Luke chapter 14, verse 7. And he put forth a parable to
those which were bidden when he marked, how they chose out
the chief rooms. The Lord observed this conduct,
jockeying for the position of the most honor. He called it,
in verse 11, exalting yourself. Look in verse 11 of this text. For whosoever exalts himself
shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Now that could very well be called
the unalterable law of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever exalts himself,
write it down, God will abase him. and whosoever humbles himself,
that person shall be exalted. Humility abases itself. It takes the lowest seat. Pride
exalts itself. It takes the highest seat. Now
he says in verse 8 to these people who he watched jockeying for
position, for the more honorable positions. This was not talking
about different rooms. It was talking about a table
and the place of honor was in the middle where the bride and
groom were and on down. And some people were coming up
and wanting to get at the very right by the bride and groom. So he says in verse 8, this is
a scenario that I would want to avoid. He says in verse eight,
when thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in
the highest room, lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden
of him, and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee,
give this man place. and thou begin with shame to
take the lowest room." Well, wouldn't that be embarrassing?
I mean, I wouldn't want to be in that position to have to,
oh, you go down there, so let this guy up here. I'd just feel
real awkward with that, and I would be embarrassed, and the Lord
knew that. You, with shame, begin to take the lowest room. He says, but, verse 10, when
thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room, the last
seat. the place of the least honor,
the place of no honor. He says, you take the lowest
seat. And when he that bade thee cometh,
he may say unto thee, friend, go up higher. Then thou shalt
have worship in the presence of them that said it meet with
thee. You'll feel important. That's about what that means.
You'll feel important. Somebody says, well, we ought not be that
way. I know, but that's the way we are. If I get called up to
a higher room, I'll feel important. You know, I'll enjoy that. I'll
enjoy people seeing it. And the Lord knows that. He knows
how vain we are. And he said that is what will
take place. Verse 11, for whosoever exalts
himself shall be abased and he that humbles himself shall be
exalted. Now that's the law, the unalterable
law of the kingdom of heaven. You can just write this down.
This is the way it is. Now pride is what causes a man
to exalt himself and pride is the child of ignorance. Ignorance
of the character of God. Ignorance of my own character. Self-deception. Pride. Pride. That's what exalts itself.
Pride. It seeks to take the highest
seat. Pride is a groundless thing. Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter
4 verse 7, who makes you to differ from another? And what do you have that you
didn't receive? In things earthly, why were you
placed in the place you were placed? God put you there. What
intelligence you had, He gave you. The position you have, He
gave you. You can't really glory in it,
most especially in salvation. You don't have anything to glory
in. Who made you to differ from somebody else? If you are saved,
it's because God elected you. He chose you. It's because Christ
paid for your sins. It's because God the Holy Spirit
gave you life. Who made you to differ from another?
God did. What do you have that you didn't
receive? Nothing. And Paul asked this question,
now if you received it, why do you glory? As if you didn't receive
it. As if it was a payment coming
to you, rather than that which was freely given to you of God. You see, there is no ground for
pride. Pride is a brainless thing. It
has no rewards. It makes God resist you. God
resists the proud, the scripture says. And he gives grace to the
humble. It's what goes before destruction.
Pride goeth before destruction. And a haughty spirit before the
fall. God hates pride. Six things doth
God hate. Yea, seven are an abomination
to him. And the first thing he mentions
is a proud look. Haughty eyes. Pride makes an
individual ugly. How many times has someone who
might have appeared in some ways attractive to you, when you find
out how proud and arrogant and cocksure they are, they look
ugly to you? They no longer look beautiful. Pride is contrary
to love. You know, when Paul is describing
love in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, he says, charity vaunteth
not itself. It doesn't push itself forward. It's not puffed up with pride. Charity takes the lowest seat
in the house. And the wise man said, by pride
only cometh contention. It's the disturber of peace and
unity. It keeps things stirred up. It
creates drama. That's what pride does. And pride
was behind the fall of Adam. Pride was behind the fall of
Satan. You think about this. Adam wanted God's position. Satan
said, you'll be his God. You'll know good and evil. You'll
be on the same plane as him. What pride that made him take
that bait. What about Satan? He said, I'll
exalt my throne above the stars of the most high. Pride led to
the fall of Satan and Adam, and it's pride that prevents a man
from believing. Right now, if you don't believe
the gospel, you know why? Because you're too proud to. It's too
easy. Nothing for you to do. It didn't
give you anything to do. You don't like that. If you don't
believe, the reason you don't believe right now, it's because
of the pride of your heart. It's pride that makes a man reject
the way of salvation by grace. through faith. That not being
of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works. Only pride
causes someone to reject the grace of God. What happened to
Nebuchadnezzar when his heart was lifted up with pride? Would
you turn with me for a moment to Daniel chapter 4? I love this
passage of scripture. This is Daniel interpreting that
dream Nebuchadnezzar had in Daniel chapter 4. Daniel is right after
Ezekiel, beginning in verse 24. He says, This is the interpretation,
O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come
upon my lord the king. Here's what's going to happen
to you. They shall drive thee from men, And thy dwelling shall
be with beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat
grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven.
And seven times, seven years shall pass over thee, till thou
knowest that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth
it to whomsoever he will." Now, this man was very proud of his
position. He looked at all the things that I've done. Daniel
says, you're in trouble. God's going to turn you into
a beast. You're going to spend seven years living out in the
woods with no This is going to happen to you. Now you think
about that. Verse 26. And whereas they commanded to leave the stump
of the tree roots, thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee after
that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. This has
absolutely nothing to do with you and your pride. You're going
to find out that I'm the one in control. The heavens rule.
Not you, Nebuchadnezzar. You're just a pawn in my hand.
Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee. Break
off thy sins by righteousness and thy iniquities by showing
mercy to the poor. It may be a lengthening of thy
tranquility. All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end
of the 12 months, after he had heard this from Daniel, he walked
in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake and
said, is not this great Babylon that I built for the house of
the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honor of my
majesty? While the word was in the king's
mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar,
to thee it's spoken. The kingdom is departed from
thee, and they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall
be with the beasts of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass
as oxen, and seven years shall pass over thee, until thou know
that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth
it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled
upon Nebuchadnezzar. And he was driven from men, and
did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of
heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagle's feathers and his
nails like birdclaws. And at the end of the days, I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven. After seven
years as a madman, he went from the most powerful man in the
world to a madman. And he said, mine understanding
returned unto me. And I blessed the most high,
and I praised and honored him that liveth forever and ever,
whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is
from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. And none can stay his hand or say unto him, what
doest thou? At the same time, my reason returned
unto me. And for the glory of my kingdom.
My honor and brightness returned to me. My counselors and my Lord
sought unto me. I was established in my kingdom
and excellent majesty was added to me. Now I'm an Abba Knezir,
praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works
are truth and his ways judgment and those that walk in pride.
He is able to abase. Now if I'm walking in pride, He's able to abase me, and it
won't be difficult for Him to do that. I think of Uzziah. The scripture says, when his
heart was strong, you can read this in 2 Chronicles 26, when
his heart was strong, he transgressed the commandment of the Lord,
and he thought, I can go in and offer up incense. Only the priest could offer incense,
but he presumed, I'm good enough to do it. His heart was lifted
up with pride, and God turned him instantly into a leper. What
happened to Nadab and Abihu when they presumed that the fire off
the altar was not necessary? I can use some other kind of
fire. Maybe they just didn't want to go over to the altar to get
it, the one where the sacrifice was made. They offered up incense
with a strange fire that didn't come from the altar. What happened?
in their presumption, in their pride, thinking, as long as there's
fire, what difference does it make? My heart's right. I'm sincere
about this. Fire came down from heaven and
consumed both of them. You wouldn't have even seen them
there. What about when the sons of Korah said to Moses, we're
as holy as you. We can offer up incense as well. You're not the only one God uses.
And God opened up the ground and swallowed them up and sent
them to hell with their shoes on. What about when Abiram and,
is that her name? No, not Abiram, Miriam. Aaron
and Miriam said to Moses, you think you're the only one the
Lord speaks through? Well, we're just as holy as you are. Well,
Moses knew that. Moses was the meekest man on
the earth, the scripture says, but they were just lording it
over him. You think you take too much on yourself. You think
we're just as holy as you. God turned Miriam into a leper
just like that. Scripture says he heard. Now, in every one of
these instances that I gave, it's pride going before destruction,
isn't it? And a haughty spirit before the
fall. Now, humility is the child of
knowledge. Pride is the child of ignorance.
It's plum dumb. It's groundless. There's no reason
for it. But humility is the child of
knowledge, the knowledge of God and the knowledge of self. You
can't know the Lord in his holiness and in his majesty and see yourself
as anything but a sinner. Small, not large, small. You believe that you belong in
the lowest seat if you really see who the Lord is. If you take
the lowest seat, it's not an act of condescension to you.
You think that's where you belong. You don't think, well, I'm going
to humble myself. I'm going to take the lowest seat. Look what
I'm doing. No, not like that. You know that's where you belong,
in the very lowest seat. You see, I said this this morning,
the only two people that know me, really, Lynn thinks she knows
me, and you know me better than anybody else. You can be pretty
predictable. As far as predictable, I realize
that. It's irritating when she reads my mind. You know, she
gets mad at me for something I'm thinking. I didn't say it,
but she's mad at me, and she knows what I was thinking. So
she does know me, but she doesn't know me all together. No, she
doesn't, and I'm glad. The only one who really knows
me is me and the Lord. And I know this, the only proper
place for me is the lowest seat. I know that. The only proper
place for me is the lowest seat. Now, I may look to somebody else
like I ought to be either in the middle or maybe up front,
but I know better. The only proper place for me
is the lowest seat. And if I take the lowest seat,
it's no act of condescension. Humility is so beautiful. The Lord Jesus Christ is humble. He's meek and he's lowly, even
right now, he's the son of God. He's the creator of the universe.
He's all powerful and he's humble. Isn't that glorious? What a glorious
Redeemer our Redeemer is. This is so beautiful that our
Lord, right now, as He sits at the right hand of the Father,
ruling and reigning, He does so in humility. That speaks of the beauty of
humility. And you know, everyone loves a truly humble person.
God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. And
don't you love humble people, people who are genuinely humble.
That's the type of person you want to be around. You don't
want to be around some kind of proud, arrogant jerk. You want to be
around the meek and the lowly, people who truly are humble.
It's so beautiful. Psalm 138, 6 says, God hath respect
to the lowly. That's who he respects, the lowly. As somebody once said, humility
is a just estimate of yourself. And I think that's as good a
definition as I've ever heard. Humility is a just estimate of
yourself. When you take the lowest room,
you do so because you really know that's where you belong.
It's a just estimate of yourself. Now, Andy read this back in the
back. He read out of Acts chapter 20.
But in that passage of scripture where Paul is giving a summary
of the ministry and it's a beautiful passage of scripture. He says,
you know what manner of man I was among you at all times. The first
thing he said is serving the Lord with all humility of mind. That's a remarkable statement,
isn't it? And it had to be under inspiration, because if I came
up to you, or if you came up to me and said, you know, I serve
the Lord with all humility of mind, I think you're as proud
as a devil saying something like that. I mean, that's almost arrogant. Look how humble I am. That's
ridiculous. I remember reading Spurgeon talking
about the man, the man said to his wife, behold, I've overcome
my pride. Good, good. But Paul serves this under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So he served the Lord with all
humility of mind. He took the lowest seat. That is where he knew he belonged. Now Paul had a just estimate
of himself. probably more so than any other
man to ever live. He said, I am what I am by the
grace of God. I'm a sinner. And the only way
I know that is because of God's grace. Do you know, if you know
that you're a sinner before God, that you can't produce righteousness,
you're nothing but sin before God in and of yourself. It's
the grace of God that's taught you that. Paul knew he was a
saved sinner. and that was by the grace of
God. Paul knew he was an apostle, and that was by the grace of
God. He knew the grace of God put him in that place. Paul called
himself the least of the apostles. Now, I believe he was the greatest,
but he called himself the least of the apostles. And then when
he grew in grace some more, he called himself less than the
least of all the saints. Paul would have looked at you
and said, I'm lower than you. I belong in the lowest seat,
not you. And then when he grew some more, he called himself
the very chief of sinners, the worst man to ever live. Now this wasn't phony with him.
It's what he really believed about himself. This man, Paul
the Apostle, made this statement, and this is where true humility
is seen. He said, God forbid, Galatians
6.14, God forbid that I should glory, that I should have confidence
in, that I should rejoice in. Now, Paul was an apostle. Paul
had been taken up into the third heaven. taught the gospel by
Christ. He said, I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached to me was not after a man, for
I neither received it of a man, neither was I taught it, but
by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now, Paul was used to found all
these churches, and what does he say about all that? God forbid, perish the thought
that I should glory in anything but the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ, who was on that cross and what he accomplished on that
cross. That's all I glory in. That's all I have confidence
in. That's all I rejoice in. Now that's humility. That's what
it is. You really believe that Christ
is all when you're humble. It's easy for Christ to be all
when you're nothing. It's only when you're something
that that issue gets clouded. You know, I love that statement,
I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all. But Jesus Christ is my
all in all. I love that, don't you? I love
the simplicity of it, the reality of it, the truthfulness of it. There are such advantages to
humility. Friend, go up higher. That's what happens when you
take the lowest seat. Friend, go up higher. God gives grace
to the humble. The humblest are here thereof
and be glad. Before honor, the scripture says, is humility. Paul said, when I'm weak. And that word weak doesn't just
mean I can't lift up anything more than that, it means when
I'm powerless. When I'm powerless, then am I strong. Put on therefore as the elect
of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercy, kindness, humbleness
of mind. It's only humility that can see
the Lord Jesus Christ. You can only see him from a low
place. If you're up high, you cannot see him. Now, I gave a
message probably 10 or 11 years ago. Maybe some of you might
remember this message, but I'm going to give the outline of
it real quick because I think it illustrates the difference between
pride and humility, even in a believer. Now, when you think of Thomas,
what do you think of? You think of doubting Thomas. That's what we're left with,
doubting Thomas. Now let's look at Thomas's history.
He's only mentioned three or four times in the scripture.
Would you turn with me to John chapter 11? Now I know Thomas
was a believer. Verse 14. Then said Jesus unto
them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I'm glad for your sakes that
I was not there to the attempt that you may believe. Nevertheless,
let us go unto him. Then said Thomas, which is called
Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die
with him. Now, they knew that if the Lord
went to Jerusalem, they'll kill him. And he looked at all his
fellow disciples, he said, fellas, let's go with him and let's die
with him. Now, what's wrong with that? It's a noble desire. And you know, there are times
when I think the greatest privilege I could have would be to die
as a martyr for Christ. Wouldn't that be a blessing?
But if you know yourself, You wouldn't speak so confidently.
You wouldn't say, come on, fellas, let's go die with him. You'd
think, what am I going to do? Will I deny? Will I chicken out? Oh, I'm afraid of what I'm going
to do. But Thomas wasn't like that at
all. He spoke with such confidence when he said to his fellow disciples,
come on, fellas, let's go die with him. You know what Thomas
had? He had way too high an opinion of his own strength. We ought to be like the disciples
when the Lord said, one of you shall betray me. What'd they
say? Is it me? Am I the one? I'd hold myself suspect first.
So Thomas's first problem was he had too high an opinion of
himself and of his own strength. And look in John chapter 14. Thomas, verse 5, saith unto him,
Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the
way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way. I'm the truth. I am the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me." Now, when Thomas made this statement, he demonstrated
by that that, and this always goes with a high opinion of yourself,
he had too low a view of the Lord Jesus Christ. Show us the
way! He's looking at the way, and
he didn't see it! He had too low a view of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And if you have a high opinion
of yourself, this is what's going to go along with it. you're going
to have a low opinion, way too low a view of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And the Lord corrected him. Thank
God we get this glorious statement from his ridiculous statement. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. I love that. I'm the way. I'm the way. Let
I show you the way, I'm it. I am the truth. Let I teach you
the truth. I am the truth. And here's my favorite, I'm the
life. I'm the life. He's my life before God. No man
comes to the Father but by me. When I go to the Father, if you're
in me, you get there too. I'm thankful for that, but still
Thomas demonstrated way too low a view of Christ when he said,
show us the way to the Father. He was looking at the way to
the Father. Turn to John 20. Verse 24, the Thomas one of the
twelve called Didymus was not with them when Jesus came. He's
the one disciple who was not there when the Lord appeared
to all the other disciples. He's the one who was not there.
One of the things that always tickled me about Gene Rutledge.
He would always say, I'm afraid to miss church because I'm afraid
of what I miss out on. That always meant so much to
me. I'm afraid of what I'll miss out on. Well, Thomas missed out
on something. He was the one that was not there.
And there's something serious that he missed out on. Now, let's
go on reading, verse 25. Then other disciples therefore
said unto him, We've seen the Lord. But he said unto them,
Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put
my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into
his side, I will not believe. Thomas had way too high a view
of experience. I've got to see this physically.
I can't just hear you and believe what you're saying. I've got
to touch. I've got to actually put my hand
in the hole in his side. I've got to experience that.
He had way too high a view of an experience. You know, I've had some experiences.
I've had some seeming mountaintop experiences. And you know how
much I trust him? Not at all. Not at all. Experiences are not worth anything.
You don't even know if they were real. You don't even know what
was inspiring them. The only thing that counts is
the Word of God. I love that song. Feelings come,
feelings go, feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the Word of God. Naught else is worth believing.
I remember one time I was listening to a message by Henry Mahan,
and I was moved by that message. I mean, I was in my car driving
somewhere, and I was crying. I mean, tears coming down. I
was so moved. And he said, don't you think because you have tears
that means there's anything to this? I just, I freaked, I freaked. I thought, oh man, you know,
I mean, I'm so dumb. But listen, thank the Lord for
any experiences He gives you, but understand this, it's just
that Thomas had way too high a view of experience, and he
had way too low a view of worship because he was the one disciple
that was not there. The Lord promised his presence.
He told the disciples to be there, all of them, and for whatever
reason, Thomas was not there. Now, contrast that with Matthew
chapter 8. Matthew chapter 8. Now, we think
of doubting Thomas, but look at this statement. Verse 10,
When Jesus heard what this fellow said, he marveled, and said to
them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so
great faith, no, not in Israel. Now this is what the Lord called
the greatest faith he had ever seen. Now Thomas is what? He's doubting Thomas. Doubting
Thomas. And the Lord appeared to him,
and he was a believer. When the Lord said, Thomas, here's
my hands and feet, stick them in. And he fell down before him
and said, my Lord and my God. The Lord said, Thomas, blessed
are those that have not seen and believed. And this is what's
happening with this fellow. This fellow is different from
Thomas. He has the greatest faith in
all Israel. Now, what was it that made his
faith so great? Look in verse five. And when
Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion. And one thing that this man knew,
he knew he had to be in the presence of Christ. He came to him. That's the one place he needed
to be. He came to him. beseeching him
and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home, sick of the palsy,
grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I'll
come and heal him. The centurion answered and said,
Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof. As a matter of fact, if you read
Luke's account, it says he sent somebody to the Lord because
they said, I didn't think I was worthy to come to you. Now, the
first thing that I would notice about this man is he had a very
low view of himself. I'm not worthy to come into your
presence. I'm not worthy to have you come
under my roof. Now, I try to put myself in that
place, and if the Lord was here physically, and he said, I'm
going to come to somebody's house tonight, I'm afraid I'd say,
look, I'm the preacher. Come to my house. What do I demonstrate
about myself with that kind of attitude? I think you see. But this man
had a low view of himself. Let's go on reading. Verse 8. The centurion answered and said,
Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof,
but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed, for
I am a man under authority. I understand authority, having
soldiers under me. I say to this man, go, and he
goes, and to this man, come, and he comes, and to my servant,
do this, and he does it. I understand authority, and I
understand you have all authority. All you have to do is will it,
and it will take place. He had a high and exalted view
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he had a low view of experience. He said, you don't need to come
to my house. Speak the word only. I don't
need to see anything. Speak the word only. If you will
it, my servant shall be healed. And the Lord called this, the
greatest faith he'd ever seen. And I wonder if anyone's struggling,
what's so great about that? It's great. It's what the Lord
calls great. He's the one who knows. So look
at the difference between Dowding Thomas and this Roman centurion. Oh, the difference between pride
and humility. Everyone that exalts himself
shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. Now, what does it mean to humble
yourself before God? Let me give you these things
real quickly. First, it's to take the lowest
seat. Take the lowest seat. Not seeking to promote yourself,
but really believing that's where you belong. Secondly, to humble
yourself is to take your place as a sinner before God. You remember
the parable of the publican in the temple? He cried, saying,
God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And the Lord said, I tell you,
that man went down to his house justified, rather than the other,
for everyone that exalts himself. There's that statement exactly
the same way. Shall be amazed. And he that
humbles himself shall be exalted. How do I humble myself before
God? Turn with me for a moment to 2 Peter chapter 5, or 1 Peter
chapter 5. In verse 5, likewise you younger,
submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one
to another and be clothed with humility. For God resists the
proud and he gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore
under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due
time, casting all your care upon him. Now that's what you do. when you humble yourself before
God. It's called faith. You cast all
your care upon Him. Oh, may God give me and you the
grace to do just that. That's what it is to humble yourself.
And if you don't cast all your care on Him, You're not humbling
yourself. You're leaving something to yourself
to take care of. That's not humility, that's pride.
May God give us the grace simply to believe in such a way that
we cast all of our care upon Him. Do you know that He, and
this feels better, I wish I could bottle this, this feels better
than anything else, when I just, I'm trusting Him to take care
of it. All my salvation is completely dependent upon Him. I'm out of
the equation. I've cast all my care upon him.
That's all there is. Now may God give us the grace
to humble ourselves in casting all of our care. You know, I
think it's amazing. Sometimes we can trust him for
salvation, but we can't trust him for whatever else it is we're
troubled about. Cast all your care upon him,
for he careth for you. Isn't that glorious? He careth
for you. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4. Verse 1, I therefore, the prisoner
of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith you are called. Now what's the first thing he
says about a worthy walk? With all lowliness. That's the same word for humility.
With all humility. Lowliness. And meekness, with
long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Now that's
what it is to humble yourself. It's to walk in humility and
meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another. Now, if you're around me enough, you're
going to find that you're going to have to forbear me. And you
will. Somebody says, oh, I don't believe
that. Ask Len. Ask anybody that knows me. You'll
have to forbear. But what a blessing it is to
forbear one another. in love, keeping the unity of
the spirit in the bond of peace. I think of what our Lord said
when the disciples were arguing over who's the greatest. He said,
fellows, who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
He said, you won't even be there unless you humble yourself like
a little child. You won't even be there. Now,
how beautiful is humility? How ugly How groundless, how
brainless is pride, but how beautiful is humility. May this be branded
in our hearts by God the Holy Spirit, whosoever exalts himself
shall be abased. and he that humbles himself shall
be exalted. Let's pray. Lord, how beautiful your gospel is. how perfect it is for sinners
in need of your grace. Lord, give us the grace to take
the lowest seat in the house. Lord, give us the grace to humble
ourselves under your mighty hand. Lord, enable each one of us to
cast all of our care upon thee, knowing that you care for us. Forgive us of our wretched pride. Lord, we're so filled with it. Forgive us for pride and arrogancy. And give us the grace, even now,
to take the lowest seat, knowing that's where we belong. Bless
this message for the Lord's sake. In his name we pray. Amen.