of service to every aspect pleasing is Lord in preaching. Most importantly Lord
please give Pastor Mahir your spirit as he preaches unto us and give us your
spirit in the congregation Lord that we may leave her changed. In Jesus name we
pray amen. You may be seated please turn to song number 427 just one page over in
your song books there. Song number 427 we three kings of Orient are. Song number
427 all together nice and strong in that first verse. We three kings of Orient are.
Church is a few announcements here for we're seeing our next song. Song number
422 you want to get that ready in your song books.
Thou didst leave thy throne 422 if you did not get a song I'm sorry if you did
not get a bulletin raise your hand one of the ushers can get one for you some
important information on there. Our Sunday evening service tonight is at 5
p.m. so we welcome you to come back to that and then we of course we have our
Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock we are currently going through the book
of John we're completing we will be completing the book of John soon and so
we got a couple chapters left we are a family integrated church and so infants
and children stay with their parents in the service but for your convenience we
do have mother-baby rooms located throughout the building and so in case
your child gets a little out of hand gets a little fussy you need to take
them out of the service you can ask one of the ushers where those rooms are
located there's speakers and screens available there as well as changing
tables so you can still tune into the preaching and come back in at your
discretion you see the soul winning times in teams listed there in the
middle and then the list of expecting mothers if you can keep them in prayer
congratulations to miss Karina and brother Freddie on the birth of their
baby boy Freddie Joel Sotelo so give them a round of applause there praise
God for that got the stats there for salvations and baptisms for the month
of November we've already completed our 2000 goal we've actually exceeded that
so praise the Lord for that on the right hand side is the upcoming church events
we have the Christmas program coming up this Saturday December 20th program
starts at 6 p.m. that'll of course be at here at the building if you have any
questions about that you can talk to our Christmas program director brother
Maury Lemons he has all the info there feel free to welcome your family and
friends to come to that the kids have been working really hard every single
week with that in mind we do have a dress rehearsal for the Christmas program
tonight after the service so parents keep that in mind I'm sure you already
know about that Lord's Supper will be next Sunday evening December 21st so
make sure you don't miss out on that Christmas Eve service is coming up on
Wednesday December 24th and then the New Year's Eve services on Wednesday
December 31st please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching
so as to not be a distraction during the service before I forget one last
thing this morning and tonight will be the last services where we hand these
out which is the completion of the Bible reading so if you've completed your
Bible reading for the year make sure you fill this out throw it into the offer in
place so we can get you your certificate as well as a gift card for
your completion of that for the children beginners intermediate and of course the
advanced there put your name put into the offering plate we're not going to
put these in the bulletin next week but they will be in the guest center and so
if you forget to do that today you can still do it for the Thursday service and
the following service but just make sure it gets in the hands of one of the
ushers so we can get you your certificate and that is it for our
announcements 422 our next song thou didst leave thy throne song number 422
all together nice and strong on that first verse now it's leave the Ronnie
chapter 8 chapter number 8 morning we're in Deuteronomy chapter number 8
Deuteronomy chapter 8 read the entire chapter together as is our custom
beginning in verse number 1 Bible reads all the commandments which I command thee
this day shall observe to do you may live and multiply and go in and possess
the land which the Lord swear unto your fathers now shall remember all the way
which the Lord thy God led thee these 40 years in the wilderness to humble thee
to prove thee to know what was in thine heart whether thou wouldest keep his
commandments or no and he humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger and fed thee
with manna which thou knewest not now that at thy fathers know that he might
make thee know the man doth not live by bread only by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live thy raiment wax not old
upon thee neither thy foot swell these forty years I shall also consider in
thine heart that as a man chasteneth his son so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee
therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God to
walk in his ways and to fear him the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good
land a land of brooks of water fountains and depths that spring out of
valleys and hills the land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and
pomegranates land of oil olive and honey land wherein thou shalt eat bread
without scarceness thou shalt not like anything in it land whose stones are
iron and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass when thou hast eaten and art
full thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which hath given thee
beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments in
his judgments in his statutes which I command thee this day lest when thou
hast eaten and art full thus built goodly houses and dwelt therein when thy
herds and thy flocks multiply and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied and
all that thou hast is multiplied then thine heart be lifted up now forget the
Lord thy God which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the house
of bondage who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness wherein
were fiery serpents and scorpions and drought where there was no water who
brought thee forth out of the rock of Flint who brought forth water out of the
rock of Flint fed thee in the wilderness with manna which thy fathers knew not
that he might humble thee and they might prove thee to do thee good at thy
latter end and thou say in thine heart my power and the might of mine hand hath
gotten me this wealth that I shall remember the Lord thy God for it is he
that giveth he power to get wealth he may establish his covenant which you
swear unto thy fathers as it is this day and there shall be thou do it all
forget the Lord thy God and walk after other gods and serve them and worship
them I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish as the nations
which the Lord destroyeth before your face so shall ye perish because he would
not because he would not be obedient under the voice of the Lord your God
pray to the Lord God thank you again for this church thank you for a pastor which
asks that you would bless him with your Holy Spirit now as he preachers and in
Jesus name we pray amen amen okay we're in Deuteronomy chapter 8 this morning
hold your place there and go to Proverbs chapter 11 hold your place there in
Deuteronomy 8 we're gonna come back to that in just a bit the time I serve in
this morning is how to handle success how to handle success it goes without
saying that as a Christian if you do things right you're gonna experience
some level of success in all areas of life of course we know we're gonna
succeed as a Christian succeeding getting other people saved leading other
people to righteousness being able to lead our families in the ways of
righteousness and succeeding in the eyes of God in that particular area but we're
also gonna succeed at our jobs we're gonna succeed in the relationships that
we have we're gonna succeed financially at times we're gonna succeed in our
health and essentially what I'm saying here is that Christianity permeates in
saturates all aspects of our life when we serve God in fact the Bible tells us
in Joshua chapter 1 verse number 8 this book of the law shall not depart out of
thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest
observe to do according to all that is written therein for then thou shalt make
thy way prosperous and I want you to notice this and then thou shalt have
good success so according to the Bible in order for us to experience true
success actual success it's always tied in to the Bible right as Christians if
we want to prosper this side of eternity and you know achieve great
things whether temporarily or eternally it's always associated with our
relationship to the Bible right our obedience to God's Word the Bible also
says in third John and verse number two you don't have to turn there beloved I
wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy
soul prospers and of course the most important aspect of our success is the
prosperity of our soul right the prosperity of our spiritual well-being
the fact that we are reading the Bible every single day that success right the
fact that you are in church listening to the preaching of God's Word leading
other people to Christ living righteously these are signs of success
and the Bible's telling us here that God wants us to prosper in all ways just as
our soul would prosper as well and this morning I want to talk to you about how
to handle that success and I have two points this morning and a couple sub
points under those two number one is how to handle your own success but also want
to talk to you about how to handle someone else's success why because there's
a lot of haters out there right and you don't want to become a hater you want
to become a congratulator you want to become someone who isn't envious of
other people's achievements you need to learn as a Christian how to handle
someone else's someone else's success so let's talk about this let's talk about
how to handle your own success if you are serving God you're living
righteously you're keeping your life clean from sin you're reading the Bible
you're getting people saved you can honestly say you are a successful
person you are a successful Christian you have a great marriage if you are
raising your children in the nurture in the admonition of the Lord if you are
learning biblical doctrine Bible truths you're living it out in your job with
your relationships you can say beyond a shadow of a doubt I'm successful in the
Lord so how do you handle that when that takes place well first and foremost
let me start off by saying this that you handle your own success by succeeding
the right way okay by succeeding the right way you see there's a lot of
people out there in the world who are succeeding financially they're
succeeding in their fame they are achieving great things but they're
dishonest people meaning that they are achieving those things through dishonest
means they're cheating their way to the top and make no mistake about it God
wants us to be honest individuals and to achieve great things in a very honest
way even if we don't succeed God's success in God's eyes is that you have
integrity right so even if you don't succeed in the in the world's eyes you
don't succeed in the eyes of the public but you did it the right way according
to the Bible you are successful because it's more important to God for you to do
things the right way it's never right to do wrong to do right right it's never
right to cheat and lie and steal in order to achieve something great your
integrity is far more important than that let me read to you a couple verses
here before we get into Proverbs Psalm 1 verse 1 says blessed is the man that
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the
Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night he shall be like a tree
planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season
his leaf also shone out with her and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper that
word prosper is just another way of saying success right to succeed look at
Proverbs chapter 10 Proverbs chapter 10 in verse number two it tells us here
treasures of wickedness profit nothing but righteousness delivereth from death
so what is treasures of wickedness it's referring to the fact that you are
obtaining wealth by unrighteous means you're obtaining wealth by dishonesty
because you're lying you're stealing you are stealing time from your boss right
by leaving early clocking out early not doing a good job yeah you might have
succeeded and gotten your paycheck but you did it by dishonest means and the
Bible is clearly telling us here that we need to obtain treasures obtain wealth
by honest means look at Proverbs chapter 11 if you would Proverbs chapter 11
Proverbs chapter 11 it's better to succeed in your integrity than to fail
at your desired outcome look what it says in Proverbs 11 verse 1 a false
balance is abomination to the Lord but a just weight is his delight what is this
referring to you know in these particular days when people would barter
an exchange that would use balances in order to purchase things and there would
be instances where the seller would kind of you know misconstrue the numbers
cause the balances to be outweighed a little bit so he would get more
resources or more in return for the product that he's selling and this is
what's referred to as the false balance what is the Bible saying here the Bible
is telling us that God does not like when you're being dishonest in your
business hey whatever it is that you say you're gonna deliver deliver on it
right and let me let's just let's just give some practical examples of this
how this would look you know if you are a contractor if you're selling a
particular product and let's say for whatever reason you know you're halfway
through the project and it's gonna cost you a little more money than what you
told the person right the buyer that it was gonna cost you know eat it don't go
back and say hey by the way I got to change this a little bit I didn't know
this is gonna come up or whatever well that's your fault right and sometimes we
as Christians need to swear as the Bible says to our hurts meaning that even if
it hurts your pocketbook if that's what you said you were gonna do do it and
let me just tell you this that's more important than going back and changing
the prices and looking like a dishonest individual then to say you know what I'm
gonna come out of pocket for this but I know God's gonna bless me in the long
run because God blesses integrity he blesses honesty right he blesses me when
I do that which is right in the sight of the Lord and yeah it may come out of
your pocketbook today but gotta put more money in your pocket later because you
were honest in your dealings okay I've dealt with people before where it's
just they're constantly changing the prices we're getting work done we're
doing this that and the other and they're just like this is what it's
gonna cause I'm like are you sure yes this is what it's gonna cause this is
all it's gonna cause and then you know we're halfway 75% of the project is just
like oh by the way it's gonna be a couple more thousand dollars more or
something like that and it's just like okay well I'm still paying this amount
all right and you're just like no we're gonna need some more or whatever and you
know what because I'm a Christian because I swear to my heart I'll pay it
up I will rather myself be defrauded right so I said okay I'll pay it but in
my mind this person is a dishonest individual yeah you know they succeeded
in their job they got the job done yes they were even paid more they succeeded
in achieving and succeeding in this area but they were dishonest about it so
quite frankly according to biblical standards they were not successful
because they achieved those things by dishonest means okay and look I'm not
saying that you know this needs to happen all the time you know this should
be a lesson to us all that we just need to make sure that whatever we say is
it's gonna cause you know count the cost basically right and you know I've had
other people who have come to me and said hey this project will be this much
and then later on they said hey it's actually like $3,000 more but I'm not
changing the price you're gonna pay the price that I told you because that's the
price and he came out losing on that end right because that's what he said he
wanted to do but you know what God ended up blessing them with more work he made
up the difference in that area and you know that person though he missed out on
some money in this particular project is a successful person because God ended up
blessing him with more business the point that I'm making here is that it's
better to come out of pocket and lose money up front but actually retain your
integrity be honest be a righteous person then to obtain temporal success
unrighteously okay how do you handle success I'll tell you how you got to do
it the right way come out losing up front if you have to but do that which
is right in the side of the little look at Proverbs chapter 19 if you would
Proverbs 19 point that I'm making here is that Christians no matter what we do
we need to make sure we exercise honesty that we are being righteous that we are
right in the eyes of God in whatever business that we do and look sometimes
you may have you know provided a particular number for a person something
that you're selling and you didn't you didn't follow through you and you're
like oh man you know I'm gonna come out losing some money in this particular
project well just count it as a lesson to your pain that's how I view it if you
come out missing is just like okay well at least I paid for a valuable lesson
and I'm never gonna make this mistake again because it cost me a lot this
lesson cost me something but you know what it's gonna benefit me in the long
run because I learned from it it gives me experience etc look at Proverbs 19
verse 1 better is the poor better is the poor that walketh in his integrity
the Bible says then he that is perverse in his lips and is a fool who is a
person who's perverse in his lips he's the one who twists things when he talks
right you can't trust what he's saying the Bible's telling us here that God
would rather you be poor broke no money in your pocket in the red but you have
integrity why because integrity is far more valuable than having money in your
pocket and being dishonest okay seems to me that God is far more interested in
you achieving and succeeding at being honest than you achieving and succeeding
whatever feat you want to accomplish in your life you know I read this
statement here and I thought it was good God is not impressed by how high a man
climbs but how he climbed right it's more interested in how you did it he's
more interested in you being honest not cutting corners at your job not cutting
corners at your business not cutting corners and shortchanging your employees
amen in order for us to succeed we need to make sure we do it the right way
Psalm 15 you don't have to turn there go back to Deuteronomy chapter 8 if you
would song 15 this one says Lord who shall abide in thy tabernacle who shall
dwell in thy holy hill he that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and
speaketh the truth in his heart this is all pointing to honesty right he says he
that backbite is not with his tongue nor do with evil to his neighbor nor take
it up a reproach against his neighbor in whose eyes a vile person is contemned
but he honoreth them that fear the Lord listen to this he that sweareth to his
own hurt and changeth not this is the person who is blessed of the Lord and
you know I'm thinking of an example right now and I didn't ask this person
for permission to use this illustration but too late brother Zach wherever you're
at you know I went to go watch brother Zach compete and in his jujitsu and you
know Zach is a boss and he just beat the guy or whatever and he beat the guy by
points but he was explaining to me that the guy he was competing against was
seeking to put him in a precarious situation in a certain move that would
cause Zach to respond in an illegal move right so the guy wasn't trying to
necessarily win by submission he wasn't trying to win by points he was trying to
win by getting Zach disqualified and of course you know Zach didn't take the
bait and God bless him for it he ended up winning you know that match and then
you know Zach kind of told him afterwards like hey you know why would
you do that you know don't you want to win in a right way and the guy is just
like by any means necessary type of attitude and he's in Zach was just kind
of like why what's the point of that you know what why would you want to just win
by any means necessary you should try to win in a righteous manner doing that you
know by either submission or by gaining points you don't win by someone else
losing you know what I mean just because I I disqualify myself or something like
that that's like an unrighteous attitude to have do it the right way you spend
all that money training in jujitsu learning all the learning all the moves
how to submit all those hours on the mat just to hope that you win by someone
else being disqualified kind of nonsense is that you know that's how
people are sometimes the only way they could achieve things is by other people
being disqualified they can't achieve things on their own by their own honest
means and honest work it's important for us to succeed in the right way and the
right way is this by making sure that you do it the right way the honest way
not being dishonest about it look at Deuteronomy chapter 8 the second point I
want to make regarding how to succeed is this you know recognize the source of
your success you know obviously we know that in order for us to succeed or
achieve anything we have to put in the effort we got to make sure that we can't
be lazy we got to get off our rear ends and actually do something and put in the
effort and the work to do so but at the end of the day success ultimately comes
from the Lord and from others deflect the praise to the Lord and to others
it's God that enabled you to win right look at Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 12
for the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land a land of brooks of water of
fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills a land of wheat and
barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates a land of oil olive and
honey so what is he saying you know I'm gonna give you this land but let me ask
you this did he just give him that land and they just kind of just took it they
didn't have to do anything for it no they have to battle they have to go to
war that the fight they have to actually achieve it but God's saying I'm the one
giving it to you though I'm giving you this opportunity I'm giving you the
chance to succeed and you're gonna have all these things you just have to go and
take it he goes on to say in verse 9 a land wherein thou shalt eat bread
without scarceness thou shalt not lack anything in it a land whose stones are
iron out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass when thou is eaten in our full
then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given
thee what is he saying you know once you enter into the land and you get
yourself your house you got the wells that you did not dig the vineyards that
you did not plant make sure you thank God for it make sure you praise the
Lord for the success that you achieved hey make sure you thank God for the
promotion that you got at work make sure you praise God for the extra business
that you've got make sure you praise God for the fact that you're able to pay
your bills this month whatever it is that you've achieved whatever PR you hit
praise God for it amen whatever when you got make sure you thank God don't become
so proud and arrogant that it's by your might your strength your talents your
giftedness God gave you the opportunity to win and quite frankly he can remove
your legs today and you won't achieve anything he says make sure when you're
full you've eaten you're you're you're satiated right that you bless the Lord
thy God for the good land which he hath given thee look at verse 11 beware be
where he says that thou forget not the Lord thy God and not keeping his
commandments and his judgments and his statutes which I commanded you to stay
what does it sound you know there's a danger there's a temptation that when
you succeed you start forgetting God you know oh you succeed you stop coming to
church as often oh you succeed you don't read your Bible as often why because
you're too busy succeeding you're too busy achieving you're too busy doing
great things you know the great things that God allowed you to do and the Bible
is telling us here hey when you succeed don't forget the formula that you use to
succeed which is the fact that you were keeping God's commandments the fact that
you were pleasing God the fact that you were reading the Bible and winning souls
to Christ and that's how God opened the doors for you to achieve great things
beware lest when you succeed you stop keeping God's commandments you stop
serving God because you're just too busy succeeding in the areas that you have he
says don't forget the Lord make sure you keep his commandments his judgments his
statutes which I commanded you to stay look at verse 12 less when thou has
eaten in our full and has built goodly houses and dweller in and when thy
herds and thy flocks multiply and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied and
all that thou has is multiplied then thine heart be lifted up what does it
mean when a heart is lifted up it means you become prideful you know success is
a wonderful thing but man it could be a dangerous thing too sometimes it's good
that we don't succeed as often sometimes it's just good that we fail a lot why
because failure humbles us success if you don't know how to handle it can go
to your head amen it can cause you to be prideful he says dine heart be lifted up
and thou forget the Lord thy God which brought thee forth out of the land of
Egypt from the house of bondage who led thee through the great and terrible
wilderness wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions and drought where there
was no water who brought thee forth water out of the rock of the flint who
fed thee in the wilderness with manna which thy fathers knew not that he might
humble thee and he might prove thee to do thee good at thy latter end and thou
sayest in thy heart listen to this my power and the might of mine hand has
gotten me this wealth that's a horrible attitude to have what is what is he
saying beware lest you forget the source of your success hey your bank accounts
full praise God make sure you keep serving God despite that don't become
prideful and say well it's my might my power yeah but who gave you the power to
get wealth who gave you the business savvy to actually obtain that wealth who
gave you the mind to be able to accomplish that what you have God is the
one who did so he says in verse 19 verse 18 but thou shall remember the Lord thy
God for it is he that giveth the power to get wealth that he may establish his
covenant which he swearing to thy fathers as it is this day what is God
saying here he's saying look at the end of the day you have to put in the work
yes right you got to make sure you study you got to make sure you work long hours
you have to make sure that you put in the work necessary to accomplish that
which needs to be done however at the end of the day it's God who allows it
though and when you succeed you need to make sure that you build in a discipline
in your personal life to thank God for it and recognize you know what if it
wasn't for God I wouldn't have this if it wasn't for my parents I wouldn't have
this if it wasn't for mom and dad teaching me the things that I know you're
like oh my mom and dad are not even Christians and they don't even know God
yeah but apparently they raised you though so they succeeded in raising you
even though you might talk like a spoiled little brat sometimes you know
apparently they did a good job because you are succeeding at whatever it is
that you're doing you need to make sure that you thank God for your parents
thank God for the whoopens they gave you amen and if some of you can't say amen
it's obvious why they can't say amen because maybe you didn't get enough
whoopens hey thank God for how your how strict your parents were thank God for
all the restrictions the whoopens the the yell ins the smack ins whatever it is
ends that they gave you you know thank God for it because it made you the
person you are today cause you to seek after God it caused you to be a
righteous person they had a hand in that even if they did not know the Lord or
the Bible or any of those things obviously those are the parents that God
gave you point that I'm making here is that we need to make sure that we
recognize God and others for the success that we have we're not self-made people
okay God others your parents spiritual leaders church members that invested in
your life that were a blessing to you family and friends that believed in you
that worked with you that helped you make sure you recognize those people
because yes even though you put in the effort at the end of the day without God
and others you're nothing that is how you handle success okay recognizing who
the source of success is the Bible tells us for it is God that worketh in you
both to will and to do of his good pleasure recognize that God is the one
responsible for the success that you have you're in Deuteronomy chapter 8 let
me continue reading here and some other verses actually go to Jeremiah chapter
9 hold your place there in Deuteronomy 8 go to Jeremiah chapter 9 let me reach
you from Psalm 75 and verse 4 if you're new to our church make sure you're
turning to the Bible references that we're going through we need as
Christians to learn how to navigate through the scriptures and I'm not
against people using iPads and iPhones or whatever for their Bible reading but
let me just tell you this it's good to just have a physical Bible in your hand
so you can learn how to navigate through the scriptures become familiar of how to
find books of the Bible amen look at Psalm 75 verse 4 if you don't have a
Bible by the way I'll give you a Bible after service if you need one but we
only do King James here though so just keep that in mind
Psalm 75 verse 4 you're in Jeremiah chapter 9 the Bible says I said into the
fools deal not foolishly until the wicked lift not up the horn
lift not up your horn on high speak not with a stiff neck it's referring to the
fact that you know God resists the proud right lifting up your horn is just like
a representation of pride and arrogance he says this for promotion cometh
neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south but God is the judge
he put it down one and set it up another the Bible tells us so if you got a
promotion this year it's God who set you up if you were demoted it's God who put
you down it's just a fact you know God allowed you to fail but he also allowed
you allows you to succeed and we have to recognize that when we succeed we don't
let you know stiffen our neck and become arrogant and say it's by my might by my
power no the promotion comes from the Lord okay you say man I haven't succeeded
this year we'll take some of these principles for 2026 so that you can
succeed I'm gonna read you one more verse before we get into Jeremiah chapter 9
Judges chapter 7 says in verse 2 and the Lord said into Gideon the people that
are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands
lest Israel vaunt themselves against me saying mine own hand hath saved me you
know often God likes to use you know the the least number because when he
accomplishes great things through people that maybe others would think are not
successful are not the most likely to succeed he gets more glory from it and
he says here you know when you go into battle I don't want you to have too many
people because then Israel's gonna think oh it's because we have a lot of people
it's because we're strong it's because we're powerful he's saying you need to
diminish the numbers because I don't want you to vaunt yourselves against the
Lord look at Jeremiah chapter 9 verse 23 he says thus saith the Lord let not the
wise man glory in his wisdom neither let the mighty man glory in his might let
not the rich man glory in his riches what is he saying you know don't boast
in the fact that you're smart okay don't boast in the fact that you're
physically strong don't boast in the fact that you have money in the bank
God is not looking to honor the people who you know boast in their own
achievements you know it's just like well you know if you ain't white you're
ain't right don't boast in your skin color cuz you did nothing to earn it
you're born that way it's like oh man we're so much better than everyone else
how you were literally born that way you did nothing to achieve the skin color
that you have don't boast yourself in that don't boast in finances don't
boast in your wisdom don't boast in your might then what am I supposed to
boast then look at verse 24 but let him that glorieth glory in this that he
understandeth and knoweth me you know what that's something I boast about you
know when people are like oh yeah you just act like you know the Bible I do
know the Bible I know the Lord but try me you know people are like oh you know
why are you talking like you know well what what doctorates do you have put me
against any doctor I probably know more Bible than them plain and simple are
thou a master of Israel knows not these things I want to boast in glory in the
fact that I know the Lord you know I know the Lord because I'm saved but I
also know the Lord cuz I read the Bible because I meditate upon the scriptures
upon the Word of God I serve the Lord and I gain understanding through his
precepts and here's the way that you know that I know the Bible because I
hate every false way because the result of understanding the precepts of God is
that we cultivate a hatred for every false way when a person doesn't hate
every false way and wants to compromise it's an indication they don't know the
Bible when people are like oh man Islam this and now we should try to oh you
just translated this you don't know the Bible oh you should let Islamists into
the congregation of God and pray to their false God here just tell me you
don't know the Bible because when you do know the Bible when you know the Lord
when you know the nature of God you recognize he hates every false way and
he expects you to hate it too he says let him glory in this that he
understandeth and knoweth me that I am the Lord which exercises exercise loving
kindness and most people just want to stop there which by the way I love the
loving kindness of God I enjoy God being lovingly kind to me right I'm sure you
do too you know we've all experienced the forgiveness of God God's grace and
the fact that he has not given us what we deserve he's been kind to us he's
been gracious to us he's comforted us and trials and tribulations we've tasted
of the Lord and seen that he is gracious but comma though loving kindness comma
oh what's that next word judgment you know why cuz God is a God of judgment oh
judge not lest he be judged he's a God of judgment here oh no one God doesn't
send anybody to hell people send themselves that no he he he puts him in
the lake of read Revelation 20 when the Bible says that he cast them into the
lake of fire Kaz is like Kaz means to throw I know it's all poetic and
everything it sounds so Hobby Lobby right he's just like God never send
anybody no he said he said everyone who's in hell he sent there and everyone
who's in hell he's gonna send to the lake of fire and if that offends you then
just tell me you don't know the Bible because the Bible literally says that he
whose server is not found written in the book of life listen to this chose to go
to the lake of fire no was cast into the lake of fire whose server is not found
written the book of life decided to go to the lake of fire no we're cast they're
not given a choice at the Dwight's own judgment now where would you like to go
you know it's just like your name's not written in the book of life you're a
wicked person get the bouncers take them and they cast them into the lake of fire
then why do you speak of lost souls like that I'll tell you why because I preach
the gospel every single week and you know what I've I know the difference
between those who want the truth and those who hate the truth the people who
are offended at what I'm saying are people who don't preach the gospel
because they think everyone wants the truth really it dude does everyone in
this world really want the truth no there's people out there who hate the
truth people out there who hate the Lord and I have no interest in giving the
truth to those who don't want the truth I don't want to cast my pearls before
swine and cast that which is holding him to the dogs he says that he's a Lord of
lovingkindness judgment righteousness in the earth for in these things I delight
saith Lord I just to wrap it there but that's good you know we have to make
sure that we recognize that at the end of the day we glory when we succeed we
glory in the fact that God is the one who gave us the success he's the one who
blessed us for it and of course we know that the way we succeed is by being by
abiding in the vine for without me you can do nothing the Bible says right
all right my next point here regarding handling your own success and I
mentioned this already but it's worth re-emphasizing and that is by not
letting success get to your head okay and here's hearing is a major danger
look at Deuteronomy 814 once again he says then thy heart be lifted up and now
forget the Lord thy God which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt
from the house of bondage. Proverbs 27 verse 2 says let another man praise thee
and not thine own mouth a stranger and not thine own lips go to Ecclesiastes
chapter 9 if you would Ecclesiastes chapter 9 don't let success go to your
head why because success sometimes is short-lived you can succeed today and
fail tomorrow you can have a great month this year and the rest of the 11 months
just a complete failure God can make you fail God can take the rug out from under
you he can knock you off your high horse he can cause you to be humbled by
failure don't let success go to your head look at Ecclesiastes chapter 9 if
you wouldn't now here's the thing is that sometimes people allow success to
go to their heads because they're kind of giving themselves a little bit too
much credit for the success that they've experienced right sometimes people can
become prideful and arrogant in their achievements because they think they
they they're really something they're all that in the bag of chips as we used
to say in the 90s I don't know if you zoomers know what I'm talking about but
you know they just think they're all that they just think oh man it's by my
mind I'm just so gifted I'm just so smart I'm just so talented I'm just such
a great orator I'm just such a great business person this is why this
happened that's what's called letting it get to your head right you become
prideful and arrogant not recognizing first and foremost that it's God that
does this but let me say this sometimes and I don't mean a burst or bubble here
but this is fact okay here's a reality check for you and for me sometimes
success happens on accident it's not because you're smart it's not because
you're talented it's not because you're gifted you just got lucky and yes
believe it or not luck is an element in this world even according to the Bible
sometimes you just were in the right place at the right time you made the
right move you made the right decision and it's not necessary because you're
smart you just did it on accident you were taking the SAT test and you use you
know how you went and it just so happens that five of those ten questions you got
right it's not because you knew the answer you just you know you just happen
to succeed so this should tell you this should help you to be humble because
even though yes much of our success is due to the work that we put in to
whatever it is that we're trying to achieve along with God's hand upon us
there are many instances where you would succeed and it's not because of
anything that you did you were just in the right place at the right time look
at verse 11 of Ecclesiastes 9 I returned and saw under the Sun that the race is
not to the swift we would think that fast people are the ones who win and
that's why they win but here it says that sometimes the race is not to the
swift nor the battle to the strong nor yet bread to the wise nor yet riches to
men of understanding nor yet favored to men of skill you know sometimes the guy
your job gets a promotion and he's just a complete idiot he's just lazy he comes
in somehow he just got that promotion and you didn't you're like how I'll tell
you how look what it says but time and chance happeneth to them all so you know
if the if the lazy guy gets a promotion at your job I'd be mad too but quite
frankly this is what you tell yourself time and chance happen to them all can't
hate because you know I've been in that position I've won maybe one times when I
wasn't supposed to win I succeeded in times when I wasn't supposed to succeed
because time and chance happened to them all how do you succeed by doing that
which is right in the sight of the Lord by abiding in the vine by making sure you
give glory to God but let me just tell you this sometimes you succeed on
accident you say well what's the point of telling us that well the point is is
that stay humble don't let it get to your head because your success isn't
always because of the effort that you put into it sometimes just God allows it
in your life even if you don't deserve it okay Galatians chapter 6 verse 3 says
this for if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing he
deceive it himself like oh man I'm just so great you sound like you're self
deceived you think you're something but you're actually nothing he says but let
it every man prove his own work and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone
and not in another for every man shall bear his own burden the Bible says go
to Philippians chapter 3 Philippians chapter 3 if you wouldn't Philippians
chapter 3 point that I'm making here is that I'm simply trying to show you how
to succeed the right way we need to make sure we give glory to God we need to
recognize that sometimes we succeed on accident we need to recognize that if we
want to succeed we have to do it the right way even if we could even if we
come out losing at the end our goals to win at our integrity our goals to win in
honesty our goals to win in pleasing God and quite frankly because of that we
will lose sometimes temporarily but the majority of the time according to the
Bible we will succeed not just temporarily but eternally as well let
me also say this how do we succeed by preventing your success from becoming
the laurels that you rest on sometimes people succeed is just like well I'm all
done that's it you know I'm good to go no you know you should strive for greater
accomplishments greater achievements yeah but I'm getting old already yeah
well now you have the wisdom and the experience of the mistakes that you
shouldn't make that all of us are making all of us young people amen right
amen you need to prevent your success from becoming the laurels that you rest
on meaning that you need to achieve more okay look at Philippians chapter 3 verse
11 if by any means I might attain into the resurrection of the dead not as
though I had already attained either already perfect but I follow after if
that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus
brethren I count on myself to have apprehended but this one thing I do
forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things
which are before I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God
in Christ Jesus the Apostle Paul is just an awesome Christian this guy was a boss
he knew the Bible he won tons of people to Christ but even he said I've not yet
attained already and we all we obviously know because he's saved he is gonna
attain to the resurrection because any saved person attains to the resurrection
but he's living as though he wants to attain to the resurrection and you know
what the same should be said of us right that we need to strive for greater
things and one of the reasons I'm preaching this is because we're going
into year 2026 and we have a goal of reaching 4,000 people to Christ right
this year we hit 2,000 this coming year we're gonna hit 4,000 we not when it's
not we might we're going to hit 4,000 because we're gonna put in the work for
it and I believe God's hand is upon our church but you know what it requires
your effort it requires your honesty okay it requires you doing it the right
way meaning that you're you're you're not rushing through your gospel
presentation you're not inflating the numbers you're not lying about how many
people you got saved we're using the honesty system here and you need to make
sure that you put in the work to do your part to get people saved as well and you
know what we could easily say well 2,000 salvations how many churches in our area
get a hundred salvations a year a lot of churches don't even preach the gospel
and if they do it's only the pastor and he only goes every once in a while our
church we seek to strive that everyone in our church learns how to effectively
preach the gospel to every creature and get people saved that is the ministry
that we have here doing the first works and it's easy for us to say well you
know we've already hit 2,000 salvations you know let's just go for another 2,000
next year no let's go for 4,000 and you know what it's possible we might hit
4,000 by the middle of the year you know if that happens we're shooting for
5,000 why cuz I don't want to be a church that rests on the laurels of our
success and just be like alright let's just chill for the rest of the year
folks we came up with the 2,000 goal in September in September I went to brother
Elise and I said hey you know what let's just shoot for 2,000 we got a couple
months in let's just do it and you know what it was done because God's hand is
on us our church abides in Christ and we have hard-working people who know how to
preach the gospel well why not shoot for better let's do
better don't allow your success to cause you to stop trying to achieve greater
things in the future okay it's important and so when it comes to the point of how
to handle success you need to make sure that you remain humble don't let it get
to your head recognize that sometimes you succeed on accident you got to do
it the right way be honest don't be a liar don't be a cheat don't be a thief
make sure you are a person of integrity we already have too many Christians out
there that don't have integrity they lie they cheat they're a bad testimony they
don't do things right to see they don't they strive for masteries but they do it
unlawfully as the Bible says no we want to make sure we do it the right way and
we are achieving great things and you know what don't have this attitude well
you know I just don't like the fact that we're counting all these salvations why
not in fact this year we're gonna post the
salvations of every team on the screen amen well you know that might cause
people to what to try harder will it cause you to try harder you're like oh
man I just don't know because what if one team has more salvations than the
other team hey we're all the same team anyways team Jesus amen you're like what
do I do if my team doesn't have as many salvations that the other team then go
get more salvations I just think that people are gonna become carnal if people
become carnal because of the salvations that we get the problem is not the
system the problem is you don't know how to deal with other people's success
which is my second point how to handle the success of others okay because folks
you know if people become carnal this year because we're counting salvations
the problem is not the fact that we're counting salvations the problem is our
disposition towards success our success and the success of others because we're
not gonna just stop counting let me tell you this churches that stop counting
salvations are churches that don't have salvations that's why they don't count
them they're too embarrassed they don't get any that's that's what really what
it is we're not about that ministry you know we believe that God knows how many
people got there's a book in the Bible called numbers there's literally a book
in the Bible called numbers show me a verse in the Bible where God counted
salvations Acts chapter 2 3,000 were saved okay but that's just one okay later
on you know 5,000 were saved how about that well those are just those two
instances well how many more instances do you want I mean I just need one folks
the entire Bible is filled with God keeping track of armies peoples how about
the 144,000 why are you counting that God why can't we just say just the the
tribes of Israel something he's about numbers I just think that you know it's
just enough why would it be unrighteous to count how many people I mean you keep
a budget don't you huh right we keep a budget to make sure we know how much
money we got in the bank I mean I think you keep a budget I don't know maybe
some of you live like you don't I don't know you got a budget you keep track of
numbers this is good stewardship of the resources that we have is when we keep
track of numbers why not keep track of salvation I'll tell you when people don't
want to keep track of salvations because they don't actually go out and preach the
gospel and they don't want to be exposed for the lack of salvations that they get
that's what it is they don't keep track of salvations they don't keep track of
baptisms they don't keep track of church attendance I'll tell you why because
there's nothing to keep track of barely anybody goes to the church really
anybody gets saved folks we have spreadsheets you know we have
spreadsheets of every year the salvations the baptisms the attendances
because we need to keep track of success look you know for example let me use
this as an illustration lifting okay you know if you want to succeed at lifting
you got to keep track of your numbers it's not like well let's see what I do
today you know just flippantly going to the gym you get on the treadmill and
then you go home you know you lift a couple dumbbells or something no you
know if you want to succeed you actually have to keep track of what you're doing
and quite frankly you will stop succeeding and progressing in your lifts
if you don't know what you did right how do you know you're getting better how
do you know you're getting stronger I'll tell you how you have to keep track of
what's going on if you're regressing or progressing we need to make sure that we
are good stewards of whatever it is that we're doing because quite frankly if
we're just if we just let success happen it won't happen we need to make sure
that we manage the numbers that are involved in our lives right you know I
keep track of views I keep track of analytics you like are you obsessed with
it no I'm just want to make sure that things are getting done you know hey
how are you gonna lose weight if you don't step on the scale right I've done
so well step on the scale let's see and obviously the scale does it you know
obviously people like oh you know sometimes the scale you know I get that
but you know after a while it's got drop a little bit though you know I mean you
know if you're trying to lose some significant weight the numbers got to go
down something okay how do you know that you're doing right you know okay okay
okay let's not use the scale illustration okay let's use the
measurement of the waist because sometimes they'll say oh don't use the
scale you know see how big your waist is gone well if your waist hasn't lost any
numbers right it means you're not losing weight I know I'm getting real practical
here I'm just speaking from experience you know and look when when I was
cutting you know I told my wife go grab that that measurement thing and
you know and I don't hold anything in you know I just like let it hang do it
just tell me give it to me straight doctor run the run the tape you'll see
let's see what's what's there because you know if there was a week where like
I gained weight or something like that like okay you know maybe I didn't hit
the numbers you know I'm trying to eat 1800 calories and I went to 2500 okay I
should expect that the move the numbers not gonna move point that I'm making
here is that you need to make sure that you are paying attention to numbers and
that's why we're paying attention to the salvation so in 2026 okay the screen is
gonna have all seven teams listed there and every month it's gonna show the
numbers that they produce and look folks you know it's about 11 it's pretty
simple in order for us to hit our goal it's the 11 salvations per team that's
not you that's not that's actually doable that's very doable I mean I know
people on teams that get 11 salvations themselves a week because they put in so
much work okay and it's really simple so if everyone just puts in that work you
know the numbers are gonna go up and here's my goal is that you know it gets
competitive it should get competitive but at the end of the year you're like
oh man who did the most and I'm gonna say it doesn't really matter because we
already hit our goal and it does matter because you guys are gonna be rewarded
for it the point that I'm making here is that the numbers kind of helps us are
like all right we had a low month is this month let's hit it next month let's
change some things you know it's gonna motivate team leaders to train more
people on their team invite more people out right maybe add some extra soul
winning times in I'm trying to provoke you into good works so let's talk about
how to handle the success of others first and foremost how do you handle the
success of others by congratulating them right saying great job I'm happy for you
you know the Bible says rejoice with them that do rejoice meaning don't be a
little hater if someone gets a certain amount of salvations a team gets a
certain amount of salvations don't be a hater don't say yeah but it's because
you guys got what what do they have that you don't have and if you don't have
what they have then go get what you don't have that they have and don't ask
me to repeat that again congratulate them hey congratulate people when they
get a promotion congratulate people when they get a baby congratulate people
when they get married congratulate people when they succeed in any area of
life go congratulate them don't be a hater hate false doctrine hate false
religion false prophets but don't hate when your brothers and sisters in Christ
succeed we should rejoice and be happy when they succeed in and achieve the
things that they want let me also say this how do you handle other people's
success by avoiding envy now envy is a dangerous sin very dangerous it's when
you want what someone the status or the person that someone else has right if a
person is successful they're achieving great things and you're envious of that
success and you begin to tear that person down because you don't like the
success that they're experiencing because you feel like you should have that
you're the one who deserves that title you're the one who deserves that level
of achievement achievement that's called envy don't make excuses for your
failures and the success of others and look sometimes people are too afraid of
failure you act like it's a cuss word or something like that if you fail it's
okay you know a successful person has to fail and I don't know any successful
person who hasn't failed exceedingly over and over again because of the fact
that that person is constantly trying and when you try a lot you're gonna fail
a lot but when you try and fail a lot eventually what happens you succeed and
so don't make excuses for your failures and for the success of others make sure
you congratulate them and make sure you avoid being envious go to Galatians
chapter 5 Galatians chapter 5 then we're gonna go to first Samuel chapter 18
first Samuel chapter 18 Galatians chapter 5 let me read to you from
Proverbs 14 verse 30 a sound heart is the life of the flesh but envy the
rottenness of the bones the Bible says Acts chapter 13 verse 45 by the way the
most envious people in the New Testament were Jews you have to plug
that in real quick they were that's why they delivered Jesus is because of envy
because Jesus was more popular than the Pharisees because the Pharisees sucked
they were they wore dresses there were false prophets they didn't know how to
teach and preach the Bible Jesus Christ was a better preacher he's God in the
flesh he knew what he was talking about he attracted the multitudes and the
Pharisees didn't like that they didn't like the fact that people were leaving
their synagogues and their circles to go and join the Lord Jesus Christ so they
became envious of him and Pilate knew this he says they delivered him for envy
and even after the ascension in the book of Acts what was happening you have
Jews persecuting other believers why for envy says in Acts 13 verse 45 but when
the Jews saw the multitudes referring to the multitudes that were following the
disciples they were filled with envy and spake against those things which were
spoken by Paul contradicting and blaspheming the Bible says in other
words they were talking trash on the disciples lying about them blaspheming
why because of their failure to be able to retain believers or Christians or
those Jews of Israel within their religion they were losing them to
Christianity look at Galatians chapter 5 verse 26 let us not be desirous of
vainglory provoking one another envying one another go to 1st Samuel chapter 8
1st Samuel chapter 8 envy is a sin my friends to become envious is a sinful
trait and we need to discipline ourselves and learn not to be a hater
not to make excuses for the success of others actually have genuine love
charity for the people who succeed around us and I'd be like well the only
reason they did that because you know because someone else helped them or
whatever yeah it is so why don't you go congratulate them did someone help you
were you someone who people wanted to help you know I find that envious
people are people who are just lazy just lazy individuals you know I think about
the fact that like the the Instagram has grown a lot seen a lot of success it's
reached a lot of people it's gotten a lot of views and you know I run with a
group of churches that are labeled the new IFB which means new independent
fundamental Baptist referring to churches that are essentially like-minded
in their doctrine we hold to the doctrine of salvation and times
prophecy it's very the churches that are filled with just evangelism and
soul-winning they do a lot of great works and you know there's people who hate
these churches who were once a part of these churches they left these churches
but now they hate these churches right and you know they've seen my account
they're like oh man he should just like cut new IFB out you know now that he's
at this level he should separate himself from the new IFB but let me tell you why
they're saying that because that's exactly what they would do if they ever
got successful you know they like to use people use their knowledge use their
influence and once they got to a certain level they're out of there but you know
what they've never reached that level of success but you know that's not my
philosophy my philosophy is like oh once I get to the top I'm just gonna forsake
all my friends forsake all the churches and just do my own thing first and
foremost new IFB doctrine new the new IFB is a set of beliefs how do you leave
a set of beliefs all right it's just like I'm no longer new IFB so do you
believe in the right salvation still you believe in the right end times Bible
prophecy what does this mean that you're a Zionist now or something or what like
oh I'm just not new IFB anymore does this mean that you like Benjamin Netanyahu
hey when someone says I love the new IFB translation I'm gay and I support
Israel you might as well just say it it's a set of beliefs my friends and you
know only envious people look at success and they're just like oh the only reason
he does that is because he's calling out the Jews well what's stopping you from
calling out the Jews the oh yeah the only reason you're going viral is because
you rebuke the Muslim guy well why don't you go rebuke one what's stopping you
from doing that you have an Instagram you can very much make a video if you
wanted to teach Bible doctrine blow up go viral why am I a hindrance to your
success at the end of the day folks it's just excuse this is called envy that's
what it is my friends we need to make sure that we avoid being envious look at
first Samuel chapter 18 here's a perfect example of this first Samuel chapter
18 verse 6 I think we all will excuse me I think we would all agree that King
Saul was a great man to begin with I mean God like bragged on King Saul head
and shoulders above everyone else he was a goodly man he was the first king of
Israel the guy was awesome he was filled with the spirit became another man I
mean the beginning of the story of Saul was tremendous but then what happened he
became filled with envy envy towards who King David obviously King David was not
the king at that time look at verse 6 it came to pass as they came when David
was returned from the slaughter of the Philistines that the women came out of
all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tablets
with joy and with instruments of music and the women answered one another as
they played and said Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands
now obviously it could be that the ladies were exaggerating a tad about
this but let's just say it was true okay you know David is working for Saul and
if Saul is the king he's not gonna be able to go out as often as David would
to get those ten thousand let's just put this in salvation terms what if Saul
was getting a thousand salvation and David was getting ten thousand does that
make Saul any less of a person no he got a thousand right but that's not how Saul
takes it he says verse 8 and Saul was very wroth what does that mean he's just
like throwing a little fit saying and the same displeased him he didn't like
the tik-tok video that they made they have ascribed them to David ten
thousands and to me they have ascribed but thousands and what can he have more
but the kingdom oh boo this is like oh man he's about to take the kingdom
already they just love him so much the right attitude this all should have had
is like yeah this guy works for me too so even though he got ten thousand we
got ten thousand right like yeah I got a thousand you got ten thousand but David
we got ten thousand because you work for me and you know what it would have been
a righteous thing for him to say and a correct thing for him to say but what
happened he wanted to be in competition with David he was envious at David's
success because God was with David you understand and look folks you know our
church has seen a lot of salvations but there's churches that we're friends with
that have seen way more salvations than we have I think steadfast got like
fourteen thousand or something or they're nearing the fourteen thousand
mark this year that's a lot and you know what we could be like well it's
because they've been around longer than us no you know what I do I'm happy about
that I'm excited I rejoice and you know what it does it challenges me it makes
me love that pastor even more because obviously the fact that they're getting
that many salvations because of the missions trips they're taking the
soul winning that they're doing it shows me that God is with them that's
what's an indication of right the attitude is not like well I mean it's
Texas that's why well it's because you know they just you know what what what's
what's what excuse are you gonna come up with for other people's success I'm I
don't want to be that kind of person I want to be the person that says 14,000
that's awesome and you know what I'm happy with the numbers that we have one
day though I want to hit those numbers not like yeah but like what's your
Instagram though how many numbers you got there folks we're all part of the
same team don't be Saul who gets all mad and Roth because people are bragging
about the success of David right he says in verse 9 and Saul eyed David from that
day forward let's not have any team leaders I other team leaders from that
day forward right you see them get a good amount of numbers and by the way you
know reference the previous point you team leaders remain humble if you see
success less God you know through me you know take the rug from out under you and
kick you off your high horse for being prideful and arrogant right but don't be
like Saul who's just envious he's angry at David he's like everyone likes him
more he's got 10,000 you know he collected all these foreskins and all
he killed all these Philistines he's doing all these great works so Saul he
works for you but why don't you just go out and do the same what's keeping you
from doing it he says and it came to pass on tomorrow that an evil spear from
God came upon Saul and he prophesied in the midst of the house and David played
with his hand as at other times and there was a javelin in Saul's hands and
so forth and of course Saul seeks to kill David because he hates him so much
he's so envious of him you know and I'm thankful that I'm surrounded by pastor
friends who are not envious at my success they're happy about the
success that our church has seen they're not haters they're not like wow yeah but
that's Instagram though you know that's not YouTube YouTube is dead YouTube is
just like a has-been now right they're not like well you know it's only because
it's just he's reaching the younger generation or something like that they're
actually happy about the success that our church has seen real recognize real
amen go to first Corinthians chapter 15 first Corinthians 15 we're done learn
how to handle other people's success congratulate them don't be envious of
their accomplishments don't be a bragger don't make excuses for your failures and
their successes but let me just say this you know I've already mentioned it but
it's worth mentioning again allow their success to challenge you to do better
look at other people's success that you would want to have and allow that to
help you to say you know what I need to do better I want to do better I want to
achieve more and that's why I'm putting the numbers up there to challenge
people in our church to do more to do better well I just think that if that
happens though that people are just gonna become fleshly they're gonna
become competitive well that sounds like a meat problem rather than the problem
of the program getting people saved that's not the problem how to handle
that success is the problem success has never been the problem my friends it's
how to handle the issue right look at 1st Corinthians 15 and here's my text
verse for competitiveness because you know people like well you said
competitive you know we're all we're all winners yes we're all winners but let's
just look at the millennial reign for example and the Bible talks about the
least in the kingdom of heaven you guys know that you know the Bible literally
says that there'll be those who are great in the kingdom of heaven and those
who will be least in the kingdom of heaven no egalitarian society in the
millennial reign it's just like one some people are better than others according
to the Bible some people are gonna be given ten cities some people five cities
some people get no something will get an alley you might get a sidewalk there's
no consolation prizes in the millennial reign okay so competitiveness is the
thing in the Bible and you know what God is okay with it in fact look at 1st
Corinthians 15 verse 10 the Apostle Paul here's a great attitude to have but by
the grace of God I am what I am what is he doing he's doing what we talked about
in the first point he's describing his success first to God he says by the
grace of God that I am what I am and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not
in vain meaning that it was God's grace on him but you know what he took full
advantage of the resources and the grace that God gave to him it's not in vain
but I labored more abundantly than they all yet not I but the grace of God which
was listening now who's he talking about the other disciples he's like you know
what I labored more than Peter more than John more than James these are the
people he was naming in the previous verses more than these the disciples I
labored more than they all and you know you may think to yourself well that's
kind of like an arrogant thing to say well the proof is in the pudding though
the Apostle Paul did a lot and he had the resume to prove it the fact that he
started churches won people to Christ did great works for God he said I
labored more abundantly than they all yet not I but the grace of God which is
with me so he kind of sandwiched this right he talked about how he did it but
at the end of the day it was God who gave him the grace and it was God who
worked through him to accomplish those great things what's the point that I'm
what's the point that I'm trying to make you know allow someone else's success at
your job to challenge you to do better if someone keeps getting promotions at
your job and you're not getting it don't blame him blame yourself but then try to
emulate what they're doing like man you know what maybe I need to work harder
maybe I need a you know don't say maybe I need to be a little more dishonest you
know maybe I need to learn a skill maybe I need to make myself more valuable
don't try to succeed on the failures of others on the dishonesty of others on
the chance that others may fail don't try to succeed on that platform succeed
by working hard and having God with you know maybe you just need to pray and say
Lord help me to succeed help me to live out the Bible that your hand may be upon
me that you know I would have favor with my boss favor with my spouse favor with
my children favor with God's people favor with the laws when I'm preaching
the gospel to them help me to succeed in those areas and when I fail help me not
to be discouraged but help me to do better and when other people succeed help
me not to be a hater help me not to hate on their success but actually rejoice
when they succeed be happy and obviously you know the guys in our church we cut
up a lot and we we joke or whatever I'm not trying to discourage that at all
roast each other just completely flame each other all the time I'm good with
that but you know like deep down inside though we should rejoice when other
people succeed though lost weight awesome you know oh you hit a PR awesome
you know oh you only hit 315 oh oh man yeah call me when you hit like 450 or
something like that yeah oh rejoice for the 315 hey someone does 135 there
should be no man in our church that only does 135 by the way it's just it's only
an illustration illustration you do you do 225 on a deadlift praise God for that
I'm not gonna hate on you you're like oh man but don't you live more yeah but you
know what I remember when I was at 225 too though and how hard that was for me
so I'm gonna rejoice you hit a RDL this week a PR RDL miss Kelly I rejoice with
miss Kelly on that I'm not gonna hate on that bad form you know bad form what
wait this is what you can do to improve it you know why don't you lower the
weight a little bit and do it right next time how many times people say stuff
like that online right Oh lower the weight and fix your form once you just
lift how much I lift and then we'll talk you know don't rejoice with them
rejoice when brother Rick you know climbs Mount Everest like he always does
or whatever you know really climb hills you know he's over here miles and miles
of climbing and and bicycling rejoice with him be grateful when he tells me
all his achievements I'm just astounded and ashamed just like man that's awesome
hey someone loses 10 pounds 15 pounds rejoice with them not 5 pounds because
that's easy 10 pounds 15 pounds 20 pounds you know they're losing weight
you know recognize them for that don't be a hater like they think they look so
good now look at that it's just like I'm not that's not my diet I don't really
like to do that yeah yeah we know we know we see that one of the best things
that you can learn as a Christian is how to handle your own success but
I would even say more than that is how to handle someone else's success because
if you know how to handle someone else's success you're pretty well off on how
to handle your own okay be humble about it rejoice when other people succeed
let's pray Father we thank you so much for your word thank you for allowing us
as a church and as individuals to succeed this side of eternity by getting
people saved getting people baptized doing great works for you help us to
continue to do so over the next 10 years Lord I pray that 2026 will be in a
greater year than 2025 2025 was awesome we we hit so many spiritual PR's in our
church collectively individuals who just started preaching the gospel that's an
achievement Lord we need to rejoice when a brand new Christian comes to us and
says that they won their first person of Christ we need to rejoice them
celebrate with them encourage that help us Lord to do better in 2026 and not
rest on the laurels of this year and I prayed that Lord we would also avoid
being envious having a hater mentality not rejoicing when other people succeed
and achieve great things not make excuses for their success Lord and I
pray that you'd help us to do so we love you we thank you pray this thing's in
Jesus name amen song number 425 song number 425 no room in the end 425 all
together nice and strong in that first verse no beautiful chain