Humility

Intro

We are all commanded to be humble.

God loves humility. He blesses the humble. He draws near to the humble, gives them grace, shows them mercy and tender care.

Meanwhile, God hates pride. He punishes the proud.

In fact, God hates pride with such hatred, He calls it an abomination, something He regards with disgust and loathing.

2 Samuel 22:28 says God’s eye is upon the proud to bring them down.

If you are proud you make yourself a target of God’s wrath.

So we need humility for our own eternal good. But understand that we need humility because it is good, fitting, right and honoring to God.

Micah 6:8—God “has told you, O man, what is good; and what does YHWH require of you but to do justice, to love lovingkindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

But how do we get humility?

How do we nurture it and grow it so that we become characterized by it?

We tend to talk about humility only in terms of what it’s not—“It’s NOT arrogant.” But that’s not helpful. It’s hard to nurture something that we only understand in terms of what it’s NOT.

We often think about humility as one of those virtues that grows like an air plant—it doesn’t need any soil or water; it just grows. If it is going to be genuine, true, lasting, strong humility, it will be firmly rooted in soil. It will be rooted, motivated, nurtured by something solid, unchanging and real.

So I want to know what humility IS—what it looks like and what feeds and supports it, so I can know how to practice it and encourage it in my heart and yours. That’s my goal for us today.

I am going to define humility like this:

Humility is the heart’s agreement with and submission to reality, which prepares the soil of the heart for the fruits of the Spirit, and postures the heart for genuine Christlike character, service, and worship.

The chief reality that dominates and drives humility is the infinite glory and worth of God.

Sub-Intro:

We’re going to examine humility mainly through the lens of Philippians 2:1-11. So turn there now; Philippians 2:1-11.

Paul writes this letter from prison to the church in Philippi of Macedonia.

This is a generous church who has given to Paul and partnered with him in ministry over the years. They love Paul and Paul loves them.

They have shared a great deal with Paul, and now they are sharing with him in suffering for the gospel.

Paul wants them to go through opposition to the gospel in a way that is, as he puts it in 1:27 “worthy of the gospel of Christ”.

Which is to say a life consistent with the magnitude of the hope of the gospel, the character of the Christ of the gospel, and goal of the gospel—namely, to reconcile lost sinners to God for the glory of God.

In Philippians 2:1-11 Paul identifies HUMILITY as central to a living worthy of the Gospel of Christ.

In this passage we’ll see what humility looks like and what gives it life. Dividing Philippians 2:1-11 into three parts, we have the fruit, root, and ground of true humility.

GOAL: 5 Minutes

FIRST, let’s look at the

Fruit of Humility (2:1-4)

By “fruit” I mean the visible expression of humility. It’s what humility does.

In Philippians one Paul magnifies Christ as the ruling priority of his life. Christ is so important to him that, Paul’s personal interests have faded into the background; whether he is in prison or free, lives or dies, his joy is wrapped up in Christ’s purposes and glory.

He considers it a privilege to suffer for the sake of Christ. He wants the Philippians to see their suffering that way, too.

Chapter 2 begins:

“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—“

He’s not wondering if these things exist. He’s saying SINCE we both know we share these joys in our suffering for Christ’s sake—then what?

Verse 2—“fulfill [or complete] my joy” [Philippians. Add one more thing that will complete my joys. What joy would that be, Paul?] that you think the same way, by maintaining the same love, being united in spirit, thinking on one purpose.”

As conflict from the outside persists, it’s easy for grumbling, complaining, and conflict to rise. They must all be unified under the same life-dominating priority.

What must be true of each church member for that to happen? Humility

Look at verse three:

“doing nothing from selfish ambition or vain glory, but with humility of mind regarding one another as more important than yourselves, not merely looking out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest of others.”

What will wreck the unity, strength and health of a church? “selfish ambition and vain glory”

These describe a heart of Pride.

Selfish ambition—This is a striving and competing to ensure your interests are served above the interests of others.

Vain glory—This is a mindset that honors Self as the most important, and it is concerned with getting that honor and praise from others as well.

Note the connection between the two—that vain glory approves of and motivates selfish ambition. Since I am most important, all I do and all those around me should do is serve my interests.

Think about this a moment, and you can see how pride naturally leads to disunity and weakness:

Conflicts rise because we get easily offended, defensive, angry or moved to self-pity when we’re belittled, ignored, or not honored as we think we should be.

Needs—whether physical or emotional or spiritual—go unconsidered, unnoticed and therefore unmet. My focus is on me, so everyone struggles alone.

Serving self above all else, Pride risks nothing for the sake of others. It says, “I might sound foolish or embarrass myself if I try to encourage that discouraged person, welcome the newcomer, share the gospel, or confront my brother or sister who is deceived by their sin—so I’ll keep to myself. I would rather protect my comfort, peace, or reputation.”

Pride weakens the church. It chokes out fellowship, love, hospitality, and a gospel witness.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or vain glory!

“BUT with humility of mind—“ Notice it starts with the mind, our convictions of what is true and right. Humility is a mindset that drives what we do.

So How does humility of mind express itself? What does it do?

First: “Regarding one another as more important than yourselves”

Your translation might say “think of others as better than yourselves.”

I think it’s easy to misunderstand this as meaning that humility is found in ranking ourselves at the bottom of every list: “Worst, worst, worst. Everyone else is better than me. Ok. Now I must be humble.”

I don’t think Paul has that in mind here. That leads to false humility.

Humility doesn’t require we deny that one person is better at something or more mature than somebody else.

But humility doesn’t draw attention to itself or expect to be praised for these things, either.

This phrase “regarding one another as more important than yourselves” is not about ranking ourselves at the bottom of every list; it’s about priorities.

Humility has to do with value—who or what do I value as more important and therefore worthy of honor and service.

This is the humble counterpart to vain glory.

If vain glory says, “I’m most important. I deserve to be admired, my desires served.”

The humble mind says, “No. Others are more important than me.”

If we sincerely think this way, how will it flow into our priorities?

Verse 4: “not merely looking out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

This is the humble counterpart to selfish ambition.

Listen: You will prioritize what you think is most important. Your attention, your affections, your ambitions will all naturally flow toward what or whom you view as most important.

The proud person may not be obvious. He may not boast, but he still values himself above others; he wants praise and admiration, and he feels hurt when he doesn’t get it.

The proud person is the constant subject of his own attention; he is too wrapped up in himself to consider the interests of others.

It is possible for the proud person to serve others. But it will be mixed with self-serving motives—What will others think of me? What will others give me in return? This is the vain glory of hypocrisy that Jesus warns about in Matthew 6.

The proud heart gets angry or resentful when his acts of service go unnoticed or un-thanked. Why? Because, in his mind, his service was a generous gift that others do not deserve.

But the humble mindset is the opposite of this. With a humble mindset, I sincerely regard others as more important than myself. I forget myself; their interests become my priority.

My thoughts, plans, cares, worries, prayers, time and resources are best spent on them. It is only right that all I have flow outward, away from myself, in service of those who are more important than me.

TRANSITION: So this is the fruit of humility; this is the outward display of a humble heart. It’s helpful to identify what humility looks like so we can identify pride and humility in ourselves, repent and grow in these things.

But how do I do this for real? I need somebody to show me what this would look like in real life. Paul gives us the example we need, next, so that our humility is rooted in somebody who lived it perfectly.

GOAL: 10 Minutes

Root of Humility (2:5-8)

Verse 5 - “Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”

What way of thinking? Paul’s not moving onto a different subject. He’s pressing his point further.

He’s saying—if you want to know what humility of mind looks like in action—look to Jesus as your example.

6-8 - Now let’s learn from it:

Verse 6: “who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men.”

“Existing in the form of God” - God the Son, second person of the Trinity. Eternal God. Creator and Ruler of the universe. He is known and rightly praised and adored by countless angels.

“Equality with God a think to be grasped” - Equal in essence, importance, and glory with the Father and the Spirit—yet, He does not hold onto the reverence and dignity His equality demands. He did not wield the fact that He is God as a reason to not serve the needs of those lower than Him.

There wasn’t an argument in heaven. God the Son didn’t say to the Father, “Why should I have to be the suffering servant? I’m just as much God as you are!”

He “emptied Himself”—How? God the Son let go of the glory He enjoyed as Absolute Ruler of Heaven and made himself a nobody. He didn’t come in the kind of glory you read about in the Old Testament that brings people to their knees and makes sinful man fall down in fear and trembling and think they’re going to die. That would have been right for Him to do.

But God the Son came as a little baby born to a poor family. He grows up as a common, forgettable-looking man, a poor construction worker, from poor, obscure town.

Truly God and now also Truly Man. Now what?

Verse 8: “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

This is truly amazing:

For centuries God’s plan of salvation had been rolling forward. All creation has been obeying God in perfect lockstep with His Sovereign providence.

And now the plan requires the perfect God-Man to be the Substitute for Sinful Mankind.

So God the Son bends low enters into this creation as that Man. He enters into the muck and mire of a sin-cursed world to push the plan to the finish line.

Nobody pushed God the Son into humility, but He chose it. He humbled Himself. He was not concerned with His own interest, what He deserved, His own glory—all at the expense of the good of others.

But He humbled Himself. How? By becoming obedient. Obedient to whom? To God the Father. To the will of God.

Jesus was obedient to the fullest extent. He did not put a limit on His obedience—This far and no further; anything more will be too demeaning, too humiliating, too much sacrifice.

He humbled Himself under the will of God and obeyed—HOW FAR? To the point of death.

And not just any death but the most disgraceful, humiliating death that mankind has ever invented—death on a cross.

The Only Innocent One—condemned to die by a corrupt justice system. Beaten, whipped, stripped naked and pinned to wood, displayed publicly as a criminal, and left to die, the last sounds He heard being the agonized screams of the thieves on either side and the mocking condemnation and insults of the community who should have embraced Him as their King, but instead turned against Him to murder Him.

There was no one on earth who deserved more honor than Jesus. There was no death on earth that surpassed the cross in terms of indignity, shame, disgrace. Yet, Jesus’ humble obedience extended that far.

That is his example to us: The One who deserved infinite glory and praise in heaven, lowered Himself to live on earth as a lowly servant; He subjected Himself to the worst shame and humiliation at the hands of sinful men—and why?

God’s purpose wasn’t merely for Jesus to leave us an example.

His humble obedience to the point of death DID SOMETHING. When Christ suffered at the cross, He suffered for the sake of others. He did not only suffer at the hands of men, but He suffered under the full blast of God’s furious anger against these men’s sin.

Jesus suffered at the hands of enemies, in order to save and eternally bless those enemies from the Wrath THEY deserve.

What an amazing Savior!

There can be no greater example of Humility than Jesus. It’s impossible.

Humility does not ask, “Why should I have to do that for THEM?”

It doesn’t ask, “Do they deserve this from me?”

Humility does not say, “I will obey if it is comfortable, or makes me look good, or serves what I want.” But “What does obedience to God call me to in this situation?”

Humility makes oneself a servant of God purposes—even if it requires disgrace, pain, and sacrifice.

Transition:

This aspect of obedience to God’s purposes leads us to our last point, which is really the ultimate foundation or reason for our Humility.

I said earlier that humility is grounded in reality. It is the heart’s agreement with and submission to reality. There is something that is absolutely real and true—and humility begins when the heart stops fighting that reality, but agrees with it and submits to it to the point of sacrificing one's life for the sake of that reality.

We need to understand this, because if from here you thought: “Okay, I just gotta be humble like Jesus! Just gotta obey no matter what. C’mon heart! Be humble! Be humble!” You’re going to have a hard time. You cannot muster humility in a vacuum. Humility is a response to something real, true.

When Jesus obeyed and said in the garden “Not what I want, Father, but your will be done”—He obeyed for a reason—to serve something ultimate.

Yes, He sacrificed Himself for our sake—but we’re not the ultimate reason for His humble obedience. Christ’s obedience was grounded in a reality that goes far deeper than the eternal wellbeing of creatures.

It’s this ultimate purpose that the last three verses of this passage point us to, which must be the ultimate ground and reason for our humility. The very soil from which our humility grows and is nurtured and fed.

GOAL: 10 Minutes

Ground of Humility (2:9-11)

Pride operates on the belief that this is reality: “There is one lord, and it’s me. There is one purpose for all that happens—it’s to serve my glory.”

This passage says, “No. Wrong There is one Lord, and it is Jesus. There is one purpose for all that happens in the universe—to serve God’s glory.” Humility is ultimately the heart’s embrace of and submission to this reality.

Read with me, verses 9 to 11:

Therefore [as a result of Jesus’ humbling himself to the point of dying on the cross for the salvation of unworthy sinners], God also highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that EVERY TONGUE WILL CONFESS that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.

9-11a - God exalted Jesus and gave Him a name which is above every name. What is that name? LORD! This is to say that He is superior to all. None are higher in rank, in authority, in majesty and glory than Him. This is a title that belongs to God alone.

Isaiah 45:22-23 - “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other—[there is only one God, only one Ruler over Creation]—I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, That to Me—YHWH—every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.”

This is a statement of ULTIMATE SUPERIORITY.

Before His incarnation Jesus existed eternally as God the Son, One with the Father and the Spirit, equal in honor and glory. Now, after His humility, His death and resurrection, God the Father exalts Jesus before all creation. He displays Him publicly as LORD—why? “so that”, ALL CREATION will be humbled before Him.

Every knee and tongue “of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth”—you can’t get any more comprehensive than that. No part of creation is left out. God has exalted Jesus as Lord SO THAT all creation will no longer honor themselves or other creatures as superior and worthy of their praise, but so that Jesus alone will be honored above all else as LORD.

None rank higher in glory, honor, and praise.

And I want you to know that God’s exalting Jesus to this position is not an accident. It’s not something that God just decided to do on a whim. This always has been and always will be the purpose of all creation.

Colossians 1:15-18:

Jesus “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation—[which is to say, the one who deserves to inherit and own all creation, as a firstborn son would inherit all that belongs to his father]. For[because] in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”

All creation is ultimately leading toward the kind of worship that Revelation 4 and 5 paint, where all heavenly and earthly creatures fall down and bow before Jesus and say: “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.”

Romans 11:35 sums it up like this:

“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things—ALL THINGS. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”

To sum up: EVERYTHING God has made, and EVERYTHING He does serve to display and magnify the reality that He is supreme and therefore worthy to have first place in everything. This is the universe God made and the reason He made it.

Will you humble yourself to this? Will you embrace and submit to this reality, and put all that you are in service of this wonderful reality?

God made the universe to serve as the eternal THRONE ROOM in which He will be worshiped, honored, and glorified. This is why the universe exists. To spend creation serving any other purpose would be a waste. This is why you and I exist—to display the reality of God’s supremacy in all things. There is no more ultimate purpose. Nothing higher, nothing greater, nothing more right or more true that we could spend our existence on.

Do you see the outrageous nature of pride in the face of all this? Pride rebells against the whole flow of all God’s purposes. It attempts to establish a throne in God’s throne room and draw attention from the one who truly deserves it.

Humility embraces and submits itself to the reality that God deserves ultimate praise and glory. This reality moves like a force upon the heart, humbling it to bow before God and confess Him as Lord. The heart that has been humbled by the reality of God’s superiority sees the display of God’s supremacy over all things as a worthy cause to throw all of himself into.

GOAL: 15 Minutes

Conclusion

Humility is removing our attention away from ourselves and