I've really looked forward to this particular moment
because tonight we begin looking at the real
core of the nature of Jesus.
Something that has possessed my life.
I cannot believe, well I can when you
see where it is in scripture, how much
this has meant to me.
I hope it means as much to you.
You know, the real question in life is
what is God like?
Everyone wants to know.
Even atheists want to know.
They do.
I have had some interesting conversations just lately
with atheists, people that didn't believe in God
and I asked them, how did you come
to that conclusion?
And they get a little bit put out
because they didn't think they'd ever have to
defend it.
And it's really an indefensible situation.
And usually they say, well, I'm a seeker.
Well, I say, okay, that's movement.
That's movement.
They want to know.
They just sort of say, we know you're
not there, God, so why don't you go
away and leave us alone, okay?
And the whole New Age thing, it's a
seeking after something they know is out there.
It's out there, they know.
Somewhere.
The question is, get in touch with it.
So they find places where there are vortexes
where whatever it is comes and they ohm
and they tinkle in an attempt to get
in touch with something that's out there.
Well, the thing is, we've settled that.
That sounds arrogant, but it really isn't.
We know what God is like.
He's like Jesus.
That's exactly why he sent him, so we
would know precisely what he's like.
The problem is, we've kind of messed up
Jesus too.
You know, we have, through the centuries, traditions,
and dare I say this loaded word, mythologies,
have gathered around him and we've painted pictures
of him that are not so.
For instance, Christmas.
Christmas is an interesting time.
We sing songs.
I really wish we'd sing those songs all
year long.
I love them.
But there's one particular song, I hear it
and I like the song, I really do,
but I can't help but think, hmm, Silent
Night.
Let's talk about that.
Silent Night?
You know why Bethlehem was jammed with people,
don't you?
It was because the foreign government that ruled
the land said, go back to your birthplace,
we're going to tax you.
Silent Night?
The pubs were full and everyone was angry.
But for some reason or other, we tend
to think that there was a cosmic wave
that went through and everyone said, did you
feel that?
Must be a holy night.
Folks, it was a profane night and only
a small handful of people had any idea
what was going on.
And Mary, I don't know why it is
that we tend to think that she had
no birth pains.
You see all of the pictures of her
holding the newborn baby Jesus?
I wish my wife looked that good after
our children were born.
We seem to think that she just said,
Joseph, it's time.
And here's Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Oh, folks, there is so much that we
have done to the scene that places Jesus
at an almost untouchable distance.
May I begin to bring him back very
close to you?
This one who wrapped love with skin so
you can touch him.
Well, I think I've made a discovery.
Now, I know that sounds arrogant too, but
what can I say?
I think I've made a discovery of some
places where Jesus describes himself.
Now, the best way to know someone is
they must reveal themselves to you.
Otherwise, you make less than accurate observations.
For instance, you can look at me and
make certain observations.
He likes to eat, likes to talk.
But to really know me, I must reveal
myself to you.
And the same is true with God.
The beautiful thing is God does.
That's the thing about the scripture is he
reveals himself to us.
And that's the thing about Jesus.
It's his revelation of himself.
And now Jesus reveals himself.
He describes himself in response to a certain
apostolic activity.
Oh, another group of people to talk about.
Apostle.
When I say the word apostle, what pops
into your mind?
Do you see as I do these tall,
handsome men with deep bass voices who walk
in unison with Jesus everywhere he goes?
And when Jesus finishes speaking, they form the
apostolic touring choir that sings just as I
am without one plea while every head was
bowed.
That's not exactly the way these men were.
You know what the apostles did more than
anything else that's recorded in scripture?
More than anything else.
They argued.
I love it.
They argued.
You never do that, do you?
Well, I do.
I've never lost an argument.
Oh, often the other person had the better
case, but that didn't mean I lost.
But the problem with arguing, especially if it's
with your spouse or someone like a roommate
or a co-worker that you have to
stay with, it's never really over.
You know that we're going to talk about
this again.
And that's the way it was with the
apostles, because, you know what they argued over?
You would think it would be deep theological
questions.
Surely they resolved the tension between predestination and
free moral agency.
Surely they did.
No.
These great men of God argued over who's
the greatest.
I'm better than you.
You are not.
And off they went.
I love it.
Those men encourage me so much.
You know, every once in a while even
I feel apostolic.
Well, they never would tell Jesus what they
were arguing about.
There are all kinds of interesting scriptures.
The first one I'll read is from Mark
chapter 9, beginning with verse 33.
It says, Then he, this is Jesus, came
to Capernaum, and when he was in the
house, he asked them, this is the apostles
he's asking, what was it you disputed or
argued among yourselves about on the road?
They kept silent, for on the road they
had disputed among themselves who would be the
greatest.
Aye.
It's hard to tell Jesus, isn't it, when
you're arguing something like that.
Can't go up to Jesus and say, well,
we were trying to decide which of us
was the greatest in the kingdom.
I've noticed that about prayer.
There are some things when I approach the
Lord in prayer that I might say to
you, I would not say them to Jesus.
That's one good thing prayer does for you.
It sort of straightens out some of your
thinking because you realize in some things you
begin to pray, this is ridiculous, isn't it?
So they wouldn't tell Jesus.
I understand.
Now, here is where I believe there is
beauty and humor in scripture.
I want to enlarge a little bit here.
I don't want to change it, but I
want to put myself in it and think
how this might have gone.
Jesus is busy being the Messiah.
The apostles are busy arguing about who's the
greatest.
Jesus says, hey, what were you guys arguing
about back there?
It's okay.
It's private.
You don't need to know.
But Jesus knew, oh, I love this.
I can see the twinkle in his eye
as he almost says, well, it's okay.
I don't need to know, but can I
give you a teaching fellows?
Okay, go ahead.
You're the boss.
Let me tell you who the greatest in
the kingdom is.
You told, you must have told.
I didn't tell.
Can you see the shock on their faces?
Personally, I think Peter started the argument.
I can see him folding his arms and
thinking, good, I'd rather they hear it from
him than from me.
But it is here, you see, where I
believe I've seen, had this discovery, seen this
nature of Jesus, because when Jesus begins to
teach about the greatest in the kingdom, he
was teaching about himself because he was greatest
in the kingdom.
So this set of teachings that he did
in different places becomes an incredible revelation of
his very nature.
And he says, he that is greatest, and
I can see the guys thinking, yeah, yeah,
is it me?
Is it me?
He is, that is greatest, must be servant
of all.
Slave is a better word.
Isn't that exciting?
No, I know.
It really isn't.
And you're probably thinking, you mean I gave
up Thursday night to hear this?
It really isn't exciting territory.
I've often thought, what if I were to
go on television like some hucksters I've seen
and say, ladies and gentlemen, normally people travel
thousands of miles and pay thousands of dollars
to attend this seminar, but today I have
a special deal just for you.
If you'll send me $500, I'll send you
15 tapes and 12 books, and in one
week, you too can be a slave.
My mother might send a few dollars.
But if I were to go on TV
and say, if you'll send me $500, I'll
send you 15 tapes and 12 books, and
in one week, you too can be rich.
Oh man, the checkbooks would come out and
somebody would get rich.
So it really isn't exciting territory.
Well, Jesus went on, let me just read
this to you, and then we'll go on
and consider it here.
Verse 34, But they kept silent, for on
the road they had disputed among themselves who
would be the greatest.
And he sat down, called the twelve, and
said to them, If anyone desires to be
first, he shall be last of all, and
servant of all.
Well, we better deal with this.
What is a servant's job?
Well, a servant's job is to make life
better for someone else.
It's really as simple as that.
A servant's job is to live toward others
in a way that frees them to become
all they were created to be.
I am amazed as I read Galatians how
much Jesus is about freedom.
Freedom!
Another way that we might describe this that
I like to use as an operating description,
we'll do that tonight, is a slave or
a servant is someone who is others-centered,
especially as different from self-centered.
Now, this is rather embarrassing to me because
I have to make some confessions here, and
I don't always like to do that up
in front of this many people, but I'm
afraid I have to confess to you that
I am an incredibly self-centered man.
I'm sorry.
I don't want to be, but I am.
I think of myself most of the time.
If there is a group photograph and I'm
in it, there I am.
I find me first.
I've never met a mirror I didn't like.
In fact, I figure you folks, the first
thing you thought of this morning when you
woke up was, how's Gail doing?
Now, the thing about being self-centered as
opposed to others-centered is it's miserable.
It's really miserable.
Jesus said it would be.
You know, He told us here in this
Bible, this book that you could call the
manufacturer's manual.
You know, He created you, and so He
knows how you work.
If you're going to fix your automobile, well,
go to the manufacturer's specs to be able
to tune it upright.
And if you want to tune yourself upright,
go to the manufacturer's specs.
And He who made you said, if you
want to find your life, lose it.
Yeah.
Wow, lose it?
I know God said that because I would
not have.
I would have said, you only go around
once in life, so grab!
Get there before the other fellow does.
That's not the way to do it.
Or I would have gone down to my
local bookstore and found books like looking out
for number one, how to win by intimidation.
But only here in the manufacturer's manual do
you hear Jesus say, if you really want
to find your life, you have to lose
it.
In fact, if you really try to find
it, you will lose it.
I should have known that.
He said it, but I learned slowly.
In fact, I could have known it from
just simple observation.
You're familiar with this thing called self-consciousness.
It's misery.
I know.
I have a genetic problem here.
I know it's genetic because my dad looked
like this.
But I've discovered in my old age that
I have to lean over further when I
eat, because if I don't, sploosh!
Oh, man.
And here I am, embarrassed because I know
I'm going to be up in front of
people, and they're going to think, messy eater,
isn't he?
So I learned how to walk around.
I can cover things very well, and if
I have to shake hands with somebody, I
can do a quick switcheroo.
But I'm spending mind time on myself, and
it's misery.
Have you ever awakened in the morning, and
you got up late, and you're in a
rush, and you look in the mirror.
Dangerous thing to do in the morning, but
you look in the mirror, and there is
a hare that is disobedient.
And you do everything you can because you're
in a rush to get out, but you're
out now in public, and you're walking around
like this, because you know they're staring at
you thinking, doesn't own a comb, doesn't he?
It's misery.
In fact, I shouldn't talk about my wife.
She's not here tonight.
When she gets a runner in her stocking,
the world has come to an end.
All of Southern California stops and stares.
She knows it.
It's amazing what this does to us.
Jesus knew that.
So he said, I don't want you to
live miserable.
I don't want you to live that way
at all.
That's not freedom.
That's tormenting.
I want you to give yourselves away.
I want you to find out what it
means to really tune yourselves up so that
you work right.
In fact, one of the most interesting concepts
in Scripture is that we are the body
of Christ.
Now, that's very good to know because God
has issued each of us a body, so
we know how bodies are supposed to operate.
Are you aware, surely you are, that every
single part of your body, every single part
of your body is a slave to the
rest of your body?
Everyone.
Not one part of your body, not one
exists for itself.
Not one.
Even if you take part of it out
at night and lay it on a shelf.
You don't put a banana there so it
can eat during the night.
In fact, it is this kind of thing
that makes you healthy and happy and even
able to be here and enjoy yourselves because
your body is serving itself.
Every part is serving the rest.
What if it was different?
Have you ever thought about that?
I mean, just certain simple things could not
go on.
In fact, to show you how important this
is, tonight you did this.
I know you did it this morning, but
I'm almost positive every one of you did
this tonight.
You took a deadly weapon in your hand
and you rammed it into a morsel of
food and it came toward your face at
breakneck speed.
You could lose an eye.
But at the last second, with phenomenal precision,
your mouth flew open and the fork deposited
the food over and over and over.
Never miss.
No blood or anything, man.
Great precision.
Now what if?
What if your hand decides, I'm tired of
this routine.
Same thing over and over and over.
I want to do it my way.
No.
Your body doesn't do that, you see.
It's delighted.
It's delighted to cooperate with itself.
Aren't you glad that even the simple act
of clapping, one hand says, not me, and
the other one just...
It is possible for one part of your
body to begin to serve only itself.
It does happen.
It's a medical condition.
Doctors have a name for it.
They call it cancer.
That's the very nature of cancer is when
one part of the body begins to serve
only itself.
Man, we consider that a dread disease, life
-threatening.
If only we understood how dread a disease,
how life-threatening self-centeredness is in the
body of Christ.
Wow.
Well, suddenly this takes on a different hue,
doesn't it?
Oh, yes, of course.
Servanthood makes all the sense in the world.
And it really does.
When you see how God is, how He
has revealed Himself through Jesus, and what begins
to happen in our lives when we follow
Him, it's incredible.
Well, Jesus compares Himself to a couple of
other kingdoms in order to explain to us
in comparison how He is.
One of those would be the kingdom of
the Gentiles.
Now, I'll read it to you in a
minute, but He says, you know, the rulers
of the Gentiles, in other words, the greatest
in the world kingdom.
Gentiles would be what they would basically call
the world out there, the pagan world.
He said, you know, the rulers are the
greatest in the Gentile kingdom.
And how they love, or not love, but
how they lord it over others.
He says, not so with you.
So, not lord it over becomes number two
here.
Now, that makes sense if you understand number
one.
It wouldn't make much sense for me to
come to you and say, look, I'm your
slave, and you'll do what I tell you.
That doesn't compute.
But isn't it amazing how many people get
their whole idea of who they are by
how much or how many they are over.
Oh, I'm constantly among groups of guys.
We'll get together from time to time, pastors
and the like, maybe, and we'll kind of
sidle up to each other and say, how
many you have?
And in some way, the world is constantly
asking that question.
But if you understand number one, number two
makes all the sense in the world.
Well, Jesus compared himself to another kingdom, and
that's the kingdom of religion.
Now, you've lived long enough to know that
religion and the kingdom of God are not
necessarily the same thing.
And Jesus knew it too.
And so he says, you know, the teachers
of the law, the scribes, the Pharisees, those
who sit in the seat of Moses or,
or shall we say the seat of authority,
or shall we say the greatest in the
religious kingdom, and how they love to lay
heavy burdens on others.
But they themselves were not left a finger
to carry the load.
He says, do what they say, but don't
do as they do.
So the only valid form of leadership in
the kingdom of God is leadership by example.
I am not free to say to you,
do as I say, not as I do.
But I'm free to say, as Paul said,
and I think he understood this, follow me
as I follow Christ.
I am so delighted that Jesus did not
come to this earth and say, I have
come to lay down certain basic principles, which
I would expect you to learn very carefully
and gather together with all the other great
learning of history and come up with a
thing called Christianity.
He says, follow me, follow me, and I
will make you to become fishers of men.
Now, this is the thing that many who
don't know the Lord really don't understand.
They think, oh yes, I believe in basic
Christian principles and the ethics of the great
religions.
No, no, no, no.
Jesus is not basic Christian principles.
He is a person.
And he didn't say, follow my basic Christian
principles.
He said, follow me.
He's a person.
Follow me.
I realized once that just about everything I
know, I've learned by example, really.
In fact, my wife and I have four
children.
They taught us more than we ever taught
them, but I tried hard to teach them
proper table manners.
But they eat like me.
It's what they see.
And I have a crazy habit.
I often will stand with my thumbs in
my belt loops and my hands in my
pockets like that.
It's a worthless habit.
It doesn't bake any bread, but I do
it.
And one day when my son was about
three, four, five years old, I've forgotten, but
he had his first pair of belt loop
trousers.
And I was standing like this, and my
wife said, look.
I looked over there, and there he was
looking at me.
And I thought, would you look at that.
Just by example, I've taught him a totally
useless habit.
That's what happens.
I have some dear friends who, when their
little daughter was about six years old, cute
girl, she was playing in the patio of
the church with some of her friends.
And the mother was standing about 10 feet
away.
And at one point, this little girl did
this with her friends.
She went, I'm so tired.
And I looked at the mother and smiled,
you know, and she went, oh.
She says, I guess you know what goes
on at my house.
I said, yeah.
If you have a five or six-year
-old, let me just spend a few hours
with them, and I will know you.
They just do what they see.
We learn by example, don't we?
By example.
I had a pastor friend who I think
had caught the understanding of this.
He called me one day, one Monday actually,
and he said, hey, Gail, I got to
tell you about the sermon I preached yesterday.
I said, great.
I like to hear things like that, because
if it's really good, I borrow it.
He said the title of it was Some
Things I'm Sick and Tired Of.
I thought, oh man, you're not preaching sermons
like that, are you?
And he knew what I was thinking.
So he said, now don't jump to conclusions
till I tell you.
Okay, okay.
He said, the first point was this.
I am sick and tired of expecting you
to pray when I have not been praying.
He says, I am sick and tired of
expecting you to read the Bible when I
have not been reading the Bible.
He says, I am sick and tired of
expecting you to give when I have not
been giving.
I thought, all right, you've caught on.
Jesus said, follow me.
I will make you to become fishers of
men.
He never expects us to do anything that
he hasn't done first and shown us how.
I love it.
Paul says to the church at Thessalonica, he
says, you have been imitators of me, and
now you are a model for the rest
of the churches in Asia.
Ah, exampling going on.
To the church at Philippi, he says, the
things you have heard from me and learned
from me and seen in me, these do.
Wow.
But it's so comfortable following when this kind
of thing is going on.
It's so comfortable following when there is modeling,
when there is example.
Then you know you'll be able to do
it.
Some years ago, I was teaching in Nashville.
My wife and family were on the coast
of Mississippi where my mother lives, and they
were going to drive up to join me.
Well, to get to Nashville from there, you
have to go through a town called Mobile,
Alabama.
It's a beautiful old town.
It just was not designed to drive through,
that's all.
The freeway bypass was not complete.
Went out into the middle of a swamp
and stopped and didn't tell you it was
going to stop.
For two hours, my wife tried to get
through that town.
She'd stop policemen and ask directions.
She'd stop at service stations and ask directions.
Directions were not her strongest area.
And finally, at the point of despair, and
I don't know if you've ever been at
a point of despair in your life, she
stopped at one more service station and said,
Sir, will you please help me get through
this town?
Now, if you've ever been at a point
of despair and asked for help, you've probably
heard what the man said.
It's easy.
Don't you hate that when you've been breaking
your neck, and it's easy.
He said, all you have to do is
go this direction, and he described it.
Now, if you have ever given advice, you
have heard what my wife answered.
I tried that, and it didn't work.
He said, well, here's another way you can
go.
And he describes it, and she says, I
tried that, and it didn't work.
So he looked at her for a second.
He said, then you're not going to make
it through this town.
He turned around.
Fortunately, there was a man overhearing the conversation
who said, lady, I'm driving this car out
front.
If you don't mind following me, I know
this is a tough town to get through.
I'll show you.
All right.
So she got behind him.
They went down Government Street under the Bankhead
Tunnel up the east side of the Mobile
River to miles beyond.
The freeway began again, and he stopped, and
he said, now, you get on that.
It takes you straight to Nashville.
You can't get lost.
Now, I don't know this man, and I
don't know if he was a Christian, but
he certainly understood how Jesus led.
Follow me.
Oh, I like that.
Then Jesus says, he that is greatest must
be humble.
I never have liked that word, and it's
mostly because I misunderstood it.
You see, for so much of my life,
I thought humility was basically an inferiority complex
that worked its way out in my life
this way.
I'm really nothing.
Can't sing.
Can't play a piano.
Can't pick a guitar.
Barely pick my nose.
And people would respond to me the way
I wanted.
They would say, oh, Gail, you're so humble.
And I would say, thank you.
It's not me.
It's the Lord.
Until I heard the Lord say, it's not
me either, when I had nothing to do
with that.
See, that's not humility.
That's sickness.
Well, let's see if we can define humility.
Humility really is an accurate assessment of yourself.
It's being absolutely honest about yourself.
It's an honesty principle, actually.
Honesty about myself.
Now, that can be devastating.
An accurate view of yourself will drive you
to the Lord, you know.
We could call it being upfront.
Plain vanilla.
What you see is what you get.
Transparent, willing to be read like a book.
Living without pretense, without hypocrisy.
Now, a falsely humble person is a pain
to be around.
They really are.
A falsely humble person, I'm just your humble
servant.
That's all.
I'm just coming over here just to serve
you.
And I just want you to know, I'm
just going to hang around here and be
your humble servant.
Please understand, I'm just going to be your
humble servant.
And then you begin to think, get him
out of my face, man.
But a truly humble person is a delight
to be around because you never have to
figure them out.
If they say, good morning, you don't have
to think, I wonder what he meant by
that.
Oh, one of my favorite stories in the
Old Testament.
And we'll get back into this in one
of these interrupted sessions later on.
I like Moses.
PhD in Egyptology.
And he'd messed his life up something terrible.
And now the best job he can get
is way out in the back of the
desert, herding sheep, not his own even, for
40 years.
Think of that, 40 years.
What have you ever done for 40 years?
Ever thought about that so boring?
And finally, God says, I think I can
talk to this man now.
Now, I have often prayed, God, don't let
me get so hardheaded that it takes you
40 years to get in touch with me.
So God says, I think I can talk
to this man now.
So he sets a bush on fire.
You ever wondered which bush?
I mean, there were billions of thorn bushes
in that desert.
How'd he pick a bush?
Did he have a Mr. Thorn Bush of
Israel contest or what?
I think he looked for one that was
nearby, available, it would burn.
And he sets this bush on fire.
And Moses, bored to tears in the desert,
sees it.
All right, something different in the desert.
Let's check this out.
And he gets over here and discovers, he
was 80, you know, he gets over here
and discovers that it was not your average
bush.
It didn't burn up.
In fact, it was even more different than
that.
It spoke.
And it knew his name.
Moses, Moses.
What?
Take off your shoes, you're on holy ground.
He took off his shoe and promptly entered
into an argument with the bush.
I love it.
That takes nerve.
Jewish people have a stronger word for that.
They call that chutzpah.
That's like murdering your parents and then throwing
yourself on the mercy of the courts as
an orphan.
Well, the bush won and Moses says, okay,
okay, I'll go, I'll talk to Pharaoh, I'll
talk to the children of Israel, but what's
your name?
When they asked me who sent me, what
do I say?
And God said, you tell them, I am.
That I am has sent you.
Oh, I am.
Oh, I get goosebumps when I say that.
You see, if I were to send you,
I would have to say, tell them I
ain't has sent you.
Or the great maybe.
But God is an I am.
And the thing is, he says, this is
the name I've chosen to be known by
from generation to generation or from now on.
It's his name.
Wow.
And Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter three
that he's the father after whom his whole
family and earth is named.
So that means that's our last name.
I am.
How about that?
Gail Irwin, I am.
Now that means our very name calls us
to I am-ness.
Our very name calls us to honesty.
It calls us to being the ones who
are unhidden, who say, here's the truth about
me.
Problem is, I'm afraid that so much of
the time I even lie with my face.
You ever?
You wouldn't do that.
No.
There are times when I desperately need prayer,
but I find myself coming to the gathering
of the saints, and I know they're going
to greet me at the door.
So what do I do?
How you doing?
Fine.
Praise the Lord.
I don't have any problems.
I'm a Christian.
Hello.
Wouldn't confess it anyway.
Oh, what a terrible.
What if one part of your body deceived
another part of your body that way?
Have you ever thought about it?
You see, this is the thing that makes
humility so powerful, because it means that we
give up deception.
We give up any lying to others about
ourselves.
I believe you get to humility, by the
way, by confession.
You see, confession is simply telling the truth
about yourself and saying, I know this is
what you think, but here's the truth.
And so here's where you can pray for
me and say, confession isn't necessarily going back
and seeing how much you can dig up
way back there and pull it up and
say, I bet my, I got bigger sins
than you.
No, that's not, that's not confession.
Confession is just living honestly and saying, here's
the truth about me, and here's where you
can pray for me.
The Bible does say confess your faults one
to another.
It says that.
Now, the way I handle that is, sure,
I'll be glad to confess your faults.
No, but humility says, yes, here's the truth.
Here's the truth about me.
I don't have to be hidden anymore because
I'm forgiven.
Oh, what a difference to live openly and
freely and unhidden.
How much energy it takes to have to
hide and cover things up.
In fact, what was the, what was the
first thing Adam and Eve did when they
sinned in the garden?
They hid.
They began the cover-up process.
Oh, by the way, I'll throw this in.
This is free.
I have a fig tree in my yard.
I love figs.
But when I pick figs, I have to
put on a long-sleeved shirt because fig
leaves really make you itch.
Adam and Eve sowed fig leaves.
Oh, I can see them, whoa, whoa, walking
around.
They knew they should suffer, you know.
And God comes along and goes, ooh, that
is not what I had in mind.
Let me fix you some lambskin seat covers.
And I have discovered that when I try
to cover myself, it is painful.
Only God knows how to do it.
In fact, if you want to create some
chaos where you work, if you work among
people that haven't come to know the Lord
and don't understand His forgiveness, you can just
go up to them and say first thing
in the morning, what you have kept hidden
for years is going to be revealed today.
It's chaos then.
But see, the beautiful thing about humility is
when you recognize the truth about yourself, when
you understand, man, I'm hopeless.
I'm a sinner.
I can't quit sinning.
I can't get control of my life, man.
I am, what am I going to do?
That's where God says, do I have a
plan for you?
He says, all you have to do is
come to me with that hopelessness, that humility,
that reality, and I will forgive you and
change you.
Oh, man, turn us into an I am.
And only He can do it.
Your body would not survive without humility and
yet without this honesty to itself.
And yet everywhere I go, and I do
go places, and I've discovered that every culture
that I am ever in, including my own,
says don't let them know the truth about
yourself.
Play your cards close to your chest.
Keep a poker face.
My British ancestry taught me, keep a stiff
upper lip.
I don't know quite how you do that,
but you're supposed to keep a stiff upper
lip.
But one part of your body, if it
tries to deceive another part of your body,
you're in desperate condition.
Desperate.
The simple act of walking could not occur.
You see, I take a step and I'm
expecting this leg to follow through, right?
But what if this leg says, he only
thinks I'm coming to him.
I'm on my face, you see.
One part, look at it this way.
Suppose I'm standing next to a stove, a
burner is on, it's red hot, and I
do a very unintelligent thing.
I lay my hand on the burner.
Now, if my hand acted the way I
have sometimes seen the body of Christ, now
please know I'm not talking about you here,
I'm talking about other places that I've been.
I laid my hand on that burner and
it acted like I have sometimes seen people
act.
You know what it would do?
It would say, oh, you've done a stupid
thing.
Oh, this is embarrassing.
Don't let the rest of the body know
that you've done this thing.
Just be cool.
My body would never do that.
If I lay my hand on a hot
burner, immediately, get me off of this, I've
done a dumb thing.
See, that's the way my body operates because
each part is honest with the other part
about itself.
Well, we're about halfway through with this first
part of what Jesus is like, and I'm
going to have to stop here and finish
this in our next session.
But you've got to think about this because
this is so incredibly important.
If this is the way Jesus is, he's
better than anybody I have ever seen before.
I mean, this is incredible.
No person that I have ever met other
than Jesus fulfills this.
And if you think about who he is
and the fact that he has come to
be this for us, boy, my overwhelming immediate
response is, oh, Father, I want to be
like him.
I want to receive him.
He's the only one that can handle my
sins, and I want him to do it.
So, if you don't know him, the saddest
thing in the world would be to walk
out of here with the greatest opportunity you
ever had presented to you.
To know the only one who can forgive
you and give you that incredible, ah, in
your heart that says, ah, I'm forgiven.
I'm free.
The king of all the universe is God.
Not to get me to serve him, but
to serve me, and then I can't help
but serve him, see.
And you know, as our pastor told us
at the beginning, if you want to be
prayed for, tonight's a good time to do
it.
And you only get prayed for when you
say, here's some truth about me that I
need God to do something about, or some
truth in my situation.
What an incredible opportunity, because the God who
came to show this to us, walked it
out, proved himself this way, and is here
tonight to take care of this.
What a golden opportunity.
May the God of grace and glory overwhelm
you with his presence and draw you to
him.
Amen.
To help
you explore the lifestyle of Jesus in more
detail, Servant Quarters offers a wide variety of
books, audio books, audio messages, and videotapes.
For a complete listing of these resources, please
write Servant Quarters, Post Office Box 219, Cathedral
City, California, 92235.
Or, you may call Servant Quarters toll-free
at 888-321-0077.
You may also visit our website at www
.servant.org.