In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of submission and humility in our lives. He encourages listeners to set a standard of submission and humility from a young age, as it can be a foundation for a blessed and fruitful life. The speaker warns against self-will and the desire to do things our own way, as it can lead to the curse of God. He urges listeners to surrender their hearts to God and allow Him to cleanse and plow their hearts, leading to a deeper worship and freedom in their lives.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, EFRA PA 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the freewill offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Well, greetings this morning again in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is Lord. The next one says, You're my Lord. Amen. You're my Lord. Let's have Him as our Lord. God bless each one of you. It's good to see your faces. Since then, anticipation around here of freedom of hearts. God bless each one of you as you keep letting God plow your hearts and open your hearts and just clean it all out. I think the cups are getting cleaner and cleaner, aren't they? And the cleaner they get, the freer we are just to worship the Lord. I'd like to make a few comments yet concerning yesterday. There was a young man that came up here afterwards that had a pen with soft leads in it and a whole multiple of them in one pen. You might want to check whether something like that is available. Wherever you go looking for something, if you do, it'd probably be more convenient than having multiple pencils. Also, I failed to mention when you're reading through the Bible, I would highly recommend that you read Old and New Testament simultaneously and not just read Old Testament for a long period and then read New Testament. But read a portion in the Old and then some in the New. And obviously you need to read more in the Old, probably about three times as much or something like that in the Old versus the New. Also, I wanted to mention yesterday, start with something that does not overwhelm you. Don't go diving into something way deep and then you can't handle it. It's better to bite off a piece that you feel confident you can handle with the schedule in your life. You might have to rearrange the schedule a little bit, but that you can feel confident you can handle it and then set yourself to doing it. And also, continuing to drink sincere milk while you're eating meat, that's good. We don't throw the milk away. We still need the sincere milk. Just the simple truths that aren't way down deep, those inspiring things. Well, we have another standard to set in our lives today. The last three we looked at can be a tremendous blessing in your life. And I'd like to set this one right up next to all three of those. With the same value, the same blessing and the same importance. Submission and humility. Submission and humility. If we can set that standard in the days of our youth and lay it as a foundation in our life to build on for the rest of our lives, we can be beautiful plants and trees that just flourish and grow and mature and prosper and bear fruit and bring glory and honor to the name of Jesus. Submission and humility. I'd like to bow our heads for a word of prayer before we go on. Lord Jesus, this morning we beg you for the anointing of your spirit, the anointing power of the Holy Ghost. We plead with you, Lord Jesus, you would open heaven over hearts today. God, we're here begging that you would come by your spirit and speak to every heart in this room today. Lord, we beg you, Lord Jesus, that you would bless those that know what it is to be under authority, to walk humbly with you before you and before their authorities. Oh, God, we also beg you for those that have some reserves, that are holding back and they're not completely letting go. Oh, God, would you come and deal with our hearts. Bring us, Lord, to a place of complete surrender in this matter. We also plead with you, Lord Jesus, for those that are sitting here with rebellious hearts, with hard hearts. Oh, God, would you come from heaven and talk to us today. Lord, we plead with you that by your spirit you would come and talk to us and convince us where we are. We beg you for your holy presence to come down upon this place. Lord, we plead with you, Lord Jesus, that you would come and have the preeminence here. Oh, God, let the power of your spirit flow into every heart here. Oh, God, cause trembling to come before you, Lord. Oh, God, let your awesome holiness come into this place today. God, we plead with you, Jesus' name, Lord, for the revelation of your spirit to grip our hearts today. Oh, let the fire of the Holy Ghost burn in every soul here today, Lord, and consume us with a passion and an open heart to see who you are. And let us see you, Lord. Oh, God, come, please, Lord Jesus, come. We beg you that you would just come and let us see who you are. Let us see who we are before you. God, bring a brokenness. Bring a brokenness into our hearts, Lord. Let your awesome presence and power and authority come down upon us, Lord Jesus. Let your word have its right place today, Lord Jesus. Speak to us from your life. We bless you in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I don't have papers to pass out this morning, but I would like to ask you to sit here and to just listen this morning with all of your heart. And I realize, in one sense, we're all a little bit like this sponge or maybe a lot like this sponge. And one of the burdens on my heart this morning is, some of us are sitting here, this sponge was a heart. We're hanging on to it just like this with both hands, just hanging on for dear life, not wanting to let go of self, not wanting to get off of the throne of my life, not wanting to surrender my heart and will. We sit here just hanging on with both hands. You might have been sitting here already being convicted by the power of the Holy Ghost and you're just hanging on. No, I won't let go. I won't get out of my seat. And God is wanting to, by His Spirit, soak us up in His word. But we keep hanging on and we won't let Him do it. And we come out looking like a dry sponge and it's having no effect on us. My friend, I'm begging you this morning, let go of the sponge. Let go of the sponge. Open up your heart, my friend. Would you please? Would you let go this morning? My friend, don't harden your heart. But open your heart to what God might want to say to you today. And the rest of the week, some of us are sitting here like this, clenched in one hand. Oh yeah, I'm getting some blessing. I'm getting some blessing, but I'm holding on and I have reserves and there's a couple spots that I just can't see how I can let go of them. And God is wanting to put you in the water, under His word, being under His will. But you're still hanging on. Yeah, you drip a little, but when you let go, there's really not that much. It has a little bit of effect. I'm here to plead with you, my friend. Let go of the sponge. Let go of your heart. Let it all go. Surrender it. Surrender it to Jesus. Surrender it to the authorities. Submit yourself and humble your heart. Because what God really wants to do is He wants to take us and put us down under and soak us in the word and soak us and soak us some more. And if we're willing to give up our wills, if we're willing to surrender and submit and humble ourselves before God and before man, before authorities, He will soak us in His word. He will bless us. This sponge has never been soaked, but it's like God wants to do in our lives. He's soaking us all week. We let it in here. It'll just keep absorbing probably for the next 15-20 minutes. And it's going to become totally saturated. Totally saturated. So you sat here on Monday, you thought you got soaked a while and the water's running off, but you can put it in on Tuesday and you can soak some more and you'll retain some more and the water's still running off and on Wednesday it's the same way. And my friend, it's still the same way today. Go ahead and soak yourself in the word of God and get down under! Get down under! Oh, to let God have His way in our lives. And the more we soak it, the more saturated it gets. Submission and humility. Submission and humility. I'd like to share part of my testimony this morning with you. I grew up as an Amish boy. And where I grew up, there was not very much respect between parents and children. In fact, the goal of my life was to turn 16 and to go live it up and destroy my life as far as purity in serving Jesus. Just make a mess of it. That was my goal. We used to call it sowing wild oats. Living for the flesh. My parents made a decision to change churches when I was 13. And I thank God for that. At 15 I got born again. But before I got born again, I was a rebellious young man. The friends I had, we'd look at our dad like the old man. And my friend, that's a heartbreaking thing to me this morning. He's not the old man. He's dad. He's my father. There was much to learn. I got born again and some of those things changed right away. I was one of those that made Jesus Lord of my life. And I got into seeking the Lord and got involved in evangelism. And the setting we were in, the church was sort of laid back on those kind of things. And I was one of the aggressive ones that was moving forward. And there was others that were too. And souls were getting born again and getting saved. And things were happening, but finally we had to get out or settled out. And we left. And in the midst of all that, I developed an attitude of being a spiritual high flyer. And I'm here to beg with you if you're at that place today. I went on that way for a while. I had all the answers. My opinion was most important. I had an attitude of, come on guys, let's go. But some of that is okay in its right place. I even came to a place where I felt I didn't have any pride in my life. And today, looking back on that, it's one of the lowest places for a Christian to stoop to. And then one day, God started laying His finger on my heart. What about this pride? What about it, Paul? What about this arrogant attitude towards authority? What about it? I had the blessed opportunity of going. Starting to ask people to forgive me for my attitude. And how I treated them. And just the air about me. From one place to another place to another place. And my friend, I was about 21 by the time God started dealing with me. And as I look back, it would have been so much easier at 15 or 16. It would have been so much easier at 15 or 16. And I know we're not all 15 or 16 here today, but what I'm trying to say is we have no time to lose. We have no time to lose. I found myself battling. The days went on. All of a sudden I'd catch myself back in this ugly dragon's mouth of pride. And I hope, well, now I've got Him gone. And He'd come back around again just as soon as I thought I had Him gone. About a year after we were married, I was having a season of just seeking God to get closer to Him and somehow make more progress. And God started laying on my heart that I need to start preferring others. Preferring others. And I didn't know how. I didn't know how. How do you do that? I simply went around asking people, how do you prefer others? I didn't know how. A young person. I'm here to plead with you today. Set this standard in your youth. Set this standard in your youth of humility, of submitting to authority. I started responding to my father like you should just before I got married. I don't want that for you. Don't wait until then. Don't wait until then. I don't regret having done it then. But I ought to have had that through the years. One thing I found, preferring others is totally dependent on humility in our lives. It's totally dependent on humility. We cannot make progress when we're arrogantly going through our lives. I'd like to turn to Luke 2. Luke 2. This is about Jesus. I'm going to start reading in verse 40. First of all, I'd like to just simply look at we're at Bible school. And you'll understand that in a little bit. Now the child grew and waxed strong in spirit and filled with wisdom. And the grace of God was upon him. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And here, him turning 12 and going up to Jerusalem is like you turning 16 and going to Bible school. It's just a lot like that. This was a highlight. I'm going to the feast. He's going to the feast. And just imagine the excitement, the enthusiasm, the fire that burned in his heart. I'm going to Jerusalem. And I'm going to the feast. I'm going to the feast. Just like you were excited, I'm going to Bible school. I'm going to Bible school. We're going to meet with God there. Verse 43, And when they had filled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus carried behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they supposing him to have been in the company when the day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. Here's Jesus in Jerusalem. And he is just enjoying himself. He is having a grand time. He's having the time of his life. And it's time to go home. And he is so enraptured in what's going on, that he doesn't even think about going home. He's back in the temple. And he's staying there. They left without him. He never even realized that mom and dad left. He never even realized it. He was on a mountaintop experience. He was totally enraptured, engulfed. And being in Jerusalem, being at the feast, being in the temple, verse 45, And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. Here he was, just basking in the riches of the teachings of the Word in the midst of the doctors and teachers. And here we are, at Bible school, just basking in the riches of the Word of God. Having the Word of God being laid on our hearts, session after session after session, and day after day after day. And we can fall on our faces before God and pour out our heart. And heaven is opening up. And the glory of the Lord is coming down in our lives. And it's okay to be enraptured, my friend. Go ahead and be enraptured. Jesus did it too. That's okay. That's just fine. But his parents were looking for him. Verse 48, And when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, Now listen. He said unto them, How is it that you sought me? How is it that you went looking for me? Wist ye not that I must be about my father's business? Didn't you know that I need to be about my father's business? And they understood not the saying which he said unto them. Here he was. He was gaining a new spiritual insight. He was seeing beautiful truth. Heaven was open over his life. He was sensing a higher calling. He was sensing a higher calling. I need to be about my father's business. He was sensing a higher calling. He even said, Well, Mom, why did you all even look for me? Don't you understand that I need to be about the work of God? There's this fire burning in my heart, Mom. There's this zeal burning within me that's starting to consume me. Yes, the seal of his house was starting to burn there already at twelve. He was gaining new spiritual insights. He was sensing a higher calling. And his parents understood not. His parents understood not. I wonder if any of us find ourselves at that place. They don't understand. They're not on the same page. They didn't understand. Young person, you might get home. Your mom and dad might wonder where you're going? What's going on? And they might not understand. They might not. Remember this. Jesus' parents didn't understand either. So if you bring your heart to Jesus and tell Him all about it, He'll understand what you're talking about. He'll understand all about it. If there ever was somebody that wasn't understood by their parents, I think He would have been the one. They didn't understand. They didn't understand. He was way over their heads. Well, we're at Bible school. Jesus was in Jerusalem. And here's the situation. Now what did He do? Verse 51, And He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them. But His mother kept all these things in her heart. Here He is with all these spiritual insights. Sensing and fresh calling. A higher calling. The zeal of the fire of the house of God is starting to burn in His heart to the point that it's consuming Him. To the point where He's thinking I need to be about My Father's business. It's time to get going here. And He's twelve. He's twelve. And He went with them. He went home with them. And it says He was subject unto them. He was subject unto them. They don't understand Me. They don't see what God is saying in my heart. And they didn't. They didn't. They're not hearing from God like I'm hearing from God. They didn't. But He was subject unto them. He was subject unto them. He was sensing a higher calling. He was sensing stirrings in His heart to move on. But He went and worked in a carpenter's shop. He went and worked in a carpenter's shop. Drilling holes. Shaving corners. Fitting things together. Driving nails. But He was sensing a higher calling. What about it? How is God feeling about all this? Here God is giving Him new insights. Here God is putting a higher calling in His life. God is starting to lay a burden on His heart. I wonder how God feels about Him walking off to Nazareth from the temple and submitting to His parents. Drilling holes. Shaving corners. Fitting pieces. Driving nails. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God. And man. Beautiful. Just beautiful. Jesus is drilling holes. He's shaving corners. And God is smiling on Him. God bless you, my son. Later He said, this is my son in whom I am well pleased. And that's the passion of my heart this morning that every one of us could have God look down on our hearts and look at us and say, oh, my son, my daughter, I am well pleased with what I see in your life. Yes, you might have a higher calling. You might be seeing new spiritual insights. You might be way above mom and dad. They might not understand, but my young person, let's do what Jesus did and go and submit to them. Just go and submit to them. Go ahead and drill the holes. Wash the dishes. Fit the pieces. Sweep the floor. Take care of brothers and sisters. And let the face of God shine down on our hearts and smile on us. Oh, this one's well pleasing to me. This one is well pleasing to me. He says. Go keep the sheep. Go keep the sheep. Work in a carpenter's shop. This is not the time to draw away. This is not the time to draw away. You know, Jesus could have said, well, they are totally missing it. It's time for me to step out and go start my ministry. They won't understand me anyway. He didn't do that. He didn't do that. He submitted Himself. I believe that Jesus is our perfect example of submission and humility. He was the Son of God. He was the Son of God. But I believe He was being an example for us. Just like in baptism, He was fulfilling all righteousness so we could take a look at His life and see what we need to live like. God's blessing opened up over His life. As He submitted Himself, God's blessing started raining out of heaven. He increased in wisdom. He increased in wisdom. That calling He got, that higher calling, those new insights He got, they started increasing. They started getting more. He submitted to His parents as He worked in the carpenter's shop. And God wants us to humbly submit to our parents no matter if we're way ahead of them or not. I don't think any of us in here are ahead of our parents like Jesus was. I don't think we're anywhere close to it. But God, Jesus wants us to go and submit to our parents and to be under authority and in humility serve and bless them. And in the midst of that, keep following that higher calling that He has put in our hearts. Keep putting wood on that fire that He has burning in our souls that zeal for God and for the house of God. And He'll cause us to increase. He'll cause blessings to flow in our lives. He'll do that. That's what happened to Jesus here. He increased in wisdom and in stature. And in stature. And God was looking down on Him and He watched Him there day after day and week after week and month after month and year after year. And He kept saying, I bless you. I'm getting happier with you, my son. God, I bless you, my son. And He's raising Him up as a man of full stature. Oh, that that could burn in our hearts. That that blessing could fall on our lives. That's when He was twelve. He spent eighteen years doing that. Eighteen years. And finally about the age of thirty, He sensed God saying, it's time to step out and obey Me and follow Me totally and not be under the authority of your parents. There is a place like that. But I believe in my heart, we need to clearly know that God is telling us to do that. Jesus spent eighteen years. I'll be honest with you, I'd have been wondering, Lord, why are You waiting so long? Look at all the time that's passing by, but He just stayed there under authority, serving and blessing, increasing in favor with God and man and in wisdom and stature. And once He stepped forward, He was like a gem that needed absolutely no more polishing. He does not make a big deal about it. He does not make a big show about it. But He did step out and follow His Father. Mom and his brothers came wondering, wanting to see Him. He's going off the deep end. He said, well, I don't need to be influenced by that anymore. I'm following my Father. And I believe they all understood then, later. But He did put a single eye there. But young people, He spent eighteen years subjected to His parents. And I do believe if your parents forbid you to be born again, you have something you need to look at. But if you need to get out of your home, young person, go find somebody to get underneath totally. Don't hang out there in limbo. You'll miss all of this. You'll miss all of it. Go get under authority totally and submit yourself. 1 Peter 5, verse 5 says, Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. And our parents are elder, aren't they? Also says to be subject one to another. James 4, verse 7 says, Submit yourselves therefore to God. And I believe what God's perfect plan for our lives is that we submit ourselves to our parents, to the elder, one to another, and to God, all together in one package. God being number one. But then recognizing that God has a very clear order of authority and submission. And we can get God's blessing if we'll just get into God's will. Ephesians chapter 6, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is good, right. This is right. Then it says, Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. And I'd just like to say this morning, if you're not in your own home because of difficulty of conversion or something like that, that you need to leave, you can still honor your father and mother. You can get before God on your face and beg God to show you what those things are that would connect and touch the heart of your father and mother. Wouldn't it be the most blessed day if they're not born again and resisting you that they could get born again? And you could go home and submit to them. There'd be no greater joy. I believe that needs to be a hard cry if we're not at home. Colossians chapter 3, verse 20 says, Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Remember what he said about his son? This is my son in whom I am well pleased. Do you think those two might be connected? Children, obey your parents, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. And he looks down on his son that it had subjected himself and went with his parents and submitted. And he said, this is my son in whom I am well pleased. You know, God's secrets, they're right here, and they work. He just tells us about them. But oh, the flesh kicks against some of these things. The flesh does not like it. But oh, God wants to bless us. Now before we go on, I'd like to look at pride. Spend a little bit of time here looking at pride. 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 5 again, Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another and be closed with humility. 4 God resisteth the proud. We've been looking at the blessing that comes on those that will submit. But here the Bible says, God resisteth the proud. That sounds like exactly the opposite of blessing. James chapter 4, verse 5 and 6. Do you think that the Scripture says in vain, The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But He giveth more grace. Wherefore He says, God resisteth the proud. God resisteth the proud. Young person here today, if you're sitting here and you're not willing to be put down under your parents' authority, to be put down under and submit yourself, it's because of a proud heart. It's because of a proud heart. It's because of a proud heart. And the Bible tells us here that God resisteth the proud. God resists them. I don't know if you'd like to see God resisting you or not, but my friend, if we're sitting here with pride in our heart and we won't submit, God is resisting us. What does it mean to be proud? Appearing above others. Haughty. Appearing above others. I lift myself up. My opinion. It's alright. I can take care of myself. You don't need to tell me what to do. Why are you always wanting to run my life? I wish mom and dad weren't so strict. It's pride. It's not submission. It's pride. It's pride. And God resists the proud. What does resist mean? Be interesting to hear what you think it means. It means to arrange oneself against. Like you would set an army in order to resist. It's not just sort of come and bump you a little bit. It's arranged against you and I'm going to oppose you. I'm going to stop you to the best of my ability. Do you think God could stop us? Definitely. Absolutely. If God is against us, if God is opposed against us to the point that He is arranging Himself in opposition because of pride, we're not going anywhere. We're not going anywhere. So as we look at submission and humility, it's of essential importance that we lay the ax to the root of pride. We lay the ax to the root of pride. And it's essential that we beg God to open our eyes and show us who I really am. Our heart. Our heart is very deceitful in this area. Our heart is very deceitful in this area. And I say that from experience. It's very deceitful. We think we're okay. But God in Heaven, looking down on our lives, what does He see? What do mom and dad see? What do mom and dad see? What do my spiritual authorities see? A beautiful, sweet submission? Or hanging on yet? Yeah, there's some submission, but hanging on. Maybe they see clinched, closed, hard. Oh, let's deal with pride. Let's deal with pride. Young person, will do nobody a greater favor in dealing with pride than ourselves. Will do nobody a greater favor dealing with pride than ourselves. We hurt ourselves when we resist authority. Oh, to get down under. I was wishing for a tub that you could see through. I don't have one like that this morning. As I put this down under here, the air is bubbling out. We could visualize that as self. My will. My pride. It just has to bubble out as we go down under and submit and let pride just get pushed out of our lives. And by the way, pride does not leave willingly. It does not leave willingly. It's like a giant that we need to face in the name of the Lord of hosts like David did. God resists the proud. Number four, I'd like to look at humility. Humility. 1 Peter chapter 5 again, verse 5 and 6. Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility. Beautiful, descriptive words. Clothed with humility. Wearing humility from head to toe. The very spirit about us needs to speak and give a message of humility. Humility. Clothed with humility for God resists the proud and He giveth grace unto the humble. Grace is that divine influence from heaven shed abroad in our hearts that gives us the strength and the power to live a godly life. Isn't that what we want? And as Jesus submitted to His parents and He got down under and submitted to their authority, He humbled Himself. He increased in wisdom and in stature, did He not? That's the grace, that divine influence flowing out of heaven into our hearts and lives that cause us to bloom, that cause us to flourish, that come out in our lives and become the fruits that are called victorious Christians. Oh, with submission, with submission, with getting down under, with humbling ourselves, opens up the graces of heaven over our lives. God gives grace to the humble. I don't know what's about you, but I know about me. I'm panting after that. I'm panting after that and I need more of it. I need more of it. There's no time to relax on this issue. We need more of it constantly. God, have mercy on me. I need Your divine influence. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God. And I hope I have you persuaded by now that surrendering to God includes surrendering to my father and to my mother, to my spiritual authorities. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time. He'll do that. Let's not get ahead of Him. Jesus spent 18 years between the beginning of that verse and the end of that verse. 18 years. Let's not get ahead of God. James 4, verse 5-10 again. I'd like to read another verse in Romans 7, verse 18. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. This is in Romans chapter 7. Amidst all the frustration of wanting to live a godly life and not having the power to do it, that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. But the Bible says, God gives grace to the humble. God will give grace to those that will submit and get under authority and do away with pride. God will give grace to those and this total vacancy or vacuum of having the strength to resist the flesh, of having the strength to live a victorious life, all of a sudden it opens up the grace of God and it comes flooding down on our souls and we'll have a strength that doesn't belong to me to live a victorious life. My friends, this could be the key that unlocks the door to a victorious Christian life for you. It is of utmost importance that we live in the pipeline of the grace of God to flow into our lives, or we'll be in Romans 7, where I try to do it and it just doesn't work. And it won't work, my friends. It won't work. It's absolutely essential that we live under the grace of God to be able to be victorious overcoming Christians. And in order to have that, we need to humble ourselves. And if God resists the proud, what do you think happens to this channel of grace coming out of heaven? Shut the valve. That'd be but a little thing for God to do. Shut the valve. Shut it off. And then we go round and round and round and it doesn't work. And it doesn't work. We need the grace of God on our lives. James 4, verse 5. Do you think that the Scripture says in vain, The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy, but He giveth more grace. If we're living a humble life, God can give more grace than the very fleshly desires in our body and can overpower them. Wherefore He says, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. If we're living in this channel of grace coming out from God because of the humility in our hearts, we can resist the devil and even the devil will flee from us. Not because of what I'm doing, but because of God's influence, divine influence, His grace being shed abroad in my heart. And because of the name of Jesus and the blood of Jesus, which makes that channel open for us. So let's draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. Get next to God. Get as close to God as you can. And my friends, if we have pride in our lives, God is going to resist us. How are we going to draw nigh to God? When He's holding us off and He won't let us come. But if we humble ourselves and we bow our hearts to Him, we can draw nigh to God. And as I take a step this way, He takes a step towards me. And we get closer and closer. And our hearts knit more and more. And the grace of God flows richer and richer. And we need that. But it comes with humility. It comes with submitting. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. Then He gives us some insights how to draw nigh to God. He says, Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Cleanse them. Get all that garbage out. By the way, double-minded. I want to serve God, but I want to serve myself. That's a double mind, is it not? You might be able to apply it to other ways, but I want to serve God, but I want to serve myself. Purify your hearts, He says. Purify your hearts. Have a single eye. You can't serve both, He says. Choose you this day whom you will serve. God or mammon? God or self? Which one will we serve? Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Break your heart. Get on your face, He says. And repent. Mourn. Weep and wail before God about this desperate need in my heart. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. My friend, if you're not a place of submission and humility, this is your recipe. Fall on your face before God and afflict your soul. Mourn and weep. Let all that laughter be put away. Laughter and lightheartedness makes conviction leaky and it goes away. Put the laughter away, the lightheartedness, the joy and frivolity. Put it away. Do yourself a favor. Put it away. Get desperate before God. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up. Romans 12, verse 9 and 10 says that let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil. Cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love and honor preferring one another. And in Philippians 2 it talks about with lowliness of mind, esteem other better than yourself. Romans 12, verse 3 again, it talks about not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. You know, we're really not that big. Did you know that? We're really not that big. We're just this little ant down here before God. That's all we are. And God is having mercy on us. How would we feel about an ant crawling around on the floor here that tries to act like it's ok and it can take care of itself and it doesn't need me and I'm its overseer? How foolish that would look! Because with our little finger we can smush it all to pieces. And God could do the same to us. We lift ourselves up like somebody in our hearts. Oh, the arrogance of that. I'd like to turn to Malachi chapter 4 yet. Malachi chapter 4. Give your heart. Give your heart. Submission and humility ends right here. Comes to a climax right here. Give your heart. Malachi chapter 4, verse 5. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children. And he shall turn the heart of the children to their fathers. Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Young person. Jesus wants to turn your heart back to your Father. Jesus wants to turn your heart back to your Father. He wants you to turn your heart back to your Father. I don't know how your parents feel about you. I left my five children at home when I came. And I loved them. And I missed them. And I longed after them. I want them to grow up to be godly young women and men for Jesus. And I tell you the heart-wrenching, breaking experience of having one of them put you away off and walk away. Even if your parents don't act like it, I promise you, young people, there is something in the hearts that yearn after you. There is. And God wants you to take your heart, turn it to your Father. He wants you to turn it to your Father. He wants you to open it up to your Father. He wants you to take your heart and give it to your Father. Because God wants to bless you. God wants to bless us to take it, lay it wide open before our Father or spiritual authority that we're living with total surrender. But, there is a problem in our day. And it's called rebellious young people. God says, if this doesn't change, I will smite the earth with a curse. I will smite the earth with a curse. The first thing, young person, that's going to happen is heaven will close over our lives. If we live in rebellion and we don't give our hearts to our authorities, heaven will close over. We just got done looking at that and reading it right out of the Bible. Heaven will close over. I don't know how you're here today, but my friend, if you're here as a rebellious young person, I'm here to plead with you today in Jesus' name. Do yourself a favor and surrender that heart and will. Break that hard heart. Break that hard heart. Let the curse of God come upon your life. Maybe it's already on your life and you need to get rid of it and get under the blessing of God. There's a vast difference between the two. I have my own interests. Ah, the old people, they're old-fashioned. They don't understand how things work in this new world we live in. Oh, my friend, would you give your heart to your Father? Would you give your heart to your Father? Lest He come and smite your life with a curse. I didn't make this up. This is what the Bible says. I'm a rebellious, arrogant, self-willed. I care for myself. I just don't like to be told what to do. Oh, young person, you're shutting off God's blessing. You're shutting off God's blessing. You're opening up the curse of God. Oh, to turn off that curse and open up the blessings. And my friend, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Especially if you're under the curse. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Luke 1.17 He shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. David's cry was, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and restore a right spirit within me. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Young person, if your heart is not right with God, if your heart is not right with your father, and I'm going to say, if your heart is not right with your mother or your spiritual authorities, I would plead with you, during lunch break, you steal away and you cry out to God. If you need help, go get a counselor there back here in the back. Ask them to come and pray with you. There is nothing better than an open heaven with the grace of God flowing down in our lives. Rich blessings. Where we can increase in grace and wisdom and in stature and in favor with God in me. God bless each one of you.