1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,960 So you see that word there inferiority? Before we begin, just common use. What does it mean? 2 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:20,480 Someone lesser than someone? Okay, what does inferior mean? Okay, inferior is like a step 3 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:26,200 down. Okay, is that what you're going to say RJ? Okay, so that itty on the end there means 4 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:32,520 like the state of being, right? So it's saying inferiority meaning like you feel or you think 5 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:37,320 you are inferior. Maybe you have less authority, you have less capabilities and so on. So we're 6 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:43,080 going to talk about inferiority feelings or what's called an inferiority complex. Now the 7 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:48,240 funny thing about an inferiority complex is people tend to get attached to it. You like 8 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:53,080 it. When you have one, you actually think it makes you a better person and we'll see that 9 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:58,200 as we go through. So we've got several verses here. We're going to do, there are a total 10 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:02,240 of five in the top section. We're going to read each one and then we're going to kind 11 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:06,120 of say what does it say to us? Okay, that's what the blanks are for. So the first one 12 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:16,120 is 2 Corinthians 10-12. Okay, somebody get 2 Corinthians 12, 7-9. Grab your Bibles and 13 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:27,840 pull them out. Somebody get Psalm 139, 13-18. So when we get there we're ready. Okay, I 14 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:37,400 got 10-12. No I don't. Yes I do. Okay. So the question on the paper says, what was the 15 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:42,120 practice of some religious leaders in Paul's day? So the book of Corinthians that we're 16 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:47,120 going to read from was written by Paul to the church in Corinth. Now the funny thing 17 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:54,160 about Corinth that you have to know is Corinth was a really bad city. The people of Corinth, 18 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:59,840 their name, like being a Corinthian was like a cuss word. You'd say, he's dirty as a Corinthian 19 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,840 or foul mouthed as a Corinthian. That's how bad that city was. So when you see some of 20 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:08,560 those verses about faith and the amazing faith of the Corinthian church, you realize they 21 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:12,960 really fell far from the tree. They were apples that fell far from the tree because of their 22 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:19,400 faith. Okay, so he's writing to the church that's in that city in 2 Corinthians 10-12 23 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:22,780 and the question that we had before is, what was the practice of some religious leaders 24 00:02:22,780 --> 00:02:29,520 in Paul's day that we should avoid if we want to reduce the tendency to feel inferior? So 25 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:34,760 the goal is we're going to avoid this thing to stop making people or stop ourselves from 26 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:39,800 feeling inferior. Okay, and it's the verse of 2 Corinthians 10-12 and I'll read it. For 27 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:47,580 we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves, 28 00:02:47,580 --> 00:02:52,440 but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they 29 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:59,240 are without understanding. So what was it that they were doing that Paul was saying, 30 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:10,680 we're not going to do that? Comparing what? Okay, it says, when they measure themselves 31 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:16,960 by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. 32 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:21,280 So they were comparing themselves, but who are they comparing themselves to? Themselves. 33 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:25,360 So they're measuring by their own standard. Okay, and Paul says, we're not going to do 34 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:37,080 that. So a tendency to feel inferior can arise out of if each person has their own idea and 35 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,440 you look at them and you're like, I'm not going to worry about what they think. I'm 36 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,520 not going to worry about their better, worse, or right ideas, or scripture speaks to it, 37 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:47,680 whatever, I'm not going to worry about any of that. I'm just going to measure by myself. 38 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:54,160 Okay, then every time you don't measure up and you say, but that's who I am and you're 39 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:58,600 okay with it, so I'm okay being who I am, but over here is a person who's actually trying 40 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:04,760 to live for God, for example. So now you go like, I'm okay being who I am, but this person 41 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:08,520 is living for God, I'm not going to be like them. See, I'm okay being who I am. Sometimes 42 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:12,520 it's not okay to be who you are. This is the thing in the world today, right? What do they 43 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:20,560 say about a lot of the strange sexual tendencies or things we have? That's the way, say it 44 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:25,960 again. That's the way God made me, right? So there's a lot of that that goes on. So people 45 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:31,240 start measuring themselves by themselves. I won't pick one that's a political topic 46 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:36,760 or whatever, but I say, for example, if I say, God made me want to watch pornography. 47 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:39,600 I'm a person who likes to watch pornography and there's no problem with that. It's okay 48 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:45,800 to do that. God made me that way and I'm embracing that kind of thing, right? So then I look 49 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:50,180 at other people that God didn't make that way and I might even say, you know, I wish 50 00:04:50,180 --> 00:04:54,360 I was kind of like them, but this is the way God made me, so I just got to deal with the 51 00:04:54,360 --> 00:05:00,960 hand I'm dealt. And so that creates an imbalance between people. Somebody is going to be inferior, 52 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:05,720 either the person that's doing the thing that they're authorizing by themselves or the person 53 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:10,280 that's not doing the thing, right? Somebody. So for example, if I say, God made me the 54 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:15,200 kind of person just, you know, whenever I get a traffic ticket, I pay it the day I get 55 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:20,320 it. Like I go right then and pay it that day. And maybe Trina says, well, I pay it, but 56 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:24,080 I'm in no hurry to pay. I got 30 days, right? Whatever. I'm going to pay it when it's due. 57 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:26,840 Why would I pay it on the day of? They don't need my money any sooner so they can make 58 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:32,000 interest on it or whatever. So which one of us is right? I'm confident my way is right. 59 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:37,760 She's confident her way is right. See what happens? Somebody's going to have feelings 60 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:41,560 that the other person is looking down on them, right? The other person is better than them 61 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:45,760 or the other person is less than them. So Trina is going to say, why he wastes his money. 62 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:50,480 And I'm going to say, well, she procrastinates. See how that works? So you can't measure yourself 63 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:54,960 by yourself. You can't say, no, I am what I am. I'm Popeye the Sailor, man, in whatever 64 00:05:54,960 --> 00:06:00,360 circumstances you are. Or I am what I came from, right? Because then what happens is 65 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:04,520 there's a conflict between the way you are or the way you were and the way somebody else 66 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:11,000 is. And that opens up the tendency, doesn't make it happen, right? Because if I'm truly 67 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:16,040 OK with who I am and everything about me is right, does that ever happen? That never happens, 68 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,320 right? But if I was truly OK with everything that's about me and everything about me is 69 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:24,360 OK and I'm all good about it, then I would never have any feelings of inferiority. But 70 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:28,640 I'm never going to be OK with everything about me. There are things that I like. People are 71 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:33,960 going to watch TV and I'm perfectly OK. I like to eat a lot of extra chocolate cake 72 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:38,640 and whatever. And I know I'm overweight, but I don't worry about it. I have a healthy body 73 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:43,640 image. And then they watch TV and they see that kind of healthy body image is different 74 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:48,040 than theirs and they have feelings of inferiority, even though they would be confident. They 75 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:54,040 come across as confident, right? So you can't measure yourself by yourself. That won't work. 76 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:59,160 Next one, 2 Corinthians 12, 7 to 9. Does somebody have one? Have that? All right, Trina. It's 77 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:02,160 7 to 9A actually is all we need right now. I'm going to read the second half in a minute. 78 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:09,160 And unless I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelation, I 79 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:14,160 will be given to me a thorn in the flesh. The messenger of Satan above it me, unless 80 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,160 I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I just saw the Lord Christ and my heart 81 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:23,160 from you. And he sent it to me by grace sufficient for me, for my strength is made perfect for 82 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:28,160 weakness. Most gladly therefore, though I am rather poor in my infirmities, that the 83 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:35,160 Lord may rest at time. Okay, good. And then we'll go to B in a minute. All right, so even 84 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:40,160 with physical weaknesses or handicaps, which Paul had, and the truth is we don't know for 85 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:46,160 sure what his thorn in the flesh was. A lot of theories, right? But he certainly had one 86 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:51,160 and he talks about it a couple of times. Believers can accept their situation and it is what 87 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:57,160 it is. I'm dealing with it. If they have what Paul had, something that enabled him to bear 88 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:06,160 up under it all. Careful now. What was it? Grace. Not faith. We always say faith, right? 89 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:10,160 Everybody's like, just have more faith, just believe more and it'll all be okay. But it 90 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:19,160 isn't faith, it's grace. My grace is sufficient for you. All right, good answer. So you also 91 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:25,160 could see in there that there's strength to be found. But where is the strength to be 92 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:30,160 found in those verses that Trina just read? Did you hear it? It comes from God, but where 93 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:35,160 is it perfected? Where is it really shown? In weaknesses. So when we say, well, I have 94 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:40,160 a weakness, I have a tendency, I recognize a problem in myself, whatever that might be. 95 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:44,160 It could be health, something health, something physical, could be something mental, could 96 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:49,160 be something social. You recognize you have that problem, but you still fully commit yourself 97 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:55,160 and that problem to God. Grace is sufficient. So grace is the solution. Grace is what allows 98 00:08:55,160 --> 00:09:01,160 you to do all of that. And then strength is perfected in recognizing the weakness and 99 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:05,160 being able to accept that that's true. I've had people come to me and say, oh man, I've 100 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:10,160 lied since before I was saved. I'm still lying. I know it. I need all the help I can get. 101 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:14,160 I want to publicly confess it. I want the church to hold me accountable. I want to try 102 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:21,160 to be as strong as I can and get over this problem. That is strength perfected in weakness 103 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:27,160 and God's grace is sufficient for you. And in that person's case, one that I'm thinking 104 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:32,160 of, they did eventually get over it. There's another person who has a similar problem, 105 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:37,160 almost a similar personality. Never came out, never publicly confessed it, never asked for 106 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:41,160 help, privately said, you know, I know I have this problem, but never openly accepted that 107 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:47,160 they had the problem. Still doing it. I've known this person for over 20 years. 20 years 108 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:53,160 later, still doing it. Regularly, like daily, weekly, whatever, exaggerating, making up 109 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:57,160 stuff and it goes really like stuff that after two or three comments, you'd realize, okay, 110 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,160 that can't be right. It can't be true. Right. And they're still doing it because they've 111 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:04,160 not acknowledged the weakness, that strength is not perfected in the weakness and the grace 112 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:11,160 therefore is debatably sufficient. Okay. Now we're going to the right. We'll be back 113 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:16,160 to that 12.9B. You can see it down below, but we're not going there yet. Psalm 139, 114 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:33,160 13 to 18. Anybody got it? It's in the middle of the Bible. You might want to like also 115 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:41,160 probably get to kind of store in the back of your mind that Psalm 139 is a Psalm about 116 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:48,160 God's know-all-ness and his everywarness and how he knows us in every circumstance and 117 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:53,160 he rolled us together perfectly before we were ever born and so on. That's Psalm 139. 118 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:58,160 And so when you feel inferior, it's a good place to go to realize that God has been at 119 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:03,160 work the whole time. So I've got it. I'll read it. 139, 13 to 18 says as follows, 120 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:09,160 For thou didst form my inner word parts. Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb. Who 121 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:14,160 put me together? God did. I will give thanks to thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully 122 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:21,160 made. Wonderful are thy works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden 123 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:27,160 from thee when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought, that means crafted in the depths 124 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:36,160 of the earth. Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance, and in thy book they were all written, 125 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:42,160 the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. How precious 126 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:49,160 are all thy thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, 127 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:56,160 they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with thee. Okay? What does this 128 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:02,160 passage of scripture tell you about the plan of God in designing who you are physically? 129 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:10,160 What does it tell you? It's pretty straightforward. It's intentional. Right? There was a plan. 130 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:18,160 There was an effort. And did he do a good job? Does he ever not do a good job? Right? 131 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:26,160 This is God we're talking about. Okay? So God was very intentional, had a plan, worked 132 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:33,160 his plan. Not only did he craft you perfectly while you were still in the womb, but he's 133 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:38,160 been working on you ever since, and it all fits together with the plan that he has for 134 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:44,160 your life. The kind of job that he knows you're going to have. The kind of people that you're 135 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:53,160 going to have in your life. It all fits together. Now, it can go wrong in that we do what we 136 00:12:53,160 --> 00:13:00,160 should not, or others do what they should not, and so it does not always feel just right. 137 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:04,160 Right? And we get confused about what God really did. But the truth is, if you can get 138 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:09,160 down to the basics of it, God had a plan and he did it very intentionally, and he did it. 139 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:16,160 Okay? So at this point in time, we're going to take a moment to form a thank you prayer 140 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:23,160 based on verse 14. So I'll read it again. And then you're just going to quietly pray 141 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:26,160 to God, right where you are. You don't have to pray out loud. If you don't want to, you 142 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:29,160 can. We're all going to do it at the same time, so no one's listening to you unless 143 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:33,160 you stop and are listening to somebody. And please don't do that. Just pray. All right? 144 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:41,160 And the verse was this, I will, notice that, I will give thanks to thee, for I am fearfully 145 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:48,160 and wonderfully made. Wonderful are thy works, and my soul knows it very well. Okay? We're 146 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:53,160 going to take one minute. Here we go. We're talking to God now, all of us. You talk to 147 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:57,160 God. Don't worry about what I say. You talk to God. I'm turning the microphone off. All 148 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:08,160 right. I praise you. When I feel like I screw up, I know you made me just the way I am. Yet, 149 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:13,160 you drew me to yourself and cleansed me and perfected that which you made. Renew this 150 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:21,160 image of you and me. Forgive me my sins. Let me stand strong for you. I praise you. My 151 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:30,160 soul knows very well that you are the perfect Creator. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. In 152 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:34,160 Jesus' name, Amen. 153 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:50,160 In Jesus' name, Amen. Okay? Now you'll see that I repeated the verses there, so the 154 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:54,160 answer to the question in the bottom of that box is the same as the answer that you put 155 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:59,160 over on the left. So where it says, 2 Corinthians 12, 7 and 9a, even with physical weaknesses 156 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:04,160 or handicaps, believers can accept their situation if they have what Paul had, something that 157 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:12,160 enabled him to bear up under it all. What was it? Grace. Very good. Okay? And then now 158 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:19,160 we're going to the left onto 2 Corinthians 12, 9b, the second half of verse 9 through 159 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:34,160 verse 10. We're doing good. We're flying along. The last part will take a minute. Before we 160 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:44,160 have a little quiz before we get to the last part. 2 Corinthians 12, 9b. I'll just read 161 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:51,160 all of 9. I just like it. He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is 162 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:56,160 perfected in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses that 163 00:15:56,160 --> 00:16:01,160 the power of Christ may dwell in me. So let's get that right. That's the B. Most gladly, 164 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:08,160 therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 165 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:16,160 Verse 10. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, 166 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:24,160 with persecutions, with difficulties. For Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I 167 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:32,160 am strong. So what are two special privileges connected to spirituality or living with Christ, 168 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:39,160 if you will, that God was able to entrust to Paul while Paul was handicapped? Two special 169 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:49,160 privileges. What do you think? Say it again. Okay. Yeah, that's kind of like, I would say 170 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:57,160 that's kind of like the second one. So let's find it in there. I'll boast about my weaknesses 171 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:02,160 that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses 172 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:14,160 and then the rest of the list. So content is the first one. Say it again. Kind of. So 173 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:19,160 let's go, let's read the whole thing though. You're on the right track. Most gladly, therefore, 174 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:28,160 I will rather boast about my weaknesses that the power of Christ may dwell in me. When 175 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:35,160 a person boasts, what are they doing? Say it again. Look what I did. Okay, that kind 176 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:40,160 of boasting, yes, but we're boasting about weaknesses. So what? Bragging. Yeah. So what 177 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:47,160 is that? It's not arrogance because what do we boast about? We're boasting about God, 178 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:55,160 not us. Yeah, it's like praise. It's pride in God, but pride in God, pride in God in 179 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:59,160 us, right? Not pride in ourselves. Because would you really go up to somebody like you're 180 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:04,160 at a party, like you're all hanging around, you know, the red solo cups or whatever and 181 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:09,160 you go, hey, you know what, guess what? I lie. I do that. Yeah. I'm actually pretty good 182 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:16,160 at it. What's that? Back in the day, right? Back in the day, maybe. And it happens, right? 183 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:23,160 But if you say it like this, you know, I was born a liar. I've been a liar my whole life 184 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:28,160 because of the transforming power of the Lord, because I've been born again. That part of 185 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:33,160 me is dying out. It's being left behind. It's gone. You know, it's different, isn't it? 186 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:39,160 Now, I'm boasting about God at work in me, but it's the weakness because the strength 187 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:45,160 is perfected in the weakness. So praise or pride in what God is doing in the areas of 188 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:51,160 your weakness is a great privilege. And by the way, is it not a privilege that the world 189 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:57,160 tries to mimic? The world tries to do that. Like, you show up to work on time and you 190 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:08,160 go, yeah, I'm always late. Right? Or you go, I really shouldn't have another piece of cake. 191 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:13,160 I just, I have no self-control. And then you eat another piece of cake. Right? That's what 192 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:19,160 the world does. It boasts in its weaknesses, but it boasts in its weaknesses as if the 193 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:24,160 weaknesses themselves are the thing, or the good thing. Right? So we can boast in our 194 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:30,160 weaknesses in that that is the area in which God is at work in us. So praise, pride, I 195 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:36,160 would, pride is, just make sure it's pride in the Lord, not pride in ourselves. Right? 196 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:46,160 Okay. All right. So we're going to have a little quiz. I'm going to throw Smarties. 197 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:49,160 If you happen to get caught, I'm going to throw a lot of Smarties. So if you happen to 198 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:52,160 get caught up in the line of fire and you want to snag a young person's Smartie, go 199 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:58,160 for it. Anybody gets bruises, I'm sorry. I apologize in advance. Because Smarties can 200 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:07,160 be kind of hard. Okay? All right. You been with me, Haley? What do you have where it 201 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:13,160 says Paul was able to bear up in his situation because of one thing that he had? What was 202 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:21,160 it? Should have it twice. In the bottom of the left box and the bottom of the right box. 203 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:33,160 Grace it is. Did you catch any? Two? That's pretty good. That's impressive. Two out of 204 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:40,160 whatever that was, eight or ten. All right. This is a harder one. 2 Corinthians 10-12. 205 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:44,160 What was the practice of some religious leaders in Paul's day that we should avoid if we 206 00:20:44,160 --> 00:21:03,160 want to reduce the tendency to feel inferior? Jason. That's good. I like that. Well done. 207 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:15,160 One. All right. One more. Psalm 139-13-18. We said what does this passage of scripture 208 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:23,160 tell us about the plan of God in designing who you are physically? Danny? Intentional. 209 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:32,160 Very good. I really wanted to throw them at Natalie. Okay. All right. Now we got the bottom 210 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:39,160 half. This is fun. This is kind of like a little game here. The story of Moses. If you 211 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:44,160 know this story at all, basically here's the deal. Moses is raised in Egypt as basically 212 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:54,160 a stepchild of the Pharaoh and then flees not long after he kills one of the guards who 213 00:21:54,160 --> 00:22:02,160 was beating a Jewish man and then is called by God out of what was probably Midian or 214 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:10,160 the land toward Midian to go back into Egypt and bring God's people out. Okay. And this 215 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:14,160 encounter that we're about to read from is the encounter where God is trying to call, 216 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:19,160 and I say trying, a little tongue in cheek there, but he's trying to call Moses to do 217 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:30,160 that job. Okay. So we're in Exodus chapter three. So go fast, but you got to be a little 218 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:36,160 creative and be ready. Okay. So Exodus chapter three. I'm going to read verse 10. It's going 219 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:46,160 to be like this. It's going to be 10 and then it's going to be 10 is Moses, 11 is God, and 220 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:50,160 then it's going to be 10. So that's our takeaway. That's how that goes. Okay. Is that right? 221 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:54,160 I think so. Let's see. Let's just see. Therefore come now and I will send you to Pharaoh so 222 00:22:54,160 --> 00:23:00,160 that you may bring my people, the sons of Israel out of Egypt. So God says to Moses, 223 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:07,160 I will send you to bring my people out of Egypt. So you can put that in the top middle 224 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:13,160 block. What does he say? He does not very long line. So something simple we can put 225 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:27,160 in there. Take a stab at it. What? Okay. That's a good one. I got room left. That's under 226 00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:33,160 God. God said that God said, therefore come now and I will send you to Pharaoh so that 227 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:37,160 you may bring my people, the sons of Israel out of Egypt. And I put, I will send you. 228 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:42,160 And then I had room left and I put to get them, but you can put anything there that 229 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:46,160 you want to remember that God was sending him to Egypt to get his people. That's what 230 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:54,160 God said he would do. Now the next verse, but Moses said to God, who am I that I should 231 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:59,160 go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt? So he's asking 232 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:03,160 him a question. Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the sons 233 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:09,160 of Israel out of Egypt? Now, so what is he saying? What's the question that he's asking? 234 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:15,160 Yes, it's who am I. That is definitely the question. Just remember that it is from an 235 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:20,160 inferior position. Yeah, like who am I to get them? That's a good way to put it. Yeah. 236 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:25,160 Who am I to do that? Or who am I to get them? And a lot of times when people are saying 237 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:30,160 who am I, they're saying that. That's what they, they're like, well I'm not good enough 238 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:37,160 or I'm not able, you know, how can I be called, how can I be called to do that? Right? But 239 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:41,160 sometimes it's the other way around. Like, you want me to take the garbage out? Who do 240 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:45,160 you think I am? Right? But that's not what Moses was doing. Moses was coming from a 241 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:49,160 position of feelings of inferiority. He was looking at the task that God laid out for 242 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:55,160 him and he was like, wow, that's a big task. I've already been there. It wasn't good. 243 00:24:55,160 --> 00:25:02,160 I fled from there. Now I got a wife. You know, things are good. So who am I to do this, God? 244 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:10,160 Okay. So that's his position. Now verse, alright, and so then what's our takeaway? Moses, God 245 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:16,160 says, I will send you to get them. Moses says back to him, who am I to get them? This is 246 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:23,160 my summary and Chris helped me with my second part there. And then what's your takeaway? 247 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:27,160 What do you learn from that? Or what would you tell somebody, somebody said, hey, Tuesday 248 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:31,160 night on Bible study, we studied from Exodus chapter three and I learned from the verses 249 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:50,160 10 and 11, what? Jason? Okay. I think he's going to get there. But in these two verses, 250 00:25:50,160 --> 00:26:00,160 I'm not sure we're there yet. But you're right. He does know. Say that again. Oh, yeah, 251 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:05,160 that's good. They're like sometimes when God calls us to do something, we're going to question 252 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:10,160 ourselves. That's interesting. Okay. Anybody else got something? And that spot right there, 253 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:15,160 what would you take away from God says, I will send you to get them. And Moses says 254 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:29,160 back to him, who am I to get them or whatever you put, RJ? It could be, but it's not. Yeah. 255 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:39,160 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. We're going to see that it's not. Yeah. But, but you're right. 256 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:44,160 And actually you're touching on what I was talking about before, right? Sometimes people 257 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:49,160 have inferiority feelings and they feel like comfortable in that because then if somebody 258 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:54,160 calls on them to do something great, or if God calls on them to do something great, or 259 00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:57,160 they see an opportunity to do something great in their own mind and they go, I should do 260 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:02,160 this. They go, Oh, no, I see. I'm not. I'm not worthy of that. I can't do that. That's 261 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:16,160 not me. Oh yeah. He's definitely doubting God. Yeah. So now you're hitting home. Yeah. 262 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:45,160 Yeah. Yeah. He's definitely not capable of it. Yeah. When I read these verses, I think 263 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:53,160 the real problem is that he missed the verb and the subject of the first sentence. He 264 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:58,160 thought the subject of the first sentence is Moses will go get my people, but that's 265 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:03,160 not what it said at all. God said, I will send you to Pharaoh. God's going to do that. 266 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:07,160 God didn't tell Moses he was going to do anything other than what God told him to do. So you're 267 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:15,160 just going to go. I'm going to send you. God was letting him in on God's plan. That's what 268 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:22,160 he was doing. And Moses took it as the, like, you've got mail. Like, you want me to do this? 269 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:26,160 If God lets you in on his plan for your life, at that point in time, it doesn't matter what 270 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:29,160 you think about his plan. You just jump on board because it's God's plan. He's going 271 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:33,160 to do what he's going to do. Right? And yes, what you want. That's what you're talking 272 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:35,160 about. That's exactly what we're talking about. We're questioning God because it was 273 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:41,160 really God who was going to do it anyway. And we know. Like, did Moses summon any plagues? 274 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:47,160 Did Moses change any water into blood? No. God did all of that. He just chose to do it 275 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:54,160 through Moses. Right? So, okay. Let's go on. So now we're on 13. Okay. So yeah. So there's 276 00:28:54,160 --> 00:29:00,160 several. We had come up with several. Okay. So one, Jason said, help me if we get them 277 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:06,160 because I didn't write them all down. But Jason said, we may question ourselves. What 278 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:13,160 did you say? I just go and I'll go with you. Okay. There you go. And Trina, sum up what 279 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:21,160 you said. This is like doubting God. Doubting God, questioning him, what his word says is 280 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:31,160 true. Obviously, you're in verse 11. So if we acknowledge the true I, that's like Isaiah 281 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:38,160 said, we're acknowledging we're less than God. He's bigger. So basically, who am I going 282 00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:47,160 to choose for that? But also, doubting God. Right. Very good. Okay. So doubting God. And 283 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:52,160 this is early stage doubt. Unfortunately, it's going to get worse. He's not done yet. 284 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:58,160 Right? He continues the trend, which is what this story is all about. So like I think it 285 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:02,160 ties in with what Jason was saying. He was saying like, sometimes you're going to question 286 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:08,160 yourself or your abilities to do what it is God's calling you to do. That is basically 287 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:14,160 doubting God. You know, although I will say, we know that God is saying he's going to do 288 00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:19,160 it and he's going to call them out, that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt, 289 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:27,160 Moses says. And like the answer is no, God's saying I'm going to do that. Right? But sometimes 290 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:37,160 God calls us to do something and you're not actually supposed to succeed. You know, in 291 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:42,160 fact, in your failure or what the world would perceive as failure or you would think as 292 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:47,160 failure, out of that comes the great victory. Think about the martyrs. The greatest periods 293 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:53,160 of growth in Christendom in the kingdom of God have been at the death of a martyr. And 294 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:58,160 when people in the crowd mock, you know, Justin the martyr, for example, or any of those, 295 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:01,160 I can't think of any names, but I'm drawing a blank on all these names that I should know. 296 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:06,160 But anyway, all these guys that died for their faith and they're like, I'm not renouncing 297 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:09,160 Christ. I'm going to burn me alive. You know, I don't want to be burnt alive, but if that's 298 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,160 what you're going to do, that's what you're going to do. And if God isn't going to spare 299 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:15,160 me, then I'm just going to let that happen. Or think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, 300 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:19,160 right? God is completely able to save us from the fiery furnace, but if he does not, we 301 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:24,160 still won't bow down to your false God. Right? And then they go in and they are saved. But 302 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:29,160 many martyrs died and out of their death and that powerful testimony at their death arose 303 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:34,160 great growth and many people coming to Christ. So people would say they failed in living 304 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:40,160 for Jesus, but in truth, death is not failure for the Christian, not if it's died in Christ. 305 00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:48,160 Right? Okay, got to go. All right. 12, God comforts him. He says, and he said, certainly 306 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:55,160 I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you. 307 00:31:55,160 --> 00:32:01,160 When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain. So 308 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:09,160 God's comfort to Moses basically is what? Okay, I'll be with you. Right? So, by the 309 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:16,160 way, what is the chief comfort for Christians today? It is the statement of Jesus that he 310 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:20,160 will always be with us, because we're going to go through stuff, but he's always right 311 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:28,160 there with us. All right? So you can put that out if you want, but it's pretty clear that's 312 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:37,160 one part of it at least. Also, he does give him a sign. He says, when it's all done, you're 313 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:46,160 coming back here. 13, then Moses said to God, so this is Moses speaking, behold, I am going 314 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:53,160 to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me 315 00:32:53,160 --> 00:33:04,160 to you. Now, they may say to me, what is his name? What shall I say to them? So, God tells 316 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:10,160 Moses, I'm going to go with you, and I'm going to bring my people out of Egypt, and you're 317 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:15,160 all going to worship here at the mountain, and Moses says back to him, what do I answer 318 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:25,160 when they say, what is the name of the God who sent me? Okay? So, how we sum what Moses 319 00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:35,160 is saying there. First of all, how do we sum what he's saying? Say it again? What do I 320 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:45,160 say? Okay, I like that. What do I say? Or, I don't know if it would have fit, but who 321 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:54,160 do I say sent me? Something like that. Anything like that. What shall I say to them is what 322 00:33:54,160 --> 00:34:02,160 he ends on. Now, interestingly enough, God is going to give him a good answer, but before 323 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:12,160 we get there, what's our takeaway? What do we learn from God says, I will go with you, 324 00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:22,160 and Moses says, what do I say? Who do I say sent me? What do you take away from that? 325 00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:29,160 Okay, so the name is important, but there's something that's more important. I say, that's 326 00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:33,160 almost like blasphemy, but there is something that's more important. Say it again? Okay, 327 00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:42,160 that's good. Let God speak. Let him say what he's going to say. Okay. What else? I was 328 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:47,160 working at a restaurant, and we decided we didn't want to eat the restaurant food that 329 00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:53,160 day. Pizza Hut. Everybody was eating Pizza Hut. We had cell phones. Most people had cell 330 00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:57,160 phones. Didn't want to eat Pizza Hut that day. So, one of the guys there, his name's 331 00:34:57,160 --> 00:35:01,160 Phil. I can't remember his last name right now. Said he would run to this restaurant 332 00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,160 that everybody thought was the bomb. I had never eaten there, but everybody else, they 333 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:08,160 were like, so there were like seven of us working, and everybody was going to get something 334 00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:13,160 to eat, and he got out a piece of paper, and he said, tell me what you want. I want to 335 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:17,160 have a list before I get there so I can just read off the list and I know I got everybody's 336 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:21,160 thing correctly. But there was people like dilly dally, and they weren't sure what they 337 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:26,160 wanted, so the other manager was working that day. Her name was Helen. She said, just 338 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:35,160 go. We'll call you and tell you what to order. And he said, fine. So, he went to the store, 339 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:39,160 got there, and there was actually a couple of people, including myself, who did not wind 340 00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:44,160 up ordering, and if he had waited around for our order, it would have been that much longer 341 00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:49,160 before the order would have been placed, right? Before we finally found out that two of us 342 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:56,160 weren't even ordering. And so, what is Moses doing here when he asks them, what do you 343 00:35:56,160 --> 00:36:09,160 want me to say when God says go and bring my people out? Go ahead. He's delaying. He's 344 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:14,160 creating a delay. Have you ever known anybody, any Christian, that said, I know what God 345 00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:19,160 wants me to do, but I can't do it because I don't know all the facts yet? Have you ever 346 00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:21,160 known anybody that said, I'm called to be a pastor, but I don't know how it's going 347 00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:24,160 to go. I don't know if I had to go to Bible college or not, and so they just never get 348 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:31,160 started and don't do anything? If you think you have to know everything in advance before 349 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:37,160 you go with God somewhere, you're missing out on a huge blessing, at least. But the 350 00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:42,160 problem is, his feelings of inferiority, he's looking for comfort. He wants God to give 351 00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:45,160 him the ammunition before he gets there so that he knows what he's going to shoot when 352 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:50,160 the time comes, right? Why would he need that? If God is going to be with him when he gets 353 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:56,160 there, why does he need to know what God is going to tell him to say before he gets there? 354 00:36:56,160 --> 00:37:00,160 Is it because he doesn't trust that God's going to be with him when he gets there? Or 355 00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:05,160 because he can't break free of his inferiority feelings now, so he needs God to comfort him, 356 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:10,160 God to prove something to him, show him, teach him more? If you're waiting to tell somebody 357 00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:16,160 about Jesus until you know what they might ask you and all the answers to all the questions 358 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:22,160 they might ask, then you're missing out on the fact that Jesus said, I will be with you. 359 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:26,160 Right? I will be with you means you don't need to know where we're going. Has anybody 360 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:29,160 ever been a kid riding the cow with their parents and you just finally got there and 361 00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:32,160 you're like, oh, this is where we're going? You don't need to go. The driver needs to 362 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:37,160 know where the situation's going. People in the backseat really don't. 363 00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:43,160 So do I. It's amazing. And it's a great lesson, it's a great opportunity to teach. So when 364 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:47,160 you're like, you don't need to know, you can explain it like you just need to trust me. 365 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:52,160 I'm your dad. I got this. And so this goes back to what Trino was saying before, that 366 00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:57,160 this is another form of distrust. Because now he's basically saying, okay, I'll go. 367 00:37:57,160 --> 00:38:04,160 But when I get there and they say to me, who sent me, who do I say you are? Right? So his 368 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:10,160 inferiority feelings are causing him to distrust God, even though God has said, I will be with 369 00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:15,160 you. I'm going too slow. I got to pick up the pace a little bit. I apologize. 370 00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:23,160 Okay. Verse 14, God answers and said, and God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, 371 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:28,160 by the way, that's Yahweh. Word there is Yahweh. And he said, thus you shall say to the sons 372 00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:37,160 of Israel, I am has sent me to you. So God says to Moses, this is what you tell him. 373 00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:42,160 But he doesn't stop there. And God furthermore said to Moses, thus you shall say to the sons 374 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:47,160 of Israel, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and 375 00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:53,160 the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever. And this is my memorial 376 00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:58,160 name to all generations. See what's happening here. Go and gather the elders of Israel 377 00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:02,160 and together and say to them, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, 378 00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:06,160 and Jacob has appeared to me saying, I am indeed concerned about you and what has been 379 00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:11,160 done to you in Egypt. See what's happening here. So I said, I will bring you up out of 380 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:16,160 the affliction of Egypt, the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the 381 00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:20,160 Parasite and the Hivite and the Jebusite and the land flowing with milk and honey. And 382 00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:25,160 they will pay heed to what you say. And you with the elders of Israel will come to the 383 00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:30,160 king of Egypt and you will say to him, the Lord, the God of, can we stop now? You see 384 00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:36,160 what's happening here? So basically what's happening here is in Moses' inferiority 385 00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:41,160 feelings, he's getting the equivalent of a seminary degree for a missionary who's going 386 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:44,160 to call people out of Egypt. He's getting dumped on, he's getting dumped into, he's 387 00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:49,160 getting poured into by the God of the universe. Which brings us back around to our 388 00:39:49,160 --> 00:39:54,160 understanding of what is it that gives you the ability to bear up under whatever your 389 00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:59,160 physical condition is wrong, whatever your mental condition, what is it? It's grace. 390 00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:04,160 God is bestowing with grace. Now I want you to be very clear, and we're moving faster 391 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:09,160 so keep your thinking caps on, right? Let's skip into the end, verse 22. He tells them 392 00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:14,160 that God's, in verse 21 he says, they're going to come out and I'm going to grant your 393 00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:19,160 people favor in the sight of the Egyptians and you won't leave empty handed. And then 394 00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:23,160 22 he says, but every woman shall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her 395 00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:27,160 house articles of silver, articles of gold and clothing, and you will put them on your 396 00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:34,160 sons and daughters, thus you will plunder the Egyptians. So what did he say to Moses 397 00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:38,160 was going to happen at the end of the story, after Moses goes there and does what God 398 00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:42,160 and God goes with him and all those things happen, what's going to happen? Jason, what 399 00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:52,160 did he just say was going to happen? Thus you will, did you catch the word? Chris just 400 00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:59,160 said it, plunder the Egyptians. So there's one last passage of scripture that we're going 401 00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:03,160 to look at and I want you to see this. You can write that down under God if you want. 402 00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:08,160 By the way, what does Moses say back? Then Moses answered and said, what if they will 403 00:41:08,160 --> 00:41:14,160 not believe me or listen to what I say? You see that? In Moses' inferiority feelings, 404 00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:20,160 after God pours into him the equivalent of a seminary degree in an instant, or he goes, 405 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:22,160 boom, here's everything you need, everything you need, just say this, just do this, I'll 406 00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:27,160 take care of everything, I've got this. And he pours all that into him. Moses still says, 407 00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:35,160 what if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, the Lord 408 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:40,160 has not appeared to you. In other words, they may doubt me. But there's one thing I want 409 00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:45,160 you to see before we're through and it's in the book of Malachi. So it's the last 410 00:41:45,160 --> 00:41:51,160 book in the New Testament and it's in chapter 3. It's the last part of chapter 3 and the 411 00:41:51,160 --> 00:42:04,160 first part of chapter 4 actually. The ultimate takeaway is coming right now. The 412 00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:10,160 takeaway from all of this, that God's grace is sufficient for you, that God is willing 413 00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:13,160 to pour into you. He's willing to make you able to do that, what he's called you to do. 414 00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:19,160 He's willing to make you endure. He wove you perfectly in the womb. There's no reason 415 00:42:19,160 --> 00:42:24,160 to feel inferior, but you also cannot measure yourself against yourself. You measure yourself, 416 00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:29,160 if at all, against what God is going to do in you. And you can pridefully, not pride 417 00:42:29,160 --> 00:42:34,160 in yourself, but pride in God, say God is doing this work. And then this is Malachi 418 00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:43,160 3 beginning in verse 16. Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another and the Lord 419 00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:47,160 gave attention and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him. For those 420 00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:51,160 who fear the Lord and who esteem his name. What are the qualifications for the book by 421 00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:56,160 the way? Those who fear the Lord and esteem, and that means like lift up, recognize, give 422 00:42:56,160 --> 00:43:02,160 it its proper recognition. There's how important his name is. 17, and they will be mine, says 423 00:43:02,160 --> 00:43:06,160 the Lord of hosts, on the day that I prepare my own possession and I will spare them as 424 00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:12,160 a man spares his own son who serves them. God will make us his and he will spare us 425 00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:18,160 as he spares his own son who serves him. So you will again distinguish between the righteous 426 00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:22,160 and the wicked. There's going to be a very clear line between the righteous and the wicked. 427 00:43:22,160 --> 00:43:28,160 Between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. For behold the day is coming 428 00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:34,160 burning like a furnace and all the arrogant and every evil doer will be chaffed. That's 429 00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:39,160 the part of the grain that blows in the air and burns really, really well. And the day 430 00:43:39,160 --> 00:43:44,160 that is coming will set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them 431 00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:51,160 neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the son, that's S-U-N, the son of 432 00:43:51,160 --> 00:43:57,160 righteousness, will rise with healing in its wings and you will go forth and skip about 433 00:43:57,160 --> 00:44:03,160 like calves from the stall and you will tread down the wicked for they shall be ashes under 434 00:44:03,160 --> 00:44:09,160 the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing, says the Lord of hosts. So what 435 00:44:09,160 --> 00:44:15,160 is God saying? God is saying that this is the end of it all. This is how the story ends. 436 00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:20,160 Are you ready for the end of the story, Jason? This is how the story ends. God's people 437 00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:25,160 lifted up, perfected, charged into the kingdom of God, the new heaven and the new earth for 438 00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:31,160 eternity, and the wicked like chaff burned. The wicked are under the feet of the righteous. 439 00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:37,160 So when you deal with somebody who is wicked, somebody who is coming against you, now again 440 00:44:37,160 --> 00:44:44,160 don't judge by yourself. Wickedness is in the eyes of the Lord. For example, if they 441 00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:49,160 abuse you, make sure they are abusing you from God's perspective, not just your own. 442 00:44:49,160 --> 00:44:56,160 Like, oh you would watch my TV channel. That's not the thing we are talking about. But the 443 00:44:56,160 --> 00:45:02,160 wicked will be under the feet of the righteous as we charge into the kingdom of God. We will 444 00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:06,160 plunder them. We will worse than plunder them because we will have everything and they will 445 00:45:06,160 --> 00:45:13,160 have nothing. You understand? So in this lifetime, sometimes it appears as if the wicked, the 446 00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:16,160 bad people are getting up, they are doing well, they are moving ahead, they are getting 447 00:45:16,160 --> 00:45:20,160 better off, they make a million dollars on TikTok. Sometimes it looks like they are doing 448 00:45:20,160 --> 00:45:24,160 well. They are leading people to worship demons with their pop music. Sometimes it looks like 449 00:45:24,160 --> 00:45:31,160 they are doing well. And you can maybe have inferiority feelings if you measure yourself 450 00:45:31,160 --> 00:45:36,160 by that standard. You go, well she is so pretty. She has so much money. She knows just what 451 00:45:36,160 --> 00:45:41,160 to say. He knows just what to say. He is doing so well. I can't do what he does. And you 452 00:45:41,160 --> 00:45:46,160 can begin to have inferiority feelings. But realize that there will only be one line at 453 00:45:46,160 --> 00:45:52,160 the end and it is wicked and righteous. Fear the Lord and esteem His name and you will 454 00:45:52,160 --> 00:45:57,160 charge into the kingdom of God and all these people will be at best like the dust under 455 00:45:57,160 --> 00:46:09,160 your feet. Which brings us to be in the position that God is in. Pity. We should pity them. 456 00:46:09,160 --> 00:46:15,160 Not in a mean way. But we should realize that their end destination is not good. The person 457 00:46:15,160 --> 00:46:18,160 who lies to you and does not repent, will not confess, will not accept Jesus as Lord 458 00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:24,160 and Savior, they will pay an eternal penalty. The person who abuses you, steals from you, 459 00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:30,160 martyrs you, God forbid, beats you, God forbid, whatever. Those people will pay. There is 460 00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:34,160 nothing that you could ever do to them that in any way, shape, or form is going to add 461 00:46:34,160 --> 00:46:38,160 the most minute suffering to what they are going to experience. You understand? So you 462 00:46:38,160 --> 00:46:43,160 don't need to take vengeance. We want to be like God and just as He is faithful and just 463 00:46:43,160 --> 00:46:47,160 to forgive us of all unrighteousness and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness, we want 464 00:46:47,160 --> 00:46:53,160 to be ready to do that for anybody. And we do that how? Through Jesus. That's how. So 465 00:46:53,160 --> 00:46:57,160 you become a Jesus bearer and you go around and when you witness to somebody and they 466 00:46:57,160 --> 00:47:05,160 won't hear it, your heart should be breaking. Because ultimately you will plunder them, 467 00:47:05,160 --> 00:47:09,160 you will run into the Kingdom of God and they will be like dust on the ground, burning chaff 468 00:47:09,160 --> 00:47:13,160 for eternity, that kind of thing. Because you try and they wouldn't listen. Now that 469 00:47:13,160 --> 00:47:18,160 doesn't mean be cocky, doesn't mean be snotty, doesn't mean be a jerk, right? You should 470 00:47:18,160 --> 00:47:23,160 be loving, you should be kind, you should be trying to get them to understand what God 471 00:47:23,160 --> 00:47:28,160 has done. They could be stuck in there and fear it, but now you might say, but who am 472 00:47:28,160 --> 00:47:33,160 I? Who am I to be like that? To love somebody or to witness to them, to serve them? Who 473 00:47:33,160 --> 00:47:40,160 am I? It isn't about you, it's about who's in you and what he wants to do. And what is 474 00:47:40,160 --> 00:47:48,160 the eternal purpose of God? Say it again? Salvation. To bring man into right relationship with 475 00:47:48,160 --> 00:47:54,160 him. And by the way that blessing where God says, and lo I shall be with you unto the 476 00:47:54,160 --> 00:47:58,160 end of the age, you know where that's at. It's at the end of the Great Commission where 477 00:47:58,160 --> 00:48:03,160 it says, go ye therefore. And at the end of it it says, and lo I shall be with you even 478 00:48:03,160 --> 00:48:09,160 unto the end of the age. I have a brief prayer and then we're through. There's a lemonade 479 00:48:09,160 --> 00:48:16,160 already in the cafeteria and I have baked, did we pull those? Good job. We baked two 480 00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:21,160 different kinds of cupcakes. The second one made it out of the oven, thanks to my lovely 481 00:48:21,160 --> 00:48:26,160 wife. But probably not frosted I would imagine yet. So if you like lemon, wait for the second 482 00:48:26,160 --> 00:48:32,160 batch because they're lemon pound cake cupcakes. Father in heaven help us realize that when 483 00:48:32,160 --> 00:48:39,160 we feel inferior that we know that you can work through us, you wired us just so, you 484 00:48:39,160 --> 00:48:45,160 intentionally created us, you made us capable and wherever any capabilities that we already 485 00:48:45,160 --> 00:48:51,160 have are not sufficient to carry out the plan that you have for us, it's your plan for us 486 00:48:51,160 --> 00:48:57,160 and you are more than able to supply it. Lord we ought to be willing to do whatever it is 487 00:48:57,160 --> 00:49:04,160 that you called us to do because you said that you would be with us. We got to go wherever 488 00:49:04,160 --> 00:49:12,160 you want us to go because you said that you would be with us. It's not Jesus taking the 489 00:49:12,160 --> 00:49:21,160 wheel because I can't do it anymore. You are the driver of the car. You are the conductor 490 00:49:21,160 --> 00:49:29,160 of the orchestra. You are the builder of the road. You are God, the eternal God who always 491 00:49:29,160 --> 00:49:35,160 has been, who doesn't need any other name than I am. And we trust you Lord with our 492 00:49:35,160 --> 00:49:44,160 todays and we trust you with our tomorrows and where our faith is weak, we pray Lord 493 00:49:44,160 --> 00:49:50,160 build up our faith and let us trust you throughout it all. Serve you and save any who will be 494 00:49:50,160 --> 00:49:56,160 saved, witness any who will be witnessed, serve any who will be served and realize that we 495 00:49:56,160 --> 00:50:00,160 might actually be able to mitigate some sorrow or some small amount of suffering in this 496 00:50:00,160 --> 00:50:04,160 lifetime for providing to them. I remember when there was a husband and wife team and 497 00:50:04,160 --> 00:50:09,160 they had been at each other's throats. There was hate in their marriage. He hated her, 498 00:50:09,160 --> 00:50:17,160 she hated him. They said it to each other on a regular basis. And then they had a conflict 499 00:50:17,160 --> 00:50:21,160 where they were mad at me and for the first time they were both mad at me and they both 500 00:50:21,160 --> 00:50:28,160 hated me and they found unity. And I did not like that situation one bit. But out of that 501 00:50:28,160 --> 00:50:33,160 situation they were able to talk and they were able to mend. It looked like they were 502 00:50:33,160 --> 00:50:38,160 going to go in the right direction and submit their marriage to you. And they even came 503 00:50:38,160 --> 00:50:44,160 back and forgave me and I forgave them for all of it. Sometimes Lord our enemies have 504 00:50:44,160 --> 00:50:49,160 to unite to find some kind of peace. So that means sometimes they have to unite against 505 00:50:49,160 --> 00:50:53,160 us. I think about the Pharisees and the Sadducees who hated Jesus and the only peace they ever 506 00:50:53,160 --> 00:51:00,160 found between the two of them was in hating Jesus. And our God Jesus in the flesh is a 507 00:51:00,160 --> 00:51:06,160 peace bringer even at his death which of course resulted in his resurrection because death 508 00:51:06,160 --> 00:51:12,160 could not hold him. Lord help us to trust you with our present and trust you with our 509 00:51:12,160 --> 00:51:18,160 future and trust you with our eternity. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you very 510 00:51:18,160 --> 00:51:31,160 much. Enjoy those cupcakes.