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In 1 Peter 5 and begin in verse 5 where it says, Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility. For God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore into the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. And I want to talk this morning about being exalted in due time, or being promoted in due time. A lot of people want to be promoted in the world, and you know what, let me just start out by saying that there's nothing wrong with desiring that. There's nothing wrong with desiring to be exalted, there's nothing wrong with desiring to be promoted, you know, if it's for the right reasons. I don't think there's anybody that works that would say, you know, the boss came to me and offered me a promotion, but I was just so spiritual that I said, you know, it's not for me. You know, no, we would say, yeah, thank you, we worked to that end that we would be promoted, that we could get the pay increase, that we could be exalted. That's just another word for promoted, exalted, and he's saying here that they should humble themselves that God would exalt them in due time. We should desire to be one who excels in doing well. That should be our desire. We should want to be promoted. We should want to excel at what we're doing. Whatever it is, you know, whether we're a homeschooling mother, whether we're a man out working in the field, whether we're a child who's under the authority of their parents, as a church member, as a minister, as soul winners, whatever, all the different roles that we all fill in life, we should all desire to do our best at them, to excel, to be promoted, to be exalted in those positions. The Bible says if any man desires the office of a bishop, you know, he's got a big head at who he thinks he is. No, he says he desires the good work. It's a good thing to desire a good work. We should all have that desire. We should all have that want in our lives to do well, to be exalted, to be promoted, to be exalted in due time. Now if you want to keep something in 1 Peter chapter 5, we're going to come back at the end, but go over to 1 Corinthians 9. Keep something in 1 Corinthians 9. We're going to spend some time in a few chapters in 1 Corinthians as well this morning. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be promoted, nothing wrong with wanting to be exalted. I remember early on in my Christian life, you know, just to show you, you know, that I've always been this dumb, I guess is what I should say. I said to my pastor, he came to me, he said something about, you know, well, we do what we're doing because we want to get rewards, and I said something, you know, so, so holy of me. I'm not doing it for the rewards. So I said to him, you know, and I don't know how many times I heard about, he used that, he didn't by name, but he used that specific illustration from the pulpit for many years thereafter to kind of remind me that, you know, we actually are in it for the rewards. I mean, Jesus said, Behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me, you know, but you shouldn't want that. Right? No, he's saying to give every man according to his works. There's nothing wrong with wanting to excel as a Christian, excel in the Christian life, to be exalted in the Christian life, to be somebody that other people can look up to and as an example to the flock. There's nothing wrong with that. We should want that and not have this false humility of, oh, I'm just, you know, I'm just going to, you know, I'm not in it for the, for all of that, you know, and it's, and of course you could go to the other extreme where that's all that people want. They just want to be exalted and acknowledged and hear their name mentioned or have, you know, the thousands of followers on YouTube and have the social media following. I'm not saying if you have those things, you're wicked. I'm saying if that's your motive, yeah, you need to search your heart. You know, if you just want to excel just so everybody, so you can just walk around and tell everybody how great you are, obviously that's wrong, but we don't want to go to the other extreme either. We say, well, we should just avoid trying to be exalted and to excel at what we're doing. You know, 1 Corinthians 9, did I have you go there, 1 Corinthians 9, the Bible says, Know ye not that they which run in a race, run all but one received with the prize, so run that ye may obtain. He's saying, look, run the race that's set before you need to run this race you need to obtain. You know, there's a goal in the Christian life. You should have a goal that you're shooting for. You should want to do well. And every man that striveth for the masteries is temperate in all things. Now they do to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. You know, there is something worth striving for in the Christian life. There is something worth, you know, putting your best foot forward and trying to achieve something to be exalted in the Christian life. You know, to have the praise of God, to hear those words, well done, thou good and faithful servant. You know, maybe we'll never be exalted here on earth. You know, I often think whenever I go here, I always think about, you know, the mother of children. There's a lot of women that are good, godly women, raising their children, you know, loving the Lord. But you know what, you're never going to see their face on a promotional, you know, poster for a conference. You know, sister so and so is going to be in attendance. Be sure you're there. You know, she's never, they're never going to be, you know, lifted up in this world. The world certainly isn't going to parade them out in front of everybody and say be like them. In fact, they're saying the exact opposite. You know, they're degrading that position. The Bible places, you know, gives great honor unto such. But here's the thing, does that mean that they're never going to be exalted, they're never going to be promoted? Or how about just the church member, you know, they don't preach, they're not up behind the pulpit. You know, they're just kind of keep to themselves, they just go about their business, you know, living their life, just living for the Lord, you know, winning souls, reading their Bible. I mean, no one's going to lift them up and exalt them, but one day God is going to exalt both. You know, the mother that goes unaccredited in this world, you know, outside of her family. You know, the Bible says that we should, you know, her children will rise up and call her blessed, you know, and her husband will praise her, at least they ought to, if they're smart. Or, you know, the church member, you know, is just the average layman who's never going to be in the limelight, who's never going to be the keynote speaker somewhere. You know, those people are going to, you know, and the preachers too, and everybody else, anybody who's in it for the right reasons that wants to excel is going to do so and they're going to hear those words one day, well done, thou good and faithful servant, they will be exalted in due time. It just might not be on this earth, but it will be in heaven. That's what Paul's saying. You know, so run that you may obtain, you know, desire to do well, desire to be exalted. If you're in 1 Corinthians, go to chapter 15, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, we'll be back in 1 Corinthians 15 a little bit later as well. He said in 1 Corinthians 14, even so ye, for as much as you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that you may excel to the edifying of the church. See, when you have the proper motive, when your motive is to excel to the edifying of the church, there's nothing wrong with that. You should desire that. You should be zealous of spiritual gifts, you should seek that you should excel to edify one another. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 9, for I am the least of all the apostles and I'm not mean to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. Now, this shows you Paul's humility, I mean, he sees himself for what he was. And this is all true, he did do these things. But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace was bestowed upon me, excuse me, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain. He didn't just waste it, he did something with it. What did he do? He says, I labored more abundantly than they all. Oh, how puffed up, how proud of Paul. Who does he think he is to just say he labored more abundantly than everybody else? But did he? I believe he did. I believe he's writing this, he's not lying here. He did. I mean, he took the gospel to the far, I mean, you look at all the other apostles, you know, you don't see, I mean, who wrote the vast majority of the New Testament under the inspiration of God was the Apostle Paul. You look at all the things he was able to accomplish by the grace of God, and he's not lifting that up by saying, look, it's because of who I am. He says, I'm the least of all the apostles, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. He's saying, look, everything that I've accomplished, everything I've done, all the areas that I've excelled as an apostle is by the grace of God. Yeah, I labored more abundantly than they all by the grace of God. So it's not prideful, it's not arrogant to want to be, you know, somebody that you can look up to, be an example, to excel in these areas. He said, yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with me. That's what he's saying. Look, I excelled, I did more than the rest of them by the grace of God. My motives were right. You know, Paul is not ashamed that he worked harder than any of the other apostles because, you know, they're all working to the same end. You think the apostles were like, how dare he get so many souls saved? Doesn't he know he was born out of due season? Doesn't he know he was one that destroyed the church? You know, he should put a cap on how much he's going to preach. He should really slow down, Paul. After all, you're the latecomer here. You know, we were around way before. Do you think that's their attitude? No, not at all. You know, we shouldn't have that attitude either. You know, when we see other Christians, other people who are excelling in other areas in the Christian life, you know, that should motivate us. We should, you know, we should allow that to encourage us. But when we get in our flesh, what do we do? Oh, well, if I had it that way, you know, if I grew up in the house they grew up in, oh, if I knew the Bible, if my parents are, you know, if I went to that church, if I had that pastor, then yeah, of course, then I would have done whatever, right? That's not the attitude we should have when we see other people doing well. You know, if we're spiritual, if we're in for the right motives, that's just going to encourage us. You know, I mean, I'll just use myself as an example. Now, this is going to come as a shock, but, you know, I'm not the best preacher, you know. I don't know if you've ever been on YouTube, but there's a lot of other preaching that goes on, right? Now, should I get jealous and envious and despise other preachers because they preach a better sermon? Somebody else preaches another sermon, you know, maybe along the same lines that I'm preaching this morning, but they do a way better job, say, well, you know, they've just been reading their Bible longer and blah, blah, blah. I should say, well, that was a good sermon, amen. Man, next time I go through that subject, I'm going to remember that sermon. You know, that's, you know, I'm just using myself as an example, but we could all apply that to ourselves in some shape or form. Go over to, keep it something in 1 Corinthians, but go over to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. We're going to read a passage here of Scripture, so stick with me. This is all introduction. I'm getting into something, but I'm laying the foundation of the fact that, look, we don't want to get this attitude of it's wrong to want to be exalted. It's not. It's okay if it's for the right reasons, right? You know, Paul's saying, well, boy, I'd go out and I'd preach the gospel to the uttermost parts of the Gentiles, but, you know, I don't want to come across as, you know, a big shot or something. No, he had the right motives, okay? We should desire that. You're in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, look at verse 16, he said, I say again, let no man think me a fool, if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I might boast myself a little. So he's kind of, you know, there's some people that are kind of putting Paul down in the Corinthian church and trying to lift themselves up. So he's going to kind of do some compare and contrast and he says, look, I'm going to speak as a fool. I'm going to boast a little here to kind of put things in perspective for you about who I am and who they are and so on and so forth. He says in verse 17, that which I speak, I speak not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly in the confidence of boasting, seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also. He's saying, oh, you want to boast about the flesh? You want to boast about, you know, who you are? You're some big shot. He said, well, I'm going to glory then too. Let's come, you know, you want to go there, let's go there is what he's saying. Verse 19, he says, for you suffer fools gladly, seeing you yourselves are wise, for you suffer if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, again, exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face, I speak as concerning reproach as though I had been weak, how be it whereinsoever any is bold, I speak foolishly, I am bold also. So he's saying, look, you want to go there and give place to these people that are trying to take advantage of you because of who they say they are, what they've done. Well, you know, let's, let me remind you who I am is what Paul is saying. He said, verse 22, are they Hebrews? So am I. He's being Judaized, the Jews are trying to come in. He says, are they Israelites? So am I. Why are you discrediting me? If these are, if these are the credentials you're going to hold people to, if this is what the boxes people have to check, he's like, I'm checking them off. He said, are they at the seat of Abraham? So am I. Verse 23, are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool because they're actually not. I am more and labors more abundant and stripes above measure and presents more frequent and deaths off. Now we're going to go through this list here, and I want you to listen to the things that Paul went through. And maybe this will help you understand why Paul was able to do everything that he did. Why he was able to say what he said previously in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, where we read, I labored more abundantly than they all. You know, why he was able to say that he, you know, though he was least among all the apostles, that he got more accomplished. You know, he, because of the fact that he paid his dues. Go ahead and look there in verse 24. He says, of the Jews, five times they received 40 stripes save one. That's five times more than I ever care to have done. I mean, how many people would have that happen once and be like, I'm done. You know what? I'm sorry. Sorry, Gentiles. But I just had, I just got whipped. And those are, those are things that, you know, you get a whipping like that, you get beaten with rods, you know, beaten with stripes. Those aren't things you just brush off the next day and walk away from. I mean, every time he's taken off his shirt, you know, if he's looking in a mirror or something, he's seeing that. That's permanent damage that he went through. This is, this is some serious stuff. I'm trying to get this across to us because I'm going to make a point here once we get through this. Why was Paul not afraid to boast himself, to exalt himself in the Lord? Well, look what he was willing to go through. Thrice, I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Thrice, I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I've been in the deep. I mean, that's scary thought right there. You ever, you ever just been in really deep water? They had these things in Michigan called lakes, and in fact, it's called the Great Lakes. There's lakes there that are so deep, you can't, I mean, you just can't see the bottom. Just dark blue. You ever been in a lake like that and just kind of swim in there and not being able to see what's way, way beneath you? I don't know. Maybe it's just me, but it's kind of an eerie feeling sometimes when you start to think about it. I mean, Paul's out there, what? How long is he out there? I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I've been in the deep. That's a lot of doggy paddling, right? He probably had something to grab onto. There were no flotation devices, you know, I don't think he would like pulled the seat out and clutched it and put a little yellow bag around his head or something. You know, he had to make do. It says in verse 26, in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren. I mean, the guy's just everywhere he goes. Peril, persecution, trouble. He's just being beaten and shipwrecked and going through all these things. Verse 27, in weariness and painfulness and watchings often, meaning losing sleep, watch, you know, a night watch. In hunger and thirst and fastings often, in cold and nakedness, I mean, not having proper clothing. He was wearing tattered garments. Besides those things which are without, you know, all this stuff I just listed, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. And he said, you know, I didn't just get to take a day off and just say, well, you know, things are just too hard for me right now, I can't, I can't attend to my duties. And he said, I still had to take care of all the churches too. Everywhere, you know, I still had to accomplish the mission that was set before me and to go out and to feed the church of God. He says in verse 29, who is weak and I am not weak? Who is offended and I burn not? I mean, Paul's not the type of guy you would bring your excuses to. Can you imagine us bringing, you know, because sometimes, you know, like what's the big one we always complain about around here? The heat. All right. We go out soul wading for a few hours and it's hot. I'm not making light of it. It is hot. We should be careful. Drink the water. You know, we're out there for a couple hours and it's like, oh, we got to get, I need a raspato. And I mean, let's get over to Sonoran delights and cool off, man. You know, we're famished. We're going to faint. Imagine telling that to Paul. You know, it's kind of like when I was up in Washington and it was like, it was like eighty nine, low nineties, people like, man, it's so hot. And I just feel like. And they go, oh, yeah, we know, you know, it's going, you don't even know what the heat is. You know, we think we go through some great. I mean, I was just thinking about this the other day, how spoiled we are as Christians today. I mean, just for myself, I mean, speaking, you know, from the opportunity that I've been given as, you know, being on staff at this church. I mean, it's it, you know, let me to boast a little bit as a fool. It's a dream job. I'm not going to lie. It's great. I love it. I mean, the things that I get to do and participate in, not everybody always gets to do that. It's a very privileged position. I try never to lose sight of that. You know, otherwise, that's usually when you when you mess things up. But man, we as a whole, even as Christians today, look at all the conveniences we have, all the things. It's so easy for us to serve Christ today. I mean, imagine why aren't there more guys like Paul that why aren't why aren't the Paul's getting the things done today, despite the fact that we have so many more advantages. I don't want to go down there. That's kind of a bird, a birdwalk there. But he says here, who is weak and I'm not weak, who is offended and I burn not. If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern my infirmities. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed woman, knoweth that I lie not. In Damascus, the governor under Artis, the king kept me in the city of the Muscatines with the garrison desires to apprehend me. And through a window in a basket, I was let down by the wall and escaped with his hands. So he's talking about he kind of caps it off. And you know, on top of all that, there was this time they had to lower me out the window on the side of the wall in a basket. Now as a boy, I thought that's actually kind of thing would sound fun. You know, man, I want to get in the ministry, right? I just I remember I was visiting in South Dakota. But I had all these these memories come back and I saw some of my old cousins, they've all just like me, they've gotten big and fat. And but I remember I had this one group of cousins. And I remember very clearly us being in the second story window and having the window open and thinking, let's take a mattress down there. We're going to we were going to stack mattresses and just try jumping out the window. I mean, it's kind of thing it goes. I don't know why that's coming from this. This story reminds me of that. But Paul said, hey, I actually did something similar. You know, I was let down. It sounds like fun when you're a kid, but, you know, you get a little older, you know, you get a little realize how much you're not six feet tall and bulletproof. The life is fragile. It might be kind of hairy. Right. But what am I getting at here is that Paul, you know, he's boasting here of all of his sufferings. He's glorying in all of his accomplishments. Why? Why is he allowed to do that? Because Paul was willing to pay his dues. That's what I want to preach to you about this morning. Paying your dues, paying your dues. People need to learn to pay their dues. You know, not not, you know, you could talk in, of course, that's kind of a term that comes from, I believe, like, like the union world, you know, if you want to be a member of the union and get seniority, you have to pay your union dues. Right. And when you've been there long enough paying your dues, you know, you gain seniority, you know, that that position opens up, they go by seniority. And how do you gain seniority? By sticking around and paying your dues. This isn't a pro-union sermon. It's not an anti-union sermon either. It's just I'm just using, borrowing that phrase, okay. Paying your dues. That's what I'm talking about. People need to learn to pay their dues in life, you know, in the Christian life, in just life in general. Right. And it's not, you know, why don't people want to do that? Because it's not easy, you know, and there's there's a way to do it. Go over to Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 10. See we're living in a time when so many people are just feeling entitled. They think everything should just come to them. They should just be handed everything. The job should just come, the promotion should just come, the perfect marriage should just come, you know, the perfect children should just happen naturally. Just expect things to be handed them on a silver platter. They think you should be able to, you know, download it. They want to just pay 99 cents one time and just have it and just be able to download it, make it there's permanent like some kind of an app or something. That's not how life works. And we look at other people who are succeeding, other people who are doing well, other people have achieved a certain level of success. And we say, oh, I want that. But what we don't see is the years of them having paid their dues, having gone through trials and tribulations and difficult times and hardships, much like the Apostle Paul. I mean, people would, I mean, who here wouldn't want to be accredited with having written, you know, the vast majority of the New Testament, the epistles? And that's, you want to talk about accomplishment. This guy, his words are been written, are pinned down forever for all eternity. You know, you know, we remind you with the seven sins of the skiva, you know, they went in, the vagabond Jews, they went in to cast out the devil and the devil said, Jesus I know and Paul I know. I mean, he was known. He's a famous guy. We say, oh, I would love to have that kind of notoriety like Paul. Okay, well, before you say that, maybe you should go back and read that list again. Because Paul paid his dues, you know, and if we want to achieve something in life, you know, spiritually or just carnally in the world, you know, whether it's on the job or wherever, we have to learn to pay our dues. You know, I remember when I was working, you know, in excavation, you know, earthworks, every guy wanted to achieve operator, you know, because you think that's like the dream job, you know, because there's joysticks involved, you know, we're like from little boys, we're just trained to like want to do that, you know. You never see the little kid grabbing the toy shovel, right, he's always grabbing the toy excavator, he's grabbing the toy dump truck, you know, you don't want to be the lowly laborer who has to just, you know, dig for the lines and find things and help the excavator guy. Everyone wants to get in the cabin, everyone wants to get in the seat, you know, and then you find out that's actually not all it's cracked up to be, it's, you know, it's a pretty serious job, it's intense. But you know, it's from the labor's perspective, that's where you want to be, you know, because you got the AC, you're sitting down, so on and so forth, right. But the guy that's sitting up there, you know, he started out in the ditch, you know, he started out raking for hours, shoveling for hours, moving a wheelbarrow, digging for lines, having some, you know, roughneck foreman yelling at him, you know, getting his hand, you know, getting elbow deep in raw sewage. Oh yeah, that's another story. They went through all that, they achieved that, and if you're not willing to pay your dues, you know, see ya, you're never going to get there. That, you know, that's just one example, we could think about that, you know, in any job. You know, if you want to get to the next level in your job, you know, you have to be faithful without what you're given. You have to be faithful in another man's before that you're given that which is your own. You have to be faithful in that which is least in order to be faithful in that which is much. That's what the Bible teaches, because it's just, it's just true. So you got to learn to pay your dues. How do you do that? Well, number one, you got to put your time in, you got to put in the time. You know, and it's, and a lot of people think, well, I'm paying my dues, and, you know, they think, well, I've been here three months, you know, where's the promotion? Why aren't I running the place yet? Well, let's try three decades, let's try it in 30 years, and then maybe you can run the business after you've got 30 years, you know, or me, you know, and I'm just using general, you know, general, you know, lengths of time, I mean, it's, you know, everyone's situation is a little different. But look at Hebrews chapter 10, you know, you got to put in your time, you want to, you want to achieve something in life, whether it's spiritually, or out in the world at the workplace, or how about at home with the kids, you know, I want my kids to understand how to read and write, you got to put, you got to pay your dues, you know, kids want to learn and excel in school, they have to pay their dues, they want to get straight A's, they want to achieve some kind of, you know, accreditation, or they want to be able to get it and learn a certain trade or whatever. You got to pay your dues, you got to put in the work, you got to spend the time necessary to get that, to achieve that, paying your dues means putting in your time. And what does that mean? It means you have to have patience, you have to have patience. And that's really the whole crux to the thing, people, they're impatient, we're in a get my way right away society right now, they just want to push a button, drive through, I mean, I'm picking up donuts this morning, and everyone's in the drive through, Sunday morning at Dunkin' is a busy time of day. And I'm thinking, man, what a drudgery, I hope the people at church appreciate what I go through for them. I was in this line for 10 minutes, 10 or 15 minutes, some guy cut in front of me, because he had a mobile order, jerk, right? First world problems, right? But people get impatient, they think they're doing some great thing because they suffered some little thing. Look at Hebrews chapter 10, verse 31. He said, it is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living God, but called remembers the former days in which after you were illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions. Verse 33, partly whilst you were made a gazing stock, both by reproaches and afflictions, and partly whilst you became companions of them which were so used. For he had compassion of me and my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have a better and enduring substance in heaven, that ye in heaven have a better and enduring substance. Look, he's talking about these people that were willing to be made a gazing stock by reproaches, afflictions, they were willing to be companions with those that were so used, and they were compassionate towards Paul, even when it meant, and they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods. They endured this great fight of afflictions in their life. They took it patiently. Why were they able to do that? Because they knew that they had in heaven a better and enduring substance. They knew that if they just paid their dues, if they were just patient, if they just put in the time, one day they would be exalted in heaven. He says in verse 35, cast not therefore away your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward, verse 36, for ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the promise. When does the promise come? After you've done the will of God, not before. Look, if the reward came before, we probably would leave it undone. If you got what you were working for before you did any work to get it, you'd probably leave the work undone. It'd be like, hey, you know, I'm going to give a guy, come mow my lawn, here's a hundred bucks. You give the guy a hundred bucks. You don't think there's some people out there that'd be like, sucka, and your lawn would just keep going, right? That's what he's saying here. Look, you have need of patience, that after you've done the will of God, you might receive the promise. You know, there's a formula here. It's one, you know, it's first you need the patience, you got to do the will of God, and then you get the reward. You'll be exalted in due time. The promotion comes when? After you've patiently put in your time, after you've patiently paid your dues. Go over to Hebrews chapter 12. The Bible says in James chapter one, my brethren, count all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. Like when you go through those hard times, you go through those difficult seasons in life, whatever form they take, look, that's the thing that's going to work your patience in life. That's what's going to make you a patient person. That's you putting in your dues or paying your dues, putting in your time. But let patience have a perfect work. You know, don't resist that. Don't run from that. Because that's how you get there. That's how you get, you know, that's how you get the promotion or whatever. You know, keep going back to the illustration of work, but it's a great one. You know, that, you know, when you go, when the boss sees you doing that, which is difficult, going through that, which is hard, you know, that's the thing he says, well, this is the guy I want to keep around. This is the guy that we can do something with. The person that's able to endure things patiently. But let patience have a perfect work that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. The Bible says in first Timothy chapter two, who gave himself a ransom for all, talking about Jesus, right? Being testified in due time, Ecclesiastes chapter seven, it says, better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Look, better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. That's very true. And you think about, you know, we set out to accomplish, we get excited about some project or some goal that we have. We're excited at the beginning, right? We're all excited about, you know, some new habit we're forming or some goal we're trying to accomplish, some project we're working on. We're excited. We get that new job. You know, my wife tells me I have like a two year cap on jobs. It's like every two years, I'm like, I get there, I do well, I get bored, I got to move on to the next one. You know, don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, you know, it's been two years. This one keeps me excited. This one keeps me involved, right? But that's how it starts out. You know, we start out excited, the beginning of a thing, right? The Bible says the end of the thing is better than the beginning thereof. What's better than starting out to accomplishing a goal is actually looking back and say, I did it. Because we can start out excited, but you know what? Excitement fades. You know, we start out some new habit and the excitement wears out and then it turns into work. And now it's just willpower, discipline, determination. These are the things that are going to, you know, we can't just ride on feelings and excitement to carry us through to the end of a thing, to accomplish a goal. But when we get to the end, we get to the goal, when we accomplish it, that's better than the excitement that we had in the beginning. And we're more excited. We're more, I did it. I actually accomplished it. You know, it's like a guy who sets out, you know, to climb some big mountain. You know, they get all the gear together. They're planning. They're sitting around, you know, they're looking at the maps. They're figuring out the trip, making sure they got everything. There's probably some excitement that goes into that. You know, thinking about climbing Mount Everest or something like that or some big mountain. They're all excited. They can't wait to get there. They get there. And then, but I bet there's some steps along the way when they're actually going up that mountain where they're going, man, maybe we shouldn't have done this. It's colder than I thought. I don't like breathing through an oxygen tank. You know, this, I don't like, you know, potentially falling down a crevasse and dying. But you know what? When they reach the summit, when they get to the top and they're there and they have that view, that's more exciting than just the planning and the thought and getting everything together. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. But how do you get that? And the patient in spirit, better than the proud in spirit. You notice how those two things are contrasted like we saw in 1 Peter. It's the patient and the proud, right? You have to be patient. You have to be humble. You have to wait to be exalted in due time. But God what? Resisted the proud. It's better to be patient in spirit than proud in spirit. I've accomplished so much. I've done so much. This is going to be a breeze. Nope. You're going to fall flat on your face. You know, before honor is humility and before, or hot spirit goes before destruction. Pride cometh before a fall. It's better to be patient in spirit. Be the person who's just going to, hey, I know it's going to get tough. I know it's going to get difficult, but you know what? I'm willing to pay my dues. I'm willing to put in my time. Did I have you go to Hebrews 12? Look at verse 1. He said, wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside the weight, aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Look, we've got to run this race and it's not going to, you know, the Christian life is a marathon. You know, and this is an important subject, especially kind of, because I feel like this church in particular, there's a lot of people here and I know there's people that have been Christians much longer, but there are a lot of newer Christians here or people that are new to church or at least new to this church. You know, everyone's kind of can fall in one of those categories and we just celebrated two years. You know, that's kind of like when the honeymoon ends with churches. That's kind of when the honeymoon ends in the Christian life. You know, a lot of people get saved, they get excited, they go out sowing, they're reading their Bible, they love their preaching, they're taking it all in, but you know what? That starts to wax. That starts to kind of melt away a little bit. I'm not saying it's gone forever, but that's just life. You know, there's seasons in life. It's just like a marriage. You know, I'm not, I'm putting myself out there. Here I go. Right? But this is, anyone who's married knows this is true. That marriage isn't just, yeah, the whole time, right? It's just, it's amazing every day. I just love it. You're the greatest thing in the world. You're the best person ever. You know, of course, we always love each other. You know, we always care about each other. We always want the best. We're always working to that end. But there's some days, I mean, just ask my wife, where it's just like, oh, this is work. This is tough. We've got to put some effort into this. It's the same way in the Christian life. You're not going to, you know, you're not going to just be all excited every day to just read your Bible. You're not just going, oh, I can't wait to get in the Bible and find out what else God asked for me. Some days you're going to have to pick it up and get the book open and get your face in it and just drag your eyes across the page and make yourself read it. But if you do that, if you pay your dues that day, you put in the time to be patient in the Bible reading, I bet you God would bless you. In fact, God would probably bless you even more when you are reading when you, when you went just out of duty and discipline than you are when you're just so excited to just sit down and read whatever God has for you. You're like, oh, I can't wait to get back into Genesis and read all those cool stories, judges. Then it's like first Chronicles, right? Second Chronicles, oh man, Leviticus, there's some good stuff in all those though, right? And I bet you God will bless your, your, your, your, your commitment to reading those even more often than when he, when we're just reading because we want to, you know, we have to run the race with patience. It's measured as a race, as a marathon. There's highs and there's lows and you have to be willing to pay your dues by patiently enduring difficult circumstances. Paul was able to say, I have a labored more abundantly than they all. He's able to glory when, when needed, needed to be, and he said, Christ and God knows I lie not. He says this is the truth, but why? Because he was paid, able to patiently endure, to pay his dues and endure difficult circumstances. I mean, we read that list. Paul went through some tough times in his life. He was willing to pay his dues and as a result, God used him greatly. I say, you know, this is my opinion, but I believe I'm probably right when I say it more than any other man outside of Jesus Christ. I don't think you'll find another, another man of God or another Christian period that's been used like the Apostle Paul, but look at the price he paid to do it. He was willing to pay his dues and God used him. Look at Matthew chapter 13. Go over to Matthew chapter 13. I got to move along here. I'll try to move quickly. Look, you got to be willing to pay your dues in life, spiritually, in the workplace, with your children, in your marriage, you got to be willing to put in the time through the highs and lows, willing to endure and suffer some difficult circumstances. And people that aren't willing to do that, they don't make it. They fall out, you know, they flake out. Bible says in Matthew chapter 13 and verse 18, Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. Would anyone hear the word of the kingdom and understand it that not then come with the wicked one and catch the way that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside. But he that received seed in stony places is the same as he that heareth the word and anon with joy receiveth it, yet he hath not rooted himself. You know, it takes time for a root to grow. I mean, I remember like third or fourth grade, whoever did that in school where you take the seed and you put it in the wet paper towel and then it germinates and you open it up, it's got a little root and you put it in the soil and then it starts to grow. That took a little bit of time. It wasn't like you just put it in there, put it in the sink, open it up, like, oh, it's ready to go into dirt. No, you had to, I think it was a couple of days, I can't remember exactly, but it took time for that process to take place, right? Well, here's a guy, I mean, he says he, you know, he received the seed in the stony places the same as he that heareth the word, I mean, hears it and anon with joy, you know, right away he receives it. He's not resisting. He said, oh, that's great. It's exactly what I want to hear. Yeah, this is perfect. I get it. I mean, this guy, he even gets, you know, I believe he gets saved. Yet he hath not root in himself, the Bible says. He hasn't given it time. Of course, because he's got the stones, you know, it's the stony places, another application there. But it says he doeth for a while. He's there for a little while, but he's not there long enough. He's not willing to pay his dues. He's not willing to patiently endure the hard times in the Christian life. And you can apply this to any other area of life as well. He said, for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, and yea, all that live in God and in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. You know, it's coming to every single one of us. If you're going to, you know, go to church and love the Lord and read his word and practice it, you know, living his word in your life, and people are going to notice, you know, there's going to be persecution in some shape or form. He said when persecution arises because of the word, by and by, he is offended. And why is he offended? Because he has no root, because he's not willing to put in the time it takes to get established to put in a root. So you've got to be willing to pay your dues in life. And that's going to require patience, but it also requires persistence, persistence. Paying your dues, being patient, isn't just like this quiet enduring, you know, I'm just going to be a bulwark, stalwart Christian and just let all the, you know, the knocks of the world, the attacks of the devil, I'm just going to just stand right here. Now I get sometimes we have to just stand our ground, but you know, paying your dues, part of that is being persistent, you know, pushing forward, actually accomplishing something, not just idly putting in your time, not just, you know, checking off the box, made it to church, you know, managed to read the Bible 15 minutes, you know, did my hour or so, you know, there's, we have to go, we have to be willing to, you know, accomplish more, be persistent, right? That's part of paying your dues. It'd be like the guy who shows up at work and says, Hey, I want my promotion. Where is it? Well, why should I promote you? I've been here every day. I showed up to work every single day on time. Okay. So does everybody else that works for me. In fact, people that don't do that don't work for me because they get fired. Yeah, but you don't understand. I've been here every day. I've been scheduled on time. I worked my entire shift. Uh huh. Where's my promotion. That's just you patiently enduring what you're supposed to do. That's just you putting up with what comes with life. I don't get it. I've been going to church. I've been reading my Bible. I don't know why I'm not, you know, I don't know why I'm not the preacher yet. I don't know why I'm not the pastor. Well, have you met the qualifications? Have you gone above and beyond? Have you, have you actually looked at that and actually try to achieve those things? There's a lot that goes into that. Well, I just got saved last year, two years ago. I should be the pastor by now. That's not how it works. It doesn't work like that anywhere in life. Go to Philippians chapter three. You know, you gotta be patient when you pay your dues, but you also have to be persistent. You actually have to accomplish something. Philippians chapter three, the Bible reads, I'll begin in verse 13, Brethren, I count not myself to apprehend it, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. You know, we often think about when Paul talks about forgetting those things that are behind, we often think about sin or bad things or negative things in our life. And by the way, we should, you know, I don't know how many times I have some of the same intrusive thoughts from I'll be, I'll just be going about my day and just out of nowhere I'll just recall some stupid thing I said or did, I'm just like, I'm embarrassed, right? I want to forget those things which are behind. But on the other side, people also, they need to forget about the things that they've accomplished sometimes too. Not just living in their past, living in their glory days. A lot of people do this. Well, you should have seen me when I was your age, everything I accomplished then. Well, what are you doing for me lately? The Lord says. What are you doing now? Well, I'm not young. I used to go to church. I used to read my Bible. I used to do this. You know, I had a great marriage. I raised God. You know, but now what are you doing now? That's persistence. People who are pressing all the way through, not just, you know, patiently enduring, but being persistent, forgetting those things, which are for and doing what reaching forth under those things, which are behind or excuse me, reaching out are before. So what is he doing here? He's forgetting now, which is in the past, but it's not just like, I am not listening to this. That's not, that's not what he's doing. He's taking his fingers out of his ears and he's reaching forth into that, which is before you see I'm saying there, you need to reach toward, you need to press toward the mark for the prize. The high colleague of Christ. Jesus is what he said. Verse 14. And he says, let us therefore as many as be perfect, be thus minded. And if you'd be otherwise minded, God's real, even this unto you, nevertheless, where to you have already attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us mind the same thing. Go over to first Peter chapter seven, first Peter chapter one, excuse me, first Peter chapter one, you forget that, forget the bad things that happened in the past. You know, if we've committed sin or done something stupid, confess it, forsake it. God has, he's forgiven you. It's time to move on with life and just live it down. Right. But also don't just ride on the coattails of the past. Don't just, you know, you know, puff yourself up over some past accomplishment. It's great that you did that and you receive reward for whatever it is. You know, I'll use myself examples again. You know, I had, I remember when I first got it, it started, you know, working and getting out there, you know, early, earlier on in life. And I had a boss, he said, he came to me one summer and he's like, man, you're doing great. You know, you're working hard, you're putting in your time, you know, you're, you're doing a good job. And he kind of, you know, he praised me, gave me a little bit of a raise, you know, but the thing is, I kind of, that's, that was actually a detriment to me because I was kind of like, oh, I've achieved something. You know, what happened is I actually kind of let my work slip, actually became a worse employee after that to the point where, you know, I'll just confess my fault, you know, I've been fired from a job. You know, that was, that was, you know, one of the very few jobs I've ever been fired from and rightly so. You know, when it was the best thing that ever happened to me because it taught me that you can't just, you know, achieve a certain, you can't just get somewhere with a company and then just be like, well, I've arrived. You have to maintain. Yeah, you have to be patient and endure the difficulty getting up early, working late, you know, getting dirty, getting your hands dirty, doing all that. But you also have to be persistent and consistent is more likely the more appropriate word, but it's not alliterated. You have to be consistent and you have to push through, you know, and, and maintain that level. That's what he said here. He's saying, you know, you know, uh, nevertheless, where to we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule. It's great that we've attained this, but let's not forget, you know, don't forget what got you to the dance. Like they say, right. And, you know, don't forget that. Keep it, be persistent. And by the way, that guy that fired me a couple of years later, tried to hire me back where he had a job. Just thought I'd throw that out there. Try to save a little place. Your first Peter chapter one, look at verse seven. And he says in verse seven and first Peter chapter one, and if you call on the father who without respect of persons judges according to every man's work, not what he did, what he's doing. He doesn't, well, you don't understand Lord, what I did, who I am. Don't you know who I am? Don't you know all the great sermons I used to preach? All the soul winning I used to do? Yeah, but what are you doing now? Every man's work. That's how he's going to judge you. Past the time of your sojourning here in fear. You know, we should be fearful. We should be, you know, running scared is the term that I've heard, which is a great one. Not letting things slip. Let's push on though. I got to close here soon. So how do you be persistent? How are you going to pay your dues in life, in the Christian life, in life in general? How are you going to pay your dues to achieve something? But, you know, again, there's nothing wrong with wanting to achieve or excel. How are you going to, but you have to be willing to pay your dues. How are you going to do that? One, by being patient. Two, by being persistent, you know, and being productive. But how about this? By not becoming proud. You know, you have to have an absence of pride. You have to be patient, you have to be persistent, and you have to have an absence of pride. Go over to, go over to 1 Peter 5, 1 Peter 5. The Bible says, he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. You know, paying your dues, you can't have any pride if you're going to pay your dues and achieve something. It requires humility. It requires it. God resisted the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. That's in the context of 1 Peter where we read. He says, he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. I remember hearing those words early on in my Christian life, and they just burned in my mind. I can remember sitting in the exact spot in that church, looking around, and just, those words just resonating with me, and thinking, you know, and that was almost 20 years ago. You know, and, you know, I'm not trying to boast or exalt myself or anything like that, but you know, I didn't, I didn't step into the Christian life yesterday. You know, I know I've been deacon for two years now. I get to preach. I get to come down here. It's a privilege. You know, I'm very grateful for the opportunity I have to do what I'm doing. You know what? I'm just saying, you know, like anybody that gets that level or that position, they pay their dues. You know, people look at Pastor Anderson and the things he does now. I mean, he gets to travel. He gets to go preach here, go preach there. He's a speaker that's in demand. He gets to go make these films and things that are reaching, you know, millions of people. You know, it's a pretty sweet gig. I mean, he'd tell you that. Full-time pastorate. You know, it's still a lot of work. Don't get me wrong, writing the sermons, you know, helping people, working with people, so on and so forth. Everything that goes into that, but you know what? He didn't just, that's not how it started out, and he'll tell you after about some time, the hours that he spent, you know, away from his family, you know, flying in, preaching on a Wednesday, flying back out to a job, just driving tens of thousands of miles everywhere. What did he do? He paid his dues. You know, that same thing. But where did it start? Hearing these words. He that shall be greatest among you shall be your servant. And I'm not saying I'm the greatest among us, but I'm just saying, look, what I understood then is that if you ever want to achieve something in the Christian life, you have to have some humility. You have to be willing to be a servant. You have to be willing to, you know, go pick up kids on a bus route in the middle of winter at 8 a.m. in a frozen vinyl seat in a bus, you know, and put up with their snotty-ness and their bad attitude. You know, you got to pay your dues. You know, when the church is going through things, people are leaving, there's a big split. You know, you got to pay your dues. You got to put up with all kinds of things. And he says, and whosoever shall exalt himself, himself, who's not willing, somebody who's not willing to pay their dues, they're just going to exalt themselves, shall be abased. You say that all the time with these guys that they don't meet the qualifications, you know, they've been saved a few years, and now they're going to start a church. They're not even in a church. You see, I've seen this. They don't even go to a church, but now they're going to go be a pastor and start a church. That guy hasn't paid any dues at all. To sit down, you know, it takes, it's paying your dues is going somewhere, being humble, quietly serving, unrecognized, unnoticed, just doing it for the Lord for the right reasons for years. And that's paying your dues. And it's like that in a company. You know, you go work somewhere, you're just willing to put in your time and pay your dues, and then somebody else promotes you. You don't take that honor upon yourself. He, who else ever shall exalt himself shall be abased, but he that humbledth himself shall be exalted. So it's kind of this paradox, you know, that the way up is actually down. You know, that verse, you know, really resonated with me early in my Christian life, you know, and I wouldn't be where I am today, you know, that where I am is some marvelous, you know, great thing to be, you know, heralded in all the world. But I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't put that into practice and done what? Paid my dues. You know, nobody in this room has a great marriage or great children without having paid some dues, without being willing to put in the effort and the work necessary to do that. It's just a fact of life. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 3, not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride, he falleth in the condemnation of the devil. That's the danger of people who want to exalt themselves, is they get filled up with pride, and then they fall. You know, pride's going to keep you from paying your dues. It's going to keep you from promotioning, rather, is what I should say. Pride will keep you from promotion, because paying your dues is humbling. It's a very humbling thing. It takes time to develop humility, and it takes time to have that humility tested. It's one thing to think we're humble, and then we're not filled with pride until it's actually tested, until actually we get put in a position where it's like your true colors come through. Are you in 1 Peter 5? That's where we started, right? He says in 1 Peter 5, likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder, yea, all of you be subject one to another. This is all about humility, and be clothed with humility. He's not saying, you know, put humility in your pocket, carry it around with you. Have humility around your neck, like a little token that's there when you need it. He's saying be clothed with it. It should cover you. It should be what people see when they look at you, humility. True humility doesn't have to go around telling everybody, hey, I'm humble. It doesn't have to write the book, the world's three most humble men and how I met the other two. True humility is just something that you just, I mean, did any of us get up this morning and go, I wonder if I'm going to get dressed today. I'm going to go to church. You think I should put on some clothes, honey? Yeah, I think I will. Why not? You know, right? It's just what we do. We clothe ourselves. That's what humility should be like for us. We should just get in the morning, humility is just something we put on, just naturally, and it should just cover us. It should be what represents us. We should be what we're known for, just being humble people. He said, be clothed with humility. Why? For God resisteth the proud. And that's a scary thing to think about, that God actually actively resists the proud. It's not just like, well, you know, if I get a little puffed up and proud and, you know, if I don't have any humility, what's, you know, so what? What's the big deal? Some people might think I'm a jerk and whatever. No, God's actually going to resist you. God's going to actively work against you to do what? To try to humble you. And he will. And he says, but he says what? And giveth grace unto the humble. So rather than, you know, making God humble us, we should just do what verse six says. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, because the mighty hand of God is there one way or another. It's there. Now, is it going to resist us or is it going to give us grace? The choice is ours. And what we have to do, if we want God to, you know, to give grace to us, we have to, he gives grace to who? The humble. So humble yourself. Otherwise, God's going to have to do it for you. Humble yourselves, therefore, in the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. You know, it's God that raises people up. It's God that lifts people up and exalts them, in whatever fashion that is. You know, and we'll wrap up here, but go over to, go over to Luke chapter 12. We'll close there. You know, the greatest way you can show humility is through serving other people. You know, a person who's really humble, they don't mind helping other people. They don't mind serving other people. They don't mind being put out for somebody else or being inconvenienced. The Bible says in Galatians chapter 5, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty, only use not this liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. That's something we should be doing. We should be serving others. You know, love, you know, I believe there's a commandment that says, love thy neighbor as thyself. Right? I think Jesus taught, do unto others as you'd have them do unto you. That, you know, requires humility. The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility. You know, humility comes before honor. Why is that? Do you think that's a coincidence that God says, well, humility first and then honor. You know, humility, and then you get the honor. Why do you think he does that? So that when honor, if you start out with humility, so that when honor comes, you stay humble. You've already learned humility. So that when the honor comes, you don't get lifted up with pride. You remember what got you there. You say, oh, I remember what got me here. It was humility. Let me just keep that going. You know, there's a brother Chris Segura, you know, I'm sure he doesn't mind me saying it, but he's kind of one of these guys that's like kind of into the, you know, these motivational speakers sometimes and things like that, which is great. I get into it sometimes too, but he's got this one sticky note above his desk and it's small. It's not a look, but it just says this, stay humble or get humbled. Stay humble or get humbled. I walk by that every so often look at that and I think that's actually a really good thought. I walk by and say, I'm so humble, I don't need sticky notes to remind me how that I'm humble. I know I'm humble. You know, you know, the humility and pride are something that we have to work on all the time, all the time. And if we don't, you know, it's going to sneak up on us. Pride will sneak up on us. Humility comes before honor so that when honor does come, humility stays, it doesn't go anywhere. And that's the example of Jesus Christ. You're there in Luke chapter 12, look at verse 37, he said, blessed are those servants whom the Lord cometh, he shall find watching. People that are putting in their dues, being patient, being persistent, not being proud, being humble, serving, they're watching, they're doing what God wants, they're watching. They want to be found doing the work when the Lord comes. Verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself and make them to sit down to meet. And I think about this and I know it's a parable, but I believe there's, you know, spiritual truth here and I wonder, I really think the Lord is going to sit down and gird himself and serve some people. But does it say he's going to serve everyone? I mean, can you imagine being sat and getting to heaven and the Lord's like, all right, it's time for supper. You guys, there's the buffet line over there, but you guys come with me and he sits down and you all sit down and he girds himself and then Jesus becomes your waiter, the Lord. What would you like? What can I get you? And he serves you because, and why is it that he's serving you? Because you served him. That's an interesting thought, you know, but he says, verily I say unto you that he shall gird himself and make them to sit down to meet and will come forth and serve them. But that's the example of Jesus Christ. That's a pretty humbling thing to do, isn't it? I mean, that's what he did with Peter's disciples, the last supper, right? He girded himself with a towel around his loins and then what he washed their feet. That's a very, you know, humbling thing to do, but he was setting the example. So what we see, and this is, you know, in heaven where he's doing this, where he's serving other people. Has he been exalted by that point? Oh yeah. He's been given a name which is above every name. He's sitting at the right hand of God, the Father. I mean, he's going to come back to be glorified in all of his saints and be known as king and rule and reign with a rod of iron. And yet the Bible is showing us here that there's going to be some people that actually sits down and serves. That's humility. So even though he's attained, right, he's been exalted in due time, did Jesus pay his dues? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. He, you know, he suffered unto blood, you know, he endured the cross, despising the shame for the joy that was set before in the Bible says in Hebrews. He went through all that. We know that. And as a result, he paid his due, he put in his time, he was patient, he endured afflictions, and then he was exalted. But that doesn't, you know, that doesn't mean that he put off humility at that point. He's still, we see here, humble enough to serve. So that's the example that we should have. We should be willing to pay our dues because, you know, paying your dues is going to keep you a humble person. So paying your dues is what's going to get you exalted in due time. If you're in it for the right reasons, if you have the right motives, you know, God will lift us up. But what do we have to do first? We have to humble ourselves. So that's my message this morning. You know, we should, we should be willing, you know, if we desire to be promoted or exalted in due time, there's nothing wrong with that. You know, if our motives are right, there's nothing wrong, we should desire that. But just understand that if that's what you want in life, you have to be willing to pay your dues, to go through hard times. You have to endure that patiently, you have to be persistent, and you can't have any pride. It takes humility in order to be honored. Let's go ahead and pray.