1 Sam 9:21, And Saul answered and said, "Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way?" 
	We are looking at the reality that God does not require human greatness of stature or of wisdom or of knowledge or of reputation or of wealth or of power in order to accomplish the work that is part of His eternal plan and purpose. God is all in all! There is nothing that is beyond the scope of what God can and does do within the entirety of the history of His creation. Everything works and functions according to the foreordained will of God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Nothing that takes place within His creation ever happens without the foreknowledge and the work of the Lord God Almighty. 
The greatest efforts and most magnificent achievements of mankind all pale in comparison to the truth declared in Gen. 1:1. Gen 1:1, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 
	Accordingly, God is not limited by any of the things that man may consider as necessary for leadership, or scholarship, or brilliance, or popularity within the scope of the so diminished and inadequate human psyche. What humanity thinks is required to accomplish the greatest and most marvelous of human endeavors and achievements, all become nothing more than dust in the scope of the eternal work and sustaining perfection of Yahweh. 
	We looked at how even Saul, humble as he was when he was anointed king of Israel, became enamored with the power and the prestige and the distinction of that placement over his fellow Israelites. There was, from within his heart and mind, that craving after the glory of mankind instead of the humility of being the chosen servant of the people in the Name of the Lord.
	This morning, let us consider what God did in response to the cry of His people for a king. They wanted an earthly king with all the faults and foibles and folly of such a limited human capacity of understanding and ability. No matter how good that human king might seem, there was always the old nature of humanity. This was evidenced as in the murderous adultery of David despite the fact that he was a man whose heart was after the Lord. It is also seen in the folly of Solomon, the wisest and richest of men, and yet the most shameful of falling away from the love of the Lord through the acclamation of human depravity. 
	Despite these examples of what power and wealth and prestige did to those human kings, the Lord God Almighty manifested His heart of Love. He fully knew the propensity of humanity to turn away from that which is holy and righteous and honorable in the sight of God. Instead of continuing the line of fallibility, God ordained the coronation of a King Who would rule justly and righteously and perfectly for the eternal ages upon ages. This great and awesome King would, as well, come from the most humble of circumstances, born of a virgin, in order to bring upon the throne of mankind the most glorious Sovereignty over the whole of creation. 
	The imminent birth of this perfect Monarch was pronounced from the throne of Heaven by the angel Gabriel, as detailed in Luke 1:26-35. Please open to this exciting declaration so we can marvel together as the eternal plan of God for a King to sit on the throne as Sovereign over the totality of His created beings is brought to fruition.
	Luke 1:26-35, Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. "And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.
	The whole plan of God for that Eternal King Who was proclaimed throughout the Old Testament was brought into full fruition. There would be a King to sit on the throne of creation for the eternity of eternities yet to take place. God was pleased to send forth His Only Begotten Son to save the countless generations of people who would respond to the call to give Jesus that place of honor in their hearts as both Savior and as Lord.
	He was born of humble means, in a trough in a stable. His parents were not well off, but of humble origins. He was a carpenter by trade and without the prestige and honor of some great and wealthy social standing. As such, He was not well received within His own community. This is recounted in Mark 6:2-4.
	Mark 6:2-4, And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?" And they took offense at Him. And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his home town and among his own relatives and in his own household."
	He was kept in low esteem in the manner of His birth and in His upbringing. He was growing in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord. Yet, His own community was in shock at the wisdom and the breadth of His service unto others through His miraculous manifestations of His Divine Heritage. This was all lost on those who were close to Him in the course of His upbringing and His profession. 
	It was exactly as described by the Prophet Isaiah in Isa 53:1-3. Isa 53:1-3, Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
	Jesus was belittled by those with whom He had begun His life of the ministry of the Word of God now come to earth in the Only Begotten of the Father. This humble carpenter, a Nazarene, was the living embodiment of all the eternal love and manifest power and wisdom of God on High. Here was the very gift of God’s salvation to humanity. He was living among those whom He had created. He was walking and talking and fellowshipping with and healing and worshipping with those whom He had chosen from before the very creation of all that He made.
	This is attested to by the Apostle John, one of those who knew His physical presence and teaching first hand. This is recounted in the Gospel of John, Chapter 1, verses 1-18. 
John 1:1-18, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. He came for a witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light. There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him, and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. 
	The echo of the first verse of Genesis is inherent in this truth. The Creator, The Word has come to the earth which He created in order to bring salvation and victory over sin and death to those who will but recognize the tremendous truth of Who is being presented before them. All who will but call upon His name, the glorious name that was declared to his parents by the angelic messengers from the throne of Heaven, Jesus, they will receive the eternal placement into the very family of God. 
	Jesus declared this truth, and yet even those closest to Him were looking for some tangible earthly glory, rather than celebrating the wondrous and miraculous truth of Who Jesus was and is and everything that is opened through Him for all the eternal ages to come. They rather chose to argue about the placement of one another in the kingdom which was heralded in the person of their Beloved Rabbi, Their Messiah, Their Friend. He was their hope of something greater than what was currently before them in the dust and the toil of this age. 
	Consider the argument that they set before the Lord that is recounted and so manifestly rebuffed by Jesus in Matt 18:1-4. Matt 18:1-4, At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. "Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 
	Jesus had to continually deal with the reality that the heart of man was seeking some place of honor, rather than being set into the place of servitude unto those in such need. There was that awful and ugly rearing of the head of pride and seeking after earthly honor and prestige that had to be battled in the hearts and the minds of those who were truly seeking only the honor and the majesty of God within the beings of His creation. His disciples and His listeners needed to continually be reminded that God was not impressed with titles and with anything that would earn the accolades of humanity. The Heart of God is set on those who would but seek to bring honor to the name of Jehovah through their willing and earnest obedience as the humble servants of those in dire need.
	Consider what Jesus taught to all of us as recorded in Luke 14:10+11. Luke 14:10+11, "But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. "For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted." 
	This is a humility which does not seek to be honored for the sake of some altruistic display of poverty, or community service, or staged contriteness. It will not be shown with all that false humbleness of one who is wanting to be recognized in the eyes of man as a person who has set aside something in order to gain some aspect of acclaim. 
The humility and the service that is required by the Lord for the sake of His great honor and joy is the one that is absolutely set on the course that Jesus walked on this earth. It will lead to the cross of Christ in so many areas of our personal and professional and family life. 
Every aspect of our beings will be tested as to the truth of what we really know in the depths of our heart as the course of our service unto Jesus Christ. Are we truly His slaves, with no other object or motivation in our hearts except to please and to honor Him with everything that comes into our lives, every moment of our lives?
The Apostle Paul sets this before us in consideration of the fact that we are to be prisoners of Jesus Christ in the course of our thoughts and our ideas and our actions and our motivations. Please turn to Eph 3:1-10, as we will conclude with this passage for this morning. 
Eph 3:1-10, For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles — if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things; in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 
For a staunch Jew like Paul had been, studying under the very best of Rabbis, deeply steeped in all the dogma and custom and rituals of the Jewish heritage, persecutor of any who were seen as the enemy of the Lord God Jehovah, this was the ultimate humility! The fact that he was called to be the Apostle who would go to the gentiles with the greatest treasure of eternity would have been anathema to this man, except for the fact that this was his call of service unto the Lord Jesus Christ! 
What it took for Paul to surrender to the actuality that God so loved the world, not just the Children of Israel, but the whole world, including the Romans who were so violently subjugating the People of God, is actually beyond all our understanding! For the Good News of the Messiah, the Salvation of God to be proclaimed to anyone but the Jew would have been the bane and the horror of such a man, except for the fact that the Lord God Almighty had told this Jew to take this treasure to the heathens surrounding the nation of his birth. The Lord worked such humbleness of being into Paul that his heart was opened and he absorbed the joy of being enabled to preach the glorious truth of Jesus the Christ to anyone who listened, be they Jew or Gentile. 
This is the humility that we need worked in us. This is the humbleness of being which is not just an act or a matter of human effort in the course of the appeasement of conscience or any other human stimuli. This is the heart of Jesus Christ, the Lord of all creation and the eternal King upon the throne of humanity. It is in our surrender to Him and the willingness to do only that which would please Him that we will find that complete fullness of peace and joy and love that can only be found in the love of God expressed through us unto others. They are in such desperate need to seek for the One True and Awesome King of kings and Lord of lords. So be it and Amen!

		

This morning’s benediction is 1 Chron 17:20. O Lord, there is none like Thee, neither is there any God besides Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. Amen.