WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:04.559 This is the Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast, brought 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:07.719 to you by Living on the Edge. In this podcast, 00:00:07.980 --> 00:00:10.539 you'll hear Chip's teaching unedited and from 00:00:10.539 --> 00:00:14.400 beginning to end. Here's Chip Ingram with today's 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:17.739 message titled, Love Serves. We tend to think 00:00:17.739 --> 00:00:20.519 about love as, you know, a romantic feeling or 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:23.920 an emotion, and I'm all for those. But the kind 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:26.059 of love we're talking about requires a choice. 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:28.940 And there's some things that work against us 00:00:28.940 --> 00:00:31.539 being loving people. And they're not necessarily 00:00:31.539 --> 00:00:33.880 bad, but they can distract us. And I'd like you 00:00:33.880 --> 00:00:36.679 to think just right now, when was the first time, 00:00:36.679 --> 00:00:39.880 just as back far as you can go, when you really 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:42.420 thought to yourself, I want to be great at something? 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:45.500 I mean, something clicked and you just said, 00:00:45.539 --> 00:00:47.859 you know, I want to be a great musician or I 00:00:47.859 --> 00:00:50.000 want to be great in ballet or I want to be a 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:54.200 great student. Or I remember I was... I think 00:00:54.200 --> 00:00:57.119 11 or 12 years old, sixth grade going into seventh 00:00:57.119 --> 00:00:59.840 grade. And I went to a sports banquet and this 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:02.359 coach was speaking and he kept talking about 00:01:02.359 --> 00:01:06.680 this one five foot nine guard in a small school 00:01:06.680 --> 00:01:09.459 that led the nation in scoring. And he talked 00:01:09.459 --> 00:01:12.739 about his work ethic. And all I can tell you 00:01:12.739 --> 00:01:16.420 is something got birthed inside. And I thought. 00:01:16.700 --> 00:01:19.200 I want to be a great basketball player. And I 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:21.939 was so motivated because this guy's only 5 '9", 00:01:21.939 --> 00:01:24.620 and as I went into seventh grade, I was 4 '11". 00:01:24.620 --> 00:01:27.879 And I went out for the team, and the coach said, 00:01:27.980 --> 00:01:30.519 why don't you go out for wrestling? We need someone 00:01:30.519 --> 00:01:33.879 in the 85 -pound class weight. And basically, 00:01:33.980 --> 00:01:35.700 you're too short, you'll never be a basketball 00:01:35.700 --> 00:01:38.480 player anyway. Well, to my personality, that's 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:42.180 like, you know, pouring gasoline on the fire. 00:01:43.890 --> 00:01:46.890 And I remember just going absolute kind of nutso 00:01:46.890 --> 00:01:48.730 and starting, you know, I started doing a bunch 00:01:48.730 --> 00:01:51.670 of drills. And I started this ladder in my mind 00:01:51.670 --> 00:01:54.109 of first I'm going to make the team. Then I'll 00:01:54.109 --> 00:01:56.170 get some playing time. And then after I'll be 00:01:56.170 --> 00:01:58.730 a starter. And then I'll get prepared. And then 00:01:58.730 --> 00:02:00.950 I'll be a starter in the high school at Gahanna 00:02:00.950 --> 00:02:03.689 Lincoln Lion. And the whole town comes out. And 00:02:03.689 --> 00:02:06.129 then I'll get a scholarship to college. And, 00:02:06.170 --> 00:02:09.229 I mean, I had this just blazing in my mind. I 00:02:09.229 --> 00:02:11.129 started playing seven, eight, nine hours a day. 00:02:11.229 --> 00:02:15.669 No exaggeration. It just dominated my life. See, 00:02:15.729 --> 00:02:17.229 here's what I want you to know. Open your notes. 00:02:18.069 --> 00:02:22.370 The quest for greatness is universal. Everybody 00:02:22.370 --> 00:02:25.430 wants to be great. Everyone wants to be successful, 00:02:25.509 --> 00:02:29.150 esteemed, valued, admired, significant, known, 00:02:29.449 --> 00:02:33.050 appreciated, accomplished, right? We want to 00:02:33.050 --> 00:02:35.409 look our best, do our best. We want to achieve. 00:02:35.629 --> 00:02:38.330 And by the way, I don't think that's wrong. I 00:02:38.330 --> 00:02:40.509 think we want to be great because we're made 00:02:40.509 --> 00:02:43.330 in the image of God. When you look at the galaxies, 00:02:43.509 --> 00:02:45.370 they're great. When you look at the earth, it's 00:02:45.370 --> 00:02:48.110 great. When you look at beauty, it's great. We're 00:02:48.110 --> 00:02:52.610 the pinnacle of God's creation. But desiring 00:02:52.610 --> 00:02:56.069 to be great is one thing, but then sort of in 00:02:56.069 --> 00:02:58.449 our humanness, we start deciding, well, how are 00:02:58.449 --> 00:03:00.710 we going to measure greatness? How do you know 00:03:00.710 --> 00:03:03.490 if you're really great? And whether it's, you 00:03:03.490 --> 00:03:06.389 know, like basketball, climbing the ladder of 00:03:06.389 --> 00:03:12.340 success, business, music, relationships, Historically, 00:03:12.379 --> 00:03:14.340 about five ways, I've put them on your notes, 00:03:14.460 --> 00:03:19.199 we tend to say, this is what makes you great. 00:03:19.819 --> 00:03:26.280 First is power. Who and how many people do you 00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:28.759 control? And I, of course, mean control in the 00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:31.439 best sense of the word. But it's that idea that 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:33.800 you have the final say, that you have either 00:03:33.800 --> 00:03:37.479 formal or influence, that just you're a somebody. 00:03:37.740 --> 00:03:42.189 The second way is possessions. Possessions provide 00:03:42.189 --> 00:03:45.610 freedom. Buy what you want, go where you want 00:03:45.610 --> 00:03:49.949 to, do what you want. And we just kind of tend 00:03:49.949 --> 00:03:51.770 to think the people with the most possessions 00:03:51.770 --> 00:03:55.830 are really great. In fact, sometimes we buy things 00:03:55.830 --> 00:03:57.930 we don't even need so that other people understand 00:03:57.930 --> 00:04:01.710 how great we are. Third is position. Our rank 00:04:01.710 --> 00:04:04.479 kind of in the pecking order. You know, your 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:07.460 rights and your privileges. And, you know, they 00:04:07.460 --> 00:04:10.379 say, okay, well, all the business class passengers, 00:04:10.699 --> 00:04:13.659 well, the VIPs, you know, there's just this, 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:16.120 there's this pecking order. And, you know, you 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:19.019 start out as an intern and then you get a job 00:04:19.019 --> 00:04:21.459 and then here and then here. And we all have 00:04:21.459 --> 00:04:24.879 this little pattern of, you know, power, possessions, 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:28.420 position, and then prestige. How many people 00:04:28.420 --> 00:04:32.069 look up to you? You know, that inner security 00:04:32.069 --> 00:04:34.949 that these people admire me. I'm a somebody. 00:04:35.529 --> 00:04:39.189 I have this many followers on Instagram. I have 00:04:39.189 --> 00:04:42.269 this many likes on Facebook. I'm a star. I have 00:04:42.269 --> 00:04:44.870 three million followers. I have a bazillion followers, 00:04:45.029 --> 00:04:49.509 right? You're great because of what other people 00:04:49.509 --> 00:04:53.069 think of you. And then finally, productivity. 00:04:54.389 --> 00:04:58.339 What do you produce? How good is it and how much 00:04:58.339 --> 00:05:00.740 of it? And no matter how much, it can be better 00:05:00.740 --> 00:05:05.379 and it can be more. And new and innovative. See, 00:05:05.459 --> 00:05:08.000 what productivity provides is a visible proof 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:11.759 of your greatness. It's games won, buildings 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:14.620 built, children raised, deals done, work accomplished, 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:19.860 companies developed, accolades and awards. Now, 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:23.009 just before you start feeling like... I'm gonna 00:05:23.009 --> 00:05:25.209 give you the left -hand hook and smash you and 00:05:25.209 --> 00:05:28.769 say, how terrible of you to measure your greatness 00:05:28.769 --> 00:05:32.329 that way. I don't think any of those things, 00:05:32.449 --> 00:05:36.709 any of those are bad. They're often perverted, 00:05:36.769 --> 00:05:41.750 but if God would choose as you walk with him 00:05:41.750 --> 00:05:45.790 to give you power, position, prestige, and you 00:05:45.790 --> 00:05:49.550 saw it as a stewardship in order to honor him, 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:52.519 and use your position and your power and your 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:55.240 possessions and the people that look up to you 00:05:55.240 --> 00:05:58.360 to fulfill the will of God, here's what I want. 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:01.180 I want you to get more position, more possessions, 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:04.100 more power and more prestige than anybody in 00:06:04.100 --> 00:06:07.920 the world and love God with it. But the problem 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:12.259 is there's a way that we become great in God's 00:06:12.259 --> 00:06:14.600 eyes and there's a way that we become great in 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:17.420 the world's eyes. And what we're talking about 00:06:17.420 --> 00:06:20.220 is genuine love. And so notice, how do you obtain 00:06:20.220 --> 00:06:22.339 greatness? I'm gonna suggest there's two pathways 00:06:22.339 --> 00:06:25.459 and they're very distinct. Pathway number one 00:06:25.459 --> 00:06:28.839 is ascending, right? You climb the ladder of 00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:31.360 success. And no matter where you are, there's 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:39.120 one more rung. That's the world's mode. And you 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:41.399 can love God with all your heart and he can bless 00:06:41.399 --> 00:06:43.100 and you can go up that ladder. You just have 00:06:43.100 --> 00:06:45.620 to remember who got you there. I love the little 00:06:45.620 --> 00:06:49.899 picture of the post. Have you seen this? There's 00:06:49.899 --> 00:06:53.699 a fence post and there's a turtle on top of it. 00:06:55.220 --> 00:06:59.279 And the byline is, I didn't get here on my own. 00:07:01.860 --> 00:07:05.279 And you know, being great and having some of 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:08.560 all these things that if you can really recognize 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:12.439 you're that turtle on the fence post, more power 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:15.720 to you. But we live in a world where there's 00:07:15.720 --> 00:07:19.759 a lot of pressure to ascend in the world's mode. 00:07:19.860 --> 00:07:22.319 The second way we become great is by descending. 00:07:23.699 --> 00:07:26.279 This is what we're going to see is that the Apostle 00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:28.060 Paul is going to be speaking to a group of people. 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:31.079 And when you want to be great, you tend to compare. 00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:32.779 And when you compare, you try and get better 00:07:32.779 --> 00:07:34.500 than other people. And when you compare and want 00:07:34.500 --> 00:07:36.000 to get better with other people, you kind of 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:38.040 put them down and put yourself up. And what we 00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:41.240 learned last week is the me -set mindset, the 00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:43.759 only way to really be great in God's eyes and 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:46.319 to have unity in relationships, you have to declare 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:50.100 war on selfishness and you have to attack image 00:07:50.100 --> 00:07:52.949 management. Because a lot of all this greatness, 00:07:53.069 --> 00:07:55.170 you know what? At the end of the day, it wasn't 00:07:55.170 --> 00:07:57.189 about a scholarship. It wasn't about how many 00:07:57.189 --> 00:07:59.370 points per game. It wasn't being a great basketball 00:07:59.370 --> 00:08:02.250 player. It was about Chip's ego wanting to be 00:08:02.250 --> 00:08:05.509 a somebody. It was about, I'm going to prove 00:08:05.509 --> 00:08:08.350 I'm okay. Probably mostly to me and maybe more 00:08:08.350 --> 00:08:12.790 to my dad. And Jesus is going to say true greatness 00:08:12.790 --> 00:08:16.889 comes with humility. And the way as you descend 00:08:16.889 --> 00:08:20.589 into greatness, we're gonna find that Jesus will 00:08:20.589 --> 00:08:23.449 be the supreme ruler of all creation and the 00:08:23.449 --> 00:08:26.050 creator and then he's gonna take on human flesh 00:08:26.050 --> 00:08:28.529 and then he's gonna become a servant and then 00:08:28.529 --> 00:08:30.870 he's gonna sacrifice his life and then he's actually 00:08:30.870 --> 00:08:32.690 gonna die and then he's gonna have the death 00:08:32.690 --> 00:08:35.570 on a cross of absolute humiliation and shame. 00:08:37.190 --> 00:08:39.450 And because he descends into greatness, then 00:08:39.450 --> 00:08:49.330 God will highly exalt him. Mark it down. God 00:08:49.330 --> 00:08:53.750 blesses and rewards humility. And humility is 00:08:53.750 --> 00:08:58.169 the pathway to deep abiding relationships. True 00:08:58.169 --> 00:09:01.850 greatness is defined by do not think only on 00:09:01.850 --> 00:09:04.230 your own things, but also on the things of others. 00:09:04.309 --> 00:09:08.669 Does that sound familiar? Do nothing from selfishness 00:09:08.669 --> 00:09:12.480 or pride or vain glory. But with humility of 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:15.139 mind, consider others more important than yourself. 00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:17.960 Here's the acid test of greatness. Are you ready? 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:23.740 It's how well do you love? The greatest people 00:09:23.740 --> 00:09:26.799 in the world are the people who love others the 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:30.480 best. I have a unique part of my job. I bury 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:36.740 a lot of people. Someone has to do it. And I've 00:09:36.740 --> 00:09:40.399 never sat around a graveside or gone to a house 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:42.679 afterwards and had any group of people talk about, 00:09:42.840 --> 00:09:49.080 wow, man, did that guy have a great house? Or 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:52.820 man, her jewelry was off the charts. Or did you 00:09:52.820 --> 00:09:55.460 ever hear, what do they talk about? They talk 00:09:55.460 --> 00:09:58.580 about relationship and they talk about, you know 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:00.940 what, whether she had a lot or had a little, 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:03.639 she was the kindest woman I ever knew. You know, 00:10:03.659 --> 00:10:06.240 he was the man that stayed after work even though 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:08.480 he was busy when I was going through a big marital 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:10.960 problem. And every Tuesday night, he met with 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:13.399 me and talked with me and kind of privately shared 00:10:13.399 --> 00:10:15.399 this new thing about faith I didn't know about. 00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:19.320 And he was a vice president in the company. He 00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:22.559 was someone that when my husband walked out on 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:26.009 me, He and his family had me over for Thanksgiving. 00:10:26.409 --> 00:10:29.429 They met me at church. They made me feel loved. 00:10:29.590 --> 00:10:32.610 At the end of the day, the greatest people on 00:10:32.610 --> 00:10:35.470 earth, the greatest people you'll ever know will 00:10:35.470 --> 00:10:37.129 not have anything to do with how famous they 00:10:37.129 --> 00:10:39.549 are, how much money they have, how much power 00:10:39.549 --> 00:10:41.649 they have, how many likes they have on Facebook. 00:10:41.789 --> 00:10:46.629 It will be love. Now open your notes because 00:10:46.629 --> 00:10:49.629 I want to walk with you through how God is going 00:10:49.629 --> 00:10:53.519 to teach us to achieve true greatness. How do 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:55.600 you get there? How do you experience true greatness? 00:10:55.919 --> 00:10:58.519 One word, you got it, don't you? Can you write 00:10:58.519 --> 00:11:02.580 it down? Humility. By the way, humility is not 00:11:02.580 --> 00:11:05.220 thinking too high of yourself. It's not thinking 00:11:05.220 --> 00:11:07.919 too low of yourself. It's kind of self -forgetfulness. 00:11:08.700 --> 00:11:10.740 It's not thinking of yourself at all. There's 00:11:10.740 --> 00:11:12.740 a focus on God and there's a focus on others. 00:11:12.820 --> 00:11:14.639 The most humble people in the world actually 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:17.659 don't think they're humble because they're not 00:11:17.659 --> 00:11:21.200 focused on themselves. Humility is the channel, 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:23.460 underline the word channel, through which the 00:11:23.460 --> 00:11:27.480 supernatural power of God's love flows to heal 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:30.539 our deepest hurts and restore our most important 00:11:30.539 --> 00:11:34.340 relationships. Can you think of anything more 00:11:34.340 --> 00:11:37.899 important? then your hurts are the hurts of someone 00:11:37.899 --> 00:11:40.539 else. I mean, we all have dysfunctions. We all 00:11:40.539 --> 00:11:42.559 have struggles. We've all been betrayed. We've 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:46.000 all hurt, right? But someone, humility is someone 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:49.039 who cared enough to get off of thinking about 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:52.799 themselves to invest in us and love us. And as 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:55.279 they did that, the spirit of God, his love came 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:58.000 through them and wholeness occurred so that what? 00:11:58.139 --> 00:12:01.899 We could do the same. Humility is the channel 00:12:01.899 --> 00:12:05.299 by which grace flows downhill into our hearts 00:12:05.299 --> 00:12:08.779 and it restores us and it restores relationships. 00:12:09.539 --> 00:12:11.759 Have you ever seen what happens in a group or 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:14.200 in a marriage or in a family when people forgive 00:12:14.200 --> 00:12:18.399 one another? I mean, it's pride that keeps relationships 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:21.299 apart. And it's the other person, they should 00:12:21.299 --> 00:12:23.899 apologize first. Do you know what happens in 00:12:23.899 --> 00:12:25.919 a marriage or in a family or in a small group 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:29.039 or a business when there's someone that has genuine 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:31.740 humility and lets go of their rights and their 00:12:31.740 --> 00:12:34.559 positions, their prestige and said, this relationship 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:40.299 matters more than. That's what Jesus did. And 00:12:40.299 --> 00:12:42.539 he changed your world and my world and the whole 00:12:42.539 --> 00:12:45.940 world. So I want to take you on a journey following 00:12:45.940 --> 00:12:49.789 Jesus into greatness. And as we do, I have to 00:12:49.789 --> 00:12:52.429 tell you that all of scripture is God inspired. 00:12:52.649 --> 00:12:55.750 All of scripture is very important. But there 00:12:55.750 --> 00:12:58.490 are some passages that I think rise up to the 00:12:58.490 --> 00:13:03.029 pinnacle of the truth, the majesty. We're going 00:13:03.029 --> 00:13:07.710 to go to a holy, holy place where what we will 00:13:07.710 --> 00:13:10.990 see about the second person of the Trinity. It's 00:13:10.990 --> 00:13:14.730 so mind -boggling, so counterintuitive. And for 00:13:14.730 --> 00:13:16.250 those of you that have been Christians for a 00:13:16.250 --> 00:13:18.970 long time, my prayer is that you would see this 00:13:18.970 --> 00:13:23.870 with fresh eyes. We're going to talk about one... 00:13:25.289 --> 00:13:28.750 Who is in the pinnacle of glory and myriads of 00:13:28.750 --> 00:13:31.549 angels are worshiping him. And he sits on the 00:13:31.549 --> 00:13:34.409 throne. God the Father. God the Holy Spirit. 00:13:34.629 --> 00:13:37.970 He owns everything. He controls everything. He 00:13:37.970 --> 00:13:40.509 has the utmost position. Colossians 1, he spoke 00:13:40.509 --> 00:13:43.049 and the galaxies came into existence. By the 00:13:43.049 --> 00:13:46.450 word of his power, he holds everything. And he 00:13:46.450 --> 00:13:50.490 will take on human flesh. And then he'll become 00:13:50.490 --> 00:13:53.690 a servant. And then he'll sacrifice his life. 00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:57.639 And then he'll die. And then he'll actually die 00:13:57.639 --> 00:14:01.500 on a cross, which was the most shameful, humiliating 00:14:01.500 --> 00:14:04.360 way. A Roman citizen could never be crucified 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:09.500 because it was so lowly. And it will be out of 00:14:09.500 --> 00:14:14.159 that humility that you and I and whosoever would 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:16.860 believe could have life. And what he's gonna 00:14:16.860 --> 00:14:19.940 say is, here's the path. Paul's gonna say, there's 00:14:19.940 --> 00:14:22.419 bickering between you all and there's persecution 00:14:22.419 --> 00:14:25.399 and pressure without. You have to, are you ready? 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:29.320 You have to become humble so there's healing 00:14:29.320 --> 00:14:32.080 and there's life. I'll walk through the model 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:33.860 rather briefly because then I wanna get to the 00:14:33.860 --> 00:14:37.460 end and apply it for all of us. Notice, humility 00:14:37.460 --> 00:14:40.899 flows from a specific mindset. Hear the command. 00:14:41.740 --> 00:14:44.580 Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also 00:14:44.580 --> 00:14:47.879 in Christ Jesus. Circle the word attitude, if 00:14:47.879 --> 00:14:53.139 you will. Literally, it's let this mind be among 00:14:53.139 --> 00:14:56.759 you. You know, I talk about reading the scriptures. 00:14:56.879 --> 00:14:58.879 I talk about meditating. I talk about putting 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:01.259 good things in your mind. We are the product 00:15:01.259 --> 00:15:03.460 of our thought life. This passage literally is 00:15:03.460 --> 00:15:07.259 your mindset, how you think, how you view yourself, 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:09.759 how you view money and position and power and 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:13.059 prestige, how you think. Have this mindset in 00:15:13.059 --> 00:15:17.360 you all that was in Jesus. And now he's going 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:20.500 to tell us what the mindset is. We achieve true 00:15:20.500 --> 00:15:25.899 greatness. When we embrace, not just agree with, 00:15:26.039 --> 00:15:28.980 when we embrace Christ's mindset toward power 00:15:28.980 --> 00:15:34.480 and possessions. How did Jesus view power? I 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:36.379 mean, he had all the power. He was the ruler. 00:15:36.580 --> 00:15:39.620 How did he view possessions? He owned everything. 00:15:40.899 --> 00:15:43.960 Notice what the text says. Who, although he existed 00:15:43.960 --> 00:15:46.860 in the form of God, did not regard equality with 00:15:46.860 --> 00:15:48.940 God a thing to be grasped. Put a box around the 00:15:48.940 --> 00:15:53.019 word form. And then put a line under, did not 00:15:53.019 --> 00:15:56.440 regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:00.360 Literally, that phrase is as something that must 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:03.399 not slip out of his hands. The word form here 00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:08.139 is morphe. We get our English word morphed. The 00:16:08.139 --> 00:16:10.940 meaning of the word is the inner essential quality 00:16:10.940 --> 00:16:14.679 of a thing or a person. In other words, when 00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:17.940 it says that... Although in the form of God, 00:16:18.019 --> 00:16:20.080 we think a form of something exterior. He's going 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:22.340 to use a different word for exterior in a minute. 00:16:22.659 --> 00:16:25.600 Form of God is the essential inner nature. In 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:28.500 other words, although he and the Father and the 00:16:28.500 --> 00:16:33.039 Holy Spirit all have the same morphe, God, he 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:36.220 didn't regard his equality with God something 00:16:36.220 --> 00:16:38.340 that he had to hang on to. In other words, he 00:16:38.340 --> 00:16:41.299 was going to take his... he's gonna take his 00:16:41.299 --> 00:16:44.360 rulership over positions and he's going to let 00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:48.639 them go and start descending downwardly out of 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:52.799 his love for you and his love for me. Notice 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:58.740 next, we must become truly great when we embrace 00:16:58.740 --> 00:17:02.620 Christ's mindset toward positions and prestige. 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:06.359 But he emptied himself. So instead of holding 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:11.700 on to this position, He emptied himself, taking 00:17:11.700 --> 00:17:14.539 the form of a bond servant and being made in 00:17:14.539 --> 00:17:18.000 the likeness of a man. Underline the word emptied. 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:21.039 Put a box around formed. It's the same word. 00:17:21.700 --> 00:17:26.819 And then underline bond servant and a circle 00:17:26.819 --> 00:17:29.819 around likeness of men. And if you're here thinking, 00:17:29.980 --> 00:17:31.759 my gosh, I didn't even bring a pen. We'll bring 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:34.809 one next time. What I want you to see, I want 00:17:34.809 --> 00:17:38.450 you, these words, the theology is so rich, it's 00:17:38.450 --> 00:17:41.990 so mind -boggling. In other words, he was equal 00:17:41.990 --> 00:17:44.609 with God. When it says he emptied himself for 00:17:44.609 --> 00:17:47.230 Bible students, the word is kenosis. Literally, 00:17:47.329 --> 00:17:51.309 it means he made himself nothing. What that means 00:17:51.309 --> 00:17:53.849 is about two or three things. Number one, he 00:17:53.849 --> 00:17:56.750 had pre -incarnate glory. If you would have met 00:17:56.750 --> 00:17:59.549 the pre -incarnate Christ, the light emanating 00:17:59.549 --> 00:18:04.160 from him, you'd be gone. And so he veils his 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:10.180 glory by putting on human flesh. Then he limits 00:18:10.180 --> 00:18:13.880 the independent use of his attributes. See, sometimes 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:16.539 we think of Jesus like Superman. He had this 00:18:16.539 --> 00:18:19.119 toga on, but when it got really hard, he just 00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:20.960 ripped off the toga and there's a big, instead 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:23.920 of an S, there's a G. I am God. I'll overcome 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:28.039 this. He didn't do it that way. He limited the 00:18:28.039 --> 00:18:31.630 independent use of his attributes. And he took 00:18:31.630 --> 00:18:35.289 on a body, are you ready? Permanently. Have you 00:18:35.289 --> 00:18:37.630 thought about that? Jesus is at the right hand 00:18:37.630 --> 00:18:40.410 of the Father. He has a resurrected body. When 00:18:40.410 --> 00:18:42.910 you see Jesus, you can see a bit later, those 00:18:42.910 --> 00:18:45.349 of you that are followers of Christ, you want 00:18:45.349 --> 00:18:48.009 to see the holes in his hands? You want to? I 00:18:48.009 --> 00:18:50.450 mean, it's a sacrifice that's unbelievable. And 00:18:50.450 --> 00:18:54.210 what he's doing is, he's saying, I was in the 00:18:54.210 --> 00:18:57.250 form, the very essence of God. I make myself 00:18:57.250 --> 00:19:01.619 nothing, never ceasing. In any way, relieving 00:19:01.619 --> 00:19:04.180 himself of any deity, he's fully God, fully man. 00:19:05.460 --> 00:19:08.900 And then notice what it says. Taking the form, 00:19:08.980 --> 00:19:11.640 not just the acting, the form, the essential 00:19:11.640 --> 00:19:16.220 nature, not just of a servant, but of a bondservant. 00:19:17.259 --> 00:19:19.720 A bondservant in Jewish and in Roman culture 00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:22.849 had no rights. You might have a number of servants 00:19:22.849 --> 00:19:25.009 in the house. The bond servant is the guy that 00:19:25.009 --> 00:19:27.089 picks up the doo -doo. He's the guy that empties 00:19:27.089 --> 00:19:29.910 the trash. He's the guy that has zero rights, 00:19:30.049 --> 00:19:34.009 no anything, anywhere, at any time. Could you 00:19:34.009 --> 00:19:40.630 just pause for a moment? Could you imagine? I 00:19:40.630 --> 00:19:42.450 mean, when you think of how we cling to our rights, 00:19:42.650 --> 00:19:45.930 how come they didn't do that for me? Don't they 00:19:45.930 --> 00:19:50.589 know who I am? Can you imagine? the creator of 00:19:50.589 --> 00:19:54.029 the universe, taking the form of a bondservant. 00:19:54.089 --> 00:19:56.589 And it says he's made in the likeness of a man. 00:19:56.650 --> 00:20:00.430 The word likeness is our word schema. This is 00:20:00.430 --> 00:20:02.329 the word that means just the outward fashion 00:20:02.329 --> 00:20:05.470 of, the appearance of. And he was fully human, 00:20:05.490 --> 00:20:08.569 except he wasn't like all other men. There's 00:20:08.569 --> 00:20:14.430 no sin nature. Jesus, everything he did, he said, 00:20:14.470 --> 00:20:18.579 follow me, model this. I can do nothing apart 00:20:18.579 --> 00:20:21.339 from him. His entire life was I'm dependent on 00:20:21.339 --> 00:20:23.599 the Father and in the power of the Holy Spirit 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:26.819 to live this life so you can follow behind me 00:20:26.819 --> 00:20:29.779 and you be dependent on the Father and the power 00:20:29.779 --> 00:20:33.660 of the Holy Spirit. And he did that because he 00:20:33.660 --> 00:20:38.819 loves you. He did that to rescue mankind. He 00:20:38.819 --> 00:20:43.279 descended into greatness. You wanna have a mindset? 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:45.640 You wanna embrace the mindset with regard to 00:20:45.640 --> 00:20:49.710 your position? Right? We all have one. We do. 00:20:49.869 --> 00:20:52.990 And prestige, you know, like what makes me a 00:20:52.990 --> 00:20:55.250 somebody. Let me give you three characteristics 00:20:55.250 --> 00:20:58.369 of the mindset of a servant. You might jot these 00:20:58.369 --> 00:21:01.890 down. And then think about how they might play 00:21:01.890 --> 00:21:09.769 out in your home, in your driving, at work. Characteristic 00:21:09.769 --> 00:21:13.410 number one, no job is too low. Why? Because you're 00:21:13.410 --> 00:21:15.470 a servant. There's trash on the ground, pick 00:21:15.470 --> 00:21:19.309 it up. Why? You're a servant. No recognition 00:21:19.309 --> 00:21:22.710 is required. No one needs to know who you are. 00:21:24.029 --> 00:21:27.829 No one needs to say, oh, wow, you're, no recognition. 00:21:27.990 --> 00:21:31.009 You don't have to casually, like I certainly 00:21:31.009 --> 00:21:33.529 do at times, tell people that you know so -and 00:21:33.529 --> 00:21:36.210 -so or you work so -and -so. See, you don't have 00:21:36.210 --> 00:21:39.890 to bring recognition to yourself. No job too 00:21:39.890 --> 00:21:42.930 low, no recognition needed, no thanks required. 00:21:44.710 --> 00:21:46.809 You know, when a servant would do his job, no 00:21:46.809 --> 00:21:49.369 one said, oh, wow, thanks so much. It's he's 00:21:49.369 --> 00:21:51.569 a servant. That's what he's supposed to do. Serve 00:21:51.569 --> 00:21:53.990 all the rest of us. You see, it's a mindset. 00:21:55.019 --> 00:21:57.440 Can you imagine what it would be like to be married 00:21:57.440 --> 00:21:59.960 to someone who thought their job was to serve 00:21:59.960 --> 00:22:02.400 their mate? Can you imagine a mom or dad who 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:04.680 thought that the whole goal of their life was 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:06.759 to serve their children in a way to help them 00:22:06.759 --> 00:22:09.059 be responsible and to grow up? Can you imagine 00:22:09.059 --> 00:22:11.140 what it'd be like to have a boss or a supervisor 00:22:11.140 --> 00:22:14.099 who saw themselves not as the head and the requirement 00:22:14.099 --> 00:22:15.980 and got mad when people didn't get their deliverables, 00:22:16.059 --> 00:22:18.039 but I'm going to serve you and help you be successful. 00:22:18.180 --> 00:22:20.220 And maybe the best way to serve some of you is 00:22:20.220 --> 00:22:23.900 help you find another place. Because you struggle, 00:22:23.980 --> 00:22:26.619 this isn't what you were intended for. But the 00:22:26.619 --> 00:22:29.180 mindset isn't, you hack me off, get out of here. 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:34.400 I want to serve you. Well, those are the three 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:37.779 characteristics of a servant's mindset. Can you 00:22:37.779 --> 00:22:40.740 take any more? Let me give you three characteristics 00:22:40.740 --> 00:22:45.920 of what makes great servants. Number one, they 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:51.660 observe needs. See, real servants realize, I'm 00:22:51.660 --> 00:22:54.880 not here for people to serve me. And so they 00:22:54.880 --> 00:22:57.099 observe needs. If you've ever been to a very 00:22:57.099 --> 00:22:59.640 good restaurant and the waiter or the waitress, 00:22:59.740 --> 00:23:03.920 do you ask for water? They're there. You ask 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:06.420 for a second of this. I mean, they're watching 00:23:06.420 --> 00:23:12.259 your table and they observe needs. When you stand 00:23:12.259 --> 00:23:14.759 up and when you're here, do you just go and talk 00:23:14.759 --> 00:23:17.279 to someone you know? Are you observing? I wonder 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:19.599 what the needs are. Wonder how things are going 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:21.779 here. I wonder if they need help in the children's 00:23:21.779 --> 00:23:24.660 ministry. I wonder if they need help over here. 00:23:24.740 --> 00:23:28.759 Who might need, servants have this mindset of, 00:23:28.859 --> 00:23:32.819 there might be some needs I can fulfill. Second, 00:23:33.140 --> 00:23:36.799 is they take initiative. You don't have to ask 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:39.960 them. They just take initiative. Oh, wow, there's 00:23:39.960 --> 00:23:41.640 a need, I'll fill it. I'll take care of that. 00:23:41.940 --> 00:23:46.400 I'll do that. And third, they don't draw attention 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:51.059 to themselves. Now, that's pretty different, 00:23:51.140 --> 00:23:56.259 isn't it? That's what Jesus did. And he loved 00:23:56.259 --> 00:24:00.660 deeply and better. And that's why he's the greatest 00:24:00.660 --> 00:24:03.759 human being who ever lived because he was a human 00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:09.140 being. Fully God, but a human being. That's how 00:24:09.140 --> 00:24:12.579 he viewed position and prestige. Finally, we 00:24:12.579 --> 00:24:16.339 become truly great when we embrace Christ's mindset 00:24:16.339 --> 00:24:20.880 toward productivity. Ask yourself, what did he 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:27.359 really accomplish? Quite a bit, huh? Being found 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:32.420 in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by 00:24:32.420 --> 00:24:35.559 becoming obedient to the point of death, even 00:24:35.559 --> 00:24:41.119 death on a cross. Underline the word humbled 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:46.539 himself. Put a box around becoming obedient and 00:24:46.539 --> 00:24:51.359 then circle death. and circle on a cross. Jesus 00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:57.819 descended from the supreme creator and ruler 00:24:57.819 --> 00:25:02.220 to taking on human flesh, to being a servant, 00:25:02.420 --> 00:25:06.640 to making his life a sacrifice, to dying for 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:10.180 us, and then to die in the most humiliating way 00:25:10.180 --> 00:25:13.839 known to mankind. Now, here's what you need to 00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:16.119 get, especially those with a sensitive conscience, 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:19.759 which I really appreciate. The way to eliminate 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:22.980 your pride is not to focus on how arrogant you 00:25:22.980 --> 00:25:25.160 are. It's not to walk out of here and go, you 00:25:25.160 --> 00:25:27.460 know, I think of myself and I'm really into position. 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:29.960 And yes, I think my possessions make me a someone, 00:25:30.119 --> 00:25:32.019 blah, blah, blah, blah. No, don't go there. When 00:25:32.019 --> 00:25:33.920 you try and get rid of pride out the window, 00:25:33.940 --> 00:25:35.900 it comes back in the door. If you get it out 00:25:35.900 --> 00:25:37.859 the door, it'll come back into the attic. You 00:25:37.859 --> 00:25:39.960 know how you can become a humble person? It's 00:25:39.960 --> 00:25:46.519 really, really easy. Obey. You obey your way 00:25:46.519 --> 00:25:49.960 to humility. Because humility isn't some feeling. 00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:52.859 Humility is considering others more important 00:25:52.859 --> 00:25:55.539 than yourself. So what do you do? You act on 00:25:55.539 --> 00:25:58.279 the truth that these people are actually more 00:25:58.279 --> 00:26:01.920 important than me. Therefore, my time will go 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:04.579 toward helping others. My money is going to go 00:26:04.579 --> 00:26:06.859 toward helping others. And my talents will go 00:26:06.859 --> 00:26:09.960 toward helping others. And more than some kind 00:26:09.960 --> 00:26:13.559 of feeling, you do what Jesus did. He acted on 00:26:13.559 --> 00:26:16.140 it. And by the way, just a little note. put a 00:26:16.140 --> 00:26:19.319 little star. He didn't feel like it. Do you remember 00:26:19.319 --> 00:26:23.359 the garden? Emotionally. Jesus didn't, you know, 00:26:23.380 --> 00:26:25.359 love is giving another person what they need 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:27.759 the most when they deserve it the least at great 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:30.099 personal cost. Jesus was not in the garden going, 00:26:30.220 --> 00:26:32.759 Father, from eternity past, we're going to save 00:26:32.759 --> 00:26:35.180 him. This is great. Holy Spirit, I want to high 00:26:35.180 --> 00:26:37.039 five you. I'm going to go to the cross. We're 00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:41.509 going to do this. Oh, Father, oh, Father, if 00:26:41.509 --> 00:26:44.170 there be any way, not my will but yours be done, 00:26:44.250 --> 00:26:47.170 but if there's a plan B, a plan C, I don't want 00:26:47.170 --> 00:26:49.309 to do this. I don't want to be separated from 00:26:49.309 --> 00:26:50.950 you. I don't want the cost. I don't want the 00:26:50.950 --> 00:26:55.869 pain. I don't want to do this nevertheless. Can 00:26:55.869 --> 00:26:57.710 I tell you something? When you don't feel like 00:26:57.710 --> 00:26:59.410 reading the Bible and read it, when you don't 00:26:59.410 --> 00:27:01.349 feel like praying and pray, when you don't feel 00:27:01.349 --> 00:27:03.589 like giving and give, when you give time and 00:27:03.589 --> 00:27:05.369 you care, when you're tired and say, I don't 00:27:05.369 --> 00:27:08.170 feel like it, I don't feel like it, I don't think 00:27:08.170 --> 00:27:11.809 you're being a hypocrite. I think you're probably 00:27:11.809 --> 00:27:15.470 more pleasing to God than almost any other time 00:27:15.470 --> 00:27:19.109 in your life. It takes a lot more faith to obey 00:27:19.109 --> 00:27:23.170 when you don't feel like doing it. You are living 00:27:23.170 --> 00:27:26.400 in such a feel -oriented culture. I'm kind of 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:28.759 tired. I don't feel like reading. I'm kind of 00:27:28.759 --> 00:27:30.259 tired. I don't know if I can make it to the small 00:27:30.259 --> 00:27:34.220 group. I'm kind of tired. I'm so worn out. Blah, 00:27:34.220 --> 00:27:36.059 blah, blah, blah, blah. How did Jesus feel? He 00:27:36.059 --> 00:27:38.920 was beat within an inch of his life. They crushed 00:27:38.920 --> 00:27:47.440 thorns into his skull. Love serves. I choose 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:52.640 love. I choose to serve. And something supernatural 00:27:52.640 --> 00:28:00.680 happens when that occurs. Humility grows by obedience. 00:28:01.859 --> 00:28:05.339 If someone came to you and said, I've got a proposition 00:28:05.339 --> 00:28:08.420 for you. I know everything that's going to happen 00:28:08.420 --> 00:28:11.240 today. I know what the stock market's gonna be 00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:13.220 at the end of the day. I know what's gonna happen 00:28:13.220 --> 00:28:15.380 in your 11 o 'clock meeting. I know the email 00:28:15.380 --> 00:28:17.619 that you're gonna get 215 that's gonna rock your 00:28:17.619 --> 00:28:20.440 world. I know the news at four o 'clock and I 00:28:20.440 --> 00:28:21.900 know what's gonna happen the moment you walk 00:28:21.900 --> 00:28:24.460 in the door with your family. And I'd like to 00:28:24.460 --> 00:28:27.240 maybe get 15, at least 30 minutes and have a 00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:29.700 really good talk to prepare you so you can respond 00:28:29.700 --> 00:28:32.920 in each one of those situations in exactly the 00:28:32.920 --> 00:28:35.640 way that you ought to for the best results to 00:28:35.640 --> 00:28:38.609 bring about the most good for you and them. Could 00:28:38.609 --> 00:28:41.769 you spare 30 minutes to do that? Who wouldn't 00:28:41.769 --> 00:28:44.910 do that, right? Isn't that the invitation of 00:28:44.910 --> 00:28:47.910 Jesus to you? Isn't the invitation the creator 00:28:47.910 --> 00:28:50.930 of the world died in your place, experienced 00:28:50.930 --> 00:28:54.809 shame to give you a relationship? And just hear 00:28:54.809 --> 00:28:57.430 my heart. I completely don't understand this. 00:28:57.890 --> 00:29:02.869 I cannot fathom a child of God who loves God 00:29:02.869 --> 00:29:05.670 that doesn't have time to meet with his creator. 00:29:07.240 --> 00:29:10.519 Whose only goal is to express his love, to draw 00:29:10.519 --> 00:29:13.660 you near, to renew your mind, to give you grace, 00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:15.839 to go through what you're gonna go through. And 00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:17.420 you say, you don't have time for him, but you 00:29:17.420 --> 00:29:19.000 do Facebook. You don't have time for him, but 00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:20.720 you live on your phone. You don't have time for 00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:22.480 him, but you got lots of hobbies. You don't have 00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:23.859 time for him, but your kid's on the traveling 00:29:23.859 --> 00:29:26.200 team. You don't have time for him, but have I 00:29:26.200 --> 00:29:30.319 made my point? Have you got it? I wanna really 00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:34.349 ask you. If you walk out these doors and go, 00:29:34.430 --> 00:29:37.049 I wanna be more humble, I intend to be more humble, 00:29:37.109 --> 00:29:40.069 you will not be humble. You act your way into 00:29:40.069 --> 00:29:43.369 humility. Obedience is the pathway to humility. 00:29:46.009 --> 00:29:48.289 Humility is about considering others, people 00:29:48.289 --> 00:29:52.450 more important than yourself. So let's do a quick 00:29:52.450 --> 00:29:54.089 test and then we're gonna get to something very 00:29:54.089 --> 00:29:56.609 exciting like the really wonderful side of the 00:29:56.609 --> 00:30:00.470 rewards of humility. Here's the test. How other 00:30:00.470 --> 00:30:06.000 -centered are you? Get out your device or devices 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:10.380 and just scroll through the last two or three 00:30:10.380 --> 00:30:15.119 weeks and how many names and times on your devices 00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:19.660 are about serving other people and how many are 00:30:19.660 --> 00:30:26.259 about you. That'll tell you. Second is go home, 00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:29.420 pull up your bank statement and a couple of your 00:30:29.420 --> 00:30:32.680 credit cards. and look at where your money went 00:30:32.680 --> 00:30:36.299 and ask yourself how much of the money entrusted 00:30:36.299 --> 00:30:38.000 to you, because it's not yours and it's not mine, 00:30:38.140 --> 00:30:41.960 went to expressing your love to God and to helping 00:30:41.960 --> 00:30:45.039 other people and how of it went to you and to 00:30:45.039 --> 00:30:49.119 service your debt. See, the reason Jesus talks 00:30:49.119 --> 00:30:52.319 so much about money is because it's at the core. 00:30:52.420 --> 00:30:54.819 It's the MRI. If you want to know where your 00:30:54.819 --> 00:30:57.599 heart's at, it's not how you sing a song. It's 00:30:57.599 --> 00:30:59.740 not how often you come to church. If you want 00:30:59.740 --> 00:31:01.400 to know where your heart's at, you know, it's 00:31:01.400 --> 00:31:03.700 like the old thing, just follow the money. And 00:31:03.700 --> 00:31:05.799 so the reason he says and taught to him, look, 00:31:05.900 --> 00:31:09.180 the first 10%, just so you know that I own it 00:31:09.180 --> 00:31:11.839 and you don't, you write that check to me. But 00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:14.000 if you live on a bit of a budget and you decide 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:16.619 how much is enough, then over and above that, 00:31:16.680 --> 00:31:19.119 how much is enough, you begin to share and give 00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:21.759 and love. And then what he says is I keep descending 00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:24.500 into greatness. All these people's lives change 00:31:24.500 --> 00:31:26.640 and people get loved and people come to Christ 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:28.579 and they experience the life of Christ. See, 00:31:28.680 --> 00:31:32.829 my money tells me whether I'm humble or whether 00:31:32.829 --> 00:31:35.150 I'm about me. And then I ask myself, what about 00:31:35.150 --> 00:31:39.029 my talent? Where's my talent going? I mean, my 00:31:39.029 --> 00:31:43.029 energy. Did you know in Christendom, 50 % of 00:31:43.029 --> 00:31:44.849 all the people that go to Bible -believing churches 00:31:44.849 --> 00:31:48.049 do not give anything of their time or their money. 00:31:49.029 --> 00:31:51.589 And I would love to say our church is a big exception. 00:31:51.769 --> 00:31:54.849 It's not. It's exactly that same place. And by 00:31:54.849 --> 00:31:56.990 the way, if you look at our numbers, we don't 00:31:56.990 --> 00:31:59.609 need your money. I mean, we could do a lot more. 00:32:00.269 --> 00:32:03.890 But here, my challenge is, you want to be a servant, 00:32:04.049 --> 00:32:08.450 then serve. Get your priorities in order. Get 00:32:08.450 --> 00:32:11.230 your time in order. You can't do anything I'm 00:32:11.230 --> 00:32:14.089 talking about unless God speaks to you and strengthens 00:32:14.089 --> 00:32:16.390 you. Your priorities will never get right until 00:32:16.390 --> 00:32:19.269 your finances get right. And if you think there's 00:32:19.269 --> 00:32:21.109 any ulterior motive, give it somewhere else. 00:32:21.769 --> 00:32:29.859 But maturity, joy, power. Love demands humility 00:32:29.859 --> 00:32:33.900 that requires obedience. Now, just before you 00:32:33.900 --> 00:32:37.940 think, oh my lands, I wanna tell you something 00:32:37.940 --> 00:32:41.339 that makes all this worthwhile. Are you ready? 00:32:41.400 --> 00:32:45.299 The next and last point is we experience the 00:32:45.299 --> 00:32:47.980 reward of true greatness when we follow Christ's 00:32:47.980 --> 00:32:52.059 example of servanthood. Now, remember I said 00:32:52.059 --> 00:32:54.859 everyone wants to be great? Are you ready? Okay, 00:32:54.960 --> 00:33:00.970 how great do you really wanna be? Okay? How great 00:33:00.970 --> 00:33:04.170 do you really want to be? Because if you are 00:33:04.170 --> 00:33:07.769 willing to take your position, your possessions, 00:33:07.849 --> 00:33:10.990 your prestige, your power, and say, I'm a steward 00:33:10.990 --> 00:33:13.309 of that, and I'm going to use that humbly as 00:33:13.309 --> 00:33:15.710 God directs to serve and to love God and to love 00:33:15.710 --> 00:33:18.849 others, here's the promise. Christ will exalt 00:33:18.849 --> 00:33:21.990 you. He always exalts those who practice humility. 00:33:22.289 --> 00:33:24.529 In fact, notice, here's the example from Jesus. 00:33:25.069 --> 00:33:27.950 For this reason. What reason? This descending 00:33:27.950 --> 00:33:30.609 into greatness, also God highly exalted him. 00:33:30.670 --> 00:33:33.710 Literally, it's super exalted him. And he bestowed 00:33:33.710 --> 00:33:35.829 on him the name which is above every name. Why? 00:33:36.490 --> 00:33:41.049 So that at the name of Jesus, every knee will 00:33:41.049 --> 00:33:43.890 bow. Where? Of those who are in heaven, of those 00:33:43.890 --> 00:33:45.569 who are in earth, and those who are under earth. 00:33:45.670 --> 00:33:48.369 And that every tongue will confess that Jesus 00:33:48.369 --> 00:33:50.690 Christ and put a box around Lord. The word is 00:33:50.690 --> 00:33:54.579 Yahweh. He's referring back to Isaiah 45, 23, 00:33:54.880 --> 00:33:57.880 where God Yahweh says, I am the one and every 00:33:57.880 --> 00:33:59.980 knee will bow before me. If you want a passage, 00:34:00.039 --> 00:34:03.240 God the Father is Lord, Jesus is Lord. And notice 00:34:03.240 --> 00:34:07.920 the reason, for the glory of God. You know, Mother 00:34:07.920 --> 00:34:11.980 Teresa didn't own a whole lot. And there's people 00:34:11.980 --> 00:34:15.639 that have built huge, huge things. But we remember 00:34:15.639 --> 00:34:19.460 Mother Teresa, why? She just loved people. And 00:34:19.460 --> 00:34:22.000 she loved people that no one cared about. And 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:26.199 God exalted her. As you humble yourself, as we 00:34:26.199 --> 00:34:28.860 as a church, like never before, humble ourselves 00:34:28.860 --> 00:34:35.780 by being obedient, God will exalt you. What would 00:34:35.780 --> 00:34:39.000 it be worth? What would it be worth to have a 00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:42.500 deep, loving, connected family? Deep, loving, 00:34:42.559 --> 00:34:46.460 connected friendships? Be the person that changes 00:34:46.460 --> 00:34:48.840 the entire culture where you work or your neighborhood. 00:34:49.949 --> 00:34:53.989 See, God gave Jesus the greatest position and 00:34:53.989 --> 00:34:58.469 the greatest name. Now, here's the deal. We need 00:34:58.469 --> 00:35:00.650 to apply this very specifically and I want to 00:35:00.650 --> 00:35:04.449 do it very soberly. For those of you who are 00:35:04.449 --> 00:35:06.969 here and you are a follower of Christ, you're 00:35:06.969 --> 00:35:09.969 absolutely certain that you are in God's family. 00:35:10.050 --> 00:35:11.750 You've trusted Christ. At a certain point in 00:35:11.750 --> 00:35:13.650 time, you were convicted of your sin and your 00:35:13.650 --> 00:35:16.030 lifestyle. You realized that you needed to be 00:35:16.030 --> 00:35:19.289 forgiven and saved by a holy God. And you extended 00:35:19.289 --> 00:35:22.050 the empty hands of faith and said, I turn from 00:35:22.050 --> 00:35:24.250 my past life and I ask Jesus to come into my 00:35:24.250 --> 00:35:26.289 life and forgive me for my sin. I believe you 00:35:26.289 --> 00:35:28.590 died in my place and rose from the dead. If you're 00:35:28.590 --> 00:35:31.960 one of those people, here's the question. your 00:35:31.960 --> 00:35:35.000 knee is going to bow and you are gonna confess 00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:37.880 him as Lord. My question is, is he Lord today? 00:35:39.340 --> 00:35:44.320 If you have never said, I'm all in, and saying 00:35:44.320 --> 00:35:46.719 whatever that means, my geography, my family, 00:35:46.840 --> 00:35:50.619 my money, my dreams, I may be a little scared. 00:35:50.760 --> 00:35:52.000 In fact, if you're not a little scared, you don't 00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:54.320 know what I'm talking about. But I'm gonna trust 00:35:54.320 --> 00:35:57.519 God and I'm gonna stand up and I'm gonna publicly 00:35:57.519 --> 00:36:01.900 declare. He is my Lord. He will call the shots 00:36:01.900 --> 00:36:04.780 from this moment on. And if you've never done 00:36:04.780 --> 00:36:07.539 that, I'll ask you to stand. And I will tell 00:36:07.539 --> 00:36:10.260 you, you will experience power, some difficulty, 00:36:10.440 --> 00:36:12.880 and some joy and reward that you've never experienced. 00:36:13.539 --> 00:36:15.780 And you will find yourself having to get into 00:36:15.780 --> 00:36:18.219 God's word because he'll begin using your life. 00:36:19.230 --> 00:36:21.309 There's another group of you that you're here 00:36:21.309 --> 00:36:24.050 and you're exploring and you wouldn't claim necessarily 00:36:24.050 --> 00:36:26.170 to be a Christian or you're not really sure if 00:36:26.170 --> 00:36:28.630 you are in the family or out of the family, you're 00:36:28.630 --> 00:36:30.570 a good person, a moral person, you're visiting 00:36:30.570 --> 00:36:32.949 a church, but if you died today, you are not 00:36:32.949 --> 00:36:34.530 absolutely certain that you would spend eternity 00:36:34.530 --> 00:36:38.429 with Christ. Every person is going to bow the 00:36:38.429 --> 00:36:44.780 knee and you will profess Jesus is Lord. Option 00:36:44.780 --> 00:36:48.380 A is that if you haven't done that, you bow the 00:36:48.380 --> 00:36:51.320 knee and you humble your heart and you say, I 00:36:51.320 --> 00:36:53.880 need you, God. Will you forgive me? I want to 00:36:53.880 --> 00:36:56.980 turn from sin. I ask you to come into my life 00:36:56.980 --> 00:37:01.960 and I want to follow you. Option B is you say, 00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:03.900 well, no, I'm not ready to do that. Maybe later. 00:37:04.099 --> 00:37:05.820 I don't want anyone telling me what to do. I'm 00:37:05.820 --> 00:37:07.679 not sure about this God stuff. If that's good 00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:09.860 for you guys, fine. I'm going to do my own thing. 00:37:11.400 --> 00:37:14.059 The day will come when you will bow your knee 00:37:14.059 --> 00:37:18.380 and instead of joy looking at your savior in 00:37:18.380 --> 00:37:22.059 absolute dismay and distress, you'll go, oh, 00:37:22.199 --> 00:37:26.360 I remember when I was in that church and I heard 00:37:26.360 --> 00:37:28.800 God's voice and I may never hear it again like 00:37:28.800 --> 00:37:33.599 this. I so wish I could go back, but you can't. 00:37:34.420 --> 00:37:37.539 And he brought you into this room on this day 00:37:37.539 --> 00:37:40.019 to forgive your sins and give you a new life. 00:37:41.440 --> 00:37:44.820 God wants you to be great. He wants you to be 00:37:44.820 --> 00:37:47.579 great. He just wants you to descend into greatness. 00:37:47.940 --> 00:37:52.780 The acid test of greatness is love. This is about 00:37:52.780 --> 00:37:57.500 being loving people. The road to greatness, have 00:37:57.500 --> 00:38:02.019 you got this word down now? It's humility. The 00:38:02.019 --> 00:38:04.000 road to greatness is considering others more 00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:07.219 important than yourself. And finally, the opportunity 00:38:07.219 --> 00:38:13.500 for greatness. It's serving. It's serving in 00:38:13.500 --> 00:38:15.239 the church. It's serving at home. It's saying, 00:38:15.340 --> 00:38:18.739 I'm a servant. No job is too low. I'm a servant. 00:38:18.780 --> 00:38:21.219 I'm available. I'm a servant. I don't need recognition. 00:38:21.559 --> 00:38:24.380 I want to be a part of the change agent. I'm 00:38:24.380 --> 00:38:27.099 not someone who comes and sits and observes and 00:38:27.099 --> 00:38:28.900 intellectually believes the things that everyone 00:38:28.900 --> 00:38:32.019 intellectually believes. I'm a servant. God, 00:38:32.099 --> 00:38:36.949 just show me where to plug in. This is Living 00:38:36.949 --> 00:38:39.510 on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and we're in our 00:38:39.510 --> 00:38:42.590 series called Choosing Love. If you're ready 00:38:42.590 --> 00:38:45.090 to turn today's challenge into lasting change, 00:38:45.530 --> 00:38:48.190 Chip's newest book, I Choose Love, gives you 00:38:48.190 --> 00:38:51.119 the practical roadmap you need. It doesn't just 00:38:51.119 --> 00:38:54.079 tell you what to do. It shows you how to do it. 00:38:54.179 --> 00:38:56.860 You'll learn to recognize the subtle ways pride 00:38:56.860 --> 00:38:59.260 and selfishness sabotage your relationships. 00:38:59.579 --> 00:39:02.639 You'll discover practical exercises to develop 00:39:02.639 --> 00:39:05.260 genuine humility. And you'll see how choosing 00:39:05.260 --> 00:39:08.320 agape love, the sacrificial, others -focused 00:39:08.320 --> 00:39:11.360 love of God, transforms even your most difficult 00:39:11.360 --> 00:39:14.650 relationships. I Choose Love addresses the real 00:39:14.650 --> 00:39:17.349 issues we all face. The tendency to need the 00:39:17.349 --> 00:39:19.809 last word, the subtle belief that our perspective 00:39:19.809 --> 00:39:22.969 is the truth, the grandiosity that shows up in 00:39:22.969 --> 00:39:26.369 small ways like chronic lateness. Chip gets brutally 00:39:26.369 --> 00:39:28.829 honest about his own struggles, and he shows 00:39:28.829 --> 00:39:31.769 you the path forward. If you're tired of broken 00:39:31.769 --> 00:39:34.469 relationships and ready to experience love that 00:39:34.469 --> 00:39:37.650 actually works, get your copy of I Choose Love 00:39:37.650 --> 00:39:42.139 today. Visit livingontheedge .org. And friend, 00:39:42.239 --> 00:39:44.539 this Bible teaching program is reaching you and 00:39:44.539 --> 00:39:46.980 countless others because of the faithful giving 00:39:46.980 --> 00:39:49.739 of listeners just like you. When you give to 00:39:49.739 --> 00:39:52.159 Living on the Edge, you're multiplying this message 00:39:52.159 --> 00:39:55.619 of transformative love around the world. Would 00:39:55.619 --> 00:39:58.940 you join us? Visit livingontheedge .org to give, 00:39:59.079 --> 00:40:04.750 or just call us at 888 -333 -6003. Well, that 00:40:04.750 --> 00:40:07.269 wraps up today's episode. Don't miss the next 00:40:07.269 --> 00:40:09.670 Bible teaching message coming up here on the 00:40:09.670 --> 00:40:16.230 Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast. Today's program is 00:40:16.230 --> 00:40:18.670 produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge.