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WEEKLY
Volume 4 Number 18
27 September 2009
A Humble Heart
(Message delivered by Rev Hien Nguyen at the
Worship Service, 2:00 pm, Sep 27, 09)
Text: James 4:10
We have learnt about a broken and
contrite heart, the heart of a person who has acknowledged his sin,
unrighteousness, transgression and iniquity not only against human
beings but also against the holy and righteous God as well as has
acknowledged his sinful, corrupt and totally depraved nature in the
sight of God. The outcome of such heart-knowledge of the holy God and of
his sinful nature is a humble heart.
We have also learnt that “God
resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:6; 1
Peter 5:5), and surely, the proud cannot escape God’s punishment or
judgment, like Lucifer who exalted himself to be like God and was cursed
to become Satan and was cast down into the earth (Isa 14:13-15). Eve
listened to Satan’s deceptive words and ate the forbidden fruit in order
to be “as gods” (Gen 3:4-5), and Adam also ate that fruit, having
listened to his wife’s words instead of God’s Word, and they both were
cursed. Miriam arrogantly spoke against Moses, even God’s servant, and
she became leprous, white as snow (Num 12:1-15). King Saul failed to
wholeheartedly and carefully obey God’s Word, so the Lord left him and
Satan troubled him (1 Sam 15:22-23; 16:14-15). David conducted a census
of his people with a proud motive, and God sent a pestilence, taking
away the lives of 70,000 (2 Sam 24). King Uzziah proudly entered into
the temple to burn incense, so he became leprous until his death (2
Chron 26:16-21). King Nebuchadnezzar was so proud of his kingdom, so he
had to dwell with the beasts of the field and eat grass as oxen until he
acknowledged the Lord, even the Sovereign Creator (Dan 4:29-37). King
Herod arrogantly failed to give God the glory, so he was eaten of worms
and gave up his spirit (Acts 12:20-23), etc.
Today we shall focus on our humility
before God as God commands, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the
Lord, and he shall lift you up” (James 4:10). Peter also wrote,
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may
exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6). Truly, both Peter and James
had the same training under their Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, who
“humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross” (Phil 2:8). God will surely bless the humble as He promises.
Then, do you and I want to be blessed? Let us humble ourselves before
God, and may God give us a humble heart before Him.
God’s Blessings to the Humble
It is always good and wise to
acknowledge God’s sovereignty and all our blessings from Him, “The
LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up”
(1 Sam 2:7). When we humble ourselves before Him, we shall be blessed:
Be remembered, regarded and heard:
“he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble”
(Ps 9:12), and “LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou
wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear” (Ps
10:17), and “Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy
endureth for ever” (Ps 136:23) “For he hath regarded the low
estate of his handmaiden” (Luke 1:48) and “Because thine heart
was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest
his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and
humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before
me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD” (2 Chron 34:27).
God does not hear the proud prayer of
the Pharisee, but He hears the humble cry of a tax collector “God, be
merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:9-14). God heard the humble cry of
the wicked king Manasseh in his repentance (2 Chron 33:19). Surely God
will hear our humble prayer to Him, too.
Be honoured, respected, lifted up and
exalted:
“honour shall uphold the humble in spirit” (Prov 29:23) and “he
that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Matt 23:12; cf. Luke
1:52), and “before honour is humility” (Prov 15:33; 18:12), and
“By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and
life” (Prov 22:4), and “Though the LORD be high, yet hath he
respect unto the lowly” (Ps 138:6). Shall not we wisely humble
ourselves before God always?
Be comforted and revived by God’s
presence:
“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose
name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is
of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and
to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isa 57:15). God promises
to be with us and revive us when we humble ourselves in repentance
before Him.
Be blessed with God’s grace and help:
“But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the
proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5),
and “he giveth grace unto the lowly” (Prov 3:34), and “I was
brought low, and he helped me” (Ps 116:6). How we need God’s grace
and help! Let us humble ourselves before Him.
Be wise and the greatest
“When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom”
(Prov 11:2), and “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this
little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt
18:4). It is always wise to humble ourselves before God.
Be not destroyed but delivered:
“And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the
LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I
will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my
wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak”
(2 Chron 12:7, 12; 32:26). Humility before God will preserve us from
destruction.
Humble Yourself before God
This is God’s command with His promise
of blessing: “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he
shall lift you up… he may exalt you in due time” (James 4:10;
1 Peter 5:6), and “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what
doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and
to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8). The first requirement of
God’s revival is humility, “If my people, which are called by my
name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from
their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their
sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chron 7:14). Do you and I truly
humble ourselves before the Lord our God?
Many may humble themselves before men,
but not God. A person with his Bachelor or Master degree may proudly
look down on the uneducated but bow low to a person with a Ph.D or a
scientist. A manager may proudly bully his staff but bow low to a CEO. A
lightweight boxer may be proud of his strength but bow low to a
heavyweight boxer, etc. Sadly, many bow low to non-Bible-believing
scholars with their theories or arguments against God and His divinely
preserved Word! That is not true humility before God!
It is much better to humble ourselves
before God than to be humbled/humiliated or brought low by Him, “And
thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these
forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to
know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his
commandments, or no” (Deut 8:2 cf. 8:16; 2 Chron 28:19; 33:12, 19).
Truly, “Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with
their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity” (Ps 106:43),
and “Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression,
affliction, and sorrow” (Ps 107:39). Dear friends, God can humble
you and me or bring us low easily by taking away our sober mind, good
health, good jobs, our loved ones or property due to our pride,
arrogance and sins. May God help us wisely humble ourselves before Him
always.
A Humble Heart
Have a new heart with our Lord Jesus’
mind: Jesus
exposes human sinful and proud heart, “For from within, out of the
heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye,
blasphemy, pride, foolishness” (Mark 7:21-22; cf. Rom 8:7).
Some appear to be humble when they encounter failures, illness, trials
or difficulties, but when the calamity has passed and the danger is gone
and when they prosper again, it is easy for them to be proud and despise
others. To have a humble heart even when we are promoted, prosperous and
successful, we must have a new heart controlled by the Lord Jesus and
have the same mind of Him, who is God but humbly became a man, even a
servant and “humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross” (Phil 2:5-8).
Rely on our Lord Jesus always:
“Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and
worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not
seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the Head
(Jesus Christ), from which all the body by joints and bands
having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the
increase of God” (Col 2:18-19). Our Lord Jesus always humbly relies
on His Father and He does not do anything independently of His Father,
“The Son can do nothing of himself” (John 5:19, 30). If you and I
fail to rely on our Lord moment by moment like the branches on the Vine,
we are not truly humble before Him.
Seek God first:
If we truly acknowledge God’s
sovereignty and all our blessings from Him, we must seek Him, His
kingdom, His righteousness first, “But seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all
these things shall be added unto you”
(Matt 6:33). Failing to seek God
first, we are not truly humble before Him.
Submit to and live by God’s Word:
“And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with
manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he
might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live”
(Deut 8:3). Many are deceiving themselves by thinking that they honour
God and humble themselves before Him but they fail to submit themselves
to the authority of God’s Word or keep God’s Word or live by God’s Word!
They even arrogantly doubt and criticize God’s Word! They are not truly
humble before God at all. God rebuked Pharaoh due to his disobedience to
God’s Word, “How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?
let my people go, that they may serve me” (Exod 10:3). King Saul
failed to carefully keep God’s Word and wholeheartedly obey God’s Word
and God rejected him (1 Sam 15:22-23). Failing to submit ourselves to
the authority of God’s Word and to live by God’s Word, we are not truly
humble before God!
Know God and know ourselves more:
The more we humbly read God’s Word with the enlightenment of the Holy
Spirit, the more we shall know about God and ourselves, and the more we
shall humble ourselves before the holy most high God as Paul did, “I
am the least of the apostles” (1 Cor 15:9), and “unto me, who am
less than the least of all saints” (Eph 3:8), and then “Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am the chief”
(1 Tim 1:15). If you and I are still proud, we do not truly have a
heart-knowledge of our great God and our sinful nature.
Appreciate God’s Grace and Blessings:
Remembering that “a man can receive nothing, except it be given him
from heaven” (John 3:27) and that it is by God’s grace and mercy
alone that we have been saved, born again, sanctified, guided, and
preserved, we shall give all glory to God, “But by the grace of God I
am what I am…yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1
Cor 15:10), and we shall not despise nor judge others nor be boastful of
ourselves or our future (James 2:1-4; 4:11-17).
Fear God and Humbly Walk with Him:
God requires us “to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with thy God” (Micah 6:8). The closer we walk with God, the more we
humble ourselves! If we are still proud, we are walking so far behind
our God!
Conclusion
Dear friends, our living and true God,
our Creator, is so great, supreme, sovereign, powerful, glorious, holy
and merciful. He commands you and me to humble ourselves before Him, to
rely on Him, to seek Him first, to submit to and live by His Word, and
to humbly walk with Him so that He may be with us and bless us more and
more. May God help you and me to have the same mind of our Lord Jesus
Christ and wisely humble ourselves before God always. Amen.
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