Elevation with Steven Furtick - No Crown (Robert Madu)

Episode Date: March 22, 2021

What’s holding you back from your purpose? In “No Crown,” Robert Madu reveals all the ways – big and small – that pride may be keeping you from your calling.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your fate. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. How many are you thankful that you're feeling more than the air conditioning this morning? Come on, do you sense the presence of God in here? Y'all don't just look at your neighbor that you're kind of socially distanced from. and even right there on the E-FAM, wherever you're watching this from, just look at your neighbor right in their face. Say, neighbor, I'm ready to receive everything that God's got for me. Come on, find you another neighbor.

Find you another neighbor. Look at that other neighbor. Tell them, I'm ready to receive everything that God's got for me. See, you have to be expecting to receive what he has, because sometimes you don't even know what it is. That's why I like the O's in that song. Because the O's just articulate. I don't even know what you got for me,

but I'm ready to receive. So, oh, oh, whatever it is. I'm ready to receive it. Father, we honor you today. We say, have your way in this place. Do whatever you want to do. Shake whatever you want to shake. Move whatever you want to move.

We do have great energy. anticipation. Even in spite of what we've been through, we're still anticipating you to move. Because we know that you work all according to your purpose. Speak to our hearts. Everybody said. Come on. Everybody said. Amen. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. How you doing? Elevation. Oh, come on. You could do better than that. Are you glad to be in the house of God this Morning. I tell you what, it is always a privilege to be here at Elevation Church, but it's a special privilege to be invited back. Be invited back. This is like my sixth time here, and, man, I've never take it for granted. I am truly honored and humbled to be here, especially to be here this week,

this week. You know, time is measured in minutes, but life is measured in moments. And I'll never forget this time last year. We were right here in this room and the pandemic was upon us and we didn't know what the future was going to look like. But isn't it awesome to see that we're still here and we're still standing? Oh, come on. Don't act like you weren't scared this time last year. You didn't know what was going to happen. But look at you, you're still standing? Come on, you still got a pulse. That's the beauty of our God. You didn't know this moment was here going to come back then, but look at you, You're still here? So I'm just thankful for God's goodness.

I'm thankful for His grace, and I'm excited to preach the word to you. I want to, first of all, really and truly give honor to where honor is due. I'm so thankful for the life and really just the leadership, Pastor Stephen and Holly Ferdick. How many of you know, y'all are crazy blessed. See, y'all know them as great pastors. y'all know them as great leaders, but my wife and I just know them as great friends. And you can try to be better friends to the Ferdix than they are to you, but it's impossible. It's impossible because they're incredibly loyal.

They're just always there. They will show up when you need them. And I don't want you to ever take the gift that they are for granted. In fact, one more time, would you let them know how much you love them, how much you appreciate them? Come on, y'all. You're blessed. You're blessed. That's who I listen to to feed my soul.

I listen to your pastor, Pastor Stephen Ferdig, and try not to steal his stuff while I'm listening to him. And then during the pandemic, I realize it's two verdicts in that house that can preach. Because Pastor Holly had me shouting and throwing stuff at the TV screen. So I thank God for her. My wife and my family sends her love. I still live in the great country of Texas. Still married to the finest woman on the planet, Taylor Maddo. We still have three little kids.

humans and they're doing good. But I guess there is one update. There is one update. My wife and I, we started this gathering in Dallas called Social Dallas in 2019, just once a month gathering. And I've told God, I told God, you ever tell God something? I told him, I'm not a church planner. I'm not a pastor. It's just a gathering. I told him that specifically told him. This is not a church plant. I'm just, we're just having a gathering. But surprise. You can tell God your plans, but he'll laugh at him. And I'm excited to announce, I guess, for the first time on this stage, that Social Dallas is now Social Church.

And we're going to have our opening Sunday this Easter. Come on, somebody. So you're ever in the Dallas area, come check us out. And Social Dallas. And, man, we are excited and scared to death. for all that God is going to do. But, man, I'm ready to preach the word today. If y'all ready to hear it, I got some good backup here to help me say amen.

So turn with me to the gospel of John today, John chapter 3. I want to look at verses 22 through 30. We'll also look at the book of Revelation. Or as some of y'all say, revelations, even though that's not in the Bible. We'll look at chapter 4, verses 9 through 11. John chapter 3, we'll start at verse number 22. When you're ready to read and say, yeah. If you ain't ready, say, hold up.

Come on, somebody, it's on a screen. Look at what it says. It says, after this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside where he spent some time with them and baptized. Now, John also was baptizing at Anon near Saline because there was plenty of water and people were coming and being baptized. This was before John was put in prison.

An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, talk about Jesus, the one you testified about, look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him. Isn't it crazy the news that some people will bring to you? Like these are John's disciples talking about,

John, hold on, like people are actually focusing on Jesus more than you. This is a problem. That's what they came to say to John. And look at what John said. A person can only receive what is given to them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said it. I told you. I'm not the Messiah, but I'm sent ahead of him.

The bride belongs to the bridegroom. A friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is my and it is now complete. He must become greater and I must become less. That is good. Go to Revelation chapter 4. Just a few verses here. Starting at verse number 9 and it says,

whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say, you are worthy, O Lord, and God to receive glory and honor and power. You created all things, and by your will they were created and have their. being. Can you say amen? John says He must become greater.

I must become less. And the elders throw down their crowns before the throne of God. I want to preach today not long, about six and a half hours. Just using this

as a title, no crown. No crown. Would you help me preach and look at your neighbor one last time. And say, neighbor, I know you think you're cute, but no crowd. Father, thank you for your word today. Speak to us. Amen. Elevation fam, before this service started, we had a pre-service production meeting, little mini-production meeting. And in the production meeting, they asked me a question that I'm actually often asked. Matter of fact, I've been preaching 16 years now. And I'm always asked this question before I preach, either through text,

through email, through facts, or in person. I'm asked this question. The question is, Pastor Robert, do you have any props or illustrations that you'll be using in your message today? Do you have any props or illustrations that you'll be using? And I think it's my familiarity with this question that has actually made me unaware. of how nuanced that is to what I'm called to do. Some of you know, preachers, we will use some props to prove a point. I mean, we will use some, if you don't believe it, just scroll down your timeline tomorrow, look at some preachers' pages.

You will see all kinds of pictures with foreign objects of them trying to illustrate some point. We will use some props. Preachers might be the only people that will call you up before service. Call you up before service. Say, real quick, real quick. I need some dynamite, some matches. bullhorn and a fire extinguisher. And nobody will question why in the world. Do you need these items?

They'll be like, yeah, Pastor Nese, you're probably preaching on how you need to be a dynamite witness for Jesus. Don't let the devil extinguish your fire. I mean, people will just go get the stuff and not ask you a question. Because preachers, we use props. We love to use props to illustrate what God is saying to us. And it's funny the props that we use to illustrate. It's funny the props that we use to illustrate what God is saying. And the reason we do it is not just to be cute. It's not just to be cute. It's because we have been given the task, the daunting task, if I might add, to articulate the gospel, the good news about Jesus. We have been given the task to express that which is inexpressible, to talk about the intangible, to talk about a kingdom that is so transcended, the kingdom of

God, a kingdom whose ways are above your ways and whose thoughts. above your thoughts. How in the world can you articulate something that really your mind can't comprehend, but your spirit has to comprehend it? Oh, it is a difficult task to try to articulate the ideas of the kingdom of God. Even Jesus when he preached. The Bible says every time he preached to a crowd, he told stories. He told stories. He had to use things in the earth that you could understand to express a kingdom that you could never understand. Jesus used parables and we use props. So I'm just having fun with this. I actually made a list

of all the props that I've used like in my 16 years of preaching. This is fun. This is not a comprehensive list but all these props have been used in some shape or form. Ladder, toy train, basketball, barbies, barbells, hammer, nails, anvil, sword, seeds, trolls, plants, dirt, mannequins, buckspring, violin, pliometric boxes, cardboard boxes, gift boxes, gift boxes, broom, shovel, trees, dog bowl, toilet,

rug, flowers, mirrors, magnifying glass, oversized sunglasses, candles, salt, dollar bill, dimes, tithing. Pools, inflatables, oils, extension cords, bungee cords, ropes, keys, Christmas tree, a cow tongue. Cow tongue. It's a long story, I'll tell you about it

later, but I'll tell you about it now. I was, oh school, I was preaching like a junior high camp. Preaching like a junior high camp and you know you got to do whatever you can but drink your high and I brought in a cow tongue and I say young people Sit out said in this bag. I have the most lethal weapon That you have ever seen what is it? Oh, I'm gonna tell you what it is in this bag is something that is deadly It is poisonous and it will kill you This bag has destroyed lives. What is it? Oh, I'm gonna show you

you what it is. I pull out the cow tongue, put it everywhere. So they're like, ew! I'm like, oh, that's nasty, that's gross. Not as gross as the things that come out of your mouth in the cafeteria every single time. Whatever it takes to get them to the altar. That was, use props. And I'm adding to my list today. I'm adding to my list of props today. I haven't used this one before. Um, anybody know what this is? smoke detector. I'm so glad you said smoke detector. It looks like it's a smoke detector.

Smoke detectors are good, but the reality is you can see smoke. You can smell smoke. The beep is a little extra. You can see a fire. This is a carbon monoxide

detector. Carbon dioxide detectors are vital. They are critical. A matter of fact, you cannot build the building without having carbon monoxide detectors. Every building by code has to have a carbon monoxide detector because carbon monoxide is a lethally dangerous. Oh, it's a lethally dangerous. I don't want to start off morbid, but you have to understand that almost 20,000 people a year find themselves in the emergency room because of carbon monoxide. 400 people a year die

because of carbon monoxide. And what makes carbon monoxide so lethally dangerous is because it is colorless and it is odorless. So it could be in the room right now, and you wouldn't even know it. It could be in the room right now, seeping throughout this room, and it would slowly start to affect your body.

All of a sudden, you just get nauseous, and you would have a headache, and you would start filling the symptoms. And before you know it, you would die from a toxin that you couldn't even see. The CDC calls carbon monoxide the silent killer. Obviously, I didn't come all the way to Charlotte today to talk to you about carbon monoxide. But I do want to talk about a silent killer. That silent killer is pride.

The carbon monoxide of sin. Pride is the carbon monoxide slowly and secretly and subtly, seeping into your spirit, suffocating the plans and the purposes of God. I'm telling you, pride is the silent killer. Pride will destroy your life. Pride will stop God from doing exceedingly, abundantly, above all you may ask, think, or imagine. It is nothing like pride that will shut down the plan of God for your life. Pride is what destroys marriages. Pride is what ruins relationships. Pride is what tears apart families. Pride is what makes you hold on to bitterness and refuse to forgive. Pride is the reason why family members have been talked for years.

Pride destroys churches. It shuts down ministries. It kills companies. Pride is the silent killer. There's nothing like pride. that will stop God from doing what he wants to do in you and through you. Pride has always been the problem. Can I go there?

But pride is America's stronghold. You know, we got EFAM people watching all over the world right now. But how many you know different regions and different nations, sometimes different states and cities have particular strongholds? And you ain't got to be prophetic or have a sociology degree to know that pride is America's biggest strong. Oh, it is our stronghold. We read the Bible and think the Bible just talking about us. Pride is our stronghold. Don't mess with me. I'm from Texas. You know, Texas really got some pride issues. We're our own country, we think. How do you deal with pride? See, pride is interesting because

pride is the sin beneath the sin. Can I just take my time real quick? Let me pause for a water break. Pride is the sin beneath the sin. That's what Augustine said. In other words, there can be issues in your life that on the surface it looks like it's one thing. But at the bottom, it's really just pride. Give us some examples, Robert. Okay, I'll give you some examples. So, like, on the surface of your life, you think the issue is anxiety or worry. But at the root, it's pride. Because you told God, didn't you tell them, you said, God, I specifically. told you that I had to be married by 28. I told you that he had to be 6'4. Didn't I tell you, God, that we had to live in the suburbs. I specifically, we prayed about this. A house had to be mid-century modern. I told you the car had to be a BMW, nothing less than a 5 series. Didn't I tell you that was my plan? And now you're anxious and you're upset because you're 38 and you're not married. or you are, but he's five, too. And you don't got the house or the career that you wanted, and you're driving the Prius,

and you're like, God, what is one with you? I don't understand. Why does it not happen? And it's not anxiety. It's just, it was pride. Pride trying to tell God the way you thought your life shit. Oh, I should have preached something that will make you shout. So on the surface, on the surface, it looks like indecisiveness.

But at the root, it's pride. Because if I actually take a step of faith and do what God has called me to do, what if I fail? What if I mess up? What are people going to think about me if I don't show up the way I'm supposed to show up? So I'd rather stay at the bay of procrastination and never step into what God has for me. Because if I do, I might fall flat on my face. And I got a reputation.

It's always pride. Pride is always at the root of it. That's what's at the root of every fight in your life. It's pride. That's why you're bitter because of pride. Because you're only bitter because you think you're better than that person. Because it's pride. Yeah, that's why you're angry talking about, I cannot believe that she would do that to me.

I would never do that to anybody. I would never treat anybody like that. Girl, I would never talk behind anybody's back, as you're telling your friend. I would never do that. How could she do something like that? The root. It is pride. Pride is the sin beneath the sin.

What do we do with the pride? Pride preceded the fall of man. Pride is what turned an angel into a devil. It made its way into heaven. Satan, Lucifer. You know it used to be the praise and worship leader of heaven, but pride was found in his heart. And not only did he fall, two-thirds of the angels, 66% of the angels failed because of pride. I came to tell you that pride, hear me, is the deadbolt that will block your access into the presence of God. But humility? humility is the hinge upon which the heavens open up in your life. Humility is the hinge upon which the heavens open up in your life. If you ever want to see the heavens open up in your life, you've got to start saying, God, let me be humble.

Let me have humility. That's how the heavens will open up in your life. If you really want to see a miracle and a move of God, you start with humility. Begin your day, every single day, getting down on your knees. and saying, God, I cannot do life without you. God, I need you. God, I don't know how to run this company without you. God, I don't know how to raise these kids without you. God, I don't know how to be a father. I don't know how to be a mom. God, you got to help me. I need you. You're not in addition to my life. You are in my life. I need you. Oh, when you begin your life like that, your day like that,

that's what gets God's attention. He is attracted to humility. He has to show you. He has to show up when you get humble because humility is the hinge upon which the heavens open on. God is attracted to the fragrance of humility. Who come here, James, chapter four. What does it say? It says that God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Later, James will also say that resists the devil and he will flee.

So wait a minute I gotta resist the devil for him to flee But if I got pride God will resist me I gotta resist the devil for him to flee But if I have pride

God will resist me So I wonder what the enemy is gonna constantly hit me with That's what the enemy will always tell you do you boo Do you Pride is the silent

Killer God told me to preach this message. I don't know who this is for today. Because I love the core value. I love the ethos of Elevation Church. See what God can do through you. See what God can do through you. I just came to tell you the thing that will stop what God can do through you is pride.

So quick question. It's just us talking. And y'all at home, EFAM, quick question. And be honest. me would just say by a shone of hands that like you're super prideful. Can I see your hand up? You're like prideful. Come on, you can be honest. Raise your hands. Say like, I'm proudful. Raise it real high. EFAM, raise it high. Okay. Let me see. Okay.

If you didn't lift up your hand, I'm worried about you. I'm worried about you. I got some serious questions because the problem with pride is it hides. See, the people that struggle with pride the most will be the last one to lift up the hand because the pride stops them from seeing that they have it. Pride is like bad breath. You're generally the last one to know that you haven't. But yet it's affecting everybody.

Worry about you because pride hides. Okay? I'm trying to say another question. How many of you say that like you're super humble? Like, you're humble. I mean, come on. Lift up your hand. Come on, he's like, you're really, really humble.

No, you don't want to lift up your head. Come on, y'all don't want, how many need to write the book on how I became humble? Come on, start your website, I'm the Epitome of Humility.com. You see the challenge? What does humility look like? See, pride hides, and humility is hidden. Generally, when you come across a person that is humble, you don't walk away going, oh, they were really humble. You actually don't walk away thinking about them at all.

You think about yourself going, man, they really made me feel. seen and loved. So humility is hidden, but pride hide. So how do you know? Which, what it is? I'm confused. I came here to ask y'all. There's actually some things on the outside that look like humility, but it's really just pride in costume. And there's some things on the outside that look like pride, but it's really confidence in the fact that God can do something through you. Okay, let me go to the Bible. You remember David? You remember David when he showed up on the battlefield

and he just came to drop the ham and cheese sandwich and he heard the giant defying the armies of the living God? And he's like, hold up, y'all going to let this giant talk about my God like this? He's like, no, no, no, is there not a cause? And remember David's brother accused him of pride? He said, what are those sheep? You're supposed to be with the sheep? I know your heart.

Pride is in your heart. But David didn't have pride. He just had confidence. in his God. He had confidence that God could do something through him. He said, wait a minute, I know it's not me. I know it's God in me, because I know I couldn't kill that bear, but God showed up. I know I couldn't defeat that lion, but God showed up. And the same God that helped me defeat the lion and the bear is the same God that will help me knock this giant down. Everybody needs to take 10 seconds and give God some praise. If you know that God can do great things

through you when you trust him. Oh, that's a cute golf clap. Give him a real praise in this place. You got to be careful what you call pride. Because Godly confidence sometimes looks like arrogance. Because there's something about

stepping out and saying, I know God can do this through me. They accused him of pride and it wasn't pride. Remember another moment in David's life? Goliath was long gone. Now he's the king. and how he's in the palace.

The Bible says that one day he counted, he counted his Instagram followers. My bad, he counted his military. He counted. And I looked at that from the outside. I said, he just counted. That's a military census. That's good stewardship.

God have to know how many people in my army. That's not pride. Not in the eyes of God. 70,000 men died that day because David counted. Because God could see what nobody else could see. David, you forgot when you were just a little shepherd boy. And all you had was a slingshot and a big God. And your confidence was in me.

But now you got an army. Now you're in the palace. And you've lost your humility. Do you find this out? I'm telling you this is difficult because pride hides and humility is hidden. I wish, I wish there was like a pride monoxide detector. Don't you wish? Like you're like pushing.

And it would let you know. I wish because you can't tell. See, some of you even have the image of pride and somebody who's inside with sunglasses on. That's your image of somebody to pride for like, oh, they think they are. that. So you only see pride as superiority. But there's another level of pride that manifests an inferiority. That person is like, yeah, nobody ever cares about me. Nobody ever thinks about me. Yes. Nobody ever calls on me. Nobody ever checks on me. Like the whole pandemic. Like, nobody even called me. Nobody even asked me how I was today. I walk into church and nobody even waved at me

today. I mean, I know the social distancing, but I mean, can you at least wave and say hi to me? Nobody asks me how my day was. Me, me, me. It's inferiority, but it's still pride. because all pride cares about is that you are in the center of your world. So I'm trying to tell you, you don't know what it looks like. You need a detector. I wish this was a pride monoxide detector. Actually, I'm going to give you the pride monoxide detector. Because I think humility and pride manifest and how you respond to situations in your life,

how you respond. You want to test whether you got pride or whether you have humility? Number one, how do you respond to criticism? How do you respond to criticism? When somebody criticizes you, what is your initial response? Is it to deflect? To immediately deny it up? Here goes another hater.

Do you immediately deflect? How do you respond to criticism? That's a good test. Do you immediately go, no, that's, that's, You get defensive. That's a good way to test. Or are you completely deflated when somebody criticizes you? Now your whole year is ruined?

Because somebody talked about you one morning and five minutes. Now your whole year is over? That's the inferiority version. How do you respond to criticism? It's a good test of your proud and humility. See, humble people are able to laugh at themselves. else. Like, they're able to laugh at everything. They're able to get something out of everything. You go to a person that's humble, be like, man, your breast stinks. You're like,

man, my bad, bro. You know, I switched toothpaste. I didn't even realize that. Man, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for letting me know. And that's why humble people grow because they're open to hear. They don't deflect and they're not completely deflated. They're open to see. What can I learn from this? I didn't know my breath was thinking. How do you respond to criticism? Here's a Another one. How do you respond to rejection? Don't you hate to be rejected? Don't you hate, especially from stuck up people? Come on, don't you hate stuck up people? Just stuck up people. Oh, I can't stand to be rejected by stuck up people. You know, people just walk in, act like they can't speak to anybody. Like really, you're that special. Okay, you floated in the room today. All right, you can't speak to people. Don't you? Oh, stuck up people.

Don't you hate to be rejected by stuck up people? Like, oh, who does he think he is? Don't even speak to anybody. Oh, you ain't better than me. I think I'm better than you. You ain't going to speak to me? Okay. I ain't going to speak to you.

You see the hypocrisy? You end up being stuck up to stuck up people. You end up rejected. People that rejected you. Because you thought they thought they were better than you. You're like, no, I'm better than you. You see how? works? How do you respond to rejection? How about people will talk to everybody? Even the

stuck up person is like, hey, how are you doing? I guess you didn't see me since you didn't speak, yeah. Oh, are you? I like your glasses that you're wearing inside. Are those ray bad? How do you respond of rejection? Here's another test. How do you respond to advice? How do you respond to advice? people are funny people especially church people church people will go around and ask people for advice but they really don't want advice they just want you to confirm what they already want to do they just want to hear their opinion in somebody else's voice so they'll go around and like as soon as they'll say we i've been praying about something what do you think about this and the person says what you want to say yeah i appreciate it yeah i'm gonna keep praying i'm gonna keep praying but the minute

somebody gives them advice that's contradictory to the thing that they want to do, that's a good revealer of pride. As soon as somebody says, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, I wouldn't marry him, no. Like, did you see a driver's license? Like, his first name is Freddie. His last name is Kruger. Like, I wouldn't, I wouldn't marry him. Like, I don't know. That might not be, oh, no, well, you don't know him. You don't know him like I know him. How do you respond to advice is a good test for pride or humility. another one. How do you respond to praise, to praise, to the hand clap, to the cheer? Epham is just us talking, elevation is just us talking. Can I tell you what I don't like?

I don't like how much I like to be liked. How much I love approval. I have to have conversations with me, Chris, I have to have a conversation with myself before I step on any stage to preach. to talk to myself still to this day before I get up and say, you have nothing to prove and nothing to lose. Nothing to prove. Because if I'm not careful, I'll get on stage, and I'll be trying to prove to you that I'm funny, and I'll be trying to make you laugh like I'm Kevin Hart as something. I'll be trying to prove that I'm brilliant. I'll be trying to use a big word, be like super counterfactualistic, HBO, don't know. Like, oh my goodness, see if it's doctor degree? That's the praise. The praise. And I think this is an issue now more

than ever because even psychologists are scrambling to do the research of what social media is literally doing to our brains, to the pleasure part of our brains, this incessant, unhealthy need to be noticed by other people, to get the validation and affirmation from other people, not in a healthy way, just from a community, but no, we need likes from strangers. You're saying that the pleasure principle in our brain, the pleasure part, the dopamine, mean, when you get a like, when you get a notification, ooh, it's not as close to cocaine, but it's close. The thrill that you get, like, ooh, they said, we couple goals, babe.

The thrill that you get from that. Oh, you don't believe it? Put it to the test. I dare you. Post something today and don't look at it until next week. Just let it sit there. Oh, you ever had a conversation with somebody that posted something and they're waiting for the notifications to come through? You talk about somebody that just will start twitching. They're like, yeah, you can't even listen to the conversation.

Yeah, you went to the modest. Excuse me, one second. Let me see what they said. How do you respond to praise? How do you respond to criticism? How do you respond to rejection? How do you respond to advice? How do you respond to praise?

How do you respond to the crap in your life? That is a good test. That is a good test to see whether you got humility or pride. That's all it is anyway. It's just crap. God wants to know how you respond to the crap of life. Oh, I wish I had a church that would help me preach in here today.

How do you respond because that's all it is anyway? That's all it is anyway. It's just crap. That's all it is. Isn't that what Paul said? I'm landing the plane. Isn't that what Paul said in Philippians? You remember in Philippeus chapter 3?

We quote this verse all the time. Paul says, one thing I do, forgetting what's behind, I press on to what's ahead. And how do we quote that verse? We quote that verse for like 2020. You got to forget 2020. That was in the past. Press on to what's ahead.

Have you ever read the context of that verse? If you go up in that verse in Philippians chapter 3, Paul starts flexing. He starts naming all his accolades. He's like, oh, y'all want somebody to flex in the flesh? I'll let you know about what I did. Look, I had a blue check before y'all were even on the ground. He said, I'm of the tribe of Benjamin. I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews.

I speak all kinds of languages. He starts telling you all his accomplishments and his pedigree. But then he says, I treat all that as a loss, as dung, for one thing that I may know him. He said, all of that I counted as a loss. It's all crap. Why? So that I may know who Jesus is?

So when he gets to that verse and he says, one thing I do for getting what's behind, he's not talking about sin. He's not talking about pain. He said, I got to forget all my successes. I got to forget all of my lights. He said, I got to forget all those notifications. He said, because those are the things.

things. My pedigree is going to produce a pride that will stop me from receiving what God has for me. He said, I got to forget my wins. If I keep reflecting on my wins, I'm going to lose the power that comes from humility because it's in humility that I know him. That's what he's saying. Can you forget what's behind you? All the successes for one thing to say, God, I want to know you, the fellowship of your suffering, and the power of your resurrection. It's all crap. What I love about my text today is that John the Baptist was able to forget the crap. They came to him with news, trying to get him to be. You know, upset that people were noticing Jesus?

John said, no, I'm not upset. Quite the contrary. My joy is complete in him. I have to decrease so that he may increase. I have to die because the heavens open up on the hinge of humility. Give me some of that water. I know this ain't a shout message. I know the same message that makes you want to run around.

I knew the Holy Ghost two step. I'm telling you the heavens open up on the hinge of humility. God, it blocks the access. I'm just in a season of life where I'm like, God, I just want to know you. That's the wind. It's him. Not even what he does through me, but that I may know him. Don't let me get caught up in the crap.

that pride shuts me out from knowing you. Don't let me get intoxicated by the approval of men. And I miss out on the greatest treasure which is knowing you. Interesting, in the days of Caesar's, in Rome, they had what they called a triumph. It was after a victory. Huge parade. People cheering and screaming. And the Caesar would stand on his chariot and all his regal,

attire going throughout the towns as people were clapping and cheering. And behind the Caesar, you would see a servant. And the servant's job was number one to hold the crown of the Caesar. Some of these triumphs would last several days. It's hard to have that crown on your head for that long. So the servant's job was to hold The crown. Servant also had another job. Servant was to whisper in the ear of the Caesar while the crowd is cheering.

Momentomore. Momentumore. People will be shouting at the top of their lungs, but the servant is holding the crown, whispering in the Caesar's ear, momento mori, momento mori. Which means remember you are mortal. Remember you die.

You are just a man. Do not let the praise of this crowd go to your hand. Do not become intoxicated with the cheers of the crowd. Because how do you know, we were not created to receive glory. You cannot handle glory. I'm telling you, glory will crush you. We were created to reflect glory, to give it back to God. You cannot handle the weight of glory on your life.

You were created to give it back to the one who made you, who created you, who formed you. You can't handle the weight of it, crush you. The service job was to say, remember, you are mortal. So he wouldn't get intoxicated with the cheers of the crowd? Because you can't handle the crowd. Then I remember John, the disciple who wrote about John the Baptist. He gets a vision of heaven and revelation. And as soon as he gets to heaven, what does he say?

He sees the throne. And God is on that throne. And surrounded by that throne are the 24 elders. 24 elders. Who are these elders? This is the church. Every time you see elders in the Bible, it's talking about you and I, the church of the living God. That's why it's 24.

Come on, 12 tribes of the Old Testament, 12 disciples in the New Testament. 24. This is the church that is surrounded the throne of God. and all of the elders have a crown. And the crown represents the reward you receive for being faithful on earth. And I'm going to pause right there and thank God that there is a reward for being faithful,

that there is a reward even in the midst of your suffering, that God is a great record keeper. That's why you don't ever have to defend yourself. You don't ever have to fight your battle. Please let the Lord fight your battle. He is a great record keeper. You know, he will reward you for being nice to nasty people. He will reward you for loving your enemies and blessing them that curse you.

There is a reward for being faithful. Oh, when nobody else sees, thank God that you see, there is a crown that is a reward. God that he sees that I get a crown. What did John see? That the elders take their crowns off. in the presence of God. Because even though they got the reward, when they're in the presence of God,

they realize, wait a minute, this isn't a reward. You are the reward. They realize in heaven, what you should realize in the earth, that the greatest reward is his presence. The greatest reward is him. So they cast down the crowds before him

for the greatest reward, which is just to be it. Take it off. And they say I thought this was something but man to be here with you. This is the greatest joy. And I just imagine what a church would look like with no crowns. No crowns of church that knows the greatest reward is him. Greatest reward, not how he uses you, not how much you've known.

You have the reward. It's his presence. No crown. Why do I need a crown when I have you? Why do I need a crowd? Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry is because of you that this ministry is possible.

You can click the link in the description to give now or visit Elevationchurch.org slash podcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe, you can share it with your friends. You can click the share button. Take a screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. for listening. God bless you.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.