"Our Greatest Enemy, Our Greatest Friend
Pride vs. Humility – Part 2"
July 10, 2011
Ron Young
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Date: July 10, 2011 - WEFC
Sermon Title: "Our Greatest Enemy, Our Greatest Friend Pride vs. Humility – Part 2"
Text: 1 Peter 5 : 5 - 7
Sermon Notes for
"Our Greatest Enemy, Our Greatest Friend
Pride vs. Humility – Part 2"
( Click here to download or open the Word
document file for these notes. )
Our Greatest Enemy
Our Greatest Enemy
Our Greatest Friend
Pride vs. Humility
Scripture Verses 1 Peter 5:5-7
Humility: Ron Young’s Topic for July 10, 2011
Last week I mentioned that I’m a very proud man … who, by
the grace of God has been studying and pursuing humility… C.J. Mahaney in
“Humility True Greatness” said “If I met someone presuming to have something to
say about humility, automatically I’d think him unqualified to speak on the
subject. And, I’m unqualified to speak on the subject. It is only God in His
grace who can give me the ability.
Last week we studied 1 Peter 5:5-7 and focused on Pride,
it’s attributes, examples of pride and how to diminish it.
This week we’ll continue studying this passage and focus on
Humility and how we can increase it
1 Peter 5:5-7 [5] Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the
elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [6] Humble
yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time
he may exalt you, [7] casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares
for you.
Main point of the passage: Christians should be Humble
Last week we went over the 3 different ways that Peter
states that we should be Humble:
1) V 5a: Younger men be subject to or submissive to (be
humble toward) the elders.
2) V 5b: All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward
one another.
3) V 6: Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God
and we also went over 4 incentives to be humble:
1) 5b: God is opposed to the proud.
2) 5b: God gives grace to the humble.
3) 6: God will exalt the humble.
4) 7: He will care for the humble.
What is Humility?
Humble: Tapeinos – Lowly
particularly of attitude and social position, piety (respect) toward God
Webster’s Definition of HUMBLE
1 : not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive
2 : reflecting, expressing,
or offered in a spirit of deference or submission <a humble apology>
3 a : ranking
low in a hierarchy or scale : insignificant, unpretentious
In his book “Humility the Forgotten Virtue”, Wayne Mack
states: Humility, then consists in an attitude wherein we recognize our own
insignificance and unworthiness before God and attribute to Him the supreme
honor, praise, prerogatives, rights, privileges, worship, devotion, authority,
submission and obedience that He alone deserves. It also involves a natural,
habitual tendency to think and behave in a manner that appropriately expresses
this attitude. In other words, the attitude of humility is always seen in
humble actions. It means having a servant’s mind-set and always putting self
last.”
Matthew 23:12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled,
and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Mark 10: 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served
but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
We talked last week about how Christ served the Apostles by
washing their feet dressed in a humble slaves apron. Christ served us all by
“giving Himself as a ransom for us” We probably don’t think about ransom often
in our day and age. Usually only when someone kidnaps a child or a terrorist
takes hostages and demands ransom. In the time of Christ, ransom was a price
paid to release a prisoner or to pay for a slaves freedom and the price could
be very high. But it was nothing compared to the price Christ paid to set us
free from our captivity to our sins, our pride and our separation from God. I
hope all of us here today have been set free by sincerely believing in Christ
and having faith in Him. Some of you have heard the gospel message a number of
times and still have not taken the step of faith to believe in Christ yet. If
you have not taken this step, it is most likely pride that is holding you
back. I would invite you to humbly accept this free gift of Christ’s
salvation. Open yourself to Him …. Today. Let your burdens go … He is able to
carry them if you will only invite Him into your heart.
During my studies it became apparent that there were a lot
of directions I could have taken to explore Humility. The direction I felt
strongly lead to talk about is how to we can cultivate Humility.
So, for the rest of the time together to day I’d like to
focus on ways we can Weaken pride and Cultivate Humility.
There is a sheet in your bulletin with suggestions about how
to weaken pride and cultivate Humility. I’d encourage you to take it with you
and review it often. Over the last several months this list has been very
helpful to me as I’ve worked to grapple with my own pride. It is by and
through our actions that we exhibit our pride or demonstrate humility. So this
list is a list of actions we can take.
How to Weaken Pride and Cultivate Humility
From the book Humility:
True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney*
A List of
Suggestions…
ALWAYS:
Reflect on the wonder of the cross
of Christ and the immensity of what He has done for us. It will give us a
better perspective on who we really are and how much of a sacrifice Christ made
for us. The more I have tried to do this in the last few months, the more I’ve
become aware of how far I am from being truly Christ like and how much of a
sacrifice Christ made for me. John 3:16
AS EACH DAY BEGINS:
How we begin our day can sets the whole tone for the rest of
the day. We need to take control of our very first thoughts as we wake up in
the morning. If you’re like me it is so easy to start out thinking about all
the pressing things to do and start getting at least a little anxious. God
designed us to need sleep but, Satan never sleeps and is right there to start
placing distracting thoughts in our heads to divert us away from praying, contemplating
God, and turning our day over to Him. Fortunately God never sleeps and has
been watching over us and protecting us all night and is right there, as close
as our breath in the morning ready to give us grace. That is why we should:
Begin our day by acknowledging our dependence
upon God and our need for Him. We need to humbly focus our thoughts on God as
we wake so that he will be inclined toward us and give us grace. Rather than
immediately starting to exert our pride through my independence and
self-sufficiency…. I don’t have time for you God right now.
Lam 3:21-23 But this I call to mind, and therefore
I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never
come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Phil 4: 13 I can do all things through him who
strengthens me.
Phil 4: 19 And my God will supply every need of yours
according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Also begin your day expressing gratefulness to
God. Example of Glen Hallam taking peanut butter to Haiti and Vicki’s comment
about the weight and Jocelyn’s comment about the nourishment, not needing
refrigeration and … possibly that the people may not even have a can opener.
I’ve never been grateful for a lowly can opener. Wow, how much do we take for
granted of God’s blessing and provision everyday!
Psalms 30:4
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.
Practice the spiritual disciplines—prayer,
study of God’s Word, worship. Do this
consistently each day and at the day’s outset, if possible
Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near; He’s always near. It is we who drift or run
away or just ignore Him.
Memorize scripture.
Psalms 119:11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that
I might not sin against you.
I would very strongly urge you to get in the habit of
memorizing scripture. It is one of the most beneficial things I have ever done
…. And I don’t do enough of it. But the scriptures I have memorized have
sustained me …sometimes in the middle of a wakeful night they calm me, give me
peace and pretty soon I’m back to sleeping soundly. They have been there to
offer a Godly word of encouragement to someone in need and I have heard the
Holy Spirit use verses mightily in prayer. I think it really pleases God for
us to pray His Word back to Him.
We spend a lot of time in our cars. We can use it to our
great advantage to memorize God’s word and pray. So, Seize your commute time
to memorize and meditate on Scripture.
Cast our anxieties upon Him, for He cares for
us. We talked about this last week and how anxiety is a form of Pride. We can
get rid of the anxieties first thing in the morning by consciously casting
them on God and then continue to do it during the rest of the day as anxieties
raise their hoary little heads. How many of you are fishermen or women? Most
of you can cast your line for hours and some of you would like nothing better
that to cast your line out all day … dawn to dusk and beyond… Why don’t we all
try to start doing this with our self exalting prideful anxieties. The
resulting peace and joy would surely be much more rewarding than a really good
fish.
John Piper in one of his sermons had a very
helpful prayer for casting our anxieties on Christ: “Whenever your heart starts to be anxious about the future,
preach to your heart and say, "Heart, who do you think you are to be
afraid of the future and nullify the promise of God? No, heart, I will not
exalt myself with anxiety. I will humble myself in peace and joy as I trust
this precious and great promise of God—he cares for me.
AS EACH DAY ENDS:
At the end of the day, transfer the glory to
God. Don’t give any glory to yourself. It is only God who should get the
glory for all things come from him. We can not do any good thing on our own.
Isaiah 48:11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how
should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
Psalm 115:1 Not to us, O LORD, not
to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and
your faithfulness!
Isaiah 66:2 All these things my hand has made, and so all
these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will
look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
Before going to sleep, receive this gift of sleep
from God and acknowledge His purpose
for sleep.
FOR SPECIAL FOCUS to help weaken Pride and Cultivate
Humility: “Systematic Theology” by Wayne Grudem is an excellent book to use
to:
Study the attributes of God
Study the doctrines of grace.
Study the doctrine of sin.
Play golf as much as possible. C J Mahaney said that Golf
is the most humbling game. Maybe that is why I’ve never really wanted to play
it.
Laugh often, and laugh often at yourself. It takes a humble
person to really be able to laugh at themselves. Besides having an infinite
amount of patience with us God must have had a huge sense of humor to create
and watch us. We all do such laughable, foolish, stupid things.
THROUGHOUT YOUR DAYS AND WEEKS:
Identify evidences of grace in others. (It helps to actually
write it down and over time see the growing work of God’s grace in peoples
lives) The hardest for me to do is to try to see God’s grace in the people I
don’t really like. I’ve realized if I can’t see grace in those people it is
because of my self-righteous pride. Just the thought of this stings
Encourage and serve others each and every day.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and
build one another up, just as you are doing.
Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers.
Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love
serve one another.
Invite and pursue correction.
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness,
Respond humbly to trials.
James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet
trials of various kinds, [3] for you know that the testing of your faith
produces steadfastness. [4] And let steadfastness have its full effect,
that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
John 8: 31-32 If you abide in my word, you are truly my
disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will et you free. I
think that this is mostly about me knowing the truth about me …. The good, the
bad and the ugly truth and embracing it so that I can move forward to becoming
more Christ like. I think this is true of all of us.
Conclusion: Ultimately, there can be no effective
expansion of your life’s mission and ministry, no fulfillment of the specific
purpose God has called you to, apart from the cultivation of humility in your
heart and the weakening of pride in your life.
( Click here to download or open the Word
document file for these notes. )
Our Greatest Enemy
Our Greatest Friend
Pride vs. Humility
Scripture Verses 1 Peter 5:5-7
Humility: Ron Young’s Topic for July 10, 2011
Last week I mentioned that I’m a very proud man … who, by the grace of God has been studying and pursuing humility… C.J. Mahaney in “Humility True Greatness” said “If I met someone presuming to have something to say about humility, automatically I’d think him unqualified to speak on the subject. And, I’m unqualified to speak on the subject. It is only God in His grace who can give me the ability.
Last week we studied 1 Peter 5:5-7 and focused on Pride, it’s attributes, examples of pride and how to diminish it.
This week we’ll continue studying this passage and focus on Humility and how we can increase it
1 Peter 5:5-7 [5] Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [6] Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, [7] casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Main point of the passage: Christians should be Humble
Last week we went over the 3 different ways that Peter states that we should be Humble:
1) V 5a: Younger men be subject to or submissive to (be humble toward) the elders.
2) V 5b: All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.
3) V 6: Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God
and we also went over 4 incentives to be humble:
1) 5b: God is opposed to the proud.
2) 5b: God gives grace to the humble.
3) 6: God will exalt the humble.
4) 7: He will care for the humble.
What is Humility?
Humble: Tapeinos – Lowly particularly of attitude and social position, piety (respect) toward God
Webster’s Definition of HUMBLE
1 : not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive
2 : reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission <a humble apology>
3 a : ranking low in a hierarchy or scale : insignificant, unpretentious
In his book “Humility the Forgotten Virtue”, Wayne Mack states: Humility, then consists in an attitude wherein we recognize our own insignificance and unworthiness before God and attribute to Him the supreme honor, praise, prerogatives, rights, privileges, worship, devotion, authority, submission and obedience that He alone deserves. It also involves a natural, habitual tendency to think and behave in a manner that appropriately expresses this attitude. In other words, the attitude of humility is always seen in humble actions. It means having a servant’s mind-set and always putting self last.”
Matthew 23:12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Mark 10: 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
We talked last week about how Christ served the Apostles by washing their feet dressed in a humble slaves apron. Christ served us all by “giving Himself as a ransom for us” We probably don’t think about ransom often in our day and age. Usually only when someone kidnaps a child or a terrorist takes hostages and demands ransom. In the time of Christ, ransom was a price paid to release a prisoner or to pay for a slaves freedom and the price could be very high. But it was nothing compared to the price Christ paid to set us free from our captivity to our sins, our pride and our separation from God. I hope all of us here today have been set free by sincerely believing in Christ and having faith in Him. Some of you have heard the gospel message a number of times and still have not taken the step of faith to believe in Christ yet. If you have not taken this step, it is most likely pride that is holding you back. I would invite you to humbly accept this free gift of Christ’s salvation. Open yourself to Him …. Today. Let your burdens go … He is able to carry them if you will only invite Him into your heart.
During my studies it became apparent that there were a lot of directions I could have taken to explore Humility. The direction I felt strongly lead to talk about is how to we can cultivate Humility.
So, for the rest of the time together to day I’d like to focus on ways we can Weaken pride and Cultivate Humility.
There is a sheet in your bulletin with suggestions about how to weaken pride and cultivate Humility. I’d encourage you to take it with you and review it often. Over the last several months this list has been very helpful to me as I’ve worked to grapple with my own pride. It is by and through our actions that we exhibit our pride or demonstrate humility. So this list is a list of actions we can take.
How to Weaken Pride and Cultivate Humility
From the book Humility: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney*
A List of Suggestions…
ALWAYS:
Reflect on the wonder of the cross of Christ and the immensity of what He has done for us. It will give us a better perspective on who we really are and how much of a sacrifice Christ made for us. The more I have tried to do this in the last few months, the more I’ve become aware of how far I am from being truly Christ like and how much of a sacrifice Christ made for me. John 3:16
AS EACH DAY BEGINS:
How we begin our day can sets the whole tone for the rest of the day. We need to take control of our very first thoughts as we wake up in the morning. If you’re like me it is so easy to start out thinking about all the pressing things to do and start getting at least a little anxious. God designed us to need sleep but, Satan never sleeps and is right there to start placing distracting thoughts in our heads to divert us away from praying, contemplating God, and turning our day over to Him. Fortunately God never sleeps and has been watching over us and protecting us all night and is right there, as close as our breath in the morning ready to give us grace. That is why we should:
Begin our day by acknowledging our dependence upon God and our need for Him. We need to humbly focus our thoughts on God as we wake so that he will be inclined toward us and give us grace. Rather than immediately starting to exert our pride through my independence and self-sufficiency…. I don’t have time for you God right now.
Lam 3:21-23 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Phil 4: 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Phil 4: 19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Also begin your day expressing gratefulness to God. Example of Glen Hallam taking peanut butter to Haiti and Vicki’s comment about the weight and Jocelyn’s comment about the nourishment, not needing refrigeration and … possibly that the people may not even have a can opener. I’ve never been grateful for a lowly can opener. Wow, how much do we take for granted of God’s blessing and provision everyday!
Psalms 30:4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.
Practice the spiritual disciplines—prayer, study of God’s Word, worship. Do this
consistently each day and at the day’s outset, if possible
Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; He’s always near. It is we who drift or run away or just ignore Him.
Memorize scripture.
Psalms 119:11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
I would very strongly urge you to get in the habit of memorizing scripture. It is one of the most beneficial things I have ever done …. And I don’t do enough of it. But the scriptures I have memorized have sustained me …sometimes in the middle of a wakeful night they calm me, give me peace and pretty soon I’m back to sleeping soundly. They have been there to offer a Godly word of encouragement to someone in need and I have heard the Holy Spirit use verses mightily in prayer. I think it really pleases God for us to pray His Word back to Him.
We spend a lot of time in our cars. We can use it to our great advantage to memorize God’s word and pray. So, Seize your commute time to memorize and meditate on Scripture.
Cast our anxieties upon Him, for He cares for us. We talked about this last week and how anxiety is a form of Pride. We can get rid of the anxieties first thing in the morning by consciously casting them on God and then continue to do it during the rest of the day as anxieties raise their hoary little heads. How many of you are fishermen or women? Most of you can cast your line for hours and some of you would like nothing better that to cast your line out all day … dawn to dusk and beyond… Why don’t we all try to start doing this with our self exalting prideful anxieties. The resulting peace and joy would surely be much more rewarding than a really good fish.
John Piper in one of his sermons had a very helpful prayer for casting our anxieties on Christ: “Whenever your heart starts to be anxious about the future, preach to your heart and say, "Heart, who do you think you are to be afraid of the future and nullify the promise of God? No, heart, I will not exalt myself with anxiety. I will humble myself in peace and joy as I trust this precious and great promise of God—he cares for me.
AS EACH DAY ENDS:
At the end of the day, transfer the glory to God. Don’t give any glory to yourself. It is only God who should get the glory for all things come from him. We can not do any good thing on our own.
Isaiah 48:11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
Psalm 115:1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
Isaiah 66:2 All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
Before going to sleep, receive this gift of sleep from God and acknowledge His purpose
for sleep.
FOR SPECIAL FOCUS to help weaken Pride and Cultivate Humility: “Systematic Theology” by Wayne Grudem is an excellent book to use to:
Study the attributes of God
Study the doctrines of grace.
Study the doctrine of sin.
Play golf as much as possible. C J Mahaney said that Golf is the most humbling game. Maybe that is why I’ve never really wanted to play it.
Laugh often, and laugh often at yourself. It takes a humble person to really be able to laugh at themselves. Besides having an infinite amount of patience with us God must have had a huge sense of humor to create and watch us. We all do such laughable, foolish, stupid things.
THROUGHOUT YOUR DAYS AND WEEKS:
Identify evidences of grace in others. (It helps to actually write it down and over time see the growing work of God’s grace in peoples lives) The hardest for me to do is to try to see God’s grace in the people I don’t really like. I’ve realized if I can’t see grace in those people it is because of my self-righteous pride. Just the thought of this stings
Encourage and serve others each and every day.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Invite and pursue correction.
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Respond humbly to trials.
James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, [3] for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. [4] And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
John 8: 31-32 If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will et you free. I think that this is mostly about me knowing the truth about me …. The good, the bad and the ugly truth and embracing it so that I can move forward to becoming more Christ like. I think this is true of all of us.
Conclusion: Ultimately, there can be no effective expansion of your life’s mission and ministry, no fulfillment of the specific purpose God has called you to, apart from the cultivation of humility in your heart and the weakening of pride in your life.
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