Humility

Thank you, Robert. Beautiful and inspiring song.

I'd like to begin with a question. How can you instantly become a better person? We all have to live in our skins for a long time. How can we make our lives more enjoyable, get along better with people, and not be so stressed? What can make such a big improvement, and how can it be done? Hint. It is a quality seen throughout the Bible. It is something God highly regards, and yet it is not commonly found. So what can make such a big difference? The answer? It is humility, sometimes called in the Bible meekness as well. To find and practice true humility brings some of the greatest benefits anyone can have instantly. We want to dissect this subject very carefully. Rudyard Kipling, the famous English poet, said in a poem, I have six honest, serving men. They taught me all I know. What, when, how, why, where, and who. We can use them to study this subject as well. Who has it? What is it? Where and when did it come to be? How to develop it? And finally, why? It's so important. I'd like to start with three of those questions. The who, the what, and the where.

The answer is about the who. God the Father and the Son are the epitome of true humility. It is one of their greatest characteristics. Notice in Psalms 18, in verse 35, when David is praising God, he says at the end of this verse, 35, he says, Your gentleness has made me great. The word gentleness from the Hebrew, ana'a, a-n-a-w, means humility, a lowliness of mind, being humble-minded. In the complete Jewish version, it says, You give me your shield, which is salvation, your right hand holds me up, your humility makes me great. So we talk about humility, but actually God the Father and Jesus Christ are the greatest exponents of humility. Also in another Psalm 113, verses 5 and 6, it says, Who is like the Lord our God, who dwells on high, who humbles himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth, who humbles himself? It's interesting what the Bible knowledge commentary mentions about this verse. It says, God's greatness is not something he clings to. Rather, he comes down to see what is in the heavens and on the earth. He condensends or permits himself to intervene graciously or in a positive way in human affairs. Certainly God the Father is a tremendous example, especially during the crucifixion. As you know, there was darkness, there was an earthquake that happened, too. God was restraining himself from destroying all of mankind at that moment. But because of that humility, he did restrain himself. He allowed his only begotten Son to die in such a cruel and unjust way.

In Isaiah 57, verse 15, let's go there. Isaiah 57, verse 15, God tells us a little more about his own character.

It says in verse 15, For thus says the high and lofty one, who inhabits eternity, Whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones. So that's where God dwells. He likes to see humility in people. The term again here being anah, lowliness of mind.

There's another verse, just a couple of chapters ahead in Isaiah 66, verse 2. This is a famous quote about humility. It says, For all those things my hand has made, And all those things exist, says the Lord, But on this one will I look, On him who is poor, and of a contrite spirit, And who tumbles at my word. Again, the term here about being a contrite, a humble spirit. So that's where God likes to dwell.

What about God the Son, or God the Word, before he became Jesus Christ? It's the same story. The epitome of humility. Christ told Philip in John chapter 14, verses 8, John 14, verses 8 through 11.

See here, I think, got, oh, 14, yeah, John 14, 8 through 11.

Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. So what he's saying here is that God and the Word have the same qualities and virtues. If God the Father would have been on earth, he would have showed the same type of qualities that Jesus Christ showed.

And, of course, Jesus himself described himself as being meek and humble. Notice in Matthew 11, verse 29.

It says, 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, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

So the terms here, for meek, and, he says also, a gentle and lowly in heart.

Those are two terms that we use to describe meekness and humility, and they're very important words. The first one is the term préotés, p-r-a-o- u-t-e-s, préotés. Sometimes not used with a u. P-r-a-o-t-e-s. That's the term for meekness. And then there's the word for humble, or humility, which is tappenos, t-a-p-e-i-n-o-s. It means the same thing as the Hebrew, to be lowly, a lowliness of mind, humble-minded, a person that brings himself low. It's very close, this word, to the meek term préotés, which means gentle, having a soothing and kind disposition. So again, so much of this has to really focus our attention on what it means. These words are so important in our lives. The commentarian, Barkley, or commentator, Barkley, says, the authorized version, without exception, translates the adjective préos, from préotés, by meek, and the noun préotés, by meekness. Now, he says, mofat, the one who translated the Bible, instead has the word humble. And in the beatitude, where it says, blessed are the meek, mofat's version has it, blessed are the humble. He never retains the translation meek. He considers it's closer to humble than it is meek.

And he says, in the Greek, préos is used in one special sense. It is used for a beast which has been tamed, a horse which was once wild, but which has become obedient to the bit and to the bridle. Here lies the secret of the meaning of préos, which again is the adjective for préotés. There is gentleness, but behind that gentleness, there is strength of steel. For the supreme characteristic of the man who is préotés is that he is under perfect control. It is not a spineless gentleness, a sentimental fondness, a passive quietism. It is strength under control. Numbers 12.3 tells us that Moses was, quote, the meekest or the humblest man on earth. But that same Moses was a man who could act with decision and yet have righteous indignation when occasion arose. In other words, he was meek, but he wasn't weak. To such a character no man can attain by himself and his own efforts. This is Berkeley. Préotés is strength under control, but it would be wrong to say that the man who is préos or meek and humble, that is wrong to say he is perfectly controlled. He is perfectly God-controlled, for only God can give him that perfect mastery. It should be our prayer that God will make us préos or meek, masters of ourselves, for only then can we be true servants of others.

Again, we're studying what humility and meekness mean in the Bible. Now in the New Testament, another commentator, Vine, in his dictionary, says it consists not only in a person's outward behavior or his relations with his fellow men, but it is interior in his soul. It is first and chiefly toward God. It is that temper of spirit in which we accept his dealings with us as being good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. It is closely linked to the word tepenos, which we already covered, and follows directly upon it. So many times it's used meekness and humility. Humility and weakness. Ephesians 4, 2. Colossians 3, 12 brings this out. Vine continues, It is only the humble heart that is also meek and does not fight or contend against God. This meekness is also such that even evil men out of the sense that these with the insults and injuries which they may afflict upon one are permitted and employed by God for chastening and purifying his elect. So we see this constant mentioning by the apostles that, well, we're going through things, but remember, God knows what he's doing. We shouldn't be these furious and rebellious horses being guided by his bridle or the reins. No, we've already relaxed, become docile before God. He knows what he's doing. We should do our part. But there's that peace that this humility brings forth.

He goes on to say, The meekness shown by the Lord and commended to the believers is the fruit of power. It is believed that when a man is meek, it is because he can't help himself. But Jesus was meek, although he had the infinite resources of God. Meekness is the opposite of self-assertiveness and self-interest. It is equanimity of spirit, simply because it is not occupied with self at all. The humble mind is thus at the root of all other graces and virtues. Self-exaltation spoils everything. There can be no real love without humility. Love, says Paul, does not parade itself, is not puffed up. 1 Corinthians 13.4 So that helps us understand a little bit more, especially that illustration of a horse that has already been tamed. And so he doesn't fight against his master. Oh, he's got questions. Sometimes things are not what he expects, but he's still under submission. He's not fighting his master.

So one of the reasons Christ came to the earth was to show us true humility and meekness. It wasn't just words. He actually embodied. He showed it with his example for all of us. The perfect description of humility and meekness is found in Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 through 8. Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 through 8.

Paul says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God or something to be grasping at, holding it, not giving it up, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, there's that word, tappeinos, that we've mentioned, and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God has also highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name. And so we see that perfect example. As we grow spiritually, we are to become more humble, more meek in our dealings with others. Jesus Christ set an example during the Passover, of which we partook a little over a month ago, the washing of feet. Let's go to John 13, to see why Jesus emphasized so much. We do this once a month, let's see why Jesus emphasized so much. We do this once a year.

Verse 12, he says, So when he had washed their feet, taken his garments, and sat down again, he said to him, Do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you say, Well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. It's interesting that that is not practiced very often. That's not done, because of course with not doing the Passover, you forget about this ceremony. But I will say that every year, they have the papal mass and the pope has several people that he washes the feet of. But it's interesting that they don't wash his feet. He just washes their feet. So again, that's not what Christ said. He said here that you ought to wash one another's feet. So again, they never get it right. They do half of the ceremony. The pope washes people's feet, but nobody washes his feet. They don't wash his feet. So you see, it's a reciprocal relationship. It's not just washing somebody else's feet. They also have the duty to wash your feet.

Of course, he feels probably too holy to do that. He can't wash my feet. I'm above you, but I'm willing to do it for you. Again, it's just this crazy idea that they can't put things as the Bible says. They can't carry it out in the same way. So then he goes on to say, For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, if you recognize what is behind this practice, blessed are you if you do them. So to us, it's very important. And sometimes you never know who you're going to wash another person's feet. It's not always your best friend or the person that you know well. Sometimes it's a complete stranger or maybe somebody that offended you during the year. But you know what? We still do it. We're not going to be respecter of persons. Now, humility is one of the characteristics of God's spirit. Again, the translation that we have is not very accurate. Let's go to Galatians 5, verse 22. Galatians 5, verse 22, where it talks about the fruits of God's spirit. We always have heard of meekness, but it actually also means humility. They're like two gloves. They work together. They're not really separate. Sometimes one is used more than the other. Sometimes the other is used. Notice in verse 22, It says, But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Now, the term here, gentleness, is translated as meekness or as humility. The Good News version of the Bible says, But the spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control.

So it is one of the fruits of God's spirit. Of course, they go together. If you're meek, you're going to be humble. They both fit together very well. Now, humility is the opposite of what happened to King Saul. Now, he was a pretty meek and humble person until he received the kingship. And then he forgot to be humble. It went to his head, the titles, the power, the riches.

In 1 Samuel 15, verse 17, we read the following. So Samuel said, When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? But now that he had the power and everything, he started doing things his own way and not God's way. And so eventually God removed them from his position. That very chapter, Saul was removed, and then David was chosen because David had that humble and meek spirit. And guess what? David continued throughout his life to have that meek and humble spirit. Not perfectly. He certainly made his mistakes. He allowed his kingship to get the best of him when he tried to use the census on Israel and paid a very deep price. People died because of that. But he repented and he went on. Saul, God saw. He's not going to change. There are people that are not going to change. They might be sorry. They might make the mistakes. But you see the same pattern continue. There's no real change of character and behavior. It happens at work many times. People give the chance to the person one after another, hoping they'll change. But sometimes you get together and say, guess what? This person is not going to change. We've seen it. He's too set in his ways and finally gets fired. And so we saw what King Saul lost when he lost his humility. Now, I'd like to go into the when and the where. You've got into who, into the what, and also to the where. Now we're going to go into specifically the when and the where again. We talked about God being in heaven, but here on earth we're going to cover this. All was harmony when humility and meekness reigned supreme in heaven and in earth. When did it start going wrong? It was when Lucifer lost his humility. In Isaiah 14 verses 12 through 14, we're going to read that. Isaiah 14 verse 12, it says here, How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning. How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations. For you have said in your heart, notice there are going to be five eyes. Now talk about me, me, me. I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the Mount of congregation, on the farther sides of the north. You wanted God's position. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. Yea, ye shall be brought down to Sheol, the grave, or to the pit, to the lowest depths of the pit. Also, Ezekiel 28, the parallel account, says something similar but adds a couple of details we don't find in Isaiah 14. Ezekiel 28, verse 17, it says, Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.

The New International Version has it. Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. Your wisdom was corrupted by your love of splendor. Yea, he started feeling his oats. He started feeling the power and influence, and it went to his head.

And so when was humility lost? It started with Lucifer, according to the Bible. And that is something that today can happen to people. They can also follow the same pattern Lucifer did. Notice one of the qualifications to ordain a minister is that he has to be humble, has to remain so. He can't be ordained in a quick manner. You have to see the fruits over time. In 1 Timothy 3 verse 6, it says about a pastor, it says, Not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.

So it can't be a person that hasn't been checked out properly. That's why we always go through ordinations, and they're carefully vetted before a person is ordained. The Bible knowledge commentary says about this verse, An overseer must not be a recent convert, lest his rapid advancement to leadership fill him with pride and conceit.

And he experienced that same kind of judgment that the devil incurred for his pride. And I'm sure everybody has seen people that really came out and they were very impressive, but guess what? They flame out. They let their vanity, their ego get the best of them. They start expecting it. They start demanding it. They really lose that humility, which is the antidote to pride and vanity. So that with Lucifer's fall started it all. Then Satan plotted to get Eve to go along with his way of thinking. To lust after something she wanted to have.

The fruit in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil wasn't a bad-looking fruit. It looked like one of these porcupines or one of these sea urchins. You'd think she would have said, oh, it looks awful. Who wants to eat that? Well, that wouldn't be a temptation. It looked good. It had a nice appearance. It had a nice fragrance. She thought, boy, this is going to be tasty if I try it out. That's the way sin is. It's something ugly and bad-smelling and horrible to look at. Nobody would do it. In Genesis 3, verse 6, it tells us, and there was something else, because Satan told her, you would receive power if you eat this fruit.

Genesis 3, 6, it says, so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, it looked tasty, that it was pleasant to the eyes, had a nice appearance, and a tree desirable to make one wise. So there was a power in this fruit. There was something that was going to be provided, which was going to be this independence to determine things for your own self.

You didn't have to depend on God anymore. And most kids, they go through when they get to be late teens, they start feeling their oats. They start feeling like, well, I'm not sure my dad and mom know best. They've lived another generation, and I think what I and my companions say is more right. And they start bucking the system. Well, in a certain way, this is what Satan said. You don't have to follow God.

You can determine your own path. You don't have to have somebody tell you what to do and that you have to be good all the time. Now you decide for yourself. And so she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. So here it's not clear that it doesn't say that Adam was right there when Satan was talking with her because he would have interrupted.

He would have been the one answering. But it mentions that he was close by, and she came up to him and said, Look, I took of the fruit. And Adam was not deceived. He realized it was wrong, but he went along with a woman. So it says in the Bible that Adam was not deceived as the woman was. So Adam said, Well, you did it. I might as well do it too.

How many times does that happen? People just follow along. Well, she's my wife. I've got to go along. But she says, I don't want to make her mad. End up in the doghouse, right? I don't know if there was a doghouse at that time, but sure there were all kinds of animals there. Whatever it was, he went along. You know, he could have said, You've done bad. Repent. God is going to come, but he can be merciful.

But no, he just, well, just kind of weak-willed. Went along with her. Now, that set a pattern for mankind to get itself into more trouble. And when it loses humility and becomes proud, vain and vicious and selfish, things really go bad.

They go south. Some people here went through the time of World War II and the Korean War, where about 40,000 Americans lost their lives. Of course, in World War II, it was much higher than that. But the point is that mankind eventually loses what humility and meekness it has, becomes proud, vain and vicious, as we see today.

Notice in 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 1, it says, But know this, that in the last days, so this was a prophecy, but Paul was then saying, Well, just like in the last days, we see people like this now.

That's what he's saying. Perilous times will come, for men will be lovers of themselves. People have always loved themselves, but not to this extent, not to where society had become enamored. Time magazine, years ago, it called the generation of the 1980s and 90s the me generation. Now it's called the me, me, me generation. Lovers of themselves, lovers of money. Boy, people have always enjoyed money, but now it's gotten worse than ever.

Boasters, you see, proud blasphemers, the way people's vocabulary is used, even now in the TV and other places, people's vocabulary reflect the person's character, the person inside their thoughts, their attitudes. The person's vocabulary says a lot about that person. Disobedient to parents, that's certainly one of the highlights today. Unthankful, you see all of the killings that young people are doing in classrooms and other parts. Unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. So that describes. Humility is not right now very highly valued. And now we go to the how. And the how we develop humility is based on the principle, whoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, and whoever shall humble himself shall be exalted. Matthew 18, 3 and 4. Matthew 18, 3 and 4.

Christ mentioned. Then Jesus called the child to him, said the midst of them, and 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. Therefore whoever humbles, as this little child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And so he's giving the example. We need to still have a childlike humility. We shouldn't think like children. We shouldn't be childish children, but we should have the humility typified by children. And when they're small, they don't have all of this hypocrisy and all of this double dealing with things. They're what they are. And they're expressive, they're innocent, and they show that openness. And many times in life, we lose. And everybody loves to be around people like that. I know we recently had a couple with us, and they have that childlike manner. For them, everything was just something joyous. We have a kumquat tree right there. First thing he'd do in the morning, go get the kumquats. Look at him. Wow, I've never had anything like this. This is so great! He had kumquats just every day. To him, that was the greatest thing to most people. Ah, that's a kumquat tree. Big deal. Let's go on with life. Just so wonderful to have people that still have that childlike innocence to them. And he said, we need to preserve it. In Luke 10, verse 21, In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, the rich, the smart, the mighty, and revealed them to babes, humble people that aren't taken very much into account. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight. God is humble. He likes to deal with humble people. He doesn't like to deal with smart Alex and with people that are just filled and think how high and mighty they are. Verse 22 Then he turned to his disciples, which were very humble people, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings, many powerful people, have desired to see what you see and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear and have not heard it. Then he also, well, he explains to us about that coming kingdom and how they're going to be the ones in charge. God works with humble people that are not filled with themselves. In Luke 17, verse 7, Christ gives this principle about humility. He says, Which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, Come at once and sit down to eat? But will he not rather say to him, Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself, and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink? In other words, there's this class level, you always know who's in charge and they get the best situation. Verse 9, Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, we are unprofitable servants. We have done what our duty was to do.

So such an attitude can produce a huge change in our lives. When we compare ourselves to what Jesus Christ did, who can boast? Who can claim to really have outdone what Jesus Christ did? We are nothing in comparison. That's why when we do good works before God and we serve Him, we should think we're unprofitable servants. We're just doing what God did. Christ died for us. We're not dying for anybody. We're not going out doing enormous sacrifices for other people. So we should continue to serve people with the right motives, not centering on ourselves, centering on God, helping others, thinking and being little in our own eyes.

So I hope we have seen that all of us need more of it, and we can develop better relationships through it. I'd like to end with that verse that Christ talked about in the Beatitudes, Matthew 5, verse 5. It said, Blessed are the meek, the term priorities, for they shall inherit the earth. The Amplified version says, Blessed, which means happy, joyous, spiritually prosperous, with life, joy, and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions. It says that's a term for blessed. Are the meek, the mild, patient, long-suffering, for they shall inherit the earth. Yes, the mild, patient, humble, and long-suffering. It actually comes from Psalm 37.11, where it uses the term anah, which means humble, and it talks about that the humble will inherit the earth.