Calvary Road Baptist Church
“HUMILITY”
Psalm 113.6
Psalm 113 is just about halfway between the first book of the Bible, Genesis, and the last book of the Bible, Revelation, if you count the pages. O, how profoundly important humility is to God, and how necessary for the sinner who wishes to avail himself of the grace of God:
1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.
2 Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore.
3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’s name is to be praised.
4 The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high,
6 Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!
7 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;
8 That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.
9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.
It is important for us to ponder humility because it reflects an attitude of the mind and heart that is at the same time most pleasing to God and most beneficial to every human being. However, being humble is very difficult for any person. By introduction, let us consider humility as it relates to God, as it relates to the Son of God, as it relates to Satan, and as it relates to sinners like you and me.
First, GOD AND HUMILITY
We learn from Isaiah 6.1 that the LORD is high and lifted up. We find in Job 37.22 that “with God is terrible majesty.” In Psalm 97.9, we discover that the LORD is high above the earth and that He is exalted far above all gods. And in Psalm 47.2, we read, “For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.” Throughout the Bible, words such as almighty, majestic, terrible, fearful, exalted, dreadful, and awe are associated with the glorious and great One who is our God.
How, then, are we to understand the concept of humility in connection with Him? Humility has to do with low, but God has to do with high. Humility has to do with that which is of low estimation, but God is perfect in all His attributes. Humility has to do with one who is poor, but God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the wealth in every mine.
God is so highly exalted, is so great and glorious, is so far beyond our comprehension, that poetry is required, and still, it is impossible to do justice to Him. My text is the example I will leave you with before moving on. Psalm 113.6:
“Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!”
Imagine! God is so exalted, so high and lifted up, that He must lower Himself to behold things in heaven and earth.
Second, JESUS AND HUMILITY
Though God is high and lifted up, He greatly values and appreciates this virtue labeled humility. He delights in those who rightly see their low station in life compared to His own, and He graciously shows such men how to obtain more grace.
James 4.6:
“But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”
James 4.10:
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
First Peter 5.6:
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.”
Humility pleases God. Humility delights God. Since God is good, He appreciates all that is good, and humility is a virtue, a goodness that God treasures and highly values. This is one reason why He humbled the children of Israel in their wilderness wanderings, Deuteronomy 8.2-3:
2 ... the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Humility was a means used by God to teach spiritual truths. God treasures humility, even in the wicked. First Kings 21.29:
“Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days.”
He certainly treasures humility in the godly, Second Kings 22.19:
“Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.”
This was God’s response to the humility of good king Josiah when he first heard God’s Word. And He particularly treasures humility in His chosen nation, Israel, Second Chronicles 7.14:
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Humility so pleases God, is a virtue that is so stellar in the constellation of other virtues, that God’s Son, Jesus Christ, humbled Himself when He became a man.
Philippians 2.8:
“And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Jesus Christ humbled Himself, the Greek word being tapeinόoo, , a verb referring to making low, to humbling.[1] Thereby, the Lord Jesus Christ submitted to the penalty and punishment of a sinner. This makes the words of the Savior all the easier to understand, does it not?
Matthew 18.4:
“Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Did not the Holy One of Israel condescend to become a little child in a manger? And is He not the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
Matthew 23.12:
“And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”
What better example of humbling one’s self is there than the Savior?
Third, SATAN AND HUMILITY
You are probably wondering what possible connection there is between Satan and the virtue known as humility. There is no connection between Satan and humility. That’s the point that needs to be made since many do not appreciate this fact.
Satan, you see, is all about pride and self-exaltation. He is the epitome of self-promotion and selfishness. He was the creature who first authored sin and did so through a proud attempt at self-promotion.
Read the pronouncement of God’s judgment on Satan, once known as Lucifer, from Isaiah 14.12-17:
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
How very opposite is this one who exalted himself to the One who humbled Himself. How very different is this one who made the world a wilderness, who destroys the cities, who opens not the house of his prisoners, from the One who sets the captives free. The one is very proud, the Other is meek and lowly.
Satan is the perfect image of all that is hateful and repugnant to God. Having no humility but proud, self-promoting, striving to be independent and autonomous, arrogant and unconcerned about the damage to others that his selfish attitude causes, he is nothing like the kind and tender Savior who humbled Himself. Satan really is despicable, while Christ truly is altogether lovely.
Finally, SINNERS AND HUMILITY
God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. God hates the proud look but delights in the meek and humble countenance. How foolish sinners are, then, who strut and posture, boast and brag, and display the arrogant manner God not only despises but has promised to judge. What folly to imitate God’s enemy, Satan.
Reflect on what the Lord Jesus said in Luke 14.11 about the person who has no humility:
“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased.”
And again, in Luke 18.14:
“... every one that exalteth himself shall be abased.”
Man’s way up is, in reality, down. Pride leads to destruction.
God demands humility from even the most exalted men. In Exodus 10.3, we read what Moses said to Pharaoh:
“Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?”
God demands humility of everyone as is His right because God is sovereign.
Remember Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, a man of great pride and arrogance? Warned in a dream that was interpreted for him by Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar was told by God to humble himself or face the consequences. He did not, and God’s judgment fell upon him and he became a beast of the field, completely losing his mind. Read to you the lesson Nebuchadnezzar learned from God through that humiliating experience. Daniel 4.37:
“Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.”
It is the natural and sinful tendency of every human being to be proud, to think of himself more highly than he ought to, to believe he knows more than he knows, and to be blind to his low estate compared to God. From Nebuchadnezzar, we learn that God can abase, that is, He can bring down anyone who walks in pride, including those of us here today.
God was profoundly merciful to Nebuchadnezzar in that He abased that wicked man in this life only, just as He had done to the wicked king of Judah, named Manasseh, Second Chronicles 33.12:
“And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.”
I think both of these evil kings experienced the grace of God in a saving way, following their humility before God. That said, most who are abased in that fashion by God are not saved. Most are abased by God, are brought down by God, in death and Hellfire.
Does God save some people because they are humble? No. Salvation is by grace and is not earned by anything a sinner says or does. So, no one is saved by being humble. But it’s the spiritually blind person who doesn’t realize from God’s Word that there is a very close association between that individual whose eyes are opened enough to be humble before the great and terrible God almighty and the salvation of his wicked soul.
You might recall the Lord Jesus gave sight to the man born physically blind.[2] That man born blind illustrates the spiritual blindness of every sinner who needs Jesus Christ, the Light of the world.[3] The Lord Jesus also healed the man with the withered hand.[4] The man with the withered hand illustrates the spiritual helplessness of every sinner who needs Jesus, the Great Physician of souls, to heal him.
There were the lepers the Lord Jesus cleansed.[5] The woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years, defiling her and making worship of God in the Temple impossible for her, was also cleansed.[6] They illustrate the spiritual defilement of sinners in the sight of God, with the Lord Jesus the only One capable of cleansing us.
A woman was taken in the very act of adultery and brought before the Savior.[7] The woman at the well had had five husbands, and the man she was living with was not her husband when the Lord Jesus approached her.[8] With both women, the sins had already been committed. They were already dead in trespasses and sins. But the Lord Jesus Christ granted to them forgiveness and life.
The 5000 were hungry, and my Lord Jesus fed them.[9] The 4000 were also hungry, and the Lord fed them, as well.[10] Jairus’ daughter was raised from the dead, and the centurion’s servant was healed from far away.[11]
These and all the other examples I could point to in the Gospels show the spiritual poverty and impotence of those the Lord Jesus dealt with, and how very low they were spiritually. And isn’t humility the realization of your spiritual poverty and helplessness? Pride is blindness to your spiritual poverty, the delusion that you are capable, and the lie that you are self-sufficient.
You will never become a Christian while you are proud. You will never be converted without humility. Not that humility earns God’s favor or Christ’s forgiveness. Not at all. It’s just that humility is observed in the Bible as a fellow traveler with genuine conversion.
First, LET ME POINT OUT THAT THERE IS A PERSUASION THAT USUALLY PRECEDES CONVERSION
The Bible clearly states that a person is a fool who does not fear God.[12] The Bible also clearly states that one has the beginnings of wisdom when he fears God.[13] But a person doesn’t just fear God. The fear of God is a persuasion. That is, an individual has to be convinced to fear God. Or, at the very least, he has to be convinced that he ought to fear God.
But notice what happens when someone is convinced that God is fearful. Proverbs 22.4:
“By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.”
The point that I seek to make here is that the fear of God and humility are associated; they go together. One who is proud does not fear God, but a person who fears God will be humble. These two are compatible virtues. Stated another way, the wise are humble, and the proud are foolish.
The persuasion that usually precedes conversion, then, is fear. I believe that fear always precedes genuine conversion, even though God’s dealings with a sinner sometimes occur so quickly that the person may not have taken note of his fear of God at the time of his conversion.
But if the convicting work of the Holy Spirit takes place slowly, and if the sinner is dealt with from time to time while the Holy Spirit is convicting him of his sin and his need for Christ, the fear of God that he is being persuaded with will precede his conversion, will come before he comes to Christ.
After all, it is often the case that the compelling motive to come to Christ is the fear of God. And when God is feared, Christ is sought as a safe haven and a refuge from God’s wrath.
Next, LET ME POINT OUT THAT THERE IS A POSTURE THAT USUALLY PRECEDES CONVERSION
If the fear of the LORD is the persuasion that precedes conversion, that comes before a sinner’s conversion, humility is the posture that comes before a sinner’s conversion. The Holy Spirit’s convicting work in a sinner’s life sometimes proceeds so rapidly that there is no consciousness of humility by the person who is saved, though he really is saved. But when the convicting work proceeds slowly, I am convinced that a humility toward God will be detected in the sinner’s attitude and posture.
Consider how very sensible this is. When the thoughts of a spiritually awakened sinner are directed toward his condition, he freely admits his spiritual poverty. He recognizes that he is morally bankrupt and destitute of spiritual virtues in the sight of God. That realization, coupled with the fear of God, results in what posture?
Even if the sinner does not physically prostrate himself before God, he does bow his heart before God. He assumes a posture that reflects what he perceives to be true about him and God, that God is high and lifted up and that he is lowly and profoundly needy. That is humility.
Sometimes people are confused about what humility really is, thinking that perhaps it’s indecision or hesitancy. But a person can be profoundly humble and decisive and hesitate not at all. Humility is a sinner’s perception of himself compared to God. If you see God high and you low, you are humble. And the more you fear God, the more likely you are to see God high and you low, to see God terrible and you trembling, to see God’s majesty and yourself mighty small in comparison.
Such an attitude, such a posture, comes before conversion. So, when a person is cocky, when they are arrogant, puffed up with self, when one’s physical posture communicates pride and arrogancy, it is most unlikely that the sinner’s heart is prepared to trust Christ because that person is not convinced he needs Christ if he has that attitude.
Finally, THERE IS A PLEA THAT USUALLY PRECEDES CONVERSION
In Luke 18.13, the Lord Jesus Christ contrasted the posture of a hypocritical Pharisee with the posture of a Publican very aware of his sinfulness. The one who prayed like a peacock on public display showed an attitude of self-sufficiency and no evidence of any fear of God or humility. The Publican, on the other hand, showed evidence of both the fear of God and humility when he prayed:
“And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.”
If you fear God, you will fear His wrath. If you fear God, you will greatly fear His punishment. If you fear God, you will be powerfully motivated to seek His forgiveness so that you might escape the punishment of His wrath. Therefore, if you fear God, you will desire to escape, you will concern yourself with finding safety, and you will plead for mercy. You don’t plead for God’s mercy? You are foolish. You do not fear God.
Also, if you are humble, you see God to be high and lifted up, and you see yourself very low, in a pit and need of rescue. But what does one do who is stuck in the miry clay? You want to be able to say, with David,
“He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings,”
Psalm 40.2.
What must you do when you realize God is high and you are low? What will you do if you are truly humble? Psalm 40.1:
“I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.”
To patiently wait for the LORD means you cry and cry and cry for help, for deliverance, until He hears your cry and saves you. Patience means you don’t cry out to God for mercy once and then give up. You continue pleading for mercy until Jesus Christ saves you.
You who are not converted recognize that humility is a close companion to the grace of God. Recognize also that humility is the traveling companion of the fear of God, the beginning of wisdom. I mean, you will not be saved unless and until you are humble.
If you are not converted and considering the claims of Jesus Christ, be advised that humility will persuade you that you not only cannot save yourself but will also persuade you that you can’t figure out how to be saved. Humility will also enable you to follow direction as you are guided to Christ. That same humility will position you to receive God’s grace. God gives grace to the humble. Amen? And that’s good since it’s by grace that you are saved.
If you have any questions and want to address this issue of pride and humility in your life, please reach out to me, realizing that you have already displayed a measure of humility by reaching out to me.
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[1] Fritz Rienecker & Cleon Rogers, Linguistic Key To The Greek New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Regency Reference Library, 1980), page 551.
[2] John 9
[3] John 1.5, 9; 8.12; 9.5
[4] Matthew 12.10-13
[5] Luke 17.12-19
[6] Matthew 9.20-22
[7] John 8.1-11
[8] John 4.4-29
[9] Matthew 14.14-21
[10] Matthew 15.29-38
[11] Luke 8.40-56
[12] Psalm 14.1; 53.1
[13] Proverbs 14.16
Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.
Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church