God will go to whatever extremity he needs to humble his own, even if it means sending a messenger from Satan. to plague them. And there are times when God will even allow the tearing up of a church and the assassination of a man's character if it humbles him. That's how important humility is. Welcome to Grace to You with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur.
I'm your host, Phil Johnson. The world we live in doesn't exactly consider humility much of an asset. Frankly, it's a liability. Assert yourself, make yourself noticed. Show some confidence.
That's what you hear. True, that approach might speed you along the corporate, academic, or political fast track, but at what cost? Today on Grace to You, John MacArthur helps you assess the value of humility, turning your thoughts from worldly wisdom to biblical truth. It's all part of John's current study titled The Pillars of Christian Character. And now here's John with the lesson.
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. And the Lord will do whatever he needs to do to humble us.
Let's look at 2 Corinthians chapter 12 for a moment. I want to share with you just some of its insights. 2 Corinthians chapter 12. As the chapter begins, the Apostle Paul is rehearsing. An amazing, amazing experience that he had.
He's speaking, as it says in verse 1, about visions and revelations. Supernatural things. And then, in a somewhat oblique way, but all of us know to whom he refers, namely himself. He says, I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago Speaking of himself, Whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body, I do not know. In other words, he says, 14 years ago.
I had an experience. The reality of which I don't understand. I don't know whether I was actually in the body or whether I was translated somehow out of the body. I don't know. God knows.
But. Such a man was caught up to the third heaven. The first heaven is the heaven of oxygen, the air around us. The second is the celestial, and that's where the stars and all the planets, that's the great space that is above us. And the third heaven, in simple terms, is the heaven where God lives, the throne of God, the abode of God.
And this man, fourteen years ago, he says, in some way was taken to that place. I do not know how, I do not understand, I don't know the form I was in, but I was there. And again in verse 3 he says, I know how such a man, again he repeats, whether in the body or apart from the body, I do not know, God knows. was caught up into paradise. and heard inexpressible words.
which a man is not permitted to speak. People always ask me what they are. They're inexpressible. And they're not able to be spoken. Mm-hmm.
Paul alone had this experience. I know there are a lot of folks today who claim to have it, but Paul alone had it. And he says, on behalf of such a man, Will I boast? But on my own behalf, I will not boast, except in regard of my weaknesses. What he is trying to do here is to say There certainly is something.
to say about such a trip. And there's a part of me That wants to celebrate that incredible experience. But when I really look at myself All I can really talk about is my weakness. As if to say, I didn't go there because I deserved to go there. I didn't go there because I had earned the trip.
It wasn't a reward for my spirituality. I mean, it was a wonderful thing. and something marvelous to exult in and rejoice in, but When I look back at myself, all I can rejoice in is my weakness. And then coming down to verse 7. Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, and Paul had a number of them.
He had one, first of all, on the Damascus Road. Where he literally was struck blind by the shining light of Jesus Christ. Christ appeared to him there. Christ appeared to him at least two other times, personally, individually, and independently of anybody else. When he was going to Rome in the book of Acts, the Lord, you remember.
Send an angel. to give him instruction about what was going to happen in the midst of the storm. And then he was caught up into the third heaven, the very paradise of God. He had had some astonishing revelation, the likes of which no one else had had. And because of all of that, verse 7 says, For this reason.
to keep me from exalting myself. You see, that's the tendency when you've had those great revelations. I mean, nobody had had them. Nobody. Nobody had been to heaven and back.
That's not a routine thing. In fact, in the Gospels, it says no one went up and came down except Christ. This is not some kind of thing that just happens willy-nilly. These surpassing revelations. And even Peter Looked back.
At the glorious transfiguration of Jesus Christ and And in all of its wonder, celebrated such a glorious experience. Because of its rarity, there was just Peter and James and John. But after the ascension of Christ, no such revelation was given again to Peter. Just to Paul. And this could easily cause one to be exalted and one to be lifted up in one's own mind because, after all, I mean, when you're in a conversation and you want to kind of get the best of everybody, all you have to say is, say, guys, how many times have you been to heaven?
How many times is the exalted Ascended Christ. come back and had a private Meeting with you.
So, to keep him from exalting himself, verse 7 says there was given him a thorn in the flesh. Really a steak, not Not just a little thorn like in a rosebush. The word means a stake, like a sharpened pencil, only the size of a shaft. and it was designed to ram right through his otherwise proud human flesh. to keep him from exalting himself.
It was A thorn in the flesh from God, we know that. Because in verse 8 he entreated the Lord three times that it might depart. And the Lord said no.
So the Lord must have allowed it. Because the Lord refused to remove it. And furthermore, if it was sent to humble him, Satan isn't in the business of humbling people. But you say, wait a minute, it was a messenger of Satan to buffet him. That's right.
And God will use demons, if need be, to humble his own. That's why it's so silly for people to run around. Chasing demons away. Even if they could chase them away, they might be chasing away the ones the Lord had sent. to do his work.
And the Lord had allowed this This demon-possessed person, I think this is a particular reference to the ringleader of the Corinthian conspiracy that was just tearing up that church. And in the tearing, just breaking the heart of Paul. That's what this whole epistle is about. And Paul didn't like it. And he probably prayed the imprecatory psalms and wished the guy was dead and said, God kill him.
But the truth of the matter was, the Lord wanted him there. To drive that stake through Paul's flesh, because so many successes and so many revelations would make a normal man and even a good man like Paul. Proud. And God wanted him humble. And God will go to whatever extremity he needs to humble his own, even if it means sending a messenger from Satan.
To plague them. Even if it means trouble in the church, as there was in Corinth. Even if it means an attack on his character, the character assassination that was going on in the Corinthian church was directed right at Paul. And you know what they said about him? He's in it for the money.
He's seeking sexual favors from women. He is self-centered. He lies. He's a deceiver, and on and on. And all of that comes out of 2 Corinthians.
And there are times when God will even allow the tearing up of a church and the assassination of a man's character if it humbles him. That's how important humility is. Why is it so important? Verse 9. He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you.
For power is perfected. In what? Weakness. And God crushed him. Because when he was at the end of himself, And he had nothing.
Then he was most usable. Paul learned that.
So, most gladly, therefore, he says in verse 9: I will rather boast about my weaknesses. That the power of Christ may dwell in me. You see, he knew that power was a direct relationship to humility. To brokenness Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, insults, distresses, persecutions, difficulties for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I'm what?
Strong. You learn to embrace adversity. You're being falsely accused. You're being maligned. You're being Misrepresented?
Embrace it. Embrace it. Search your heart. Let the humbling work go on. Be content.
Because it's in your weakness that his strength is perfected. He wants You Humble. And he will go to whatever extremities. necessary. The humility of the Apostle Paul, I think, is manifest as clearly as anywhere in Philippians chapter 3.
If you'll turn over to that chapter. If anybody in the spiritual realm had achieved It was Paul. If anybody had achieved What could certainly please God and bring him accolades? It was Paul. And I suppose, from the world standpoint, that's why they named a city in Minnesota after him.
And that's why They name cathedrals all over the place after him. churches all over the place after him and Little boys after him. But I want you to know how he viewed himself. In verse 12. Not that I have already obtained.
I have not already arrived. I have not become perfect. I press on. I press on. I press on.
When he wrote to Timothy at the end of his life, He said it as simply as he could say it. He said, I am the chief of what? Sinners. 1 Timothy 1.15. I am the chief of sinners.
And he says, you know why God saved me? He saved me because I was so bad. That he could put on a demonstration of mercy. of a unique kind. with me.
In order that me, he says, as the foremost, the worst, Might allow Jesus Christ to demonstrate his perfect patience. Using me as an example. As if to say if he could save me, he could save anyone. And nothing's changed in the heart of Paul. He says, I haven't arrived.
I am as unworthy now as I've ever been. Read him in Romans 7. He says, there's still a law in my members warring against the law of my mind that leads me to this conclusion: O wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from the body of this death? I'm like a murderer with a corpse strapped to my back.
eating its way through me. That's humility. That's humility. Not that I have already attained. or become perfect.
But I press on. Dioko, I pursue, I chase. And I'm just trying to lay hold of what I was laid hold of for. And why did God lay hold of him? Romans 8.
Predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. God saved him to make him like Christ, and he'll do it ultimately. That's going to be the prize of the upward call, Christ's likeness. That's the goal in eternity, and that's the goal in time.
So he says, I'm just pursuing the very thing for which God laid hold of me, and that was to make me like his son.
Someday he'll do it in eternity, but until that time I pursue it here and now. I haven't arrived. And that's the way you measure yourself, beloved. If you want to know how far along you are spiritually, compare yourself not with someone else. Remember 2 Corinthians?
Paul says we don't compare ourselves with ourselves or measure ourselves by ourselves at a human level. If you want to know where you are spiritually, compare yourself with Jesus Christ. That will keep you humble. And before honor, Proverbs 15, 33. comes humility.
Before honor comes humility. God wants you humble. You came in humble. You have no reason to be proud now. None at all.
You're no more worthy of salvation now than you were before God saved you. You're still wretched and unworthy. In and of yourself. It's just that you've been covered by the righteousness of Christ because he paid the penalty for your sins. But you and yourself Are no more worthy now?
And when God brings those things into your life that humble you and push you down and break you. and shatter your self-confidence. Those things you can't fix, you can't make right, you can't undo. When the criticism comes, and it's like blowing a dandelion into the wind, you'll never get the pieces back. And you wonder what it'll do to you?
Just remember that what it's most likely to do to you, if you deal with it rightly, is to humble you. and make you more useful. The place to close our little discussion of humility is Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. And we'll start at verse 3.
Do nothing from selfishness. Or empty conceit. But with humility of mind, Let each of you regard one another as more important than oneself. You know, there's something true about a humble person. And that is this.
They see their own sin as worse than everybody else's. And that's a mark. If you are more critical of other Christians than you are of yourself, you lack humility. It is pride that allows you to crawl up out of your own hole and condemn others. And I'm not talking about evaluating truth, and I'm not talking about being discerning, I'm talking about being preoccupied with criticizing the sins of others.
That's hard to do when you're overwhelmed with your own. When the sins that most offend you are yours. When the sins that most grieve you are yours, When the sins that you would want to prevent are yours, and when the effects of those sins that impact the church. are your sins and not somebody else's you have a measure of humility. And you're able to do what it says here.
Regard one another as superior to you. It also involves, in verse 4, not looking out for your own personal interest. but also for the interests of others when you are more concerned. For the enterprises of others, the successes of others, the blessings of others, the benefits of others. Then you are yourself, you have a measure of humility.
When your personal interests are not what matters. When you could care less about your own personal successes, and you could care less about your own personal achievements. And you could care less about your own personal Privileges. Popularity Reputation. But you are consumed with those things in regard to others, you have a measure of humility.
It has to do with how you view your own self. Negatively, with regard to your sin and positively with regard to your successes. Are you more concerned about your sins than anybody else's? and more concerned about others' blessings than yours. That was the attitude of Christ.
He was more concerned about us than himself. The attitude that is expressed in verse 5: have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. He was Perfectly willing to give up his privileges to bear our sins. He was willing to be separated from God and endure agony, which is inexplicable and incomprehensible to us, in order that we who are unworthy might be saved. And it's this marvelous passage familiar to us that points this out.
Although he existed in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to hold on to. He was willing to give it up. He emptied himself. Taking the form of a bondservant, being made in the likeness of men. This is the.
Condescension right here, the kenosis as it's called, the self-emptying. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. In other words, he came all the way down for us. All the way down for us. 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 Center. 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. 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.
Father, as we think about this, we all are Feeling guilty in our hearts. I know I am. You have given me many blessings. And from the standpoint of Ministry in the church, you have opened up many avenues. and many experiences and many privileges.
And Lord, such privilege necessitates a humbling, and I understand that. And I thank you for those things that come into my life. That brings me quickly to the end of myself. And cast me on you. I thank you for the insults, the distresses, the misrepresentations.
The false accusations. I thank you for the trials and tribulations, the distress that comes to the church. The difficulties Even satanic enterprises, demonic enterprises. I thank you for all of those that are not a result of Iniquity. but are the unfolding of the purposes that you have.
for the humbling of your servant. And I thank you for the same in the lives of these beloved people. I thank you for doing what you need to do to humble. them.
so they can know how to depend on you.
so they can be driven to intimacy with you because they have nowhere else to go.
so that they can be powerful. If Jesus humbled himself. to the cross Oh God, give us this same attitude. 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 Dead. 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.
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. Humble us, Lord, by whatever means necessary that we might manifest the very character of Christ, whose we are, And whose image? We long. to reflect. You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur.
John's current study is called The Pillars of Christian Character. Today's lesson looked at the how and why of building a strong spiritual foundation of humility. And one aspect of humility that we saw in this lesson, specifically being more concerned for others than for yourself. For a Christian there's really not a more important way to demonstrate that concern for others than to expose them to God's truth. And we know we couldn't spread Biblical truth around the world without the support of friends like you.
John MacArthur was always thankful for your faithful support. Listen to what he had to say about that.
Well, that is essentially what humility is. It's looking not on your own things, but the things of others. That's exactly how it's defined by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2. You know, we are a living illustration of that as a ministry. There are many, many people, many of you, who sacrifice regularly Consistently Generously to support our program to bring the word of God to folks in this community.
Folks around you in in your area. It's humbling for us to receive your gifts and realize that you trust us to put your hard-earned money and money that you steward for God. to put it to work for the advance of the gospel and the kingdom. It is humbling to us that you desire That we would be the distributors of your investment in the kingdom, and that with your resources, we would be able to. Cover the world with radio broadcasts, television broadcasts, podcasts, MP3s, sermons.
Bible-focused books, all the things that this ministry does. And that's exactly how we see this ministry. We are a distribution ministry that distributes the truth around the world. And we are made able to do this by the stewardship of the folks who believe in the ministry. You give us your financial resources We take those.
And in your place We distribute them around the world, and God's Word never returns void. It always accomplishes what He sends it to do. Your sacrifice does not go unnoticed by us, but more importantly, it doesn't go unnoticed by the Lord. In a sense, you're placing your gift in our hands. We're placing your gift in His hands to see what He's going to do with it.
So, thanks for your trust, your investment, your love, and encouragement as we bring the glories of God's truth to folks around the world. Yes, friend, thank you for your partnership. We couldn't do what we do without friends like you.
So again, thank you for helping us take John's verse-by-verse teaching to communities like yours across the globe. And thank you especially for your prayers. To let us know you're praying and to express your support for grace to you, contact us today. You can mail your tax-deductible gift to Grace2U, Box4000, Panorama City, California. 91412.
You can also express your support online at gty.org or when you call us at 800-554-7223. That number is easy to remember as 855 Grace. And again, know that we need your prayers. Thank you for bringing us before the throne of grace. That is the most important way you can support this ministry.
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Now for the entire Grace to U staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Keep in mind, Grace to You Television airs this Sunday on DirecTV Channel 378. And be here Monday as we continue John MacArthur's current study, helping you build your life. on the pillars of Christian character. It's another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time.
on Grace to You.
