1 00:00:04,726 --> 00:00:06,226 Right now on Tuesday nights, 2 00:00:06,226 --> 00:00:08,775 Tim is going through a series on the battle with sin. 3 00:00:08,775 --> 00:00:11,282 And in part 1, he dealt with the sin of pride. 4 00:00:11,282 --> 00:00:13,105 And I felt that it would be beneficial 5 00:00:13,105 --> 00:00:16,396 to make a video dealing with some of my own issues 6 00:00:16,396 --> 00:00:19,294 that recently God has really dealt with me 7 00:00:19,294 --> 00:00:22,184 to discipline me to make me more set apart, 8 00:00:22,184 --> 00:00:24,563 more holy, and more like Christ 9 00:00:24,563 --> 00:00:26,947 and less proud. 10 00:00:26,947 --> 00:00:30,205 I guess around 5 or 6 months ago, 11 00:00:30,205 --> 00:00:33,055 I went over to Tim's house to be encouraged. 12 00:00:33,055 --> 00:00:34,085 I had a long day. 13 00:00:34,085 --> 00:00:36,025 I felt, I need to be encouraged. 14 00:00:36,025 --> 00:00:37,337 And I went over there, 15 00:00:37,337 --> 00:00:39,797 and God had such encouragement for me 16 00:00:39,797 --> 00:00:41,714 in a way that I did not anticipate; 17 00:00:41,714 --> 00:00:43,116 I did not expect. 18 00:00:43,116 --> 00:00:46,255 And I sat down and I'm talking to Tim. 19 00:00:46,255 --> 00:00:48,040 And at some point, Tim looks at me, 20 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:49,335 and he says to me, he says, 21 00:00:49,335 --> 00:00:51,455 "James, in Matthew 7, 22 00:00:51,455 --> 00:00:54,796 it says the measure that you judge with 23 00:00:54,796 --> 00:00:57,461 will be judged right back at you." 24 00:00:57,461 --> 00:01:00,154 And he said to me these chilling words, 25 00:01:00,154 --> 00:01:03,926 he said, "James, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes 26 00:01:03,926 --> 00:01:06,876 on judgment day." 27 00:01:06,876 --> 00:01:09,205 I tell you, that hit me. 28 00:01:09,205 --> 00:01:12,182 That shook me up. 29 00:01:12,182 --> 00:01:15,136 And I thank God that right as I heard that 30 00:01:15,136 --> 00:01:17,123 I acknowledged it as truth 31 00:01:17,123 --> 00:01:18,905 and I praised the Lord. 32 00:01:18,905 --> 00:01:20,755 I didn't outwardly praise the Lord, 33 00:01:20,755 --> 00:01:22,266 but inside, I was praising God, 34 00:01:22,266 --> 00:01:23,855 because the devil was right there 35 00:01:23,855 --> 00:01:25,835 saying, "Look, James, Tim is judgmental. 36 00:01:25,835 --> 00:01:28,065 He's just judging you." 37 00:01:28,065 --> 00:01:29,294 No, that wasn't true. 38 00:01:29,294 --> 00:01:30,617 Tim was loving me. 39 00:01:30,617 --> 00:01:32,616 He loved me enough to tell me a truth 40 00:01:32,616 --> 00:01:33,835 that I needed to hear, 41 00:01:33,835 --> 00:01:35,215 and I heard it from someone 42 00:01:35,215 --> 00:01:36,954 who I had great respect for. 43 00:01:36,954 --> 00:01:38,347 And therefore, the weight 44 00:01:38,347 --> 00:01:39,535 of what was being said 45 00:01:39,535 --> 00:01:41,085 hit me as it ought. 46 00:01:41,085 --> 00:01:43,475 And it's exactly what I needed. 47 00:01:43,475 --> 00:01:45,735 Many of my failures were mentioned that night. 48 00:01:45,735 --> 00:01:48,644 And that was the best thing that could have happened for me. 49 00:01:48,644 --> 00:01:49,736 And not only that, 50 00:01:49,736 --> 00:01:55,347 it was an answer to a prayer I had just prayed that morning. 51 00:01:55,347 --> 00:01:56,523 I had prayed, 52 00:01:56,523 --> 00:01:58,537 "Lord, do whatever it takes 53 00:01:58,537 --> 00:02:00,447 to make me like Christ." 54 00:02:00,447 --> 00:02:02,216 And so God heard my prayer. 55 00:02:02,216 --> 00:02:04,447 And so He sees some imperfection in me. 56 00:02:04,447 --> 00:02:06,244 Obviously, God allowed Tim to see 57 00:02:06,244 --> 00:02:07,676 this obvious imperfection. 58 00:02:07,676 --> 00:02:10,155 And Tim lovingly told me the truth 59 00:02:10,155 --> 00:02:12,225 and God allowed my heart to receive it, 60 00:02:12,225 --> 00:02:13,336 to be humbled, 61 00:02:13,336 --> 00:02:16,175 to not try to deny it and press on in pride, 62 00:02:16,175 --> 00:02:18,175 but to see my failure. 63 00:02:18,175 --> 00:02:20,117 And God showed me, you know what, 64 00:02:20,117 --> 00:02:22,024 James, you've been too judgmental; 65 00:02:22,024 --> 00:02:23,236 too quick to judge. 66 00:02:23,236 --> 00:02:25,102 Right when I got saved, it was so easy 67 00:02:25,102 --> 00:02:27,179 to say, "you're lost," "you're saved." 68 00:02:27,179 --> 00:02:29,325 And then God put me through my own battle 69 00:02:29,325 --> 00:02:31,696 with sin, with idolatry, 70 00:02:31,696 --> 00:02:33,056 to let me see. 71 00:02:33,056 --> 00:02:34,734 Look, James... 72 00:02:34,734 --> 00:02:35,987 God's saying, look, James, 73 00:02:35,987 --> 00:02:37,665 you're falling into this. 74 00:02:37,665 --> 00:02:39,406 You keep going back to this. 75 00:02:39,406 --> 00:02:41,077 Are you a slave of your sin? 76 00:02:41,077 --> 00:02:43,133 And no, I wasn't a slave of my sin. 77 00:02:43,133 --> 00:02:45,234 But I started to realize, 78 00:02:45,234 --> 00:02:48,291 you know what, there is a real struggle 79 00:02:48,291 --> 00:02:50,241 that people are going through 80 00:02:50,241 --> 00:02:51,976 and you can be very quick to judge 81 00:02:51,976 --> 00:02:54,195 and say, well, look, this person 82 00:02:54,195 --> 00:02:56,383 is falling into pornography. 83 00:02:56,383 --> 00:02:57,587 They've got to be lost. 84 00:02:57,587 --> 00:03:01,079 Yes, the Bible says no sexually immoral person will inherit the Kingdom, 85 00:03:01,079 --> 00:03:01,945 that's true. 86 00:03:01,945 --> 00:03:04,425 But what's going to happen over the time? 87 00:03:04,425 --> 00:03:07,776 As time goes on, if they're going back to that sin, 88 00:03:07,776 --> 00:03:09,105 and they're a slave of it, 89 00:03:09,105 --> 00:03:11,756 then they should have no assurance they're a Christian. 90 00:03:11,756 --> 00:03:12,696 But as time goes on 91 00:03:12,696 --> 00:03:14,409 and they continue to have victories, 92 00:03:14,409 --> 00:03:15,796 I'm there to encourage them, 93 00:03:15,796 --> 00:03:18,176 not to judge them and beat them down. 94 00:03:18,176 --> 00:03:20,054 Then God's going to be glorified 95 00:03:20,054 --> 00:03:21,985 as they break free of that sin 96 00:03:21,985 --> 00:03:25,148 and they prove that they were a Christian. 97 00:03:25,148 --> 00:03:27,834 And I remember even reading about King David. 98 00:03:27,834 --> 00:03:29,546 If King David came to me and said, 99 00:03:29,546 --> 00:03:31,916 "James, I've murdered. I've committed adultery." 100 00:03:31,916 --> 00:03:33,305 Right when I was first saved, 101 00:03:33,305 --> 00:03:35,155 I would have said, "you're not a Christian." 102 00:03:35,155 --> 00:03:37,363 Yet, obviously he was. Look at the fruit of his life. 103 00:03:37,363 --> 00:03:38,594 He loved the Lord. 104 00:03:38,594 --> 00:03:41,062 Obviously he did, but he had a struggle. 105 00:03:41,062 --> 00:03:42,722 And so the Lord put me through 106 00:03:42,722 --> 00:03:44,795 an idolatry in my heart 107 00:03:44,795 --> 00:03:46,856 where I was going emotionally 108 00:03:46,856 --> 00:03:49,966 to other sources instead of Christ, 109 00:03:49,966 --> 00:03:51,825 and I wasn't satisfied in the Lord. 110 00:03:51,825 --> 00:03:53,521 And the greatest evidence of that 111 00:03:53,521 --> 00:03:54,768 was my lack of prayer. 112 00:03:54,768 --> 00:03:55,947 And when you don't pray, 113 00:03:55,947 --> 00:03:57,396 you're going to be judgmental. 114 00:03:57,396 --> 00:03:59,526 When you don't pray, you're going to run to idols. 115 00:03:59,526 --> 00:04:00,526 When you don't pray, 116 00:04:00,526 --> 00:04:03,412 you're not going to be satisfied in the Lord Jesus Christ. 117 00:04:03,412 --> 00:04:04,665 I mean, even this morning, 118 00:04:04,665 --> 00:04:05,885 I remember waking up 119 00:04:05,885 --> 00:04:07,848 and I wanted kind of roll back in bed. 120 00:04:07,848 --> 00:04:09,493 I woke up before my alarm went off 121 00:04:09,493 --> 00:04:10,695 and the Lord was telling me, 122 00:04:10,695 --> 00:04:12,056 James, I woke you up right now. 123 00:04:12,056 --> 00:04:14,478 Get out of your bed and go seek My face. 124 00:04:14,478 --> 00:04:16,016 When I was out praying, 125 00:04:16,016 --> 00:04:18,206 being with the Lord was far better 126 00:04:18,206 --> 00:04:19,532 than being in that bed. 127 00:04:19,532 --> 00:04:20,866 And if I stayed in that bed, 128 00:04:20,866 --> 00:04:22,764 I would have fell into something that day. 129 00:04:22,764 --> 00:04:23,715 I would have got proud. 130 00:04:23,715 --> 00:04:26,835 I would have thought highly of myself. 131 00:04:26,835 --> 00:04:29,197 We need pride to get put to death 132 00:04:29,197 --> 00:04:30,355 so bad. 133 00:04:30,355 --> 00:04:33,148 And God loves us so much 134 00:04:33,148 --> 00:04:34,546 if we're His children 135 00:04:34,546 --> 00:04:36,585 that He's going to discipline us. 136 00:04:36,585 --> 00:04:40,366 And so, I just wanted to testify about that, 137 00:04:40,366 --> 00:04:42,897 about God's love for my own soul, 138 00:04:42,897 --> 00:04:45,536 that He loved me to have a brother 139 00:04:45,536 --> 00:04:47,345 tell me the truth in love, 140 00:04:47,345 --> 00:04:48,784 to rebuke me, 141 00:04:48,784 --> 00:04:50,466 that I could then repent of that 142 00:04:50,466 --> 00:04:52,747 and strive to live a more holy, 143 00:04:52,747 --> 00:04:55,646 more Christ-like life. 144 00:04:55,646 --> 00:04:57,885 To be not like the world. 145 00:04:57,885 --> 00:04:59,925 But to be like Christ. 146 00:04:59,925 --> 00:05:01,735 So God help me continue 147 00:05:01,735 --> 00:05:04,276 and others - we can't be overcritical. 148 00:05:04,276 --> 00:05:06,266 I'm sure there's something in my own self 149 00:05:06,266 --> 00:05:08,136 even in this video that you could find 150 00:05:08,136 --> 00:05:09,756 and you could rip and tear me apart 151 00:05:09,756 --> 00:05:10,904 in a moment. 152 00:05:10,904 --> 00:05:13,387 And the reality is, that's what I was doing to a lot of people. 153 00:05:13,387 --> 00:05:15,033 Finding the one flaw and imperfection 154 00:05:15,033 --> 00:05:16,876 and ripping them apart. 155 00:05:16,876 --> 00:05:18,595 With all that said though, 156 00:05:18,595 --> 00:05:20,816 we all will be judged by God. 157 00:05:20,816 --> 00:05:22,513 And we need to be ready. 158 00:05:22,513 --> 00:05:24,015 And if there's some unchecked sin; 159 00:05:24,015 --> 00:05:25,705 if we don't have clear consciences, 160 00:05:25,705 --> 00:05:26,916 we need to deal with it. 161 00:05:26,916 --> 00:05:28,764 1 Timothy 1:19 says 162 00:05:28,764 --> 00:05:30,366 many people shipwreck 163 00:05:30,366 --> 00:05:32,764 because they don't hold to a good conscience. 164 00:05:32,764 --> 00:05:35,276 So if God is showing you sin in your life 165 00:05:35,276 --> 00:05:36,756 like He's done in mine, 166 00:05:36,756 --> 00:05:39,085 may God help us humble ourselves 167 00:05:39,085 --> 00:05:42,676 and forsake it and cling to Christ. 168 00:05:42,676 --> 00:05:45,814 Jesus is more beautiful than anything in this world. 169 00:05:45,814 --> 00:05:48,216 There's no hope, but in Him. 170 00:05:48,216 --> 00:05:50,315 So may God break us of pride, 171 00:05:50,315 --> 00:05:52,845 and I pray as Tim continues to do this series, 172 00:05:52,845 --> 00:05:55,528 that the Lord reveals more sin in my life, 173 00:05:55,528 --> 00:05:57,592 to make me more like Christ 174 00:05:57,592 --> 00:06:00,366 and may He do the same for everyone out there, 175 00:06:00,366 --> 00:06:02,276 that we would be like Christ; 176 00:06:02,276 --> 00:06:04,345 that we would love like Christ. 177 00:06:04,345 --> 00:06:06,675 So God help us. 178 00:06:06,675 --> 00:06:08,055 Amen.