Humiliation | Part 1b

Can you imagine the Lord knows the future, the Lord knows where I'm going, and he yet walks me out days of drought. He said the only reason I humbled you in the wilderness was so that you would know man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. We got our hands lifted in such a way that it looks glorious. We use the right tone and utter the right words at all the right times so we can look right and God is saying, I've seen you at your worst and I still love you. I've seen you broken and I still come to you. He's a God that is related to humiliation. Man, y'all stirred me up this morning. Look at what he's saying in this verse. Verse six says, who humble of himself to behold, an act of humility to even pay attention. He's aware of the wellbeing of the birds that fly. He's aware of the wellbeing of the lilies in the field and he says, oh, how much more do I love you? Oh, you of little faith. He knows the number of hairs on my head. His word says he knows my uprising and my down sitting and knows my thoughts are far off. The Bible says before I utter a word, he already knows it all together. Before I even get myself together to say what I want to say to him, he's done listened to the words I was articulating in my heart. What kind of God is this that knows me and everything about me, that knows the corruption of my heart, that knows the issues of my past, that sees the skeletons in my closet and still visits me. Religion don't understand this, but this is what Christ came to save. So he's humble. Why? Because humility is attractive. Man, that's powerful.

When I read this verse, because you know you can read the whole Bible, but the whole Bible ain't memorized. Because you'll tell folk, you know, have you read this verse? Oh yes, I've read the whole Bible. Well good, in your annual Bible. Do you remember? How much of it do you remember? So there are verses that you'll read in here and they'll just stand out. And one for me was Psalms 8 verse 4. Psalms 8 verse 4 says, what is man that thou art mindful of him? What is man that thou art mindful of him? And that you would visit him. Not only is he mindful of me, he'll visit me. That would remember me as David said in Psalm 103. That would remember me in my lowest state. Not in my highest state, my lowest state. Not when I got it all together, but when I don't know what to do. Psalms 8 verse 4 says, when I consider, when I consider, this is where it begins, when I consider the sun, the moon, the stars, which thou hast ordained, ordained means you have named it so it will respond to you. God made everything and named everything because he's in control of everything. This angel says, when I consider the works of thy hands and your fingers, the sun, the moon, the stars that you ordained, what is man? I can see that angel saying, when Adam and Eve sin, I can see that angel saying to God, so what? Let them go. They won't be as God. They don't know you. But yet God's heart is broken. And you say, yeah, but man, he drove man out.

He drove him out of the garden. That was passion. And then gave him the way back. God had passion. for man after man's sin. Because folk will do you wrong, you say, I don't care. And you up all in the night. You done wrote 15 texts, 150 words long, that you deleted and re-typed. And then somebody asks you about so-and-so, you say, I don't care. Up all night trying to get the right text, blowing this folk phone up, talking about you don't care. Yeah, you care. You ever been hurt by love? Who's afraid to talk in here and let them dirty? Now, you know good and well you've been hurt, but you can't have love and it not hurt. Love hurts. Passion hurts. If I didn't love you, it wouldn't have hurt if you hadn't said that to me. If I didn't love you, it wouldn't have hurt had you not done me like that. It wouldn't have hurt so bad if I didn't love you. God was hurt in the garden. And when he drives man out and gives him a way back, God was hurt and he orchestrated a plan where he would give his life to bring man back.

Love hurts. God knows what it's like to be hurt by love. Jesus knows what it's like to be hurt by love. Them nails didn't hold him. His love held him on that cross. Oh, y'all hear what I'm saying to you? For God so loved the world that he gave his own life through the avenue of his son. What is man that thou art mindful of him and that you would visit him? You gonna wrap yourself in flesh and go to him? You better send an angel. God said, I've done that. Look at verse six. Who humbleth himself to behold. Read that out loud. Who humbleth himself to behold. For God to even hear me is humility. For him to even look my way is humility. Why? Humility is attractive. He's drawing me through humility. He's relating to me through humility. And he's not arrogant about his humility because humble people don't brag about how humble they are. Yeah. Well, you'll never meet anybody as humble as me because if you knew how humble I was. See, no, that ain't make no sense. Bragging about how humble you are,

how nobody's more humble than you. And you're never gonna meet anybody as humble as me. So you better get back to me right now. No, you conceited. You're in love with your false humility. Whew. Whew. Verse six, let me finish this. Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth. It is an act of humility for God to even hear me or to behold my situation. And yet we ignore people. All right, go with me to Acts chapter eight. Y'all get anything out of this? The humiliation of Jesus. He relates because he's humble. He walked out things that are not humble. He walked out things he did not have to walk out because he's humble. He remained humble even when humiliated. And boy, when folk humiliate you, that's hard to be, it's hard to be humble in those moments. The word that the Lord gave me many years ago, and I can't forget it, and sometimes wish I could, that a man that defends himself will always be average because nobody wants to be humiliated. And like you know me, coming all up in my life, talking like you know me. You don't know me.

You want to humiliate me because of where I am now? You humiliated me where I was 30 years ago. Which one do you want? Acts chapter eight, when you get there, say amen. Because you can have nothing and folk will try to humiliate you. In other words, they'll try to package your purpose in your present. And they don't know your destiny and they don't even know your history. They just try to package you in where you are right now and devalue you. And humiliate you. And then you, the same person, can meet them, the same person, after you've come out of that situation, and then they'll try to devalue you again about where you are in this moment. Well, you devalue me when I was broke, busted and disgusted. Now I've seen some breakthroughs in some areas of my life, and now you're saying that's all I was ever about. Now, which one is it? God, church, will let you. We're gonna deal with this a little bit more next week. God will let us walk through seasons that humble us. Deuteronomy chapter eight speaks of it. When God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, he knew where he was taking them. He knew they were going to the promised land. But we read in verse number six

that God walked them out with days that made them hungry so that they would receive the bread of heaven. Because we're not always hungry for what God has. But he knows how to create a hunger. You can be in a place right now and you say, I don't believe all that. Let life have its way on you. And so in Deuteronomy eight, he said, I humbled you, I humbled you when I fed you manna after I allowed you to get hungry. And he didn't even have to give the manna, bread from heaven. And he said, I humbled you. And then he goes on at the end of the chapter and he said, when I humbled you in the wilderness, it was because I knew what I was gonna do at the end. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine the Lord knows the future? The Lord knows where I'm going and he yet walks me out days of drought, walks me out in a desert, walks me out in a wilderness. And just when I think I am going to dehydrate, he'll bring water out of speaking to a rock in a miracle way and that showed up. But I still don't know what I'm gonna drink tomorrow. And then he brings this daily bread and that bread falls and I think, oh wow, I better gather as much as I can now because I might not come tomorrow.

And then what I gathered that was needed for more than a day spoils on me and I can't even eat it because God is saying, no, no, no, you're not learning my lesson. I need you to know I'll never leave you nor forsake you. I need you to know I'll be with you even under the end of the world. I need you to know I'll remember you in your lowest state and I don't wanna give you no bread for three days because after the second day, you may forget me. I want you to seek me daily. He says this in verse three of Deuteronomy eight. He said, the only reason I humbled you in the wilderness was so that you would know man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. What was he saying? He was saying, I'm so going to embed my word in you, in your humiliation that you won't forget it in your exaltation. And there's some people that are exalted in our lives and you look and you see where they've come in life and you think, wow, wow, man, if I could only be like that. But you don't know what they walk through and you don't know the conviction that's in their heart didn't come when they were promoted. It came in the valley. It didn't come when their bank accounts were filled. It came when they were empty. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then you see people that you look at their life and you size them up, Brother Jefferson, you think there's no nothing in their life, no reason that they would ever be humbled because of the convictions they walk in. Well, they don't want to be known for the title. They don't want to be known for the wealth. They don't want to be known for the neighborhood. They don't want to be known by what they drive. It doesn't stop them from driving it.

It just means they don't find their identity in it. Are y'all hearing what I'm saying to you? Yeah. Yeah. Well, where does that come from? How can God entrust you with the more? How can God bring you to the promised land? After he's given us what we needed in the wilderness, it's humiliation before exaltation. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Amen. Acts chapter eight, when you get there, say amen. Amen. Man, I need this word today. You say, you preaching to us? No, I hear it before you did it. My ears are closer to my mouth than yours. I need this word right here. What a relatable God. Amen. Religion is so opposite. Verse 26, Acts eight. And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, arise, go toward the south. under the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. So the messenger, angel means messenger, the messenger of the Lord spoke to Philip and said,

hey, I want you to go down to Gaza. And he arose and went. He arose and went. Boy, I wish we would do that. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, eunuch of great authority, under Candias, queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem for it to worship. Let's catch the picture. Here's a preacher, Philip, who's been told to go down to Gaza. And when he gets there, there's a man sitting in his chariot, sitting in his ride. Come on now. And he's somebody. He's got great authority. He's the treasurer to the queen. Come on now. Are you with me? And he had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for the what? Man, you got to appreciate people that arrive, and don't forget where they came from. Well, I got to sit down on this one. Because you know, something about when he got all this, that'd been it. The days of worship would have been over. That's humility. Now, pay attention to the prestige of this man. He's got great authority under the queen.

He's her treasurer. He's in charge of all her treasure. And he's come to Jerusalem to worship. And verse 28, was returning and sitting in his... Huh? Lamborghini. I'm trying to bring it into the day. Not everybody had a chariot back then. Sitting in his Lamborghini, read Isaiah the prophet. He's reading the word after he left worship. So if you left worship and you're still reading, something must have intrigued you. You control the wealth of the queen. You have great authority under her. You're her treasure. When somebody trusts you with their money, you really reach about as high as you can get. And he's reading in his chariot. And he's curious. He's pulled in. Who is this? Look at this, look at this. You're so good. Let me read this real close. And so, the spirit speaks to Philip and says, go near. And Philip ran. That's what we need to do. And Philip ran to him. It took us four days. And Philip ran to him and heard him read the prophet Isaiah.

And he said, understand what you read? And the man said, how can I? Except some man should guide me. Look at the humility. I need somebody to guide me. Mr. Man in charge of the treasury of the queen, setting up in your Lamborghini. I need somebody. Look at the humility. And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him in his ride. In his ride. The place of the scripture which he read was this. This is so powerful. Church, wait till you see this. Because Jesus is king of kings and lord of lords. He's the creator of all things. He's God at manifesting human flesh. His name is above every name. And yet he's reading a verse, a verse is taken from Isaiah 53 that casts Jesus in such a light that some will reject Isaiah 53 because it ties Jesus to being the Messiah. And those that don't believe Jesus is the Messiah don't want to accept Isaiah 53 because it gives the picture of a man being crucified and a man being humiliated and a lamb being led to a slaughter. Isaiah knew the report would be so horrific

that people would stagger to believe it. That's why he begins this report in verse one when he says. Who hath believed the report of the Lord who will believe this report? And we we hear that who you know We'll say whose report do you believe and we we take that to mean like it's good news and it is good news But what Isaiah was saying was this report is so horrific It's gonna cast the Messiah in such a negative light That he's beat in the back That he's bearing stripes That's not the Messiah that they were looking for in the Old Testament. They were looking for a Messiah that would come and conquer But this Messiah is gonna be beaten this Messiah is gonna bleed this Messiah is gonna die It was horrific not just a death, but a tortured death Isaiah said who's gonna believe this but I got to write it and this this Ethiopian is reading that report and he's like, I don't even know who this is who went through this Look at verse 32 the place of the scripture which he read was this He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb dumb silent before his shearer So opening not his mouth read it verse 33 out loud read a church in his what? in his what He's reading about the humiliation of Jesus In his humiliation His justice that's that word in Greek his justice was taken away There is something in the human heart that wants justice It's how I know we didn't evolve from an animal Because within us we want justice we want justice for ourselves We want to be vindicated of wrong. We want justice for the oppressed. We hate to see people treated unjustly There's something inside the human that has a good art that doesn't like injustice And I'm closing In his humiliation his justice His judgment his justice was taken away How could this be how could the one that is just get no justice

When even pilots said I find no wrong with this man How Could a man that never said That never rejected anyone in need that only brought health and healing and truth Be humiliated as a prophet as a priest as a king and not even open his mouth This has this Ethiopian pulled in Who is this man Who endured this The eunuch answered Philip and said in verse 34 I pray thee of whom speaketh the prophet this is he talking about himself. Did Isaiah go through this? Or is he speaking of some other man Notice Notice this man second to the Queen It's not moved by the kingdom the glory the power and the wisdom But it's moved by the humility Before I came to know the resurrection I had to know the crucifixion I It's really not he met the ascension that I met Jesus And even though he seated at the right hand of God When I first called upon him, even though I knew that's where he was. That's not where I saw him When I got saved I saw him at the cross It's at the cross I relate. It's at the cross I find his love for me That not only would he die for me he'd be humiliated for me i can relate to this i can receive this the if you open the saying i gotta know who this man is oh i love verse 35 then philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture look at this church and preached unto him who jesus jesus is this one that was humiliated jesus is this one that was beaten jesus is this one that was mocked but that is not the end of the story because even though they put him on a cross for six hours and took his dead body off they laid it in a borrowed tomb but it only remained there for three days and three nights because afterward on the first day of the week he was seen up from

the dead and walked this earth for 40 days and 40 nights before he ascended back to the father where he is seated at the right hand you see how you know all that i know it by the following verse verse number 36 and as they went on their way they came to certain water and the eunuch said see here is water what does hinder me to be baptized so obviously he's ready to identify with not just the death of jesus bearing the likeness of his death he's ready to identify with the resurrection of jesus he's ready to give his life to jesus philip said do you believe that's the only thing that could hinder you do you believe he said i believe that jesus christ is the son of god not just a prophet that died not just a good man who was crucified no he is the son of god he is the messiah he's saying i believe in the incarnation the humiliation the exaltation and the adoration of jesus and he commanded the chariot to stand still and they went down in the water both philip and the eunuch and he baptized him he identified and i'm closing with this statement i let it close everything up christianity is about identifying with the death the burial and the resurrection of jesus well i want to thank you for allowing me into your viewing area today and i hope that you were blessed by the ministry of god's word our broadcast is made possible through the faithful financial support of our members and partners here in this viewing area and i want to encourage you to prayerfully consider supporting the work of this ministry so that we can take the message of jesus as the manifested word of god reaching more people in more ways and in more places than ever before thank you for your support he's so big he could take the enemy's plan and turn it for my good to the point that your enemy wishes they had never have done that