Satanic Ambition

Hey, hey, hey. Good morning, Crossroads Springdale. Come on. Stand up all over the room like Simon Robinson is this morning. It is good to see you in the house of the Lord. Come on. Let's lift our voices. Let's sing again. I praise in the valley and praise on the mountain. I praise when I'm sure and praise when I'm doubting. I praise when I'm numbered and praise when surrounded. I praise in the waters my enemies drowning. As long as I'm breathing I've got a reason to praise the Lord, oh my soul. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. I praise when I feel it and praise when I don't. I praise because I know you're still in control, yes he is. My praise is a weapon, it's more than a sound. My praise is a shout that brings every fool down. As long as I'm breathing I've got a reason to praise the Lord, oh my soul. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. I won't be quiet, my God is alive. How could I keep it inside? Praise the Lord, oh my soul. I praise because you're soft, praise because you reign. Praise because you rose and defeated the grave. I praise because you're faithful, praise because you're true. I praise because there's nobody greater than you. I praise because you're soft, praise because you reign. Praise because you rose and defeated the grave. I praise because you're faithful, praise because you're true. Praise because there's nobody greater than you. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. I won't be quiet, my God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I won't be quiet, my God is alive. How could I keep it inside?

I won't be quiet, my God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I'm gonna praise you, oh my soul. Oh, we give you all the praise, oh. Yeah, come on now. Oh, we give you all the praise, oh. Oh, we give you all the praise, oh. Oh, we give you all the praise, oh. Oh, we give you all the praise, oh. Hey, let me add my thank you to all of our veterans at both of these campuses. Thank you for the freedom that you have provided for us. And we sit in church today without fear of persecution, in part, not only because of God's blessing, but because of your sacrifice. Thank you to all your families as well. And we honor you in a great way today. We're going to honor you again tonight. If you've never been to Fireworks at the Crosses, we would encourage you to come. It is one of the most fun things we do all year long, and as great as it is to blow stuff up in the name of America, which we're going to do that, all right, we're going to celebrate 250 together. What is better than even that is about sunset, we will baptize a lot of people. And so I would encourage you if you're here today and one of these campuses, and you would say, Nick, I've trusted Christ by faith, but I've never gone public in baptism. I would encourage you to do that tonight. You may say, man, in front of all those people, am I going to be the only one? As of this morning, this is incredible, we have 88 people signed up to be baptized tonight, and that grows throughout the day. So we would love for you to be baptized tonight. I'll baptize every one of you. Pastor Mark and Jeff will be alongside of me in the baptistry, and it's going to be a lot of fun.

All right? Isaiah chapter 14, today we wrap up our series called This Means War. We're talking about the seven battles of spiritual warfare, and we have named this series intentionally, You Have to Fight. You're in a battle, you're in a war, whether you realize it or not, and some of you, that's not your nature. Like, you'd say, Nick, I'm a lover, not a fighter. I would say, this is one area of your life that you have to be aggressive, or you will get dominated by the enemy again and again and again. If you've been here for this entire journey through this series, you notice that we have kind of titled each one with the word satanic on the front of each one of these messages, because you really do have an enemy called Satan who is dead set on your destruction, and is dead set on you never becoming all that God wants you to become in your life. The Bible tells us here that Satan was an angel who, because of his prideful ambition to be like God, was cast out of heaven. We're going to talk about that very principle today, and we're going to talk about satanic ambition today as we wrap up this series. If you are in your journal and you're like, wait, that's not the title here, if you remember May 17th, we sent off Ryan Blackwell, we kind of changed up the journal, so all this series is a little bit jumbled up, so it's OK, everybody, all right? It's OK, all right? Ambition can be right, you agree with that? Ambition can also be wrong, and ambition can lead you astray pretty quickly. When Meredith and I were in college, this was before we were dating, Meredith cheered at the school we went to, Liberty University, the world's most exciting Christian university, slow plug there, but we went there, and Meredith cheered, and we were coming back for the spring semester. She had to be there a week or so early because of cheer stuff, and so I had just gotten back into town like that day, and we were a part of the same friend group. We weren't dating yet, and somebody called us and said, hey, Meredith hurt her knee,

and she's going to the hospital. And so they were in practice, they were doing one of those pyramid thingies, and she was in the middle, and the pyramid fell, and she hit the ground like this, and the person on top hit her knee, and she tore her ACL that night. And so I remember going to the hospital and talking to her along with a few of my roommates, and we helped her get back to her dorm, and I thought, I mean, I'm going to like show a little move here. And I said, well, you just hold there, I'll pick you up out of the car, and I'll walk you to the front of the dorm, because it was a little distance, and, you know, freshly torn ACL, it doesn't need to be a bother, you know? And so I walk over to the side of the car, and I pick her up, and you know, her legs are straight because she just torn her ACL, so I pick her up, and I turn her towards the dorm and bang her freshly torn ACL into the car door. Everybody say smooth. I said smooth, hey, 21 years is all I gotta say, y'all, 21 years, OK? My ambition had led me astray, everybody agree with that? Now ambition can be healthy and it can be unhealthy. All the parents at church today, you want your kids to have a certain level of ambition to like make something about their life, right? Or if you run a business out there, you want to hire men and women who have a certain level of ambition and make your company better, right? What you don't want as a parent or as an employer is somebody who has no regard for other people and in their ambition dominates everybody in their path. You see the difference there? of a healthy line and an unhealthy line there. I would even say to you this way, I believe there's a holy ambition and an unholy ambition. Jonathan Edwards once said it this way, I think this is an example of godly holy ambition. He said, resolution one, I will live for God.

Resolution two, resolution two, if no one else does, I still will. Clear example, right kind of ambition, everybody agree? Like that's what we are shooting for right there. I will follow the Lord. But then there's an unholy, you could even say a worldly ambition. John Calvin once wrote about this kind of ambition like this, he said, wherever ambition reigns, there is no integrity. What he means is this, he's speaking about the type of ambition that takes over your life, that wins at all cost. And when that kind of ambition takes reign in the heart, listen to me, someone will always pay. Like when no regard for people and it's just about me and it's about what I can achieve and what I can earn, how I can win, somebody will always pay in that scenario. Today, I wanna talk to you about two kings from the Old Testament that this is their life story. And we're gonna look at the guy by the first name of a guy by the name of the King of Babylon, okay? King of Babylon is in the book of Isaiah. This is prophetic language here, even pointing to the end times that will take place at a later date. And here's what I would tell you, we're gonna look at two passages of scripture, speaking about two different kings. And what you're gonna find is

these are very complex passages. And so I'm gonna do my very best to make them simple. We could go much deeper, much further, but we're just gonna try to hone in on the aspect of ambition today with these two ungodly kings. So let's begin Isaiah chapter 14. We're gonna look at verse 12. And this is a man known as the King of Babylon in this passage. He says this, how you are fallen from heaven, O daystar, son of dawn, how you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low. You said in your heart, what does he say? I will ascend to heaven above the stars of God. I will set my throne on high. I will sit on the Mount of Assembly, underline that Mount of Assembly in your Bible, come back to that. In the far reaches of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will make, oh, this is bad. I will make myself like the most high. But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit. And that is where the passage ends. Now there are some who have pointed to Isaiah chapter 14 as directly speaking about Satan. You'll also see when we read Ezekiel chapter 28, why people have also said that's a passage about Satan.

Here's the way you need to view these two kings in these two passages. These passages are about two kings. Everybody say two kings. It's all about two kings, but it's easy to see the one behind these two kings who is stirring it up and who is empowering both of these kings. Let's go back to this passage here. Isaiah says about this king, he calls him you who laid nations low. What he's saying here is this king was a mighty military commander who had won battles, but here's the judgment. He's about to be brought low. Can I just give you like a little word of caution and advice for everybody at church today? At the end of the road of ungodly ambition, every single time is people who are brought low, who have been humbled by the Lord. Now let's look at the ambition of the king of Babylon. I'm gonna throw these on the screen. If you're a quick writer, you can try to write these out, but I'm gonna just rattle through them. You may wanna grab your phone and just take a picture of the screen. Here's what he says, five different things. He says, I will ascend to heaven. I will set my throne on high. He says, thirdly, I will sit on the Mount of Assembly.

I told you to underline that, I'll come back to it. You say, what is the Mount of Assembly? This is a reference to a belief in the time of Isaiah that the Mount of Assembly was where the Canaanite gods would gather. And here's what this king of Babylon is saying. He says, I will be king over the gods. So again, false beliefs all around that, but in their day in mind, this king is saying, I will be king over the gods. Number four, he says, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. And then number five, I will make myself like the most high. What he's saying is this, I will be like God. Do you notice a common thread in all five of those statements? There's a singular word that we see throughout all five. What's the word? I, okay? I will be like God. I will do this. I will do that. This is a king who believes in his own power, who believes in his own ability, who believes in his own self-sufficiency. And can I bring us like to gospel lenses here? This is the heart of every single one of us who doesn't know Christ personally. It is a life rooted in the word I. I am moral enough to go to heaven on my own.

I am good enough to be right with God. I am sure better than he is. I am sure better than she is. So surely God will love me. Or here's the big one. I don't really need God. Many people have that mindset. This is the heart that only Jesus can redeem. Do you realize that the gospel's also rooted in the word I, but in a different way? Here's what the gospel says. I cannot save myself. I am not good enough. I'm a sinner in need of a savior. And it's not even really rooted in an I, it's rooted in a he. And he has done all that's necessary for me to be saved. So today, as we talk about two wicked kings with a high ambition and a high ungodly worldly position and ambition, what I would tell you this, for some of you, the very first step you need to take today is to surrender your life to Jesus Christ. That can happen to you today. Now here's the judgment that the prophet Isaiah is giving upon the king of Babylon. He says this, you are brought down to Sheol. You say, well, what is he saying there? In other words, he is saying this, you will not escape death. Now, is this a good picture of a good king

or a bad picture of a bad king? Good or bad? Pretty bad, right? Bad picture right here. Depart from Isaiah. I want you to flip like three books over to the book of Ezekiel. So just turn right in your Bible and flip over to Ezekiel chapter 28. We're gonna learn about a second king who was called not the king of Babylon, but the king of Tyre, okay? Ezekiel was a prophet in his day and his book here is a prophetic book in nature. Ezekiel, just like Isaiah, is also pronouncing judgment upon the king of Tyre in his day. Now, as you're gonna read this passage alongside of me, it's gonna be very easy to see why many have attributed this passage to being directly about Satan. As I said, this is another very complex passage. I'll do my best to make it simple here. Look at Ezekiel chapter 28 and look at verse 12 with me right now. He says, son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, thus says the Lord God, you were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Underline that statement right there.

Every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle, and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created, they were prepared. Verse 14, you were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you. You were on the holy mountain of God. In the midst of the stones of fire, you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till unrighteousness was found in you. In the abundance of your trade, you were filled with what? With violence in your midst, and you sinned. So I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, oh, guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Verse 17, it's a rebel hymn. Your heart was what? Was proud because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. And so I cast you to the ground. I exposed you before kings to feast their eyes on you. Now, be honest. Anybody read that passage and your eyes start to cross a little bit? You're like, what in the world is this talking about? What is the Bible saying here?

Let's focus on just a few of those statements here that tell us about the ambition of the king of Tyre. I gave you the king of Babylon's ambition. Now let's talk about the king of Tyre. Notice what the word of God says. Isaiah says, you were filled with violence. Your heart was proud. And thirdly, you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. What he's saying here is you began to use your wisdom not for God, but for yourself. And so those five or six verses that are complex in nature, confusing in nature, he said, well, what is the message of the prophet? of God to this wicked king right here. Here's what the message was. You had it all, but you were a man of violence. And through that violence, you accumulated wealth. You're a prideful man who doesn't live in wisdom, but instead is all about material gain. Anybody catch that statement about the Garden of Eden? And you think, what in the world is the Garden of Eden doing in Ezekiel? What does all this mean together? Here's what he's saying. In the illusion of the Garden of Eden, you are gonna be just like Adam, cast out of your position of leadership because of your sin. You read Isaiah chapter 14, you read Ezekiel chapter 28,

and you say, well, man, those surely sound like they could be about Satan himself. So is it directly about Satan? Here's how I would answer that question, okay? At the very least, everybody get that? At the very least, you see the satanic influence through the ambition of these two wicked kings. In fact, I believe that you should interpret both passages, Isaiah 14, Ezekiel chapter 28, as being about two real kings who when you look at their lives and you look past their lives, you can see there is an enemy in the background stirring the pot of an ungodly and an unholy ambition, okay? Let me explain something about the Bible, okay? Context always matters in the Bible. Sometimes we read the Bible. Everybody look at me for a second. I've got glasses on today. Let's call these glasses, these are the context of Scripture. So sometimes we read the Bible like this and we cherry pick a verse out of the Bible and we have no sense of its context. So like maybe the most famous in the Bible, Philippians 4.13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It is the favorite verse of all athletes of all time, right? They read it and they just take the one verse out and they think, well, I can lift 300 pounds.

I can dunk a basketball. I will catch the touchdown pass. I will hit a home run. And they write Philippians 4.13 on their baseball bat. Now, that's not wrong. Any, yes, okay, talk about the Bible, okay? But when you put the lenses of context on, here's what context is. Context asks, who is writing this passage? Who is this passage written to? What are they talking about in the chapter here? What are the verses before and after Philippians 4.13? And so really what you find out is a shock. This is gonna blow your minds. Philippians 4.13 is not about sports, okay? And how do I know that? Context. And what is the context of Philippians chapter four? Suffering. And so when Paul says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, he does not have in his mind, in the realm of the Super Bowl, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. You know what he has? As he writes this, he's suffering. And he writes these powerful words to us as believers today. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Well, you know what he means?

I can endure anything because of Christ's power in me. But you see why context matters? One is about basketball. One's about suffering in your life. And so you say, well, Nick, why do you bring that up right here? Because context leads us to understand this passage is about two kings. So we look at glasses of context of two prophets who are pronouncing judgment on two wicked kings, and we look first of all through the lens of context, and we don't try to apply it to our own lives first. Again, Bible principle, context first, application second. If you flip them, you will apply the Bible wrongly in your life. So you can learn from prophetic judgment upon two wicked kings that lived thousands of years ago, even though you're not a king, and even though your ambition may not be like their ambition. And so we look through the lens of context. It's like, okay, it's about two kings. But as I look further beyond that, I can also see there's an enemy in the background stirring the pot and influencing wicked kings. And there are some things that I can learn. So Bible principle, it's them in the Bible, then you. Make sense?

And so let's go from that standpoint. We have talked about the them so far. Two wicked kings, Babylon, Tyre. What's the judgment going on? Who were they? Why are they under judgment, ungodly ambition? So now let's turn it to you. What can we learn? What can we apply from the Bible today about our own life? So I wanna, like, let's get to third base and start to round home on this point here. Let's talk about sacred ambition versus satanic ambition. All right, we'll begin with satanic first of all. Here's a question for you at both of our campuses, you at Pinnacle Hills, listen up to this one. Everybody here at Springdale, I'll answer this in your heart today, don't answer it out loud. But here's a question for you as you listen to the word of God. How do you know when ambition crosses the line? Like, some of you are leaders, type A, super driven in every area of your life, and you're reading the passage today, like, oh gosh, I don't know, I like this one, it's a good time to go to the bathroom, good time to get a refill on the coffee right now. And others of you are spiritually mature enough to hear what I'm saying today and to take hold of that and be like,

well, dude, I want to do this right, I am a leader, I am driven, I have ambition, but I wanna have a surrendered ambition to Christ where I'm not just trampling over people. And here's what I tell you, the wickedness of these two kings clearly shows us some lines that as followers of Jesus, we don't need to cross. I want you to think about this in terms of like a tree and think about this as roots, okay? Meredith was raised on a cattle ranch in Florida growing up. So don't think beach, when you think of where she lived, think cow pastures, all right? And she lived on about 200 acres and had a lot of head of cattle and they had these huge oak trees like out in the pasture. It's like Spanish moss, like it's a beautiful, beautiful part of the country. And so when we were in college, their area got hit by like two or three hurricanes back to back to back and just kind of tore up that area of the country. And what you find here is that some of these huge oak trees that look so rooted, eventually what do they do? They toppled over and you can see their massive root system. And so today, like to this point, if you drive down to their ranch, you will see these massive trees toppled over and you will see this giant root system

that uprooted because of these hurricanes, all right? Here's what I tell you. Ambition is rooted in certain things. And like to play off the root systems, sometimes it's seen and sometimes it is unseen. So let me close by this. I'm gonna talk about two elements of satanic ambition and let's talk about two elements of sacred ambition. Like if you're sitting there, Nick, I wanna do this right. I wanna follow the line of where God wants me to be as a leader, how do I do that? All right, here's satanic ambition. Write this down. Satanic ambition is described like this. It is self-exaltation displayed through pride. Self-exaltation, I'm exalting myself through pride. If you look at both of these kings and you turn them on their side like those trees, what you will find in the root system is they are rooted in self-exaltation. They were prideful men who wanted to lift themselves up. Now, sometimes pride is something that is very visible for all to see. And sometimes pride is more down like in the root system and it's there, it's just more deceptive and more hidden. You say, well, what is at the root of that, of pride? It's a desire to exalt myself. By the way, this is very normal to every human heart that is listening to me,

including the guy who is preaching today. You like it when people encourage you. You like it when people lift you up. You like it when people say nice things about you. You like it when you get noticed or recognized for something, right? Like, don't leave me out hanging there. Like, we all have this within us. Anybody know like a one-up guy? Let me describe what a one-up guy is. This is the person in your life who no matter what you say. No matter what trip you've ever been on, they've been there, done that, got the pictures to prove it. Right, they just one-up you. Or this is the person who they cannot stand listening to anything about anybody else, they only care about themselves. They don't listen, but they interject about themselves at every possible moment. Now, don't we love these kind of people? That's a one-up person right there. I am a child of the 90s. If you were a child of the 90s, both campuses raise your hand. Praise God for the godly people in the room. Amen, amen. I was raised like in the heyday of Disney, okay? I wore out some VHS videotapes. And if you're like, well, VHS,

it's a different sermon all together. It's almost like a different sermon series all together now, okay? But one of the movies that I watched a ton as an elementary kid was Beauty and the Beast. Anybody like Beauty and the Beast? And you know, I've seen it on Broadway or something. Like I've seen the play, I've seen it numerous times on that VHS that I would just wear out, okay? And do you remember who the villain is in there? Guy named Gaston. This is a one-up guy right here, okay? Remember seeing this movie? And do you remember the lyrics of the famous song about Gaston? For some of you, it's been a while. Let me refresh your memory here. No one's slick as Gaston, no one's quick as Gaston. No one's neck as incredibly thick as Gaston. For there's no man in town half as manly, perfect or pure Paragon. You can ask any Tom, Dick, or Stanley, and they'll tell you whose team they prefer to be on. No one's been like Gaston, a kingpin like Gaston. No one's got a swell cleft in his chin like Gaston. As a specimen, yes, I'm intimidating. My, what a guy, Gaston. Okay, that was sort of weak. That was, okay.

Now, when you watch this movie years ago or watch the play, you're thinking, I can't stand this animated character. The dude's a cartoon and I wanna punch him. I wanna punch him right here, okay? How many, like, let's turn from cartoons to your life. How many of us, without even realizing it, are just like Gaston? Or let's move away from Disney altogether. How many of us are just like these wicked kings and we don't even realize it? Ruled by a deceptive pride that is in the root system of our lives that nobody else can see, but internally it is killing us. We long to be noticed, long to be recognized, and we get into a place we never expected to be. Listen to me, whenever we exalt ourselves, we are living in satanic ambition. We have bought into the lie that God is not in charge of elevation. I am in charge of elevation. Satanic ambition is also rooted in this. Write this second thing down. It's rooted in a selfish gain at the expense of others. A selfish gain at the expense of others. This is the king of Tyre. Through violence, he took what he wanted. And he said, well, thankfully I'm not a violent person. The thing about this is not in the realm of violence, but are you using people to make yourself look better? Is your family the ones who are having to pay?

Is there a trail of bodies in your career progression behind you? Said simple, satanic ambition, all about me to the neglect of other people. Is that real clear? All about me to the neglect of other people. Here's sacred ambition. Let's wrap up right now. Sacred ambition is the exact opposite. It is a God exaltation displayed through humility. Satanic ambition, all about me. Sacred ambition centered on the Lord. What is the mark of someone who is exalting God with their life? You know what it is? Humility. Humble in their interactions with others. Humble about their success. Humble in their relationship with the Lord. They constantly defer credit to the Lord and to others. They are not worried about lifting themselves other, but instead they just trust the Lord. Is this not the message of Jesus to his own disciples? Matthew 23, 12, whoever exalts himself, what will they be? They will be humbled and whoever humbles himself, they will be exalted. Can I give you a principle today that really is a safeguard upon your life? In every part of your career, in every part of your spiritual life,

in every season of your family, here's the safeguard. Get low. Just get low. Get low before the Lord in humility. Get low before others in humility. This is our sacred ambition. Look at a final thing here. Not only is it a God exaltation through humility, but it's also this, it's a kingdom gain for the sake of others. A kingdom gain. Any gain in your life is viewed through the lens of how it can positively affect the kingdom of God. You begin to think about your influence differently. You begin to think about your money and possessions differently. You begin to think about your entire life differently through the lens of man, how can I serve the Lord? Tim Keller, who has gone on to be with the Lord, he once said this, to be a Christian is to be called into a life of greatness, but not the greatness of fame, the greatness of service. Everybody who can hear my voice has a desire to be great in something. Great as a mom or dad, great as a business person, great as an athlete, great in some capacity. And the Bible has clearly defined what true greatness is. It's a life that's all about the Lord and all about other people. What is sacred ambition in my life? It's a life that gets low and says, Lord, all about you, all about others, all about you, all about others, not about me. And so as we move forward just to a moment to respond to the Lord, I just want to ask a question for your own heart today. Are you living in a satanic ambition or in a sacred ambition? I gotta be honest with you, a lot of the things we talked about today are in the roots. So you may look good on the outside, the tree of your life looks healthy, but down in the roots there's some deceptive things. Down in the roots there's some prideful things. Down in the roots there's some exalting things. And today is a day to get low before the Lord, just to get low. You know that there is power in posture. I think there's power in moments like this that your physical posture matches your spiritual posture. I think it's important in times where God's working in your life at home that your physical posture matches your spiritual posture internally. And here's what I would just say, there's something really powerful about this right here. I just want to ask you, when's the last

time you got low before the Lord? When's the last time that you can point out, I got on my knees in prayer next to my bed. I got on my knees in my office and closed the door and got low before the Lord. I, at the end of a service, I got low before the Lord and I came to the altar and just said, Lord, help me to be what this passage tells us we need to be. And so I just want to encourage you at both campuses today to use this moment and to use this next week to get low before the Lord. I'm on my knees. Here's what I can tell you. It's not really comfortable. Maybe you got better knees than I do, but my knees hurt right now. So there's an uncomfortable thing to it. There's also just like a humility thing to, when I, I'm vulnerable right now, like you could come over and push me over and I would fall right over, right? There's a vulnerability about getting low before the Lord. What we just saw in these two passages are two men who were not low before the Lord. Here's what they were. Anybody like tiptoes or tippy toes? This is what the kings of Babylon and Tyre were doing. I need everybody, everybody here needs to notice me. And maybe you're living more of a tiptoe life than a knees life. And I want to encourage you today is a day to get low before the Lord. Can we bow our head and close our eyes across these two rooms? Our staff is going to make their way to the front of each aisle right now. Maybe you're here and you're just ready to humble yourself before the Lord. Man, it may have nothing to do with anything we've talked about today, but man, you just want to humble yourself. I'm just going to invite you to just come to the altar, both here at Springdale and at Pinnacle Hills. Lord, I just want to get low before you. God knows what you're walking through in your life. Humbling ourselves before God is always the right decision. Would you do that today? Maybe you're here and you realize that you've been off in this area. You want to get right with the Lord. I'm just going to invite you to come. Maybe you're here. and you've been ruled by pride in certain areas of your life, I'm gonna invite you to come. Maybe you're here and you're exhausted from trying to prove yourself to other people and you try to live a tiptoe life

of just constantly exalting yourself. I'm just gonna invite you to come and get low before the Lord. Maybe you're here today and you've never met Christ. And when I talked about that earlier, you've lived an I kind of life. I don't need God or I think I'm good enough on my own or I think I'll just put it off a little bit longer. Today is the day to recognize what he has done for you. Would you come and make your way to one of our men or women of our staff today and just take their hand and just say, I need to give my life to Jesus. We'll lead you to faith in Christ today. I'm gonna pray and then we're gonna respond to the Lord together and it's just time to get low before the Lord, whatever that means. Lord, we submit to you, we surrender to you. Lord, I pray that we would run from pride, run from self-exaltation in our lives. And Lord, I pray that we just get low before you, whatever that looks like. We trust in you to do a powerful work of the Holy Spirit in our lives right now. And it's in Jesus' name that we pray, amen.