Here was a deer man. who avoided the temptation. to have his strengths turned into sins. See? To get pushed over the edge with his power of personality, or with his ability to communicate, or with his logic and his knowledge of philosophy, he backed off.
Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. It's one of the greatest, maybe the greatest temptation you'll face today, and every day for that matter. I'm talking about the lure of pride, the tendency that we all have to think more highly of ourselves than we should. But thankfully, the Bible lays out a clear path to growing in humility.
John MacArthur's lesson today on Grace to You points you to that path as he looks at how to keep pride from sneaking into your thoughts. It's part of his current series from Ephesians titled Walk Worthy. And with that, let's get to the lesson. Here is John MacArthur. Take your Bible, if you will, and let's look at.
Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians 4, beginning in verse 1: I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation to which ye are called with all lowliness and meekness. With long suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Now. As I've been saying to you, we are examining. What it means to walk worthy. That is the heart of this entire second section of Ephesians. Look what he says.
All lowliness. Meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. Listen, he's talking about the cultivation of basic attitudes. The worthy walk is predicated on the right attitudes. And Paul here is talking about you cultivating the right attitudes.
In the heart. Five keys. to a worthy walk. Five necessary keys, and they're progressive. You go from humility to meekness, and then meekness produces long-suffering, and then long-suffering produces a forbearing love.
And where there's forbearing love, there is the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. There's a beautiful logical progression.
Now, we're still at point one: all lowliness. Beloved, it's so hard, isn't it, to be humble?
So hard. It's just something you fight through day after day after day. But you know what I've noticed in my Christian life? I'm not humble enough. But I'm humble more often than I used to be.
But not nearly enough. But I've seen as my life has grown I've seen that I've learned to gain the victory over pride. Not all the time, but more times than I used to be able to. And I guess it's because I've begun to concentrate in that area. One of the prayers of my heart constantly is: God, teach me true humility.
Teach me true humility.
Somebody says to me, doesn't all that stuff go to your head? Don't you get to think, boy, you're really Something Well, I've had that thought. Then my wife says to me, You never take out the garbage. And I realize I'm not so hot. You know, all you have to do is examine the reality about yourself, and you're not kidding anybody.
Loliness, what does it mean? Let me show you something. When Jesus our Lord came into the world. He had a message to give. His first message was repent.
For the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Come on in the kingdom. Get converted. And as soon as he had gathered about him a little band of Believers, as soon as he had some children of the king, as soon as he had some subjects of the kingdom. He knew he had to tell them the basics of how to live.
You know what the first thing you told them was? Look at Matthew chapter 5. And let's find out. the bottom line on living like a king's child. The bottom line.
on being in his kingdom. Matthew 5. Verse 1. And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain. And when he was seated, his disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Now he's got him there.
And he's going to teach them. What you gonna teach them? They're the ones who've entered the kingdom. They're the ones who become fellow heirs. They're the ones who are part of what he's doing in the world.
They're the children of the King of Kings. What's He gonna say? What is the basic principle? What is the basic stance that they must have?
Well, notice in verse 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn. for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek. for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful. For they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers. For they shall be called the sons of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you. Listen, beloved, did you ever see such a pitiful bunch in your life? Is that bunch? Blessed are the poor. In spirit, And by the way, Luke says, blessed are the poor.
Period. Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they who know they don't have anything, so they hunger after. and thirst after righteousness.
Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Not the ones who stand up for their rights, but the ones who are concerned that everybody get a fair share. Blessed are they who are persecuted and reviled.
And accused. For that is a pitiful bunch. But those are the humble, you see, and that's where it all begins. Boy, I'm telling you people, we live in a day when it's all fouled up. We're so busy in the Christian world exalting people and making superstars out of them and patting them on the back and handing them awards and degrees and notoriety and fame and making something out of them that we have got the whole thing completely reversed.
These are the people. Jesus said, These are the people who belong in my kingdom. These are the children of the king. And there we are in Ephesians 4 with the same thing. Who is it that walks worthy?
It's the lowly and the meek and those who suffer long and those who endure with love. Those are the ones. It isn't the great and the famous and the loud and the boisterous and the prominent and the talented and the rich. And the super duper ones. And yet in Christianity there's so much of that going on.
This is the child of the king. Peter put it this way. In 1 Peter 5, 5. And you see, he was writing there to people who are in the pastorate, to those who'd be the shepherds, to those who'd stand out, those who'd be the leaders of the flock, those who would get the recognition and get the honor and the love and the attention and the affection. And he says to them this, be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
Keep your perspective, he said. Be clothed with humility. He used a Greek word that was used to speak of the overgarment or the apron that a worker put on to keep that which he wore from getting soiled. And when you take all of your graces and all of that which is true about you, you deck it all over in humility, Peter says. But it's an elusive thing, isn't it?
We suggested to you last time there are three keys to humility. One is self-awareness. Seeing yourself for who you really are, a sinner and nothing more, and worthy of nothing other than judgment. Honesty dealing with your own sin, honesty dealing with your own weakness, honesty dealing with your own stupidity, dealing with your own inadequacies. We are not sufficient.
2 Corinthians 3:5 says, Paul, to think anything of ourselves, our sufficiency is of God. An honest self-awareness. Secondly, we said Christ awareness. Listen, if you follow 2 Corinthians 3 again to the 18th verse, he says you better gaze on the glory of the Lord. And as you focus on the majesty of Jesus Christ, you'll get a true picture of yourself in relation to him.
Finally, God awareness. And we read it, didn't we, in Psalm 8? When I consider thy works, the moon and the stars, which thou hast made, what is man that thou art mindful of him? When I really am honest to see myself and my sinfulness and my inadequacy, when I really see the majesty of Jesus Christ as I gaze at his glory, when I know what God is like, I come out Humble. Those are the perspectives that drive the heart to humility.
You're not going to get humbled by sitting in a corner wishing you were. You'll gain humility by sitting in that same corner and reciting before God your sins and your failures and your inadequacies. And you'll gain humility by opening the pages of the Word of God and seeing Jesus Christ and God in all His majesty. And by the way, God may shove you along a little bit if you're not doing too well. God has some things he uses to help us get humble.
2 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul said that he had so many visions and so many revelations that the Lord had to give him a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble.
Well, the Lord may give you that. The Lord may put something in your life that just constantly bugs you. It's just a hurdle you never get over. It's just a reality you constantly face that makes you see yourself for who you really are. It's somebody you can't handle or you can't conquer.
It's a problem you can't solve. It's something about you that you can't seem to get over. And it's there just to keep you in the place where you understand who you really are.
Okay. Humility. Total humility. is the bottom line. in the worthy walk.
Now, let me talk about it for a minute. I was trying to look in my own heart and say, John, what is it that tempts you in areas of pride? What are the areas that you see people being tempted? I just want to be practical. This is kind of a word study on the concept of lowliness.
Where do we fight to really be humble? Where does Satan really hit us? And I just listed some things. Let me share them with you. They're just practical.
Where are we tempted to be proud? First of all, I would have to say there's a sense in which we are constantly being tempted to be proud. about what we do. Ability, pride, let's call it. You know, you're always tempted at the point of your strength, you know, to get pushed over into pride.
Oh, they always. I've never been tempted to be proud about my fantastic. Mathematical ability. I can't do it. I uh I don't want to tell you what I got in algebra.
But it wasn't good. I can't handle that kind of stuff. I am not tempted in that. I have never been tempted. to boast about my Tremendous.
Musical. Expertise. The best I can do is sing the melody line. But you know something? You know where I get tempted?
I can preach because God has given me a gift. And so Satan says to me, Boy, you know You're really a great preacher. And I say, Yeah, that's probably true. I mean, they all come there and listen. See?
That's how I get it. That's what I get. And then I go into my office on Monday and there's a letter. I was in your church Sunday. And I want you to know.
I violently disagree with everything you said. I brought my neighbor who is so-and-so, and you offended her. I'm never coming back again.
Well, Lord. Thanks. for helping me keep the perspective. Or else somebody will come up, and this is funny.
Somebody said to me once, We came here once to hear you, but We like our pastor better. I love that. See? That's great. Thank you, Lord.
I probably went to hear him. I'd like him better too, you know. We're attempted to exalt ourselves in our own abilities. Let me give you an illustration of that. 1 Corinthians 2.
You know, Paul was a well-educated man. He had so much going for him. Man, he'd been studying at the feet of Gamaliel. He was trained in the rabbinic traditions. He knew the Old Testament.
I mean, he had so much. That he could really rely on. He could have, and philosophical, he had a mind, a philosophical mind like a steel trap. He could go right to the moment and capture the prey. Tremendous.
Look at what he says. I love this. 1 Corinthians 2. And I, brethren. When I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom.
declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Boy, I like that. He said, I didn't lay any of that philosophical stuff on you. I didn't come any of that logical wisdom from the human realm.
And you know something else about Paul? He not only didn't use that, but you know, he had a lot of personal. Pizzazz. The guy was a dynamo. We know that because before he was a preacher, he was a Christian killer.
I mean the guy was an intense, fiery guy. And he had tremendous courage. I mean, you got to have a lot of courage to be chasing around capturing Christians. I mean, you gotta have a lot of boldness. He was sort of like a spiritual bounty hunter.
You know, I mean, this guy was a tough customer.
Well He could have come through his ministry like a bulldog. But I love it what he says in verse 3. I was with you in weakness. And in fear. and in much trembling.
You know, and then he could have preached all this philosophy, these big long words, and he could have come on so grandiose, but no, in verse 4, and my speech and my preaching were not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit. and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men. but in the power of God. Here was a dear man who avoided the temptation. to have his strengths turned into sins.
See? To get pushed over the edge with his power of personality, or with his ability to communicate, or with his logic and his knowledge of philosophy, he backed off. And later on, you know, as I mentioned earlier in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, he says to these same people, he says, Oh, he says, I really rejoice in my infirmities because when I'm weak, then I'm what? Strong. You know, we're all tempted like that.
We're tempted where we have some strength to abuse it. We're tempted where we have some ability to want to flaunt it. To want to make a big thing out of it. In order. If we can uh If we can do something well, we want everybody to know we do it well.
We want to sort of parade that thing. That's an area of temptation. Let's call it ability pride. It's kind of hard to to stay humble about that. I guess the key is to remember.
That whatever you do You do it because God gave you the ability to start with, right? Any gift. Any talent? useful to God is a gift. of the Holy Spirit.
who divided through every man severally as he will. There's nothing to be proud about. It's all a gift of God. Let's go to another area. Economic pride.
You know, especially in our society, I couldn't preach this message in some places in the world. Places where I've been. I couldn't talk about economic pride. They wouldn't even know what I was talking about. I've stood in some places of the world on a mud floor with mud walls.
and a mud roof of sticks and this this wouldn't even relate. But in America, this is a problem. Economic pride. This is the boasting. and the bragging and the parading and the throwing around of our riches.
displaying them. Trusting in them. exalting ourselves and our accomplishment by parading what we've gained. That's pride. This is the pride that says, look what I have.
I must be somebody. To have what it takes to have this. See? Now we all get in that game. Let's look at Deuteronomy chapter 8 for a minute.
and see an illustration of this. Deuteronomy 8. Verse 11. Very vivid one. Beware.
Moses talking to the people of Israel: Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God. in not keeping his commandments. and his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command thee this day.
Now watch. Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses and dwelt therein, and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold are multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied, then thine heart be lifted up. I'll stop there for a minute. Moses says, you're going to go into the. You're going to inherit all these wonderful things in the promised land.
God's going to give you so much. You're going to have goodly houses. You're going to have herds and flocks and silver and gold. And you know what's going to be the tendency? You're going to forget where you got it.
See? And you're going to think you did it with your ability. You're going to think you're the self-made man, see? You did. And your heart will be lifted up.
In the next line, and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage, who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions and drought, where there was no water, who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint, who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, that he might test thee to do thee good at thy latter end. You see, God had all this good stuff in mind, but you'll forget, he says, the day will come when you'll forget what he took you out of, and you'll think you did this. And you'll forget what you went through. And you'll forget how for 40 years God made you absolutely dependent on Him and showed you that every good thing you ever had was from Him. Every meal you ever ate was from Him.
Every drop of water you ever drank was from Him. But the day will come, you'll get your goodly house and you'll get your fancy clothes and you'll have your gold and you'll have your silver and you'll forget the source of it all. And the point is you'll get indulgent and it'll be hard to remember God and you'll be lifted up and proud and you'll want to parade those things and say, look what I have done. And it'll be out of perspective. And thou say in thy heart, verse 17, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
Look, well, what I've done. Check out what I've got. And you'll know I'm successful. Look what I've done. The parade is on.
But verse 18, Thou shalt remember the LORD thy God. For it is he who giveth thee power to get wealth. That he may establish his covenant which he swore unto thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day, that you shall utterly perish, as the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish, because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God. Everything we have, God gave us.
Have we forgotten that? Are we parading it as if we got it? Are we parading it as if we created ourselves with the ability to gain it? If we created ourselves in this country where we could earn it, rather than someplace in the world where no matter how smart you were, no matter how clever you were, no matter how creative you were, the best you could do would be to have a two-room mud hut? Are you kidding yourself about who is the source of it all?
Are you parading it as if you are? We all get tempted in that way. It's so difficult to resist it. In Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 8, We read this. Woe unto them who join house to house, who lay field to field, till there is no place that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth.
In other words, woe unto the person who just buys more and more and more until he's crowded people so far out of his life that there's nobody around. He's just adding it. to himself for his own ends. I guess It isn't stretching the point to say It was this kind of people. who existed in the church at Laodicea, because this is what our Lord said to them in Revelation 3, 17.
Thou sayest I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. And the sin comes first of all in the boastfulness, second of all in the thought that you did it, and third of all in the wastefulness that parades riches rather than investing them in God's kingdom. You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. Today's lesson is from John's study from Ephesians chapter 4 titled Walk Worthy.
And, friend, one thing that I hope is becoming clear in this study: the Word of God is powerful and always relevant in every life situation. And along those lines, we recently received some letters from people who have benefited from Grace to You. And I want to read one for you. This is a letter from a man named Andy. He says, About 35 years ago in my college days, I was perusing a small Christian bookstore and picked up John's book, Our Sufficiency in Christ.
That providential moment was pivotal as I was facing the challenges of being in a church that had fully embraced the seeker-sensitive movement. Since that time, I have listened to many of John MacArthur's sermons. I've read many of his books. John has been part of my family, with his preaching and ministry playing an incredibly important role. My late wife of 27 years suffered from multiple sclerosis.
Given her disability, listening to John's sermons and watching the Grace Church live stream every Sunday was an incredible encouragement to her. Those sermons were often a topic of conversation at our family dinner table. As my life journey continues, John's teaching of Scripture remains vital in my ongoing spiritual growth. The Lord graciously brought another godly wife into my life, and now we are in the what's next stage as we transition from our careers to whatever God has in store for us to serve Him. John's call to finish well is a great reminder as we head into a new season of life.
I am so thankful for the profound impact Grace to U has had in my life, and he signs it Andy. And here's another letter that we received from a woman named Riley. She says, I listen to Grace to You daily. Most days I listen for hours. I'm a single woman in my mid-20s, desiring to be a wife and mother someday.
This season has been a wonderful opportunity to learn and spend time with the Lord. My love for the Lord and His people has grown so much thanks to Grace to You. Thank you for your faithfulness. And she signs it, Riley.
Well, thank you, Riley. And friend, we continue to receive letters and hear stories like those telling us how John MacArthur's Bible teaching has affected people's lives. If God has used these radio programs to draw you into the study of Scripture, or if John's topical books and commentaries and study Bible have given you a greater understanding of God's Word, we would love to hear about that.
So when you can, drop us a note. You'll encourage us more than you know. You can mail your letter to GRACE2U, Box 4000, Panorama City, California, 91412. Or you can send an email to letters at gty.org. and be sure to visit our website, gty.org.
where you can tap into the thousands of Bible study resources that are available there for you, including the Grace to You blog with articles that address issues affecting you and your church. And as a supplement to the lesson you heard today, look for the series of articles titled Humility or Unbelief. Also, to review the messages from John's current study, Walkworthy, at your own pace, you can download them free of charge at gty.org. I'd also encourage you to download the free Grace to You app. It gives you access to any of John's sermons on your mobile device, the MP3s and the app.
and a wide range of other free Bible study tools are all available free. at gty.org.
Now for our entire staff, I'm Phil Johnson, encouraging you to be back tomorrow for a lesson that unpacks how the world tempts you to be proud and how you can win the battle against those temptations. It's another 30 minutes of Unleashing God's Truth one verse at a time. on Grace to You.
