¶ Accountability and Old Wives' Tales
Listen for you guys out there who don't think you're arrogant . That's your first problem and you would be wise to get someone into your life , men and women . Get someone into your life who will speak into your life without hesitation . Because , guys , you think about it , most of us .
We are surrounded by people who are trained and conditioned culturally to be nice and , socially speaking , who likes a confrontation ?
We don't want to say something that's going to make someone feel bad or alienate them , but that's why accountability is so wonderful to have people in your life who are going to speak into your life and say , hey , bro , you're coming off arrogant .
Hey , sister , the way that you talked and the way you handled that , the way you ran over that person when , hey sister , the way that you talked and the way you handled that , the way you ran over that person when they were just sharing an idea and you just trampled on them like they were stupid , that's arrogance .
Arrogance , I think at its very heart , doesn't think about others , doesn't think about other people , how we're impacting them , and not just from a negative sense and we're being rude . Their need for the gospel we don't want to share it with them . What are they going to think of me . It doesn't think of God and His glory and His splendor and His word .
That's the heart of arrogance , and so I just want to encourage you get people in your life . They'll humble you real quick . I've said it before we can never see the back of our head with our naked eye . We need someone else to point it out to us , something that Mark Ray and Oscar know a whole lot about what Fran's old wives' tails .
You guys are pros at that .
First off , my wife's not old and she does not have a tail .
I knew that was coming and your wife would not approve of what you're wearing . Oscar , I actually like that .
Thank you , is that ?
like what do they call that ? Like New Mexico something ? Oh yeah .
Aztec , when do I get up ? They call it a nice jacket , you'll have in six months .
Six months jacket you'll have in six months . Six months , they get it in six months . Yeah , they did . You ask them if they make that for men . Yeah , right , okay . Yeah , france um old wives tales boy , do they have them in lebanon ?
really about .
Well , it's not like in lebanon , it's not even like you just don't know . There's so many and they're constantly like out .
Are they all stupid ? Or it's like eating your vegetables or whatever . They're all stupid , pretty much .
No , no , not all . I'm going to get hate mail from my own people , the Lebanese . Yeah , but we have them here . They abound in America . How many of them are true friends ? You can't swim after eating while you're drowned .
Is that true ? False ? True , that's false , false . Oscar , how did you ? Know , I'm just I'm assuming the idea is using logic yeah , but but the threat is you .
You will drown . I don't know if it's parents trying to keep their kids out of the pool , but yeah , you might get a few cramps or whatever , but whatever there was a there's a stand-up comedian that went through all these old wives tales and was like no wonder we all have anxiety the things our parents told us totally for sure .
Just think , in 20 years time your kids will be talking about you and your stupid tales .
They will they just , but it's always they say like they say who in the world are the they ?
who are the they ?
yeah , and and at what point does something like this become mainstream ?
Have you got some more ? I'm interested in these .
Oh yeah yeah . If you're carrying high , it's a girl , if you're carrying low , it's a boy . What False yeah .
Ray Ray doesn't carry high or low . Are you talking about pregnancy or just carrying a kid Pregnancy ?
How did you carried low ? Yeah , he only had one option . That was the only option for you , so that's false . Uh , yeah , are these all false ? Total stupidity . Uh , we'll see . Yeah , uh , bulls hate the color red . That's not true , is it are ?
they colorblind mark . Is that true ? I think they're colorblind mark . That is a brilliant . But also I'm told that , uh , if you stay absolutely still , they're not gonna come at you yeah .
I know a guy that did that .
We want to see you try that , Mark I know a guy that did that .
May he rest in peace Pieces .
¶ Adrenaline Rushes and Urban Legends
Ray , I can't believe that you well , I can believe you , but that Sue , my lovely mother-in-law , was into bull riding .
No , she wasn't into bull riding . She wasn't into bull riding , she was still watching it .
That's what I mean . She loved watching bull riding . Yeah , how did that happen , I don't know . One day you guys were just flipping around .
We befriended all these Christian bull riders . We went out and had a meal with them .
Yeah .
And they gave us free tickets to see the bull riding .
So I went .
Yeah , you went , I went yeah .
Ray Wiley Peterson . Was he one of them ?
Yes , yeah , how did that name come to mind ? I don't know . You've got a good memory , that's a good memory .
I think it just came to mind we should run with the Bulls .
I would do it . Oh , okay , I think Oscar would do it , okay , no question . Oscar would do it that is so dumb , it seems like a lot of fun . I'm so . Yeah , oscar .
Trying to shoot a gospel while running , wearing that especially the balls will get you real quick .
Wear a rid , complete rid of time . So it's a fallacy .
But you know what ? There are a lot of stupid things on this planet . That has to be one of the I don't know .
The adrenaline rush sounds like a hit .
Yeah , the adrenaline rush is still a ball get you , have you seen ?
what they do they stupidly get their heads in and flick people up in the ear . It wouldn't get me , but people go from all over the world To do this and I remember seeing one when the bull's horn went through the person's leg and they were hanging in front .
How about this ? Skydive right into that bull run . I'd do that . Land on the bull .
Oscar , is there anything you really wouldn't do ?
I really enjoy a good adrenaline rush , would you ?
swim with sharks .
I would why .
Okay , we had the option to do that .
I was in remember you squashed it what ?
Yeah , of course .
Because , Ray would have squashed me if I would have let you do it .
You guys know how Ray is with this stuff . Yeah , ray gets . If I would have let you do it . You guys know how Ray is with this stuff . Yeah , yeah , ray gets really bad .
I'm like a bull yeah while we were at the Pacific Rim , I found an opportunity to swim with sharks and I wanted to do it so that I could share the gospel with the guys on the boat . With the sharks and easy easy to deny .
Yeah , and I will deny it every time , if you're ever swimming and don't see the sharks .
That's when you're in trouble . You want to be able to see them .
No , but I mean seriously to me the thought that , oh yeah , people swim with the sharks all the time . What do you know ? What's in the shark's brain ?
What do you know if it had breakfast or not ? Their mouth turns inside out with these rows of teeth that just rip into human flesh .
That's spit you out . Sounds like a rush . Yeah , sounds like a rush . Okay , if you cross .
What was the old wife's tale ? Oh , was it where ? Yeah , yeah , right , yeah . Well , her old wife would probably say don't run with the bulls too .
They would Wise women . All right , if you cross your eyes for too long , they will get stuck that way . I'm saying Look at Ray .
Couldn't help but cross his eyes , did you guys do that as kids , though Mark's got a really good eye cross , especially with the mustache right now . Wait , one of Mark's eyes is a different color than the other . How ?
do you do that .
You could move one and not the other . I can do that too , yeah .
No , you're not doing it .
Ray Mark , do that again no , you're definitely not doing it . No , that's , that's not right .
Ladies and gentlemen who are listening to this episode , just so that you know soon you'll be able to watch what these dorks are doing with their eyes at the streaming service livingwaterstv . So enjoy that episode 299 .
And Oscar won't be with us because he called his bosses dorks . Thank you , Oscar . It takes seven years to digest a piece of gum . That was a big one when I was a kid .
I never heard that . I've heard that . Wait , you've not heard that right ?
I've heard it . Yeah , seven years to digest gum . It doesn't swallow your gum . Yeah , that's a big fat lie . I'm saying no .
Chew gum , swallow it , friends .
You only use .
There was a song about that . What about using less ? That's where you're going .
Yeah , that's where I was going . Bah Wrong . Eating turkey makes you sleepy , true False .
What about a drink of milk before you go to bed ? Yeah , it has a tryptophan , but it doesn't really affect you . Drinking milk before you go to bed helps you sleep , is that true ?
That's a good one to research , oscar . It's not true about turkey , I'm guessing .
I disagree . They're eating a bunch of other stuff .
There's a thing in it . There's a thing .
Write to us friends , tell us if we're wrong . I don't know . Someone said it's a lie Coffee stunts your growth , ray . Tell us , ray .
Ray , when did you start drinking coffee ? I've never drunk a cup of coffee in my life .
I had a quarter of a cup when I was drunk at 16 . I wasn't a Christian , seriously .
It took you getting drunk to have coffee .
Yeah , I was on the Flavia , which is a pleasure cruiser on the way to Tahiti , and I tried coffee and I had about a third of it . It was filled with cream and I was drunk and I still didn't like it .
Did you hear that , Oscar ? You'd be six feet tall if you didn't have that cup .
Well , that's why you didn't have a second cup , because there was cream in the first cup .
That was what are you ? Thinking Ray's living proof . Oh , that
¶ Avoiding Arrogance and Finding Humility
was fun . All right friends , it's time for a cool , classy comment . This is from Brennan Hardy Hello friends . In an easy voice , he put in parentheses I love the podcast . Ray , I'm 14 and I'm called to be a pastor . Ray comfort , you have been such an inspiration and can't thank you enough Blah , blah , blah . Blah , blah , blah .
Such an inspiration and can't thank you enough . Thanks to your videos I witnessed at the farmer's market next to my school every day during lunch for months . Yes , you can go off campus and in the grocery store on grocery shopping days .
There's also a very special elderly lady in my life who never goes a day without witnessing to at least 10 people and we love your ministry . Thank you , ray , mark , oscar and because I have to be nice and easy for all that y'all do All I can say is praise God . Praise God for Living Waters . I'm getting emotional as I type this .
Words will never be able to describe how much I look up to y'all . I love Mark and Oscar's wisdom and the peace Ray brings to the table and Easy's random voices . I look for new episodes every day , realizing I have listened to them all . Please make more . And I have three chickens . Ooh , ray just got excited . He just got lifted For lunch . He didn't finish .
Our oldest one died . Oh , we're going up and down on this thing , their names are Hannah , rebecca , mary and Prudence . Yo-Yo , the one who had died was the meanest chicken alive .
Yo-Yo might come back .
Yo-yo never met what was Oscar's crazy chicken's name Betty Betty .
She was disgusting . That name sounds terrible without salt .
Betty was the anti-Christ . Yeah , she was possessed , for sure .
The anti-chicken . My favorite Bible verse is 1 Samuel 3.10 and Mark 16.16-18 . And one last thing when you're sick and trying to get some rest , listen to the podcast with headphones . Listening to the podcast with headphones is not a good idea . Easy's random voices will kill your already hurting head . Laugh out loud . God bless y'all .
He's only 14 . He's got a wit like that . That's good .
And he ended it with right , yep right , right yep , yep right .
Thank you , brennan that was very encouraging . That's awesome .
Thank you so much 14 years old you guys , that's awesome and has listened to every episode encouraging . May you use your youth for the glory of God , brennan . And now a radically revolutionary resource . This podcast is brought to you by how to Be Free from the Fear of Death Ray . That cover is one of the best .
Yeah , it's got a great look to it Green , green and soft .
Yeah , it is really good . Yeah , great publisher , great publisher ray , what was your heart behind that book ? Um ?
I drove past one of my neighbors . She's an indian lady who's married to an indian man , mohan and hajit very , very nice people and I just saw the look on her face and she's about probably in her late 70s , early 80s , and I was just horrified by a look of futility , wow .
And that sparked the writing of the little booklet how to Be Free from the Fear of Death , and I started giving them out . As I gave them out , I thought people are just going to freak out when they didn't .
You were giving them out when you were witnessing ?
Yeah , and give them out at a local where I was and people took them and they didn't say what's this about ? They took them and you could tell they valued the title . So we produced a book .
Yeah , I think honestly that's one of the most appealing titles you could come up with for a book to unbelievers , because you know everyone is battling that , struggling with it at one point or another , and there it is how to Be Free from the Fear of Death .
And written in a New Zealand accent yeah , by Ray Comfitt .
And don't forget the Living Waters of Mocking , the Evidence Study Bible all at livingwaterscom . Ooh , all right , all right , friends , today we are dealing with how to avoid arrogance . Hurry up , what did you say ? Hurry up Whatever ? Let's demonstrate arrogance on the program , friends . Yeah , arrogance is very real .
You know , when I think of arrogance , who comes to mind is Nebuchadnezzar , I thought you could say Oscar .
Well , that too of course .
Well , that too , of course , aka .
Oscar .
Yeah , nebuchadnezzar was a man of great arrogance , and when you look at it from an objective standpoint , you can understand why someone like that would drift toward it . Right , most powerful man on the planet , he's got authority . Remember , he's the one that was going to toss Hananiah and Azariah into that burning fiery furnace .
That's the kind of power he wielded . And the thing about him is he was warned right , because he had that dream . And Daniel warned him , and still he gave in to his arrogance . It almost reminds me of Peter when Christ told him he was going to deny him three times .
I mean , you're told this is going to happen , you would do everything not to let it happen . To deny him three times . I mean you're told this is going to happen , you would do everything not to let it happen . But when arrogance takes a hold of someone , there's no holding it back .
You ever heard of any kid being called Nebuchadnezzar ? That's a good idea . That's a different name isn't it . Lucifer and Nebuchadnezzar .
Judas Lucifer Nebuchadnezzar .
Jezebel , my daughter .
And there's Potiphar's wife , my second daughter , here's her little serpent .
Serpent of old . Yeah , so , guys , we can all relate to the temptation toward arrogance . We've all experienced being arrogant at one point or another . A living demonstration . A living demonstration , um , and yeah , and so let's , let's really jump into this because , uh , it's dangerous and it's destructive . Right comfort Adam .
Petrie . It was him who said there's a very thin line between confidence and arrogance . Ooh , I thought that's very thought-provoking . What's the difference between someone who's confident , which I really like , like Joshua was confident . So what does arrogance have that confidence doesn't , and probably it's mixed with pride .
That's good . Yeah , I think I would say arrogance is found in the pathway of forgetfulness , in that you have capabilities , you've experienced success , you've gotten one of the most dangerous things on the planet you can get and that's the praise of man and you forget that you have nothing that you did not receive .
Yeah , and that's your example with King Nebi . He builds this great kingdom and he takes all the credit , all the honor . Look what I have done . And we see another example in Acts 12 with Agrippa . He gives this big speech and the crowd starts saying he's not a man , he's a god , and he gives no credit to God .
And then he dies a horrific way and worms eat him up . And he dies in a horrific way and worms eat him up . This is a great example of having pride come in , not giving glory to God , and the way we battle that is to recognize that everything we have has been given to us by God . 1 Corinthians 4 , verse 7, .
It says For who sees anything different in you ? What do you have that you did not receive ? If , then , you received it , why do you boast as if you did not receive it , like the only thing you are capable of doing is blowing it right ?
So we need to recognize that God's sovereignty is in control of our lives and that any gifts , any talents , any successes we have , they are not ours , they are the Lord's . And this is what happened with King Nebuchadnezzar right , it's like you're gonna go out , and his nails grew like claws .
He was beside himself , his hair is all raggedly like yours and I don't know if it was that bad . Like feathers , like feathers , like chicken feathers , but how ?
long was he supposed to be out there for ?
I don't know if it was that bad Like feathers , like feathers , like chicken feathers . But how long was he supposed to be out there for I don't remember the text Seven years wasn't it yeah , but I mean until he recognized that the . Lord rules supreme amongst the affairs of men . Something along those lines .
And I love Mark , I love the way you highlighted that .
Thank you , I love Mark .
Oscar , do you love me ?
I your mustache , yeah , oh no , get rid of that .
Daniel 4.37 , mark gives Nebuchadnezzar's repentant words after God humbled him , and it says now I , nebuchadnezzar , praise and extol and honor the King of heaven , all of whose works are truth and His ways justice . And then he says this and those who walk in pride he is able to put down . Oh , I got the chills just reading that .
So isn't Nebuchadnezzar a type of the ungodly ? You ask any ungodly person what has God ever done for you ? And they think what has he ever done ? I mean the thing of thinking with us what he's given them . He's given a brain to think , with eyes to see , with ears to hear , with taste buds how to breathe lungs .
Everything we've got came from God , his gracious hand , and they say he's done nothing for me .
I tremble when I hear unbelievers go on a rant and they say God has never done anything . I did this and I did this and I yeah , you who also designed yourself in your mother's womb and gave yourself your own eyesight , your own ability to hear , your own hands to work with dexterity and look . What other way can you describe it but utter blindness ?
It's a blindness , and Satan has blinded the eyes of the unbelievers . That's just what he does .
How many times have we heard Ray say to the atheist well , god gave you a brain . And the response is he did not .
Oh , I love that One of my all-time favorite songs is called Biggers and it's
¶ The Humility of Being Derived
really short . I just want to read it to you guys , it's got what you're saying . It says . All you great men of power , you boast of your feats , politicians and entrepreneurs . Can you safeguard your breath in the night ? While you sleep , keep your heart beating steady and sure ?
As you lie in your bed , does the thought haunt your head that you're really rather small ? If there's one thing in this life I know , we are beggars all , and it goes on . All you , champions of science and rulers of men . Can you summon the sun from its sleep ? Does the earth seek your counsel on how fast to spin ?
Can you shut up the gates from the deep ? Don't you know that all things hang as if by a string over the darkness , poised to fall ? If there's one thing I know in this life , we are beggars . All it finishes . All you big shots that swagger and stride with conceit .
Did you devise how your frame would be formed If you'd be raised in a palace or lived out in the streets ? Did you choose the place or the hour you'd be born ? Tell me , what can you claim ? Not a thing , not your name . Tell me if you can recall just one thing in this life that's not a gift . Can you hear what's been said ?
Can you see now that everything's grace after all ? If there's one thing I know in this life we are beggars all Wow .
Who is that by ?
Thrice .
Oh man .
Could have been written by Job yeah truly , because some of those questions . Job came back . God gave him the answers .
Yeah yeah .
You know one word that often comes to mind when I just think of how arrogant we can be as people . It's the word derived . Derived , you know , we are derived , and that word is connected with the word derivative . This is a derivative of that , and we act , though , like we're not .
In other words , we act like we are some uncaused sort of being , that we're self-existent somehow . But the fact that we are derived , that we had a genesis , because we had a creator and a designer , that should be the greatest source of fuel for our humility . To just step back and say look , I am made Again like AI .
Right now , it's like AI rising up and becoming arrogant . Look at me . It's the byproduct of man's mind . It's a derivative of a derivative .
Yeah , Ooh . One thing I like to ask non-Christians is is life a mystery to you ? And they'll often say , yes , it is . And I say it's only because you don't read the Bible , because it tells you why you're here , what you're doing here , your purpose for life , what's going to happen after you die and how to find everlasting life .
And I think one of the greatest mysteries for me , and I guess it's for everyone who thinks about it , is the first three years of our life . We don't remember that's when we learned to talk . We learned a whole language and we don't even remember learning that language . We learn to do the things that life is all about , up from crawling to walking .
Don't even remember it . God's caused us to . I mean , it would be horrible if you remembered being a baby , sleeping for 18 hours a day and doing all sorts of things that babies do .
You know , one of the things I've heard people say when they've gotten cancer is it's been very humbling .
Yeah .
Humbling . You know , when people get struck with with illness , it's debilitating when they're accustomed to just taking care of themselves and making their own decisions and going about life , and then that's all stripped away . You know there's again . There's that reminder that hey , man , you are mortal , you're mortal and you know you're a breath away .
Think of the things you can't control . You can't control your heart beating or not beating , you know you can't control the involuntary mechanism that makes you breathe . You can't control the inability to live , ultimately , without sleep . You may skip a few , but you can't control the inability to live , ultimately , without sleep .
You may skip a few , but you can't live without eating . I mean , all of this should be again fuel for humility for us and then to let that lead us to okay . But God made me and look at how amazing these features are that he's given me Oscar . I'd love you to comment on this verse Proverbs 16 , 18, .
Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall . That's often quoted , but what's really at the heart of that ? That this is kind of a preceding element to harm , dude , totally .
It's so interesting because the scriptures , over and over again , have this theme , which is if you think you are wise , which is that pride , that haughtiness , that arrogance if you think you are wise , you're a fool . That's a theme running all throughout scripture , proverbs 28 , which is very similar to the one that you just read .
The one who trusts in himself is a fool , but the one who walks in wisdom will be safe . And that's a kicker right , because it's not just like you're going to wake up and go . Okay , I no longer want to be an arrogant person . There's two ways in which you can live in this life .
You can live in arrogance , you can live in foolishness , you can live in pride and haughtiness . You can live trusting your own self , or you can recognize you are a fool and that you are in need of grace . And you can seek out wisdom Psalm 1 to seek out wisdom , 1 Corinthians . Let him become a fool , that he may become wise .
The moment you move away from that arrogance , that haughtiness , that pride , the moment you humble yourself , the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom . The moment you humble yourself , wisdom begins to shape your heart .
Wow , that's so good , ray . Proverbs 21.4 says A haughty look , a proud heart and the plowing of the wicked are sin . A haughty look , that's ooh . Is that your haughty ?
look , ray , I couldn't do a haughty look . I really tried , though .
Made his lip go up sideways .
That was my Elvis look . That looked like a hockey look . That was my Elvis look . That looked like a hockey look .
That was a hockey look , but Ray there is a tie-in between the heart and sometimes our demeanor , and we see that everywhere .
Yeah , we're talking about arrogance . There's that famous quote from Mark Twain . We all know it , but it's just worth hearing again . When I was a boy of 14 , my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around . But when I got to 21 , I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years .
I've never heard that one before you haven't ? It's very famous .
I wrote a book about it , Dwayne it really shows when you're 14 , that's the age of arrogance . I'm infallible . I can never get anything wrong . Nothing can hurt me Like you went through that time for about 40 years Easy .
Yesterday .
Chevy Chase . Chevy Chase said this and I thought it was interesting . I was a young , new popular star and I had this unbelievable arrogance . As time went by , the strident narcissism and arrogance slowly diminished , but I was definitely there . I'm older now and I'm a big crybaby and I thought life has a way of humbling us .
You know , don't just have to get cancer , you just have to get old . And life is a way of reducing human arrogance . Old age is humbling . You lose what you had as looks , or the looks you had . You lose your memory , your friends and eventually your pride , and that you can't even walk without assistance .
So that's what happens as we get older and that arrogance can't stay . You've got to be humbled . Remember the song at Calvary ? Are you familiar with that hymn ?
Maybe if I heard it , I feel like singing it . Go for it . No , no , go ahead , ray . Come on , ray .
Sing sing sing sing sing sing sing sing sing sing sing sing sing , sing , sing , sing sing , sing , sing , sing , sing , sing , sing , sing , sing , sing , sing , sing sing sing sing , sing , sing , sing , sing sing sing sing sing sing sing sing sing sing sing , sing , sing , sing , sing , sing sing sing , sing , sing , sing , sing , sing , sing , sing , sing .
But the words are . Years I spent in vanity and pride , caring not . My Lord was crucified , knowing not it was for me . He died on Calvary , and the second verse is by God's word at last , my sin I learned . Then .
I trembled at the law I'd spurned till my guilty soul , imploring , turned to Calvary , and it's the cross that humbles us Amen , amen , love of God manifest in Christ , it does , yeah , John Owen in his book Mortification of Sin .
If you haven't read it , it's an all-time favorite of mine . He said self-examination right in light of Scripture . It's the anecdote of self-deception that I continually echo , the prayer in Psalm 139 , where Search me and try me , see if there be any wicked way in me , lead me in the way everlasting . We don't know when we are deceived a self-deception right .
We went to the beach last night and had a bonfire and my kids are out inside the ocean with some friends and before you know it , just within a matter of seconds , they drift further away from where they went in .
And it's not until they get their bearings by looking back at the shore , where the lifeguard station is at , to see how far that they have drifted , how far they've gone , and how many times have we done that that we need to become recalibrated in light of Scripture and with good friends who are going to speak inside of our lives and tell us that we have egg
in our face or on our face , in our mouth .
I was going to create your mouth .
I'll let that one go . Yeah , thank you . You don't want to surround yourself with yes-men , and that's what power and authority tends to do . Is that you get surrounded by yes-men who will not tell you when you're off and wrong . Be , careful , so self-examination will protect you from that .
So what do you do if you're drifting along like that ? Do you fight the current or do you just go with it so you don't get rid of all your energy ?
to save yourself , you swim across the current .
You do , you let it take Tips from .
Oscar , you know it's so . True , mark , I was just thinking about that . If you're in the ocean and there's a shore and there's no markers , you could drift without even knowing it .
Good , you could go miles . It's worse on a surfboard . That used to happen to us all the time . Really yeah because at least you don't have a resistance in the water . When you're in the water , you've got some sort of . You're on a surfboard , you float with the wind and the current .
Yeah , yeah , no , I love that . That's a great visual mark .
I went 200 miles once A visual mark , and this is another good scripture that goes with that 2 Corinthians 13 , 5 . Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith , and test yourselves . Or do you not realize this about yourselves , that Jesus Christ is in you , unless indeed you fail to meet the test ? That's the ESV version . That's so good .
Meet the test . I love this quote by DA Carson . He said the place where God has supremely destroyed all human arrogance and pretension is the cross .
Why Oscar ?
why is the cross such a humbling ?
symbol . It's our reminder that anything , that what we are , our deepest need , which is grace , our deepest need is salvation , our deepest need is reconciliation to our glorious God .
We can do nothing about it , and it's not until we look to the cross and see that Jesus , the one that did not need reconciliation , jesus , the one that never sinned , he is the one that takes on the fullness of the wrath of God on our behalf . Why does it humble us ?
Because the cross reminds us that our deepest needs have been fulfilled by the act of someone else , and that reality makes you realize that you are a helpless babe before the throne of God .
Wow , Debtors , debtors to justice and incapable of saving ourselves . You know , I think that's probably one of the things that stands out most in terms of people trying to reject what God has said and to lift themselves up . It's no , I can save myself , I can do this .
I mean , mark , there is that part in grace that's detestable to people because it removes them from the equation , wouldn't you say ?
Yes , absolutely right , because it goes against everything that we have learned growing up . If we work 40 hours , we deserve a 40-hour paycheck , right , we deserve what we've done right . That's justice . So we don't see grace portrayed out in everyday life . It is the antithesis .
It is the opposite of what we experience when we become a Christian , because all of life is by God's grace . Martin Luther in his 95 Thesis he said the Christian's life is a continual , habitual act of repentance . We don't deserve anything .
Everything we have is a gift from God and we are continually repenting , changing our mind , leading to a change of actions on who we are , what we've become , what we have inside of our lives , what we're doing , everything we have is from God's hand and we don't deserve any of it .
Amen , well put . And then there is , I think , the forgetfulness for Christians that we can carry with us a certain arrogance that almost invites the world's scorn . I love this quote by Kent Hughes . He said Christians are often persecuted not for their Christianity but for their lack of it . Sometimes they simply have unpleasant personalities .
They are rude , insensitive , thoughtless , piously obnoxious . Some are rejected because they are discerned as proud and judgmental . Others are disliked because they are lazy and irresponsible . Either arrogance or incompetence , mixed with
¶ Fighting Arrogance and Recognizing Humility
piety , is sure to bring rejection . And I was struck as I read that . Because , ray , we can show a certain arrogance toward the world . And how does a Christian fight against that , ray ? How can we resist that drift in keeping with the imagery Mark gave us , that drift toward arrogance ?
I think it's just part of our human nature to be arrogant . That's arrogance is self-sufficient . Arrogant arrogance doesn't pray wow , that's self-sufficient . Um , I just saw a george bernard shaw wonderful quote . He knows nothing and he thinks he knows everything . That points clearly to a political career .
That's so good .
Talking about drifting on one of our tracks , I've got this little story where a guy walks past a lifeguard who's sitting there with his sunglasses on , looking cool , kind of Southern California tan guy . And as he walks past him he looks up at the guard and says , yeah , you've got the job , haven't you ? Easy job .
And he mocks him and he goes out and starts swimming and he begins to drown and as he gets pulled under , at what point does he call for that guard for help ? And it's when he sees this danger . Then it doesn't matter that he's humbling himself and that's the type of the sinner .
Only when they see danger they'll get rid of their arrogance and say God , I need your help , Death is heading for me , I'm sinking .
Wow , and the thought that God resists the proud and ultimately , when you think about the highbrow , successful stars of our day and age , oscar , there's this sort of sense of almost untouchability with them . I mean , you think about that ?
I was contemplating that , when you remove God from the equation of life and you ultimately give into this thought that we are it , we're really it , and so then it's like , okay , here we are , by random chance , and we exist , and obviously this is the planet in the universe and there are people on it , and of all those people we are like it , we are .
So that's how man kind of shapes himself into becoming a God that , hey , I've got all the money , I've got all the fame , I've got all the power , I've got all the possessions , and it leads to that kind of mindset of hey , yeah , this is who I am . Scary day , isn't it , oscar ?
The day of judgment for those that never repent , because we all had it in one form or another .
But yeah , yeah , it absolutely is . And honestly , it's a reminder of damnation about what God will do with you .
And I mean , if you think about it , when you're the outsider , when you're the one dealing with the repercussions of an arrogant person , an arrogant leader , an arrogant family member , you know , you watch their lives deteriorate , you watch them isolate themselves , you watch them hurt and destroy other people over and over and over again .
They become increasingly dependent upon themselves , thinking that they are all that they need , and Romans 1 tells us that God they need . And Romans 1 tells us that God , ultimately hell , is God , handing us over to the desires of our heart .
He says to every arrogant person you want life without me , you want to do it on your own , you want to do it your way here , and he gives it to you for all of eternity , an eternity without God .
And so the beginning of the opposite side of that and this is something that comes back to every single one of us is that the beginning of our ability to understand our need for grace is when the arrogance of our lives is removed and we bow down on our knees , recognizing our need . There's this great song I'm quoting songs .
There's a great song by another artist and they say something like and of course it's a parable . He's not a theologically sound artist by any sense of the , by a sense of imagination , but it's a parable . And he says Jesus was a sailor and he stood in his tower looking down seeing that men would never come to him unless they were drowning .
So he determined all men would be sailors too . And it's just this idea that he is going to humble you so that you understand your need for God Better that you turn from yourself and turn to Christ in this life rather than holding on to only yourself for all eternity . Wow .
Oh man , that's some depth there . It reminds me of Obadiah , 1 , 3 through 4 . It says the pride of your heart has deceived you , you who dwell in the clefts of the rock whose habitation is high , you who say in your heart who will bring me down to the ground , though you ascend as high as the eagle and though you set your nest among the stars ?
Wow , wow , says the Lord . Wow , man messing with God , are you ?
kidding me .
Man messing with God . Mark the insanity of that , Like those that are going to give God a piece of their mind when they stand in front of Him .
Boy . Yeah , we go back to what we talked about earlier , in that everything we have is a gift from the Lord . Isaac Newton , he said if I've seen further than those who have gone before me , it's only because I've stood on the shoulders of giants Right have gone before me .
It's only because I've stood on the shoulders of giants To think that we are anything without the Lord , or the people that have gone before us , that have poured into our lives , that have given us the time of day , it's absolute lunacy .
And for somebody to come along and say I will give the Lord , I'll give God a piece of my mind , it's not his mind to begin with , right , god has fashioned you in his image for a purpose , which is to know him and to make him known . Ray , who was that gentleman who said if God is real , let him strike me dead ?
That was the leader of Italy , mussolini . And then , oh , god answers his prayer sometime later . And if you know anything about the death of Mussolini , you'll know God is able to do exceeding , abundantly , far above all that they ask or think . They beat him to death and hung him upside down , him and his mistress Wow . And their bodies ?
The pictures of their bodies look terrific .
You know , wow , that's heavy and that reminds me , in keeping with that Obadiah passage I read you guys remember Gaddafi , right ?
Yeah , yeah . And Gaddafi . I know a lady that knew him well .
That's right . We do know a lady that knew him well , that's another story , france . Yeah , but Gaddafi was . I mean , he was destroyed and killed by his own people . They got a hold of him and they just and they were beating . I saw the video . I had to stop it because it was just .
Even when you see someone wicked like that , when you see them helpless and being beaten , and just bloodied . but that reminder , you know , of what can happen . Another one Saddam Hussein . I mean these were the guys strutting in pride and arrogance and just killing people .
I mean stories were told of Saddam Hussein just coming up and just shooting people in the head that he didn't like in his cabinet or whatever , and then there he was .
I'm really glad you don't do that to us , Ray .
Yeah , thank you , Ray , for the kid loss .
Why would you be in Ray's cabinet ?
I can't reach .
Yeah , but no , I mean , and you remember Saddam Hussein , he was helpless . In fact I was reading a book . Where Didn't they find him in ? Like a hole ? Yeah , he was in a hole . And I was reading a book by a Navy SEAL who was in charge of Saddam Hussein
¶ The Dangers of Arrogance and Ignorance
and he talked about how every day he'd walk into his cell and he saw Saddam . He said he saw how Saddam had totally like . He was surrounded by all the new people in the government that didn't like him and they were just yelling at him and stuff . And then they said Saddam stood up and he just began to speak and they all cowered and sat down .
While in prison .
Yeah , while they had him in custody , and they were like it's like his influence was so strong they began to cower . So he said , every day he would walk into his room and he said there he was , you know , sitting on his bed , and he would stand up and he would , just , he wouldn't even . He said he didn't even talk to him .
He'd just point to the bed for him to sit back down and he would sit down and I thought , wow , talk about being humbled in terms of your arrogance . You know , and you know , I do want to say too , that sin is arrogance , sin is a form of arrogance .
I came across this really powerful quote by Heath Lambert , and it deals with a sin that's common to many men and that's the sin of pornography in marriage and deciding for themselves what they believe is better . Looking at naked women in porn , they show arrogant disregard for God's call , the selfless marital love .
They show arrogant derision for the female actress whom they should be seeking to respect as women who need to hear the good news of Jesus . They show arrogant disdain for their own children by hiding their sin and inviting the enemy into their home and their marriage . Wow , ray , that really is at the root of sin , isn't it ?
Yeah , and I was just thinking atheism is the epitome of arrogance and it's fed by ignorance . Ooh , only atheists could get a right view of God . Because the image of God is so erroneous . I often think of where the Pharisees or Sadducees came to Jesus maybe in the Sadducees . And this woman got married to a guy . He died . Next one died , he died in seven .
Whose wife is she going to be ? And I had exactly the same . Before I was a Christian , I had the same argument . I used to think this husband and wife get married . They're just young , they're in their 20s , he dies , she goes , she waits to see him in heaven at 90 years old and they meet in heaven . She's 90 , and it's just not going to work .
And I used to say heaven is Disney , that's all it is . It's just not real . And boy , I stopped in my tracks when I became a Christian .
But Jesus said to them he said you neither know the scriptures nor the power of God , because the arrogant atheist has his arrogance fed by ignorance , because he has no fear of God before his eyes , because he doesn't see God as who he is . All you have to do is look at the sun for a split second and think about it . Think of the universe .
I don't look at the sun . For too long I was telling these Braille folks , no , I wasn't . But seriously , I mean , just think of creation , think of the flea and the flower and the all these things that are around us that are so fearfully and wonderfully made .
It produces a fear of god in your heart and then , when you read the scriptures , you get a right understanding of what he's like yeah , and for you single men who are arrogant , get married .
Yes , get married my friend , stop burning . Yeah , that'll deal with your easy's book , oh , my's book , oh , my book . Fight Like a man , a bold biblical battle plan for personal purity . Friends , this is not going to go on forever . I'm actually embarrassed we've mentioned the book so much . Which book oh Fight Like a man .
You got a forever in there and I missed it .
Oh , and Mark did one on you earlier and you missed it .
Yes , mark did one on you earlier and you missed it . Yes , because you went missing , but that was so quick yeah , but anyway , my point is .
I don't intend to keep talking about this book .
It's going to end which book ? Fight Like a .
Man Bulldog will bow down to personal purity . Anyway , listen , for you guys out there who don't think you're arrogant , that's your first problem and you would be wise to get someone into your life , men and women . Get someone into your life who will speak into your life without hesitation Because , guys , you think about it , most of us .
We are surrounded by people who are trained and conditioned culturally to be nice and socially speaking . Who likes a confrontation ?
We don't want to say something that's going to make someone feel bad or alienate them , but that's why accountability is so wonderful to have people in your life who are going to speak into your life and say , hey bro , you're coming off arrogant .
Hey , sister , the way that you talked and the way you handled that , the way you ran over that person when they were just sharing an idea and you just trampled on them like they were stupid , that's arrogance .
Arrogance , I think , at its very heart , doesn't think about others , doesn't think about other people , how we're impacting them and not just from a negative sense and we're being rude . Their need for the gospel we don't want to share it with them . What are they going to think of me ? It doesn't think of God and His glory and His splendor and His word .
That's the heart of arrogance , and so I just want to encourage you get people in your life . They'll humble you real quick . I've said it before we can never see the back of our head with our naked eye . We need someone else to point it out to us .
Let me just double down on that .
You have blind spots in your sanctifying process Every single one of us You're talking to Izzy , or all of us ? We all ?
have blind spots .
Thanks , oscar , you took my advice to heart quick . We all have blind spots in our sanctifying process , and the best thing that we can do for ourselves is surround us with men and women who are willing to help us see the things we can't see about our own selves .
Yeah , it's us who keep prey from arrogance , is it not ? Amen ?
What Right You're not paying attention ? I'm looking at my phone . Stop it AZ .
I want to go to Cerritos .
I just sent Oscar that great quote from Spurgeon .
Thank you , Thank you , oscar . Send me the lyrics to that first song . You read yeah , all right friends , it's over . You're done with us , four arrogant blokes . Don't forget how to be free from the fear of death . The Living Waters mug . The Evidence Study Bible alllivingwaterscom . And please , podcasts at livingwaterscom . Tell us what you think of Mark's mustache .
Please , all hate mail . Welcome to Mark . That look , dude , you just manifested wheezy here . All right friends , all that good stuff Podcast at livingwaterscom . Yeah , tell us all your thoughts and everything . Thank you for joining us , friends . We'll see you here next time on the Living Waters podcast , where we have no idea what we're doing .