1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,280 Thank you Lord, for your goodness, your mercy, Lord, 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:13,880 Hallelujah, Amen. Saturday is the Section 5 rally 3 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:17,480 at 1:00 PM. It's 12O clock our time, 1:00 PM 4 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:22,240 Eastern Standard Time in Sullivan IN for the Scots Church 5 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:27,040 and desire to go a little bit over an hour of a trip. 6 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:30,000 Hey man, I know that you'd be blessed by doing so. 7 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,480 Then on Sunday we have the gardeners here with us on that 8 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:36,800 Sunday morning. One service AM service only. 9 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:40,360 All right, next Wednesday is our last lesson here in our self 10 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,320 worth series. Amen as well. 11 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:46,000 And that will be within the month of October. 12 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:49,000 This this month's about over going to be turning to 2nd 13 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,840 Corinthians chapter 12. Second Corinthians chapter #12 14 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:58,800 And let me read in just a few verses of Scripture here. 15 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:06,680 The Bible says this is Paul. He says, And lest I should be 16 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,360 exalted above measure through the abundance of the 17 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:13,840 revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, 18 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,080 messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I should be exalted 19 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:20,920 above measure. For this thing I besought the 20 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:23,400 Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 21 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,880 He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my 22 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:30,440 strength is made perfect in weakness. 23 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:34,880 Most gladly, therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, 24 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,280 that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 25 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:43,040 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, and reproaches, and 26 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:47,720 necessities, and persecutions and distresses for Christ's 27 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,400 sake. For when I am weak, then am I? 28 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:57,400 Paul's going to talk to us about some pretty tremendous things 29 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:02,240 that he experienced, but makes the field level whenever he also 30 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:07,640 talks about something about him that he said, this is a thorn. 31 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:10,240 That's the way he described it. All right. 32 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:15,960 And so I want to, for title purposes, just call this 33 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:20,280 imperfectly perfect. Imperfectly perfect. 34 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:22,840 Amen. Tonight let's go to the Lord and 35 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:26,080 for ask him to help us. Father, I need you this evening, 36 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:28,600 God. I'm grateful, Lord, for another 37 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:31,800 opportunity. God, I don't want to Lord Jesus, 38 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:34,440 squander. Lord God, this time I want to 39 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:38,840 Lord invest in it and turn my mind and my attention towards 40 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,240 you and understand what a privilege, God that it is. 41 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:44,160 I pray, O Lord, that someone be helped. 42 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:48,600 Lord someone would be encouraged Lord by your word God that would 43 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,160 find some place in our hearts and our lives. 44 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:55,360 God that we we made better by it the lovely name of the Lord 45 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:59,040 Jesus Christ that I pray Amen and Amen. 46 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:01,320 It may be seated tonight in Jesus name. 47 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:09,280 A little bit of the background for 2nd Corinthians 12 for that 48 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,720 matter, for really the past few chapters of Second Corinthians. 49 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:18,120 And the Church of Corinth is special to Paul because Paul 50 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:22,000 founded the church at Corinth in Acts chapter #18 you can read 51 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,240 about that. But he founded the church at 52 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,920 Corinth. But over time, as he did, he was 53 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:31,560 missionary churches and he established churches all 54 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,960 throughout different places. And so he would go to them and 55 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,240 then come back around to them and check on them. 56 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:41,000 And over time, in his absence, there were some false prophets 57 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,240 that arose at the Church of Corinth and in the city of 58 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,080 Corinth. And these false prophets begin 59 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,920 to undermine Paul's authority. They begin to undermine his 60 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:53,680 authority and they begin to undermine his message. 61 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:56,680 As a matter of fact, they went to the extent according to 62 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,720 Scripture, and you can read them in Corinthians, they went to the 63 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:04,320 extent that they even attacked Paul's credentials and they 64 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:09,920 attacked his character, if I could say it like this, in many 65 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,680 regards, they challenged his self worth. 66 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:19,480 They used all the societal standards of their area and 67 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:21,920 their day to judge his leadership. 68 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,600 And thus they also then criticize Paul's appearance and 69 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:28,880 that we'll go to a verse here real quick that shows that they 70 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:32,560 criticize Paul's appearance. And remember the society 71 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:36,200 standard right is your performance and other people's 72 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:38,840 opinion. So they're criticized Paul's 73 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:43,800 appearance, all right, That's that's opinions of people and 74 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:48,560 his speech performance. The Bible says in 2nd 75 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:53,960 Corinthians 1010, these words for his letters say they the 76 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:57,480 they that's been referred to are these false prophets. 77 00:04:57,840 --> 00:05:01,160 They say say they hit for his letters Speaking of Paul's 78 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:05,120 letters, say they these false prophets, his letters, post 79 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:08,680 letters are weighty and powerful, but Paul's bodily 80 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:13,920 presence is weak and his speech contemptible, which means that 81 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:16,840 his speech was nothing. His speech was the least 82 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:20,640 esteemed. And so in the Greco Roman world 83 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:26,400 in which all of this is set in, it was not uncommon for them to 84 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:31,960 boast about themselves, to present their credibility to 85 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:33,880 whomever they were trying to present it to. 86 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:40,080 And so given that the apostle Paul in verse #1 urges us not 87 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:45,280 to, not to be eager to glory, not to be in a hurry to boast. 88 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:50,480 But while boasting was widespread in that culture, Paul 89 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:52,200 does it just a little differently. 90 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:55,000 And understand the reason why Paul's doing this is because 91 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:56,760 people have attacked his credibility. 92 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:00,360 They have attacked even his character, his speech, his 93 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,480 performance. And so he, he, he's trying to 94 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:07,080 reposition himself in the eyes of the Church of Corinth, Amen, 95 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,440 of being valid concerning what he had said, what he had taught 96 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:14,200 so and so forth. And so Paul does go to bat for 97 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,080 himself to a certain degree, but he does this just a little 98 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,760 differently. He, he boasts in a indirect way. 99 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:23,280 He, he boasts with some restraint. 100 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:27,440 He speaks about himself in the first several verses of chapter 101 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:32,960 #12 in the third person he talks about how I knew a man in 102 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:35,640 Christ. When he's talking about himself, 103 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,640 he talks about I knew such a man and he's talking about himself, 104 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:42,320 Amen. We have some people that like to 105 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:45,320 speak to them about themselves in third person, Amen. 106 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:47,560 Even around the church, Hallelujah. 107 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:50,240 Talk about himself. He's talking about he knew such 108 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:52,360 a man that was caught up into the 3rd heaven. 109 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:56,200 He was talking about himself, hearing unspeakable things. 110 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:59,720 So he was taking a very indirect, indirect route to 111 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:03,160 glory or boast, or if you will give some credibility to 112 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,280 himself. Yet we also understand that Paul 113 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:09,520 does, as we've already seen in these past two lessons. 114 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:13,360 He does as he he recommended in Romans 12/3 that we looked at 115 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:16,200 last week, that we shouldn't think too higher of herself. 116 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:20,480 Yes, he he admonished us that we should think soberly, think 117 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:23,680 soberly with with with a balance moderately. 118 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:26,800 And so as Paul Speaking of himself in the third person 119 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:30,040 about some of these wondrous things that he had experienced 120 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:33,040 and he had heard and whether in the body or out of the body, he 121 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:36,360 says I cannot tell. All these things He includes 122 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:39,800 then with these unique experiences, he includes what he 123 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:42,240 may even consider to his weakness. 124 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:45,640 A man included in with all of these boasts. 125 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:50,080 He's he's very brutally honest and he says this this thing that 126 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:53,240 he calls in Scripture thorn. Please note that's something 127 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:58,480 that Paul has identified that as that God didn't identify it as 128 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:03,360 that Paul identified it as that this thing that was a thorn. 129 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:09,160 The Bible says it's something that was given to him basic 130 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,120 terms in in in some regards, this sister Sheila, this was a 131 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:17,880 gift, but by his initial estimation, he calls it a thorn. 132 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,040 Amen. And so Paul didn't, he doesn't 133 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,560 identify for us where the thorn came from. 134 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:29,920 I know he says the messenger of Satan, but what he's talking 135 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:32,640 about, he's given other description about what this is 136 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,799 to him. To him, this is like a messenger 137 00:08:35,799 --> 00:08:40,200 of Satan to buffet him. He's given other descriptions 138 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:44,600 about what this is in his life that's been given to him, but he 139 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:47,320 identifies as a thorn and identifies as a messenger of 140 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:51,520 Satan to to to buff at him. So he doesn't tell us where it 141 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:55,000 came from, but he does. He does let us in on his 142 00:08:55,000 --> 00:09:01,880 discontent with it by his labelings of it all right. 143 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:06,440 And furthermore than in verse #8 his three times petitioning 144 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:12,680 heaven that it might depart from him, that it might be removed 145 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:18,080 from him, but all of his petition to no avail, it was 146 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:21,200 still there with him. Let me ask you something 147 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:23,040 tonight. Have you ever been desperately 148 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:26,880 unhappy about any part of yourself that you wish that you 149 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:32,800 could change? Paul was dealing with something 150 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:35,120 like that. He was discontented with what 151 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:38,240 this was was discontented with it. 152 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:42,680 To buff it means to smite with the hen than to mouth tree in 153 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:45,040 any way. He says that this is a messenger 154 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:47,800 saying to to buff at me. He says that this this feels 155 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:51,400 like it just constantly slapping me and then I'm mistreated by 156 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:53,440 this. And we understand that Paul is 157 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:55,880 not comfortable. He calls it a thorn. 158 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:58,920 A thorn is anything that this is the Greek language, anything 159 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:02,080 that is pointed or sharp. I know that's real deep, but 160 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:07,880 that just also relays his discomfort with whatever it is. 161 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:12,960 It's sharp to him, it's pointed to him, It's defined as a sharp 162 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:15,720 state. We we have a meaning here of 163 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:19,680 even impale and crucify because the same word, a different 164 00:10:19,680 --> 00:10:23,480 little nuance form of that same Greek word means to impale or to 165 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:25,760 crucify. Paul's letting us know this 166 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:27,840 isn't comfortable. This is what I have. 167 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:32,320 And these definitions no doubt explain to us his aversion to 168 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:34,640 it. And so at this particular point 169 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:38,280 then in the narrative of the scripture, it becomes should 170 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:43,120 come very deeply personal even for us or anyone who has 171 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:47,920 struggled with what you call a imperfection that you wish you 172 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:53,440 could change. Some of us have aspects of our 173 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,920 lives, whether it's in the appearance, whether it's in 174 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:02,440 personality, whether it's in our ability that we would, if we 175 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:06,400 could be popped for a moment, say that is a thorn in my flesh. 176 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:09,800 You could fill in the blank. It might be an appearance thing 177 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:11,920 in your estimation. It might be something about your 178 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,440 personality. It might be some ability or 179 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:17,840 inability. You might say that is a thorn in 180 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:21,040 my flesh. And so Paul's experience here in 181 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:25,280 Scripture is going to remind us that God's response to those 182 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:30,200 things that we call thorns, we do we call thorns and we call 183 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:32,480 messengers of Satan to buffet us. 184 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:37,640 God's response to us is this. I'm not here to remove that. 185 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:47,600 I'm to give you grace with that. Our Kent Smith just recently in 186 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:49,960 a book that I read called Sock Drawer Theology. 187 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:53,960 Our Kent Smith said he said your imperfections are really 188 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:59,040 personal perfections of a master creator who has great plans for 189 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:04,560 life. I didn't even go so far and 190 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:07,400 maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but Jesus isn't even just 191 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,520 necessarily whenever he says my grace is sufficient for you and 192 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:12,280 my strength doesn't make perfect in weakness. 193 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,640 Jesus even isn't necessarily calling Paul's thorn weakness as 194 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:18,080 much as he's addressing Paul's attitude toward him. 195 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:26,160 And so there's various opinions. And it was his house prophets 196 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:32,680 that we're calling in charge, his performance. 197 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:35,920 And we're very opinionated about him. 198 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:42,200 What, what, what if his thorn in the flesh was a skewed view of 199 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:48,360 his self worth? It's all unknown. 200 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:51,320 I can't prove anything tonight. It's all unknown. 201 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:56,400 But it's not necessary to know what Paul Thorn was because I 202 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:00,320 believe the uncertainty of it is the purpose of it. 203 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:07,680 What this means for me, Sister Cruise, is that your thorn may 204 00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:14,080 not be my thorn, but it's still something pointed and sharp, 205 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:17,920 something it's, it's considered very uncomfortable to my life, 206 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:23,800 very uncomfortable my life. The times were like the nursery 207 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,840 rhyme of Humpty Dumpty. Everybody remember the nursery 208 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:27,880 rhyme? You remember the nursery? 209 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:34,440 Thank you, lady. Humpty Dumpty, Humpty Dumpty, 210 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:40,600 all the kings and all the kings couldn't put. 211 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:48,200 You know, there's nothing that explicitly states that Humpty 212 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:55,200 Dumpty was an egg. There's nothing in that nursing 213 00:13:55,200 --> 00:14:00,200 line says he was an egg. That is traditionally what we've 214 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:02,320 associated with this rhyme for generations. 215 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:07,160 Everybody's laughing over that. But it is. 216 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:09,040 There's nothing explicitly said it. 217 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:17,000 Humpty could be me or you. I don't know why Humpty sat on a 218 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:21,520 wall. I mean, come on, folks. 219 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:27,120 I don't know why Humpty was sitting on a wall and I don't 220 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:32,200 know what caused his fault. I don't know if it's caused by 221 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:36,200 somebody else. I don't know if he was careless 222 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:38,520 and he was the cause of his own fault. 223 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:46,280 I don't know. In her book Worthy, Jamie Kern 224 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:49,240 Lima said this, She said I read the rhyme. 225 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaking of Humpty Dumpty, as only the King himself would have 226 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:56,200 been able to put Humpty back together. 227 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:02,880 Think about it. All the King's horses, but all 228 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:08,720 the King's men couldn't do it. Maybe because only the King 229 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,360 could do it. Paul Storn wasn't something that 230 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:18,280 the world or any human efforts could fix. 231 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:25,560 No, it was something that only God could work through the 232 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,080 display, His grace and the strength. 233 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,440 Look, God's response. This was God's response to what 234 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:33,720 Paul considered something very uncomfortable. 235 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:42,040 God says my grace is sufficient, which means enough, my grace is 236 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:44,360 enough. The Amplified Bible says that 237 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:48,280 life enables you to bear the trouble as you see it manfully 238 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:54,520 is how the Amplified says it. God's grace answers those 239 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:59,480 issues, those uncomfortable thorns as we may label them. 240 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:03,360 His grace answers those issues. His strength is made perfect in 241 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:07,440 our weakness, whether they are actual or perceived. 242 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:13,880 Christ's strength comes along and it's displayed. 243 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:18,800 We don't want to see this, but that thing that's uncomfortable 244 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:22,720 to me becomes a stage for the manifestation of God's strength. 245 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:28,880 Amen. This is a concept that I believe 246 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:30,880 we found in other places, the Scripture tonight. 247 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:34,640 It's a concept that's illustrated in the story of 248 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:40,680 Zacchaeus, or as some would say, Zacchaeus, Luke chapter 19 and 249 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:49,080 verse #3 and he, Zacchaeus, sought to see Jesus who he was. 250 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,040 Is anybody having the little song go through their head right 251 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:54,720 now? Be honest. 252 00:16:54,720 --> 00:17:00,160 This is a safe place, Amen. Sought to see Jesus who he was 253 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:05,839 and could not for the press because he was little of 254 00:17:05,839 --> 00:17:09,440 stature. And he ran before and climbed up 255 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:13,680 into a Sycamore tree to see him Speaking of Jesus, for he was to 256 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:17,240 pass that way. And when Jesus came to the 257 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:22,599 place, he looked up and saw him and said and said, Zacchaeus, 258 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:29,680 make haste come down for today I must abide at thy house. 259 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:35,840 Zacchaeus or Zacchaeus was small in stature. 260 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:41,520 That can be a self issue, a self worth issue for some. 261 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:52,320 Nonetheless, due to that, it compelled him to climb a 262 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:57,360 Sycamore tree to see Jesus as he passed by. 263 00:17:57,360 --> 00:18:01,800 And the Bible says Jesus saw him and then invited himself to 264 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:05,320 Zacchaeus's house. Now I'm not saying please don't 265 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:07,400 misunderstand me tonight. I'm not saying that this can 266 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:12,320 happen in under different conditions, but these are the 267 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:14,520 conditions the scripture says it did happen under. 268 00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:19,800 What are you saying? I'm not saying if if he was like 269 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:21,440 9 feet tall that this couldn't have happened. 270 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:24,440 But that's not the conditions that the Bible provides for us 271 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:31,880 here purposefully. This event highlights that his 272 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:39,280 stature climb and Jesus looking up seeing him there in that 273 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:43,360 tree. We're all precursors to the 274 00:18:43,360 --> 00:18:48,760 visit of the Lord at his house. Someone say Amen. 275 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:56,160 If it not been for Zacchaeus limitation, maybe he thought it 276 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,120 was a thorn. Maybe he thought it was a 277 00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:03,640 messenger of Satan. To be short, maybe he had a self 278 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:06,520 issue with it. If it wasn't for his limitation, 279 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:12,880 he probably would have not have climbed the tree and therefore 280 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:15,480 may have not been noticed by Jesus. 281 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:21,200 He might have missed a tremendous opportunity if he had 282 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:28,440 just been average height. Like if there wasn't this nuance 283 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:33,240 of difference about him, he might have missed this grand 284 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:35,040 opportunity. Well, you're saying tonight 285 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:39,000 then, Pastor, I'm saying this. We, we need not, and rather 286 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:42,440 perhaps even we should be. Maybe it's what I should say not 287 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:47,240 not, but should. We should be careful that we 288 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:55,320 don't underestimate what we see as flaws or limitations because 289 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:58,640 these might be some of the very areas and things of our lives 290 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:02,480 that God says. I pick that for the stage of my 291 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:05,680 strength. I pick that to showcase, if you 292 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:08,800 will, my grace. We see other places in 293 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:13,200 Scripture, Old Testament, that Moses has a similar right. 294 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:14,640 You already know where I'm headed, don't you? 295 00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:20,560 Moses has a similar experience in Exodus chapter #4 and verse 296 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:24,640 #10. And Moses said unto the Lord, 297 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:26,560 This is on the backside of the desert. 298 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:29,840 He's having this conversation with God, the burning Bush 299 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:32,920 episode. And Moses said unto the Lord, Oh 300 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:39,600 my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since 301 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:45,120 thou hast spoken unto thy servant, but I am slow of speech 302 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:50,080 and of a slow tongue. We realized very quickly that 303 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:53,200 Moses insecurity is in how he talks. 304 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:57,000 Admittedly, he says I'm not eloquent. 305 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:01,400 I'm slow of speech, I'm slow of tongue. 306 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:05,520 Stop here for a moment. In order for something to be 307 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:09,680 called slow, that has to be relative to something else. 308 00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:16,880 You you just don't just slow and you have a slow is relative to 309 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:25,400 something as compared to what Comparison is made in order for 310 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:28,680 something to be deemed slow. Huh. 311 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:32,320 So so evidently in his mind there's some type of accepted 312 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:39,600 standard norm opinion to be able to speak of himself. 313 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:42,960 My speech is slow. Let's even look. 314 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:44,360 Do you understand what I'm saying? 315 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:48,560 The reason why, the reason why that we gauge ourselves as we do 316 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:52,800 is that we got some type of standard or norm or opinion 317 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:55,720 that's out there that we are measuring ourself by. 318 00:21:56,680 --> 00:21:58,760 Rich ports, measured by standard. 319 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:02,040 Pretty ugly. It's measured by standard. 320 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:04,640 Fat, skinny, it's measured by standard. 321 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,600 And so whenever we come then into the New Testament in the 322 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:17,640 book of Acts, and Stephen is recalling the story of Moses, 323 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:20,960 all right, Stephen's going to be stoned, but he's recalling the 324 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:25,040 story of Moses in Acts 7. Stephen says something different 325 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:27,960 about Moses. The Bible says in Acts 7 and 326 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:32,080 verse 22, and Moses was learned. This is Stephen saying this in 327 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:36,440 all the wisdom of the Egyptian and was mighty in what? 328 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:46,400 Mighty in words and in deeds. The 1st 40 years of Moses's life 329 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:50,640 in Egypt, being educated by Egypt. 330 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:54,520 The 2nd 40 years of Moses's life spent on the backside of the 331 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:56,840 desert. And that's where God came to 332 00:22:56,840 --> 00:22:58,640 him. There in chapter #4 that I 333 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:00,840 already read to you. And he said, I have a slow 334 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:02,960 speak. That's where God came to him and 335 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:05,520 commanded him. I want you to return to Egypt 336 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:08,960 and I want you to be a deliverer for the people of Israel. 337 00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:13,840 Listen to me. But before Moses said I'm not 338 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:18,320 eloquent and I'm slow as speech. Steven in the New Testament is 339 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:22,920 referencing a moment and saying that this same man that said 340 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:27,800 he's slow in speech, according to Stevens estimation, said he's 341 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:32,920 mighty in words. The word mighty means able. 342 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:38,520 The word mighty means to be able to do something or capable to do 343 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:41,200 something. Moses says I can't. 344 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:46,800 Moses says I'm slow of speech. Stephen says he's mighty in 345 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:49,560 words. He's capable of doing it. 346 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:54,920 What does that do? It highlights a notable gap 347 00:23:55,760 --> 00:24:00,840 between Moses self perception and then how others people 348 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:08,360 perceived him. And God wanted to use Moses's 349 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:16,680 perceived speech difficulty to display his power, but Moses 350 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:22,320 allowed his insecurity in some regards to dominate his actions. 351 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:29,080 We read in the book of Numbers chapter 20, God had a 352 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,720 conversation with Moses. The children of Israel were 353 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:36,520 lacking water. God says, I have a means for 354 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:40,720 them to get water. Moses, I want you. 355 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:41,920 We'll read it here in just a bit. 356 00:24:42,120 --> 00:24:48,800 I want you to speak to the rock in the New Testament. 357 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:50,720 We understand that rock, that all of them was Christ. 358 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,880 He says, but I want you to speak to the rock. 359 00:24:54,480 --> 00:25:01,720 What did Moses do? Smoke the rock twice. 360 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:04,120 Look at it. Numbers 20, verse 7 And the Lord 361 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:07,760 spake unto Moses, Say in verse 8, Take the rod, and gather thou 362 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:11,760 the assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye 363 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:15,720 unto the rock before their eyes, and it shall give forth his 364 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:19,680 water, and that shall bring them to bring forth to them. 365 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,120 Water out the rock. So thou shalt give the 366 00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:23,600 congregation, and there be strength. 367 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:26,840 When we get down to verse 11, then we have the action. 368 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:29,480 And Moses didn't lift up his voice. 369 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:34,800 Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock 370 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:38,600 twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation 371 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:43,360 drank, and their beasts also. Please know that the 372 00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:46,240 congregation doesn't know any difference between what was 373 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:47,880 supposed to be done and what was done. 374 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:54,080 They benefited nonetheless. But Moses knew. 375 00:25:56,600 --> 00:26:01,440 Moses knew God wanted Moses. That man that said, I'm not 376 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:06,040 eloquent, I'm slow to speak, I'm slow to God wanted him to use 377 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:11,000 that very thing that he thought was a thorn that was 378 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:20,400 insufficient, that was lacking that insecurity to be involved 379 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:26,760 in the miracle of water coming from a rock to showcase God's 380 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:31,360 power through a perceived weakness. 381 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:39,160 It would have been, it was it was a profound glorious moment 382 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:42,320 because water did come forth. But for Moses, it would have 383 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:44,880 been particularly a profound glorious moment. 384 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,880 And not only that, but some reassurance to him that that 385 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:51,360 very thing that you thought you was going to allow to keep you 386 00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:54,680 from even be my deliverer. Look what else you're doing with 387 00:26:54,680 --> 00:27:02,440 that. Many times we want to present to 388 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:05,960 God all these things that in our estimation is all put together 389 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:08,240 that's good and also great about us. 390 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:09,640 God. Check that out. 391 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:13,240 And what God wants are those parts that are thorns to you, 392 00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:19,520 that's perceived weaknesses to you. 393 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:26,400 Listen, self worth isn't about denying we have weaknesses, but 394 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:34,680 it's our attitude, Paul said He learned to boast about them 395 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:39,040 rather than to deprecate. Or you ever heard people that 396 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:41,400 self deprecate? You know what, huh. 397 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:47,160 They they, they might, they, they might be of a a large 398 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:50,160 individual and they'll self deprecate with with jokes about 399 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:52,240 the size of people about themselves. 400 00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:59,040 They're not, but they're not laughing. 401 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:01,720 I'm laughing. Christ may rest upon me. 402 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:05,400 He's saying that God because of all these things, God 403 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:10,280 Tabernacle. In those moments, I realized 404 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:13,000 that I'm not self reliant. I'm God reliant. 405 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,080 God is spreading himself over me. 406 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:20,760 Here's the magnificent thing. The thing that I have a hard 407 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,600 time with by myself. You know what God says? 408 00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:26,000 Let me. I have a hard time with by 409 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:28,160 myself. You know what God says? 410 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:36,920 Let me cover that with myself. He he tabernacles over us. 411 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:40,160 Oh, I don't know. I you know, my face looks like, 412 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:42,080 you know, it caught on fire and someone stamped it out. 413 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:46,800 That's just the way it is. God says that's all right. 414 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:53,640 I'll Tabernacle over you, huh? So you don't have nothing to you 415 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:57,520 have nothing to be blamed about or anything to be insufficient 416 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:00,320 about, He said. Paul says, boy, if this is what 417 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:03,240 takes place, he said the night I take pleasure in those things, 418 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:05,440 whether they're actual or whether they're perceived, I 419 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:09,240 take pleasure in those things. These dire straits of sometimes 420 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:12,040 my body and my mind, I take pleasure in those things. 421 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:17,520 And we got to understand again. Remember this malady Paul called 422 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:21,520 a thorn, and he thought it needed to be dealt with? 423 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:26,840 That didn't need to be removed. But where Paul understood the 424 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:30,600 completeness of the display of God's power and strength in his 425 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:35,120 perceived weaknesses, even that despised part of himself. 426 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:38,200 You know what he says, Look at verse #10 when he starts talking 427 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:40,280 about the reproaches and the distress of that. 428 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:44,360 Note the change here. He says, I take pleasure. 429 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,640 Hold on, what's happened, what's happened? 430 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:48,680 I have to tell you what's happened. 431 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:52,600 Grace has came into the picture. Grace has helped somebody with 432 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:54,960 their self worth. The same person who said it's a 433 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:56,960 thorn, the messenger of Satan, remove it. 434 00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,320 Now he's saying I take pleasure in it. 435 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:04,800 I didn't like that aspect of me, but now I take pleasure in that 436 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:07,400 aspect of me. I was hoping that that could get 437 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:10,440 removed or someone that somehow exchanged for something else. 438 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:12,320 In my estimation, that'd be better. 439 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:17,840 But now, because of God, I take pleasure in the same thing that 440 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:20,160 I used to hate. I take pleasure in the same 441 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:22,960 thing that I used to discount. I take pleasure in the same 442 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:24,480 thing that I wasn't comfortable with. 443 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:32,040 Amen, He says. I take pleasure, he said in this 444 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:37,680 mercy, he saw it now just as it was. 445 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:43,280 It was given to him as a gift, and Paul's now taking pleasure 446 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:48,480 in it as a gift because he says he knows whenever I take this 447 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:55,960 gift, by doing so, I'm inviting God's grace in God's strength on 448 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:58,640 this platform. What's changed? 449 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:05,000 His attitude, his perspective, The thorn. 450 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:10,720 Still thorn per SE, it's still what it is, but his attitude and 451 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:13,000 his perspective of it has changed. 452 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:23,720 The word translated as thorn, it encompasses the meaning of being 453 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:30,560 tied to a stake as a punishment. This is Paul, this was Paul's 454 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:34,840 view. This bodily, whatever it was, 455 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:41,720 this is punishment. I say, oh, brother McGee, 456 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:45,000 listen, sometimes we're just as equally severe about some 457 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:48,320 physical and personal differences in our lives that 458 00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:53,200 doesn't meet what we consider this. 459 00:31:53,200 --> 00:32:00,800 This is punishment. The gene pool of, of McVeigh, 460 00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:05,160 you know, got on me. You understand what I'm saying? 461 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:08,480 This is punishment. I got. 462 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:17,240 We got that, that trout trait, you know, Roman, This is 463 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:21,720 punishment, physical, personal, whatever it is. 464 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:23,440 I want to remind you of something. 465 00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:26,040 This came back to my mind. I want to remind you of 466 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:33,760 something that in Isaiah 53 it tells me that even Jesus our 467 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:38,040 Messiah, who would have doubt that his self worth it had 468 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:43,800 permitted. I'm reading from the new life 469 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:48,160 version of Isaiah 53 and two and you can read all the versions 470 00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:50,200 they again. I just read this one because I 471 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:52,240 think it just makes it very plain and there are others that 472 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:59,320 saying that I didn't still love. He grew up before him like a 473 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:01,800 young plant, like a root out of dry ground. 474 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:04,240 He the heat. Speaking of his the suffering 475 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:08,360 servant, what is notably will become Christ, the Messiah. 476 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:14,960 He has no beautiful body and when we see him, there is no 477 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:19,560 beauty that we hire. That's the description of your 478 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:28,880 Lord and Savior if he would have allowed himself good to head 479 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:36,680 self good. Yet that's not what happened. 480 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:43,760 Through that, well, Isaiah basically tells us, is quite a 481 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:50,800 unimpressive appearance. Through that unimpressive 482 00:33:50,800 --> 00:34:03,080 appearance, God manifested his greatest power, salvation for 483 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:08,840 all humanity. Paul's own truth is even 484 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:14,880 mirrored here that despite his thorn, he had revelations of 485 00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:23,960 heavenly places and even through these these earthly limitations 486 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:26,520 that God's strength was revealed to him. 487 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:31,360 Folks. And I don't have much longer to 488 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:32,719 go. And you're, you're probably 489 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:37,040 happy about it. But nonetheless don't wish away 490 00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:45,239 your what you call your thorn. Don't wish away your thorn. 491 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:50,560 Come on, matter of fact, I challenge you tonight when you 492 00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:54,600 leave here, you go home, you get you out a sheet of paper and you 493 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:58,120 begin to write down what you consider your thorns, whether it 494 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:03,280 be physical ability, inability, personality aspects about you 495 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:06,720 that you could say honestly that I just really don't like. 496 00:35:06,720 --> 00:35:10,160 I'm going to write that. Write down your thorns. 497 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:16,320 Don't, don't, don't wish them away because those very things 498 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:22,120 that you list are the places where God can and use as a 499 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:28,360 platform for the display of and when you believe you're not 500 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:41,400 enough. God's grace is enough for us and 501 00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:53,760 perfectly perfect. We by our heads folks just got 502 00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:55,800 to get honest with ourselves, right? 503 00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:01,680 Get honest with ourselves. There will always be critics, 504 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:09,640 hear me, there will always be critics and you already know 505 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:12,160 this. But the difficulty in the 506 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:17,880 problem with most critics is that they are trying to deal 507 00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:23,280 with something that there isn't. And the only way that they can 508 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:26,880 feel better about themselves is making somebody else feel bad 509 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:29,920 about themselves. And it feels as though it makes 510 00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:31,840 them move one rung up on the ladder. 511 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:36,160 But it's very empty. It's really very empty for that 512 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:38,360 individual. That's the reason why that got 513 00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:42,480 to keep on living the life of a critic and always being negative 514 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,640 toward other people talking about about other people because 515 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:49,240 it's the only way they can even have a moment where they feel OK 516 00:36:49,240 --> 00:36:54,840 about themselves. But there's always going to be 517 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:58,880 the credit And listen, there are some people's standards you'll 518 00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:04,480 never live up to and you weren't meant to. 519 00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:08,240 But if you live up to the standard of what God has created 520 00:37:08,240 --> 00:37:13,040 to you to be and has redeemed you for right, because I don't I 521 00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:15,480 don't want to go through these four weeks and have painted with 522 00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:18,560 such a broad brush that it's like, you know what don't care 523 00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:21,600 about what anybody else thinks. And that includes God type of 524 00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:28,000 you hearing me that that that that is just as unhealthy as as 525 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:33,640 as where we might be tonight. But what I'm saying is this, 526 00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:36,560 that there there's going to be always the opinions and the 527 00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:41,720 criticism and whenever it comes to our performance, listen, 528 00:37:41,720 --> 00:37:43,840 there's going to be days we're going to do better than others. 529 00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:49,640 That's just life. There's going to be days that 530 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:51,360 we're going to do better than others are going to be days that 531 00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:56,200 maybe we had time to do better, lack of time maybe prevent us, 532 00:37:56,200 --> 00:37:57,440 whatever. But there's just going to be 533 00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:00,240 days that we're we're going to outperform ourselves and there's 534 00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:02,200 other days we're going to underperform ourselves. 535 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:06,720 But the question is, in all of it, were you yourself? 536 00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:11,640 They told us years ago, as young preachers said, whenever you 537 00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:14,480 entered the pulpit, don't try to preach like anybody else, 538 00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:20,360 because if you preach in the pulpit trying to be somebody 539 00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:22,880 else, you've left the pulpit empty because you're not 540 00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:30,300 yourself. The in the preaching world. 541 00:38:30,300 --> 00:38:30,780 I just oh.