Humility, a Prerequisite to Seeing God

Mr. Smith talked about a couple of things that we must do in order to see God. Through God's Spirit, we must believe and do. Believe and do the things that God tells us to do. And all the things that God does for us or to us is for our benefit. I'm going to talk about one of the things that we have to do as a prerequisite to doing what Mr. Smith talked about. A prerequisite is something that you have to do first or before you do the other thing. And Mr. Smith mentioned it. He talked about it. In brief, I'm going to delve into it today. The title of today's sermon is Humility, a prerequisite to seeing God. Humility, a prerequisite to seeing God. And we're going to define humility today so it's not some vague religious concept. But we actually understand where the rubber meets the road when it comes to humility and our daily life and the choices that we make. A lot of you have heard of Dave Ramsey. He does Financial Peace University. We're going through that in San Antonio as a congregation, those who wish to participate. So I talk about things I'm going through that usually ends up in my sermon. So I've been doing a lot of studying with Dave Ramsey lately. And Dave starts his whole course out by telling his story. Sort of rags or rich rags to riches to rags again to riches again and how it happened. You see, Dave Ramsey wasn't rich when he got married, but he became very wealthy as a young man. And then through a series of circumstances and zero planning on his part, he became very destitute. And he likes to say he didn't bounce back. He splatted when he hit the bottom. He lost everything. When he was getting rich, he found God and he thought he had religion. When he lost everything, he fell to the bottom in despair. And he says this famous quote, I found God on the way up, but I got to know him on the way down. I thought that's a good saying. One thing that Ramsey says that you have to do to turn your financial woes around is to submit to someone else's opinion. That which you have been doing for so long hasn't been working. So try something different. Try somebody else's opinion from somebody who works. And in Ramsey's case, and in the financial world, he trusts the Bible. There are over 800 scriptures, according to Ramsey, in the Bible about finances. And he trusts old rich people, not young rich people, because he was one of those. And he lost it all. He wanted to know people who had the wealth and kept it what they did. And he found out that old rich people in the Bible agreed with each other. But what about your walk in life? What about Christianity? What about seeing God? So if you are going through life, even in the church, and things are not going well, try God's opinion first.

Dave Ramsey has a famous saying, Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? Meaning, are you ready to make a change? And if you are, if you need a change in your life, if you're going to church, you're keeping the Sabbath, you don't eat pork, you don't keep Christmas, you think God's laws are relevant, and your life isn't working. What's wrong? Why is it not working for you? And why do other people come to church, and you see them, and they have the silver hair, and they're so calm, and they have such peace? How do they do that? Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? And do you want to not just have heard of God, but actually see God? It reminds me of a story in the Bible that Mr. Smith mentioned, the story of Job. So let's go through just a quick review of Job's story. The first few chapters of the book of Job talk about Job's distress. It starts out very similar to Dave Ramsey's story. Job is an incredibly wealthy and very comfortable man. He's got a wife, children, wealth. His children have houses, and they throw parties all the time. He's very well respected, a man in the gates, if you will. And then the adversary, Satan the devil, goes to God and says, you put a hedge around Job, you take that hedge away and he'll curse you. And God allows Satan to affect everything that Job owns except his own body. And eventually, he allows Satan to even affect Job's body. Job's children are destroyed, his wealth is gone, and he's sitting in a pile of ashes, eventually, pouting. And then Job starts to defend himself. In chapter 4, Job starts to defend himself and claim that this, what he's going through, is somebody else's fault, namely God's. But don't we do that? When we're going through a trial, I know I do, so I'm definitely not casting shade on you. This is human nature. When things go bad, that's not my fault. Sometimes things aren't your fault. But is the question, is God being mean to you? Is God being unjust? Can God be unjust? Does he all of a sudden become somewhat schizophrenic and stop being the loving, merciful Creator? And all of a sudden become harsh and judgmental and mean? Does he get sick and tired of being sick and tired of you? Because that's what a lot of people think. Well, God's just sick and tired of me.

So Job goes through round after round of defense, and he has these three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. Or Zophar. I don't know how to pronounce their names. At any rate, these three gentlemen come at Job with argument after argument. Well, Job, just to summarize what they say, God is just. Everybody knows that God is righteous, and you're going through a trial. Therefore, you have sinned. All you've got to do is repent of your sin, and this trial will go away. And Job makes defense after defense. I haven't sinned. Name my sin. Well, obviously you've done something, they argue. Nay, nay. He says, I wish I wasn't born, woe is me. Oh, that I didn't come forth from my mother's womb. On and on, Job gives these defense. Chapter after chapter. If you read through Job and you don't know where you're going, and you stop until you get to about chapter 32, you might very well become depressed. These men argue at least three different times with Job over a course of who knows how long it takes. And Job is very much at his end. His friends are so out of words. They've argued so many times with Job, they have no idea what else to say. They can't get through to this obvious sinner. You're going through a trial. You must be sinning. You lost everything. You know, one of the elders in the gates, you were wealthy. You had a wife and children, and they all had mansions. You were the one we looked up to. And you don't go from that, from everything to nothing, unless you're a dirty, rotten scoundrel. But they didn't have a single thing against Job. And the farther, and the more they went on, the harsher and the angrier Job gets with God. The worse his words are with God. Saying things like, I've heard people say, I don't think God loves me.

God doesn't just love us. He is love. God cannot unlove you. It's not who he is. So there has to be another answer. Finally, a young man comes along. A young man who was afraid to speak because all of Job's friends were older and wiser. They knew more. They were wealthier. This guy was young and unproven. But he had something that Mr. Smith talked about in his first sermon. He had belief. He had faith. He very likely acted on that faith. And he nailed Job. He hit the center of the bullseye. Exactly what Job's problem was. Elihu speaks from chapter 32 to 37. First he contradicts Job's friends. And then he contradicts Job himself. And in chapter 33, he says in verse 12, I'll read this from the New Living Translation, Job 33 in verse 12, But you are wrong, speaking to Job, and I will show you why. For God is greater than any human being. You see, Job got that in theory, but when it came down to the trial affecting him, he didn't understand that. Job was the center of his own universe. It was Job's opinion that mattered more than anybody else's in Job's mind. Verse 13, So why are you bringing a charge against him? In other words, why are you accusing God, Job? Why say he does not respond to his people's complaints? Accusing God of being deaf. Accusing God of being sick and tired. Elihu continues with a solution to Job's problem. Job lacked humility. You couldn't get Job on any sin outwardly. You couldn't see it. He appeared to be a perfect man. He even, it says, he made a covenant with his eyes. He was a married man, and when a beautiful woman walked by, he didn't turn his head. You couldn't get Job on anything on the outside. But Elihu nailed him. You have no humility. You don't know that you are not greater than your creator. Job 34 and verse 31, Elihu continues Job 34 verse 31. Again, New Living Translation. Why don't people say to God, I have sinned, but will sin no more? Why don't you just submit? Repent! Okay, you have my attention, God. I am going to turn towards you now. Verse 32, or I don't know what evil I have done. Tell me if I have done wrong, I will stop at once. That should have been Job's attitude, because Job didn't know what he had done wrong, because he hadn't done anything wrong. His heart was wrong. His actions weren't wrong. His attitude was. Job didn't see that. All he could see was, in a legal sort of way, a legalistic sort of way, Job was a righteous man. No one could find fault with him. Verse 33, he asks a very interesting question. Must God tailor his justice to your demands? Does your opinion rule over how God judges? Whose opinion counts? What is humility? That's what I want to get to in today's sermon. How are you going to understand God? You have to understand what humility is, and what it is not, because we have a lot of misconceptions in our society about what humility is.

Continuing on, but you have rejected him. The choice is yours, not mine. Go ahead, share your wisdom with us. Taunting Job to speak. Verse 34, after all, bright people will tell me, and wise people will hear me say, Job speaks out of ignorance. His words lack insight. Job, you deserve the maximum penalty for the wicked way you have talked. For you have added rebellion to your sin. You show no respect, and you speak many angry words against God. If Job had a humble heart, he would not have spoken a single word against God. I read Job. I believe God gave us the book of Job, because we can all relate to Job in one way or another when we're facing some pretty serious trials. And why does God give us those trials? Mr. Smith said in his first sermon, it's always for our good. It's always for our good. Yet Job, when it finally hit him, when it affected him, he couldn't see God, and he admits it. We'll come back to Job in just a moment. Let's look at ourselves for a moment. Instead of being angry with God for the things we go through in life, what if we tried a different approach? Proverbs 3 and 5. Here's the approach. Here's what Job, i.e. you and me, should do in a trial. Proverbs 3 and 5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him. And He will, not He might, He will direct your paths. And the key to humility is the next statement. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear, meaning deep respect. Fear the eternal and depart from evil. Those were the two things that Mr. Smith talked about in his sermon. Believing God, trusting God, fearing God, and doing what He said, departing from evil. And what you do prior to that? You do not be wise in your own eyes. Humility.

You know, it's not who we are in life, or it's not where we are in life. It's not your race, your gender, your income, your status, the car you drive, the purse you have, the shoes you wear, the wife who's on your arm, or the lack thereof, that God's looking at. It's not who you are or where you are, but what you are that's most important to God. God names humility among the most basic requirements of what He expects of us, what He expects of children who will be in His kingdom. Humility is one of those things. Micah 6, verse 8. Let's take a look at this. Micah 6, verse 8. It's good to go to the minor prophets. Sometimes we don't go there often enough. Micah 6, verse 8. What does the Lord require of you but to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?

But people have some very different ideas of what being humble really means. The word humility doesn't mean the same thing to everyone, so let's make sure we're all on the same page with God, where we're speaking God's meaning when we say the word humility, not the meaning that society oftentimes put as a misconception on what humility is. You've heard the phrase, we're just humble folks. We make do with what God gives us. Those words imply that being poor is the same as being humble. It is simply not true. Humility is not restricted to those who are poor. It is not automatically void from those who are wealthy. Abraham was a very humble man. Abraham was a very wealthy man. I come from a family of hillbillies. You've got rednecks, and then you've got hillbillies. We were hillbillies. My family. I love my family. We can cook a mess of vittles, come over to our house, chicken fried, maybe steak, maybe some wild game they shot, and mashed potatoes and gravy. You will not find finer than sitting around my grandmother's table, eating whatever it is she could cook up. A lot of people would say we were humble folks because we ate wild game. They lived out in an Idaho mountain area, a logging community that didn't even have a grocery store. It had a bar slash convenience store, depending on what hour of the day it was. They didn't have indoor plumbing. They had an outhouse. Whenever we would visit our grandparents in the wintertime, that seat was cold. And a lot of people would think, that's humility. Nah, we were just as proud as anyone.

People think sometimes if you're ignorant and lack education, you're humble. And only the hoity-toity, the proud, get an education. That is absolutely untrue. I know a lot of ignorant people are absolutely proud of the fact that they're ignorant. But it's not what the word humility means.

Now, God often uses the word lowly, or someone who's going through persecution or a trial, to mean or it's what he means by humility, like Psalm 138 and verse 6. Though the Lord is on high, yet he regards the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar. Or Proverbs 16 and verse 19. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, in other words, the poor, than to divide the spoil with the proud, implying pride goes along with rich. So there is some correlation there. But it's not automatic. Because humility is not a matter of anything physical. Humility is a matter of an attitude.

Let's go to Matthew 11 and verse 28 and see Jesus Christ's attitude. Jesus Christ, the Logos of God, Emmanuel, God with us, was very humble. Matthew 11 and verse 28. This is the New Revised Standard version. Come to me all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, like Job, like you and me sometimes, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. In other words, yield to me. What's a yoke? It's something you put on an ox around their neck, and then the ox will work for the person that's holding the reins of the yoke, like pulling a plow and plowing up the field. So Jesus Christ says, come work for me, because I'm a really good boss. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle, humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. And Job couldn't see that. And sometimes we don't see that. When I'm on the phone or I'm sitting in a hospital room with somebody who's very ill, and it's scary, it's frightening.

I've been in the hospital room with my wife. When everybody, all the doctors, thought she was going to die, they would come into the room and they'd do whatever they were going to do. And then before they leave the room, they would go every time. It was uncanny. They would go, well, good luck, and leave the room. The doctor called me out to go meet with him, because they were going to transfer her from one hospital to another to deal with what they thought was her problem. And he called me, I don't know why he was doing this, but he was on the phone with a doctor of the other hospital, having a conversation with him. But he called me to him and didn't realize I was standing right behind him. And so he was speaking candidly to the other doctor about my wife, saying, yeah, this is a sad case. Yeah, they have four kids. One of them was just born, just a few weeks old. Yeah, it's going to be one of those. I was like, I'm right here. I can hear you, but it didn't work out that way. My wife was fine. God healed her. He intervened. You'd never know she went through what she went through. She does. She still has some effects from it, but you'd meet her today and you wouldn't know, because God said, yeah, I'm not through with her. And this man, Rod, needs her so desperately, and he's not through yet, so I'm going to keep her around for him. And sometimes, when I'm counseling people, and I know that fright that they feel, but they forget what we just read about Jesus Christ and taking on his yoke, they forget that he's humble and gentle. And they think, oh, God is sick and tired of me. You ever feel that way? If you do, you're not alone. You are not alone, but you are wrong.

How about trying a different approach? If the approach you've been using isn't working, try something different. The word humble in Greek means to make low or to assign lower rank. So what, I ask you, are you supposed to make low?

What does it really mean to be humble? Does it mean to be poor, low in education, persecuted, and always going through some kind of a trial? No. Is it your self-worth? Is that to be low? No. So what is supposed to be low and what is supposed to be high? Specifically, let's take a look at exactly what the Bible means when it says, be humble. Be humble. Isaiah 66, verses 1 and 2. Isaiah 66, the Shakespeare of the Bible, Isaiah.

Isaiah 66, verse 1. This is what the Lord says, Because heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things? And so they came into being, declares the Lord. This is the one I esteem. He who is humble and contrite of spirits and trembles at my word. What are we supposed to put low when we're humble? Our word, meaning our opinion. God's opinion over mine. I have an opinion. Everything should go well for me. I should be wealthy and happy all the time. That's my opinion. Probably yours, too. But God's opinion is, he wants us in the kingdom. He's a little bit more, you know, long-sighted. Looking down the road further than us. And God knows every once in a while, he has to give us a little correction, a little bump, a little mold, a little shape. It becomes uncomfortable to us. But what's our reaction to it? It ought to be a humble one, trembling at his word. Our opinion low and his opinion high. Here's another useful insight describing humility. Matthew 18, verse 3. Matthew 18 and verse 3.

Assuredly I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as a little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. How are little children? They're very dependent, aren't they? If you tell a little child who doesn't know better that that thing you're sitting on is called a chair, for the rest of his or her life, that's a chair, because your opinion is above theirs. That's a child. This is a building. That's a clock. This is a lectern. You tell that to a child, and they'll believe you. That's humility. That's the humility that you and I are supposed to have that will actually help us see God. As they become older, they become more independent, and God intends that. That's a good thing. But not when it involves exalting their own opinion above others. In fact, teenagers can become quite the opposite from what they were when they were a little child. And all of a sudden, their opinion is the most important opinion in the universe.

They know more. Their parents become absolute idiots. Sometimes, no insult intended, but I've seen first-time moms, young mothers, who are so in love with their little child and so protective and want the best for their child, block out all advice from all the older moms. No, I am sure this is an emergency. We're going to the ER, and all the moms go, no, your baby's fine. You're fine. No, you're fine. Don't worry about it. Nope. Off to the ER we go. Or something's wrong with that baby. No, my baby's fine. No, you need to go take care of that right now, the older moms say. Young mom, she knows everything. I'm going to buy the diapers I'm going to buy. I'm going to do the room the way I'm going to do the room. And you know, a lot of that's okay. But you could sure avoid a lot of life's upsets if your opinion wasn't the highest opinion in the universe.

How are they humble in heart, little children? What does it mean to humble yourself as a little child? What are we to hold in low regard? Your opinion. That's what a little child does. A little child is starving for wisdom. A little child can't wait to see what mommy or daddy is going to say next. That is humility from God's point of view. Always asking why, always asking how, always asking what, always asking when, and believing the answer. It's our personal opinion that's supposed to be low. And you know, I suggest that's something you and I should pray about. Ask God to help us have a lower esteem of our own opinion. Proverbs chapter 26 and verse 12. Proverbs 26 and verse 12. Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There's more hope for a fool than for him, and there's no hope for a fool.

There's really no hope for a know-it-all. And here's the danger, brethren. We're in the church. We've been given a gift of not only the knowledge of God, but the hope that God gives us. But as we begin to learn, we also may begin to assume that we know an awful lot more than we really do. True humility makes us cautious about how much or how thorough our understanding is. 1 Corinthians chapter 8 verses 1 through 3. The Apostle Paul warns us, don't get too big for your branches. 1 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 1. Now concerning the things offered to idols, that's a doctrinal issue.

So Paul's going to instruct the church in Corinth about a doctrinal issue. And some people probably are thinking, because they've learned and they're in the church, they know all they need to know about things offered to idols. He says, we know that we have all knowledge. Knowledge puffs up. Love edifies or builds up. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, I hear that. Do you hear that? That speaks to me. If anybody thinks he knows anything, he knows nothing yet, as he ought to know. I've told this story in San Antonio many times, but my father, when he was in his 70s, one of my heroes in life, he wrote many of the booklets we have in the United Church of God.

He was a very wise man. He came out of his office one day and pulled his glasses off and said, dad, what you doing? He said, Rod, you never stop learning. I'm learning something new right now that I didn't know. He said, the Bible is so big, there's no way to learn everything that's in it in one human lifetime. It's not possible. Because he had spent literally 54 years in the ministry being paid to study and teach the Bible. And when he's an old man, comes out of his office, he's learning something new.

That should be us. So, we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. If anyone thinks he knows anything, he knows nothing yet, as he ought to know. It's not that you don't know anything, okay? But you haven't learned as you ought. Keep going! Paul says. Keep learning! Don't rest on your laurels. Don't sit back and be satisfied. Because then you will not be humble. But if anyone... Continuing on. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by him.

I want to read a quote from my dad. My dad left this note. Quote. The word heresy. We've seen a lot of this. We've seen a lot of people with a lot of pet ideas. The word heresy is related to the word opinion.

A heretic is one who has a lot of ideas. A heretic is one who has exalted... has an exalted view of his own opinion. A view that is in error. But because of his exalted opinion of his own judgment, he places him above being taught or corrected. Often such a person will listen, but only to find out how others object to his opinion. He listens only to strengthen his own prejudices. He does not listen with a humble heart. That is a willing to admit error on his part. He's not humble.

And that is the root of his heresy. And that was the root of Job's problem. And a lot of times, that's the root of our problems. My theory? That makes our trials go longer and longer and longer. Far longer than they ought to be. Because we refuse to learn that lesson that God would so easily teach us in a minute takes a year. Because our opinion is weighted too heavily in our mind. Holding on to your opinion in high esteem will destroy you. And there will come a day when only the humble, only those who put God's opinion above their own, will be alive on the earth.

Zephaniah chapter 3, Zephaniah 3 verse 11. Almost done. Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 11. In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds in which you transgress against me. For I will take away from your midst those who rejoice in your pride.

And you will no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. That was Job's problem. Job trusted in his own name, in his own opinion, in the fact that when a pretty woman walked by, he did not turn his head.

And he trusted that. And when a trial came upon him that was not of his own doing, he turned against God and he blamed God and said, Oh, that I wasn't born. Woe is me. God is unjust.

It says, they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness and speak no lies, nor shall be deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they shall feed on the flocks and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid. So let's go back to Job. God knocks him down low, a lie hue, sets him straight, that he's not humble, and then God comes and literally talks to Job. And God does that with us, too, through his Holy Spirit. Now, it's not that voice that's in your head. Some people think that voice in their head is God talking to them. God has the ability to talk to you. I'm not mocking that. He does. God could come down and talk to you if maybe you're Job or a prophet. He might do that. There's another way he communicates to you. I suggest to you that little voice in your head. That's you. That's you talking to you. God guides you with intents and motives.

He talks to you like he talked to Job face to face through his Spirit. And God asked Job some questions that Job just couldn't answer. And Job started to get what young Elihu was trying to tell him, that he wasn't better than God.

And in verse 42, this is what Job says. Job 42, verse 1, again, New Living Translation, then Job replied to the Lord, I know that you can do anything.

You can see, you can hear it. He's starting to put God way up there now. That's humility. God's opinion above mine. Even if I don't want to go through what I'm about to go through at work, in health, at the hospital, whatever it might be, it's always God above mine. I watched an elder in the San Antonio congregation die from cancer many, many years ago with no anxiety. I went to his bedside and he said, he looked at me right in the eye, he said, Rod, grown old ain't for sissies. I said, yeah, I could see that. I could see that. And he just had nothing but hope and encouragement for me. He's the one dying. He's the one suffering. But God, he knew God, he's got this. And God, his opinion was above that man's opinion in his own head. And he even died with no anxiety. My mother did the same thing. She died from cancer with no anxiety. And you can hear that in Job's voice. Where does that come from? How can you and I do that? Humility! Not being poor or uneducated, but actually having God's opinion over our own. Job replied, I know that you can do anything and no one can stop you. You asked, who is that questions my wisdom with such ignorance? It is I. Why? Job admits, I was the idiot that questioned you in ignorance. And I was talking about things I knew nothing about. Things far too wonderful for me. That's not false humility. That's reality.

You said, listen and I will speak. I have some questions for you and you must answer them. I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my eyes. I take back everything I said. I sit in dust and ashes and show my repentance. Job finally got it. When Satan was accusing Job, I don't think Satan knew what God's endgame was. Satan just probably hated Job and attacked him because Job seemed perfect. But God knew his precious Job, who he loved, was proud. Loved his own opinion. But after Job had gone through this, he was very humble. How about you and me? I started telling you at the beginning a little bit about Dave Ramsey's story. He was rich and then he lost everything. He said he found God on the way up, but he got to know him on the way down. It takes humility. In other words, putting God's opinion above your own before you can even approach getting to know your Creator. Dave's famous quote is, are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? Do you want to see actual change in your life? Do you want to actually see God for who he is? Human nature is the same in all of us. We don't like to yield our opinion to anybody. We just want to come to church as it suits us. Learn from God as it suits us. And then complain when God works in our lives to mold and shape us. We complain about every trial we get into. And I include myself once in a while. I have done the same thing. And most of our trials, if we're really honest, are just natural consequences of the bad choices we've made. We sow the wind, we reap the whirlwind.

Dave Ramsey says, we're like a toddler who stays in our own filth. He says, we're standing around in a poopy diaper saying, yeah, it may stink, but it's warm in its mind.

And the question is, do you want to change? Do you really want to see God the way he is? And if we do, and I truly believe we wouldn't be here if we didn't, put God's opinion above your own. Don't think so highly of yourself that God can't be the potter molding his precious clay because he loves us. And everything he does and allows us to go through is for our good. I truly believe we can shorten our trials and make our lessons a lot shorter. If we would truly put God's opinion above our own.