A Joyful Humility

So we just wrapped up our a short four-week series entitled Male and Female, He Created Them.

And Pastor Justin led us through that, and Pastor Tim wrapped us up and did a phenomenal job preaching through that series, especially in a time in our culture where it is so relevant today to help us understand not only how to think through these topics, but how to interact with those around us.

But we're coming back to our series this morning entitled Spirit and Truth, The Gospel of John.

And after a four-week break, I thought it would be beneficial for us to kind of run back through from John 1 to lead us up to where we are today in John 3, 22.

And so the Gospel Writer, John, when Pastor Justin introduced us to this series, he helped us understand that the Gospel writer was laying out the picture right at the beginning to point us to the eternal nature of Jesus, referring to him as the Word who was with God from the beginning and through whom all things were created.

Then we're introduced to John the Baptist.

And he came on the scene testifying about the arrival of the light into the world.

And he made it clear, very clear, that he was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light, who is Jesus.

John the Baptist actually, remember, baptized Jesus, marking the beginning of Jesus' ministry.

And then Jesus begins to gather disciples who recognize him as the Messiah and begin to follow him.

Then we see Jesus perform his very first miracle at a wedding in Cana, where he takes the water and he turns it into wine, manifesting his glory.

He cleanses the temple, foreshadowing his future death and resurrection.

And in the midst of these events, we see a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus come to Jesus in the middle of the night, asking him questions, where Jesus emphasizes the importance of spiritual rebirth through belief in him.

And right before our passage today, Pastor Justin preached on God's terrifying love from John 3.16.

And then we come to our passage today in John 3, 22 through 36, where we get a glimpse of a joyful humility.

And in this passage today, what we find is there are two kind of sections to the scripture of this passage.

So we find verses 22 through 30 and verses 31 through 36.

And so as we jump into our passage this morning and we begin by looking at verses 22 through 30, we see our summary as John's humility.

So we see our summary this morning of these few verses as John's humility.

So right out of the gate in this passage, the Gospel writer John is setting the scene.

He's painting the picture, helping us understand what is happening here.

And he tells us that Jesus and his disciples go into the Judean countryside.

But he also tells us that John the Baptist is present there in this situation.

And he doesn't spare any details because he helps us understand that baptisms are taking place.

John the Baptist, he's baptizing people.

And it does say Jesus was baptizing, but we read in John 4, 2 that Jesus actually wasn't baptizing anyone, it was his disciples.

It even tells us the gospel of says, although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples.

So think about the scene here as we begin.

You have John the Baptist present.

And let's kind of quickly recap who he was.

He was well known, he was liked, he was a spiritual leader, he was this wild man, he dresses crazy by wearing camel's hair, he eats weird things like bugs, and people listen to him.

And the crazy part about it was he was kind of rocking the religious boat of the day by coming onto the scene and they did not like it.

People were flocking to him, and then in the same area you have Jesus.

And as Jesus starts to gain some notoriety, crowds are starting now to go to him.

They're starting to flock to him.

And this would have been some of the people, the same people that have been flocking to John the Baptist up to this point.

So now they're starting to shift their allegiance and they're starting to flock to Jesus.

And in the midst of the scene, we're led into this discussion between John's disciples, some of his disciples, and a Jew.

And the issue that comes up is this idea of purification.

And we learned about what purification was back in John 2.6, when Jesus uses the jars of purification when he turned the water into wine.

So as a result of this discussion, then you have John's disciples who approach John the Baptist with a complaint.

They say, Rabbi, teacher.

They're letting us know, John the gospel writer, is letting us understand how they feel about their leader.

He is their teacher, their rabbi.

And they say, the one you bore witness about, all are going to him.

Now, just a few verses earlier, we read that people were still coming to John the Baptist.

So we get this kind of sense of like what kids do, right?

Everybody's doing it.

Like the same type thing, where they're exaggerative here in this moment.

They're saying everyone's going to him now.

And we know that's not true.

But John's disciples here in this moment, they're not very happy with what's taking place with their leader.

It's like they have not listened to anything that John the Baptist have led them to understand up to this point.

He had even declared that this is Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

Literally the one you claim to be the Messiah.

It's not like Jesus is this random individual out there just baptizing people and people are leaving John the Baptist.

But John's disciples in this moment, in their minds, you've got to think, they have sacrificed everything to follow John.

They've given up their time, they love John the Baptist.

So to them, Jesus is now taking away what they had worked so hard for.

They were following their leader.

He was the guy.

A similar situation, if we were to go later into the New Testament in the book of 1 Corinthians, Paul is writing to the church in Corinth, and he writes to them and tells them and lets them know that you all are confused about the same type, similar situation.

He said, Some of you are claiming to follow me, who was Paul, some of you are claiming to follow Apollos, others are claiming to follow Cephas, and some of you are claiming to follow Christ.

And in that moment, Paul basically tells him to quit it.

Like, just stop.

He appeals to them in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that there would be no divisions.

Paul is telling them to quit dividing around men and unite around Christ.

But we love to do this as well in our own lives.

I mean, think about the example of athletes.

We love to argue over athletes.

Who is better?

Who is the go?

Who is the greatest?

All in good fun, because deep down we know who the greatest athlete is.

But at the end of the day, we always come back and unite around Christ.

So as John's disciples come to him complaining about Jesus stealing John's thunder, John begins to clarify to help him understand, help them understand who he really is.

John once again, he begins to lay out that he is the witness sent to prepare the way for the Messiah, who is Jesus.

Listen again to how John responds in verse 27.

John answered, A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.

John is reminding his disciples of his role.

You can picture this moment and what John's disciples are almost thinking.

People have been coming out to John the Baptist.

Yes, people have been being baptized by John the Baptist.

Even Jesus the Messiah was baptized by him.

This guy is great.

But John then basically reminds them and turns them into witnesses.

You yourselves bear me witness that I am not the Christ.

But I have been sent before him.

He points them back.

He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ.

And they asked him, What then?

Are you Elijah?

He said, I'm not.

Are you the prophet?

He answered, No.

So they said to him, Who are you?

We need to give an answer to those who sent us.

What do you say about yourself?

He said, I am the voice of the one crying out in the wilderness.

Make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said.

John here in this moment is reminding his disciples of his role.

I was not sent to here to lead people, I was sent here to prepare people.

And then John uses this analogy of a friend of the bridegroom to the bridegroom.

Now we've all in this room, I guarantee, every single one of us have been to a wedding.

You know it takes place at a wedding.

And some of you have probably had the privilege, the honor, and the joy of being in the wedding party.

So you understand what happens during the wedding ceremony.

You have the wedding party all standing up front.

They're all waiting with expectation, and the doors open, and the bride begins to walk down.

And it's this glorious sight where you see the excitement and the joy in her face.

And then you look back at the groom and the excitement, the joy.

I can remember when Chelsea walked down the aisle in that moment.

I did not know what to expect, but it hit me all of a sudden I like I lost my breath.

It's the scariness.

Not of her.

It wasn't that.

It was the moment of what was taking place, what was about to happen, this joyous occasion.

And the bride comes down, she approaches the groom, we all smile, we rejoice.

But we would be shocked in this moment.

Literally, if if if if she was coming down the aisle, you would hear if all of a sudden she turned and she approached one of the groomsmen.

Come on, pause.

And if you're the one officiating, you're going, I think you're confused.

Let me turn you back over to you.

Like, and people in the crowd would be like, what is she doing?

Like, what is happening right now?

Because this will be appalling.

That is not supposed to happen.

And John is pointing out that this is what his disciples are wanting to take place, but that's not what he wants.

Why?

Because John's joy is now complete.

The bride is approaching the groom.

John, you can probably imagine it as he's telling this story and he's seeing people go over to Jesus and his disciples.

He's literally watching the bride approach the groom, and there's joy in this moment.

What God sent John to do has been completed.

D.A.

Carson, a writer and commentator, said this about this moment.

The rising prominence of Jesus, as upsetting as it may have been to some of John's disciples, floods John himself with surpassing joy.

Because that was exactly what he himself had worked for.

And then we get to verse 30, where we hear John the Baptist say, He must increase, but I must decrease.

And if you've ever read or heard anything about John the Baptist, you typically hear things about what he ate, what he wore.

But the one thing that has always captivated my attention about John the Baptist is when he says this in verse 30.

He must increase, but I must decrease.

And what's fascinating is we quite often quote that, we throw that out there as if John the Baptist is off some far distance away from Jesus.

Jesus isn't even on the scene.

Jesus is somewhere else, and John's just kind of talking with friends.

But when we come back to this context of John here, having this conversation with his disciples, you can almost picture the scene as if it's taking place.

If we were dropped into this moment in history, we'd be standing on the banks of the water.

We'd be hearing the water move, and we'd be hearing people go in and out of the water, going under and coming up, being baptized.

And you'd see John surrounded by his disciples, and you'd start to listen into what he's saying in this moment.

And as he gets to this statement, you can almost picture John turn and even point to Jesus, where he declares, He must increase, but I must decrease.

And you could just, you would turn and look back at John's face, and you could see like his whole face, it would seem like they would be lighting up like a sunbeam breaking through the clouds.

Every wrinkle and crease would seem to soften and smoothen as if the weight of the world has momentarily lifted.

Why?

Because his mission is complete.

This is what he was here for.

How beautiful would this moment have been to witness?

Because John didn't begrudgingly give up anything, he boldly declared that it was now.

It's here.

But John's disciples, they weren't happy because John was decreasing and Jesus was increasing.

But John had fully embraced the will of God for his own life by exalting Jesus to his rightful place.

And this helps us understand our main idea today, which is this our joyful humility is found in our exaltation of Jesus.

Our joyful humility is found in our exaltation of Jesus.

In the same way that John the Baptist had joyfully humbled himself and exalted Jesus, we are called to do the same.

Now, to exalt means to lift up, literally to physically to lift up.

So where John the Baptist exalted Jesus, he's lifting up Jesus above himself.

But the problem is we typically do the opposite of our main idea today in our own lives.

Instead of our joyful humility be found in our exaltation of Jesus, we typically live anxiety-filled, we live our lives with anxiety-filled arrogance because of our lack of trust in Jesus.

What this comes down to is the very issue of pride.

John's disciples didn't like it that more people were going to John or Jesus than their leader.

That was pride.

I recently heard someone say this about pride.

Pride is a form of insanity because it is not based in reality.

Pride is a form of insanity because it is not based in reality.

John had been open and honest about what his role was, even reminding the disciples of what he said that he was not the Christ.

John was living in reality, whereas his disciples were not.

The truth is, Jesus is already exalted, but the question we must answer is, do we live that way?

Do our lives speak to the truth of that reality?

Or do we live in a false reality, continuing to exalt ourselves or lift ourselves up above Jesus?

Whenever we talk about the issue of pride, it is always so easy to jump to those extravagant forms of pride that we see in other people.

The famous person, right, who treats people terrible and just looks down upon them as kind of peasants.

Yeah, we all have seen that.

The person who brags about everything they've done or accomplished.

Or the famous Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite who believes if the coach were to just put them in, they'd be state champs and he'd be making millions of dollars.

But it's not based in reality.

You've seen Uncle Rico throw the football.

The truth is, though, we all do the same thing in our own lives.

It's just not these extravagant forms of pride.

It's more subtle ways we live out pride every single day.

For example, a very easy way a lot of us live in pride is a lack of vulnerability.

A lack of vulnerability.

What do I mean by this?

Let's jump into the example of mission groups here at Sacred Mission.

Alright, so you're finally someone who said, Alright, mission groups, man, they preach about this.

It must be important.

I'm gonna get involved in one.

Okay, I'll get involved in one.

So you do, but you're sitting there and you're thinking, I'll go, but I will never open up about anything going on in my life.

There is no way.

So you show up every week to mission group, you're faithful, you come, but deep down you're sitting there going, there's no way I'm ever gonna let anyone know I need support or I need help or I'm just I need prayer.

I'm never gonna let anyone know what's actually going on deep down in my life.

Why?

Because if you are vulnerable and you open up about what's truly going on, then you believe others will think you are weak.

The truth is, the more we expose our weaknesses, the more Jesus Christ is exalted.

Just this past week, we had a moment in our mission group where this individual had been coming for a long time.

And and they said, they prefaced it, and they said, I've been holding this back ever since the beginning, and I've only been able to talk to my spouse about this, and that's it.

But I want to share this tonight.

And you know what our group did?

We rallied around this person, we encouraged them, we prayed for them, and it was this moment of just the mission group growing closer together.

I literally said that moment, that's literally, I had already had this example set up, like it just couldn't have worked any better.

But it was that beautiful moment of someone saying, I'm gonna be vulnerable.

And we saw Christ exalted in that moment.

Listen to what Apostle the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12, 9 through 10.

But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul is basically saying that the more weak I am, the greater Jesus is exalted.

The more Jesus is lifted up.

Why?

Because when people see our weaknesses and God working through us, we have no one else to point to but Jesus Christ.

So when we lack being vulnerable with one another, we're exalting ourselves over Jesus.

When we try and show everyone around us that we have it all together and we don't have any struggles at all, then we're lifting ourselves up above Jesus.

And in these moments, we need to be reminded of who Jesus truly is.

Because once we're reminded of who Jesus is, then we will begin to exalt him in our lives.

And this brings us to our summary of verses 31 through 36 this morning, which is this Jesus' exaltation.

Jesus's exaltation.

So within verses 31 through 36, in order to understand the exaltation of Christ, we will see better the supremacy, testimony, and authority of Jesus.

Now we might be tempted in this moment to start with the question of what does it mean to exalt Jesus?

But before we answer that, we need to answer the question of why?

Why should we exalt Jesus?

Let's look at verse 31.

What does he say?

He who comes from above is above all.

He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way.

He who comes from heaven is above all.

We see in this moment in verse 31 the supremacy of Christ.

And it's done by comparing Jesus with John the Baptist in every other human being.

He who comes from above is above all is referring to Jesus.

He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way, referring to John the Baptist and every other human being.

He who comes from heaven is above all, meaning everything.

So we see the supremacy of Christ over every other person.

No one is greater than Jesus, and we see the supremacy of Christ over every other thing.

Nothing is greater than Jesus.

Look at Colossians 1.16.

Helps us understand this a little bit better.

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.

I don't know if you've ever had the opportunity to go to the Grand Canyon, but as you approach the rim, whichever rim it is, your eyes are greeted with this vast expanse of multicolored cliffs as far as the eye can see.

The magnitude of the canyon is humbling.

The rich colors of the rocks that look hand-painted.

You stand on the edge and you feel this sense of insignificance and reverence, as if you are witnessing the raw power and beauty of nature at its finest.

And in that moment, as you look out, you're reminded that Jesus is greater than this.

Jesus is above all because everything was made by him and for him.

This should remind us at the very beginning of the Gospel of John in John 1.3, all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.

And if that's the case, then that makes Jesus Christ supreme over everything because he created all.

So this helps us understand the supremacy of Christ because he's not from the earth, but he came from heaven.

The Gospel writer, he's helping us understand there isn't even a debate to be had.

You can't even debate.

Jesus is above all, he is supreme.

But the Gospel writer, uh John, he doesn't just want to stop there because he goes into the testimony of Jesus in verses 32 through 34 and what Jesus declares.

He bears witness to what he has seen and heard.

Think about it like this.

When I or any of the other pastors here at Sacred Mission, when we stand up here and proclaim the Word of God to you, we are secondary witnesses.

Meaning we are declaring and proclaiming what God has revealed to us in his holy word, the Bible, which we love, we believe, and we take very seriously here at SMC.

But with Jesus Christ, it's different than us.

Why?

Because number one, Jesus is the Word.

John 1 1.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.

And the word was God.

But also, Jesus is God because he experienced it all firsthand as well.

I should have said, since Jesus is God, not because he experienced He's God, He is God.

So when Jesus started and continued his ministry, he's declaring what he's actually seen and heard.

No one had to tell him.

And even though his testimony is true, the gospel writer tells us that no one receives it.

But whoever does receive his testimony sets a seal to this that God is true.

And he uses this imagery of a letter with a seal.

Of a letter with a seal.

Whenever I write a card, I always have blank cards.

They're just white cards and white envelopes.

Because I hate going to the store and picking out cards because I'm always like, I don't agree with that.

So I can't get that card.

And then I'm like, that card's$8.

That is terrible.

And so I get these blank white cards, and what I do is I write in it and then I put it in that envelope.

And instead of sealing the whole thing, I have wax that I melt onto it.

And then I have a wax seal with the letter M for our last name.

And so I press it in and I seal that letter.

And for me, it's just this really great feature.

It's kind of a, it adds some weight to it, kind of a nice thing to, you know, I don't know really how much the kids really care, but to me it's really cool.

Looking at it, I'm like, man, that's that's cool.

But at this time, and when John would be saying this, and later on throughout history, as someone would write a letter, they would seal it with their wax seal.

And it was a guarantee that this letter was coming from the person who wrote it.

So if a letter arrived from a person and said, hey, this here's a delivery, here's a letter from John, and you turned it over and there was no wax seal, or it was broken, or whatever it might be.

But if that seal wasn't there, you'd say, That letter was forged.

It's a fraud, it's not real.

I can't trust what is you could literally just pitch it out because you're like, it's not from the person, so I can't trust it.

And what does the gospel writer here say about the seal?

That anyone who does believe the testimony of Jesus declares and seals that God is true.

You are declaring that God is not a fraud.

But the opposite is also true.

When you reject Jesus, you are calling God a fraud.

Look at verse 34.

Because the one that God sent has utters the words of God.

So when you reject the Son, you also reject the Father.

Why?

Because in the same way that the Father is God, the Son also is God.

So when we read in verse 34 that the Spirit is given without measure, the gospel writer is making a distinction between prophets in the Old Testament and Jesus.

Listen to what the author of Hebrews writes in Hebrews 1, 1 through 2.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

Gerald Hawthorne, who was a professor and author, said this in his book entitled The Presence and the Power.

Jesus, this particular messenger sent by God, excels all other such messengers.

Other messengers, as people supposed, received the Spirit in a measured fashion, so that they were able to reveal the mind and will of God, but only partially, since they simply had the ability to prophesy one prophetic book, or at the most two.

Jesus, however, is given the Spirit without measure, superabundantly, bountifully, completely.

God gives the Spirit in unlimited fullness to this, his last envoy, to Jesus, the Son, so that the revelation this one brings is sufficient, complete, in need of no further explanation or amplification.

So the prophets of old, meaning the prophets who God used to give us the Old Testament, could only speak partially to what God gave them to say.

He didn't give them all the revelation, he gave them what they needed in that moment to give us that book of the Old Testament, but not Jesus.

No, it's different.

Jesus had the full measure of the Spirit.

John the Baptist even testified about this in John 1.32.

And John bore witness, I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.

We even read about Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit, Luke 4.1.

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.

Which then helps us understand and leads us more to better grasp the authority of Christ in verses 35 to 36.

And in verse 35, what the Gospel writer does is he reinforces what he just said in verse 34.

The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.

Listen to what the Gospel writer says just a couple of chapters later in John 5, 20 through 24.

For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.

And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.

For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.

Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Truly, truly I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.

He does not come into judgment, but is passed from death to life.

Jesus has the authority to give life.

Jesus has the authority to judge.

If you don't honor the Son, then you don't honor the Father.

Why?

Because Jesus is God.

If you reject him, you are also rejecting the Father who is God.

And this is, we see the authority of Christ here.

So from the from this text this morning, we've seen also the supremacy, the testimony, and the authority of Christ, which builds the case for why we should exalt Jesus.

So let's come back to our initial question of what does it mean to exalt Jesus?

Or better yet, how do we exalt Jesus in our lives?

And we see this in verse 36.

What does he say?

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.

Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

John makes it very clear.

What does it mean to exalt Jesus in your life?

Number one, belief.

Number two, obedience.

Belief and obedience.

Enough of this easy believism.

If you're not obeying, then you're not believing.

John is very clear that if you believe in the Son, you have eternal life, but he goes on to elaborate what that means.

Whoever does not obey shall not see life.

Now John is not advocating at all a works-based faith.

That's not what he's saying here.

John is not adding to the gospel.

And the reason we know that is because in John 3.36, he says, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.

So what does John mean here when he says, whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life?

He's helping us understand that if there is no obedience to Jesus, then there really is no salvation.

You aren't really saved.

I mean, think about it this way.

If you were trying to lose weight, would you go to an overweight health coach?

No.

If you needed financial advice, would you go to a person who's in massive debt?

No.

Why?

Because you wouldn't actually believe what they say.

It doesn't make any sense.

If you actually believe this, it would actually be affecting and impacting your own life, but I can clearly tell by the way you look or how much debt you have that you don't believe, and you can't really coach me to get to where I want to go.

This is what John is trying to help us understand here as well.

Obedience is the proof of faith in Jesus.

The same gospel writer here, John, when he pinned his letter of 1 John to the church later on in the New Testament, he helps us understand this concept a little bit better of obedience for salvation in 1 John 2, 3 through 6.

And by this we know that we have come to know him.

If what?

We keep his commandments.

Whoever says, I know him, but does not keep his commandments is what?

A liar.

And the truth is not in him.

But whoever keeps his word in him truly the love of God is perfected.

By this we know that we are in him.

Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Obedience does not get you salvation, but rather flows out of salvation.

Obedience is the sign of a real belief in Jesus.

But John also shows us the reality of rejecting Jesus.

What does he say?

The wrath of God.

And he says it remains on him.

And I believe what John is doing is he's elaborating further on what he said in John 3.18 when he's talking to Nicodemus.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Whoever does not believe is condemned already.

So we should never ever say the words, or, and I'm sure we've heard this from people, or you've heard this in culture, how could a good God send people to hell?

People are already headed there.

Why?

Because we have rejected God.

Romans 3.23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

And sin demands a payment.

Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, which leads to our gospel conviction today, and it's this Jesus was exalted on the cross by us, but we are exalted to glory by him.

The payment for sin is death.

So as a result of our sin and our rejection of God, Jesus paid the penalty.

John 3, 14 and 15.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

So instead of saying, How could a good God send people to hell?

What we should say is, How great is God that he would even offer forgiveness through Jesus?

Where even though we exalted Jesus on the cross through our rejection of God, it was because of Jesus being lifted up on the cross that brought about our forgiveness.

That should drive us to a joyful humility.

The Apostle Paul helps us understand this in Philippians 2.8 when he's talking about Jesus here and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Our joyful humility is found in our obedience to the Son, because the Son was obedient to the Father to the point of death, even death on a cross.

This is how we exalt Jesus.

This is how we lift Jesus up.

He not only showed us what humility is, but he did it joyfully.

Hebrews 12, 12 through 3.

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted.

So if you want to exalt Jesus in your life, if you want to lift him up in your life, then here is your answer as we leave here today.

It's our gospel vision, and it's this we are called to be a people who live out their faith through belief in and obedience to the Son.

So as you go from here today, let us go with an unwavering faith in Jesus Christ.

Let us strive to be faithful in our obedience to Jesus and His Word.

Let's pray.