Humility - The Cardinal Virtue Part 1: Matthew 11:25-30 - Matthew: Kingdom of God Revolution

You're listening to the road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.

You know why we struggle with anxiety?

It's because we're looking in our own sufficiency and in our own power.

What are we gonna do under these conditions?

And fear starts to grip our hearts and it stinnies us, it paralyzes us.

Jesus would say, look, don't worry, don't be anxious.

I've got this.

I'm gonna win this war.

This will pass.

You see, humility is dependence on God, not ourselves.

At The Road, our mission is to empower people to change the world.

For more information on the road, visit theroad.org.

We hope you are encouraged by today's message from pastor teacher Steve Holt.

So we are in a very interesting passage in Matthew chapter 11.

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

As you know, we're going through the book of Matthew, and you would think God knows the future or something, because this passage is perfect.

It's just perfect for our current situation.

It's the only passage in Scripture where Jesus actually declares to us what his character is all about.

It's the only place in all of the Bible where Jesus defines his character and his personality.

So turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 11.

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

We've been going through Matthew 11 and we are in verse 25.

So Matthew 11, 25.

At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes or children.

Your NIV would say children, the New King James says babes.

Verse 26.

Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight, all things have been delivered to me by my Father.

And no one knows the Son except the Father.

Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal him.

Verse 28, come to me, all who are labor, heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.

For I am gentle and lowly in heart.

That's the character qualities of Jesus.

I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

I want to go to God in prayer right now, and I want to lift up all of you and in the different places that you're at and the different emotions that you're experiencing these days.

So, Father God, right now, in the name of the blood of Jesus, I pray a blessing over everyone who's listening to this broadcast.

The peace that surpasses all understanding would guard these precious people, these Jesus disciples, these worshiper warriors, these saints, with the peace of Christ, the supernatural peace of Christ.

God, we lift up our president.

Lord, we lift up Congress.

God, we lift up our governor.

We lift up our congressional leaders in the state of Colorado.

Lord, we lift up our mayor.

We lift up our city council.

God, we lift up our county supervisors in the name of Jesus.

God, I lift up pastors, churches all over this great city and this great state, that as they meet today, as they stream online today, that there be blessing and anointing and power upon the spoken word.

I pray that the worship would come alive and that Lord God, you would be mighty to save and victorious in our lives today.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

So what a perfect passage, right?

Here we are.

We're talking about rest for our souls, something that all of us are longing for these days.

We're longing for rest for our souls.

And we're in a time of turmoil.

We're in a time of some real challenges.

Like our nation hasn't gone and experienced in over, probably over 50, 60 years.

And I've never been a part of anything like this.

And I'm sure none of you have either, unless you've been in another country where there's martial law.

I mean, this is so uh unprecedented in the United States.

And what a passage uh talking about rest, talking about really happiness.

And Jesus is giving us a secret to this.

I love what Blaise Pascal said.

He said, All men seek happiness.

This is without exception.

Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end.

The cause of some going to war and others avoiding it is the same desire in both, attended with different views.

The will never takes the least step but to this object, meaning rest, meaning happiness.

This is the motive of every action of every man, even to those who hang themselves.

So happiness is elusive.

And I would just say here today that, you know, in my devotional that I had a few days ago, um, devotional day strong, Jesus Strong, Day Nine, I talked about the 24-hour war room, the Kingdom Revolution Prayer.

I want to challenge you, go back, sign up for that on our website.

Go in and watch that devotional again and sign up for the 24-hour war room.

And what we're doing is we're saying, take one hour, just one hour in the week to pray for a revival, to pray for a kingdom revolution in our country, a kingdom revolution in our city.

Because men and women and children, they're searching for happiness.

They're looking for happiness, and the only way they're going to find it is through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

So let's look at verse 25 again.

So in verse 25, Jesus is setting us up for the way to happiness, the way to rest for our souls.

He says this I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to children.

It's interesting that Jesus says it's a hidden thing.

It's a secret.

It's a secret.

You know, the thing about our lives, especially us men, is we we search for happiness, we search for rest in our souls through power and position and influence.

And Jesus is about to say here that that is not the route to happiness, but there's a secret.

And it's hidden from the prudent, it's hidden from the wise, and it's revealed to children.

What is it about children that they grasp the secret in the hiddenness of joy and the hiddenness of peace and happiness quicker than the wise and the prudent?

And you know, I have four grandchildren, and I can tell you for a fact that kids are really, really different.

I mean, the way they look at life is so different.

And we had some of the grandchildren over a few days ago.

And uh, one of my grandchildren, she just loves to go upstairs and play with the little dollhouse that we have there.

But here's the thing: she doesn't want to play by herself.

The dollhouse itself is not good enough.

She has to have grandma or she has to have grandpa or she has to have one of our kids with her to play at the dollhouse.

Kids want connection.

And you know what?

They don't care.

And they don't even know how much money I make or what my status is or how well I dress or whatever my reputation is.

They just want grandpa.

They just want grandma, right?

Because they they love that relationship.

They want that relationship.

And I believe that's what Jesus is speaking of here.

He's saying, look, there's a secret to this.

Look at children, theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

There's an innocence, there's a humility about them.

And remember, Jesus is speaking here with the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes and the teachers looking in.

And he sees their arrogance, he sees their pride.

And men and women, we that kind of know a few things.

That's our battle, as we become know-it-alls.

Kids are not know-it-alls.

Kids for the most part, they want a relationship, they want to play, they want attention, right?

All you parents out there, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

They want a lot of attention.

They want eye-to-eye contact.

They love to hug.

They want that physical contact.

And Jesus is saying, look, there is a mystery here.

There's something hidden here.

Look at children.

Become childlike in your heart.

Become childlike.

Humble yourself and learn from children.

Even so, Father, verse 26, for so it seemed good in your sight.

All things have been delivered to me by my Father.

And no one knows the Son except the Father.

Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son reveals him.

Men and women, we can't know the Father without the Son.

Jesus said in John 14, 6, I am the way and the truth and the life.

I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father but through me.

Don't get me wrong when I say that the only way and the only route to a personal relationship, to a divine encounter with the living God is made known through Jesus Christ.

Drink deeply of this truth.

Drink deeply of this truth.

All virtue, all that matters in life flows through Jesus.

And if you've never given your heart to Christ, if you've never surrendered everything to Him, you're not saved.

You do not know Him.

Hell awaits you.

Jesus says, I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father but through me.

And the virtues of love and joy and peace and patience and kindness flows through Jesus.

And so Jesus says here, all things have been delivered to me by my Father.

And this week and next week, we're going to be looking at that intimate relationship between the Father and the Son.

Jesus never did anything except seeing the Father do it.

So there was this constant intimacy with the Father, where Jesus didn't even have his own will.

He said, I only do, my will is to do the Father's will.

And so that relationship with him was built on this character of humility.

Complete submission by the Son to the Father.

Children have that.

There's something about kids.

Now they don't have all of it, that's for sure.

They're little born sinners, too.

And that doesn't take any teaching at all for us to understand that.

I have never had a lesson on selfishness 101 to try to train my kid how to be selfish.

So there's that aspect.

What Jesus is speaking of here is that humble heart that wants a relationship with trusted adults.

Verse 28.

Now Jesus is beginning to say, look, through the Father you have me.

And you've got to come to me to understand the way of surrender and the way to joy.

Come to me.

I want you to circle that or underline that.

Come to me.

Not come to a truth.

Not come to a deeper teaching.

Come to me.

All of you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Men and women, we we feel that labor.

We feel that burden, that anxiety right now.

Some of you are feeling it more acute than others.

Maybe you even have an older father or mother that you're concerned about with the coronavirus.

Maybe some of you have a compromised immune system, and so you're concerned right now.

Jesus, if he were here right now, would say, This is for you.

This is the word for you.

Come to me, all of you who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

So stop for a moment.

And let's drink deeply from that.

We don't know what the next few weeks are going to bring.

I'm not even sure our president knows.

It is changing all the time.

And we're praying, and that's why I want you to take that one hour a week to pray that this COVID-19 virus would start to level off and drop off and be done with through the power of prayer.

But church, listen, come to Jesus.

If you're watching this broadcast and you've never really come to Jesus, now's the time.

Come to him, open up your heart to him, invite him into your heart.

Surrender everything to him at the cross.

He says, Come to me, all of you who labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest.

Take my yoke, circle that.

So come to me, circle that.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.

Circle that.

See, Jesus is emphasizing and emphasizing again and again.

It's all about me.

It's all about coming and learning from me.

Take my yoke upon you, learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

There's that word again, rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

You know what's interesting for me is that I am, I've got a super weird background.

I mean, when I came to know Christ, I was 19 years old, but I grew up in the church.

I was in the church nine months before I was born.

Six weeks old, I was baptized in a dress.

That's pretty weird, but I was.

And then at 16, I was confirmed.

Church, church, church, every week.

Then at 19, I came into that surrendered lordship, a personal, growing, vital, dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ.

And so then I came out of a mainline, more theologically liberal background, and then dove right into a fundamentalist Bible church in Athens, Georgia.

And then later became a Presbyterian.

And then after becoming a Presbyterian, I went overseas and got involved in ultra-fundamentalist churches in Japan, then got introduced to Pentecostal churches, then charismatic churches, then the vineyard movement, and now, and then Mountain Springs, and then the road, and I've worshiped with Asians, and I've worshiped with Africans, and I've worshiped with South Americans, and I've worshiped with Middle Easterners all over the world, all kinds of different brands.

And I'll say this that one of the most glaring, missing character qualities in all types of churches is humility.

We need humility.

We need a deeper understanding of dependence on God.

And I call it the cardinal virtue.

This is the cardinal virtue of Jesus Christ was humility.

He's telling us it's through, listen everybody, it's through humility that we find rest for our souls.

It's the indispensable virtue.

All virtues flow out of humility.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness flows out of a humble heart.

It's the root from which all other character qualities and virtues of the kingdom grow.

Andrew Murray writes, humility is a loud call to all earnest Christians, whatever truth there be in the charge, to prove that meekness and lowliness of heart are the chief marks by which they who follow the Lamb of God are to be known.

Are we known for that?

Oh my goodness.

I think in most cases the church is known for our pride and our arrogance.

And yet Jesus says the way into power and the way into joy is through humility.

And the opposite of humility is pride.

Pride is the way to hell.

It was pride that rose up with self-sufficiency and self-complacency in the heart of Satan.

We believe from Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 that Lucifer was a high-level cherub, maybe the highest of all the angelic powers at that time in the fourth dimension.

And then something welled up inside of him.

You can read about it in Isaiah 14, 12 through 14, and where he said, I will, I will, the five great I wills.

It was pride welling up in Satan.

And then he took a third of the angels of heaven.

Those are the demons that are upon the face of the earth today.

And at the very root of all sin is pride.

And pride is that self-complacency, self-sufficiency, self-power that drives our lives.

It's the me, me, me.

It's all about me.

So let's define humility.

I want to define humility this morning.

And let me, in defining humility, I want to say what it first of all is not, what humility is not.

Humility is not a low view of yourself.

It's not becoming a pushover, a doormat, a nothing, a little worm that everyone just walks over.

That's not what humility is.

I like what C.S.

Lewis said about humility.

He said, humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.

So it's not self-denial.

Self-denial, when we work out, that's self-denial.

When we do martial arts or something like that, that's self-denial.

Or if you're on Jenny Craig or some diet, that's self-denial.

No, it's not self-denial, it's denial of self.

So how would we define humility?

I want to give you three thoughts of what I see in Scripture to be what humility is and what Jesus is saying and identifying himself, his character quality of what he calls here, being gentle and lowly in heart, I'm calling under the rubric of humility.

Here's the first thing humility is Jesus.

Humility is the embodiment found of the character qualities that are in Jesus.

Jesus is the first example of true humility.

He said that he's gentle and lowly of heart.

Humility is Jesus.

Now, you that come to the road and you go chapter by chapter, verse by verse with us every week, you that are Bible people, that we love God's word, and if you've read any of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, that's humility.

Yeah.

That's humility right there.

So whatever figment of our imagination we've created in American culture about what humility is or is not, at the end of the day, if we have any misunderstandings about humility, go to the life of Jesus.

And this is Jesus who is powerful and bold against unrighteousness.

But this is Jesus who is loving and kind to those who were sinners.

But here's what's amazing about Jesus.

Don't get me wrong.

Jesus was loving and kind with sinners, but he hated passionately the sin that was within the sinners.

So he could say to the woman caught in adultery, in the very act, they said, Go, I cast no more stones, and no one's going to stone you.

Go and sin no more.

So Jesus didn't just say, go and be warmed and go back to your lifestyle.

He said, Go and sin no more.

So humility has a boldness to it, church.

There's a boldness against unrighteousness.

So in some cases, humility could be seen as arrogance if it's misunderstood from the context of what that boldness is going up against.

So a kingdom revolution is a church and a people that don't stand for unrighteousness, but stand for righteousness.

We believe in truth.

We believe that the truth sets us free.

And we're all obeying the laws right now, the laws of the land.

So we're not leaving our homes except to get food or an emergency, and that's the right thing to do because we're supposed to honor those in authority, our governmental authorities.

But at the same time, if ever our country came to that place where they were outlawing worship and they were persecuting, yea, even killing Christians, I'm ready to go.

That's humility.

That's a humility to stand up against unrighteousness in the boldness that Jesus gives us.

So number one, humility is Jesus.

Number two, true humility is, now listen closely, jot this down, entire dependence on God.

True humility is entire dependence upon God.

Look what he says, verse 28.

Come to me, all of you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

That's the anxiety, worry, and depression that many of us struggle with.

You know why we struggle with anxiety?

Is because we're looking in our own sufficiency and in our own power.

What are we gonna do?

What are we gonna do under these conditions?

And fear starts to grip our hearts and it and it stymies us, it paralyzes us.

And Jesus would say, look, don't worry.

Don't be anxious.

I've got this.

I'm gonna win this war.

This will pass.

You see, humility is dependence on God, not ourselves.

Remind yourself this week.

When you start to get worried, you're depending on you.

That's a bummer.

You're not very smart, you're not very strong.

You're not that great.

Guess what?

He is.

He's awesome, he's great, he's sovereign, he's got everything you need.

Sit down somewhere, cool your jets, calm down, and say, Lord, I'm depending on my own ingenuity here.

I'm depending on my own thought patterns.

I'm depending on my own strength, and I don't have what it takes, and I ask you, Lord, to strengthen me.

I'm depending on you.

Men and women, that's the essence of humility.

He's saying, Come to me, take my yoke, learn from me.

And next week, we're gonna look at what he means by learn from me.

We're gonna go through the Gospel of John, and we're gonna look at all the examples where Jesus is entirely dependent on his heavenly Father.

And church, that's what he calls us to.

Humility is not living a life in your own power, it's living a life in his power.

So thirdly, true humility is death to self.

So I said, secondly, true humility is entire dependence on God.

But thirdly, true humility is death to self.

Now, not self-denial, but complete death to self or denial of self.

This is a tough one.

Because we are taught from little kids on to just, you know, tough it up, be tough, be strong, don't give up, don't quit.

And I say those things too to my kids.

It's a good thing to say.

But the discipline of that has to be transformed into something greater and something deeper.

And that is learning to depend on God and deny yourself.

Death to self.

It's not about you, it's not about me, it's about him.

That's why we're here.

Life is found in Christ.

That's why Jesus said, and he who does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.

But he doesn't end there.

He says, He who finds his life will lose it.

He who loses his life will find it.

The great irony of the Christian faith is that life flows out of death.

In just a few weeks, we're gonna celebrate Easter.

We're gonna celebrate Resurrection Day.

Life flows out of death.

Die to yourself.

Die to your motives.

Die to your vision, die to your plans, and then hand them all over to Jesus.

Say, Jesus, my plans are your plans.

My character has to be transformed into your character.

I need your character to transform me.

I need your peace.

I need your righteousness.

I want you, Lord.

And so when Eve took of the poison from the serpent, pride became the struggle of all of humankind.

We all struggle with pride.

And that pride of self-sufficiency and self-power has been our has been our battleground ever since.

And Jesus is saying, Come to me, take my yoke, learn from me, for I'm humble in heart.

So, men and women, we come today, we come this morning with the word to us that the only way to find rest for our souls is to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he might exalt us in his proper time.

It's the only way to fruitfulness, it's the only way to happiness, it's the only way to joy.

Now, many of you know that I have a wooden podium that I often use up here.

Tonight I'm not using it, but the reality is this that when we are gaining in our relationship with Christ, this verse has transformed my life through the years.

And it's written right here on the podium.

If I had the wooden podium here, it would be there.

And it says from Galatians 2.20.

I have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me.

So, church, we've been crucified with Christ.

And in the midst of this time, let yourself be crucified to Christ.

Humble yourself before Him and let Him live His life through you.

Just as Jesus let the Father flow through him, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Our theme for 2020 is partnership with the Holy Spirit.

So that partnership with the Holy Spirit is that I have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me by faith.

And if you've never fully given your heart to Christ, make this verse from Galatians 2.20 your verse.

Say, Lord, I want to be crucified with you.

I want this rest.

I want this peace that you're talking about.

I humble myself before you and say, come and do your work, oh God, in my heart, flow through me.

I'm dying to my plans.

I'm dying to my machinations of happiness.

And I'm going after what you say is the only way to peace and joy.

And that's through you flowing through me.

Let's pray.

So, Father God, we bless you and praise you this morning.

We thank you for who you are.

God, we thank you for this word to us.

The way to humility is the way to victory.

The way to humility is the way to joy.

And God, we want to be crucified with you.

That Lord God, you would flow through us.

And for anybody out there listening to this right now who's never given their heart to Christ, would you go to them and meet them?

Lord, would you give them the power of faith to believe that it is possible to find this rest for their souls that they're longing for and searching for?

Through entire dependence upon you, surrendering themselves to you, letting their sins be crucified at the cross, that they might experience the resurrection of Christ, being fully and completely forgiven.

But that's just the beginning.

To now, from this day forward, to begin to walk out what it means to be a Jesus disciple, a whole-hearted follower of Jesus.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

God bless you.

You've been listening to The Road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.

We hope you have been blessed by today's message.

To connect with us further, visit theroad.org.

If you are walking through a difficult time, we want to pray for you.

Go to theroad.org, click on the ministries tab, and go to our prayer page to send us your prayer request.

Thanks again for tuning in today, and be sure to listen to the next edition of The Road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.