Good morning to you all. It is a joy and of course my privilege to be here to bring God's words to you, and particularly to you men and women that are involved in the development of fishes of men, plumbers of men and doctors of men, all those who are serving in the church. This is a great opportunity because it's a time when we can think together how best to sharpen ourselves, to sharpen the men and women that are going to be serving in our churches. consider myself privileged to be here to stand to address particularly the spiritual requirements of leaders. Because this is spiritual work we are involved in, and unless we ourselves are spiritual, we will not produce spiritual men and women to serve the Lord. And as we think of this particular subject of spirituality, I cannot think of a better model than that of our Lord Jesus Christ. There are many models in the scriptures of godly men and godly women. In the Old Testament, you have a number of them. In the New Testament, you have a number of them. But I think we would all agree that Jesus was a spiritual leader par excellence. He stood above his fellows. To some extent, I think people share in the dilemma that we can't imitate the Lord Jesus Christ. His character is inimitable because he was God, although man, but he was God. And yet the other reality is that he was man. And his humanity is our humanity. And more than that, he was given not only to redeem us from our sin in terms of justification, but also sanctification, which also brings with it the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. where we are deriving this mandate. Paul put it succinctly, imitate me as I imitate Christ, endorsing the fact that Christ is the grand model after whom we must pattern our lives. And this morning, I would like us to just take a glimpse at several areas in the life of Christ that would serve us well as models of how we ought to be spiritual men and spiritual women. Be imitators of me just as I also am of Christ, Paul, said in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 1. And I'd like us to consider four specific area, four specific areas in the life of Christ in which he serves as an example. Of course, it was an exhaustive life. You cannot summarize it in these four. But I've selected these four specifically because they are relevant to us today more than they would be to people in other generations or other times. And that is knowledge of God. Knowledge of God is something we see in Christ. that we ought to emulate as a spiritual mark. Secondly, battle readiness. Thirdly, companionship. And fourthly, humility. What about knowledge of God? Well, fundamental to the success of Christ's ministry was his absolute reliance upon the Father. And for one who was divine, this appears to have been unnecessary. But beloved friends, the demands of his humanity, the demands of his humanity made dependence on God absolutely mandatory, absolutely mandatory. Without God, we can do nothing. And without God, the man Christ Jesus could do nothing. Notice two specific areas in which the Lord Jesus Christ cultured intimacy with his God. The first is his absorption of the word, the word of God. The development of the child Jesus was in one sense very ordinary, but in another sense, it was also extraordinary. Pretty remarkable, we might say. His doctrinal insights amazed the professors. They just didn't understand how a boy his age had grasp of the scriptures, had knowledge of the truth. And they must have been grappling in their minds with the question, where did he get it from? And who is he anyway? How does he, at this stage of his development, understand the scriptures to the extent that he does? And where does he get the audacity to ask the questions, these profound questions that he is asking? And beloved friends, sometimes when we think of the Lord Jesus Christ, we assume he was this man whose divinity just kind of zapped his humanity, and he didn't have to do anything as a man to be what he became. He didn't have to work hard to know the scriptures. He didn't have to pray hard to intimate himself with God. After all, he was God, so something in him about his divinity just filtered into his humanity and it was all pretty automatic. But as we read scripture, we discover that's not quite the way it is. Concerning his absorption of truth the prophets had this to say Isaiah chapter 11 and verses 1 and 2 and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him The spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and The fear of the Lord and how did this work out? Well, as an obedient student, he was enabled to study diligently and meditate profoundly. For we are told, the Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, and I'm quoting from Isaiah 50 and verse 5, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning, He awakens. He awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear and I was not rebellious. I turned not backward. So you see here, that here is a man who gave himself to study, who gave himself to meditation, who applied himself early in the morning to study, the scriptures, and to know the scriptures. And when we see Christ articulating the scriptures the way he did, we are seeing a man who had toiled hard to achieve that. The result is given to us, even as a young boy, that he grew in wisdom, in stature, and of course, in the favor of both God and man. So intimacy with God starts with intimacy with His Word. That goes without saying. For the Word reveals more of God to us. No one who desires to lead God's people to know God can do so successfully without knowing God through the means He has chosen to reveal Himself. So this, brethren, calls for painstaking, consistent, devotional reading and studying of God's Word. If Christ gave himself to this, there is no hope for us without giving ourselves to this. But scripture also reveals the prayer life of our Lord Jesus Christ. And several things, I assume you probably have encountered all these scriptures, so I won't take you to them. I'll just cite them and run through the particular passages that highlight the prayer life of our Lord Jesus Christ. And no doubt, this was a very busy man, by the way, perhaps much busier than any one of us. He was an extremely busy man, rising up early in the morning to do the work of the master, traveling places and traveling without the facilities that you and I have today to do our work. He was an extremely busy man. The world was literally surging upon him, demanding that he attends to them, attends to their ignorance, attend to their physical needs, and some perhaps even attend to their political needs. He was an extremely busy man, but in all his busyness, he devoted time to be with God. And the only reason he did that is he recognized that his busyness would amount to nothing without supernatural energy supplied him on a regular basis. No, on a daily basis. So when you look at the life of the Lord Jesus Christ from the writings of those who witnessed it, you notice several things. One, he prayed regularly. We are told in Mark chapter 1 in verse 35 that he would rise early in the morning. He secluded himself. He had time to pray with his friends, the disciples, but he also had time to pray on his own. He would rise early in the morning. And why early in the morning? Well, that's the only time he could have to be alone because come sunrise, the world is around him. The demands are pressing. So he would rise early in the morning to go out in the mountains, to be alone with God. Interestingly, he would also pray spontaneously in public. Do you hear him cry out, Father, I thank you that you've opened the eyes of these. That's an expression of prayer in the public arena. And he's praying publicly, though briefly. He would pray all night, we are told in Luke 6, verse 12. The whole night, in the presence of God, and particularly this occasion when he must select among sinful men, redeemed sinful men, the group that he would work with, who would comprise the team of disciples to take the message of the word to the world. Before he embarks on such a vital task, he submits himself to the lordship of his father and must pray the whole night. deprive himself of sleep, deprive himself of rest, and seek the mind of his father in this delicate undertaking. We also get the impression that there was a sacrifice involved in his prayer life. Occasionally, you would see him having to dismiss the crowd. Another occasion, he would have to withdraw from a crowd. Now, he loved people, and he wanted to help people. That's what he came for, to serve, to minister. That was his calling. But he had to make up his mind whether he should continue serving and empty his tank or draw back and refuel and have greater energy, stamina, to minister to these people. Occasionally, strategically, he would withdraw, scripture says. And I'm citing Matthew 14, verse 23, where he would dismiss the crowd. And then in Luke 5, verse 16, he would actually withdraw from a crowd. He would also deprive himself of sleep and rest, as we have cited. That is physical deprivation. Mark 1, verse 35. And of course he was inspirational in his prayer because those who watched him, those who were with him, those who listened to him, those who sensed the earnestness with which he wrestled in prayer, they had no choice but to say, teach us to pray. You have a way of connecting with the Father that is very foreign to us. We've tried it, but we can't do it. We can't articulate ourselves the way you do to the Father. The way you just engage the Father, teach us to pray, they would request in Luke chapter 11 and verse 1. And then Hebrews reveals the intensity with which he prays as attested in the Garden of Gethsemane. You hear a man who is intense in prayer, who is groaning in prayer. whose prayers are spoken out loud with cries in occasions. Well, the rationale for prayer was very simple, and he communicated it to his disciples. Avoiding falling into temptation, it is by prayer. Securing God's blessings, it is by prayer. enjoying the experience of adoring God, just getting lost in the wonder of His praise, of His majesty, this great, awesome God. Just the experience of worshiping Him and adoring Him and lifting up His name as the angels do, that's another reason for prayer, to just be filled with the presence of God. to experience God Himself, which is the ultimate of our salvation, to go and be with Him and to worship Him in the beauty of His holiness. Jesus was a prayerful man. So when we talk about devotion to God, it comes with the understanding of who God is, and knowing his mind from his word, but also intense interaction with God in prayer. So no leader will advance the cause of Christ to any distance who knows little of incensored prayer. Prayer is the fountain of Christian vitality. Prayer draws us near to God, and God near to us. Well might we ask, how well do we know God? How close are we to God and how close is God to us? Quite often we have deprived ourselves of this intimacy with God because of the very work that God has called us to. We get so busy. We get so lost in this work. We're so engrossed in this work, forgetting that it will amount to nothing if it is not full of God. If we ourselves are not full of God, let's learn to strategically, like our Lord did, withdraw and go and refuel, that we might have the spiritual energy, spiritual nutrients, to be effective servants in the field. We can never, ladies and gentlemen, be busier than the Lord Jesus Christ. He found time to be with God, to know Him, and to experience Him. Well, so much for knowing God The other thing we notice about the Lord Jesus Christ is that he was battle-tested. He's a man who had fought many battles long before he even entered ministry. In fact, it was to ready him for ministry. And all of us that are going to be involved in God's work and these labors of training men, women for Christian service, it is appropriate to say we must be battle-tested. We must be men and women that understand what it means to put on the full armor of God and to know how to use the sword of the Spirit to fight the good fight. We must have fought our own battles. We must have triumphed for us to train others and help others know how to use these same tools. The servant of God, we know, enters involuntary warfare, battling sin, battling Satan. And isn't this the business we are engaged in in the church, to subdue sin in the hearts of men and women, so that we might be equipped to subdue sin out there in the world? This is a spiritual battle. This is spiritual warfare. And we must constantly be equipping ourselves for battle, and we must be battle-tested people. In regard to our Lord Jesus Christ, the one thing you notice early in his life is he had his own small battles, which were getting bigger and bigger. When he was still a boy, he had his own battles to obey God, without suggesting that he had the capacity to disobey. But he learned obedience through what he went through. What do you understand by that? Like any normal human being, must learn through trial and through time, obedience to his parents. There was tension. Should I be at the Bible study, or should I be with mama? Should I be in the presence of God, or should I be in the presence of dad? He had that tension. And so when his parents were looking out for him and they couldn't find him until they found him in the house of the Lord, I think it's an expression of that reality. At that point, he made the decision, this was a place to be. And he articulated that ever so clearly to his parents. But he had his own small battles. And here we're seeing it between obedience to parent and, of course, to spiritual duty. Obedience to civil ceremonial authority? Well, that's the tussle you're seeing him engaging in with John the Baptist. John says, well, you cannot baptize me. It's just not proper. It's not acceptable. And he says, well, look, we must fulfill righteousness. Yeah, I get your point, John. Seniority, and you recognize who I am. But I must also submit myself here. He could have easily said, well, John, do you really know who I am? Not even just one man. You need several men to baptize me. It could have got to his head that he was the senior man. He was the most righteous man. But he says, no, let's go your way. And then, of course, the grand battle to disobey God when he's driven in the wilderness alone to be with the devil. And now it's getting tougher. Now it's getting more stern. Now it's serious. Now he must face the God of this world, the tempter himself. and the experience was not an easy one. Christ is tempted and the strategy of the devil is to jettison his mission of bringing salvation and redemption to the world. And first he must bring down the Son of God. By encouraging self-indulgence, eat the bread, or turn the stones into bread. Self-exhibition. Just jump off the cliff and the angels will do it. There's going to be an abracadabra. It will be OK with you. You won't strike your heel. Self-advancement. Look at all these kingdoms. You don't even need to labor. You don't even need to work. You don't need to use the route you want to use to acquire kingdoms. I have them right here. just press the button, just bow the knee and it's all yours. It was all about self, self, self. And hidden in that was attacking his faith in God, attacking his reliance upon the Father. And there's no doubt that the temptation was severe. But let's also note that There's a divine side to this temptation that we quite often overlook. We overlook, for instance, that He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, and the Spirit never deserted Him. Yes, there was abeyance at some point, or perhaps the Spirit drew back at some point, and Christ felt all alone in this battle, perhaps. We do not know. But the Spirit led Him, and the Spirit was upon Him. In a way, he was not upon other beings. There was a saturated experience of the presence of the Holy Spirit, perhaps subdued in certain seasons by trial, but always present. And the Spirit led him. Let's take note of that. The Spirit was leading him for a purpose. But the second thing we also overlook is that by calculation Christ was led to the battlefield of trial immediately after his ordination and powerful display of divine endorsement of his ministry in the words, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. And there are good reasons why this vicious temptation where he came face to face with evil itself occurred soon after he was inducted into ministry. Let me suggest one or two reasons. One, to provide him indispensable lessons more adequately and privately before the clamor of crowds overwhelmed him. And the lesson to us is this, private triumph over sin bodes well for victory in public life. Two, to teach him to correlate the experiences of divine profusions just encountered in his baptism with life of satanic violence now experienced in the wilderness as concomitants of normal life. The blessing of God endorsing you, the blessing of God's spirit resting upon you. The blessing of even a successful ministry, this triumphant experience, is not divorced from an immediate onslaught of the devil. Elijah experienced that very well. His great triumph over the prophets of Baal, and then immediately he struck into a state of depression. The devil attacks almost instantly, as if to say, soon after these glorious moments with God, soon after these triumphant experiences, soon after getting on that mountain of victory, expect evil to abound as you descend to the foot of the hill. Satanic assaults are no indicator of divine desertion, is the lesson. Third, to prepare him for the simultaneous management of lordship, which he had just experienced, and servanthood in the wilderness. Again, the lesson, beloved friends, is this. Some of the most desired virtues or qualities are painfully minted out of trial. The servant spirit of Christ was not entirely intrinsic and inborn. He had to learn it through what he went through. We could go on and on. If Satan hated the union between Jesus and his father, ours will not be loved. It will be hated too. We are sons and daughters of God. And that's exactly what Satan was trying to divorce. If you notice the attacks were, if you're the son of God, if you are the son of God, if you are the son of God, as if to induce doubt, to make you in those moments when all is confusing and all is painful, all is failure, all is frustrating. make you wonder whether you are truly the son of God. And if you are sure about that, at least you will begin to doubt whether God is your father. And that's what this temptation is all about. And that's what temptation is often all about, to make us decrease in our faith, our reliance upon God, and consider alternatives to God. Yes, brethren, a leader who has not known considerable success in his fight against indwelling sin, the world and the devil, is ill-equipped to defeat his followers, much less to help them. Rather, defend, not defeat. Defend his followers, much less to help them in their own struggles against these evils. Let me hurry on to the companionship of our Lord Jesus Christ before I conclude with his humility. And I'm referring to the spiritual virtues of a leader. Christ was a man who knew God, acquainted himself with God. But notice the contrast. As much as he was acquainted with God, he also had a good understanding of the arch rival, the devil. He had a good understanding of how temptation comes, what roots it uses, when it is most vicious, and when we are most vulnerable or susceptible. So he had a good understanding of that too. And that's vital for all of us leaders. It's not good enough to know God. We need to know the devil. not as a friend, but as a foe. We need to know how to wear the armor of God and to fight the good fight. We need to know that. But in this battle, one thing you notice is that it can be very lonely. For those of you who have been ministers, pastors, whatever levels of service, one thing you will testify is that the ministry can be very lonely. And very ironically so, because it's a place of so many people. And more ironic, a place of so many loving, caring, praying people. How can it be so lonely when it's so crowded out there? How can it be so lonely when people are lavishing us with so much care, so much protection, so much presence? I'm not too sure I have an answer. One thing I know is that it can be very lonely. And statisticians have confirmed that. it can be very, very lonely. So lonely that it can drive you to a state of self-pity. If not self-pity, maybe discouragement in ministry, depression which Elijah experienced as a result of his sense of abandonment. He's the only one. He's not aware of others who are fighting with him. depression, in fact suicidal depression Elijah experienced, or perhaps discontentment, discontentment with the ministry, discontentment with friendships, discontentment with your marriage, and finding fulfillment in other things, other people, struck with unbelief, so much doubt and fear grips right in the center of Christian service. How did Jesus manage ministerial loneliness? Because he was as susceptible as we are. Yes, he was. We don't always think about these things, but he was. Remember, when his now on the road where he must be confronted with the fullness of the wrath of God, as he is now bearing the sin of the world upon his shoulder, and he's walking towards the cross, and he's surging towards the cross, and the reality of judgment, judgment due to sin, the sin of the world is staring in his eyes. How does he respond? Well, he kind of dithers and he gathers his disciples and says, look, let's go and pray. And he takes them into the garden of Gethsemane. And when he's there in prayer, well, it's a big bunch. And he realizes we won't do much with all these other guys. Maybe let me select the more spiritual among them. So he gets the Johns and the Peters and those who he knew had a better understanding of spiritual warfare, had a better understanding of the need of the presence of Almighty God. And he gathers them and he says, now come, it's a smaller circle. Pray with me here. It was a lonely battle. Surely Jesus should have said, the big man that he was should have said, guys, stay behind. This is a battle for men. You are the boys. You just can't do anything with me. And then he goes it alone. No, he does the very opposite, like a coward. Come with me. Come with me. And even when they slacken and they cannot pray, he goes back and prods them. Can you not pray? Can you not pray? On two occasions. As if their support was vital. It was necessary. It was indispensable. And that's the point. It was. He was a normal man that needed normal support. Well, we're asking the question, how did Jesus subdue loneliness? Or what we might refer to as the propensity for ministerial loneliness. How did He subdue it? I'll suggest three simple things. One, we have already considered it. He spent lots of time with God. Lots of time with God. He was constantly in the presence of God, and God provided him companionship. Second, he kept himself healthily busy on his job. He was a busy man, very organized. He had planned his day very well, and he moved from one task to another as vehicles on a busy day, bumper to bumper. Awful. So he knew how to manage his time, including time for rest, which he did well. But number three, he engaged in cultivating mutually profitable, productive friendships with people. Especially Scripture seems to suggest with three men, Peter, James, and John. But interestingly too, some women, at least we know about Mary and Martha, and those were his friends. And when we read Scripture, we tend to overlook this. Now Jesus was not the kind of stoic man who you know, just moved around the world and he didn't notice women. He's not the kind of man who was really sweating in the armpits and he was looking for a handkerchief whenever he was in the presence of women. Do you see him chatting with the woman at the well? Very relaxed, engaging her in very intimate discussions about her inner life, so intimate that when the disciples came, they kind of got puzzled. And I'm just imagining, I'm sure in their minds, I can guess Peter would have been the one saying, who might just be the best man on this wedding? And they were always jostling for prominence. They just didn't understand what business he had with this woman. Do you see that other woman shedding her tears? And she's there at the feet of Jesus Christ. And if you know anything of her reputation, you should have been deeply embarrassed. Any one of us men here should have felt very uneasy, should have been looking for something to create an opportunity to just get rid of her without portraying yourself not to be the savior. But get rid of her. Whatever it takes, get rid of her. In fact, it was actually proposed that the fact that he entertained her suggested he was not who he claimed. If he knew who she was, he would have been deeply troubled about her romantic expressions. kissing his feet, anointing them with perfume, the kind that you would want to spend so much money on for your wife. And it seems Jesus is pretty relaxed. I find that amazing. Concerning Martha and Mary, when you read the account in which is recorded the death of their brother Lazarus, scripture literally says he loved Martha and Mary. Not just liked them, he loved them. Now, a number of you are meeting me for the first time. You might be impressed with my nose or perhaps my chin, but the last thing you ever declare is that you love me. You don't know me. Love is a relational emotion and activity. Love comes with time and interaction and intimacy. is a product of a relationship and a friendship. So he did have friends, very good friends, friends with whom he was comfortable dining in their homes and having fun with them. Well, the friendship aspect is what I want to emphasize. We've considered Christ spending time with God and him being a busy man is not our business to consider today. But the third, which is companionship, is important for us to identify because the absence of companionship is leading us to a lot of stress in our work. Whatever work we do, it's exposing us to undue loneliness and lack of fulfillment in our labors. Now when you consider the Lord Jesus Christ, here's what you notice about his range of activities in his friendships with his beloved. He spent time together with them. We know that. You just need to read the Gospels to establish that. time together with them, he traveled places with them, he prayed with them, debated issues together with them, and sometimes even had intense moments of fellowship where they disagreed. He taught together with them and they had fun together. However spiritual the fun, being on the mount and experiencing the transfiguration was exciting. You ask Peter, he'll tell you how exciting it was. He even thought of tent making and picnicking for all eternity out there. It was great fun. So the Lord was not this dry man who was all doctrine and all professorial teaching and it's all work and work. He says, guys, let's go and have some fun. Let's go and have a glimpse of glory. Or some would say, Hallelujah. That's the Lord Jesus Christ with his friends. Yes, in it would be revealed the reality of who he is for all eternity, his deity. In it would be revealed the prospects of all eternity, to be with God and to see God. But it's all fun, it's all pleasure. That's friendship. Oh, but he would also moan with his friends, Martha and Mary, when they lost their brother. He would weep. It hurt. It hurt them, and it hurt him. They would also be tried together. Difficulties they would share. We ask ourselves, what did it cost Jesus in cultivating these friends. And I'm throwing hints, friends, at what it will cost us, what friendship is all about. Pick those hints. Time. He hardly had time to himself to pray, to meditate, to rest. That's what friendship demands. You would have to pay a price. An opportunity cost. He had to learn managing lost opportunities for service. by shrewdly balancing the interests of friendship with other needs. Personal dignity, as he waited on them. Remember when he's washing their dirty feet? He had to humble himself. He had to lower himself. He did what he was uncomfortable doing ordinarily. None of us wants to be washing their feet. of men who don't even wear shoes but sandals all the time, and they're walking all over places that are so dusty. And how many feet, perhaps we must count? About 24 of them, two of which would come from one who is really wicked, planning his own betrayal. He washes the feet of these men. That's friendship, friends, you do. Those dirty things, those menial things, the things you don't really enjoy doing, but because you love, because you care, because you want to minister, you sacrifice to do them. Personal peace, even peace of mind is lost because of friends. Some of our friends are really rascals. And you ask yourself, but who introduced me to this guy? His colleagues were not as wise and holy as they should have been. This could have been a source of irritation, of course, to our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter's impetuousness, Thomas's rationalism, Judas's duplicity, and their very strange ignorance. You keep teaching and they don't get it. You keep teaching and they don't get it. Who wants a friend who you keep explaining things, basic things, ABCs to, and they still don't get it? We get irritated. Oh, that's friendship. Inner hurt in the bitter disappointments of ostracism from his own family that were criticizing him and rejecting him ostensibly. Betrayals and denials from very close friends. He was subjected to everything that you've gone through in your friendships. How he managed to keep these guys by his side right up to the last day is amazing. Friendships can be very costly to sustain. They that spend little on them reap little out of them. disappointing friendships, or even no meaningful friendships in the course of time. And what did Jesus gain by the way out of these friendships? Sometimes we think he had these men purely to give, purely to empty himself, but that's not true. He was also a beneficiary. He also minted a little bit of profit out of these relationships. Simple companionship swallowed loneliness, which would have consumed him, perhaps inclining him to the reaction of Elijah. He learned patience, meekness, compassion, and love as any dealing with imperfect men and women would. Insights into the heart of man he came to serve. redemptively. He got these insights. He gained these insights as he interacted with these men. He got his material provisions many a time from these friendships. Even in his death, graves were provided by those who were friends. And even support in his hour of need. Remember the Gethsemane experience we cited. We can never outgrow the need for friendships, friends. It is as we invest in them, even sacrificially sometimes, that we yield the benefits. The more exclusive and stressful the work, the greater the need for companionship. If godly men like Elijah would balk under the weight of loneliness, where do we fit in? Godly men saw the need for friendships. Ask David. He will tell you, I have my Jonathan. Ask Jesus. He will tell you about his Peter, James, and John. We omitted Paul. He will talk about his Barnabas, his Timothy, his Titus. That's how these men fought their battles with fellow soldiers, not lone rangers. the humility of Christ finally and briefly. And this is important for us to emphasize because I think we are slowly moving to a place and a time where humility is no longer a virtue. Turn on the television, read the newspapers, listen to the contemporary mood and spirit. Humility is really being a little stupid. The language and the vogue is assertion, self-belief, importance of self. And humility, even in the church, is proving to be a liability. But when we look at the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, that's the first thing that strikes you. As he's entering the world, the first thing that strikes you is his humility, as recorded in Philippians, how we are told that he humbled himself as a servant, almost to the point of veiling his divine nature. That's at the beginning of his ministry. And when he's just about to conclude his ministry, again, it's endorsed by his humility of washing the feet of his disciples as he's preparing to go to the cross. The impact speaks for itself, the impact of this phenomenal humility. Putting it in question form, what does humility bring to the life of a Christian leader? To us here, the humility that is exhibited in the Lord Jesus Christ as an example for us. Or being an unusual virtue among humans, it inspires respect, says Proverbs 15, 33. And attracts people to the life, message, and ministry of the humble, as it did people to Christ. Leaders who are not threatened by the success of others. who gladly learn from others, who are willing to do those dirty little tasks, who accept correction, who confess their sins and admit they are just as frail and as ignorant as other people, such leaders are usually sympathized with in trial or failure and supported and highly respected. Second being, a product of supreme submission to God. Humility draws men to God. He must increase as I decrease, John would say. Third, it is an expression of authentic love. Before Christ is washing the feet of the disciples, John the writer observes that he loved them to the very end. And that was the emphasis. Because he loved them to the very end, He did not find it a challenging thing to wash their feet. As any mother would, the messed up child, so full of love, it's such a delight to do that dirty chore. An expression of authentic love is humility. Humility before those whom we love in our homes and in our work. workplace, you would say. Fourth, it opens doors to divine insights. Psalm 25 9. More insight is gained through humility that leads to greater reliance on God and His Word than mere academic study. Five, it yields wisdom. Proverbs 11 12 says. Six, it allows grace without which no Christian service can flourish. Proverbs 3, 34. It invites personal spiritual revival according to Isaiah 57 and verse 15. And eight, it is the noble means to being exalted before God. God exalts those who are humble. He abases the proud. James 4, 10. Oh, we are also told of a glorious end to this journey of humility. it guarantees a place in the new earth, for the humble world inherit the earth. Humility, friends, is the antithesis of pride. Before a thudding fall comes pride. Before an amazing rise comes humility, success in ministry, or whichever sphere. Nothing raises God's honor than service rendered in humble submission to His grace, power, and will. Lasting success in ministry or other things being in place is that which is minted through unfeigned spirit-filled humility. If we seek ministerial effectiveness and success at any level, of leadership for those of us in this place. We have little choice, friends, but to learn to know God, to know God, and to habitually triumph over his foe and our foe, Satan and sin, to enjoy healthy companionship, and to be humble in all our service. I commend those spiritual virtues. as virtues that will guarantee faithful service, productive service, service that brings glory and honor to God.