protect them

from our own flesh, to protect them from ourselves, from our

own temptations, from the own opportunities that we could lead

them into sin. God protect us from it.

Oh, we don't want the punishment, we don't want the

penalty. And we also want love to be our

greatest motive. Help us to care for one another

well, to feel a tender affection towards one another.

Lord, I pray you would enrich the fellowship of Salt Church.

I pray that you would sanctify us and mature us, that you would

draw us closer to each other, that you would bring us to to

one another's dinner tables more frequently, to one another's

living rooms. That you would bring us into

meaningful conversations. That you would bring us into

delightful fellowship full of encouragement, full of

testimony, full of prayer. Not only correction, but

certainly including the very thing that we would always seek

to avoid, correction. The good physician who will

bring us the medicine and the right thing at the right time.

Make us healthy, make us strong. Help us to walk in, in love.

We love you. God, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for conviction. And God, we pray that you would

bring transformation. Help us to obey in Jesus name,

Amen. And now the Lord bless you and

keep you. The Lord make his face Shinedown

upon you, and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you great

peace in Jesus name, Amen.