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You're listening to Heed the Word with our pastor and teacher, Ken Davis. Pastor Ken is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel, Southwest Metro. Please join us as we study our series entitled Lessons in Christian Living.

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When you see someone who is impressed with themselves, who is wise in their own mind, then there is more hope for a fool than there is for that wise fool. Right, At least the fool knows that he doesn't know. The wise in his own eyes doesn't know but thinks he does, and that's worse than not knowing. When you think you have the answer and you think you know the truth, you're worse off if you're wrong than the guy who knows that he doesn't know anything.

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There's no shortage of self-help books, motivational speakers and even opinions out there about how we're supposed to live on this earth, but as Christians, we need to take our direction in this area from the Word of God. So we're bringing you our series entitled Lessons in Christian Living, taken from the 12th and 13th chapters of Paul's letter to the church in Rome. In the book of Proverbs, we learn that pride comes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. You see, if we're of the mindset that we have everything figured out, that we have all the truth that we need, we're setting ourselves up for failure. Any truth that we have, any ability that we possess, comes from God. Don't forget to stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Heed the Word, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, please open your Bibles to the book of Colossians, 3, verse 1, as we join Pastor Ken.

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There are parts of this world where a little fellowship of believers finally gets a hold of a Bible in their own language, and so that they can all have at least a little bit of it, they will tear it into pieces, sections at a time, and each family will take a little section of it home with them and they will read it and they will pour over it and they will memorize chapters, if not books, of the Bible that they might have it for themselves. And then they'll come back to the little house church that they're a part of and they'll trade copies so that eventually that whole Bible works its way all around that little church. And compared to some people, they're blessed, because there are some places on this earth where people don't even have a copy of God's word in their own language. Now, here we sit in our opulence, here we sit in all of our blessing, all of our comfort, and we complain. You see, when we complain, I don't like the fact that I drive a 10-year-old car. Praise the Lord, you have a 10-year-old car. Praise the Lord, you have a 10-year-old car. Oh, I don't like the fact that I had to buy my clothes at Goodwill. Thank God, there's a Goodwill you could go to to buy your clothes. By the way, if anybody I've had conversations with a couple of you. I'm not aiming at anybody, that's just an example.

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Okay, now if I have my eyes on worldly things and let's say I come into $25,000, $30,000, just boom, wow, there it is. It would be really easy for me to spend all of that on myself, right, and no one would fault me for it. Or if I have my eyes on heavenly things, then I could go to God and I could say Lord, what do you want me to do with this? And he might say I want you to spend it on a house, or I want you to spend it on a car. I'm not going to say that God would never say that. He might say that, but I at least need to give him the option, don't I? And what he might say is I want you to invest that so that someone in a third world country can get a translation of the Bible in their own language. A good portion of what you've received needs to go to Wycliffe Bible Translators, right? Or some other missionary venture in which the gospel of Jesus Christ will be promoted throughout the world. You see, that is having your eye on heavenly things. It's not to say, well, I need to do this with it or I need to do that with it, but to have your eye on heavenly things is to go to your father and say, lord, what do you want me to do with it? And acknowledge the fact that he may tell you to do any number of things with it, but seek his will for what he wants you to do with the things and the blessings that you've received.

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I hate talking about money. People get the wrong impression. So please don't misunderstand me. I don't want your money. As far as that goes, you understand. If you are sitting here today and you think, oh, that pastor, you know he's just talking about money today, please don't give a penny to us. Give it somewhere else. You understand what I'm saying. If that's your heart, we don't want it.

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You do what the Lord commands you to do. Why? Because he's your Lord, he's your master, he's your owner, he's your boss, he's the one who directs you, he's the one who leads you. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth. Fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil, desire and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience in which you also once walked when you lived in them. But now you must also put off all these things anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, deeds, and have put on the new man, who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him, who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

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Verse 12,. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another. Even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do Christian. For you, as a Christian, forgiving somebody else is not an option, it's a requirement. Do you understand that God commands you to forgive? He doesn't command you to be able to forgive. Only he is able to forgive, but you purpose in your heart to forgive that person, and God gives you the ability to do that. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection, and let the peace of God rule in. And here's really the verse I want to get to today.

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And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God, the Father, through him. And verse 23 is like it, which says and and whatever you do, do it heartily as to the lord and not to men. You see, whatever we do in life, if we belong to jesus christ, then whatever we do in life is an act of worship to god. If I can't do it as an act of worship, then I ought not be doing it as a Christian. Do you understand? Whatever you do, if you vacuum the floor, that vacuuming of the floor should be done with all your might. Do it heartily as unto the Lord. If you get up and go to work in the morning, you should go to work in the morning not to please your boss, but to please God. If you're washing dishes at home, kids, you're not washing dishes to please your parents. You're washing dishes to please the Lord, and you should do it heartily as unto him. Do you hear what I'm saying? Whatever you do, do it heartily. In other words, put all of you into it. Do your best, because when you do your best you're bringing glory to your Father in heaven. Do it heartily as unto the Lord.

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Romans chapter 12 makes all of life a holy. It makes all of life a worship service. You see, we worship God on Sunday mornings when we come in here and we sing songs to him. But you should also worship God on Sunday nights when you go home and cook dinner for your family. You should also worship God when you tip the waitress at the restaurant this afternoon for lunch, and you should tip that waitress to the glory of God. Afternoon for lunch, and you should tip that waitress to the glory of God. You know, even when I get bad service, I find it almost impossible not to tip because I think of how gracious God was to me. You know, especially if that person saw me praying over my meal. Guys, if you're not going to tip, please don't give thanks in public. You understand what I'm saying.

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My pastor back in Bakersfield used to say if you can't afford to leave a tip, go to McDonald's. People used to call it church 30, when all of the churches would come into the restaurant after lunch right Notoriously one of the worst times for waitresses and waiters, because a lot of those folks don't tip. Don't bring a bad report upon the Lord. Don't reflect badly upon him. Be generous as God prospers you and understand those poor folks. Only make about $2.11 an hour. I wouldn't want to have that on my heart, you know.

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So, whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord. Verse 1 of chapter 12. Again Paul urges you. He says I urge you or I beseech you. Do, do it as unto the Lord. Verse 1 of chapter 12, again Paul urges you. He says I urge you or I beseech you. Therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed or metamorphosized or completely changed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

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Moving into verse 3, for I say Paul is writing, for I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Now, paul writes here that there is a certain grace that has been given to him or a certain something that he did not deserve that has been given to him, and it is through that which has been given to him that he is speaking. Well, what Paul has received, among many other things, is apostolic authority. God ordained Paul as the apostle to the Gentiles. In other words, he was one who was the messenger of God to them. And so Paul is saying, through the grace given to me, in essence, as the messenger of God, do these things. So, in essence, what he's saying is I'm not speaking here in my own authority, but I'm speaking in the authority of God.

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So Paul writes again, for I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you Now, of course he's speaking to the church in Rome, but he's also speaking to the church in Burleson today, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself. So he's saying listen, you are offering your life as a living sacrifice to God. Don't start thinking that it's the best sacrifice ever. You know Well. Of course the Lord would want me as a living sacrifice, because I'm so wonderful. Of course, you see, don't we act that way sometimes? Oh God, I'm so glad you chose me to be on your team, lord, that was such a good move on your part. You know, that's our attitude sometimes, as though we bring anything to the table.

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Paul is reminding us that when we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, god will receive that sacrifice and he will use us to bless other people. And as he uses us to bless other people, the temptation that will rise up in our heart is that we might become prideful or proud or haughty. And so, before Paul even starts to talk about the gifts through which we will bless God and others, he wants to remind us to keep the right perspective towards ourselves. Paul says in verse three, for I say to you, or I say rather, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. What he's saying here is this as you begin to serve the Lord, the temptation is going to be there to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think. And he wants to warn us against this.

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He wants to keep us from making that mistake, because the thing that we've got to remember is that there's nothing we have that we didn't receive from someone else. There's nothing that we have spiritually that God did not impart to us. So, no matter how much God uses us to bless him, to bless others or for his kingdom to grow and expand, we don't have the right to take any of his glory upon ourselves, have the right to take any of his glory upon ourselves. In verses 1 and 2, paul told us what our attitude toward God was to be, and here, in verse 3, he's telling us what our attitude towards ourselves needs to be. God is God. We are not, and we need to always remember that. Always, we need to remember that. I say to you. Paul says through the grace given to me, not through my own authority, but through the grace given to me. Paul says to everyone who is among you so who does this apply to? Everybody? Right? This hits all of us Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

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Proverbs 16, 18 tells us that pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Isn't that right? When we boast, we're headed for destruction. Our confidence, our boast is to be in Jesus Christ and in his cross. Our boast is to be in our weakness and how, in our weakness, he's made us strong. Proverbs 26, 12 says this seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him. And what that's saying in the modern vernacular is when you see someone who is impressed with themselves, who is wise in their own mind, then there is more hope for a fool than there is for that wise fool. Right, at least the fool knows that he doesn't know. The wise in his own eyes doesn't know but thinks he does, and that's worse than not knowing. When you think you have the answer and you think you know the truth, you're worse off if you're wrong than the guy who knows that he doesn't know anything. Do not be wise in your own eyes.

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In Micah 6, verse 8, the prophet writes regarding the Lord, he hath showed thee, o man, what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God, humbly with your God. Humility To acknowledge the fact that all that I have comes from him. And so whatever I give to you, I can take no credit for, because it wasn't mine to begin with. 1 Corinthians 4.7 puts it this way For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now, if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as though you had not received it? In other words, if I can teach the Bible, that isn't from me, that's a gift from God. So why should I boast about my ability to teach the Bible when it's not mine at all but it's the Lord working in me? Or if you have the ability to sing beautifully, who gave you that ability? God gave you that ability. So should you boast in your ability as though it was something you did all on your own, or should you give glory to God for what he has done? Turn with me to Philippians, chapter 2. Philippians, chapter 2, verse 1,.

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Paul writes therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, in other words, if you guys are really born again. If the Spirit of God is really working in your heart to create these attitudes, then fulfill my joy. How are you going to fulfill the apostles' joy? How are you going to make Paul happy? Well, by being like-minded. In other words, by being agreeable with one another, by agreeing over the Word of God, that the Word of God is truth, right. By being like-minded, having the same love, in other words, loving the things that God loves, having the same love, being of one accord and one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind. Let each of us esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also the interests of others. You see.

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So what Paul is saying very simply is this as Christians, if we're really believers, we should be more concerned about what is good for you than we are about what is good for me. But likewise, you should be more concerned about what is good for me than about what is good for you. You see, think about this for me than about what is good for you. You see, think about this. If each one of us worries about what's good for ourselves, then how many people are worried about what's good for you? One person right. But if each of us is more concerned about what is good for the others than for ourselves, then how many people are worried about what's good for you? So which one makes more sense? Is it better for 49 people to be concerned about you or for one person to be concerned about you? I mean, it's simple math. So it's good for us, as a body, to be concerned about one another, to consider one another above ourselves, to look out for the interests of each other rather than for our own interests and, what's more, when we do that, it's pleasing to God.

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He likes it when his children treat each other with kindness. How many of you have kids? Do you like it when your kids fight? No, you hate it when your kids fight. Do you like it when your kids get along with each other? Absolutely, you love it when your kids get along with each other. Absolutely, you love it when your kids get along with each other. So thus, saith the Lord, kids get along with each other.

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And I'm not talking to the little ones, I'm talking to you grownups. Are you children of God or aren't you? So if you like it when your children behave, then don't you think the Lord likes it when you behave? If you like it when your children live in harmony with each other, don't you think God likes it when you his children live in harmony with each other? You, as parents, want your children to obey you.

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Well, if you're children of God, then you ought to obey him, not because by obeying him you'll become children of God, but rather obey him because you are children of God. Be children that bless his heart, be children that make your father happy, treat each other with kindness, love one another. You know he's given us the example Philippians 2, verse 5,. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. In other words, the attitude that I am asking you to have is an attitude that was shown to you by Jesus himself Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.

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In other words, jesus was God's equal, father, son, holy Spirit's part of the Godhead. He's God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. Taking the form of a servant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, god also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father. Jesus had the right to stay in heaven. He had the right to cling to his glory. He had the right to never suffer pain and to never die. Those were his rights as God. But he laid aside those rights and came to earth in the form of a man. He wasn't born in a palace or in a sultan's tent. He wasn't born into the lap of luxury. He was born in a stable. He wasn't the child of an earthly king or of a governor, or an emperor, as it were, or even of a wealthy merchant. He became the child of a working class couple who were just trying to keep body and soul together, joseph being a carpenter. He was born into a humble estate and he humbled himself even to the point of death on a cross. You see, he was more concerned about what was good for us than he was about what was good for himself. Let that attitude that was in him be in you.

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And now I've finished talking to the Christians for a moment, and I want to talk again to those who don't consider themselves Christians or, more importantly, have never received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. In the passage that we just read, the scripture tells us that there is a day coming when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And the choice is yours. You can do it now and receive eternal life, or you can do it later, before the throne of judgment, and spend an eternity in hell. God does not want you to spend an eternity in hell. That's why he allowed you to hear this gospel message today. He wants you to turn from your sin and turn to Jesus Christ so that you can be forgiven for your sins and receive eternal life in him. That's what he wants for you today and that's the opportunity that I want to present to you right now the Christian life was never designed to be a solo flight.

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God designed us with the need for relationships with others who can encourage us in our personal journey of faith. Maybe you're listening today and you don't have a home church. This message, minister, deal. Well, we'd like to take this time to invite you to join us for one of our worship services. Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro meets each Sunday morning at 10 30 am and Wednesday evenings at 7 pm. Besides our Sunday morning services, we have ministries for children, men, women, couples and youth.

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To learn more about Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro, log on to heaththewordorg. That's heaththewordorg. And when you get there, just follow the link. Or, if you'd like to talk with someone, give us a call. Our phone number is 817-447-5675. That's 817-447-5675. So visit the website or call us today. Now we also want to encourage you to review this study. This study and many more taught by Pastor Ken are available at our website. Many of Pastor Ken's teachings are available in MP3 format. You can also receive a CD copy of this message. Simply log on to heaththewordorg and select the option for CD requests. The CD that you'll receive is the full-length, unedited teaching. When you fill out the order form, please keep in mind today's date. This helps us make sure that we send you the correct message. Well, that's all the time we have for today. Please join Pastor Ken next time as he continues teaching through our series entitled Lessons for Christian Living, right here on. Heed the Word.