For some reason, unknown to me, our lesson last Wednesday was relatively well-received on Sermon Audio. It was heard by at least sixty people from around the world, almost four times as often as is usual for us. That is in no way an expression of pride, because many of the messages of others are heard by hundreds and even thousands. So why do I bring it up? To point out that I don’t know why it was so well received. Perhaps it was the title: “Obedience’s Most Important Element,” creating a bit more curiosity than usual. If you’ll remember, it was a message about faith.
In order to obfuscate, and yet entice a few more listeners this week, I’ve given this lesson the ear-catching title: “The Importance of Reality,” which is really about the importance of living in reality. Obviously, a title like that could refer to many things, or perhaps to nothing at all. It all depends on the “reality” to which I refer. And this reality is: (drum roll) you and I have nothing in which to boast before the Lord – not even the number of Sermon Audio plays we received last week. Perhaps as much as we’d like to think that the world revolves around us, it doesn’t. As much as we’d like to picture ourselves as kings and queens, we are only little people in Kingdom of God. As much as we enjoy the accolades of others, we should be satisfied and delighted in simply being servants and worshipers of the Lord – without any greater reward than the smile of our Saviour.
Our lesson tonight involves what the Bible tells us about “humility” – what the Bible tells us. My opinions on the subject don’t matter. I am certainly not an expert in humility. I am not planning on publishing a book on the subject. Recently I heard a few jokes about humility. That is fine, because they were meant to be witty, and they were received with laughter. This lesson is not a response, or a rebuke, to any of that. However I do want to point out that living in reality – living in the reality of our littleness – is important, especially for the child of God.
As I was thinking about this, it seemed to me that there are far more messages condemning humility’s antithesis than there are about looking at humility positively. Without getting bogged down in a detailed examination of “pride,” I must start there. But my plan is to move up to the blessings and then to the necessity of humility.
What are the PROBLEMS with PRIDE?
I won’t go into detail on any of these, because you should be aware of them, and this is not my primary purpose… Pride is sin; it is a form of idolatry, and it expresses itself in a form of blasphemy. “An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin” – Proverbs 21:4. “These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination unto him: a proud look…” The word “abomination” means essentially “disgusting.” Pride disgusts God. Proud people disgust God, and that must include proud Christians. Pride is not of God, but rather of the world – I John 2:16 – “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” Judy has reminded me several times that her father, toward the end of his life, said that he’d never heard a message on the “pride of life.” Perhaps one reason is that there aren’t any clear scriptures to help us to define it. So I will assume that it speaks of the pride which comes automatically with the accumulation of days, and the stuff which we accumulate during the time that we live in the world. For most people the pride of life grows over the years. A few victories, even with a plastic trophy now and then, a few friends coming and going, and maybe a small inheritance to leave to our exceptionally wonderful children – in these things we grow proud.
But pride is a horrible thing, because it robs God of the glory due unto Him alone. The Bible speaks of pride as “puffing us up.” Pride turns people into balloons. But balloons are easily exploded. Ordinarily they last a short time, and essentially they are useless, except for a few minutes. On the other hand pride is like a fetter or handcuffs, which keep us bound to the world from which it comes. “Pride compasseth (the wicked) like a chain” – Psalm 73:6. It not only binds, but it blinds. The more pride we possess the less likely we are to see reality. The Lord said to the church of the Laodiceans, “because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; (thou) knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Pride moves us away from reality. Or putting it another way, it robs us of potential wisdom. “When pride cometh, then cometh shame; but with the lowly is wisdom” – Proverbs 11:2.
I’m sure that with more thought and a bit of Bible study, we could describe a few other problems with pride. Without even Biblical references, it is easy to say that it is a debilitating poison. And it is a disease which can be spread from one person to another. We could spend a few more minutes on this part of our subject, but let’s move on.
Just sharing a few scriptures, we can easily see the BLESSINGS of HUMILITY.
And again, what is “humility?” It is living in the reality of who and what we are in the sight of God, and we might even add the sight of man. In a 2,000 page book of quotations that sits on my desk, a man named Colton said, “He that places himself, neither higher nor lower than he ought to do, exercises the truest humility.” Another man put it this way: “by humility I mean not the abjectness of a base mind; but a prudent care not to over-value ourselves upon any account.” Humility is not belittling and running ourselves down; it is recognizing we are not more than what we really are. It is acting and thinking honestly – it is living in the reality of who we are.
With this kind of attitude, what are the blessings of Biblical humility? Proverbs 22:4 – “By humility and the fear of the Lord are RICHES, and HONOUR, and LIFE.” And to that we can add “grace” – I Peter 5:5 – “All of you… be clothed with humility; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth GRACE to the humble.” Doesn’t the average sane person want these things? The gifts of God are not to be matched by anyone, or by any organization, in the world. The Library of Congress offers honors every year to people with creativity. The White House, and the Royal Swedish Academy honors people with medals and Nobel prizes. Various Hollywood, and Nashville groups pass out awards every year. But nothing man offers can match Heaven’s riches, grace, honour and life. There are buildings across the country housing one “Hall of fame” or another, but every one of those buildings are going to be blasted into less-than-atoms one of these days. But the honor of God toward those who are humble before Him endureth forever .
James says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall LIFT you up” – (4:10). Isaiah 57:15 – “Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to REVIVE the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Revival will be experienced only by the humble. The Lord Jesus said, “Whosoever … shall humble himself as this little child, the same is GREATEST in the kingdom of heaven.” All of these things are true, and we have scriptural authority to say they are true. And when the Lord magnifies them, then they are certainly things for which God’s servants should strive. And yet, in some ways, these things are a bit too general; a bit nebulous. Moving on, let’s become just a little more practical.
The reality is, that humility is ESSENTIAL to LIVING as Christians should live.
The things we are supposed to do as servants of God are impossible without proper humility. Humility is the ring on the Christian’s finger, which permits her to enter the Bridegroom’s chamber. Humility is the key which unlocks those rooms in which we worship and serve the Lord. Humility is the invitation which brings the Holy Spirit into our Christian activities.
For example: is there any room for pride in the WORSHIP of the Lord? Doesn’t it take humility to properly approach God? We see it in the Lord Jesus’ description of the Pharisee and the Publican “worshiping” God in the temple. The Pharisee pictured himself more highly than he should, and as a result God didn’t look at him at all. The Publican, however, worshiped God in the reality of the facts, so he approached with the words, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” The Lord will not even acknowledge our praise, if there is the least bit of self-praise mixed in.
Similarly, that Pharisee PRAYED thus with himself. In a few minutes we are going to enter the Lord’s throne room filled with requests for His blessings. If there is any thought in us that we deserve those blessings, then they should not be granted. If we think that we have somehow earned the Lord’s ear, we are not living in reality. We are told, “God heareth not sinners,” and pride is at the top of the Lord’s litany of sins.
One of our Christian responsibilities is FELLOWSHIP with the brethren. But what happens to that fellowship when pride wiggles its way into the equation? In that book of quotations I found this one: “Humility is the first of the virtues – for OTHER people.” Humility is something we look for in the people around us, while not necessarily in ourselves. Generally people hate overt pride. Most of the time we despise arrogance. The other team’s wide-receiver just caught a magnificent touch-down pass, and half the team begins their previously choreographed celebratory dance. We see it and sneer, which is just why they are displaying their pride in the first place. But what is initially disgusting is made even more disgusting by the fact they are still trailing by three touchdowns. Reality should dictate humility until, at the very least, they tie the score. How difficult it is to love and enjoy the pride-filled man, especially in light of his obvious failures. Humility is the perfume which enables us to enjoy each other’s company, despite the stench.
Also, humility is absolutely essential in order to carry on our SERVICE for Christ. Look at Philip up there in Samaria, winning victory after victory. Souls were trusting Christ through his evangelistic efforts. Churches were springing up in some of the most unlikely places. How easy it would have been for the former deacon to become puffed up with his success. Thankfully, that was not the case. And then the Holy Spirit came to him with an extraordinary commission – leave these Samaritan victories to travel into Gaza with the gospel. We can, and should, point to the man’s faith, and to his love of the lost, and to his love for Christ. But another aspect to his ministry was humility sufficient to walk away from the relative ease of Samaria to run into the desert, not knowing what to expect. Humility is a necessary ingredient to know God’s will for our ministry.
And look at David as an illustration of humility for the ministry in general. Goliath stands before the Lord’s people like a monolith of ungodly unbelief, challenging the people of God. But providence brings young David to the scene of battle. Part of the victory that day was David’s youth, inexperience, and faith. He didn’t tell his brother, or his king, or his opponent, how big and strong he was. But at the same time, he didn’t denigrate himself either. He wasn’t boasting when he mentioned that he had killed the lion and the bear; he was trying to convince King Saul to let him enter the ministry. And when David spoke to Goliath, it was to say that he was a representative of the omnipotent God. “Surrender your pride, you big oaf, or come tumbling down under this Holy Spirit directed stone.”
Once again, we could and should talk about David’s faith, and his past experiences, and his development under God’s providence. But a point not to be forgotten is that David approached his duties knowing who and what he was. With humility he was living in the reality that he was only one of God’s servants, and He needed God’s power in order to accomplish God’s will. His plea was little more than, “Is there not a cause?” There was no boast in it whatsoever. That is what the Lord asks and expects from all of us, no matter what our ministry might be.
Finally, humility is a necessity for the preaching and the generally sharing of the gospel. I pointed out last Sunday that the Lord Jesus made a spectacle of Himself at the Feast of Tabernacles. But there was absolutely no undue pride in our Saviour when he said, “I am the way the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” That is a very important reality. But obviously, you and I should never do anything more than repeat the words of the Redeemer. The moment we imply that we are more than conduits of the Lord’s message, we corrupt that message. We may be priests, but not as in false religions, acting as essential agents of salvation. We are priests only in the humble offering of ourselves and our thanksgiving to the Lord’s glory.
Furthermore we need to be willing to admit that we are still students in this gospel preaching business. I don’t understand the length, breadth, depths or heights of the love of God, and I don’t believe the man who says he does. I don’t understand the conversation and council between the members of the God-head in eternity past. We may think we know what is going on in that lost person’s heart, but we really don’t. When the preacher presents the gospel, while leaving the impression that he is in control of the service, his service will fall to the floor like a popped balloon.
The more human pride there is in any sort of ministry, the less the Holy Spirit will be there to bless that ministry. But with true humility, the opportunity to be filled with power of the God-head increases.
Again, we will be going to prayer in a few minutes. In doing that we need to recognize our infirmities even in prayer, “for we know not what we should pray for as we ought.” How can we demand our will, while in ignorance of the Lord’s will? All we can do is humbly beseech Him for what we hope will please Him. How can we pray for God’s glory, when we are really praying about our personal happiness? In the area of prayer, it is important that we live in the light of reality; we need to pray in faith and humility.