1 00:00:00,050 --> 00:00:02,950 Alright, well, when you crack open your Bibles, turn them open 2 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:08,250 to 2nd Corinthians chapter 10. OK, Second Corinthians chapter 3 00:00:08,260 --> 00:00:10,260 10. If you're not sure where that is 4 00:00:10,270 --> 00:00:12,650 in the Bible is a table of contents up in the screen. 5 00:00:12,660 --> 00:00:15,790 You can make your way there. We're starting a new series 6 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:17,670 today. We're just going to scratch the 7 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:21,690 surface on it, but the series is words to live by. 8 00:00:22,140 --> 00:00:28,650 Sanes that we hear that we may actually pattern a life by, I 9 00:00:28,660 --> 00:00:29,920 don't know. I'll give you I'll give you a 10 00:00:29,930 --> 00:00:31,620 few scenes. Just tell me what you think 11 00:00:31,630 --> 00:00:36,280 about these words to live by. If at first you don't succeed, 12 00:00:36,370 --> 00:00:39,280 try, try again. Then quit. 13 00:00:39,550 --> 00:00:41,510 There's no point in being a fool about it. 14 00:00:41,940 --> 00:00:44,680 All right? Never follow anyone. 15 00:00:44,860 --> 00:00:48,820 Never follow anyone else's path. Unless you're in the woods and 16 00:00:48,830 --> 00:00:51,780 you're lost and you see a path, then by all means follow that 17 00:00:51,790 --> 00:00:57,760 path. Work hard, Sorry, work hard. 18 00:00:57,770 --> 00:01:00,620 Work never killed anybody, but why take a chance? 19 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:07,270 Never put off tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow 20 00:01:07,350 --> 00:01:11,270 just as well. Yeah, The secret of staying 21 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,390 young is to live honestly, eat slowly and lie about your age. 22 00:01:17,410 --> 00:01:20,660 Before you marry a person, you should first make them use a 23 00:01:20,670 --> 00:01:24,000 computer with slow Internet to see who they really are. 24 00:01:26,580 --> 00:01:28,670 That's a good one. Last one. 25 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:32,720 This one I'm actually going on. Memory says never go to bed 26 00:01:32,730 --> 00:01:37,390 angry, stay up and fight. Good. 27 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:39,030 Good advice. Hey, Yeah. 28 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:41,670 Words to live by. We're gonna. 29 00:01:41,780 --> 00:01:44,350 I mean, we're starting off the Series A little light, of 30 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,010 course, but we're going to be looking at some pithy sayings, 31 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:54,970 Concise, very brief, very punchy and actually emotionally 32 00:01:55,040 --> 00:02:00,470 motivating sayings that have gained traction in our culture, 33 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,950 have become popular and have even sort of seeped into the 34 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,090 church and in the vocabulary of Christians. 35 00:02:06,260 --> 00:02:10,090 But the scenes that we haven't necessarily stopped to look at 36 00:02:10,100 --> 00:02:13,590 like to think about you think about our thinking and, and to 37 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:18,370 discern is this actually helpful or maybe this maybe doing some 38 00:02:18,460 --> 00:02:21,470 more damage, damage than good. We're gonna look at 4 scenes 39 00:02:22,300 --> 00:02:24,810 over the next 4 weeks. The first one, actually, it's 40 00:02:24,820 --> 00:02:30,310 over the five, five weeks, but I'll explain that later for four 41 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,320 scenes. First one, believe in yourself. 42 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:41,640 Second love is love. 3rd manifest your destiny for be 43 00:02:41,650 --> 00:02:44,730 true to yourself. I bet you each one of you have 44 00:02:44,740 --> 00:02:46,130 heard those sayings at some point. 45 00:02:46,140 --> 00:02:48,740 We're going to take a look at them over the next over the next 46 00:02:48,750 --> 00:02:52,430 month. Each one we can look at and say, 47 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,430 hey, you know what? Often these scenes that become 48 00:02:55,440 --> 00:03:01,070 popular and that actually brings some encouragement to us are are 49 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,910 are produced out of good intentions and they there is 50 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:08,350 truth involved in each one of them, but there is a deceptive 51 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:11,410 element as well and that's why it's so important for us to 52 00:03:11,420 --> 00:03:14,830 think about our thinking and this is what really the ministry 53 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,650 that possible Pauls who we've got to two Corinthians chapter 54 00:03:17,660 --> 00:03:22,610 10 open. He sees Christian ministry that 55 00:03:22,620 --> 00:03:27,690 is our greatest service to people as being primarily 1 of 56 00:03:27,740 --> 00:03:31,540 correcting, thinking, correcting that the way that we think. 57 00:03:31,630 --> 00:03:34,780 Because for Paul, he's assuming that bad living is actually 58 00:03:34,790 --> 00:03:39,520 based on bad thinking where where things breakdown in our 59 00:03:39,530 --> 00:03:42,760 lives, it's usually based on the things that we actually believe 60 00:03:42,810 --> 00:03:45,230 about ourselves, about God, about the world. 61 00:03:45,290 --> 00:03:49,400 And so he is committed to correcting the way that we 62 00:03:49,410 --> 00:03:52,500 think. And when we get to this place in 63 00:03:52,510 --> 00:03:54,640 chapter 10 and 2 Two Corinthians, he's actually 64 00:03:54,650 --> 00:03:59,160 responding to some pushback that he had received from people in 65 00:03:59,170 --> 00:04:02,800 the church because he was pointing out some problems in 66 00:04:02,810 --> 00:04:06,650 some people's lives and, and, and they were kind of being 67 00:04:06,660 --> 00:04:10,400 critical of him. And now he is speaking about the 68 00:04:10,410 --> 00:04:14,860 nature of the ministry as one in which our mindsets are so 69 00:04:14,870 --> 00:04:19,300 absolutely critical. So just as we get into these 70 00:04:19,310 --> 00:04:22,040 verses, let's let's just whisper a prayer to the Lord. 71 00:04:22,050 --> 00:04:24,980 Father, thank you. Thank you that You are present 72 00:04:24,990 --> 00:04:28,160 here by Your Holy Spirit, and we pray that You would open our 73 00:04:28,170 --> 00:04:32,570 eyes to see wonderful things from Your law through Jesus 74 00:04:32,580 --> 00:04:35,350 Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. 75 00:04:35,900 --> 00:04:40,910 Amen. Two Corinthians chapter 10 and 76 00:04:40,980 --> 00:04:43,270 just starting to we're going to pick it up at verse 3. 77 00:04:43,450 --> 00:04:49,650 It says this for though we live in the world, we do not wage war 78 00:04:49,700 --> 00:04:53,570 as the world does. Pause there. 79 00:04:53,660 --> 00:04:58,130 He's describing the nature of ministry as like a war waging 80 00:04:58,140 --> 00:05:01,200 war. Verse four, he says the weapons 81 00:05:01,210 --> 00:05:04,860 that we fight with are not the weapons of the world. 82 00:05:05,030 --> 00:05:08,780 On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish 83 00:05:08,790 --> 00:05:12,490 strongholds. We demolish arguments in every 84 00:05:12,500 --> 00:05:16,650 pretension, that is, every claim that sets itself up against the 85 00:05:16,660 --> 00:05:20,340 knowledge of God. Interesting how he's describing 86 00:05:20,350 --> 00:05:24,060 this. He's describing the the nature 87 00:05:24,070 --> 00:05:27,850 of ministry as like a war, but it's not the kind of war that we 88 00:05:27,860 --> 00:05:30,710 think about where there's, you know, physical contact and 89 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,150 killing. He's talking about demolishing 90 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:38,100 arguments, beliefs that we have that have been set in place, and 91 00:05:38,110 --> 00:05:41,890 he refers to them here as strongholds, like fortresses 92 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:47,120 that need to be brought down in order for us to be truly 93 00:05:47,130 --> 00:05:52,150 liberated. These arguments are what 94 00:05:52,210 --> 00:05:54,680 actually hold us back from living the kind of life that 95 00:05:54,690 --> 00:05:56,330 we're meant to live. They actually oppress us. 96 00:05:56,670 --> 00:06:00,290 And so Paul is in the freedom making business here. 97 00:06:03,810 --> 00:06:07,360 So he says just continuing on in verse in verse 5, he says we 98 00:06:07,370 --> 00:06:10,080 demolish arguments and every pretension that sets us up up 99 00:06:10,090 --> 00:06:15,390 against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to 100 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,060 make it obedient to Christ. Every thought. 101 00:06:19,630 --> 00:06:23,400 It's pretty thorough. We need to be capturing every 102 00:06:23,410 --> 00:06:28,180 thought that may be strained from our understanding of who 103 00:06:28,190 --> 00:06:31,260 God is really a strained from the truth and bring it back into 104 00:06:31,270 --> 00:06:35,260 obedience to what truth really is, obedience to the lordship of 105 00:06:35,270 --> 00:06:37,380 Jesus Christ. This is his description. 106 00:06:37,390 --> 00:06:42,080 Now notice that all of this is military terminology and he's 107 00:06:42,090 --> 00:06:45,240 actually explaining the whole process that would happen. 108 00:06:45,330 --> 00:06:48,280 And when we wage war, waging war, he's got weapons. 109 00:06:48,330 --> 00:06:51,040 And then we're, we're demolishing the strongholds of 110 00:06:51,050 --> 00:06:54,150 the fortresses and then we're taking captives. 111 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,290 And, and then even in verse 6, it goes all the way with this 112 00:06:57,300 --> 00:07:00,070 imagery, you know, and we will be ready to punish every act of 113 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,950 disobedience once your obedience is complete. 114 00:07:03,020 --> 00:07:08,450 And so the idea is that we are, we're, we're bringing, helping 115 00:07:08,460 --> 00:07:12,550 the people to come into line with the truth of who God is and 116 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:18,740 what he says life is all about. Now, before we, you know, get 117 00:07:18,750 --> 00:07:22,760 lost in the military imagery, we need to realize that Paul's main 118 00:07:22,770 --> 00:07:28,040 goal is to bring the captives, so to speak, to Jesus so that he 119 00:07:28,050 --> 00:07:33,020 can truly set us free. Jesus is the way, the truth, and 120 00:07:33,030 --> 00:07:35,500 the life, and he's the one that sets us free. 121 00:07:35,590 --> 00:07:39,630 So Paul is all about winning people to Jesus. 122 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,000 That's what this imagery is all about, and it begins with a 123 00:07:43,010 --> 00:07:46,380 battle of the mind. It's a battle of mind. 124 00:07:46,390 --> 00:07:50,420 It's a battle for in our own mind and our in our assistance 125 00:07:50,430 --> 00:07:54,940 in helping others in the battle of their mind, demolishing 126 00:07:54,950 --> 00:07:58,580 strongholds, demolishing arguments that set themselves up 127 00:08:00,290 --> 00:08:04,440 in opposition to what the truth is, what's the lordship of Jesus 128 00:08:04,450 --> 00:08:06,170 Christ. Now how do we do that? 129 00:08:06,550 --> 00:08:09,700 It's interesting in verse verse 1 of chapter 10, Paul says by 130 00:08:09,710 --> 00:08:13,730 the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you. 131 00:08:14,430 --> 00:08:19,800 This is Paul, this is Paul, such a just a man who is on fire for 132 00:08:19,810 --> 00:08:22,900 Christ and yet so gentle in his manner with people. 133 00:08:22,910 --> 00:08:26,190 And that is exactly how we need to be as followers of Jesus. 134 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:29,500 So we're going to take a look today and over the next next few 135 00:08:29,510 --> 00:08:34,419 weeks at a sane, a particular sane or a word, a word to live 136 00:08:34,429 --> 00:08:37,320 by and we're going to use it use a basic outline. 137 00:08:37,330 --> 00:08:39,400 First outline is we're going to look at the good intention 138 00:08:39,470 --> 00:08:41,179 behind it. We're going to look at the grand 139 00:08:41,190 --> 00:08:45,510 deception within it and then the God of grace over it. 140 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:49,090 All right, Good intention, grand deception. 141 00:08:49,560 --> 00:08:52,750 The God of grace, same number one. 142 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:54,980 You ready? Believe in yourself. 143 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:00,580 Believe in yourself. Believe in yourself. 144 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:05,700 Believe in yourself. Has anyone other than me just 145 00:09:05,710 --> 00:09:07,610 now told you to believe in yourself? 146 00:09:07,620 --> 00:09:09,620 Maybe you've heard a motivational speaker speak that 147 00:09:09,630 --> 00:09:12,040 that way. Maybe you've heard others use 148 00:09:12,050 --> 00:09:13,900 that kind of language. Believe in yourself. 149 00:09:13,970 --> 00:09:16,290 A lot of athletes use this kind of language. 150 00:09:16,300 --> 00:09:19,360 If you've been following the Jays, you'll hear it pretty much 151 00:09:19,370 --> 00:09:21,580 after every game. You know, we just stepped up to 152 00:09:21,590 --> 00:09:23,120 the plate. I believed in myself and, you 153 00:09:23,130 --> 00:09:27,710 know, hit the Homer, whatever. Actually, not last night, but, 154 00:09:31,250 --> 00:09:34,200 but, and it's, and it's not just, you know, it's, it's, it's 155 00:09:34,210 --> 00:09:36,620 everybody's using this. So this is, this is the kind of 156 00:09:36,630 --> 00:09:39,620 language too, that Christians are freely using of themselves. 157 00:09:39,630 --> 00:09:41,320 So it's good. Hey, let's just pause and take a 158 00:09:41,330 --> 00:09:43,580 look at this. The good intention. 159 00:09:43,660 --> 00:09:45,680 There's good intention behind it. 160 00:09:45,690 --> 00:09:49,440 Yes, yes, we should have. And I think that this is really 161 00:09:49,450 --> 00:09:51,960 the, the sentiment behind it. We should have confidence in our 162 00:09:51,970 --> 00:09:54,510 own abilities. We should have confidence in our 163 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:57,960 own abilities. None of us want the spinal 164 00:09:57,970 --> 00:10:02,820 surgeon that Wilma's spinal surgeon to be working operate on 165 00:10:02,830 --> 00:10:05,160 her in that 4 hour, you know, not confident in his own 166 00:10:05,170 --> 00:10:08,200 abilities. It's like, I don't know if I'm 167 00:10:08,210 --> 00:10:10,520 going to be able to do that. You don't want that, right? 168 00:10:10,570 --> 00:10:13,110 You need to have confidence. Does God want you to have 169 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:15,600 confidence in your abilities? For sure He does. 170 00:10:15,970 --> 00:10:19,640 And I think this is really the heart behind this particular 171 00:10:19,890 --> 00:10:25,870 word to live by. Don't fear failure, and it's OK 172 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,030 if you fail, but go for it. That's kind of the idea and I 173 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:30,450 love it. That's awesome. 174 00:10:31,100 --> 00:10:34,010 If we were to look back, you know, in antiquity, like where 175 00:10:34,020 --> 00:10:37,230 does this concept of believing in yourself come from? 176 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:40,280 There's probably a number of different sources. 1 Marcus 177 00:10:40,290 --> 00:10:45,050 Aurelius, Roman emperor and in the 2nd century Stoic 178 00:10:45,060 --> 00:10:48,960 philosopher. His saying was stand up 179 00:10:48,970 --> 00:10:54,330 straight, not straightened. Stand up straight, not straight. 180 00:10:54,340 --> 00:10:57,610 In other words, stand up straight, stand strong yourself 181 00:10:57,680 --> 00:11:01,210 and and don't don't actually look to other people to prop you 182 00:11:01,220 --> 00:11:04,250 up, but stand firm. Take responsibility for your 183 00:11:04,260 --> 00:11:09,400 life, be self-sufficient, live by personal conviction, and 184 00:11:09,410 --> 00:11:10,760 don't be swayed by public opinion. 185 00:11:10,770 --> 00:11:12,540 There's some, there's some good stuff there. 186 00:11:12,650 --> 00:11:17,000 We need to do that. But there is a line that we 187 00:11:17,010 --> 00:11:21,510 cross, and this is so true in so many things where confidence 188 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:26,050 becomes overconfidence. At what point would you say that 189 00:11:26,060 --> 00:11:27,020 confidence? What? 190 00:11:27,030 --> 00:11:29,130 Where's that line Where confidence becomes 191 00:11:29,420 --> 00:11:32,490 overconfidence, Where the confidence that we have in our 192 00:11:32,500 --> 00:11:34,390 self actually is not very well founded? 193 00:11:35,810 --> 00:11:37,580 That's what we call being puffed up. 194 00:11:37,650 --> 00:11:40,740 That's what we call a thinking more of ourselves than we ought. 195 00:11:41,210 --> 00:11:45,300 And that line is not always easy to discern, but it's important 196 00:11:45,310 --> 00:11:48,020 for us to know that there is a line. 197 00:11:49,460 --> 00:11:53,010 There's a grain of truth in this saying believing yourself. 198 00:11:53,060 --> 00:11:56,990 But there's also something that we need to point out is that 199 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:00,580 that sane in and of itself is incomplete, right? 200 00:12:00,630 --> 00:12:04,520 It needs to be qualified. It needs to be qualified. 201 00:12:05,030 --> 00:12:09,320 How far can I go when I say that I'm going to believe in myself? 202 00:12:09,590 --> 00:12:11,800 How far do my own abilities take me? 203 00:12:12,030 --> 00:12:15,430 It can be very misleading, very misleading that in fact 204 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:18,030 dangerous. In fact, if it stands alone, we 205 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:21,320 could probably even say that it's a bald faced lie. 206 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:27,420 It's problematic. It's part of a grand deception. 207 00:12:27,670 --> 00:12:31,400 Now, I'm not a conspiracy theorist here, but there is a 208 00:12:31,410 --> 00:12:35,240 grand deception behind it all. And this is, it's kind of 209 00:12:35,250 --> 00:12:38,770 indicated by the fact that if we look through the Scriptures, we 210 00:12:38,780 --> 00:12:42,000 don't see this ever being said to believe in yourself. 211 00:12:42,740 --> 00:12:45,360 In fact, there's nothing remotely like believe in 212 00:12:45,370 --> 00:12:47,510 yourself. In fact, what we see in 213 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:50,690 Scripture is the exact opposite of believing in yourself. 214 00:12:50,820 --> 00:12:58,570 So Proverbs 28, Proverbs 28, verse 26 says those who trust 215 00:12:58,630 --> 00:13:02,500 and that word that the Hebrew word same word for believe, 216 00:13:02,510 --> 00:13:08,320 those who believe in themselves are fools, but those who walk in 217 00:13:08,330 --> 00:13:13,560 wisdom are kept safe. There's an assumption there that 218 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:20,270 believing in herself actually is not a wise way to go, at least 219 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:21,670 according to what Scripture says. 220 00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:24,610 Now, Scripture, as we look at the Scriptures, is far more 221 00:13:24,620 --> 00:13:26,510 nuanced than this as we look into it. 222 00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:31,780 For example, Jeremiah 17. This is what the Lord says. 223 00:13:32,810 --> 00:13:38,160 Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from 224 00:13:38,170 --> 00:13:42,170 mere flesh, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. 225 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:45,250 That person will be like a Bush in the wasteland. 226 00:13:45,260 --> 00:13:51,880 It's just, it's an interesting, the specification that's being 227 00:13:51,890 --> 00:13:55,360 made here is that when we're drawing on mere flesh for our 228 00:13:55,370 --> 00:13:57,560 strength, we're missing something. 229 00:13:58,770 --> 00:14:02,640 And in order to draw from mere flesh, what we're doing is we're 230 00:14:02,650 --> 00:14:05,640 forgetting God. We're actually turning away from 231 00:14:05,650 --> 00:14:08,480 the living God, that all of those things are happening all 232 00:14:08,590 --> 00:14:12,090 in one motion. But then in Jeremiah 17 it 233 00:14:12,100 --> 00:14:14,940 continues on and says, But blessed is the one who trusts in 234 00:14:14,950 --> 00:14:18,310 the Lord, whose confidence is in him. 235 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:22,030 They will be like a tree planted by the water. 236 00:14:22,260 --> 00:14:26,320 It never fails to bear fruit. Kind of summarizing all of the 237 00:14:26,330 --> 00:14:31,210 benefits of that. So let's take a look at one more 238 00:14:31,220 --> 00:14:33,710 passage probably very, very familiar to you, Proverbs 239 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:37,420 chapter 3, verse 5 to 6. It says this trust in the Lord 240 00:14:37,430 --> 00:14:41,050 with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. 241 00:14:41,740 --> 00:14:46,020 In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths 242 00:14:46,030 --> 00:14:49,440 straight. So trust that is same word for 243 00:14:49,450 --> 00:14:53,150 believe. Believe in the Lord with all 244 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:56,850 your heart, not leaning on your own self, on your own 245 00:14:56,860 --> 00:15:00,740 understanding, on your own capacities doesn't mean that we 246 00:15:00,750 --> 00:15:03,430 don't use our own capacities in our own understanding, but don't 247 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:06,650 lean on them so heavily, but in all your ways. 248 00:15:06,660 --> 00:15:10,260 And here's the keyword, acknowledge Him and He will make 249 00:15:10,270 --> 00:15:12,670 your path straight. That word, the Hebrew word means 250 00:15:12,740 --> 00:15:18,560 to be aware of, to recognise, to acknowledge God in everything 251 00:15:18,570 --> 00:15:21,470 that we do. And if you think about that it, 252 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:24,070 it's good to ponder that from time to time because we it's so 253 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:28,670 easy for us to forget God. I mean, God is at the centre of 254 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:30,560 everything. He created all of us. 255 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:35,310 We are in his world. And if we forget that even for a 256 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:38,960 moment, our thinking can go off kilter so easily. 257 00:15:39,860 --> 00:15:44,800 You cannot get up from your chair this morning without the 258 00:15:44,810 --> 00:15:47,490 help of God, he said. Well, you know, that's not true. 259 00:15:47,500 --> 00:15:50,620 My muscles, my synapses are all kind of firing, you know? 260 00:15:50,690 --> 00:15:54,380 Yeah, nothing can happen. George Springer cannot hit a 261 00:15:54,390 --> 00:15:59,890 home run on in the 7th game without the help of God. 262 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:02,730 And I think he would recognize that, right? 263 00:16:03,420 --> 00:16:08,330 God gave him the abilities, gave him the experiences and set the 264 00:16:08,340 --> 00:16:11,010 whole moment up. What a glorious moment that was. 265 00:16:11,460 --> 00:16:13,910 Hopefully that will happen again. 266 00:16:14,900 --> 00:16:18,710 But to, to, to recognize, you know what all of that happened 267 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:20,350 because I just believed in myself. 268 00:16:20,460 --> 00:16:22,450 It's, it's a pretty limited view. 269 00:16:22,940 --> 00:16:27,130 In fact, it's, it's, you know, it's lacking in so many ways. 270 00:16:27,340 --> 00:16:31,360 God said it's set it all up and that brings a humbleness to us 271 00:16:31,570 --> 00:16:33,930 in our culture. We're so filled with ourselves. 272 00:16:33,940 --> 00:16:37,470 Everything is about me. And there's a humility that 273 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:42,070 comes when we acknowledge in all of our ways, God in the middle 274 00:16:42,790 --> 00:16:44,760 of everything, in the middle of our lives. 275 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:49,130 And so there is this grand deception going on. 276 00:16:49,140 --> 00:16:52,830 This is why I'm saying this is because the problems with the 277 00:16:53,380 --> 00:16:57,100 word to live by, like believe in yourself, takes us all the way 278 00:16:57,110 --> 00:17:01,280 back to the beginning, opening chapters of Genesis where the 279 00:17:01,290 --> 00:17:05,369 devil, the serpent is speaking to the first man and woman and 280 00:17:05,380 --> 00:17:09,109 convincing them to not to basically to forget God. 281 00:17:09,380 --> 00:17:12,140 God commanded you to do this. Well, did he really say that? 282 00:17:14,250 --> 00:17:16,839 And God said that this is going to happen. 283 00:17:16,990 --> 00:17:19,460 That's not going to happen. He, he, he's, he's putting 284 00:17:19,470 --> 00:17:23,300 doubts in their mind. He is eroding their confidence 285 00:17:23,530 --> 00:17:28,770 in God's Word, in God himself. And at that moment the decision 286 00:17:28,780 --> 00:17:31,430 was made. I'm going to put more confidence 287 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:36,250 in what I think than what God would think, and that's where 288 00:17:36,260 --> 00:17:38,890 the whole downward slide took place. 289 00:17:39,060 --> 00:17:43,730 And this is at the heart of all the deceptions where we lose 290 00:17:43,740 --> 00:17:46,510 confidence. What overconfidence is all about 291 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:50,960 is a loss of our confidence in God Himself. 292 00:17:54,510 --> 00:17:58,000 There are limits to our abilities and it's good to 293 00:17:58,010 --> 00:18:00,660 recognize that. I say, hey, go for it to the 294 00:18:00,670 --> 00:18:03,510 full extent that you are able. But we need to recognize there 295 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:08,720 are limits to our abilities. And I love Guerrero junior 296 00:18:08,730 --> 00:18:10,900 talking. He says if you've heard some of 297 00:18:10,910 --> 00:18:13,700 the interviews that he does it. I believe in myself, I believe 298 00:18:13,710 --> 00:18:15,200 in my team. I believe in God. 299 00:18:15,210 --> 00:18:17,580 You know, he's kind of got the whole the whole thing going. 300 00:18:17,910 --> 00:18:22,450 Love, love his attitude. He's great, but the point is, is 301 00:18:22,460 --> 00:18:25,630 that there's a better source of confidence than ourselves. 302 00:18:25,820 --> 00:18:27,600 That's really the point. The Scripture is trying to 303 00:18:27,610 --> 00:18:31,030 communicate there's a better we have something better than 304 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:35,190 ourselves to put our confidence in and that has got himself I 305 00:18:35,260 --> 00:18:37,830 There's so many incredible examples in this scripture. 306 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:42,730 I'm just gonna talk about 1 and that is David who became king 307 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:48,010 his his slaughtering of Goliath, facing Goliath. 308 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:52,150 Now, what kind of confidence do you need in order to stand as a 309 00:18:52,220 --> 00:18:55,170 young boy before like a nine foot giant? 310 00:18:56,540 --> 00:18:58,120 You need an incredible amount of confidence. 311 00:18:58,130 --> 00:19:01,910 In fact, his brothers called him if he read in first Samuel 312 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:05,670 chapter 17, his brothers are saying, you're so conceited, 313 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:07,730 David, you know, why are you even here? 314 00:19:07,740 --> 00:19:10,130 You know, go tend the sheep. Why are you even at the battle 315 00:19:10,140 --> 00:19:14,350 line when Goliath was shouting out his defiance toward the 316 00:19:14,360 --> 00:19:20,710 people of Israel, but David's what seemed on the outside is 317 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:25,530 being conceited was actually a deep confidence not in himself, 318 00:19:25,620 --> 00:19:28,650 but in God. And just just listen to some of 319 00:19:28,660 --> 00:19:33,110 the words that he uses here in in for Samuel 17. 320 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:38,150 He said here he is. He's he's convincing Saul, hey, 321 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:41,400 I'll be the one to go and face him because all the rest of the 322 00:19:41,410 --> 00:19:44,730 Israelites were were petrified. And he says this, The Lord who 323 00:19:44,740 --> 00:19:48,790 rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear 324 00:19:48,890 --> 00:19:51,580 will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine. 325 00:19:53,940 --> 00:19:56,910 It it totally recognized like even though it was David who was 326 00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:00,060 protecting his sheep from the bears and the lines with his 327 00:20:00,070 --> 00:20:03,210 bare hands, obviously a very capable guy, He recognized 328 00:20:03,220 --> 00:20:04,660 actually as the Lord who rescued me. 329 00:20:05,650 --> 00:20:07,900 From the part of the line, the part of the bear. 330 00:20:08,070 --> 00:20:10,940 And then he says, and this is when he's approaching the 331 00:20:10,950 --> 00:20:15,020 Philistine, who is, you know, basically swearing at David 332 00:20:15,030 --> 00:20:17,800 saying like, how can you guys send a kid out against me? 333 00:20:17,850 --> 00:20:21,690 This is David, ready to go in Soon as you can run toward him, 334 00:20:21,700 --> 00:20:23,620 he says. You come against me with a sword 335 00:20:23,630 --> 00:20:28,380 and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of 336 00:20:28,390 --> 00:20:32,430 the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you 337 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:36,860 have defied. This day the Lord will deliver 338 00:20:36,870 --> 00:20:40,520 you into my hands, and I'll strike you down and cut off your 339 00:20:40,530 --> 00:20:42,580 head. This very day I will give the 340 00:20:42,870 --> 00:20:45,940 carcasses of the Philistines army, Philistine army, to the 341 00:20:45,950 --> 00:20:51,180 birds and the wild animals. Talk about confidence, but 342 00:20:51,190 --> 00:20:55,180 listen to this and the whole world will know that there is a 343 00:20:55,190 --> 00:20:59,190 God in Israel. Where is David's confidence? 344 00:21:00,010 --> 00:21:02,580 He would have built an incredible amount of confidence 345 00:21:02,590 --> 00:21:06,470 in his own capacities, but he recognized God, he acknowledged 346 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:10,870 God, and everything was for God. And the confidence that he knew 347 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:13,290 that he was going to take that Philistine down is because what 348 00:21:13,300 --> 00:21:16,210 that Philistine was doing was completely against what God was 349 00:21:16,220 --> 00:21:19,070 about. And so I'm going in there and 350 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:21,690 I'm going to take him down because I believe in the name of 351 00:21:21,700 --> 00:21:24,630 the board. This is the right thing to do, 352 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:27,310 and the whole world is going to know the glory of God. 353 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:31,020 So David was not conceded in the sense that he's seeking his own 354 00:21:31,030 --> 00:21:34,240 glory. He's seeking the glory of God. 355 00:21:35,180 --> 00:21:40,810 And when you and I step into any situation knowing, being aware 356 00:21:40,820 --> 00:21:43,390 of God, acknowledging God and looking to glorify God, we can 357 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:47,390 have an incredible amount of confidence, incredible amount of 358 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:49,390 confidence. You know, people argue, you 359 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:53,840 know, a belief in a higher power that weakens the human spirit. 360 00:21:55,240 --> 00:22:00,780 I take God out of the equation. Tell that to an A recovering 361 00:22:00,790 --> 00:22:07,340 alcoholic where you know Alcoholics Anonymous and CR. 362 00:22:07,530 --> 00:22:10,660 The first principle is acknowledging my life is 363 00:22:10,670 --> 00:22:15,720 unmanageable for me and I need to put my trust in a higher 364 00:22:15,730 --> 00:22:18,040 power. We need that. 365 00:22:18,430 --> 00:22:21,670 We need that to be able to get through the biggest challenges 366 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:27,460 that we have in our lives. It's the best that we can do. 367 00:22:27,470 --> 00:22:29,260 This is kind of the bottom line. The best that we can do is 368 00:22:29,270 --> 00:22:33,670 confidence in ourselves. We're limiting ourselves so 369 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:35,560 much. There's we can do so much better 370 00:22:35,570 --> 00:22:37,790 than that. You want strength? 371 00:22:37,950 --> 00:22:41,590 Put your confidence in God. Knowing that God is on your side 372 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,890 will give you far more confidence you will ever have in 373 00:22:44,900 --> 00:22:50,340 yourself. That kind of confidence is what 374 00:22:50,700 --> 00:22:54,440 brings us beyond what we can do in the flesh and enables. 375 00:22:54,450 --> 00:22:57,340 It brings us into that supernatural realm. 376 00:22:57,710 --> 00:23:00,680 We were called to do miracles in Jesus name. 377 00:23:00,890 --> 00:23:05,090 We're called to do stuff that that typically would not happen 378 00:23:05,980 --> 00:23:09,010 because we put our trust in a God who does things that 379 00:23:09,020 --> 00:23:12,590 typically do not happen. Nothing's impossible for him. 380 00:23:13,580 --> 00:23:21,290 The whole reason why we're told believe in yourself is to gain 381 00:23:21,300 --> 00:23:26,740 some form of a salvation that if I believe in myself, then I'll 382 00:23:26,750 --> 00:23:28,780 be able to push through. If I believe in myself, then 383 00:23:28,790 --> 00:23:31,610 maybe I can actually get good enough in order to do that. 384 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:41,360 And that's great for baseball and sports and maybe even 385 00:23:41,370 --> 00:23:45,870 acquiring a few skills and not, but when it comes to the real 386 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:50,110 things that we need to deal with in life, it does not help us an 387 00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:53,520 awful lot. For example, it's not gonna help 388 00:23:53,530 --> 00:24:00,200 you in your character, with your character flaws like pride with 389 00:24:00,210 --> 00:24:04,060 arrogance doesn't help. It's actually working against 390 00:24:04,070 --> 00:24:06,900 you in your relationships where we need to work humbly with 391 00:24:06,910 --> 00:24:09,570 other people. Believing in yourself doesn't 392 00:24:09,580 --> 00:24:14,510 help us in your anxiety, in your stress. 393 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:16,880 In fact, what we're doing when we believe in ourselves, we're 394 00:24:16,890 --> 00:24:19,470 actually putting more pressure on ourselves because it's all up 395 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:23,870 to us in order to do whatever we're looking to do. 396 00:24:24,150 --> 00:24:28,600 Dealing with bitterness or capacity to let go of control 397 00:24:28,610 --> 00:24:30,100 and actually forgive another person? 398 00:24:31,290 --> 00:24:34,030 Not helpful. Talked about addiction district, 399 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:37,280 capacity to love, to lay down our life, to sacrifice for 400 00:24:37,290 --> 00:24:40,480 someone, to sacrifice our our, our for the benefit of another 401 00:24:40,490 --> 00:24:42,760 person. That totally flies in the face 402 00:24:42,770 --> 00:24:47,100 of believing yourself. We need something much better 403 00:24:47,530 --> 00:24:51,260 and God is giving us something much better than the saying 404 00:24:51,550 --> 00:24:56,940 believing yourself. It's the reason why the 405 00:24:56,950 --> 00:25:01,300 scripture doesn't say believe in yourself and you will be saved. 406 00:25:02,650 --> 00:25:08,570 You know, X16 it says believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you 407 00:25:08,580 --> 00:25:10,630 will be saved. He's the one, He's the one 408 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:13,570 that's rescuing us, saving us. We need help from the outside. 409 00:25:13,580 --> 00:25:16,290 That's really the bottom line. We need that help from the 410 00:25:16,300 --> 00:25:18,300 outsider. So Jesus speaks to each one of 411 00:25:18,310 --> 00:25:23,180 us and he says in, in in John chapter 16, there's John chapter 412 00:25:23,190 --> 00:25:25,520 14. He says do not let your hearts 413 00:25:25,530 --> 00:25:30,740 be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in 414 00:25:30,750 --> 00:25:33,070 me. Why? 415 00:25:33,980 --> 00:25:39,120 Because He created us, He is sustaining us. 416 00:25:39,490 --> 00:25:41,820 He is moving us through this life, and He's actually 417 00:25:41,830 --> 00:25:44,490 redeeming us. He is taking care of all of that 418 00:25:44,500 --> 00:25:47,900 through His life. Perfect life, His sin bearing 419 00:25:47,910 --> 00:25:50,750 death and is the resurrection that sets us free. 420 00:25:50,820 --> 00:25:53,790 All of that stuff has been accomplished by him, and that's 421 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:55,590 why we can have incredible confidence. 422 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:59,670 When you Apostle Paul says I can do all things through him who 423 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:05,320 gives me strength. In other words, the confidence 424 00:26:05,410 --> 00:26:08,400 that we have comes from our confidence in God. 425 00:26:08,550 --> 00:26:10,610 We can have great confidence in our abilities. 426 00:26:10,620 --> 00:26:12,080 You know God has given you gifts. 427 00:26:12,750 --> 00:26:14,580 God is giving you at least a gift. 428 00:26:14,910 --> 00:26:18,270 He's giving you capacities and you and I need to have great 429 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:22,420 confidence in using those gifts for His glory is given that 430 00:26:22,430 --> 00:26:25,080 there are things that you can do personally, talking to each one 431 00:26:25,090 --> 00:26:27,160 of you personally that no one else can do. 432 00:26:29,430 --> 00:26:31,090 Like you are a unique individual. 433 00:26:31,990 --> 00:26:35,060 You have a capacity that no one else has in a particular area. 434 00:26:35,110 --> 00:26:37,760 Have great confidence in yourself because that is a 435 00:26:37,770 --> 00:26:42,140 God-given gift. Use it for His glory, but don't 436 00:26:42,150 --> 00:26:47,330 stop at I believe in myself. You're shortchanging everything 437 00:26:47,380 --> 00:26:57,030 about what you're about. Don't believe in yourself or I 438 00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:59,370 would say this. Don't stop it believing 439 00:26:59,380 --> 00:27:02,800 yourself. Put your faith in God, put all 440 00:27:02,810 --> 00:27:06,590 of your confidence in God and use the abilities that God has 441 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:09,060 given to you for His glory. That's really it. 442 00:27:09,330 --> 00:27:10,760 That's really it. Let's pray. 443 00:27:12,490 --> 00:27:15,430 Father in Heaven, you're gracious and kind. 444 00:27:17,060 --> 00:27:23,060 You are thoughtful and merciful and you are the bearer that 445 00:27:23,070 --> 00:27:24,880 actually the Creator and the bearer of truth. 446 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:28,950 And we thank you for that truth you've given to us in your word. 447 00:27:29,100 --> 00:27:34,910 Lord, we pray that you would continue to help us to win the 448 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:38,370 battle in the mind, Lord, to tear down the strong 449 00:27:38,380 --> 00:27:40,350 strongholds. Those arguments that actually 450 00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:44,750 keep us bound that that limit us that we would experience the 451 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:48,350 freedom that we have in Jesus Christ, putting our full 452 00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:52,850 confidence in you and therefore, Lord, honoring you with a life 453 00:27:52,860 --> 00:27:55,850 well lived. Grant to us that grace in these 454 00:27:55,860 --> 00:27:58,220 coming days as we look at these scenes. 455 00:27:58,490 --> 00:28:02,600 For the glory of your name, we pray all God's people say Amen.