And I praise God for his ability to watch over us. We're going to dismiss the little ones to go with Mrs. Schwartz. And we do rejoice tonight in God's ability to protect us and to watch over us. He certainly did that for some of you guys that are sitting here tonight that had the fire at your property. And we're thankful that God took care of you guys and watched over you. And God does that, doesn't he? And it's good when we can look at that and say, you know what? God did that. God kept us and took care of us. And we certainly rejoice in God's goodness there. A commission is a group of people entrusted by an official body with authority to do something. It's a specific group that has delegated authority to do something. We've got people that have commissions in government. We were praying this morning for our MPs, MSPs, and whatnot. An MP has a commission to represent their constituency. It's a group of 92,000 people. in Parliament and they go to Parliament and they're one vote out of 650 that say I or May with regard to a vote that's taking place and they're to represent the people that gave them that commission to go into government. There's smaller commissions and not that they're less MSPs that are members of Scottish Parliament. Again, they've got a constituency that they represent in Scottish Parliament and votes in putting forward legislation and things that they do there. And then yet further on, we've got councillors. And so there's different ones. The one for our area here I've never met, but I know a couple of councillors. I actually know our MP, Owen Thompson, is from Lone Head. And so I know him. I've met our MSP, Colin Beattie, for Midlothian. And then I know a couple of our councillors that are in local, smaller government here representing, again, our area. And so those are commissions. Those are things, and some are greater. I guess you'd say, you know, being an MP and going to Parliament down in Westminster, that's a great commission. MSP, that's a great commission, a member of Scottish Parliament. And then council, that's a good commission, but not as great as an MP or MSP. And then you have below that, you've got council workers and things that are taking place in smaller local government. And so tonight, as we come to Matthew chapter 21, we all know something called the Great Commission. And that's kind of the pinnacle overarching commission that God has given to his church. And so Matthew 28, 16 speaks about it. It's after the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're on a mountain there on the southwestern side of the Sea of Galilee, near a village called Tiberias. And Jesus is with his disciples. It says, 11 disciples went away to Galilee into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. And so that commission, that authority given from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 11 apostles was to go take the Great Commission. It's been passed on to us as churches, the churches to continue to do that, take the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ's death, his resurrection, and the opportunity for people to be saved by faith in Jesus Christ, to take that to the world. Appropriately, it is called the Great Commission. But as we come to Matthew 21 tonight, I want to preach a message on the Humble Commission. That's the Great Commission, but I want to look at the Humble Commission. And really, it could be entitled this, and it kind of sounds funny, but it could be entitled Donkeys for Jesus. Because that's what the Humble Commission is. The Humble Commission is a story where Jesus delegated authority to his disciples and said, go get a donkey for me. Many of the commissions that God gives falls into this area of humble commissions. You think about it, Peter, when he's restored by Jesus, Jesus says to Peter, feed my sheep. That's a pretty humble commission. He taught his disciples, wash feet, like I do. Again, a humble commission. Be great by serving others. a humble commission. You know, a lot of the work that God desires us to do is not a great commission, but it's a humble commission. It's a responsibility that God's given to us and trusted to it. It has great impact even today. So I want to challenge us tonight, take the humble commission, all right? We take the humble commission for Jesus. And so we can say even if it's as small a thing as going and getting a donkey for the Lord Jesus Christ by God's grace, I want to do that in obedience to God if that's what God wants me to do, all right? So let's pray that we'll come and look at this idea tonight of the humble commission. Father, we thank you for the grace that you give. Thank you for the opportunity that we have to study the Word of God tonight and to look at a story of a humble commission given to the disciples of Lord Jesus Christ. Father, would you speak to our hearts about that, the importance of doing anything that we know that the Lord Jesus Christ knows, that we know he wants us to do, that we ought to do that because it's important. is not saved yet, we pray that tonight would be the night of their salvation, that they would accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. And Father, we pray that the Spirit of God would have its way in this service. I can't speak without your help. I pray that the Holy Spirit would help me as I speak. Father, I pray that you'd help me to preach undeniably. Father, help me to preach practically. Help me to preach lovingly. And Father, help me preach powerfully the truth of your word. And Father, may Jesus Christ be glorified in our time here. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. All right, so take the humble commission. So take the humble commission firstly, immediately. Take the humble commission immediately. You'll notice in the verses that we're gonna read and we have read that there is time elements in them. It says in verse one, and when, okay, when is a time element. When they drew Niah to Jerusalem and were come, that's a time element, to Bethphage, unto the Mount of Olives. Then sent Jesus to disciples, saying unto them, go into the village over against you and stray there. Did you notice that? It's like four times in those two verses, there's a time element, and it's like Jesus is saying to them, you know, it's time to do something for me. Like, it's time right now to go and to get this done. You know, and again, our story will understand because a triumphal entry is coming that it's very important that they do this right away. It's very significant that they move as God tells them to move. You know, so often timing is important in the Will of God. I think of the story of Queen Esther as Mordecai and the Jews are at risk of being put to death because wicked Haman has desired the extermination of the Jews. He's had the order signed by King Ahasuerus that says the Jews are going to be killed on such and such a day. Mordecai, the uncle of Esther, gets in there to Esther and sends a messenger and says, Look, this is what's happening. We're all going to be killed. You've got to go in before King Ahasuerus. But if she does that, she risks losing her life. But Mordecai says to her in Esther 4.14, For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, Then shall their enlargement and deliverance rise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed. And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a... Time, as it is. It's very important that Esther, as she takes that humble commission that she has been given, you gotta go in, you gotta talk to the king. It was very important for the sake of the Jews that she did that immediately because it was timely. I like reading about George Miller. George Miller was a pastor down, or a preacher down in England that had a huge orphanage. And that orphanage would often be without provisions because he didn't have a big bankroll or great accounts that he could draw from. He just led that orphanage by faith. And so the story is one day that the children are dressed and ready for school, but there was no food for them to eat. So George asked the house mother to take the 300 children into the dining room and have them sit at the tables. He thanked God for food and he waited. George knew God would provide food for the children as he always did. Within minutes, a baker knocked on the door. Mr. Mueller, he said, last night I could not sleep. Somehow I knew that you would need bread this morning, so I got up and baked three batches for you. I will bring it in. It's a neat story, isn't it? And if you know the rest of the story, a milk wagon breaks down outside, and because it's gonna spoil, they bring it in and donate that as well, and God's so kind to me. But you know, it was timely, wasn't it? What if that baker in his bed, you know, God woke him up and said, you know what, you gotta bake some bread for these kids. What if he thought, I'll do it another time? It was timely, it was important that he responded as the Spirit of God spoke to his heart because they had a need that was an immediate need. It could be that somebody hears in their heart, obey the gospel, get saved now, accept Jesus Christ now. We know from the Bible that it's a time element. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. It's very important as the Spirit of God speaks to that person's heart that they obey then. Why? Because who knows how that's gonna affect their family? Who knows how that's gonna affect somebody else? Who knows how it's gonna affect the cause of Christ and the gospel in that area? The Spirit of God could say to somebody, help a missionary. They might think, I don't even know that that missionary has a need, but the Spirit of God has put in their heart, hey, help the missionary. It's very important that they respond in a timely way. It could be the Spirit of God speaks to our heart. Visit someone with the gospel. Lord, I don't even know if they're open. They may not even be open, but the Spirit of God speaks in my heart. Take the gospel to them, because you don't know what is taking place in their life right then, that for some reason they're open to God. And they're willing to sit down and think about God. If that person would just respond to the spirit of God, the humble commission of going and talking to that person in a timely manner. It could be so many other things, surrendering to God, surrendering to be a missionary, to be a pastor, to be a Sunday school teacher, to yield my life to God. But the important thing is this, as a humble commission is given and a humble commission is this is what Jesus wants you to do. We've got to respond and say, I'm going to respond in a timely way because it's so important that I do that. And so take the humble commission immediately. And then secondly, take the humble commission directly. So take it immediately and then take it directly because the humble commission is for a specific location. It says in verse one, and when they drew Niah to Jerusalem and were coming to Bethphage unto the Mount of Olives, then said Jesus to disciples, saying unto them, go into the village over against you. You know, guys, it is great to go to Israel and you get to see places where Jesus worked. It's really, it's incredible. But what's really neat about being there, and I was there in 2017, is to go into an area, and the Bible describes it so accurately, that you know you're standing right where that story took place. I stood in the Valley of Elah. That's where the battle of David and Goliath took place. And it's so descriptive in the Word of God that you can actually look, and you are looking at the part of the valley where this actually took place, and it's not as big a valley as you think where David fought Goliath. And it's like that in this story as well, as the Bible is so very specific about this area, they're walking up to of the Temple Mount and there from the Mount of Olives you look down the valley and up to the Temple Mount and you're looking at Jerusalem and the Bible says they're on their way to Jerusalem they get to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives that Jesus says to them there's a village right here I need you to go into. Why? Because there was one donkey that Jesus wanted. There wasn't five, there wasn't four, there weren't three, there weren't two, there weren't one, there was this very specific donkey in a very specific place. Can you imagine if Jesus wanted your donkey? Would that surprise you if you had a wheat farm? And you know, you never guess, right? Never think that Jesus would desire to have that animal, and yet that was a specific one that God wanted. You know, humble commissions often have a specific place, don't they? Think about the Great Commission we've already talked about. That's the overarching commission that God has given. But even the Great Commission is to take the gospel to the world, right? That's not very broad. But do you know this, that the Great Commission is region-specific, that it's a specific place? You read about that in the book of Acts, when you're reading about Paul's missionary journeys, right? You kind of think like this. Anywhere they want to go is great. Jesus said, take the gospel to these places, that you're first, then here, then here, but it's to the world. And so you think, I can go anywhere, but it's not that way. As they tried to take the gospel out, the Bible says in Acts 16, verse 10, They go, I want to take the gospel to that area, right? And I'm going to carry the gospel to Asia. You know, the spirit of God said what? And that's shocking to us. We think, I mean, it's a gospel. Surely God wants everybody to have the gospel, but the Spirit suffered them not. And they passing by Nyssa came down to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul the night there stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, come over into Macedonia and help us. And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us So God had a specific group of people. Do you remember the story in the Bible about the Philippian jailer and Lydia? I mean, those people were in Macedonia, and there was somebody praying there, perhaps saying, God, send us somebody to share the gospel with us, and they were open to the gospel. So the Spirit of God didn't let them go into Asia, they didn't let them go to another place, but then God led them to a very specific place. You know, sometimes as we think about that, it might be contrary to human reasoning. We gotta think, why is God leading me to this place to share the gospel? Philip was like that. The evangelist Philip was leading a revival in Samaria, a big city that was seeing a spiritual awakening and so many people were getting saved. And yet the Spirit of God took him from that out into a wilderness, the Bible says in Acts 8, verse 26. And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise and go toward the south, unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went. I mean, here he is, he's preaching a great awakening taking place in Samaria. So many people are getting saved, and God takes him from that, takes him out into a desert, to a place where there's a man in a chariot Rinnian and Isaiah scroll, the Ethiopian unit, and takes him up to that chariot, and he leads him to the Lord. The man gets saved. Well, who's the Ethiopian unit? He's a key leader in Ethiopia. Now that man is gonna take the gospel back up into Ethiopia. You know, God may surprise us. They might say, no, don't go there, no, don't go there, but that person, you need to share Christ with them. And so as we take a humble commission, we need to do so directly to the very specific place or people that God desires us to reach. So take it directly, take it immediately, and then take the humble commission completely All right, take the humble commission completely. We're going to look at this commission that the disciples were given, and it's in very specific steps of obedience that they're to follow. And step one is find them. All right, fine. You know, Hari, if God said to you, go find a donkey, would that be pretty neat? That's what these guys had to do. They had to go to a very specific place and find that donkey. It says in a straight way, you shall find a donkey tied and a colt with her. They had to go and they had to locate this animal again as a very specific one. They were going to walk into this village and lo and behold, this village has a lot of donkeys. You know, there's donkeys everywhere and they're all tied up and they all have foals. Now, I don't know what other donkeys were there, but this was the only donkey when they got into the village that was there with a foal that was tied. And so it's very specific. You know, an exciting truth about the will of God is that God is able to make it very specific. When there's something that God desires of us, God is able to make it so very clear that that's exactly what God wants us to do. Do you guys like animal stories? There's another animal story in the Bible, okay, back in Genesis chapter 24, and it's about camels. And it's Abraham's servant. Remember the story? Abraham needs to get a wife for his son Isaac, and so imagine this guy. He says to his servant, go find a wife for my son. And that's his responsibility. And so as he goes, he's got a bunch of camels. And it's a desert area. And he prays this in Genesis 24 verse 13. It says, behold, I stand here by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water. And let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say, let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink. And she shall say, drink, and I will give thy camels drink also. Let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac. unto my master." An interesting prayer. Okay, let this woman come, and very specific, what I desire her to do, but let her be the one that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac. Was he looking just for anyone? No, he was looking for the one. And that's really, when it comes to the will of God, that's what we should be looking for. And the first thing is, is find that specific aspect God's will. The Bible says that it came to pass before he had done speaking that, behold, Rebekah came out. And there she is, that one for Isaac. And so find them. Step two is loose them. Loose them. It says, and straightway you shall find a donkey tied with a colt with her. Loose them and bring them unto me. Now, can you imagine again, someone saying, go into the village, Jesus said this, And he said, you'll find a donkey tied with a foal. Now what I want you to do is take it. Is there a problem with that? I mean, you're going to feel a little bit uncomfortable, right? I mean, I don't know about you. I don't like people to think that I'm a shoplifter. And so if I go into a shop, I'm careful. I'm not putting stuff in the bags. When I pay, I've got my receipt. I'm not walking back around the store after I pay. I'm just, last thing I want is someone to look at me and say, you know, I think that guy is chocolate. But Jesus said to do it. Now don't go to a car dealership after the service tonight and say, Jesus said, you know, to go in and to take it. But that's what Jesus said. Jesus said, just go and take this. You know, as they thought about that, I think they can think this, if we fulfill the humble commission, what would people say? If we actually loose, I mean, people are gonna say something, and it could be this tonight, that there's somebody that's not getting saved, not getting baptized, not joining a church, not surrendering to God, not obeying God, not loosing something for God, because they're afraid of what somebody will say, even though Jesus said to do it. So the thing is, you find it, you loose it, and then the third step, you bring it. Okay, you bring them. And so find it, loose it, and bring this option. to Jesus. You know, it's a great picture of salvation, isn't it? It is. It really is a great picture of evangelism, what you do in evangelism. And without being rude to somebody that's not accepting Christ, can I say this? Somebody that is not saved is as stubborn as a mule and sometimes as loud as a mule in their opposition against God, right? Surely a lot of believers can say that. I was so vocal against God. I was so stubborn against God. And they need somebody to come to them with the gospel. And so find them, find them. People are living their life away from God. And the Bible says in Mark 16, verse 15, and he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel of every creature. And so find them. Secondly, loose them. The picture again of that animal being tied with their child, the foal, is there. People are bound by sin, but it's also about their family. In the truth, the Bible says so, second three. Jesus says, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. And there's people that are bound in that. They can't be loosened. They need somebody to go to them with the gospel and let them know what Jesus Christ did as he died on the cross for them, that they can be forgiven of their sin, they can be saved, they can be set free of their sin. And in doing that, we bring them to Jesus. And again, the word of God, Jesus said this, Matthew 11, 28, come unto me all ye that labor, and are heavy laden. And I'll give you rest. Again, a donkey was a beast of burden, right? They would carry a heavy load, but this power of Jesus, that Jesus has, takes the burden and weight of sin away, and sets him free. His yoke is easy, and his burden is light. but to go back to our main thought, whatever that humble commission God has given to us, we're to find it, we're to loose it, and we're to bring it to Jesus. All right, and so that, again, takes obedience. And so, take the humble commission completely. And then fourth, take the humble commission defiantly. Take the humble commission immediately, take it directly, obediently, and defiantly. Jesus told him, somebody might oppose you as you do this. It's kind of like what we're thinking, if somebody goes and looses an animal that's not theirs, So they were to be prepared for opposition. It says in verse three, and if any man say ought unto you. Again, as they go and do that, and I'd love to see the rewind. There's gonna be some interesting rewinds in heaven, I think. But to see them walk up, they take the animal, you wonder how many people are walking down the road saying to those guys, hey, what are you doing? What are you doing? And apparently there's one in particular because of what Jesus is gonna say. but they were to do it regardless, but they were right to be prepared for that opposition. You know, if somebody seeks to obey God, is everybody gonna understand what they're doing? No. The Spirit of God speaks our heart about getting saved. Somebody can say to them, I don't know why you're getting to God. I don't know why you're thinking about God. They think about, you know, I wanna be biblically baptized. I'm gonna accept Christ as my Savior, then I wanna be baptized by immersion after I got saved. A lot of people are gonna say, but wait a second, you were christened when you were a child, and that's baptism. But in their heart, they've gotta say, but I know what the word of God says, and the word of God says it's baptism by immersion after salvation. They decide, I'm gonna be faithful to the house of God, I'm gonna go to church and honor God by being in the house of God. And people again, what do you do? but God will remind us to be prepared for that opposition. So take the humble commission defiantly, not that we're gonna be rude or unkind with that, we're gonna stay in obedience to Jesus even though it's tough. So prepare for opposition. And then prepare to preach. Notice what it says, when you face that opposition, ye shall say. And so what they had to do was just say, you know what, thus saith the Lord. Jesus said to kids, have you ever had the opportunity to speak for your parents and to go to your siblings and say, you've gotta do this, right? And then you say, thus saith my parents, right? Thus saith mom and dad. You've got authority because authority told you to convey that message. That's the same with this, isn't it? It's just to say, thus saith the Lord. And so when we face opposition, what do we say? We say, you know what? I hear what you're saying, but Jesus said to do this. And I'm gonna obey Jesus. And so that's what they would do, just give the message from the word. So prepare for opposition, prepare to preach, and then prepare to see God's will accomplished. Notice it says, their message, the Lord hath beaten them, and straightway he will send them. Now Jesus knew that someone's gonna ask this question. They're gonna respond and say, Jesus needs it. And he's gonna say, go ahead. And God's will is gonna be accomplished. And you might think, you know, surely there's times where if I'm gonna evangelize or something like that, and the Spirit of God speaks to me about sharing the gospel with them, I may not see them get saved, or they may not respond as I desire them to respond. and then I'll feel like I haven't fulfilled what God desires me to do. And Abraham's servant kind of felt like that. He was sent by Abraham to bring back a wife for Isaac. But as he did that, he asked a question. He said in Genesis 24, verse five, the servant said unto him, peradventure, the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land. Must thy means bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest? And Abraham said to him, beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that swearing to me, saying, unto thy seed will I give this land. He shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath. Only bring not my son thither again. And it says, I mean, do your part. He says to his servant, do your part, and I release you from the promise of going and fulfilling this commission that Abraham was giving to his servant, if they refuse. But he said confidently, but God will get it done. And so there's an expectation as we take a defiant, as we're positioned for God on a humble commission that God's will is gonna be accomplished by that. And so take the humble commission defiantly, take it obediently, take it directly, take it immediately, and then take the humble commission seriously. Take it seriously. It says in verse four, all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, saying, telling you the daughter of Zion, behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon a donkey, and a colt, the foal of a donkey. Now, if I were to ask you tonight, is getting a donkey for Jesus very important? We understand it is, but we think, well, that doesn't sound very important. And yet it was vital to what Jesus was going to do, but the Lord had need of him. Why? Because if they didn't have this donkey, scripture wouldn't be fulfilled. See, that would be like God saying something and it not happening. It was vital that the disciples immediately went and did what this took and were defiant and grabbed this donkey and pulled it, brought them to Jesus because this was exactly what God would have to fulfill His will. You know, tonight, as you think about it, how seriously would you discharge the humble commission if you understood that it was gonna fulfill Scripture? That's a very serious thing that's going to take place, that this happens because God said this would happen. I want to say this tonight. God is not dependent upon us to accomplish His will. God will get His will done no matter what. It's what Mordecai said to Esther. He said to her, if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance rise through the Jews from another place. It was to be done, and she needed to do it, but Mordecai wasn't depending upon her to fulfill God's will. But she had a great opportunity. She had a great privilege. If she didn't do it, somebody else would, but there might be repercussions from that for her family. Her family might be destroyed, something like that, but God's will would get done. But isn't it so much better to take it seriously and look at it tonight and say, you know what? It's important that I get saved. It's important that I get baptized. It's important that I attend church. It's important that I obey God and serve God and use my talents for God. I take it seriously because there's great things that God is doing through that. We might look at it again and say, it's just a donkey. And so, ho hum, Christian Kennedy, if I make it, if I don't make it, no big deal. If I do that, read my Bible, if I have family devotions, if I don't do that, no big deal. And yet it might be the very thing that's gonna do something critical for God's kingdom. And so we gotta take it very seriously. Take it defiantly, take it obediently, take it directly, take it immediately. And then lastly, tonight, I triumphed over them. It says in verse six, and the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. How many of you have a life verse? Do you have a life verse? Mine's Philippians 1.20. According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, Christ also shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. All right, that's a great verse. It's this one, all right. This verse is just like short, but this would make a great life verse. Think about this. And the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. That would make a great life verse. If I did that, I would succeed. I've heard it said, success is finding the will of God and doing it. And that's what this verse just said. God said, go get a donkey. They went and got the donkey that God wanted with its full. Praise God. They did exactly what God wanted. You know what would be a great thing, kids, if you did exactly what God wanted you to do? If you just did that, you would succeed. You would succeed. And so it's triumphant. And obviously this triumphal entry takes place here. And so they bring the donkey. to Jesus. Now, the neat thing that's gonna happen is Jesus is gonna get up on this donkey in verse seven. It says that they brought the donkey and the colt and they put on them their clothes and they sat him. Is Jesus important? Wow. Jesus is the most important person in the world. And this lowly beast, It's brought to Jesus, and Jesus gets on, and King Jesus sits on the donkey. Then King Jesus rides on the donkey, verse eight. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way. Others cut down branches from the trees and strawed them in the way. Okay, notice the words, in the way. They're on a trip now, right? He's riding the donkey, he's coming into Jerusalem. How is he moving? It's the donkey. The donkey's taking steps. Not Jesus, Jesus is sitting on it, that donkey is bringing him into the city, and King Jesus is glorified on the donkey. It says that the multitude that went before and followed cried saying, Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. All right, there is great glory, praise God, because Jesus Christ is gonna be crucified in a very, very horrible way. But on this day, preceding that event, he is being glorified. Where? On the donkey. Then King Jesus is magnified on the donkey. It says in verse 10, and when he was coming to Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, who is this? And the multitude said, this is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. He's magnified. I said, people are talking Now, you may say it's only a donkey, but look at who is riding the donkey. And see, a lot of times I think our life is like this. We focus on the donkey. I mean, we look at our life, you know, it's not that big a deal if I get saved. It's not that big a deal if I get baptized. It's not that big a deal if I attend church. It's not that big a deal if I read my Bible, have family devotions, serve God, obey God, reach out for the gospel. It's not that big a deal, but look at who it affects. It's about Jesus and glorifying Jesus. We often miss the big picture because we focus on the donkey instead of focusing on Jesus. There's a lady, Kitty Sotheo, she wrote the hymn, Little Is Much, when God's in it. And it says this, in the harvest field now ripened, there's a work for all to do. when God is in it. Labor not for wealth or fame. There's a crown and you can win it if you go in Jesus' name. Does a place you're called to labor seem so small and little known like a little donkey? It's great if God's in it and he'll not forget his own. When the conflict here is ended and a race on earth is run, he will say, if we are faithful, welcome home, my child will die. If we are faithful, it has to do with this, did we fulfill the Humble Commission? And if so, welcome home, my child, well done. As you think about that, have you taken the Humble Commission victoriously? God's given it to us and we're taking it triumphantly so that we can fulfill what God desires to do through it. We all know the Great Commission. I mean, we've seen that in the work of God. Tonight, we've looked at the humble commission. And as we think about it, again, it's something that you look at and say, well, that's not that big a deal, but it was something that God had for his disciples to do. I wanna challenge us again tonight, take the humble commission that God's given. And just to look around this week and think, you know, what does Jesus want me to do? And as he reveals that to us, we're gonna take it immediately. It could be tonight, somebody's God speaking to their heart, whether child or adult, about salvation. That would be something that you just go and do in obedience to God very quickly. Baptism, follow the word of Luther's baptism. Again, take that up very quickly. And then take it directly. It's geographically specific. God, where do you want me to go? And to take the gospel or to do something for you? And then to take it obediently, to find it, loose it, bring it to Jesus. Whatever that humble commission might be tonight, the story God's speaking to us about, that we're to take that and bring it to Jesus. We ought to take it defiantly. Why? Because people don't want us to obey God. So there's going to be opposition. But we just say, let's say it from the Lord. We ought to take it seriously. If Jesus is speaking to our hearts about it, then it's something that's really important that we need to obey God about. And then take it triumphantly. Don't focus on the donkey, but focus on Jesus. And so, let me just have us bow our heads in prayer tonight. I just wanna ask you a question. In your heart, just to think about this tonight, is there something that you know God wants you to do? I mean, something specific that the Spirit of God has spoken in your heart about? It's a humble commission. The question is, will you do it? Will you obey God with that? Whether it's salvation, baptism, church membership, surrender, sanctification, service, so many things that the Spirit of God could speak to our hearts about tonight. do what Jesus has meant, just like those disciples. Let's pray. Fathers, we bow before you tonight. Let's pray in the quietness of our heart. If there's something that the Spirit of God has spoken to us about, that's the humble commission. It's Jesus said to do it. So I'm gonna obey Jesus. Father, it's important that we do it in a timely fashion, that we obey right away. That we fulfill all of it. Find it, take it, bring it to Jesus. And Father, I pray tonight, there might be somebody that needs to get saved. They've been putting it off. They don't realize how important it is that they obey the gospel quickly. Or Father, they've been putting off serving God, or surrendering to God. Father, whatever it is, I just pray that in our hearts, we take these opportunities and say, well, I just, you know, it's not that big of an opportunity, but I'm gonna obey God. And Father, we wanna focus on what it is, but that we focus on who it's for and how it's gonna bring glory to God. So Father, help us to fulfill these humble commissions that you've given. It's in Christ that we pray, amen. Amen, let's conclude by singing a hymn. And we'll sing Archipelago Kitty's Withered Glass, but we're gonna sing Just As I Am, and that's really what it is, just taking ourselves and obeying God, doing exactly what He has us do. Let's stand, please, we sing Just As I Am without one plea, and we'll sing two verses tonight as we conclude our service. ♪ Just as I am I am without one plea. God and my Lord. ♪ Was shed for me ♪ ♪ And that thou bidst me ♪ ♪ Come to thee, O Lamb of God ♪ ♪ I come, I come ♪ Just as I am and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark God, to Thee whose blood can quench each thought, O Lamb of God, I come. I come. Anna, thank you for being here tonight, and appreciate your faithfulness, and praise God that we can meet together. We need to be especially grateful of that in these days of lockdown. Praise God that you're here. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your goodness to us tonight. Thank you for the time that we've been able to spend around the Word of God and fellowshipping with one another. I pray that you bless us as we depart this place and go our way. Bless any that were able to follow us online this evening as well, that their hearts be encouraged, that they be strengthened in their walk with God. It's in Christ that we pray. Amen.