In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of following Christ rather than Satan. He encourages the audience to be willing to be thought of as nothing so that Christ can be thought of as everything. The speaker also discusses the need for unity and peace within the church, emphasizing the importance of striving together for the faith of the gospel. Additionally, he warns against the selfishness and greed that can hinder the work of God, using the analogy of dogs fighting over food. The sermon concludes with a comparison between Jesus, who humbled himself and became obedient unto death, and Satan, who desired to be like the most high God.

You might have your Bibles open at Philippians, chapter 2. Occasionally pastors have asked a question like this, is there some sort of very simple uncomplicated plan that we could adopt and follow as a church that would guarantee that we would have a time of reviving and awakening and blessing that would go on and on and on and on? My answer is yes, there is a very simple uncomplicated plan and it's outlined in the Word of God. First of all in Psalm 133, there are just three verses in the Psalm and it goes like this, how good to God and how pleasant to men, behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. He said, it's like the precious ointment on the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, and went down to the skirts of his garment. And it goes on to say it's like the Jew of Hermon and like the Jew that descended on the mountains of Zion, and then he says this very significant thing, for there, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. Where does God command his blessing? God commands his blessing where brethren dwell together in unity. Did you ever carefully read John chapter 17? I'm sure many of you have. I wonder if you've noticed something there. We usually think of John 17 as a prayer of Christ for unity in the church down through the ages. That's really not exactly what he prayed for. There are over 40 references to the 12 apostles. Most of his prayer was towards the 12 apostles. He prayed for those that God had given him, and if you study the context carefully, Jesus was praying that there would be unity between the 12 apostles. And he moved slightly beyond that, but slightly only when he prayed. He said, neither do I pray for these alone, that is for the 12 alone, but for them also who shall believe on me through their word, that is the apostolic churches, that they all may be one. But the burden of the prayer of Christ was for unity between the 12 apostles. You know, there are enemies of God who pick this thing up in John 17 and say, look, the supposed Son of God prayed for unity in the church, and what have we got today? Over 6,000 evangelical groups in Africa alone, 120 Pentecostal groups, different Pentecostal groups in the country of Chile, and I'm not running the Pentecostals down. We've all these various groups, Baptist and all the rest of it, divided this way, divided that way. And by the way, that's not all bad. I heard it put this way. Somebody said, you know, if we get all the churches into one group, that's just exactly what God wants. I'm not so sure. I heard Hyman Appelman say, yes, if you got them all into one church, the devil could get them all at one snap. We had a monolithic church structure for 1,000 years, and it was known, dear people, as the Dark Ages. And Dr. Carroll, who did a study on this, felt that perhaps 50 million believers were martyred for their faith by the church claiming to be the church, the only church of God. And I don't want to get into that. There is a simple plan. When brethren dwell together in unity, look at the book of Acts, Acts 1, verse 14. The eleven apostles, Judas Iscariot was gone now, had committed suicide, was gone. It says, "...these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren." A small group just praying with one accord, calling on God, preceding the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2, verse 1, it says, "...when the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled, they were all with one accord in one place, and the Spirit came." And do you know what happened? The church of God was born. Later on in the second chapter, we read about these people. It says they were in the temple with one accord, that unity. In chapter 4, when the apostles were threatened about preaching the gospel, they went back to the church. I told them what had happened, and it said the whole company, they lifted up their voices to God with one accord, and they called on God, and it was the second time of spiritual power and awakening, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And all, I believe, were together, it says. They had all things common, and with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. Stop and think. Supposing there had been disunity between the twelve apostles, do you know what that would have meant? It would have been the most serious blow to the cause of God that could ever have happened. And the prayer of Jesus was most marvelously fulfilled. And we notice in the book of Galatians, chapter 2, when there could have been a serious cleavage between Peter and Paul, when Paul called Peter up in the carpet in the church at Antioch and faced him up with his sin, Peter humbled himself and accepted that, and the prayer of Jesus was literally fulfilled. And they did not have in those days as we have now this large, large number of evangelical groups. Again, the second part of the prayer of Jesus was wonderfully answered. And that's as far as you can take John 17 without doing violence to what it says. So much for the ecumenics, that they're using John 17 to base their ideas on. You can't do that. Now when Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, chapter 1, verse 10, he said, I beseech you brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. And then when he wrote the second letter, in the last chapter of the second letter, he said, finally brethren, farewell, be perfect. He said, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Be of one mind and God will be with you. He's saying again what we read already in Psalm 133, in Philippians chapter 1, verse 27. He said, only let your conduct be as it becomes the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs. That you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel, and in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of damnation, but to you of salvation, that of God. Now in many churches there's what you might call a mindless unity based on a common agreement to fall asleep. And we have all kinds of that sort of mindless unity in churches today. They couldn't have a fight if they wanted to. There's not enough fire there. I'm talking about what Paul said in Philippians chapter 1, that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. Stand together as one man of church to get the gospel out. From you sounded out the word of the Lord, Paul said, in running the church of Thessalonica. And we exist, dear people, for that purpose, to get the gospel out to our community, our country, and as far to the ends of the earth as we possibly can. And we have no justification for existence apart from this, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you. That's the promise of God. So whether it's the Old Testament or the New, we find it's exactly the same. You want constant blessing in your assemblies? Then you must come to the place where you have unity and accord and love. He talks in Romans 15 about the God of patience and consolation. And he's praying that we might with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then what does he say? He says, wherefore, if this is your goal, wherefore receive you one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God. Is there anybody in your assembly that you do not receive into your heart as Christ received us into His heart? If there's somebody like that in your experience, then you're standing in the way of a blessing of God. You're holding up reviving, preventing God from doing what He wants to do in your particular assembly. But if a problem of division is there, how do you deal with it? Philippians chapter 2, in my opinion, gives us the clearest possible teaching. And I believe were these verses to be applied, especially the first 10 or 12 verses, we would have constant, constant reviving and blessing with people being saved and the work of God prospering. Let's look at it. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, and there is. 2 Corinthians chapter 1 says, as our sufferings abound, our consolation abounds by Christ. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, it says in the psalm, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. If there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love and awe there is, if any fellowship or communion of the Spirit, and there is, if any inward compassion, and there is, fulfill you my joy. That is, make me joyful. Let me hear what you're doing that will make my heart sing for joy. Let you be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. There it is again. Then he says, let nothing be done through strife or vain, that's empty glory, strife. Let nothing be done through strife. In most churches there are certain people that unless they get patted on the back regularly, they salt, they hand in their resignation, because they have not been recognized properly for the work they're doing in the church. Vain, empty glory. They're not willing to wait until Jesus comes back, and to wait and hear him say, well done thou good and faithful servant. They want the pastor to say that from the pulpit, so they get some glory now. Let nothing be done through strife and vain glory. In Galatians 5, Paul said, let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. That's what happens when you have a glory seeker in an assembly. He provokes other people to follow his bad example. He provokes. And envy is the result in the assembly, and division comes. That's the way that Satan works. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. And the preceding verse says, they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with a passion and lust. Now in the book of James it says, if you have bitter envying and strife, there's that word again, and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, sensual, that is carnal, natural, coming from the world system, controlled by Satan. And then he uses the word demonic. It comes from demon, a spirit of strife and division. It comes from demon. This wisdom is not from God. It's earthly, sensual, and demonic, for where confusion and strife is, there is every evil work he tells us. We have this kind of problem, strife and envy. Then he says, the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, it's gentle, it's easy to be entreated, it's full of mercy and good fruits, it's without partiality, it's without hypocrisy, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. Which kind of wisdom do you have in your heart, from God or from demons? And in many churches there are people that have wisdom from demons. They're envy, strife, self-seeking, glory-seeking. You know what it says in Proverbs about this particular problem? He that is of a proud heart stirs up strife. And if the devil can get a couple of people like this in your assembly, that's all he needs. He that is of a proud heart stirs up strife in the assembly. And there's a very strong statement in that, in the book of Proverbs, about contention. Here are two people who don't get along. Here's trouble in a family, or maybe two families don't get along. Or there's division in the church, and there's two groups in the church. What causes this? God tells us there's only one root cause for contention. Here's what He says. Contention comes only, only by pride. Back of it all is human pride. Always, God said, only. Do you remember it says also in the book of Proverbs that he that shows discord among brethren is an abomination to God? Be very careful you do not become a tool of the devil. He that shows discord among God's people, he is an abomination to God. Some people think they're sent from God to create a division in an assembly. Ah, be very careful. Abomination to God. He goes on here to say, Then let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind. In Ephesians chapter 4, Paul spoke about us endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And a little later on in the same chapter, he talks about coming in the unity of the faith. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the blessed Holy Spirit in the bond of peace, which means each of us have a contribution to make in this particular area. All of us should be working towards this. I heard of a pastor that had a fantastic method of dealing with problems of this kind. You know, if somebody would come and they'd say, Pastor, I have to talk to you. So they'd get talking to the pastor and they would say, You know, brother, so and so has been doing... Pastor, just a minute, I'll call him on the telephone. We'll call him and we'll discuss it while he's here. He said it was simply amazing how people quit coming to him. You've got something to say about somebody, say it to their face. Or not at all. I mean, a coward can say it about them when they're not there. Endeavoring to keep, to guard the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Blessed are the peacemakers, Christ said. Now, this does not mean that if there's immorality in a church or there's some form of doctrinal heresy that we should not take a stand. I think we should take a stand, but always in a spirit of love. Not as if I had all the answers. Let's pursue this a little further. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind. In Ephesians chapter 4, again, the Apostle Paul said, brethren, he said, walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love. Pushing the other person out in front, not yourself. Forbearing one another in love. And then comes the verse, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The problem is we're not meek, we're not humble, we're not lowly, we're proud and starchy and stiff. That's the problem you see. Do you remember what Christ said, one of the things in Matthew chapter 11? You know, you see this in a wall text quite often. Come unto me and I will give you rest. We used to have that. And there's a big statue of the Virgin Mary in the city of Santiago in Chile. It's a city of five million or so. And there's this high hill, I forget how high it is, a 1,500 feet or something in the city. And on top of that hill is a statue of the Virgin Mary, 90 feet tall, a gleaming white statue. And there's a, I suppose the statue at the base is as wide as from here to the wall or wider. And there's an entrance, a door. You can't go in without special permission. But you can look through the grill on the door. And there was a picture of the Virgin Mary. And underneath her picture were these words, come unto me and I will give you rest. Well, of course, that's wrong. It's Christ who gives rest. But what I want to say about that text is this. Christ said, come unto me and I will give you rest. But that's not all he said. And that's the unfortunate part that we take it out of its context and we lose the force of what he's really saying. Here's what he said. He said, come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. That's the cross. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. What does he want us to learn? Doctrine? Well, that's all right, but that's not what he's talking about there. He said, and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest into your soul. You see, the proud person will never know rest. It's the meek, humble, lowly person that finds perfect rest in his heart. The proud person is always in trouble, always full of unrest, afraid somebody will find him out or afraid somebody will get more glory than he's getting and so on. Learn of me, Christ said, I am meek and lowly in heart. When Christ was reviled, the Bible says he did not revile again. 1 Peter chapter 2, when he suffered, he didn't threaten. He committed himself to him that judges righteously. And we're supposed to, it says in the context there in 1 Peter 2, we're to follow his steps. I am meek. Learn of me, I'm meek and lowly in heart. Are you a meek, lowly, humble person? The Bible says, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. Become nothing before God, that God may lift you up and exalt you, it says, in due time. So let nothing be done through strife or empty glory, but in lowliness of mind. Well, before we leave that, here's a thought in Isaiah chapter 66. God said, the heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Have you ever stopped to think that if we could build a temple big enough to reach clean around the world, the Lord would have trouble getting his feet in? Think of it. The heaven is God's throne and the earth is God's footstool. You know, the Bible talks about God stretching out the heaven as a curtain or a tent to dwell in. And the scientists tell us we live in what they call an expanding universe. And objects are moving away, flying away from some central point of speed of up to 60,000 miles a second. Indeed, they think there are objects flying beyond the speed of sound and of light, particularly of light, not of sound, of light. And the telescopes may never pick them up as a consequence. And of course, the Bible says God is stretching out the heavens. They're still not big enough, you see. And they'll never be big enough for God because he's infinite. And if 10 million years went by, God would still be stretching the heavens out because they're not big enough, you see. The heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you build unto me and where is the place of my rest? For all these things has my hand made and all these things are these. But to this man will I look. Now, the word man is not in the original Hebrew language at all. What he really said was, but to this will I look. I won't look at your ornate costly temples. I've been in buildings costing three and a half million dollars or more. But God says I don't look at buildings like that. He says, but to this will I look. Or to put it differently, here's where I will look. To him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and that trembles at my word. Just think of it, this infinite God of the universe, he doesn't look at any of our great ornamental works. But he's looking for people who are meek and humble and lowly in heart. To this will I look. To him that is poor, and Christ said, blessed are the poor in spirit. That is, the lowly in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. To this will I look, to him that's poor and of a contrite, that's a broken spirit, a repentant heart, and that trembles at my word. We sing in one of our songs, then I trembled at the law I'd spurned. Then my guilty soul, imploring, turned to Calvary. Do you qualify? Is God looking at you? There's a lot of us God can't bother looking at because we're so full of pride. To him that's poor and of a contrite spirit and that trembles. This is the kind of person you have to be. That stays a high and lofty one that inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in a high and holy place with him also, that is, of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart, and the lowly in heart. Do you remember, there's one thing only that I'm aware of in the Bible concerning which it says that to God, this one thing is of great price. What is it? 1 Peter chapter 3. He says, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God, of great price. Do you have a meek, quiet spirit? Are you a self-effacing person, or one that's constantly pushing himself out so people would look at you? You want the blessing of God, the full blessing of God in your heart, and like that you have to become nothing? It says in the Bible, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves unto the elderly. Yes, all of you, be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Surely He scorns the scorned, but gives grace to the lowly. You find this, dear people, all through the Word of God. How have we missed it so long? We're praying and praying for the power of the Spirit in our life and our churches, and we're so proud because God can't do that. There's a verse in the Psalms that says, Psalm 84, that the rain also fills the pools. Now, you know, when it rains, the rain runs off the hills, it runs off the high places, and it gathers in the low places. A ditch is no tourist attraction, but at least it holds water. And if you're willing to be a ditch for God's glory, He'll fill the ditch with water. But most of us are so proud. The rain also fills the pools, it says, and they go from strength to strength, as the pool gets larger and larger. If you're humble enough, there's no problem with God, He'll fill your life with Himself. But it's our pride that keeps God from filling us with Himself, He assumes. In lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. And sometimes people have said, Bill, it's not very practical, how can I esteem brother so-and-so better than myself when I know he's not? Well, that's a problem, isn't it? But when people say that, you know what they're really saying? This is what they're really saying. They're saying, I have never seen my own heart. If you ever get a look at that dark cavern of your own heart, you will have not the slightest problem in the world esteeming other people better than yourself. The Bible says in the book of Job, that the stars aren't clean, the heavens are not pure, and God had to charge His very angels with falling. How much more abominable and filthy is man who drinks iniquity like water? Your heart's no different than the heart of that fellow that ran his car over that professor a while ago. We have the same potential for evil, every last one of us has. And we ought to be always saying, but for the grace of God, that would have been me. Don't congratulate yourself that you're better than anybody else. The moment you do, you identify yourself with a Pharisee in the Gospel book who said, God, I thank you that I'm not like other men. That's the problem. So then, let each, that's you and I, esteem anybody better, not just equal to, but better. Forbearing one another in love, it says in another context. How about this, my dear friend? Do you really live that way in your assembly? Do you esteem everybody else in your assembly better than yourself? Listen, if you're not doing that, you're a first-class hindrance to revival. You're standing in the way of the Spirit of God. We have to come to this place, and we can, by the grace of God. Let me give you an illustration from real life. Howard Gardner was a conference pastor for years. It was this particular conference. And God touched his life in revival in Winnipeg. Here's what happened. I was coming to Winnipeg from Saskatoon, that's 515 miles or so, with five men from my church in Saskatoon who just experienced a revival in their house. And, boy, that was the longest prayer meeting I was ever in. Ten hours long that prayer meeting was. I mean, we started in Saskatoon, we're still praying and praising God, and we got to Winnipeg ten hours later. You know, they never saw that beautiful herd of black Angus cattle out in the field or some beautiful home or something else. It was, hey, let's pray for this church. Let's pray for this mission. Let's pray for this pastor. Let's pray for this back story. Hey, I know a sinner that needs God. And it went on and on for ten solid hours. And we got to Winnipeg, and guess what happened? We get into a motel, and the brethren said, now let's have a prayer meeting. That's what happened. Well, Howard Gardner, I'd known him when he was eight years old. They called him, of course, now he's six foot four, they called him Happy Howard. He was the life of every party. And he heard about this thing, and he thought to himself, he said, I said to myself, this revival thing, that's usually emotionalism. But if Bill McCloud's connected with it, it won't be very emotional. So I'll check it out. So he came to this meeting in the church in St. Paul, Winnipeg, was packed. And he listened to the testimonies, and he said to himself, he told me afterwards, I said to myself, well, yeah, God's done something for those members. Nobody's overly impressed. Sitting about the fourth crew down to my right, then in my discourse, in my sharing, I quoted this verse that we're talking about right now. Let each esteem other better than themselves. And he said, at that moment, the action began. He said, the congregation just seemed to fade away, and there's nobody there but God and I. And God said to me, do you live this way? And he said, I said to God, yes, God, I think I do. And God said, what about, and he mentioned a certain pastor who was sitting about four over in the same team. And he said, I said to God, Lord, I don't know how you can bless him the way you do. He's such a big windbag. I think I know what the real problem was. This particular brother he was talking about, that he had this bad attitude to, was a tremendous soul winner. Won all kinds of people to Christ. Started new churches. And this was not happening in Howard's life, and he resented it, you see. So he thought he was just a big windbag. I never, ever had that impression of this particular brother, but that's how he felt. That's what he told God. He said, when I said that to God, God said to me, I want you to get up out of your seat and walk down that aisle and kneel at the altar of the church. Now, I'm still up here preaching. I don't know what's going through his mind down here. God said, I have something I want to teach you. I wish Howard was here to tell a story himself. I've heard him give it many times, because he worked with me as a song leader for a year and a half, before he had a stroke and some other problems and had to leave that kind of work. He said, as I was walking down the aisle, he said, Jesus met me in the aisle and put his hand on my head and reduced me to zero. He said, when I got to the front, I knelt down and I looked around and I couldn't even find myself. I can't explain it. He said, it was a strange thing. I was no longer there. Just the Lord. And then the Lord said to me, now can you esteem brother so and so better than yourself? And he said, through my tears I said to God, better? Oh God, he's a thousand times better than I am. God said, that's right. Let each, that's you, esteem other husbands. Do you esteem your wife better than yourself? Or do you sometimes wish you were married to somebody else? There's seven things we're told not to covet in the Word of God. And the first is you're not to covet your neighbor's wife. Listen, if you live with your neighbor's wife, as long as you've lived with yours, you probably have the same problems you've got with your wife now. Wives, do you esteem your husband better than yourself? Or do you wish you'd married somebody else? Be very careful. Let each esteem other. Young people, do you think you're better and smarter than your parents are? Watch it. You'll be in trouble with God. Parents, do you think you're a lot smarter than your children are? You'd better watch that too. Let each esteem other better than themselves. Pastors must esteem their people better than themselves. People must esteem their pastor better than themselves. I mean, right from the top in the church right down to the bottom, if there's such a thing, we have to, each of us, esteem other people better than ourselves. And when you get that kind of a situation, you can't have a church fight. You can't have this unity. And there, the Lord commands the blessing. And if you don't have that, you can preach and pray. You can have the best evangelistic team in the countryside. And nothing will happen. I've been to a church, a Baptist church down in Texas. I had meetings there. But before I got there, the pastor, he was a very aggressive fellow. And he arranged for a real hot evangelistic team to come. Then he arranged for a singing group to come. And they rented a high school auditorium seating 2,000 or more. And they popped it to the doors for a solid week. And they set a record for their denomination. And you've got to go some to do that because their denomination has 40,000 churches. And they had 1,760 professions of faith in Jesus Christ in seven days of meetings. And he phoned me long distance to tell me what God was doing. Well, we were there five weeks later. Do you know what had happened? He had not baptized one convert out of 1,760 people. And five weeks later, he never had one of those people attending the church. You call that a work of God? Oh, no. That's the work of men. And it says in the book of Ecclesiastes, Whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it nor anything taken from it. And God does it that men should fear before Him. I am sick and tired of the work of men. Oh, how we long and pray in our fellowship for another outpouring of the Spirit of God, deeper, more widespread, more powerful than anything we've seen. And we believe it's coming. We've dedicated ourselves to this call. But it's going to come, dear people, when we start lining up with the Word of God. And each Christian has a personal responsibility to be the kind of person that we're reading about in Philippians 2. Let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Do you live that way? You're not supposed to be concerned about your little cabbage patch. Get concerned about other people's cabbage patch. Help them. Can I help you, my brother, my sister? Can I pray for you? Is there anything I can do to help you in your Christian life and war? Job was in awful trouble. He talked about possessing wearisome months of vanity. Do you remember when he got out of his problems? The Bible says in the last chapter of the book of Job that the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. You see that same chapter 2, verse 21, he said, All seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ. And if you look at the context, he's talking about believers. Because in the preceding verse he said, I have no man like mine who will naturally care for your state, for all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ. And that's the problem. You know, the Lord uses some pretty strong and striking language in the Bible sometimes. Here's a thought from the book of Isaiah. God was speaking about the shepherds and whatnot, and he said they're greedy dogs which can never have enough. They all look to their own way. Everyone for his gain, from his quarter. What's in it for me? Greedy dogs, God said. Have you ever seen two or three dogs eating from the same dog dish? Have you ever, in all your experience, seen the dogs line up, politely bow to each other, fighting you go first, no role where you go first? Have you ever seen them do that? Oh no, you know what happens. They get in there, they snap, and they snarl at each other. I've seen dogs sometimes, they're just fighting over the dog dish, and the dog just turns upside down, all the food is in the line, you know, and they fight there, and they snap, and they snarl, eating grass and gravel stones and everything to get as much as they can. And God speaks about people being like greedy dogs that can never have enough. They all look to their own way. Everyone for his gain, from his quarter. What's in it for me? What will I get out of it? Oh, God hates that kind of a spirit. I was visiting a daughter of mine in Kamloops, British Columbia one time, and my son had a German Shepherd, and we had to bring the dog along on our holidays. I tell you people, whatever you do, don't take a German Shepherd on holidays in the car. Well, anyway, we got to Kamloops, and they had a smaller dog, and we just, we discovered we only had one dog dish, you see. How to handle it? Well, here's what we did. We put the dog dish here full of food, we tied the German Shepherd to a tree over here with a rope just long enough to meet over the dog dish, then we tied their dog to a tree over here with a rope just long enough to meet over the dog dish, we took him back to the two trees and we let him go. Well, the Shepherd was bigger, got there first, picked up the dog dish, and took it back to its tree. You know, they're sharp, those dogs. When I saw that happen, I said to myself, you know, the trouble with that dog is it's been watching humans too long. They all look to their own way. Everyone for his gain, from his quarter. My dear friend, is that how you live? Let no man seek his own. But every man, it says, another's welfare, in 1 Corinthians 10. Let no man seek his own. Every man, another's welfare. Oh, people, when you have an assembly like this, think of the blessing that will come. And the reason why the blessing isn't coming, dear people, is not because God is loath to do it, or God is waiting for some far-off specific time. It's just simply that God's people are not prepared to pay the price. We want reviving, but we don't want to pay the price. And as you can see, the price is high, looked at from one angle. But when you are, and if you are willing to become nothing, the price is really nothing. All right. Let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. And then he says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Allow that mind that Christ had to control you. You see, 1 Corinthians 2.16 says, We have the mind of Christ. And if you look at the context, he's talking about the fact that all of us as Christians, we have the Holy Spirit living in our heart. We have that potential. We have the mind of Christ. Now he says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, existing eternally in the form of God, did not think it something to be coveted after or grasped at, or tightly held on to, as different translations say, that he was equal with God. But he emptied himself. He made himself of no reputation. Listen, where was Jesus born? New York? Tokyo? Chicago? Santiago? Where was he born? Sao Paulo? They tell me that Sao Paulo is going to be the biggest city in the world. 22 million people, eventually, they say. Right now, Mexico City is the biggest city in the world. 14 million people. Was Jesus born in a big city like that? No. He was born in tiny, tiny little Bethlehem, concerning which the prophet Micah had said, But thou, Bethlehem the fruitful, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel, who is going forth to be from of old, from the days of eternity. He's going to be born in tiny little Bethlehem. Of the most despised nation on earth, he was born a Jew. And Isaiah had spoken about the Jews. He said, They are a nation of people, they're scattered, and they're teeming. Jesus was a Jew. It's evident, it says in the book of Hebrews, that our Lord sprang out of the tribe of Judah. Wealthy parents? No, they were poor. He never had much, and he died without anything. All he had for a covering when he hung on the cross was the spittle on his face, they spit on him, and the blood flowing down from the wounds on his body. He never had a single stock or bond, and he never had a dollar in the bank. Let this mine be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands a thing which is good, that he may have to put in the bank a fifty... No, that's not what it says. That he may have to give to him that needs. You have some extra money? Give it. That's what God says. Don't argue with me, argue with God. Ephesians chapter 4. That he may have to give to him that needs. You don't have to hoard, you have to give. That's what the Bible says. There's all kinds of Christian work that's suffering for lack of funds. Let this mine be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who made himself of no reputation. They said he was a Samaritan. That was a term of reproach among the Jewish people. He never denied the fact he was a Samaritan, by the way, because after all he was representative man. But when they said, don't we say, well, you're a Samaritan and you've got a demon? He did say, I don't have a demon. Several times they accused him of having a demon. They called him a glutton. They said he was a pig when it came to food. They said he was a winebibber, he was an alcoholic. They said all kinds of things about him. Do you know what the prophet Isaiah said in chapter 53? He said, He has no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And all those pictures that you see of the Lord Jesus Christ, you might as well forget about him. That's not how he looked. He has no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He was not a handsome person. Do you know that the earliest, the oldest likenesses of Christ that have ever been found show him with a face that's far from handsome and his face is pockmarked? No form nor comeliness. Nobody would look twice at Christ. When we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. People, he emptied himself to this extent. What does it say? Let this mind be in you. What are you proud about? Your beauty? Your money? Your job? Your family? Your intellectual ability? Listen, forget it. You and I, the Bible says in Isaiah 40, we are mathematical impossibilities. We are less than nothing. And you know what? I never heard an amen in the whole building. Don't you believe it? That you're less than nothing, and vanity it says. Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie. To be laid in the balance, God said they're altogether lighter than vanity, that is lighter than the wind. There's nothing there before the great God of the universe. God says that men are so light, this little to us, that if you took all the nations of the world, beginning from Adam, down to the last person that will ever be born, and put them all together, they're like one drop of water in a bucket. How many times does that drop of water have to be split before you get in the picture? I mean, it just boggles your mind. If you're walking down a path at a Bible camp with an empty bucket, and somebody came up behind and dropped one drop of water in the bucket, would you be aware of its weight? I guess not. So what happens if they drop you in the bucket? You know what I think? I think for a lot of us, if they put you and I in the bucket, the bucket would go up instead of down. Less than nothing. This is what the Bible says. Then should it be so difficult to accept this kind of an opinion? That I should be meek and lowly in heart? That I should esteem my brother better than myself? That I should stop looking at my own interests and become concerned about the interests of others? Oh no, if I really see myself, I'll have no problem accepting this kind of teaching. So some people say, I'm not going to let anybody make a doormat out of me. Well, maybe at that point you just parted company with Jesus because they wiped their feet on Him. Now I know we have to be careful in this particular area, not to become fanatical, but to be meek and lowly in heart. And He said, you shall find rest unto yourselves. You know what? When you quit trying to project a pretty self-image to the people out there, all attention goes out of your life. You can smile at anything because you're not trying to be anything, see. You're just yourself. And Jesus lives in your heart. And you're proud of Him and nothing else. God forbid, cried Paul, that I should glory except in the cross. Why, Paul, what about all those churches you started? What about all those thousands of people who have found Christ through your apostolic labors? What about those hundreds of people who were healed? He said in Romans 15, I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not wrought by me. To make the Gentiles will be written word and deed with mighty signs and wonders through the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about and to Elyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. But God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ whereby the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. He made Himself people of no reputation. He took upon Him the form of a servant. He said, I am among you as He that serves. The Son of Man has come not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many. Are you following Christ in that area? He gave His life a ransom for many. He came to be ministered unto not to minister. He made Himself with no reputation, took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man and being found in fashion as a man. When Jesus Christ opened His eyes and found Himself encased in perhaps eight pounds of human flesh, what then? Listen. The God of the universe encased in eight pounds of human flesh. What did He do then? The Bible says He humbled Himself. People listen. He had to. How could He stay? How could He nurse to the woman's breast the God of the universe? How could He? But He did. That's how far my Savior humbled Himself. Is it so difficult then for me to humble myself? Oh, for some people it is. We're all trying to have our own way and promote our own ideas and so on. And you know what the consequence is. Disunity. And the devil sits in the sidelines and laughs at the Church of God. I can't sing that line in that song without feeling hypocritical. Like a mighty army moves the Church of God. Or the line that says we are not divided. All one body we. That's nonsense. Just not the way it really is. It's an ideal but it isn't true. But thank God here and there there are churches where you find this unity. Churches. People controlled by the love of God. And there's just constant growth. Constantly people are being saved. People are being called into full-time work. There are some churches that in 25 years not one person has ever been called into full-time service from their assembly. What did Christ say? Pray there for the Lord of the harvest that He'll send forth trust-worthy laborers into the harvest field. There ought to be young people constantly heeding the call of God in any assembly that's alive across the country. There ought to be all kinds of young people going into full-time service. But they're not. Because our churches are dead. Because we're not obeying the word of God. He humbled himself and then became obedient unto death. It says even the death of the cross. Let this mind be in you. I have to conclude. If you study this passage carefully you will find that Jesus took five steps down. Beginning with not my will but thine be done. Five steps down. And if you turn over to Isaiah chapter 14 where Satan is speaking five times he said I will I will I will I will I will be like the Most High God. Five steps up in his program. And who are you following? Who are you following? Satan or the Savior? Are you willing to be thought nothing so Christ can be thought everything? If you hear somebody said something about you some lying thing you know can you praise God for it? In all things approving ourselves as the servants of Christ the ministers of God. In much patience it says by honor and dishonor by evil report and good report as deceivers and yet true. See there's the problem. We don't it says in 1st Timothy 2nd Timothy rather the Apostle Paul said all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And most of us spend our whole adult life as Christians trying to avoid persecution. But people this is our power. In Hebrews chapter 13 here's one of the things it says it says Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered outside the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him outside the camp bearing his reproach. For here we have no lasting city no continuing city but we seek one to come. The reproach of Christ is our power. Why outside the gate? Why does it say we should go forth unto Jesus outside the camp? Do you know the significance of that? Outside the camp that's where the lepers have to stay. That's where they took the adulterers and stoned them to death. That's where they took the blasphemers and stoned them to death. That's where they took the gluttons and the alcoholics if they would not repent and stoned them to death. That's where they carried rubbish from the houses and put it outside the camp. And that's where Christ died. The bodies of those beasts whose blood was brought into the by the high priest into the sanctuary for sin are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people's own blood he suffered outside the camp. That was a dirty place. And if you want to have any power in your Christian life you're going to have to associate yourself completely with Jesus Christ outside the camp bearing his reproach. Remember what it says in Hebrews 11 about Moses who esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. And the reproach of Christ is your power your dynamic and mine. Well, I don't know. Are we willing for that? Are you to the point where you esteem other people better than yourselves? Are you willing to be counted nothing at all? I remember preaching in a street meeting one time and somebody threw a rock at me. He missed and unfortunately hit the hood of a new car right in front of me. But you know what happened? All people could ever preach after that. I don't know. It really set me on fire. I often think that all we need is a little bit more persecution than we're getting. Actually, we would get more persecution than we're getting today if we were filled with the Holy Spirit and threatening the kingdom of Satan there would be all kinds of persecution in North America. I guarantee it. But we're innocuous and blah and colorless and there's nothing there to a large extent. And I'm speaking to myself, dear people as I speak to you. This is something that we as God's people have to do together. You want reviving. You want your church fruitful, winning souls to Christ. The kind of church we read about in the New Testament. You know, if you could cut out of the New Testament a book of Acts nobody would worry about it. But you can't do that. There's a pattern. And here's the way. We have to have the mind of Jesus.