Bible Message/Preaching : Humble before the Lord
2 Chro 7:14 "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
Biblical Humility:
2Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 4"Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 18:2-4)
Pro 3:5,7 5Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;... 7Do not be wise in your own eyes;
7So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: 8"When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; 9"and he who invited you and him come and say to you, Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10"But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, Friend, go up higher.' Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. 11"For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Lk 7-11, 18:14, Mt 23:12)
23But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, (2 Tim 2:23-25) (Col 2:16-23) 16So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 18Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in FALSE humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. 20Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations; 21"Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle," 22which all concern things which perish with the using; according to the commandments and doctrines of men? 23These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, FALSE humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
A quote which explains the delicate balance of humility: "In reality there is perhaps not one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself...For even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility." - Benjamin Franklin
Hindrances to being humble
Competition is clearly the No.1 hindrance. Humility is probably the most difficult virtue to achieve, mostly because egotistic pride works so much better than humility in a competitive society.
Success is another hindrance. Feeling good about success can easily lapse into pride, especially when others heap praises on you.
Self centered nature: Reflecting on one's own humility can be a hindrance to humility as it thrives only when one's attention is directed away from it towards serving others.
Pride is Self-centered!
16These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 17A proud look,... (Pro 6:16-17)
3Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (Phil 2:3-4)
1 Pet 5:5 ....all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." (Pro 3:34, Jas 4:6)
Examples of humble people from the Scriptures:
Jesus:
28"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Mt 11:28-29)
5Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, (Phil 2:5-9)
Paul:
18And when they had come to him, he said to them: "You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, 19"serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; 20"how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, (Act 20:18-20)
20For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; 21lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced. (2 Cor 12:20-21)
Moses:
Num 12:3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)
David:
Ps 51 written when he repented of his sin of adultery with Bathsheba.
Brokenness is what the Lord likes to see in us!
Zeph 2:3 Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the Lord's anger.
Jonah -
when he cried out to the Lord, He answered (Jonah 2:1,10)
Humility required by the Lord more than sacrifice!
22Then Samuel said: "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams. 23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king." (1 Sam 15:22-23)
Israel in Wilderness:
2"And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3"So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. 4"Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5"You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you. 6"Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. (Deut 8:2-6)
Consequenses of Pride:
Pro 16:19 Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Pro 11:2 When pride comes, then comes shame;
King Rehoboam
1Now it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, that he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel along with him. 2And it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD,...6So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, "The LORD is righteous." 7Now when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, "They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance. My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 8"Nevertheless they will be his servants, that they may distinguish My service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations." 12When he humbled himself, the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and things also went well in Judah. (2 Chro 12:1-8,12)
The story of Hezekiah in 2 Chro 32:1-26:
20Now because of this King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven. 21Then the LORD sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor, leader, and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned shamefaced to his own land. And when he had gone into the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword there... 24In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death, and he prayed to the LORD; and He spoke to him and gave him a sign. 25But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown him, for his heart was lifted up; therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem. 26Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
Benefits of being humble:
And before honor is humility. (Pro 15:33, 18:12)
PROV 22:4 By humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches and honor and life.
PROV 11:2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.
Daniel:
10Suddenly, a hand touched me, ... 11And he said to me, "O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you... 12..."Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. 13"But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. 14"Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come." (Dan 10:10-14)
8"Therefore wait for Me," says the LORD, "Until the day I rise up for plunder; My determination is to gather the nations To My assembly of kingdoms, ... 9"For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, That they all may call on the name of the LORD, To serve Him with one accord. ... For then I will take away from your midst Those who rejoice in your pride, And you shall no longer be haughty In My holy mountain. 12I will leave in your midst A meek and humble people, And they shall trust in the name of the LORD. (Zeph 3:8-12) Openness for new experiences and new learning
How can we develop a Humble mind:
Accept our pilgrim status!
9By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 13These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. (Heb 11:9-10, 13-14)
1 Pet 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
(to be continued...)
Delivered 6 Jan 2011
 |
 |