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Amen once again, thank you all for coming back. I am glad to be here It's actually a privilege for me to be here I don't think as much repel it for me to be here for you guys But it is for me as far as being able to be here before you guys and you come you guys coming back You know to be able to preach something that I believe would be a blessing to you guys So Exodus chapter 11 the verse that I want to focus on is right there in Exodus 11 4 that says and Moses said that Saith the Lord about midnight Well, I go down into the mists of Egypt and all all the firstborn in the land of Egypt Shall die from the firstborn of Pharaoh that said upon his throne even up to the firstborn of the main service that is behind the mill and all the firstborn of beasts and there should be a Great cry throughout all the land of Egypt such as there was none like it nor should be like it anymore Go to Exodus chapter 10 verse 3 Exodus chapter 10 verse 3 And what I want to preach about is the sin is very hard to detect You know, but as results are very very deadly and it can affect any of us It's not a respect to a person's doesn't care who you are red yellow black and white. It doesn't matter You're a target in the site doesn't matter. You're from Africa Mexico the United States. It does not matter I know sin can affect us all but this is one that's very hard to detect sometimes But if you let it go full circle It can cause the lives of individuals it can cause your life the lives of your family your children And so what we see here in Exodus 11 is an example of that where it says that the firstborn in the land of Egypt Shall die this is talking about you know When God came and the end of slain the firstborn in the land of Egypt from Pharaoh's son that sat upon his throne You know to the lowest maidservant that's behind the mill her firstborn died and only that but the firstborn of beasts as well And it came down to one thing and it was pride. Pride is the reason why this happened. Yes It says that Pharaoh hardened his heart, but before that, you know, or it says that God hardened his heart before that He ended up harden his heart. So when God said this guy is never gonna repent, you know He ended up saying you know what he's done now now I'm gonna start hardening his heart So what ended up happening is that that's what caused you know This whole thing to go down because people were telling Pharaoh Hey Can't you tell that Egypt is destroyed but he did not care because of his pride and he continued in sin and though he faked Like he repented he would say that hey, I'm gonna let you go But then he would put you know kind of limitations on what he wanted to do He never fully repent They never really wanted to let that go Until God had to intervene and slay them and there was great cry throughout all the land of Egypt So you're right there in Exodus 10 13 I'm just gonna read from Proverbs 6 16 something we read this morning that says these six says the Lord hate Yea, seven are abomination unto him earlier. We spoke about the lying tongue today We're gonna talk about pride, but this is a sin You can actually come in with your face look right there or you guys stay right there in Exodus 10 13 But it's very interesting how it says a proud look a proud look and that's why I think we should be people of great kindness Because if that's your goal to be greatly kind to people because that's how the Lord is to us of great mercy of great kindness You might not you might not commit this sin very often, you know Because to be of great kindness you actually have to smile and care and be sincere, you know So a prideful look I think of hip-hop artists on their albums when I think of prideful Look what it is there with their money, you know, just kind of looking down on people You guys understand what I'm talking about or maybe even atheists, you know that are up there in their atheistic conferences or whatever the case and maybe a Christian stands up and you know starts questioning their beliefs and they're like I can't believe this guy doesn't he know what we know how dare he question what we believe But what was the what was the reason why chapter 11 ended up speaking about God slaying the firstborns well Exodus tells us why and it says right there in Exodus 10 3 and Moses and Aaron came in onto Pharaoh and said out to him Does say the Lord God of the Hebrews how long will thou refuse? Refuse to humble thyself before me. There's the problem right there Of course if you if you're not humble Then you're prideful is the opposite of being humble and you tell them let my people go that they may serve me go to Romans 12 1 please go to Romans 12 1 and the title of my sermon is this prides victims prides Victims and the Bible a lot of people died for a man woman and children old young you name it But a lot of them died because of people's pride because of people's pride and when you really stop and think about it You can almost you know, remember stories of people either getting hurt or causing others to get hurt and the end result You know, sometimes it's not death per se but it's something very serious and it came down to one thing pride Pride and like I said, this is a sin that we need to be careful of because sometimes it creeps in our lives And it can affect anybody it affected the Apostles and affect a very humble man like Moses and we'll get into that in a second You know, but you guys have Romans 12 1 I'm gonna read from Proverbs 16 18 it says pride goeth before Destruction pride goeth before destruction, but what do I mean by pride? I think Romans 12 not necessarily 12 1 but 12 3 but Romans 12 kind of tells us what kind of mentality we should have But I think verse 3 is a good verse to give to somebody to explain to them what pride is So we'll start in verse number 1 It says I beseech you brethren beseech means to beg. So here's Paul begging the Romans Hey, this is what I want you guys to do. This is how we should all be He says I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice Holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service and he wants them to change their mind and be not conformed to this world But be you transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove What is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God and here's what I believe is a good way to look at a definition of pride It says for I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly more highly than he ought to Think but to think soberly according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith Go to Daniel chapter 5 verse 17 So very simply put just to explain it to a child Pride is thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think thinking you're better than somebody when you're not You might be able to say well look I'm better than this guy Well, that's great because you know, the Bible does talk about individuals being better than their neighbors God told Samuel to tell Saul hey, you're gonna get replaced by somebody who's better than you But that doesn't mean you can go around just you know, putting in people's faces if you're better than them, you know But we shouldn't compare ourselves among ourselves. We should strive to be like Christ holy and acceptable unto God, you know But that's one thing we need to remember We need to remember in the first place where all our blessings come from Where does our wisdom come from if you have strength? Where does your strength come from if you're able to go to work, you know every day? Where does that come from a quick reminder Deuteronomy 8 18 says this but thou shall remember and I'm gonna help you guys remember And also helps me remember as I'm up here But thou shall remember the Lord thy God for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth It is not yourself. It is God if you can talk if you can walk It's by the grace of God Paul said I am but what I am by the grace of God and let us never forget that Let us remember that that will keep us from having our hearts be lifted above our brethren Well, we don't look at each other like man Can you believe such-and-such or this guy or that guy? Hey, if you see us a brother citizen that is not unto death pray for that individual pray for protection You know if you think they're full of pride pray they got reveals to them You know because this is sin that can creep into anybody's heart and it's like I said hard to detect but it has deadly Consequences you were right there in Daniel 5 I'm just gonna read an example of somebody who got prideful and it says in Daniel 5 17 then Daniel answered and said before the King Let thy gifts be to thyself This is Daniel speaking to Nebuchadnezzar son Belshazzar This is during the you know time that he's partying he gets the gold vessels He starts drinking out of them for his concubines his wives and his leaders and then there was writing on the wall We freaked them out and he couldn't understand what that was about So somebody told him hey, there's this guy named Daniel that could interpret dreams and interpret visions and he can help you out So this would pick up the story now Daniel's talking to Belshazzar Nebuchadnezzar son Says then answered Daniel said before the king let thy gifts be to thyself and give thy rewards to another Yet I will read the writing unto the king and make known to him the interpretation of thou king the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom and majesty and glory and honor and for the message that he gave him all people nations and languages trembled and feared before him whom he would he slew whom he would he kept alive in whom he would he set up and Whom he would he put down but when his heart was lifted up see there it is That's the pride right there Thinking more highly of himself than he should have his heart will lift it up and that can happen to any of us Let's be careful. Let's remember that this is a dangerous sin and it says right there. His heart will lift it up and his mind Hardened in pride. Does that sound familiar? Pharaoh hardened his heart with what with pride. That's what happened harden it and harden it and harden it again With pride to the point where God saw he's not gonna repent now I'm gonna start hardening his heart where he cannot turn from it because I'm gonna use him to destroy Egypt And because of him because let's just say he did repent. Egypt would have never got destroyed It's clear in the Bible. Let my people go or else this is gonna happen He did it and he got destroyed plague after plague until finally guess what? The children died his firstborns the firstborns of Egypt died and it's continued to say right there He hardened his mind in pride He was disposed from his kingly throne and they took his glory from him and he was driven from the sons of men and his Heart was made like the beast and his dwelling was with the wild asses They fed him with grass like oxen and his body was wed with the duel of heaven till he knew Till he remembered till he knew and let us never forget where God has to humble us and remind us Who's the reason behind her success and it says that he gave in the mind of a beast until he knew that the Most High? God ruled in the kingdom of men and here's the other part I want you guys to see and that he appointed over it whomsoever he will He picked Nebuchadnezzar because he wanted to not get Nebuchadnezzar was so great so mighty and he's like wow This is the greatest guy alive. I'm gonna pick him No He picked them because he knew that he was gonna get prideful and we needed this story to help us today in 2019 Go to Isaiah 14, please Isaiah 14 2 on 14 12 So when it comes to prize victims, what do we see we see when people get very prideful and it pushed the Lord too far We see some victims and who are the victims? friends Friends, so if our pride gets out of control Hey, the victims are gonna be our friends We're gonna hurt those that we care about our co-workers our church members our neighbors. You name it you guys continue to go as they're 14 I'm just gonna read from Proverbs 13 10 only Not sometimes only by pride cometh Contention only by pride what a contention strive fighting. So it says it right there and I believe it So when there's fights between people is pride Neither of them want to stop they want to continue They're both, you know hostile towards each other because of pride Isaiah 14 12 says this How would I fallen from heaven O Lucifer son of the morning? Howard I cut down to the ground which thou weakened the nation's for thou has said in thy heart 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 in the sides of the north I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell to the size of the pits go to acts 15, please acts 15 So here's a perfect example of how prideful people talk I I I I I all day long I What was Satan's problem? Satan's problem was emulation. He wanted to be like the most high and the Bible says in Galatians 5 19 You don't have to go there now the works of the flesh. This is sinful stuff. Our man has faced which are these adultery fornication uncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry witchcraft hatred variants some of those stuff are obvious papa this emulations Emulations emulating wanted to be like somebody especially somebody sinful man Forget that You know by trying to be like somebody when it's not God's will for you to be that individual to have with an individual has Satan wanted to have what God had his throne his throne above the stars and his wicked is emulation and it was envious Well, I should be like the multi-god he was envying and being God which is insane Why would you want to envy God? It's better to just worship God. God is so great Envy murders drunkenness revelants in such a light, but this is how it is This is what comes out of our hearts Wanted to be like somebody else Wanted to be like that individual for the glory for whatever for the things that they have You know the envy that comes out of our hearts. That's what happened with Satan He was filled with pride. So pride is a way of becoming like the devil in a sense You know pride you can say a satanic. This is why you know, God told Peter Jesus told Peter get behind me Satan Why because he cared about the things of men. I guess he was getting glory with Christ being around Maybe he thought if Christ is gone. My glory is gone. That's what he's like. No, sir. No, you're not gonna die It's not gonna happen, you know because I have all all the people that were following him I couldn't imagine what it looked like being followed by 10,000 people 15,000 people, you know being the talk of the town Jesus Christ and his apostles do miracles here and miracles there, you know, maybe he got a little prideful in his heart You know and thought wow, this is so awesome people think I'm so great etc, etc But it's all because of Christ are following Christ that therefore they were following him as well, you know But he didn't savor the things of God It was a man he wanted the vainglory that comes from being praised by men and God called him Satan Probably because he realized you're acting like him right now might as well call you out Well, you don't care about my my my desires, you know You care about yours and that's what Satan was doing. He didn't care about God's desires He's like I I I I might throw in this and that and whatever, you know, I I should have said like the most high We shouldn't be like that whatsoever. You know, we should be content with what we have I'm just gonna read from Psalms 133 and then I'll start reading from Acts 15 Psalms 133 says this behold How good how pleasant is it for brethren to dwell together in unity? It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard even Aaron's beard that went down to the skirts of His garments as to do of Herman and as to do this and sin upon the mountains of Zion for there the Lord commanded the blessing even life forevermore So it's a great thing for people to get together and basically like it says right there dwell together in unity be united It's always a good thing. It's not good when people are at Immanee with each other, you know, just causing problems going around That's what Jesus said or the Lord said, you know these things that the Lord hate, you know fifth feet They'd be swift to run into mischief and those that soar the soul discord among brethren God doesn't like in fighting whatsoever. He wants us to do all together in unity, but let's just face it You know, we're human and even the best of of the best can also have this sin creep into their lives as well Well instead of being you know, like it says right there at peace of one another unity together dwelling together You know, they end up having to be a stripe. So if you're out there in Acts 15 This is a perfect example of Paul a very good Christian a great man of God the best Christian of the New Testament You know, probably even the Bible and him and Barnabas, you know, they want to do a great work They want to do something big for God, you know, they want to continue the work that they've started, you know But you can see that pride got in the way of their work and it can happen to any of us This is a message for us to just let us know a be careful if it happened to them great man of God And I couldn't even I'm not worthy even to say I'm even in the same boat as Paul such a great man suffer so much He's gonna be an unbelievable guy to talk to you. But this is what happened It says that Paul also Barnabas continue in Antioch. So they're in Antioch and then decide Hey, let's go visit everybody else everybody who we've we've witnessed to you know Let's go see how they're doing It says Paul also Barnabas continue in Antioch teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also And some days after Paul said after Barnabas let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord and And see how they do and Barnabas, you know, he thought it was a good idea. Let's do it. Let's go, you know Hey, I want to bring somebody along and this is what happened Barnabas determined to take with him with them John whose surname was Mark So Paul is like hey, let's go visit people. Let's go see how they're doing. You know Barnabas is like yeah, let's go No problem. Hey, I want to take Mark with me and sure enough It says but Paul kind of put the brakes on it Paul thought not good to take him with them who departed from them From Pamphylia and went not with them to the work. So he says no, not this guy I don't know if he called him out right up right there on the carpet. He's like no Mark. Hey, you left us No, you're not going no. Sorry Barnabas him. No, he's not gonna go Well Barnabas said yeah He is gonna go and it says they started fighting and look at that word a contention. What did I read earlier? Only by pride cometh what? Contention so I'm not off to say that these two guys let pride creep in their hearts It is a sometimes by pride It says only by pride cometh contention and that words right there and the contention was so sharp between them That they departed asunder one from the other So Barnabas took Mark and sailed on to Cyprus and Paul chose Silas and departed being recommended by the brethren Unto the grace of God and they went through Syria and Cilicia Confirming the churches so they split and they took off but if you keep reading then Paul says hey bring me Mark He's profit unto me So it wasn't how you start is how you finish and at the end it looked like Paul Repented and he said you know what the guy actually did deserve to come. He's not profit unto me I need the guy, you know, he benefits me benefits us all but there was no need for this Well, what happened the pride got into the Apostle Paul not the Apostle Paul. Yeah the Apostle Paul Imagine that pride got in his heart that ended up causing him to separate you guys are in numbers 25 If not go to numbers 25, I'm gonna read from Psalm 73. So just go to numbers 25 Psalms Psalm 73 says this truly God is good to Israel even to such as of a clean heart But as for me my feet were almost gone My steps have well nice slip for I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked For there are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm There are not in trouble as other men neither are their plague like other men Therefore pride compasses them about as a chain Violence covers them as a garment as a garment. So what am I what am I reading here? I'm reading here where the you know, the person that wrote Psalm 73 he is talking about the wicked He's saying look my steps Almost almost were gone meaning that I started to believe what I was seeing because what did he see he saw or he said for I was envious. He says I'm envious at the foolish, you know, obviously envious sin Why when he saw them, you know in prosperity when he saw the prosperity of the wicked, you know He started to get envious. He started to let his mind slip. He said that a what's going on with these people They seem like they're never in trouble Neither are they plague and it says therefore though therefore pride Pride compasses them about as a chain as a chain and violence Covers them as a garment and when I see this verse I think again of hip-hop artists I guess I listen to them a lot I kind of know how they are and when I see Chain, I think of them because they carry a lot of chains go change all day long and why well therefore pride That's all it is just pride Whereas the bigger chain can boast the most that's just kind of how it is And so they wear it out of pride and it says there that a these guys a they're there for pride It says that violence covered them as a garment and it seems like that's the case with hip-hop artists You don't really see it with rock musicians. You don't really see it with country music stars It seems like the ones that are getting into fight getting to shootouts getting arrested for drugs. It seems to be the rappers and Even when I was a teenager the most famous rapper was Tupac Tupac But it seemed like he was always always with gold chains always seemed to be a prideful guy, you know, and he was always surrounded by violence Always surrounded by violence. So it doesn't matter if you're a save individual pride can cause your friendship to get destroyed Just like Paul Barnabas to the unsafe. It's gonna be even worse Violence seems to just be surrounding them for no reason and what happened with pock I guess he went to a casino got in a fight instead of just letting this pride go I guess the guy says something bad about them or maybe they're snatched a chain I don't know what it was about But it ended up just getting to the point where they had a fight in the casino who knows what I'm talking about that a fight in this casino and Instead of just letting this pride just die and just you know, how a forgiving spirit He went after the guy that supposedly stole one of his crew members chains and instead of buying him a new one It's not like he didn't have money, you know instead of buying his buddy a new one He went and retaliated and what happened later that night. He got shot. He got shot and his manager got shot Why because they their pride, you know, it's about them like a chain and violence is just gonna cover them like a garment and Pride will cost your friends lives. Not just him but even ten years later ten years later A white rapper by the name of Eminem his best friend who was almost in every single stage where he had You know concert he ended up getting shot as well over stupid stuff. Just pride. It was ridiculous I couldn't believe it. I'm thinking man. You guys are rich What in the world are you guys doing getting shot get out of the hood for crying out loud, you know But that's what it is pride I can't leave my streets because I lose my street cred and through pride it continued that lifestyle Even though they're multi-millionaires and don't understand the more money the more problems are going to have Get some security live in your mansion get out the ghetto go to concerts with a with a fleet of bodyguards It's not like you can't afford them But you ended up costing your friends life Why because of another rapper who had connections to some gang some thugs and every tally ate it because you said something stupid in your album But see pride like I said prize victims in the Bible you see is just people You know just simple people Beryl's people ended up getting hurt Beryl's friends who had their firstborn died because of his pride and it can happen in it can happen today and it can happen to Us having a Barnabas and Paul it can happen to us as well. Here's another famous story you guys in numbers 25 It says and behold one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren I meet an Irish woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the throne of Israel Who were weeping for the door of the top neck of the congregation and when Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest saw it he rose up from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through the man of Israel and the woman through her belly so The plague was stained from the children of Israel and those that died in the plague were twenty and four Thousand and the Lord spake unto Moses saying Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest had turned my wrath Away from the children of Israel while he was zealous for my sake among them that I consumed not the children of Israel In my jealousy wherefore say behold I give unto him my covenant of peace and he shall have it and his seed after him Even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood because he was zealous for his God and made an atonement For the children of Israel not the name of the Israelite that was slain even that was slain with a minion Nightish woman was Zimrai the son of Salu a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites So what do we see here? We see one guy committing fornication He gets killed and God's wrath ends Now I'm not saying go around killing all these fornicators that live over I'm not saying that at all But here we can see that it seemed like a one individual continued the plague God ended up plaguing the people of Israel and this one individual Continued it and this guy ended up being so selfish so prideful that he for some reason the rules don't apply to him He thought he was above his brethren his heart got lifted up that he took a woman that it were commanded not to marry He takes her and he ends up committing fornication with her and one of the sons of Aaron sees them and goes and kills them and the plague stops and 24,000 people lost their lives and more probably would have continued because of one individual's pride He could have cost more lives had ever saw us not stepped up and done what he did I don't know. Maybe another 20,000 would have died But just imagine that people are dying left and right 20,000 my goodness That's a that's over a basketball stadium. What do they fit 16,000? That's a lot of people dying getting plagued by God because of fornication and one guy was continuing the plague He could have stopped and be like, whoa, look at all these people dying around us, but he didn't care He only care was about himself. So that's what pride does. It makes you very selfish individual go to Joshua 616 So very quickly prize victims number one if you're filled with pride hey You're gonna hurt your friends your church member co-workers you name it We can't go into all the examples of what happens when people get prideful Which is going to go through a few but I'll just read from Proverbs 18 24 Well, you guys are turning to Joshua 6 it says a man that has friends must show himself friendly And there's a friend is thinking of closer than a brother. Hey the friendliest thing you can do Is do was right the Bible says this how we know that we love the truth of God when we love God and keep his Commandments so that guy that was committed fornication. He didn't love the people of God. He cared less about his neighbors He cared less about his friends. I'm sure he had friends. He had at least a girlfriend and look what happened her So we know he at least have friends for crying a lot that wasn't his wife, you know But she he took her down the wrong path and because of his pride it cost his life her life and that's just how it seems to be when the guy goes seems like the woman goes as well and we'll go into that in a second but Another group that will be affected by your pride if you don't get it corrected It's going to be clearly your children your children and when you think about it There's so many stories where children die because of their parents you guys are in Joshua 6. There's an example Akon and It says that it came to pass at the seventh time when the priest blew the trumpets This is children of Israel Joshua going after Jericho and it says when the priest blew with the trumpets Joshua said unto the people shout for the Lord hath given you the city and the city shall be a curse Even it and all that are there in to the Lord only Rahab the Harley shall live she and all that are with her in the house because she hid the messengers that were that we sent And ye and any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing Let's see make yourself a curse when you take of the accursed thing and make the camp of Israel a curse Trouble it so God already warned them Hey, there's gonna be this town is just curse everything in it is curse the money you name it a curse meaning It's gonna get destroyed. I want to destroy it. I don't want it to survive. It's done. It's over with he's like Don't take any of it. So they already know it's not like they went in there ignorantly as far as what to do So they're going in there. He says look don't mess with the camp. Don't trouble the camp. Don't curse the camp leave all the stuff That's there. It's all curse. I want it all destroyed now Go ahead and go to the next chapter Joshua chapter 7 just flip to the next chapter and start at verse number 1 So they already got told hey Yourselves things are a curse when you take of the accursed thing You're gonna make the camp of Israel curse and you're gonna trouble it So we see right here that that ended up happening, even though they got the warning Somebody decided to be selfish and they got a little prideful and decided to just do his own thing I guess he didn't apply But the truth of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing for a con the son of Carmi the son of Zabdai the son of Sarah of the tribe of Judah took of the accursed thing and The anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel and Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai Which is beside Bathaevon and on the east side of Bethel and spake unto them saying go up and view the country and the man Went up and viewed Ai and he returned to Joshua and said unto him let not all the people go up But let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai and make not all the people to labor thither For there are but few So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men and they fled before the men of Ai and the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men For they chased them from before the gate even unto cherubim and smote them into going down wherefore the hearts of the people melted and became as water and Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide He and the elders of Israel and put dust upon their heads and Joshua said alas O Lord Wherefore has thou at all brought these people over Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us? What to God we have been content and dwell on the other side Jordan. Oh Lord What should I say when Israel turned their backs before their enemies and the Lord said unto Joshua get thee up? Wherefore thou is thou thus upon thy face? Israel has said and they have also tried to dress my covenant when I commanded them for they have even taken of the accursed thing And have also stolen and assembled also and they have put it even among their own stuff skip to verse 16 So they get through the they get into the the land They start fighting the Amorites and what happens they lose and they're confused Joshua is confused He's like what in the world is going on and we continue to read and then we figure out exactly what happened God told him before that a Israel has sinned They took of the accursed thing and then they find out exactly what happened So Joshua rose up early in the morning brought Israel by their tribes and the tribe of Judah was taken and he brought the family of Judah and took the family of the Zorhites and brought the family of the Zorhites man by man and Zabdai was taken and he brought his household man by man and Akon the son of Carmi the son of Zabdai the son of Zara And the tribe of Judah was taken and Joshua said unto Akon My son give I pray thee glory to the Lord God of Israel and make confession unto him and tell me now What thou has done hide enough from me and Akon answered Joshua and said indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel and thus and thus have I done when I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonians garment and two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold at fifty shekels weight Then they coveted them and took them and behold They are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent and the silver under it so Joshua sent messengers and they ran out to the tent and behold it was hid in his tent and the silver under it and they took them out of the midst of the tent and brought them unto Joshua and unto all the children of Israel and laid them out before the Lord and Joshua and all Israel with him took Akon the son of Zara and the silver and the garment and the wedge of gold and look at this and his sons and Who and who else and his daughters and his oxen and his asses and his sheep and his tent and all that he had And they brought them unto the valley of Achor and Joshua said why has thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day all Israel stoned him with stones and burnt not him them with fire after they have stoned them with stones So point number two is what that your children with your pride will suffer if you don't get that thing under control They will suffer and we see here exactly that Where Akon he knew already they already told him don't touch the accursed thing leave it all Hey, it's all gonna get destroyed don't touch any of it But he says I covet it why because it's probably made him think that he deserved it He's like, well, you know, I like that. Of course. I mean, I've been wandering in the wilderness. I just fought a battle I mean, come on, you know, it's just right here. It's not a big deal Yeah, 99% of the town is gonna get destroyed What did 1% really matter to God it mattered and it mattered big as it took his sons and his daughters and I can't even Imagine that stoning a little girl even if she's a teenager or even an adult I just can't imagine doing that when they didn't do it. It was one man one man They did it, you know, and hopefully they're in heaven and I'm pretty sure they are but man it does just blows my mind How his pride he could have just been a humble man be content with what he had But you know what? He wasn't it wasn't even close go to Daniel 6, please Go to Daniel 6 and see and that's what happens is your pride can destroy your family It can hurt your kids and I don't know if I got the story straight But I was listening to an audiobook and I think it was the founder of AA Alcoholics Anonymous and I think that guy I'm pretty sure it was with the founder. He almost killed one of his sons when he picked him up drunk He had a stop sign and his son ended up hitting the window He had a bloody nose, but he didn't die and that's what caused him to start the AA You know because you almost killed his children, but before that his pride wouldn't let him just quit alcohol He knew it was wrong, but he thought he could handle it People would tell him and he need to get out of can get it under control But his pride would say no I'm good until he picked up one of his kids drunk and he ran into a stop sign Where the kid hit the windshield and that's when he started go to meetings and then after obviously he went through meetings He ended up starting the AA, but we don't need to get to that point Hopefully nobody here ever gets to that point where we end up drinking and people are like man, you know, it's wrong I know but I'm good. I'm not a drunk. I just drink occasionally, you know Hopefully not the one that finds out the hard way that you are drunk when you run your car into a stop sign your kid Hits the windshield and doesn't survive. I'll forbid that happens to anybody in this room, you know, but if you're in Daniel chapter 6 Here's another example. See we saw how believers get punished by God, but I'm believers as well. Like nobody will escape this pride It doesn't matter who you are believer. I'm believer whether you know better or don't know better It can cost you and it can cost you big and this is the famous story of when they throw Daniel in the lion's den And the king can't sleep because they tricked him into throwing him in there And this is where he goes to the you know to where Daniel's at He goes to the den to find out how he's doing which is take up the story and it says this then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste unto the den of lions and when he Came to the den He cried with a lamentable with a lamentable voice unto Daniel and the king spake and said to Daniel Oh Daniel served in the living God is thy God whom thou service continually able to deliver thee from the lions then said Daniel to the king Oh King live forever My God has sent his angel shut the lion's mouth that they have not hurt me for as much as before him Innocency was found in me and also before the old king have I done no hurt Then was the king exceeding glad for him and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den So Daniel was taken up out of the den and no manner hurt was found upon him because he believed in his God and the king He got mad afterwards when he realized I've been tricked You know the people that tricked them those that were telling them a this is what you should do make this law Oh, by the way, Daniel who he loved he's ended up breaking your law. Oh, remember you signed it already Anybody that breaks your law has to go in the lines then and get chewed up in it out as an example for everybody else I follow your laws and he felt bad about it He knew that he was trick and he couldn't sleep that night and he did his best to deliver him But he couldn't but then once he survived and he got the bonus to believe that a his God is the God of God So even more than he did before and so he got so mad that he said this and the king commanded and brought those men Which had accused Daniel and they cast them into the den of lions and look at this. Damn their children and Their wives why because these guys didn't want anything to roll over them You know their pride. Oh this guy Daniel. I'm sick of hearing them telling me what to do They could have just been humble. They were high in power. I'm sure they have money I'm sure they had fame but no no, no, no. No, they were like saying it I want to have my throne above his and That's how we can never ever get or else we're going to end up probably with the same results But see their children and their wives so wives if your husband's getting prideful pray God wake him up You know, how my husband out, you know, it's like a he's crossing the line, please I don't want to end up like these people whatever the case may be, you know, but I pray that I never happens You know go to Psalms 10 for please. So let me just quickly review price victims. What do we see in the Bible? We see people getting killed. We see friends getting killed, you know, the people of Israel getting killed through people's prides Zimrai through Achan, you know the Nebuchadnezzar as well The Belshazzar all these people filled with pride God comes down on them really bad So your friends will suffer the Bible says in Proverbs 16 28 a froward man So with strife and a whisperer separated chief friends. What is the separate chief friends your biggest friends? Hey, if you're a whisperer if you're somebody that's hurting them a whisper somebody just goes around revealing secrets You know secrets are not lies secrets are things that are true They shouldn't be revealed to others the stuff that you know about individuals. Hey, these things could embarrass them There's no need to spread the information Secrets are always true 100% true. That's what they're a secret because it's not supposed to get out You know versus lies are just totally false all the time 24-7 So a good way to separate or to lose friends is to get to know them see kind of like they're they're bad sides I guess you can say and start telling people about it, you know, that's gonna offend friends really quick And this is what this verse is saying don't be this whisperer that's gonna cause you know Yourself to go and separate chief friends Your biggest friends are gonna leave you if you start spreading their stuff to people that can't do anything about it Anyways, so maybe if your friend smokes a man, you know, pretty sure she smokes. Hey, he doesn't want that out You know, maybe he does have an issue with drinking or whatever not that he's a drunk, but I guess he thinks that a man I'm trying to quit but I'm not fully quitting a Don't spread stuff that they don't want spread bottom line We all know, you know things about individuals because we hang with them long enough We're gonna see things and we're like, oh wow, but hey, this is what it is It's not a sin unto death. Hey, pray for the individual that God would just free him from it You see what I'm saying? You know, but that's what the Bible is saying. It all says that a froward man What's a froward man? It's a prideful man. How do you know? Well, you can easily figure it out Froward this is what the definition says contrary. It's obedient headstrong perverse stubborn Sounds like Pharaoh stubborn unyielding in submissive Prideful guy and obviously we know what strife is strife is contention That's what it says in the dictionary strive definition contention dispute combative or whatever But contention only comes through what? Pride. So what do we see here a froward man? That's a prideful man So in strife contention, hey, we shouldn't be like these individuals The Bible warns us against those individuals because those are the ones that are going to go around messing up relationships So number one a victim's prides be careful not to be a prideful person. You're gonna lose friends You're gonna hurt your friends too. You're gonna hurt your children as well Your pride is gonna hurt them and the Bible says the numbers 14 18. The Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy He's forgiving. He forgives iniquity transgression and by no means clearing the guilty But he does visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation Let's try to live a humble life for the sake of ourselves The sake of our friends the sake of our children the sake of our grandchildren aren't even alive yet I mean, I'm sure you want your grandkids to say wow, my my grandpa's an awesome Christian. He's a great Christian He's a great soul owner. I'm sure you want that. I'm sure you don't want your grandkids your great-great grandkids Hey, man, my grandpa is a jerk, you know, but I don't want to go to grandpa's house You know, I don't want no no not today. What's going on? He yells at us. He treats us bad. Whatever, you know We want to do it for our kids for our kids kids because they will affect in third all the way down to the fourth Generation which is a great-great-great grandkids you guys are there in second Kings. If not go to second Kings chapter number one second Kings chapter number one So I just really quickly read it says then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab and The Haziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber. That was in Samaria You guys can go to second Kings, you know chapter or second Kings chapter one meet me at verse four I'll just speed up. Go ahead and meet me at verse four second Kings chapter one verse four It says they moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab and Haziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber That was in Samaria and was sick and he sent messengers set out to them Go inquire Beelzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease But the angel of the Lord the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishpite Arise go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and said to them Is it not because there is not a God in Israel that you go to inquire of Beelzebub the god of Ekron now therefore that saith the Lord thou shalt not come down from that bed of which thou art gone up, but thou shall surely die and So let me read Psalms 10 for it says the wicked through the pride pride pride of his content is Will not seek after God God is not in all his thoughts. So what can we learn from this? Why did Haziah not go to the Lord because of his pride? He's allowed himself to be so wicked that he does not want to seek the Lord The Lord is not in all his thoughts So number one pride will affect your friends around you and number two your children and number three you Because look what he tells them God says because you did not seek me and it was because of his pride That's what we don't seek the Lord because of our pride because of our sin the old saying hey this book would keep you from Sin, but sin will keep you from this book who's heard that before But that's not the only thing because prayer will keep him from sin But guess what sin is gonna keep it from prayer as well When you allow sin to get too big you don't want to seek the Lord You're like a criminal avoiding a police officer because you know, you're gonna have to pay up, you know That's just the bottom line and see this is one thing We need to realize that pride will hurt our friends our children, but it's definitely gonna hurt you Here's a perfect example says you're gonna die because you didn't seek me your pride because of your pride That's why he didn't seek him Psalms 10 makes it very clear the wicked through pride. Hey, he's not gonna seek after God Go to 2nd Chronicles 16 while you go to 2nd Chronicles. Let me read you another example 2nd Kings 20 says this and in those days was Hezekiah sick unto death So we saw one guy didn't seek the Lord God says you're gonna die Here's another guy who's also sick and he's sick unto death meaning he's about to die He's getting ready to die and Those days was Hezekiah sick unto death and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amos came to him and said unto him Thus saith the Lord set thy house in order for thou shalt die and not live So he just told him the same thing and told the other guy you're gonna surely die here He tells him hey get your house in order. You're for sure gonna die But this is what this guy did instead of being prideful and getting angry or whatever. Here's his attitude It says then he turned his face to the wall and he prayed he sought the Lord The other guy did it this guy did it's like I'm sick. I'm about to die I'm not gonna say hey go ask, you know the God of whatever go ask Beelzebub I'm gonna live or not You know It's like no this guy's doing the opposite Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed unto the Lord saying I beseech the old Lord remember now how I have walked Before thee in truth and with a perfect heart they have done that which is good in thy sight and this Hezekiah wept sore Wept sore why why cuz it feels bad and it feels bad that it you know He was told hey get your house in order for thou shalt die. He didn't want to die He starts crying He's he's feeling bad and they came to pass the forest You know for Isaiah was gone out into the middle court that the word of the Lord came to him saying turn again and tell His the guy the captain of my people thou say the Lord the God of David thy father. I have heard thy prayer I have seen thy tears behold. I will heal thee I will heal thee and the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord and not only will he healed him He says I will add on to thy days 15 years and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria and I will Defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake. Well, this is how we should be as well We get rebuked. We shall humble ourselves. We should seek the Lord. Hey, the Bible says I'm near unto you You know draw nigh to me. I'll draw nigh to you It's how quick way you can get it straight get it all fixed start getting right with the Lord and he'll bless you He gave him 15 years. He's like, hey, man. I'm not just gonna forgive you. I'm gonna extend your life 15 years He was just told you're about to die and it even starts by saying that he was sick unto death meaning that a he had terminal Whatever he's about to die and he just cried and the Lord saw him and he gave him 15 more years He didn't expect that but that's how God is. He's the God of the extra mile He tells us if any man asks you to go a mile go with him what twain? So he practiced what he preaches. He answers our prayers above and beyond what we think And so here's an example of how a man just says hey, I'm sorry forgive me and he goes the extra mile You wanted me to take you a mile. I'm gonna take you two miles. I'm gonna give you 15 years So you got the choice when bad things happen? You could be like Cain and get all rebellious and prideful and become the son of the wicked one But if you're safe, you can never be that of course You know or you could just humble yourself like Hezekiah and God will be a blessing unto you Because now you're at the right, you know right stage that you should be a humble stage, you know But I'm gonna read from 2nd Chronicles Here's another guy who gets rebuked because of his pride He doesn't want to seek the Lord and look how his life ends up if you're in 2nd Chronicles 16 verse 7 It says this and at the time that Hanani the seer came to Aza king of Judah now We got Aza and said unto him because thou has relied on the king of Syria and not relied on the Lord thy God Therefore as the host of the king of Syria Escape that of thy hand were not these the Opens and the Lubyms a huge host with very many chariots and horsemen Yet because thou didst rely on the Lord He did live in the midst of thy hand for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on the behalf of them whose heart is perfect not prideful perfect towards him hearing does thou done foolishly Therefore for henceforth thou shall have horse. Then Aza was rough with the seer. What's a seer? It's a pastor's the preacher's the prophet And this is what happens with wicked people wicked leaders and he was Roth instead of getting right He got Roth with the seers and look what he did what at their back. He put him in a prison In a prison for telling them. Hey, you screwed up. What's wrong with you? You fought bigger wars and God delivered these bigger armies into your hands. What are you doing relying on the king of Syria? What's your problem that makes God mad? You're not trusting God you're trusting man and look what it says for he was in a rage What is because of this thing and when you're in a rage, it's gonna once again affect your family when you're prideful It's gonna affect your friends and look here's another example. I didn't put this as a number. You're gonna be a jerk and Aza oppressed some of the people the same time. These weren't even his friends It's just the people that he ruled he oppressed them because his pride is getting the best of them Look what it says and behold the acts of ass at first and last low They're reading the books of the kings of Judah and Israel Remember Psalms 10 says that the wicked through the pride of his continents will not seek the Lord Well, look what happens and now as I in the 30th night fear of his reign was disease in his feet So did that humble him? Nope until his disease was exceeding great. Did that humble him now? No, yeah, then his disease. He saw not Lord Let's not be like Aza This guy got so prideful. Hey, he's sick Alright, most people. I mean I got sick and I'm like Lord. I don't know why I puke and help me out here You know, it's like man is I got a preach. I don't want to go all over the pulpit. Don't worry. I'm okay I think it must have been just something that was minor. I feel 100% I don't feel cough or nothing But here's what's going on this guy He didn't get right even when it says and his disease got even worse and he still didn't say Lord help me anything You know God's trying to get his attention. It's clear he says he had a disease he saw not the Lord but to the physicians and Aza slept with his fathers and Died he died So here's a Zechiah who's ready to die. God heals him gives him 15 more years and here's this guy Aza He's not ready to die. He just gets disease in his feet He doesn't get right with God and it gets worse and worse and he still doesn't get right with God Why once again because of the pride and why was he persecuting people? Like the Bible says in Psalms 10 the wicked in his pride does persecute the poor That's why he was oppressive He got raffle He put the seer in jail and then he's taking that on the people and we're gonna be the exact same way The exact same way if we let pride get in our way. Yo, man, what's up? Ah You know it can easily happen. Whoa, what's wrong with that guy, you know I guess he thinks he should be treated better than he is being treated, you know instead of being humble Go to numbers 27 So why in the world am I preaching this because it's dangerous they have pride and it happens in the Bible and it does happen I just heard of a hospital where they have these doctors that are really smart really smart doctors really good doctors And I've heard of this little girl that went in and she got a tonsil removed. Everything went well. Everything was perfect No infections nothing. It's just okay. You're a little bit sore Hey, you're gonna recover pretty quickly, you know because the doctors were that good at this hospital The only problem was this little girl. She didn't go in for tonsil removal. She went in there for minor eye surgery And what happened what happened was that the doctor thought he was God and when the nurses tried to warn him a I don't think That's the right procedure. Hey, I know what I'm talking about. I read, you know, whatever the little paperwork He didn't really good enough in the room in the tonsils and she went there to get minor eye surgery His pride got the best of them, but that's not it. There's another doctor. You know, he was really good as well He had this elderly patient, you know, and he ended up realizing all these guys about to die You know in this initiative put the guy on the table and sure enough really what's going on kind of read the report a little Bit and the paperwork and then he went straight into it and it went straight into it Shaved the guy ended up drilling. I guess the old man had passed out because he had bleeding in his head So sure enough, you know, he just does what doctors do, you know, he's very smart. He's done it hundreds of times He knows exactly what needs to get done. He recognized the symptoms He realized where you know where everything was supposed to be or where the where the problem was So he ends up shaving him he cuts him in the back of his head You know a little triangle whatever to try to get the blood out or whatever the case so he does what he does best You know, he shaves him does it perfect. Everything's going well. The incision is good He ends up removing a little bit of skull flips him over. But guess what? No blood comes out No blood comes out But ten minutes earlier the nurse is like doc. I don't think that's the right side. The paperwork doesn't look correct I read the paperwork. I know what I'm doing, you know, leave me alone. This guy's dying I got to save him or whatever and he's like doc. This doesn't make sense. The paperwork doesn't make any sense I think it's the other side or whatever. He's like, no, I know what I'm doing. Shut the heck up or whatever He said well, you know what? Let me just talk to the family. They know his history Let me just quickly go to them and talk to them really quickly and he cuts her out He says fine you go to the family I'm gonna effin save this guy's life That's what the guy says. He yells at her says I'm gonna effin save you go find the effin family I'm gonna I'm gonna save his effin life not trying to be whatever with the kids But that's what the guy did and then sure enough when he flipped them over no blood Talks to the family they come back. She rushes in. Hey, it's the other side Well, he had to find out the hard way flips him over does the same surgery sure enough makes the hole whatever blood starts coming Out but guess what? The guy died The guy died He took an hour too long If he would have just stopped listen to the nurse not got prideful and would have just done what she was recommending Let's just take 10 minutes to make sure we're right the family's outside. Let me go. Just talk to them really quick He yelled at her she left and he continued on then when obviously she gets back. Oh, there's nothing coming out duh, and That can happen to any of us hopefully never to disagree. Well what happened that family sued investigated it Yep, because he took too long. He could have saved the guy. It was a one-hour procedure. He took two hours He sure enough ended up getting in trouble. They sued for three million dollars. They won he lost his job He got banned from being a doctor and who knows what he's doing now He could have just waited ten minutes, but because of his pride he ended up killing a man sound familiar And that can happen to any of us what's wrong with my pride, I'm a prideful guy, you know, I'm Irish You know, no one tells me what to do or whatever You know, no one's gonna tell me I've been drinking for decades, you know Let's heard that before that's been thrown in my face. So buddy. I'm Irish man. I'm Irish. I'm never gonna quit I'm Irish, you know, well, I'm Catholic. I'm never gonna leave the Catholic Church. Sorry, man You know go talk to somebody else, but if you die right now, do you know for sure? Hey, hey Hey go talk to somebody else. All right, I'm Catholic. I'm gonna die Catholic. I'm done You know done talking move on buddy move on because of his pride he's gonna go to hell Why you know why cuz they don't believe the gospel of Jesus Christ They don't believe it. They turn off is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord not the reward But that's what ends up happening So that's why I'm preaching this because man that story just said look pride is worse than then Sometimes I remember and this helps me remember it. So I just read some verses stay in Proverbs or numbers 27 I'm almost done. It says Proverbs 29 23 a man's pride shall bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble spirit Just a reminder of that and I can't even go through all the stories that I wanted to but I quickly just hit him Herod obviously and his royal peril got up and through his pride started giving a speech people said hey This is the voice of a god not of a man and what happened to him. He got killed immediately got killed But remember not just these people but even if you're humble now be careful because they can affect you as well Moses the most humble man in the entire world pride got in his heart pride affected him You guys said there are numbers that'll be the last story It says this and the Lord speak out to Moses saying take the rod and get it out the assembly together down and every night Brothers speak you out to the rock before their eyes initial Give forth his water and now shall bring forth to them water out of the rock. So what is this? This is a story where they're complaining. There's no water. We're in the desert. We're all gonna die out here You should have left us in Egypt, you know, why did you bring us out to just die in the desert? There's zero water and so they go in to pray to the Lord Which is what we should do when problems happen. Just take it to the Lord and the Lord basically tells him what's gonna happen He's like go to the rock, you know, and not just that I said I want you to gather the whole assembly Go to the rock before their eyes initial. Oh speak on to it before their eyes and it's gonna give you water It's gonna give you water, but Moses got angry. They triggered him They got the best of them and in verse 9 says this and Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he commanded him And he wasn't cool calm and collective He wasn't humble at all Because look what it says and Moses never gathered congregation together before the rock and he said unto them here now you rebels So does that sound like somebody who's trying to be a peacemaker No, he's trying to rub it in. All right, you rebels you rebellious you're for nothings, you know It's like pastor Shelley getting up here. All right, you bunch of lazies You don't want to go so any it's just me and Eli we got 30 people in here Really guys you bunch of rebellious. You know what it is sin is, you know, rebelling is a sin is witchcraft That's what you guys are bunch of wizards, you know I Imagine him doing that but that's a similar to what's going on here. Obviously you would never do that But this is why you know This is why I know he's full of pride because it says this here now you rebels Must we fester water out of the rock? Instead of being a humble servant and be like aid I'll say the Lord water come out of the rock It wasn't supposed to hit it. It was supposed to speak to the rock But what does he do and Moses lifted up his hand and with his rod he smote the rock twice bam bam So then water comes out so then people think that he did it that he did it But if you would have said water come on, they'll say the Lord water come out. Oh motor came out Guess I would have got the glory But it took God's glory when he smacked it twice So it wasn't like a mistake while only did it once no he went twice Why because of his pride his anger because remember what's going on here this contention between him and who the people of Israel you rebels You know and only by pride come with what contention so that's why I know he was filled with pride and And and even more evidence is that God punished him for doing that. He was supposed to go into the Promised Land He was almost humble man on the planet But here's an example where he screwed up He let pride get to him if it can happen to Moses it can happen to each and every single one of us It can so let's these let these stories just help us Remember how bad pride is and how much we can miss out on and how much we can suffer not just us But our friends and our family and our children and our daughters and our sons and our great-great-grandson's and a great-great-grandson's up to the third and fourth generation Since then the water came out of bundling the congregation drank and their beasts also and the Lord sped up the Moses in Aaron because you Believe me not to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel. See they sanctified themselves Therefore shall you not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them So in conclusion, let me just quickly remind you Deuteronomy 13 says this you shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him And keep his commandments and obey his voice. He shall serve him and cleave unto him keyword fear him keep his commandments Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter fear God and keep his commandments. If you're a prideful God You're not keeping God's commandments. You're not because the Bible says the fear of the Lord is to hate evil pride So if you're full of pride, guess what? You're not fearing the Lord because the whole conclusion of the matter the whole goal What God wants us to do is to fear God and keep his commandments, but the fear of the Lord is to hate pride So no way can you can you tell me that hey, you know, I'm right with the Lord, you know I know more Bible than you like the guy that emailed me. You're full of pride, you know Actually is the opposite because honestly, I don't even care, you know, I'm like not even like tripping about you whatsoever You know, I'm just like hoping you get right. So not like oh man. I wish it was this guy This guy makes me feel dumb. I don't think so Now, of course that guy who emailed me he's accusing me of all the stuff that he's clearly doing then You know this you're on your high horse high horse. I was just trying to help you out, you know It's like I'm trying to help you out just by telling you, you know the truth But the fear of the Lord is to hate evil pride arrogance in the evil way in a forward mouth Do I hate here's a way to cure it really quickly similar to cure in any sin So if you're like man, I'm such a prideful guy gotta confess that right away Confess it right away If you confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness And then not only that start serving serving humbles you where there's cleaning this place up Hey, we got people that clean just because they're like a is therapeutic to clean They clean the church building because it's therapeutic to them. It makes them feel good They keep you know makes them just think that a I'm doing something, you know for others It keeps their mind off of them and you know, it's just it's just what it is You know when you help others out, however, it may be You know, but the best way to serve is to go out so winning and yes You're getting a lot of people say but you know what? Hey, sometimes you need these rough neighborhoods to humble you So you don't get prideful so right now our church is kind of going through a humbling phase or we knocked out all all of the all of the Easy areas down in Phoenix and now now we're going to all the middle-class areas where they've heard it so much So I haven't gotten somebody safe in like three weeks. I'm going so winning every day except for yesterday today You know, so I'm at a dry spell man. I haven't got somebody safe and I've been going an hour every day I just go with all the teams, but we're going to all these hard areas That's basically what's left on the map And if you give people safe left and right it can become a prideful thing You can start thinking you're all that in a bag of chips It happened one time to a church member when I was so winning I come back zero salvation They come back five salvations and they're like what's wrong, but it's a girl you back to him or something. I'm like, whoa It's like whoa, whoa, whoa, you know, it's like of course I'm not perfect But then guess what the next day it got reversed. I come back with five. They have zero so I had to rub it in What's wrong? Thanks later or something I'm joking. Yeah, cuz they humbled them, you know, they thought oh, I know what I'm doing. I might be pleasing God I got five people say brother girl. I got nobody saying well guess what? He got reversed right away right away got reversed. They got nobody saves. I had to rub it in You know, I had to say hey, what's going on any backs later or something? Ah, haha. You're right Yeah, it doesn't work that way, you know But another thing you have to do is obey God's commandments But let me back up and read a little bit of scripture and I'll be done in about five minutes The reason I said serve, you know, and obviously cleaning the building is an easy way to serve It's a fun way to serve, you know going soul winning It's a good way to serve and that's the good thing about these rich neighborhoods. They'll humble you They'll humble you real quick and it's a good thing. It's a good thing So don't feel like oh man this neighborhood is this and that whatever at the bare minimum. We're humble, you know We're humble. We're like three weeks into it. No salvations. It's like man They even know how to remember how to give the gospel. No, I need to practice in the mirror It's just kinda how it needs to go sometimes You know, but Philippians 2 7 says this but man himself talking about Jesus Christ of no reputation It took upon himself the form of a king Now the form of a what? Servant and how did he do that and was made a likeness of men being found in fashion as a man Jesus Christ He humbled himself He humbled himself So guess what if he did it, don't you think we need to do it too? He's our example So let's humble ourselves by serving by being servants best way to go So winning or best way to serve and get yourself humble go to a hard area take them to a hard area once in a while I'm just joking And the other one is clear. It's obey God's commandments, you know, because it takes humility to obey him That's not when the Bible says don't do this under this under that. Hey when we when we disobey what is that? It's just pride, you know pride, you know, we deserve better or whatever. We're missing out Who knows what's going in your head? But that's what God said in Mosa and Aaron came in to Pharaoh going back to what we have read It's up to him. That's say the Lord God of the Hebrews. How long would I refuse to humble thyself before me? He's not listening because it takes humility to obey God's commandments It's just a fact so the more you obeyed, you know The more humility you're going to get and of course reading the Bible why because did around me eight to eight to says this industrial Remember so the Bible helps us to remember and I 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 thy heart Would that would it keep his commandments or no and he humbled thee and suffered he hunger and fed thee with manna Which thou knew is not neither did thy fathers know that he might make thee know that that man does not live by bread alone But by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord does man live So what is living by every word gonna do humble you it's gonna put the fear of God in you when you remember the stories That we just read how Aiken his family got killed these people going after Daniel their their daughter their sons got killed You know saw I didn't even mention saw his son got killed because of his pride Left and right people's prides are causing their families to get killed left and right even in real life You'll hear so you're gonna hear stories a prideful doctors killing patients because they were too prideful to get enough sleep They were too prideful to listen to the nurse. Whatever the case may be Million-dollar lawsuit here this guy losing his license there at the end It's because of pride not because they're stupid because of pride That's the main reason why they lose their jobs because they get mad at the nurses telling them doc Maybe we should slow down doc this stop telling me what to do, you know and they get on the nurses the nurse I like okay fine. They let him go and then end up killing somebody Hey because of pride and if we read the Bible, it's gonna keep us humble did around me 17 And I almost I'm almost done just two more verses initial B When he sits upon the throne of his kingdom and he shall write him a copy of the law in a book out of that Which is before the priest the Levi's and it shall be with him and he shall read there in all the days of his life Then he may learn to fear the Lord his God to keep all the words of this law any statues to do them That is hard be not lifted up above his brethren What's the definition of pride when your heart is lifted up above your brethren? That's when you're prideful I want a good definition of pride when your heart is lifted up above your brethren when you when you think of yourself More highly than you should pick one doesn't matter. So what is this? This is God through Moses telling the people if you get a king I want him to sit on the throne write himself a copy of the Bible have it with them Read it every day because I'm not gonna accept the guy who's prideful and this will keep that King Humble that his heart be not lifted up and you guys are not gonna like this one because I really don't like it If you're having a problem with pride you need to fast Go a day go a meal skip a meal here and there you're mad at somebody or whatever Don't eat that day, you know, it'll humble you at the end of the night How do you know Psalms 35, 13 says this but as for me when they were sick my clothing was half cloth I humbled my soul with fasting. What is fasting? You don't eat. That's what fasting is You don't eat because after a few hunger pains are like Lord. I'm sorry I'm sorry, please forgive me. So hey, let's just watch the pride you already saw price victims in the Bible You know a lot of them were children a lot of them obviously were people that were not even bad people the people of God You know ended up dying because of fornication or whatnot, you know But let's never allow ourselves to let this sin win. It's very sneaky sin very sneaky sin, you know It's very hard to detect but it's very deadly. It's very deadly. It can lead you to death real quick Let's pray there God. We thank you for all that you've done. I ask you their father to bless everybody again for showing up tonight Please give them a special blessing whether it's financial, you know what they need Lord I don't know somebody's here physically hurting for whatever reason I pray that you give them a blessing physically and heal them there God and if anybody here has financial issues or whatever it may Be we all go through those things their father. There's no sin that is not coming on to men You know so Lord if we have this sinner God in our hearts help us to get rid of it Go away from it help us get on our knees Like hezekiah and beg your floor so our life can be extended so we can do more for you and be able to be blessed By seeing our children our grandchildren as well there Lord and we ask you to please do all this in the name of your son Jesus Christ amen