Today from Chuck Swindoll. We're forever striving to be number one when we're competitive. We fight to be upfront, to be seen, to overshadow others, to be larger, to be better than, to have more than.
That's called competition. There's no place in the body of Christ. There's no place in the believer in the body. The Christ. John the Baptizer was the epitome of true humility.
Never once did John attempt to overshadow Jesus or steal His thunder. Even his lowly appearance deferred to the glory of Jesus. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll points to this man as a model of humility and one that we should emulate in our relationships today.
There are times where ambition is rewarded and meekness is seen as weakness. Let's discover what the Bible teaches about this rare virtue as Chuck continues his message about the integrity of true humility. He begins with prayer. What a privilege it is to call you our Father, to know that you are there.
You are never far away. And though we cannot see you, we claim by faith your presence. Our need for you is total, not partial. Our desire for your will in our lives is immense, though at times we don't live like it. We acknowledge, Lord, the reproof of reading of a life like this.
And then we examine our own lives and it touches us to our hearts. Father, I pray today for humble husbands and wives, humble teenagers. I pray for teachers who walk in humility. I pray for leaders who model what it means to give and to serve others. I pray that we might grow within our ranks a body of people who truly believe that you must increase and we must decrease.
Who really mean that, who make that their life motto, not just words to say that sounds spiritual, but we really mean it. I pray for professionals who practice their profession with humility. I ask you today, Lord, that you would give us hearts that break over the needs of our world. That rather than gossiping against those we do not appreciate or like, we'll pray for them and we'll trust you to deal with them.
And rather than getting even or getting back, I pray that we'll release the grudges. I pray for humble individuals who perfect forgiveness. Forgiveness like Christ who loved us and gave himself for us, who came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life. Speak deeply to us as we see in these words on the pages of John 1 and John 3, a life that modeled true humility. Finally, Lord, I pray as we walk with you that the deep, deep love of Jesus will not only be told through our lips, but will be seen in our lives. May we live it, live it from one day to the next. May we be lost in wonder, love, and praise for your son, Jesus. May he be our focus this day, this week, for Christ's sake. Everyone said, Amen.
You're listening to Insight for Living. To search the Scriptures with Chuck Swindoll, be sure to download his Searching the Scriptures studies by going to insightworld.org slash studies. Chuck titled his message, The Integrity of True Humility. I searched the Scriptures carefully for quite some time to find just the right example. I was drawn first to a statement Jesus made about this man in Matthew 11. Of all those who have ever lived, none was greater than John the baptizer. Jesus said that.
Of all who have ever lived, none is greater. And yet, he's just a man. In fact, that's the way his biography begins. Literally, there was a man sent from God, John. He's just a man. And he never forgot that.
I love that about John. You never ever read, even once, of envy or jealousy, even when his congregation is lessened because of Messiah's congregation growing. He was sent by God.
That's true. That's what the Scripture says. He had a calling.
He didn't just strike out and do what he felt like doing. He was sent by God. One purpose. To be the witness, to tell the truth regarding the one who was to come right after him.
We call that the forerunner. But it quickly reads in his biography, he was not that light. He introduced the light. So this brings up the first of four characteristics of humility that I find in John that are worth emulating in our lives by the grace of God and by the Spirit of God.
Here's the first. Accepting our God-given role, including our limitations. He accepted the fact that he had been sent by God. He also accepted the fact that he was not the light. He was not the Messiah. He was not Elijah. He was not the prophet. He knew who he was.
Never tried to be someone else. It's beautiful to see how this emerges. When you look at verse 19 and following, you read of this interview between John and those who came from Jerusalem to report his identity. They want to find out who is this person? Who's that individual out there in the wilderness drawing a crowd? So they sent these individuals who are not named to talk to John about who he was.
And their question is pretty simple. Who are you? Just tell us who you are.
Did you notice the first answer? I am not. He doesn't tell them who he is. He begins by telling them who he's not.
Don't make any mistake. You've read about Messiah. You know he's coming. I'm not him. I'm not the Messiah. So he understood his limitations. He understood what he wasn't.
Let's read on. Down in verse 23, John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah, I'm a voice. I'm a voice shouting in the wilderness, clear the way for the Lord's coming. I'm a voice. He's the word. I'm just a voice. He's the light.
I'm just a lamp. His word lingers, I'll soon be forgotten. In fact, John, in our words, we would say he was prematurely martyred for an unjust cause.
Never a complaint. Because he was never important to John. And they want to know who he is, and he tells them who he's not. And he still hasn't told them who he is, except I'm just a voice in the wilderness.
That doesn't satisfy. I'm not Elijah. And he says, furthermore, I baptize with water right here in the crowd and someone you do not recognize, though his ministry follows mine. I'm not even worthy. Look at these words in verse 27. I'm not even worthy to be his slave to untie the straps of his sandals. That's not false humility.
He believed that. So the second characteristic I find is giving full effort to resist the subtle temptation to be someone we're not. The first is accepting our God-given role, including our limitations, and the second is giving full effort to resist even subtle temptations to be someone we're not. I call for repentance. He takes away the sins of the world.
I'm only a man. He's the lamb of God. I'm a voice in the wilderness. He's the eternal word. I point you to the way. He is the way, the truth and the life.
I'm none of the above. When we get over to chapter three, something interesting happens. Along the same line of thought, a little time has passed. And so there's a debate that breaks out over ceremonial cleansing, according to verse 25. And then John's disciples don't miss that. John has a following.
They really love John. They really believe in his message. And they've repented and they've lined up alongside him. And they're a part of his team, if you will. They're his disciples. They're learning from him. So these who gathered around him and are jealous for him came to him and they said, Rabbi, now look closely.
You're going to see a whole lot of humanity emerging. Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah. Understand, Jesus is unknown. This is right at the beginning when he's starting his ministry. He's another Jewish man, for all everyone knew, until John goes, that's the Lamb of God. He came to be baptized. John was reluctant to do it, but the voice came. This is my son, my beloved one.
Hear ye him. And the dove came. It was clear to John, this is the Messiah. And so they refer to him, you know, the one you identified as Messiah. You know, John, he's now baptizing people. He's doing what you've been doing. Furthermore, everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.
Oh, I'm smiling because it sounds so much like churches. They're leaving us and they're going over there. They're getting bigger. We're getting smaller. Something's wrong. Wrong?
Is the goal to be big? Where's that in the scriptures? I can't find it anywhere. It comes from our carnal heart.
That's where it's from. I mean, we're the ones who baptize. What's he doing baptizing?
And we've got our group and some of them are leaving us to go to him. I love John's response. Look at this. Verse 27. No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. So everything we have is a gift.
That's grace. Now read on. You yourselves know how plainly I told you I'm not the Messiah. So he's not talking to his disciples.
He's driving it home. Understand, I'm not the one. I'm not the star. I'm not the pivot point. I'm just a voice. I told you that plainly. I'm only here to prepare the way for him.
And read on. It's the bridegroom who marries the bride and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. By the way, if some of you men have been best men in a wedding, is that the easiest role in the world? That's what best men do. Try to stay awake. Listen to the vows.
Smile. Yet it's so great. I've been a best man only a few times. That's usually not my role, but I love it when it's my opportunity to do nothing.
So I'm there. And I watch the preacher as he does his part. I watch the bridegroom as he sweats. I watch the bride as she looks beautiful.
It's so great. I take delight in the vows. I listen to the words.
I have nothing to do. I'm just invited as a friend of the groom. And look at what he says next.
Look at what he says. He says, it's the bridegroom who marries the bride. The best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows.
Therefore, I'm filled with joy at his success. Isn't that great? That's one preacher talking about another preacher. You don't hear that very much. If there's one sin we preachers make more than any other, it's envy.
It's just raw envy, jealousy. You wouldn't know this because you probably don't go to pastors conferences. I stopped going a long time ago.
It's usually a study of one upmanship. You may not come right out and say it, but you're really saying, how big is your church? You go, oh, whatever. Oh, how big is yours? How much property you folks have?
What's your budget? How many did you baptize last year? You know what we're doing? We're like dogs smelling each other. It's just, it's just, it's just dumb. It's just dumb. Dumbest thing in the world.
What does it matter if I have twelve or twelve thousand? What does it matter? I don't deserve any following.
Nor do you. You see, this brings up the third characteristic of humility. Seeing God's hand in another's success and rejoicing over it.
It's a beautiful thing to see. Talk about a need in the body of Christ. Not just among pastors, you know that. It's among all, all of us.
It takes humility to push aside. All this. Well, I'm going to say the two words, all this competition and all this comparison.
Those are the sins that lead to envy and jealousy. Done a little study on both. I want you to listen to the results. Competition. Listen to the definition.
Striving to come out ahead. Without humility, we view others as rivals. Not brothers and sisters.
Not people on the same level at the foot of the cross. They're rivals. They're taking our sheep when they never were our sheep to start with. You're not my people. You've never heard me call you that. You're God's people. I'm not your own.
I don't own you. You don't answer to me. Let's get it real straight. We all serve one head. He's called Christ. He's called the Lord. He's the head of the church. So we're not competing with some other church or some other body or some other group.
Let me go on. We're forever striving to be number one when we're competitive. We fight to be upfront. To be seen. To overshadow others. To be larger. To be better than.
To have more than. That's called competition. Has no place in the body of Christ.
Has no place in the believer in the body of Christ. Here's the other comparison. Competition grows out of comparison. Comparison is the habit of examining for the purpose of noting the similarities and or the differences. Without humility, we lack individual acceptance of others and personal contentment within ourselves.
Hope you're hearing this. We envy others. We become jealous of them. Envy is resentful desire for another's advantage, possessions, or accomplishments.
It's a major issue among Christians. Now jealousy is the fear of being replaced by a rival. Let me spell out the major differences between envy and jealousy.
Listen closely. Envy begins with empty hands, mourning over what it doesn't have. Jealousy begins with full hands, but is threatened by the loss of it. Envy wants to have what another possesses. It's unwilling to rejoice on behalf of another who has more. Jealousy wants to possess what it already has. It's unwilling to release it to bring another joy.
The Song of Solomon 6-8 says it perfectly. Jealousy is as cruel as the grave. As a young man, I was eaten up with jealousy. I about lost this lovely lady I ultimately married because early in our engagement, I was so jealous of who she looked at, who she talked to, what she was wearing, how she was responding, what others said to her, and finally she said to me, if this keeps up, there will be no further engagement.
As cruel as the grave. It's interesting, by the grace of God, I conquered it. I can honestly say I do not say this out of any pride whatsoever, but that cured me. I didn't want to lose her. And my jealousy was driving her away. Envy and jealousy separate.
They never draw together. John has no envy, he has no jealousy. He says, I applaud, the Messiah's group is larger.
That's the way it's supposed to be. I'm thrilled. You see, true humility cancels out both.
John saw God's hand in Messiah's success and he had zero interest in clinging to those who had been following him or having a larger following than the Messiah. No, he said his group enlarging really pleases me. I'm filled with joy. This is Insight for Living. We're listening to a message from our teacher, Chuck Swendoll.
He's titled this study, The Integrity of True Humility. And if you'd like to learn more about this ministry, please visit us online at insightworld.org. Well, along with these daily visits with Chuck, Insight for Living Ministries has prepared a number of additional resources for you. And each one is designed to help you dig deeper into God's word on your own and to apply the principles to your daily life. For example, the online Searching the Scriptures study program will complement each sermon. This gives you a way to explore the passage on your own and take notes of what you're learning.
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