Last Sunday I ask you to think about the following Question: If you knew you only had one month to live, would you live your life differently than you are presently living it? I also suggested that we should all be following Jesus’ example when it comes to living out our lives here on earth. Four basic principles guided everything that Jesus did while on earth. We looked at the first 2 principles last Sunday, which were: (1) Jesus lived passionately (2) Jesus loved completely.
This morning I want us to discuss the other two Principles that Jesus lived by: The Third Principle is:
PRINCIPLE 3: JESUS LEARNED HUMILITY. (Jesus modeled humility)
Luke 2:52 says, “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.”
Even though Jesus was the Son of God He knew the value of humility. He knew what the Jewish Scriptures said about humility. For instance He knew that Moses was praised for being the most humble man on the face of the earth, while King Amon, and King Zedekiah, were considered two of the most wicked Kings Israel ever had because they refused to humble themselves before God.
Jesus would have known and may have even quoted Psalm 25:9 which says, “He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.”
He would have also been familiar with Psalm 147:6 which says, “The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.”
The Apostle Paul certainly understood the importance of Humility, especially when it came to Jesus. Follow along with me as I read Philippians 2:5-8 (NIV). It says,
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!”
The phrase He humbled Himself and became obedient to death” is significant. You see humility and obedience go hand in hand.
The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus learned obedience from what He suffered. So even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. Hebrews 5:8 NLT
Jesus not only learned humility, but modeled it in every way. He once said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.”
Paul reminds us of this when he says that Jesus took upon himself the very nature of a servant and became obedient unto death on a cross.
As Christians we are supposed to do our best to be like Christ. With this in mind, we must learn the importance of humbling ourselves before God. Humility is an important part of the kind of Character that God wants to develop in each one of us.
God builds or shapes our Character to match that of His Son Jesus Christ. He uses two main tools to accomplish this task.
(1) The First is His Word.
Reading and Studying God’s Word regularly will build your character. As His Disciples our main goal should be to become more like Him. In order to accomplish that goal we must take the time to read and study God’s Word and allow it to transform our lives. Unfortunately although the great majority of Americans would agree that reading the Bible is important to maintaining your spiritual health most Christians today neglect God’s Word as much as most of us neglect eating the fruits and vegetables that are essential to a balanced diet.
Have you ever noticed we have the tendency to become more like the people we hang out with? You catch yourself saying or doing the things that your friends say and do.
Well it’s the same way with the Lord. The more time you spend with Him, reading His Word, the more you will become like Him.
Illustration: Back in the 1800’s a young man was looking for a job and went to the local logging company to apply for a job. The foreman asked him if he could cut a tree down with an ax. The young man said yes, and proceeded to take his ax, walk over to a tree and drop it like an old pro.
The foreman was impressed and hired him. On Monday, the young man outperformed everyone else on the crew. But, each day after that, he got slower and slower and by Friday, he barely managed to cut down one tree.
He worked just as hard; swinging his ax, hitting the tree over and over again, but it just didn’t work as well as it did on Monday. Finally, the young man who was nearly exhausted laid down his ax, and sat down.
At this point the foreman came over and told the young man he knew what the problem was. He explained to the young man that he had been so busy cutting trees down that he had forgotten to sharpen his ax. Consequently it had become dull and was essentially useless since it had not been kept in good condition.
I believe the number one excuse that Christians give for not reading the Bible is that they just don’t have time, that they are just too busy. Yet, when we neglect God’s Word, we are like an ax that has been neglected. We become spiritually dull and are essentially useless.
So the first tool God uses to sharpen us, and build our character, and make us more like His Son is His Word.
(2) The second tool that God uses build our characters is problems.
I can only speak for myself here, but I would much prefer having my Character shaped by God’s Word rather than by problems. But the truth is God uses both.
We’ve all got problems. Someone once said the only people who don’t have problems are those that are dead. And it’s true, if you’re alive and breathing then you’re going to experience problems from time to time. That’s just a part of life. But it’s more than that, God uses the problems and difficulties we experience in life to make us more like Jesus.
Illustration: A group of ladies met once a week to study the Bible. During one particular session they were studying the 3rd chapter of the book of Malachi when they came across the third verse which says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."
The women were puzzled by this verse and didn’t understand what it revealed to them about the nature and work of God.
One of the women offered to find out more about the process of refining silver, and report back to the rest of the group at their next meeting.
The following week, the woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to visit with him at his workshop. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her visit, except that she was curious about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silversmith work, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained to her that in refining silver, you have to hold the silver in the middle of the fire, where the flames are the hottest so all of the impurities will be burned away.
When He said this, the woman’s mind immediately went back to that verse in Malichai which says, "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."
Then she asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the entire time the silver was being refined. The man answered yes, that not only did he have to sit there holding the silver, but that he had to also keep his eyes on it the entire time it was in the fire. He went on to explain that if the silver was left in the fire even a moment too long it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "But how do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that’s easy - when I see my image in it."
God uses the problems in our lives to build our character and to get rid of all of the impurities in our lives. But He doesn’t abandon us in the midst of our problems. He’s right there with us, keeping an eye on us, making sure that the flames are doing what they are supposed to do. And when the time is right, when He can see His own image in us, then and only then will we be taken out of the fire.
Now let’s turn our attention to the fourth and final principle that Jesus lived by.
(4) The Fourth PRINCIPLE is: JESUS LEFT BOLDY.
Not only did Jesus live passionately, love completely, learn and model humility but He also left boldly. Now you’re probably wondering what I mean by that. Well, let’s look at a verse of Scripture that I believe will help us understand this principle better.
Luke 9:51 (NIV) says, “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” NLT
Remember I said last week that I believe Jesus knew when He was going to die. This verse supports the idea that even though Jesus knew what was going to happen him in Jerusalem that He went anyway. But it’s even more than that. Notice the word “resolutely.”
According to Dictionary.com resolutely means, “firmly resolved or determined; set in purpose or opinion.”
2. A second definition for resolutely is characterized by firmness and determination.
It lists the following words as synonyms for resolutely: Firm, Steadfast, Fixed, Unwavering,
Jesus knew what He had been sent to earth to do and His determination to complete His mission was unwavering. He was steadfast in his commitment to become the perfect sacrifice for our sins.
With that in mind, let’s look at another passage of Scripture that also points to the determination and resolve that Jesus had to complete His purpose and mission in life. Matthew 16:21
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
Jesus knew why He was here, and he knew the time had come, and no-one including Peter was going to keep Him from fulfilling his mission.
If you knew you only had 30 days to live you would be just as committed to completing your purpose? I believe you would be, I don’t think you would waste time or energy on things that didn’t really matter. Instead, I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that if you knew your days were numbered that you would do your best to leave a lasting legacy.
But that’s not all you would do, I believe you would also do everything you could to prepare for eternity. This earth is not our home. We are strangers is a strange Land. The Bible clearly teaches that you were made for eternity.
There is something in our DNA that tells us that there is more to life than just the here and now. We instinctively know that there is life after death, that there is a God, who wants us to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. We were made to leave this world and enter eternity.
But that’s not all, we were also made to leave a legacy. One of the greatest barriers that keeps us from leaving a legacy is trying to please everyone else. Trying to live our lives in such a way that it meets with everyone else’s approval.
Let me save you a lot of heartache this morning. Don’t live your life trying to please everybody, because it can’t be done! The only person you have to worry about pleasing is God, and I don’t know about you but I would sure like to hear Him say, “Well done my good and faithful servant,” one of these days.
Everyone has an opinion about how you should live your life, but in the end there is only one opinion that really matters and that is our Heavenly Father’s.
God is not going to look at you and say why weren’t you more like Billy Graham or Bro. Matthew? He’s going to say why weren’t you more like the person I made you to be? Why didn’t you live the life I made you to live?
Conclusion: I want to share a story with you in closing. It’s a story I heard several years ago about a high school football player. I don’t know his name, or what number he wore on his uniform or anything like that. All I know is that this kid wasn’t really that great of an athlete.
He played on the kickoff team, and was a second string linebacker but hardly ever played unless his team got way ahead. Even though this young man didn’t get to play very much his dad was always in the stands to support him and cheer him on.
When it came time for his last home game, the last game of his senior year he stormed into the coaches’ office with a sense of urgency about him.
He said, “Coach, you’ve got to let me start tonight, please coach, please let me start tonight! The coach said, “I know you’re a senior but I can’t make any promises. This is an important game, a game we’ve got to win if we are going to make the playoffs.”
But the young man begged and pleaded with the coach until finally right before the game started the coach said, “Okay, I’ll let you play the first series.”
The young man was so excited He couldn’t wait to get out onto the field. When it finally came time for the defensive team to take the field, he was the first one in the huddle.
The first play from scrimmage the opposing quarterback handed the ball off to the fullback, but to everyone’s surprise this second string linebacker who hardly ever played nailed him in the backfield for a 5 yard loss.
On the next play from scrimmage the quarterback went back to pass and the same young linebacker blitzed and sacked the quarterback for another 5 yard loss. The young man played with reckless abandon, like a man on a mission.
In fact he played so well, the coach let him play the entire game. He ended up with over 20 tackles and at the end of the game as he was running off the field the coach grabbed him by the helmet and he said, “Son, what in the world got into you tonight? He said that’s one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen a high school linebacker play. I don’t get it. What happened?” He said, “Well, coach, you know my dad has always supported me by coming to all of my games and cheering me on even though he’s blind.” The coach said, “Yeah, I know who your dad is, and I know he’s blind, but what’s that got to do with the way you played tonight.” Then the young man said, “Well, you see coach, my dad died last night and I know that He is in Heaven tonight and that this is the first game he’s ever been able to see me play. That’s why I had to play. I was playing for him and that made all the difference in the world.”
So, the question I want to leave you with today is this: Who are you playing for? Who are you trying to impress? Who are you trying to please? The only one that really matters is the One who made you, the one who gave you the talents and abilities to play the game, the One who called your number and put you into the game. Your Heavenly Father. His opinion is the only One that really matters.
Jesus lived a life of humility and so should we.
Jesus lived with a sense of purpose that would not be denied and so should we.
Invitation: You’re never really ready to live until you are ready to leave so let me ask you. Are you ready to leave this morning and I’m not talking about leaving this auditorium? I’m talking about leaving this life? If you knew you were going to die today do you know for sure that you’d go to Heaven? Are you ready to leave? If not, you can be. All you have to do is confess your sins to God and invite Jesus Christ into your life, and you can do that right here and right now. Let’s stand and sing our hymn of invitation.
