[0:00] Good morning. It's good to be here. I was just pondering on the way to church this morning.! In our culture, I think, growing up, we were born into the culture, so Christianity was more a thing that we'd done.
[0:19] It wasn't really a choice. It was just something that we'd done. And I was just pondering on how that is just a choice. God gives us each a choice. It's beautiful because there's no pressure. There's no force.
[0:31] I don't have to be here today. I don't have to do anything. The only thing that I have in my life that I have to do is die. Other than that, I can choose to do. Of course, there's going to be consequences that follow good or bad, right?
[0:42] So I was just pondering on that, that the Lord loves us enough. I don't know if you can say it that way. That he has given us completely free will. We have, we can make choices every day. We can choose to honor him.
[0:55] We can choose to honor our flesh. We can choose to honor ourself. So I was just blessed with that. And I had something that's been on my heart for a while, the last couple months. And I'm not, I feel like I'm not qualified to speak on it.
[1:09] But I'm going to give what I have. And if there's any, I'm open for any ideas or thoughts. Or even if they, you know, if there's somebody that thinks that there's something that I don't have that's correct.
[1:23] But one question that I have, I'd like to have everybody ponder on this morning is asking it as a question. Can a person ever say in his life that he has no pride?
[1:38] Or is that something that lies within the human nature and will rise at any point in life that has the opportunity? The reason I ask that is because I've been, I've been reading a little, I was been reading a little pamphlet that was written by Chris Stewart, I think.
[1:57] And it's called Pride to Humility. And I was challenged by, I had a couple quotes that I wanted to read from it. But so first, I, I, I've been pondering on how the sin of pride and being entitled go together.
[2:14] Entitlement and pride. So when we, I, I believe that pride is the root of, I think you could say all sin. When we, when, when we first have to have a certain amount of self-esteem and then from there it grows into, you could put it in a way that it can be by comparison.
[2:36] Like Brotherina shared last Sunday, by comparing what other people have, then I compare myself. And it's, it's, it's a sense of pride that takes me to want to have that, to be jealous, to be envious, or just in having the comforts of, of my flesh, the desires of my flesh show what I want.
[2:50] So I'd like to read a little bit in Isaiah 14 verses 12 to 15. And I was just pondering on that. If you want to turn to that. That I had to think about Satan when he was cast out of heaven.
[3:07] What was the, what was the root reason that he was cast out of heaven? I believe it was pride. Starting in verse 12, it says, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning?
[3:23] How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart. And I was just, I was, I was challenged with the thought. He says, I have, thou hast said, said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven.
[3:38] I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.
[3:51] I will be like the most high. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. So I had to think about all these things.
[4:01] What did he say? I will, I will, I will, I will. His, he had pride. He wanted to be what God was. He wanted to be. And also, also that he had, and there was, there was more, more things that I wanted to go into on that.
[4:16] But, but just, just the self-esteem that he had. I will, I want, I will. And I think that that is something that we, I feel that we're born with. I feel that we're born with that same nature. And that it lies dormant within us.
[4:28] And it's, and there's, there's a direct antidote for pride. And that's humility. And there's a lot that could be said on humility as well. But I read in the, in the bottom that, like the references in my Bible, it says, Satan, the originator and chief practitioner of sin, the wicked one, a thief and a destroyer, a deceiver, murderer, and a liar.
[4:48] And that says the accuser of the brethren. And then I just added on the bottom, all stemming from pride. And then I wanted to, I wanted to read a couple verses in, in Proverbs.
[5:10] I'm starting in chapter six. Chapter six, verse 16 and 17. It talks about the seven abominations, the abominations the Lord hates.
[5:25] It says these six things, and I'm not sure if the six things that he's talking about was leading up to verse 16. And then he names the seven that are an abomination. I wasn't sure, but it says these six things doth the Lord hate.
[5:37] Yeah, seven are an abomination unto him. And in verse 17, it says a proud look. That's the first one, right? A proud look. And then it says a lying tongue and hands that shed innocent blood and heart that devises wicked imaginations.
[5:57] Feet that be swift and running to mischief and a false witness that speaketh lies and he that soweth discord among brethren. And I was challenged with the thought, even there, a heart that devises wicked imaginations.
[6:11] How do we devise wicked imaginations? I believe that first we have to esteem ourself above the person or whatever it is that we're esteeming ourselves. We have to set a standard or put us at a certain position to where we can esteem and we can think wicked things, imaginations about others.
[6:28] But also in verse 19, it said that a false witness that speaketh lies and he that soweth discord among brethren. And I had to think on that.
[6:39] How does Satan, is there a way for him to destroy something faster than to sow discord among brethren? I think that as brothers, as we're walking, to sow discord is going to be one of the most sure ways for him to destroy it.
[6:59] If we stand together united, we have strength. But if he's sowing discord among us as brothers, and it says it's an abomination to the Lord. It's not just something light.
[7:11] It's real and it's serious. It's an abomination. And then I wanted to turn to Proverbs 16, verses 5 and then 18 and 19. In verse 5, it says, Everyone that is proud in heart is there.
[7:35] Again, it comes the word of abomination is an abomination to the Lord. Though hand join in hand, he shall not go unpunished. And verse 18 and 19, it talks again about the pride.
[7:47] It said, Pride goeth before destruction and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud.
[7:59] And so, therefore, I was just pondering. I didn't know how much time I should spend or dig into humility. But I believe that that is a direct antidote. I had to think about our son, Levan.
[8:10] He had a reaction to a bee sting. And they gave him some epinephrine. It was like an antidote. It reversed the effect. It reverses the effect immediately. And I think humility is the only thing that we can have a surrendered heart, of course, to Christ.
[8:23] But then humility is completely the opposite. Because pride is focused on self, on our inner self. And humility is focused on the outward.
[8:35] It's focused on others. It's focused on serving. I read a quote or heard a quote that said that pride is repelled at the concept of servanthood.
[8:45] So servanthood, I believe, is equality from the virtue of humility. And then also in Proverbs 29, verse 23, there was another verse that spoke on pride.
[9:04] Verse 23, it says, A man's pride shall bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. And then I was thinking on that. I think I heard somebody speak on it also, was that it's interesting that the exact thing that pride tries, that we desire, that a proud person desires to have self-esteem, to be honored, to be looked up to, it brings the opposite effect.
[9:30] It robs a person from the thing that he's actually trying to attain. And humility is the opposite. When we are low, then we are strong. When we bring ourselves down to surrender. And I was thinking, so basically pride robs us from the thing that we're actually, from the sole thing that we're actually trying to attain.
[9:47] And it says that in verse 23, A man's pride shall bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. And then a proud man is also, I think, is a worshiper of self.
[9:59] It's all about self. It's about our own. And so that had a, in the New Testament, we have a couple verses in James and in Peter. And they're very similar.
[10:10] And James 4, it talks about God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. So God opposes it. He resists it. It's an abomination to him. It's the root of evil. It's the root of sin. It's the root of lots of things that come up in our life.
[10:23] And I think about it, C.S. Lewis laid it out as pride being a spiritual cancer. And it eats up the very possibility of love, contentment, or even common sense.
[10:34] So I feel like all of these other things that come out of our life that stem from pride, a sense of pride or self-esteem, cannot be fully dealt with unless the sin of pride is dealt with.
[10:47] I opened myself up for that. But I believe that unless the sin of pride, unless our self has been completely surrendered and we are walking in humility, the other sins that we see, I think, are more or less after effects of the basic pride.
[11:01] So basically, if a person has, in a physical sense, has cancer, right, it opens the body for all kinds of other infections and diseases. And we can fix those diseases or try to give the medication or whatever it is for those diseases.
[11:14] But in the end, the body is still going to continue to die unless the cancer is dealt with, unless the root core of the problem is dealt with. So I wanted to read a couple quotes from this pamphlet that I've been reading about.
[11:30] And it talks about the manifestations of pride. So I'm going to just read a couple of them because I thought that they were very good and they challenged me. One is, it says, having an inflated view of your importance, gifts, and abilities.
[11:43] Many proud people have a very wrong perception of themselves. They are a legend in their own mind. But what they really need is a loving dose of reality. They need to hear, what do you have that God didn't give you?
[11:56] And there again, I believe is very true. And also, it's being focused on the lack of your gifts and abilities. Some proud people may not come across proud at all because they are always down on themselves.
[12:06] This is still evidence of pride. Because one is focused on self and wants self to be elevated. Having a woe is me attitude is self-pity, which is pride. Which Brotherina spoke on self-pity last week.
[12:20] And which is also, it's a woe is me. It's I'm down on myself. I cannot be like the next person. So it's a sense of me wanting to be elevated and is also a sense of a form of pride. And another one is perfectionism.
[12:33] People who strive for everything to be perfect often do so for recognition. They may do it so they can feel good about themselves. Whatever the reason, this behavior is very self-serving and proud. The basic problem is making things that are less important, more important.
[12:48] And then talking too much. Proud people who talk too much often do it because they think that what they have to say is more important than what anyone else has to say. When they are, where there are many words, sin is generally unavoidable.
[13:01] And also being devastated or angered by criticism. Proud people usually struggle a great deal with criticism. Such people cannot bear that they are not perfect or have weaknesses because they cannot accept who they really are.
[13:16] Being unteachable. Many proud individuals know it all. They're superior. They can't seem to learn anything from someone else. They respect no one. And a lack of admitting when you are wrong.
[13:28] A proud person will make a great many excuses such as, I was tired or I was having a bad day. Who can relate to that? I can. I'm sorry I was having a bad day. A lack of biblical prayer.
[13:41] Most proud people pray very little, if at all. Proud people who do pray usually center their prayers on themselves and their desires rather than God and others. It's a challenge to me. Is my focus when I pray just about my things in my life and my desires and the things that I need in my life and my children?
[14:00] Or is it focused on the burden that I have for others that are in the kingdom and that are needing prayer? And maximizing others' sin and shortcomings. To the proud person, other people are the problem.
[14:12] They may magnify or bring attention to the sin of others by gossiping about the other's sin. So there's several more, but I just wanted to kind of give an overview of what a proud person can feel and look like.
[14:29] But then the antidote to pride is humility, right? And then it has some manifestations of humility. I wanted to read a few quotes and how humility is in direct opposition to pride.
[14:41] The first one here says, Focusing on Christ. The humble see Christ as their life and their first love. There is no other thing or person that they must have, though through the day they talk to and worship him often.
[14:56] And biblical praying and a great deal of it. Humble people want to worship God and they see themselves as totally dependent on God for his enablement. And then another one is being overwhelmed with God's undeserved grace and goodness.
[15:10] The humble person sees himself as truly deserving of hell. He is immensely grateful to God for forgiving him of so much. Humble people do not bemoan the fact that they are not as gifted as others.
[15:22] Neither do they exaggerate their own abilities. Humble people consider what others have to say as more important than what they have to say. They take an interest in others by asking questions and listening.
[15:34] Self is not their primary focus. A humble person will speak well of others, not negatively. He will convey something negative about someone only if he must do so in order to help that person.
[15:47] Humble people view reproof as good for them and consider that God may be trying to teach them something. And that's something that I've had in my life that I desire. I don't know if I have attained it.
[15:58] Humble people realize that God can't understand. That I have a teachable spirit. That even though I have views and I have thoughts on where I stand on things, but that I still respect a brother that has something that possibly I could be wrong and he could be right.
[16:12] That I have that spirit that is teachable. Even if I don't see it exactly the same. Humble people realize they don't know everything. And even when they think they are right, are willing to consider that they might be wrong.
[16:27] They also know that God can use anyone to teach them. Since he was able, he was even able to use a donkey to teach Balaam in numbers. They have many people they admire and respect.
[16:40] Humble people encourage others. They use only words that build up and say what is necessary for the edification of others. They never cut others down. And the humble people have no problem with saying I was wrong.
[16:54] You are right. Thank you for telling me. So sometimes I think it's maybe easy to say you are right. I was wrong. But how easy is it to say thank you for telling me.
[17:05] Thank you for having the courage. Thank you for having the love for coming up and telling me. Thank you. Or do we just say yeah, yeah, you're right. You're right. Equipment in granting and asking for forgiveness.
[17:18] Humble people are eager to forgive because they know how much they have been forgiven. They have no trouble asking for forgiveness because they want to be peacemakers. A humble person asks God daily for forgiveness and works towards real change.
[17:30] That was another thing for me. We don't just ask for forgiveness, but it's in working towards real change. We want that real change. We want the inner change.
[17:40] We don't want just I'm dotting the I's and crossing the T's, right? We're not just we want that real inner change. And humble people aren't are open and honest about their growth in the Lord.
[17:52] They ask for help and accountability in the repentance process knowing they need their brothers and sisters. That really spoke to me. And I looked at it on at a little different angle as a brother Dan shared about Merlin posting about prayer.
[18:08] One thing for me to open up and ask for prayer. It tends to make me think what do others think about me struggling in this point. And to me, that's I'm convicted that that's pride.
[18:19] That's that's that's a sense of me thinking that it's putting me at a level where nobody else is. So therefore that looks it looks small. And so I was challenged with that.
[18:31] I think that not just that there's power in that, but it's also it's also a sense of of my own self-esteem. So and also I was there was a couple of quotes that I wanted to read and then I'll finish up.
[18:47] C.S. Lewis would say that there is no fault that makes a man more unpopular and no fault that we are more unconscious of in ourselves than pride. And the more we have it in ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.
[19:02] That was pretty good. Pretty good quote. The more that we have it in ourselves, the more we dislike it in others. And pride defies God.
[19:13] If we if we think about it, pride defies God and it defiles man. And it's repelled at the concept of servanthood. And pride is pride is is I think that we could also put pride is in a way of.
[19:29] I don't know how to how to word it, but in other words, pride requires independency. Pride wants independency. We want to be independent. We want we got this. We have this on our own. And humility is completely the opposite.
[19:41] It it it requires total dependency. And. And Proverbs and Proverbs 26, verse 12, it says, do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
[19:55] There is more hope. I was challenged by this. It says there is more hope for a fool than for him. Brother Joe had a message on what a fool is. It says here in Proverbs 26, verse 12, that do you see a man?
[20:07] It says that's wise in his own eyes. It says that there is more hope for a fool than it is for for a man that's wise in his own eyes. And then I was just thinking also over looked up several examples of of pride of of men of the Old Testament of the Bible that had pride in what happened to them.
[20:27] One example we have is King Nebuchadnezzar. What happened to him? He was he he told he went out and he said, look what I have built. And God said he put him on grass on grass for seven years.
[20:39] He had to crawl around like an animal. And also the Pharisee in Luke 18, he ended up praying to himself. What was his prayer? What was his prayer? What did his prayer revolve around?
[20:51] It revolved around self. Lord, I am thankful I am not like other people. I am thankful I am not like that publican. I am thankful I give a tenth of all that I make.
[21:02] It was his prayer was he was praying to God. But I don't believe God was hearing it. It was all centered. It was inward focused. It was focused on himself. What all he is. What all he was. I will. I will.
[21:12] I will. And also King Saul. He he started out the Lord, I believe, anointed him. He started out being a king for the Israelites. But there was so much jealousy.
[21:24] And what did that jealousy stem from? It stemmed from pride, I believe, within that created this jealousy that he that he couldn't stand. That David was also called by God. He tried to kill him.
[21:35] And ultimately it ended in his demise. And King Herod in Acts 12. We can read of King Herod. He gave that oration in Acts.
[21:48] And it says that he did not give the glory to God. But he kept it for himself. And he was eaten alive by worms. And Diotrephes in 3 John 9. He was he he didn't want to submit to the brothers.
[21:59] He didn't want to accept. It was all about he he rejected everything. So there's many. I believe there's many examples that we can learn from that could be spoken on. And and also there'd be a lot that could be said on humility.
[22:14] But I didn't think that there was a time. I didn't have the time. And I thought that maybe that would be something that could be spoken on at a different time. And that's another quote that I have is if pride is the epidemic vice then humility is the endangered virtue.
[22:30] And also Christ what is our greatest example of humility? I think Christ is Christ is our greatest example of humility. If we want to truly look for humility we want to know what humility is.
[22:41] In Philippians chapter 2 verses 6 to 8 it says who being the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God. But made himself of no reputation.
[22:53] So I believe that he completely got rid of any type of pride that he truly could have had because he is God. But he made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a what?
[23:04] He took upon him the form of a servant. He had he had the heart of a servant. And was made in the likeness of men. And being found in the fashion as a man he humbled himself.
[23:17] And he became obedient unto death. Even the death of the cross. He didn't just become obedient to death. But he became obedient. He died as one of the worst ways to die that there was.
[23:30] Because of man. Because of our because of the love that he had for us. So I think if we really want to know how to get rid of pride. Because I was pondering on that. Well then how do we get rid of pride? And I believe that the only way that we can get rid of pride is to look to Christ.
[23:45] Because he is the ultimate example of humility. And so I have the question. Anybody that has anything on that. That was my question. Can a person at any time say that he's completely free of pride?
[23:59] Or does it lie dormant within the nature of self? And rise up at any opportunity that it has? Because we have self that we. That I've heard a message here a while back.
[24:09] That dead things move. And I. And what he meant by that is dead things move. Was that they were butchering a cow. And he said the cow looked in every aspect to be dead.
[24:21] But he went up to try to you know. Start cutting up on it to you know. Skin it and dress it. And the thing kicked him. And I think he kicked him over. Made him roll over like the reflexes.
[24:32] So he said the reflexes of it were still there. So the point that he was trying to make. We crucify ourself. And we die to self. But self will still always try to. It will still always try to rise up.
[24:44] It will still always try to rise up. So I have the question. Does pride. Is pride the same way? With that being the chief sin of sins. That Satan had. That caused him ultimately to be cast out of heaven.
[24:57] Does that lie dormant within us? Is that something that we deal with in our life? For me I was challenged with it. Because I feel that that's something that I have to work on. To have that true meek and humble spirit.
[25:09] That is teachable. That recognizes other people as having ideas and values. That are worth as much or more than mine. And that I don't know everything.
[25:21] And that I need people in my life to teach me. And that I have the grace. That humility. I think I heard a quote or read a quote. That humility is cultivated by grace.
[25:32] And that God grants me that grace. That I can walk in humility. And I can receive and grow in that. And so I'm not sure if I made a whole lot of sense in that.
[25:43] But it's been on my heart. And I felt like I would share what I had. And it's been a blessing to be in here. And we'll see what Brother Joe has.
[25:54] Thank you. Good morning. And yeah. Thank you Mike for sharing that.
[26:06] I believe goes along very well with what I'm going to be sharing. Even though you didn't know what I was going to be sharing. First of all I want to talk just a second about.
[26:20] One time this was quite a long time ago. So we were on our way to work. And something was being. We were talking something about having devotionals.
[26:33] And like I do sometimes. Maybe I speak too quick or whatever. I said I can tell when somebody doesn't. Well I can tell when somebody doesn't study much.
[26:44] Before they have a devotional. And Merlin he really looked at me sideways. And he's like are you studying everybody? And I said no. That's not the point I was trying to make.
[26:58] The point I was trying to make was. That we care about God's word. Do I put. Me having a devotional. Or whatever I'm supposed to have.
[27:09] Do I put that above. A fishing trip or a hunting trip. Not that I can't do those things. But that either I take time when I'm doing that. To meditate or whatever.
[27:20] And the thing that. And we. I want to tell everybody. I believe we've been doing very good. That's that. I'm just saying this as encouragement. Not. Not to spank anybody. But.
[27:31] But. The thing that. That I. I wanted us to be thinking about is. As you're going through the week. Don't. Don't wait till. Your time. Comes up that week. But. As you're going through your weeks.
[27:43] Something that speaks to you. Jot it down. That. That's what. It's not. Whether you have five minutes. Or thirty minutes. That's. That's not. You. We can make words.
[27:53] We can. You know. Make things. But. It's. If something. Just like that. With Mike. Something that was speaking to him. Something that. Had spoke to him. Jot it down. And. And have that.
[28:04] Is something that's going through your mind. And think about it. The biggest thing that I want to say is. So often. I found this as a younger man. I. I probably didn't have the respect.
[28:16] For God's word. That I should have had. We need to. It's. It's. It's a. Big responsibility. To share God's word. Word. It's a. It's a great thing.
[28:27] God wants us to do it. But that we don't take it lightly. Just. Oh. I'm going to quick. You know. Spend. Thirty minutes. And. Not saying sometimes. That's all you have. If you know.
[28:37] Something was forgotten. Whatever. I'm not making light of that. But that we don't. Just. I'm going to do a couple minutes here. And. And. And find something. To. To share. But that we.
[28:49] That we respect God's word. It's a. It's an awesome thing. And. So. Respect it. You can. If you want to. In your Bibles. You can turn to Colossians 3. We.
[29:02] He's talking here. I'm. Going to be. Focusing on. Verses 1. Through 17. He's talking here. About. Seeking those things. Which are above.
[29:13] In the first part. Of this chapter. I'm going to be. Speaking this morning. On. Offenses. And. I think you'll see it. I think it'll become more clear. As we get farther along.
[29:23] In this chapter. What I'm. What I'm getting at. I want to look at it. Maybe we could look at it this way. God's medicine. For an offended heart. Um. I believe.
[29:35] Truly. That. God has. Medicine. In his word. For us. If we do. Have an offended heart. It's just a matter of. Will we take it. And.
[29:46] Um. You don't need to turn there. But in. In Luke 17. Verse 1. Jesus says. Offenses will come. He said. It's that. That. That is. We're human.
[29:57] We're human. We have this human body. Offenses will come. It's what we do with them. It's what. What we do with them. When they do come. And. So that's what I. I want to.
[30:08] To look at this morning. You know. We can have a. A. A dying person. Here. And. The doctor can have. The medicine. That can.
[30:18] That can help that person. But if they. Refuse to take it. They're going to go ahead. And perish. They're going to die. And that's the same thing. With an offended heart. I don't believe.
[30:29] Like I say. God knows. And he understands. I don't believe. That we're just not a Christian. Way to wave. We have an offended heart. But. It is leading us. To perishing. It will.
[30:40] Eventually. That's where it will take us. Is. Down the path. A wrong path. That we don't want to go. And. That's where it's going to lead us. Let's start here.
[30:52] In. Verse one. In Colossians three. If you then be risen with Christ. Seek those things. Which are above. Where Christ sitteth. On the right hand of God.
[31:04] And. I believe. All of us this morning here. I would. I would hope. Each of us would say. That we are believers. That we are. Risen in Christ. And. So what's he say? We seek those things.
[31:15] Which are above. Verse two. Set your affection. On things above. Not on things. Of the earth. And this is a big one. I was talking to a man.
[31:26] Just the other day. And. He was a Christian believer. And he was talking about this other person. He knew. That was. Supposedly a believer. I'm guessing. Well. I don't know the man. And.
[31:37] He was saying how that he had. He had passed away at 47. And he. He said he had like. Four or five different businesses. And he was just. You know. Constantly going. Going. Going.
[31:47] Going. And. And just. I guess. Burned himself out. And. Passed away at 47. It just made me stop and think. What. About me. What. What.
[31:58] What am I. I. I can't remember. I should have. Looked it up. I didn't think about it soon enough. There was. Either a. A preacher. A missionary. I can't remember who it was.
[32:08] Um. That said. He said. My desire would be to burn out for Christ. And I thought. Wow. What. What about me. Am I. Where am I.
[32:19] Am I burning out for things. That I'm doing. For things of this world. For things here. Or. Would I be desired. That. That would be my desire this morning. Is to burn out for Christ. And I hope that's each one.
[32:29] I believe it would be. Each one of us's desire this morning. That. We set our affections on things above. These. These. As we go on. You'll see. That these are all things that lead up.
[32:42] To. Taking care of that offended heart. If we have our affections set. Where they should be. For ye are dead. And your life is hid. With Christ. In God.
[32:54] And. What. For we are dead. We're supposed to be dead to our old man. Our old man is. Is. Is. Is. Dead. If our life is hid in Christ. Our old man is dead. Dead. And.
[33:04] If we find ourselves. With. Like I say. Offenses will come. They will happen. But if we find ourselves. Living in that. And holding on to that.
[33:15] Then. That's a sure sign. That the old man. Is rising back up. That he's not dead. We can't have both. We can't. We can't have the old man. Crucified.
[33:25] And. And we're living. And live in an offended. State. Of. Of heart. We can't have both of those. They. They can't be reconciled. God. If. If we're going to crucify. The old man.
[33:36] It's. We're going to also. Have to. Get rid of our. Offenses. That we have. So that our life. Can be hidden. With Christ. In God.
[33:47] When Christ. Who is. Our life. Shall appear. Then shall you also. Appear with him. In glory. And that's. Another thing. That I. You know.
[33:57] The longer. That you're a Christian. And love God. It's. It's a beautiful thing. To think on. That when Christ. Who is. Our life. He. He is.
[34:09] When you really. Realize. That he's everything. Without Christ. We're nothing. We won't make it to heaven. Um. Christ. Who is. Our life. It true. That truly is a.
[34:19] A big statement. When we can. Just sit there. And just meditate on that. Let your brain wrap around it. A little. God's wrath.
[34:46] Is going to. Is going to come on these things. And so. You know. If we haven't forsaken them. Turned away from them. And we'll see here in a little bit. That we can't do it of ourselves. In whom.
[34:57] You also. In some time. When you. In which. You also. Walked some time. When you lived in them. So. You know. If we're. If we're all honest. We. We were all there.
[35:07] You know. If we're honest with ourselves. We were. We were there. We lived in these things. But we're supposed to be. Turning away from them. Verse 8. But now. You also. Put off these things.
[35:19] Anger. Wrath. Malice. Blasphemy. Filthy communication. Out of your mouth. Lie not one to another. Seeing that you have put off. The old man. With his deeds.
[35:30] I. And have put on the new man. Which is the renewed. Knowledge. After the image. Of him. That created him. To put on the new man. And it's the total opposite.
[35:42] Of these things. That we. You know. These things. That we were just talking about. Malice. And the. The filthy communication. All those things. It's the total opposite. I remember. For myself.
[35:53] You know. You. You can't. Put those off. Without. Putting on the new man. You. You can try. You remember Dan. Trying that we. I'm guessing we all have. I know I did.
[36:04] I've tried to. To. Okay. I'm just. I want to put these things off. I knew they weren't right. But. We. That. That cannot happen. Without putting on the new man. That's just.
[36:15] That's just walking in our. In our own. Trying to walk in our own strength. And it. And it won't. Won't happen. It won't work. Um. So we need to. We need to put on this new man.
[36:25] Which is renewed. In knowledge. And there again. It's. It's God's knowledge. We. We have to. Um. Understand. That our knowledge.
[36:36] Our. What we think. Isn't. Of any value. Uh. On our own. It's. It's only what. What we.
[36:47] Our true understanding. Of God's word. Through how God. wants us to view his word. That is. That is what's valued. Um. Uh. With. It's. He says here. Renewed in knowledge.
[36:58] After the image. Of him. That created him. So. We want the knowledge. That is after God. That's God's knowledge. Um. And then verse 11.
[37:09] Where there is neither. Greek. Nor Jew. Circumcision. Nor uncircumcision. Barbarian. Scythian. Bond. Nor free. But Christ. Is all. In all.
[37:20] And in this here. We. We. We need to. I want us to look at. That. We're all on the same level. You know. Sometimes we want to say. You know. Think of the preacher here.
[37:31] Maybe. And the song leader. And then the janitor. Or whatever. And in Christ. In Christ. As a church. Um. That. That's another. Way that I believe.
[37:42] That offenses. Can and will come. Is when we. Think. We're on different levels. Than somebody else. When we. When we believe. That I'm on a higher. Pedestal.
[37:53] Somehow. Of somebody. We're all. In Christ. We're all the same. We're all. Um. On one level. And then here.
[38:04] In verse 12. This is where. He gets into. This is the. Um. The medicine. That. If we want to. To. Get past.
[38:14] If we have offenses. And we want to get past them. Here's. Here's what we have to do. Put on. Therefore. As the elect of God. Holy and beloved. Bowels of mercies. Kindness.
[38:25] Humbleness. Of mind. Meekness. Longsuffering. Forbearing one another. And forgiving one another. Even. If any man. Have a quarrel. Against any. Even as Christ forgave you.
[38:37] So also. Do ye. And. This goes. Along. On some with what. What Mike was sharing. This morning. But. We can't have.
[38:50] Kindness. And. And humbleness. Of mind. And have a fun. Fences at others. And this. Humbleness of mind. I wanted to focus on that. A little bit too. Because. I believe.
[39:02] As Mike. Talked about. That pride. I believe it's at the root. Of. Most. I don't know. If I want to go to say. All our problems. But maybe it is. All. All our problems.
[39:12] But. Definitely. This is one of them. The offense is. Oftentimes. It's pride. That's at the bottom of it. And. Humbleness of mind. Can I. And now. Because I'm.
[39:22] I guess. What I'd be. Kind of one of the older ones here. Can I. As an older person. Can I. Realize. That sometimes. A younger person. Has.
[39:33] A word of knowledge. Or you know. Some knowledge. From something. That I need to. Listen to. Mike. Mike. Got into that a little bit. And alluded to that. But. If I can't.
[39:45] I'm not. An humble. Humble person. I don't have. Humbleness of mind. And I have to be. I have to get rid of these things. Of pride. Meekness. Long suffering.
[39:57] That's another one. That goes a long. Way there. Because of. Of these offenses. That. So often. These offenses. That come. Aren't even.
[40:08] Met. By the person. That calls them. So often. They're either. Something in passing. That they didn't mean. To be offensive. Or. Something that I misconstrued.
[40:18] And. Now. I have this offense. And. So. Can I be long. Suffering. And. And. Believing that that person. Didn't mean it.
[40:29] As an offense. Not right away. Taking it to be an offense. For bearing one another. And then. See if any have a quarrel.
[40:41] Yeah. This was. This is a big one. Even as Christ forgave you. Do ye also. How did Christ forgive us. When we come to Christ. In repentance. Does he forgive us.
[40:52] On terms. Like maybe partially. Christ fully. Forgives us. And now. Me. With somebody. With an offense.
[41:03] Well. If he comes back. And. Offers an apology. Or. If he does this. This way. Or whatever. Then I can. Forgive the offense.
[41:14] Here it says. If we have a quarrel. Against any. Even as Christ forgave us. Do ye also. Stop and think on that a little.
[41:26] It's not. We don't have. Any. Maybe that person. Does owe us an apology. That's. That's between them and God. But. I can allow that.
[41:36] To take me down. When it doesn't need to. Because. If I can just. Forgive. Just like Christ did. To me. And that's what we so often forget.
[41:48] In these things. When we get. Offended. In offenses. We forget. How much we've been forgiven. Forgiven. If we can really. Stop. And grasp.
[41:59] And think on what I've been forgiven. It's very little. What I'm forgiving. Somebody else. I'm going to come back. I want to come back here to this. But. I'm going to.
[42:10] Read a few Proverbs. And then I want to. Look at. A little bit. In. Matthew. 13. I'm going to be wanting to look at a little bit there. In.
[42:21] Matthew. 13. 13. But. And then we will come back here to Colossians. These Proverbs. You don't need to. Look them up if you don't want to. I'm just going to read them here quick. Proverbs 19.
[42:32] 11. The discretion of a man. Deferreth his anger. And is. It is his glory. To pass over. A transgression.
[42:45] Can we do that? When. When somebody. Offends us. Has wronged us. Can we pass over. That transgression. Proverbs. 17. 9. He that covereth a transgression.
[42:56] Seeketh love. But he that repeateth a matter. Separate. Very. Friends. We don't want to think about that. But what is that? That's a gossip. That's. That's exactly what it is.
[43:07] When you repeat a matter. And you can separate friends. We can separate brothers. We can separate. Each other. We. Yeah.
[43:18] We don't. Sometimes. Want to. It hits. Closer home. Than what we want to. Think about. But. That's a gossip. Proverbs. 18. 19. A brother.
[43:28] Now this. And here. Makes me. Made me stop. And think a little. I had known this first. But when I thought about it. A brother. Offended. Is harder to be won. Than a strong city. And their contentions.
[43:40] Are like bars. Of a castle. I've never. Gone to battle. I've never tried to win. A strong city. But I'm. I'm guessing. That's pretty impossible. I've seen pictures. Of castles.
[43:51] With these. Moats around them. And strong bars. And stuff. This is pretty deep. A brother. Offended. Is harder to be won. And why?
[44:02] It's that pride. I am so convinced. Of that. It's that pride. We let that rise up in us. And. Yeah. Their contentions. Are like the bars.
[44:13] Of a strong castle. We put up bars. And we won't. Won't listen. We won't let others. Speak to us. And won't. Take the medicine.
[44:24] That God has provided. Here in his word. Let's go to. Matthew 13. I'm going to. Start reading at verse 54. And this is. Talking about Jesus here.
[44:36] And when he had come. Into his own. Country. He taught them. In their synagogue. In so much. As that were. They were astonished. And said.
[44:46] When hath this man. Wence hath this man. This wisdom. And these mighty works. Is not this. The carpenter's son. That's. Kind of a slam. That's like.
[44:57] Okay. Isn't he just the lowly. Carpenter's son. Is not his. Mother called Mary. His. And his brother. And James. And Joseph. And Simon. And Judas. And his sisters.
[45:07] Are they not all. With us. Wence then. Hath this man. All these things. And they were. Offended in him. But Jesus. Said unto them. A prophet.
[45:18] Is not without honor. Save in his own country. And in his own house. And he did not. Many mighty works. Because of their unbelief. Here. These people.
[45:30] Instead of. And it says here. That. They were astonished. At his. His wisdom. And his mighty works. So they knew.
[45:41] He had something. And instead of. Believing. And going. Understanding. Taking the words. That he had. They. They. They. They. They. They. Because he was just.
[45:51] Supposed to be. The low. This lowly carpenter's son. And instead of. Taking what they could have. They became offended. In turn. And then. What. Really. Made me stop. And think here.
[46:02] Was in. The last verse. And where. There are 58. And it says. And he did not. Many mighty works. Because of their unbelief. How about that. How.
[46:13] How much. Maybe. Does me. And my offense. Stop. The works. That can be working. Amongst the brethren. Are we. Are we stopping.
[46:23] And thinking. How serious this is. Um. You know. I can actually. Cause. Um. I don't know.
[46:33] The word trouble. I don't know. The word. I want to put with it. But. Make it where others. Uh. Things hard. Or whatever. For others. Uh. Because here. They caused.
[46:44] Uh. The. The. Jesus. Maybe. Would have done. Some. Some things here. Some more. Do you think. More things. It says. And he did not. Many mighty works. There. Because of their unbelief. That just.
[46:55] That just really. When I was thinking about that. This. That just really. Made me stop. And think. Um. You know. Of what. What. It does.
[47:06] Amongst us. When. Um. When we have our offenses. And our unbelief. And all these things. That we have against each other. And. And God can't work among us.
[47:17] Um. He can't. Uh. Well. God can do anything. But he won't work. Among us. When we're. When we're. In those situations. When we're offended. And.
[47:29] Let's go back to. Colossians 3. Um. I was at verse 14. And above all these things. Put on charity. Which is. The bond. Of perfectness.
[47:40] Charity. What is charity? Charity is love. And what is love? Love. Bonds. Drop. Pulls us together. These offenses. They. They spread us. They.
[47:50] They blow us apart. But what do we need? Right here's another thing. That we need. We need love. We need charity. And. And it will draw us together. Uh. It's the bond. Of perfectness.
[48:01] And let the peace of God. Rule in your hearts. And I read this. Several times. I was just. I meditated on that. And I'm like. I kept reading it.
[48:11] And thinking on that. I'm like. How often. Or. When. Can the peace of God. Rule in your heart. When you're an offended person. It can't.
[48:23] It can't. And like I say. I'm not saying that right away. We get offended. That God cuts us off. No. God knows our hearts. And whatever. But it's what we do with it.
[48:35] And. And. But. I'm so convinced. Here. That. Um. The. The peace of God. Cannot rule. In our hearts. As an offended person. To which you're called.
[48:46] In one body. And there's another one. And be ye thankful. Thankfulness. And an offended heart. Do not go together. We. We might. Can put it on. For a while.
[48:56] We might. Can. You know. Act like a thankful person. Um. We might. Can make other people. Believe we are. But a truly. Thankful person. And an offended heart.
[49:07] Do not go together. They will never. Um. Go together. Let the word. Of Christ. Dwell in you. Richly. In all wisdom. Um.
[49:19] Let's. Let's. When we. When. We need to. At all times. Seek his word here. But especially. If we're going through. Something like that. Going through an offense. Let's go to his word.
[49:30] Um. Let the. Let these words. Dwell in us. Richly. Um. Yeah. There's just. There's a lot of meaning there. Just. Just ponder on that. Through the week.
[49:42] Teaching and admonishing. One another. In psalms. And hymns. And spiritual songs. Singing with grace. In your hearts. Unto the. Grace in your hearts. To the Lord. And whatsoever.
[49:53] You do. In word. Or deed. Do all. In the name of. Of the Lord. Jesus. Giving thanks. To him. Giving thanks. To God. And the Father.
[50:03] By him. And whatsoever. We do. In word. Or deed. Do on the name. Of the Lord. Jesus. And yeah.
[50:15] We can. That we can keep. That thankful heart. That. That open heart. To God. God. And. Yeah. I just. These were the. The things that were going.
[50:26] Through my heart. This past little while. And I. I was. Meditating here on. On. Colossians 3. And. I just. I believe that these are things.
[50:38] We need to think on. And the verse. That I want to leave with us. And. I want y'all to. Just. Meditate on this. Throughout the week. Is. Psalms 119.
[50:49] 165. Great. Peace. Have they. Which love the law. And nothing. Shall offend them. Great.
[50:59] Peace. And we can say. To them. That love God. God's laws. That we. That we love. God's laws. And nothing. Shall offend them. And that's what I want to let us.
[51:11] Let with us. For this week. Just to. Just to ponder. Along with these other things. That we. I looked at here. In Colossians. That. If we. If we truly.
[51:22] I believe. If we truly. Love God's law. Love his word. Love God. That we. Yeah. Nothing. Will offend us. Not that offenses won't come. Not that we won't be.
[51:33] Challenged. Not that we won't be. You know. Have our. We're human. We're. We're. We're in a human body. We have the human nature. But. That. We can truly say.
[51:43] At the end of the day. That nothing. Will offend me. Thank you. Thank you.