Humility & Faith
Notes
Transcript
One day some parents brought their children to Jesus. The Bible actually uses a word that means infant. So some of these children were small, perhaps not talking, or even walking yet. The parents brought their children to Jesus so that He might bless them.
But as they bring their children to Jesus, the disciples see it and begin to tell them to go away. The disciples counted it their job to screen those who wanted their Master’s time and attention. To them, these infants were nothing. Unimportant. But Jesus takes a completely different approach.
He tells the disciples to let these kids through! But His reasoning is interesting: “for to such belong the kingdom of heaven.” (Luke 18:16b, ESV).
Then we read this in Luke 18:17
Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
We are taking a break from our Foundations series this week. In the upcoming two weeks we are going to be focusing on the person and work of the Holy Spirit, especially focusing on being filled with the Spirit. As I was studying this topic this week, I realized that it required more study than I could give it in just one week. But, this week at our Lenten lunch I gave a devotional on humility and faith. As I prayed about what to focus on this week as we prepare for the upcoming couple weeks, God led me back to focusing on Humility and Faith. Humility and faith are required in order to fully let ourselves be used by God. Especially as we move forward in understanding core beliefs and doctrines we hold as a church, we need to have a foundation of both faith and humility before God, allowing Him to speak to us. Cultivating a lifestyle of humility and faith is vital to the Christian walk. Moreover, in the coming week our topic - Spirit baptism - requires humility and faith as we learn and grow. So this week I’d like to ask you to join me in preparing the ground for the work God wants to do in our hearts in the next few weeks together.
Pray
Jesus said:
Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
What does it mean to receive the kingdom like a child?
The main idea for this morning:
Humility and Faith go together.
Children are a great example of how humility and faith go together.
My son does not have any problem relying on myself or Katie. He is constantly coming to us needing something, or wanting to tell us something. He shares everything with us, from the times when he bonks his head to the moments when something grabs his attention and blows his mind. He is dependant on us for food, clothing, hygiene. There is a humility in this. He relies on us, and trusts us in a humble dependance. That’s the way it should be! As he grows, he will become more independent. No doubt he will want to do things by himself. But at this stage in the game he is exactly where he should be: exercising dependance and trust in his parents. So it is with us and our Heavenly Father, that we humbly place our dependance on Him, understanding that we desperately need Jesus.
Talk about dependence - what does it look like to be dependent on God? John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” This demonstrates that in order to live the Christian life we need to be dependent on God for everything! Say more…
Matthew 6:11 “Give us this day our daily bread,” Jesus, our example, exercised total dependence on God (I say or do nothing unless the Father says or does it first), and He teaches us to do the same. Even to the point of the food we eat day to day.
And within God’s kingdom, it actually works backwards: We don’t somehow outgrow God as we grow in faith, but instead we become ever-more dependent on Him for everything. We exercise humility by seeking His praise, and not the praise of people. And it starts with humility that comes from God’s Spirit to realize that we desperately need God. Which points us back to John 15:5.
Andrew Murray, in his book Humility written in 1895 says that humility and faith are one. You cannot have more of one without the other. In fact, without humility, faith is impossible.
Let’s define these terms: A friend who is also participating in devotionals for our lenten lunches defined humility this way: Viewing one’s self accurately as an individual, with talents and flaws, yet void of arrogance or low self-esteem. Humility is in fact a great character strength. Andrew Murray defines faith as “The acceptance of our place as humble dependants.” Truly, faith expresses our dependance on the one in whom we place our belief and trust. As Hebrews talks about, it’s trust in what we cannot see (ref) - namely God. We have to trust God who we cannot see in order to live the Christian life. I would add to this that we seek praise not from fellow man, but from God. Here’s something else Andrew Murray said: Humility prepares the soul for trust.
What better example of humility, faith, and trust than little children, who with innocent trust and dependance demonstrate the path to the kingdom of God.
As we consider how faith and humility go together, we must realize that without humility, there can be no true faith. In fact, pride makes faith impossible!
In Mark 2:17, we encounter the story of Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners. When the scribes of the Pharisees - those who counted themselves very upright because they lead Israel in following the law - saw this, they ask:
Mark 2:16b (ESV)
“Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
What happened here in this story? These scribes were meticulous followers of the law. They tried their hardest to keep the law at every point. Yet their attitude was such that they created two classes of person in that time. They separated themselves from the “common folk” whose characters were not “pure” like theirs. Such boasting in the purity they thought they had attained for themselves happened not just in front of people, but in front of God, who sees everything. They meticulously tried to follow the law, and so gained a false estimation of themselves as better than the rest. Yet in truth, they were no better than the rest.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Let’s define pride for a second. If you googled “pride,” you would come up with the following:
A feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.
I think it’s more than that though. Holman Bible dictionary helps clarify our definition:
Undue confidence in and attention to one’s own skills, accomplishments, state, possessions, or position. Pride is easier to recognize than to define, easier to recognize in others than in oneself.
Truly, pride is easier to see in others than ourselves. It’s no wonder Jesus tells us in Matthew 7 5
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Ouch. But pride is an insidious thing. It is hard to weed out, because it lives the shades of gray. However, of this we can be sure: if we are so full of ourselves and our own achievements, we have no room for God. It takes humility, and then faith, to come before the Almighty God and ask for forgiveness and healing.
We have two choices: We can be full of ourselves, thinking that we are so great because of who we are and what we have done. This was the character of the scribes. Yet this arrogance only serves to push us away from Jesus. Or, we can choose to have an accurate view of who we are. People, with talents and flaws, and all in need of the Saviour. The reality is that there is not one of us in this room that is not a sinner. Whether you’ve done something big or small, every last one of us needs Jesus. The problem is that when our own pride gets in the way, there can be no room for humble dependance on the Saviour. How can we rightly see that we cannot save ourselves and must come before God and ask forgiveness if we are blinded by our own false-confidence of our skills, accomplishments, position, or possessions? Pride pushes out the Saviour.
In John 5 44, Jesus says:
How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
Jesus Himself modelled humility for us in being submitted to the will of the Father. He was further not driven by the praise of people, but rather sought for the Father’s approval. But here in John 5 as Jesus talks to the Jewish leaders, He exposes a core problem for them: They sought the praise of men, and not God. This is another marker of pride and arrogance. They boasted - if not with words then certainly in the way they lived - in their own accomplishments. They put themselves on display for all the people to see. They thought they were better, and they wanted to be revered by the people. Think about it, the more Jesus challenged them, the more angry they got. Jesus pushed the buttons of their pride and embarrassed them. He challenged their authority. So eventually, they were all too happy to see Him hang on the cross and die. In the same way, if we are too busy seeking the approval of men, above God, we run the risk of pushing out the Saviour. To truly place our faith - our dependance and belief in Jesus Christ alone - we need to have humility. This means that we look to God for approval, that we focus on what He wants done. We do not get driven along by the praise of people around us. That will surely fail. Rather we look to God for direction, and ask Him for empowerment.
Humility and Faith go together.
If faith truly is the acceptance of our place as humble dependants, then really what we are saying is that we need God. We do not think too much of ourselves, thinking that by our actions, or our status we are better than others or too good to need Jesus. Rather, we see ourselves as people who are all broken, and in need of Jesus. Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And from that understanding God begins a new work, creating through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, and the indwelling of the Spirit, a new person - a person who becomes more and more dependant on Christ, and less and less driven by the approval of man. It is in a space of humility that faith can grow and be exercised. It is in this same heart posture that the Holy Spirit can work within us.
So, again to borrow from Andrew Murray, “let us seek to humble ourselves before God. Let us accept gladly those things that humble us.”
Little children are not afraid to admit they need help - not most of the time at least. They simply, faithfully, place their trust in their parents. They recognize with surprising clarity that they need help, and then in sincerity come to their parent asking for it. Now I get it, especially as kids get older they become more and more “I do it” focused. But little children, in their simplicity, their openness, and their faith demonstrate the essential nature of how humility and faith go together. If we cannot come before God with humility to acknowledge that we need Jesus, we cannot truly place our faith in Him.
In these next few weeks, we are going to be exploring how the Holy Spirit moves and works. The goal of the next couple weeks is to grow deeper in your relationship with God, and to encounter the Holy Spirit in a fresh way. However, that takes both humility and faith.
It takes humility because it means we have to be willing to listen, learn, and engage. We need to take a view that there is more to learn, and more to grow in. Similarly, if you encounter something in the next two weeks that you are not sure about or disagree with, we as a body of believers need to handle that disagreement in humility, not looking to be right, but looking to build each other up.
Faith is humble dependance on God. It takes faith and humility to continue growing in our walk with God. Sometimes the idea of the Holy Spirit working in us and using us make us feel a bit uneasy. You may feel like it’s weird, strange, or pushed out of our comfort zones to talk about being baptized in the Spirit. Look, I have been there and I am continuing to grow in this myself! May I encourage all of us - myself included - to come with humble willingness to how the Spirit of God wants to grow you, and faith to express to God that you trust Him with yourself as God does this growing work? Simply let God grow and work in you in the next few weeks. Don’t be afraid of how God wants to move. Exercise humility to say “Ok God, what do you want to teach me in these next weeks?” And faith to say “God, I know you can and will grow me. Help my heart to be open to your leading.” This is a really good section!!
If you do not have a relationship with Jesus, this is for you. God is knocking at the door of your heart right now. He wants to set you free, and grow you in this new, amazing life filled with God’s Spirit that is available to all. If you are ready to accept Jesus as Saviour, and repent of your sin, I want to encourage you to pray right now and tell God that. There’s no special prayer you have to pray, or thing you need to say. Just repent and believe in Jesus, and give Him your life. The Bible says if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised Christ from the dead… (ref). That’s all it takes! If you want to talk about this more or pray, you can call the church or email us. Living a life filled with hope is something that is available to all people through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Accept that free gift today, and be set free.
Humility and faith are foundational part of our walk with Jesus. You cannot have more of one without the other. Pride - the opposite of humility - pushes out the Saviour. My prayer for all of us is that we will exercise humility and faith. Not just for these two weeks, but as a rule in our walk with God and others! We are dependant on God, and if it wasn’t for Jesus Christ, we would all be on our way to hell right now. But because of Jesus we are saved, and now have hope! Lest we think this is our own doing, this is God’s work - the free gift of love that He offers us. The next two weeks are going to be growth weeks. You might feel stretched, or pushed out of your comfort zone a bit. I challenge you to come to Jesus with humble submission, expressing your trust and belief in Him as Saviour and Lord. Humbly give Him everything you have, and let Him work inside of you. Continue to allow God to do a new work in you. Sometimes our pride can get in the way. Instead, humbly let God’s Spirit continue to change your life, and thank Him for new life, and new hope in Jesus.
In light of this, it is communion Sunday this week. What better time to come before God in humility and focus on Him than in this time at His table.
1 Corinthians 11:23–26 (ESV)
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Pray.