 Okay, are we all there? Right? Okay, shall we pray and get started? Okay, let's bow our heads. Falwi, thank you for this time. We come at this time into your mighty hands, Lord. Lord, we pray that you would speak to us, and even as we look into your word, Lord, I pray that your word, Lord, will convict us, change us. Lord, I pray that you would write your word on our hearts. We thank you. We come at this time into your mighty hands. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen. So I'm sure all of us are here with expectation. There's a lot of enthusiasm as we look forward and into the unknown of this semester. We want to look at each of these subjects and we are all keen, interested in getting equipped, in getting trained and really looking forward to all that God has for us. And even as we do that, we see that God has a dream for us, each one of us. And the Lord is really wanting to share His heart, wanting to lead us into encounters with Him and wanting to lead us into those situations and circumstances and take us out to meet with people. And really, He wants to reveal His heart to us, what He has in store for us, His plans for us, and so on. So as we see in 1 Corinthians, we see that I has not seen, you have not heard what is or nor has entered into the heart of man. The things that God has planned for us, but the Holy Spirit chooses to reveal or He wants to reveal as we go along. So even as God has these plans and desires for us, there are certain things that come as a barrier. Certain things that come, which hold us back, withhold us back. So all of us could say, okay, I know who the number one enemy is, Satan. Satan opposes the plans of God, Satan opposes God's dream for me and what God wants to do through me. Yes, that's true. But the fact is that Satan is a defeated foe, right? And even though he tries to intimidate and he tries to come between us and the plans that God has for us, by discouraging us maybe, by intimidating us and so on. We see that certain times we ourselves become a wall. We ourselves become a barrier by our un-renewing of our mind or there are appetites of our flesh. We ourselves oppose the plans and purposes of God for our lives. And sometimes when we know it, when God convicts us, it's best that we discard all those things. But what if we don't know, right? We don't know. We think that we are doing the right thing. I'm doing all that is good, but sometimes these things are very, very subtle that we could deceive ourselves. And the Lord Jesus, when he was introduced by John the Baptist, this is what he says that, there's one who's coming after me, he will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And this is what he's going to do. He's going to burn the chaff. He's referring to fire as something that burns, refines, purifies, saying he will burn away the chaff. All that is wasteful, all that is unnecessary, he will burn away. He's talking about the work, the baptism, the work of the Holy Spirit. So we're going to take some time and also in the next few days to look at some of these things that we need or to allow God to deal in our own lives. And if you see, if you look at Matthew chapter 3 verses 10 to 12 and you can follow in your books, in your publications, page number one. All of us here, you can open up to page number one if you have those books. Page number one in your book. So this is what we see. Let me just read. Matthew chapter 3 verses 10 to 12. And even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he who is coming after me is mightier than I. Whose sandals I'm not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. And he will thoroughly purge his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. So who says these words? Anyone? John the Baptist. He's saying these words. He's talking to all those people who I gathered there. And he's saying the Lord Jesus is coming. He is mightier than I. He's worthy. Whose sandals I'm not even worthy to carry or touch. But he's going to do this. What is he going to do? He's going to baptize you. He's going to take you through an experience of baptizing you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And this is what he's going to do. Saying, you know, he will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Everything that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire and so on. So he's talking about the purifying work, the refining work of the Holy Spirit. In whose lives? In our lives. The Holy Spirit, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is to empower us, to strengthen us, to release those gifts among us. But it's also to refine us, purify us. For what? For what reason? That we can actually be fruitful. That's the only reason, right? That we can truly represent Christ, right? And we are all called to represent Christ wherever we are. So he's called us to do that. Okay, so we're going to look at how these laying the acts, how the Lord by the work of His Spirit lays the acts. What is an acts? Everyone? What is an acts used for? Trees, chopping of trees, right? And is it a useful tool or what? Not. Useful, right? If there's a road and then there's a tree which is fallen across the road, like it happens, like most times in monsoon, trees fall. We need a chopper. We didn't ask to chop clear so we can go. Sometimes these trees are there, unnecessary. These needs to be chopped, these need to be chopped. And the work of the Holy Spirit is like that chopping, right? It's not just chopping the branches or leaves, but it's chopping the root, directly at the root, right? The Holy Spirit can reach down. If you do with the chopper, you can actually chop just the base of the trunk, right? But the Holy Spirit can actually hit the root. His acts is laid to the root, which means what is really causing that problem? What is causing that unfruitfulness? The Holy Spirit lays the acts to the root of it so that it can be removed and we can be fruitful. We can be effective. We can represent Christ, truly represent Christ. So we're going to look at what is the first thing or one of the things that baptism of the Holy Spirit and what does he lay the acts to? What root does he lay the acts to? The first one is the self. Can everyone say self? So he's laying the acts to the root of self. What is the self? It is my fleshly desire. Fleshly desire for fame, personal fame, recognition, right? It is desire for positions of power and influence. Basically, it is a problem with eye. There's some level of eye problem. Most of you don't wear glasses, you've got good vision, but there's an eye problem. Even with people who don't wear glasses, there could be an eye problem. The Lord wants to deal with that eye problem. So that is what we're looking at. He deals with that. So when we're talking about the self, it can be very, very subtle. Very subtle, subtle in the sense. If it is something which is very, very in the face, if it is apparent, then we know, hey, this is a problem. I need to deal with it. But what if it is there and I don't even recognize it? There's a difference between singing for the Lord. That's one scenario. I'm singing unto the Lord wonderfully, beautifully, right? Without any wrong notes. And the other scenario is to tell you, hey, look at me. How wonderfully I'm singing to the Lord. There's a difference, right? It's a very subtle difference and no one can notice it, but it's in the heart. Me singing to the Lord, beautifully. And me having this thing in my heart, hey, I want you to see me. Ananda, I want you to see me sing how beautifully. I want you to notice how wonderfully I'm singing to the Lord. I want you to notice how wonderfully I'm serving this Lord. You know, how sacrificially I'm serving the Lord. How wonderfully, you know, I'm preaching, how wonderfully I'm doing all these things, but I want you to see me do that. It's a very fine line. It's very subtle, right? So we see that the Lord wants to deal with the self, okay? In the book of Exodus, I'm on page five. If you see that scripture, Exodus chapter 30, verses 31 to 33, the Lord gives this instruction and it's actually a recipe. It's an instruction and a recipe for the anointing oil. So there are various things that go into it. And in fact, the verses before that talk about what goes into this anointing oil. And what was this mixture or this anointing oil used for? It was actually used on all the utensils and everything in the tabernacle. It was anointed. It was consecrated, which means it was covered with that oil. It was consecrated for a holy purpose and use. So there were specific instructions which were given for this anointing oil. If you look at those verses, let's read. And you shall speak to the children of Israel saying, this shall be a holy anointing oil throughout your generations. It shall not be poured on man's flesh, nor shall you make any other like it, according to its composition. It is holy and it shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people. So he's talking about the anointing oil. And we know that this anointing oil represents the work, the presence of the work of the Holy Spirit. The presence and work of the Holy Spirit. The Lord is saying that this presence and work of the Holy Spirit is unique, is something that gives him glory, but you cannot do something of the flesh, something of your own, you know, something that brings you glory and attribute that to be the work of the Holy Spirit. The Lord is saying, you shall not make anything like it. These are all natural ingredients, but it's holy unto the Lord and it is represented or symbolizes that work and presence of the Holy Spirit. So he's saying that you shall not do it. So what is the learning there? Learning there is that that God will not anoint what is born of the self. If there's a desire that I should be elevated and in all the talk and language and everything, there could be hallelujah and praise the Lord and glory to God and all that. But if in the most desire that I should be elevated, that the self should be elevated, that God will not anoint that, his presence and his power and his joy really is not there. The second thing, we understand that what is born of the flesh or if we are in the flesh, we cannot please God. It could be a great work, but if it is done in the flesh, it is displeasing to God. Galatians 6-8 talks about the fact that if we sow to the flesh, we will reap of the Spirit, we will reap of the flesh. In our home, we wash our vessels, there's water, and then we kind of want to use it for the garden. So we gather that water and then we use it for the plants, have plants there. We realized that after some time, suddenly there was one chili plant. We didn't plant it, but then it just grew. There was one tomato plant which is growing up in one of those pots. We realized that as we were washing and cutting and all those seeds, it was there in the water and then we poured and then it was bearing fruit. So the Lord asks us, what are we sowing? Because if we sow to the flesh, it is off the flesh. If we are sowing, if we are putting those seeds, it will bear fruit. So if the actions, if the intentions are birthed off the flesh, there will be some outcome, but it will be off the flesh. It won't have God's pleasure on it. It won't have God's approval on it. It won't have the Holy Spirit's presence and anointing on it. It's off the flesh. But if we sow to the Spirit, we will reap off the Spirit. So what are we sowing? What are our intentions? What are our works? Is it off the flesh or is it off the Spirit? Is it something that elevates me? Is it something that I want to bring glory to myself even in the name of ministry? So in Paul's time, Paul writes and he says, hey, there are some people who are preaching, is preaching good or bad? Preaching about Christ. People are undecided. It's good, right? If we do not preach, how will people know? If they do not know, how will they understand? If they don't understand, how will they after the saving? Preaching is good. But Paul is saying here, you know, if you look at page 6, Philippians 1 over 15 to 17, he says that some preach Christ from envy. Jealousy. Some are preaching Christ from strife. See, I've got a problem with you. I've got to fight with you. You're a minister of God, fellow preacher. I've got a problem with you and I'm preaching. My motivation is not that Christ will be glorified and people will be edified. But I'm preaching because I want to show you, hey, I'm a better person. That I am a better person. And out of envy, out of strife, and he says here, the former preach Christ from selfish ambition. So what is ambition? Ambition is a burning desire. You have a burning desire to achieve something. You have a burning desire to reach people. You have a burning desire that people will be saved. But if that burning desire is coming from a place of selfish ambition, I want to be known as the person who preached the gospel to this area. I want to be known as a person who prayed and this person got healed. I want to be known as a person who ministered and it was so wonderful. If I want to be known, I want to be recognized. So after preaching the message, if people are not coming to shake hands, God, what is happening, Lord? I just preached for 40 minutes and nobody is saying anything. They just turned and they went, right? So if I want to be applauded, if I, you know, there's a desire there, there's a problem, right? So Paul is saying, you know, even those days that was the same problem. He says, hey, they're preaching, but the motivation is wrong. So the Lord wants to lay an axe, the axe or the work of the Holy Spirit to the root of it. So how wonderful it will be if you're just delivered off this thing, right? People come and compliment and say, wonderful brother, wonderful sister, you do a great job. It's fine. You know, it's just going off. It's not, you're not meditating on it, you know, on the way back home. Oh, who all said what? That person said this thing. You're not meditating on your praises. You're not meditating on people's applause or compliments, but you're just giving thanks to God and thank you that they're blessed and you keep going. Right? So this is something that is, that is very, very serious because it's, it does not, it's not something that gives God glory. We are taking the glory for ourselves. It's not, it is sowing to the flesh and we will off the flesh reap corruption. Right? So in the end, God is not glorified. He is not pleased even though, you know, ministry and everything is about him. Okay. So Paul talks about several other instances also where people are doing ministry, but they are doing for the wrong reasons for the wrong motives. Okay. So how do I find out if there's any, if anything's wrong in our body, what do we do? There are, there are some symptoms, right? If there is fever, then that means there's something the body's fighting and because of which temperatures elevated and there is fever. Right? So we find out why is that fever? So fever is not the disease. Fever is the, what is it? Fever is the symptom. Right? So like that, if, if self is there, rooted deep within, what are the symptoms? Right? So if you know the symptoms, then we know, hey, there's something, something that this is a problem. And, and, and truly the self will manifest itself. Flesh will manifest itself. It could be subtle, but it will manifest itself. When we know that these are some symptoms that I'm experiencing when we realize that, hey, there is a problem and it needs to be dealt with. We invite the Holy Spirit to deal with it. Okay. So first symptom. Okay. Page number eight is self promotion. Okay. You see that wanting to be known and liked by people. Okay. See, there's nothing wrong in, you know, wanting affirmation, right? People, you know, as human beings, we are, we are built that way. We are designed that way. Hey, if somebody says, good job and we feel good. But if we live for the sole purpose of wanting to be known and liked by people, that's the self. Okay. You know, it's, there's a, there's a difference between wanting to be good and excellent in what we are doing, you know, constantly improving ourselves and in our ministry and doing what we're doing. There's a difference between that and desiring fame, desiring people to like us, to know us and, and always come and say compliment us and, you know, approve all that we're doing. Right. There's a difference. So that is a manifestation. Okay. What did the Lord Jesus say? If you look at John chapter five and verse 41, the Lord says, I do not receive honor from men between during his time. They were these religious leaders and they were constantly, you know, receiving honor from one another. And they were craving that honor that comes the respect and honor that people would give them because of what they were doing. The Lord is saying, I do not receive honor from men. Look at verse 44. He says, how can you believe who receive honor from one another, but do not seek the honor that comes from the, from the only God. Right. So there is a, you know, there is a healthy way of respecting and honoring and receiving, receiving it. But if you're constantly craving and living for the honor and praise of people, then there is a, that is a symptom. Right. So the Lord does not like that and approve that. When our desire is for affirmation of men and we do not live for the affirmation of God or the accolades of God. Okay. In one Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 31, this is what Paul instructs and he says, whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Do all to the glory of God, not to the glory of the speaker or the minister. Right. Do all to the glory of God. We're not trying to build our reputation and we're not trying to, you know, seek our praise. And, you know, it's the thing is it's very subtle. Right. Especially, you know, all of us have some social media account here. We're on WhatsApp. We're on social media like Instagram, Facebook. We're all there. And we're all very good at taking selfies. Yes. Experts, you know, we can cover the entire thing behind and make ourselves look good better than how we are in real life. That's what social media does. And we sometimes look like, wow, this is fantastic, but the place looks very different in reality. Right. So the thing is, it can be very subtle. We can promote ourselves. We can elevate ourselves. Well, the context could be ministry. The context could be serving, preaching, whatever. But what is the motive? Is it just informing people about something or is it elevating ourselves? Okay. So that's the first symptom. It's self promotion. The second one is selfish ambition. Okay. Selfish ambition is wanting to be known as someone who accomplished great things for God. Okay. Now we have a quote. I think it's by William Carey says, expect great things from God, attempt great things from God, expect great things from God. It's a healthy thing. Right. But if I want to be known, right, if William Carey wants to be known as someone who did great things for God. Is there a problem? Yeah. Right. So that is selfish ambition and intense desire. No, there's great drive. You're getting up in the morning. Whoa. Intense desire, energy, everything. But the motive is I should be known as someone who did great ministry. Is a subtle difference. Right. That is selfish ambition where the self is elevated. So that's a, that's a symptom here. Okay. In, if you look at, I'm on page 10, if you're following Philippians chapter two and verse three. Okay. Chapter two and verse three, Paul says, let nothing be done. Okay. Let nothing be done. What does nothing mean? Nothing means nothing. It's not something. It's not all things. I think it means nothing. The list is empty. Right. So Paul is saying, let nothing be done. Nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. Okay. So whether you want to serve, whether you want to preach, whether you want to lead in worship, whatever you're doing. Right. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition. You know, to have a burning desire to do something for the Lord, to serve the Lord is good. It's a good thing. We need to have that within us. But if the self is elevated and that's the motive for that intense desire, then Paul is instructing, as he's saying, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, which means pride. But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem better than himself. Let each of you look out, not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Okay. So, so the question to ask ourselves, maybe introspect and ask is, you know, in my dreams, right, in my plans, in, in the vision that I have, who is the hero? Who is the hero? Like there could be a villain, there could be, you know, but to ask ourselves, who is the hero at the end of it? After everything is done, who finally is the hero? Now that's a very practical, simple question that we can ask ourselves. Hey, after I've done this, who's the hero? Which means that my expectation will be based on that expectation of that act expectation of that plan. Everything motive will be based on that. Right. I'll work towards that. So if you ask us, and who is the hero in this? Right. Is it God? Is it the Lord? So it's a very healthy question to ask us a useful question. The hero is obviously should not be us. Sorry. Okay. The third one. Third one is self-reliance. The third symptom is self-reliance. It means that is to depend on ourself instead of depending on the Holy Spirit, depending on ourselves instead of depending on the Holy Spirit. Paul makes some very important statements in Philippians and also in Corinthians. Let's read that. You know, we're on page 12. Philippians 3 and verse 3. For we are the circumcision who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Okay. Have no confidence in the flesh or the self. Another scripture. Second Corinthians 5 and verse 16. So from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer. Okay. So self-reliance. We need to have confidence in all that we're doing. We need to have confidence that, you know, who we are in Christ is that we are more than conquerors, that we are, you know, the righteousness of God and Christ and so on. So self-reliance is on our flesh or our abilities or our strength rather than on the Lord, then that is a, that is another symptom. Okay. And also, from what we see here, we see that we must learn to look at who people are in the Spirit and not according to the flesh because the flesh is something which is very apparent abilities, skills, right. It is something that is visible. But who they are, the hidden character of their heart is something that is, that is not manifest so apparently. That's not put on display. So Paul is saying that we need to actually look at who people are in the Spirit, look at ourselves according to who we are on the inside. Okay. So, so he's saying that we need to depend on God, we need to look at ourselves and look at others according to who they are in the Spirit and not according to who they are in the flesh. So, you know, we, which means that accomplishing things in ministry, doing things in ministry, you know, we do it according to our, we do it by depending relying on the work of the Holy Spirit. Right. In our day and time, there are many things that we have, many tools, many methods. Yes or no, the good ones, right. We've been using this, the projector, we've been an online students, you know, you are, you were connected and because of technology and because of, you know, all this advancement in science and all over the world and you're able to connect and we're able to, you know, learn. It's wonderful. But our reliance is on the Holy Spirit because he brings change. Our reliance is not in, in our, how articulate we are, our reliance is not in how knowledgeable we are. Even, you know, how knowledgeable we are about the scriptures and reliance is on the work and the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's why the Lord Jesus says, you know, he says, I am the vine. Sorry. And you are the branches. So he was connected to the wine will bear fruit. Let's look at that verse, John chapter 15 and verses four and five says, Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the wine, neither can you. Unless you abide in me. I am the wine. You are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit for without me, you can do nothing. Without me, you can do nothing. So it's not I, my strength, my ability, my learning, my expertise. She'll get the job done. And even if it gets a job done to some extent, the Lord counts it as nothing. Right. Because it's the Holy Spirit power. It's a Holy Spirit presence and his word, which does or brings fruit in people's right, which has permanence, which is something of eternal value. Right. So the Lord is saying, without me, you can do nothing. Okay. Okay, we looked at three symptoms. Right. What are those? First one, selfish, self promotion. Right. Second one, selfish ambition. And the third one, self reliance. The fourth one is self protection. Self protection. What do we mean by that? Self protection is when we consider our life, our reputation as something which is, which needs to be protected at. All costs, even to the extent of the, for the extent of maybe not doing what God wants us to do. Okay. Counting our life as studio, counting our reputation as studio. So we call it self protection or self preservation, self protection or self preservation, which hinders, you know, which is, which we esteem or value. Over and above the call of God, the will of God for us. That is self protection. And that's, that is again a manifestation of our self. Okay. That's again a display. Okay. So maybe the Lord says, okay, you go and you tell that person that I care for them. Okay. Just tell that person. But we're all, God, you know, what will the others think? What will the others think of? Finish it for me. Of? Me. What will the others think of me? Right. The Lord says, okay, go and tell that person that, you know, maybe a prophetic word, a word of knowledge, something. Lord, what if I heard wrong or what if people laugh at me? Right. The Lord says, okay, go pray, lay hands and pray. Lord, what if nothing happens and what if they laugh at? Right. So self protection. We want to protect our reputation. We want to protect our life. So when we do that to the exclusion of God's will, God's plan. That's again a manifestation of the symptom of the self. Okay. The last one is self humiliation. Now this might seem very contradictory to everything that we saw earlier, which talks about elevation of self. Okay. We're on page 16, page 16. Right. Everything. So it talks about the elevation of self and, you know, or popularity and fame and everything. We are just putting ourselves out there here. It's actually the opposite. Self humiliation. What does it mean? It means that I feel good. Okay. I feel good when I'm putting myself down. Okay. So somebody comes and says, brother, that was a, yeah, that was good. What you did, you know, that was good. Good work. Good job. You say, no, no, no, no, no, no. It was not me. No, it was not me. Actually, I did a bad job. You know, simple thing. How many of you like biryani? Vegetable biryani. Vegetarians. Okay. So let's say you're good at making biryani. You know, I know it's lunchtime and I don't know if you have biryani for lunch, but I don't think so. But anyway, you make biryani and you give it and you, you know, we've all come home and you say, this is wonderful biryani. This is fantastic biryani when the rice is so flavorsome. The meat is cooked. Just right. The vegetables are cooked. Right. No vegetable version. Vegetables. Everything is fine. It's fantastic. Good job. And, you know, most Indian. This is Indian mentality. You know, it's like saying, no, actually, you know, the salt was a little less this time. Right. Or, you know, actually it should have been a little spicier. And we kind of take pride in the fact that we put ourselves down. So the Bible calls it false humility. See, our sufficiency to do ministry, everything comes from God because we are connected to the wine. Right. And so, you know, if we are putting ourselves down, if we are humiliating ourselves and in the fact, you know, whatever God says about us, we are saying, no, no, God, I'm actually less than what you say who you say I am. That is actually false humility. And it's actually elevation of the self. Right. And, you know, this, this can anger God, this can actually annoy God, like we see in the case of Moses, right. Moses, initially he said, okay, when he was living in Pharaoh's court, the Egyptian, you know, King's court, he, he actually went about and he thought, okay, I can do this. Right. And then after those years in the wilderness, when God comes, he has that encounter. And God says, Moses, I'm going to send you now, you know, I'm going to send you to the people. I'm going to use you. And he says, I can't. I can't. And God has to really tell him, you know, I'll be with you, Moses. I'll be with you. You know, and then he says, no, I don't think. Then God says, okay, you take Aaron with you. You take Aaron with you. I'll speak to you. You speak to Aaron and Aaron will speak to the people. You know, God is like so patient. He's like, do this. But he's saying, God, I can't. You know, he went from one extreme. I can, I can do all this again, you know, by my strength, you went to the others, swung to the other extreme was saying, you know, I can't even if you're there, I can't. Right. Self humiliation. And it's a pretense of humility. Maybe it's, you know, so that's also another symptom. So we looked at five symptoms. So what is the, what is the solution? You know, what is this? How do we deal with it? The deal with it. We see. I'm on page 17. And it is. We're looking at Galatians chapter two and verse 20. Page 17 Galatians to 20. Paul writes and he says, I have been crucified with Christ. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. And he says in Philippians three, what things were gained to me? These I have counted loss for Christ. So he's talking about all his education, experience, position, title. And he's saying, what things were gained to me? These I have counted loss for Christ. So he's saying, I have been crucified with Christ. I have been crucified with Christ. So the Lord in fact asks us to take up the cross where the eye can be crucified and walk, take up the cross daily. And the cross deals with the cross is the place of death. Cross is the place of the death of the flesh. So the Lord is saying, you remind yourself. Remind yourself that it is not the self. Self has to be put to death. The Lord is leading us. And Paul says, I die daily living a crucified life. It's not a one-time thing. It means that you take up the cross daily. It's a place of death. So how can we make this relevant in our daily life? Every day is an opportunity for the eye to resurrect, for the eye to be displayed. But we make a conscious choice. Maybe you're married, your spouse, you give up your right to be served, the right to be attended, the right to be heard, and it will help deal with the eye. When we develop the ability to give without expecting anything in return, without expecting a compliment, without expecting recognition, we are just serving that deals with the eye, that puts to death the eye, the craving of the flesh. When we love without expecting anything in return, the way God's love is agape, unconditional. When we do that, irrespective of people's response or lack of response, that deals with the eye. Now, you tell me, is it easy or difficult? What? Easy or difficult, how many of you are saying it's easy? Right? Putting to death, the death of the flesh is always difficult, right? It is painful. It is painful, but it is something that the Lord has called us to do so that we can be even more fruitful. That we can bear fruit so that we can represent Christ, we can be even more Christ-like. So as parents, as children, maybe as people who are working in ministry, we're not competing for a position, power, we're not comparing with one another and saying, I need to be better than this person. I need to be better, I need to be more prominent, I need to be seen, I need to be heard, but we die to that. It's a daily thing. So the thing to do is to repent. If we see any of these symptoms or if we've been studying these things, if you've noticed any of these symptoms in our own lives, it's time to repent. Repent means to turn. It's time to reject that. Say, Lord, I'm making a start by rejecting this. I'm making a start by repenting. And the Holy Spirit daily will enable us. He will prompt, He will show us. Hey, these are things that are unnecessary. These are things that I came to burn away in your life. And we expose our life to God. We expose ourselves to God and say, Lord, you work. You work in my heart. You deal with it. The Bible talks about several things. We see that Paul says, let your mind be renewed. And you will see transformation. Romans chapter 12. Be renewed. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So what is renewal? We take on the thoughts of God, the humility of Jesus, and we reject. So we take on the thoughts. We take on the instruction of Scripture. We reject our own fleshly desires. We reject it. Say, oh, I'm not going to deal with it. So we take on something, we reject something. And the Holy Spirit enables us. Romans 8 talks about the fact that if by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. So the Holy Spirit will lead us. He's always there to cheer us on. He's there to encourage us. And he says, I want you. I'm with you. I will lead you. So if by the Spirit, by the enabling of the Spirit, by the leading of the Holy Spirit, we put to death. The deeds of the body, we will live. The appetites of the desires of the self, when we put to death, we will live the way God wants us to live. Amen. Okay, we're going to pray and close. So, yeah, online students also, you know, we're going to pray and close. So, you know, if you can just talk to the Lord at this time, you know, just between you and God, you know, and say, Lord, you know, I see these symptoms. God, these things are there. So subtle, but Lord, today I've seen it in your word. You open my eyes and I want to repent and reject this. I don't want this in my life. I don't want anything that's causing the work of the flesh to be manifest. That does not honor you. That does not glorify you. I don't want to be elevated. God, you be elevated in my life. Just talk to the Lord. Let's tell Him. Speak to Him as He promises. Amen. Here he is. Father God, even as we, Lord, come to you. We are drawn here to you. Lord, we are so captivated by the beauty of your holiness, God, of who you are, Lord. Lord, you've been so patient with us, God. And God, patient to the point of just tolerating us, God. And Father, we thank you for your grace and mercy today. And Lord, we, Lord, even as we see these things, God, that you've come to lay the ax to the root of it, the source of it. And Lord, we just open our hearts, open our lives and say, Lord, come. You have the right of way. Work in our hearts, God. And today we choose to give up, reject, even at the level of our motives, at the level of our thoughts and at the level of our actions. We choose to put off these things. We choose to take on the pure, the holy, the righteous, the promptings of the Holy Spirit, the thoughts of God, the desires of God, which leads us to life and more life. We thank you, Lord. We thank you, Master. We thank you, Lord. We thank you that you love us. We thank you that you're drawing us today even now with your love, God. Yeah, Lord. We thank you. And Lord, we pray that each of these things, Lord, will be dealt with even now, God. And on an ongoing, Lord, daily basis, Lord, that we'll remember that these things belong all to God. And on an ongoing, Lord, daily basis, Lord, that we'll remember that these things belong on the cross, that these things need to be put to death, God. Purify our heart, Lord. Purify our thoughts, our motives, our desires, God, our wants, oh, God. Our ambitions in ministry, God. Purify, oh, God. Refine it, God. And may we bring glory to your name as individuals and possibly as the body. And let your name alone be glorified, God. For you are the preeminent one. And Lord, all glory and all honor, Lord, belongs to you and you alone. We thank you for doing this. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen. God bless. Thanks, everyone. Thank you, Jesus.