To Be Humble

I wrote a post some time ago titled "What does it mean to be humble". I provided a reference to some writings of Spurgeon which gives an example of being humble.

In my further study of Galations the concept of being boastful and being humble has appeared. I don't think my last post really answered the question as thoroughly. So I wanted to amend that with Bible references on humility, or humbleness. By just doing a keyword search for the work humble in Bible Gateway here's what I found.

To be humble means to accept a reliance upon someone greater than yourself.

• Deuteronomy 8:3. "He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."
• 1 Corinthians 1:30. "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God -- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption."
  

To be humble means to accept defeat or to accept a dire predicament, and to be obedient.

• Psalm 107:39. "Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow".
• Proverbs 6:3. "Then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor!
• Philippians 2:8. "And being found in appearance as a man, he (Jesus) humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!"

To be humble is to accept the Lord as he is and to trust in the Lord.

• 2 Chronicles 12:6. "The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, 'The LORD is just.'"
• Zephaniah 3:12. "But I will leave within you the meek and humble, who trust in the name of the LORD."

It is better to be humble then to be forced into being humbled.

• Isaiah 2:17. "The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day"
• Isaiah 5:15. So man will be brought low and mankind humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled.

But even though we as believers have bouts of pride and arrogance and the Lord humbles us, we have a hope if we accept our humble circumstance, or our humbling lesson. We can look up to the Lord in humbleness, and he will lift us up.

• Psalm 18:27. "You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty"
• Psalm 25:9. "He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way."
• Psalm 147:6. "The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground."
• Psalm 149:4. "For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation."
• Proverbs 3:34. "He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble."
• Matthew 18:4. "Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
• Matthew 23:12. "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
• Luke 1:48. "For he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed."
• Luke 1:52. "He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble."
• James 4:10. "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."
• 1 Peter 5:6. "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time."

Let me go a step further to speak to you, the reader. Last week I watched a movie, the remake of "Flight of the Phoenix". There is a scene when there was a struggle of power regarding who should be "in charge", the guy who designs airplanes (Elliot) or the pilot (Frank). After a bitter disagreement and a punch in the face Elliot goes away, pouting. Others try to console Elliot to get him to help build the Phoenix. We all saw that Elliot was wrong with his pride and boasting but they couldn't finish the plane without him. So it came down to simply humbling themselves and saying, "Please, Elliot. Can we finish the plane? Please."

There is no exact correlations between all the characters and our situation with the Lord. In the movie, they persuaded Elliot to help again, but it was on his terms which is not what the Lord wants in us. Yet, we can all be like Elliot: bitter, prideful, boastful, and immature. So what can I say to all of us who have become like Elliot in terms of our Christian lives, our relationship with the Church and our relationship with God. Nothing except, "Please, Christian, will you humble yourself? Please."

Run To The Battle

There's a Steve Camp song that goes something like this.

Some people want to live near the sound of chapel bells
But I want to run a mission a yard from the gates of hell
And with everyone you meet take the gospel and share it well
Look around you as you hesitate, another soul just fell
Let's run to the battle!

When first hearing this song I thought this applied to sharing the gospel with the lost. However, from last week's Galatians study it equally (if not more) applies to sharing the gospel with believers.

In the "wrap up lecture" of Community Bible Study last night Don said something striking. Figuratively speaking he said, "We Christians are notorious for shooting our own wounded". He meant we judge, criticize, and put down our fellow Christians rather than gently restore them to a right fellowship with our Lord.

As we see with Paul and Peter and other examples in the Bible, living a life in Christ is a struggle. Peter struggled with falling back into Judiasm and causing others to stumble (Galatians 2:11-14). Galatians 5:16-18 says there is a conflict between the Spirit and the flesh. In Romans 7:7-25 Paul writes about his stuggle. These men were not insignificant disciples. These were apostles, they were God's chosen leaders. The best of men are men at best - as I have heard Alistair Begg say numerous times.

One of the questions in the Bible study asks: "How then should we respond to the struggles of fellow Christians?"

When the previous question showed me that our souls are at war with evil, the thing that immediately came to mind is the Steve Camp song. We should respond by running to the battle. Further using the military example, we should carry out the orders of our Commander and gently rescue of our fellow soldier. We should pray with him, remind him again of God's grace as best we can. Bring him to the Great Physician, and then get out of the way of the Holy Spirit.

Yes, I'm humbled again. In reflecting how I have looked at fellow Christians in err, especially ones of authority I have been quick to criticize. I think "He should know better than that!" Instead I should have responded quickly to bring him to the Lord, to remind him of grace. It is the full knowledge of God's grace that breaks the bondage with the sinful nature. Romans 6:14.

Resist Deception

From last week's Galatians study there was a question to look at several verses and then asks, "How do these verses enable us to resist deception?" The task is to stand firm in the freedom of Christ, and the danger is confusion of the mind.

One passage is 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. This is the one that says we should take every thought captive. Oh how our own minds deceive us. Our own thoughts can betray us from obedience to Christ. Instead, whatever is true, right, noble, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy, we should think of these things (Philippians 4:8).

Another passage is Ephesians 6:10-18, the "spiritual armor" verses. We must keep in mind the battle we fight, we fight on our knees. We must equip ourselves with scripture and a sharp understanding of it as the Holy Spirit reveals to us. And we must know Christ and accept the gospel of salvation from our sin.

Finally, another passage is Colossians 2:6-17. The deception also comes from outside of us. We hear from others we must do this, or we must do that, usually to support their cause. And not often enough do we hear about the Deity of Christ, and that only by His power can we be circumcised of our hearts. If we think we are only unconscious in our sins and that we can resucitate ourselves we are in error. Rather we were dead in our sins, and only God can resurrect us!

Clothed in Flesh

Whenever I get a moment in time I pull out my guitar to play. I've been trying to eek out some Christmas hymns as I strum or pluck chords. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, as with many of these hymns, has such excellent proclamations of Christ!

Earlier I posted some insight from my Galatians study about being clothed in Christ. I now see there's a verse in this hymn that says the complementary.

Christ by highest heaven adorned
Christ, the everlasting Lord
Late in time behold him come
Offspring of the virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Please as man with men to dwell
Jesus our Emmanuel

Similarly as we should be clothed in Christ, Jesus chose to be "clothed in flesh". Our everlasting Lord did not just reign from Heaven, but chose to condescend so that we may be with God. He was pleased to be a man to dwell with men. Emmanuel (or in the NIV, Immanuel) means "God is with us".

What is our motivation, what helps us to carry on? It is God's love. That is our "ultimate, underlying, no denying motivation." (Wes King).

Abide With Jesus

From my study of Galatians I see how important it is to seek a life in the Spirit. (See Galatians 5:16-25). Lately I've been humbly praying that the Spirit to abide with me throughout the day. Don't you just sense sometimes that you cannot get through the day without God's help?

But perhaps my prayers have not been so humble. Sometimes they are outright cries for help! I suppose if I am just looking for a working of the Holy Spirit upon my request then my prayer is nothing more than an incantation. And merely looking for a miraculous sign is for the wicked.

So what can we do? I suppose we can do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him. We should just abide with Him and have faith that He is with us. And perhaps we'll happen to see a real experience of our Lord in our lives.

The Spurgeon devotional for October 25th is a fantastic read regarding this. It starts out:

"She happened to come. Yes, it seemed nothing but an accident, but it was divinely ruled over! Ruth had gone out with her mother-in-law's blessing, under the care of her mother-in-law's God, to humble but honorable work, and the providence of God was guiding her every step. Little did she know that among the sheaves she would find a husband, that he would make her the joint owner of all those broad acres, and that she, a poor foreigner, would become one of the ancestors of the great Messiah." Read more...