1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,440 ZACHARIA CHAPTER 9, VERSE 9. 2 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:13,240 Close to the end of the Old Testament. 3 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:18,120 Zachariah chapter 9, verse 9. 4 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:25,800 Today is what we call Palm Sunday in remembrance of the day that Jesus erode into Jerusalem 5 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:32,360 and the crowds gathered around and began to lay the palm branches on the road as He traveled 6 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:34,640 into town on the donkey. 7 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:41,440 Thank you to Miss Angeline and Ernest for getting these palms for us today. 8 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:45,040 Zachariah chapter 9, verse 9. 9 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:49,560 Just one short verse. 10 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:56,400 When Jesus erode into town on that donkey, this was something that had been prophesied 11 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:00,000 over 500 years before that event took place. 12 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,720 We see this prophecy here in Zachariah chapter 9, verse 9. 13 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:08,440 We'll read the verse and we'll pray and get started. 14 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:12,840 Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion! 15 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:16,120 Shout in triumph, daughter Jerusalem! 16 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:19,280 Look, your King is coming to you. 17 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:26,400 He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of 18 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:27,400 a donkey. 19 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:28,400 Let's pray. 20 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,320 Father God, we come to you this morning and we thank you for these words and we thank 21 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:38,320 you that all these years ago that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy. 22 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:42,720 That your Son, dear Lord, the Savior of the world, the King of Kings, come riding into 23 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:47,960 town that day, dear Lord, to bring about salvation for all. 24 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:52,160 So God, I pray that as we look at your word today that we can just be blessed that your 25 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:55,120 Holy Spirit would speak to us, dear Lord. 26 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:59,600 That we would be free of worries and distractions and things of the world and that for these 27 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:02,880 few minutes, dear Lord, we would hear from you and listen to you, dear Lord. 28 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:05,760 I pray that you just let your Holy Spirit be among us. 29 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:07,400 Hide me behind the cross, dear Lord. 30 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:12,480 Take away any fear or pride that's in me and I pray that you would help me to do a good 31 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:14,200 job to preach and teach your word. 32 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:18,960 God, offer your glory that everything we do today causes us to seek you, dear Lord. 33 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:20,840 That it's your word that speaks to us. 34 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:27,440 That it's your Spirit that speaks to our heart today and I ask these things in Jesus' name. 35 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,720 Amen. 36 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:35,680 This prophecy in Zechariah, along with many others that we see in the Old Testament, is 37 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:41,720 a prophecy that was pointing God's people forward to something great that was coming. 38 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:47,280 To someone great who was coming, to the Savior of the world who was coming. 39 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:53,320 And this prophecy calls God's people to look for that day, to long for that day, to rejoice 40 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:54,320 in that day. 41 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:55,320 What does it say? 42 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,080 It says, rejoice greatly, daughter Zion. 43 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:01,480 Shout and triumph, daughter Jerusalem. 44 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,480 Look your King is coming to you. 45 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:11,160 Now certainly God's people, after hearing this for many years, for hundreds of years, 46 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:16,080 longed for that day that they would see their King, that they would finally have a good 47 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:21,600 King who would come in and who would succeed where all the other Kings of God's people 48 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:24,440 had failed time and time again. 49 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:28,880 They longed for that King that would come in, that would ultimately give them freedom 50 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:35,040 and deliverance, that would come in with power and strength and with a rod of iron. 51 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:39,480 And this prophecy pointed forward to the day that that King would come. 52 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:46,320 Oh, what a day of rejoicing that should be when we hear of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 53 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:52,720 When those crowds all those years ago realized and understood this Jesus who's been on the 54 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:55,920 scene doing these miracles and preaching and teaching. 55 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,880 This is the one this passage was talking about. 56 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:00,980 This is the King who was coming. 57 00:04:00,980 --> 00:04:05,080 And so God's word called the people to rejoice. 58 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:06,640 And what does it say of this King? 59 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:11,080 It says that he is righteous and he is victorious. 60 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:15,960 This is the kind of language that you long for when you're looking for a King. 61 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:21,120 You look for one who's going to come in strongly with power, who's going to be righteous. 62 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:22,200 That is, he's good. 63 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:24,000 He does what is right. 64 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:25,960 He is strong in every way. 65 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:27,420 He's victorious. 66 00:04:27,420 --> 00:04:33,360 He's going to give you deliverance from all your enemies, whatever your enemy may be. 67 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:38,140 The King who's coming is going to deliver you from your enemies. 68 00:04:38,140 --> 00:04:41,020 And oh, what a glorious passage this is. 69 00:04:41,020 --> 00:04:47,420 This King who's going to come riding into town righteous and victorious. 70 00:04:47,420 --> 00:04:50,120 But then what does it also say about the King? 71 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:56,460 He's going to be righteous and victorious and humble and riding on a donkey. 72 00:04:56,460 --> 00:04:59,560 Everything sounded pretty good in the first part of that, but that last part, that doesn't 73 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:01,760 really sound like a King. 74 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:08,680 Kings come in strong and victorious and righteous riding on a horse, but not so for the Son 75 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:13,420 of God, not so for the King of Kings. 76 00:05:13,420 --> 00:05:17,600 This King was going to be far different than the other Kings of the world. 77 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:22,160 He was going to come into town in a much different way. 78 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,300 Most Kings, I suspect, would have come into town. 79 00:05:24,300 --> 00:05:27,520 They would have had people in front of them and they would have probably been carried 80 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,080 and everybody would have known they were there. 81 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:34,440 Much would have probably sounded and they would have been adorned in the best clothes, 82 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:38,800 riding in probably a nice chariot or being carried by other people in some kind of gold 83 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:40,040 chair of some kind. 84 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:41,040 Who knows? 85 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:45,380 But I can just about assure you that Kings of those days would have come in and made 86 00:05:45,380 --> 00:05:47,380 a grand entrance. 87 00:05:47,380 --> 00:05:53,240 And perhaps many people in Jesus' day were expecting such a grand entrance. 88 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:57,920 But if they were, they didn't remember this passage or weren't familiar with it because 89 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:05,240 this King was going to come into town humble and riding on a donkey. 90 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:09,000 Now a donkey is not the kind of animal that you think of when you think of a fierce and 91 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:11,480 fighting and strong King. 92 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:13,200 You don't think about a donkey. 93 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,360 We don't think of donkeys as being powerful and strong. 94 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:19,200 You don't see a Ford donkey, you see a Ford Mustang. 95 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:21,160 We put horses on our cars. 96 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:23,540 We think of our Kings as riding horses. 97 00:06:23,540 --> 00:06:25,480 You look at a Ferrari, what's on a Ferrari? 98 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:26,960 It's a horse. 99 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:28,360 That's what Kings ride. 100 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:29,360 Kings ride horses. 101 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,160 And I'll tell you, spoiler alert, I'm going to tell you the end of the story. 102 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:39,960 One day Jesus is going to come and he's going to be riding on a horse as a King should. 103 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:48,040 But when Jesus came all those years ago, he came riding on a humble donkey. 104 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:49,560 Jesus was humble. 105 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:54,080 Now I was surprised as I was looking at this and thinking about this this week and all 106 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:59,520 the passages that call Jesus humble in the New Testament and there really aren't any. 107 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:04,880 We look at Philippians and we and we see the humility of Jesus described for us. 108 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:09,980 But even though we may not see the words, okay, and Jesus was humble in the scriptures, 109 00:07:09,980 --> 00:07:17,940 what we see is the life of Jesus and what we see time and time again is a humble Savior. 110 00:07:17,940 --> 00:07:20,320 We see it from his humble birth. 111 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:26,660 We see it from his humble entry into Jerusalem here as he is riding on a donkey. 112 00:07:26,660 --> 00:07:32,260 And what a beautiful quality of Jesus that we need to pay attention to. 113 00:07:32,260 --> 00:07:34,720 We need humility in our life. 114 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:37,880 And maybe some of you today, you have humility in your life. 115 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:42,320 Maybe, maybe there are some today and maybe we have a little humility, but maybe we don't 116 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:44,020 have enough humility. 117 00:07:44,020 --> 00:07:47,660 Maybe there are some today, if we're honest, we don't have any humility. 118 00:07:47,660 --> 00:07:53,700 We are ate up with pride, but we need to look at Jesus and the humility of Jesus and who 119 00:07:53,700 --> 00:07:58,840 Jesus is because pride comes before fall. 120 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:00,980 Pride gets us in a lot of trouble. 121 00:08:00,980 --> 00:08:03,580 That's a big problem in our world today is pride. 122 00:08:03,580 --> 00:08:08,120 And we have to be careful that we don't fall into that trap of pride, but that we follow 123 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:14,320 the example of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords who showed us humility time and time 124 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:16,640 again in his ministry. 125 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:22,580 You see, pride gets us in trouble because pride doesn't need God and pride doesn't care 126 00:08:22,580 --> 00:08:24,160 about other people. 127 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:29,220 And when pride begins to take over in our life, why would we need God? 128 00:08:29,220 --> 00:08:33,380 If we are proud, we can do all things ourselves. 129 00:08:33,380 --> 00:08:35,880 Pride says I can do all things. 130 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:39,540 Humility says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 131 00:08:39,540 --> 00:08:42,340 And so we have to come to this realization in our life. 132 00:08:42,340 --> 00:08:48,540 We have to come to this point of humility where we realize that it's not about us, where 133 00:08:48,540 --> 00:08:54,220 we realize that we are not strong enough, that nothing we do is because of how smart 134 00:08:54,220 --> 00:08:58,260 we are or because of how good looking we are. 135 00:08:58,260 --> 00:09:01,540 Spoiler alert, you're not the best looking person in the world. 136 00:09:01,540 --> 00:09:03,620 You're not the smartest person in the world. 137 00:09:03,620 --> 00:09:05,820 You're not the strongest person in the world. 138 00:09:05,820 --> 00:09:10,500 There's someone who is stronger than you and smarter than you and better looking than you. 139 00:09:10,500 --> 00:09:14,980 And pride wants to tell us that we are the best that we can be and we are better than 140 00:09:14,980 --> 00:09:17,820 all else and we don't need anything else. 141 00:09:17,820 --> 00:09:21,260 And that will lead to a massive collapse in our life. 142 00:09:21,260 --> 00:09:23,620 And we see it, I believe, in our culture today. 143 00:09:23,620 --> 00:09:27,040 I believe we see pride running rampant in our culture today. 144 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:32,100 And when pride is fully grown, it turns into narcissism. 145 00:09:32,100 --> 00:09:36,980 Narcissism is when we think that there is no one who is better than us. 146 00:09:36,980 --> 00:09:40,040 And we, in a sense, make our own self a God. 147 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:46,260 And we get in a bad place when we fall into the trap of pride because pride says there 148 00:09:46,260 --> 00:09:47,900 is no need for God. 149 00:09:47,900 --> 00:09:50,580 But apart from God, we are hopeless. 150 00:09:50,580 --> 00:09:55,500 And so we need to learn from the humility of Jesus Christ and we need to know that we 151 00:09:55,500 --> 00:10:01,860 must humble ourself before God, that we must humble ourself before Jesus Christ. 152 00:10:01,860 --> 00:10:06,140 Even Jesus, the Son of God, was humble in his life. 153 00:10:06,140 --> 00:10:11,100 And oh, what a tragedy it is when we fall into the trap of pride, when we fall into 154 00:10:11,100 --> 00:10:14,140 the trap of narcissism. 155 00:10:14,140 --> 00:10:19,920 Because one, we have no need for God and two, we don't care about other people. 156 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:23,620 But neither of these things is how Jesus lived his life. 157 00:10:23,620 --> 00:10:25,660 Jesus knew that he depended on the Father. 158 00:10:25,660 --> 00:10:27,120 He trusted the Father. 159 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:28,680 He listened to the Father. 160 00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:30,160 He prayed to the Father. 161 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:35,140 He desired to do the will of the Father because he was humble and he knew that he needed the 162 00:10:35,140 --> 00:10:36,140 Father. 163 00:10:36,140 --> 00:10:37,980 And so it is for us today. 164 00:10:37,980 --> 00:10:40,640 We must humble ourself before God. 165 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:44,820 We need to acknowledge today, and maybe there are some in here that need to acknowledge 166 00:10:44,820 --> 00:10:47,300 that you need God in your life. 167 00:10:47,300 --> 00:10:48,660 You're not good enough. 168 00:10:48,660 --> 00:10:50,360 You can't do it on your own. 169 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:54,900 But when you humble yourself before God, you will find strength and beauty that you never 170 00:10:54,900 --> 00:10:55,900 knew existed. 171 00:10:55,900 --> 00:11:03,300 Oh, how free it is when we realize that we don't have to be the best, that God is the 172 00:11:03,300 --> 00:11:07,060 best, that all we can do is the best we can do. 173 00:11:07,060 --> 00:11:08,780 That's what humility does. 174 00:11:08,780 --> 00:11:10,260 Humility is freedom. 175 00:11:10,260 --> 00:11:12,620 Pride keeps us in a trap. 176 00:11:12,620 --> 00:11:16,960 Pride keeps us having to pretend like we're better than everybody else and show everybody 177 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:21,500 up in every way and act like we're the best and try to be the best and try to dress the 178 00:11:21,500 --> 00:11:24,900 best and try to look the best and try to be the smartest. 179 00:11:24,900 --> 00:11:26,860 And that is a lot of burden. 180 00:11:26,860 --> 00:11:30,920 But boy, the power of humility is so freeing. 181 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:35,480 What freedom it is to realize that we don't have to be the best. 182 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,580 We just have to be the best that we can be in the Lord. 183 00:11:38,580 --> 00:11:41,380 What a beautiful thing humility is. 184 00:11:41,380 --> 00:11:44,360 It frees us from the sin of pride. 185 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:52,220 It calls us to recognize who we are before God, that we are unworthy, that we are unworthy 186 00:11:52,220 --> 00:11:55,540 of the love of God and the grace of God. 187 00:11:55,540 --> 00:12:00,820 Once we read the Word of God and see Jesus Christ and we see what God calls us to and 188 00:12:00,820 --> 00:12:08,700 we realize our sinfulness and what it does to us, hopefully we can become humble. 189 00:12:08,700 --> 00:12:12,820 Hopefully we will see the Word of God and we will humble ourself before God and say, 190 00:12:12,820 --> 00:12:14,940 God, I need you. 191 00:12:14,940 --> 00:12:17,460 God, it's not all about me. 192 00:12:17,460 --> 00:12:20,020 It's all about you. 193 00:12:20,020 --> 00:12:22,800 Perhaps some of us need to be reminded of that today. 194 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:25,640 It's not all about us. 195 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:31,460 It's not about how good looking we are, how smart we are, how wealthy we are, how well 196 00:12:31,460 --> 00:12:32,460 dressed we are. 197 00:12:32,460 --> 00:12:33,720 It's not about us. 198 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:36,740 It's about God. 199 00:12:36,740 --> 00:12:41,780 And it's a very freeing thing when we humble ourself before God, when we realize that we 200 00:12:41,780 --> 00:12:43,780 are not worthy. 201 00:12:43,780 --> 00:12:45,860 Not to say that we are worthless. 202 00:12:45,860 --> 00:12:49,020 Sometimes people look at humility in a negative way. 203 00:12:49,020 --> 00:12:54,520 They say, oh, humility is that means you're weak and it means you think you're worthless. 204 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:56,980 That's not what humility is. 205 00:12:56,980 --> 00:12:59,060 In humility, you understand your worth. 206 00:12:59,060 --> 00:13:04,460 You realize that you are unworthy of God's love, but humility draws you to God because 207 00:13:04,460 --> 00:13:06,520 you know your need to God. 208 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:09,260 Humility doesn't mean that you're weak or insecure. 209 00:13:09,260 --> 00:13:14,100 I don't believe for a second when I read through the stories of Jesus in the scripture that 210 00:13:14,100 --> 00:13:18,060 Jesus was weak or insecure or felt worthless. 211 00:13:18,060 --> 00:13:20,940 Not at all, but yet Jesus was humble. 212 00:13:20,940 --> 00:13:25,540 Jesus was humble because he knew his strength came from the Father. 213 00:13:25,540 --> 00:13:31,260 In Jesus's humility, he had compassion for other people. 214 00:13:31,260 --> 00:13:33,660 That's the real beauty of humility. 215 00:13:33,660 --> 00:13:39,060 You see, pride doesn't need God and it doesn't care about other people, but humility relies 216 00:13:39,060 --> 00:13:40,940 on God. 217 00:13:40,940 --> 00:13:44,140 Humility puts the needs of others first. 218 00:13:44,140 --> 00:13:46,140 That's what Philippians chapter 2 tells us. 219 00:13:46,140 --> 00:13:52,540 It says, in humility, consider others as more important than yourselves. 220 00:13:52,540 --> 00:13:57,700 Boy, wouldn't that message go a long way in our world today? 221 00:13:57,700 --> 00:14:01,420 Perhaps it'd go a long way in some of our lives. 222 00:14:01,420 --> 00:14:07,300 Perhaps we get too selfish and too proud and too focused on ourselves. 223 00:14:07,300 --> 00:14:11,420 Maybe today we need to humble ourselves a little bit. 224 00:14:11,420 --> 00:14:17,140 It's better that we come before God and that we humble ourselves today instead of having 225 00:14:17,140 --> 00:14:18,820 to learn it the hard way. 226 00:14:18,820 --> 00:14:22,140 Has anybody ever had to eat a slice of humble pie before? 227 00:14:22,140 --> 00:14:23,140 It's not good. 228 00:14:23,140 --> 00:14:25,180 I love pie, chocolate pie. 229 00:14:25,180 --> 00:14:28,060 We had a lot of pies last week and they're good. 230 00:14:28,060 --> 00:14:31,100 But one piece of pie that you don't want to eat is humble pie. 231 00:14:31,100 --> 00:14:34,180 Boy, that will knock you down a lot. 232 00:14:34,180 --> 00:14:35,440 Your fall is coming. 233 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:39,660 When we give in to pride, maybe it's for a moment, maybe it's been for a lifetime, but 234 00:14:39,660 --> 00:14:45,140 when we give in to pride, our fall is coming because in our pride we think we're the best. 235 00:14:45,140 --> 00:14:49,740 But ultimately there's somebody that's better than us and one day we're going to be shown 236 00:14:49,740 --> 00:14:53,740 up and we're going to eat that slice of humble pie. 237 00:14:53,740 --> 00:14:56,100 And hopefully we learn from that. 238 00:14:56,100 --> 00:15:00,120 But oh, wouldn't it be a beautiful thing if we hear the word of God and we see the example 239 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:05,440 in the life of Jesus Christ and we humble ourselves today and not have to learn that 240 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:07,380 lesson the hard way. 241 00:15:07,380 --> 00:15:09,380 We say, God, I cannot do this on my own. 242 00:15:09,380 --> 00:15:10,380 God, I need you. 243 00:15:10,380 --> 00:15:14,540 God, I am unworthy of your love, but I thank you for your love. 244 00:15:14,540 --> 00:15:15,780 I thank you for your grace. 245 00:15:15,780 --> 00:15:18,700 And God, I can't make it through another day. 246 00:15:18,700 --> 00:15:22,820 God, I can't be better than everybody else, but God, I pray that I can be the best I can 247 00:15:22,820 --> 00:15:23,820 be in you. 248 00:15:23,820 --> 00:15:27,420 God, I pray that I would do your will, that I would live in obedience to you. 249 00:15:27,420 --> 00:15:30,100 This is how Jesus lived. 250 00:15:30,100 --> 00:15:34,900 And once we begin to trust God and humble ourselves before God and the image of ourselves 251 00:15:34,900 --> 00:15:40,180 begins to come down, we begin to view other people differently. 252 00:15:40,180 --> 00:15:43,820 When we're proud, we think we're better than other people. 253 00:15:43,820 --> 00:15:45,700 We have to be careful about this. 254 00:15:45,700 --> 00:15:49,740 I think this is something maybe that can happen and it can slip up on us, but we have to make 255 00:15:49,740 --> 00:15:55,060 sure that we don't fall into the trap to think we are better than somebody because of something 256 00:15:55,060 --> 00:15:59,380 we have or something they don't have or some way we look or some way they don't look. 257 00:15:59,380 --> 00:16:01,220 We are not better than anybody. 258 00:16:01,220 --> 00:16:06,140 But when pride sneaks into our life and we begin to think for a second that we're somehow 259 00:16:06,140 --> 00:16:10,140 better than somebody else, we begin to treat them differently. 260 00:16:10,140 --> 00:16:14,200 But when we begin to realize that we are not better than anybody else, that we are humans 261 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:17,780 and that, yeah, we're different and some of us have this and some of them have this and 262 00:16:17,780 --> 00:16:21,220 some of them, some of us look better than others and some of us are smarter than others. 263 00:16:21,220 --> 00:16:23,300 Yeah, those things are all true. 264 00:16:23,300 --> 00:16:26,180 But that doesn't mean that we're any better than anybody else. 265 00:16:26,180 --> 00:16:30,380 And the moment that we humble ourselves and realize, look, this person's a human just 266 00:16:30,380 --> 00:16:32,320 like you and me. 267 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:35,760 This person may not look like me, may not act like me, may not talk like me, might not 268 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:37,980 have the education that I have. 269 00:16:37,980 --> 00:16:40,740 Maybe they have more education, maybe they have less. 270 00:16:40,740 --> 00:16:44,960 But the moment that we realize is that we're not better than anybody else and nobody is 271 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:45,960 better than us. 272 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:48,420 What a freeing thing that is. 273 00:16:48,420 --> 00:16:53,100 The moment we begin to lay down our pride, then we can begin to have compassion for other 274 00:16:53,100 --> 00:16:59,700 people in the way that Jesus had compassion for other people. 275 00:16:59,700 --> 00:17:03,900 Perhaps there are opportunities in our life that God has called us to. 276 00:17:03,900 --> 00:17:09,840 And perhaps our pride is what has kept us from being involved in some of those opportunities 277 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:13,200 and fulfilling those things that God calls us to. 278 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:15,540 Perhaps today we need to humble ourselves. 279 00:17:15,540 --> 00:17:23,420 Humility, as the Bible says, is considering others as more important than yourself. 280 00:17:23,420 --> 00:17:27,060 So perhaps we need to think twice before we speak. 281 00:17:27,060 --> 00:17:28,060 Pride speaks. 282 00:17:28,060 --> 00:17:29,420 Pride speaks right on up. 283 00:17:29,420 --> 00:17:32,060 Pride lets you know what it thinks. 284 00:17:32,060 --> 00:17:36,120 But sometimes humility takes a back seat. 285 00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:39,800 Perhaps humility doesn't speak until spoken to. 286 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:42,980 Perhaps we have pride in our life and we don't even realize it. 287 00:17:42,980 --> 00:17:47,180 Maybe it's just there in some ways and maybe just simply thinking before we speak is a 288 00:17:47,180 --> 00:17:50,460 good thing for us to consider. 289 00:17:50,460 --> 00:17:54,820 How is it going to affect someone else if we consider others as more important than 290 00:17:54,820 --> 00:17:58,400 ourselves and then even in the way that we speak with people and the things that we say 291 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:03,680 to people, maybe we need to think twice and say if me saying this thing is going to hurt 292 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:05,100 somebody else. 293 00:18:05,100 --> 00:18:08,780 If I tell somebody else about the wonderful time I had on vacation, is that going to make 294 00:18:08,780 --> 00:18:12,380 them feel bad because that's somewhere that they want to go? 295 00:18:12,380 --> 00:18:14,620 Maybe we just kind of keep our mouths shut. 296 00:18:14,620 --> 00:18:17,820 Not the same thing wrong with going on vacation, but maybe there are things that we do and 297 00:18:17,820 --> 00:18:20,340 we experience and maybe we do it to stick the knife in. 298 00:18:20,340 --> 00:18:23,820 Maybe you know somebody really loves some actor and they want to meet him so bad and 299 00:18:23,820 --> 00:18:26,500 you meet them and you can't wait to get back and tell them, hey, you know, I got to meet 300 00:18:26,500 --> 00:18:28,700 so and so and I got their autograph and their picture. 301 00:18:28,700 --> 00:18:30,500 Well, that's going to make them feel bad. 302 00:18:30,500 --> 00:18:33,900 You don't want to make them feel bad so maybe you just don't even say that. 303 00:18:33,900 --> 00:18:40,700 Maybe little things like that are just small examples of humility, of considering other 304 00:18:40,700 --> 00:18:42,740 people's thoughts and how they're going to feel. 305 00:18:42,740 --> 00:18:48,140 If I tell this person this or if I tell this person that or if I say this thing, is it 306 00:18:48,140 --> 00:18:50,580 going to hurt somebody? 307 00:18:50,580 --> 00:18:52,360 Is it going to make me look better? 308 00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:54,220 That's what pride does. 309 00:18:54,220 --> 00:18:59,180 Pride is not afraid to hurt somebody else because it makes you feel good. 310 00:18:59,180 --> 00:19:02,500 Maybe sometimes we just need to take a step back and say, you know what, I'm going to 311 00:19:02,500 --> 00:19:03,700 be concerned with others. 312 00:19:03,700 --> 00:19:05,220 I'm going to have compassion on others. 313 00:19:05,220 --> 00:19:06,220 That's what love does. 314 00:19:06,220 --> 00:19:08,300 That's what Jesus did. 315 00:19:08,300 --> 00:19:12,500 There's no better example of humility and considering others as more important than 316 00:19:12,500 --> 00:19:16,220 yourself than Jesus Christ crucified. 317 00:19:16,220 --> 00:19:20,220 If Jesus, he could have said, look, look, I'm the son of God. 318 00:19:20,220 --> 00:19:25,100 I'm more important than these people, but instead he humbled himself to become obedient 319 00:19:25,100 --> 00:19:26,380 to the point of death. 320 00:19:26,380 --> 00:19:30,300 Death on a cross, Philippians chapter two tells us why. 321 00:19:30,300 --> 00:19:35,900 He humbled himself because he considered others as more important than himself. 322 00:19:35,900 --> 00:19:39,020 And that's the example that we are called to follow. 323 00:19:39,020 --> 00:19:41,340 Jesus gave everything for you and I. 324 00:19:41,340 --> 00:19:44,260 That's true humility. 325 00:19:44,260 --> 00:19:47,900 Jesus did not come into town riding on a horse. 326 00:19:47,900 --> 00:19:49,980 He did not come in with trumpets blowing. 327 00:19:49,980 --> 00:19:52,280 He did not come in making a big deal. 328 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:56,660 Not only this day, but through his whole ministry, Jesus just went around and did the work of 329 00:19:56,660 --> 00:19:57,660 God. 330 00:19:57,660 --> 00:20:00,480 He didn't make a big deal about anything he did. 331 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:02,340 He was just an ordinary guy. 332 00:20:02,340 --> 00:20:08,460 Isaiah chapter 53 verse two says of the Messiah that'll come, he's not really much to look 333 00:20:08,460 --> 00:20:09,460 at. 334 00:20:09,460 --> 00:20:16,180 He's just a normal and ordinary and humble guy who won, loved God and had compassion 335 00:20:16,180 --> 00:20:17,500 on people. 336 00:20:17,500 --> 00:20:18,820 You and I. 337 00:20:18,820 --> 00:20:21,820 That's the example that we need to live by today. 338 00:20:21,820 --> 00:20:26,700 That's what we need to focus on in our life is to have that humility of Jesus and oh what 339 00:20:26,700 --> 00:20:29,460 a difference it would make in our world today. 340 00:20:29,460 --> 00:20:34,300 Our world doesn't really teach humility, but it would be a lot better place if it did. 341 00:20:34,300 --> 00:20:37,540 Our world today focuses on you be you do what you want to do. 342 00:20:37,540 --> 00:20:38,540 You can be anything. 343 00:20:38,540 --> 00:20:39,860 Nobody can tell you different. 344 00:20:39,860 --> 00:20:41,100 Whatever you do is right. 345 00:20:41,100 --> 00:20:43,860 Do it and be proud of it and let everybody else celebrate it. 346 00:20:43,860 --> 00:20:45,900 That's what our world tells you. 347 00:20:45,900 --> 00:20:49,620 But that's not what God's word tells us. 348 00:20:49,620 --> 00:20:51,700 God word calls us to humility. 349 00:20:51,700 --> 00:20:56,760 It calls us to love God and it calls us to love other people and we see that time and 350 00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:59,380 again throughout scripture. 351 00:20:59,380 --> 00:21:04,900 But we can't do either of those things if we're proud, but we can if we're humble. 352 00:21:04,900 --> 00:21:10,100 Perhaps today some of you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and maybe your 353 00:21:10,100 --> 00:21:13,020 pride is the reason why. 354 00:21:13,020 --> 00:21:17,020 Many times we are so blessed we don't have a need for God. 355 00:21:17,020 --> 00:21:20,380 People will say I've got money, I've got a job, I'm doing pretty well. 356 00:21:20,380 --> 00:21:22,300 What do I need God for? 357 00:21:22,300 --> 00:21:27,060 You need God for the forgiveness of your sins because there's more to this world than money 358 00:21:27,060 --> 00:21:30,460 and clothes and houses and jobs. 359 00:21:30,460 --> 00:21:32,060 We need humility. 360 00:21:32,060 --> 00:21:36,900 We need to humble ourself and recognize the humility of Jesus Christ who humbled himself 361 00:21:36,900 --> 00:21:41,340 and gave his life on the cross so that we could be forgiven. 362 00:21:41,340 --> 00:21:45,940 Maybe today you have put your trust in Jesus Christ but maybe you struggle with pride. 363 00:21:45,940 --> 00:21:48,380 Perhaps some of us struggle with it more than others. 364 00:21:48,380 --> 00:21:52,700 Perhaps some of you don't struggle with pride at all, but there's always that tendency. 365 00:21:52,700 --> 00:21:57,500 Everything we do when somebody says oh that's a good job we have to be careful. 366 00:21:57,500 --> 00:22:01,100 We have to be careful with those compliments that we don't let them go to our head and 367 00:22:01,100 --> 00:22:04,620 cause pride to come in our life. 368 00:22:04,620 --> 00:22:07,420 Perhaps some of us are struggling with pride today. 369 00:22:07,420 --> 00:22:11,620 Maybe there are some things in our life that maybe we didn't realize and maybe you do realize 370 00:22:11,620 --> 00:22:15,140 today or maybe you need to pray about it and say God show me those areas. 371 00:22:15,140 --> 00:22:19,860 Let me see if there's any areas in my life where pride has begun to creep in and ask 372 00:22:19,860 --> 00:22:22,700 God to help you to be humble and he will. 373 00:22:22,700 --> 00:22:23,860 But be careful with that prayer. 374 00:22:23,860 --> 00:22:25,500 That's always such a scary prayer to me. 375 00:22:25,500 --> 00:22:31,260 God help me to be humble because oftentimes the way that God humbles us is by giving us 376 00:22:31,260 --> 00:22:33,640 a slice of that humble pie. 377 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:37,660 Sometimes it takes those types of situations to get our attention, but we need to seek 378 00:22:37,660 --> 00:22:41,820 humility that we would be those who live in humility. 379 00:22:41,820 --> 00:22:49,940 And Jesus came that day all those years ago riding into town humbly on a donkey and there 380 00:22:49,940 --> 00:22:55,700 was a group of people there who humbly came before Jesus and laid down their palm branches 381 00:22:55,700 --> 00:22:57,260 in the road. 382 00:22:57,260 --> 00:23:01,820 And just as Zechariah 9.9 called them to they praised the Lord. 383 00:23:01,820 --> 00:23:07,420 They greatly rejoiced in the Lord because Jesus was coming and they knew that Jesus 384 00:23:07,420 --> 00:23:12,900 was coming and they made it a point to enter into the presence of Jesus and to humble themselves 385 00:23:12,900 --> 00:23:14,580 before Jesus that day. 386 00:23:14,580 --> 00:23:18,420 We have to make it a point to enter into the presence of God today. 387 00:23:18,420 --> 00:23:20,060 You have to make that choice. 388 00:23:20,060 --> 00:23:26,500 We need to do all we can to seek God's presence and to seek God's word in our life. 389 00:23:26,500 --> 00:23:33,180 Before Michelle and I got married, I discovered that every night she would go work out at 390 00:23:33,180 --> 00:23:39,140 the gym here in Liberty and then she would go to the Tasty Freeze to eat ice cream after. 391 00:23:39,140 --> 00:23:40,620 That's what we do, right? 392 00:23:40,620 --> 00:23:41,860 We work out, we eat ice cream. 393 00:23:41,860 --> 00:23:47,420 But I discovered that and being one who wanted to be in her presence, guess what I did as 394 00:23:47,420 --> 00:23:48,420 a man? 395 00:23:48,420 --> 00:23:53,960 I decided, well, I'm going to end up at Tasty Freeze about the same time every night. 396 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:58,300 So every night I would go at the Tasty Freeze in hopes that she'd be there and most nights 397 00:23:58,300 --> 00:23:59,420 that she was there. 398 00:23:59,420 --> 00:24:00,420 Why? 399 00:24:00,420 --> 00:24:03,940 Because I desire to be in her presence because there was beauty in her presence. 400 00:24:03,940 --> 00:24:06,020 She was beautiful and she was smiling. 401 00:24:06,020 --> 00:24:10,220 We'd sit across from that table and I would pretend like I was just happy to be there. 402 00:24:10,220 --> 00:24:15,260 But really I came because I wanted to be with her. 403 00:24:15,260 --> 00:24:17,820 But I had to make that effort. 404 00:24:17,820 --> 00:24:19,420 And all those people that came that day. 405 00:24:19,420 --> 00:24:24,100 Now there were plenty of people in Jesus' ministry and even some people that day that 406 00:24:24,100 --> 00:24:28,780 did not believe who Jesus was, that did not acknowledge who he was, that denied who he 407 00:24:28,780 --> 00:24:33,980 was, that thought all this man riding in on a donkey was a bunch of junk. 408 00:24:33,980 --> 00:24:38,700 But oh, there was another group of people and they knew Jesus was going to be there 409 00:24:38,700 --> 00:24:44,180 and they knew the beauty of Jesus and the presence of Jesus and the glory of Jesus. 410 00:24:44,180 --> 00:24:48,740 And they made a point to come to where Jesus was. 411 00:24:48,740 --> 00:24:54,100 And they made a point to humble themselves before the one who would humble himself for 412 00:24:54,100 --> 00:24:56,060 them. 413 00:24:56,060 --> 00:25:01,460 Perhaps today we need to take our palm branches of pride and our palm branches of sin and 414 00:25:01,460 --> 00:25:07,380 our palm branches of selfishness and we need to say, Lord Jesus, I see you in these words 415 00:25:07,380 --> 00:25:09,180 and I want to be in your presence. 416 00:25:09,180 --> 00:25:10,620 I want to be in your beauty. 417 00:25:10,620 --> 00:25:17,700 Lord Jesus, today I humble myself before you and I lay these things down at your feet. 418 00:25:17,700 --> 00:25:19,500 Don't carry your sin with you today. 419 00:25:19,500 --> 00:25:22,060 Don't carry your pride with you today. 420 00:25:22,060 --> 00:25:23,380 Leave them at the feet of Jesus. 421 00:25:23,380 --> 00:25:28,700 Lay them down today and let us rejoice that Jesus Christ has come. 422 00:25:28,700 --> 00:25:29,700 Let's pray. 423 00:25:29,700 --> 00:25:33,940 Father God, we thank you for these good words and I pray that you just would bless the reading 424 00:25:33,940 --> 00:25:35,220 of these words today, God. 425 00:25:35,220 --> 00:25:41,860 I pray that you would help us to rejoice in who Jesus is, that he is our King who is righteous 426 00:25:41,860 --> 00:25:44,520 and victorious, dear Lord. 427 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:49,460 But dear Lord, let us not overlook the fact that Jesus was humble. 428 00:25:49,460 --> 00:25:54,540 He came in humbly that day riding on a donkey because, well dear Lord, that's who he was. 429 00:25:54,540 --> 00:25:59,300 He came in humbly and he continued to live humbly all the way till his humble death on 430 00:25:59,300 --> 00:26:00,780 the cross, dear Lord. 431 00:26:00,780 --> 00:26:06,540 I pray, God, that if there are any in this room today that have not experienced the love 432 00:26:06,540 --> 00:26:10,460 of Jesus Christ, that maybe today through your word they realize that they need him. 433 00:26:10,460 --> 00:26:14,500 God, maybe today through your word they realize that it's the King of kings and the Lord of 434 00:26:14,500 --> 00:26:19,660 lords that came down that street all those years ago, dear Lord. 435 00:26:19,660 --> 00:26:22,020 And maybe today they're going to put their faith in him. 436 00:26:22,020 --> 00:26:25,460 I pray that they would, dear Lord, if there's any in this room that do not know Jesus. 437 00:26:25,460 --> 00:26:30,940 I pray, God, that they would gather up their palm branches of pride and sin and selfishness 438 00:26:30,940 --> 00:26:36,340 and whatever it may be, dear Lord, that whatever we have that we would lay it down before you, 439 00:26:36,340 --> 00:26:40,300 that we would lay it at the foot of the cross today, dear Lord, to know that all of our 440 00:26:40,300 --> 00:26:43,260 sins have been nailed to that cross, dear Lord. 441 00:26:43,260 --> 00:26:47,740 I pray that if there is one today that's still holding on to their sin, that they would humbly 442 00:26:47,740 --> 00:26:49,780 bring it before you today. 443 00:26:49,780 --> 00:26:54,940 God, maybe there's some here today and even though they're yours, maybe pride is creeping 444 00:26:54,940 --> 00:26:55,940 in in some way. 445 00:26:55,940 --> 00:27:01,220 God, I pray that you would help us to humble ourselves before you today. 446 00:27:01,220 --> 00:27:05,340 Whatever sins may be in our life today, dear Lord, we need to repent of those things. 447 00:27:05,340 --> 00:27:09,500 That is, we turn from whatever that sin is and we turn to you. 448 00:27:09,500 --> 00:27:14,640 So God, let us be those who, as we gather in this place today, we enter into your presence. 449 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:15,780 We know that you are here. 450 00:27:15,780 --> 00:27:17,580 We know the goodness of Jesus Christ. 451 00:27:17,580 --> 00:27:22,780 And God, I pray that Jesus would not pass by today without us humbling ourselves before 452 00:27:22,780 --> 00:27:25,700 him, without us coming and rejoicing in him. 453 00:27:25,700 --> 00:27:31,900 Dear Lord, all those years ago, there were some and Jesus passed right on through and 454 00:27:31,900 --> 00:27:32,900 they missed him. 455 00:27:32,900 --> 00:27:35,820 God, I pray that there are going to be none in this room today. 456 00:27:35,820 --> 00:27:39,340 God, if there are some who have put their faith in you today, that have decided to put 457 00:27:39,340 --> 00:27:43,420 their faith in Jesus Christ today, I pray that in this song of invitation, they would 458 00:27:43,420 --> 00:27:47,780 come down front, that they would let us know, dear Lord, that we would rejoice with them 459 00:27:47,780 --> 00:27:51,740 today and that we would baptize them just as your word commands. 460 00:27:51,740 --> 00:27:54,500 God, maybe there are some today that are just struggling with pride. 461 00:27:54,500 --> 00:27:56,100 I pray that they would give it to you. 462 00:27:56,100 --> 00:27:59,780 I pray, God, that you would help us to be humble, that when we leave this place, we'll 463 00:27:59,780 --> 00:28:03,860 leave this place with a heart of humility, that this week we seek to consider others 464 00:28:03,860 --> 00:28:05,660 as more important than ourselves. 465 00:28:05,660 --> 00:28:09,340 We seek to have compassion and love just as Jesus did, dear Lord. 466 00:28:09,340 --> 00:28:12,300 Let us see that example and let us live it. 467 00:28:12,300 --> 00:28:14,500 I ask these things in Jesus' name. 468 00:28:14,500 --> 00:28:36,020 Amen.