The Grace Of Humility
July 24, 2024
Pastor Gordon Cook
Luke 18:9-14, “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector standing far off would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Last Wednesday night I talked about a book by Thomas Watson, one of the Puritans, and the title of it is The Godly Man’s Picture, a small paperback, but an excellent little book, and he answers the question, “What does a godly person look like? or “What is a godly man?” What characteristics or qualities should characterize his life? I mentioned two of them, he is a man of prayer and he is a thankful man. If you go on and read through Watson's book, he mentions love: he's a man of love; he's a man of faith; he's a zealous man; he's a man who prizes Christ; he's a man who weeps. He also says this, “A godly man and a godly woman is a man of humility. And that's what I want to focus on, the grace of humility.
Every Christian, to some degree at some level has humility. Once you were born again, you have the fruit of the spirit and one of those fruit is humility. It's interesting how Jesus begins the Beatitudes, he puts humility right at the top, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” That Greek word ‘poor’ literally means to crouch or to act or behave like a begger. So it's a picture of a man who's very humble and a man who's very much aware of his need. That same word is used of Lazarus in Luke 16. Remember Lazarus, he was covered with sores and he was waiting for the crumbs from that rich man's table. A man by the name of John Brown describes the poor in this way, “He's a person who knows himself to be entirely dependent. He knows himself to be an inexcusable sinner. He knows himself to be a righteously condemned criminal. He knows that in himself no good thing dwells.”
I was thinking of Jesus in terms of why he begins the Beatitudes on that note of humility. Remember, the Sermon on the Mount is something of an apologetic against the religion of that day, the religion of the Pharisees and the scribes. Read through the whole sermon and you'll find Jesus is constantly going after the false religion of the Pharisees and the scribes. You could certainly say this, that ‘poor in spirit’ is very much opposite to what the Pharisees were like. They were as proud as proud could be. They used their religion to promote themselves. Jesus said, “They love the chief seats of the synagogue and they love to stand on street corners to pray.” Then he devotes this whole parable in Luke 18. Look at the contrast again between two men. Two men are put on camera here, two men, two prayers and two destinies. Both go to the synagogue, both pray and both are sinners. But the problem is that only one man realizes he's a sinner. That's the publican.
The Pharisee goes on something of a pride or self-promotion monologue. Five times he uses the word I; I tithe, I fast and clearly the man was very much in love with himself. He comes into God's presence sort of like a peacock, “Look at me! Look at me!”
But notice the contrast. The publican or the tax collector, he's almost hiding in the corner. He's standing afar off, he won't even lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead of coming and boasting about himself, he cries out for mercy. He beats his breast, “God be merciful to me the sinner.” That's why this parable would be somewhat of a shock. That's the man who goes home blessed by God, he goes home justified. But every Christian, every true Christian, is a justified and a humble man or woman. To some degree you have to be humble if you're going to be a Christian. If we went looking through our Bibles in terms of Christians or believers, we would find that they show a humility with respect to confession of sin.
Think of David, Psalm 51 almost sounds like the publican, “Be merciful to me Oh, Lord!” he cries out, “Be merciful to me, the sinner!” Think of Job at the back end of his trial. At the front end we see Job as a blameless man, but at the back end of his trial you could say Job is more humble. What does he say of himself? “I despise myself and repent, in dust and ashes.” Think of the apostle Paul and that heart cry in Romans chapter 7, “0h wretched man that I am!” So every Christian, to some degree has been humbled, we are humbled by the grace of the gospel and we should continually be humbled. The more we grow in holiness, (this might surprise some people), the more humble you become, because the more sin you see, right, the more sin you see in yourself; you become more aware of heart sin, mind sin, tongue sins. But the more you grow in holiness, the more humble you should become, because you see more of your sin, and the more we should cry for mercy.
John Stott said, “At every stage of our Christian development and every year of our Christian discipleship, pride is the greatest enemy and humility is our greatest friend.” Pride is our greatest enemy and humility is our greatest friend. And remember that Peter struggled with pride, perhaps more than some of the other apostles. But remember what he says in 1 Peter, chapter 5, “God gives grace to the humble and he resists the proud.” There is a promise, he gives grace to the humble; and there's a warning, he resists the proud. So as we come into the presence of God, let's not forget we come as children, we are in Christ. We were reminded of that in the Sunday school hour by Dr. Ferguson. But we never want to lose sight of our sinnerhood, and we are always in need of mercy.
Pastor Gordon Cook
Luke 18:9-14, “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector standing far off would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Last Wednesday night I talked about a book by Thomas Watson, one of the Puritans, and the title of it is The Godly Man’s Picture, a small paperback, but an excellent little book, and he answers the question, “What does a godly person look like? or “What is a godly man?” What characteristics or qualities should characterize his life? I mentioned two of them, he is a man of prayer and he is a thankful man. If you go on and read through Watson's book, he mentions love: he's a man of love; he's a man of faith; he's a zealous man; he's a man who prizes Christ; he's a man who weeps. He also says this, “A godly man and a godly woman is a man of humility. And that's what I want to focus on, the grace of humility.
Every Christian, to some degree at some level has humility. Once you were born again, you have the fruit of the spirit and one of those fruit is humility. It's interesting how Jesus begins the Beatitudes, he puts humility right at the top, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” That Greek word ‘poor’ literally means to crouch or to act or behave like a begger. So it's a picture of a man who's very humble and a man who's very much aware of his need. That same word is used of Lazarus in Luke 16. Remember Lazarus, he was covered with sores and he was waiting for the crumbs from that rich man's table. A man by the name of John Brown describes the poor in this way, “He's a person who knows himself to be entirely dependent. He knows himself to be an inexcusable sinner. He knows himself to be a righteously condemned criminal. He knows that in himself no good thing dwells.”
I was thinking of Jesus in terms of why he begins the Beatitudes on that note of humility. Remember, the Sermon on the Mount is something of an apologetic against the religion of that day, the religion of the Pharisees and the scribes. Read through the whole sermon and you'll find Jesus is constantly going after the false religion of the Pharisees and the scribes. You could certainly say this, that ‘poor in spirit’ is very much opposite to what the Pharisees were like. They were as proud as proud could be. They used their religion to promote themselves. Jesus said, “They love the chief seats of the synagogue and they love to stand on street corners to pray.” Then he devotes this whole parable in Luke 18. Look at the contrast again between two men. Two men are put on camera here, two men, two prayers and two destinies. Both go to the synagogue, both pray and both are sinners. But the problem is that only one man realizes he's a sinner. That's the publican.
The Pharisee goes on something of a pride or self-promotion monologue. Five times he uses the word I; I tithe, I fast and clearly the man was very much in love with himself. He comes into God's presence sort of like a peacock, “Look at me! Look at me!”
But notice the contrast. The publican or the tax collector, he's almost hiding in the corner. He's standing afar off, he won't even lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead of coming and boasting about himself, he cries out for mercy. He beats his breast, “God be merciful to me the sinner.” That's why this parable would be somewhat of a shock. That's the man who goes home blessed by God, he goes home justified. But every Christian, every true Christian, is a justified and a humble man or woman. To some degree you have to be humble if you're going to be a Christian. If we went looking through our Bibles in terms of Christians or believers, we would find that they show a humility with respect to confession of sin.
Think of David, Psalm 51 almost sounds like the publican, “Be merciful to me Oh, Lord!” he cries out, “Be merciful to me, the sinner!” Think of Job at the back end of his trial. At the front end we see Job as a blameless man, but at the back end of his trial you could say Job is more humble. What does he say of himself? “I despise myself and repent, in dust and ashes.” Think of the apostle Paul and that heart cry in Romans chapter 7, “0h wretched man that I am!” So every Christian, to some degree has been humbled, we are humbled by the grace of the gospel and we should continually be humbled. The more we grow in holiness, (this might surprise some people), the more humble you become, because the more sin you see, right, the more sin you see in yourself; you become more aware of heart sin, mind sin, tongue sins. But the more you grow in holiness, the more humble you should become, because you see more of your sin, and the more we should cry for mercy.
John Stott said, “At every stage of our Christian development and every year of our Christian discipleship, pride is the greatest enemy and humility is our greatest friend.” Pride is our greatest enemy and humility is our greatest friend. And remember that Peter struggled with pride, perhaps more than some of the other apostles. But remember what he says in 1 Peter, chapter 5, “God gives grace to the humble and he resists the proud.” There is a promise, he gives grace to the humble; and there's a warning, he resists the proud. So as we come into the presence of God, let's not forget we come as children, we are in Christ. We were reminded of that in the Sunday school hour by Dr. Ferguson. But we never want to lose sight of our sinnerhood, and we are always in need of mercy.
Posted in Pastor Devotional