The Silent Killer - Herbert Cooper

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Hello, and welcome to People's Church Online. We're so glad that you chose to join us today. We are in our Back to the Movies series, and we wanted to let you know that due to copyright, we are unable to archive this series or to stream it live on YouTube or on Facebook. If you would like to join us for Back to the Movies today, you can go to peoples.church slash live, where it will be streaming live only at 830 a.m., 10 a.m., and 1130 a.m. Central Standard Time. Again, go to peoples.church slash live to join us for our Back to the Movies series. For our YouTube and Facebook family, we wanted to provide you with a special service as well. So if you prefer, you can stay right here for a powerful service with a special message on how to keep busyness from wrecking your life. Thanks again for joining us at People's Church. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Hello, and welcome to People's Church Online. We're so glad that you chose to join us today. We are in our Back to the Movies series, and we wanted to let you know that due to copyright, we are unable to archive this series or to stream it live on YouTube or on Facebook. If you would like to join us for Back to the Movies today, you can go to peoples.church slash live, where it will be streaming live only at 830 a.m., 10 a.m., and 1130 a.m. Central Standard Time. Go to peoples.church slash live to join us for our Back to the Movies series. For our YouTube and Facebook family, we wanted to provide you with a special service as well. So if you prefer, you can stay right here for a powerful service with a special message on how to keep busyness from wrecking your life. Thanks again for joining us at People's Church. Back to the Movies . Hello and welcome to people's church online. We're so glad that you chose to join us today. We are in our back to the movie series, and we wanted to let you know that due to copyright, we're unable to archive this series or to stream it live on YouTube or on Facebook. If you would like to join us for back to the movies today, you can go to peoples.church slash live, where it will be streaming live only at 830 a.m., 10 a.m. and 1130 a.m. Central Standard Time. Again, go to peoples.church slash live to join us for our back to the movie series. For our YouTube and Facebook family, we wanted to provide you with a special service as well. So if you prefer, you can stay right here for a powerful service with a special message on how to keep busyness from wrecking your life. Thanks again for joining us at people's church.

. . . . . . . . . Hello, and welcome to People's Church Online. We're so glad that you chose to join us today. We are in our Back to the Movies series, and we wanted to let you know that due to copyright, we are unable to archive this series or to stream it live on YouTube or on Facebook. If you would like to join us for Back to the Movies today, you can go to peoples.church slash live, where it will be streaming live only at 830 a.m., 10 a.m., and 1130 a.m. Central Standard Time. Again, go to peoples.church slash live to join us for our Back to the Movies series. For our YouTube and Facebook family, we wanted to provide you with a special service as well. So if you prefer, you can stay right here for a powerful service with a special message on how to keep busyness from wrecking your life. Thanks again for joining us at People's Church. Jesus came so lost people could be saved. This church is not a cruise ship where we lay by the pool. This is a battleship, and for 23 years, we've been on mission for Jesus. For 23 years, we've been worshiping Jesus, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, reaching lost people, baptizing people, helping people know God and grow in God, discover purpose and make a difference. We've been on the mission of Jesus. For one reason, to see more changed lives. Welcome to People's Church, everyone.

Hey, we invite you to stand to your feet. Come on, you can put your hands together. Let's worship the Lord together. Come on. Come on. Hey. I'm shaking off the heaviness. I'm dancing out of my regrets. I'm throwing caution to the wind. No, I am not ashamed to praise like this. Some would say it's foolishness, but I say it's worth the risk. I can't forget what Jesus did. No, I am not ashamed to praise like this. Where are those chains that once held me? I'm free. I'm free. I'm free. I'm free. My sin is gone. How can it be? I'm free. I'm free. I'm free. I'm free. And look at what the Lord has done. I'm never going back to the way I was. I sing. I dance. I believe. I'm free.

I'm free. Thank God. I'm free. Thank you, Lord. Come on, we sing. I found a friend who never quit. No one loves me as good as this. And I care what anyone says. I'll never be ashamed to praise like this. Where are those chains that once held me? I'm free. I'm free. I'm free. I'm free. My sin is gone. How can it be? I'm free. I'm free. I'm free. I'm free. And look at what the Lord has done. I'm never going back to the way I was. I sing. I dance. I believe. I'm free. I'm free. Thank God. I'm free. You took the cross and you broke your body.

You shed your blood, now the sinner can't sing. My debt is paid and my record is clean. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me. Come on, we sing. You took the cross and you broke your body. Come on, we sing. You shed your blood, now the sinner can't sing. My debt is paid and my record is clean. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me. You took the cross and you broke your body. You shed your blood, now the sinner can't sing. My debt is paid and my record is clean. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me Where are those chains that once held me? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free My sin is gone, how can it be? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free Look at what the Lord has done I'm never going back to the way I was I'll sing, I'll dance, yes I'll be I'm free, I'm free, thank God I'm free Hallelujah! Thank God! Thank you God! I raise a hallelujah In the presence of my enemies I raise a hallelujah Louder than the unbelief I raise a hallelujah My weapon is a melody I raise a hallelujah Heaven comes to fight for me I'm gonna sing In the middle of the storm Louder and louder You're gonna hear my praises roar I'm from the ashes Hope will arise Death is defeated The King is alive I raise a hallelujah With everything inside of me I raise a hallelujah I will watch the darkness flee

I raise a hallelujah In the middle of the mystery I raise a hallelujah Hopefully you lost your hold on me I'm gonna sing In the middle of the storm Louder and louder You're gonna hear my praises roar I'm from the ashes Hope will arise Death is defeated The King is alive Sing a little louder Sing a little louder Sing a little louder Sing a little louder Sing a little louder Sing a little louder Sing a little louder Sing a little louder Sing a little louder In the presence of my enemies Sing a little louder Louder than the unbelief Sing a little louder My weapon is a melody Sing a little louder Heaven comes to fight for me Sing a little louder I'm gonna sing In the middle of the storm Louder and louder You're gonna hear my praises roar I'm from the ashes Hope will arise Death is defeated The King is alive So all you have to do is step out of your seat, come forward, we'll pray with you. Let's believe God for a miracle. Amazing love that welcomes me. The kindness of mercy. That bought with blood wholeheartedly my sin undeserving. God, You're so good. God, You're so good. God, You're so good. You're so good to me. Behold the cross. Age to age. Hour by hour. The dead are raised. The sinners saved. The Lord is coming. You're not afraid. God, You're so good. God, You're so good. God, You're so good. You're so good to me. Oh God say, God, You're so good. Oh God, You're so good. God, You're so good. You're so good to me. I am blessed. I am called. I am healed. I am whole. I am saved in Jesus' name. Highly favored, anointed, filled with Your power for the glory of Jesus' name. I am blessed. I am called. I am healed. I am whole. I am saved in Jesus' name.

Highly favored, anointed, filled with Your power for the glory of Jesus' name. Say, God, You're so good. God, You're so good. God, You're so good. You're so good to me. Oh, You're so good, God. You're so good. May Your mercy endures forever. Oh, we love You, God. A thousand generations falling down in worship to sing the song of ages to the land. And all who've gone before us and all who will believe will sing the song of ages to the land. Come on, will you sing it out with us? Your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. Above all thrones and dominions, all powers and positions, Your name stands above them all. And the angels cry. Oh, we love You, God. All creation cries, holy You are lifted high, holy Holy forever Come on sing If you've been forgiven If you've been redeemed Sing the song forever to the land And if you walk in freedom And if you bear his name Sing the song forever to the land We'll sing the song forever and amen And the angels cry, holy All creation cries, holy You are lifted high, holy Holy forever Hear your people sing, holy To the king of kings, holy You will always be, holy Holy forever Your name is the highest Your name is the highest

Your name is the greatest Your name stands above them all Above all thrones and dominions All powers and positions Your name stands above them all Say your name, your name is the highest Your name is the greatest Your name stands above them all Above all thrones and dominions All powers and positions Your name stands above them all And the angels cry, holy All creation cries, holy You are lifted high, holy Holy forever Hear your people sing, holy To the king of kings, holy You will always be, holy Holy forever You will always be, holy Holy forever You will always be, holy Holy forever We worship you Lord We honor you God You're holy, you're the king of kings You're the Lord of Lords We worship you We give you all the praise We give you all the honor

We give all the glory that is due Your name today, Lord Speak to our hearts Touch us and change us in your presence We pray in Jesus' name, amen Come on, give them praise one more time, church family Come on, give them praise one more time, church family Come on, give them praise Come on, give them praise Are you ready for the word of God today, church? Oh, that sound like a few of you. I said, are you ready for the word of God today, church? We love the word of God around here today. If you're online right now, go ahead and click that share button. I really believe this message is going to help a lot of people. If you missed week one or one of the messages in this series, go on our YouTube page and watch the messages. They will help your life out. And the first stage of sabotaging your own success in life is hubris. It's a foolish amount of pride or confidence. The second is life mismanagement and bad habits. The third, we talked about indulgence and compromise. The fourth we talked about week one was isolation and secrecy. And the fifth was self deceived. And today I want to focus in on number one, and that is hubris, this foolish amount of pride or confidence because pride is the source of so much of our busyness and sabotaging our life, sabotaging our success always begins with

pride. Proverbs chapter 18 verse 12 says before, come on all of our locations. Everybody shout before that was weak. Come on. Everybody shout before such a key word before a downfall. The heart is haughty prideful. Good humility comes before honor before someone's life comes crashing down. There was pride in their heart. Proverbs 16 verse 18 says pride goes before. Can everybody say before? Yeah. Before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall, before someone sabotages their life with destruction, there's always pride in their heart. You see sin first originated in heaven. When the devil became full of pride, he wanted to be like God. He, he wanted to be God. Isaiah talks about this in chapter 14 and verse 12. It says how you have fallen from heaven. Morningstar son of the dawn, you have been cast down to the earth. You who wants a laid low the nations, you said in your heart, I will ascend to the heavens. I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit enthroned on the Mount of assembly on the utmost heights of the Mount of Zaphin. I will ascend above the top of the clouds. I will make myself like the most high pride.

Satan's heart became full of pride and then came his downfall. Then came his destruction. He used to be a worship leader in heaven. He used to be in the presence of God every day, but the pride in his heart caused him to sabotage his own success. It was pride that brought sin into the earth. You see the devil tempted Eve with the same prideful sin that he had. Let me take you back to Genesis one verse, chapter three, verse five. This is when Satan was talking to Eve. He said, for God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil. And Eve disobeyed God's instruction in the garden of Eve because of her desire to be like God. Her, her, her, her desire for, for, for this, this pride kind of, kind of just crept into her heart and said, you know what? I think I want to be like God and because of pride, see sabotaged her own success and so many consequences followed that decision. And the rugged reality is that pride, narcissism, conceit, vanity, egotism, self importance continues as mankind's most prevalent and foundational sin. And here's the problem. Pride is so dangerous. I've titled today's message, the silent killer because pride is hard to detect. Pride is hard to see in your own life. Pride is so deceptive and blinding. Jeremiah says it like this in Jeremiah 49 and verse 16 he says, the terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you. pride will deceive you it it will blind you you don't see clearly when you're full of pride you just don't see you think you're seeing clearly but but you don't see clearly and this is this i really understand this because i have to wear contacts or glasses to see good i got contacts

in right now so i can see and whenever i go to the the eye doctor i i don't mind going there's one thing i don't like about the eye doctor and you sit down and they and you put your chin and in the huh that tonometer the tonometer and and open your eye big again i want to know sometimes like is this it they say no we're just measuring your eye but come on you know how that puff you know i i don't like that and and then you know you stand and you know it behind the line and they say read as far as you can read read the lowest line hey that's all i got brother can't see no boy i've memorized that when i got behind the line you know what i'm saying i can't see and then you get in the machine you get you get it down and they the eye doctor comes in and comes to see you and then mr cooper can't see that no i can't see is that better is this better that one because the other one i can't see at all this better that better this better that better this better that better this better that better this better that better it's better that better it's better hey read the lowest line i got it now brother z b d k f g wow i can see it's amazing the power of the lenses to help you see clearly and you and i need the power of the holy spirit so that we can see clearly we need his power to to remove pride so we can so we can get in life and we can see clearly in life the power of the holy spirit has to remove pride out of our lives and we all struggle with pride if you don't recognize pride in your life it's because you have pride in your life it's it's hidden because pride is blinding it's deceptive when you don't recognize it you can't deal with it and understand hidden pride is a root cause of busyness i've read several books to prepare for this series and and in this book called crazy busy author kevin d young writes our understanding of busy must start with the one sin that begets so many of our other sins pride more of it is at work in our hearts than we know and more of it is pulsing through our busyness than we realize pride is a villain with a thousand faces and it's so true that pride has a thousand faces and i'm not going to talk about the thousand faces of pride but i do want to give you some major faces of pride from the book crazy busy and and to illustrate i've got some sunglasses because you know have you ever been in a room and it's kind of dark but there's some brother who thinks he's gq like my brother you can't see you are not as cool as you think you are up in here with them dark sunglasses in this dark room and that's what it's like with pride it's pride and the first face of pride that you can't see clearly is the pride of people policing

you see people pleasing is trying to do too many things because we say yes to too many people you you say yes to all of these people because you fear disapproval and you want them to like you and and people pleasing understand this you're always trying to meet everybody expectations you're always trying to do what everybody wants you to do because this fear of people and you find yourself busy you find yourself overwhelmed i like what lecrae said lecrae said if you live for people's acceptance you will die from their rejection here's how the bible says it in galatians chapter 1 verse verse 10 obviously i'm not trying to win the approval of people but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I will not be Christ's servant. If pleasing people is your goal, you're not serving Christ. You're serving people and you're wearing yourself out. The second face of pride, I got another pair of sunglasses that will cause you not to see clearly, is the pride of pats on the back. This is probably the most obvious kind of pride. It's living for the praise and the applause of people. It's kind of like people pleasing, but less motivated by fear of what people will think about you and more motivated about getting the credit, getting the glory, getting the pat on the back. This kind of pride is always busy seeking after affirmation of people, seeking the validation of people, seeking the praise of people, and people wear themselves out seeking pats on the back. Proverbs says in Proverbs 25 and verse 27, it's not good to eat too much honey and it's not good to seek honors for yourself. It's not good. It's not good to seek honor. It's not good to seek those pats on the back. The third face of pride that will blind you is the pride of prestige. After two weeks of pre-K, Linda's little five-year-old grandson came home with a mighty big compliment. And little Nick told his grandmother that he was the smartest kid in the entire class. And with a deep sense of pride, Linda, the grandmother, asked him if that was what his teacher had said to him. Nick replied, no ma'am, I had to tell her. Studies show that most people think they're performing at a high level. Studies consistently show that almost all students rate themselves above average. Almost all employees consider themselves in the top tier. Almost all pastors think they are strong preachers. Almost all leaders think they are better leaders than they really are. It's our prideful tendency to think so highly of ourselves. We tend to overestimate our importance. We tend to think more highly of ourselves and think we're so amazing and so important and we view it from our own eyes. And maybe you're struggling with that

type of pride today. I mean, do you ever find yourself saying things like, if I want to get anything done right, I have to do it myself. If they would have just listened to me, they wouldn't be in this mess. Everybody else is wrong. My perspective is right. If I were them, I would have. If I was running this place, it would be so much better. If I was the boss, this would have turned out so much better. If I was preaching today, hold up. This is my sermon. Hold up today. Proverbs 26 verse 12 says this, do you see a person wise in their own eyes? This scripture is so convicting. Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them. T.S. Eliot said most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important. I want to be important. I want to be indispensable. And people wear themselves out. The fifth face of pride is the pride of performance. This person's pride is driven by performance. Their pride for performance drives them to becoming a workaholic. They live to perform. They will work and sacrifice their own family, sacrifice their marriage, sacrifice their children. They'll even sacrifice their faith in God for their performance. I have to work all of these hours so I'll be important. I have to get this job done so I will feel validated and important. And they're just driven by the pride of performance. And then there's the pride of possessions. It'll blind you. It'll blind you. It's this person's pride that the scripture talks about in Proverbs 16 in verse 19. It says better to live humbly with the poor than to share plunder with the proud. Because when the pride of possessions begins to drive people, their life becomes consumed with money. It becomes consumed. with possessions. They are just busy chasing after more, more, more. Chasing after more money. I gotta work. I gotta get more money. I gotta get more stuff. I gotta get more possessions. And they chase after all these things and neglect what really matters most in life. They're consumed with more. And let me say this to you. It's not a bad desire to want a better car or a new couch or a new home or nice clothes. The problem comes when people take pride in their stuff and it drives them to an unhealthy life. And it's hard to see that in yourself. Here's a sixth face of pride. It's the pride of proving myself. And let me say this. God isn't against ambition. The right kind of ambition for God's glory can inspire us to do great things for the kingdom of God. But ambition

birthed out of pride drives us to prove ourselves. You just never rest when you're just always trying to prove yourself. Some of you are so busy because you're still trying to prove yourself to a parent and you're 40 years old. So some of you are trying to prove yourself to an old boss and you haven't worked there for 10 years. Some of you are still trying to prove yourself to high school classmates and you graduated when MC Hammer was at the top of the music charts. Too legit. Too legit to quit. Hey, hey. You ought to stop it. Huh? Some of you are trying to prove yourself to an old spouse and you've been divorced 20 years and you're wearing yourself out. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 23 says, work willingly at whatever you do as though you're working for, come on, every location working for who? As though you're working for the Lord rather than for people. You don't need to prove yourself to anybody. You're working for the Lord, not for people. You're working for the Lord. The seventh face of pride is the pride of pity. And some people's pride, it manifests with, with pity. They like people to feel sorry for them. They always have the poor old me's. It reminds me of Elijah in first Kings chapter 18 verse 22. It says, then Elijah said to them, he said to the people, notice what he says, I am the only one of the Lord's prophets left. But bell has 450 prophets. He didn't even just complain to the people. He also said the same thing to God. First Kings chapter 19 verse 10. He replied, I have been very zealous for the Lord. Almighty for the God, for the Lord. God almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left and now they're trying to kill me too. And Elijah, he just had this poor old me is just pride. Everybody feels sorry for me because I'm the only one who's really serving the Lord. Come on. Do you struggle with this? I'm the only one. I'm the only one working hard. My marriage is the only one. My life is the only one. My schedule is the only one. My kids are the only one. My situation is the only one. Nobody has it as bad as me. My problem. I'm telling you, I'm the only one going through this. Nobody else has the schedule I have. Nobody else has the financial situation I have. I'm the

only one. And you often see people like this. They post passive aggressive hashtags on their social media. They're easy to point out on social media because they post stuff like this. Hashtag work all day, still broke. Hashtag work, work, work, work. Hashtag no one gets it. I'm the only one. And then, and then there's the, the, the pride of poor planning, the pride of poor planning and prideful people can struggle with planning out their schedule because they think I can be successful without a plan. I can just fly by the seat of my pants. But notice what the Bible says in Psalm chapter 20, verse four, may he grant your heart's desires and make all your plans succeed. If you're trying to break free from busyness and, and you desire to be more successful, you need a plan. When you don't have a plan, you don't control your days. Your days control you. You find yourself always reacting instead of leading your own life saying that's how some people live life. Dude is always reacting. always reacting because they don't have a plan and tomorrow you don't have a plan and you're gonna wake up tomorrow and you're gonna react To your Monday because you don't have a plan for your Monday and and you're gonna get yourself overwhelmed because you're gonna get your schedule too busy your week too busy because you don't have a Plan and a lack of planning is wearing some of you out Just look at your neighbor and say whoo, I hope you don't have no more of them peas boys Yeah, brother. Hey brothers. Whoo. It's it's been enough for one service Let me give you let me give you a few more a few more a few more I Want to help you today? I'm your friend Let me give you another one That's the hidden pride another face of pride is the pride of power the pride of power The pride of power will drive you to control everything you will try to control every body around you You're trying to control your kids, and they're 35 You're trying to control your spouse trying to control your girlfriend trying to control your boyfriend trying to control your boss Control the employees trying to control the dog trying to control the cat trying to control the economy trying to control the gas prices Trying to control show the stock market stop it You're not God, and you're wearing yourself out because of the pride of power, and then there's the pride of

perfectionism Perfectionism says I can't let up Because I can't make a mistake Mistake perfectionism. I can't let up because things are never good enough The house is never clean enough the kids are never good enough the grass never looks good enough The garage is never tidy enough the work project is never good enough the homework assignment is never good enough You're always so busy because of the pride of Perfectionism and then there, and then there's this last one number 11 It's the pride of Posting Some of you are wearing yourself out on social media I Was flying just a little while ago going to speak at an engagement and on the plane and We were getting on the plane And and there was a lady there, and she was a seat in front of me in the aisle And I sit on the aisle on this side. She was on the aisle over here, and and and man She just kept me cracking up. She's taking she's gonna get her I She finally got her picture right and then I was watching her is this fun She's working. She was just working that filter just filter getting that filter right getting that filter She was just working that filter. Just mmm like mmm. Just working at the Filter and I was I was cracking up. I almost took a picture of her and posted her on my social media But I thought she might go to People's Church. I better I better I Better not do it There can be pride behind Posting just ask yourself. Why am I posting? Ask yourself. Why am I always on social media? Have you ever seen somebody that they always want to one-up somebody? You know somebody else in their timeline post about their job Mmm, and they so they have to post about theirs go you know anybody like that huh somebody else post something successful about their kids Let me look at look at my little one

The pride of posting can wear you out Here's what I want to do. Here's what I want to do Pride can be so blinding leads Us down a path of busyness and destruction It's a root cause of busyness and what I want to do is give you three principles to penetrate the power of pride Three principles to penetrate the power of pride we all deal with it Let's get some principles here to just we can get victory over pride in our lives number one is this humble yourself before God We're gonna talk about that humbling yourself before the Lord begins with fearing the Lord Proverbs chapter number 8 in verse 13 says all who fear the Lord will hate evil Therefore I hate pride and arrogance corruption and perverse speech when we fear the Lord We hate evil we hate the pride in our own life So catch this church the more you fear the Lord the more you will hate the pride in Your own life The fear of the Lord will help you begin to recognize all of the faces of pride It'll start helping you to recognize the pride because listen God will show you which of the eleven faces of pride You're dealing with Because God doesn't want pride to lead to destruction he doesn't want your life blinded, busy, and broken. So you gotta recognize the faces of pride in your own life and begin to hate the pride in your life. And church, if you know the consequences of pride, it can help you recognize the 11 faces of pride in your life, the consequences of pride. Pastor, what are some of the consequences of pride? I don't have time to teach just an exhaustive list, but let me share some with you that will help you recognize pride in your life. Proverbs 16, verse five. The Lord detest all the proud of heart.

Wow, that's strong right there. The Lord detest the proud of heart. Be sure of this, they will not go unpunished. There are always consequences to a heart that's full of pride. What are some of the consequences? Well, Proverbs 11, verse two says, when pride comes, then comes shame. Some translations say disgrace. You will experience shame in your life, you will experience disgrace in your life when you're full of pride. Another consequence, Proverbs 29, verse 23. Pride ends in humiliation. Pride will bring humiliation in your life. Prideful people, they want to be brought high, but instead they're brought low. Humiliation. Proverbs 13, verse 10. Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. Pride brings strife and tension to our relationships. People that are full of pride, they always have strife in their marriage and strife in their dating and strife with their coworkers and strife with their boss and strife with their parents. Their relationships are characterized with just strife and tension. It's a consequence. Proverbs chapter 18, verse 12 says,

before destruction, the heart of a man is haughty. So pride will bring destruction to our lives. Notice another consequence, James chapter four, verse six, but he gives us more grace. That is why scripture says God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble. God opposes the proud. God opposes or resists the proud. And church, please hear your pastor. Some of you are literally experiencing God's resistance instead of his assistance because pride brings God's resistance. He opposes the proud. First Peter says the same thing in chapter five, verse five. God opposes the proud. When your heart is full of pride, you're fighting against God. You're living with God's resistance instead of his assistance. And I wanna get you from resistance to assistance. I want you to begin to experience the benefits of humility. Let me quickly, let's realize the benefits of humility. Number two, realize the benefits of humility. First of all, humble yourself before God. You gotta recognize the consequences of humility, but then you need to realize the benefits of humbling yourself before the Lord. When we humble ourselves before God, we receive blessing after blessing.

Let me show you, James chapter four, verse six, but he gives us more grace. Anybody need more grace? Come on, I want more of God's grace, more of his favor, more grace, more grace, but he gives us more grace. That is why scripture says God opposes the proud, but notice this, shows favor to the humble. When you humble yourself, you will start receiving God's assistance instead of his resistance. God's favor, God's touch, God's hand on your life, on your situation. Proverbs chapter 15, verse 33, gives us another benefit of humility. The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom. And before honor is humility. Humility brings honor. Humility brings God's favor upon your life and situation. God will give you favor. God will give you honor with him, and he'll give you a favor and honor with people if you humble yourself. You don't have to fight for favor. You get favor with God and with people by humbling yourself before the Lord. Proverbs chapter 11, verse two says, when pride comes in comes shame, but notice this, but with the humble is wisdom. So when you humble yourself, God will give you wisdom. Wisdom on how to get out of busyness,

wisdom on how to lead your life better, wisdom on how to overcome pride, wisdom on how to get healthy, but wisdom starts with fearing the Lord. There are benefits to humility. First Peter chapter five, verse six says, so humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time, he will lift you up in honor. God lifts up people who humble themselves. Prideful people are always trying to lift themselves up. And I'm telling you, it's dangerous to lift yourself up because if you lift yourself up. up to a place you have to now keep yourself there you want god to lift you up let god lift you out of business god lift you up out of unhealth god lift you out of shame god lift you out of the mess luke chapter 14 verse 11 for those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted and so many people are trying to exalt themselves trying to elevate themselves but the key to being elevated is not to fight to be elevated not to strive to be elevated the key to elevation is to humble yourself before the lord and then god will exalt you and i just want you to know god doesn't need your help god knows how to exalt people he does a good job at it it's a benefit of humbling yourself before the lord isaiah 66 verse 2 the middle of that verse says this i will bless those who have who have a humble and contrite hearts who tremble at my word god blesses those who humble themselves and church one of the key signs you are humbling yourself before god is number three you humble yourself before people whoo pastor you lost me there it's quiet in this church today whoo i don't know about that one pastor i like that let me let me teach you god's word first peter chapter 5 verse 5 in the same way you who are younger submit yourself to your elders all you ought to circle that word in your bible all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because notice god opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble so if you don't humble yourself before people you aren't really humbling yourself before god you will experience god's resistance instead of his assistance now let me give you some ways to identify if you're

humbling yourself before before people here's some key indicators just jot these down real quick they won't pop up on the screen if you can't write them down quick enough go back and watch the message again so here's some key ways to identify if you're humbling yourself before number one ask the people around you how you're doing with pride just ask how am i doing am i prideful are you seeing pride in my life here's a second one give people permission to point out pride in your life most prideful people will not allow people to speak to their pride they're defensive they have false humility they're professional excuse makers here's a third one be accountable to people i'm talking about really accountable like invite people to hold you accountable not defensiveness not not giving a bunch of excuses but allow them to hold you accountable here's the fourth one help other people win you see prideful people always are trying to make themselves win but humble humility is i want to help you win i want to add value to your life here's the fifth one praise others instead of trying to get pat on the past on the back giveaway compliments gifts give people the credit for the project praise others here's the sixth one forgive others humble people forgive other people here's a seventh one admit you're wrong some people can go their entire life without ever saying i was i'm wrong just admit you're wrong here's an eighth one say you're sorry often just say i'm sorry i shouldn't i'm sorry here's a ninth one follow leadership do what leadership asks of you maybe it's your boss or your teacher or or parent or or a leader but but follow leadership here's a tenth one serve others serve others here's church this is so key i want to help you walk in humility humble people put on an apron and they're all about serving others so i'm here to serve you i want to i want to serve you and church church church church church please i want i want you to walk in humility so that god will favor you and lift you up church church no matter the position you get in life keep your apron on no matter how much money that you make in life keep your apron on no matter the connections you have in life keep your apron on you were called to be servants yeah i'm a dad but i'm a servant dad i'm a husband i'm a servant husband i'm a pastor but i'm a servant pastor i'm a leader but i'm a servant leader you're a businesswoman businessman but you're a business leader come on you're an employee but you're you're you're a servant employee come on we're servants jesus said The greatest in the kingdom of God is a servant.

But in our culture today, we got too many people carrying a menu instead of an apron. And I got a menu in my hand, and you know, people that got menus, they like to go around telling everybody else what to do. Let me place my order. What took you so long to get here? Help me out. Do you say, no, no, if you try to live by the menu, you won't experience my elevating power. It's putting on your apron and serving others. That's why serving on the dream team, being a small group leader is so important. Here's why, because you're systematizing your humility. Like I just weekly serving the kids, I serve as a greeter, why? Because I'm serving people, I'm humbling myself. I'm just going to keep my apron on. It's a way that I humble myself so that God can lift me up. There's 11 faces of pride, and we've got to deal with our pride by humbling ourself before God, by recognizing the benefits of humility, and by serving others. We're an apron church, not a menu church. Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for the power of your word. I thank you for penetrating pride in all of our hearts. We all struggle with it, we all deal with it.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for dealing with our pride today. Have your way in our hearts in Jesus' name. As eyes are closed, heads are bowed, just no moving around. And today you're here, and you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And you know, pride is the root of the majority of our sin. And you might be struggling with some kind of lying or cheating or lust or envy or pride, so many things, but it comes from the root of pride. And today is your moment to humble yourself before God. Say, God, I want to serve you. I want to give you my life. God, today I want to quit going my way, I want to go your way. Today, if that's you, you want to give your life to Jesus Christ, or you want to recommit your life to the Lord, today is the day of salvation, the scripture says. Today is the day to be made right with God. Today, there are some of you here today, you say, Pastor, I don't want to spend eternity away from God's presence, I want to be in his presence. And if that's you, as I count to three, you want your sins to be made forgiven, you want to experience more grace in your life, would you lift your hand high? And God wants to forgive you of all of your sins today in every location, one, two, three.

Just shoot your hand in the air and say, Pastor, that's me. Thank you so much. See your hand, see your hand there. Thank you so much. Come on, Midwest City, Northwest is lifted high. Mabel Bassett is lifted high. Thank you, I see your hand there. Come on, so many hands are going up. Come on, we're going to get God's assistance today. Hands are going up, that's it. That's it, online, just click the raise your hand button, all right? That's me, that's me, that's me online. Come on, every hand that's lifted, would you pray this prayer with me? Heavenly Father, I turn from my sin, I turn from my pride, and I turn my life over to Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for forgiving me of my sins, for cleansing me. Thank you, Jesus, for taking control of my life. I will serve you the rest of my life. Jesus, name I pray. No matter who you are, where you're from, we're family around here at People's Church, right in the chat line, we're family. Come on, who are we, church? Would you shout it with me? We're family! God bless you, People's Church. ♪ Your name is the highest ♪

♪ Your name is the greatest ♪ ♪ Your name stands above them all ♪ Yeah, church, come on. ♪ Above all thrones and dominions, all powers and positions ♪ ♪ Your name stands above them all, and the angels cry, holy ♪ ♪ All creation cries, holy, you are lifted high, holy, holy forever ♪ ♪ Oh yeah, come on sing it ♪