Luke: Humble Eyes Will See Him (Luke 2:1-20, Jeff Kliewer)

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Our eyes want to see the King and we know that prideful eyes, haughty eyes can never see you.

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It's only the humble who can see you for who you are and we have no humility in and of ourselves,

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Lord. We are prideful people. We ask that you would humble us. It's a scary thing to pray,

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Lord, but we do ask that you would humble us before you, that we would truly walk in a spirit of humility and that you would then open our eyes to see you in creation and all the things that you've made in our lives and all the circumstances that you orchestrate.

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And then this morning, most importantly, Lord, most clearly, Lord, in your Word, we pray that this, your

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Word, would be open to us today, that our eyes could see the King in Jesus' name.

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Amen. Last week we studied Luke chapter 1 and we actually conquered 80 verses in one sermon.

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We'll only do a quarter of that today, so we'll be able to move a little more slowly. But last week the main idea was certainty, that the things that Luke wrote were in order that we would have certainty.

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Asphalia, the Greek word, which means that we have a sureness, a firmness, a security in the things that we're hearing and being taught.

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And out of that sureness, we learn from Zechariah that we are to speak about Jesus.

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At first, Zechariah was unbelieving. When the angel first told him the good news about the birth of his own son, he didn't want to believe it.

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It was too good to be true, he disbelieved, and so the angel said, you will be silent.

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And he was for nine months, until at the very end of Luke chapter 1, nine months passed, he writes, his name is

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John, on a tablet, his mouth is opened, his tongue is loosed, and he begins to praise and extol the name of Jesus.

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In the same way, we need to come into that sureness of faith so that we can speak about Christ to all of our co -workers and to those around us.

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That was the main idea of Luke chapter 1, but there was a second theme, if you caught it, in the first chapter of Luke, and that was the idea of God exalting the humble and humbling the proud.

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Mary's Magnificat, where she praises Jesus, her own son, who's also the

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Son of God, demonstrates this idea of God humbling those who are proud and exalting a lowly virgin girl like herself to be privileged to bear the

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Son of God. That theme comes out in Luke chapter 1, and then it becomes very prominent now in chapter 2.

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As I was thinking about that, I wanted an illustration. Who was it that is an example of having so much pride that God humbled that person?

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And as I thought about it, I came upon the character of Nebuchadnezzar. You know the story of Nebuchadnezzar?

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He has a dream early in the book of Daniel, and in his dream, God shows him a statue that has a head made of gold and a body that's silver, thighs that are bronze, and feet that are made of iron, and legs that are made of iron.

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And he's so troubled by this dream, he can't quite remember it, so he calls all the enchanters and all the magicians of Babylon to come and tell him the dream, but he says, you can't just tell me what it means, because I know you'll just make something up.

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You can always make up an interpretation for any dream. He says, you tell me what I dreamt, and then I'll listen to you about what it means.

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And none of the magicians could do it. And Daniel, of course, has been brought into the king's court to serve, and so Daniel is gonna die, because unless these magicians can give an interpretation and provide the dream, it's off with their heads.

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So Daniel's head is on the chopping block, he and his friends. They go before the

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Lord, and in the night, the Lord gives Daniel the vision, the same vision that Nebuchadnezzar had. And he goes before the king, and he tells what the king saw, and he gives the interpretation that the head of gold represents you,

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King Nebuchadnezzar. And after you, there will come other kingdoms. After the Babylonian Empire will come the

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Medo -Persians, and after that will come the Greeks, and finally will come the Roman Empire, which will be like iron and crush all that stands in its way.

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This is the interpretation. Well, Nebuchadnezzar is humbled. He says, wow, your

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God is the true God. Not all these magicians, they have false gods, they can't do anything. And for a moment, he's humbled, but what happens just a short time later?

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You see, Nebuchadnezzar has built a statue, and it has a head of gold, but it doesn't have silver and bronze and iron beneath it.

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It's all made of gold, and it's a statue of himself, a hundred feet tall, for all of the nation to bow down to.

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He is effectively saying, no, there will be no empires after mine. My empire will stand.

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The head of gold has a body of gold. This kingdom, Babylon, will last forever.

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And so he makes people bow down to the statue, but you know the story, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, which is a

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Babylonian names, will not bow down. And so he throws them into the fiery furnace, but one like a son of man is standing in the fiery furnace with them, and they come out unscathed.

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And once again, now the king, who was so prideful, is humbled, and he says, this

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God that can spare you from the flame is the true God. Until some more time passes, and Nebuchadnezzar's heart gets proud again.

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Isn't that true of us? We can go strong for a period of time where we're humbled before God, but before long we lose sight, we lose our first love, we get our eyes off of Christ, pride sets in, and we start relying on ourself again, and God needs to humble us.

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It's almost like a cycle that we go through, but Nebuchadnezzar had it going on to the extreme. Another thing happens, he has another dream.

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This time there's a tree that grows and becomes huge, and all of the birds of the air can find rest on its branches.

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And this dream is troubling. He knows, once again, it's a spiritual dream. So he calls the enchanters and the magicians again, and of course they can't tell the meaning once again, but he calls in Daniel.

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Finally he remembers his old friend, and Daniel comes and he says, King, this tree is you, and the tree is cut down.

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I hesitate to even tell you this. I wish the dream applied to one of your enemies instead of to you, O King, but it's about you.

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Nevertheless, humble yourself and plead to the God of heaven that he will have mercy on you, or else you will be cut down, and for seven years time you will be humbled.

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Well, almost a year goes by, nothing's happening. King's well forgotten his dream, and he's standing up on a wall looking out over Babylon, and he says,

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O Babylon, that I have built by my power. And immediately the

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Bible tells us holy ones from heaven, angels, are sent down to strike his mind with madness.

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And the mighty king of Babylon is humbled to act like an animal.

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He leaves his kingdom, he goes out in the field crawling on all fours, his fingers begin to grow like birds claws, and his hair like matted feathers, the

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Bible tells us. He becomes an animal, loses his mind, he's humbled for seven years until God has mercy on him.

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At the end of that time, he restores his mind to him, and he restores his kingdom to him as well.

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And listen to what Nebuchadnezzar says after being humbled. This is the message, those who exalt themselves will be humbled, but the humble will be exalted.

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This is a message for all of us today. Are you humbled? Are you at a place where you're broken, you're crushed? God will lift you up.

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Turn your eyes to Jesus. Are you at a place of pride, where pride being the root of all sin is causing you to step out on your own to do what you want to do in disobedience to God, not acknowledging

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God? Be careful or he will humble you. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.

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Listen to the words of Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of the days, meaning his seven years of madness,

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I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the

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Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever. For his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation.

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All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say to him, what have you done?

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That is a beautiful description of God in his sovereignty as the king who rules over all, who holds all things.

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None can stay his hand. None can oppose him. God does what he wants in the heavens and on the earth.

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A great picture of God's dominion and his sovereignty over earth. But look at verses 36 and 37.

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This is Daniel 4. You don't have to turn there. Hear what he says. At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me.

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My counselors and lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me.

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So now he's given back the kingdom. He's the king again. He's the emperor over the whole world. But look at verse 37.

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Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the king of heaven, for all his works are right, and his ways are just, and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

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Did he come to genuine faith? As far as I can tell. I don't know if he once again fell back into some kind of Zoroastrianism or some other false religion.

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We don't know. It seems though that this is a genuine conversion. That Nebuchadnezzar became a worshiper of the

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God of Israel. It's amazing to think about that, isn't it? His son certainly doesn't follow in the ways of God.

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He is roundly rebuked and handwriting on the wall. You know the story.

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But this final sentence, those who walk in pride he is able to humble. God exalts the humble, but he crushes the proud.

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This is core to the Christmas message. We're going to turn now to Luke chapter 2.

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We want to get this main idea that God who exalts the humble crushes the proud, but the

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King who came to dwell with us, the King of Kings who is exalted, who is the

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Son of the Living God, the High and Exalted One. When he comes to us, he comes in humble circumstances.

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He'll be laid in a manger. He'll come from Nazareth. He'll be noticed by no kings and no, not even the city of Bethlehem, but just some lowly shepherds.

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The story is an amazing depiction of his humility and it calls us to the same this

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Christmas to humble ourselves to look to him. That's the message of Luke 2, 1 to 20.

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So we're going to get into it. Luke 2, 1 through 7 reads this way. In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

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This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria and all went to be registered each to his own town.

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And Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David which is called

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Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary his betrothed who was with child.

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And while they were there the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn.

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This section opens with Caesar Augustus. You know the month of August is named after Caesar Augustus.

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This is the first emperor of Rome. And remembering Nebuchadnezzar's vision of the statue, the head was

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Babylon which would get conquered by the Medo -Persians. Kind of two sides Darius the Mede, Cyrus the

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Persian. That's the body. In Daniel's vision though the Persians are overcome. You guys know from the movie, right?

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300? Who conquers the Persians but the Greeks. And the

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Greeks then are conquered and overtaken by the Romans. So here we have the rise of the legs of Daniel's vision.

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This is Daniel chapter 2. Caesar Augustus, this iron leader, brings the

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Pax Romana. He's a competent and glorious one. In fact, an illustrious one.

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The name Augustus was not his born name, it was a given name, which means the illustrious one.

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Get the picture? Pride. Arrogance. Remember when David ordered the numbering of all of the men of his kingdom so he could know how many fighting men he had?

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And God rebuked him for that. And he had actually consequences for that. That he had to choose options, none of which were good.

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The numbering of the mighty men demonstrated David's pride. He wanted to know, how powerful am

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I? How big is my kingdom? How strong am I, the king of Israel? Well here, Caesar Augustus is giving a registration that all the world, the entire

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Roman world, would be registered. It's a picture of pride. The illustrious one wants to know how big his kingdom really is.

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Here's the emperor who's in charge of the world. And yet, verse 4, and Joseph, a descendant of the king.

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Do you see that? He's from the house and line of David. He has the pedigree to be king.

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Remember the promise of 2 Samuel 7, such an important chapter of the Bible, that David's son would always sit on the throne.

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And how does that come true? That David's descendants would be the true kings of Judah. But finally, a descendant of David would arise who would take the throne and never give it up.

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That is Jesus. 2 Samuel 7, the Davidic king, the son of David. Jesus is often called the son of David throughout the

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Gospels. Joseph is a descendant from David, and yet he comes from Nazareth.

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Remember the Apostles question? When they're told that Jesus the Messiah is from Nazareth.

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Can anything good come from Nazareth? That's the look down on place. That's the place that nothing good comes from.

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Nazareth, lowly Nazareth. And yet, we see in verse 4, look at that contrast.

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Do you see it in the text? The high and mighty, the proud and pompous, Caesar the illustrious one gives a decree.

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And Joseph, simply obeying the decree, verse 4, goes up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called

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Bethlehem. You see the image there? The city of the true King. The city of David, Bethlehem.

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Remember Micah chapter 5, verse 2? But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are small, meaning insignificant, humble, little, only 5 ,000 people living there at this time, among the tribes of Judah, yet out of you shall come the one to be ruler of Israel, whose goings forth are from everlasting to everlasting.

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The prophet foretold it, this humble little city where David comes from. Remember the story of how

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David was called to be king? This is an important city, and yet small and insignificant compared to mighty

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Jerusalem just five miles away. It's called Bethlehem because he was of the house and line of David.

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Verse 5, he's to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. Again, a picture of humility.

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Remember the Magnificat, chapter 1? This humble virgin, this young girl, chosen to carry a treasure in her womb, the likes of which the world had never seen nor ever will.

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That's the instrument that God chose to use to bring the Son of God into the world, this

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Virgin Mary. Verse 6, and while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

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Verse 7, she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn.

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When our King comes, he has all the glory of divinity, and yet he presents himself to the world in an animal's feeding trough.

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Amongst donkeys, cattle, and sheep, our

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King is laid in a manger. No room for them in the inn. You would think he would come and be welcomed with all the splendor of a king in a palace, but no, it's a manger he chooses to be laid in.

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The humility of Jesus. Let's read verses 9 through 14. And an angel of the

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Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord, I'm sorry, verse 8, and in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night.

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And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.

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And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

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For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is

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Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

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And suddenly there was the angel with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising

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God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.

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Here again we see a picture. Humble eyes will see him. Lowly shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night.

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The shepherd at this time in history was a low position.

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It wasn't esteemed in Israel. There was a time in Israel's history where almost all of the economy was built on sheep and raising sheep, but that had given way to farming by this time.

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And shepherds were kind of the low end of the totem pole. They weren't esteemed. They were the ones that had to stay out all night with the sheep while the the more well -to -do people were sleeping comfortably in their beds.

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The shepherds were out with the flock. In a way there's a parallel there with Nebuchadnezzar, who was out all night with the dew of heaven falling on him.

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That was the shepherds experience night in and night out, getting wet when it rained, fighting off wolves.

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It's not an easy job and it's not one that was esteemed. So when they came into town,

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I like, have you guys ever been to the Living Nativity around the corner from us at the church about a mile away?

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In that scene the shepherds come into Bethlehem and all of the people of Bethlehem are like, oh the shepherds, what are you doing?

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They make fun of them because they're stinky. What are stinky shepherds doing in Bethlehem? It's a good depiction of what it would be like to be a shepherd at that time.

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Not people who are esteemed. They're just out in their field keeping watch by night and an angel of the

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Lord appeared to them. Now I want you to picture this. An angel of the Lord appears to these shepherds.

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How do you picture that angel? A chunky little baby with wings? Is that how you picture angels?

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That's how it's depicted a lot of times, isn't it? This is not a chunky baby with wings because look at the reaction.

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It says they were filled with great fear. Great fear.

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This is a powerful being. In fact, we know from Nebuchadnezzar's story when the angel of the

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Lord came and he touched Nebuchadnezzar, it drove him mad for seven years. An angel at one point was sent out against an enemy of Israel and killed a hundred and eighty -five thousand men in the army of Assyria that was opposed and about to take

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Jerusalem. These are no wimpy beings. These are powerful, scary beings.

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So much so that they trembled with fear but they didn't just tremble because the angel. Notice also in verse 9, and the glory of the

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Lord shone around them. So an angel appeared but there was also this sense of glory, the sense of holiness that you are in the presence of God.

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What will we do that day when we run through the pearly gates and we see Jesus? You know there's a song about that I can only imagine.

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I think I know what I'm gonna do. I think I'm gonna fall flat on my face until he touches me and says don't be afraid for he touches my lips with coal or with his finger that I could speak like Jeremiah and Isaiah.

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That's the experience of people that see the Holy God. When we see

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Jesus face to face we are going to fall before him in worship. He is a powerful and glorious God.

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So the glory of God was somehow present. Maybe the Shekinah glory as it was like in the temple when the

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Shekinah glory first filled the temple. In some sense there's the glory of God present here with the shepherds and all they can do is fall down in fear.

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But the angel says don't fear this is good news of great joy. Verse 10, for behold

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I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. This is a message that's offered freely and openly to the ends of the earth which is how we preach.

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We don't discriminate. We don't choose who to share it with. We have a message for everyone.

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We preach it to the tall and the short whoever it is no matter race or nation or what religion they currently practice or follow.

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We preach to all. It's for all the people. An open invitation offered.

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So it says, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a

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Savior. This is a message that we don't want to miss today. The humble in this room, you hear this don't you?

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And all of us that have pride which is also all of us, push that aside and recognize the splendor of this.

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A Savior is given to us. Without a Savior I am dead.

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I am lost in my sin. But I have a Savior who is Christ. Christ meaning

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Messiah, the promised one. All the prophets have foretold this day. Micah 5 2, he'd be born in Bethlehem.

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All of the prophets looked forward to the coming of the Christ, the Messiah, the

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Lord. We're told in verse 7, this is the firstborn son of Mary.

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But by verse 11 we recognize this is not only a human, although he is, and the firstborn son of Mary.

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This is God's firstborn. The firstborn from heaven. I just want to read to you

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Colossians 1 15 to 20 and let these words sink in to who it is we're really talking about.

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He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

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For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.

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Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.

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And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church.

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He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

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For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

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This is that what the angels proclaim. Unto you was born this day a Savior who is

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Christ the Lord. He is the preeminent one. All of life depends on him.

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Everything that we have should be devoted to him. I as a created being should be entirely given to him because I was made for him.

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Verse 15 through 20. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the

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Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found

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Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.

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And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

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And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them.

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In this final section for us today, we see the response of the shepherds and of Mary.

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The humility that they express. The things that their eyes have seen.

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The way they respond to that. Look at verse 19. Mary, she treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

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And the shepherds, verse 20, the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them.

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This is Christmas season, isn't it? It's been busy. It's always busy at Christmas time.

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But have you stopped to set your eyes upon the King and respond like Mary and the shepherds?

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Mary treasured these things and she pondered them in her heart. She sanctified

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Christ as Lord over her heart. Christ had become preeminent to her.

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The shepherds glorified and praised God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them.

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This is the message of Christmas. That the Son of God has come into our world to take on flesh.

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I want to ask the question, why is this so important? Theologically speaking, why does this matter?

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There was a trivial example of someone taking on flesh, and we'll use this as a counterpoint to what

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Jesus has done. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Terminator. He was some kind of robot in the movie, but in real life he's a man that was dressed like a robot.

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Well, one time Arnold Schwarzenegger, in the filming of one of those in the sequel, was dressed up as the

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Terminator and the crew decided that before they washed him off and sent him home for the night, they would send him over to the wax museum in town, in Hollywood.

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So he went to the wax museum in Hollywood and posed as the Terminator, only he was truly

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Arnold Schwarzenegger in the flesh. And as people visiting the museum came and took pictures with the various wax images of these

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Hollywood stars and these celebrities, they came up to the Terminator and posed for pictures.

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And one of them said, this one looks so real. To which Arnold Schwarzenegger said,

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I am. All of a sudden that person just bolted out the door, scared for his life.

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Others would come and pose and take pictures and he would give a little squeeze on the shoulder. And all of a sudden the person would freak out and run away.

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The point was, they weren't just dealing with a wax image of the

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Terminator, they were dealing with Arnold Schwarzenegger himself, in the flesh.

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The message of Christmas that we're talking about this morning is that Jesus came truly in the flesh.

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He became a man. But this isn't like Arnold Schwarzenegger, this matters.

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And why does it matter? Because as a man, Jesus could be our representative.

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Whereas we fall short of the commands of God, his law, we break it every day in our hearts.

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The pride that is the root of our sin is there with us all the time. And we fall short of his glory.

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And so we have a baby born and laid in a manger who grows up and lives a perfect life.

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At every point in which we stumble, he keeps the law. Every time he's tempted, he resists the temptation.

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He never sins. As our representative, he lives a perfect life. And then he goes to a cross where he dies as our substitute.

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Because he's our representative, because he's truly a man, he can stand in the place of men and women and die a death that we deserve.

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We then are united with Christ in his death, so that when he's crucified, we are crucified with him.

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As he's buried, we're buried with him. As he's resurrected, we are justified and given new life.

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The meaning of Christmas is incarnation, that he truly came. He took on flesh to be our representative.

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Union with Christ depends on that. That we would have a substitute depends on him truly being incarnate.

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This is no ordinary baby. This is the Holy One, the Savior, the Lord, the

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Christ. He becomes a man so that he could carry our sin away. This is the meaning of Christmas.

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You can't understand the manger unless you've seen the cross. This is what the manger points to, that the representative man would take away our sin.

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The shepherds got it. They didn't have a clear picture. They were only seeing the first fruits of it, but they went away praising

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God, glorifying God, rejoicing with great joy. Mary understood.

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She pondered it in her heart. She treasured these things. This is where we're left this morning.

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Christmas is a week away. Will you think about the Son of God? Who he is?

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Will you ponder who he is in your heart? And it all comes back around to humbling ourselves before him.

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There are some that hear this message because it's offered to all, but because of the pride of your heart, you don't want to believe it.

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It seems too simple to you. Too foolish to you. Well, the message that I'm preaching is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.

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Don't allow your pride, your intellect, your education to keep you from the humility of this child.

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Humble yourself and say, I need this Jesus. He is the

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Lord, the Christ. It's pride that keeps you from being saved. You won't come to him.

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You think you have a way that you can make it on your own. You won't make it on your own. You need a substitute, a representative who can obey the law of God and who can take your sin away.

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What will you do with your sin? How will you wash it off of yourself? How will you be made clean?

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You can't do it. He who violates one law is guilty of the whole thing according to the

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Word of God. You stumble at one point, you're guilty of it all. You may not be a murderer, but if you're a liar, you've broken the law of God.

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You're an adulterer if you've looked at a woman with lust in your eye or a man. You are a murderer if you've had anger in your heart, and who of us haven't carried that bitterness of anger with us from time to time?

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We need a Savior. Some of you have come to him, and yet like Nebuchadnezzar, you've fallen back into pride, and you are justifying a sin in your life that you know is sin, because you think, you know what?

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I can do that. It's okay for me to do it. It's time to come humbly before God and repent of your sins.

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This story calls us to humility. Don't be like Caesar, the illustrious one, or Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the world, because God will humble the proud.

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But are you broken this morning? Do you recognize your need for a Savior? Are you humble this morning, and you say, yeah,

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I'm broken. I can't do this on my own. Then the good news, the great joy, is that the

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Savior has come. There is a Lord. There is a Christ who is willing to forgive your sin. Humble yourself now, and ask him to wipe you clean.

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Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Let's actually ask the worship team to come up. Take a moment.

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Just pray right now where you're seated. Ask the Lord right now to show you the areas of pride in your life that you need to confess.

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If you've never come to him before, if you've never asked him to save you, it's such a simple prayer. Confess your sin to him, and ask him to save you.

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Call on his name. Save me, Jesus. Just all bow our heads and close our eyes.

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Maybe you've never humbled yourself before Jesus Christ before. Well, think of him, the

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King of Kings, that he was willing to be laid in a manger, to grow up and be a carpenter.

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He had calluses on his hands. He knew what the splinters of wood felt like.

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He was true flesh. He knew what it felt like to be tempted, yet he never gave in like we do.

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Right now, ask this Jesus to save you, that you would be united with him.

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His death would atone for your sin. Ask him to save you.

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Call on the Savior, Jesus, in your own heart right now. Just say, Jesus, please save me. Take away my sin.

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I'm a prideful person. I need a Savior. I believe you died for me.

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I believe you're real. Even if I can't figure everything out, I can humble myself and come to you.

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I believe you died and that you rose from the dead. You are the true King of Kings, son of David, son of God.

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I accept you today. For all of us who have been born again, let's come back to him again with humility.

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Be emptied of our pride. Humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God that he will lift us up.

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Jesus, we ask that you would humble us today. Give us back that joy of the Lord, great joy like the shepherds had, like Mary had.

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Don't let us be distracted. The joy of the Lord is our strength. We're here before you,

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Jesus, asking that you would humble our hearts and come in.

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We make room for you in the end. Our hearts are open to you, Jesus, right now.

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We ask that you take over. Please forgive us of all of our sin. Wash us clean by your precious blood.

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Thank you that you are a humble King that came to serve sinners. We should serve you, but you came to serve us.

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What a King you are. You're so glorious. You are the illustrious one.

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You are the preeminent one. You are the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. All glory belongs to you.

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Jesus, we worship you together today. Our hearts cry out to you.

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Our hearts cry to know you more. Come and meet us here,

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Lord. Fill us with love for you. Humble us,