Dwayne Lemon: Pride Is Sin 8/15/19

I hope you all are doing very well today have you been blessed today amen praise God well I'm asking that the Lord will give me his spirit that by His grace you'll get one more blessing tonight and so as we prepare our hearts to do that I'm gonna go up on my knees to pray and I'm gonna ask you to please reverently bow your heads with me as we all approach the Lord at this time our Father in Heaven we are ever so grateful that once again you have blessed us with the gift of life we thank you that you have enabled us to still have a sound mind that we can hear you speak through your word and that we can respond to your voice by the surrendering of our heart Lord I'm praying that this would be our experience as we study together this evening your wonderful words of life and so please have mercy upon us forgive us we pray of our sins grant us your Holy Spirit who's the only effectual teacher of truth make it where it's so plain to our hearts that even the children as well as the adults can understand and I pray that we might leave here better than when we came in as a result of coming in contact with Jesus for we ask all of these things in Jesus name Amen there's more of you here this evening then was with me when I was presenting yesterday and yesterday we were going over a very important foundation we were understanding not merely where we are in time but we're understanding the war that we are in during this time and one of the things that we saw very clearly from the Word of God is that if we are going to make it through the times of trouble that assumed to come upon the people of God if we are going to be faithful at last like it says in the book of Revelation 2 and verse 10 where it tells us only those who are faithful unto death are the ones that shall receive the crown of life if we're going to be counted amongst that number it is not going to be enough that we are simply filled with the Spirit of God have a faithful understanding of the word but we're also going to need to be acquainted with the devices of Satan we're gonna need to understand how he works wouldn't you gonna need to understand what he's trying to do to pull us away from the arms of Jesus and so last night we went into the master plan of see and many of us discovered he's been succeeding perhaps in our own hearts in our own homes there is something that will most definitely keep a man and keep a woman out of heaven for this very thing is what caused the beings in heaven to be removed from heaven and that thing we discovered last night was called what pride pride is something that affects black and it affects white it affects male and it affects female it affects young and it affects old it affects those who know nothing about God and it affects the highest professors of the present truth of God's Word pride it is a most evil thing that exists even in the hearts of God's people as we are so close to the end of time and so if the Lord is going to save us at last and certainly if he's going to use us that we might make it through the time of trouble and be counted amongst those who will stand true to God during the final scenes of the investigative judgment one thing is for sure that wicked thing called pride must be uprooted from our hearts and there's only one person that can do it and his name is Jesus only one person can do it and his precious name is Jesus Christ and so we saw yesterday that Jesus wanted us to learn something about him so I want us to go back to that in Matthew the 11th chapter if you don't mind turn with me to the book of Matthew the 11th chapter we're just gonna consider once again the words of our pattern man Jesus Christ and it's something that Jesus wants us to understand that's gonna help us to overcome that demon called pride it was in Matthew the 11th chapter right there in verses 28 to 30 that you see the very words of Jesus spelled out very clearly and he tells us what he wants us to learn and if you dare just let me know by saying Amen well the Bible says in the book of Matthew we're looking at the eleventh chapter xxviii verse Jesus says come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and he promises to give us something what's he gonna give us he's gonna give us rest now watch this after he makes that promise he then says take my yoke upon you and learn of me so there's something that Christ wants us to learn and he says I want you to learn that I am meek and I am lowly in heart when we know and when we receive this education jesus promises you shall find rest unto your soul you'll get the rest you'll enter into the rest and he promises my yoke is easy and my burdens alike we began to take Jesus on with this and one of the things I loved about Jesus and this is something I've learned as a man of God this is something I learned as a husband this is something I have learned as a father I am privileged to be the father of in just a few months it'll be for adults in November of this year my children's ages will be 21 20 19 and 18 so as of November I I'm gonna have four adults in the context of my children in my home and I've been privileged to be married to my bride from my side for 22 precious years and I'm very thankful for my lovely wife and for my children they are truly God's gift to me and one of the things that I've learned through these experiences of being a husband and being a father and being a man of God I am discovering something very beautiful about Jesus Jesus never told us to do something that he was not willing to lead by example that's a beautiful thing to learn as a husband as a father and as a man of God we must learn not to merely say what should be done we must learn to demonstrate what should be done and when Jesus told us take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls Jesus was trying to tell us I am your example look at my life and when you look at my life and this is why there are certain doctrines that are very very important one of one of the most precious doctors that you can understand in the Bible is the nature of Christ and the reason why that's a very important doctrine is because when you understand that when Jesus came on this earth he came on equal playing field with you and I Jesus came to this earth like how we live when we are born again let me speak to that you see when you and I are born in this world all we have is a sin nature we don't have a divine nature we are born in this world with a sinful nature and when you don't have a divine nature to fight against the calls of the sinful nature when temptation comes we're gonna yield we're gonna yield that's what happens when you only have the sinful nature but when we're born again do we still have a sinful nature oh yes we do but what else do we have now ah we have the divine nature and in the book of 2nd Peter 1 in verse 4 the Bible makes it very clear that it says whereby God has given unto us these exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might become partakers of the divine nature and as a result of particular of the divine nature I now and you now have power to escape the corruptions that are in this world through lust so now when we're born again we have the sinful nature but we also have the divine nature every temptation that comes our way God has provided a power source that we can submit to him resist the devil and he will flee when Jesus came to this earth Jesus came to this earth with a sinful nature but he also had the divine nature and so when Jesus walked on this earth he said I'm gonna meet Dwayne right where he's at and I'm gonna show Wayne how he can live the victorious life you gotta put your name in it and so it is that when Christ walked on this earth my brothers and my sisters jesus knew I am going to be your example I'm gonna show you I always like to teach this when you think about Jesus always remember he did not just simply come to save us from sin he did not simply come just to vindicate the father's name Jesus also came to show us how to live I like that I like that Jesus came to show us how to live can you imagine that it wasn't enough to just accept what he did God wants us to live his life and so when Jesus walked on this earth he was being an example for you and for me and so it is that when we look at that example we learned that those two things that Christ wanted us to learn his meekness and lowliness the word lowliness is synonymous to humility Christ wanted us to learn his meekness and his lowliness so for reminder let us go ahead and look at neatness one more time first Peter chapter 2 it was in first Peter the second chapter that the Bible helps us understand what constituted the meekness of Christ I want to review it we're just doing a little review right now before we go into the further phase of our study in 1st Peter the 2nd chapter we find that Jesus came to exemplify what a meek life looks like and so it is that in 1st Peter 2 we're going to just start at verse 19 I'd recommend you start from verse 1 it's a beautiful thing to study but nevertheless for times sake we're going to start at verse 19 and this is what it says it says for this is st. worthy if a man for conscience toward God and do a grief suffering how suffering wrongfully so don't lose that suffering wrongfully you're suffering the suffering is real but how are you suffering wrongfully meaning you did not do something and then are suffering because of the wrong thing that you did that is when you're suffering rightfully so we're dealing with suffering wrongfully you are going through something that you should not be going through because you were doing the right thing well here it is that when somebody suffers wrongfully the Bible says this is thank worthy now what verse 20 it says for what glory is it if when he be buffeted for your faults you shall take it patiently but if when you do well and suffer for it you take it patiently this is acceptable with God do you know verse 20 literally this defines meekness it's suffering wrong suffering wrongfully you didn't do anything but you're suffering for but you're taking it patiently and you're not letting it affect who you are or how you behave your Christianity is maintained in the midst of suffering wrongfully well it continues to unfold and so it says in verse 21 it says for even here on to where you called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that you should follow his steps verse 22 who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth who when he was reviled he reviled not again when he suffered he threatened not what he did do something the Bible says he committed himself to him that judgeth righteously he had a real trust in God you know one of the reasons why we take vengeance is cuz we don't trust God did you know that you know I mean that's like super simple isn't it when somebody does you wrong and then you and I get so bothered about it that we say now I gotta get vengeance for them that is an action that testifies we don't trust God because if you go to Romans chapter 12 God makes it clear in Romans 12 he says vengeance is mine God says I will repay so anytime we feel we gotta get vengeance on somebody they reviled me I will revive them back they did me wrong I'm gonna threaten them and let them know you do this one more time that is all a testimony we don't trust you you're possibly lying maybe you just don't really care therefore I'm gonna take care of this myself and so it's a very serious insult to God do not take him at his words Jesus was a meek man in the midst of all of his sufferings he never allowed it to change who he was this is the beauty of meekness but it wasn't just enough was it we saw also in humility again last night we looked at humility and we looked at Philippians 2 one through four humility also brings a beautiful dynamic that we would do well to consider in Philippians the second chapter let's just go ahead and tell Barry we're still in art we're just reviewing right now this is all still reviewed in Philippians the second chapter now we go ahead and consider verses 1 to 4 and in Philippians 2 verses 1 to 4 we find a beautiful demonstration of the humility of Christ it says in Philippians 2 1 through 4 if there be therefore any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels and mercies it says fulfil ye my joy that ye be like-minded having the same love being of one Accord of one mind let nothing how many things let nothing be done through strife or vainglory but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others what better than themselves not even equal to themselves but what everything do sir ask yourself how many people in a week do you treat like that and then ask yourself how many people in a week do you see you know I'm saying it's like you can you can do acid tests on some of these counsels fairly easily when we just take that time to follow that counsel there's a wonderful little book called gospel workers I would encourage you to read it all together but especially page 100 and in gospel workers page 100 it makes a statement that we would do well to consider it says in gospel workers page 100 guard jealously your hours for three things prayer the searching of the scriptures and then the third thing the examination of your heart guard jealously listening I'm going to repeat the quote because one of the things I've learned is you know there are many things that Jesus was on this earth but one of the things I learned Jesus wasn't was a comedian I always tell people that I've been I'm realizing I have to remind the people of God many things Jesus was when he walked on this earth but the one thing that Christ was not was a comedian you know what comedians do they tell jokes when Jesus gives a counsel in his word he's not joking he actually means what he's saying you understand that so when we think about it when it says guard jealously any of you ever been jealous you ever been jealous or were you always docile nice patient people like you are just trust in you know never have any issues well I had issues and I know for sure I know jealousy you know when I first met my wife oh my word I mean you know my wife is a very beautiful woman inward and outward but before I got to know the inward I only knew the outward and when I knew that outward I was just like well I mean I felt unworthy I was like man I don't know how she's interested in me but she was praise the Lord and I remember their time to see her and she was just gorgeous I mean I was just like this woman is b ut oh and so as I would be holding my bride you know I would just look at this before she was my bride but you know I still call him my bride 22 years later she's still my bride and when I was to be holding I mean one time we had to meet up somewhere and I I was walking up she was like meet me over by such and such a place so I'm walking over to get ready to meet with her so I see her from a distance and she's just standing there her cute self and as I'm walking I'm thinking to myself unworthy I'm so unworthy she's you know whatever but all of a sudden I saw cars slowing down and those cars are slowing down and honking the horn but there's no traffic and I realize those brothers was trying to get my wife's attention something strange rose up in me and if this microphone was my wife and let's say the projector was the car where the guys were looking I would find myself if I was walking at a slow pace I suddenly would have a brisk walk you know and I would get this brisk walk and I would just walk up just be like you guys need something and now they can't get any more view of what's mine jealousy when you jealous about something you guard it you cherish it you don't let anything get nearer to damage it or to bother it inspiration says guard jealously your hours for prayer the searching of the Scriptures examination of your heart how much time do you spend a day examining what was going on in your mind and what came out of your mind and out of your mouth throughout the day do you know that you were supposed to do that every day Lord I said a thousand things to somebody today was any of it unacceptable to you is there anybody that I need to make an apology to is there someone that I overlooked is there someone that I've disrespected is there someone that I casually lied to like when you say hey I'll call you back when you already know you're not going to call them back little things that means so much God wants us to understand we had your heart where's your head and so it is that the Lord calls us and he says true biblical humility is when you esteem others better than yourselves and then verse four it said right there so beautifully look not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others this is what all this humble life looks like completely selfless and putting others before yourself well again that thing pride it gets in the way of this doesn't it and the real problem is we live in a world of pride today I mean when you look at but when you look at the climate of the United States of America we have a pride issue like it's nobody's business well in case you haven't noticed I'm a black man and in the black community there's something called black pride times when as a result of a culture of people you feel so oppressed so put down so disregard it so unfairly treated and the list goes on that after a while when you get beat down a lot you start wanting to lift yourself up and hence you begin to demonstrate black pride when I talk to my black people there's a whole lot of reasons why today there's a lot of talk about black pride well obviously there was some who said well if you have the right to have black pride we have the right to have white pride and so now we have the white pride movement that's going around throughout America if you have a right to say you're proud so do we and you know one of the things that I appreciate you know about God is the way he makes us think one of the things I'm really glad for and please understand what I'm saying I'm glad for the problems that happens in our world because it starts making us really think and search for solutions and we know that we have a social issue in the United States of America you know especially with the president that we have today there's definitely a lot of talk about social issues cultural issues and things of that nature it's coming from the white house down and the reality is is that I'm looking around and say who's addressing some of these social issues especially with quote-unquote black/white unrest and there's a lot of people talking but I'm wondering where's my people at and I'm not talking my black people I'm talking about seven day Adventists and the more that I began to think about Elsi what we're 170 Adventists what we're who's our spokesperson dealing with the social issues between black and white unrest and how we need to come together and you know what I discovered I discovered two things and I just want to say this very respectfully I believe God is allowing this to happen to kind of open our eyes to some realities number one the first thing I discovered is we don't really have much of a spokesperson at all that's going around addressing these issues and then the second issue is of course not how can we talk about unrest in black/white culture when we still have black/white conferences that probably should go before we try to solve the black/white issues in our country may God help us wake up to that sometimes a problem wakes you up to a need for a real solution my hope and prayers that will realize this problem enough to say listen we need a more real solution but it's not just black and white or Asian or Hispanic and the various other cultures that speak about pride then we got gender of course you know you got the sisters out there that says if he can do it I can too so obviously you got the sisters out there pushing their product I told you we live in a whole climate of pride right now pride on every level the striving for equality but you know it's getting even deeper if you go to Google and if you just type up the word pride the first thing that comes up LGBT pride and as you know we just recently passed a month where it was considered the whole Pride Month but it wasn't black pride it wasn't white pride and it wasn't feminine or female pride or masculine male pride it was a native those prides but it was LGBTQ pride okay and this movement is here to stay it's not going anywhere anytime soon and the church once again is going to need to respond to this reality there are people in the world that's responded to it this article just came out just a few days ago August 15 this young man here calls himself little little nas X he said he's a strange hybrid of an entertainer he's a country rapper so he kind of does country music but he also is a rapper now I know all about rapping I know nothing about country music but I know about rapping and hip-hop culture that's where I come from okay I was born in one of the very key areas of some of the greatest hip-hop artists and I used to be a dancer and a choreographer in the hip-hop industry i'ma talk to the young people about that tomorrow night of where I was and how God brought me here but this young man you know he's a hybrid you know country music rapping at the same time a little strange but nevertheless there's a reality of what's going on in his life and it made big news it says little nas X was pushed by the universe to publicly come out as gay after old town roads success old town road as a song that he did and one of the things that he says that I thought was very interesting it says the Atlanta native said he grew up hearing that homosexuality was never going to be okay and that the hip-hop community was not accepting of an LGBTQ community that's how he grew up but nevertheless the reality is however he overcame his fear when the universe pushed him to come out during what month Pride Month in June I'm seeing pride flags everywhere and seeing couples holding hands little stuff like that he said on what inspired him to share his truth unapologetically right now we have a world that's saying if you feel it do it and be proud of it and it doesn't matter how deep it goes to get these books that tell you deny yourself everything is about do what thou wilt this is the culture this is the society that we live in so literally we're living in these very last moments of Earth's history we're living in a society where pride is very much on the you and can be served in any way you want but I said we're living in a world like that right oh it goes deeper go to the book of second Timothy chapter 3 let me shock you into another reality it is not just the world in 2nd Timothy I want you to see what the Bible says now we're going to 2nd Timothy what chapter we're going to chapter 3 and I want you to watch this second Timothy we're now in the third chapter hmm and I want you to watch what the Bible says 2nd Timothy chapter 3 watch it very carefully in 2nd Timothy 3 verses 1 to 5 it says this know also that in the what days that in the last days perilous times shall come why it says for men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters re lovers of their own selves covetous boasters what else is on the list proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection trucebreakers false accusers incontinent fierce despisers of those that are good traitors heady highminded lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God now watch what it says in verse 5 this is why this is not just the world that is talking about in verse 5 it says having a form of what ladies and gentlemen brothers and sisters the world does not have a form of godliness the world is sinful and the world is bold about it look at the billboards listen to the music playing through the malls look at the books that are being put out the world is sinful and they are exceedingly and abundantly proud of it but there is a place where you can go where you can find an image of form of godliness where's that oh that's the church it says having a form of godliness but what was the problem but didn't I the power thereof from such turn away and so God wanted us to understand that in the last days perilous times shall come why because even amongst his own people they're gonna be proud so pride has infected and affected everywhere and the question is what are you gonna do about it the question is what am I gonna do about it the reality is is that sometimes people may ask the question really what's wrong with being proud about who you are or what you've accomplished really what is so wrong with that in its read and this question especially will come to those who are in the world or those who are in the church but our worldly they will say that what's wrong about being proud of Who I am or what I've done well the reality is this pride is revealed in misplaced credit to someone or something that's the that is the foundational issue with pride it's misplaced credit to someone or something somebody's patting somebody on the back that doesn't deserve a pat on the back are you following that so when you think of pride I'm just trying I'm trying to put pride in terms that we can walk away with and have something so substitute that we can share it with others and understand it very comprehensively pride is misplaced credit to someone or to something and so it is think about it acts 17 and verse 28 the Bible is talking about Jesus for in him we do three things what are the three things we do we live what else move what else if we understood this verse do you understand that you can't even boast that you write well but for the grace of God you could not move your fingers in such a way to write wonderfully on a piece of paper if we really understood but for the grace of God you could not be a good carpenter but for the grace of God in him we live move how about being why are you boasting why are you giving yourself all this credit we should be able to praise God that we have a good digestive system the fact that you have a bowel movement every day you need to thank God I know some people who are stuck I remember one time I had to do a health consultation with a young lady we were going over lifestyle principles and as I sat down with her I remember I said when's the last time you have a bowel movement she said I have a bowel movement once a week I said how many meals do you have a day three I said three times seven is twenty-one and I said and you only eliminate once she said yes I said all right we have a problem and you know what I I'm not joking when I said you should praise God you have a good do you do you know when that sister got released when she had to go through some interventions and eventually got all that stuff in her out of her you know she started doing almost daily she praise God that she has about moving every day she was thinking the look in in him we live move and even have movements I'm just trying to help us understand the any good thing that we do is because of him how about this one first chronicles 29 14 but who am i and what is my people that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort for how many things all things come of thee and of thine own have we given thee do you know that if there's anybody here who is financially endowed don't pat yourself on the back and say look at how much I've given to the cause of God all things come of him and of his own have you given back to him why are you boasting because your bank account has more zeros than another person's bank account why do you think you're better than other people why do you treat people differently you understand that family it's like the more what God is trying to do is completely eliminate and eradicate this thing called pride there is no boasting point for the people of God we're answering the question what what why can't I be proud about this proud about that because pride is misplaced credit to someone or to something the credit goes to God it is because of him we live and move I used to I used to uh I used to work with people who were what's called mentally disabled and dually diagnosed okay some people just had mental retardation which was a deformation of the brain other people had mental illness sometimes you were dually diagnosed mental retardation and mental illness so there were people that I would have to counsel with and help and teach them how to do basic life skills like how to tie your shoelaces how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich you know simple stuff and I remember that one time we were walking and as we were walking I was just walking with the person and then all of a sudden do you see how I could do that and I didn't even look down you see how I did that you see how I can still keep looking up at you but I could just easily get back up we don't understand how much wiring with the brain takes place that's so quickly your mind knows okay you're about to take a big dip you got to make sure that you land your heel the right way and so on and we don't understand how much is involved in that this is how much I this is how I understood it one day we were walking over a curb and you know curbs on the street like probably just a couple inches you know so we're walking and I'm just do just walk over it and keep walking so I had a lady who was following us her name was Irene and Irene is following us and I'm like yeah Irene you know and as I'm walking I walk over the curb and I'm talking and next you know I looked Irene's not there I look back and Irene is still by the curb now again the curb is only a couple of inches high off the ground but Irene was going like that she was going for her it looked like it was climbing Mount Everest but to me it was something I can go up and down and backwards 1,000 times with no problem we don't understand how blessed we are to be able to do some of those things that we absolutely take for granted I'm marveled at this brain smoking weed drinking alcohol filling it with some of the most demonic images and all that other stuff and today God can still take this defiled brain and God can allow this brain to memorize Scripture that's a miracle it is in him that we live it is in him that we move it's in him that we have our being it is as a result of him that we can even give anything to others or give back to him but it's not only that James 1 in verse 17 how many gifts every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variableness neither shadow of turning Psalms 14 and one The Fool hath said in his heart there is no God they are corrupt they have done abominable works there is none that doeth good my brothers and sisters if you and I really understood that there's none that do good you know what you would stop doing you would stop applauding your children oh yes I was waiting for somebody to say say it thank you if we really understood these verses that we're looking at here in him we live move have a bean we can only give back to God that which he has given to us any gift no matter how good how perfect it is it came from him and any good thing we do is only as a result of him if we really understood this we would not applaud our children as if they did something great we would start letting them know praise the Lord God has helped you to do the sand so it's like we think about it you know you know one of the big ways that we introduce pride to our children birthdays we celebrate the child as if the child brought themselves through the past year what did that child do to get themselves from last year to this year now Isis that's not my question that's from the book you all have or at least should have that's a book called Advent is home it is right there under the chapter of birthdays and it says that we should not celebrate the child the child did not bring themselves over from the last year it was because of him birthdays is one of the best ways to forget God righteously you probably didn't even get her birthdays are one of the best days to forget God in a righteous manner this is what I'm trying to help you see how wicked this thing called pride is we introduce it to our children when they're young and then we try to uproot it when they get older that is illogical that doesn't make any sense check it when it's young it's easier do it with the child while they're young stop reporting your children let them know well done when they finish singing say Amen we don't applaud them and as if they performed and did something great they were doing the services of God we want to let them know well done good and faithful servant continue to do that introduce it to them while they're young rather than the opposite pride pride pride it's an amazing thing God wants us to understand that pride is revealed and miss price misplaced credit to someone or to something and this is the thing he's calling us away from now the reason why he's doing that is because for things that pride does number one proverbs 16 and verse 18 pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall pride can lead to destruction number two proverbs 13 and verse 10 only by pride comes what do you know anytime a husband and a wife are arguing with each other somebody's being proud that word only did you see that word that comes before it only by pride comes fighting anytime someone is fighting somebody's being proud that's clear Bible not only that proverbs 11 verse 2 when pride comes then come shame pride is terrible it puts us in positions where we become ashamed when we look back at what we've done this is why God must uprooted from his people makes all the sense in the world then of course proverbs 8 and verse 13 the fear of the Lord think about that first angels message fear God the fear of the Lord is to hate evil and what else pride arrogance see the evil way and the forward mouth do I hate anybody who's experiencing the first angels message should have a supernatural adversity - pride but this is the very thing that's getting most of us is God's people and this is the reason why God wants us to talk about this because if we don't get a check on pride we're gonna be lost and our witness will be damaged and we will not be able to please God or accomplish what he created us for I've realized it every time I pass a grave I have a question that goes on my mind I don't know if you have the same question but is my question when I pass a gravesite you know one of the questions that comes up in my mind father how many people in this gravesite could actually say I finished my course you and I would be alarmed to see how many people died daily never completing the purpose of why God made them it's a tragedy when I I remember taking one of my favorite activities is to walk and talk to God not loud in nature that's like being on a rollercoaster ride or something you know like like Six Flags you know when I used to go to Six Flags and kids would do all that crazy stuff and make themselves nauseous having fun you know my enjoyment of life my joy is to walk in nature and talk to God out loud to do it favorite honey I'm walking in nature I'm privileged to be out there in the countryside where we live and I was having my nature walking just talking to the master and I pleaded with God I said Lord I don't mind dying but don't let me die without being able to say like Paul I have finished my course I have kept the thief and I know that there's a crown laid up for me if Paul can say it and you're no respecter of persons they're not want to be able to say that you should be determined to make sure that you say that you are created with a very specific purpose again another little book is called education how many of you read that book cover-to-cover education amen now in that book education when you get a chance for those of you who read it go back to page 267 for those of you who never read it take a look at that chapter the life work starts at page 262 put on page 267 you know what it says I remember the first time I read this it blew my mind watch this it says in page 267 of that precious book education it says the specific place what kind of place it says the specific place that is appointed us in this life will be determined by our capabilities and I said wait a minute when I first read that because I had this fit I had like a stack of books written by Ellen White I said I want to go through them cover to cover so I would just do one book all right done do another book dun dun dun dun dun so eventually I got to education so my goal was to just go through the book and learn what it's gays and try to do what I can and to apply it but when I read that it stopped me for at least two weeks couldn't go any further because the first question that came to my mind is I said wait a minute I have a specific place I don't know about you but that blew my mind I was like when God made Dwayne Lemmon March 22 1972 coming out of that matrix God literally said I have a specific place for this child that blew my mind God has something not abstract specific and so on my mind I was like lord I have to fulfill this then when I read Galatians 1 15 and 16 but when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace to reveal his son in me that I might preach him unto the heathen I mean Paul like literally knew why he was born how many of you can we line up and one-by-one say all right come up next yr were you created what's the specific place God has for you how many of you can answer that to be able to say I know specifically where God wants me and what he wants me to do that's one of the reasons why I've you know I recently went to go do a meeting and they asked about my children they said hey where you where are your kids at well your children at I said well right now they're in Missionary Training School my children went to an organization called meek ministry to learn gospel medical missionary work and they said but based on their ages shouldn't they be in college I said no not necessarily and they were like well our children are in college I was like okay I say well let me ask you a question what's the specific place God is appointed your son of your daughter huh what'd you say what do you mean I said oh let me ask it again I said what's the specific place that God has appointed for you and your daughter for your son your daughter I don't know I said okay do they know no I said okay but they're in college yes how much are you gonna pay for this you paying a lot for what you don't know I don't know if that's good stewardship I was like you don't you don't go to college to study do you know how many young people I just came from a school called watch it die Hills this year they had me come back to speak to some of the missionaries had a chance to be that many years ago and you know meet some precious young people and I was just there a few months ago and I'm literally talking to young people who went to school for four years just to find out they were wrong paying off the debt still while they're now going to watch it our hills and trying to do what they have to do over there and that's just a broken system in a broken way of thinking I said I'm not gonna invest all this money and time and effort in my children to go somewhere that they don't know and I don't know if this is in the line of the specific place that God has called them once we know the specific place I'll pour a million dollars into it once I know it's the specific place now I'll put everything into it but until I know what the specific place is that God made them I'm not giving all of God's money to something just to say well we gave them some education that's silly that that doesn't make any sense to me God has a specific place for you I want you to ponder that I really want you to think about that and according to this world standards even if you're 60 years old and you don't know according to the statistics in our world especially an Adventist living you still have a whole lot of years ahead of you to figure it out I would recommend don't waste any more time though turn with me to Philippians 2 I need to wrap some things up here in Philippians the second chapter I want you to just see aa precious Savior loving Jesus we do him wrong so often but yet he still forgives in Philippians the second chapter we already read verses 1 to 4 we you know looked at the statement of humility but Paul wanted to make it clear that if you don't understand what I'm talking about Paul says this verse 5 let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus in other words verses 1 to 4 all along he was saying I want you to be humble like Christ was humble but in case they didn't get it he's now speaking a more straightforward language let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus then he says who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the four of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he did what he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross now what I did is I began to look at this life of Jesus more carefully so when I began to look at the life of Jesus throughout his earthly pilgrimage there was some things that came up in my mind so this is where I need you to grab your Bibles we're about to go through a few verses here and I want you to just go through these verses with me do it as quick as you can because I'm gonna get to a closing point right here when I see the pride issue that's throughout our world throughout the church we struggle with this from the highs of the lows in the church all of these battles that we face how are we gonna overcome it Jesus says learn of my meekness learn of my humility well let's take a look at something in the earthly pilgrimage of Jesus number one John six and fifty-two let's turn there I'm gonna ask you to do this for me very quickly because we're gonna look at several verses as we prepare to close in Luke I'm sorry John 6 and verse 52 now I'm gonna ask if you don't mind to read it out loud for me are you okay with that alright so in John 6 and verse 52 if you're there let me know by saying Amen all right on the count of three I'm just gonna ask if you can read it please one two three go ahead very good now Luke 4:22 2:30 let's go there you're about to see an amazing connection to all these verses the Lord definitely gave this one to me Luke 4:22 230 in fact I'll take you I'll shorten the time on it just do Luke 4:22 224 you can just do it to verse 24 if you're there say Amen all right one two three very good John chapter seven verse seven John chapter 7 and verse seven I pray you never forget these verses you're going to see an amazing connection here John chapter 7 and verse 7 if you're there please say Amen 1 2 3 now John 7 1 through 5 so you're already there so begin reading mm-hmm Matthew 12 verse 24 Matthew 12 and verse 24 we have about maybe four more verses Matthew 12 and verse 24 if you're there please say Amen not enough Matthew 12 and verse 24 I'll be there please read now John 19 one through three what do all of these verses have in common and how does this tie in to our study well you will see in just a moment in John 19 verses 1 to 3 let's notice what the Bible says here John 19 verses 1 to 3 if you're there please say Amen all right please begin I will these are quite a few verses here so what I'll do is I will just give you the synopsis in second Corinthians 5:21 it makes it clear Jesus became sin for us that's what it says and then in Isaiah 13 6 through 9 it tells us that sinners will suffer the wrath of God okay sinners will suffer the wrath of God now finally John 19 and verse 30 that one I want you to turn to please John 19 and verse 30 you may begin let us rewind we began our study first reflecting on our study from last night talking about how this wicked thing called pride is gonna affect the highest in God's church all the way to the lowest in the world pride is no respecter of persons it affects everyone we see that we are living in a culture of pride black pride white pride female pride male pride certainly LGBTQ pride but we discovered that as widespread as pride is we see the danger of it because at the end of the day pride is misplaced credit to someone or to something every time we lift ourselves up we tear down God and His glory and therefore God made it clear pride brings destruction pride brings strength shame only pride is the reason why we get into fights with each other pride separates us from God and then to add insult to injury the prophetic pen says in the last days pride will be the very thing that will consume the minds God says of my people and so it is that we began to look more closely at the life of Jesus we saw that he is our solution and the only example that can deliver us from the sin of pride in our mind and so Jesus walks us through his earthly life one of the things that is really big about pride right now is rights I have a right to do this I have a right to do that I have a right to do a lot of things we're in a time where everybody wants to really exercise their rights even animals have their rights but I want to show you something about Jesus the Bible says that though he had equality with God it says he didn't make that an issue and he humbled himself he took the lower position to put us in the higher position he took our sins that we might receive his righteousness but when he walked on this earth the Bible says that when he came to make himself known to everybody the Bible says in John 6 in verse 52 he was still misunderstood when Jesus came my brothers and sisters that he might be accepted according to Luke 4:22 he was rejected in John chapter 7 when Jesus came to show us and to love us and show us what love is when Christ came to give us love in John 7 and verse 7 he was hated in return when Jesus came to tell everybody the truth and to make the Word of God plain that they might be blessed Jesus ends up being mocked by his own family members when Jesus was trying to show people that his works were the works of God because he was filled with the Spirit of God instead they said he was considered possessed by Satan Jesus came to minister and to bless instead he was beaten brutally when Jesus came to minister to you and I that we might have life he understood I am going to have to feel what sinners will feel at the final judgment he was sensing the wrath of God upon himself so you don't have to and in the end my brothers and sisters when he came to give us life we killed him this is the life of a meek man this is the life of a humble man and you know why I so be because he came and was misunderstood rejected hated mocked by his family members considered to be possessed by Satan beaten brutally felt what sinners will feel at the final judgement and even killed yet go to John 13 what does the Bible say in John 13 this is this is an amazing thing to just consider John the thirteenth chapter it was right there in John 13 and verse 1 my brothers and sisters John 13 right there in verse 1 in the midst of Jesus going through all of this what is it saying it says now before the Feast of the Passover when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the father having loved his own which were in the world he loved them how long all the way until the end in the mists of misunderstanding him rejecting him hating him mocking him considering him to be on the side of Satan and doing Satan's biddings we beat him up brutally then he took our punishment as it were upon the cross we even murdered him and through it all he did not change his love for us he loved us all the way till the end and do you know what Jesus said go to verse 34 and 35 of that Saint John 13 verse 34 and 35 st. John 13 we say what a wonderful story about Jesus and it is wonderful but it's deeper than wonderful it's exemplary the Bible says in verse 34 a new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you that he also loved one another why by this by this my love not your love my love by this shall all men know that you are my disciples when you have love one for another my brothers and sisters only the love of Christ can burn out that pride this pride has a vise grip upon our hearts sometimes it almost feels impossible I don't even understand how we can come to church and worship God when we literally have hatred towards our spouses some of us have gotten to a place that we've learned to tolerate our wives rather than love our wives as Christ loved the church some of us have learned to tolerate our husbands rather than reference your husband as the church was the reference Christ can you imagine that there are families that come under attend at something called camp-meeting where God wants to pour out that early and prepare us for that latter rain and some of us are still holding on to bitterness anger and resentment and it's only by pride that those things are still having residents within our hearts and Jesus says I cannot and Jesus says and I will not save you in that Jesus says I have to save you from that and how does it start it starts by beholding him I'm not talking about shallow reading I'm not talking about some of the things some of us do what we do just a little page reading here or there in the morning and then we go throughout our day and God help us if we ever find another opportunity to even read his word I pray I'm talking about meditating upon the life of Christ we are told in that precious little book that God wants us to understand and I will pour upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication and they shall look upon me whom they appears and they shall mourn as one mourns for His only Son it shall be in bitterness as one as in bitterness for his first born Zechariah 12 in verse 10 when we look upon the one whom we have pierced you see when you looked at that list earlier on misunderstood rejected hated mocked and said you got to put your name there you got to say I misunderstood him I mocked him I hated him I killed him you got to put yourself there you're guilty this is why I don't understand why I don't know if any of you believe in this but I don't understand why some of us are such promoters for the death penalty and these type of things I'm like are you kidding me if we believe that it was bad when a man killed one person how about when we crucified Christ afresh a thousand times with serial killers we're the worst of murderers you understand that we look in the news and we say now that got messed up those people go crazy though the mass shootings oh look at how devilish they are that man deserved to get gunned down brothers and sisters if the man in the mass shooting deserves to get gunned down because he killed a certain amount of innocent people what about the fact that we kill multiple times because of the indulgence in sin the innocent son of God what about that God wants us to understand we are guilty and here it is that in the midst of all that he loves us until the end that is humility that is meekness you know what God says about it let the cross of Christ be the science of all education the center of all teaching and all study bring let it be brought to the daily experience in practical life the cross of Christ the beginning of experiencing the humility and meekness of Christ is you must study it every day put it in front of you when you go through a devotion look for it where do I see his grace where do I see a demonstration of his meekness where do I see a demonstration of his humility and I promise you by beholding this being intentional by beholding this you will become changed into the same image question how many of us understood our study tonight did you understand it family God wants us to understand pride is an issue we are battling with this issue it's worldwide and it's church wide and the only way we're going to overcome it is we must learn of his meekness learn of his loneliness and it all begins by watching what he demonstrated remember I told you that about a father remember that besty man I told you about earlier Christ wanted to demonstrate it he demonstrated it didn't misunderstood rejected hated mocked ridiculed put down murdered and he loved until the end consistent Jesus says now go do that likewise how do we do that he says start by changing your devotional pattern when you have devotion in the morning when you study the Bible in the middle of the day when you have meditation in the evening seek the cross of Christ start looking at the sacrifice that he made start praying and asking God help this Lord to reach my heart to see the inspite of how he was treated etc he was willing to go through this to save me then that prayer can become more sincere lord help me to do that for my wife my husband my children my brother my sister my neighbors my church family my co-workers my fellow students and the list goes on let this be the foundation when we come back on Sabbath I'm only once tomorrow right and that's in the evening with the youth okay when we come back on Sabbath that is when we're gonna go into some super mechanical practical steps of how we can get a hold on that anger that bitterness tomorrow set tomorrow morning with the youth oh here good so tomorrow morning we go over tomorrow in tomorrow morning we're going to go over those steps and you're gonna see that God is gonna give us some wonderful tools to give us very real very practical victory I hope in my prayer is that our hearts will respond to it if tonight you can see clearly the grace of God that's been shown to you in the midst of all that we've done to him and you are willing to let God work in you that you might share it with others please stand to your feet with me as we close for a word of Prayer I have no doubt that the Lord will bless well beyond our expectations let us pray our loving father we are so grateful we thank you for sharing with us your wonderful words of life Lord we realized that we've been infected by this disease of pride but only the grace and love of Jesus can uproot it I pray that you will help us to realize and we've been miss placing credit to someone or to something even if it's ourselves help us from this evening to remember to give you the credit to give you the glory for any accomplishment that we were able to make help us to meditate and reflect on your son in such a way that our hearts will be moved the spell will be broken we will be made free and then we can now be instruments in helping others to be made free and Lord this is our prayer that we do ask and the worthy and mighty name of Jesus let everyone say Amen

Channel: Caribou Seventh-day Adventist Fellowship

Views: 8,579

Rating: 4.8496242 out of 5

Keywords: Meekness, humility, meditation, Christ, hour, pride, lgbtq, gender, black, white, self, lifework, mind of Christ, love on another, crucified Christ, contention, misplaced credit, black/white conferences, Jesus, misunderstood, rejected, hated, mocked, abused, killed, sin, birthdays, proud, last days, Dwayne Lemon, Camp Meeting

Id: I-3NE2QzXsU

Length: 72min 30sec (4350 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 27 2019