Pride and Humility
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 24th May 2009
Passage: Philippians 2:1-11
00:00:00 --> 00:00:05 that would be continuing in the very sin that God has rescued us from in the first place.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:10 You see, God has not just saved us from something, from a life of sin,
00:00:11 --> 00:00:12 but he saved us for something.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:18 An intimate relationship with him, a life spent honoring him.
00:00:19 --> 00:00:22 So the series that we're starting on tonight called Seven Deadly Sins
00:00:22 --> 00:00:26 is all about honoring the God who has bought us at a price.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:32 He didn't buy us so that we can go, awesome, fantastic, I just sit around.
00:00:33 --> 00:00:35 He actually bought us to be his people.
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 He didn't just save us from something, but he has saved us for something.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:44 He saved us from a life that dishonored him to a life that actually honors him.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 And so church, friends, is not a holding pen for Christians.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 It's not the sort of like the garage that God sort of shoves us in
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 until one day he gets interested in us again
00:00:52 --> 00:00:55 and sort of takes us back home to heaven or something like that.
00:00:55 --> 00:01:00 The Bible says that God has forgiven our sin and now he wants to kill it in us.
00:01:01 --> 00:01:03 He's removed the penalty for our sin
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 and now he wants to remove the presence of it as well.
00:01:05 --> 00:01:09 The Bible says this, we need to put sin to death in Colossians 3.5.
00:01:09 --> 00:01:12 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature,
00:01:13 --> 00:01:18 sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 But Colossians also says that we don't just die a death,
00:01:21 --> 00:01:23 but we actually rise to a new life.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:24 So a few verses earlier says,
00:01:25 --> 00:01:27 Since then we have been raised with Christ.
00:01:27 --> 00:01:31 Set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated, the right hand of God.
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 Being a Christian is not just about dying a death,
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 it's actually about rising to a new life.
00:01:39 --> 00:01:42 It's not just Jesus on the cross, it's him resurrected as well.
00:01:42 --> 00:01:47 When we became a Christian, one life ends, a totally new one begins.
00:01:48 --> 00:01:51 One with new priorities, where if Christ is at the center, we follow him.
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 And this is how Colossians 3 verses 9 to 10 puts it,
00:01:55 --> 00:01:59 Do not lie to each other since you have taken off your old self with its practices
00:01:59 --> 00:02:03 and have put on the new self which is being renewed in the knowledge of the image of its creator.
00:02:03 --> 00:02:09 In the Christian life, we must first put our trust in Jesus to be forgiven,
00:02:09 --> 00:02:13 and then we must put on the character of Christ and be transformed.
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 This is what it says in verse 12 of Colossians 3,
00:02:17 --> 00:02:20 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved,
00:02:20 --> 00:02:25 clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
00:02:25 --> 00:02:29 That is, if you're a Christian, then you have this sort of sign which sort of sticks over your head
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 which says, Under New Management.
00:02:33 --> 00:02:34 I'm under new management.
00:02:35 --> 00:02:39 And there are countless changes that God wants to work in your life
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 before we enter his presence forever.
00:02:42 --> 00:02:47 And so this series, if you like, is in effect doing radical surgery.
00:02:47 --> 00:02:50 This series in the next seven weeks is about going under the knife
00:02:50 --> 00:02:54 and allowing God to open up our lives and to cut out those bits
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 which are just so deeply held sins.
00:02:58 --> 00:03:01 And so will you allow God to do a deep work in your hearts?
00:03:02 --> 00:03:06 Will you allow him to radically do surgery on your character?
00:03:08 --> 00:03:11 What is it that needs the most treatment for you right now?
00:03:13 --> 00:03:16 What death and resurrection is most needed in your life?
00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 You see, we can pick on a number of sins from the Bible,
00:03:19 --> 00:03:24 but the seven we're going to pick on is pride, anger, envy, impurity, gluttony, laziness and greed.
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 That's enough to keep us going for a while.
00:03:28 --> 00:03:31 And maybe this is quite timely for you.
00:03:31 --> 00:03:32 Maybe you've become a Christian.
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 You've opened the door to Jesus into your life,
00:03:34 --> 00:03:36 but you've sort of opened the front door to him
00:03:36 --> 00:03:38 and you're allowing him in the hallway,
00:03:38 --> 00:03:40 but you're shutting off all the rest of the rooms to him.
00:03:41 --> 00:03:42 Maybe there's the odd room he's allowed in,
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 but generally there's a few there that I just want you to stay away from.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:47 You've locked the door.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 Friends, God doesn't want to just forgive your sins.
00:03:51 --> 00:03:52 He wants to kill it.
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 Our surgery, I think, needs to start on the sin of pride
00:03:57 --> 00:04:00 because pride is at the heart of all sin.
00:04:01 --> 00:04:04 It's, in effect, confidence in ourselves rather than confidence in God
00:04:04 --> 00:04:09 and a focus on ourselves rather than a focus on others.
00:04:09 --> 00:04:13 And so if we understand pride, then we understand the nature of sin.
00:04:13 --> 00:04:15 And pride is behind the birth of sin in Genesis 3.
00:04:16 --> 00:04:17 So pick up your Bibles again.
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 I want you to, page 3, it's pretty simple.
00:04:19 --> 00:04:20 Genesis 3, page 3.
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 And we're going to take a look at this sin.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:29 You see, Adam and Eve are being placed in the Garden of Eden by God.
00:04:29 --> 00:04:30 Life is perfect.
00:04:30 --> 00:04:33 That is, it's lived perfectly under the obedience of God.
00:04:33 --> 00:04:35 It's a life where God knows best because he's God.
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 And frankly, he still knows best because he's God.
00:04:37 --> 00:04:40 God says to them that they can eat of any tree in the Garden
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 except this one tree which is in the center of the Garden.
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 I think it's a significant point.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 The tree's in the middle of the Garden of Eden.
00:04:46 --> 00:04:48 Adam and Eve, you don't belong in the middle of the universe.
00:04:49 --> 00:04:50 You don't belong there at all.
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 It's only God who belongs there.
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 This tree is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 which is why Adam and Eve have no business from eating for this tree.
00:04:58 --> 00:05:01 The idea of the knowledge of good and evil really means
00:05:01 --> 00:05:05 that they are the determinants of what is good and what is evil.
00:05:05 --> 00:05:09 That is, they become the determinants of what is right and what is wrong.
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 And that is God's job again, not ours.
00:05:11 --> 00:05:12 He's the one who sets the agenda.
00:05:13 --> 00:05:16 And by eating from the tree, Adam and Eve are really saying that,
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 frankly, God, we want your job.
00:05:19 --> 00:05:20 We want your job.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:25 And that is exactly what the serpent offers Eve.
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 The serpent casts doubt on God's Word
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 and that he's always the first step to sin.
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 He says to the woman, Eve,
00:05:32 --> 00:05:36 did God really say that you must not eat from any tree in the Garden?
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 This is followed by a denial of God's Word,
00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 which is the next step to sin.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 You will not surely die, the serpent said to the woman.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:48 And the final step is decided to make the rules up for themselves,
00:05:48 --> 00:05:52 which is the appealing thing to our sinful pride.
00:05:53 --> 00:05:53 You can be God.
00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 For God knows that when you eat of it,
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 your eyes will be opened and you'll be like God.
00:06:00 --> 00:06:01 Oh, that's tempting.
00:06:01 --> 00:06:03 Knowing good and evil.
00:06:03 --> 00:06:06 The temptation to sin is here.
00:06:06 --> 00:06:08 It's not so much to become a lawbreaker,
00:06:08 --> 00:06:10 but to become the lawmaker.
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 We become the ruler.
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 We become the determiners.
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 We make up the rules for ourselves.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 And so what Adam and Eve do?
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 They eat the tree, the fruit.
00:06:22 --> 00:06:26 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 and pleasing to eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom,
00:06:30 --> 00:06:31 they took some and ate it.
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it.
00:06:35 --> 00:06:36 And so from that point on,
00:06:37 --> 00:06:40 they declare themselves to be the ones who make the rules
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 and there is no longer any need for God whatsoever.
00:06:44 --> 00:06:45 And that is what pride is.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:50 It's ascending to the place of ruler of the universe.
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 The ruler of my universe even,
00:06:53 --> 00:06:54 grasping for God's crown,
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 grasping for his throne,
00:06:56 --> 00:06:57 grasping for his power.
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 And sin grieves God.
00:07:02 --> 00:07:04 But it's not just his law that's broken here,
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 it's his heart that's broken as well.
00:07:07 --> 00:07:10 So he measures out his judgment on his rebel creatures,
00:07:11 --> 00:07:15 not just the judgment and future destruction that sin brings,
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 but the present destruction as well.
00:07:17 --> 00:07:18 What happens next?
00:07:18 --> 00:07:23 What happens next to these so-called now rulers of the universe?
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 They become pretend gods.
00:07:26 --> 00:07:27 They become proud rebels.
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 They become self-centered at the core.
00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 And you see it as they are accusing each other
00:07:33 --> 00:07:34 and eventually killing each other.
00:07:35 --> 00:07:40 There is no mercy as we scramble for the controls,
00:07:40 --> 00:07:45 trying again and again and again to ascend God's throne
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 and to put ourselves first.
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 This self-centered pride principle is rampant in all people.
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 It's a sin that is at the core of who we are,
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 where we think about ourselves first,
00:07:57 --> 00:08:01 even when those who we love the most are involved in it.
00:08:01 --> 00:08:05 I remember when I was 18,
00:08:05 --> 00:08:09 I sat on a course of study at the local TAFE college in Narebri,
00:08:10 --> 00:08:13 and after six weeks, they gave me an explosive license.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:15 That was an awesome thing.
00:08:16 --> 00:08:17 Six weeks is all it took and I could blow up stuff.
00:08:17 --> 00:08:21 And so I got this explosive license
00:08:21 --> 00:08:23 and naturally I went out and bought a heap of explosives.
00:08:24 --> 00:08:29 And it's a very different day back in those days than what it is now.
00:08:29 --> 00:08:33 And I decided, it happened to coincide when my grandmother came and visited us.
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 And so I decided to show her my newfound wisdom
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 and to blow up something for her.
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 I thought that would impress her.
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 And so about 300 meters from the house,
00:08:45 --> 00:08:46 there was this old dead tree.
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 And I thought, well, that's the target.
00:08:49 --> 00:08:50 I'm going to send this baby to the moon.
00:08:51 --> 00:08:54 And so I did the calculations.
00:08:54 --> 00:08:55 I worked it all out.
00:08:55 --> 00:08:58 Five kilos would be enough to get this tree out of the ground, apparently,
00:08:59 --> 00:09:00 according to the calculations.
00:09:00 --> 00:09:01 But what would the calculations know?
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 So I decided that I put a few more in,
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 just for old time's sake.
00:09:06 --> 00:09:08 And by the end of...
00:09:08 --> 00:09:10 Yeah, have you ever had one of those moments where sort of,
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 you know, logic sort of goes out the door
00:09:12 --> 00:09:15 and, you know, something else takes over at the moment?
00:09:15 --> 00:09:16 It was one of those moments.
00:09:16 --> 00:09:18 And so by the end of it,
00:09:18 --> 00:09:21 I had put 15 kilos of explosives under this tree.
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 And I thought, this would be good.
00:09:24 --> 00:09:25 We will definitely send this in the moon.
00:09:25 --> 00:09:26 You can't put it half out of the ground.
00:09:26 --> 00:09:27 You want it really.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:28 I mean, it's got to be impressive.
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 And so we're there and I lit the fuse,
00:09:31 --> 00:09:32 two minute fuse, went back to my grandmother.
00:09:33 --> 00:09:35 And of course, you're calculating it all in your mind
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 about how this should work.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 And then I realised, just as everything went boom,
00:09:41 --> 00:09:45 that 300 metres from the blast site was pretty effective,
00:09:45 --> 00:09:47 I think, for five kilos.
00:09:47 --> 00:09:50 But for 15 kilos, we were way too close.
00:09:50 --> 00:09:54 And so as this thing started on its mission to Mars,
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 we started to get this noise,
00:09:58 --> 00:09:59 which was like, sort of like,
00:09:59 --> 00:10:04 as rocks came raining down around us.
00:10:04 --> 00:10:07 And in that moment of panic,
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 when my life was flashing before me,
00:10:11 --> 00:10:14 where I knew that potentially I'm about to die here,
00:10:15 --> 00:10:16 you know what I did?
00:10:16 --> 00:10:17 My grandmother standing beside me?
00:10:18 --> 00:10:18 I ran.
00:10:20 --> 00:10:23 I left my grandmother there.
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 And I hived it off into the shed.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:29 And then, sort of momentary,
00:10:29 --> 00:10:30 you know, and you're sort of justifying yourself
00:10:30 --> 00:10:31 as you're running.
00:10:31 --> 00:10:32 She's had a good life.
00:10:32 --> 00:10:32 She's had a long life.
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 I've got, I'm only 18.
00:10:35 --> 00:10:36 I've got a lot to live.
00:10:36 --> 00:10:39 In that moment where life flashes before you,
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 I thought about me first.
00:10:43 --> 00:10:44 Me first.
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 Of course, I did sort of grab a sheet of iron
00:10:48 --> 00:10:49 and hold it over my grandmother eventually,
00:10:49 --> 00:10:50 because I thought it would be quite difficult
00:10:50 --> 00:10:53 to explain this if she died and I didn't.
00:10:53 --> 00:10:56 But it was an impressive explosion.
00:10:57 --> 00:10:59 Let me tell you how much danger we're in.
00:10:59 --> 00:11:00 A size of timber,
00:11:01 --> 00:11:02 a lump of timber about the size of this lectern here,
00:11:03 --> 00:11:03 went over our heads
00:11:03 --> 00:11:06 and landed 600 metres passes in the neighbour's paddock.
00:11:07 --> 00:11:09 So it travelled 900 metres along the ground,
00:11:09 --> 00:11:12 which means technically it went 1.8 kilometres into the air
00:11:12 --> 00:11:13 to come down that far.
00:11:14 --> 00:11:15 God was gracious.
00:11:15 --> 00:11:16 But at that time,
00:11:17 --> 00:11:18 when it's flashing before me,
00:11:19 --> 00:11:20 as it does with you,
00:11:21 --> 00:11:22 my thought is me.
00:11:23 --> 00:11:24 My thought is me.
00:11:24 --> 00:11:27 Just like a compass needle always points north to the needle,
00:11:28 --> 00:11:32 the needle of our hearts points to me getting my way first.
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 And friends, this is where Jesus is so much different.
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 Jesus brings the great reversal in history.
00:11:41 --> 00:11:41 Have a look there.
00:11:41 --> 00:11:42 Philippians chapter 2.
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 Flip back in your Bibles to Philippians chapter 2,
00:11:45 --> 00:11:47 page 1139.
00:11:47 --> 00:11:56 Let me read these verses from Scripture,
00:11:56 --> 00:11:59 which are just so cutting us to the core.
00:12:00 --> 00:12:04 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,
00:12:05 --> 00:12:09 but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
00:12:09 --> 00:12:13 Each of you should look not only to your own interests,
00:12:13 --> 00:12:14 but also to the interests of others.
00:12:14 --> 00:12:17 Your attitude would be the same as that of Christ Jesus,
00:12:17 --> 00:12:18 who being in the very nature of God,
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
00:12:22 --> 00:12:24 that is, something to be used for his own purposes,
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 something that he could gain from,
00:12:27 --> 00:12:28 but made himself nothing,
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 taking the very nature of a servant,
00:12:30 --> 00:12:31 being made in human likeness.
00:12:31 --> 00:12:33 And being found in appearance as a man,
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 he humbled himself and became obedient to death,
00:12:35 --> 00:12:36 even death on a cross.
00:12:36 --> 00:12:42 The answer to sin and pride is found in Jesus.
00:12:42 --> 00:12:46 Adam and Eve grasped for that which is not theirs to take,
00:12:47 --> 00:12:50 and Jesus refused to grasp hold of that which was his by right.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 Where they grasped for God's crown and his throne,
00:12:55 --> 00:12:56 Jesus surrenders his.
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 Jesus counters their ascent with his descent.
00:13:02 --> 00:13:05 He replaces their ladder with his cross.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:10 Instead of proud, grasping hands, grabbing for self,
00:13:10 --> 00:13:15 there is humbled, nailed, outstretched hands dying for us.
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 Total reversal of our future.
00:13:18 --> 00:13:24 He takes the penalty for our grasping for his crown and his throne.
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 But Jesus also reverses our present,
00:13:27 --> 00:13:31 because not only does he take our death and our judgment,
00:13:31 --> 00:13:34 but he gives us new life and a new attitude,
00:13:35 --> 00:13:35 a new self,
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 an attitude that is the same as that is Jesus.
00:13:38 --> 00:13:41 Jesus climbed down the ladder into humility,
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 rung after rung after rung.
00:13:44 --> 00:13:46 He gave up his majesty and his glory,
00:13:47 --> 00:13:48 and glory of heaven,
00:13:48 --> 00:13:50 and enters our world as a servant.
00:13:50 --> 00:13:55 He doesn't just give up his comfort,
00:13:55 --> 00:13:56 he gives up his life,
00:13:57 --> 00:13:58 not just dying,
00:13:59 --> 00:13:59 but crucified,
00:14:00 --> 00:14:01 not just for his friends,
00:14:01 --> 00:14:02 but for his enemies.
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 And so the model that we are to follow is found in verse 7.
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 He made himself nothing.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:15 He wasn't pushed.
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 It wasn't an accidental fall.
00:14:19 --> 00:14:20 Step by deliberate step,
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 Jesus chose this path.
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 The path from the peak of creation
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 to the shame of the cross.
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 He embraced the life of giving,
00:14:30 --> 00:14:31 of serving,
00:14:32 --> 00:14:32 of losing,
00:14:33 --> 00:14:34 of dying.
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 And our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.
00:14:38 --> 00:14:42 The attitude reversal we need here
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 is quite simply the difference between up and down.
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 As dying to pride and rising to humility.
00:14:50 --> 00:14:53 In an upwardly mobile world,
00:14:53 --> 00:14:57 we follow a downwardly mobile savior.
00:14:58 --> 00:15:02 We are to give up our pathetic attempts at being God.
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 We are to confess that he's at the center
00:15:04 --> 00:15:06 and seek to revolve around him.
00:15:08 --> 00:15:12 And as we continue to grow and grow and grow as Christians,
00:15:12 --> 00:15:15 it means we continue to climb down and down.
00:15:15 --> 00:15:18 And descend into greatness.
00:15:20 --> 00:15:23 Dying to pride means that we take up our cross.
00:15:23 --> 00:15:24 As Jesus commanded,
00:15:24 --> 00:15:26 it means being dead to yourself.
00:15:26 --> 00:15:27 Our wants,
00:15:27 --> 00:15:28 our desires,
00:15:28 --> 00:15:31 you become alive to the needs of those around you.
00:15:32 --> 00:15:35 You turn from self-centeredness to Christ and other person-centeredness.
00:15:36 --> 00:15:40 This is what verses 15 and 16 of Philippians 2 says
00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 about how different we are to be as God's people.
00:15:42 --> 00:15:47 So that you may become blameless and pure children of God
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 without fault in a crooked and depraved generation
00:15:49 --> 00:15:52 in which you shine like stars in the universe
00:15:52 --> 00:15:54 as you hold out the word of life.
00:15:55 --> 00:15:56 Pure amongst the depraved.
00:15:56 --> 00:15:57 You see the contrast here.
00:15:57 --> 00:15:58 Pure amongst the depraved.
00:15:59 --> 00:16:00 Light amongst the darkness.
00:16:01 --> 00:16:02 Life in the world of death.
00:16:02 --> 00:16:03 And doing what?
00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 Holding out the word of life.
00:16:05 --> 00:16:07 Not reaching out to be God,
00:16:08 --> 00:16:10 but reaching out with his word instead.
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 Not hands grabbing for me,
00:16:13 --> 00:16:15 but hands turned out to you.
00:16:15 --> 00:16:16 Open hands.
00:16:16 --> 00:16:18 Hands prepared to get nails in them.
00:16:18 --> 00:16:19 Hands just like Jesus.
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 And attitude just like Jesus.
00:16:21 --> 00:16:26 It's a pretty huge reversal, isn't it?
00:16:29 --> 00:16:29 Huge reversal.
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 Because I think if we're honest with ourselves,
00:16:33 --> 00:16:37 we would see exactly how far we are from Jesus.
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43 And how too much we are like this world.
00:16:44 --> 00:16:45 Same priorities.
00:16:46 --> 00:16:47 Same selfishness.
00:16:48 --> 00:16:48 Same pride.
00:16:48 --> 00:16:53 And so this is pretty drastic surgery.
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 But we actually need it to live.
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 We actually need it to live.
00:16:59 --> 00:17:02 The only thing that this world will teach you about sin
00:17:02 --> 00:17:03 is how to do it.
00:17:04 --> 00:17:05 The only mention of sin you will find
00:17:05 --> 00:17:07 is in things like dessert menus,
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 like wicked chocolate and sinful cake
00:17:09 --> 00:17:10 or something like that.
00:17:11 --> 00:17:13 In fact, the actress Kirstie Alley said
00:17:13 --> 00:17:15 on an MTV interview some time ago,
00:17:15 --> 00:17:17 I don't think pride is a sin.
00:17:17 --> 00:17:19 I think some idiot made that up.
00:17:22 --> 00:17:24 Or that would be God you're talking about there, Kirstie.
00:17:26 --> 00:17:28 The world thinks it's very different from God
00:17:28 --> 00:17:29 when it comes to sin and pride.
00:17:30 --> 00:17:31 They think it doesn't matter.
00:17:32 --> 00:17:33 God says we need surgery.
00:17:33 --> 00:17:34 It matters.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:35 It matters enormously.
00:17:35 --> 00:17:38 And so how different are we prepared to be here at St. Paul's?
00:17:38 --> 00:17:44 If there was a Christian convention down at the entertainment center
00:17:44 --> 00:17:48 called Humility Fest 2009,
00:17:48 --> 00:17:49 would you sign up and go?
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 Humility Fest 2009, would you go?
00:17:54 --> 00:17:55 Would you sign up for seminars?
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 God needs you to wash feet.
00:17:57 --> 00:18:00 Or another seminar.
00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 Learning to shut up and listen.
00:18:03 --> 00:18:06 Or take off your cross without making a big deal about it.
00:18:07 --> 00:18:09 Would you sign up for seminars like that?
00:18:11 --> 00:18:13 How different are we prepared to be?
00:18:13 --> 00:18:18 You see, if you've come to Jesus,
00:18:19 --> 00:18:21 we cannot be the way we were.
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 Coming first as far as God is concerned
00:18:25 --> 00:18:26 isn't about winning the argument.
00:18:27 --> 00:18:29 It's not about shouting the loudest.
00:18:29 --> 00:18:30 It's not about having the sharpest mind.
00:18:31 --> 00:18:32 It's not about having the funniest wit.
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34 It's not about having the truest body.
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 It's not about having the enviable family.
00:18:36 --> 00:18:38 It's not about having the prestigious job.
00:18:38 --> 00:18:41 It's not about the secure investments.
00:18:42 --> 00:18:45 Living the Christian life is about forfeiting your rights
00:18:45 --> 00:18:49 and descending, descending, descending, descending
00:18:49 --> 00:18:53 into humility and the greatness of our Savior.
00:18:55 --> 00:18:58 Being like the God who has saved you.
00:18:59 --> 00:19:01 Man, if we were a church like that,
00:19:01 --> 00:19:02 what sort of impact would we have?
00:19:02 --> 00:19:09 Let me close by praying a prayer
00:19:09 --> 00:19:10 for this book called The Valley of Vision.
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 It's a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions.
00:19:14 --> 00:19:16 And the very first words, the very first prayer on it
00:19:16 --> 00:19:19 is actually the prayer, the Valley of Vision.
00:19:20 --> 00:19:21 That's unusual.
00:19:21 --> 00:19:22 The Valley of Vision?
00:19:22 --> 00:19:24 Is it not the mountaintops of vision?
00:19:24 --> 00:19:25 Let's pray.
00:19:25 --> 00:19:35 Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,
00:19:36 --> 00:19:39 you have brought us to this valley of vision
00:19:39 --> 00:19:44 where we live in the depths but see you in the heights.
00:19:45 --> 00:19:49 Hending by mountains of sin, we behold your glory.
00:19:50 --> 00:19:53 And so, Father, let us learn by paradox
00:19:53 --> 00:19:55 that the way down is the way up,
00:19:56 --> 00:19:57 that to be low is to be high,
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 that the broken heart is the healed heart,
00:20:00 --> 00:20:03 that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
00:20:03 --> 00:20:06 that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 and to have nothing is to possess all,
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11 that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
00:20:12 --> 00:20:13 and to give is to receive,
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 that the valley is the place of vision.
00:20:17 --> 00:20:19 Lord, in the daytime,
00:20:19 --> 00:20:21 stars can be seen from deepest wells,
00:20:21 --> 00:20:23 and the deeper the wells,
00:20:23 --> 00:20:25 the brighter your star shines.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 And so let us find your light in darkness,
00:20:30 --> 00:20:33 your life in our death,
00:20:33 --> 00:20:36 your joy in our sorrow,
00:20:36 --> 00:20:39 your grace in our sin,
00:20:40 --> 00:20:42 your riches in our poverty,
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 your glory in our valley.
00:20:46 --> 00:20:48 And we ask it for your sake.
00:20:48 --> 00:20:49 Amen.
00:20:51 --> 00:20:52 Amen.
00:20:53 --> 00:20:53 Amen.
00:20:53 --> 00:20:54 Amen.
00:20:55 --> 00:20:55 Amen.
00:21:04 --> 00:21:04 Amen.
00:21:08 --> 00:21:09 Amen.
00:21:10 --> 00:21:13 Amen.
00:21:13 --> 00:21:13 Amen.
00:21:13 --> 00:21:14 Amen.
00:21:14 --> 00:21:16 Amen.
00:21:20 --> 00:21:20 Amen.