The Meekness and Gentleness of Christ

[00:00:00] All right, let's get our Bible. Go to Matthew, chapter number 12. We'll start in verse number nine, Matthew 12. [00:00:07] Nine. [00:00:17] We will pray before we read the scripture here. Because we're going to cover actually two passages kind of together that aren't exactly directly related, but going to cover them together tonight. So let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, once again for the opportunity to meet together with your people tonight. We just pray that you would meet with us just like this morning, just like our Sunday school. Just like every service, Lord, every gathering of the Church of God, we pray for your blessing, that you would manifest your presence among us and be our teacher and help us, Lord. Give me wisdom, Lord, because I need it. That I might be able to help your people, Lord, because we all need your instruction and your grace and your help and the wisdom from your word. So please help us to see especially the Lord Jesus more clearly tonight and know him better. In Jesus name, amen. [00:01:05] Matthew, chapter 12 and verse number nine. The Bible says, and when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue. Departed from where? Departed from where? Now, to pick up the context. [00:01:18] You remember last Sunday? Last Sunday, we studied about the Lord Jesus and the question of the Sabbath day, when the Lord, the disciples, were taking the grain and rubbing it between their hands and eating the grain as they. It was on the Sabbath day, but as they were walking to the next place. And people found fault with them because they were eating the grain. And so Jesus went into the question of the Sabbath day. [00:01:46] And the key takeaway from that is in verse number seven, where it says, but if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. You would not have condemned the guiltless. Which is to say, the Lord is saying, just by way of review, the Lord is saying, it is not wrong. [00:02:08] These disciples of mine are not guilty of breaking any law of God because they took the ears of grain and they rubbed them in their hands and ate them. So, number one, they didn't do anything wrong, even though they were being accused of it. And number two, the principle that the Lord brings up is mercy is greater than sacrifice, which is to say that mercy on man takes precedence over the formal obedience of the law. Okay, when a question of mercy. That's what we're talking about when we say sacrifice. [00:02:42] And so that's the question being dealt with in the first eight verses. [00:02:49] Now, what's interesting is in practical matters, the only thing that's being considered in the first eight verses is whether the disciples should or should not have taken that Grain in their hand and rubbed it with their hands and eaten it. Would you say that's a big deal, or would you say that's a little deal? [00:03:09] Definitely a little deal. Okay. But they had this huge debate over it, right? Over, well, should you do this and should you do that? Should you do this and should you do that, and can you do this and can you do that? We do the same thing in Christian circles all the time, argue over minutia, do we not? Well, I don't think they ought to do that. I don't think they ought to. You know, and it's in honor. And listen, every single one of us has an opinion on all those things, right? Whether you should do this or do that. Go. Who go there? You know, every single one of us has an opinion on that. [00:03:41] But you can get to where you're just bickering, you're just arguing back and forth. And that's kind of what they do. They found fault with the disciples over what they thought was wrongdoing. But really, in the practical sense, it was really an unimportant matter, right? It was really an unimportant matter. But the subject they're discussing does have an important practical truth. [00:04:06] That's what we're getting into in verse nine. [00:04:09] Because even though they're really just having a theoretical discussion, really is what they were talking about, a theoretical discussion about the Sabbath. And mercy over sacrifice in this section is no longer theoretical. [00:04:25] Because in this section we meet with a man who has a real problem. Verse 10. And behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days that they might accuse him? [00:04:43] So it's still the Sabbath, Jesus. We know from other, from another. I think it's from Mark that they're in the synagogue. Jesus is teaching this man with a withered hand. I'm not sure exactly what that looks like, but he don't have the normal use of his hands. [00:05:01] And he comes forward to be healed. [00:05:05] I would say the question of whether healing was permitted on the Sabbath day is a little more important for this man in real life than theoretical discussions over individual grains of wheat, right? [00:05:21] And he said unto him, verse 11. What man shall there be among you that shall have one? Sheep. And if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days? Then, saith he to the man Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth and it was restored whole like as the other. [00:05:46] So Jesus heals him, obviously. [00:05:49] Now what I took away from this among, besides the question of the Sabbath and mercy over sacrifice and over the formal obedience to the law, what I took away from it is this question of religious and theological discussions. [00:06:12] Is there anybody here that likes to talk about those subjects that you just get just a secret enjoyment, just debating and discussing these. [00:06:23] Why, Devin, are you not raising your hand? [00:06:30] Yeah, that's why he had his head down like this. Oh, I'm taking notes. Yeah, okay, sure, sure. [00:06:35] Truth is, we all like to have these religious and theological discussions because they're fun to discuss as long as in the right spirit. [00:06:43] I've done it with Ben, I've done it of course with Ari, I've done it with various other people in the church. And this fun, it's fun to discuss. But you know what? Many theological discussions, we just go back and forth, but there's no real practical thought to it. [00:07:01] There's no real practical thought how this might affect a person or anything like that, anything of any practical value. And many times those theological discussions beware because they, they devolve into a show of pride. [00:07:17] And it's a show of pride over literally nothing, just silliness, just nothing. Because in the practical sense, in a practical question, there's no practical value to it all. You're just arguing back and forth, back and forth and back and forth. Beware of that, beware of that. [00:07:38] But some theological discussions do have a practical element. [00:07:41] In other words, that discussion really does affect people. And this is an example. [00:07:49] Here's the thing. These people would rather this man continue to live handicapped than to violate the man made version of the Sabbath law that they had invented and imposed. [00:08:11] I would say that's a practical question. [00:08:14] Would you say that's a practical matter? Yeah. In other words, what was previously a theological discussion mostly had real practical implications on real people. And when we have theological discussions which we all like to do, we, we need to make sure we keep. [00:08:32] Unless we're just doing it for fun and that's fine, and if we keep it light, it's fine. But when we have real theological discussions, we have to remember that they, the Bible truths have practical effects upon people. [00:08:48] They really do. [00:08:52] They have practical effects upon people. And oftentimes people when we just, when we don't think about that, we might help or hurt, we might affect people and not really understand what we're doing. But if we focus on the practical Parts of the questions. [00:09:10] It keeps us kind of anchored to reality and it keeps our focus on real life and how the questions might be practically applied. [00:09:18] Now, I say this because, because, you know, and throughout the time that I've been involved in ministry and things, you know, I've met with churches and people that I thought came across as very contentious because, and I'll give you one example of this, of an issue that always was like this. And it's the issue of the King James Bible always. I mean, we all know where our church is on that. But I've met people that, no matter how, no matter how you were on it, like if you did not say the words that they prescribed, if you did not cross your T and dot your I in every way, just as they described, then you were just, you didn't believe the Bible. I mean, it was that dismissive, just set a person at knot over. And the thing is, the question was in the practical question, we were exactly the same. [00:10:15] I carried the same Bible he carried. It's so dumb. It's so dumb. And it's just an exercise of arrogance. [00:10:23] And that's the kind of thing we need to avoid. But because there are real life practical implications to what we discuss, and this is an example. So if we focus those of you that are, that are inclined to those kinds of discussions, one thing that will keep you sane and keep you kind of in the center is by focusing on the practical value of it. And that'll keep, you know, have fun, you know, discuss those things you want to discuss. But if you stay anchored to the practical questions, it'll keep you in reality and it'll keep you at a place where you can actually maybe help another person, which is exactly what happens here. What's striking to me in verse number, in verse number 13, that is, is that as far as we can tell, Jesus brings up this idea of lifting a sheep from a pit or leading animals out to or pasture. But in this case, he did neither of those. Last week we talked about, you know, you might have to exert some labor in order to lift a sheep out of a pit or take, you know, take some animals out, you know, a mile or two out to get to pasture or something like that. You might break a sweat, it might be work. And the Lord says that is absolutely permitted out of mercy for the sheep even. [00:11:34] But here Jesus didn't literally, did not even lift a finger. You see, did you notice that? He literally speaks? He doesn't touch the man, he doesn't approach the man. He doesn't move. [00:11:46] He says, stretch forth thine hand. [00:11:50] The man stretches forth his hand and is healed. [00:11:53] And even still they find fault. [00:11:58] He's literally doing, he's literally standing there. This is, this is in fact it actually, it actually the scripture nails them because in Luke 6, 11 it says this, the parallel passage, and when. And they were filled with madness. You know what that word madness means? It's not anger. [00:12:18] They crazy. [00:12:19] They crazy. [00:12:21] They crazy. [00:12:24] Mark3.6 says, and the Pharisees went forth and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. So, so because, and this is how crazy this is, because Jesus literally stood there and told the man to stretch out his hands. They wanted to kill him. [00:12:43] This speaks to the hardness of their heart. [00:12:46] This speaks to just the deep down wickedness that existed in these, and I'm going to use the term rightly in these legalistic people who saw nothing, nothing but the formal strict obedience to the law. And it wasn't even the law. It was this man made idea that wasn't related to the law at all. [00:13:13] And so that's what you have in this. And this is why the Bible says they were filled with madness and were bloodthirsty as a result of that. So that's a good practical example of this truth. So we need to remember because. [00:13:28] And the principle the Lord points out in this case is this. It's in Mark 2:27. We won't turn there. But it says this. But there's a broader principle that's important in this context. The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath, which is to say God's eye is on people. [00:13:49] God's eye is on people. [00:13:52] You know, sometimes people don't come to church for various reasons. They don't show up and somebody might have a thought, well, they didn't come to church. [00:14:02] They didn't come to church. Should you come to church? Of course, of course, that's understood. [00:14:09] But man is not for the church, but the church for man, right? [00:14:17] And oftentimes things happen to people that precludes them from coming. And this principle should set our mind in such a disposition toward our brothers and sisters that we think, well, I wonder where they are. I hope something's not wrong. Instead of I wonder where they are. [00:14:35] I don't know why they didn't come to church. [00:14:39] This principle will reorient your mind in the right way, right? [00:14:44] So that we're. The principle is the person is what's important, right? The person, the mercy, rather than Just making sure you're, you know, you follow. You follow the law. And of course we know we should obey the Lord, and we should, that's obvious. But it's this balance that keeps us in the right frame of mind. Now let's go to verse number 20. Verse number 15 rather. [00:15:11] And when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence, and great multitudes followed him. When he knew that they were plotting to destroy him. [00:15:20] You know, it was pretty common in the life of Christ that He, by virtue of his healing and teaching, stirred up controversy. We read that over and over. But what did Jesus do whenever he stirred up controversy? What do you find him doing? You find him withdrawing. [00:15:41] Whenever there's controversy about Jesus, you inevitably find him withdrawing. Alright, let's look at a few verses here. Start in Matthew, chapter 10. [00:15:52] We'll just look at several passages here that show this. Matthew 10:23. We covered this already. [00:15:58] When Jesus is dealing with persecution, when his disciples go preaching, Matthew 10:23 says, but when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another. [00:16:07] For verily I say unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of man become the idea being. There's controversy, right? Your being there is stirring up trouble. What should you do? Stand and fight? No, withdraw. [00:16:22] Withdraw. Now you're going to start noticing a tone that's different than what is popularly promoted in many Baptist churches in our world. Right? [00:16:36] The Lord says, withdraw, flee. [00:16:41] Look at John, chapter 6, if you would. [00:16:45] John 6, verse number 15. [00:16:54] John 6, verse 15 says this. [00:16:58] When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he what departed, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. There was controversy, right? You might think, well, that's a good thing, not so much. [00:17:17] And we'll get to that in just a minute. The Lord did not view what they were trying to do as a good thing. All right, look at John, chapter 10. We're right near there. John 10, verse number 39. [00:17:35] John 10:39 says this. [00:17:41] Therefore they sought again to take him, this time to grab him and arrest him. But he escaped out of their hand. [00:17:49] John, chapter 11, next chapter. [00:17:53] Look at that. Verse number 54, verse 53 says this. [00:17:59] Then from that day forth, they took counsel together for to put him to death. [00:18:06] Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews, but went thence into a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples, there's controversy. He does what withdraws. [00:18:23] This is not only practiced by the Lord. Look at, take a peek at Acts, chapter 14. It's also practiced by the early missionaries that were sent out by the church. Acts 14, verse number 6, Acts 14, verse 6 says they were ware of it where of the plot to stone them. They were aware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe and cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about a couple pages over to chapter 17, verse number 10. [00:19:06] And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea, who coming thither, went into the synagogue of the Jews. [00:19:16] Then verse 14 says it as well. And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go, as it were, to the sea. But Silas and Timotheus abode there still. You see this again, whenever there's controversy, what you don't see them doing is standing up and fighting. [00:19:31] You know what they're trying to do. They're following the example of the Lord Jesus. [00:19:36] To avoid conflict. To avoid conflict. [00:19:43] But not only that. And I'm going somewhere with this in many cases. If you'll look back at Matthew, chapter 12 again, look at verse number, verse 15 again, it says this. And when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence, and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all and charged them that they should not make him known. [00:20:09] So not only did he withdraw himself to avoid the controversy and conflict that arose because of what he was doing, but he also repeatedly told people not to repeat and tell what he had done to them. [00:20:26] Now, we won't go into all of these examples, because you're familiar with these. Chapter 9, verse 30 of Matthew 17, 9, Mark 7, 36, Luke 5. I would like you to look at Luke 5 and John chapter 7, because those I think, are relevant to our study here. Luke, chapter 5, verse 14, Luke 5:14. [00:20:57] This is when Jesus heals the leper. [00:21:00] Luke 5:14. And he charged him to tell no man but go and show thyself to the priest and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him. And great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by him of their infirmities. And he withdrew, you see that himself, into the wilderness and prayed. [00:21:26] Don't tell, they did anyway. So he withdrew. Everywhere he went, there was. There was this controversy that was constantly stirring. [00:21:34] John, chapter seven. [00:21:35] Look at that real quick. [00:21:37] So you would think the one who was trying to avoid conflict, you would think the one who was not trying to get his name out there, you would think that he would be safe from criticism. Forget that. [00:21:53] John, Chapter seven, verse number four, or verse three, says this. [00:21:58] His brethren, that is Jesus, his earthly brothers, the children of Mary and Joseph, his brethren. Therefore said unto him, depart hence and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that doeth anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, show thyself to the world. [00:22:21] For neither did his brethren believe in him, which is just. So even his brothers and sisters, his brothers rather, are telling him, if you're doing this, then why don't you announce it? Put your name out there, let everybody know what you're doing. [00:22:35] But he wouldn't. [00:22:38] He wouldn't. [00:22:40] Now, if you would go back to Matthew, chapter 12, to our text. [00:22:47] I want to read you one verse, and this will summarize. What we're talking about tonight is First Corinthians, chapter 10, verse one. [00:22:58] I'm sorry. Second Corinthians, chapter 10. [00:23:05] If you will listen to this verse. [00:23:11] Second Corinthians 10:1 says this. [00:23:15] Now, I, Paul myself beseech you. [00:23:19] By the meekness and gentleness of Christ. [00:23:29] By the meekness and gentleness of Christ. That's what we're talking about tonight. [00:23:34] That's what we see in these verses. [00:23:39] Meekness and gentleness. Gentleness in that the Lord tried to avoid conflict. [00:23:45] Meekness in his unwillingness to proclaim his own name. [00:23:53] Now, back in Matthew 12, where you are. [00:23:56] Notice what the Bible says in verse 17. [00:24:03] Why did the Lord do these things? [00:24:08] Why did he withdraw Himself so often? Why did he tell people not to repeat what he had done for them? [00:24:19] Verse 17, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Esaias the Prophet, saying, behold, my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him. [00:24:36] He shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive nor cry. Neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and a smoking flax shall he not quench. Till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust. Why did the Lord not do those things? Why did he withdraw himself? Why did he tell people that they should not make him known? [00:25:04] Number One, he had to fulfill a prophecy. [00:25:08] And this prophecy is describing the meekness and gentleness of Christ. [00:25:15] The meekness and gentleness of Christ. [00:25:24] Now take a peek at John 18. I want to show you something that is, I think, especially relevant. John 18. [00:25:35] As I said wherever Jesus went, there were people that, because of their, you know, sometimes he would heal someone. He would be teaching or whatever, and there would be a crowd and there would be a stirring. And then there were some people that wanted to immediately take him and make him king. That happened a few times. And there were others because of that. The. That. That fact stirred up the envy and the jealousy of the Pharisees and the scribes. And we've seen that before as well. But that kind of. That kind of combination, that recipe was not good, not good for the Lord, right? Because it caused more and more problems. And as that fire grew, it grew into a bigger issue and a bigger issue and a bigger issue. So the Lord withdrew. Okay? [00:26:21] There were many people there who wanted Jesus to be king, who wanted Jesus to take power, who wanted him to assert himself and to take control and to set things in order, because that was their expectation from the Messiah. But Jesus said in John 18, as he's talking to Pilate, verse number 36, notice what he says. [00:26:43] Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. [00:26:47] If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence. [00:26:57] Pilate therefore said unto him, art thou a king? Then Jesus answered, thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. He says plainly in this verse, this is not my kingdom. [00:27:14] You see that. [00:27:15] But there were people that wanted him to engage in conflict. But Matthew 12, the prophecy said, he shall not strive or cry, or neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. Which is the idea of standing up against and holding a revolt against the powers that be to free the people of Israel. [00:27:40] Many people wanted him to do that, but he did not do that. At no point did the Lord Jesus seek to overthrow the Roman power that ruled. [00:27:50] And many people were disappointed and even stumbled at that fact. [00:27:54] What you find him doing, whenever there is controversy in that vein, he's withdrawing, avoiding conflict. [00:28:02] Think about what would have happened if our Lord had given in to that impulse of man. What did the Jews want? [00:28:12] They wanted to be free from Rome. They for hundreds of years had been under the thumb of the Roman Empire as well as other empires. Before that, the Greek before that, the Median and Persian empire, before that, the Babylonians. They were tired of it because at one point they had a glorious kingdom under David, under Solomon, under the Other kings, there was an impulse in them that wanted to be free from that. [00:28:40] I get it. [00:28:42] But the scripture described Jesus as meek and gentle, right? You see that in Matthew 12, which is a quote from Isaiah 42. [00:28:52] But what if Jesus had given in to that impulse and he had said, okay, we're gonna. We're gonna wipe them out and we're going to set up the kingdom and your lives are going to be better. You're going to have no more oppressors, no one else telling you what to do, and you're going to have a glorious kingdom. [00:29:14] And just skip over the meekness and gentleness part, which is what was prophesied, what would have happened? [00:29:20] You know what happened. Yeah. It would have been a great life, right? No more oppression. [00:29:27] But then you die. [00:29:29] And with no sacrifice, with no lamb that has gone to the cross to take away the sin of the world, you die and you perish. [00:29:41] You had a great life in the great kingdom, right? Jesus ruled. [00:29:46] What doth it profit. [00:29:48] There's no Savior. You see that? [00:29:51] There's no Savior because he asserted himself and followed the impulse of man. But that's what man wants. They want temporal satisfaction with no thought of their eternity. The Lord was thinking of their eternity. That's why the meekness and gentleness had to come first. But Matthew 12 doesn't say, well, he will never reign. No. Matthew 12 says that he would show judgment to the Gentiles. In fact, he's doing that right now. [00:30:19] All you wicked heathen in here. [00:30:21] Me too. All you wicked heathen, you know what he has done by virtue of his salvation? He has shown you judgment. [00:30:27] You know judgment. Now you know His Word. You know what is right. You know what is wrong. You are fulfilling that. We are fulfilling that. But one day, one day he'll send forth judgment unto victory. That's what Matthew 12 says. He'll send forth judgment and there will be victory. [00:30:47] But the meekness and gentleness had to be first. [00:30:50] Because the core and the greatest problem of man was not that he didn't have a happy kingdom, but he did not know his God and had no way to him. [00:31:00] And so Jesus had to do that meekness and gentleness. [00:31:08] It says this. [00:31:11] So the Lord avoided conflict. [00:31:16] He withdrew himself whenever there was a conflict. Now let's just remember, look at this more broadly, the idea of a conflict avoidance. [00:31:31] This is the temperament of the Lord Jesus. Now, we know there were times that he embraced conflict, like in Matthew 23, where he rebuked the scribes and Pharisees. So he wasn't afraid of conflict. But we might put it like this. [00:31:46] Although our Lord did not seek to avoid conflict, he did not avoid it to the degree that he did not fulfill his mission. [00:31:57] But to whatever degree our Lord could fulfill, could avoid conflict while still performing the mission His Father gave it gave him. He did so. It tells us something about his tenor, his tone, his attitude. [00:32:11] He didn't readily engage in conflict hastily. He was not contentious. He sought to avoid it. Listen to these verses. Proverbs 17:14. [00:32:21] The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water. Therefore leave off contention before it be meddled with. Proverbs 26:21. As coals are to burning coals and and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. [00:32:38] Proverbs 28:25. He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife, but he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat. [00:32:47] Proverbs 29:22. An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression. [00:32:56] Listen to that. In these three Scriptures, the Lord says, a person who engages in strife is contentious. [00:33:03] He is proud, and he is angry. [00:33:08] I would say we probably need to avoid conflict as much as we possibly can and not readily engage in it. Yeah. And those people absolutely exist, but it is not in the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. [00:33:25] Proverbs 30, verse 33 says this. Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter. You've probably done that before. [00:33:32] And the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood. So the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife. This is exactly what our Lord was avoiding. But the second thing, remember, that was gentleness. [00:33:47] He was gentle with man. Right? But he was also meek. [00:33:52] And we can see from Matthew chapter 12, because he told people, don't tell anybody what I did here. [00:34:00] You know what he's doing there? He's shunning self promotion. [00:34:04] He's shunning self promotion. The Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated a kind of radical meekness, kind of superhuman kind of meekness. Right? [00:34:14] He did not want to be perceived as a person that ambitiously sought any kind of prestige. [00:34:23] And whenever prestige came, and it came inevitably, when you're healing people and you're speaking the truth, you're speaking like the soldier said, no man ever spake like this man. [00:34:34] There's certain level of fame that comes with that, even if you're not trying. But he would never be perceived as someone who is seeking that because he did not seek it. What did the Lord seek? He Sought singly to please his Father and nothing more. No, his mind was not on any other thing. [00:34:58] And you know what? There were at this time in history, there were many other figures in history that sought to gain a following, to promote themselves for some mission or some thing that they wanted to do. [00:35:16] In Acts chapter 5 and Acts chapter 21, we hear of an Egyptian, we hear of Thudas, we hear of Simon from Galilee. These people were figures in history who gathered a group about them. [00:35:29] And we see it also in the New Testament. Acts 20, verse 30 says this also. Of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. There's a tendency of man to self proclaim, to search out one's own glory, to tell others how great you are. There's a tendency in all of us to do that. And the Lord would not do that, would not do that. [00:35:51] He always deferred to his father. [00:35:54] See the principle. I remember Pastor Craig used to always say, do you guys remember this? He always used to say to redirect the praise. Y' all remember him saying that a lot. I remember him saying that a lot. To redirect the praise. And that's exactly what the Lord. But who did the Lord redirect it to? [00:36:10] To his Father. [00:36:12] Because he was not going to stand there and self promote. He just wasn't going to do it. [00:36:18] Even in the book of Acts, you do not see the apostles drawing crowds to themselves. They would teach in public places and there would be a large interest in what they said, which stirred up the leaders against them. And then they would grab them and drag them into the councils. [00:36:35] But at no point did they seek notoriety or fame. [00:36:40] All of these things came about by simply by the blessing and power of God in their life. [00:36:45] The Bible says this just to conclude now. So we've looked at why the Lord practiced this meekness and gentleness. Number one, to fulfill the prophecy, right? This was his character as described in Isaiah 42. Number two, because he wanted to avoid conflict and controversy when he could. And number three, he shunned self promotion. Now to conclude, look at, take a peek at Philippians chapter two and we'll be finished. [00:37:14] Philippians chapter two. [00:37:21] The lesson we take away from this is just like everything else. This is nothing new at all but to gaze and to ponder and to consider the example of our Lord and Savior as a pattern that we emulate as his people. [00:37:44] Philippians 2, verse 3 says this. Note the words carefully. [00:37:51] Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory strife, willingly engaging in conflict. [00:38:05] Vainglory, self promotion. See that? See how they occur together multiple times in the Bible? [00:38:12] By following our Lord's example, it'll set us in the right pattern, set us in the right tone and attitude that mimics our Lord and Savior. Let's pray together.