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Transcript

Well, good afternoon, everyone. It’s good to see you. Brethren, I’m hungry. And come to think of it, I’m pretty thirsty, too. I know we do this fasting thing every year on atonement, but it continues to be a challenge. Some of us may have a headache. Our mouths are dry. Our bodies ache. Our stomachs are tight. Maybe it’s just me. Our minds know what we’re doing. We set our minds to fast, and we’re going to gird up our loins and we’re going to do it. But no doubt, by this hour in the day, our body is wondering, “Are you going to actually eat today? What’s going on? This is very, very different. Why are you doing this to me?” Our bodies can often feel like screaming out.

And brethren, that’s actually a pretty good question. Why are we doing this to ourselves? Why are we torturing ourselves? Torture may be strong, but maybe not. Why are we torturing ourselves or fasting on the Day of Atonement? If you’ve been in God’s church for a while, maybe you’ve been to an atonement service before you’ve read the literature, you understand that we fast on atonement in order to humble ourselves. So that’s a big reason or a very important reason that we fast. We fast to remain humble. Now, I have a question that I want you to consider. Here’s the question. Which is more difficult, becoming humble or remaining humble? Which one would you say is more of a challenge?

Now, your minds, especially not having much nourishment, you’re probably thinking that’s exactly the same thing. Becoming, remaining, or becoming humble and remaining humble. Is there really a difference? Oh, brethren, there definitely is a difference. There is a big difference between becoming humble and remaining humble. Just a couple of quick examples. Here’s a big difference between building the campus and maintaining the campus. Two different things. There’s a big difference between building a house and maintaining that house once it’s already built.

Same with a car, putting a car together versus the upkeep. Thankfully, there’s a big difference. I’m a little better at one than the other. Losing weight or keeping it off. There are many examples that I could throw out there, but there’s a big difference between those two. Now, something I heard early on in the church, and I never forgot it, you’ve likely heard it as well, but what I heard was God cannot humble you. We can only humble ourselves. God cannot humble us. We can only humble ourselves.

So that makes this question that I pose, this idea of becoming humble or remaining humble, that much more important, knowing that when it comes to humility, it’s up to us. It’s something that we have to do. So today, brethren, we’re going to talk about how, of course, the Day of Atonement teaches us to humble ourselves, but the key today is understanding what it takes to stay that way. All right. So let’s get specific about the Day of Atonement. We’ll go to Leviticus sixteen, the verses we read every year.

Leviticus chapter sixteen. There are several places in the scriptures that talk about the Day of Atonement. We’ll just go to one. But Leviticus sixteen, we’ll read in verse twenty-nine. Leviticus sixteen, twenty-nine. We’ll just read a couple of verses here. Leviticus sixteen, twenty-nine reads, “And this shall be a statute forever unto you, that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country or a stranger that sojourns with you, for on that day, shall the priest make an atonement for you.”

Hence the name, “the Day of Atonement.” “The priest shall make an atonement for you to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you.” And it says again, “You shall afflict your souls by a statute forever.” So, atonement, as we’ve heard it explained, is becoming one with God. You look at the word at one with God. Atonement, at one. So atonement is becoming one with God, and it means for that to happen, we have to be clean.

We are cleansed from our sins, and the command is we must afflict our souls through fasting. That’s going at least twenty-four hours without food and without water. So the proper fast on atonement is at least twenty-four hours, or twenty-four hours without food and without water. Now, we do this fast every year, and brethren, we fast throughout the year. But the fast on the Day of Atonement is a unique fast, and we just read why. Did you catch it? What makes the Day of Atonement a unique fast?

Yes, it’s on the tenth of the month and the tenth day, but outside of that, what makes it a unique fast? You may have noticed we don’t work. That’s true. But this fast on atonement is a unique fast. It’s a fast, unlike any other or many others that we do. Well, if you notice, it says, ye or a collective, you. You, all of us, shall afflict our souls. Brethren, we’re all fasting together. Brethren, all over the world are doing the exact same thing. We’re all fasting at the same time, depending on where you are on the planet, but we’re all fasting collectively.

So what does that mean? That means we’re all collectively becoming one with God. There is a power in that. An individual fast, sure, on an individual basis, you’re drawing close to God. That’s a wonderful thing. But when brethren all over the world are fasting together on the Day of Atonement, that compounds the power, that compounds the effect of all of us all over the world, all of God’s people, fasting and drawing close to God. Now, as we read, atonement cleanses us from sin.

Isaiah fifty-nine. Isaiah fifty-nine. As we turn there, it’s nice to know that you’re not fasting alone. When you linger too long at the water fountain, or you think about that sandwich. Maybe you see it in the refrigerator as you walk by and didn’t open it. You remember, “You know what? It’s not just me.” Everyone else is fasting, too, and hopefully makes us feel just a little bit better. But Isaiah fifty-nine, and talk about being cleansed from sin.

Isaiah fifty-nine, a very familiar verse, but it’s important on a day like today.

Isaiah fifty-nine, two. “But your iniquities,” or your sins, “...have separated between you and your God, and,” as it says, “...your sins have hid His face from you that He will not hear. Brethren, we know that sin separates us from God. It’s a foundational understanding in the Bible, in God’s church. God could not be in the presence of sin. Humility brings us back and connects us to God. Micah six. Micah chapter six. Sin separates us from God. Humility brings us back to Him.

Micah six, eight, it reads, “He has showed you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you.” This is not optional. This is something required we’re about to read, “But to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” God is just, God is merciful, and amazingly, God is humble. God, the God of the universe, the God that created all things. The God who is all-powerful, who can do anything, who knows everything, that God also describes Himself as humble. And as we’ve heard it explained, we have to come down to where God is. We have to come down to God’s level when it comes to humility. It’s a powerful illustration. We must lower ourselves in order to walk with God. Now, we read that afflicting our souls or fasting is the way to humble ourselves. Let’s go to Psalm thirty-five. Afflicting our souls is how we humble yourselves. Psalm thirty-five, thirteen. “But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth;” here we go. “...I humbled my soul with fasting. And my prayer returned unto mine own bosom.”

So we humble ourselves through fasting, through afflicting our souls. Now, try to think of an easier way, a more straightforward way to humble yourself. It’s to stop eating. It’s to not eat. I cannot think of, maybe you can, I doubt it. I thought about it, I can’t think of an easier, more straightforward way for all of us to humble ourselves. Just stop eating. And depending on how long you stop eating, you’ll find that you get humbled really quickly. And then to do it collectively. We all stop eating, therefore, we humble ourselves.

God gave us this very simple, very straightforward way to be humble, to become humble. It’s an ingenious way, it was an ingenious way to do it. James four. We’re going to tie all of this together. James four. God could have simply said, “Go humble yourselves.” And some of us, to varying degrees, may or may not have done it properly. But if you stop eating for a while, it’s a very effective way to keep that command, to keep that expectation to humble ourselves. James chapter four. James four.

We’re going to tie it all together. James chapter four, verse seven. James four, seven. And as we go through this, allow your eyes to linger on the powerful words within, and I’ll punch several of them. “Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be afflicted or fast, and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of God, and He shall lift you up.”

So afflicting ourselves, humbling ourselves, it cleanses our hands, it purifies our hearts, it helps us to not be double-minded. We are now singularly focused on the things that are most important in the eyes of God. And as a result, God promises to lift us up. We’ll get to eat again. But He will also lift us up in much greater ways. So after reading that, brethren, after reading the promises and all the things that God says He will do, I think eating might be overrated.

You all don’t look like you agree. Of course, we have to eat again. But if we think about all the things that come as a result of humbling ourselves, which is obviously connected to not eating, then eating is just kind of okay. Something, of course, we have to do, but it’s certainly not the most important thing when it comes to life. All right, so humility, these are things we know, brethren, but humility is hugely, hugely important in the life of a Christian. It’s something that we all must do, something we all must focus on.

Stay here in James and we’ll read James four, six. But He gives more grace. “Wherefore, He said, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” What is humility? Well, the opposite of it is pride. So when we’re proud, we’re lifted up, we’re full of ourselves, we’re puffed up. Think back to the days of unleavened bread. Humility is the opposite of that. It’s being flat. It’s not being puffed up. It’s not being full of ourselves. Here’s a good definition, a good alternative, or another definition for humility. Humility is seeing yourself as you are. Seeing yourself as you are.

Now, you notice I didn’t say that humility is seeing yourself as less than what you are. It’s a big difference. Making a habit of seeing ourselves as less than what we are, that’s the path to a false humility. You will see some people walk around, and they just beat themselves up. Figuratively, they hang their heads. Oh, I’m not good enough. I can’t do anything right. I always do everything wrong. Oh, that person is so humble. No. Humility is seeing ourselves as we are, as we truly are.

A godly humility, again, it’s seeing ourselves as we are. How are we? Well, we’re frail. We’re prone to mistakes. We don’t always get everything right. And most importantly, we rely, we have to rely on God for everything that we need. That is a Godly humility. And if we come to grips with who we truly are, meaning that we do need God and that we are frail and we can’t do everything on our own. If we come to grips and we stay attuned to who and what we really are, then God can reward us. He can work with us because we’re in reality.

We’re being honest with ourselves. We’re being truthful with ourselves. Proverbs twenty-two. God can work with a mind that is humble, and ultimately, He will reward a mind that is humble. Proverbs twenty-two. Just one verse here, but it’s important. Proverbs twenty-two four. “By humility and the fear of the Lord.” We’re going to be learning about the fear of God at the feast here in a few days. “But by humility and the fear of the Lord,” are what? “...riches and honor and life.” Often in the world, people don’t put humility together with riches, honor, and life.

In the world, those are things to brag about. Those are things to be puffed up about. Those are things to think that, you know, I have something that none of you have. But God wants to reward those who are humble and who fear Him. Matthew eighteen. God will give us all three riches, honor, and life if we’re humble, if we fear Him. Matthew eighteen. What else will He give us? Matthew eighteen verse three. Matthew eighteen, three. This is Christ speaking.

“Truly, I say unto you, except you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” So another thing we get from God when we’re humble is we get greatness in the Kingdom. Greatness in the Kingdom of God. But notice that you see that it’s not humble to be the greatest. You’re looking at the end of verse three, “Except you be converted and become as a child, you shall not even enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

So this isn’t about just being humble for levels within the Kingdom of greatness. If we’re not humble, brethren, if we’re not converted as that child as it was connected to humility, we won’t even enter the Kingdom of God. God can’t be in the presence of pride. He’s humble, remember? We have to walk with Him. We have to lower ourselves to walk with Him. If we’re going to be in His presence in the kingdom of God for eternity, we have to be humble. We can’t be inflated, we can’t be puffed up, we can’t be full of ourselves. So now that you’re sold that it’s important to be humble, let’s get back to this idea of being humble or becoming humble versus remaining humble. Now, right now we’re all humble, feeling pretty low, feeling like, you know what? I don’t know if I can make it through the rest of this service. Maybe not that bad. Some are probably feeling better than others.

But right now, across the board, we’re all pretty, pretty humble. We’re not eating.

Well, what happens when we eat again? When we take that first bite, second bite, third bite. I can keep counting. Many bites. What happens when we eat again? Well, we forget all the lessons, everything that we learned, all the things we thought about, all the things we maybe prayed about, we reflected on leading up to and going through this day. Yes, we’re humble right now, but will we remain that way? Will we stay that way? When it comes to humility, getting there and staying there are two different things.

Let’s go to First Samuel nine. Go to a well-known account. First Samuel nine. When it comes to humility, getting there and staying there are two different things. First Samuel nine, we’re going to read about King Saul. Started in verse seventeen. First Samuel nine, seventeen. This is as we’ll see who’s in the audience here? First Samuel nine seventeen. “And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him, behold the man whom I spoke to you of, this same shall reign over my people.”

All right. So we’re seeing here that God has identified Saul as the one who would rule over his people. He just selected the king, selected Saul as king. Verse twenty-one, Saul’s answer. “And Saul answered and said, ‘Am I not a Benjamite of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin?’ So not only am I of the smallest tribe, Benjamin, my family is the smallest family within Benjamin. Wherefore then, speak you so to me?” The King James version of who, me?

He was just selected by God as king. He’s like, “What? Who? Me? I come from the smallest tribe. I come from the smallest family. Saul was a tall man, but despite that, he saw himself as the smallest tribe, smallest family. That’s a wonderful attitude. That was a very solid attitude. God picked him as king. He says, “Whoa, who, me? You sure? Do you know who I am? I come from nothing, yet you’re choosing me to be over all of the tribes, despite me coming from the smallest tribe and the smallest family within that tribe.

Saul was humble. He had become humble. He saw himself as he was. Think about his life up until that point. He wasn’t the only one to realize his family was the smallest in Benjamin, he wasn’t the only one to realize that Benjamin was the smallest tribe. He probably took a lot of heat for that. Maybe coming up. Maybe his family was seen as not the most prominent family. You know, Benjamin was the runt. Think about all the things that he experienced as he came up in life.

Brethren, think about all the things you’ve experienced as you’ve come up in life. Maybe you didn’t come from the top family. Maybe you didn’t have much money. Maybe you didn’t live in the nicest home. Maybe your parents or guardians or whoever you grew up with dealt with a lot of trials and challenges. All of those things came together to humble you, to make you, to prepare you to be someone that God can call in the future. All those challenges that you had to face.

So Saul became or started out as humble. The problem is he didn’t stay that way. He didn’t stay humble. Let’s jump ahead six chapters to First Samuel fifteen. First Samuel fifteen. Saul eventually stopped seeing himself as he was. First Samuel fifteen. And we’re going to pick it up in the context. If we had time, we’d go through and read. Saul blew off God’s instructions. He was given very clear instructions of what he needed to do, and he blew them off. And now Samuel is having a much different conversation with him.

We read about the first conversation, the who me conversation. Well, now we’re in a much different place. First Samuel fifteen, twenty-two. First Samuel fifteen twenty-two. And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight and burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to harken than the fat of rams, for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.”

Instead of being installed into his kingship, into his position by Samuel, now he’s being removed from that very same position, all the while being called stubborn, rebellious, disobedient. Once again, becoming humble and remaining humble are two different things. Saul is not the only example of this. King David also struggled with this same issue. Before we take a closer look at King David, let’s read something about him. Let’s go over to the book of Acts. Acts thirteen. Acts, chapter thirteen.

King David, we’ll eventually read, started off humbled, but sadly, he didn’t remain that way. But he was different. Let’s take a look at this. Acts thirteen, verse twenty-two. Acts thirteen, twenty-two. “And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David, to be their king,” so we’re seeing the replacement of Saul by David, “...to whom also, he gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse,” this is the point, “...a man after my own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.” So God replaced Saul with David, who he called a man after his own heart.

Take note, brethren, this was a man after God’s own heart. A man after God’s own heart, as we’re about to read, can struggle with remaining humble. Take note of that. We could think Saul, “O, evil Saul, bad Saul.” But even David, a man after God’s own heart, can struggle with this issue. First Samuel sixteen. First Samuel sixteen, we’re going to see David as a shepherd boy, had a very humble heart, and God, of course, took note of that. First Samuel sixteen. First Samuel, chapter sixteen, verse seven. “But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him, for the Lord sees not as man sees,” so you think about pride and humility. Men, we often look, go by what we see. God is different. “...the Lord sees not as man sees. For man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” David saw himself as he was. He was a shepherd boy. I don’t know how many brothers he had total, but he at least had seven who all looked better than him, or maybe were taller than him, or brought something to the table that he didn’t bring.

Remember, when Samuel went to visit Jesse, he kept bringing the other brothers. His own dad didn’t think, surely they can’t be talking about David. It has to be one of my other sons. His own dad looked on his outward appearance, on the outward appearance of David and his brothers, and he made his choice, but brethren, we understand God doesn’t look at the outward appearance. I look out amongst all of us. I think about myself. God doesn’t look at the outward appearance.

Maybe we’re not the tallest or the shortest, or have the most wealth or the smartest, or come from a certain pedigree. God looks at the heart. He doesn’t focus on the things that men focus on. First Samuel seventeen. Just one chapter over. What made David special, and what made him humble, was that he knew he had to rely on God. Let’s keep reading about this. First Samuel seventeen. We’ll pick it up in verse thirty-two. First Samuel seventeen, thirty-two. This is David, he’s going to be encountering Goliath.

Let’s listen to it and listen to David’s mindset. As we read his words, it tells you his thinking. First Samuel seventeen, thirty-two, “And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” These soldiers, these armies that come together. This man, Goliath, was making threats. The men, these experienced warriors, some doubtless seen as more capable than David when it came to fighting and being a warrior.

David is saying, “I’ll fight this Philistine,” and Saul said to David, “Are you sure?” We’ll keep reading. “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him. You are but a youth and a man of war. And he, a man of war from his youth.” This man, he’s not only a giant, he’s been fighting since he was a kid, and you’re still a kid. David said to Saul, “Your servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock, and I went after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth. When he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew him.”

I killed a lion. I took the prey out of his mouth and killed the lion. “Your servant slew both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, why? “...seeing that he has defied the armies of the living God.” Not because I’m the best warrior. Not because I’m all that and I can do anything. No, it’s because he came up against the God of heaven, the God of earth, my God.

Therefore, I know that this giant, this warrior, since youth, doesn’t stand a chance.” David said, “Moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said unto David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.” David is saying, “Look, I’ve been here before. I’ve killed a lion. I’ve killed a bear. This man has come up against God. I’ll take care of it. With God’s help, I’ll take care of it.” David’s life, his experiences made him humble.

And you notice he saw himself as he was capable with God’s help. It wasn’t a false humility, “Oh boy, I don’t stand a chance against Goliath.” No, that boldness that you see is actually humility. Why? Because he’s seeing himself as he is. He’s understanding that he needs God’s help in order to accomplish what he needs to accomplish. Big difference, not the shameful shuffle. Brethren, we can learn so many lessons from this. Learn so many lessons for this because sadly, David is humble as he was in that situation, as extraordinary, as brilliant.

I mean, we’re talking about it thousands of years later, this amazing thing that he did going up against Goliath. As humble as David was in that moment, he didn’t remain that way. First Chronicles, chapter twenty-one. First Chronicles, chapter twenty-one. First Chronicles twenty-one. David numbers Israel. First Chronicles twenty-one. “And Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel. And David said to Joab and to the rulers of Israel, “Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know it.”

This warrior, David, he’s in his capacity as a warrior, he’s in charge, he’s fighting, something he’s very good at by this point. Sadly, he forgot the thing that made him good, which was relying on God. He began to look at his own abilities, his own strengths, and began to rely on himself. Now, a merciful God even tried to warn him, “What are you doing, David?” He had his subordinate say the following, verse three. “And Joab answered, the Lord make his people in a hundred times so many more as they be. David, sir, king, it’s God that does this, remember?

But my Lord, the king, are they not all my Lord’s servants? Why then does my Lord require this thing? Why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel? ‘Sir, what are you doing? What are you thinking? Are you sure you want to do this? This is a sin. This is a trespass.” David got so lifted up and full of himself, he was no longer humble, he blew off the counsel. Brethren, how many times have we gotten so full of ourselves, so confident in our own abilities that we blow off counsel? It could be counsel that we remember from previous experiences.

It could be counsel that we’ve read about in the Bible, heard in a sermon. It could be counsel that comes right at the moment that we’re being proud and not being humble. How many times have we found ourselves? I can think about my own life all the times that I got so full of myself, and it may not have been, you know, I’m so full of myself. I could just feel like, you know what? I got this, yet I blow off counsel, and I stopped doing the things that got me to where I am. Brethren, we’ve all been there. We’ve all been there.

Notice who was involved in this whole exchange, Satan. Satan is the least humble being in the universe. It’s no coincidence that he was mentioned. It’s no coincidence that it said he was the one going against Israel, which was his ultimate goal anyway. He wanted Israel to fold, he wanted them to fall. That was the plan. That was the plan from the beginning. That was his strategy. The tactic was to do what? Provoke David. To take David from the very thing that gave him power, to be humble. He provoked David, caused him to count Israel. God even sent counsel, David blew it off. Brethren, when, not if, when we find ourselves not being as humble as we should, at least be honest with yourself. I have to be honest with myself and recognize Satan, the God of this world is probably involved. And perhaps remembering that will help us kind of snap out of it, take the counsel. Listen to Joab. Don’t number the people.

David wasn’t done here. We won’t go through the whole account, but you recall he took Bathsheba; was not his wife. He stole her, committed adultery with her, had her husband murdered on the front lines. He did all that to try to hide it. To try to hide what he had done. It’s interesting. We could be very prideful. We can do a lot of things out in the open and then when we get caught or to avoid getting caught, we suddenly want to hide it. Well, I thought you were proud.

I thought you were confident in what you were doing. Well, no, I want to hide it. I don’t want anyone to know what I did. I don’t want anyone to be aware of what I’m capable of. David, at this point was so far from being the man that he started out being. That humble man that he started out being. He was a long, long, long way from that.

This point, he’s kind of looking like Saul, the man he replaced. But remember, I said that David was different. David was different. He was a man after God’s own heart. Psalm fifty-one, Psalm fifty-one. Even though David started out humble and didn’t remain humble, he had the wherewithal to humble himself again.

Psalm fifty-one, we will read several verses here, “Have mercy upon me,” at the beginning of the Psalm. “Have mercy upon me, oh God, according to your lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of your tender mercies, blood out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight, that you might be justified when you speak, and be clear when you judge.”

Verse ten, “Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence. Take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with your free spirit.” He’s beseeching God here. Verse thirteen, “Then will I teach transgressors your ways and sinners shall be converted unto you.”

Verse fifteen, “Oh Lord, open you, my lips and my mouth shall show forth your praise. For you desire not sacrifice, else would I give it, you desire not in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart.” David returned to the mindset that he had when he was tending the sheep in the field when he confronted Goliath, the attributes, the mindset, the thinking that got him to where he was or got him to a position to be able to rule.

And as we went through Psalm fifty-one, a lot of things should have sounded familiar, being washed from sin, humbling himself. We understand the things we saw and read the things that God is looking for. There are so many lessons throughout not only David’s life in that account, but Saul’s as well. How does this idea, brethren, how does this idea of becoming and remaining humble apply specifically to us? How does it apply specifically to us?

Throughout, I’ve talked about ways that it can and should apply, but how does it apply specifically to us? We’re not kings, we’re not queens. At least not yet. How does this... How do these lessons apply to us? Well, we’ll start on the path of what or how we became humble in the first place. Now, if I had to summarize this idea of becoming humble, and this is applying directly to all of us, applies to me as well.

If I had to summarize this idea of becoming humble in one phrase, what do you think it would be? What would that phrase be? Or you’re hungry. So I’m not going to make you work too hard for it. We actually read it already. I kind of breezed by it, but it’s back in Psalm fifty-one, Psalm fifty-one, thirteen, something David said, something he recognized.

Psalm fifty-one, thirteen, “Then will I teach transgressors your ways” And here it is. “And sinners shall be converted.” Sinners shall be converted. The conversion process, brethren, is a humbling process. The conversion process, I repeat, is a humbling process. Think about it. We had to admit that we were wrong. We had to get baptized. So that’s an act of submission.

Then we had to commit our ways to God’s way of life. No longer could we live our own way as the way that we saw fit as adults. No longer could we live that way. We had to come under God’s authority and begin to live his way of life. Talk about humbling. Matthew eighteen. Matthew eighteen. We are going to go back to it and look at something that I may have started in the verse after, but Matthew eighteen.

It was a section of scripture that we read prior. Matthew eighteen verse three, Matthew eighteen, three. “And he said, truly I say unto you,” oh, I did read this, but I’ll repeat it, “Truly I say unto you, except you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

So we see this humility, which we’ll go on in verse four to talk about and conversion being tied together. So except we’re converted and humbled, of course, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Acts three, Acts three, Acts chapter three, verse nineteen. See it yet again.

Acts three, nineteen “Repent you therefore,” and do what? “Be converted that your sins may be blotted out.” Conversion brethren, is a humbling process. We’re admitting that we don’t have it all figured out, that we were wrong, that we need God’s help. Let’s see a graphic example of this, stay here in the Book of Acts. Acts, chapter two.

This conversion process shocked people when they understood it. Acts three, or excuse me, two. Acts two. We’ll pick it up in verse thirty-six. Acts two, thirty-six. Peter at this is giving a sermon. It’s the day of Pentecost and he’s explaining something very important to his audience.

Acts two, thirty-six, “Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this same Jesus whom you killed, who you crucified both Lord and Christ. You just killed God in the flesh.” What was their reaction? “...When they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts.”

Stung to the quick. They were in shock. There was a visceral reaction when they recognized what they had done. “...And said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Brethren, probably our humblest moment in life, probably our humblest moment in life is when we recognized and realized, you know what? I need to submit to God and be baptized. Everything that I’ve done up until this point is either in vain, it’s wrong, I didn’t do the things that God has expected of me. That likely was our humblest moment in life. It was for me. When I recognized what I had done and the things that... and the life, not only that I was living, but the life that I should have been living. A very humbling time. Romans eight. Romans eight. I recognize the following. Romans eight, seven.

Romans eight, seven. “Because the carnal mind, the mind that I had before conversion is enmity or hostile against God. For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” All of us, each of us brethren, we all opposed God and His law. No exceptions, all of us. We all opposed God. We all opposed His law. We all were like Saul, later on. Conversion changed it. Conversion changed it. When we recognize that, you know what, I’m opposing God, that’s not the way I want to be. When we recognize that it got God’s attention. Second Chronicles thirty-four. Second Chronicles thirty-four.

It got God’s attention. Our humility in that moment, over that period of time as we were coming and learning God’s way and learning what we had done, what we were responsible for. The humility that came as a result got God’s attention. Second Chronicles thirty-four. It says, God responding to the children of Israel being humbled. Of course, it applies to us. Second Chronicles thirty-four, twenty-seven. “Because your heart was tender, because you did humble yourself before God. When you heard his words. When we heard the words of God, when we began to understand his truths, when he opened our minds to what was possible. When you heard his words against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbled yourself before me and did render your clothes and weep before me. I have even heard you also says God, says the Lord.”

God heard us. When we humbled ourselves, when we lowered ourselves to walk with him, he heard us. David told us that the sacrifices of God are what? A broken spirit and a contrite heart. When our spirit were broken, that human spirit and our hearts were contrite, it got God’s attention. We became humble. God humbled us. We ultimately humble ourselves. God put us in a position to humble ourselves. We became humble. We took action. So if being humble... becoming humble is so clear, is so straightforward. I haven’t said anything today that you either haven’t experienced or didn’t understand. If it’s so straightforward to become humble, why can’t we stay that way?

Well, I’ll tell you why. Because becoming humble and remaining humble are two different things. They’re not the same. They’re related, but they’re not the same. They’re not the same. If we were to ask Saul at the end of his life, he’s on his deathbed, so use our imaginations. He’s on his deathbed, Saul, King Saul, former King Saul, which was more challenging? Becoming humble or remaining humble?

Think about King David. King David, sir, which was more of a challenge? To become the humble man that was able to be selected as king or to remain humble as king. Which one was more challenging? I don’t know what they would say. I don’t know which one they would choose.

I have my own opinion. But let’s go to First Samuel fifteen. I do know this for sure. Both men fell into a trap. Both men fell into a trap. First Samuel fifteen. First Samuel fifteen, verse seventeen. Here’s a principle that both men violated. First Samuel fifteen, seventeen.

So first Samuel fifteen verse seventeen. “And Samuel said,” speaking to Saul, “...when you were little in your own sight, were you not made the head of the tribes of Israel and the Lord anointed you king over Israel?” Brethren that is a very, very powerful, powerful principle to understand. He asked him, “When you were little in your own eyes, when you saw yourself as you were, were you not made king over all the tribes?”

Both David and Saul stop seeing themselves as little in their own eyes. Brethren, we’re trying to figure out how we can remain humble once we’ve become humble. So much of remaining humble comes down to perception. This idea of perception. What is perception? How we perceive things, how we see things. And so much of remaining humble is tied to our perception of ourselves.

Turn to Galatians chapter six. Galatians chapter six. Our perception of ourselves. Galatians chapter six, verse three. We’re digging into how to remain humble once we’ve become humble. Galatians chapter six, verse three. “For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”

So you notice the word there, think and deceive. Both of those are tied to perception. Romans chapter twelve. Romans chapter twelve. Romans chapter twelve, will read verse three. Romans twelve, three. “For I say through the grace given unto me that every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according as God has dealt with every man the measure of faith.”

Once again, we see thinking more highly than we should. Instead of thinking soberly as God wants us to. Remember, I stressed that humility is seeing yourself as you are. It’s me seeing myself as I am, frail, reliant on God. Brethren, we should be just as reliant on God now as we were at conversion. We don’t stop relying on God once we’re in the church, once God has called us and we’re in his truth and in his way.

We should be just as reliant on God now as we were prior. David should have been just as reliant on God when he was tempted and provoked to number Israel as the day that he was when he was confronting Goliath. He should not have allowed himself to get to a point where he thought, you know what? I don’t need God the way that I used to. That’s a huge mistake that we can make.

We don’t want to make that same mistake. We want to remain humble. Luke eighteen. Luke eighteen. Another illustration here Christ used. Luke eighteen. It’s a very colorful example here that Christ used. Christ always spoke with such color, and His illustrations were very memorable. Luke 18 verse 11. Actually, starting in verse 10. “Two men went into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and one a publican. And the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possessed.”

So clearly, we will get into the attitude in a moment, but God had revealed to this man the importance of tithing, the importance of fasting. We’re fasting today. He was able to recognize that his behavior was not like the sinful behavior that he saw from others. God had at least revealed that to this individual.

He knew that those were either things he shouldn’t be doing or things that God commanded him to do. Let’s keep reading. Verse 13, “And this publican,” remember, there were two men, the other man, “...the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” He also knew God’s way.

He knew to pray. He was in the same place that the publican that the Pharisee was. His mind was also open to God’s way. But his reaction, his attitude was very different. Here’s Christ’s reaction, “...I tell you that this man, the publican, went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone that exalts himself shall be abased.”

Brethren, we can even exalt ourselves when it comes to the things of righteousness, the so-called things of righteousness, the things that God wants us to do. Our human nature can allow us to be proud about that. “...Everyone that exalts himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.” The Pharisee saw himself as having arrived.

Brethren, never allow yourselves to feel like you’ve arrived. It can be at any element of life. It could be a promotion that you get at work. I’ve arrived. Don’t allow yourself to do that. Maybe you’re being asked to do something in your congregation. You get promoted within the congregation. You get to work a certain area of the kitchen. I’ve arrived. You’re the head usher.

You get to do something at work in a department at the feast. You get to control the door for brethren to come in and out before services start. I’ve arrived. Maybe someone in your family makes a mistake, something that you’ve been telling them they shouldn’t do it and they make it anyway, and you put your thumb on them and say, “You know what? I told you so. I’ve arrived. I was right. You were wrong.”

Brethren, never, never. We can never allow ourselves to feel like we’ve arrived. God knows our nature. He knows how we are. Jeremiah 17 verse 9. Jeremiah 17:9, a very familiar account. But God knows us better than we know ourselves, actually. “The heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings.”

Brethren, don’t be afraid. I cannot be afraid to go to God and ask him to help us see ourselves. Father, am I doing this out of humility or am I doing this out of pride? He knows. Even if we can sometimes fool ourselves, God knows. He’ll show us. He knows our heart. He knows how we think. God knows our tendencies, our human tendencies. He wants us to see our human tendencies.

And because he knows that we are prone to being lifted up, to not being humble, he does things like the following. Let’s go to 2 Corinthians chapter 12. I don’t stand here throwing stones. This can happen. Remember, David was a man after God’s own heart. He got caught up. Let’s read about another man who faced a similar challenge, 2 Corinthians chapter 12.

2 Corinthians 12 verse 7. This is Peter, and he’s talking about an ailment, an issue he was dealing with. “And lest I should be exalted above all measure,” so unless I get full of myself and feeling like I have arrived, “through the abundance of the revelations, that was given to me, a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buff at me, lest I should be exalted above measure.”

He understood this this human tendency, and God also knew this human tendency. Think about what Paul came from. He was the elite of the elites. All the things, as he said, there, all the things that he had seen, all the things he had been exposed to. He was very high. God opened his eyes, humbled him on the road to Damascus, broke him down to nothing, and then built him back up.

Brethren, all of us got broken down to nothing at conversion. God built us back up and brought us into his truth and began to build us up and give us the confidence to know that eternal life is within our grasps, that we can be a part of God’s plan. The last thing we want to do is feel like we’ve arrived, like all the hard work is done. God knows that.

God is aware of our weaknesses. He knows the things that we’re prone to. That’s why sometimes, brethren, despite following his way and doing all the things that God would have us to do, he doesn’t always heal us completely of our ailments. He knows what we’re capable of. He may only let us get so high in our jobs at work. He knows what we’re capable of.

He only let us make so much money and have so much money in our bank accounts. Why? Because he knows what we’re capable of. God will, it feels like, limit us in certain ways, but he’s doing it, why? So we can remember who we are. So we can continue to see ourselves as we are, and we never forget who we are. Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3.

Feeling like we’ve arrived is a form of complacency. But you might think, you know what? I’m not a very prideful person. That doesn’t really bother me. Well, non “prideful” people can also become complacent. Philippians chapter 3 verse 13. Philippians 3:13. “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before me.”

Now, if we look up in verse 12, it says, “Not as though I’ve already attained, either we’re already perfect.” That’s this idea of feeling like I’ve arrived. I’m perfect. I got this. I got it.

But he goes on to say, “...but if I follow after,” still in verse 12, “If that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended.” So his point is, I have to keep pressing toward this mark. I have to keep pressing toward the finish line. I can’t get complacent and feel like, you know what? I’m either out of pride, I’ve arrived, or just, you know what, I just don’t want to continue to run. We must continue forward, forward. In fact, let’s go to Galatians. Galatians, before we go there, let’s go to... we’ll stay here in the Philippians. The point is to not feel like you’ve already finished the race.

You have to continue the race. Remember, I talked about the analogy with the house and I said, building a house is different than maintaining the house. Think about maintaining or building the house. All of the plans that went into it, all the approvals and everything that needed to be done, all of the construction, working with vendors, getting it all completed, painted, ready to go.

Landscaping is done, furnishing is done, you move in. I’ve arrived. Two weeks, two months, six months, a year, five years, ten years go by, and you do absolutely nothing to maintain that home. Picture it. What would that beautiful home look like? It would look like a disaster area. The grass is overgrown, the paint is chipping. That’s just on the outside. The inside, dust is everywhere.

The place would be falling apart. The challenge with complacency, and I go back to that analogy, is thinking about and focusing on all the hard work that it took. In that case, to build a house, or in our case, conversion, all of that work that we did in order to come into God’s church, to be here and to recognize the importance of living God’s way of life, only to turn around and let it go to neglect and let it go to waste.

Building the house, maintaining the house, two different things. We focus in baptismal counseling, you’ll remember, we focus on counting the cost. The point of that was not only to count the cost that it took to come into the church, but also to count the cost of what is it going to take to cross the finish line, to press toward the mark of the high calling and to eventually cross that mark, to cross that finish line. Two different things, very related, but two different things.

Brethren, never, ever allow yourselves to become complacent, whether out of pride, I’ve arrived, or any reason. We have to continue until we cross the finish line, until we’re done. As we start to wind down here, David gave us a blueprint. Go back to Psalm Fifty-one. David gave us a blueprint for remaining humble, something he experienced. Psalm Fifty-one, verse seven, actually verse five, Psalm Fifty-one, Five, “Behold,” we read this earlier, “...I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

Verse Seven, “Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.” Verse Nine, “Hide my face from my sins and blot out mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” I read that again just to remind us and to let us know every time we go through the repentance process, we go through the humbling process all over again.

That initial humbling process that it took for us to become humble, every time we sin and we repent and we go through that process again, that is a major way, a significant way for us to remain humble. You can write this down. Repentance is the humbling process on repeat. Repentance is the humbling process on repeat. Think about it.

When you’re humble or when you repent, what are you doing? You’re saying I was wrong. Father, I did not do the things that I was supposed to do. I was wrong in this situation. Though I know better and though I was warned in some cases, though I tried, I failed in this regard, but I repent. I lower myself. I see myself as I am, someone who needs your help in order to overcome this challenge, this issue that I’m facing.

Humility, brethren, is among the most important characteristics God wants us to cultivate. It’s how we can walk with him. It’s how we can receive those rewards that we talked about, riches, honor, and life. It’s really a big part of what the Day of Atonement is all about.

Reminding us, humbling ourselves, and being in a state, sitting in a service like this with a more humble mind and able to receive the things that God wants us to hear on this very, very important holy day. We’ll eat soon. We’ll eat again soon. I’m sure many of you, all of you, can’t wait. Brethren, as our hunger goes away, as we begin to be full and our body says, oh, okay, this is more like it.

I don’t know what you were doing there, but welcome back. As things start to become normal, our hunger dissipates. We can’t forget the lessons of atonement. We can’t forget all those lessons of humility. Being humble and remaining humble are two different things. We saw God’s servants go through that and had to understand that.

They started out humble, but they didn’t remain that way. Brethren, we have that same challenge. We stopped eating and drinking for 24 hours to reflect ourselves and become humble, so now that we’re humble, let’s make sure we stay that way.