Series: Clothe yourselves with humility
Remember with me – humility means “lowliness.” It comes from a word that means the earth, so the idea is that you are low to the ground. It means lowering yourself before others. Not raising yourself up above others.
We also talked about four components of humility:
1. You don’t seek honor and praise for yourself. You don’t need to lift yourself above others – brandishing titles, boasting or trying to get noticed. Rather you lower yourself to give honor to others and lift them up.
2. You put yourself on the same level or lower than others. You don’t need to lift yourself up above others always to be in charge or in control. Rather you lower yourself so that you can follow and submit to others.
3. You don’t seek to be served, lifting yourself above others. Rather you lower yourself to serve and bless others.
4. You don’t insist on what is best or easiest for you, lifting yourself above others. Rather you lower yourself to sacrifice for the needs of others.
The title today is, Humility. It’s worth it! This is important to emphasize because who wants to be on the bottom and not the top? Who wants to be last and not first? Who wants to go without recognition or give up power? Who wants to serve and sacrifice for others – instead of others serving and sacrificing for us?
Humility is a hard sell. It goes against everything the world tells us about getting ahead and being on top. And it goes against everything our flesh tells us, that we are more important than others, and that our needs and comforts should come first.
And so that’s why I want to encourage you today to know that humility is worth it. It really is.
It’s worth it, first of all, because –
God blesses the humble in their humility
For instance, God shows favor to the humble. James 4:6 say, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (Proverbs 3:34; 1 Peter 5:5). I know I want God to give me favor.
God pays attention to the humble. Psalm 138:6 says, “For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.” I know that I want God to hear me and have regard for me.
God reveals himself to the humble. Psalm 25:9 says, “He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.” I know that I want to know God’s way and what is right.
God is close to the humble. Isaiah 57:15 says, “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit . . .’” I know that I want God’s presence in my life.
And God strengthens the humble. Isaiah 57:15 goes on to say that God dwells with the humble “to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” I know that I need God’s strength in my life.
Now, this is not an exhaustive list of the blessings of humility. But it makes the point – it’s worth it! Because God will be with you, God will help you and God will bless you.
But, even more important than this is the fact that –
God will one day exalt the humble
Jesus talks about this in Luke 18:14, as well as in many other places. This verse says, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Three observations: 1) the phrase used twice “will be” is a divine passive. That is, it is a deferential way of talking about God. What Jesus is saying is that God will bring down the proud. And also, God will lift up the humble.
2) The key point here is that if you raise yourself above others – by boasting, by trying to be on top, by trying to be served and sacrificed for, you will be humbled by God. But (and you need to get this) if you give this all up and are humble, God will give these things to you. God himself will act to raise you up – to give you honor, to give you status, to put you in charge and to give you comforts and joy.
Notice that there is a “V” shape of the Christian life.
We focus on lowering ourselves to where we are sacrificially serving others. And then God acts to raise us up in his good time and way.
3) There is a reference to the resurrection of the righteous in this verse. The word “exalted” can also be translated “raised up,” as in raised up on the final day.
Now, God can raise us up in this life too to give us honor. 1 Peter 5:6 says, “humble yourselves, therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you.” There is a time and place even in this life that God does this.
But the real exaltation will come on the final day, at the time of the great reversal when God humbles the arrogant and powerful and raises up the lowly in the resurrection to life eternal.
And let me end by saying that this will happen by looking at the example Jesus. As we saw before in Philippians 2:5-8 Jesus humbled himself step by step making himself lower and lower.
1. He did not seek honor – 6 – “though he was in the form of God, (he) did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.” He set aside his rightful glory at the right hand of God.
2. He came down to our level – 7 – he “made himself nothing.” He became a mere human being like the rest of us.
3. He came to serve us – 7 – “taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” He lowered himself below us to lift us up.
4. He gave up his life for us – 8 – “and being found in human form, he humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross.” He sacrificed everything for us.
But then the great reversal came for him, his resurrection from the dead. Philippians 2:9-11 talks about this. It says, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Notice again the “V” shape of this. He lowered himself. And then God raised him up. And what I am saying is that if we follow in our Lord’s footsteps – we too will be exalted on that final day.
When we give up the meager things of this world, the honor and status it gives, God will give us honor and status in the world to come, when it really counts.
- If you just look at it according to a worldly perspective – it isn’t worth it.
- If you just look at it from the perspective of the flesh – it isn’t worth it.
But from the perspective of the kingdom of God it is so worth it, because this world is passing away and our lives are like a mist that comes and goes in a day, but the kingdom is eternal.
Christian teaching 