So if we look at Isaiah 22 and look at verse number 15, we'll just look at a few verses here
and then we'll use this as a platform for the sermon this morning, but look at verse number 15.
Thus saith the Lord God of hosts, go get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which
is over the house and safe. And so we're going to see the Lord has a few things to say about
this treasurer, Shebna, and what we find here is that Shebna holds a very important position.
You know the house probably most being the palace that that king Hezekiah lives in and so Shebna has
a very prominent, very important role as a treasurer maintaining the finances, the wealth
of the king and of the king's house. Now that's a pretty good gig. I'm sure he is earning a
decent wage. I'm sure he's, you know, got a prominent position. People, you know, respect him
for the position that he holds there within the house of the king. But notice what God has to say
to this treasurer. Verse number 16, what hast thou here? So what are you doing here? What do you have
to do with this place? Well what place are we looking at? And whom hast thou here? That thou hast
hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high,
and that graveth an inhabitation for himself in a rock. So what do we learn here? That Shebna
not only is the treasurer of the house, but he has gone to the to the sepulchres or the graves
of the kings. We know in Jerusalem there was a special place for the kings that had served
the nation of Israel that were buried together. You know, King David and his lineage, it's a
place where, you know, the most those that hold the highest office in the land would be
buried in. Okay, so it's a place of respect, a place of remembrance, and Shebna had basically
carved out for himself, had set up a grave for himself amongst the kings. All right, and God,
so what is he doing? He's basically saying even though Shebna has an important position
as a treasurer, Shebna is not satisfied with that. He wants to be seen as a king. He wants
to remember, be remembered amongst all the kings of Israel. Being a treasurer, having that
prominent position was not enough for him. And so that's why God says in verse 16,
what hast thou here? What do you have to do with this place, Shebna? You're not one of the kings.
You've not ruled over Israel as one of these kings. Why are you, you know, creating a sepulchre,
a grave for yourself? Why do you want to be remembered amongst the kings? The next question
was, and whom hast thou here? Who do you have here amongst this graveyard that's part of
your family? Because we know the kingly line would follow down the family of David,
of course, okay? The family of David will be down there. Shebna's not part of that family.
Who do you have here? This is not your place, Shebna. Hey Shebna, you should be happy with
being the treasurer. You should be happy in the position that you have, but you're not content.
You want something more. You want to be seen as the kings. You've got no place being here.
You've got no business being part of this place. So what does God do then? He, of course,
rebukes him and he judges him. Verse number 17. Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a
mighty captivity and will surely cover thee. God's going to come and judge this man, okay,
for promoting himself, putting himself in a higher position than what he was, okay? He overstepped
his place and God was going to completely remove out of the land. Instead of being remembered
and buried in Jerusalem as a great treasurer for Hezekiah, he's going to, his remains are going
to be buried somewhere far away in some foreign land, probably the Assyrians, okay? Verse number
18. He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a bull into a large country. That doesn't
sound great. There shalt thou die and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy
Lord's house. So because he's been taken into captivity, he's going to be brought to shame.
Look at verse number 19. And I will drive thee from thy station and from thy state shall he pull
thee down. So what do we learn then, verse number 18 and 19? Because he had elevated himself,
because he had seen himself in a higher position, he wasn't content in his place as
a treasurer, but God says that he would be put to shame. He's going to be brought low from his
high position, okay? He's going to be demoted by the Lord and he's going to lose his station.
The Lord says, and I will drive thee from thy station. The title for the sermon this morning is
knowing your station, knowing your station, okay? And we are continuing our series on the perfect
man. You know, we all have a station in life. Maybe we all hold multiple stations in our life.
What does the word station mean? Well, you know, we think about a bus station or a train station
along these lines. But when we talk about our livelihoods, our position in the world,
our position in society, our station is, by definition, the place or position
in which someone stands or is assigned to stand. I'll read that again. The place or position
in which someone stands or is assigned to stand. Now, last week we went through, you know,
talking about the importance of family, finding identity and stability in our family. And that is
the primary most important place that God has given us a position in, okay? To be part of a
family and to eventually have our own families and to view ourselves amongst a family of God.
But of course, family is not the only place in society that we're going to find ourselves
in certain positions, okay? We have to function in society. We can't just function within family
and think that, hey, you know, the rest of it is irrelevant. No, you know, we still have
a place to play in society. We still have given positions of authority, positions of our station,
you know, different places that we're meant to meet. Right now, you're in the house of God.
You know, your station, your position is as a member of New Life Baptist Church.
But you're not all pastors and maybe one day we'll have deacons and you'll notice that
obviously in the house of God, we have different stations. You've got your everyday regular
member of the house of God and you've got an important station there, amen?
But then there are others that hold the office of a deacon or a pastor
and they hold different stations in that same institution, okay? In the house of the Lord.
So the point of the sermon today are three things. The purpose of this sermon number one
is that you will know your station, okay? That you just know where you belong in different
elements of society, family included, okay? Number two, that you learn to appreciate
your station. You know, Shebna had a good thing going for him, the treasurer over the royal house.
What a position, okay? But he wasn't, he didn't appreciate it. He wasn't content with what he
was given. He wasn't content with a signed position. He wanted more. He wanted to be like
one of the kings, okay? I don't want that for you. I want you to know your station
and appreciate the station that you're in and not push yourself for a higher position,
not to lift yourself, to elevate yourself above your station. Why? Because I don't want you to end
up like Shebna. I don't want God to look down on you, judge you, say, what are you doing here?
This is not your business. Why have you made your comments? Why have you risen yourself in
a position that is not yours? And then God will tear you down, pull you down, and you'll
end up in a worse position than you were if you just initially enjoyed and respected and
appreciated the position that you're at. And as I said, the third point, like I just said,
is to not lift yourself above your station, not to lift yourself above your station. You can
identify when is it that I'm acting like a Shebna? When is it that I'm lifting myself up above
the station, the position that I've been given in life? Because when someone is trying to lift
themselves up by your own efforts, you know, that's showing that you're not content in the
position, the station that God has given you. Now, what we're going to do is look at several
stories in the Bible. We're going to look at several people who lifted themselves up above the
station that they were given. And we're going to notice that all these people that we're going to
be looking at, we're going to look at three stories here. All of them had very important
positions. They all had very great important positions that the majority of people or beings
will be happy to have that position. But they weren't happy, they weren't satisfied,
and they wanted to lift themselves up. Let's start in the book of Daniel. Please go to Daniel.
Go to Daniel chapter four, please. Daniel chapter four, the book of Daniel chapter four. The
first person we're going to be looking at is King Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar, you turn to
Daniel chapter four. And I feel like I've been going through, as you know, I finished now the
series on Jeremiah down here in Sydney. And I feel like I got a really good idea of the
King of Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar and God's purpose for Nebuchadnezzar as well.
Well, in Jeremiah 27 verse number six, you turn to Daniel four. In Jeremiah 27 verse number six,
God says these words about Nebuchadnezzar. He says, and now have I given all these lands
into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Then God says, my servants.
And the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. So what is Jeremiah
preaching here? What's the word from the Lord? The Lord is saying, I'm giving Jeremiah all
the lands. I'm giving Nebuchadnezzar all the lands. I'm giving Nebuchadnezzar all the kingdom.
This is my doing. God says, it's up to me to decide who I give power to. And right now,
I'm deciding to give my power unto Nebuchadnezzar so that he can judge Judah. So he can judge
all these surrounding nations for me. And God says, he's my servant. Not only does he give
the lands, he says, I give the beast of the field, have I also given unto him. So sorry,
beast of the field have I given him also to serve him. And so God has given Nebuchadnezzar
all the material wealth, all the cattle, not just the lands, but all the wealth that belongs
to those lands. He says, I'm going to give that to Nebuchadnezzar. God is the one that
allowed the king of Babylon to rise into its power to be such a great kingdom, a great nation
over many of the earth. This was the Lord's doing. But when you go to Daniel chapter four,
please go to Daniel chapter four. And I do have a few points as you turn there to Daniel
chapter four. I do have a few points. The first point that I have for you, brethren,
is that whatever your station, whatever your station, you are a servant of God.
Whatever your station is, whether you hold authority or you don't have authority,
whichever place in society that you find yourself in and you've got to operate yourself in,
you're a servant of God. Okay. That's number one. Okay. So in servitude to God,
you might be put in a position where you're serving other men. Okay. But ultimately,
you will always be serving God. Nebuchadnezzar did not have to serve any other men.
Okay. Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful man in his time, the most powerful man. Okay.
And even though he was the most powerful man, he had several servants serving him.
God still says about Nebuchadnezzar, he's my servant. All right. So this is the
reality of life. And this is something you have to accept that you are a servant. Okay.
Doesn't matter what position you are. I know people don't, people think of servitude and
being a servant as a lowly position. And it is lowly to those that you are serving.
But if you, and I've already covered this, right? Do everything for the Lord God. Find meaning
in life by just giving everything to Jesus Christ. You know, we're servants of the Lord God
almighty. And yet while we serve God, he may very well put other men between us in that position,
in a social ladder, whereby serving God, we are commanded then to serve other men.
But look at Daniel chapter four, verse number 28, please. Daniel 4 28.
All this came upon the King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of 12 months, he walked in the palace
of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake and said, is not this great Babylon? Look at the
words that he says, that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power,
and for the honor of my majesty. No, he got it all wrong. He got it all wrong.
God gave him the power. God made his kingdom majestic. Okay. It was by the might of God
that Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful man on the earth at this point in time. But notice,
instead of recognizing his position, his station as a servant of God, instead of saying, hey,
you know what, it's the Lord God, it's the God of Daniel, it's the God of Jeremiah,
that's given me all this power and all this wealth and the ability to overcome any nation
that comes contrary to me. He says, no, it's my doing. I made this kingdom. It's my might.
It's my honor. It's my majesty. And so what does he do? He lifts himself above his station.
And yet he's the most powerful man on the earth. He wants to be, he basically doesn't
want God to take the credit. Okay. He wants to take the credit for himself. He wants to be
seen instead of people saying, wow, thank you God for giving Nebuchadnezzar such a great kingdom.
Thank you God for judging wicked Judah by the hands of Babylon. There's no, you know,
let it be about me. It's all about me. It's all about Nebuchadnezzar. And so he rises
himself above his station. Okay. What happens in his story, verse number 31,
while the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying,
oh, King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken. The kingdom is departed from thee.
Just like Shevna. Okay. He lifted himself up. He was his treasurer. God says, I'm going
to take away your position as a treasurer. And you're going to be taken into captivity,
into foreign field. Okay. When you lift yourself up to your station above the station,
you know, expect God to just remove you completely from your place. Okay. Expect God
to completely lower you, you know, take you down for raising yourself up. Look at verse
number 32, and they shall drive thee from men. And I dwell and shall be with the beasts
of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass as oxen and seven times shall pass over thee
until thou know that the most high, until thou know that the most high ruleth in the kingdom
of men, and give it to whomsoever he will. So what is God saying? I'm the one that rules
in the kingdom of men. I'm the one that's giving you the power, Nebuchadnezzar. And so
as punishment, you're not going to live with men. You're going to live with the animals.
Until seven times pass over thee. That's seven years. For seven years, Nebuchadnezzar would
lose his mind. He would be driven insane by God. Okay. He'd live amongst the animals. He'd get
down on his knees and eat the grass of the field instead of eating the royal food that's
been presented to him. Man, he's lost his kingdom for seven years and he's driven to
be like a wild animal. He's lost his sanity. Okay. This is the doing of God. Verse number 33.
The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar and he was driven from men and
did eat grass as oxen and his body was wet with the dew of heaven. So he's down on his knees.
He's down on his, he's not standing up as a man. Okay. He's down on all fours, you know, like an
animal. Till his hairs were grown like eagle's feathers and his nails like bird's claws. So if
you had to look at Nebuchadnezzar, he looked like some wild beast. He didn't look like a man
anymore. Verse number 34. And at the end of the days, at the end of seven years,
I think about this, the most powerful man on the earth, right?
I mean, what a sight to see that for seven years he would be acting like an animal.
Okay, sorry. Acting like an animal. And sorry, let me read that again.
At the end of the days, Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven and mine
understanding returned unto me. And I blessed the most high and I praised and honored him
that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom is from
generation to generation. So notice what Nebuchadnezzar is saying now. He recognizes, boy,
God really brought me low. God took me down, took, you know, brought me down to live like
an animal. And then at the end of seven years, I got my wisdom back. I got my understanding
back. I got my sanity back. And I realized that it's the Lord God. He's the one that rules
over the kingdoms of men for all generations. You know, in my generation, I'm ruling,
but really it's God that's ruling in my kingdom. So he comes to his sanity. Let's
keep going. Verse number 37. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the king of
heaven. All whose works are truth and his ways judgment. I love how he ends in verse number 37.
And those that walk in pride, he's able to abase. Those that walk in pride,
he's able to abase. Abase means to be lowered, to be demoted, right? What is Nebuchadnezzar
saying about himself? I was risen in pride. I walked in pride. It was my pride that God
hated. It was my pride that caused God to judge me, to lose my sanity and act like an animal.
So the second point that I have for you today, brethren, is that when you rise above your
station, it is an expression of pride. Okay. When you rise above your station,
it is an expression of pride. You know, we all struggle with pride,
you know, myself included. We all have pride. We all have the flesh. We have this ego. You
know, our flesh wants to think of itself better than what it really is. And yet it's our flesh
that is sinful. It's our flesh that has this, that sinful nature within us, right?
We got to take down that flesh. We've got to walk in the new man, walk in the spirit.
When you walk in the new man, you just realize just how wicked your flesh is.
You realize just how selfish it is, how prideful it is. And it needs to be taken down.
Reverend, you've got to take down your pride or God's going to take it down for you.
You know, you decide, you decide, you know, either you take down the flesh every day,
you crucify that old man every day. Okay. Or you let God do it. And it's going to be
severe, a severe judgment where you lower, where God's going to take you down from your
station and bring you exceedingly low. All right. So Nebuchadnezzar is the first one that
we will actually, I guess, in context of this sermon, it's the second one that we look at,
right? Shebna rises above his station, gets taken down. Nebuchadnezzar rises above his
station, gets taken down. And Nebuchadnezzar had everything that any man could ever want.
He was the most powerful man anyone could ever dream to be. And even then he wasn't satisfied
in the station that God had given him. He wanted to take all the credit. Okay.
Pride got in the way. If you find yourself in your life rising above your station,
you need to immediately recognize this is pride. This is pride. And I need to take it down
before God takes me down. Please turn to Numbers 16. Numbers chapter 16,
we're going to look at another man who rose above his station,
another man that was not content in the station that he was given.
Numbers 16. And during this Perfect Man series, I already preached about
Godness with contentment is great gain. This is basically the same thing, brethren,
just being preached a different way. We're going to learn to be content in the station
that God has given us. Okay. You lose the contentment. You let pride get in the way.
You're going to think yourself higher than where you really stand. Okay. Where you really
stand. Look at Numbers 16 and verse number one. Numbers 16 and verse number one,
we're looking at the story of Korah, the rebellion against Moses and Aaron.
Numbers 16 verse number one. Now Korah, the son of Isha, the son of Kohath,
the son of Levi and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab and On, the son of Peleth,
sons of Reuben, took men. And they rose up before Moses with certain of the children of Israel,
250 princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown.
So we start with Korah. Korah's rebellion. Okay. What do you notice here? He starts to
rebel. You soon see that he wants to rise above his station. And because of his attitude,
he's able to influence other people, other men in the nation of Israel to rise up against
their station as well. You see, when you start doing this, you become prideful.
You become rebellious. And it's very attractive to other people that are in their flesh.
And they too want to rise up. They too are driven by pride to rise up against a man like
Moses. Okay, let's keep going to verse number three. And they gathered themselves together
against Moses and against Aaron. I mean, I find this hard to believe that Moses is the one that's
just, God has used Moses to deliver them out of Egypt. God has used Moses to do amazing
miracles in the land of Egypt, right, to bring them to the Red Sea, where God used Moses to
split the Red Sea, for dry land to appear, for the children of Israel to walk through dry land,
to see God destroy the armies of Pharaoh. And even then, after they've seen the great work of
Moses, they see that God is using Moses to say, you know what, we're going to rise up against
Moses. And we're going to rise up against Aaron. Why Aaron? Because Aaron is made the high
priest. Okay. Aaron's the high priest and his sons would follow in that lineage. Okay.
Now, one thing you learn about Korah here, if I can just go back to verse number one,
now Korah the son of Isha, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, one thing that we learn about
Korah is that he's from the tribe of the Levites. Okay. And if you were part of the
Levitical tribe, you were to serve in the house of God, you were there to serve in the
Tabernacle in the temple later on, you had a position to serve God in a mighty way.
Now, not all of the Levites could serve as priests, as I said, just Aaron and his sons,
they were there to take on that position, the children of Aaron. But all the Levites
were to serve in the house of God. Let's keep going, verse number three.
And they gathered themselves against, together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them,
you take too much upon you. Now, this is where people that rise above the station,
when they're trying to be careful and tricky, they're going to make it seem like,
I'm just trying to help. You know, Moses, Aaron, you just got too much on your plate.
Hey, let us be the help. Let's help you. You know, you just got too much going on.
And because you've got too much going on, things are going bad.
So let me be the one that steps in Aaron and Moses, trying to show themselves to be just
helpers, just, you know, making it seem like they're just trying to help. No, they're
actually trying to rise above their station. All right. You take too much upon you, seeing
all the congregation of Holy, every one of them, we're all Holy, we're all separate,
we're all God's people. There's nothing really special about you, Moses and Aaron.
And the Lord is among them. Look at this, wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the
congregation of the Lord. We're all children of God, Aaron. We're all children of God, Moses.
Why do you lift yourself up? No, Moses did not lift himself up. Aaron did not lift himself
up. They were chosen by God to be the leaders of that congregation. Okay?
You know, as a pastor, I'm right here trying to lift myself up and say, look,
what a great man I am. No, God is the one that's allowed me to take on this position,
to take on the office of a bishop. And I have a different station than
the regular members of New Life Baptist Church or the regular members of Blessed
Baptist Church. I have a different station. You know, I don't want to be lifted up and
full of pride about my station, but it's something that God has given me. Okay?
We all have different stations in our life, and we need to learn how to be content in the station
that we've been given. Let's keep going. Let's drop down. Let's go verse number four.
And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face. Okay? I mean, Moses puts himself at a low
position, just humbly bowing himself. You know, he can't believe that people think he's trying
to make something of himself, a big name, full of pride. He's just trying to serve the Lord God.
Okay? But when you try to serve the Lord God, people are going to turn against you.
People are going to think that, oh, you know, you're too, what do they say,
you're too big for your boots. Okay. I mean, that's the saying how it goes, right? Moses,
he's just, you know, Moses didn't even want the job, right? He didn't want to be the guy
that leads Israel out of Egypt. God is the one that selected him for that purpose.
Drop down to verse number nine, please. This is how Moses responds to this rebellion.
Seem afoot but a small thing unto you that the God of Israel have separated you from
the congregation of Israel to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the
tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them.
Moses telling Korah, you know, is it such a small thing? You've been given a prominent
position. Your tribe has been selected from all the other tribes of Israel to serve God
in his tabernacle. You're the one that can actually be the closest to the presence of God,
because we know God's presence, God's Spirit was in the tabernacle. Okay? And you get the
privilege to serve God, to serve this nation of God. But to you, it's such a small thing.
Korah had his station. His station was to serve in the house of God, but it wasn't enough
for him. He wasn't content in the station that he had. He wanted to lift himself up above his
station. Verse number 10, and he had brought thee near to him. God's brought you near to him,
Korah, and all thy brethren, the sons of Levi with thee. And then look at this, and seek ye
the priesthood also. You've been given such an honor, Korah, and you want to be the priest.
You're not happy in the station you're at. You want to take on the priesthood.
You're not Aaron. You're not the sons of Aaron. It's not your station. It's not for you. It's not
a job that God will have you to do. And here you are lifting yourself up above your station,
when you've been given such a privilege. Reverend, I want you to look at whatever station
you're in that line, and say, what a privilege to be in this position. What a privilege to be
in this station. Please find contentment, find fulfillment. Okay? And like I said,
if you can't find it, serve God. Put Jesus first as you serve. We're all servants. Put Jesus first.
Put God first. Serve him in the station you find yourself in. To be content, that you want to be
lifted up with pride, that you want to become rebellious against the leaders, the authorities
that God puts over you in whatever aspect of your life. Drop down to verse number 32, please.
Number 16, verse number 32. And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up
and their houses and all the men that appertained unto Korah and all their goods. You know,
very famous story. You know, God's extremely angry at Korah. He causes the whole earth to
basically swell them up and they descend bodily into hell. Okay, Korah was not even saved.
And even, you know, I mean, it shows it shows that he was basically, you know, sent to hell,
you know, bodily. Sent to hell bodily as the earth opened up and swallowed them up.
And so again, another man, prominent position, not content, wants a higher position,
God then brings him low, as low as hell. Okay. And, you know, these stories are all
the facts throughout the whole Bible. These stories are in the Bible so we can learn,
so we can learn to be content in the station that we find ourselves in.
Why is it that we become prideful? As I said, the third point that I have for you today,
brethren, is envy. Envy leads to discontentment of station. Envy leads to discontentment of
station. Korah was not satisfied. Yeah, I'm serving God in the tabernacle of God.
I'm near the presence of God. But look at the priests. You know, they're recognized.
They've got the higher position. You know, they're doing more work for God. They've
been recognized more than I am. You know, he becomes envious, becomes envious at Aaron,
becomes envious at Moses, becomes envious at the children of Aaron, and says, well,
when he becomes envious, then he loses contentment in the station he found himself in.
So brethren, please don't be envious. Don't look at other people and say, I wish I have
what they have. You know, I wish I had the station that they have. Pastor Kevin,
oh, you know, I should be the pastor. Why should he be the pastor of that church or this
church? Okay, that's envy brethren. It's envy. And then you're going to be discontentment,
discontented. Then you're going to be lifted up with pride. You're going to be lifted up above
your station. You're going to think yourself higher than what you really are. And then God's
going to step in and judge your civility. Be content in the station that you have.
Okay, be content. Serve God in your station and serve those that God has put over you.
Can you please turn to Isaiah 14? We're going to look at the next story here.
Isaiah 14 and verse number 12. Isaiah 14 and verse number 12.
Isaiah 14 and verse number 12, please.
And we're looking at Satan. You know, Lucifer was not content with his station.
You know, a very famous story here. Isaiah 14. We won't spend too much time on it because
it just reinforces everything that we've seen so far. Okay, but Isaiah 14, verse number 12.
Isaiah 14 and verse number 12. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,
son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations?
What do we learn? That Satan, Lucifer, was cast down. He was demoted. God stepped in
and cast him low. Why did he do that? Well, in context of what I'm preaching today, he rose
above his station. He desired more. He wasn't content with what he had. And you know what?
The Bible tells us in the book of Ezekiel that Lucifer was the anointed cherub. Okay, so he's
a cherub. He's an angel in heaven. He's not just a regular cherub though. He's the
anointed cherub. He's got a very special prominent position in heaven. I mean, think
about the best place to be would be heaven. The best place to be would be to surround God's
throne and to be close to God. Now, Korah got close to God in the tabernacle, but he was
just on the earth. Imagine being in the glories of heaven, seeing God in his fullness. What
an honor. What an honor to worship and serve the God of the universe. But it wasn't good
enough for Satan. It wasn't good enough for Lucifer. Verse number 13. And thou hast said in
thine hearts, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation and the sides of the north.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High.
I will be like God, he says. Being the anointed cherub is not enough.
Being in heaven is not enough. Seeing the glory of God and serving the almighty God is not enough.
I want to be like God, says Lucifer, says Satan. Verse number 15.
Yet thou shall be brought down to hell to the sides of the pits.
And so this is the behavior of Satan, brethren. Okay, here's the one that originates this lack
of the satisfaction of his station. You know, he is the one that wanted more than what
his station provided. He wasn't content in the servitude that he had. You know,
he wasn't doing it for the Lord. He became selfish, became arrogant, became prideful,
became envious about the Lord. Okay, and he gets cast down from his station.
And then we look at all these other men, Nebuchadnezzar, you know, Shebna,
Korah, and who else? That's the three guys we've looked at so far. Yeah, they're just
following suit. They're just doing the same things that Satan originally did that angered
God so much to cast him down to the earth and ultimately to hell. Okay, to become the devil,
to be Satan, you know, that was the ultimate destiny, I guess, of maybe that's not the right
word, but that's the ultimate end place for Lucifer. Okay, for rebelling against the most high.
And I don't want you to follow suit. I don't want you to become like Satan. I don't want
you to follow after his footsteps. I'd much rather you follow after the footsteps of Jesus Christ,
who knew his station, who acknowledged his station, he was content in his station,
he was submissive and obedient to those that were above him in authority. And he's the Lord
God. But he's our example. We're commanded to follow after the steps of Christ.
So the next point that I have for you, brethren, or the next sort of part of the
sermon that I'm working through now is how do I the question is, how do I know my station?
How do I identify where I belong? Because I don't want to rise myself above my station.
So how is it that I identify and work out what my station is? Well, it's actually very simple.
It's very simple. Okay. The first thing you need to do is basically consider,
think about who you're accountable to, okay, in all aspects of your life. All right,
last week, we looked at the family. So if you're a family, if you're within a family,
your children, let's say, let's talk about family right now, your children,
who you're accountable to, who's above you, who's your authority? Say what's mother and father,
mom and dad? Absolutely. You know, they're in authority over you. So your station is to be
a child at that point in time, okay? Not to rise yourself and be dad or be mom at this point
in life, okay? Or to think you know better than your parents. You know, when your parents
give you instructions, when they ask you to fulfill something, to do something, you say,
of course, mom, I'll do it. Of course, dad, I'll do it. I'll get to it right away.
When you rebel, within your heart, you think I can do better than my parents.
I know more than my parents. That's when you lose your station. That's when you rise above
your station. And the right thing to do for parents, when your children rise above the
station, is to discipline them, to correct them, to bring them back low, okay? The same
thing that God has done to these men that rebelled against their authorities. You want
to do the same. God has entrusted parents to do this. You know, if you're a wife, who's
above you? The husband, your husband, okay? He's above his wife. He's the head of his wife,
okay? So you need to learn how to be submissive to your husband, to be an encouragement to him,
to take the leading and protection that he wants to give you. Not to say, well, I know
more than my husband. And not to run to your friends and bad mouth your husband. Not to go
to church and tell all the ladies in the church how bad your husband is, okay? When you
do that, you rise above your station. Expect things to not go well for you. Expect you yourself
to be taken down, brought down low, you know, either by the hand of your husband or by the
hand of God, okay? So we need to identify our station. Find contentment, find fulfillment
in the station that you're currently in. Don't want to go into bad families too much.
But we also talk about church. And I said how in church, we have our regular church members.
Then we have officers, the office of a deacon, the office of a pastor or bishop. You know,
these are officers of authority that God has put in the house of the Lord. You know, brethren,
I'd be content. In fact, for most of my life, I've been nothing but happy and content
to sit in the pew and be a regular church member. And just to serve God in the capacity
that I could. If there's something that I could do for the house of God, I say, hey, you know,
consider me. You know, I'm happy to do it. If you want me to do it, I'll do it. And I'll do
the best job that I can because I'm doing it for Jesus Christ. Okay. You know, I was not like,
you know, thinking, you know, and sometimes my pastors, they would preach something that is
wrong. Okay. I did not think, man, I can do a better job than my pastor here. You know what?
I would be better suited as the pastor of this church than the pastor that's behind the pulpit
right now. That thought never crossed my mind. Okay. Now, did I have a hope and a desire to
one day become a pastor? Absolutely. But while I'm just a regular church member, I'm just going
to meet the requirements of my station and I'm going to be happy and content with what I have.
Eventually, you know, I was nominated to be a deacon. People in the church said, hey,
why not Kevin? You know, past, you know, Kevin's a pulver. You know, he'd make a good deacon.
You know, pastor kind of agreed to it. You know, I was chosen to take on the office of a deacon.
And then I was in a new station at that point. Okay. And I was just thankful. I was just
honored that I could serve the house of God in a higher position to be able to do more for the
house of God than what I've done before. Okay. And what did I do then? I just simply
put my head down, worked hard, was content, and did everything unto Jesus Christ. I appreciated
my station. And I got to know my pastors even more. I got to know the faults of my pastors
even more. When you work more closely with people, you just realize, man, we're just human
beings. We're just doing the best that we can with what God has given us. But then again,
as a deacon, I never said, boy, I can do a better job than this pastor. You know what?
I was thankful for the pastor that God had given me. And I was more than happy to submit myself
and do whatever it is that my pastor asked me to do in the office of a deacon.
You know, this is the right view. You know, find your station. Where do I sit
in different aspects of life? We have the workplace. Many people go to work,
okay, especially the men. You should be working. Amen. In the workplace, we have different
stations. You've got your employees, you've got your supervisors, you've got your managers,
and then you've got your directors. Okay. Or, you know, depends on the business you work for,
different sizes, but you know what I'm saying. There are people that have authorities,
and there are people that have higher authorities above that. Okay. What is your station? What is
your employment status right now? Do you have a supervisor? Do you have a manager?
Do you have authority over your head? Okay. Could you do a better job than your supervisor?
Could you do a better job than your managers? Maybe. Okay. But that's not your station.
You don't rise up and say, you know what? You're doing a bad job. I can be a better manager.
I think I can be better. You know, I will be like the most high. I will be like, you know what,
I'm not going to listen to my manager. I'm not going to listen to my supervisor because I can
just do a better job than what they're asking me to do. No. That's rising above your station
and expect yourself to fail. Okay. Don't expect yourself to get promotions.
Don't expect yourself to get pay rises. Don't expect yourself to do well and be productive
when you take that kind of attitude. Because if you're not corrected in the workplace,
once again, God's going to step in and bring you low. Okay. Know your station,
be content in a station that you find yourself in. Okay. If you become a supervisor, praise God,
I got promoted. All right. I'm going to do the best I can as a supervisor,
but I'm not going to be envious about the manager. I'm not going to be envious about
the directors because they've got their stations and they're all servants of God as well.
That's right. They're all servants of God. We're all servants of God. Okay. Whether you're
saved or unsaved, we're all servants. You know, you can be a faithful servant to God,
or you can be an unfaithful servant to God. Okay. We're all here. We've been created to
serve the Lord God. And hopefully, you know, these people that are in these positions that
are unsaved, hopefully they come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and they don't,
they're no longer just a servant, but they become a child, a son of God.
Amen. That's the hope. That's the desire that we would be able to win the people that
we come across for the Lord. They will become children of God. But regardless,
whether you're a child of God or not, you've been created by Jesus Christ.
You've been created for the Lord God and you're a servant to Him.
Then we have governments and you know, you've got your lawmakers,
you've got your law enforcement, and then you've got your citizens.
We all have our station. And I don't like my government very much, brethren,
but I'm going to obey what they ask of us. As far as, as long as it's not sinful,
all right, I'm going to obey, I'm going to do, I don't have to be in agreement.
And that's the other thing that you need to understand. You don't have to be in agreement
with the person that is above you. You just have to know your station,
put your head down, and do the best job you can in the station you find yourself in.
Okay. We find ourselves right now in COVID world, right, with the
stupid politicians that we have, you know, could we do a better job? Probably.
Okay, but I'm not going to rise above my station. I'm very content to just be an average
Australian citizen. Okay. I don't even want to get into politics, because then I'm probably
going to start caring about this world a little bit too much. I'm very happy to find myself
more and more detached from this wicked world, and more and more attached to the world to
come. Amen. That's our journey. That's our destination, brethren. You know,
our heavenly home, New Jerusalem, the new heaven and the new earth that God will one day create.
But we all have different stations in life. We all operate at different levels. You know,
identify where you fit and stick to your station. Don't rise above your station,
or you'll be demoted. Okay. I've used this example before, but I like this example.
You know, I once managed a pastor, a church, a pastor. We're still friends today. Okay. He's
an independent Baptist pastor. And I was his employer, you know. He wasn't even my direct
report. You know, I had a, he was basically just an employee. He had a supervisor over him,
and I was over his supervisor. Okay. And, you know, in the workplace, I didn't treat him,
I didn't give him any favors. I didn't treat him any differently. I treat him as just
every other employee. You know, I go and check on his work. He was given certain work to do,
and I would check every now and again, making sure he's getting the work done.
Okay. When he came to business hours, it's very clear I'm the boss. Okay. And he knew
his station. All right. He just, he was an employee, put his head down and work hard.
And I wouldn't treat him any differently, even though he's a brother in the Lord.
Okay. I wouldn't treat him any differently to any of the other staff that I worked with.
Hey. But then when the work hours were finished, when the working day was over,
we'd often get together. All right. Talk about church. Talk about the Bible. I'd share with
him my desire to be a pastor one day. Right. And after work hours, we're just friends. We
just operate as brethren in the Lord. All right. We just get along, talk about doctrines,
talk about experiences, learning from one another. You know what? At that time,
outside of work hours, I was no longer his boss. I was his friend.
The station had changed in that environment. Okay. During work hours, I'm his boss. He's
my employee. Outside of work hours, we're just friends. We're brothers in the Lord,
discussing the Bible. We recognize our stations had changed in that environment.
Now, I never attended his church, but if I did attend his church, guess what?
During church hours, I'm now under his authority. Okay. I mean, is that weird, right? I mean,
it's just different aspects of life, right? It's church time, church operations. I'm under
that pastor's authority. I never went to it, but I'd say if I did go to his church,
then I would happily submit myself under his authority. And I wouldn't want him to feel
awkward that this is my boss at work. Okay. I would want him to treat me like any other
member that's attending that church, any other visitor of the church. That's what I would
expect. And I would know my station as a church member and just doing the best I can as a regular
church member and acknowledging that man who's my employee in work hours as the authority in
the house of God. All right. So there can be a mix, you know, different times of the day
that your station will change. But when your station changes, you need to identify that,
stop recognize where you are and say, I'm going to be content in the station that I'm in,
and I'm not going to rise myself above that. Now, the next question is, well, is it wrong
to seek a higher station? And the answer, of course, is no. It is not wrong to seek
a higher station. Okay. Just make sure it's not out of pride. Make sure it's not out of
discontentment. Make sure it's not out of envy. Okay. As I said, I wanted to be a pastor
one day, but I did not look at other pastors and think, man, they're all rubbish and I can
do a better job. I should be the one here. I'll leave this place. That's not how it works.
You know how it works. You know how I became a pastor. I knew my station. I worked hard.
I'm happy to be a servant. I'll do whatever I have to do. Okay. I'm going to put my head
down. I'm just going to serve Jesus Christ. I'm going to be happy with where I am.
And if it's not God's will for me to be a pastor, then it's not going to happen.
And I need to find contentment that it's not God's will, not God's plan for my life.
Okay. You become obedient to those that are over you. You serve in the station that God has given
you. And then God is the one that's going to promote you. God is the one that's going to lift
you at a higher station. Can you please turn to Psalm 75. Turn to Psalm 75. It is not wrong
to seek a higher station, brethren. It is not wrong for children to one day say, I want to be
a, I want to be a husband. You know, I want to be a wife. I want to be married one day.
Well, praise God. You know what you'd be obedient as children. All right. You just do what you know
you're required to do. And when God sees your obedience and your servitude and appreciating
the station that you're in, then the time will come when God sends you a spouse. Okay.
And then lovingly you marry that person. And when you get married in the new family,
you've now taken on a new station. You are now a husband or you are now a wife. Okay.
And you go from being a child under your parents' authority. Now as a man, you have the
authority over your house and the, and the, and the, and the young girl who becomes a wife,
you soon will have authority when you have your own children, your own family.
Okay. You've now switched your station, but it's not out of envy. It's not out of pride.
It's out of, Hey, you know, humbly just doing what you're required to do in your station
and allowing God to be the one that facilitates your promotion into a new station.
Go to Psalm 75 verse six, please. Psalm 75 verse number six.
For promotion, for promotion cometh neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south.
But God is the judge. He put up down one and set up another. God is the one that looks down
at you working and serving and being faithful and obedient in the station that you're in.
And when God says, boy, you know, he's shown himself to be a good follower.
Now I'm going to make him a leader. You know, I've seen them being obedient. Now they can have
authority. I've seen them be faithful children, faithful servant in their family.
Now I'm going to send them a spouse. Okay. Promotion comes from the Lord.
All right. God looked down upon me. And so, Hey, he's faithful in his church.
He's serving in his church, whether it's a regular church member,
whether it's the supervisor of the Sunday school, whether it's the office of a deacon,
you know what? Now it's time for pastor Kevin to be a pastor,
to take on the office of a Bishop. Praise God. You know, I did not force that.
That's God's doing. God allowed that to happen. Okay. I'm not proud. I'm not lifting myself
up with pride here, brethren. Okay. As I said, I'd be more than happy for other men to
be the pastors. I saw a need. I said, God, if I'm the one that needs to fill that need,
please make it to me. Otherwise, Lord, if it's someone else, I'll support them.
I'll get behind them, Lord, if it's someone else, you know?
Can you please turn to Philippians chapter two, please? Turn to Philippians chapter two.
Philippians chapter two. I'm going to read to you from Matthew 23, verse 11.
These are the words of Jesus, but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
You want to be great? You want to be promoted? You want a higher position?
You become a servant. You serve. You be obedient. Okay. You be a help to the authorities
that are over you. Then God will make you great. Jesus continues in verse number 12,
and whoso shall exalt himself shall be abased. And he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
This is a clear principle in the Bible. You want a higher station? You lower yourself,
you be a servant. Okay. And let God watch you. Let God be the one that honors you
and lifts you up to a higher station. Philippians 2 five, please. You're in Philippians 2 five.
Let this mind be in you. What mind? Which was also in Christ Jesus. All right, so
we want to be like Jesus. We want the mind of Jesus, right? This fleshly mind, this carnal mind.
We need to put that aside. It's again, crucify the old man and say, I want the mind of Christ.
I need a renewing of my mind. Christ, give me your mind. I want to be like you. I want to
think like you, Jesus Christ. So what is the mind of Christ? Verse number six,
who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Jesus Christ
is equal with God. Okay, Jesus Christ is fully God. He's not a lesser God. He's not a
God be or something like that. He is still the one true God that we worship. Okay. He's
equal with God. Then he says in verse number seven, but made himself of no reputation.
Look at this, and took upon him the form of a servant. Jesus changed stations. He went from
being God. Oh, he was always God. Okay, but the prominent position of Godhood, okay,
and lowered himself as a man, and he became a servant. He took on a new station when he was
born in Bethlehem's manger. It says, and was made in the likeness of men,
and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself. He humbled himself as a man,
and look at this, and became obedient. Isn't that what service is, to obey those that are
over you? He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. So we know,
of course, Jesus Christ, you know, in the form of man, in the likeness of man, right? He was sent
by the father. He had a job to do. He had a mission to accomplish, and he submitted his
will to the father's will. He was obedient unto death, but not only was he obedient to his
father, he was also obedient to his earthly parents. He was obedient to his mother, okay,
and yes, even obedient to his stepfather, Joseph, okay. You know, Joseph and Jesus shed no
biological traits. They did not share the same DNA, okay. He did with his mother. Jesus Christ
was 100% man and 100% God, but you know what, even when Christ was in that family, he must
have been obedient to mother and father, even though father was a stepfather, and we see when
Christ is born, and he's a young child and a babe, that God sends an angel not to Mary,
but to Joseph. Even though Joseph is not the biological father, he's the head of his wife.
He's the head of that family, and God is the one that instructs Joseph, okay, to name
him Jesus, or to escape into Egypt. Remember that time, okay. It's the father. He's the head,
even though he's the stepfather, okay. Jesus knew his station. He knew where he had come from.
He knew right now on the earth, his first coming, that his new station was to be a child,
was to be obedient to mom and dad, and then when he grew up to be an adult,
he ultimately ended up fulfilling the obedience of death, you know, for us. Now,
when he humbled himself, he lowered himself, he was obedient, he knew his station, brethren.
Verse number nine, what does it say? Wherefore God hath also highly exalted him,
and given him a name, which is above every name, the name of Jesus. So notice that because
Jesus Christ accomplished his servitude and his obedience in his new station, in his humbled
station, the father exalts Christ higher. He gives a name that is above every name. Amen.
It's by the name of Jesus that we are saved, brethren. What a powerful name. It is by the name
of Jesus that our prayers are answered. What a powerful name. God promoted his son. You know,
his son is seated at the right hand of the father, but notice that he had to fulfill
his station. He had to be obedient and humble himself. You know, Christ did not elevate himself
above his station. You know, he submitted his will to the father's will. He did not say,
God, you know, I have a better plan than you. I think there's a better way to redeem
mankind than what your plan is. No, he submitted himself to the death of the cross.
Can you please turn to, yeah, please turn to Matthew 20. We'll end on this one.
Please turn to Matthew chapter 20 and verse number 20.
Matthew chapter 20 and verse number 20. We'll end here.
And really, this sermon, the purpose of this sermon is to be more of a platform
for next week's sermon, okay? Because next week's sermon won't be fully appreciated until you fully
understand this sermon, okay? Knowing your station. But Matthew chapter 20 and verse number 20.
Matthew chapter 20 and verse number 20. There's nothing wrong with wanting a higher station,
brethren, as long as we go about it the right way. We humble ourselves, we lower ourselves,
we be the servant that we're required to be in our current station. Matthew 20 verse 20.
Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons,
worshiping him and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, what wilt thou,
she sayeth unto him, grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand and
the other on the left in thy kingdom. This mother wanted her children to have a higher station.
This mother wanted her children to be close to Christ in all of eternity. Is there anything
wrong with that, brethren? To be closer to the Lord, okay? You know, to be of service to God
in a greater capacity, of course not, okay? Of course not. Verse number 22. But Jesus answered
and said, ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I drink that I shall
drink of and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him,
we are able. Verse number 23. And he saith unto them, ye shall drink indeed of my cup and be
baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. But to sit on my right hand and on my
left is not mine to give. But it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
Okay? Jesus does not rebuke them for desiring to sit on his right hand and his left hand.
You know what Christ does though? What we learn here is that Jesus knew his station. He didn't
say, yeah, absolutely. You can sit on my right hand and my left hand. I'll make that decision.
No. He's an obedient son to the Father. He says, this is not my authority. You know,
this is not for me to decide who sits on my right and my left. But it is the decision
of the Father. You know what? Christ showed himself to be humble, to be lowly, to be obedient,
to be a servant. And he says, you know what? For me to grant these positions, it's not my station.
Okay? That's my Father's station. Okay? It's up to him to decide. You know,
this is important for children to learn this concept. You can't just make plans with your
friends, you know, and invite your friends over to your house and then go to your parents to
just check. I invited someone over to my house. Is it right if they come? No, it's not your
station to decide those things. You go to mom and dad and say, mom and dad, I'd like to have friends
so-and-so over to my house. Will you permit it? You know, and it's up to the parents. You know,
we need to learn our station. Jesus Christ knew his station. And the conclusion for the
sermon today, brethren, is for you to know your station. Be content. Serve in the station
you've been given. Okay? And if the Lord sees you faithfully completing that task, then one
day, Lord willing, he will open up for you to receive a promotion. Let me just conclude this
sermon. Okay? Just got five things that I want to conclude with. Number one, know your station.
Work out where you belong in society, within your family. Work it out. Where do you belong?
Number two, and the rest of it, brethren, plays into all the other sermons that I've been
preaching in the past during the Perfect Man series. Okay? Next thing is obey, serve, and
be productive in your station. Obey and serve. I know it's against your pride. I know it's
against your ego. Just do it. It's what God wants from you. Okay? Number three,
if you struggle to do it, do all things unto the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what makes it
doable. I'm serving my Lord Jesus Christ. Number four, be content in the state that you are in.
Be happy. Be fulfilled. Thank you, God, for giving me this station.
And number five, wait for the Lord to promote. Okay? Don't make it on your own. Don't be full of
envy, full of rebellion and pride. No. Wait on the Lord to promote you. Okay, brethren, let's pray.