Back To Basics: Humility

[Music] well good morning north lake baptist church that prelude got me in the mood to worship did it you awesome that's wonderful soon and very soon we are going to see the king well church let me direct your attention to our baptistry as we will begin our service observing baptism well good morning to you as well and it's always a blessing when we can begin our service in order of baptism for it means the holy spirit is continuing to call people and they are responded to him in faith our candidate for baptism today is rebecca brick rebecca do you trust jesus christ as your savior and lord yes sir well upon that profession of faith in him in an obedience command of our lord and savior jesus christ i baptize you my sister in the name of the father and of the son and the holy spirit let's go to the lord in prayer father we have done as you have said in the great commission still there are room for others and we pray today as we assemble here at this place that if for someone that does not yet know jesus christ as their savior that they will also respond to you in faith and follow you in believer's baptism and begin that journey of sanctification on the way to the kingdom of heaven we pray for rebecca in a special way today because realize even jesus as we've been studying recently after his baptism was immediately tempted by the evil one and so lord we pray protection for her we'll pray to bless her she grows to be the christian lady that you called her to be we pray now that you bless us lord as we continue to worship in jesus name amen amen well we'd like to welcome our guest this morning and thank you for joining us and honoring us with your presence worshiping with us whether you're here in person or online thank you for joining us this morning uh church let's open up our bulletins and look at our announcements our for our ministry week this week deacons just want to remind you that immediately following the service we will be meeting together in room 106 just for a brief meeting immediately following the service you'll see uh in our bulletin there this afternoon our fpu will continue at four o'clock in room 412. ladies will continue their bible study on monday night at 6 30 or on tuesday morning at nine o'clock and then wednesday we will have our normal uh schedule of awana youth and adult bible study uh and then this weekend students i'm excited it's united weekend where we will be partnering together with seven other churches and there will be about 450 to 500 students worshiping and getting to know the lord better and so church please pray for our students uh in our community that uh the lord would move among us and that we would know jesus in a more special way and that and that some students would come to know jesus as personal lord and savior our choir is ramping up and so they are going to be starting on march 7th also our new member class will be starting on march 7th and if you want more details and what is in the bulletin you can see uh pastor corbin he's in the back there corbin you want to raise your hand there he is uh if you're a new member or thinking about joining north lake baptist church this is the class for you so get in touch with corbin or you can call us in the office and get all the details concerning that class all right church the psalmist reminds us in the 99th psalm that the lord reigns the lord reigns let the peoples tremble he is enthroned between the cherubim let the earth quake the lord is great in zion he is exalted above all the peoples let them praise your great and all inspiring name for he is holy will you join me as i pray heavenly father we thank you once again for the opportunity to come and to worship you the true and the living god lord we thank you that you loved us so much that you sent your son to die upon calvary's cross that we could have forgiveness of sin and know you in a personal way lord we pray that as we lift your name high this morning lord that you would draw near to us and change us to be more like jesus it's in jesus name that we pray amen well thank you brother matt and good morning church good to see you today it's great to uh and wonderful that uh you've chosen to north lake to worship today we are going to worship we're going to lift up the name of jesus christ our lord and savior our heavenly father and creator the holy spirit who dwells within us who binds us together with the love of god and to care for one another we're going to sing this morning to god be the glory great things he has done please stand with me and worship with me as we sing let's sing to god be the glory great things he has [Music] that all may go in praise the lord praise the lord let the earth hear its voice praise the lord praise the lord let the people rejoice to the water through jesus the son and give him the glory great things he has done oh perfect redemption the purchase of blood to every believer the promise of who god believes that format from jesus a pardon receives praise the lord let the earth hear his voice praise the lord praise the lord let his people rejoice oh come on to the father through jesus the son and give him the glory great things he has done great dreams he has taught us great things he has done and great are rejoicing through jesus the sun but fewer and higher and greater will be our wonder our victory when jesus we see praise the lord praise the lord let the earth hear his voice praise the lord praise the lord let his people rejoice [Music] through jesus the son and give him the glory great things he has amen praise the lord praise the lord you know danny's working through the book of matthew and we're going to begin some studies this week about the beatitudes we don't know what your attitude be today are you here to praise the lord the beatitudes blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness jesus tells us blessed are those that mourn blessed are those who are merciful he keeps telling us we're blessed we should tell him he's blessed bless the name of jesus blessed be the name of the lord sing with me this morning blessed be the name of the lord god glorified my god and king blessed be the name of the [Music] be lord name blessed be the name of the lord blessed be the name blessed me blessed be the name of the lord jesus the name that comes by the name of the lord blessed be the name of the lord blessed be his name blessed be the name of the lord [Music] [Applause] [Music] blessed be the name of the lord his blood can make the palace clean blessed be the name of the oh lord be the name blessed be his name bless it be the name of our [Music] blessed lord the name of the lord i never shall forget that dream blessed be the name of the lord when jesus washed my sins away blessed be the name of the lord blessed be the name o bless the name of the lord blessed be the name blessed be his name blessed be the name of the lord amen thank you for worshiping be seated and again i welcome your house of the lord so great to see you today if you have your bulletins please look at the back page of our prayer list got a great prayer verse from romans chapter 8 today for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought but the spirit himself make intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered now he who searches the heart knows what the mind of the spirit is because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of god isn't that a precious promise when you got those times when you got things on your mind you really just don't know how to put it into words but the holy spirit takes your prayer onto heaven because he knows what we're thinking and what we need we start off again praising the lord for the baptism of rebecca and also we want to continue to pray for those in our circle of influence who may not yet know jesus christ as our savior and that we would pray for them and the lord would help us to be in a position to lead them to faith in christ you see the list from our church family who requested prayer francis steedly on the second line i understand she came home this weekend she had hip surgery while she was away at christmas at her daughter's house house up in north carolina so we're glad to have her back in town i want to pray for her parents are expecting children also extended family and friends you see on the first line first name christina anderson that's paul and vicky wingo's daughter and she's been diagnosed with melanoma so be much in prayer for her that the lord brings her healing also on the next to the last line shirlene messer that's pam johnson's sister she had emergency brain surgery yesterday and from what i understand she uh she's doing as well as she can right now but she is conscious and she's able to talk to pam so we we continue to pray for healing there well under long-term care we continue to pray for both tom henderson and also frank and judy ray judy had knee surgery this past week and she's going to be in a rehab center for a while to get her strength back i also want to remember our missionaries who are serving around the world today international mission board has asked us to remember missionaries in malaysia who are still in full lockdown from this pandemic and they're struggling to try to stay connected to all the folks who know the lord there also i want to pray for our nation and today i want to add a specific prayer request for our president for our nation i received notices uh toward the end of the week from both our uh ethics and religion and religious liberty commission of the southern baptist convention and also georgia right to life this week if you hadn't been paying attention to the news the u.s house of representatives passed something called the equality act this legislation would revise every title of the civil rights act of 1964 to expand the definition of sex to include sexual orientation and gender identity this bill would brand christian beliefs as unlawful churches would be prevented from requiring employees to abide by their beliefs in marriage about marriage and the difference between men and women it would also at the same time punish faith-based charities for their core religious beliefs about human dignity and marriage it would remove conscience protections from pro-life doctors and nurses who may not want to do abortion or sex change procedures it would jeopardize the hyde amendment which if you know what that is that's a pro-life amendment that prevents taxpayer dollars from being spent on abortion and that would go away also it would harm the more than 400 000 children in foster care by closing down adoptions and foster care providers who believe that children thrive best in a home with a married mother and father it would also allow biological men to compete in women's sports as well as sharing locker rooms and bathrooms with each other employers could be forced to cover the cost of puberty blockers cross-sex hormones and sexual reassignment surgery in their health care plans and just so you know this did pass the house and it very well could pass the senate and of course both of our georgia democrat senators john ossoff and rafael warnock will vote yes and president biden is sure to sign it into law so i ask you to pray about this very important issue for if it passes it will impact our church your job and also your family so let's go the lord in prayer father we thank you for this day we thank you for the fact that sun is shining outside and we thank you for the fact that your word tells us you're still on the throne and you're still in control regardless of how ridiculous things may get down here father when you call me into the ministry i never dreamed that i'd have to do a prayer request like this one today but you have a plan and your plan will be marching on and so lord help your people to be found faithful being obedient to your word and to your will as we go forward we do thank you lord for the opportunity to pray and know that you hear us when we pray whether it's prayer requests for healing our prayer requests for our nation our prayer request for salvation for our brothers and sisters we do pray today if there's someone here that does not know jesus christ as their savior lord that day is the day that they would be saved and follow you in believer's baptism and in living a holy life as we prepare ourselves for the kingdom of heaven and we pray this all in jesus name amen and we wait there should be some music it should be coming soon i have i'm just not sure if you want to it's not going we're going to try it your way acapella until we give you first place until we let you begin [Music] to fill us with your spirit renew us from within [Music] nothing matters nothing's gained without your holy presence our lives are lived in vain lord we want to know you live our lives to show you all the love we owe you we're seekers of your heart because your heart was broken because you saw the need because you gave so freely because of calvary we can now [Music] called your own [Music] complete creation filled with you alone lord we want to know you live our lives to show you all the love we you we're seekers of your heart lord we want to know you live our lives to show you all the love [Music] we're seekers of your heart [Applause] thank you emil i always thought those music tracks were overrated you're gonna have to do that more often if you have your bibles open uh to matthew chapter five that's where we'll be today as we enter into that passage scripture known as the sermon on the mount so if you open your bibles there we'll start in just a few moments the story goes that legendary football coach vince lombardi met with the green bay packers on the first day of training camp in 1961. the previous season had ended for the packers kind of an awful way when they lost 17 to 13 in the nfl championship to the philadelphia eagles so the team assumed that training camp would be a critique of what went wrong at that last game maybe add a few new plays and then get back to business as usual but vince lombardi walked to the front of the training room held up one of those pigskins and said gentlemen this is a football with those five little words the team understood we're fixing to get back to basics now that is very basic when you have to tell a football team what the ball is but you know what we from christians from time to time need to get back to basics as well and for the christian there's nothing more basic than the sermon on the mount the sermon on the mount is the longest of jesus sermons recorded in the new testament and you can read it in about 10 minutes and i know you're thinking well why can't you learn to preach in 10 minutes if jesus but you i remember he was the lord and i'm just a mere human being so it takes me a little longer to get it out so anyway in this sermon jesus explains what it means to be saved what it means to be a christian what it means to be a follower of christ whether it's old testament or new testament salvation by comes by grace through faith and faith means simply to believe trust and obey god and romans chapter 4 uh verse 3 paul uh hears quoting from genesis 15 16 where it says abraham old testament abraham believe god and it was counted to him for righteousness and that's what it is in any period of time abraham believed was saved by grace through faith in the lord and when you're right with god he blesses you with blessings from heaven therefore christians are happy blessed beatified so let's look at these beatitudes or blessings of a child of god beginning in matthew 5 and verse 1. and seeing the multitudes he that is jesus went up on the mountain and when he was seated his disciples came to him and then he opened his mouth and taught them saying blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see god blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of god blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you you know some people falsely teach that you must do all the things in this sermon on the mount in order to be saved but that's wrong these are not prerequisites for getting saved these are actions and attitudes of people who are saved who are blessed with the fruit of the holy spirit if you're saved today you were saved the old-fashioned way you repented of your selfishness and sin and you trusted jesus christ to be your savior and lord in the old testament the old testament believers did it the same way they believed in a messiah a christ who would come you and i believe in a christ who did come about 2000 years ago and as we started off with our prelude he's going to be coming again soon and very soon that's where our faith is jesus did not change the way of salvation he fulfilled the way of salvation for he is that way jesus called us to salvation the old-fashioned way look back to matthew chapter 4 and verse 17. he said what repent of your sins if you want to enter the kingdom of heaven and verse 19 he said now if you're willing to do that then come and follow me and then those who are followers were also called disciples in chapter 5 in verse 1 that we just read a moment ago in matthew chapter 5 and verse 3 he calls those who believe trust and obey his uh who obey him as his followers his disciples the blessed ones so don't ever assume that you can be saved by keeping the law don't ever assume that you can be saved by keeping the ten commandments or by keeping the beatitudes in the sermon on the mount nobody ever kept the ten commandments that's why we needed a savior it's because none of us can all of us are born with a sin nature that rebels against god some are more flagrant sins than others but all of us sin and fall short of the glory of god and when we repent we turn from ourself turn from our sins and believe that jesus christ the son of god our savior and follow him then the lord blesses you with the holy spirit listen to how the apostle paul says in romans chapter 5 verse 1 how this works he said therefore having been justified by faith in other words we've repented and put our faith in jesus christ we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ and we have access by faith and to his grace because the love of god get this the love of god has been shed abroad in our hearts by the holy spirit who was given to us so it's impossible for a human being in the state that they're born in to keep the ten commandments you may be able to keep nine out of them but this is not a cable this is a chain you break one you broke them all and so the only way we can get a hold of this kind of love that helps us keep the commandments is we need to be saved that's jesus to come into our heart he does by the power of his holy spirit and then what does it say he sheds abroad the love of god in our hearts and then you go on to romans chapter 13 and verse 10 the love that agape love of god is the fulfillment of the law the only way we can ever keep the law is by the holy spirit of god putting the love of god in us and we allow that to flow through us and that then and only then are we able to keep the commandments but the commandments do not save us they just show us that we need a savior and that's what we're going to be talking today so as we read these beatitudes in the next few weeks we need to soul search and when we read this we need to say is that me is that my attitude and if it not then it means there's something wrong and jesus said if it's not then what you need to repent if you plan to enter the kingdom of heaven so today we'll start with the first one the basic characteristic of a christianity that gives us uh that jesus gives us here in verse three is humility blessed are the poor in spirit the first step in coming to christ and abiding in christ is realizing that you are poor that you need him you are spiritually poor and you can't make it without the lord jesus christ you may have heard of the 12-step process that alcoholics anonymous uses step number one is we have to admit that we have a problem we gotta admit that we have no power over alcohol that we need help and until that happens they say there's no hope for ever recovering from alcoholism so it is we're becoming a christian until you become convinced that we're spiritually poor that we're bankrupt that we're broke that we're lost that we're sick that we're dead in trespasses and sin then there is no hope of everlasting life until you come under conviction of your sin and realize you need a savior then you won't turn to god and of course that conviction is part of the job of the holy spirit as we read about in john chapter 16 verse 8 and when the holy spirit has come he will convict the world of sin that's the holy spirit's job is to help us to realize that we are sinners and that we need a savior that we have a need and the holy spirit works through the preaching of the word of god in order to convince people romans 3 23 that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god in romans 6 23 and that the wages of sin is death so as you read through the sermon on the mount you'll see jesus convincing his audience that we're all sinners both in attitude and action and that's what's going to really make us nervous because we think until we comp commit a sin in the flesh that we really hadn't sinned yet but jesus comes along throws attitude into this thing he says it's the attitude of hatred that motivates the action of murder it's the attitude of love the lust that moves you forward to the sin of adultery it's the attitude of covetousness that empowers the action of stealing it's the attitude of pride that motivates the action of being abusive to your subordinates and if you're prideful who's your subordinate well it's everybody besides you well in the sermon on the mount jesus comes after our hearts and he's naming names and he's going to convince us all of our sin that we need a savior and that's what moves us to repent of our sins and humble ourselves under the mighty hand of god of course the question is is after the people heard this sermon on the mount did everybody repent did everybody believe did everybody receive jesus christ as their savior well the answer is no because the human heart harbors an attitude that is totally opposed to humility we call that sin pride of course the problem with pride is that long letter in the middle of the of the word i is that letter it is also the word if you'll remember it was i that got satan in trouble we're told back in isaiah chapter 14 verse 12 of course satan used to be one of the high archangels but the way that he fell we're told in isaiah 14 how are you falling from heaven o lucifer son of the morning how are you cut down to the ground you who weaken the nations for you have said in your heart i will ascend into heaven i will exalt my throne above the stars of god i will also sit in the mount of the congregation on the farther sides of the north i will ascend above the heights of the clouds i will be like anybody see a repetitive thing going on there he's kind of carried away with that eye he's carried away with that eye letter that i word and and that became his downfall and of course we're born with that same ambition we're born to try to remove god from his rightful place in the center of our hearts and seat myself on the throne and say and it's my life and i'll live it any way i want to my four favorite words are i me and mine i me mine me that's what i work with and that's what's at the basis of what is called the the flesh the human flesh pride in our heart refuses to admit that i'm a sinner it refuses to admit that i am spiritually poor that i need help that i need god i remember when i was in seminary years ago they had a professor from over in germany named eda lineman who was a student of the german liberal theologian rudolph butmon later in her life uh she became a born-again christian obviously she didn't work for boot money anymore but anyway she became born again christian and she reflected back on her days of liberalism in germany and she said i was a christian with no sins but plenty of excuses i would admit to making some mistakes i would admit to having some shortcomings some misunderstanding some personality glitches some impairments but i was no sinner most of us are the same way we know that the bible says that i'm a sinner but hey i'm as good as anybody else as i scan the crowd i'm better than most i mean isn't that the way we think you know that's the way we look at things uh you know sure i may have some defects i may have some disorders i may have some dysfunction but i'm not a sinner i'm a decent law-abiding citizen good as anybody else and did you hear it what you heard in there was pride from the depths of our soul we just can't help ourself we want to join frank sinatra and elvis presley and sing i did it my way amen that's us that that's where that's where pride comes in pride makes us feel independent self-sufficient self enriched that's why jesus said about the rich young ruler in matthew chapter 19 which we'll get to in a year or two it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven why because he can't see his need that's the problem and we're all a little bit like british poet and infidel william henley i am the master of my fate i am the captain of my soul i'm gonna provide my own path you know jesus gave us some examples of these self-sufficient rich men of his day matter of fact he identifies them when you get on down to verse 20 in chapter five he calls them the pharisees he calls them out pharisees scribes priests these were religious and community leaders of his time they were all well educated in in the scriptures they were well connected to money and power they were well placed within the government they gave the appearances that they were good moral people and that they knew what they were doing and jesus came preaching about sin came preaching that everyone needs to repent and their response was we don't need a savior we don't need to repent you're the one that's out of line here this temple is ours they didn't recognize he was the son of god which is another pride problem they said we don't need you in john chapter 9 verse 40. it says then some of the pharisees who were with jesus heard these words and they said to him are we blind also and jesus said to them if you were blind you would have no sin but now you say we see therefore your sin remains so you see the gospel of christ only works for people who realize that we are sinners and that we're in need of a savior most of these self-sufficient pharisees never saw the need we don't need to follow this man from galilee named jesus you know that same pharisee pride is a spirit of our age in america today we live in a time of human pride we live in a time of secular humanism it's been on the curriculum of our public schools since i went to first grade in 1962. that was the year when humanists gained the high ground in our culture and announced that in public schools evolution was in and creation was out science was in god was out and prayer was out and bible reading was out a decade later in 1973 the humanist felt bold enough to publish their humanist manifesto 2 and it was going to be a lot tougher than humanist manifesto 1 and that document shouted out to heaven and earth that no god will save us we must save our self there's no god out there humanity is the only god that we have and we can fix things ourselves it was signed by 120 titans of banking business government science technology and education and here we are 50 years later 2021 in our world is being run by men and women who do not have a shred of humility or poverty of spirit instead they're more arrogant than the pharisees of jesus time and they're more ambitious than the secular humanist of the 1960s and 70s these billionaire globalists who attend the world economic forum in davos switzerland every year are not even using the language of their grandfathers who said no god will save us we must save ourselves these dabos men and women actually think they are god and that they can fix the problems of the world all by themselves with something that they're calling the great reset that they're starting to implement even as you and i sit here sleeping through things they even boasted that the coronavirus pandemic is not a problem matter of fact it's an opportunity to remake a better world a more unified world a more equal world under the centralized socialist governance of the united nations this great reset plan is designed to move the world toward the united nations utopian goal of agenda 2030 and by the way when is agenda 2030 supposed to be complete in 2030 which is how many years away nine so again we've got a lot of things that's got to happen within the next short period of time ultimately these plans i believe will lead mankind into a perfect world under the philosophy of socialism mankind does not need to bow in poverty of spirit unto the mighty hand of god no this great reset and agenda 2030 are actually anti-god antichrist and anti-christian ideas we don't need god we can save ourselves without god or his kingdom of heaven so as you can see we have the same problem today that jesus had two thousand years ago and that is the human spirit desires to rebel against the god who created us the top of our human power pyramids whether it was the pharisees of the first century or the davos men of the 21st century love to brag i am rich i am smart i am independent and i have need of nothing whatever is wrong in the world we can fix it ourself but on the other hand when jesus was preaching this message there were some other folks there and we read about them in mark chapter 12 37 where it says the common people the poor people heard jesus gladly blessed are the poor in spirit why because they were poor enough to see the need maybe these rich guys didn't think they had any needs but the poor folks they definitely knew that they had some needs now again some people falsely interpret this verse to say that poverty is some kind of virtue and so you got roman catholic monks who take vows of poverty hoping to receive salvation and some kind of blessing but if poverty is a virtue then why help the poor if poverty is a virtue then leave them in their blessed estate but jesus is not saying that poverty is a virtue within itself matter of fact he gives us an illustration in luke chapter 17 if you'll remember he ministered to these ten lepers now you don't talk about poor if you had leprosy in the first century you were poor they wouldn't even let you in town you had to be out in the leper colony you had to uh ring a bell and shout out unclean so that people stay away from you they didn't have anything they were pitifully poor poor financially but also poor in health but all 10 were healed and if you remember what happened only one came back to say thank you well did the poor health make these nine more virtuous no so i think what it's trying to prove is for most people the only difference between being rich and poor is the amount of money you got in your bank account both rich and poor have pride problems for the rich pride makes them arrogant self-sufficient masters of their own destiny they can write their own ticket go where they want to go do what they want to do but the poor oftentimes pride makes them bitter and resentful and envious of people who have money remember what the wise man prayed back in the old testament proverbs chapter 30 and verse 8 lord give me neither poverty or riches feed me with food allotted to me lest i be full and deny you and say who is the lord or lest i be poor and still and profane the name of my god so you see worldly poverty doesn't guarantee that you're going to be spiritually blessed nor does worldly wealth guarantee that you're going to be spiritually cursed it all boils down to the condition of our heart regardless of the amount of money you got in your bank account you have to ask yourself do you have a humble heart are you poor in spirit you realize that you need god do you have a day by day moment by moment dependency upon the lord the bible gives us a couple of examples of some poor rich men rich in worldly goods yet they remain poor in spirit one of those was abraham genesis chapter 3 13 and verse 2 it says abram was very rich in livestock and silver and in gold but the thing that separated him is he never allowed his bank account to to supersede his need for god though he had hundreds of servants he always referred to himself as a servant of the lord you gotta remember when god called him to leave his hometown he said i want you to pack it up i want you to move out leave your family leave your familiar friends and i want you to go to a land that i will show you you know where is that land well it's the promised land where is the promised land well i'll show you when you get there well how far is it well you'll know when we get there and what did he do did he say i'm not going to go now he bible says he packed it up and he went and that's what that's what gave him faith i mean does anybody remember how old he was when that promise happened 75 how many y'all be willing to pack up when you're 75 years old say i'm going some of us don't want to do that when we're 30 years old but much 75 years old i want you to pack it in i've got a promise for you i want you to go where i want you to go and of course that one the end of if you remember when he was over 100 he finally had that baby boy that promise that god blessed him with you read about this in genesis 22 hopefully not now maybe this afternoon but he asked god to get up god asked abraham to get up and go to mount moriah and offer his son his only son his beloved son son of his old age isaac offer him on an altar it says next morning he rose up early and he went why because he was poor in spirit he was humble he never outgrew his need for god never outgrew his dependence upon god 100 years old but this time isaac's pretty good-sized boy they went if you'll remember the lord delivered him he didn't want him to sacrifice his son just want to know if he was willing to sacrifice his son abraham was willing to do whatever the lord asked him to do and that's what separated him another one of course job job chapter 1 verse 3 his possession worth 700 sheep 3 000 camels 500 yokovaks and 500 female donkeys in a very large household and a patriarchal pair so this man was the greatest of all the people in the east i mean look at that asset sheet that he had going there he was a rich man but when the lord took it all you remember the lord took it all in one day took his family took his business took his wealth took his health and what did job say he said man i've been ripped off this serving god thing is a bad thing no that's not what he said he said i was naked when i when i came from my mother's womb and i'll be naked when i go the lord gives the lord takes away what still blessed be the name of the lord are you humble before the lord blessed are the poor in spirit those whose heart says lord i need you without you i have nothing and i am nothing you can't find that kind of humility on your own our human nature rebels against that humility this poverty of spirit is the work of the holy spirit as he brings you into the presence of a holy god through the witness of god's holy word god's presence to me is kind of like i love to go up in the mountains from time to time you have this huge mountain behind you need to stand there and you're overwhelmed by it because you seem so insignificant here i am six foot man up against a four thousand foot pete and that's just something here on earth now imagine god so much bigger than that the universe cannot even contain him have you ever been overwhelmed by the awesome presence of god lately have you ever been like isaiah in isaiah chapter six remember he went to worship at the temple and of course the temple is always a busy place there's always people coming to worship and i'm sure there were hundreds if not thousands of other people there that were there to worship as well and as they left that worship service no doubt there was a typical chit chatting that you find out at the restaurants all around these places after we go after we worship and we go and we hear people talking about the service and some say well it's a good sermon some say well it's a beautiful service and some say the music was too traditional other folks said the music was too contemporary sanctuary was too hot somebody i should have brought a sweater it's too cold in there today sermon was too long preacher was too loud he sung i did it my way some said it's the best nap i ever had but for isaiah what did he say he said i saw the lord he was high and lifted up and the train of his glory filled the temple and it humbled him at the presence of the lord and he said god help me i'm undone what was me i'm a sinful person i'm poor i'm needy god hit me that's worship we see the same thing in the story of moses at the burning bush ezekiel at the river kabar daniel and his daily devotions paul on the damascus road being in the presence of god brought humility and poverty of spirit as for me i was a small boy seven years old squirming in church saying when will this end then all of a sudden the lord spoke to my heart like he'd never done before and all of a sudden the preacher who i used to listen kind of like those peanuts cartoons you know that's kind of that's kind of that's kind of what i heard the preacher saying but all of a sudden that day he was speaking and not just anybody but he was speaking to me of course you know who that is that's the holy spirit wasn't the preacher it's the holy spirit waking me up and yes at seven years old i did not have a criminal record i did not have a lot of things gone wrong but the holy spirit convicted me and told me that i had a need told me i was poor i was empty that something was missing and i needed a savior and jesus christ the son of god was that savior and so i repented of my selfishness more selfishness than sin at that particular point because it takes you a while to get up big enough to actually show yourself out and i receive jesus christ as my savior and lord and see that's what it boils down to you got to start blessed or the poor you got to realize you have a need being poor in spirit doesn't end at conversion it should be the daily song from the soul of every believer every day we should be singing i need thee every hour most gracious lord jesus said it this way in john chapter 15 verse 5 without me you can do nothing i feel that every sunday morning as i prepare to come over here i feel totally inadequate to meet the needs of this congregation i look at the congregation each week i have to say what do you need to hear what do you need to hear what do you need to hear what do you need to hear god i don't know what to tell these people i don't know how to do that i look at our prayer list each week how many of y'all really look at that or you just kind of buzz over i look over and look so many desperate needs then i think about the prayer list that's not there folks who don't want to put their business out in front of everybody and but they're carrying the load too and now look at our prospect list folks that's not yet made professions of faith in jesus christ don't even don't even know that they need the lord yet and when it comes to those things i feel totally inadequate i can't meet all these needs but according to chapter matthew chapter five and verse three we have this promise blessed are the poor in spirit what for theirs is the kingdom of heaven i have all the help of the kingdom of heaven paul learned that in second corinthians chapter three verse five our sufficiency is of god i'm insufficient but what he is all sufficient that's what happens in preaching too i get up here and throw out a sermon and every now and then somebody will come up to me and say boy you really blessed me sunday morning i said well that's great what did what was it that struck you and they say something that i don't remember ever saying but that's the holy spirit the holy spirit's taking the preaching of god's word and then you mentally run a rabbit so don't apologize for that whenever the lord hooks you on one particular thing that i say and you run with it and the lord begins to speak to your heart that's that's the lord working through his inspired word that's the way it works back in 1993 there was a movie came out most of you know i'm not much of a movie person but it's called rudy if you remember rudy wanted to play football for the university of notre dame but the problem was is he was short and he went big enough y'all ever seen these football players that pay for these like notre dame these are some big boys rudy was not a big boy he couldn't get accepted so since it was a catholic university he decided to go see the priest see if the priest could use some of his pull in order to get him on the football team the priest sit him down said son in 35 years of religious study i've only come up with two hard incontrovertible facts and that is there is a god and i'm not him i can't get you on that notre dame football team if you remember the lord ultimately did but he said i don't know how to do that and so i couldn't help but think that you know that's a great place to start there is a god and i'm not him america needs to get a hold of that we've been talking ourselves into thinking that we are god that we're exceptional and we can fix things any way that we want to we need to get a hold of that right there as a culture we've forgotten god we don't act like god actually exists out there man has become the measure of all things and the beginning of being poor in spirit is realizing that there is a god and i'm not him we need to push down our pride and humble our hearts and that's step one in christian living the same pride you know that curses our souls and promotes rebellion against god in the human heart can also invade churches if you remember back when we were in revelation revelation chapter 3 jesus speaks to that lukewarm church at laodicea and their attitude had become i am rich increased with goods and have need of nothing have you ever seen an attitude like that in church before we got new buildings and padded pews beautiful stained glass climate-controlled buildings plenty of money for projects good people with good occupations and good reputations that we get to rub shoulders with good music for the our listening pleasure and of course all these things are fine they are blessings of god but if we're not careful the church loses its purpose as the body of christ and becomes a laodicean country club with little witnessing little prayer little dedication a little preparation how many of y'all prepared to come to church this morning we're holding services but often nothing happens for eternity but we still walk away say well at least we had church jesus writes in revelation 3 17 you say i am rich have become wealthy and have need of nothing and do not know that you are wretched miserable poor blind and naked jesus said if you're planning on being with me in the kingdom of heaven if you're planning on walking with me and white then you need to repent and get back in the presence of god you need to realize that without the lord you are nothing and can do nothing that pleases him you need to remember that he's the head of the church and we're the body not vice versa and also the body needs to get to work living for jesus preaching baptizing teaching ministering to the young to the old to the sick to the perishing to the dying so i think jesus is telling us it's time to get back to basics it's time to be poor in spirit are you poor in spirit this morning do you realize you need god or you only need him on special occasions when an emergency happens and we have to break glass and pull the alarm this morning if you're lost if you never trust jesus christ your savior and lord that's the beginning of salvation you need to bow before the awesome presence of god and pray god be merciful to me a sinner if you've already had that discussion with god you've got to remember humility doesn't start there humility is what keeps us in fellowship with our lord and savior without him we are nothing but the bible says with him what all things are possible peter chimes in first peter 5 5. god resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of god that he may exalt you in due time cast all your cares upon him for he cares for you let's go the lord in prayer father that's our prayer this morning that we would come down off of our american high horse and humble ourselves before you lord help us to realize that we need you every hour every moment of every day help us to realize that all i am i ever hoped to be i owe it all to you lord we pray that you would move among us by the power of your holy spirit if there's someone here today that's never trusted you as savior and lord we pray today is the day that they would be saved and for the rest of us lord who've already made that profession of faith help us to realize it's not just a matter of wait until we die and go to heaven but that we need you we need your leadership we need your guidance we need your spirit every moment of every day and we pray this in jesus name amen now is our time of invitation our altar is open if you need to come and pray maybe this morning you realize that you need the lord once you come and pray today if you've never trusted christ your savior and never been saved i'll be standing down front we'd love to talk with you maybe you've asked the lord to come in your heart but you've never made a profession of faith in him by being baptized like we saw with rebecca this morning won't you come down this morning and i'll talk with you about that as well maybe you've been saved and baptized and your church membership is somewhere else and you feel like the lord has been leading you to come here and join us church and find your place of service won't you join our church today maybe today you've just been carried away with a spirit of our age and forgot that we need the lord every moment of every day and you've been kind of trying to go it along won't you rededicate yourself to him and get back in in sync with the lord use this holy time for a holy purpose as we stand together and sing our hymn of invitation won't you come [Music] i need thee every heart no tender voice like this oh bless me now my savior [Music] stay down [Music] i [Music] oh bless me now my savior [Music] for being here today for your attention for prayers i hope that's your prayer as you leave here today is realize that we need him every hour every moment of every day again go out and don't forget to share the gospel of jesus christ with a world that desperately needs to hear it how many of you know america desperately needs to hear the gospel of jesus christ all right so let's be on mission this week we'll ask brother paul if he will dismiss us in prayer let's pray together god i stand in the presence of jesus the nazarene this morning who loved a sinner like you and me father i have heard this morning from our pastor the joyful sound that jesus says and he will save for those that ask him to come into their heart and humble themselves as we've heard this morning and be lonely in spirit father i pray as a people as we pray corporately this morning i pray lord that we the people would not be lulled into sleep over the ways of the world and the information that we receive on broadcasts on our tvs at home and our radios but lord we would depend on your word and that we would all follow your word and that we would not be ashamed of your word and that would we would be ready to stand up and be counted because we are one of yours well we ask all these things in the precious name of jesus who saved us amen

Channel: Northlake Baptist Church

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Id: M_xgxHF8EkY

Length: 63min 26sec (3806 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 28 2021