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Now the beginning of the sermon, or the beginning of the chapter is where I want to start. Where the Bible reads in verse 1, it says, Vost not thyself of tomorrow. That's where I get the title of the sermon. It's called, Vost not thyself. Vost not thyself. What I want to talk to you about this morning is the subject of boasting. Now that's not a word that we use a lot these days in our vernacular. You probably wouldn't hear the word boast come up a lot. You might here and there. But today we would equate that with like bragging, being a braggart, or someone who talks about themselves a lot, or it's just somebody who really bigs themselves up, we would say. So that's what I want to talk about this morning is boasting or being a braggart. Now it's important to be considered because boasting is a sin in context. It's something that boasting is often considered a sin, I should say, in the scripture. But it's important that you will see this morning also that we have to take boasting within its context because not all boasting is sinful. I think 9 times out of 10, any boasting that we would hear would be sinful. But you have to understand what makes boasting a sin. Why is it that boasting is considered a sin? Now the number one reason that boasting is considered a sin, and this is what most boasting would be directed at, is when a person boasts in themselves. That's what we see there in Proverbs chapter 27 where it began, it says, Vost not thyself. It says boast not thyself of tomorrow. But the scripture is telling us here that we should be boasting of ourselves. That's when people get into trouble when they start to boast about themselves. And go ahead and turn over to Psalms chapter 49. Keep a bookmark in Proverbs 27, we'll be coming back, but turn over to Psalms 49. You see, not all boasting is a sin, we'll see that this morning. There are instances that we even see in scripture where people are boasting, but it's not necessarily sinful what they're doing. But every time we look at someone boasting is sinful, we'll see that's because people are boasting in themselves. And that's really what we see in the world today, that's when we say somebody's a braggart or someone's very proud and boastful, it's probably because they're talking about themselves a lot. They're talking about all the things that they've done or how great they are. That's when boasting becomes a sin, when we direct that boasting, that praise, and we lavish it upon ourselves to try and make ourselves look better in front of other people. The Bible says there in Psalms chapter 49, beginning of verse 6, They that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches. So we see right there again, these people are about to get cut down in the scriptures and what are they doing? They're trusting in their wealth, and they're boasting themselves in the multitude of their riches. None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him. Verse 8, For the redemption of their souls is precious and ceaseth forever, that he should still live forever and not seek corruption. So we see again that these are wicked people, these are people that are trusting in their own wealth and thinking that they can redeem their brother, that they can give God a ransom for him. These are people that are trusting in their own riches, and the Bible condemns those kind of people throughout scripture and causes people to be wicked people, people that would trust in their own riches. So we see again, here's an instance of where boasting is sinful, but that's not because boasting is in and of itself sinful, it's because the boasting is directed at themselves. So it's a wicked thing, we understand that, to boast about yourself, to boast about who you are or whatever it is you've done or whatever great thing you think you've accomplished in life and making sure everybody else knows about it. Now we can think of probably many examples of this, the world of professional sports comes to mind, the people that are just real into these multi-million dollar paid athletes that are just out there throwing a ball around, they really like to boast. The world really kind of encourages it, they really look to them like they're just some kind of super heroes, like they're just some kind of extraordinary people, but they just got really good at a game, that's what they did, and they make a lot of money. But the thing is, they can start to think very highly about themselves, and they do a lot of boasting. We've all seen the guy who gets to the end zone and he spikes the ball and does the dance and everybody's cheering and looking at him, that's a very boastful thing. And in fact, what I'm talking about, this reminds me of something that I always appreciate about the guy who trained Mike Tyson, the guy's name was Cus Testamato, I think I got it right, but he was the trainer, the guy who discovered Mike Tyson and trained him up. And I'll never forget, I saw a documentary once where Mike Tyson, when he was like 18, he was just knocking people out, and one of the first fights that he won, he started kind of throwing his hands up and running around the ring, and his coach called him over to the corner and said, hey, don't act like that. And if you ever noticed that, a lot of times, Mike Tyson never won a fight, he would always keep his hands down and walk back to his corner. And that was, you know, other things aside about Mike Tyson, but that was one thing you could probably at least appreciate about him, is he was not, at least in the ring, he wasn't gloating over these people. Like you watch these guys in these boxing matches and stuff, they'll knock a guy out and they'll start standing over him and doing backflips in the cage and everything like But that's just boasting, that's a very proud thing, and we see that a lot in the sports world, don't we? But think of another place we would see that, we would see that in like Hollywood, right, or the music industry, where they have the Grammys and the Emmys, where they literally have a whole night, a whole event, dedicated to just lavishing praise on each other, and talking about all the great accomplishes they made in some movie or in some music record, all the money that they made, and you know, they get their little trophy of a golden naked man or something they get to take home and put on their mantle, and it's boasting, right? And we would look at that and we'd say, that's so vain, it's so empty, it's so meaningless. I mean, if we're going around and ask most people, you know, who won the such and such Emmy, or such and such Oscar, I think is the big one for the movies, right, the Oscars? Say, hey, two years ago, who won this best actor, best screenwriter, whatever it was? Most people couldn't tell you. Most people couldn't tell you who won the Super Bowl two, three, four, five years ago, off the top of their head. People who were just being, you know, today they'd be really into sports, you know, they're going to make sure they catch every game of their favorite team and they're going to make sure that they catch the Super Bowl this year. But it's so vain and empty that they don't even bother, they couldn't tell you, you know, who won it in the previous years, because it's vain. They just live in that moment where people are just boasting and praising themselves. Go ahead and turn over to Psalms chapter 94. Now, boasting is an attribute that's associated with very wicked people. We've seen here that a couple instances where that's the case, but it also says in Romans chapter 1, you're turning over to Psalms 94, and of course Romans 1, that famous chapter that we know concerning the reprobates, and describing these people that have been given over to vile affections by God, it describes them in verse 30 as backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, and then it says, boasters. They're boasters, it says they're boasters and inventors of evil things. So we see boasting can be an attribute that's associated with somebody who's very wicked. Somebody who's so wicked to the point where they've been rejected by God. That's one of these evil sins, one of these unrighteousness that they're filled with, is boasting. I mean, just think about it, and in the context of that verse it says, you know, despiteful, proud, boasters. Boasting is often associated with pride, and what do we see these reprobates doing? Marching up and down the street in their pride parade, right? They're very proud about the fact that they're these, you know, of what they do, disgusting is a great term for them. But they're boasters, they boast about it, they brag about their sin openly. It says here in Psalm 94, but also in 2 Timothy chapter 3, when God was describing the way people will become in the latter days, it says that men shall be lovers of their own selves. And that, again, is the perfect description of these people in Hollywood, and the sports people, or these professional athletes, that they're just lovers of their own selves, that they're covetous. You know, they've got to get the multi-million dollar deal, they've got to be the one that makes the most money. They're lovers of their own selves, they're covetous, and I want to say boasters, again. And notice, it says here, boasters, proud, blasphemers. So in both of these scriptures, where it's describing evil and wicked people, proud and boasters just go right next to each other. They're just closely associated. One hand washes the other there, so to speak. If you're someone who's very boastful, you're probably somebody who's very proud. And a proud person is not going to brag about them, they're going to make sure you know about who they are, and what they're all about. So we see that it's a wicked thing to boast of yourself. You're there in Psalm chapter 94, beginning of verse 1, the Bible reads, O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth, O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself, lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth, render a reward to the proud. So here's the type of people that we're talking about, again. Proud people, prideful people, we're seeing how proud is being worked again into this passage. Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? So it's proud people, it's wicked people that he's grieving about. How long shall they utter and speak hard things, and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? So it's these wicked people, it's these proud people that are these workers of iniquity that are boasting of themselves. So notice the Bible is also very careful to make sure that we understand that the boasting that's taking place, it doesn't just say that they're boasters, that the workers of iniquities are boasters, that they are boasters of themselves. They boast themselves. It goes on in verse 5, they break in pieces thy people, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage. Now you notice there in verse 5 it says they break in pieces thy people, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage. So we see that these proud boasters, these workers of iniquities, those that would be proud to the point where they boast of themselves, they are the enemies of God's people. Some of the enemies that we have, even against our own church, and against our own pastor, Pastor Anderson, they're always trying to work to keep them out of this country or keep them out of that country, or misrepresenting him here in this article, or often accurately portraying him in some kind of media, expecting him to kind of backpedal, which is not the case. Go ahead and tell it like it is, we'll take it. But they think it's an attack, like once the world sees what he said, and of course they're going to cower in a corner when that's just not the case. But we see that they're trying to attack, they're trying to inflict damage, they're trying to hurt, they're trying to hinder the work of God, they're going after the man of God, they're going after the work of God. They're the enemies of God's people, that's who these proud boasters are, these workers of iniquity. A person who's very proud, a person who's very boastful, they're so proud and boastful to the point that they'll even stand against God. Look at verse 6. They slay the widow and the stranger and murder the fatherless. They slay the widow and the stranger and murder the fatherless. So we see that these proud boasters, these workers of iniquity who boast themselves, they are oppressors. They are people that will go out and oppress others. And you know, it's kind of a touchy subject, I don't want to paint with too broad of a brush. When I read that verse, I can't help but think of our own military, of our own foreign policy. I'm sure there's good people in our military that mean well, that think they're doing the right thing. In fact, I believe I know that to be the case. But if people were to step back and be honest about the fact of what our foreign policy is as a country of the United States, I mean, hundreds of bases on every country in the world practically. We are the superpower. We are the only superpower. What do we do? We slay the widow and the stranger and we murder the fatherless. That's what our military does, like it or not. That is the nature of modern warfare, is to inflict these great tragedies on other people. And as a nation, we're very proud, aren't we? We're a very proud nation. We'll stand up and say, God bless America, you know, America can do no wrong, no one wants to speak ill of it, they want to talk about this American exceptionalism and going on like we're just the greatest thing, even though the Bible says that all nations are as nothing and less than nothing and nothing to God, that God can wipe us out in an instant. We act like we've been here so long and we're just never going to fail and everyone needs to be like us and get on board with us. It's a very proud attitude and what is the result of being proud and boastful? You become an oppressor. When you think everybody ought to be like you, you don't have any problem looking down at others and saying, you know, they're not as good as me and it doesn't really matter if I oppress you. Look at verse 7, the Bible says, Yet they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it. So he's saying, you know, these guys, they slay the wicked and a stranger and they murder the father, these oppressors, and then they say, the Lord shall not see. So these proud, boastful, oppressive workers of iniquity, they deny the Lord. And that's one thing you'd have to do in order to be that wicked, to get to the point where you would murder the fatherless, where you would oppress the widow, to be that proud, you would have to get to the point where you would deny the Lord. You'd say, oh God doesn't see, there is no God. And that's another attribute that we can begin to associate with our country. We're living in a very atheistic country, it's becoming more so and more so by the day. The vast majority of people identify themselves as Christian, but that's a broad term to say you're a Christian today. If someone says you're a Christian, you've got to really nail them down on their doctrine, what they really believe. Because a lot of people kind of fall under that umbrella. I mean, you've gotten to the point where Catholics, who at one time, even as recently as the 60s, would have adamantly denied the label of Christian, and said, no, I'm a Christian. And sometimes they'll run into these old school Catholics out slow, and they'll say, I'm not a Christian, I'm a Catholic. They make that distinction. But even now, the vast majority of Catholics would say, oh yeah, we're all Christian. They would all want to lump us together with the Mormons and the Jehovah Witnesses and just have that big category of people as Christians. So just because we say we're a Christian nation, that doesn't necessarily mean that we're following the Lord. That the people that would identify as Christians even understand who the God of the Bible is, that are even saved, that even have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. So that's another aspect of our country, isn't it? That we're proud, we're boastful, and we deny the Lord. And we're living in a nation that's becoming increasingly more God-meeting and atheistic. And that's why we're seeing iniquity just abound in our country. And there's a lot of sermons that can be preached about that, about all the things that are going on around us. But to really drive the point home about what makes boasting a sin is because at the end of the day, boasting is satanic. It's demonic. I mean, if you're going to be a boaster to the point where you're oppressing the poor and you're denying the Lord, I mean, that's satanic in and of itself. But go ahead and turn over to Isaiah chapter 14, we'll look at a pretty famous passage. We'll look at who's the most proud individual that we know in all of history, it would be Satan himself, right? And he was a boaster, wasn't he? He would boast of himself with the great things he was going to accomplish. As it says there in Isaiah chapter 14 verse 12, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations? For thou hast set in thine 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. So what's the devil, what's Lucifer, Satan, saying here? He's all about me. He's talking about all the great things he's going to do. He's boasting, he's proud. That's when iniquity was found in him, the pride of his heart. When he got it in his mind and in his heart that he was going to ascend above God, that he was going to outrank God, and it's foolish to even think that such a thing could be done. But that's how blinding pride is. And what's the end result? Just boasting. And that's why we have to be careful not to be boasters of our own selves. We shouldn't boast in ourselves. We shouldn't lift up ourselves. Of course I don't think anybody in the room would ever go to this degree where they think they're going to take on the Most High. But even just having that type of an attitude, that's an element of something that comes from Satan. That's a satanic attitude. People can have a satanic attitude. And thinking that there's something more than they really are, and they can boast themselves. So we see that boasting is a sin when it's directed at yourself. When you're lifting up yourself and saying how great you are, and going around and telling everybody else how you're better than so and so, or you can do this better than somebody else, or how much people just adore you and love you, that's a boastful, proud attitude. And mark it down, if that's your attitude, you're going to fall. It's going to catch up to you one day. The Bible says that pride goeth before the fall, and a haughty spirit goes before the fall. You don't want to go through the passage, I'm drawing a blank, but that's the attitude that somebody has before they fall, often into sin. We could even cite individuals here that we've seen in our own church that have gone around and lifted up themselves to others and said things that they're better than this or that. I'll just say that Tyler Baker was one of them. When it all came out after everything that happened, and it comes out that he's going around telling people how they think he's a better preacher than Pastor Anderson. Let me just say this about that. We have a lot of preachers in our movement that we listen to, and I hear people sometimes say, so and so is a better preacher than so and so, and I just disagree with that whole concept of saying one's better than the other. Some people are probably, if you want to get down to it, the nuts and bolts of preaching probably are better at the act of preaching than others. They're more dynamic, they flow more maybe, but really that kind of thing is a matter of preference. I mean, what a foolish thing to say that I'm a better preacher than somebody else, or I think so and so is a better preacher, because everybody has preferences, and every preacher is different behind the pulpit. So that's just a proud and boastful attitude to even think that thought and then even go so far as to say it to somebody else, to repeat such a thought to someone else, to say that I'm a better preacher than so and so. Some people think I'm better than somebody else, because it doesn't hold any water, that whole idea, because I know for myself, I'll listen to some preacher, I'll listen to multiple sermons for a week or two, and then I'll get tired of that guy, so then I'll go try this guy over here, and I'll listen to him and I'll get tired of his preaching, and then I'll go back to that other guy, and I'll like it again, and I'm always changing my thing. It's all the Word of God. Yep, and it's all the Word of God, it's all good preaching, so it's a silly thing to get proud about, it's a silly thing to boast about, especially about yourself. Now we will talk about how it's okay to boast about others, we'll get down here in a minute, but the point I'm trying to drive in in the first is that we understand that boasting is sinful when it's directed at ourselves. That's what we've seen thus far in all these passages, especially with Satan when he was boasting himself. I'll read to you from James chapter 4, where the Bible says, James chapter 4 verse 13, Go to now need that say, today or tomorrow, we will go into such a city and continue there a year, and buy and sell and get gain, whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appearth for a little time, then vanish the way. For that you ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings, all such rejoicing is evil. So what are they rejoicing in? They're rejoicing in their boastings, and what it is that they're boasting about? They're boasting about the things that they're going to do, that they're going to go into such and such a city and get such and such gain. They're talking about all the great things they're going to do, and how they're going to go to this city and that city and have this great gain. You know it reminds me of the parable of the rich man who tore down his barns and built bigger so that he could bestow his goods in there. And much increase. And when he did that, what it got to say to him, thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required to be. This passage kind of reminds me of that one. He's saying, you know not what will be on the morrow, as it says in Proverbs 27, and it says here that we ought to say, if the Lord will, we will do this and that. So that's the attitude that somebody could have, is boasting about themselves. When they end up just rejoicing in their boastings and boasting about what they're going to do. But we see that their rejoicing in their boasting is not what is sinful, it's that it's about, because it's about them. Because they're boasting about what they're going to do. And that's why I want to move on to my next point. We've seen, I think I've made it very clear that boasting is a sin when we direct it upon ourselves. But now I want to kind of switch gears, and if you would turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 9, where we're going to see that we can boast of others that are doing a godly work. We can look to somebody else and boast about someone else. Because really if we were to boast about somebody else, what do we do? We're praising them. Wouldn't that be kind of the same thing? What is boasting? If I were to boast of myself, I would praise about and praise myself. I'd get up here and say, I just want you guys to know this morning, I am the greatest preacher that's ever walked the face of the earth. This is the most amazing sermon that you're ever hearing right now. And you should be very happy to be here. That would be me boasting about myself, right, I'd be rejoicing and praising myself. That's what boasting is, to praise somebody, to lift up yourself and make yourself into something you're not. So we can, with that in mind, understanding that it's boasting about ourselves that's a problem, we can understand that boasting of somebody else can be done in a right way. Look at there in 2 Corinthians chapter 9, 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 1. For as touching and ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write it to you. For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them, Macedonia. So Paul here is boasting of the Corinthians to the people of Macedonia regarding the ministering of the saints. You know these people were very generous. They had a lot of problems curbing corn, but apparently they were very good about giving. And it says, for which I boast to you of them in Macedonia, that Achaea was ready a year ago, and your zeal hath provoked very many. So these people were very zealous, they were very good in this aspect, and it was something that Paul said he boasted of you to them of Macedonia. So Paul's over in Macedonia and says, hey, do you guys know about these Corinthians? Let me tell you about these Corinthian people. Man, these guys are zealous. These guys are great when it comes to ministering to the saints, they're very generous. Their zeal has provoked many. People would hear the boasting that Paul had of these people, and they would be provoked in their zeal. And what's Paul saying? Is Paul saying, talking about himself? No, he's boasting about somebody else. He's saying, let me tell you about the Corinthians. Let me tell you about the great... And he wasn't telling how good looking they were, or how nice of people they were, or just how well off they were, he was talking about the great, the godly work that they were doing. He was provoking their zeal by boasting about a godly work that somebody else was doing. So we can see that boasting, done in a right way, can be a good thing. It's not necessarily always an evil thing, but the vast majority of the time when we hear boasting today, that's why our knee-jerk reaction is to thank somebody who's boasting that they must be in sin. Because most times, like I said, nine times out of ten, people are going to be boasting about themselves. People are going to be lifting themselves up. Verse three says, Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be vain in this behalf. Saying, I've already stepped on a limb and said this to these guys, now I'm making sure I send somebody, lest our boasting should be in vain. I don't want to say this and then it comes later and finds out that it wasn't true. That as I said, may be ready. Verse four, Lest happily if they of Macedonia come with me and find you unprepared, that we, that we say not ye, should be ashamed in this same confident boasting. So there's three times where he's using the boasting in a very positive manner, saying he's boasting in these Corinthian people about the Macedonians. So we see that boasting in others is not always sinful. In fact, boasting about somebody else, I can't imagine the people in Corinth when they read this letter, they probably felt encouraged. They had a lot of shortcomings, didn't they? We've seen it in 1st Corinthians, and now they're getting this little attaboy from Paul here in 2nd Corinthians 9, and I have to imagine that was a real encouragement to them. So we can see that even when we're boasting about somebody, if we do it in the right way, if we praise somebody else about something good that they're doing, that can be an encouragement to that person. An example of that would be children. Parents who are teaching their children, when you first speak trying to get your child to start communicating with words and old sentences, you know, you say, you know, say dad, and then they say dad. You say, yeah, that's right, you're better off. You know, you say, yay, good job, you're trying to encourage them, you're praising them for doing right. You're boasting about them. You might let them hear you speak of them well to somebody else as a form of encouragement to them so they want to do even better, and not just feel like they're failing or they're coming behind. So we see that parents can boast in their children's accomplishments and success as a way to encourage them to do better. That's kind of what Paul was doing here, wasn't he? He was boasting about these Corinthian people, the Macedonians, and he's saying, now make sure you're ready, you know, when we come. So he's trying to encourage them to continue doing the right thing. You know, so that's one example, but what's another example of boasting in others that can be an encouragement? Well, one I could think is as a church, we as a church body, you know, we can boast in the works that are being done for God. I think that would be okay to do. I think that would be great. You know, we're looking forward to next weekend, March 31st, the soul winning mega-marathon. You know, when that's wrapped up and done and the numbers come in, there's going to be some boasting. There's going to be some reporting of numbers. There's going to be some praise that's done. We're going to say praise God for the souls that were saved. We're going to be very glad and happy for the things that were accomplished on that day. And a lot of these other churches, they want to pick on people in this movement, or people that do door-to-door soul winning, and say, well you guys, you're in it just to report a number. That's not the case. That's not why we're in it, because we don't want people to go to hell. That's why we're in it. We want to see people get saved and go to heaven and not have to go to hell for eternity. If we never heard a single number again, that'd be fine. We don't have to report the numbers, but you know, I guess you could say we boast a little bit in the numbers. Why? So we can encourage each other. So we can encourage each other to continue to do well. I mean, what if we did all this work and there was no numbers? We didn't know what the results were. Is it such a bad thing? You know, the people, the critics that would take that, have that kind of an attitude, and say, well you guys are just in it to say a number, or you just want to have a count, you're just proud, you're boasting, whatever like that. You know, those are the people that don't do anything. What's really going on is that they're feeling like losers, because that's what they are. They're not doing anything for God. They know it. They've got all these other ministries that they're doing that are fruitless. They're just running a bunch of buses with kids and then losing them in their teenage years. Nine times out of ten. They're accomplishing very little for God. They have many other ministries that make them feel good and let them pat themselves on the back. They're not pulling any souls out of hell. And they want to criticize the church, they want to criticize the movement, they want to criticize a group of individuals who want to go out and do something big for God. And excuse us for boasting a little bit and a good thing. Excuse us for being encouraged about accomplishing something for God. Now if you kept your place there, in Proverbs chapter 27, we'll see how boasting and praise are kind of associated here. I know I've already been making an association saying that, that boasting and praise kind of go hand in hand. It's kind of the same thing. You know, if we're boasting about somebody else, we're probably praising them. We're saying something very positive. In Proverbs chapter 27 verse 1, Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Verse 2, let another man praise thee. It says boast not thyself, let another man praise thee. So we see how boasting and praise can go together. It can be if we're boasting of something, we're praising something. So is praise sinful? Is it sinful to praise something? No. So if boasting and praise can be used interchangeably, then we can see how boasting is not necessarily always something that's sinful. It's when we boast of ourselves, that's why the title of the sermon is Boast Not Thyself. And it says there, let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth and a stranger thine own lips. And why? Why should we allow somebody else to do it? Because if we're doing it for ourselves, then that's sin. And you know, I talked about how when somebody else is praising you. When you hear somebody else speak well of you, that's an encouragement. And allow me to boast a little in my folly. But I recently heard somebody say some positive things about me, somebody that I had a lot of respect for. I didn't see it coming. It came out of nowhere. I wasn't expecting it. I wasn't looking for it. But I heard somebody, a man of God that I really respect, and he didn't go on and on and wax eloquent and just laud my praises to the world. But he made a few comments that were very positive. And it was somebody that, you know, I wasn't sure how he felt about me. But to hear him say that I was a good guy, that he likes something that I preached once, and I'm not saying that to boast, I'm saying that because it was an encouragement to me. That's an encouraging thing to hear somebody speak well of you, or to find out that someone thinks highly of you, or is appreciating the work that you're doing, or appreciating what you're trying to accomplish. That can be an encouragement. So that's why it says, let another man praise thee. You know, if someone's going to praise you, don't stop them. Let another man praise thee, you know? Let it be an encouragement to you. Take that to heart, and let it motivate you to do even better. So we see, again, that not all boasting is sinful, and we see that it's when we boast of ourselves that there's a problem, but there's nothing wrong with boasting about others and letting others praise us to a certain, of course, if it crosses into that line of flattery then you need to, you know, some alarm should go off. But you know, another example of somebody that should be boasted of, somebody that should be praised, even in scripture, I'll read to you from Proverbs 31, the Bible, talking about the virtuous woman, right, and all her godly attributes. Verse 31, chapter 31, verse 28, the Bible says, her children arise up and call her blessed. Her children arise up and call her blessed. Her husband also, and he praises her. Oh, what a bunch of dirty, wicked sinners. How dare they praise her? That's so proud. Those boasters, right? No, that's not the case. That could be a real encouragement to that mother. When the husband says, hey, I just want to let you know, you're doing a great job. What you're doing with the kids, you know, the cooking's been great lately. The place looks clean. Whatever it is, you know, thanks for keeping the socks in the drawer. All these things, right? Whatever it is that the husband's going to bless his wife for, that could be a real encouragement to her. You know, the life of a housewife isn't exactly the most glamorous. You know, it's a lot of the same thing over and over, over and over for years and years on end, right? And that could become a drudgery, you know, especially if you have an unappreciative husband, someone who's not going to ever say, thank you, honey, for everything that you do. You know, I praise you, bless you, and, you know, children that will rise up and bless her. You know, the wife, the mother, who's putting in the hard work with the kids, you know, when they're younger and little, they don't understand, you know, the sacrifices that have been made or how they've been made such a priority to their parents. You know, they don't appreciate what they have until they get older, but when they rise up, when they become adults, they bless her, you know, and then she gets that praise. It's somebody else boasting on someone else. They're boasting of their mother, they're boasting of their wife, they're praising her. So we should, you know, we shouldn't always consider or think that all boasting is sinful, because not all boasting is sinful. Some boasting is very good, some boasting is praising somebody else, and we're encouraging them. Now turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 26, 1 Corinthians chapter 26, we're going to wrap it up here. You know, people ought to be hesitant to, you know, when you first say that, you know, well, it's okay to let another man praise you, a person who's humble would be a little hesitant to accept that. You know, you think of, you know, I know sometimes people come and say, hey, good sermon, you know, say, oh, thanks, yeah, of course, you know, I don't know if they created a sermon, but a humble guy would say something like, well, you know, it's a good book, and that's the right answer. The guy is going to say, yeah, I know, you know, or you praise them for whatever thing it is. You know, that's the wrong attitude. That's somebody who maybe you shouldn't be praising. Maybe they're letting it go to their head. You know, and that's the truth about the preaching. It's all right here. You know, it's not this guy. You know, and any soul winner knows that. Anybody who's ever preached the word of God out door to door knows it's not about us. It's not our power to save somebody. It's not in us, you know, but it's that we have the word of God. It's the word of God that's quick and powerful. It's the law of the Lord that can convert the soul. You know, we're just the mouthpiece for it. You know, so when we're out soul winning, even, someone says, hey, great job leading that guy to Christ. You know, great job, you know, presenting the gospel the way he did. Hey, can I take some notes? You know, that kind of praise, that kind of boasting can be a real encouragement to that soul winner. Somebody's thinking, I don't know if I'm doing it right. Maybe I'm making mistakes. You know, or they've been at it for a little while and they're just feeling kind of like they haven't been doing a good job or they're doubting themselves. Somebody else coming along and just boasting on them a little bit and praising them for the job they're doing. But that type of person, you know, who's going to receive that praise, they're probably humble enough to understand that it's not about them. You know, that's why we shouldn't be so hesitant to praise others. Here, there in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, look at verse 26, the Bible says, for you see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and the base things of the world and the things which are despised hath God chosen yea and things which are not to bring to not the things that are. That no flesh should glory in his presence, but of him are he in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. You see, the guy who's going to receive that praise, the guy who's going to have somebody else boast on him a little bit, he's going to understand that he's the base thing, he's not the mighty thing, he's going to know that it's God, that it's God working through him, and then why? So that he that glorieth can glory in the Lord, which is the way it ought to be. We understand that whatever praise or boasting that comes our way, even though it's a great encouragement, we all have to understand that at the end, God gets the glory for that. It's God that's glorified, it's not in me, it's not in any of us to do these great works for God. It's through his Holy Spirit, it's through his power, it's through his word that these things are done, and at the end, whatever encouragement or praise we receive, that gets passed on to God, because we now understand that he is the source of it, we're the base things, we're the things which are despised, we're not the many, we're not the mighty, we're not the noble, which are called. So we understand that God gets the glory for all the boasting and the praise that we might receive, but we can boast in those who are used of him. We can. I don't think there's anything wrong that we can boast and somebody else can say, hey, so and so did a great job doing this or that for God. Whatever it might be. And those that would be used that way, they would receive that praise well. They wouldn't let it go to their heads. They would understand, because they are humble enough to understand that it's God that gets the glory. Turn over to Philippians chapter 2. So I don't think that we should be hesitant to praise somebody else, as long as we're not just trying to flatter them, and if you're flattering somebody, you're doing it out of an ulterior motive. When you're genuinely praising somebody, I don't think you have to worry about it coming across and being flattery. When you're genuinely impressed by somebody's, whatever they're doing spiritually, whether it's preaching or soul-winning or just a word of encouragement they gave you or a godly example of a life that they're living or child-rearing or whatever it might be, there's so many areas in life that we could look to somebody else as an example and praise them for that and say, thank you. And say, hey, I just want to let you know I really appreciate this or that or you seem like God's really using you this way or whatever it might be. We shouldn't be hesitant to do that, and I think because we don't want to be, we're afraid of lifting people up and making them feel proud or something that they're going to let it go to their heads, people are kind of hesitant to do that, to give that word of encouragement, to give that word of blessing that would really help people in a lot of instances, I believe. You're there in Philippians, book of Philippians, chapter 2, look at verse 1 and the Bible says, If there be therefore any consolation of Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded, having the same love being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. So he's saying, you know, we ought to look at others and esteem them better than ourselves. And if we're going to esteem somebody better than themselves, you know, it's an attitude that we ought to have inwardly, of course. You know, part of that I think would manifest itself in the fact that we might even praise that other person a little bit. Maybe not even directly to them, maybe not going to them and trying to give them a word of encouragement. But I know, even in our own church, when somebody else will come up and I'll say, hey, so-and-so is going to do great at this or that, or they're really good at this or that. Even just kind of getting the word out there as it is to others, that so-and-so is doing a great job in this area, of giving them some praise, you know, that might get around them in being an encouragement. Sometimes people end up hearing the wrong thing about themselves, you know, some rumor goes around or something like that. How nice would it be to overhear a conversation where somebody speaks well with you? It might be a real encouragement, but if that conversation never takes place, if we never bother to go out of our way to praise somebody or to give them a blessing or try to encourage them to boast on them and not ourselves, they're never going to hear it. Now of course at the end of the day, you know, we've seen several examples of how boasting is bad and how boasting can be good, and the difference is where it's directed at, right? That's what makes the difference of whether or not boasting is a good thing or a bad thing. That's why the title of the sermon is Boast Not of Thyself. We shouldn't boast of ourselves, but it would be okay to boast of somebody else in a good way, in a right way. Somebody's accomplishing something for God. You know, in another way that boasting would be good, another proof text even that we would say, well, because some people would say, well, you know, all boasting is sinful, but what about the verses that tell us to boast in the Lord? Or where the psalmist says they're going to boast in the Lord. Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Now the Bible says, you turn to 1 Corinthians 6, Psalm 34, my soul shall make her boast in the Lord. You dirty sinner. How dare you boast, right? How wicked, how evil. All sinning is boastful, all boasting is sinful, right? Not so. The Bible says right here that my soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof and be glad. You see, a humble person who abstains themselves, you know, and seems other, better than themselves, they can hear boasting in the Lord, and they won't affect them. If someone's boasting about you in the Lord, it's going to be an encouragement to you, because you're humble. The humble thereof, they shall hear thereof and they shall be glad. You know, they'll be glad to hear that kind word. They'll be glad, the mother will be glad when the husband praises her for her hard work. The mother will be glad when the children rise up in their adult years and thank her for all her hard work, and thank her for the discipline and the instruction that they received under her watch. Now it says here in 1 Corinthians 1, I'll read it again for you, just trying to make another proof text that not all boasting is sinful. The Bible says in Psalm 44, in God we boast all the day long. Praise God for that. And again, coming back to that soul winning, the marathon, all soul winning that we do, I'd like to just quote that one to the critics, thank God we boast all the day long. You know, yeah, I am going to boast about the soul winning that's accomplished in this movie, because it's a great thing and God's pleased with it. God loves the soul winning that's being done through this church and other churches like it. And I'll boast in that all the day, and praise thy name forever. Praise God for all the souls that are going to be saved on March 31st. Praise God for all the soul winners that are going to go out with the word of God in their hand, a tear in their eye, they're going to go forth weeping, and they're going to come back bringing their sheaves with them. You know what, and there's going to be a count. We're going to count the sheaves, and we're going to rejoice in it, and we're going to praise God in that all the day long. We're going to boast in our God that day. Now you're there in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Oh, I actually already read that. I repeated it. But again, it's just that chapter telling us how we see our calling that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. If we're humble, we're going to be glad. If we're humble, we're going to receive boasting well. I think I've proven it pretty well from scripture this morning that boasting is not inherently evil in and of itself. Boasting itself is not an evil thing. It's not a sinful thing to boast. I mean, we've looked at the verses where we're going to boast in the Lord. We're going to esteem others better than ourselves and praise them. We're going to praise those that deserted, our brothers and sisters in Christ, our spouses, our children. So, boasting is an inherent evil, but it's who the boasting is directed to that determines whether it's bad. So, if we're boasting in others, praising others for their accomplishments that they've done in Christ, that's a good thing. That might, in fact, even be an encouragement to them. But it's when we boast of ourselves, when we start to think more highly than we ought to think of ourselves and start to think we're something and we let others know how great we think we are, that kind of boasting is sinful. That's why the title of the sermon is Boast Not Thyself. So hopefully that's an encouragement for us not to shy away from being glad and boasting about the work that's being accomplished or boasting and praising somebody else for the example that they are. So, it's okay to boast, just make sure we don't boast of ourselves. Let's go ahead and pray. Heavenly Father, again, thank you for the scripture, thank you for the Bible, thank you for the Holy Spirit, thank you for the power that you give through him and through your word. Father, I pray that you would just be with us this week, Lord, and all those that would go out and endeavor to do your work through soul winning. Father, we know this time next week will have wrapped up a great day of soul winning. Lord, I pray that you would be with the soul winning marathons in this country, this state, all the world, Father, that your spirit would move mightily, that we would see great exploits done in these last days, Lord, and that we would boast in our God all the day long, but that we would never shy away from praising you for the great works that you will accomplish through us. Because, Lord, we know it's not in and of ourselves, but it's through your might and your power that we are able to accomplish these things, and we praise you for it, in Jesus' name, Amen.