Saving grace is for the humble. Those with a beatitude attitude, those who are spiritually bankrupt, know it, mourn over their bankruptcy, come to the Lord meekly, almost hesitant to come into His presence. They're so ashamed. But they're so hungry They'll come because they know what they most need they lack. Welcome to Grace to You, featuring the Bible teaching of John MacArthur.
I'm your host, Phil Johnson. It's said that the man who stands straightest in the battle with sin is the man who bows lowest in the presence of God. Of course you're always in God's presence, so the question is, how low are you bowing? In other words, how are you doing at humbling yourself before God? Consider that today as we continue John MacArthur's series titled The Pillars of Christian Character.
John will show you the importance of cultivating humility and help you shun the myth that self-confidence is the key to success. Follow along in your Bible now as John begins the lesson. We have been looking at the anatomy of the church. Looking at what are the ingredients, the essential elements, and components, and features of church life. What should a church be?
The church is in an identity crisis. It is kind of struggling to figure out what its identity. should be Some churches are struggling with the substance of that identity, and others are struggling with the style of that identity. We have to go back to the Word of God to understand what are the absolute essentials, and that's what we're endeavoring to do. And we're borrowing the wonderful imagery of the metaphor of the body of Christ.
which our Lord gave through the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. We're extending it a little bit to talk about the anatomy of the church. And this is to put us in touch with what we should expect in the church. This is Christ's church and not ours, and he has set out to build his own church and. has determined how it should be built.
These then become non-negotiables. For the church. And we're concerned about what those are and how we respond to them as the scripture lays them out. It shouldn't be too difficult to figure out what the church should be, since we hold in our hands in the Word of God the manual of instruction. Jesus said, I will build my church.
He has established the plan as to how. And he has revealed it to those who are employed. in that building. We have given you two of the very important. Internal systems.
It must operate in the church, the body of Christ, the first being faith, and then we talked about. Obedience. Those are the spiritual attitudes. When I talk about internal systems in the church, I'm talking about spiritual attitudes, motives, convictions. Those things that are true of the heart.
This is heart business. We are not legalists. We do not believe that people are to be manipulated externally, intimidated. forced by fear or external reward into certain patterns of behavior. But we believe that men and women ought to live as direct response to transformation on the inside.
And so what we do is the work of the heart. Working on spiritual attitudes. That is primarily the work of the word. And so if you're going to do heart surgery, you have to have a very efficient tool. And according to Hebrews 4, what is most efficient in laying bare the heart and doing necessary surgery is the word of God, which is sharper than any other instrument.
And so, if you're going to build into people right motives and right attitudes and right convictions. If you're going to do the work of the heart, if you're going to cut out the disease and do the necessary spiritual bypass surgery, You do it with the word. To teach people from the heart, as Ephesians 6:6 is. to do the will of God.
Now, that work of producing the right heart attitudes involves building in people strong faith. And a commitment to obedience, and we've already discussed those. Let's go to a third one. Here is another heart attitude. Here is another conviction.
Here is another motivation that is essential if the church is to be the living body of Christ. It should come somewhere near the front of the list. In fact, in my mind, it kind of belongs in the third position, and that's. Why it's there. It is the attitude of humility.
Humility. Apart from faith, And obedience is a general category. Probably there is no more important spiritual virtue than this matter of humility. At the very central The very central point, at the very heart of life in the church. Comes this matter of the virtue of humility.
Turn in your Bible to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. If there was anything true about the Judaism of Jesus' time, it was that it bred spiritual pride. If there was anything true about the Judaism of Jesus' time, it was that men paraded their external religion and expected the accolades of the crowd. We remember reading in Matthew 23 how the leaders of Israel always sought the chief seats.
In the high places. When they did their alms, they blew a trumpet, or when they did their fasting, they went into public places and threw ashes on their head that everyone might see how devout they really were. Legalism always is the companion of spiritual pride, true spirituality. Has the virtue of humility coming alongside. And so when Jesus started the Sermon on the Mount, He attacked the religion of his day with a direct hit.
Opening his mouth in Matthew 5, he began to teach them, and the first thing out of his mouth, blessed are the poor in spirit. For theirs. is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. The promises that come at the end of each of those verses have to do with the realm of salvation. He's talking about people who are saved. They're being in the kingdom. They're being comforted.
They're ultimately inheriting the earth and they're being soul satisfied. Those are all descriptions of features of salvation. Those all describe what it means to belong to Christ. To belong to God. To know that you're in the kingdom.
To have comfort in all of the issues of life. To have the promise someday of inheriting the earth. In its ultimate and final form, the glories of the new heaven and the new earth. in the eternal heaven. And soul satisfaction, those things belong to the redeemed.
And the redeemed here are described in these ways: they are poor in spirit. They mourn. They are meek. And they hunger and thirst. All of those are descriptive of various facets of humility.
First of all, that phrase, blessed are the poor in spirit. Captures uh a Greek word In the verb form, Those who are poor in spirit. Which means to be so poor that you have to beg. The best way to describe it is that they are bankrupt. And they have no means of support.
They have nothing and they have no means of getting anything. It's a term used for beggars who had no skill or were disabled so that they could not function, could not work. They are the utterly destitute. The kingdom belongs. to the destitute, Jesus is saying.
The kingdom belongs to people who know they have nothing. who have come to the realization of their utter bankruptcy. And of course, he's not talking about material things here, but spiritual ones. It doesn't belong to the people who believe they have achieved great spiritual ends. It doesn't belong to people who think that they have accumulated merit with God.
It doesn't belong to people who are counting on their circumcision, their having been born into the race of Israel, having been born as the Apostle Paul, for example, into the very noble tribe of Benjamin. It doesn't belong to those people who manage to maintain all the externals, the traditions. and who outwardly conform to the law, and consequently have filled their gain column with personal religious achievement. It belongs to people who are beating their breasts saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. If you've ever wondered how People in the Old Testament were saved, they were saved the same way people now are.
They were just on the other side of the cross. And the manner of salvation was, first of all, the conviction of sin, which was brought about. When someone knew they couldn't keep the law of God, God gave his law, laid it out very clearly to Moses. It was written down for all to see and read. And people endeavored to keep it and failed, could not keep the law.
Went through the repetitious response of the sacrifices, never ever having soul satisfaction because the blood of bulls and goats couldn't take away sin, and so there was a sort of endless repetition until they came to the point where they recognized their bankruptcy. They recognized their utter inability to keep the law of God and the utter inability of animal sacrifices to take away their sin. And in the bankruptcy of all of that, they threw themselves on the mercy of God and pleaded for forgiveness. In fact, that publican in Luke 18 beating on his breast is a an illustration of how an Old Testament Person, a person living pre-cross was saved, pounding on his chest. God be merciful to me, a sinner.
Can't even look up toward heaven because he's so embarrassed and mortified by his unending iniquity, he cries out for the mercy of God. And at that point. God steps in in the words of Jesus, and that man. Went home justified. The righteousness of Christ.
was imputed to him. Justice is imputed to us on this side of the cross. Brokenness, humility is the issue. The one who understands his spiritual bankruptcy. And notice in verse 4, the one who, when contemplating his spiritual bankruptcy, has an attitude of mourning.
There's an attitude of desperation. There's a depth of sorrow and an agonizing over this condition. It is followed in verse 5 by meekness. Almost a timidity. A fear to even approach the throne of God because of one's utter unworthiness.
And that is reflected in the man in Luke 18 not being able to even lift his eyes up toward heaven, but being down on the ground. And then finally, Verse 6. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they know they do not have. The Apostle Paul, we're reminded in Philippians 3, spent the first nearly 40 years of his life accumulating self-righteousness. And it was utterly unfulfilling.
In a moment of time on the Damascus road, he met Christ. And he says, Christ gave to me a righteousness not of my own. But the righteousness of Christ imputed to me By faith. This is all about humility. spiritual bankruptcy.
Mourning over sin. Meekly coming before God, almost afraid to look up. And recognizing you are utterly devoid of what you desperately need, and that is righteousness. That's how you come into the kingdom. This is further emphasized in Matthew chapter 18, just so we understand how it all starts.
In Matthew chapter 18, Jesus really speaking in the same General area about how one enters the kingdom and emphasizing the matter of humility. It says in verse 3, Truly I say to you, unless you are converted, And the disciples desperately needed to be converted. Literally, that means to be turned around and go the other direction. Because you remember, if you know the background of Matthew 18, the disciples were having an argument at this point. And their argument was about who was going to be greatest in the kingdom.
When they joined up with Jesus, they knew they were in the presence of a very remarkable man. They came to understand that he was the Messiah.
Now that was articulated a couple chapters earlier in no uncertain terms when right out of Peter's mouth it came, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. You're the Messiah, God incarnate. They knew that this was the Messiah, and the Messiah was bringing a kingdom. And the more they knew about the kingdom, the more they began to argue about which of them was going to sit in the chief seats. It isn't long after this incident.
Showing how hard it was for them to hear with hearing ears and believe, even when Jesus told them what he told them. It wasn't long after this very incident that. James and John sent their mother to ask personally if Jesus would allow them to sit on his right and left hand in the kingdom.
So the argument was going on. It was even going on in John 13, the very night Jesus was being betrayed. Instead of them being sensitive about what was going to happen to Jesus, he had told them that he was going to die. They were all arguing about which of them would be the greatest in the kingdom. In the middle of this argument, Jesus sitting in a house in Capernaum, maybe even Peter's house, some think.
That was his home. Pulls a little child to himself. A little baby sets the little baby in his lap. And uses that little baby as an illustration and says, unless you turn around and go the other way and become like children. You'll not even enter the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom belongs to the humble. You come in humbled.
Now, what does he mean, humbling himself as this child? Very simple. A child is absolutely dependent. That's part of it, but maybe that's the minor part. The major part is that a child has achieved nothing.
A child has achieved nothing. A child has accomplished nothing. There's no great record of achievements. You come. Bankrupt.
With nothing, as the hymn writer so magnificently says, nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling. That's how a child comes. No record of achievement. That's how you come. You come in.
as a little child. Further emphasizing this, I want to take you to one of the great evangelistic texts of all the New Testament, James 4. James 4. And I want to start in verse 4 because I think it sets the context for us. You adulteresses.
Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be the friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. It's very much what John said in 1 John, if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Verse 5, or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose? He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us?
And then verse 6. But he gives a greater reason. Grace. This transitions from the very strong language. Of verse 4.
About being a friend to the world and thus being an adulteress and an enemy of God. And to verse 5, a very difficult verse to sort out, which means... rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit. To the fact that in verse 6, God still gives grace. You may be a friend of the world, you may be at enmity with God.
You may be resisting the spirit, but there is grace available. And I really believe He's talking here to the unregenerate. And I'll show you why. In verse 8, Right in the middle of this context. You see, you sinners.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners. There is no place in the entire New Testament where believers are ever so designated. That is not to say we don't sin. We do. But never are we called sinners.
In fact, we are called, even though we sin, just the opposite. What? Saints. We are not double-minded in in the sense that there is some interest in spiritual things, but A captive interest in the world. That's exactly what he was talking about back in verse 4.
You may think you're the friend of God, but if you're double-minded and attached to the world, you're not. You're like that.
Soil in Matthew. 13, where the weeds, the cares of The world and the deceitfulness of riches choked out the truth.
So he's talking, I believe, to the unregenerate who can be classified as adulteresses, who are friends of the world, who are hostile toward God, who are enemies of God, who are, in verse 8, called sinners. And in verse 6, he says, There is an available grace. But please notice to whom it is given. Verse 6, God is opposed to the proud. But gives grace.
to the humble That statement is recorded both in the Psalms and the Proverbs. Saving grace is for the humble. Those with a beatitude attitude, those who are spiritually bankrupt, know it, mourn over their bankruptcy, come to the Lord meekly, almost hesitant to come into his presence. They're so ashamed. But they're so hungry.
They'll come because they know what they most need they lack.
Now how is this humility demonstrated. Follow this. God gives grace to the humble.
So here's how to manifest that humility. Submit, therefore, to God. Resist the devil. and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. And here, verse 9: Be miserable and mourn and weep. And there's that beatitude language again. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
I really believe that is one of the great evangelistic texts of the New Testament. We don't have time to sort it all out. But the whole intent of that is to call to the sinner. and the one who loves the world. To humble himself.
And that humility means you submit yourself to God. And that is to say you submit yourself to God as revealed in Scripture. You turn as it were from the devil. You draw near to God. You confess your sin.
You cry for the purging of your heart. With a miserable mourning, weeping attitude. And in such humility, the Lord. We'll lift you up.
Now, this is the way it all begins, folks. The way it all begins. You come in humble. and broken. with a contrite heart.
I think that's essentially the same thing as you have in the Old Testament. There really isn't any difference. I don't. I don't like it when people make some kind of great difference between how people in the Old Testament came to the Lord and And the difference, say, between those and the new, it's really the same. Listen to Isaiah.
Yeah. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way. And let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts.
And let him return to the Lord, and he will have compassion on him and to our God, for he will abundantly. Pardon? There it is again. You come realizing your wickedness. You come realizing the absence of righteousness.
You come broken, casting yourself. On God's mercy. That's how you came into the kingdom. You came in humble. And may I suggest to you all of that to say this, nothing changes?
Nothing changes. You are no more worthy now of salvation than you were when you came, right? You are no more worthy now of God's goodness in Christ than you were when you came. You're still a sinner, and it is still God's grace that sustains you. There's no place for pride in your life.
Ever. Whatever good Whatever noble whatever godly Features may exist in your life. Are the work of the Lord and not you? That's why Peter in 1 Peter 5:5 says, Clothe yourselves with humility. And quotes those same Old Testament passages: God is opposed to the proud.
But gives grace to the humble. Verse 6: Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time. And here he's talking to believers. The principle is the same. I think in James He's talking to unbelievers, sinners and adulteresses and friends of the world, but here he's talking to young men.
Some of them may even be in the ministry serving as elders because that's the immediate context. But certainly, he's talking to believers here. And the command is to humble yourselves. to humble yourselves. What is this humility that God seeks for us?
It is a sense of one's spiritual bankruptcy and utter unworthiness, as manifested in the Beatitudes and in the sermon Jesus preached in Matthew 18 and in the book of James. It is an attitude that continues after our salvation when we recognize that we are no more worthy now than we ever were in the past. It is an attitude that realizes the suffering and pain that comes into our lives that cuts so deeply and buffets us. And that's a word from 2 Corinthians 12 that means fist. It's a blow to the face, the very same word used of the soldiers who punched Jesus in the face.
And when we get punched around in life and falsely accused, we embrace that because we understand that through it God humbles us, and the humbler we are, the more powerful He is through us. It's the kind of humility that is more concerned about our sins than the sins of everybody else. or anybody else? It's the kind of humility That particularly looks on the interests of others, demonstrated in the condescension of Jesus Christ. That's humility.
And that, beloved, is an attitude of the heart. That is at the very of spiritual virtue.
So when the ministry of the church Is doing what God wants it to do, it is doing heart work. And in the heart, it is endeavoring by the Word of God to build faith. and to build obedience. and to bring humility. That's heart work.
That's the work of the church. It's not superficial. Just the opposite of that. The goal of the church is not to Just get you here and give you a nice experience. The goal of the ministry of the church is to produce humility.
That's the kind of spiritual attitude. That makes the internal part of the church what God wants it to be. And then the church can live inside out. Let's bow together in prayer. May we be like him.
and humble ourselves. And we look at the very humility of Christ in its most graphic demonstration. We see him humiliated. The Creator. The one who spun the whirling worlds into space and splattered the stars across the heavens.
The one Who created the universe? in six days. and rested. The one who is infinitely holy and perfect. untouched by sin.
Who interacts in this wicked world like a sunbeam in a dump? untouched by the pollution. Pure and bright. But Lord, we know. that we so often Forget your grace and mercy.
and the extent of your humiliation. And you came and were made sin for us. When you knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God through. You. You became sin only in the sense No, no, no.
You were treated as if you had committed our sins when in fact you Never committed any.
so that we could be treated as if we committed none and had done only your righteous acts. This is wondrous grace and condescension. And as we look at the cross tonight, there are so many perspectives, but for tonight, we want to see there your humility. Your condescension as a model for our own. May we humble ourselves.
realizing the sinners that we are so utterly unworthy. And may we therefore humble ourselves before you. and before one another. Expressing that greater love. Can no man have than that he would lay down his life for his friends?
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Now, for the entire Grace DU staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for joining us today. Be back tomorrow to learn what it really means to live humbly. We'll continue John MacArthur's study, The Pillars of Christian Character. With another 30 minutes of unleashing God's Truth one verse at a time, on a grace to you.
