The Humble Soul

[0:00] If you would turn back with me please to that portion of scripture that we read in 1st Peter chapter 5.

[0:13] 1st Peter chapter 5 and we'll read again the second half of verse 5. 1st Peter chapter 5 and the second half, the second part of verse 5.

[0:28] 1st Peter chapter 5 and the third half, the third half, the third half, the third half, the third half.

[0:58] The third half, the third half, the third half, the third half, the third half, the third half, the third half. When two ships collided. And when investigators came to the realization that the collision occurred not because of radar malfunction or because the autopilot was a wee bit jittery.

[1:25] They came to the realization that the cause of the accident was human pride. The two skippers, the two captains knew that they were on a collision course.

[1:44] However, neither was willing to go 2 or 3 degrees even or even 1 degree to the starboard.

[1:56] They were neither willing to go 1, 2, 5, 10 degrees to the port either. The two ships collided and hundreds of passengers and crew lost their lives.

[2:12] And the reason was human pride and human stubbornness. The reason was sin. The word of God here tells us.

[2:29] The word of God here tells us. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another. For God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

[2:40] Since Adam and Eve fell in the garden. Each and every human being that has ever been born in this world. Apart from one, of course, the Lord Jesus himself.

[2:54] Each and every one of us have been stained with sin and with pride. Because with sin comes pride.

[3:06] Now for any visiting minister or preacher to go into a church that they do not belong to. And to preach a sermon on humility. I think I'm on a hiding to nothing.

[3:20] But that is what the word of God teaches us. And that is what must be preached. A number of years ago in my studies. I came across a sermon by a minister called Ebenezer Erskine.

[3:33] And he was the brother of Ralph Erskine. And he was one of what Scottish church history call the Marrowmen. Maybe that might be a little bit of homework. Find out who the Marrowmen were.

[3:45] They were the twelve ministers who went. Who had a dispute within the Church of Scotland in the early 1700s. And the dispute was over whether ministers and elders were allowed to preach the free offer of the gospel.

[4:00] What we call today the free offer of the gospel. The debate back in the early 1700s was can a minister, can an elder, can a preacher go into the pulpit and offer Christ to everyone.

[4:13] And of course the answer is yes. Because Christ has instructed us to go out into the world and to preach the free offer of the gospel. And preach the gospel to every creature under heaven.

[4:24] But back then ministers were instructed only to preach to those who were deemed repentant enough. Now the Marrowmen won the battle.

[4:35] Hence we can preach the free offer of the gospel today. So Ebenezer Erskine, I came across a sermon by him written and preached in 1721 during a communion weekend at Orwell.

[4:48] And the title of Erskine's sermon was The Humble Soul. The Humble Soul, The Peculiar Favourite of Heaven. And this was one of his texts.

[5:00] And what Erskine did was he asked six questions of the Bible. He asked six questions of the Bible. And what I've done is I've taken his points.

[5:12] And I've put in my own application, my own illustrations and my own work into it. But I've used his six questions. Now we're not going to get through all six today. Okay, we might get one or two done.

[5:24] But not because they preached for about two hours at a time, these men. So we'll get one or two done. Now he asked six questions of the Bible concerning this question. The humble soul, the peculiar favourite of heaven.

[5:38] And the six questions he asked of the scriptures were this. Number one, what is a humble soul? Number two, why is the humble person a peculiar favourite of heaven?

[5:50] And can I prove this from the Bible? Number three, why does God appreciate the humble? Number four, what are the marks of a humble soul?

[6:04] Number five, why should we seek a humble spirit? And number six, how do we attain a humble spirit?

[6:17] These were the six questions he asked of the Bible on the topic of pride and humility. So the first one was, what is a humble spirit?

[6:28] But before we go to the first point, listen to a wee thing C.S. Lewis said about pride. This is what C.S. Lewis said about pride. He says, there is one vice of which no man in the world is free.

[6:43] There is one vice of which no man in the world is free, which everyone in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else, and of which hardly any people except Christians ever imagine that they are guilty themselves.

[6:59] And he goes on, it was through pride that the devil became the devil. Pride leads to every other vice. It is the complete anti-God state of mind.

[7:14] And with sin comes pride. And we know, and we know that it is only by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that we can be cleansed of this sin and of this pride.

[7:32] None of us are innocent. We are all guilty before God. And it is only by the death and the resurrection and the spilt blood of Jesus that humanity can be cleansed and the Lord's people will be cleansed.

[7:52] So the first thing Erskine asked, what is a humble spirit? Well, he says, number one, it's a sensible and a low view of ourselves.

[8:03] It's to have a sensible viewpoint of who we are. It's to have a sensible and a reasonable view of our pedigree and our station in life.

[8:17] Listen to Jacob, who had to be changed and molded by the Lord God. In fact, he had to be wrestled by God in order for his pride to be dealt with. And afterwards he says, Lord, I am not worthy of the least.

[8:31] I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have showed your servant.

[8:42] Genesis 32, 10. A man that had to be taken by God. A man that had to be changed by God. And he would be changed by God. And he became a servant of God.

[8:54] But God had to come into his life and he had to change his heart. I am not worthy, he says, of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all your faithfulness that you have shown me.

[9:07] We must never think that there is no one like us. We must never think there is no one like us. That we come from such and such a family.

[9:18] That we are in such and such an occupation. Or we have such and such wealth. Or we are doing this or we are doing that. We are not the Lord doesn't look upon these things.

[9:30] We are to have a reasonable and a sensible view of who we are. Of who we are. The story is told of Charles Spurgeon when he was preaching in the tabernacle one evening.

[9:43] And as he preached, after he preached, he went to the door. And as he shook hands with the people going out, there was this young man. And he had never seen this young man before. And the young man came up to him. And the young man just couldn't wait to tell the great preacher who he was.

[9:57] He was a wealthy young man. And he just couldn't wait to tell the preacher who he was. And who his father was. And who his grandfather was. And what industry his people were in.

[10:08] And Spurgeon just listened. And when the young man stopped speaking, Spurgeon says, Listen to this young man. I care not where you came from. I am more interested.

[10:19] And I am only interested in where you are going. Where are you with Christ? He asked the young man. I don't care where you came from.

[10:30] But where are you going? After this short, short pilgrimage in this world. Listen to King David. The young man who was taken off the croft, tending the sheep.

[10:42] And he was made king of Israel. He was the least within his own family. He was the youngest. He was the least. But yet he was God's man. To do God's business.

[10:53] And listen to what he says. Who am I, O Lord? And what is my house that you have brought me thus far? And yet this, even this, was a small thing in your eyes.

[11:05] You will see that in 2 Samuel chapter 7. Who am I, O Lord? And what is my house that you have taken me thus far? And you have made me king of Israel?

[11:19] Listen to the great apostle Paul. He's talking about his own gifts. And he says, We are not sufficient in ourselves, he says.

[11:30] We are not sufficient in ourselves or claim anything as coming from us. But our sufficiency is from God.

[11:41] The great apostle knew that his sufficiency came from God and came from God alone. You'll see that in 2 Corinthians 3.5. And later on Paul would say, Not that I am already perfect, he says.

[11:56] Not that I have already obtained this or I am already perfect. But I press on, the apostle says. I press on to make it my own.

[12:06] Because Christ Jesus has made me his own. I press on. Without Christ I can do nothing is what he is saying.

[12:18] Every gift that I ever received comes from the hand of God. In and of myself I am a guilty condemned sinner. But I press on.

[12:31] Because the Lord Jesus has made me his own. I belong to Jesus. And everything I have comes from Jesus. You see, a humble spirit will work without looking for glory or for show.

[12:49] A humble spirit will work when no one is watching. Not that I have already obtained this or I am already perfect, he says.

[13:00] But I press on. I press on. So that's concerning ourselves. The word of God tells us to have a reasonable and a sensible view of who we are.

[13:14] How about concerning others? So what is a humble spirit concerning others? Well, the Bible clearly teaches us that a humble spirit will put others before themselves.

[13:26] And this is where I fall down. Every day of my life. A humble spirit will put others before themselves. Listen to Paul. And we read it in Philippians 2.

[13:37] He says, Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. But in humility count others as more significant than yourselves. There is nothing like the word of God to make us look at ourselves.

[13:50] And make us look at our own hearts. So that we can come to the Lord in prayer. A humble spirit will put others before themselves. We are to do nothing. To do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit.

[14:03] But in humility count others as more significant than yourselves. And of course there in Philippians Paul points to Jesus. He looks to the one of ultimate humility.

[14:17] The one who is the son of God. The one who came and humbled himself. The one who humbled himself so much that he would go to a cross.

[14:30] And die on a cross. The ultimate humiliation. The one who is the son of God.

[15:04] The one who is the son of God. The one who is the son of God. The two who are the son of God. The son of God. The son of God. The son of God. A humble spirit has a gracious and a courteous attitude toward all. The story is told.

[15:16] The wee boy. The wee boy comes into the kitchen. And he's doing a project for school. And he says, Mom, Mom, how do wars start? How do wars start?

[15:27] Well, it's a wee bit like this. Say, for example, Britain and America were debating some subjects. And they fell out over the subject.

[15:37] And then they fell out really badly. And then they went to war. And then the husband walks in and goes, That's absolutely ridiculous. Britain and America would never go to war.

[15:47] What are you talking about? That's absolutely ridiculous. And she was saying, I'm only using it as an illustration. And the wee boy walks out of the room and he says, Doesn't matter. I know now how wars start.

[16:00] Pride. Sin. It's in us all. It's in us all. And we need this word of God. The Lord Jesus himself said, Sanctify them by the truth.

[16:13] He was praying to his father. Father, sanctify them by the truth. Your word is truth. And as we look at the word of God, We look to Jesus.

[16:24] But we also look inward at our own hearts and our own minds. And that is what we are commanded to do. How about concerning God?

[16:36] What is a humble spirit concerning God? Well, we are to have a very, very, very high view of God. Because God is God.

[16:47] And we must allow the Lord to be God. We are to have a holy fear of God. But we are to have a holy fear of God, Even with a smile on our faces.

[17:01] Because he has placed the Christian, Has this joy within their hearts. And yet has a holy fear of God. The world cannot understand it. We are to have a holy fear and a reverence of God.

[17:14] But yet within our hearts, We have this joy and this love for this God. And we can come to this God. And we can say, Abba, Father. A holy fear of God.

[17:25] And yet we can say, Abba, Father, you are God. A humble spirit has a holy fear and a holy view of God.

[17:37] A humble spirit surrenders to God. A humble spirit will surrender to the will of God. And realize that the Lord God knows better for their lives.

[17:50] If the humble spirit says with David, And you will remember the story in 2 Samuel 15, Where King David was king for a number of years. And he had Absalom his son.

[18:01] The one he loved. And Absalom rose up against him full of sin and full of pride. Because David, let's be honest, He spoiled his children. And Absalom rose up against him and wanted to be king.

[18:15] And of course Absalom lost his life in the civil war that ensued. And it broke David's heart. He was broken to the core.

[18:25] And this is what David says, Let him, that is God, Let him do to me what seems good to him. Let him do to me what seems good to him.

[18:39] He was broken. But he had to let God be God. And there are times in our experience as we pilgrim through, Where we will become confused.

[18:51] And we may very well become perplexed with certain situations in our experience. But we must let God be God. And we must trust him. We must trust him.

[19:05] Let him do to me what seems good to him. A humble spirit says he does not deal with us according to our sins, Nor repay us according to our iniquities.

[19:20] Psalm 103 verse 10 This God whom we worship does not deal with us in the way that we deserve. A humble spirit will acknowledge that.

[19:31] A humble spirit sees the cup that's put into his or our hand Is nothing compared to the cup that was put into the hand of Christ. Listen to Erskine on this point.

[19:46] He says, In a word, The humble and lowly believer is content to be nothing. That Christ may be all and all unto him.

[19:57] He's content to be a fool. That Christ may be his only wisdom. Content to be, as he really is in himself, A guilty, condemned sinner.

[20:09] That Christ may be his only righteousness. Content to be stripped of his filthy rags. That he may be clothed with a borrowed robe.

[20:21] Wonderful words. Are we content to be fools for Christ? The humble spirit says with Paul, But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

[20:43] Philippians 3.8 So we've looked at a humble spirit concerning ourselves. We've looked at a humble spirit concerning others. And we've looked at a humble spirit concerning God.

[20:57] Micah 6.8 He has told you, O man, what is good, And what does the Lord require of you, But to do justice, And to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God.

[21:13] There it is in the Old Testament. Walk humbly with your God. There's nothing like the word of God To make us look at our own hearts.

[21:26] There's nothing like it. We need this word. And we need this spirit of God To help us. Because as we, as Christians in this world, We are to be ambassadors for Christ.

[21:39] And we will fail every day. We will. But we are still commanded and exhorted To live lives that are worthy of the gospel, As Paul says in Philippians.

[21:52] Philippians. Micah says, walk humbly with your God. That's point number one. There's only five to go. We'll do one more.

[22:04] We'll do one more. Why is the humble person a peculiar favourite of heaven? And can this be proved from the Bible? Well, what Erskine does is, He points to numerous scriptures, And he says, And I've picked out one, The one of Jesus and the centurion.

[22:30] Do you remember the one of the centurion, Who had the sick servant, In Matthew chapter 8, And the centurion. Now you must remember that, This centurion, He was a man of standing.

[22:42] He wasn't one of the Jews. He wasn't one of God's people. He was a Roman. He was high and exalted, As far as society was concerned. And yet, here's this centurion, And he comes at the feet of Jesus, And he humbles himself before all the Jews, And he says, Lord Jesus, Lord, I am not worthy to have you even come under my roof, He says, But you only have to say the word, Lord Jesus, And my sick servant will be made well.

[23:11] All you have to do is say the word. You don't even have to come under my roof. That's the power that you have. And do you remember the Lord Jesus' response? He says, Truly I tell you, With no one in the whole of Israel, Have I seen such faith?

[23:28] He says, Centurion, Go! You go, centurion! Because it will be done exactly as you have said. Faith.

[23:38] The Lord loves faith. And with faith comes humility. He didn't care who saw him at the feet of Jesus. He couldn't give a monkey's. He just wanted his servant healed.

[23:50] And he knew that this man, Jesus, This God man could do it for him. And he humbled himself at the feet of Jesus. And when we look at the Gospels, And we see the complete opposite.

[24:04] How ironic. How ironic. We see the complete opposite with James and John. Do you remember the story? And they used the mother to ask the question.

[24:16] He said, Lord Jesus, See when you're ruling and reigning in your kingdom. See these thrones that are going to be on your right hand, On your left hand? I beg see one of them.

[24:27] Can I have one of them? And my mate here, Can he have the other one? Do you remember the Lord Jesus' response? You have no idea what you are asking.

[24:42] You don't have a clue. You don't have a clue. Even the Son of Man came to serve. And not to be served.

[24:54] And to give his life as a ransom for many. You don't know what you're asking, James. You don't know what you're asking, John. You know, if Christ came to serve, How much more are we, As his people, Meant to serve?

[25:14] You don't know what you're asking. You see, when the Lord gives the grace of humility, He intends more grace for the soul. Our text that we looked at earlier, Clothe yourselves, all of you, With humility toward one another.

[25:29] For God opposes the proud, But gives grace to the humble. But elsewhere in the scriptures, It talks about grace, Upon grace, upon grace, upon grace. You see, honor and exaltation is intended, For the humble soul, Solomon said.

[25:45] Before honor is humility. Now that's what James and John didn't get. You know, they are seated with Jesus at the moment. But they didn't quite get it.

[25:55] But they would get it. Because they would have to suffer, For the sake of Jesus, Before that exaltation, And that glorification came. In our text earlier, We saw that it says, You might have to suffer a little while.

[26:12] But that suffering will be worth it. Because one day, If you are a child of God, You will rule, And you will reign with Christ.

[26:22] But not quite yet. But it will come. It will come. It will come.

[26:36] John Flavell, the Puritan, Says this, They that know God will be humble, And they that know themselves cannot be proud.

[26:48] Listen to Isaiah, The Lord speaking through the prophet Isaiah, In Isaiah 57, 15, For thus says the one who is high, And lifted up, I am the one who inhabits eternity, My name is holy, I will dwell in the high, And the holy place, And, And also with him, Who is of a contrite, And a lowly spirit, To revive the spirit of the lowly, And to revive the heart of the contrite.

[27:20] One of the Beatitudes, Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You see, God's eyes are upon the humble, But to this man will I look, Even to him that is poor, And is of a contrite spirit, And the one who trembles at my word.

[27:42] So can it be proved from the scriptures, That the humble person is a peculiar favorite of heaven? Of course it can. Of course it can.

[27:54] Of course it can. And we know, And we know, That it is only the gospel, That can do anything, With our sin, And with our pride.

[28:15] It is only the gospel, And it is only the grace of God, That we can be changed, And we need changing. The Bible calls it sanctification.

[28:28] That he will sanctify us, That he will renew us. But there are two parts to this sanctification, There is active sanctification, And there is passive sanctification.

[28:40] There is passive sanctification, That you are already a holy nation. You are already holy in the sight of God. Active sanctification means, That we are to work at it, Every day of our lives.

[29:00] Listen to Heidelberg, And I will close with this. Heidelberg question and answer. And I have used this before with you, And I love this. And it asks the question, What is your only comfort in life, And in death?

[29:15] Answer that question, Within your hearts right now. The humble spirit will say this, That I am not my own, But belong with body and soul, Both in life and in death, To my faithful saviour, Jesus Christ.

[29:32] He has fully paid for all of my sins, With his precious blood, And he has set me free, From all the power of the devil.

[29:42] He also preserves me in such a way, That without the will of my heavenly father, Not a hair can fall from my head. Indeed, All things must work together for my salvation.

[29:58] Therefore, By his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, And makes me heartily willing and ready, From now on, To live for him.

[30:12] Are you heartily willing and ready, To live for him? Do you know Jesus? Have you accepted, That wonderful offer, That is on offer today again?

[30:30] That cleansing, And that renewing? Because the gospel, As it is preached, John Calvin once preached, And once said, It's as if the Lord Jesus Christ is there, In our very midst, With his arms out.

[30:47] Asking sinners to come to him, Heartily willing and ready, From now on to live for him.

[30:59] May it be so, That each and every one of us, In this sanctuary this day, Know the Lord Jesus. Let us pray. Eternal God, We thank you indeed for your word.

[31:15] And heavenly father, As we look at our own hearts, And as we study our own hearts, As we study the word of God, We thank you, That you have promised, To renew the hearts of your people.

[31:28] Lord, Would you take away our hearts of stone, And replace it with that tender heart of flesh, Giving us that humility, And reasonableness, Within our own minds, And within our own hearts.

[31:40] Heavenly father, We thank you, For your grace, And for your love, And help us to become ambassadors for Christ, Help us to be gentle, Help us to be meek, And help us, Oh Lord, To be Christ-like, In all our dealings, And in all our days ahead, For we ask it always and forever, In the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Amen.

[32:05] So we did two points, We'll maybe do three and four the next time, If you invite me back. And we're going to conclude our worship, This time by singing, Psalm 149, Psalm 149, Verses marked one to six, In the Scottish Psalter, Psalm 149, Psalm 149, Psalm 149, Psalm 149, Praise ye the Lord, And to him sing a new song, And his praise, In the assembly of his saints, In sweet psalms do ye raise, And we'll sing down to the verse marked six, Let in their mouth aloft be raised, The high praise of the Lord, And let them have in their right hand, A sharp two-edged sword, Psalm 149, Verses marked one to six, To God's praise.

[32:55] Praise ye the Lord, And to his saints, And your song and his praise, In the assembly of his saints, In sweet psalms do ye raise, Let Israel in his maker joy, And to him praise the same, Let all the Zion children are,

[33:59] Be joyful in their king, O let them unto his great name, Give praises in the dance, Let them with him, And with heart, In songless grace advance, For God a pleasure the is yet another тоже Er Kapi.

[34:54] Jeremy et iluz, O peace will be. And here with salvation the meat will beautify.

[35:18] And in his glory excellent let all his saints rejoice.

[35:37] Let them turn upon their beds above lift up their voice.

[35:55] Let in their mouth a love be raised the high praise of the Lord.

[36:12] And in their mouth in their right hand a sharp two ages door.

[36:29] And may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you now and forevermore. Amen.