2 Corinthians 10, Got Swagger?

2 corinthians chapter 10. We'll be reading the whole chapter Hear the word of the Lord. I Paul Myself and treat you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.

I Whom humble when face to face with you but bold toward you when I am away

I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh

For though we walk in the flesh We are not waging war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh

But have divine power to destroy strongholds We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey

Christ Being ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete Look at what is before your eyes if anyone is confident that he is

Christ Let him remind himself that just as he is Christ So also are we for even if I boast a little too much of our authority

Which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you. I will not be ashamed

I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters for they say his letters are weighty and strong But his bodily presence is weak and his speech of no account

Let's such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent we do when present

Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves

But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another they are without understanding

But we will not boast beyond limits But we'll boast with regard only with regard to the area of influence

God assigned to us to reach even you to you For we are not over extending ourselves as though we did not reach you

For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others

But our hope is that as your faith increases our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged

So that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you without boasting of work already done in the in another's area of influence

Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord for it is not the one who commends himself who was approved

But the one whom the Lord commends If the Lord had his blessings to the reading of his

Holy Word Now one old -fashioned word It's been resuscitated lately and now become very prominent is the word particularly in sports is the word swagger

Sometimes even abbreviated as swag But the new swagger the new resuscitated swagger has a slightly different connotation than the old swagger

The dictionary where the old definition of swagger still lingers defines it as quote to conduct oneself in an arrogant or supercilious pompous manner

Especially to walk with an air of overbearing self -confidence Swagger then was an entirely negative thing to swagger

Used mostly as a verb was often said to in a way to make fun Almost to insult someone for being just too self -confident as in like you should have seen him

Swaggering onto the field like he like he was a superstar only to be told he was cut from the team. Haha Swagger often came before a fall, but now swagger

Is something something good something positive at least the way it's used most people think now use mostly as a noun

It's an attribute that you strive to get or to get back LeBron James once said that about his team.

We've got to get our swagger back That is we got to walk out into the courts with with confidence that we can win this game

We have will so all the other team that they'll just be intimidated and those will melt away Swagger is now desirable

So desirable even some companies advertise themselves as having swagger about a decade a decade ago an online retail company and based in Kerry North Carolina called itself swagger

Advertising itself is offering gifts with an attitude I Couldn't find them this past week.

So I guess they went out of business apparently swagger Still goes before a fall The reality is that swagger that makes a team maybe make a team confident and aggressive to the opposition is

A problem within the team itself now the sport I was involved in track and cross country is probably the least conducive to Swagger, you don't care how much swagger you have.

Can you run fast? It's better to let your running do the talking as I saw myself at Mississippi State We're a competing runner from southeast,

Missouri State challenged me right in the middle of a 5k race 5 ,000 meters 3 .1

mile right in the middle of the race. He turns to me and says I Can last longer than you bud? He definitely had swagger and his swagger

Provoked me to beat him by my senior year I was the lone senior with a team mostly a freshman

Each of them had just been recruited each of them were hot shots stars from their high school teams used to winning races used to Always running in front

They were probably the each of them was probably the star on the team They come from no one could no one was faster than them

No one could ever run in front of them and some of them definitely had swagger what in particular because he had so much swagger

He couldn't tolerate not being the lead in the lead whenever we ran together after a while.

This guy's swagger Was causing a lot of tension on the team's there were complaints about him people getting upset angry at him

Finally one day we were running together on the track and I had I had had it. I Decided enough with this.

I decided I was gonna teach mr. Swag a lesson now instead of merely running the prescribed pace the coach gives us a pace to run instead of running that pace and Having mr.

Swag always in the lead. I decided I searched to the surge to the front of our little pack in front of him and when he

Course, he wanted always to be in front. He decided to try to get in front of me. I wouldn't let him Simply by continuing to run faster than him

We were both accelerating getting faster and faster until we reach our maximum pace after the practice He said to me something like no, you're always hanging back there in the back of the pack

I didn't know you could run so fast and I didn't say anything, but I was thinking yeah Just because I'm not running in front of you doesn't mean

I'm not faster than you. I Wish I could say he learned his lesson after that track season.

He quit the team Even if it meant losing his scholarship, I guess he thought that if he couldn't run in the lead, he wasn't gonna run at all

Perhaps many of you have had to deal with problems caused by Swagger may not call it that maybe at work, but there's something going on some people with this this arrogance

That's always having to be the lead to be the prominent person People who feel they have to be in front who have to be on top to be the most recognized and so they won't follow

They may not be the best at work But they always have to feel like they are to be the most recognized

So at work or in sports or even in church people suffer from this need to always be first to be the most prominent

And we'll do anything. Maybe they'll gossip. Maybe they'll criticize. They'll refuse to constructively work together

They'll sabotage each other's reputations or or or chances so that they'll look good themselves

They'll elevate themselves and they'll tear down others. Maybe there'll be a manager who will not hire or will even fire capable people

Because they don't want the skilled person. He or she making them look bad because they're working so well

And they don't want anyone implicitly challenging their position. They they they want above all to keep their swagger

Here in the second Corinthians chapter 10 We see the Apostle Paul turn to deal with people with a lot of a lot of swagger.

We see that in three parts first battling the world for verses 1 to 6

Then building the church for verses 7 to 12 and then boasting in the

Lord from verses 13 to 18 And if you have swagger First you need to battle the world

Not the church Paul appeals to the church. That's his teammates, right? The church is the team

And he he appeals to them with what he calls the meekness and the gentleness of Christ These Corinthians have a problem with what they regard is impressive

They are impressed by swagger by a strutting self -confidence that just loves to be first Paul tells them though that the one they are supposed to be following Christ himself is not an overbearing crushingly dominant leader

He's not characterized by swagger, but by gentleness and meekness

Meekness means first to be teachable to be willing to submit to be subservient meekness is a mildness a

Friendliness able to endure disagreement and mistreatment. It's the opposite of what some Christians today lift up as a virtue

That is just a refusal to compromise. They know it all and they won't learn anything Now if we're talking about God's Word that we should never compromise

But some you know fighting fundamentalists have taken the refusal to compromise the Word of God and carried it over to their word maybe they don't know the difference between the

Word of God and their word and there is with some of them a very Just a complete lack of the qualities.

Jesus is described as having here meekness and Gentleness followers of Jesus should be very willing very willing to compromise

Compromise many things compromise themselves maybe about where they want to go out to eat what they want to watch on TV Whatever, you know if you want to open a restaurant to cater to Christians, especially after church

You should be able to call it whatever you want because don't you know, they'll ask you what to go out to eat Sure, where you want to go wherever you want.

Okay, we'll go there because they are characterized by meekness and not swagger And that care and that gets to some some teaching some doctrines

They should know the difference between what the Word of God really does teach and some other things that it's not really so clear on and there are just opinions and be able to know be know what things they can be meek and gentle about and teachable and Open -minded about and then other things that they're supposed to be convicted about.

These are these are The convictions that the doctrines they will never let go They need to know the difference and meekness and gentleness of Christ will teach you that difference

Similarly the word here translated as gentleness means to be to be yielding to be fair to be reasonable

You can talk to them someone you can reason what you can argue with and I don't mean in a combative sense

But you can engage with them and change their mind if they're wrong And if they were wrong, you could reason with them to show them they're wrong.

Of course in Christ's case. He was never wrong but if we have absorbed the meekness and the gentleness of Christ We realize that we can be wrong that we often are wrong and we can be reasoned with and we can be changed shown where we're wrong even by Subordinates we're not made insecure by the possibility that someone could know something that we don't

We're not made insecure that maybe someone is better at something than we are Even if they were not made secure that maybe they run faster than we do

And so we don't always have to be upfront. We don't have to be overbearing. You don't have to be domineering

We have to be determining everything This is we like We don't have to be like that because we have the meekness and the gentleness of Christ Paul appeals to them by that Meekness and gentleness implying that he's been humble with him

Because of that meekness and gentleness. He hasn't come swaggering into the Corinthian Church, you know, just barking orders at everybody imposing his way about everything crushing criticism

Crushing any other leaders who try to rise up like the world does but in Corinth the world was in the church and you could tell

That the world was in the church By what they were impressed by They were impressed by swagger

Not meekness and gentleness. So Paul's humility when he comes to them humbly

Which they should have seen as the presence of Christ in his life They saw that Gentleness that humility as weakness

You know meekness many people think is weakness the reason he doesn't demand a high salary

You know the reason he doesn't demand a reserve parking place for his chariot marked Apostle on it The reason he doesn't demand to be called your holiness and to be you know

People have to kiss his ring when they come up to him reason. He's in a talk all about himself and his experiences What reason he doesn't talk down everyone else is because they think

They thought he was weak That's the reason he's not doing those things. He just didn't have he didn't have the swagger.

He's not confident enough He didn't demand a high salary because he knew he wasn't worth one He didn't demand the perks from them because he knew he didn't deserve it.

He wouldn't take lofty titles Because you know, he's just not lofty He wouldn't talk about himself all the time because you don't have anything to talk about Right here.

He is Imagine this what we see here between Paul in the Corinthians here

He is he's the great Apostle Paul who we think of as one of the greatest Christian leaders of all time

Perhaps second only to the Lord Jesus himself and the Corinthians didn't think he was impressive at all

They weren't they weren't impressed by him. They kind of know Paul. So what he's coming into town. Oh, well, whatever

He had no swagger They thought it says at the end of verse two that he walked according to the flesh

That is that he that he wasn't spiritual At least not what they thought of as spiritual that is they are fundamentally confused

About what is carnal and about what is spiritual they think maturity is

Immature they think being immature is Mature they think the weak is strong and being strong is weak

Swagger, they think it's spiritual humility. They think it's carnal.

They got it all turned around What do you do about the world in the church?

When it's that confused when you go to battle against the world in verse 3 Paul says, okay.

Okay from your point of view I'm walking in the flesh. What do you think is the weakness of meekness, which is actually from Christ and It's true.

We live in the frailty and the limitations of our humanity, but we don't do battle by the flesh

He says it in our war with the world. We have truly spiritual weapons and powerful weapons

We have something we have something we can swagger about The power of our weapons

Paul is saying in verse 4, you know, you can accuse me of being weak Okay, I don't I don't really care what you think but don't think the weapons

I employ the Word of God is are weak. Our weapons are not fleshly

They don't get their power from human strategies. They don't get their power from manipulation or from intimidation

From from the way we just carry ourselves With ornate clothing or with titles are just being imposing

That's not where the power of our weapons comes from it comes from the Word of God, but they come from God himself

They come with all the force of his Omnipotence all the power that he has about Paul himself

No, he'll do more. Okay, whatever About the Word of God, however that He won't allow them to think is weak.

It is strong It's able to take down anything arrayed against it with it.

We battled the world Including the world in the church Our weapons the

Word of God applied in teaching and sharing and preaching and singing and counseling Just reading it and discussing and reasoning has

God's power to destroy strongholds Now strongholds would have been a familiar feature to people this time

They all probably saw them and every city would have one Especially in Corinth almost every city would have some kind of fortress or tower

That they could retreat to to defend themselves in case of attack Corinth had an especially strong Stronghold called that the

Acro Corinth is built on a high rocky hill It's really just just a huge rock jutting out of the ground

Dramatically higher than the surrounding territory around it even without fortifying it the sort of Rock of a hill would be easy to defend but they did fortify it

They put a fort on top of a rock making what would seem to be an impregnable

Stronghold that stronghold Paul says is like all the ideas that the world has mustered

Against against the knowledge of God the world is hostile to God It's it's it's seeking to resist

Knowing God knowing the truth true God at all costs So it gathers the world gathers whatever ideas it can to keep out the knowledge of God It's constantly doing that Pushing against the knowledge of God with whatever ideas it's throwing out there it can be sophisticated sounding ideas such as some of the philosophies that the

Greeks were known for a Platonic Aristotelian philosophy Like the philosophers of the

Aeropagus in Athens who has scoffed that the gospel taught the resurrection or they could be simple ideas

It's like live for pleasure You know suck all the marrow out of life now eat drink and be merry for tomorrow.

You may die sex drugs and rock and roll Individualism, you're you're you are an army of one.

No one can tell me what to do customers King follow your heart Whatever floats your boat and now

What do we do about those ideas How do we deal with them Do we just retreat?

We're afraid of them Because we don't think we can beat them. So we homeschool our kids and send them to Christian colleges

Which can't be a good idea for other reasons, but do we but do we do that because we're afraid because deep down We're not confident in the

Word of God. We're not confident in our ideas No Let's get our let's get our swagger back.

Ron James is right. Sometimes we need to get our swagger back. That's wagering Confidence about ourselves

But about the power of our weapons the power of the Word of God with the weapons of God's power the

Word of God We are capable of taking every thought captive to obey Christ and you've got to engage those ideas whether complex

Philosophies and academics or simple with the Word of God just just strutting among ourselves

Sometimes Christians do today with swagger talking about how how much superior we are to the those foolish and lame

Ideas out there those those liberals as homosexuals or Mormons or Muslims just doing that among ourselves

Is no solution it might make us feel good It might fill us with swagger and it might be just the thing that Did much of the world in the church certain kind of carnal person in the church?

Finds so attractive. You know, we're so confident in ourselves. We have it, right? Now we're afraid to go out there and actually engage it but we among ourselves we can tell that Tell each other how right we are.

That's not battling the world Notice that the goal of the weapons of our warfare is in verse 5 it is to take captive Every thought see good the thoughts out there the carnal thoughts the thoughts of the world

Figure the here the thoughts of the world that have come into the church God's Word destroys arguments every argument used to fortify people against truly knowing

God for the purpose of What? Is it creating a soothing feeling of comfort?

sedating us Making us feel good about how right we are Filling us with an arrogant self -confidence giving us

Swagger No to take every thought captive to obey

Christ making us to the very core of our thoughts and attitudes submissive to Jesus Now bang is the very thing that people with swagger

Can't stand to do They are sure they don't have to obey

They don't have to be submissive to anything other than themselves for them Spirituality is the ability in fact to assert themselves and to make others obey them

They are the world in the church Remember now Paul is turning to the world of the church in Corinth and he will be engaging them until the end of this letter

What is wrong with them? Is it that they just got a few basic doctrines wrong? Now if that were the case, he would just correct those doctrines like he did in 1st

Corinthians on the resurrection What is wrong with them? Is that they don't know what to respect because deep down their thoughts aren't captive to obey

Christ Their thoughts instead are still captive to the world They think just like the world does.

Oh Maybe instead of respecting the newest philosopher or the most flamboyant, you know speech maker who came through town

Champion of rhetoric instead of following the worldly leader with the most swagger They follow the so -called

Christian leader With this most swagger the most flamboyant preacher maybe maybe with a

TV show and quaffed hair and a wife with much too much makeup on or Maybe a man who just insists every opinion is clearly.

It's the Word of God. It's clear. It's clear. It's clear It's kind of that kind everything Everyone a lot of other

Christians throughout history have said well, this is debatable But they're they're they're very confident in their opinions that kind here

We get right to where their problem and our problems intersect Where the world in the church?

Then it's not very different than it is now if maybe it's not different at all It's the same problem. Really if you want to be respected and followed by the church today

What you need is not the meekness and gentleness of Christ what you need is swagger

Today whole churches are founded by a man with swagger who's able to get a following Maybe he couldn't he couldn't stand to be in a church where he can't be in the lead

He may be a Sunday school teacher He thinks he has the right to talk down the leadership and his teaching talk up himself and people follow him off Found a new church or I could be confident smooth -talking man who can't tolerate the idea that not everyone agrees with him

One such man once told me quote. I hate the word compromise That's seen guys like him before, you know, like mr

Swag on the track With no sense that their swagger is carnal that what they think is strong maturity is really weak

Immaturity that they lack the gentleness and the meekness of Christ The goal of the weapons of our warfare is not to make ourself feel assertive to give us our swagger back is to bring every thought

Captive to the obedience of Christ every thought that comes to our brain on every subject every feeling every

Attitude is to be examined but the Word of God brought to heal made to submit to it if it won't submit if you just keep thinking it keep

We are to punish it. He says in verse 6 interesting verbs here. He uses for spiritual growth, isn't it?

Very very strong words. We take captive strongholds. We tear them down Disobedient thoughts we punish them

There in verse 6 beat down every disobedient thought pummel it Torture it say you're wrong

Correct it with the Word of God temptation toward sexual unfaithfulness you quote

Scripture back to it every inclination that that won't think like the meek and gentle Jesus We torture with the

Word of God until we are until we are completely obedient. That's going to that's going to take our whole lives

We battle the world including the world in the church and We build the church

Verses 7 to 12 Paul tells them that he has authority to build them up That's what authority is for in the church is to build the church up This is why

Christians need to be in churches where they're under that Authorities authorities that are committed to building them up But notice how he how he does it first.

He tells them to look look what is right in front of you First they are they have these leaders

These other leaders who've come in Who they think are very impressive. They're impressed by them because they're so confident in themselves

They exude this disassurance that they belong to Christ that they have these they have these great teachings

They know these secret mysteries. They know what they know The kind of humbling humbling grief that he talked about in chapter 7

They don't seem to have been touched by they haven't been humbled by conviction

Then they have Paul right in front of their eyes Open up There are your eyes.

He's telling them and look at the difference. They have swagger Paul has humility they boast about how spiritual they are

About their great experiences. They talk about their their mysteries. They know their knowledge

Paul doesn't boast like that Look at the reality look at the difference They imply by the way they talk the way they act that they have great authority for God If they are not just simple, they're just simple

Apostles, you know, they're just your rank -and -file Apostles They're just mere Apostles.

They're they're super Apostles They use their authority whether real or pretended to Lord it over them to be to be in the front

Paul has authority in verse 8 and even though he rarely mentions it He says here that perhaps

I mentioned it too much The Lord gave him authority to build them up They need to open their eyes and see the real difference.

The Lord gives authority in the church There is authority in the church just like there is in the family.

There's authority in the church It's important We understand that and not think that we have to be like the guy on the track team always in the front

Always with with swagger not letting anyone have authority in your life But the authority is to build you up too often today we have the tragedy of churches trying to keep their authorities usually the pastors try to keep them down and authority and pastors

Trying to build themselves up. The church is trying to cut him down to size and he's trying to get his swagger back

So we come up with titles like reverend or bishop Some even today apostle they're the

Apostles special parking places pushing always for higher salary and more perks and more elevation

While the church keeps him Pushing back to keep him poor and dependent and humiliated.

That's the world in the church what we are supposed to have is authorities who can build us up and We should be able to open our eyes and see the difference now one way sometimes

They have to do that That is a pastor's authorities have to build the church up is by knocking down those with too much swagger

Sometimes for the sake of people who are being pressed down by overbearing People, you know like these super Apostles here in second

Corinthians for the sake of the church member the Christians being Being pressed down by overbearing people

Leaders have to be overbearing to the overbearing

You have to be able to run faster than the teammate with swagger who thinks he runs the fastest and that Principle a lot of today's rank -and -file

Christian church members don't understand They don't they don't understand Okay for the sake of the people the church members the

Christians who are being pressed down by overbearing people Leaders have to be overbearing to the overbearing

See the difference right in front of you The difference between the world in the church and the gentleness and the meekness of Christ Of course, they thought they already knew the difference because the leaders with swagger were constantly making their comparisons

They were grading themselves with each other and with great confidence giving themselves all a's

They're grading on the curve You know, I'm the most spiritual one here I'm more spiritual than you people the guys with swagger were always talking about the differences

They even pointed out the difference between the way Paul wrote to them Sometimes he wrote to them forcefully asserting what had to be done.

Remember in first Corinthians 5 I'm telling you this is what you must do. You must put this man out of the church Sometimes he wrote to them severely.

Remember his severe letter. He said he wrote to them The difference between that and the way he was when he was with them physically they they didn't understand the difference

They thought that since when he was with them, he didn't always have to be in front He didn't always have to be in the lead that he didn't have to be prominent and dominating

Then that must be because he doesn't deserve it That he wasn't running in the front of the pack because he couldn't keep up So here starting in chapter 10 and to the end of the letter he puts himself out there

This is what I'll be doing to the rest for the rest of 2nd Corinthians. He's putting himself in the front

To do what I just talked about To be overbearing to the overbearing to put them down and it's uncomfortable for him.

He doesn't want to have to do this But he has to do it for the sake of the church. He doesn't want to have to to be overbearing but sometimes he has to For the sake of the church he but he feels he has to put those with swagger in their place we build a church

When we create an atmosphere in which it is not those with swagger who are promoted

And become leaders or teachers or deacons or elders or powers behind the scenes, you know

Pulling the strings with their nagging and their manipulation People who just have to be in the lead who have to get their way

We create an Atmosphere in the church. We build the church when those kind are not allowed to be in the lead

But we will allow the meekness and the gentleness of Christ to be in the lead. We battle the world.

We build the church and we boast in the

Lord And verse 7 Paul challenged them to see what is really in front of you

All right, see open your eyes look at it now in verse 13 verses 13 to 18 see that The difference between those who are boasting about themselves that they're boasting beyond the limits of what they should see the difference between them and me

Paul say they're boasting beyond the limits of what they should And look at me

Like the guy who has to run in front To say to us, you know by running in front that he was trying to say to us that he was the fastest

But he wasn't the fastest he was exceeding his limits Here these men that were boasting about what they had done

But what have they done? I mean besides strut around with swagger and talk boldly about themselves.

They hadn't planted the Corinthian Church Paul did that God had assigned to Paul influence that is this

Certain number of people to be reached with the gospel. He had assigned to Paul a church to build in that area in Corinth Paul gave him authority to plant the church to prove that he wasn't just boasting

Paul says God has given him this God has given him authority apostleship spiritual weapons

Revelation these guys with swagger sure. They say God has given them more.

There are super apostles. They say That's swagger there for Paul to prove his claim of authority.

Was it just it's not just more swagger like them Paul points to them the church

Look what's been done This whole church in Corinth is the product Paul say of God's authority given to me for you

It's not a matter of empty words. It's the reality of what has been produced It's not just saying, you know, I belong at the front of the pack or I can last longer than you bud

It's actually being able to do it if you can do it You shouldn't have to boast about it

The sadly if you have the world of the church that sees things the way the world sees them that's impressed with swagger the things

That meekness is weakness Then we have to tell people we have to tell people what to see

They can't see it. They're seeing like the world sees See that swagger is not a virtue to be followed.

It's not a strength But but the one who knows his limits who knows what he can do

Who knows what's been given to him by God what his gifts are knows how he can serve and then he does it and Then also knows what he can't do

For some he knows. Okay, you know, you're not really a preacher. It's not your thing. You shouldn't try to be one

You're not a singer or a prophet or an evangelist. God has not given you that to do

You're not gifted to be the one in front and so you should be content to settle in Back with the rest of the pack

One of the weaknesses that is dragging down the church today is the hordes of people who don't know their limits

They they want to their vision of what it means to be spiritual is to be the man up front to be the person

In the spotlight who think they don't need a church They don't need a team that they can be a church all to themselves providing accountability and teaching all for themselves

That they have Jesus in the Bible and so they think they don't need anyone else Maybe they drop out of church or even form their own little church if they have enough swagger to get some people to follow them

They are confident that they can pastor themselves. They are sure Maybe they go to services and with such an attitude

They will go to wherever they get entertained and flattered the best Where no one will run in front of them to challenge their swagger if someone does they'll go elsewhere or just quit

Don't boast beyond limits Instead in verse 17 boast in the Lord That is after all where our approval comes from not a being better than others in front of the pack

Boast that is not in what we've done but in what God has done for us that he could approve of us boast in the cross in the resurrection in grace

See the reality that there is nothing about us that even encourages God to approve of us

That's why those in verse 12 are So without understanding they are proving of themselves by comparing themselves with each other

They don't have a clue You claim to be a Christian to be a leader to be spiritual and mature and yet you don't understand that your approval comes from What Christ has done for you that there is no way you could impress him by being better than another sinner

But you desperately need him to give you something. You absolutely have no right to Approval that you need the approval

Jesus earned by being perfect to be given to you You need the disapproval. We each have earned to be paid for by him on the cross

What we don't need is to swagger up to the judgment seat Commending ourselves like Jesus said so many will do boasting

Lord Lord Did I not do this or that for you? He will say

Away from me. I never knew you They never knew the meek and gentle Jesus.

They never knew they weren't approved by him They were so sure they knew that they knew

But Jesus didn't know them didn't approve of them Make sure that is not you

Make sure that there is no swagger in your step when you come to Jesus There is nothing about you that you are boasting in or confident in but only in what

God has done Graciously for you Nothing in your hands you bring only to the cross of Christ you cling