Behold Your King!

When one is no longer attempting to protect oneself, or look out for one’s own personal interests, he is never more free to choose SELFLESSLY for other’s benefit no matter what cost to themself.

Our problem, the reason we do not know great intimacy in our relationships…

The reason we are not willing to pay the cost to rebuilt trust after a violation….

The reason we grow impatient with others…

The reason we fight selfish anger…

The reason we do not let love cover sins…

The reason we slow to forgive, that we struggle to forgive…

The reason we fail to come to God daily and regularly….

PRIDE.

This morning, as we journey closer to the remembrance of the cross, as we get closer to Christ’s death…

Having considered the Kingdom of God last week…

Let’s step back (or sideways) this morning and consider the King of that Kingdom.

In considering The King, I submit to you that the stance of Kingdom men and women is exemplified through humility.

Big Idea: The stance of Kingdom Men and Women is exemplified through humility.

Body

Humility Displayed

John 5:30; 6:38.

John 5:30 ESV

30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

John 6:38 ESV

38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

Jesus came to submit Himself to the will of His Father.

This requires a humble stance.

John 13.

The washing of the disciples feet, which we studied back in October of last year, was another poignant display of humility.

Taking the stance of the lowest servant in the house.

Serving even His betrayer

Leaving them an example to follow

Does God ask us to do what is beneath us? This question will never trouble us again if we consider the Lord of heaven taking a towel and washing feet. Elisabeth Elliot

The stance of the kingdom is that of humility.

The greatest display?

The cross. Which we will consider next week.

Consider how this moment is described…

Isaiah 53.

(Read and high text as I go…)

Example: Despised and rejected…man of sorrows…acquainted with grief…etc)

He had no form…he was not spectacular. Jesus, as a man, was pretty ordinary.

Isaiah 53 ESV

1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Jesus was humble. Humble enough to die for those whose very sins messed up his creation, destroyed his intimacy with us, and whose rebellion moved us to spit in his very face.

Phil 2:5-11.

Philippians 2:5–11 ESV

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Who, though he was in the form of God…

Though he WAS God.

Though he WAS the very creator and sustainer of the universe…

Colossians 1:15-20

Colossians 1:15–20 ESV

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

THE CREATOR of all the world….

The one who SPOKE the world into existence with nothing but a word….

The one who NOW SUSTAINS it and keeps is all holding together….

THIS ONE

WHO WAS GOD

WHO IS GOD

Thought nothing of his rightful place…

Did not demand the respect, worship, and obedience that was due to him for that position, for his holy sinless perfection….

But instead, chose to HUMBLE himself and become a servant of all..

A servant OBEDIENT….when He WAS and IS the MASTER, THE LORD…a servant obedient to DEATH..

A Cursed and terrible death.

For the likes of me.

What right do I have to be arrogant, proud, and demanding?

What right do I have to be entitled?

Who am I to claim such airs?

It was MY sin that put Him there.

I am a created thing.

I am finite. He is eternal.

Of all people HE had the right to claim deity and refuse to endure what he did and he would not have been wrong.

How or when have I ever humbled myself thus?

THIS IS THE GOSPEL.

And the gospel’s very charge is to humble us.

The very design of the gospel is to abase us; and the work of grace is begun and carried on in humiliation. Humility is not a mere ornament of a Christian, but an essential part of the new creature. It is a contradiction in terms, to be a Christian, and not humble. The Reformed Pastor, Chapter 3, Section 1. Richard Baxter

Jesus IS the ultimate display of humility.

The KING IS the living embodiment of humility.

The King is the standard for the subjects.

The King is the standard for the kingdom.

Church, can we honestly say that our lives are marked by a Jesus level humility?

Is humility the standard for our lives?

Are we seeking, praying, striving to live with the same humble attitude that the King of Creation displayed?

Too often, we are too busy justifying our pride.

The reality is, humility is declared as the standard for the kingdom.

Humility Declared

Humility is declared the posture of the kingdom.

Micah 6:6-8.

Micah 6:6–8 ESV

6 “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” 8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

God is looking for followers who will walk humbly.

Just before that great passage in Philippians of Jesus’ great humiliation, we see these words…

Phil 2:1-5.

Philippians 2:1–5 ESV

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

You see, the whole teaching on Christ’s humility WAS TO SERVE AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE MIND, THE ATTITUDE THAT SHOULD BE IN US.

How quick are we to die for our enemies?

How quick are we to forgive?

How quick are we to initiate restoration when we are the wronged party?

How quick are we to serve the unlovely?

To the degree that we can can say that we do, we will have a gauge of our humility.

I can tell you, I fail miserably.

Consider as well…

James 4:10.

James 4:10 ESV

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Matthew 18:1-4.

Matthew 18:1–4 ESV

1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 20:0-28.

Matthew 20:20–28 ESV

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22 Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Humility is declared as the standard for the Kingdom.

Humility as displayed by Jesus.

Nothing less is satisfactory.

Humility Defined

I know we considered this back in October when we looked on John 13, but let me review here.

When it comes to humility, we cannot have enough review.

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.

This quote has been attributed to C.S. Lewis. However, the C.S. Lewis Foundation has stated that this does NOT actually originate with Lewis.

Truth is, I am not sure where the statement came from.

Where ever it came from, it is a sound statement.

Jason Meyer explains it this way…

We can spend a lot of time thinking less of ourselves but we only end up thinking a lot about ourselves. The problem of pride does not boil down to whether we think high thoughts or low thoughts about ourselves but that we think lots of thoughts about ourselves.

Humility is fundamentally a form of self-forgetfulness as opposed to pride’s self-fixation. Humility can set you free because when you think about yourself less you are free to think about Christ more. Humility puts us on the path of grace; pride puts us on the path of opposition. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).

Jason Meyer

These thoughts can be active or passive.

They can be conscious or unconscious.

Truth is, we often thinking of ourselves and prioritizing ourselves even when we are not aware of it.

THUS, part of the battle for us is getting to the point of recognizing and repenting of where this self focus is present.

Praying for God to expose it.

Asking others to help us expose it.

So….

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.

While Lewis may not have made this comment, he did, however, say this in his book Mere Christianity…

Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call ‘humble’ nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.

If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed

C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity

The question is not, “Am I proud?”

The question IS, “Where is pride showing itself in my life?” Where must I repent of my pride?

We think ENTIRELY too much of OURSELVES and our wants and interests.

It is not about thinking less of ourselves…but simply thinking of ourselves less.

True humility is about self forgetfulness.

The essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less… True gospel-humility means I stop connecting every experience, every conversation, with myself. In fact, I stop thinking about myself. The freedom of self-forgetfulness. The blessed rest that only self-forgetfulness brings. Tim Keller

The question is, how do we acquire this level of humility, this level of self-forgetfulness?

Humility Cultivated

How to Weaken Pride and Cultivate Humility A list of Suggestions

ALWAYS

Reflect on the wonder of the cross of Christ. There is no greater exercise or practice that will lead one to humility than this.

The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatness is. Phillips Brooks

When you live at the foot of the cross, always looking up to Christ…when you come with a desire to know Christ and Him crucified…you will grow in humility. How can you not?

Christ hung naked upon the cross bearing the shame, humiliation, pain, cost, debt, and filth of our sin. Were it not for Him, it would have been us hanging naked upon the cross, being mocked, ridiculed, scorned, beaten, and with no hope of anything other than eternal torment in Hell to follow.

Learn to know Christ and him crucified. Learn to sing to him, and say, "Lord Jesus, you are my righteousness, I am your sin. You have taken upon yourself what is mine and given me what is yours. You have become what you were not so that I might become what I was not." --Martin Luther

To abandon all, to strip one's self of all, in order to seek and follow Jesus Christ naked to Bethlehem where He was born, naked to the hall where He was scourged, and naked to Calvary where He died on the cross, is so great a mystery that neither the thing nor the knowledge of it, is given to any but through faith in the Son of God.-- John Wesley

The nature of Christ's salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a Savior from Hell rather than a Savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness. --Arthur W. Pink

The Lord never came to deliver men from the consequences of their sins while yet those sins remained...Yet men, loving their sins and feeling nothing of their dread hatefulness, have, consistent with their low condition, constantly taken this word concerning the Lord to mean that he came to save them from the punishment of their sins. --George MacDonald

If you have eternal life at all, it simply means that you have the Son, Jesus Christ NOW! Eternal life is not a peculiar feeling inside! It is not your ultimate destination, to which you will go when you are dead. If you are born again, eternal life is that quality of life that you possess right now, at this very moment, in your own physical body, with your own two feet on the ground, and in the world TODAY! And where does this life come from? Of Him! He is that life! So if you have eternal life, it means that you have Somebody, Jesus Christ, and the life that you possess is of Him.--W. Ian Thomas

It is as if God the Father is saying to us: "Since I have told you everything in My Word, Who is My Son, I have no other words that can at present say anything or reveal anything to you beyond this. Fix your eyes on Him alone, for in Him I have told you all, revealed all, and in Him you will find more than you desire or ask. If you fix your eyes on Him, you will find everything, for He is My whole word and My reply, He is My whole vision and My whole revelation. --Anthony M. Coniaris

Living near the cross, reminding ourselves of how sinful and wicked we are apart from him keeps us humble.

Living near the cross and reminding ourselves that Jesus came to save us FROM OUR SINS, not the consequences of them, will help to keep us humble because it keeps ever before us the reality of our ongoing struggle with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

AS EACH DAY BEGINS

Begin your day by acknowledging your dependence upon God and your need for God. Control what thoughts we communicate to ourselves. We must communicate truth to ourselves. Each day that we rise, we are dependent on God to see us through. There is not a breath we breath, a step we step, a blink of the eye we blink, that God is not behind, empowering and enabling. We must recognize this reality and acknowledge it, asking God for His sustaining grace to see us through. This is in our minds. We must dwell on the reality of our need of Him and not our presupposed independence and self-sufficiency. We must realize that without Him, we are nothing and are capable of nothing. He is the creator and SUSTAINER of the universe.

Begin your day expressing gratefulness to God. An ungrateful person is a proud person. (See Stuarts Scotts List) I have said and will continue to say, we as Christians must be a grateful, thankful people. Thankfulness is a sign of a humble heart because it acknowledges that another has done something for you that either you could not do yourself or that they did not need/have to do. It focuses on the other and not on self and it acknowledges our need for others. One who is not thankful thinks that he does not need others, in fact will get offended when suggested that they need others. A proud person things that they have all they need in themselves and looks at the gifts and help of others as pity and is disgusted to think that others should think of them so. The mark of a mature Christian is a sincere thankfulness and gratitude. You show me an unthankful Christian and I will show you an immature Christian or a non-Christian.

Practice the spiritual disciplines-prayer, study of God's word, worship. Do this consistently each day and at the day's outset if possible.

If you had a child that was dating someone who never spent time with your child, who showed no interest in it, who, when spending time with your child, was only concerned about themselves and what they wanted to do, you would be a little concerned right? You might even counsel your child to break the relationship off because it is clear that the person is only interested in themselves and have no concern for your child and eventually, your child will get hurt or discarded when they are no longer needed by the person they are dating, right?

Well, the same stands true of our relationship with God. A true relationship has genuine desire and passion for the other person. There needs to be a real and genuine passion and desire for God in our hearts and lives. If there is no real desire to be with God, to know Him, to spend time with Him, we need to take a serious examination of our hearts.

Spending one on one time with God will enable us to get to know Him better, to fellowship with Him, to learn from Him, to be empowered and strengthened by Him. It reveals a dependence on Him and a desire to live in a way that pleases Him.

If you are a morning person and have the time in the AM, this is a good time to do this because it sets a certain tone for the day that is focusing and good.

Seize your commute time to memorize and meditate on scripture. If you have a drive to get to work, use this time to pray and mediate on Scripture. I know that at times, on longs drives, my mind gets going about my novel, my favorite show, or the last movie I have seen and in a two hour ride, nothing constructive was done in my mind. A better use of this time is to use that time to work on Scripture memory and meditation and to spend time talking with God. We have a limited amount of time and we should be thinking about how we can this time intentionally and purposefully. We fight this spiritual battle, this war on the flesh in our minds and flesh. What better to arm and equip ourselves than to use our mindless moments to load up with ammo from the word of God! We will use the Scripture to ward of temptation and resist the attacks of the devil. WE MUST BE PREPARED!

Cast your cares upon Him, for he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6- 1Pe 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 1Pe 5:7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Casting our cares upon God is a humble acknowledgment that we cannot handle our problems, that they are too big for us and we not sufficient to handle them. IT IS A DECLARATION OF DEPENDENCE ON GOD. It is a declaration of faith in God that He is able to handle our problems. It is a declaration of God being an important figure in our lives. It is a statement of humility as we depend on God to take care of us and meet our needs.

AS EACH DAY ENDS

At the end of each day, transfer the glory to God. For each act of saving, sanctifying, sustaining, and serving grace Don’t steal God's glory. Look back upon your day and acknowledge every blessing, every success, very achievement as God's and a result of God's goodness on our lives. Give God credit for His grace, strength, patience, joy, and love that he infused into us during the day that enabled us to behave, think, and act as we did.

Before going to sleep, receive this gift of sleep from God and acknowledge His purpose for sleep. Realize that sleep is an act of dependence on God for your body to do what his must. We are trusting Him to sustain and strengthen us. As with everything else, sleep is a gift of God to our bodies to enable them to regenerate and heal from the activities of the day. Were it not for God SUSTAINING hand, we would not be able to enjoy the luxury of sleep. We acknowledge that our sleep is a gift of God to our bodies and without sleep, we were not be able to accomplish anything or succeed. Sleep is necessary and we are dependent on God for it. We should acknowledge this dependency and thank for it.

Make your final thought an expression of thankfulness for the Savior's sacrifice on the cross as your substitution for sin. Combining a grateful heart with keeping the wonder of the cross near.

Add at least on God Sighting to your journal (My own)

FOR SPECIAL FOCUS

Study the attributes of God. The more we know and understand about God, the more clearly we see and understand ourselves and are gripped with His greatness and our insignificance. This will keep us humble and dependent on God. This is so important and it is the reason I began with a study of God on Sunday nights when I began here. It is so crucial to our lives that we know and understand God.

Study the doctrines of grace. What is Grace? Why is it so amazing? What's So Amazing about Grace? Philip Yancey Understanding grace and exactly what we have been given through it will be an amazing study and a humbling one as well.

Study the doctrine of sin. What truly is sin and why is it so devastating? Don't assume you know or understand. Even if you do, it never hurts to be refreshed from time to time what we have been saved from and what we would be like now were it not for the power of God in us.

Play golf as much as possible. If you are bad that is. And take the pros with you so that they will laugh when you fail. Keeps one humble.

Do something you are horrible at….

Laugh often, and laugh often at yourself. Don't be afraid to laugh at yourself and your mistakes. Someone who takes themselves too seriously is in danger of allowing pride to slip in or has already allowed it to slip in.

THROUGHOUT YOUR DAYS AND WEEKS

Identify evidences of grace in others

Keeps focus outward…

Encourage and serve others each and every day

Again, keeps focus outward

Invite and pursue correction.

Be teachable

Respond humbly to trials.

Be teachable

Conclusion

Big Idea: The stance of Kingdom Men and Women is exemplified through humility.

Humility Displayed

Humility Declared

Humility Defined

Humility Cultivated

We are called as Kingdom men and women to make humility the stance of our posture.

Pride is blindness to our faults, sins, and failings. Most importantly, pride is blind to the existence of itself. Therefore, the more proud you are, the more humble you will feel, and the more humble you are, the more proud you will feel. That is because true humility is the opening of the eyes to our personal sin, and one of the first things a humble person becomes aware of is his or her pride. Gospel-Powered Parenting, 2009, P&R Publishing, p. 115, Used by Permission. Get this book! William Farley

If you feel like you are humble, you probably are not as much so as you might think.

Church, as we humble ourselves and seek to grow in our humility, may we ever be growing together to become more like Jesus for the glory of God.

Application

Why is a living display of humility so powerful in influencing others to pursue Christ?

It is so uncommon. Since pride lives in all of us, true humility is rarely seen. And when it is, especially in extreme situations, it stands it. People notice.

Genuine humility reflects authentic love. Something we all desire and long for and thus, when we see it, are moved by it.

Besides our pride and selfishness, what makes it hard to live humbly?

Fear of the unknown

Past hurts and sorrows.

Why are we sometimes afraid of living humbly?

Being afraid of being abused or taken advantage of.

Afraid of what we might be asked to do, where we might be asked to go.

How do you respond to how humility was defined?

Which of the ways suggest to cultivate humility resonated most with you and why?

What other suggestions do you have that would cultivate a lifestyle of humility?

Pick three suggestions of how to cultivate humility in your life and make a plan for how to implement that into your life.