Thank you again. Pray with me. Almighty God, these are not just words on a screen. They're the reality that one day everyone will confess that there is none like you. No, not one. For the day is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That day is on the horizon. Until that day, I pray that everyone in this room, at least, would be wholly committed to bending the knee day by day and showing the world that there is only one King and His name is Christ. It's to Him that we commit our hearts now as we open His Word to learn from it and be shaped by it. Would you do the work in us by the power of the Spirit, I pray in Jesus' name, amen. If you were to ask me Pastor Luke, what is the number one most essential thing that I must learn to be a mature Christian? I would respond to you, I'm going to tell you not only the first thing, but I'm going to tell you the second thing and the third thing as well, because they are the same thing. It's humility. If you were to ask me, what is the most essential thing I learned to be a Mature person, a mature Christian, there's not even a close runner up. It's humility. Charles Spurgeon put it like this. Take a look on the screen. Spurgeon wrote, you are not mature. You should be on the screen. Thank you. You are not mature. If you have a high esteem of yourself, He who boasts in himself is but a baby in Christ, if indeed he be in Christ at all. Young Christians may think much of themselves. Growing Christians think themselves nothing. Mature Christians, now look at this, they know that they're less than nothing. Now if that last little part there makes you go, I don't like that, less than nothing, hear me. Spurgeon is talking, of course, about the way people look at what they think they're entitled to in life. And let me remind you of something. A brand new Christian enters in with virtually no knowledge of Christ at all, except for the basics, that he died on the cross for their sins. and they still hold on to their entitlements. A mature Christian comes to learn that the only thing they've ever been entitled of in their entire life is condemnation. A mature Christian is one who says, how holy is God and how sinful am I? He owes me nothing except death. Everything that I've gotten, including every breath after my first, has been an act of God's grace. I'm entitled to nothing. That's the way a mature Christian thinks. Let me remind you of what a Christian is. A Christian is a Christ follower. That means you're following a master who willfully, by his own volition, surrendered all of his entitlements. Pause and think, what does the master of the universe get? What entitlements are his? And your answer, everything. And he came, and according to Philippians 2, made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant and becoming humble. So my hope is that if I ask you, after the service is done today, after we're all done this, if I ask you, now you tell me what is the most essential thing that a person needs to learn to be a mature person, a mature Christian, you would say, no question about it, it's humility. The supreme mark of maturity is not measured in your achievements or your financial status, no matter what someone on LBI has told you. It's not measured in the number of right decisions you've made and then comparing them to the number of times you've made decisions that have led you to failure. It's not even measured by the sophistication of your intellect, despite what some people think who have fancy papers and frames hung in their office. It's not measured in that. It's not even measured in how you part your hair. And I say that because there's a certain generation that thinks, if my hair is touching my collar, I'm immature. If my hair is all raggedy and messy, I'm immature. But I part my hair like this, and it doesn't touch my collar, so that means I'm more mature than that guy over there. There's a whole generation that thinks like that, that you can actually judge someone's maturity by how they comb their hair. Your maturity is not measured by your education. It's not measured by how well-spoken you are. Moses stuttered. The supreme measure of your maturity, the way that God will measure your life, is by servant-hearted humility. That's the title of this message. Servant-hearted humility. in the final hours before His crucifixion, Jesus, aware that His departure was imminent, that He's about to leave and go back to the Father, He had one last lesson, one last lesson, an object lesson, to impart to those whom He was about to hand over the reins of His ministry. and they were just still babies. These are just fishermen. They're just babies. They're not ready. He has one last lesson, a few hours before he goes to the cross. In the lesson, look at me. He washes their feet. It's the last thing he does before he dies. He strips down into his underwear and washes their feet. so that they will learn, guys, you think you're mature because you have some gray hair in your beard? It doesn't make you mature. This very week, I met with some people who were very gray, and I don't know if I've met a less mature group of people. The mark of maturity is in how humble you are. And that shows in the kind of servant you are. That's the big idea of this message. The supreme mark of spiritual maturity is servant-hearted humility. So I invite you, look, come with me. I want you to gaze with me through the eyes of John into the upper room just a few hours before our Lord is executed. And I want you to see what maturity actually looks like. Would you do that with me? John 13. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going back to God, he rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. It came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered him, what I'm doing you don't understand now, but afterward, you'll understand. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no share with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, the one who's bathed doesn't need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean. But not every one of you. For he knew who was to betray him. That's why he said, not all of you are clean. When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, do you understand what I've done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you're right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. I've given you an example that you also should do just as I've done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. What you've just read is the last lesson, the last object lesson, that is. of Jesus to his beloved disciples just before he goes to the cross. And he's teaching them in this final lesson how to become a mature person, because he's about to hand over the leadership reins to them. And as I said, they're just babies. What they need to know, the essential thing, which is why I started the sermon that way, that you need to know if you're going to be mature and actually lead someone else to Christ, you need to be humble. It's the first thing you need to learn. It's the second thing you need to learn. Friends, those of you who've been following Jesus for about a hundred years, you'll say, yeah, it's the thousandth thing I still need to learn. Being a Christian means being a servant-hearted, humble follower of Christ. Here's how we're gonna proceed. If you're here this morning and you think that if, let's back up. If I was to ask you if you were humble before we started this sermon, I bet you, that almost everybody in this room would have said, sure I am. If I was to ask you if you were mature, I bet you most of the people, even the young kids, would have said, sure I am. And if I were to ask you how you were to measure that, you might have said, well, because I'm tall. Or you might say, well, because I'm emotionally mature. That's how you measure maturity. Some of you might have said, because I'm psychologically mature. I'm mentally stable. Some of you might have said, I'm spiritually mature. Who cares? All you need to do is say, how does God measure maturity? And if you'd say something else, who's right? God measures your maturity by your servant-hearted humility. And looking here at the master, guess what I'm going to show you. There's actually a program here. There's a strategy here that he's showing them in the way that only the master teacher can, that has been employed by CEOs of some of the largest companies in the world. There are books written with some of the verses you just read. Secular books for CEOs. Moms and dads, grandma, grandpa. Some of the best parenting books in the world contain the verses you just read. Pastors and elders, those of you who maybe aspire to pastoral leadership, you are disqualified from leadership if you can't demonstrate that you are able to do it with servant-hearted humility. That shouldn't be on the screen yet, guys. We're not even there yet. Not even there yet. Just leave that out there. I'll call for it, okay? I don't want them getting ahead. Here's how I know. People's eyes go like this, okay? So today we're gonna look at three different things. Let me explain how we're gonna do it. First, you're gonna see that Jesus demonstrates, don't put it up there yet, Jesus demonstrates. He demonstrates for them exactly how humility works. Then you're going to see that he dictates it to them. Having somebody demonstrate something to you is never enough. Some people, like me, thick-headed people, need it explained. Jesus is going to explain why he's doing this. Then finally, after he's demonstrated, then he's dictated, he's explained it, then he's going to delegate it. That's how a master teacher works. Friends, if you hope to be a mature Christian by the end of your life, this is going to be one of the most important messages you've ever heard. So friends, if you leave here and you say, Pastor Luke, come here. I can quote all of Romans 13. I can quote all of John 3. I can quote all of Genesis 1. I'll say, do you do anything about it? If there's a no, if you go in the car and scream at your wife, who cares how much Bible you have memorized? It's what you do with what you know. So I'm going to ask you, some of you are already elbowing the person next to you. I hope you're listening up to this because you didn't even make the bed this morning. You think you're mature? Make the bed. Don't do that. The Holy Spirit wants to do business with you and only you. So as we read the Master, I'm going to ask you to measure your maturity against His. Deal? Deal? That was like four people. Deal? Deal. OK. Now we're going to start with lesson number one. Now hit it. Humility demonstrated. Humility demonstrated. Lesson number one, I imagine this might be the one where I lose some people. So pay close attention. Here's what I'm going to show you right from the text. I'm going to show you that there are two demonstrations being made here. Two different people in this text who are being compared to one another. Both of them are on the opposite end of the maturity spectrum. You all following me? There's a spectrum of maturity. One is fully mature on this end, and his name is Jesus. And the other is fully mature on this end, and his name is Judas. Both are fully mature. The question is, what are you maturing into? Take a look at the text and I'll explain exactly how I arrived at this. Starting at verse 2. During supper when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. Time out, time out, don't go any further. We need a little bit of Jewish context here, okay? First, we know what Jesus is about to do, but in Jewish culture, foot washing was considered to be the lowest menial task that a person could possibly do. If you went into an upper middle class house, they probably had some servants or slaves working for them. And this task of washing the person's feet after a long journey would have been delegated to the lowest ranking slave in the house. This was an embarrassment. This was something that was extremely degrading. No one would have done this if they wanted to walk around town and be respected by anyone else in the community. With that in mind, keep reading. He laid aside his outer garments. That means he took off his clothes and was wearing only a loincloth, which would be considered our underwear today. And taking a towel, he tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet. and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. John is witnessing, follow me close here, everybody in the room. John is witnessing two different demonstrations. The first is of Judas. Do you notice how he starts out this passage? Look at it again. He says, verse two, the devil had already put it into the, what? the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. Ask yourself a question. This whole narrative is about the last lesson of Jesus, about servant-hearted humility. Why in the world, if you're John, why are you starting with Judas? Why are you starting this whole, this amazing scene that people, everybody knows this scene. Why do you start with Judas? You think it's arbitrary? It is not arbitrary. It's because, if you glance through the rest of the chapter, John compares back and forth. He's asking the reader to do a comparison between one kind of heart that is almost complete in its maturation process of becoming mature in something. And he's comparing that to the heart of Jesus. Okay? As a matter of fact, Judas is almost completely perfect in his maturing into a spiritual being. That's why in just a few moments, now for us it's gonna be next week when we get to it, but in just a few moments you're gonna see that the maturation of Judas is complete. And it says this in verse 27, Satan entered him. Verse 27, that should be on the screen. Stick with me back there, guys. So, here's the spectrum. Don't put this on the screen yet, I'm gonna call for it. There's a spectrum here of spiritual maturity. Focus. On one end of the spectrum, you have Judas. On the other end of the spectrum, you have Jesus. Now, I'm a visual learner. Sometimes when people are talking to me, it's like whoosh. I'm kind of like Peter. It's like my head is like a rock. And so maybe that's why Jesus ended up naming him Peter, because his head is like a rock. And so I decided to create something for you to help those of you who are visual learners like me. Here it is up on the screen. Here's the spectrum of spiritual maturity. Both of these two men, and they are both human men, fully human, have perfected their particular spiritual maturity. One is by the unholy spirit, and one is by the holy spirit. Judas is the perfection of pride. Jesus, the perfection of humility. John has already told us a few things about how Judas came to be so mature in his end of the spiritual spectrum of maturity. Do you remember a couple of things? If you've been here with us through this sermon series, then you'll remember how Judas got here. It started in John 6. If you weren't here, here's what John told us about Judas. This is Jesus speaking, and he says, Jesus answered them, did I not choose you, the 12? And yet, one of you is a devil. He spoke of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him." So that's the first introduction we get of Judas. He had already started maturing into something. Friends, everyone in this room is maturing into something. The question is, what? It continues our education about Judas. Look at John 12. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, he who was about to betray him, said, Why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. And having charge over the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. Here's where this comparison comes to you, the reader. Now that we've seen almost the full maturity of Judas, and we're seeing put on display the maturity of Jesus, here's where it comes to you. You have to ask, which one do I most look like during the day? Into what am I maturing into? Just think about yesterday. as you were driving in the car and the air conditioning wasn't exactly the way that you wanted it and so you demanded that it be put at certain degree and because it wasn't, you pouted the rest of the drive. Which one are you looking more like? When you were at TJ Maxx and they didn't have the dress in your size and you threw a fit because they didn't have what you wanted, which one do you look most like? On a regular basis, would you say that you are maturing towards this end of the spectrum of spiritual maturity or this end of the spectrum of spiritual maturity? Because according to Jesus, there's only two. There's only two kinds of things that you can mature into. He doesn't do gray. You're either maturing into the light or you're maturing into the darkness. Judas is a demonstration of one and Jesus is a demonstration of the other. Which are you maturing into? John is inviting the readers to do exactly what he's doing in the writing, a comparison of your maturity. And how do you do it? By your humility. How often are you demanding your way or no way? John's record of the last lesson of Jesus opens with the heart of Judas. It's gonna continue like this throughout the chapter because he asks us to measure ourselves. So now I can imagine somebody's probably sitting here going, Pastor Luke, crystal clear, I get it. I definitely don't wanna look like Judas and I certainly have looked like Judas even this past week, help me. How do I begin cultivating a heart that looks like Jesus? How do I begin becoming humble and becoming a servant-minded man or woman just like he was? So glad you asked because that's the next lesson. When he talks with Peter, I relate a lot to Peter because he is so thick-headed and because he's always the first one to open his mouth. I imagine the other guys are around, I'm not saying anything, Peter will say something, let's just wait for him. And Peter usually sticks both feet in his mouth when he does speak. And so lesson number two, after Jesus has demonstrated humility, he's going to dictate it. He's going to explain to them exactly what this demonstration is all about. Spiritual maturity, here's what you're going to learn, is measured by humble, daily repentance and cleansing. Listen again, because I notice some people are sound asleep. You got drool coming down the side of your mouth. Spiritual maturity is measured by humble, daily repentance and the cleansing of your conscience before God. It's right there in the text. That's what Jesus wants to show Peter. Can I show you? Take a look back at me, verse 6 through 11. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, you're going to wash my feet? Jesus answered him, look, Pete, What I'm doing, you don't understand now, but you will understand afterwards. Peter said to him, you're never gonna wash my feet, stop right there. What we're reading about here embarrassed the disciples. It's kind of a, it's not an exact analogy, but it works. If I was to do what Jesus did here, and I was to remove my outer garments and wash your feet, it would embarrass you. It would, it would embarrass you. Here's Jesus, the king of the universe, stripping down to a loincloth. and going to wash the disciples' feet. They just watched him raise someone from the dead a few days ago. And here he comes to wash their feet. I'm telling you, even though you might say, oh, Peter, you would have said the same thing. Lord, this is inappropriate. Let me get down and let me strip down and I'll wash your feet. This is undignified for the King of glory. So you can understand why he's balking at this. Keep reading. Jesus answered him. This is one of the keys to the entire passage. Focus. If I do not wash you, you have no share with me. Here it is explained. This is the key to unraveling the whole analogy. He's saying, Peter, if I do not clean your heart, Peter, that this foot washing is symbolizing, oh, rock-headed Peter, if I don't clean your heart, I can't represent you before God my father. You have no share with me. Peter, this symbolizes what I'm about to do for your heart, and if you say you won't let me clean your feet, then I can't clean your heart. I have to do this, or you're condemned, unclean. You have to let me do this, Peter. And so Peter's gonna get it now, right? Finally, it'll sink in, right? Look how Peter responds. You just gotta love Peter. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. So we don't know what the look was on Jesus' face at this point, but I imagine it was either a giant grin or one of these, oh, Pete, I chose you, didn't I? Look at how the Lord so gently handles Peter. Jesus said to him, Oh, Pete, the one who's bathed doesn't need to wash. Except for his feet. Except for his feet. But it's completely clean. And you are clean, Peter. But not every one of you. for He knew who was to betray Him. That was why He said, not all of you are clean. Now, that last verse there, for He knew who was to betray Him, I'm not gonna say a word about it, and here's why. I'm devoting almost the entire sermon next Sunday just to Judas. So that you can get that question answered, that I can see some of you are waiting to ask, how can Judas have been with him for three years, everybody else is converted and clean, and he remains unclean? How can that be? Well, next week, we're gonna look exclusively at Judas. But for today, I want you to focus on those two things that I highlighted for you. except for his feet, and you are clean." That's where I want you to focus for just a minute. Back to the Jewish culture for just a minute. Jewish dinner guests, they bathed, well, you'd hope they bathed before they came over to your house for dinner. But it was a custom to have a little bowl there by the door where you could wash your feet. Because as you were washing, you picked up, only the Lord knows what camels were walking around, and you only know what was attached to your feet when you came in the house. So you didn't need to take a whole bath again. And this is the point that Jesus focuses on with Peter when he says, Peter, you are clean, Peter. Here's what he's getting across to Peter, in case some of you aren't understanding. I'm going to spell it out for you. This is so crucial. Listen to me. He's saying, Peter, there's only one cleansing agent in the universe that's powerful enough to scrub the dirty, filthy sin off of your heart so that when you stand before the God who can see directly into your heart, you will be completely clean. And that cleansing agent is perfect blood. Perfect blood. There's only one man in history who's ever had perfect, spotless blood, and it's Jesus. And so Peter, I'm washing your feet as an object lesson, Peter. This has nothing to do with your feet. This has to do with your heart. That's why John, when he was writing, when he matured and started writing to the church letters, look at what he said to them. He explained this to young Christians. John, the same author, writes, the blood of Jesus, His Son, what does it do, church? Say the word. Oh, it cleanses. The blood is the cleansing agent that cleanses us from all sin. Now listen, before we read on, that's a once and done thing. So that every time you come and sin, you don't have to come back to church and get born again all over again, again, again, again, again. Once the blood of Jesus has cleansed you from sins, your standing before God is secure, and nothing can change that. But keep reading. The blood of Jesus' Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, now you can't see it, but in the Greek, that's an ongoing process. That's not a once and done. If we confess our sins, this is talking about a daily act, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and say this with me, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we've not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. You're already cleansed, Peter. Christian in Beach Haven, if you've confessed Jesus as Lord, given your life over to Him, confessed that you are a sinner in need of a Savior and given your life to Him, you are clean. Doubting it is to deny him. Don't doubt it. And yet, as clean as your heart is, listen, this is where it gets really important. Even though you're clean, if I can say it this way, the feet of your heart are still walking in a world that is saturated with sin. And there's enticements lurking around every corner, wooing you back in. And so it's not your standing before God that needs to be reclensed, that's secure, you're clean. What needs to be cleansed is your walk with God. Your spiritual feet need to be cleansed every day. Said a little bit differently. Mature Christians, listen to the word I'm about to use, mature Christians hate any remaining resemblance they have to their former father. I'm not talking about your dad. I'm talking about the devil. When they look at themselves and they see any devil DNA that's still showing up on them, man, I thought I gave that up years ago, but it still keeps coming out. A mature Christian hates that remaining sin on them, and they spend the rest of their days doing everything they can to try to kill it. If you're not, if you've made peace with your sin, oh, everybody's a sinner, let's just be okay with our remaining sins, I'm sorry. You're a baby. That's the way baby Christians think. Mature Christians, They hate, they hate that there are still parts of them that look like daddy devil. Because that's the thing that killed their savior. And they want it gone. They want it gone. That's why Paul, when he was writing to a group of Christians in Corinth, and those of you who know your Bibles, you're going, oh, Corinth, they had some double DNA still on them. Yes, they did. That's why Paul wrote one of the most important verses in the whole New Testament today. Look on the screen, Christians. He says, 2 Corinthians 7, since we have these promises, beloved, Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion. You know why I squared that for you? So that you'll do it in your Bible because that's spiritual maturity. You want a definition of what it means to grow up? Bringing holiness to completion. I started out this journey as a Christian, holy, and I'm growing more and more and more and more like Christ. He says, get rid of all that devil DNA and you'll start to grow up, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. So here's the summary of the second lesson, friends. The spiritually mature man or woman is someone who lives their lives in a daily war, a war against that old self that still wants to live And because they know that they walk in a world that's saturated with sin, every single mature Christian comes daily. to new repentance, back to the cross for cleansing. Lord, thank you that you have forgiven me of my sins. Thank you that I don't have to doubt my salvation because on days like today, when I just left church and screamed at my wife in the car, and there's, oh my goodness, I lost track of the number of times that I've demanded my way this week. Lord, I'm looking more like Judas than I am like Jesus. Help me, Lord. If you will confess your sin, he will be faithful and just to forgive you of your sin. But a mature Christian comes to the cross every single day for cleansing. Friends, this brings us home to our third and final lesson. You all still with me? Humility delegated. Lesson number one, he demonstrated it. He showed them. Lesson number two, he dictated it. He explained to them what this final lesson was all about. And lesson number three, he's gonna hand it off to them. This is what great leadership looks like. Here's what you're gonna learn. Spiritual maturity is measured, listen, spiritual maturity is measured by action. Action. Take a look back at verses 12 through 17. You'll see Jesus says this himself. When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, do you understand what I've done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you're right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you a what church? That you also should do. just as I have done to you." So here's where I got the whole sermon. It all became clear to me when I read that. Here's where I got it. He demonstrated. He told them. He showed them. Then he dictated. He taught them. And now he's telling them, I'm going to delegate this to you. And you've got to do it. It's pretty clear there, isn't it? He concludes by offering them a final exhortation that explains why they need to do this. He says, truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Stop for just a second. Jesus is saying, look, Peter, you're right. I am the Lord of glory. I am that. I'm your teacher. I am. And it's right. You probably should be doing this to me. But I've set you an example, and here it is, Peter. If I, the Lord of glory, am willing to do this, and after I leave, you sit there and you say, I'm not doing that. church is having a spring cleaning day, I'm not going in there and scrubbing a toilet, then I don't care how smart you are, I don't care how rich you are, you have completely missed the point. If Jesus were to come and preach this sermon and he gave you this illustration, you might say, 10 out of 10 this morning, Jesus. That illustration really landed. He might say, what are you going to do about it? Because if you don't do anything, there's no blessing for you in this. That's why he concludes by saying, say this with me nice and loud. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. If you do them. There's got to be action. Or this whole thing, if you go out of here and go, wow, that was really awesome, but you don't do anything, worthless. You've wasted your time. Boy, did these first few men who heard this do something about this. How many of you were here for our series for the Book of Acts? Come on, put your hand up, I actually wanna see. That's like four people. The church was packed during Acts. That's what I thought. If you've never read the Book of Acts, it is a pop-up book of men who took this and put it into action. These men left this room, and they hid behind closed doors because they were terrified, cowards. As soon as they saw him raised from the dead, everything changed. They were willing to be flogged, stripped, beaten, crucified upside down, boiled in oil, stripped, undignified, spit at. Oh, did they put it into action. And not only did they put it into action, Once they had really matured, they started writing it down. And they started writing commands to young Christians like us, who are following and learning from their example. And they're all over the New Testament. But since we've been hanging out with Peter a little bit today, let's just look at what Peter, once he finally matured and got it, look at what he went on to write to all Christians, to us. Peter writes, for to this you have been called. You have been called. because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example. I wonder if he's thinking back to what he learned in the upper room. Leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. That means When Jesus was slandered like you are on Facebook because you put things about Christ on there, Jesus didn't go on, I'm gonna get her, man, wait till she sees, oh, that's a zinger, enter, huh, and then you sit and wait until they see it, gotcha. Jesus didn't do that. When he was reviled, he was humble and did not revile in return. Keep reading. When he suffered, he did not threaten and hear friends. is what I'm telling you is one of the most beautiful definitions of servant-hearted humility you will ever find. But continued entrusting himself to Him who judges justly. This is why I say that. Here's Jesus, His mind fixed on His Father. Father, in just a few hours, they're going to rip my beard out of my face. They're gonna spit in my eyes. They're gonna mock me. They're gonna dress me in a purple robe. They're gonna strip me in front of my mom. They're gonna press a crown of thorns into my head. They're gonna drive nails through my hands and my feet. Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me. I know I could call down legions of angels to crush these evil men from doing this to me. Nevertheless, Father, my spirit is humble and lowly, and I will trust you because vengeance is mine, declares the Lord. You want to know what maturity looks like? It is trusting God to do what God will do, and you following Jesus. His mind was fixed on humble service to his Father. Which brings us to the epitome of humility. Someone in here who knows their Bible has probably been thinking, if he does this whole sermon and doesn't read Philippians 2, I'm gonna go up there and have a word with him. because Philippians 2 is the most memorized verse for people who are trying to learn how to be humble. We're there. Now that you've absorbed all that you have about what took place in that upper room, I invite you now with fresh eyes to meditate on Philippians 2, the epitome of humility. Have this mind. among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus." What that means is you have a possession. The mind of Christ has been betrothed to you. He's given it to you. He's passed it along to you. And what does that mind equip you to do? Keep reading. Who, though he was in the form of God, that means even though Jesus was God in the flesh, He didn't count as a quality with God a thing to be grasped. That means he didn't say, I'm God. I'm going to demand my way. You serve me. No. Look what he did. He emptied himself. He emptied himself. Think back to that Charles Spurgeon, that last comment when he said, the mature Christian thinks himself less than nothing. What this says is, in some translations, he made himself nothing. This is maturity. He emptied himself. He made himself nothing by taking the form of a what church? Being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself. And now a thinker might be asking, yes, pastor, but to what extent? How much am I supposed to humble myself? The answer comes next. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. even death on a cross. Death, you're asking? Death? You're saying I'm supposed to humble myself to the point of death? That's a mature Christian? Yes. Christianity 101. Anyone who wants to follow me must take up a cross and follow me daily. If you're gonna be a Christian, step one is death. That's why when you become a Christian, what do you do? You get baptized, which is a symbol. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live, it's not mine. I don't live in the flesh anymore. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. That's what a Christian says. I no longer live. Philippians 2 is the application of John 13. The example of Christ and the very mind of Christ have been delegated to you. The next time you feel, listen to me, you can take that off the screen, we're not talking about that just yet. The next time someone in your family comes to you and they are hard to love, and you feel in you, listen to me, you feel this Judas-like, proud impulse starting to build up, I invite you to do something that I promise you will be the cure. I invite you to close your eyes, go into a bathroom or a closet or somewhere, get alone, close your eyes, invite you to picture Jesus, down in his loincloth, on his hands and knees, washing the feet of Judas. who stood up from that table after he had his feet cleaned by Jesus, and he walked out of the room and sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. After you've pictured this in your mind, then you go back out and demand your way. It won't happen. The cure for pride is to meditate on what Jesus did for Judas. He washed the feet of Judas, knowing that Judas would rise and go and betray him just a few moments later. There's a reason why Jesus concluded by saying, If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. There's a reason why he ended that way. It's because he expects his people to respond. And so as you've been listening here this morning and you're like, all right, I need to know how to do this. I want to leave you with a couple applications. I want to help you to kind of like, you know how when you go to the gym because you know you need to get into shape, you work out, you train. I want to give you ways to train humility like a fighter trains. So that you'll be able to, you can take that off the screen. We're not there ready for it yet. Wait for me to call for it. Wait for me to call for it. I wanna give you some ways to train humility into your heart, okay? I'm gonna give you three different ways, and each way deals with a different part of the body. Here's what I mean by that. Focus with me, listen, don't get distracted. I've learned as I've read through the Bible that there are various types of body parts that need each one of them to be trained to be humble. You can have humble hands that'll do something, and yet in your head, you're thinking all kinds of horrible thoughts. So as a way of example, I want to give you a couple different body parts to begin to train humility into your life. Okay? First, train humility into your thoughts. The Apostle Paul put this in so many of his instructions to Christians because spiritual maturity, the beginning of it, begins with your thought life. Let me just give you one example in Romans chapter 12. For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Listen, friends, your spiritual maturity is going to be stunted every time you entertain thoughts about yourself that are higher than you ought to think. If you're somebody who likes to host people in your house and you think, my living room is decorated much nicer than any of the ladies who are in my circle of friends. Every time you entertain that kind of thought, you're being conformed to the image of Judas. Every single time. Kill it. Kill it. Let me tell you how. First, you need to confess it. If you're gonna kill it, you have to confess it. You have to go to somebody and say, listen, that sermon was really hard for me to listen to because I honestly hated that pastor. Because I felt like he was talking right to me. Couldn't stand it. Go and confess to somebody that the only reason that anyone in this room would be thinking that is because your heart is filled with pride. Filled to the brim. Go tell somebody. And I promise you, if you tell somebody, it's going to be very well received because unless they are more prideful than you, they will be able to relate. Because everybody struggles with this. Everyone in this room struggles with this. Confess it. And I'm telling you, those humility muscles will start to build. Second body part I want to bring to your attention, in my opinion, the most important one. Train humility into your tongue. In my experience, humility is measured firstly by what comes out of someone's mouth. Someone who is quick to speak and slow to listen. It's a telltale sign that their spiritual maturity has been stunted somewhere along the way. It's someone who's in a small group with you and they always have to get the first word in and make sure that everybody listens to them and they're always quick to argue with you because they have to be right. That person, I don't care if they are right, they're a baby, just a baby Christian. Don't get angry with them and retaliate. Pray for them because they're an infant. Infants do that. have to be right, have to be heard. Friends, if that's you, you need help. You need help. Your heart is desperately sick. Second, if you're the kind of person that is quick to quarrel, always, everywhere you leave, there's carnage of arguments always behind you, I want to help you with that, to tame your tongue a bit. Okay? Build some spiritual muscles of humility into your mouth. First thing, maybe you should be somebody who takes a vow of silence for a day. We were talking about fasting on Wednesday night. Fasting doesn't have to just be food. Why don't you try taking a fast from words for 24 hours? especially if you're someone whose tongue constantly gets you into trouble. Tell the Lord, Lord, today's my day off. I'm not going to speak. People used to do this all the time. Take a vow of silence. Go get before God and let him speak to you the whole day and you zip it. Tame your tongue and you'll start to grow some humility muscles. The third and final body part that I want to bring to your attention is your hands. The man or woman who won't lift a finger to do something that they think is degrading, I'm telling you, you haven't learned much about Jesus at all. You haven't. Someone who's the CEO of your company or has risen to the top of whatever it is that you do, let me tell you, you ought to regularly make sure that the devil is not planting seeds of superiority into your head and into your heart by regularly doing things with your hands that are sometimes humiliating. So let me give you some examples to go to the gym and get strong in humility. First, do things that require you to sometimes look silly. Like, for example, if I was to come up and try to play cajon, I have zero rhythm. I can't even clap on key, or clap on rhythm. And so if someone was to teach me how to do that, I would look like a complete idiot. Maybe that's the kind of thing I need to do, let someone show me. Or better yet, find someone who's really hard to love and labor for them. Oh, you want to look like Jesus and Judas? Go wash the feet of somebody who really gets under your skin. You'll look exactly like Jesus. Labor for someone who's hard to love. Come serve an Atlantic City rescue mission. That's how you'll look. Friends, are you mature? You are mature. You're maturing into one likeness or the other. So which is it? Judas or Jesus? True spiritual maturity is measured by humility. Let me pray to God for all of you here today. Would you let me? Heavenly Father, great is your faithfulness. Lord, I'm just a sheep just like everyone else here, learning how to be humble. And it only takes a lifetime And so Lord, I pray for the rest of our days that you would continue to shape us into the image of the humble servant leader who showed us what true maturity looks like. Lord, don't give up on us. Help us to chip away at all the remaining DNA of the devil that's been left on our hearts and help us by the power of the Holy Spirit to become holy like your son. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.