Embracing Self-Denial: A Call to True Fulfillment

1) "We can't promote God and ourselves at the same time. I thought this was working it's working it's about the response I thought I'd get too we can't do it we can't lift up God and ourselves at the same time it just doesn't work Jesus said and I speak it of himself if the son of man be lifted up I'll draw all men unto me but but we can't promote God and ourselves at the same time we can't deny ourselves and then and and then try to take credit for ourselves we can't deny ourselves and in in practice and experience and and I call this the art of self -denial because it is actually an art it's something that's learned it's something that's taught it's something that is is not just picked up overnight you learn how to deny yourself you learn how to discipline yourself you learn how to put our stuff on the back burner it's it doesn't come natural because the flesh don't like it can have an amen the flesh does not want to be put on a back burner it wants forefront and recognition and honor and glory and to be seen and to be heard and to be recognized that's what the flesh wants it's all through the scriptures here but but that is not the will of the lord for us the lord wants to be seen and not not us to promote ourselves but us to promote the lord and that's the biggest thing y 'all we we if we will promote the lord and if we'll build up jesus and edify and magnify the lord he's got a way of promoting us at some point in time but we can't hump we can't" [13:02] (97 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "If we will humble ourselves, it says he will exalt us in due time. But we can't promote ourselves and humble ourselves at the same time. It's just, it's oxymoron. Dale says, did you call me a moron? Yes, I called you a moron. You can't do it together. We can't promote him and us at the same time. And so it's like, deny yourself. Go back to 16, verse 16, 25. It says, deny yourself. And it's hard, I know. It says, if anybody's come after me, let him take up his cross. In 24, deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Whosoever will save his life will lose it. That means that we can't save ourselves if we'll lose ourself in Jesus. He will save us. But we can't save ourselves. We don't have, we don't have ability. We don't, we don't have the blood it takes. We don't have the power it takes. We can't save ourselves. But I'm glad to tell you there's a Jesus that can save us. There's a Jesus that can wash our sins away. There's a Jesus that can forgive us. And if we'll lose our life in him, he'll help us to build our life back up. How many of y 'all believe that tonight? If we'll lose ourselves in the Lord, he'll promote us. He'll build us up. He will. He'll edify us. So it's a matter of losing ourselves in our identity and our agendas and what we want in light of the Lord and what God has for our life." [16:00] (95 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "What we have in mind pales in comparison to what the Lord has. Our agendas don't matter. I know people think they do. And I understand having goals and dreams. I have all that. But we can't get our stuff ahead of the Lord's stuff for us. That was good preaching right there. It's really easy to get our agendas out there before the Lord's. We want to chart our own course and direct our own deal. and we think we got it figured out and we think we know what's best but the Lord knows what's best for us and we'll humble ourselves and submit ourselves to his purpose and to his plan and we'll lose ourselves in him and we won't have an agenda it won't be about us it's not about my family or my career or our ministry or even this church but it's about his church and his name and his word come on and his blood and his power if we can get those things right there'll be a revival it'll shake our cities it'll shake our churches the Lord will be promoted and he'll draw people unto him but we can't promote us and him at the same time let's give the Lord a hand of praise in his house right now if you can do that with me deny ourselves deny ourselves Ezra 8 chapter 8 verse 21 says I didn't give this to Brother Bob but it says afflict ourselves Brother Bob pull that up for us Ezra it's Old Testament Brother Bob Ezra Ezra chapter 8 verse 21 have to help these guys along Ezra chapter 8 verse 21 did I proclaim to fast there at the river of Ahava that we might afflict ourselves before our God alright y 'all how many would ever sensibly want to afflict themselves again this is all this is all so crazy when it comes to the world they can't get their heads around it afflict ourselves afflict ourselves but he said let's do this so before our God to seek of him a right way for us and for our little ones and in other words afflicting ourselves and submitting ourselves and subjecting ourselves is the best thing for us and our families and our children and where we're going because at the end of the day the Lord knows best we think we do we may have good plans but the Lord's got better plans we may have good ideas but God's got better ideas he said let's afflict ourselves let's humble ourselves and let's get God's plan And his plan is better than our plan." [18:37] (150 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "We got to hear it preached. This is not something that we could just skim over in the Bible. These are some of the hardest teachings of the Lord. But they're some of the most powerful. These are some of the most powerful teachings of the Lord. It was a condition of discipleship. He said, if you can't follow me, bear your cross, you can't be one of my disciples. And the modern church says, it don't take all that much. But I'm telling you, if Jesus said it, it's going to take it. And this is hard, y 'all. Don't shoot the messenger. Don't shoot the messenger. But he said, he said, if you don't love me more than you do your family, you don't love me like you should love me. If you don't love me more than you do your mom and dad, and my mom and dad goes without saying, my kids, my family, we love each other to the point of dying for each other. But Jesus says that you got to love me more than you do mom and dad and your kids, because we can't have divided attention and focus. We can't have divided devotions. They've got to be. The Lord is our master. The Lord is our God. Seek him first. Love him first. Give God the honor and glory with us. It's not just Lord when we want him. It's Lord all the time. It's not just Lord when we need him. Or master when we need a master. And so John the Baptist said, he must increase, but I must decrease. Because John knew. He said, a man can receive nothing unless it comes down. Chapter 3, I think it is John 3 or 4. He said, a man can receive nothing except it comes down from heaven. John knew. He knew that everything that he had was because of the Lord. And in light of that, John the Baptist could say, he must increase, but I must decrease. In other words, he's saying, it's not about me. And he proved that when he told the truth to the leaders of the government. And he was the martyr. The cousin of Jesus was the martyr. And they took his head off because he stood for right and truth. And he didn't back up or compromise that. He understood it wasn't about him. He knew he was a burning and a shining light. He knew he was a blazing a trail for Jesus. But John the Baptist knew, it's not about me. It's about the one coming after me. He is mightier than I. I can't even reach down and tie his shoes. John said he must increase. I think if we can get to a point, y 'all, in our lives and walk with God where he must increase, I promise you we'll see some incredible things happen. It won't be about how good we sung or how good we preached or how good we played or how good our church. It'll be about how good God is, how awesome God is, how mighty God is, how worthy the Lord is. All attention, all the glory, all the honor goes to the Lord. Not us, not because, you know, we got careers and we make a lot of money. We drive certain cars and we live in this kind of house. Big deal. I mean, that's all okay. That's all okay. But don't forget where your bread got buttered from. Don't forget how you were able to get the car in the career, in the education. Don't forget it. We can live with a point and place where it's not about us or our agenda." [23:47] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "It's something that we can learn how to do to discipline ourselves and deny ourselves. It's something that we have to do. We have to learn to say, listen, y 'all, we have to learn to say no sometimes. We have to learn to say no to this flesh sometimes. If we're not careful, this flesh will destroy us. We'll drink too much. We'll do drunkenness. We'll go to drugs. We'll go places we shouldn't go. We'll be with people we shouldn't be with. We'll say things, look at things, act certain ways that will destroy us in the long run. So we got to learn to say no. No flesh. You're not going to partake of that. No flesh. You're not going down that road. No flesh. You can't join up with those. No flesh. A thousand times. We have to learn to discipline our flesh. And that may be hard and difficult, but if we'll get, we'll get the mastery. Over it, your flesh will learn. Eventually it doesn't have the control our spirit has. the control we can tell our flesh no i'm not drinking that come on somebody i'm not i'm not going with those guys i'm not partaking in that i'm not gonna i'm not gonna lay out when i know what i need to be i'm not gonna put god's will on the back burner his agenda purpose i'm not gonna put my stuff before his stuff and so we can learn to say no paul said here's some things paul said now i'll try to hurry along paul said we keep i keep under my body in other words he says my body is not controlling me i'm controlling my body my body doesn't tell me when to go to church i tell my body when to go to church my body don't tell me when to fast i tell my body paul said i keep under my body in other words i have authority over my flesh because if we let the flesh it'll run us rather than us run the flesh it'll coach us to sleep in on sundays i'm not meddling y 'all i'm just preaching i guess meddling and it all goes together our flesh will cause us to not participate in church service our flesh will cause us not to pray like we should pray fast and we should fast humble ourselves be faithful to brothers and sisters god's service god's work paul said i keep under my body he said he said i will not be brought under the power of any in other words he said i will not let lust or perversion or jealousy or bitterness or hatred or ugliness i will not let that rule in my body i will control it rather than it control me and to do that y 'all we have to crucify the lust of this body and we have to crucify this flesh the bible says the flesh lust to envy the flesh" [24:40] (178 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "It wants to be jealous. It wants to do stupid things. It wants to be wrong and be ugly and lash out and get revenge and say things we shouldn't say. That's the flesh. One writer said, the flesh profits nothing. So if we yield to it, we're going to get in trouble. We will be in trouble. Matter of fact, there are people in this room tonight that yielded to the flesh. Who of us hasn't? And said things we shouldn't have said. Went somewhere, did something we shouldn't have. Who of us haven't? We all think we're so holy to say we haven't been part of that. I need to meet you in the office at the church for a little bit. I'm going to pray that lying spirit off you. Is that too straight for you? That's good. I am Brother Bob. I'm going to pray that lying spirit off you. Crucified. Paul said, crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Now, I'm going to try to close. But this is important. Paul said, how can you live and be crucified? Paul said, I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ lives in me. That's exactly what happened. He fulfilled that part where he lost his life in Jesus, Brother Will. If you lose your life, I will help you. help you to save your life but if we start about to save our lives and take care of our own deal and defend ourselves and defend our own honor and and and what we're going to do is we're going to lose our life in the process our spiritual life so paul understood crucifying myself nevertheless i live but yet not i but christ that lives inside of me and it's all what jesus taught and unless we can come to a place where we can we can do this we're not going to be like we need to be in the lord here's an example Rich young ruler. I've taught on it 50 times. Rich young ruler. He come to the Lord and said, what have I got to do? The Lord said, you know, keep the commandments. Don't steal, commit. He said, I've done all that. The Lord knew he was rich. And the Lord knew his stuff was in his heart. He had stuff. And it was in his heart. And the Lord said, go sell what you have. And Mark, I think it's Mark 10. Yeah, Mark 10. He said, go sell what you got. Give it to the poor. Take up your cross and follow me. The Bible said that he went away sorrowful because he had many things. Now, here's what the Lord said. Brother Bob, find that for us. Mark 10, 21. Mark 10, 21. The Lord told him, he said, if you'll go sell what you got, you'll have treasure. Look at this. Sell whatsoever thou hast. Give to the poor and you'll have treasure in heaven. And come, take up the cross and follow me. Next verse, 22. He said, he was sad at that saying. Went away grief for he had great possessions. Look what this man. Did look what this man did. The man traded treasures in heaven for temporal things on the earth. That'll preach. He had great possessions, but God don't mind you having possessions. He doesn't want possessions having you. And that guy's possessions had him. And he esteemed his possessions over greater than the treasures in heaven. Streets of gold, gates of pearl, being with the Lord for heaven and glory. His big. His big house and his cars and his gold and his chains and all the clothing was more important. I tell you, it's not worth it, y 'all. Gold is not worth it. Cars are not worth it. Big houses are not worth it. Come on, let's humble ourselves and let's say, I'd rather have treasure in heaven. My treasure is in heaven tonight." [28:18] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "And so we keep up with the Joneses. And we want to be seen driving, wearing and looking and living. But at some point in time, y 'all, those possessions are going to. . . Some of y 'all won't understand this, but some of you older ones do. They're going to go the way of the dodo bird. They're going to be gone. They're not going to make it. But the Lord said for us to lay ourselves treasures up in heaven. Y 'all still with me? Three or four minutes, y 'all. Lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. Somebody says, how can we deny ourselves? We'll show you. Three or four minutes. Fast. Pray. Attend the house of the Lord. Apply what the preacher preaches to you. How can we deny ourselves? Have a walk with God for yourself. Love him more than you do your family. And I'm not belittling our family's love. Y 'all know that. But Jesus said it. It's just what he said. He said, unless you love me more. And I've seen that verse highly, highly, highly contorted in many years of pastoring. Where God's way somewhere else. What's down here. Every, many, many other things before the Lord. And I'm not rebuking. I'm just saying it's just, it's evident. And so I'll make, if I get time, I'll pray. If I get time, I'll come to church. If I get time, I'll read Bible. You know, this is how we deny ourselves. We deny ourselves by telling our flesh, no, you're not going to watch TV all night. You're going to read a chapter two in the Bible. You're not going to go to the game this weekend and not go to church. Oh my God. Did I just say that? I said, and I don't apologize. I think my Papa would say about now. I don't need no interpreter. That's what he said. Don't stand on that front pew right there. I don't need any inter. No, I don't need no interpreter. We can't get the. Cart before the horse, y 'all. How, how, how goofed up is it? if we want to grow in the Lord, we don't have time for the Lord." [30:56] (141 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8) "We want to serve the Lord, but we don't have time to get in his presence. We want to learn and submit ourselves, but we don't take the time to be among the people of God. And we don't have, we can't put the Lord first because of other things that are first. And I'm closing with this. All right, I said to God, tell the flesh no. That's how we deny ourselves. Here's another way how we deny ourselves. And y 'all ain't going to like me for this, especially you younger people, but I'm going to say it. Here's how you can deny yourself and you can promote the Lord a little bit more. You can turn the phone off. For at least five minutes. Sister, you preach that harder and they're going to run you out in a rail. Y 'all heard that, didn't you? Turn the phone off. It's okay. It's okay. Facebook will wait 30 minutes for you. Give your thumb a rest. Turn the TV off for a little bit. I'm not rebuking. I'm just saying, how can we deny? And I'm going to close with this. Jesus didn't throw this out as a suggestion or commandment. Y 'all look. Y 'all look at me. He didn't say this is optional. And again, don't shoot the messenger. I'm just telling you what the Lord said. This is not optional. We have to deny ourselves. There's a cross to bear. Turn the phone off sometimes. Don't go to the game. Go to the next game. Don't let the stuff get between you and the Lord. He didn't say this is just, you know, just part of, just when you want. This is, we disciple ourselves. We discipline ourselves. Deny ourselves to do this." [32:59] (118 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9) "You can wake up in the morning and you can tell your flesh flesh you are not calling the shots today flesh you are not in charge I'm going to show you flesh that I'm going to pray that I'm going to read some of the word and I'm going to be faithful to the Lord and we can learn to deny ourselves again it's an art we have to learn to okay it's not something that we just you know it just kind of falls into our spirit we have to discipline ourselves to deny ourselves we have to discipline ourselves let's all stand tonight we have to discipline ourselves to to be better for the Lord how many believe that tonight we have to discipline ourselves to be better for the Lord be more faithful to the Lord be more of a service to the Lord we have to discipline ourselves how many times do we not feel like doing what we know we should do that's feelings that's flesh but Jesus says we have to deny ourselves and take up a cross y 'all that cross was an instrument of death Jesus died on it it's where we die in a spiritual sense for the will to to things like our lust things we're wanting things that of the world we die those things die on the cross we can live a resurrected life a life of denial and the more I believe that we can live a life like that I believe the more that we can lift up and promote Jesus if you believe that tonight give the Lord a hand of praise as I try to wrap this thing up if you believe that tonight if you believe if you believe we can honor the Lord with a life of a life of denial a life of discipline a life where it's not about us brother Bob's got this little blue panty gives out you still got one of those pins there brother Bob Is it still one of the old blue pen you had? I think you said it's all about him on it, right? Is that right? I think he still puts it on there, it's all about him. And I'm thinking, that is so 90s, it's all about him. That is like so 90s. Yeah, you must have had to have been there because I thought that was pretty good. It's all about him. It may be 90s, but it's still all about him. Amen. Can I say it like this, Brother Melvin? You're all about him. You're all about him and you're all about him. Y 'all are all about him. That's what it is. It's all about him." [35:01] (160 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)