Humility

[glen smith]

Humility by Charles David Walker

I. Importance of humility

A Profound

B. Humility is required before divine forgiveness.

2 Chronicles 7:14 NASB
and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

C. Humility is a lost aspect of godliness

II. Humility the example of Christ

Philippians 2:1-11 NASB Be Like Christ

¹ Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, ² make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. ³ Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; ⁴ do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. ⁵ Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸ Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Christ died to fulfill the need sinners have before being acceptable to the Holy God.

III. Definition of humility in the Greek lexicon is leveling of mountains down to the plains.
As a character trait humility is the establishing of relationships by the treatment of others as being just as worthy as oneself – or both parties being as if on level ground no mountains or plains.
Humility does not mean the establishing of relationships with others when they act superior as if from above or inferior as if from below.

Philippians 2:3-4 NASB
³ Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; ⁴ do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

The godly characteristic of humility is to regard the interest of others before ones own. This is lifting up ones fellowman to a level ground by considering their needs before ones own. Such is the commandment to the believer.

IV. Spiritual mechanics of divine humility

God gives grace to the humble and is opposed to the proud.

1 Peter 5:5-7
⁵ You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. ⁶ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, ⁷ casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

This is the divine working in relationships – marriage

Pride is self exaltation while humility opens the way for God exaltation as in
Philippians 2.

Philippians 2:8b-9a NASB
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ For this reason also, God highly exalted Him

In caring for the needs of others first, the believer’s needs are trusted to God. Believers take care of others and God takes care of believers.

[Lou Newton]

Humility by Charles David Walker

I. Importance of humility

A Profound

B. Humility is required before divine forgiveness.

2 Corinthians 7:14 NASB
and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

C. Humility is a lost aspect of godliness

II. Humility the example of Christ

Philippians 2:1-11 NASB Be Like Christ

¹ Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, ² make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. ³ Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; ⁴ do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. ⁵ Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸ Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Christ died to fulfill the need sinners have before being acceptable to the Holy God.

III. Definition of humility in the Greek lexicon is leveling of mountains down to the plains.
As a character trait humility is the establishing of relationships by the treatment of others as being just as worthy as oneself – or both parties being as if on level ground no mountains or plains.
Humility does not mean the establishing of relationships with others when they act superior as if from above or inferior as if from below.

Philippians 2:3-4 NASB
³ Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; ⁴ do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

The godly characteristic of humility is to regard the interest of others before ones own. This is lifting up ones fellowman to a level ground by considering their needs before ones own. Such is the commandment to the believer.

IV. Spiritual mechanics of divine humility

God gives grace to the humble and is opposed to the proud.

1 Peter 5:5-7
⁵ You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. ⁶ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, ⁷ casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

This is the divine working in relationships – marriage

Pride is self exaltation while humility opens the way for God exaltation as in
Philippians 2.

Philippians 2:8b-9a NASB
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ For this reason also, God highly exalted Him

In caring for the needs of others first, the believer’s needs are trusted to God. Believers take care of others and God takes care of believers.

Amen and amen Glen. Thanks so very much for this article on humility. No one will enter heaven without humility. The humility we have is all by grace and grace alone. Humility is the very highest nature of God.

Matthew 23
⁸ “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹²For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Matthew 19
²⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife^[e] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Matthew 20
²⁴ When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. ²⁵ Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

[glen smith]

Oswald Chambers (24 July 1874 – 15 November 1917), evangelist among the holiness movement in Scotland, wrote this, "God hates the visionary dreaming of my ideas of Christian fellowship for it causes me to be proud and pretentious. As long as I have the tiniest bit of spiritual impertinence, it will always reveal itself in the idea that I am expecting God to tell me to do a big thing, when all He is telling me is to come follow Him.
Philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), wrote in the Pensées, "Jesus Christ is a God whom we approach without pride, and before whom we humble ourselves without despair."
In "The Colloquies," Erasmus (1466?-1536), renown as the compiler of the original language Bible text, Textus Receptus, wrote, "It seems to me to be the best proof of an evangelical disposition, that persons are not angry when reproached, and have a Christian charity for those that ill deserve it."

NOTE: AS originally posted the 2 Corinthians reference should be 2 Chronicles. Error has been edited.

[Lou Newton]

Oswald Chambers (24 July 1874 – 15 November 1917), evangelist among the holiness movement in Scotland, wrote this, "God hates the visionary dreaming of my ideas of Christian fellowship for it causes me to be proud and pretentious. As long as I have the tiniest bit of spiritual impertinence, it will always reveal itself in the idea that I am expecting God to tell me to do a big thing, when all He is telling me is to come follow Him.
Philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), wrote in the Pensées, "Jesus Christ is a God whom we approach without pride, and before whom we humble ourselves without despair."
In "The Colloquies," Erasmus (1466?-1536), renown as the compiler of the original language Bible text, Textus Receptus, wrote, "It seems to me to be the best proof of an evangelical disposition, that persons are not angry when reproached, and have a Christian charity for those that ill deserve it."

NOTE: AS originally posted the 2 Corinthians reference should be 2 Chronicles. Error has been edited.

WOW, those are really profound quotes Glen:

"God hates the visionary dreaming of my ideas of Christian fellowship for it causes me to be proud and pretentious. As long as I have the tiniest bit of spiritual impertinence, it will always reveal itself in the idea that I am expecting God to tell me to do a big thing, when all He is telling me is to come follow Him.

Jesus Christ is a God whom we approach without pride, and before whom we humble ourselves without despair."

"It seems to me to be the best proof of an evangelical disposition, that persons are not angry when reproached, and have a Christian charity for those that ill deserve it."

I hope all that read these will pray and ponder on them for some time.

What a truth put to mere words. When I humble myself before The Lord Jesus, it does not bring despair to me, but instead it brings glory to Him in my eyes, for I see Him as He is in truth when I take my eyes off of myself and gaze upon His Glory. His Glory brings humility to my arrogant heart. But also reveals to me that my hope is in One who is worthy of all my hope.

[Lou Newton]

From Glen's post:

"God hates the visionary dreaming of my ideas of Christian fellowship for it causes me to be proud and pretentious. As long as I have the tiniest bit of spiritual impertinence, it will always reveal itself in the idea that I am expecting God to tell me to do a big thing, when all He is telling me is to come follow Him.

I used to dream of doing big things for The Lord. I would be home and He would give me this sermon and I would preach it as the words came to my mind. These sermons were fantastic and they would always restore my soul no matter how tough my trials had been in those times.

I thought that these sermons were for me to preach to large crowds some day and I even dreamed of miracles taking place to prove to the people that these things were true.

But later I came to realize that these sermons were between me and Him. He just wanted SOMEONE to listen and see that these things were true. The Lord desires at least a few to come to really know who He is, and desires us to seek Him and get to know Him.

The Lord was ministering to me, some of these things were NOT to be passed to others.

Yes we are called to minister to others, but our main calling to is be with Him and to come to know Him.

1 John 1New International Version (NIV)

The Incarnation of the Word of Life


1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ² The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We write this to make our^[a] joy complete. Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness


⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

This statement is NOT about fellowship with each other, it is fellowship between us and The Lord.

[The Knight]

From Glen's post:

"God hates the visionary dreaming of my ideas of Christian fellowship for it causes me to be proud and pretentious. As long as I have the tiniest bit of spiritual impertinence, it will always reveal itself in the idea that I am expecting God to tell me to do a big thing, when all He is telling me is to come follow Him.

I used to dream of doing big things for The Lord. I would be home and He would give me this sermon and I would preach it as the words came to my mind. These sermons were fantastic and they would always restore my soul no matter how tough my trials had been in those times.

I thought that these sermons were for me to preach to large crowds some day and I even dreamed of miracles taking place to prove to the people that these things were true.

But later I came to realize that these sermons were between me and Him. He just wanted SOMEONE to listen and see that these things were true. The Lord desires at least a few to come to really know who He is, and desires us to seek Him and get to know Him.

The Lord was ministering to me, some of these things were NOT to be passed to others.

Yes we are called to minister to others, but our main calling to is be with Him and to come to know Him.

1 John 1New International Version (NIV)

The Incarnation of the Word of Life


1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ² The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We write this to make our^[a] joy complete. Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness


⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

This statement is NOT about fellowship with each other, it is fellowship between us and The Lord.

Amen. A relationship with Christ is where it begins and ends. So many people today have made Christianity all about morality. Just adhere to a list of your do's and don'ts. But Christianity isn't a list of your do's and don'ts...it's a list of what He has done.

[Lou Newton]

Amen. A relationship with Christ is where it begins and ends. So many people today have made Christianity all about morality. Just adhere to a list of your do's and don'ts. But Christianity isn't a list of your do's and don'ts...it's a list of what He has done.

Hi Karl, sure good to see you posting. Thanks so much for the reply and amen to it.

[glen smith]

I'm blessed you found the quotes meaningful. God sent Oswald Chambers little book. "My Utmost for His Highest," to me to do just the very things you are posting. Just note he died at age 41. The first time I read "My Utmost for His Highest" I understood only a portion of what he wrote, but the portions I understood represented the most profound spiritual things I experienced. Reading the book a second time after a few years revealed other portions that corresponded to my most recent spiritual enlightenment. Again, after a few years the same experience. This is when I concluded that if Oswald Chambers wrote it, it must represent a spiritual reality or experience. Every since when I read his work, if I don't understand what he means, I just mark it up to my spiritual immaturity and know that someday I will be taught the same thing by the LORD. He must have been a Daniel, beloved of the Lord, because I don't think in this life I will ever know what Oswald Chambers knew - or maybe it is not what but who!

[glen smith]

A little background on my post on humility.

I transcribed this several years ago from audio by C.D. Walker. I heard David Walker present this short devotional on humility several times. It was always inspiring. He spoke without notes, and it was more detailed and much better than what I transcribed.

I kept after him to make an audio. Well . . . he did, but . . . He is also is a fire arms enthusiast. He bought a M1 Garand in Georgia but had to pick it up in person. He made the audio while driving to Georgia. It stinks compared to what I've heard him do in live presentations - but it is the best I have.

Funny! I gave him a copy of the transcript and when he looked at it he threw it in the trash and said, "that's not the way I say it!" He was correct but that is the way he recorded it. I love the guy.

[Lou Newton]

I'm blessed you found the quotes meaningful. God sent Oswald Chambers little book. "My Utmost for His Highest," to me to do just the very things you are posting. Just note he died at age 41. The first time I read "My Utmost for His Highest" I understood only a portion of what he wrote, but the portions I understood represented the most profound spiritual things I experienced. Reading the book a second time after a few years revealed other portions that corresponded to my most recent spiritual enlightenment. Again, after a few years the same experience. This is when I concluded that if Oswald Chambers wrote it, it must represent a spiritual reality or experience. Every since when I read his work, if I don't understand what he means, I just mark it up to my spiritual immaturity and know that someday I will be taught the same thing by the LORD. He must have been a Daniel, beloved of the Lord, because I don't think in this life I will ever know what Oswald Chambers knew - or maybe it is not what but who!

Amen Glen - "My Utmost for His Highest" is a very good book to read when one is brokenhearted, or going through very tough times.

[Lou Newton]

A little background on my post on humility.

I transcribed this several years ago from audio by C.D. Walker. I heard David Walker present this short devotional on humility several times. It was always inspiring. He spoke without notes, and it was more detailed and much better than what I transcribed.

I kept after him to make an audio. Well . . . he did, but . . . He is also is a fire arms enthusiast. He bought a M1 Garand in Georgia but had to pick it up in person. He made the audio while driving to Georgia. It stinks compared to what I've heard him do in live presentations - but it is the best I have.

Funny! I gave him a copy of the transcript and when he looked at it he threw it in the trash and said, "that's not the way I say it!" He was correct but that is the way he recorded it. I love the guy.

Funny story Glen - it reveals that God speaks Holy things through men who are flawed like all of us are.