C3K Church
Humility Wins
Okay, tonight I'm going to share a little bit of what last week I started talking about the power of humility, tonight I kind of want to do a part two okay, and I call it humility wins, okay, we're watching the Olympics and people are always happy when someone wins, isn't that true, but you know, that's great, but these things will pass away, but the things of God, the Word of God will never pass away and there's certain things that supersede a gold medal, if you want a gold medal, let's have a gold medal in faith, let's have a gold medal in love, let's have a gold medal in humility, okay, so that's what I want to share on tonight, humility wins, and we talked last night about being humble, about humble, humble means to be modest, modest, it means that you're not a show-off, you're not bragging, that you are not arrogant or boasting, but you're a modest person, you can control yourself, you can be excited about things and you can be confident, but being over the top is prideful, so humility, what is humility, we know what humble is, what is humility, humility is basically the quality or the characteristic of being humble, so some people can say, oh yeah I'm humble, but are they being humble, are they acting humble, is it a characteristic of their nature or their personality, so I want to have a look at humility, now humility is about self, you know, if somebody's always talking about themselves and how great they are, guess what, they're not really humble, and the world will tell us to look after yourself, it's all about you, you deserve it, me, me, me, I, I, and that's what the world says, you lift yourself up, you push yourself, you promote yourself, it talks about self-esteem and self-worth and self-image and there's people making lots and lots of money giving these self-help seminars and writing books and all this stuff, and I heard something funny on the radio when I was going to work the other day and this guy was saying, I read this self-help book and he said, I felt worse after I read it, I thought that was quite funny because there's so many self-help things out there and it's just people making money off other people's weaknesses or lack, so that's what the world says, lift yourself up, the devil says you're a loser, the devil will bring you down, he'll say you're not worth it, you're a loser, you should quit now, why do you even bother, nobody likes you, no one will ever like you, he pulls you down, the world lifts you up too much to be prideful and the devil will pull you down, but God, God is the great equalizer, so I want to see what Jesus and what the word of God says about humility because humility does win, and this is a story, Jesus told lots of stories and this is a story about humility, he said he spoke this parable, this story, to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, so these are barrisys actually, they were people who thought, yeah, I'm a really good person, I'm really holy, I'm really religious, okay, so they thought that they were righteous and they despised others, so they thought they were really good and others were really bad, and then he says this, two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector, the Pharisees were the religious leaders, okay, they were supposed to know God and follow God and know the word of God, but this particular group were very religious and very legalistic and very critical and judgmental, okay, so you've got this Pharisee who's supposed to be holy and then at the other end of the skull you've got this tax collector who everyone despised, no one likes tax collectors, anyway, so you've got these two people, and Jesus said they both went up to the temple to pray, okay, the religious man and a tax collector, this is Jesus' story, and he says this, the Pharisee stood and prayed us with himself, so the religious man is saying God, I thank you, that I'm not like other men, in other words I'm better than all these people, I'm not like other men, extortionists like thieves, unjust, mean, unfair, adulterous, unfaithful, and even as this tax collector, so he's saying I'm really good, I'm not like all these bad people and I'm better than him, and this is I fast twice a week, oh very good, I give tithes of all that I possess, now that's good, to tithe is good, to fast is good, but to think you're better than others, and then criticize somebody, that person over there, when he's actually supposedly praying to God, that's not very holy, that's not very nice, that's not very righteous, so Jesus is making a point there, so this man is praying and he's saying I'm better than, I fast, I give tithes, I'm really good, I'm really holy, and saying basically God, be impressed with me, I'm pretty good, be impressed, but what about the tax collector, and then Jesus said this, and the tax collector standing afar off, so he felt like he couldn't even stand close to the presence of God, he stood far off away from everyone, he wouldn't so much as raise his eyes to heaven, so he knew that he was in the presence of God, he knew his sinfulness, he beat his breast, oh my heart is so black, so dark, I'm so full of sin, I don't belong here, and he said this God, be merciful to me, a sinner, wow, what a story, so Jesus is saying the person is supposed to be holy and righteous, he's actually the one in sin, the one who's actually in sin is repenting, he's saying God, don't be impressed with me, the other man's saying be merciful to me, see the contrast, one is full of pride, and one is full of humility, so what happens here, humility wins, Jesus says it, I tell you, this man, the tax collector, this man, he went down to his house, in other words he went home, he went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted, so the man who thought he was so wonderful actually was humbled, he looked pretty bad, but the one who humbled himself and said Lord be merciful, give me, have mercy on me, it says he went home justified, what's justified man, justified means to move from a state of sin to a state of righteousness, and it's not anything that you really did except ask God to move you, it's when God moves you from one place to another, it's like when we gave our hearts to the Lord, and we said Lord forgive me, save me, he moved us from a place of unrighteousness to a place of righteousness, therefore we are justified, it's justified never sinned, so this is a simple little story, a few verses, but it's a picture of humility, so Jesus is speaking this to the disciples, to his followers at that time, so sometimes people learn, who learns when they hear things, some people learn when they hear, some people learn more when they see, they're more visual, okay, so then there's another example, and Jesus's teaching is disciples, he says at the time the disciples came to Jesus and they said who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, you know that's kind of a prideful thing, like am I the greatest, he's saying who's the greatest, and Jesus did this, he called a little child to him, see before he told a story, a parable, now he's actually using a concrete example, he called a little child to him, hey Josh come in, come on, so the little child comes to him, he sets him in the midst of them, so the little child comes over and Jesus puts his child there, this is what he said, surely I say to you, unless you are converted, in other words unless you change, unless there's transformation, unless you have moved into that place, and you become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven, wow, so he's giving this example, unless you're like a child, it doesn't mean child, it doesn't mean childish, means childlike faith, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, so what did that little kid do, that little kid wanted to be like Jesus, oh Jesus is picking me, ooh, ran over, he was there, he loved to be there Jesus, he trusted Jesus, and whatever Jesus said, he'd believe it, that's the faith of a child, that's humility, you know people who argue all the time, go on, prove it, prove it, that's pride, they don't have childlike faith, Jesus said you need the faith of a child, you need to have that trust, you need to believe and don't argue and contest everything, that you want to be near Jesus, not keep him far away, so this is a powerful another few verses, but it shows you the power of humility and how important it is, what's in the heart really manners to the Lord, you know the world, you know humility is another word for humility or humble is what meek, very meek, and a lot of people think meekness is weakness, meekness is weakness, that's what the world says, but Jesus says no, no, no, no, no, absolutely not, what did he say? In the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, Jesus said this, blessed are the meek, blessed are the humble, why, for they shall inherit the earth, you know sometimes we just look at little things, I want this and I want that, he says no no, you'll get more than that, if you'll meet your humble, you will be very blessed, you'll have the whole world at your feet, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the humble desire of righteousness and they shall be filled, we show humility when we hunger and thirst for righteousness, but the right things for God's way, okay, and we will be blessed if we are meek, meekness is not weakness, meekness is strength under control, it's strength under control, it's not being pushed around, it's not being passive and easily overcome, it is a quiet strength and it's strength under control, that's what humility is, that's what meekness is, and hungering for the right things, not power, not fame, not popularity, but hungering for the things of God, we will be filled, you know, you can have plenty of money, you can have plenty of fame, you can have plenty of popularity, but there's still emptiness, there's still things missing, you know, I'm surprised but I'm not, how many times you read in the news about famous or rich people who are suddenly found dead, it's quite shocking actually and you think, you would naturally think wow, they had everything going for them, they had it all, but they had nothing, their lives were empty, but we shall be filled, amen? So humility, our example of course was Jesus, Jesus, he washed his disciples' feet, he came from heaven, left the throne there, came here and being found in the appearances of a man, he humbled himself, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross, he humbled himself to take on the sins of the whole world, became obedient and died a criminal's death, even though he was not guilty, we were the guilty ones, he was the innocent, the innocent died for the guilty to make us innocent in the sight of God, therefore, because he humbled himself, because he had died the Lord, it says God highly exalted him, when you humbly yourself, God will exalt you, we don't have to exalt ourselves, we don't have to promote ourselves, God highly exalted him and has given him the name, which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, everyone will acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, everyone will acknowledge he is Lord, he's exalted, he's honored, he's promoted, he has a good name and you know when we walk in humility and obedience, we too will be exalted, we too will be honored, we too will have a good name, not to impress anybody, but to please the Lord, to please the Lord. What else does the Bible say about humility, because humility wins, God resists the proud, the opposite of humble is prideful, the opposite of humility is proud, pride, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble, what does it resist mean, it means keep your distance, it means opposing, he opposes the proud, but he gives grace, come on, let me help you, let me lift you up, let me favor you, gives grace to the humble, we all need grace, we all need grace, therefore submit to God, resist the devil, don't resist God, resist the devil and he will flee from you, if you want to have less problems and less resistance and less, hassles in your life, submit to God, I mean we have things that go on in life, but the hiccups, they're molehills, not mountains, okay, resist the devil and he will flee from you, why, because we are submitted to God, when you submit yourself to God, you are automatically resisting the devil, you're pushing him back, you're opposing him, when you submit to God, he takes care of things for you, and it says draw near to God, no, but it's don't keep your distance, you get close, you know sometimes we do things or say things and we feel bad about it and we just like, oh God I'm not worthy, I feel really bad, no that's the time that we need to come close, draw near to God and he will draw near to you, humble yourselves in the side of the Lord and he will lift you up, when you're feeling down, when things aren't going well, when you're disappointed, you know what, say Lord, I'm feeling down, I'm feeling disappointed, I'm feeling a bit angry actually, draw near to him and he'll lift you up and say you know what, it's going to be alright, it's going to be alright, it's going to happen, it'll work out, it's just not the right time now, I'm teaching you some valuable lessons, you're going to grow through this, your faith is going to increase through this, he will lift you up, he will encourage you and he will direct your steps, okay, humble yourselves, God will lift you up. And then we have in Colossians, this is Paul, the Apostle Paul, he learned about humility, he was very prideful until he met Jesus and Jesus knocked him off his horse and when he got up he was a new man. Colossians 3.12 says, "Therefore as the elect of God because we belong to the Lord, because we have chosen my God, because we are his followers, his children, we are holy and beloved, we are not perfect, but we are holy and beloved, he says this, put on tender mercies, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, weakness, long suffering, patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, he's saying put on these things, you know how you put on your clothes, your clothes cover you, you hope they do, you put on your clothes and they cover you, it's a covering, when we put on mercy, when we put on kindness, when we put on humility, we are covered, we are covered, we represent the Lord well and this is bearing with one another, putting up with them and they put up with us, we have grace, we are kind, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, you know, we're not perfect and they're not perfect, the trouble is we just know how unperfect they are or imperfect they are, we forget about ourselves and then he says this, if anyone has a complaint against another, in other words somebody bothered you, somebody said something, somebody did something, if you've got to complain against them, even as Christ forgave you, you must also forgive them, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do, must do, forgive them, doesn't matter, it doesn't matter how you feel about it, you may not want to feel like it, but just speak it out, Lord I forgive them, I release forgiveness, I release them Lord for you to do your will in their lives, you have your way, I'm not going to judge, I'm not going to bring justice in this, Lord it's up to you, but I forgive them, even though I don't feel like it, even though I don't want to, I must therefore, I will, therefore, I do, and forgive them. And then in the book of Peter, he's talking about young people, likewise you younger people, like, once you younger people, submit yourself to your elders, yes, all of you will be sick to one another, and be closed, again that word, close, be covered with humility, don't be covered with anger and frustration, don't be covered with judgment, be closed with humility, again like James said, Peter's saying it, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble, humility wins, clothe yourself, carve yourself with humility through submitting to each other, the younger people need to submit to the elders because they have experience because they care about them, they like your mum and dad in the faith, okay, or your auntie or your uncle or whatever, submit yourself to them, they are praying for you, they are covering you, but also be submissive to one another, okay, love one another, forgive one another, care about one another, give grace, give grace, okay. And then in verse 6 it says, "Therefore, to be humble and express humility to others, we must be humble under the hand of God, we must submit ourselves to Him, therefore humble yourselves under the My hand of God that He may exalt you in due time, there is the timing of the Lord, cast all your care upon Him for He cares for you, sometimes in our pride we think we know best, I know how to handle this, I know what they need, I know what to do, but sometimes we don't, in fact most of the time we don't, we need to humble ourselves under the hand of God and say, "Lord, I belong to you, my life belongs to you, my decisions belong to you, my schedule belongs to you, my future, my business, my studies, my relationships, my everything belongs to you, cast all your care because we've got a lot of cares, there's a lot of things that we're concerned about, there's a lot of things that we care about, but give it to Him, give it to Him, take it to the Lord in prayer, talk to Him about it, don't just think about it in here, talk to the Lord about it, express yourself because He cares for you, He loves you, He loves you, He cares about us, okay? So humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God because He cares for us, don't care what the world thinks, don't care what people say about you, don't care what people think about you, care about Him, walk with Him and follow Him, be humble and you will win, you will win, amen? Father, we just thank You for Your awesome word, we thank You for Your awesome word, Lord, we thank You that being humble, expressing and showing humility means we are being like Jesus. Being humble wins a place in heaven. We acknowledge our name for a Savior, that's humility and Lord You give us a future and a hope with You. Lord humility gives us great strength, it's not weakness, it's great strength. Humility wins us favour in grace and respect and promotion, it wins us help from You. Lord, we just thank You that You cause us to be humble, we make that choice, we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. You resist the proud that You give grace. Lord, we just thank You for that. Lord, if there's any pride in our lives, show us. Lord, we don't want to be like that Pharisee who thought He was so holy and so right and so good. Lord, we say be merciful to us, show us those blind spots that we have and help us to walk in humility because humility always wins. Jesus name, Amen. Okay, have a blessed week everyone. I just want to pray for anyone who needs prayer. Hi everyone online, goodbye and we'll see you again soon. Have an awesome week and say hi to somebody. Amen. [BLANK_AUDIO]