NOTE:  The following transcript has been generated by AI, and may not be 100% accurate due to limited human resources by which to check behind the rendering.


We are going to review now, for a few minutes, the chapters that the reading plan covered this past week up to today. That would be Genesis 45 through 50, Exodus 1 through 9, Psalms 10 through 12, and then Matthew 16 through 20. And again, these are just very brief overviews of different sections. So, we're going to go... this book by book. So we're gonna do all of Genesis, then all of Exodus, then all of Psalms, and then all of Matthew.

So let's start in Genesis, and we're at chapter 45 and 46. And so, a synopsis without reading the entire two chapters tonight. In these passages, Joseph reveals his true identity to his brothers and the reunion with his father, Jacob. The theme of forgiveness and reconciliation is central in these chapters, and the verse that I would point out to you is chapter 45 and verse number 15, where the Bible said, "Moreover, he, Joseph, kissed all his brethren and wept upon them." And after that, his brethren talked with him. This was after the great reveal of who he actually was. And it was just an incredible story that spoke of the power of forgiveness and how that even though Joseph incurred much damage, he realized that the greater sovereign plan of God was more important than his personal comfort. And so he said you meant it under me for evil, but God meant it for good. Amen.

And so we can learn from that theme and simply put, what I want to do is I want to give you a practical application for each of these minor reviews, okay, and the practical application that I would draw from this is that we need to embrace forgiveness and reconcile in our relationships. This is a theme throughout the Old and New Testament, and Joseph was done really badly. I mean, they mistreated him terribly, but he was able to forgive through the power of the Lord, and God blessed him accordingly, and we, in like fashion, sometimes it's not even, you know, it wouldn't be so bad if it was a stranger that did it to us. But when it's those of our own household that inflict pain upon us, those, maybe our brothers or our sisters in Christ, God forbid, but it does happen as we call it church hurt. You ever been injured in church? Well, you can at the foot of the cross find healing and grace in real-time to love the Lord and forgive them and keep going for Jesus and not let it cause your soul to be bitter. Amen.

So that's the practical application, and then a New Testament verse to echo this Old Testament theme would be Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 32 where it says, "And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Amen.

So before we move on, was there any notes from you or questions or comments from Genesis 45 verse 46? Alright, if not, we're going to go on to chapters 46 through 49. And here we have the review that Jacob and his family settle in Egypt, and Jacob blesses his sons with prophetic blessings. These chapters emphasize the importance of God's promises and God's blessings. Particularly, I want to point out chapter 49 and verse number 18, where Jacob was quoted as saying, "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord." You remember what happened to Jacob, right? Jacob was the one who lost his beloved son, Joseph. All those years, he assumed that he was dead because of the deception of his brothers. But now he is able to bless his children. And he said, "I have waited for thy salvation." And it's, it's really a beautiful story of how that, uh, how that sometimes God can surprise you down the road with a blessing that comes from the conflict. You ever heard that song, uh, there was a song recently. Well, I say recently, it's been a few years now, what if his blessings help me fall like raindrops, yeah, he only comes through tears. What's the name of that song, it's called Blessings, but it talks about those blessings in disguise, that's what I'm getting at. We've got to learn, and this is a practical application we can draw from this passage, as we've got to learn that God can and will for the child of God who seeks his face make all things good.

We'll reference that verse in just a few moments, but here's another application. We must trust God's promises and seek his blessings in our life. I would like to say it this way, expect the goodness of God. Amen. The devil will lie to you and he will highlight every conflict in your life and make you feel like God's picking on you, and sometimes it has nothing to do with what you deserved. Sometimes it's just part of life. It's a sinner's world and it has nothing to do. You know, of course, sometimes we bring trouble on ourselves by the way we misbehave and rebel against God, and I find that often for the child of God that is more of an exception rather than a rule a lot of children of God are just really trying to serve the Lord the best they can and they just have struggles constantly, and what you got to learn how to do is count them blessings like we were talking about this morning and expect the goodness of God at some point, and just like Jacob, he made man, he found out that Joseph was alive, and he was able, in his old age, bless his children and grandchildren. Isn't that beautiful? And so, trusting God's promise to seek his blessings, the Bible says in James 1, 17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." So if anything that's good and perfect exists in your life, know that that came from God. It wasn't an accident, it wasn't a coincidence. If you're good at counting your struggles, you also should be good at counting the good things. Amen, because I'm learning that it is an insult to God when all we talk to him about is our problems and we don't slow down enough along the way to say thank you, Lord, for your blessings, amen. You'll remember that little song, ♪ There's a roof up above me ♪ Sing it if you know it. ♪ I have a good place to sleep ♪ ♪ There's food on my table ♪ ♪ And shoes on my feet ♪ ♪ You gave me your love, Lord, and a fine family thank you, Lord, for your blessings on me. Amen. So thank him, count your blessings, and expect the goodness of God. Any questions or comments on Genesis 47, 48, or 49?

Alright, chapter 50, let's look at that one. Chapter 50 is the conclusion of the book of Genesis and it shows the death of Jacob and Joseph's reassurance of his forgiveness toward his brothers. It demonstrates the power of God's providence and the power of forgiveness. Now, Joseph had already had a prior meeting with his brothers and assured

 them the fear or not, but it seemed like there was a constant living in fear from his brothers of, "My goodness, what's he going to do to us when daddy's gone?" Right? In fact, they were so afraid that they made up a story and told Joseph, well, daddy said, you need to forgive us. And we know that Joseph still was hurting from the pain of disappointment because he wept when he heard those words. And I got something I need to say right here just because you have offered forgiveness and or received forgiveness does not necessarily take the pain away. I was told incorrectly one time as a young man that you'll know you have forgiven when you can think about the injustice and it no longer hurts, and I have since learned that that is not exactly true. You can forgive, but it still hurts because we're human and we're frail and things just hurt, and your soul can ache over the damage that was done, that's sometimes irreversible, and so you know the key to it is you know, you have forgiven when you no longer hold them hostage over it. You know, no longer, you let, you leave the injustice, the dealing of the injustice within the hands of the Lord. Amen.

And so the practical application here is to hold onto forgiveness and trust in God's plan. At no point did Joseph revert back to anger and bitterness after his dad was gone. If he had behaved like his brothers would have behaved, then he would have. It's interesting that they expected him to act like that because that's what they probably would have done. They never did really understand the level up at which Joseph looked. And by the way, if you love hard, you also hurt deep when other people hurt you. If you're a big lover, you don't understand. And you cannot relate to people mistreating people. And it hurts deeply. That's why people who have big hearts, bleeding hearts, are extremely sensitive people, and that's it couldn't be a weakness, but I call it more of a strength than a weakness because that's you know, God looks for people who are who are men and women after his own heart, and if you have a stone-cold heart, you can't be pliable in the hands of God to have compassion for and serve others, and so because you love hard, you're also going to hurt hard when somebody inflicts pain upon you, but the cool thing is you can go to the Father and get the healing you need and the strength you need and the comfort you need to get past the hurt to function again. Amen. And so you hold on and forget never revert back. Once you declare that I have forgiven, don't let the devil talk you back into it, amen? Romans 8:28 says, "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."

Okay, let's go. I feel compelled to say this, some people need to forgive God. Not that God did anything wrong, but some people are upset with what God allowed in their lives. And it's not that God was imperfect or unjust. They're just having a difficult time processing it emotionally and understanding that God ultimately has your best interest at heart even if you don't understand it, okay? So what we got to do is we got to get back to that knowing that all things do, in fact, work together for good. And this is how you process this. When you don't understand God, you trust Him anyway, but refuse to let the devil cause you to get angry with God. It can happen. It happens to the best of God's people sometimes. But there's even hope for that. There's healing for that. You can go to him with your questions. Moses, I mean, I was reading some scripture the other day and how, in the book of Exodus, we'll review some out in a minute, how Moses was brash with God. I was like, ooh, I wasn't there to talk to God like that. I was crazy. I'm like, wow. You know, almost a rebuke, at least a question, and of course, you know the Lord was gracious and patient as He is with us, amen, but I can assure you God is not your enemy, not if you haven't made him your enemy now he could be your enemy if you want him to but if you're surrendered to the Lord then you got to surrender to the process as well. Peter was offended. If I remember when Satan desired to have him, he could sift him as wheat, and what Peter? He denied Christ three times. Peter walked away. To my knowledge, Peter had no intention of returning, but because of the grace and mercy of Jesus, Jesus sent for him by name and restored him. Amen. All right, I've said what I need to say there. I want to move on. So hold on to forgiveness and trust God. Don't try for with him. Amen. All right, let's look at any questions or comments about Genesis 50. Man, y'all are easy. Bring me a challenge. Amen. Amen.

All right, Exodus 1 through 3. Exodus 1 through 3, and the summary of this is the story of Moses begins as I don't like to call them stories, the historical account of Moses because it's a true story. Amen. Moses begins as he is born and raised in Egypt, ultimately leading to his call from God at the burning bush. We see the theme of God's divine calling and deliverance is prominent. Any questions or comments on Exodus 1 through 3 before I give my thoughts or comments?

All right, verse 14 of chapter 3 is what I'll highlight tonight. God said unto Moses, I am that I am. You ever heard somebody say, it is what it is? Well, God is who he is. He said, I am that I am. God is so complex that he could not even thoroughly explain himself or reveal himself to Moses. So the best thing he could do is give him a name that covered it all. I am. And they're good. It covers everything in two words. "Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, I am has sent me to you." That's just awesome. So this verse reveals God's eternal and unchanging nature. The practical application is to be attentive to God's calling in your life, even in unexpected places. Moses was just routinely doing what he always did, and he got to look, and he noticed that bush on fire, and he said, and I don't know if he walked by, and a few hours later, he walked back by and said ain't that the same bush? It didn't burn up at all, and then he, some, I don't know how long it took him before he decided to go get a closer look, and that's when he encountered God. Amen. Amen. What's continually burning, give me that phone, son. I thought we were gonna have no problem with that. Put it on silent and put it in the pew there. I'll leave you alone, buddy. Let me ask you this. Tell me about the burning bush. What is continually burning in your heart and spirit that you cannot let go of? Something that's related to the call of God in your life. The purpose for you being here.

 This is a good way and an indicator of what God may be leading you to do if there's something kingdom-related that constantly nags at you until you do something about it. So Brother Ron, the way the Lord works on him is to constantly convict him to witness to people as he bumps into them, and it just bothers him till he does it. That's a great illustration, and I think that should be something that all of us experience from time to time, amen, but there could be something else too, not just personal one-on-one witnessing, great example, Brother Ron. Maybe it's singing, maybe it's using your talents for the Lord, maybe it's giving, maybe it's teaching a Sunday school class, maybe it's surrendering to preach, maybe it's going on a mission trip, maybe it's surrendering to the mission field. It could be any number of things, maybe it's to build a business that's so successful that you can give a million dollars to missions away every year of your life. I mean, God calls all kinds to do all kinds of things. And if that fire is burning in you and it's connected to the kingdom very clearly in your heart, then start giving it attention and get a closer look, and God will speak to you about it. Amen. So there's just some practical application for that. And then Romans 8:30 says, "Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called, He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified." So God can make you fully equipped to do what He's calling you to do, just like He did for Moses. Can I get an amen? What? That was weak. Come on, there you go. I want to hear it. All right, good. Let's move on to Exodus chapters 4 through 5. Exodus 4 through 5, Moses' encounter with Pharaoh and the beginning of the plagues is covered. It showcases the struggle of obedience and resistance to God's will. Pharaoh was hard-hearted, wasn't he? I kinda ain't gonna go down that rabbit hole. Let's look at verse 12 of chapter 4, Exodus 4:12. This is God speaking to Moses. "Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say." I actually also wrote a devotion on that. If you missed it, go back to it on cornerstonekeynotes.com, Exodus 4:12, and tap on that and learn some more that I wrote about that specific subject of how God will teach your mouth what to say. Amen, Brother Ron spoke well about the need to speak up for Jesus. He'll teach you how to do it, but you have to become a student, and you gotta be hungry for it. Amen, you gotta be willing to listen and be instructed. Okay, but this verse reassures God's guidance. Practical application is this, that we need to obey God's command even when facing opposition. Uh, you know, Moses is trying to make all kinds of excuses, but at the end of the day, it was, it came down to simple obedience. You know, God is already, I mean, you think about it, we're stepping into God's master plan that he'd planned before the foundation where and worked every detail out, and then we come up with little lame excuses and act like we're gonna surprise God with something he hadn't thought about yet. He knows your strengths, he knows your weaknesses, he knows your vulnerabilities, he knows your tendencies, and he still calls you. In fact, I believe it was Charles Haddon Spurgeon that was quoted as saying the only type of people God uses are sinners because there is no other kind. Amen. Isn't that good? So obey God's commands even when facing opposition. Hebrews 11:8 is our New Testament verse by faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance. Oh, I like that which he should after receive. First he went, then he received. We got it backwards, don't we? We'll say, "Okay, God, I'll go when I receive. I can't go till I receive." God says, "No, you can't receive till you go." Because that goes back to faith. God thinks exactly opposite of the way we think. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts, and your natural way of thinking, however you think, God does exactly the opposite. Amen. So he says, you go then, then you receive, right? And it said, he obeyed, and he went out not knowing whether he went, didn't even have a clue where he is headed. He just knew a general direction. And I imagine it says something like, "I'll know it when I see it." He got a blueprint in my soul, placed there by the divine creator of the universe. Don't ask me to explain it 'cause I can't even do that. I just know I heard his voice and I gotta follow and I gotta obey. My sheep know my voice, right? God speak and just do it. it. That's why living by faith looks so haphazard and dangerous and unpredictable because it is. Amen. When you really learn how to walk by faith, I can't plan or predict it out. And so I've learned to be okay with things that freak other people out, that like to have things months in advance. I freak some of my preachers out of preacher friends out because I don't have my sermons prepared months in advance. I may be well prepared to preach at any moment cause I do study, but the point is, look, God uses all kinds. And if you're that kind of preacher that can plan your sermons out for the whole year, God bless you. I'm not knocking that, amen. But even those type of preachers have to admit there are times when the Holy Spirit tears your little plan up and says we're doing this today. And when he alters our plans and does it his way, it's always better than anything we could pre-plan because his plans are always better than ours, right? Amen. So we simply, oh, at His voice and trust Him to work out the details. I have asked God for details and most of the time He doesn't give me the details that I'm asking for. I have to wait to see. I have to obey to receive. Amen. If you wanna see it, faith it in. Faith only becomes silent. after faith has been spent. If you want to see it, you know, we say seeing is believing. No, believing is seeing. Amen. Are you with me? Say amen. All right. So there's our example of Acts 4 through 5. Let's go on to Exodus chapter 6 through 7. Acts 6 through 7. Give you a quick review of these chapters. God affirms His covenant with Israel and instructs Moses to confront Pharaoh again. These chapters emphasize God's faithfulness to His promises. Amen. Before I give you a couple of points to consider from this group of chapters, are there any questions or comments from your notes? Okay, look at chapter six, amen, amen. For those that might not have heard online, Joe is attesting the

 house of the Lord. He saw a connection between what we preached this morning and what we just said about living by faith and Joe's experiencing some of that in his own life as he's seen it exhibited in our field. life. Amen. Thank you for that testimony, brother Joe. Son, Joe. Amen. Alright, let's look at Exodus 6-7 verse I'll point out in this group of chapters. God is speaking, of course, to the children of Israel here. He said, "I will take you to Me for a peace." and I will be to you a God. And he shall know that I am the Lord, your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. God is setting up such a grand and glorious exodus that it will be historically unforgettable for his people. And they would undoubtedly know that their lineage and heritage inheritance was directly connected to the God of the universe. Amen. You know why they're hating on Israel? Because it's the spirit of the anti-Christ, the works and all the children of disobedience and anybody that's lost is susceptible to that spirit of anti-Christ and it's it's easy for a lost person to hate on God and hate on God's people and hate on anything connected to God because that's what the devil is up to and he's going to fill and use anybody that's lost to do that and that's why the kingdoms of this world have set themselves against God and its anointed they don't even understand it they just know they're driven by a vehement hatred for the people of God, because Israel was connected to God and posed a threat to all its enemies. And so all of the kingdoms of the earth look at Israel as a threat because they can't defeat them. Interesting historical consideration there. Here's your practice. application though from verse 7 that we need to trust in God's faithfulness in all circumstances. God promised they made a covenant with them you're gonna be my people I'm gonna be your God and even though they couldn't see it they didn't know how they thought Pharaoh will never give in right God said you just wait I'm paraphrasing just wait till I'm done with them you'll see I'm talking I know what I'm talking about Amen. And so we can trust God's faithfulness when he makes a promise, he makes good on it. A New Testament scripture that correlates with this concept would be 1 Corinthians chapter one, and verse number nine, God is faithful. Amen. God is faithful by whom you were called unto the fellowship of the Lord. His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Hallelujah. And we got it better than the Old Testament saints because we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Isn't that wonderful? My goodness. Hallelujah. All right, let's do this. I'm going to give you a mic so that if you want to comment on this, the people online can hear you. And I love this interaction. interaction. So you said exes chapter 4 and what? 4 verse 22 this was when God was giving Moses instruction on what he would do when he got the arrow and what he wanted him to say basically the big picture some specifics too, but When we were reading this the other night in our family Bible reading this verse, I I don't know if I I've ever really paid much attention to this verse yeah good verse 22 and thou shalt say unto Pharaoh thus saith the Lord Israel is my son even my firstborn so Israel is God's firstborn son mm-hmm Jesus is God's only begotten son yes in some some Bible versions say He's one and only Son, but it's not His one and only Son. Correct. It's His only begotten Son, which is different. Mm-hmm, because the word begotten implies Christ incarnate. Jesus, here's the best way to describe the incarnation of Christ. He was 100 percent God, He was 100 percent man. It's not His only begotten Son, which is different. Jesus was when the Creator became the created to redeem His creation. Amen. He was eternally existent as God the Son before the foundation of the world. He was not created as in He never existed until He was born of a virgin. He said, said before Abraham was, "I am." So Jesus was described as the only begotten sinner. And you're right, most of the newer English translations have dropped that word. But it's a very important word to understand the significance of Christ becoming flesh. Emmanuel, God with us, God in the flesh. Jesus was not. not just the Son of God. He was God the Son. Amen. And very good, very good stuff. I love it. Any other questions or comments on that? All right, if that's it, what are we at, Exodus 8 and 9? Yeah, Exodus 8 and 9. This, the summarize these two chapters, the plagues continue and Pharaoh's heart remains hardened. And this is the end. And this illustrates the consequences of disobedience and the importance of repentance. Look at verse 27 of chapter nine, Exodus chapter nine and verse 27. Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said unto them, I have sinned this time, this time. time, the arrogance. I mean, he's seeing it every time, but he was willing to admit this one, right? The Lord is righteous and I and my people are wicked. Now this verse highlights the recognition of sin and the righteousness of God. However, what I want you to understand about Pharaoh, any time he allegedly admitted to wrongdoing, he didn't have repentance not to be repented of. 'Cause as soon as Moses would beseech God and lift the curse or the plague or whatever's going on, Pharaoh went right back to not letting God's people go. He didn't really repent. He was just sorry he got caught and sorry for the consequences, right? And so here's some practical explanation. application we need to learn from the consequences of disobedience and embrace true repentance. It was amazing to me how religious Pharaoh got in this particular moment. Sounded like he prayed the sinner's prayer didn't it? But Pharaoh went straight to hell didn't he? Unfortunately So true repentance is repentance not to be repented of. Y'all understand that terminology right? Simply put repentance is making an about-face going this way I Turn and go this way. I just repented But if I repent of what I just repented of I end up going back in the same direction that I said that I repented of but I really didn't Repentance not to be repented of means that once I turn around, I'm never going back. It doesn't even mean that you won't commit the same sin after you're saved, that you committed before you got saved. It doesn't mean, however, that your heart will never give allegiance to those sins ever again. It's a matter of the heart. Amen. You can stumble up and fall and get forgiven. right? But if you truly repented, you've given your heart and life to Jesus and it belongs to him. So there's your practical application. Second Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promises."

Some men count slackness. My goodness, don't be countin' God as a slacker, amen. But as long as suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. In context, that's for sure. the reason Jesus hasn't returned yet. It's cause he was waiting for more people to get in, to be saved. That's how much he loves lost humanity and desires to redeem mankind. Okay. Man, all right, we got two more sections and we'll be done. The Psalm, let's go to the book of Psalms and we'll quickly summarize chapters 10 through 12. Then we have. have any questions on the section we just left? All right. Psalms chapter 10 through 12. These Psalms focus on the righteousness of God and His protection of the oppressed. They encourage us to seek God's refuge and trust in His justice. justice. Psalm chapter 11 verse 1, particularly, look at that with me. Psalm chapter 11 verse 1, "In the Lord put I my trust," and I love this verse, "How say ye to my soul, 'Flee as a bird to your mountain.'" Basically what he's saying is, "Hey, I trust the Lord, so I don't know why you're countin' me to tuck tail and run. I'm not understanding why you're teaching me to run when I'm trusting God. I ain't worried about men and me like you are. You're more worried about than I am. I'm trusting Jesus. How can you say to me?" And by the way, you got to watch who you listen to. Some people are great for advice. Other people are terrible at it. Find you some faith. faith-filled people that teach you how to stare the Goliath in the eyeball and say you come to me with a spear and a sword but I come to you in the name of the Lord. Don't go to those that say I don't know you better tuck tail and run. I don't know you better get out of dodge and hide. Amen. If you got somebody who has no faith, eliminate them from your resources as somebody to call on and ask for advice from. Amen, and I quickly learn and pick up on whether people are of faith or of a doubtful disposition and I try to choose my advisors accordingly. I want somebody that'll tell me you gotta fight and chance with God, amen. I want somebody to tell me, look, with God, all things are possible. I need somebody, when I'm sick, I want somebody that'll actually believe God can and will heal me. me. Not somebody that says, well, God may take you on the glory this time. Can I get an amen? I mean, at least give me a fighting chance with faith. I don't want it to be because we didn't believe, amen. I want some faith to give me. Well, he does with it after that's up to him, but my God helped me believe God for something. Can I get an amen? Amen. So don't go to the, you know this phrase was in existence before Nancy ever come along so this is not picking on Nancy but don't go to the negative Nancy's... if you're watching we're not talking about you ... but don't go to the negative people go to people with faith and admire their faith and and grow from it amen all right so practical application we need a fine solace in God's righteousness and take refuge in Him alone, amen. In the Lord, put I, my trust. Romans 12:9, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, let wrath work. If the wrath of man working against you, he say, "Hey, dearly beloved." let it go and let God take care of it." For it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay saith the Lord." Somebody did you wrong? Don't try to get even. Amen? Don't get even, touch heaven. That's a good saying, ain't it? Don't get even, touch heaven. Tell God on them. Amen. Amy's mother was real good at this. She'll tell you. In fact, when we went to visit her last week, she was testifying about how sweet Randall had been to her over the years. And when he first got saved, she said, "He fell so in love with Jesus that I got jealous "of the time he was spending with him." And she got worried about whether he's even interested in her anymore, 'cause she's never... saw him he's either in his Bible or out to a meeting and She started praying Lord. I don't even know if he thinks I'm attractive anymore And I don't know what we're gonna do about this and she said I think it was the same day She told the Lord that he come home with a dozen roses and the Lord began to teach him how to love his wife like like Christ love the church Well, she told on the Lord told on Randall to the Lord and the Lord fixed his heart I Amen. Hey, just bring it to Jesus. He'll fix it for you. Amen. You say, "How long is that going to take?" I don't know that. It may take a long time, but just don't give up. Let the Lord do His thing. Amen. All right, One more section. If you don't have any questions there, you'll behave yourselves. All right Matthew go to Matthew chapter 6 yeah chapter 16 Matthew We're gonna review Matthew 16 through 20. Hey, there's a lot of ground to cover in a week a lot of themes and If you haven't plugged in I want to challenge you to get plugged in so that this will be richer for you Amen, I love like to get to the point to where you have so much that God is either speaking to you about or raising questions for you that we don't get finished with this on a Sunday night. That'd be a good problem to have, amen. Matthew 16 through 20 in these chapters, Jesus performs miracles, teaches important lessons and prepares his disciples for his crucifixion. include faith, humility, servanthood, and, we preached about this this morning, the cost of discipleship. Now look with me specifically at chapter 16 and verse number 24, where then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself. take up his cross and follow me. This verse encapsulates the cost of discipleship and following Christ wholeheartedly to deny oneself. The practical application then would be to emulate Jesus' teachings and live out a life of faith and servitude. Become a servant leader. You want to be great in the kingdom? Debate yourself. Make yourself a servant to someone else. Amen. The Bible says, "Condescend the men of low degree." If you're too good to serve anybody in the kingdom, you're not as good as you think you are. Amen. We got to humble ourselves. The Bible says, "Condescend the men of low degree." says, "Let each esteem others better than themselves." Amen. Y'all to constantly be building people up, not tearing people down. Oh, good night. That's a... I feel a sermon coming on in that one.

 I ain't got time for it tonight. But serve. You know what, it'll shut all the gossip down if you start serving people instead of serving people. spreading gossip about them. Next time you're tempted to just run somebody down, I hope you're not, but if you are, what about taking a counter approach? As soon as you're tempted to talk bad about somebody, ask the Holy Spirit, how can I encourage this individual? And he'll tell you how. You might need to go pay him a visit. You may need to put a little money in their pocket. Thank you. You may need to go hug the neck and apologize. But if you'll fight fire with fire, you can get rid of that old naysayer that comes around and you're an easy target 'cause it's easy to get you going off on somebody. Learn how to respond to the temptation to break someone down by actually building them up. Retrain and discipline yourself. And that's what it means to deny yourself. yourself Don't give yourself any Any wiggle room to do what it wants to do because it'll lead you wrong every time So Philippians 2 3 and 4 says let nothing be done through strife or Vainglory But in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves Look in the heart every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. And this is not something that we should do on occasion when we feel like it. This should be our default mode as Christians. That this comes natural to us to put us at risk. I like the acronym JOY, J-O-Y, Jesus First, Other Second, Y, Yourself Last. If you wanna have joy, put Jesus First, Other Second, and Yourself Last. Isn't that good? And we can learn that from the example of Christ. Any questions or comments out of that section? of Scripture? All right, you have been very patient. Thank you for your attention tonight. Hope that you've got something out of this.