(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Service we had this morning. I just pray right now that you'll give me boldness and clarity I pray your spirit will be poured out upon me and I pray we'll be attentive to your word here tonight in Jesus name We pray amen Now this is an interesting chapter in the Bible and I want you to look down to verse number 12 here in 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 and the Bible says for we dare not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves But they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise now The first thing I want you to notice just as a side note the second word there It says we now if you look at the very first verse of 2nd Corinthians It says this was addressed by Paul and Timothy or Timotheus. So you're going to see we us ourselves You're going to see the first person plural being used for so he says for we dare not so it's not just Paul Paul is probably the primary primary writer here but also this is addressed from Timothy and he says here that they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are Not wise so Paul here is addressing an issue that they have at the Church of Corinth where people are comparing themselves Against each other they're measuring themselves against each other and he says that is not a wise thing to do now here in my pocket I have a tape measure okay now when I was a kid every single month my parents would measure me on the wall with a tape measure and In my family, my dad is extremely short. He's about five foot five if you ever meet him He's going to tell you he's five foot seven. That is a huge exaggeration My mom is probably about five foot one and there is no history in my family of anyone being you know average height Which I'm probably about average height about five ten. So when I was growing up obviously as a kid I wanted to be taller every month, you know You have a little mark on the wall and I was hoping I'd be taller My parents were more excited than me though because my dad, you know Love sports growing up and he wanted me to be taller and you know when you're a kid you go to school and people are Comparing their heights against each other now if I wanted to make myself look tall here this evening I would ask someone to come up here. That's shorter than me That's gonna make me look bigger But I'm not gonna ask somebody who's a lot taller than me to come up here this evening because it's gonna make me look short And see that's what's going on here at the Church of Corinth. Basically people want to commend themselves They want to lift themselves up and if you want to make yourself look good You're gonna compare yourself to someone who's not as good as you you're gonna compare yourself to someone who maybe is not as spiritual And it's gonna make you look better and that's an issue that's going on here and he's speaking against that now turn to Luke chapter 9 and In Luke chapter 9, I'm gonna read 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 verses 1 & 2 here though Says in 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 starting at verse 1 and you're in Luke chapter 9 says do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or need we as some others epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? Ye are our epistle written in our hearts known and read of all men and so he's asking this question here He's like do we begin again to commend ourselves? He's saying do we lift ourselves up? Do we build ourselves up? He's speaking against this or he says or need we as some others You see if you're not that spiritual if you haven't accomplished much you do need to be lifted up You do need to say well this was for me and make yourself look good But Paul and Timothy say we don't need that he's like we don't need this as some others do He says in verse number two ye are our epistle written in our hearts known and read of all men So what he says is basically I could if I was Paul here tonight I could look out at the crowd I was addressing and I could see people I'd personally won to the Lord People that I had trained in taught soul winning and see Paul didn't need to lift himself up because the proof was in the pudding Right in front of him. He had led people to the Lord He had brought people to church and trained them and taught them the Word of God So he didn't need to lift himself up now if you don't have much achievements if you can't stand on what you've accomplished Then you do need to lift yourselves up I mean, this is exactly what you see in the presidential election all these candidates. They can't stand on their own achievements So they tear down other people to make themselves look better because they haven't accomplished much because we don't have godly Candidates in the presidential election here in the US my wife and I we watched the Philippines They have the election in the Philippines in 2016 one thing. I noticed the same in both elections No candidate quoted a single Bible verse. So what is their reference on what is the truth? Obviously, it's not based on the Bible because not a single candidate ever referenced the Bible now in Luke chapter 9 Look at verse number 46 It says in verse number 46 then then there arose a reasoning among them Which of them should be greatest so here you have the disciples they're arguing about who is the best? Who is the greatest now, this is exactly what Paul was addressing in 2nd Corinthians and here my first point is this it's it's Unwise to compare yourself Individually against other people that is an unwise thing to do and it says in verse number 46 that they're comparing Which of them should be greatest now? It's an interesting response in verse number 47 from Jesus It says in verse number 47 and Jesus Perceiving the thought of their heart took a child and sent him by him and said unto them Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me for he that is Least among you all the same shall be great now you might wonder why did he bring a child in the midst now? There's two reasons I can think of one is if you look earlier in the chapter so a parent had brought their son to be healed and The disciples were unsuccessful and Jesus had to do it himself They're talking about who the greatest is and they were just unsuccessful in healing somebody I mean they ought to worry about themselves becoming more spiritual become more godly Instead of worrying about how great they are when they were just a failure at trying to heal somebody But not only that when you think about a child a child. Sometimes we have children who run around here. Sometimes they're loud Sometimes they make a lot of noise, but here's the thing. They're the next generation They're gonna be the ones that need to reach this world. We want to train these kids up So one day they can start churches just like this church They can start churches across the state across this country across this world They can be out knocking the doors getting people saved five years from now a lot of these kids that are young They're gonna be the ones preaching the gospel and we need to realize there's real value in these kids and not only just in these Kids a lot of people that come to church. Maybe they don't know a lot about the Bible. Maybe they're new to church Maybe they don't know much about the Bible Maybe they don't have a lot of money But you know what? It doesn't take a lot of money to lead someone to the Lord and if we can train those people up They are significant. God needs everybody involved in the action Even someone like a child even someone who doesn't seem significant We need everybody involved in the action. And so I think Jesus is showing them He's like, you know, you need to realize we need to esteem others better than ourselves. That's how you're gonna be great You see in this world if you lift yourself up, maybe you'll be successful in a company But here's the thing in terms of Christianity in terms of spirituality It's the people that make themselves less that are actually great. Think of Jesus Christ He laid down his life for everybody else. His whole life was spent just esteeming others better than himself So that's what makes you great in the eyes of God and if we want to be great if we want to be something special We're gonna lessen ourselves and esteem others better than ourselves and be humble now turn to Luke chapter 18 Luke chapter 18 and while you're turning to Luke 18, I'll just read this in Luke 17 verse 10 the Bible reads So likewise ye when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you say we are Unprofitable servants we have done that which was our duty to do, you know No matter how great you are that the things that you do that are successful in the Christian life. That's your duty That's what God commands you to do. None of us are really that special We're just obeying what God told us to do. It's not like we're inventing something new God's the one who did all the inventing of this We're just going out and obeying his command going out preaching the gospel getting people saved like he told us to do Hey, if we read our Bible that doesn't make us something special. That just means we're obeying God's commands in the eyes of God We're still just unprofitable servants. None of us are really that special now look at Luke chapter 18 verse number 9 It says and he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others Two men went up into the temple to pray the one of Pharisee and the other a publican So you have two people in their trust in this one person the Pharisee he's trusting in himself That he is righteous and this is what it says about the Pharisee the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself I thank thee God that I'm not as other men are Extortioners unjust adulterers or even as this publican you see what he's doing. He's comparing himself for is that other person I fast twice in the week I give tithes of all that I possess But then it says about the publican the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes on to heaven But smote upon his breast saying God be merciful to me a sinner I tell you this man went down to his house justified Rather than the other for everyone that exalt himself shall be a base and he that humblest himself shall be exalted now Is this not exactly what we see door-to-door soul winning all the time people think they're going to heaven because they say well I've never done what other people have done. I'm a pretty good person Compared to other people see that's how they're determining how good they are But see here's the thing in the eyes of God. We are all guilty. We all need a Savior The resurrection of Jesus is for everybody Nobody's going to get to heaven based on their own actions The Bible says all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone Which is the second death every single person in this room has lied at least one time which means you need a Savior I need a Savior none of us are that great and this Pharisee is the exact picture of what we see door-to-door all the time So many people think they're going to heaven because they think they're pretty good Someone a couple days ago told me they were going to heaven and the reason they gave is because they never murdered anyone And so I asked them so as long as you don't murder someone you go to heaven See I mean everybody thinks they're good enough to make it into heaven because when people set the bar themselves They always set it low enough So they're good enough to make it in and this publican on the other hand the publican was known as a sinner Everybody would have said that about the publican, but he realized that he was a sinner And he wouldn't even lift his eyes up to heaven. He said God be merciful to me a sinner see That's the person they get saved the person who's willing to humble themselves You know I don't do this anymore, but I was telling brother Vladi earlier today A long time ago probably nine years ago in my soul winning presentation I used to start with this parable right here, and I would ask people who do you think went to heaven? Everybody said the Pharisee every single person thought wow this person's pretty good this person's a sinner And he thinks he's going to make it into heaven Absolutely because we're all sinners we all need a savior and this person is arrogant this person is humble So yes, this is the person who got saved, but you know what most people they think their own works are going to justify them But here's what's interesting we in this room the vast majority of people in here Know they're saved and on their way to heaven, but how many times in our own personal lives We trusted Jesus and humbled herself to get saved But are we trusting in ourselves now that we think we're something special now that we are saved Or we think we're a really good Christian. We need to always stay humble look at verse number 15 It's very interesting the next part here It says they brought on to him also infants that he would touch them But when his disciples saw it they rebuke them But Jesus called them on them and said suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom Of God, it's really interesting that in Luke chapter 9 They're comparing themselves against each other and then this exact same situation comes a child comes in their midst and yet They still don't seem to get it because in Luke 18. They're rebuking an infant for coming to them They should have known from Luke chapter 9. This is later on in the story, but they still didn't fully get it They had trusted Jesus for their salvation, but still in their own eyes at times They looked to themselves as that like they were righteous now. I'm guilty of that as well There's definitely times in my life where I thought I was a pretty good person I thought you know, I'm a pretty good Christian. We should never have that sort of attitude We need to remain humble no matter how great we are. We're still nothing special We're still we still sin every single day now turn to Luke chapter 22 Luke chapter 22 And In Luke chapter 22 starting at verse number 24 the Bible reads and there was also a strife among them Which of them should be accounted the greatest pretty familiar the exact same thing we see and he said unto them the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors But ye shall not be so But he that is greatest among you let him be as the younger and he that is chief as he that doth serve For whether is greater he that sitteth at meat or he that serveth is not he that sitteth at meat But I am among you as he that serveth. You see the person who's getting fed at a meal They're the ones who are actually greater, but he's like it's not gonna be like this in with us He's like I was someone who served Jesus his whole life. He ministered to other people. He served other people He never lifted himself up. He always esteemed other people better than themselves. And that's what he tells them here They're trying to worry about who's the greatest they're arguing about this and he said when I was here I became a servant unto all and he's telling them that's what you need to do That's the way we need to be instead of worrying about how great we are We got to do everything we can to just be a servant to serve the Lord and do everything He said to do read the Bible as much as we can go So any as much as we can be a servant and that's what's gonna make you great in the eyes of God now turn to Exodus chapter 3 Exodus chapter 3 Now I'm just going to read here in 1st Corinthians 9 while you're in Exodus 3 in 1st Corinthians 9 verse 24 the Bible reads Know ye not that they which run in a race run all but one receiveth the prize So run that you may obtain now, this is a very famous verse in the Bible I think most of us have probably heard this verse quoted and God's giving an analogy Paul's giving an analogy about running a race Now you think about an Olympic race when you look at Olympic athletes They train their entire lives just to win that gold medal They it says they that strive for the mastery are temperate in all things. They make sure they eat the correct diets They make sure they go to bed at the exact right time all in order to win this corruptible crown this gold medal now He's giving an analogy. But but one thing I think we need to point out is this in the Christian life It's not like we're competing against each other. Do you understand? We're all competing against ourselves We need to be as great of a Christian as we can be he's giving us an analogy So we can try our best to really strive for something great, but it's not like we're competing against each other here tonight We're on the same team We're all trying to go out and get people saved here in the Natomas area and bring them to church and train them up so They can be sole winners. We're not competing against each other here this evening, but you're in Exodus chapter 3 But let me just say this In the Bible the main thing you see about comparing yourself Individually people are doing that in order to lift themselves up and make other people a lot less But honestly at this church, I really believe there's a spirit of humility about this church You know, I don't know if you feel that way. That's the way I feel I really don't feel like people are rooting against each other at this church I feel like people have the same mindset and are striving together But this still applies of individually comparing yourself against other people look at Exodus 3 verse 7 and we're gonna be in Exodus here for a while the Bible reads in verse number 7 and this is when God is speaking to Moses and the Lord said I've surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their task masters for I know their sorrows and I've come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land onto a good land in a large onto a land flowing with milk and honey onto the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites now therefore behold the cry of the children of Israel has come on to me and I've also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them come now therefore and I will send thee on to Pharaoh that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel Out of Egypt those first several verses. I'm sure Moses was happy. God had seen the affliction God wanted something done, but then he tells Moses I'm gonna send you now in our lives We all want great things to happen But oftentimes we don't want God to tell us that we're the ones to do the job It just in the sermon last week that was preached about reaching the whole world getting churches started across the world reaching the whole world Everybody wants great churches started where there's so many happening in states across the nation and great things happening But we don't necessarily want the finger point at us saying that we're the person to do the job that we need to step up and train ourselves and get ready to accomplish that now Moses look at his reaction in verse number 11 and Moses said unto God Who am I that I should go into Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt now the first Reaction you see of Moses he has humility. He doesn't think that he's the person to accomplish He says who am I I'm nothing special and truly if you want to be great just like we saw with the publican The first step is to humble yourself. Just like Moses. So that's a good start for Moses now turn to Exodus chapter 4 this dialogue is is a long time between God and Moses here and In Exodus chapter 4 verse 1 The Bible reads and Moses answered and said but behold they will not believe me nor hearken unto my voice For they will say the Lord hath not appeared unto thee. So you see that Moses is still saying there It's I'm not the one to do the job. I can't do this now look down at verse number 10 and Moses said unto the Lord. Oh my lord I am not eloquent neither heretofore nor since thou has spoken unto thy servant But I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue. So Moses says I'm not eloquent I'm not a good speaker. I can't accomplish this It's going to be somebody else, but I can't do this look at verse number 11 This is God's response and the Lord said unto him who hath made man's mouth Or who maketh the dumb or deaf or the seeing or the blind have not I the Lord? Now therefore go and I will be thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say and he said oh my lord Send I pray thee by the hand of him whom thou wilt send and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses And he said is not Aaron the Levite thy brother I know that he can speak well and Also behold he cometh forth to meet thee and when he seeth thee he will be glad in his heart You see Moses does start out with humility and honestly all of us need to have a little bit of Moses in us But you know most there's a little bit too much of that right here because see Moses starts to question God because he doesn't want to do it He doesn't think he can accomplish it and now he's questioning God because he's not Believing that God who said he could accomplish this is able to achieve this now All of us here tonight we need to have a little bit of Moses in us But not too much Moses from this story. What I'm saying is this, you know, we look at this story We might think this is ridiculous. God told him he could do it. Obviously he can do it But here's the thing God told everybody everyone is a Christian everybody who saved everybody should be soul-winning Every single person he says go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature He said go ye that's plural to everybody everybody should be preaching the gospel He says he's given to us the ministry of reconciliation Every single person should be preaching the gospel, but is everybody preaching the gospel everyone who's saved preaching the gospel No now here's the thing. God told us that we could do it because he told everybody to do it He's the one who made our mouth and if he told us to do it That means we can accomplish it but some of us have a little bit too much Moses in us You know around 11 years ago The person who led me to the Lord told me that he thought we should start telling people preaching the gospel to them and Every day trying to talk to somebody and I remember my exact words to him were I I can't do it Mike I don't have that ability. I'm not eloquent. I don't have that ability. I'm not a great speaker. I'm not outgoing I can't accomplish this. That's exactly what I told him So if you're here tonight, and you don't go so winning regularly now, you know God wants you to go so winning for some of you. I don't think it's that you don't want to do it I think you don't feel like you can accomplish it I felt the exact same way at one time and I guarantee you look at the soul winners across this room the people that are Good at preaching the gospel and have been doing it for years. I guarantee you they started off the same way They didn't think they could do it. They were nervous the first time out So when they didn't think they could ever speak now Moses says he doesn't want to talk and God tells him Aaron will talk But if you keep reading the chapters of Exodus who does most of the talking it's not Aaron It's Moses see when you start out as a silent partner, you might say well, you know, I could never speak Maybe I'll just go as a silent partner. Hey, praise the Lord if you start coming as a silent partner We want to train you we want you to come if you start out as a silent partner I'm telling you you're probably gonna end up like Moses eventually you're gonna say man. I want to take the next door I want to preach the gospel That's the same way I was that's the same way most everybody I know was when you first start out You don't think that you can do it and that's great because if you're gonna accomplish something you can't start out up here You've got to start out down here. You got to be like the publican You've got to humble yourself But we've got to make sure that we don't have too much Moses in us We have to realize that if God told us that we could accomplish this Then we have all the ability we need to accomplish this and he said go he into all the world and preach the gospel to Every creature he left this ministry of reconciliation to us. He didn't leave it to the Jehovah's Witnesses He didn't leave it to the Mormons and I'll tell you this knocking these doors the past couple weeks It angers me how many invitations I see from Jehovah's Witnesses knowing that there's Baptist churches in this area that are not preaching the gospel because we've seen so many pamphlets pamphlets from a religion that doesn't even believe in the resurrection and They're promoting Easter because they realize that they're gonna be more zealous than us We need to be out here as Verity Baptist Church would be more zealous than Jehovah's Witnesses More zealous than the Mormons more zealous than any of these other false religion because they're not going to get the job done It's not going to be the Catholics It's not gonna be the Protestants. It's not gonna be the non-denominational people. It's not gonna be the Pentecostals It's gonna be us if we're gonna reach in the tunnels with the gospel. We have to be involved in the action We need everybody involved in the in the action, even if you start out as a silent partner Now in this point of soul winning though, it's not just so winning though There's another application I want to make here tonight And and I really want to preach here to the men that do go so winning because I can tell you Several people when I say several people I mean more than one more than two more than three people at least four at least Four people have told me that they would preach at the men's preaching nights But they don't think that they're good enough. They think other people are better than them What they're doing is they're comparing themselves versus other people just like people that don't go so winning Some people look at some some people that don't go So winning might look at someone else and think that they just have this magic gift. That's not what the Bible says Nobody the first time they preach the gospel are they that eloquent most people they drop their Bible they're nervous They're they're sweating. They're stuttering. That's how I was That's how everybody is when they first start everybody when you first start it's tough now Here's the thing with preaching though Many people have told me they would start preaching at the men's preaching nights for the Saturday mornings But they don't think that they're good enough. They say everybody else is really really good I just don't think that I could do it But here's the thing it's great that they have a little bit of Moses But they have a little bit too much Moses in them because we shouldn't be comparing ourselves versus other people It doesn't matter how good somebody else is. We need to focus on ourselves and not worry about other people You know You know the story where King Saul's going and trying to get David and his men and he sends a group out and they see They're basically having they're basically having a men's preaching night And then all of a sudden these men they start preaching that he sends another group. They start doing as well He sends a third group. They start doing it then King Saul goes He starts preaching because there's excitement because everybody's involved in the action And here's the thing even if you don't think your sermons the best even if you're you're new at it It's your first time it will encourage everyone across the room. And that's what's great about the men's preaching nights That's the main purpose. I believe is have a great time of fellowship and be motivated and zealous I mean, I love hearing everybody's sermons I would love just a simple good old-fashioned sermon on the King James Bible or a good old-fashioned sermon on Soul-winning or salvation even if it's something simple, even if it's a short sermon Hey bring what you have and bring it to the battle I mean bring it to the men's preaching nights And if you're not going to that's fine because the Bible compares sells everybody to go soul-winning He doesn't say everybody has to preach at a men's preaching night I understand that But if you're not going to preach don't let it be for the reason because you think other people are better than you don't let It be for the reason that you're comparing yourself against somebody else because that's not a valid reason in the Bible Because let me tell you something your sermon will encourage everybody and I'll tell you what we have a lot of people in this room That know the Bible well that read the Bible that are zealous that I I would love to hear them preach that do a pretty Good job when they have preached and let me tell you something. Everybody would be encouraged by that sermon We need everybody as many people as possible involved in this action turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 1 So the first point that we had here tonight was comparing yourself on an on an individual basis against other people It's not a wise thing to do that comparing yourself against other people, but look at 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verses 10 through 13 another thing that is an unwise thing to do is Comparing our church against other churches now. I understand that there's a lot of false churches out there That's not what I'm talking about What I'm talking about is other churches that are out there preaching the gospel in reaching people Other people that are out other churches that are out there that are King James only preach the right gospel that are so winning getting People say it's not a wise thing for us to compare ourselves against those other churches that are doing great works for God Look at 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 10 the Bible reads now I beseech you brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions Among you but that you'd be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment For death been declared unto me of you my brethren by them which are of the house of Chloe That there are contentions among you now this I say that every one of you saith I'm of Paul and I have a Paulist and I have Cephas and I have Christ is Christ divided was Paul Crucified for you or were you baptized in the name of Paul? One problem with the Church of Corinth and the book of 1st Corinthians is they were comparing themselves in groups against other people Look at chapter 3 turn to chapter 3 in 1st Corinthians 1st Corinthians chapter 3 starting at verse number 1 the Bible reads and I brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual But as unto carnal even as unto babes in Christ I fed you with milk and not with meat for hitherto you were not able to bear it neither yet Now are you able for a year yet carnal for whereas there's among you envying and strife and divisions Are you not carnal and walk as men for while one sayeth? I'm of a Paul. I'm of Paul and another I'm of a Paulist Are you not carnal who then is Paul and who is a Paulist but ministers by whom he believed even as the Lord gave to every? Man I have planted a Paul's water, but God gave the increase now turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 4 Now in 1st Corinthians chapter 4, let's look at verse 16 real quickly This is what Paul says he says wherefore I beseech you be followers of me now first glance that might seem like a contradiction because he's telling you don't say you're of a Paulist or of a Paul or of a specific person and then he tells him in verse 16 He says be followers of me but Paul talks about how he's the one who got them saved and here's the thing tonight What I'm doing is I'm preaching you the Word of God. I'm not trying to gather you after me I'm trying to teach you what the Bible says so you can go out and reach the world and get people saved You can be edified Paul's doing the same thing. He's not trying to gather these people on his side He's trying to tell them follow my words that there should be no divisions among you because even earlier in 1st Corinthians 4 at verse number 6 says in these things brethren I haven't a figure Transferred to myself into a Paulist for your sakes they might learn in us not to think of men of men above that which is Written that no one of you be puffed up for one against another For who maketh thee to differ from another and what hast thou that thou didst not receive now if thou didst receive it Why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it and so Paul speaking against the idea of being puffed up for one Person against another now turn to Mark chapter 5 That's just to show you in 1st Corinthians that they are struggling with this concept They're establishing groups and thinking I'm of Paul. I'm of a Paulist. I'm of this group. I'm of Cephas Now Mark chapter 5 in the Bible Mark chapter 5 Starting at verse number 15 the Bible reads And they come to Jesus and see him that was possessed with the devil and had the Legion sitting and clothed and in his right Mind and they were afraid and they just saw it told them how to how it be fell to him that was possessed with the Devil and also concerning a swine and they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts and when he was coming to The ship he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him how be it Jesus suffered him not but saith unto him go home to thy friends and tell them how great things the Lord hath Done for thee and hath had compassion on thee and he departed and began to publish into Coppola's how great things Jesus had done for him and all men did marvel now It's very interesting in verse number 18 this man who is healed of all these devils He wants to follow Christ and Jesus tells him no He wants him to stay in this area now the first glance that might make you wonder Why wouldn't Jesus want this person to follow him? But see Jesus had a specific God at a specific person for this man He wanted him to stay in this area to reach these people now I don't believe necessarily that everybody should just move to this church or other really like-minded churches all across the country now That's what my wife and I decided to do and I'm very glad we did it I'm glad that God led me to Verity Baptist Church because Bible says all things work together for good to them that love God To to them who are the called according to his purpose, you know, I believe, you know We were living for the Lord there so winning and God led us to this church and I praise the Lord for it Because this is a great church some people maybe God didn't lead them to this church Maybe God led them to be somewhere else another on fire church Or maybe God wanted them to stay where they were at to reach people with the gospel. That's very possible But here's the thing if you're in this room tonight God led you to Verity Baptist Church He didn't lead you to another church whether you moved here from somewhere whether you're from the Sacramento area This is where God led you, you know, we don't need to worry about what other churches are doing You know my old church in West Virginia, they're going so winning reaching people Hey, praise the Lord if they end up getting more people saved than we do Hey, praise the Lord if they get a lot of people say if they have a big church That's great. If they keep getting more people to come to their church, it doesn't matter what other churches are doing We need to worry about ourselves This is the same thing that we see on an individual basis instead of worrying about other people We need to worry about ourselves and do everything we can to be a blessing to this church to this ministry to this pastor We need to do everything we can to help out Verity Baptist Church, you know I'm afraid that that in a lot of churches across the country, you know churches might not be perfect in all their doctrine Churches, maybe they teach the wrong view of the rapture, but I'm afraid a lot of people are really zealous But they're more of a curse to their pastor than a blessing. Don't let that be here at Verity Baptist Church We need to do everything we can to be a blessing and to help build this church get behind and support This church even if things are different than some other church Even if you think another church might do something better our job since God has led us to this area is to be a Blessing to this church if God someday moves you to another church and you know, maybe they're not as on fire Maybe they're not as great of a church You need to do everything you can to be a blessing to that church when you go there and not to be a curse to That pastor but if you're here tonight God has led you to Verity Baptist Church Which means we need to be a blessing to this church not to compare ourselves against other churches Not to lift ourselves up or condemn other churches, but we need to just focus on our church itself and try to be a blessing Now turn to Genesis actually turn to Genesis chapter 25 And I'll just read this to you in John chapter 3 and I know these are famous verses. You're in Genesis chapter 25 But in John 3 verse 26 This is when the disciples come to John John's disciples and they came on to John and said unto him Rabbi he that is with thee beyond Jordan to whom thou bear'st witness behold the same baptizeth and Baptized it and all men come to him now John answers them but and then verse number 30 this very famous verse He says he must increase but I must decrease, you know, John the Baptist was doing great things for God But you know, he was happy that Jesus was accomplishing more, you know We ought to have this mindset if there's another church out there that is doing great things for God Let's not be upset at that church or worry about that church Let's worry about ourselves being the best church we can be because we want people to be getting saved across the country I hope there's churches across the country that are flourishing that are preaching the old paths Preaching strong going out getting people safe. Hey, praise the Lord if other churches are doing that But we need to focus on our church now in Genesis chapter 25 So the first point we had is comparing yourself on an individual basis is an unwise thing to do but also Comparing our church against other churches. That's not a wise thing to do either but look at Genesis chapter 25 verse number 28 The Bible reads and Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison, but Rebecca loved Jacob, you know throughout the book of Genesis You'll see this pop up that comparing amongst family comparing your immediate family against other people in your family is Not a wise thing to do or comparing people in your family against other kids, you know Other people at this church or something like that. That's an unwise thing to do now in verse number 28 in Genesis 25 Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison Does that sound like a good reason to love your son more than the other son because you ate of his venison That's a pretty foolish reason to love that son more than the other but Rebecca loved Jacob the Bible says So I believe it's obvious to Jacob and Esau and Jacob and Esau. They're twin brothers now. I don't have any brothers I have one sister, but I know just from teaching the PE class There's a natural rivalry between brothers, especially between twin brothers. You guys ought to see Brock and Dane out there They just kind of go at it every single chance they get because they're twin brothers Well, there's gonna be a natural rivalry between Jacob and Esau not just because they're brothers but because they're twin brothers But it's obvious to them that their parents one of them loves one more than the other and the other ones the opposite Now the way you raise your kids that is going to affect how your kids are So we have to understand that whatever kids God gives us God gave us those kids. God's the one who opened the woman We should be happy for any kids God gave us and do everything we can to raise those kids to love those kids and Train them so they can be great Christians themselves one day and also for kids You ought to be thankful for the parents that you've been given. Those are the parents God specifically gave you you know And I hope the kids are listening to this because I wanted to tell you this When I was a kid when I was in elementary school before I was homeschooled. My parents were very very strict. I There was one time when when a teacher wanted us to watch a pg-13 movie and when you're in elementary school You're not 13. So every kid has to have their parents signed to allow their kids to watch that movie now I was not a Christian growing up But my parents were very strict and they would not let me watch that they refused to sign that and I was really embarrassed And I didn't really care about missing the movie, but I was like mom dad I'm gonna be the only one it's gonna be so embarrassing every other kid Their parents are gonna let them watch that movie I was thankful there was one other kid whose parents would not let them watch pg-13 movie who would not sign and this this This person as well. They were not raised in a Christian home either, but their parents were very strict Their parents had had strong morals, you know, it's interesting that that person I learned about five years ago He actually is now an independent fundamental Baptist It I don't think it's a coincidence that we both had very very strict parents and we ended up living for the Lord Getting saved and living for the Lord I don't think that's a coincidence and let me tell you something kids if your parents are very Strict if they don't let you do stuff that other kids do hey praise the Lord You should be thankful for the parents that God gave you that is a blessing God gave you those parents I'm very thankful now for the parents that I had because they were very strict with me. They did keep me out of trouble I don't know what would have happened to me if I didn't have strict parents. Did I appreciate it? Appreciate it at the time not at all, but you know what kids you might not appreciate it now But I'm telling you it's a blessing to you if your parents are strict because it's gonna help you live for the Lord one day That's what the Bible teaches now look down at at Genesis chapter 29. We're just gonna stay in Genesis here But as I said, you know how parents raise their kids It's going to affect how their kids end up in Genesis chapter 29 verse 30 the Bible reads This is the story of Jacob and Rachel and Leah And it says in verse number 30 and he went in also unto Rachel and he loved also Rachel more than Leah and served with him yet seven other years so Jacob here He's married to Rachel, and he's married to Leah, and he loves Rachel more than Leah It's very obvious when you read the book of Genesis It was obvious to both of them that he loved his one spouse more than his other spouse now I'll be honest with you if there's anyone in here who's converted from Islam or Mormonism. I'm sorry if I offend you I'm sorry if you you were married to multiple people right now, or maybe you were in the past I don't think that's the situation for anybody here But here's the thing there are people in here that were married in the past and there are people here Maybe you weren't married to someone, but maybe you dated someone for a long time Maybe there's someone that you knew for a long time and let me tell you something It's a very very very unwise thing to compare a spouse that you used to have or girlfriend used to have Versus the person you have now it doesn't matter what's in the past the person you're married to that is who God has for your Life that is who you ought to love and cherish and do everything you can to try to help out and and and love as Much as you can not compare them against someone else No one should ever say well You know so and so is more patient than you so and so is better at this so and so is better at this you Should never never say something like that never compare your spouse to somebody else that is a very unwise thing to do But I wonder with Jacob I Wonder if it part of the reason why he does this is because of how his parents raised him about how one of his parents loved Him more than the other and the other parent loved his other brother more than him now go down in Genesis chapter 33 Staying in Genesis Genesis chapter 33 just to further illustrate this point and Genesis chapter 33 at verse number one the Bible reads and Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked and behold Esau came and with him 400 men and he divided the children onto Leah and onto Rachel and onto the two handmaids and catches in verse number two and he put the handmaids in their children foremost and Leah and her children after and Rachel and Joseph Hendermost in this story Jacob's gonna meet his brother Esau, and he is afraid for his life So what does he do he has in the front the handmaids Billa and Zopa then there's Leah and her children And then there's Rachel with him. It's obvious He's worried that if Esau comes and wants to kill them he wants them to be killed before he gets killed with Rachel It's obvious that he loves Rachel more than Leah now I mean the favorite son of Jacob was Joseph that was Rachel's son. He loved Joseph We're gonna see that look at Genesis chapter 37 Genesis chapter 37 Genesis chapter 37 starting at verse number verse number three Baba reads now Israel and this is this is referring to Jacob when it says Israel Israel now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his old age and he made him a coat of Many colors and when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren They hated him and cannot speak peaceably onto him and Joseph dreamed a dream and he told it his brethren and they hated him yet the more Now I think it's pretty obvious to them that he loves Joseph more than them You can't really hide a coat of many colors, you know It's pretty obvious to them that he loves Joseph more than them and as a result of how their father acted towards Joseph They hated him that was definitely wrong what they did But the way that his parents raised the kids that is going to affect them and they end up Hating him see how you raise your kid how you raise your kids that is going to affect how they are when they grow up This idea of comparing is something that we see throughout the Bible You know, we need to first not compare ourselves Individually against other people it doesn't matter what other people are doing because we all should be doing more for the Lord We should all be striving to do more It doesn't matter how far up the mountain other people are we need to just worry about ourselves But also comparing our church against other churches. That's not a wise thing to do and also thirdly Comparing immediate family against other family. That's not a wise thing to do and just in conclusion. Let me just say this one thing Oftentimes when we compare it's not an apples to apples comparison You see if you were if you've been here and you've been saved for 20 plus years It's not a fair comparison to compare you versus someone who's been saved for a year or two if you preach many many sermons It's not a fair comparison to compare yourself or someone who's completely new at preaching sermons, you know about nine years ago I heard our pastor preach a sermon I think was called recipe for revival was it was long before he was a pastor of this church And it was a good sermon But I think everyone would say if they've heard that sermon that he's grown a lot at preaching since then Because nine years of practice is gonna make you a lot better and see here's the thing when we compare We're not making apples to apples comparisons You know if there's another church in another city and they're getting you know Less people saved it might be a tougher area to get people saved if they're getting more people saved It might be an easier area. We're not in the same situations These aren't apples to apples comparisons. So we need to worry individually about ourselves first Let's just close in a word prayer. Dear Heavenly Father. Thank you for allowing us to be here this evening I just pray this sermon could have been a blessing the people who heard it