Humility

Humility
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God is overwhelming us with Grace. That’s His nature. It's God nature to act in grace, which brings us to our subject, humility.

We have looked at humility for so long as something hard to understand. No one knows what a humble person is. We try to define humility and we miss it by a mile. We've always thought a humble person had a sad expression, shuffled his feet, dressed poorly, never washed his hair, and fasted a lot. You feel self-conscious around a person you think is humble.

Have you ever tried to pin down humility? About the time you think you have it defined, you've missed it. It's evasive. If you think you're humble, you're not! You can be humble, but you can't know it. It is pride to admit you're humble. The definition contradicts itself.

I heard about a pastor who nominated a man in the congregation as the most humble man in the whole church. He then had a big "Humble" button made for him. He brought him up before the entire congregation and was about to give it to him and then decided not to. The man wanted to wear it!

We have always thought pride and humility couldn't go together, but there is a way to be humble and proud of it. We are going to pull out those humble buttons wear them.

Romans 8:32 tells us grace does not stop at salvation. We read in Ephesians 2:8-9: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

We were born again in God's grace. But grace continues in Roman 8:32: "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Notice freely. That’s still in grace. He is saying He gave the most for you when you were born again. What can He do now? He can only give you more. Only God can give more than the most. He freely gives us all things.

Proverbs 3:34 says, "Surely he scorneth the scorners: but giveth grace unto the lowly." Let’s stop and look at that for a minute. What does it say God is doing to the scorner? He is doing the same thing to the scorner as what is being done to Him by the scorner. However, what does he do to the lowly? He gives the lowly grace. Now another translation for lowly is humble. He scorns the scorner and gives grace to the humble.

I like the first statement in James 4:6. It reads, "He giveth more grace." Didn't I say God's the only one who could do more than the most? To whom does God giv more grace? "Wherefore he saith,(here we have a quote from Proverbs 3:34 that we have just read), God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."

God scorns the scorner. I'm going to change the translation slightly while keeping it in context with Proverbs 3:34, "God resists the resister." God resists the resister, but he giveth grace to the humble. God is resisting the person who is resisting Him. God is offering grace but somebody's resisting Him. Therefore, God must resist him.

James 4:7-8 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh unto you."

First Peter 5:5 says, "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility..."

Does being clothes sound like something no one else can see? Apparently humility is something visible to others. It's something for you to wear like clothing; something for people can see.

Again, 1 Peter 5:5 says, "Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." This is also a direct quote from Proverbs 3:34. "For God resisteth the resister and giveth grace to the humble."

First Peter 5:6-8 says, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world."

I want you to notice something again. We have three verses of scripture being quoted from Proverbs 3:34 where God resists a resister. In Proverbs it says He scorns the scorner and 1 Peter 5:5 says He resists the proud.

Romans 11:6 says, "And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work."

This verse is simply saying grace and works are totally contrary to one another. They cannot mix. They are totally separate. It’s either grace or it’s works. It can't be partially grace and partially works otherwise grace is no more grace and works is no more works.

A poet once wrote "east is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet." You cannot mix a little east with west or grace with works. Paul is simply saying "grace is grace and works is works and never the twain shall meet." You cannot mix grace and works.

Paul once put it this way, "A little leaven, leavens the whole lump." (1 Corinthians 5:6) It's not just a little bit of works mixed in with grace. It's either grace or works. You cannot mix them.

Grace is given to every man. In Titus 2:11 it says, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men."

Can you see what is meant when he says "God resists a resister but he giveth grace to the humble?" In effect, God is offering grace to every man but some resist grace and say, "I don't want it." Others say, “I’ll work for it."

In grace, God has abounded toward us. (Ephesians 1:8) He's given us everything, but we need to receive it.

During the Great Depression there were people who couldn't find jobs. There are many stories of people who would go door to door looking for work. When someone would come and open the door, the unemployed person would say, "I want work. If you have any odd jobs around the house, I'll do anything if you'll give me just a little bit of food for the family."

Many times the man of the house would say, "My family is just sitting down to eat and we have plenty of food. I don't need to have anything done around the house. Why don't you just bring your family in and eat with us?"

Now a proud man would say, "No! I don't want your charity. I would rather work for it!" But a humble man would say, "I didn't work for it, earn it, or deserve it but I'll take it. Thank you." A humble man will walk in with his family and sit down to something he doesn't deserve.

This is the definition of humility. Humility is the ability to receive what you don't deserve.

Some people say, "I don't think Christians should own anything. I'm going to live in that house until it falls apart." You proud thing. "I don't want any of this world's goods." That is the height of pride. A humble man will say "I didn't deserve it, but look what God gave me." And God says I'll give you more grace, I'll draw nigh to that man.

God doesn't care what you drive as long as you give the glory to him? He says if you'll humble yourself, I'll exalt you. God wants His people to drive exalted cars,live in exalted homes, wear exalted clothes as long as you give Him all the glory because He is the one who exalted you.

A proud man says, “I won’t take it.” Thinking he’s being humble, he’s really being proud. He is resisting God and God has no alternative but to resist him.

When I saw this truth I asked for forgiveness. I don’t know how many times, people tried to give me something and I wouldn’t take it. When I saw this in the scripture I said, “God, I was resisting you” and He responded, “That’s right.”

Notice, in James 4:6, “… he giveth more grace” God did the most for you at salvation, but now He’s going to do more than the most. He’s going to freely give you all things.

Here is a beautiful cycle of truth I began to comprehend. God gives and I receive. He draws nigh to me and gives me more grace. I humble myself and receive it. He draws nigher and gives even more grace. Eventually all my needs will be met. He will give me more than I need. I asked, “God is that possible?” He responded, “Yes. What does Luke 6:38 say?” It says, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom… ” Running over! I asked, “Lord, is it really possible You want to give me more than I need?” He answered, “I want you to be exalted.”

Listen, we have been sowing and sowing and sowing and it’s time to reap. But pride is coming in and cutting off our harvest. God is saying, "I want you to take it," and we're responding, "No Lord, I'm going to be humble. I'm not going to take it." God responds, "You're being proud and because of pride I am going to resist you."

A humble man continues receiving from God and giving Him the glory. A humble man will eventually go far beyond having his needs met; he will receive the desires of his heart.

God does not give to you because you need it. He gives because He loves you. He's a God of grace. I had a hard time understanding how God wanted me to receive something when I didn't need it. So, I asked the Lord about it. He again told me to look at Luke 6:38.

He asked, "What does the first part say?" I answered, "Give." He asked, "Who are you giving to?” And I respoinded "To You." He asked, "Do I need it? No. But I'll never be so proud as to refuse to take it. I'll always humble myself and receive it from you." He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. What does He need with my ten dollars? Why does He take it? So He can give back to me.

I began to ask God to forgive me for the times I would not receive money from people because I didn't need it. I was resisting God. I thought they were missing God, when all the time I was the one missing God. Since God never changes, I should receive it whether I need it or not.

Down in my spirit I knew something else was coming. He asked, "Is it not more blessed to give than it is to receive?" And I answered, "That’s right. That’s why many people won't take something. They would rather give and get a greater reward." He continued, "Let me ask you this. Who is giving to you?" I said, "Basically You are, Lord." He asked, "Isn't it more blessed for Me to give than it is to receive? By not taking from Me you're robbing Me of a blessing!"

Listen, it's about time we quit looking at a Ferrari driving into town and thinking, "The mafia must be here." It's about time we say, "I wonder what Spirit-filled, born again man or woman is driving that car?"

You see, God doesn't care if you drive a Ferrari on Monday and a Maserati on Tuesday or a Mercedez on Wednesday and a Jaguar on Thursday. As long as God gets the glory, not you. That car or house can be a witness of His grace.

When somebody comes by and says, "Where did you get that house?" You can say, "God gave it to me. I didn't do a thing for it. He just gave it to me." It's likely they'll ask, “Could I know Him too?”

Bob Yandian

If you like this article, check out Pastor Bob's series Principles of Faith at the BYM Store.