Humility is what the natural man cannot have at all and what the spiritual man must relearn many times a day. People wake up in the morning full of self and must learn to deny self on a daily basis and then to humble self several times a day. This is not as easy as making breakfast or going for a walk. It is a spiritual battle where the soul must learn to cry out to God each day and enter a state of emptiness or of helplessness in spiritual things while looking with confidence to the grace and sovereignty of God. The soul, when it is helpless in itself in terms of understanding, knows that it must have the Lord give it understanding or it will not have it. “Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything” (2 Timothy 2:7).
Humility is necessary to the preacher, to evangelists, and to those being evangelized. While the methods of evangelism today focus on getting a message across to people so that they can make a decision, it must be insisted on that this is simply not biblical. Faith is far more than an intellectual decision based on information. God opposes the proud and will not give grace to them. Salvation is by grace alone and if God does not give grace to the proud then all people must be humbled before they can be converted by grace. It is grace that converts a soul and not an intellectual choice or belief of some facts. True enough that God uses the truth to convert a soul, but it is by grace that the actual conversion is carried out. The new birth is by the will of God which is only moved to save souls by His grace. It is the Spirit who blows where He wills that breathes life into the dusty bones of dead sinners.
It is accurate to say that “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth” (James 1:18). Indeed God uses the word, but it is still the exercise of His will to bring sinners and make them new in Christ. As 1 Thessalonians 1:5 says, “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” The Gospel is not just a message with words, but it is a message that comes to sinners with power and in the Holy Spirit. Sinners are not changed simply because the sound of words that follow the pattern of the Bible are spoken into their ears, but because the Holy Spirit uses them to make sinners live. The Spirit is holy and will not work grace in proud hearts that resist grace and would use it for self and not God. It is a disgusting thought to think of God giving grace to the proud who would use it for self rather than His glory. It makes Him less than holy and makes man out to be sovereign in giving grace rather than God.
The word of God must be received into the heart and not just heard with the physical ears. As in Luke 8:13 which is part of the parable of the sower, “Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.” The word is pictured as being received by some with joy, but they have no root. This parable might be better termed as the parable of the soil. What determined the growth of the seed was the nature of the soil. The proud and hardened heart that is busy with the world and the things of self does not have a heart that the seed will gain root in. It is the heart that has been ploughed and turned by humility that receives the words of God.
As previously looked at, James 1:21, it tells us that the word must be received in humility. “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.” It is only the humble soul that receives the word of God implanted that can be saved. Humility is utterly necessary for these things. The self-centered and self-sufficient soul cannot receive the word of God which speaks of the glory of God and the utter necessity for humility to receive the gospel of grace. The soul governed by self may want the help of grace, but it will not die to self in order to receive grace alone.
Those who go out to teach others the Gospel need to know their own hearts and enough truth to tell others how to really be converted. A soul that goes out in pride and in the strength of self will have a different story and a different gospel to tell others. The heart that has not been broken from self will not tell others of the necessity to be broken from the strength and love of self in order to receive the word of God and grace. Only those who have been through some travail of soul with their own pride and self will know how to deal faithfully with other souls. The word of God is so clear on this issue. The word of God will only be received when the soul is humbled. It is only in the humbled soul that the Holy Spirit moves and works in power. It is only the humbled soul that will not resist with pride and so the word of God is received as the word of God. It is only the humble soul that truly wants to know the ways of God as the proud and self-centered soul only wants to do the ways of self and will twist the word of God to be according to self. But the humble soul wants self to be conformed to God and not to the world.
God Loves... Himself 
Leave a comment