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You could turn to Mark 10, 
another thing that's happening 

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today, just in case you haven't 
signed up, we've got a pretty 

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good sized next steps class 
happening after church. 

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If you are interested in it, you
want to become a member or get 

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involved or serve or find out a 
little bit more about what we 

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believe. 
It'll happen pretty well right 

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after church, right over in the 
other building. 

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And it's we've made it so easy. 
We've got like lunch provided 

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for you and childcare. 
So if that's something you want 

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to do, you didn't get a chance 
to sign up, man, come to us and 

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make make it awkward for us and 
we'll figure it out. 

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We're OK with it. 
But it's going to be a really 

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good time as we bring in some 
new members. 

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So while you're getting a mark 
10, I'll just tell you this. 

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A few days ago, I posted on my 
own social media something that 

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I wanted to genuinely make 
people wrestle with And and I 

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asked, would you rather never 
fail again or would you never 

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fear again? 
If you could choose to never be 

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afraid again or to never fail 
again. 

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And I asked, what would you 
choose and why? 

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The responses were interesting 
because almost everyone chose to

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never fear again. 
One person wrote fear hinders 

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your ability to try new things. 
Another person said failure has 

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taught me more than fear ever 
has. 

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Someone else wrote, if fear was 
gone, I could finally become the

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person God called me to be. 
One comment said fear keeps you 

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from learning, but failure 
teaches you. 

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Over and over again, people kept
saying the same thing, but in 

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different ways. 
They weren't nearly as afraid of

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failing as they were of living 
in fear. 

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And isn't that something? 
But there were a few people who 

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answered the other way. 
One person said I'd rather never

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fail again because most of my 
fears revolve around failure. 

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That makes sense. 
Another person said. 

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If I never failed again, most of
my fears would disappear. 

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So as I read through all of 
these responses, I realized 

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something. 
At first it looked like people 

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are answering 2 completely 
different questions because some

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were talking about fear and some
were talking about failure. 

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But underneath both answers is 
the exact same desire. 

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And here it is. 
We all want to know that we're 

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enough. 
Whether we choose fear or 

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failure is what we would remove 
from the board. 

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Most of us are asking the same 
question. 

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Am I going to measure up? 
Am I going to succeed? 

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Am I going to be able to provide
for those that I love? 

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Am I, am I going to be enough? 
Will people still respect me if 

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I fail or maybe like this, will 
God still love me if I don't get

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this right? 
Will my life turn out the way 

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that I hoped? 
Fear and failure, they're not 

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normally our deepest concerns. 
Our deepest concern is actually 

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what they say about us. 
If you think about it, I think 

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that's exactly where pride 
secretly enters the picture. 

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And we've been going through the
series the last month we have 

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done this series that is called 
The Open Secret of Sin. 

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And an open secret is something 
that everybody knows but nobody 

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talks about. 
So we've been touching on a few 

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sins in specific that I feel 
like are prevalent in the church

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today. 
And when I say the church, I 

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mean pretty much any church you 
go to. 

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There are some sins that just 
get tolerated or normalized or 

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laughed at, even in a church 
culture. 

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And this is the one that we've 
arrived at finally. 

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We've arrived at the sin behind 
all of the sins, which is pride.

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When most people hear the word 
pride, they immediately think of

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somebody who is arrogant or loud
or full of themselves or talking

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about how great they are. 
But pride is actually much more 

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subtle than that. 
I'm not even going in the 

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direction of how the other side 
of arrogance is insecurity, 

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although that is also a form of 
pride because you're still 

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thinking about yourself. 
Pride isn't just thinking that 

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you're better than everyone 
else. 

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Pride is making yourself the 
centre of the story. 

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It is the constant need to prove
yourself, whether you're driven 

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by fear or fear of failure, or 
you're driven by ambition or 

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whatever it is. 
It's just a desire to measure 

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up. 
It is believing that you're 

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worth rises and falls with your 
success or your reputation or 

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your achievements or even other 
people's opinions of you. 

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I remember phase of my life 
where I wasn't sure I was doing 

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the right thing unless somebody 
else told me they thought I was 

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doing the right thing. 
Anybody else been there before? 

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Pride can make you boast, but it
can also make you terrified of 

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failing. 
It can make you compare yourself

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to everybody around you, and it 
can make you crave approval. 

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It can make you defensive when 
you're corrected, and it can 

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make you believe that if you 
perform just a little bit better

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or accomplish a little bit more 
than you would finally have that

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confidence you've always longed 
to have in your life. 

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And that's why I believe it's 
the sin beneath them all. 

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So underneath all of these sins 
we've talked about, which has 

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been envy and bitterness and 
anger and judgmentalism, each 

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week we've peeled back another 
layer until we finally arrived 

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at what I would consider the 
root. 

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And it's where we start to 
revolve around ourselves. 

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My success, my reputation, my 
rights, my goodness, my 

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happiness, my me. 
And the Bible has a word for it.

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It's pride. 
As we go into Mark 10, which I'm

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about to read to you, I want you
to know we are stepping into one

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of the most well known 
conversations Jesus ever had. 

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We will begin in verse 17. 
It is the story of the rich 

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young ruler. 
And if you've been in church for

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very long, you've probably heard
this preached on a sermon about 

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money or generosity or the 
dangers of wealth or greed. 

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And those themes are certainly 
there, and they do apply. 

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But I want you to know that 
Jesus has something to say that 

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has nothing to do about our 
possessions. 

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Before Jesus ever talks about 
wealth, he begins talking about 

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goodness. 
I want you to pay attention to 

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that today. 
Before he exposes the man's 

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possessions, he exposes this 
man's heart, and I think it'll 

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make you look at the story a 
little bit different today. 

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I don't think the story's 
primarily about greed. 

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I think greed is simply one of 
those sins that is right over 

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top of pride and pride has been 
at the root of that one as well.

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Let's read it together. 
In Mark 10 verse 17, it says as 

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Jesus was starting out on his 
way to Jerusalem, a man came 

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running up to him, knelt down 
and asked, good teacher, what 

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must I do to inherit eternal 
life? 

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Now let me ask you, does that 
seem like a bad question? 

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Doesn't seem like a bad 
question. 

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Although there have been times 
in my life I can't speak for 

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you. 
There's times I've run to the 

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Lord and just been like, what do
I have to do to get out of this?

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In other words, what's the least
amount I have to right? 

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But I love this because he 
called him good teacher and 

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Jesus comes back in verse 18 and
says why do you call me good? 

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Only God is truly good. 
Told you we were going to come 

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back to that. 
And then he says, but to answer 

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your question, you know the 
commandments. 

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You must not murder, you must 
not commit adultery, you must 

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not steal, you must not testify 
falsely. 

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You must not cheat anyone. 
Honour your mother and father. 

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He's like rattling off some of 
the 10 commandments. 

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Does he call him good teacher 
again? 

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He says, teacher, don't miss 
that good teacher. 

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Well, only God is good. 
Oh, OK, well, teacher. 

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So he doesn't recognize him as 
God. 

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He said, I've obeyed these 
commandments since I was young. 

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In other words, I've already 
done that. 

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But he knows something is 
missing. 

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And so looking at the man in 
verse 21, Jesus felt genuine 

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love for him. 
Would you? 

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Somebody came up to you and they
told you how they felt like they

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had accomplished every one of 
the commands of the Lord. 

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They felt like they were 
righteous, felt like they were 

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in good standing. 
Would you have looked at them 

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and felt genuine love? 
Jesus says there's still one 

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thing you haven't done. 
Go and sell all your possessions

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and give the money to the poor, 
and then you'll have treasure in

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heaven. 
Then come follow me. 

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At this the man's face fell and 
he went away. 

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Sad for you. 
Many possessions. 

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I think for years I've read this
story through the wrong lens. 

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Maybe you have to, I don't know.
But most of the time when it's 

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preached, it is a story about 
money. 

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But as I've been studying this 
the last couple weeks, I have 

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become convinced that money's 
not the center of the story 

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because the conversation 
actually starts long before 

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Jesus mentions the possessions. 
It starts with this man saying, 

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What must I do to inherit 
eternal life? 

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It's an interesting way to ask 
it. 

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He doesn't say to Jesus, Can you
forgive me? 

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He doesn't say How can I know 
God? 

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He doesn't even ask will you 
save me? 

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He says what do I need to do in 
order to inherit eternal life? 

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As if salvation hangs on what he
can do. 

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And I've always wondered why 
Jesus answered that way with 

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good teacher until I realized 
Jesus isn't changing the subject

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at all. 
This man wants to talk about 

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what he has to do, but Jesus 
wants to talk about what 

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goodness actually is. 
Before they can ever discuss 

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eternal life, Jesus wants them 
to understand that goodness 

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doesn't begin with us, it begins
with God. 

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So he says, I've obeyed all 
these commandments since I'm 

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young, and I don't even think 
he's really trying to be 

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arrogant there. 
I think he genuinely believes 

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it. 
This is why it's dangerous for 

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Christians today. 
That's what makes the story so 

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significant. 
Somewhere along the way, this 

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man started to believe that his 
confidence before God came from 

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how well he had lived. 
Some of us are at a place where 

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we don't even know if God's 
going to accept us. 

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And some of us are in a place 
where we feel like we've served 

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the Lord for a long time, that 
yeah, we got room to grow. 

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And nobody's perfect. 
That's what we always say. 

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But we feel like we've generally
lived a good enough life that 

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we're OK, we're OK. 
And some of us are in between 

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there. 
What Jesus does there, it's 

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something so smart, he doesn't 
even argue with him. 

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He doesn't start to tell him, 
well, your works are not good 

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enough. 
He doesn't even embarrass him. 

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Some of us would have liked to 
have done that. 

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Oh, you think you're that great?
You think you're, you're tough 

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stuff, huh? 
In the Gospel of Mark, it tells 

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us that Jesus looked at this man
and genuinely loved him. 

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But then out of love, Jesus 
decided to touch on the 1 area 

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of his life that would reveal 
where his confidence really was.

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It wasn't that money had created
this pride, it's just that money

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exposed it. 
And so the more I thought about 

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that, the more I realized that's
exactly what we've been doing 

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over this whole last month. 
We spent four weeks talking 

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about those sins that I talked 
about, and they're all real sins

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and every one of them can 
destroy relationships or 

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churches or families. 
But what if none of them are 

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actually the root? 
That's why this matters so much 

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today. 
Think about how naturally they 

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flow together when I begin 
believing. 

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In fact, can you show this next 
one? 

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There's a, there's a motion to 
it. 

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Then on the next slide right 
there, look at this. 

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So I want you to think about 
this. 

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00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:07,120
When you begin believing that 
your way is the right way 

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because it's your way, you 
become prideful and you don't 

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feel like you can be corrected. 
You start judging people who 

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don't live the way that you do. 
Your pride has now LED you to 

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become judgmental over other 
people. 

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When you become judgmental over 
other people and they do what 

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you think is wrong, what does 
that make you? 

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It makes you angry. 
And of course you're angry 

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because you know the right path,
but because you're angry and you

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don't feel like you see justice 
happening, you feel like they 

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still get to keep doing what 
they're doing. 

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Well, now you're bitter. 
And the longer you stay bitter 

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and you watch other people get 
what you perceive as blessings, 

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well, here's where envy comes 
in. 

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I wish I had what they had. 
Here I am. 

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I'm doing all I can for God. 
I'm serving you the way that I 

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want to. 
And this is the pattern many of 

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us, we attack one of these 
branches, we are swinging at 

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00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,960
envy or bitterness or anger or 
judge mentalism. 

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And underneath every single one 
of them was pride all along. 

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We have this tree that's in our 
backyard and I wish it wasn't 

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00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:05,280
there. 
And I want you to know, like I'm

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the man of the house, I cut the 
tree down. 

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I mean, there's a little one and
I've cut it down like 4 times 

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throughout the years because 
guess what I haven't done? 

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I haven't taken care of the 
roots, and so slowly but surely,

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it keeps sprouting up. 
Fresh greens, fresh growth, 

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because there are still roots 
there. 

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This is why I said this is for 
all of us. 

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Because pride is so subtle and 
it's so sneaky and there's not 

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one person in this room or 
listening to this online who 

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doesn't struggle with it, 
including me. 

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This is the perfect way to end 
this series. 

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If all you do is keep cutting 
off branches, another one's 

247
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going to grow back. 
You'll remember Hydra and the 

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Marvel Universe Cut Off 1 Head 2
shall take its place. 

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You don't want that. 
Even if you don't know Marvel, 

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00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:49,920
you don't want that. 
The first thing I want you to 

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know, and this is what this rich
young ruler ran into, is this. 

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God's gifts start to become our 
goodness in our eyes. 

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00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:00,520
God starts to bless you and all 
of a sudden you look at all 

254
00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:04,000
these blessings you've received 
and you start to say, wow, I'm 

255
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pretty great. 
Pride can grow through the 

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victories that God gives us. 
One of the questions that this 

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story that we just read forces 
us to ask is how does somebody 

258
00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:14,560
get there? 
How does someone who genuinely 

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00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:17,960
wants to follow God actually 
start placing their confidence 

260
00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:19,480
somewhere else? 
I don't think that the rich 

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00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:21,880
young ruler was pretending. 
I think he came with an honest 

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00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:25,080
question. 
He sincerely believed everything

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00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:27,320
that he asked, and he really 
thought that because he had 

264
00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,320
followed all those commandments 
and because he had lived a good 

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00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:32,280
life, that he had earned it. 
And he was making sure that he 

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had everything checked off the 
list. 

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That's what makes pride so 
dangerous. 

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00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:40,480
The story he was telling Jesus 
was about himself. 

269
00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:43,480
He wasn't asking what does God 
require? 

270
00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:45,440
What do you need from me? 
He was saying, I've done this, 

271
00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:48,320
I've done this, I've done this. 
Tell me what else I lack. 

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00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:51,080
And so pride never arrives all 
at once. 

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00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:53,120
It's not something that suddenly
appears one morning. 

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00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:55,600
It grows over the years and 
through success and through 

275
00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:57,600
blessings. 
In fact, it grows through the 

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00:12:57,600 --> 00:12:59,720
victories that God gives us 
until we're not careful. 

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00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:02,440
We start to associate God's 
gifts in our life with our own 

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00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:04,520
goodness. 
I have these things because I 

279
00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:06,280
worked for them. 
I have these things because I 

280
00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:09,360
deserve them. 
It is, I'm telling you, one of 

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00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:11,440
the easiest traps for a 
Christian to fall into because 

282
00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:13,880
you're not ever talking about 
bad things. 

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00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:16,960
When your pride creeps in, God 
blesses your marriage or your 

284
00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:19,640
kids or your opportunities at 
work, and he allows your 

285
00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:21,920
business to grow and he gives 
you influence or wisdom. 

286
00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:24,840
Maybe he gives you years of 
faithfulness and he answers 

287
00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:26,560
prayers. 
And none of those are bad. 

288
00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:29,160
But every one of them is a gift.
And the danger comes when it 

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00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:31,160
starts to become part of how you
define yourself. 

290
00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,040
So let's say he gives you a good
marriage and then you start to 

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00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:36,280
say, well, my marriage is strong
because we figured it out. 

292
00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:39,800
Or my kids turned out well 
because we parented better than 

293
00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,400
fill in the blank. 
Or I've been successful because 

294
00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,320
I've worked harder than others. 
I've been a Christian for 30 

295
00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:49,160
years, so I know what I'm doing.
The language sounds humble on 

296
00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:51,360
the outside until you get to the
end of the sentence. 

297
00:13:51,560 --> 00:13:53,560
Because underneath it, something
has shifted. 

298
00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:56,280
The rich young ruler reached 
this place. 

299
00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:00,960
His morality had become part of 
his identity, His wealth had 

300
00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:03,760
become part of his identity, and
his reputation had become part 

301
00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:05,840
of his identity. 
And so all together they'd 

302
00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:08,880
convinced him that he was 
standing before Jesus because he

303
00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:13,040
is the kind of man that he had 
become on his own instead of 

304
00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:16,120
because of the grace of God. 
And grace is the banner over 

305
00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:18,920
this whole year that his grace 
is sufficient for you. 

306
00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:22,760
So the reality is that Jesus 
wasn't the first person to warn 

307
00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:25,960
about this kind of pride. 
And as a matter of fact, we're 

308
00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:29,120
going to go all the way back to 
Deuteronomy chapter 8 if we're 

309
00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:31,560
going to see this. 
Moses has something to say about

310
00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:33,280
it. 
Israel is standing on the edge 

311
00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:35,160
of the Promised land. 
After 40 years in the 

312
00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:37,440
wilderness. 
I want you to know that they had

313
00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:39,680
depended on God every single day
for food. 

314
00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:40,880
A lot of you know this, I know 
that. 

315
00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:44,160
But they depended on him for 
quail to come in with a certain 

316
00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:46,240
wind to blow birds, and so 
they'd have meat to eat. 

317
00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,400
They had manna this, fresh manna
this, this, this kind of like 

318
00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:52,400
fine powdered grain stuff that 
was appearing on the ground. 

319
00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:56,640
God was providing water from 
rocks for four decades. 

320
00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:59,520
God was providing for them. 
And now they're on the edge of 

321
00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:02,280
this promised land that they've 
been hearing about for those 4 

322
00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,080
decades. 
You would expect that Moses 

323
00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:07,880
would warn them about the Pagan 
nations around them or to warn 

324
00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:10,320
them about military battles or 
false gods. 

325
00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:14,160
Instead, listen to this verse 10
of Deuteronomy chapter 8. 

326
00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,360
When you have eaten your fill, 
be sure to praise the Lord your 

327
00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:20,440
God for the good land He's given
you. 

328
00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:23,360
But that is the time to be 
careful. 

329
00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,640
Beware that in your plenty you 
do not forget the Lord your God 

330
00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:30,800
and disobey His commands, 
regulations and decrees that I'm

331
00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:33,600
giving you today. 
He says when you have become 

332
00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:37,040
full and prosperous and have 
built fine homes to live in, and

333
00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:39,280
when your flocks and herds have 
become very large and your 

334
00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:41,760
silver and gold have multiplied 
along with everything else, be 

335
00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:45,360
careful. 
Do not become proud at that time

336
00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,120
and forget the Lord your God who
rescued you from slavery in the 

337
00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:53,880
land of Egypt. 
Do not forsake or forget that He

338
00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:56,360
led you through the great and 
terrifying wilderness with its 

339
00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:59,520
poisonous snakes and scorpions, 
where it was so hot and dry. 

340
00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:03,600
He gave you water from a rock, 
He fed you with man in the 

341
00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,280
wilderness, a food unknown to 
your ancestors. 

342
00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:09,760
And He did this to humble you 
and test you for your own good. 

343
00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:13,840
Listen to verse 17. 
He did all this so you would 

344
00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:17,640
never say to yourself, I have 
achieved this wealth with my own

345
00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:22,160
strength and energy. 
Remember the Lord your God, He's

346
00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:25,080
the one who gives you power to 
be successful in order to 

347
00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:28,160
fulfill the covenant. 
He confirmed with your ancestors

348
00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:30,960
with an oath. 
I think what Moses is saying 

349
00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:33,320
here is so fascinating because 
he's not warning them that 

350
00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:35,240
they're about to lose God. 
He's just warning them that 

351
00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:39,880
they're about to forget him. 
Have you ever asked God to 

352
00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:44,120
answer a prayer and when he did,
you forgot that you had prayed 

353
00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:45,640
for it? 
And he didn't go back to even 

354
00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,200
say thank you for showing up? 
Man, I've done it. 

355
00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:50,320
I'm embarrassed at how often 
I've done it. 

356
00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:52,920
I'm glad I can't count how many 
times I've done it because I'd 

357
00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:55,360
be compelled to tell you it's 
been 47 times. 

358
00:16:55,400 --> 00:17:00,240
Like, I'm glad I don't know how 
many times, but what are we 

359
00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:01,680
focused on? 
Most of the time when we go to 

360
00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:05,200
Him in prayer, it's us. 
It's OK. 

361
00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:07,520
It's good to ask for things that
you need or things that you 

362
00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:09,480
desire. 
It's just not good if that's all

363
00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,040
of it. 
Now, Israel wasn't standing at 

364
00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,280
the edge of the promised land 
wondering if God was going to be

365
00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:16,880
faithful. 
At this point, they had spent 40

366
00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,079
years watching Him be faithful. 
They knew what was coming. 

367
00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:21,839
They knew they were entering a 
different season and that God 

368
00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:24,040
had provided them a chance to 
step into a new season. 

369
00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:27,640
None of that worried Moses that 
that he was worried that they 

370
00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:29,480
weren't going to get blessed. 
He knew they'd get blessed. 

371
00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:32,320
But after enough years passed, 
it's easy to look back at the 

372
00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:34,720
life that you've built and 
forget just how impossible it 

373
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:36,760
would have been to build it 
without God. 

374
00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:40,000
And so Moses keeps using one 
word that is so important, and 

375
00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:41,880
we'll come back to it later. 
And it's this. 

376
00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:45,160
Remember, remember what God has 
done for you. 

377
00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:47,760
He's not asking them to remember
information. 

378
00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:50,320
He's asking them to remember to 
be dependent on God. 

379
00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:53,160
Big difference. 
We can memorize the Scripture, 

380
00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:55,880
but we don't always memorize a 
pattern that leaves us 

381
00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:58,080
dependent. 
The greatest danger is they 

382
00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,120
would start to believe they're 
the kind of people who would 

383
00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:02,040
have ended up here anyway, 
whether God was with them or 

384
00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:05,120
not. 
Moses would probably interrupt 

385
00:18:05,120 --> 00:18:09,240
us if we were in a similar place
and say, yes, but who gave you 

386
00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:11,800
the ability to do those things? 
If we were to talk to Moses and 

387
00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:15,240
tell him about our family or our
job or our growth, he'd probably

388
00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:16,680
say, yeah, how did you get 
there? 

389
00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:21,680
So let me ask you who gave you 
that mind that can learn things 

390
00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:26,640
and can absorb memories and can 
understand who gave you a body 

391
00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,440
that could work, had muscles to 
lift things? 

392
00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:32,240
Who gave you the parents that 
raised you, or who gave you the 

393
00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:34,280
people that helped raise you if 
your parents didn't? 

394
00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:38,360
Who gave you the mentors and 
friends who encourage you, who 

395
00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:40,560
opened doors that nobody else 
could have opened? 

396
00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:43,560
Who sustained you through 
seasons of life that you almost 

397
00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:47,240
didn't make it? 
This is what Moses is trying to 

398
00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:49,200
protect with his people. 
Because the moment we start 

399
00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:51,880
telling our story as if it 
starts with us, we're just like 

400
00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,880
the rich young ruler. 
It reminds me of a moment that 

401
00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,360
I've never forgotten involving 
the the late Timothy Keller and 

402
00:18:57,360 --> 00:18:59,920
I shared a bit of the story if 
you were here for the midweek 

403
00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:02,360
service where we talked about 
love and sex and covenant. 

404
00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:04,680
And it's a little uncomfortable 
of a story for some people, but 

405
00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:06,360
hey, I'm not here to make you 
feel good. 

406
00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:13,960
So Timothy Keller was a really 
great man of God, and he found 

407
00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:16,240
himself at this place that was 
called the Veritas Forum. 

408
00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:19,080
And it happens out at Columbia 
University. 

409
00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:21,960
If you're not familiar with it, 
it is it is a forum where they 

410
00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:25,120
bring in Christian speakers, but
they don't bring them in in 

411
00:19:25,120 --> 00:19:27,400
order to preach the gospel. 
They bring them in to answer 

412
00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,960
questions at some of the most 
secular campuses in the country.

413
00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:33,200
And they don't come to 
evangelize. 

414
00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,080
They come to answer questions 
for those that are skeptical of 

415
00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:37,880
Christianity. 
And so the questions, as you can

416
00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:39,400
imagine, are usually pretty 
direct. 

417
00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:43,000
And that really opened the door.
The moderator is a historian by 

418
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:44,880
the name of David Eisenbach. 
And he is. 

419
00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:47,440
He's the one that ended up 
asking a question that made 

420
00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:48,880
everybody uncomfortable 
immediately. 

421
00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:53,040
He essentially said, he said, 
let's talk about homosexuality. 

422
00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:56,240
Yeah. 
I mean, you guys are about as 

423
00:19:56,240 --> 00:20:00,000
quiet as they were. 
So, he said, does being gay send

424
00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,680
someone to hell? 
And I mean, you could feel the 

425
00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:06,160
room lean forward, and everyone 
knew this was the question. 

426
00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:07,760
This was the one they had been 
waiting for. 

427
00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:11,280
Some were expecting him to say 
yes, and some were hoping he 

428
00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:13,760
would say no. 
And almost everyone assumed that

429
00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:15,680
they already knew where the 
conversation was about to go. 

430
00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:17,720
But that's judge mentalism, and 
that's last week's sermon. 

431
00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:20,680
Tim Keller smiled and he 
answered. 

432
00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:22,560
He was such a gentleman in the 
way he spoke. 

433
00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:26,440
And he said, well, first of all,
heterosexuality doesn't get you 

434
00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:27,880
to heaven. 
I happen to know this. 

435
00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:31,160
And then the entire room laughed
because it broke the tension 

436
00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:33,440
immediately. 
And then he kept going because 

437
00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,480
he mentions that Jesus spoke 
about greed about 10 times more 

438
00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:41,240
than he spoke about adultery. 
And he said, and The thing is, 

439
00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,040
why would he do that? 
Well, he said nobody 

440
00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:46,440
accidentally falls into adultery
and goes, hey, wait a minute, 

441
00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:50,160
you're not my wife. 
But he said most people that 

442
00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,360
fall into greed don't realize in
the moment that they're being 

443
00:20:52,360 --> 00:20:55,720
greedy. 
And so as as he keeps pushing 

444
00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:57,840
him, David Eisenbach keeps 
pushing him and pushing him and 

445
00:20:57,840 --> 00:20:59,040
saying, I want you to answer 
this. 

446
00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:01,600
Is it a sin? 
And he said, well, it depends on

447
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:03,200
what you mean by sin. 
And then he said, I mean, the 

448
00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,000
answer is yes, he said, but he 
said it depends on what you mean

449
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:11,160
by sin, because the actions of 
sin that you do are not what get

450
00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:14,160
you sent to hell, any more than 
the actions of righteousness 

451
00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:16,200
that you do are what gets you 
sent to heaven. 

452
00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:17,880
It's about where you place your 
hope. 

453
00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:20,040
It's about where you place the 
lordship over your life. 

454
00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:23,800
And he said basically the sin 
behind every sin is this, I will

455
00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:27,400
be my own Savior. 
So if you happen to know the 

456
00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:29,960
Lord, if you happen to pray and 
hear from him, if you happen to 

457
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:32,640
read his word and you find 
something that ever goes against

458
00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:35,560
something you believe in, it's a
dangerous place to say like, 

459
00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:37,800
man, I think like 95% of the 
Bible's good. 

460
00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:40,720
I think like maybe 89% of what 
God says is true. 

461
00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,960
I think maybe 99% is good. 
But there is one area where I 

462
00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:47,480
choose to have my own lordship. 
There's no such thing as a 

463
00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:50,240
partial lordship. 
And So what he was trying to say

464
00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:52,560
was this, he said. 
He said the danger behind 

465
00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:56,520
anything is, well, I know I'm 
being greedy, but I need this to

466
00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:59,160
be happy. 
I know I'm being prideful, but I

467
00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,080
need to do this. 
And so he said any time that you

468
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:05,480
come into a place where 
Scripture challenges you, that's

469
00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:07,400
the big challenge. 
And that's exactly what Moses 

470
00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,040
was doing in Deuteronomy 8. 
He was saying, don't forget the 

471
00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:13,840
Lord your God who brought you 
here, gave you regulations, gave

472
00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:16,240
you a list of ways to live and 
things that are going to help 

473
00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:18,760
bless you and be fruitful and 
bless other people too. 

474
00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:21,640
He doesn't want them to become 
their own Lord. 

475
00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:25,800
Now, I think with a message like
this, it's easy to hear it and 

476
00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:27,320
immediately think about somebody
else. 

477
00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:28,840
We all know people that are 
arrogant. 

478
00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:31,720
We all know people who brag and 
we know somebody who feels like 

479
00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:35,360
they are God's gift to humanity.
That's not the kind of thing I'm

480
00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:38,320
talking about today because the 
rich young ruler wasn't even 

481
00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:39,800
boastful. 
He was just being honest. 

482
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:42,280
His confidence had probably 
without him even knowing, 

483
00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:45,160
shifted from the grace of God to
the life that he had built. 

484
00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:48,320
So I want us to go through a 
couple questions that we can ask

485
00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:50,720
ourselves today. 
And the first question that you 

486
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:53,560
should ask yourself just to do 
some self analysis, is this. 

487
00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:56,280
What have I started using to 
tell myself that I'm enough? 

488
00:22:57,480 --> 00:22:59,760
You know that feeling in your 
chest when something is not 

489
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:01,240
quite right, it's not quite 
done. 

490
00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:03,600
Is it once you've accomplished a
certain amount of projects in 

491
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:04,840
the home? 
Or is it once you're not 

492
00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:08,800
fighting with your wife? 
Or what is it you know what is 

493
00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:10,920
this? 
Is it when you finally feel 

494
00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:13,520
understood at work or is it when
your kids are finally listening?

495
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:15,520
What is it that makes this go 
away? 

496
00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:18,640
That is normally an area that 
you're starting to lean on for 

497
00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,080
sufficiency. 
Do I feel OK with myself if I'm 

498
00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:26,000
OK with this person now? 
For some of us, it could be that

499
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:28,280
career. 
It could be something where 

500
00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:30,520
we're just only happy if the 
family seems like it's doing 

501
00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:31,720
well. 
For some people, it's a bank 

502
00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:34,560
account number or a level of 
respect we feel like we've got. 

503
00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:37,640
The question isn't if they've 
become more than gifts. 

504
00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:40,440
The the question is have they 
become the measuring stick by 

505
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:43,160
which you determine your worth? 
The second thing I would say is 

506
00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:44,720
this. 
If God were to remove that 

507
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:50,880
blessing tomorrow, would you 
still know who you are, whatever

508
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:52,440
that is? 
If God removed that blessing 

509
00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:53,880
tomorrow, would you still know 
who you are? 

510
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:57,720
If He removed that spouse, If 
that person ever wanted to call 

511
00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:01,240
you again, If he took you out of
that job, If your number in the 

512
00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:05,200
bank account dropped to half? 
Whatever it is, if God removed 

513
00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:06,720
it, would you still know who you
are? 

514
00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,360
If your answer is no, it's 
something to look at. 

515
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:11,560
And by the way, we all struggle 
with it. 

516
00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:13,160
You're going to hear this 
repeatedly. 

517
00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:15,840
It's a difficult question 
because it forces you to look a 

518
00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:18,560
little bit beneath the surface. 
The rich young ruler didn't know

519
00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:20,600
where his identity was until 
Jesus touched it. 

520
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:24,840
So I don't think Jesus asked him
to sell everything because Jesus

521
00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,000
is trying to make him poor, 
because the holiest people 

522
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:28,520
always sell everything that they
have. 

523
00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:31,240
I think Jesus just asked him to 
let go of the one thing he 

524
00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:35,160
couldn't imagine living without.
And in that moment, Jesus, in 

525
00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:38,160
that great compassion and love, 
exposed what had become the 

526
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:40,480
foundation of the rich young 
ruler's confidence. 

527
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:45,400
I wonder what that would be for 
you and I Success, intelligence,

528
00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:49,840
reputation, morality, your 
ability to remember things, your

529
00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:54,160
ability to figure things out. 
The final thing I would just 

530
00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:56,440
encourage you is maybe a prayer 
like this. 

531
00:24:57,200 --> 00:24:59,560
Father, have I started believing
that your gifts say something 

532
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:01,480
about my goodness instead of 
your grace? 

533
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:04,840
Anything you have, it's from 
Him. 

534
00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,720
If that's true, don't walk in 
shame. 

535
00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:10,360
There's no room for shame in 
this room. 

536
00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:14,200
But instead, I would just 
encourage you to let it speak 

537
00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:16,640
about his grace to you and to 
give him the credit that he 

538
00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:20,120
deserves. 
I mean, his goodness becomes our

539
00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:23,480
identity and it becomes our our,
our, our goodness in our eyes. 

540
00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:26,080
But His grace is actually meant 
to become your confidence. 

541
00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:28,440
And that's really where I want 
to sit for the rest of this 

542
00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,120
morning. 
Because if Jesus exposes where 

543
00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:33,520
you've built a false confidence,
then where's your confidence 

544
00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:35,880
supposed to come from? 
And we all know the VBS answered

545
00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:38,520
Jesus. 
It should come from Jesus. 

546
00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:40,640
But what does that mean? 
It's like, it's like when 

547
00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:42,880
somebody's going through a hard 
time, please never go up to them

548
00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:46,280
and say you just need to give it
to God because it doesn't mean 

549
00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:49,520
anything unless you carry on 
past that sentence. 

550
00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:50,800
What does it mean to give it to 
God? 

551
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:54,280
We used to mentor teenagers. 
We were in a youth group. 

552
00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:56,160
And finally one day I'm like, 
what does that mean? 

553
00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:58,040
You just take it and you just, 
there you go. 

554
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:00,760
What does it mean to give it to 
God? 

555
00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:02,240
It means that you stop worrying 
about it. 

556
00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,520
It means that you start to 
release the need for control 

557
00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:05,840
over it. 
There's a lot of follow up to 

558
00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:07,800
it. 
Let's not settle for surface 

559
00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:10,080
answers, right? 
I don't think Christianity is 

560
00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:11,760
calling us to walk through life 
insecure. 

561
00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:14,000
You don't need to put your hand 
up. 

562
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,920
But this is especially for any 
Christian in here today that is 

563
00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:19,960
feeling insecure. 
God is not asking you to 

564
00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:23,160
constantly doubt yourself or to 
pretend that you have no value. 

565
00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,480
God is not asking you to 
constantly evaluate whether or 

566
00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:30,360
not you are doing good enough or
just doing enough for him. 

567
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:33,120
The Lord, I think, actually 
wants Christians to be 

568
00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:36,080
incredibly confident people. 
But the difference is that your 

569
00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:38,720
confidence has to come from 
somewhere outside of yourself 

570
00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:42,240
but not found in the world. 
The rich young ruler found his 

571
00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:44,360
confidence in everything that 
had gone well in his life. 

572
00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:47,880
And he looked back on his story 
and he saw morality and success 

573
00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:50,200
and wealth. 
But the more I thought about 

574
00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:52,320
him, the more I realized there's
another man in Scripture who 

575
00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:53,680
could have said the exact same 
thing. 

576
00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:56,480
And his name was Paul. 
So we're going to go to 

577
00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:59,480
Philippians chapter 3 next. 
And if anybody had a reason to 

578
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:01,320
be confident in himself, it was 
Paul. 

579
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:06,720
Until he came across Jesus. 
And then everything changed. 

580
00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:09,480
Suddenly, all the things he'd 
spent his life building looked 

581
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:12,680
completely different. 
This resume he'd spent years 

582
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:15,120
polishing no longer looked like 
something to boast, and it just 

583
00:27:15,120 --> 00:27:18,200
wasn't appealing to him. 
Philippians chapter 3, right in 

584
00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:21,840
the very first verse, he says 
this, and this is a fun 

585
00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:23,520
sentence. 
Whatever happens, my dear 

586
00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:25,360
brothers and sisters, rejoice in
the Lord. 

587
00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:27,960
I never get tired of telling you
these things, and I do it to 

588
00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:30,800
safeguard your faith. 
He says watch out for those 

589
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:34,040
dogs, those people who do evil, 
those mutilators who say you 

590
00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:39,240
must be circumcised to be saved.
This is important, OK? 

591
00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:42,520
What's essentially happening is 
he's now telling these Gentiles 

592
00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:45,200
who are getting converted over 
to, to believe in the one true 

593
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:46,840
God. 
He's telling them you don't need

594
00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:48,200
to worry about being 
circumcised. 

595
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:49,720
And then there's people coming 
behind him. 

596
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:51,960
They're called the Judaizers. 
And they're saying if you really

597
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,680
want to embrace God, you need to
become just like the Jewish 

598
00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:56,600
people. 
You need to adhere to all of 

599
00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:58,480
these things. 
So he's like, don't listen to 

600
00:27:58,480 --> 00:27:59,960
the mutilators. 
That's what he calls them. 

601
00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:02,720
It's like a ska band or 
something, right? 

602
00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:05,200
But he's saying don't listen to 
them. 

603
00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:07,160
It's not just about 
circumcision, though. 

604
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:09,680
What it is, is they're saying 
there are things you have to do 

605
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:12,480
if you want to achieve a 
connection with God. 

606
00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:14,840
And he's saying God is offering 
you something. 

607
00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:16,800
And people are coming in after 
him and saying, yeah, he's 

608
00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:18,360
offering you something, but 
there's a price. 

609
00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:23,000
OK, Verse three, he says we who 
worship by the Spirit of God are

610
00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:24,720
the ones who are truly 
circumcised. 

611
00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:27,640
We rely on what Christ Jesus has
done for us. 

612
00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,320
We put no confidence in human 
effort, though I could have 

613
00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:33,400
confidence in my own effort if 
anyone could. 

614
00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:35,480
It's like it's a little bit of a
humble brag, right? 

615
00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:38,240
He says. 
Indeed, if others have a reason 

616
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,800
for confidence in their own 
efforts, I have even more, he 

617
00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:42,640
says. 
I was circumcised when I was 8 

618
00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:44,880
days old. 
It's a weird thing to write in a

619
00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:49,040
letter to somebody, but he says 
I am a pure blooded citizen of 

620
00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:52,480
Israel and a member of the tribe
of Benjamin, a real Hebrew if 

621
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,560
ever there was one. 
I was a member of the Pharisees 

622
00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,280
who demand the strictest 
obedience to the Jewish law. 

623
00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:01,640
I was so zealous that I harshly 
persecuted the church and asked 

624
00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:05,360
for righteousness. 
I obeyed the law without fault. 

625
00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:08,120
But listen where he goes after 
this. 

626
00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:13,280
He says I once thought these 
things were valuable, and now I 

627
00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,360
consider them worthless because 
of what Christ has done. 

628
00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:19,280
He said everything else is 
worthless when compared with the

629
00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:21,880
infinite value of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord. 

630
00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:25,480
For his sake, I've discarded 
everything else, counting it all

631
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:29,440
as garbage so that I could gain 
Christ and become one with Him. 

632
00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:32,520
Don't you want to live a life 
where you feel like you're one 

633
00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:36,720
with the Lord? 
Oh man, he says, I no longer 

634
00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:39,160
count on my own righteousness 
through obeying the law. 

635
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:42,560
Rather, I became righteous 
through faith in Christ. 

636
00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:46,160
For God's way of making us right
with Himself depends on faith. 

637
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:49,440
I want to know Christ and 
experience the mighty power that

638
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:52,040
raised Him from the dead. 
I want to suffer with Him, 

639
00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:55,480
sharing in His death so that one
way or another I will experience

640
00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:59,600
the resurrection from the dead. 
I want to talk about what He's 

641
00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:01,560
not saying before I talk about 
what He is saying. 

642
00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:05,120
He is not saying His heritage 
was worthless. 

643
00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:07,800
He is not saying that education 
was a mistake. 

644
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,040
He's not saying his obedience 
didn't matter. 

645
00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:11,880
They're all good things, they're
all gifts. 

646
00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:15,240
But what he is saying is they 
are trash compared to what God 

647
00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:19,560
has provided for me. 
And Paul met Jesus and for the 

648
00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:22,040
first time he realized his 
relationship with God had never 

649
00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:24,040
been built on a resume in the 
1st place. 

650
00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:27,280
There are people that believe in
God, want to live a life for 

651
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:28,640
him, and they just don't know 
Him. 

652
00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:32,640
In fact, this was something that
that Brenda preached on on 

653
00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:33,720
Wednesday. 
It was amazing. 

654
00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:35,800
It's not just about knowing 
about him. 

655
00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:38,520
You have to know him. 
Paul speaking in the language of

656
00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:42,320
saying he can become one with 
Christ, we can become one with 

657
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:45,120
God. 
It doesn't make you God, but 

658
00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:48,000
your whole faith is put into him
and so you trust His Spirit to 

659
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:50,240
guide you and that changes 
things. 

660
00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:52,880
Instead of trying to do the 
right things so you feel closer 

661
00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:55,760
to Him, you do the right things 
because His Spirit is guiding 

662
00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:58,240
you on that path. 
I wonder how many of us spend 

663
00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:01,480
our whole lives doing the same 
thing Paul used to do. 

664
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:04,840
I think we keep looking for 
things to reassure us that we're

665
00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:08,000
enough, but there's no 
accomplish that you can ever do,

666
00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:10,000
no accomplishment you can ever 
do that will ever give you the 

667
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:11,960
kind of confidence that you were
created to have. 

668
00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:15,360
Whatever confidence you can have
in the things you've done, it is

669
00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:17,440
nothing compared to the 
confidence you can have once God

670
00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:21,000
removes shame from you. 
Grace, I think, when understood 

671
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:23,160
correctly, settles the question 
once and for all. 

672
00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,840
When you're wondering if you're 
enough, would you rather ever 

673
00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,080
never fear again or fail again? 
Well, that question gets 

674
00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:31,680
answered through the grace of 
God. 

675
00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:34,640
The difference between the rich 
young ruler and Paul is this. 

676
00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:37,200
The rich young ruler walked away
because he knew he couldn't 

677
00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:40,400
imagine life without the things 
that gave him confidence. 

678
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:44,160
Paul took all the things that 
gave him confidence and laid 

679
00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:46,440
them down because he found a 
confidence that could never get 

680
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:49,360
taken away. 
We can find it too. 

681
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:53,040
I'll just tell you this, this is
a well told church story. 

682
00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:54,880
So a lot of people have used 
this illustration. 

683
00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:56,640
Anybody know the story of John 
Newton? 

684
00:31:57,160 --> 00:31:59,920
And John Newton he was the one 
that wrote the the very famous 

685
00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:04,400
hymn Amazing Grace. 
And what what is normally told 

686
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:07,480
about him is this, that before 
he wrote that hymn he was in the

687
00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:10,800
slave trade. 
And he wasn't a really great guy

688
00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:12,120
at all. 
It wasn't just like he made a 

689
00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:14,840
mistake or he was a product of 
the times he was in the slave 

690
00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:17,360
trade. 
He was one of the worst, most 

691
00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:19,720
rank heathens according to 
himself that he would have ever 

692
00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:21,640
found. 
And in the middle of running the

693
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:24,560
slave trade, he actually gets 
captured and enslaved. 

694
00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:29,760
And for almost 2 years he is a 
slave to other people in the 

695
00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:31,800
slave trade and then he gets 
rescued. 

696
00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:34,840
So what does he do after he gets
rescued? 

697
00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:36,640
Goes right back into the slave 
trade. 

698
00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,000
It's what he does. 
He's like, well, they did that 

699
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:41,600
to me, I'll show them what I'll 
do to that. 

700
00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:44,440
And he just goes right back to 
it until a miraculous moment 

701
00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:48,400
where the Lord got a hold of him
and changed his nature. 

702
00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:51,680
He couldn't do enough to undo 
the horrific things that 

703
00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:53,640
happened when you enslave 
another human being. 

704
00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,920
But he became the guy that 
penned Amazing Grace. 

705
00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:01,360
How sweet the sound that saved a
Wretch like me. 

706
00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:04,120
What a descriptive thing. 
Anytime I've heard somebody talk

707
00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:06,240
about how little they like 
themselves, I've never heard 

708
00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:08,480
them call themselves a Wretch. 
It's pretty unique. 

709
00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:11,400
But I want you to know this. 
He eventually became one of the 

710
00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:13,720
biggest preachers across 
England. 

711
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:17,680
And not only that, here's what 
he asked to have written on his 

712
00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:20,040
tombstone. 
Oh, man, I just had a random 

713
00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:21,480
memory. 
You remember those commercials 

714
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:22,600
in the 90s? 
What do you want on your 

715
00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:24,320
tombstone? 
They're like pepperoni. 

716
00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:27,160
Or for tombstone pizzas. 
Anybody remember those? 

717
00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:31,240
OK, well, it's not pepperoni. 
Here's what he asked to be 

718
00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:36,800
written on his tombstone. 
John Newton, Clerk, once an 

719
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:42,160
infidel and libertine, a servant
of slaves in Africa, was by the 

720
00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:46,360
rich mercy of our Lord and 
Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, 

721
00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:50,720
restored, pardoned, and 
appointed to preach the faith he

722
00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:55,600
had long labored to destroy. 
He didn't put anything about his

723
00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:58,480
family, anything about the dates
that he lived, anything about 

724
00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:01,240
his accomplishments. 
What he put was, here's who I 

725
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:03,760
was, and here's what God's grace
made me into. 

726
00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:07,320
If you've never heard of him, a 
lot of people have heard of 

727
00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:09,520
Charles Spurgeon. 
By the end of his career, he was

728
00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:11,120
being called the Prince of 
Preachers. 

729
00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:15,719
That's quite a title, but 
somebody asked him towards the 

730
00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:18,239
end of his life and they asked 
him to describe his theology and

731
00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:20,440
they said, what are you most 
proud of? 

732
00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:22,400
How do you think you've really 
contributed to Christianity? 

733
00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:25,480
And he said, my theology is only
found in four little words. 

734
00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:30,800
Jesus died for me. 
How do you argue with that 

735
00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:33,120
theology? 
There's a lot of churches here 

736
00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:35,760
that don't always get along and 
there are theological things 

737
00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:38,360
that they divide over that's not
normally one of them. 

738
00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:42,880
I thought maybe that we would 
end with something practical 

739
00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:44,520
this morning. 
I know that some of you like 

740
00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:46,840
taking notes. 
And so I thought I would help 

741
00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:48,920
you out. 
I want you to understand just 

742
00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:53,159
how important pride is. 
And so I don't know, maybe you 

743
00:34:53,159 --> 00:34:54,840
have not heard what I said or 
maybe you disagree. 

744
00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:58,840
But if your goal is to let pride
slowly ruin your life, I have 

745
00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:03,600
come up with some strategies to 
help you let pride ruin your 

746
00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:05,200
life. 
And we'll just, we'll take these

747
00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:07,520
one at a time. 
So first of all, let's talk 

748
00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:10,800
about your marriages. 
If you'd like pride to destroy 

749
00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:13,680
your marriage, you can start by 
just always assuming that you're

750
00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:17,040
the reasonable one. 
No, no, I got more and I'll try 

751
00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:18,440
to go slowly. 
If you want to write this down, 

752
00:35:19,640 --> 00:35:22,440
here's my advice to you. 
Never apologize first. 

753
00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:24,240
I mean, make them work for it, 
right? 

754
00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:28,120
Like if your spouse brings up 
something that you've done, 

755
00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:29,960
don't listen long enough to 
understand it. 

756
00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:32,360
Just explain why they 
misunderstood you. 

757
00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:36,280
They love that. 
And if they don't, then what I 

758
00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:38,600
want you to do is distract them 
by changing the subject to 

759
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:39,880
something they did that bothered
you. 

760
00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:43,680
That way, neither of your 
problems will get fixed and you 

761
00:35:43,680 --> 00:35:46,880
can keep score. 
I want you to remember every 

762
00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:49,680
single argument you've ever won,
and I want you to remember every

763
00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:51,360
single mistake that they've ever
made. 

764
00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:54,600
And if they point out one of 
your weaknesses, that's really 

765
00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:57,760
annoying, right? 
Remind them of two of theirs. 

766
00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:01,200
That's how you win. 
I want you to make sure every 

767
00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:04,400
disagreement becomes a courtroom
where your job is to prove your 

768
00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:06,640
innocence instead of a 
conversation where your goal is 

769
00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:09,720
understanding. 
And I, I'll make you a promise 

770
00:36:09,720 --> 00:36:11,760
here, OK? 
Over time, if you do this, 

771
00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:14,120
you'll find that your marriage 
becomes less about serving one 

772
00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:16,000
another and more about 
protecting yourself. 

773
00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:22,640
So if that's your goal, there's 
some tips just in case there's 

774
00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:25,240
pride in your marriage. 
It's uncomfortable. 

775
00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:28,560
Well, if you want to lose your 
closest friendships, I have some

776
00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:31,480
tips there too. 
And it starts with this. 

777
00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:33,040
You should be impossible to 
correct. 

778
00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:36,600
And here's what you do. 
Anytime somebody offers you 

779
00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:38,720
advice, I want you to assume 
that they don't understand the 

780
00:36:38,720 --> 00:36:41,240
full story. 
Whenever somebody lovingly 

781
00:36:41,240 --> 00:36:43,760
points out a blind spot, like 
Jesus did for the rich young 

782
00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:46,840
ruler, I want you to become 
defensive before you have even 

783
00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:49,800
finished listening. 
I want you to explain yourself. 

784
00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:51,280
I want you to defend your 
motives. 

785
00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:54,240
And I want you to, above all, 
surround yourself with people 

786
00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:56,160
who tell you what you already 
want to hear. 

787
00:36:56,800 --> 00:36:59,400
And then once you've got that 
and you've got all the people 

788
00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:01,440
who will tell you what you want 
to hear, I want you to distance 

789
00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:03,280
yourself from the people who 
love you enough to tell you the 

790
00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:04,800
truth. 
Why? 

791
00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:07,200
Because eventually you'll find 
yourself with plenty of people 

792
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:09,160
that know your name, but they 
don't actually know you. 

793
00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:13,040
The friendships that you still 
have at that point will be the 

794
00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:14,800
shallow ones. 
And that'll be good because the 

795
00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:16,880
deep friendships actually 
require humility. 

796
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:20,240
So if you want to kill your 
friendships with pride, that's 

797
00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:22,160
how you do that one. 
Everybody good. 

798
00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:26,120
Do I need to repeat anything? 
OK, how about if you just want 

799
00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:28,920
to lose the joy of life itself 
because life is such a gift. 

800
00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:31,800
You can do that just by spending
everyday comparing yourself to 

801
00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:34,400
someone else. 
Make sure that you compare your 

802
00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:36,600
marriage to somebody else's. 
Compare your house to the 

803
00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:38,040
neighbors. 
Compare your kids, your 

804
00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:41,800
vacations, your retirement 
account, those that are serving 

805
00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:43,760
here, man, Compare your ministry
to the other ones. 

806
00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:45,040
That's a really good thing to 
do. 

807
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:49,720
It's helpful for churches. 
Compare your careers and your 

808
00:37:49,720 --> 00:37:51,840
social media and your 
appearance. 

809
00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:54,000
If I could just sum it up, I 
would just say this. 

810
00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,280
If you want to kill the joy you 
have of life, just look 

811
00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:58,480
sideways. 
Every time God gives you 

812
00:37:58,480 --> 00:37:59,960
something good, don't look at 
it. 

813
00:37:59,960 --> 00:38:02,440
Look sideways and find somebody 
who has something a little bit 

814
00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:04,400
better, at least by your 
standards. 

815
00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:08,080
Comparison never lets you enjoy 
what God has given you because 

816
00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:12,480
it keeps pride in the forefront.
Which means that you arrive at 

817
00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:15,840
one goal only to find that you 
have now received a new goal. 

818
00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:20,680
It's never enough. 
If you do this right, you'll be 

819
00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:23,160
surrounded by the blessings that
you once prayed for, but you'll 

820
00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:25,640
never enjoy them because you'll 
be too busy looking at somebody 

821
00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:31,040
else's. 
I have one more if you want it. 

822
00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:34,400
No. 
OK, well, here we go. 

823
00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:38,520
This is the best one. 
If you want to destroy your 

824
00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:41,640
relationship with the Lord, I 
want you to spend your time 

825
00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:44,440
trying to impress Him. 
I want you to bring him your 

826
00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:46,080
resume, just like the rich young
ruler. 

827
00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:48,480
I want you to go out of your way
to tell him how long you've been

828
00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:50,800
a Christian. 
I want you to remind him how 

829
00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:54,040
many Bible studies you have 
attended and how often you serve

830
00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:56,480
at your church. 
I want you to let him know how 

831
00:38:56,480 --> 00:38:58,840
much theology you know. 
I'm sure he's interested in 

832
00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:02,680
learning. 
And I want you to tell him how 

833
00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:04,560
much better you're doing than 
the people around you. 

834
00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:07,840
I want you to read your Bible 
and pray your prayers. 

835
00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:08,960
And I want you to come to 
church. 

836
00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:11,800
But somewhere underneath all of 
it, I just want you to believe 

837
00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:13,920
that God must be pretty 
fortunate to have somebody like 

838
00:39:13,920 --> 00:39:18,920
you on his team. 
It's uncomfortable, right? 

839
00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:24,640
I'm here to party. 
All right, for those of you that

840
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:26,480
are going to listen to me talk a
little bit longer, the Next 

841
00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:28,760
Steps class, at least I got 
Bojangles chicken for you, so 

842
00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:30,840
it's going to be good. 
All right, listen. 

843
00:39:31,720 --> 00:39:34,520
Before long you will start to 
look religious, but you'll stop 

844
00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:36,720
depending on Jesus. 
This is what happens to church 

845
00:39:36,720 --> 00:39:39,440
folk if they're not careful. 
You will know all the right 

846
00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:42,560
answers, but you will lose the 
wonder of that Amazing Grace I 

847
00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:45,160
was just talking about. 
You will stop coming to God as a

848
00:39:45,160 --> 00:39:47,760
child who needs a father, and 
you'll start him approaching him

849
00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:50,920
like an employee who wants a 
performance review instead. 

850
00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:54,640
And that's what pride does. 
It won't pull you away from your

851
00:39:54,640 --> 00:39:57,000
faith, but it will pull you away
from a relationship. 

852
00:39:57,480 --> 00:39:59,320
So my question to you is, what 
if we just flipped it all 

853
00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:00,680
around? 
What if instead of trying to 

854
00:40:00,680 --> 00:40:02,760
ruin our relationships, just 
throw it out there? 

855
00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:06,560
What if instead of spending our 
lives protecting our pride, we 

856
00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:08,440
spent our lives remembering 
God's grace? 

857
00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:11,000
Now we've arrived back at that 
word again to remember His 

858
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:13,600
grace. 
Moses kept saying, remember 

859
00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:15,240
this. 
Remember where it came from. 

860
00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:17,960
I want you to know what one of 
the healthiest habits you could 

861
00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:21,720
build this week is to remember. 
Before you start thinking about 

862
00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:24,360
everything that you have to 
accomplish, I just want you to 

863
00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:27,560
spend a few moments remembering 
before you open the checklist. 

864
00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:30,320
I got a checklist app. 
I live my life by. 

865
00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:32,840
Just start remembering. 
Some people do it through a 

866
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:34,480
gratitude journal. 
That's fine if that's you. 

867
00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:36,480
If it's not, just sit there and 
remember. 

868
00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:38,960
Lord, today's going to be hard. 
It's going to be really hard, 

869
00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:42,000
but I saw you come through this 
week. 

870
00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:44,360
I saw you come through in this 
relationship. 

871
00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:46,720
I saw you bless a conversation. 
I didn't think we'd be blessed. 

872
00:40:46,720 --> 00:40:48,920
I saw you give me mercy when I 
didn't think I had it. 

873
00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:52,560
I saw you provide for us when I 
didn't think we'd be able to pay

874
00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:55,000
that bill. 
Whatever it is, start 

875
00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:57,600
remembering. 
It's hard for pride to survive 

876
00:40:57,600 --> 00:40:59,240
in a heart that's overwhelmed by
gratitude. 

877
00:40:59,240 --> 00:41:02,280
But as we come to the end of 
this message and the end of this

878
00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:05,400
whole series, I really just want
to return to the place that we 

879
00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:08,240
began this morning, OK? 
The rich young ruler has come 

880
00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:10,440
running to Jesus. 
He has knelt down before him, 

881
00:41:10,840 --> 00:41:13,880
and he has asked him, what do I 
have to do to inherit eternal 

882
00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:16,200
life? 
You just heard the story. 

883
00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:18,480
You know this. 
And he walks away sad. 

884
00:41:19,240 --> 00:41:20,960
I always think of like that 
Charlie Brown music. 

885
00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:23,240
Whenever Charlie Brown would 
walk away rejected, That's how I

886
00:41:23,240 --> 00:41:25,560
picture him. 
He just, he feels rejected and 

887
00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:29,320
he walks away sad. 
What happens next? 

888
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:32,680
The disciples had just watched 
someone who appeared to possess 

889
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:37,200
every visible sign of God's 
blessing, and they asked him 

890
00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:40,440
questions about this. 
And I get it, because in that 

891
00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:43,480
day it was very much considered 
that if you had God's blessings,

892
00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:45,720
things went well. 
If you don't understand this, go

893
00:41:45,720 --> 00:41:51,440
read the book of Job because he 
has some friends, he he has 

894
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:55,520
acquaintances that show up and 
they start questioning why he's 

895
00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:57,480
going through what he's going 
through if he's really blessed 

896
00:41:57,480 --> 00:42:00,400
by God. 
And so they would associate if 

897
00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:01,920
things are going poorly, you 
must be in sin. 

898
00:42:01,920 --> 00:42:03,680
If things are going well, you 
must be blessed. 

899
00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:05,640
And today we run into that same 
trap. 

900
00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:08,520
Listen to this. 
It says in verse 22, right where

901
00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:11,960
we left off in Mark 10, the 
man's face fell and he went away

902
00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:13,800
sad, for he had many 
possessions. 

903
00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:18,080
Jesus looked around and he said 
to his disciples how hard it is 

904
00:42:18,080 --> 00:42:19,800
for the rich to enter the 
Kingdom of God. 

905
00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:22,520
And this amazed them. 
But Jesus said again, dear 

906
00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:25,520
children, it's very hard to 
enter the Kingdom of God. 

907
00:42:26,240 --> 00:42:28,600
He says, in fact, it's easier 
for a camel to go through the 

908
00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:31,120
eye of a needle than for a rich 
person to enter the Kingdom of 

909
00:42:31,120 --> 00:42:33,280
God. 
And there's some debate over 

910
00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:35,360
what that meant, but we're not 
going to talk about that today. 

911
00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:38,160
The point is in verse 26, the 
disciples are astounded. 

912
00:42:38,160 --> 00:42:40,400
Then they said, then who in the 
world can be saved? 

913
00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:42,160
And thankfully Jesus gives them 
an answer. 

914
00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:44,840
He looks at them and he says, 
humanly speaking, it is 

915
00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:51,000
impossible. 
That's OK, He said nobody. 

916
00:42:51,840 --> 00:42:54,760
That's what he said. 
And he said, but not with God. 

917
00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:56,960
He said everything's possible 
with God. 

918
00:42:57,600 --> 00:42:59,360
He was looking at them and 
saying, it doesn't matter how 

919
00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:01,440
much this guy has, it wasn't 
going to get him to heaven. 

920
00:43:02,360 --> 00:43:04,320
The things that is that he has 
aren't getting. 

921
00:43:04,640 --> 00:43:06,400
They're not going to get him to 
heaven or to hell. 

922
00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:09,880
But his heart is different. 
Listen to this. 

923
00:43:10,680 --> 00:43:12,680
Peter began to speak up and he 
said, well, we've given up 

924
00:43:12,680 --> 00:43:15,240
everything to follow you. 
There's that sideways look. 

925
00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:19,160
Well, have we given up enough? 
Jesus, you know what he's really

926
00:43:19,160 --> 00:43:20,520
asking? 
Are we going to inherit eternal 

927
00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:23,960
life or are we good? 
And Jesus says, yes. 

928
00:43:24,160 --> 00:43:26,720
And I assure you that everyone 
who's given up house or brothers

929
00:43:26,720 --> 00:43:29,360
or sisters or mother or father 
or children or property, for my 

930
00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:32,920
sake and for the good news will 
receive now in return 100 times 

931
00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:36,000
as many houses, brothers and 
sisters and mothers and children

932
00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:39,000
and property. 
And some of you are like, well, 

933
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:40,800
I don't know if I want more 
brothers and sisters. 

934
00:43:41,560 --> 00:43:44,640
Well, you got them. 
Oh, and he says along with 

935
00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:46,560
persecution, that's weird, isn't
it? 

936
00:43:47,640 --> 00:43:50,800
You follow me, Guess what? 
You get a brand new car and 

937
00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:53,680
houses and a big old family and 
lots of property and you're 

938
00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:59,800
going to get really persecuted. 
Oh, and then he says, And in the

939
00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:04,320
world to come that person will 
have eternal life. 

940
00:44:05,600 --> 00:44:07,960
But many who are the greatest 
now will be the least important 

941
00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:10,960
then, and those who seem least 
important now will be the 

942
00:44:10,960 --> 00:44:13,600
greatest then. 
I think the disciples finally 

943
00:44:13,600 --> 00:44:15,640
asked the right question when 
they said, who in the world can 

944
00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:17,840
be saved? 
What if the rich young ruler had

945
00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:20,040
asked that when he showed up to 
ask Jesus? 

946
00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:25,080
I think he asked that the way he
did. 

947
00:44:25,080 --> 00:44:27,560
He said, what do I need to do? 
Because he believes salvation 

948
00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:29,600
was one more achievement he 
could add to his life. 

949
00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:31,320
And I'm just here to tell you 
today that it's not. 

950
00:44:32,840 --> 00:44:34,760
There's nothing you can do to 
earn your way into the Kingdom 

951
00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:36,200
of God. 
I don't care how obedient you 

952
00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:39,120
are, if you figure out how to go
the rest of your life from this 

953
00:44:39,120 --> 00:44:43,080
moment on, and you don't sin a 
single time from now until the 

954
00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:46,040
day you die, you still would not
have earned your own 

955
00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:47,480
righteousness. 
You would not have earned your 

956
00:44:47,480 --> 00:44:50,600
own path into eternity, into the
Kingdom. 

957
00:44:51,160 --> 00:44:54,360
You can't. 
So I'm here today to tell you 

958
00:44:54,360 --> 00:44:57,920
it's impossible, but not 
impossible with God. 

959
00:44:59,080 --> 00:45:01,240
That's why Jesus wanted them to 
understand. 

960
00:45:01,240 --> 00:45:03,680
After the rich young ruler 
walked away, he was happy to 

961
00:45:03,680 --> 00:45:05,080
talk to them about what 
happened. 

962
00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:07,040
The issue wasn't that the man 
had too much. 

963
00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:09,200
The issue was that he trusted 
what he had. 

964
00:45:10,200 --> 00:45:12,400
So is it your relationships that
make you feel safe? 

965
00:45:13,040 --> 00:45:15,320
Is it the numbers? 
Whatever it is. 

966
00:45:16,360 --> 00:45:17,960
And the disciples needed to 
learn this lesson. 

967
00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:20,400
You know why pride was already 
growing inside of them? 

968
00:45:20,960 --> 00:45:23,680
If you are familiar with these 
knuckleheads that follow Jesus, 

969
00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:26,440
they had argued over which of 
them was the greatest. 

970
00:45:26,440 --> 00:45:29,080
They had judged people who were 
serving Jesus differently than 

971
00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:31,080
they were. 
James and John wanted to call 

972
00:45:31,080 --> 00:45:33,080
down fire on a Samaritan 
village. 

973
00:45:33,360 --> 00:45:35,480
When the people didn't welcome 
them, they said, Jesus, do you 

974
00:45:35,480 --> 00:45:37,240
want us to call down fire from 
heaven and kill them? 

975
00:45:38,520 --> 00:45:41,760
What? 
When had that ever been a 

976
00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:45,680
command of Jesus's? 
These guys were kind of rude. 

977
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:51,960
What do you think about death? 
Later, those same two guys tried

978
00:45:51,960 --> 00:45:54,240
to secure the most important 
seats beside Jesus. 

979
00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:56,960
When the other disciples heard 
about it, they became indignant.

980
00:45:56,960 --> 00:45:58,640
Not because they were more 
humble, but because they were 

981
00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:00,800
also envious. 
James and John were trying to 

982
00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:02,520
claim the places they wanted for
themselves. 

983
00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:05,080
You can see the same progression
we've been tracing through this 

984
00:46:05,080 --> 00:46:09,320
whole series. 
Envy, bitterness, anger, judge, 

985
00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:11,960
mentalism, and underneath all of
it is pride. 

986
00:46:13,360 --> 00:46:15,440
It's why these sins can remain 
so prevalent in the modern 

987
00:46:15,440 --> 00:46:15,920
church. 
Why? 

988
00:46:15,920 --> 00:46:18,280
Because we don't kill pride. 
That's why. 

989
00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:21,440
Anger can exist in a church and 
we can get so mad or so judge 

990
00:46:21,440 --> 00:46:23,640
mental or so envious over what 
other people have because we 

991
00:46:23,640 --> 00:46:26,240
have not killed the root of it. 
And we've got to. 

992
00:46:26,240 --> 00:46:30,480
We have to take it seriously. 
The Gospel offers us something 

993
00:46:30,480 --> 00:46:32,720
that's far more freeing than 
spending your life trying to 

994
00:46:32,720 --> 00:46:35,600
maintain a polished and 
Christian version of yourself. 

995
00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:38,520
There's a line near the end of 
John Steinbeck's East of Eden. 

996
00:46:38,520 --> 00:46:42,360
It's one of my favorite quotes 
of all time, and I hope you hear

997
00:46:42,360 --> 00:46:43,480
it like it's being spoken to 
you. 

998
00:46:43,480 --> 00:46:46,720
Because it is, right now. 
And now that you don't have to 

999
00:46:46,720 --> 00:46:52,480
be perfect, you can be good. 
There was something profoundly 

1000
00:46:52,480 --> 00:46:54,760
gospel shaped in that line, 
although the gospel takes it 

1001
00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:57,880
further than John Steinbeck. 
But once you stop trying to 

1002
00:46:57,880 --> 00:47:00,800
prove that you're good enough to
save yourself, once you stop 

1003
00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:04,360
wondering if you're doing enough
to make God happy, you're free 

1004
00:47:04,440 --> 00:47:06,760
to be good. 
And here's the thing, a right 

1005
00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:09,440
spirit always produces the right
path in life. 

1006
00:47:09,960 --> 00:47:12,440
And you may say, well, I rely on
God and I've still done the 

1007
00:47:12,440 --> 00:47:14,280
wrong thing. 
I bet you have me too. 

1008
00:47:14,960 --> 00:47:17,720
When your spirit is right and 
your heart is right and you live

1009
00:47:17,720 --> 00:47:21,320
with a clean heart and you ask 
God to guide you, you'll get it 

1010
00:47:21,320 --> 00:47:23,680
wrong sometimes. 
But you know what he does? 

1011
00:47:24,160 --> 00:47:27,040
He's a good father. 
He just comes up to you. 

1012
00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:30,200
He just puts his hand there. 
Hey, Emma Lynn, come up here. 

1013
00:47:31,320 --> 00:47:33,240
It's my daughter. 
I don't have to ask her in 

1014
00:47:33,240 --> 00:47:40,800
advance. 
So could you imagine if I said I

1015
00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:44,360
want you to walk straight ahead?
The Father asks and instead of 

1016
00:47:44,360 --> 00:47:48,200
that, she walks over here. 
Some of us feel like God's about

1017
00:47:48,200 --> 00:47:51,720
to go. 
She said, no, you're not. 

1018
00:47:52,160 --> 00:47:54,720
Some of us think that God is 
done with us. 

1019
00:47:54,800 --> 00:47:56,400
He's like, you know what, you 
won't listen to me, you've 

1020
00:47:56,400 --> 00:47:58,080
screwed up one too many times. 
That's it. 

1021
00:47:58,840 --> 00:48:00,720
You know what God does? 
Start walking towards the edge. 

1022
00:48:04,200 --> 00:48:06,840
When your desire is to do the 
right thing, He puts you right 

1023
00:48:06,840 --> 00:48:08,240
back on it. 
And when you go the wrong way, 

1024
00:48:09,840 --> 00:48:13,760
he just straightens you out. 
OK, you and I have tried to get 

1025
00:48:13,760 --> 00:48:16,600
to a place that we feel like we 
will get to, the place that 

1026
00:48:16,600 --> 00:48:19,480
we're always walking the right 
path and we're never screwing up

1027
00:48:19,480 --> 00:48:21,760
anymore. 
The second you get there, guess 

1028
00:48:21,760 --> 00:48:24,280
what? 
You don't need God. 

1029
00:48:25,840 --> 00:48:28,440
You're never going to get there.
It's impossible, but it's not 

1030
00:48:28,440 --> 00:48:30,480
impossible with God. 
Hey, you're a good kid. 

1031
00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:35,240
Bye. 
It's not impossible with God. 

1032
00:48:35,240 --> 00:48:37,360
I want you to know that. 
So I want all of us to have the 

1033
00:48:37,360 --> 00:48:38,920
same challenge as we close this 
series. 

1034
00:48:38,920 --> 00:48:41,000
And guys, you are not going to 
get a better opportunity than 

1035
00:48:41,000 --> 00:48:44,400
this because I started this by 
saying I think we all have 

1036
00:48:44,400 --> 00:48:46,720
pride. 
So if we're all answering this 

1037
00:48:46,720 --> 00:48:48,840
pride challenge, you don't have 
to be embarrassed and say I'm 

1038
00:48:49,080 --> 00:48:51,480
I'm doing this to work on my 
pride because we all are. 

1039
00:48:51,480 --> 00:48:53,200
As a matter of fact, you should 
be embarrassed if you're the one

1040
00:48:53,200 --> 00:48:54,680
not working on your pride. 
There you go. 

1041
00:48:55,280 --> 00:48:58,840
Listen, ask the Holy Spirit to 
reveal where pride has been 

1042
00:48:58,840 --> 00:49:01,200
hiding beneath the other things 
that you've been fighting. 

1043
00:49:01,520 --> 00:49:04,920
If you feel like it's been anger
or judge mentalism, or it's envy

1044
00:49:04,920 --> 00:49:07,320
or these things that you've been
battling, find where that pride 

1045
00:49:07,320 --> 00:49:08,560
has been underneath. 
OK? 

1046
00:49:08,880 --> 00:49:11,480
When anger begins to take 
control, ask what expectation 

1047
00:49:11,480 --> 00:49:13,360
isn't being met. 
When bitterness starts replaying

1048
00:49:13,360 --> 00:49:15,240
an old wound, I want you to 
figure out where pride has 

1049
00:49:15,240 --> 00:49:17,760
convinced you that healing 
requires the other person to 

1050
00:49:17,760 --> 00:49:19,760
suffer first. 
Because that's ridiculous. 

1051
00:49:20,720 --> 00:49:22,840
But here's the big thing. 
I want you to do something about

1052
00:49:22,840 --> 00:49:25,840
it. 
Specifically, I want you to go 

1053
00:49:25,840 --> 00:49:27,760
out of your way to do something 
that pride hates. 

1054
00:49:27,760 --> 00:49:29,200
That's the act of pulling up the
root. 

1055
00:49:29,200 --> 00:49:33,040
So here are some options. 
I want you to tell the truth. 

1056
00:49:33,440 --> 00:49:35,840
I want you to apologize to 
somebody without adding an 

1057
00:49:35,840 --> 00:49:38,760
explanation to it. 
I want you to receive correction

1058
00:49:38,760 --> 00:49:41,720
without immediately defending 
yourself or celebrate somebody 

1059
00:49:41,720 --> 00:49:43,200
who got something that you 
really wanted. 

1060
00:49:44,000 --> 00:49:46,480
I want you to serve somewhere 
that nobody's going to notice, 

1061
00:49:47,160 --> 00:49:49,400
or give somebody else the 
credit, or just confess the 

1062
00:49:49,400 --> 00:49:51,920
thing you've been hiding. 
I want you to do one thing that 

1063
00:49:51,920 --> 00:49:54,960
goes against what your flesh 
wants because it's ultimately 

1064
00:49:54,960 --> 00:49:58,520
going to be for your good. 
And I need you to know this too.

1065
00:49:58,920 --> 00:50:03,080
Next week, we're starting a 
brand new series, It's called 

1066
00:50:03,080 --> 00:50:05,800
Things Unseen. 
Next week we're going to start 

1067
00:50:05,800 --> 00:50:08,600
venturing into the realm of 
spiritual warfare. 

1068
00:50:10,640 --> 00:50:12,160
I'm going to tell you all 
something that I was going to 

1069
00:50:12,160 --> 00:50:15,160
say for the first time publicly 
at the leadership meeting, but 

1070
00:50:15,200 --> 00:50:16,400
I'll just unpack it more for 
them. 

1071
00:50:16,440 --> 00:50:17,440
Then you can all hear it 
together. 

1072
00:50:18,400 --> 00:50:21,320
There are three series that 
we're going to go through to 

1073
00:50:21,320 --> 00:50:22,720
make sure that we understand 
this. 

1074
00:50:22,840 --> 00:50:25,160
This is something that the Lord 
really wants for us to go 

1075
00:50:25,160 --> 00:50:27,160
through. 
The first thing we need to do is

1076
00:50:27,160 --> 00:50:30,000
understand that there is a whole
unseen realm where things are 

1077
00:50:30,000 --> 00:50:32,320
happening, OK? 
You need to understand there's 

1078
00:50:32,320 --> 00:50:34,240
an invisible war, and just 
because you don't see it doesn't

1079
00:50:34,240 --> 00:50:36,840
mean you're not part of it. 
We need to understand this. 

1080
00:50:37,280 --> 00:50:39,520
The second area we're going to 
end up going later in the year 

1081
00:50:40,240 --> 00:50:41,680
is through the power of the Holy
Spirit. 

1082
00:50:42,240 --> 00:50:44,840
You need to be equipped and 
armored up with the Holy Spirit.

1083
00:50:45,040 --> 00:50:48,160
If you understand just how much 
the Holy Spirit is available for

1084
00:50:48,160 --> 00:50:51,080
you and how much power is behind
the Holy Spirit, your whole life

1085
00:50:51,080 --> 00:50:52,640
would look different. 
You wouldn't even really have a 

1086
00:50:52,640 --> 00:50:53,880
hobby. 
You'd just be chasing that power

1087
00:50:53,880 --> 00:50:55,600
of the Holy Spirit with the 
right motives. 

1088
00:50:56,720 --> 00:50:59,120
And the last place we'll go is 
we start to get closer to the 

1089
00:50:59,120 --> 00:51:01,800
end of the year is going to be, 
yeah, there are demons, there 

1090
00:51:01,800 --> 00:51:03,680
are dark forces. 
There are things that happen. 

1091
00:51:03,680 --> 00:51:05,160
And we're going to talk about 
how to combat it. 

1092
00:51:05,760 --> 00:51:07,840
None of it matters if you don't 
understand it first. 

1093
00:51:08,120 --> 00:51:11,360
And if you enter into the 
spiritual battle with sin still 

1094
00:51:11,360 --> 00:51:14,160
having its root deep down in 
you, it's going to be really 

1095
00:51:14,160 --> 00:51:15,920
difficult. 
And I want you equipped for the 

1096
00:51:15,920 --> 00:51:17,720
very best chance of success 
you've got. 

1097
00:51:17,720 --> 00:51:19,080
And we'll fight that battle 
together. 

1098
00:51:19,080 --> 00:51:19,400
Amen.