1 Peter chapter 5 and verses 5 and 6, Peter wrote, "'Clothe yourselves, all of you, "'with humility toward one another, "'for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. "'Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, "'so that at the proper time He may exalt you.'" Well, we're returning this evening to our studies on the subject of humility, as the prerequisite to honour. We've considered the problem of pride as we set the scene for these studies and last week I introduced to you the subject of humility. We looked at what humility is and how humility was displayed in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. This evening we're going to go on to think about how we are to display humility before God. And then next week we'll look at the display of humility before others. And then we'll continue to explore how we are to develop humility in our own lives. through the renewal of our minds, through the providences of God, and through self-discipline. And then we'll conclude our studies on this topic as we think about the relationship between humility and honour. So this evening we're looking at the third of those topics. or those headings under this topic, The Display of Humility Before God. And in this session, I want to acknowledge the work of Wayne Mack in his book, Humility, The Forgotten Virtue. The points that I'll be making this evening are taken from that book. And also this evening, I want to take a slightly different approach in that I won't be making a lot of comments on the scriptures that we'll be looking at. And rather than following, trying to turn to all the scriptures with me, perhaps it would be good if you noted them down along with the points that I'll be making. And then during the coming days, perhaps to spend some time thinking particularly about these points. If you choose a couple of points to look at each day, perhaps one in the morning and one in the evening, and to look at the scriptures. that I give you and to meditate upon these points that Wayne Mack presents. And he's presenting them in answer to the question, how can we display humility before God? How can we display humility before God? And the first answer to that question is, by the sincere confession of one's insignificance and sinfulness, by the sincere confession of one's insignificance and sinfulness. As I introduced humility to you last week, and as we were thinking about what humility is, a couple of the answers that were given were a sense of one's natural insignificance before God, and the sense of one's moral insignificance before God. And so this answer to the question, how can we display humility before God, picks up on that definition or description of what humility is. We display our humility before God by the sincere confession of one's insignificance and sinfulness. Now, I want to emphasize that we're talking about a sincere confession of one's insignificance and sinfulness. You know, it's rather easy to offhandedly say, well, everyone's a sinner. And that is true. There is no one righteous, no, not one. There is no one who does good, not even one. The scriptures declare, and we may affirm that declaration as a fact. But what we're speaking about now is the attitude of our hearts. in a sincere confession that we truly understand and know and own our natural insignificant and our sinfulness before God. The psalmist in Psalm 8 and verse 4 says, what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him? God is the creator and so he has a certain obligation to his creatures. But his creatures have rebelled. Mankind has turned its back on God and is at war with God and yet God considers him. God is mindful of him. God continues to care for him. And when we come to God, we must recognise that we have indeed no right to his care, given our relationship to him, and yet he does care for us. In 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 16, Paul wrote, to Timothy and he said, I received mercy for this reason, that in me as the foremost Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. Paul professed himself to be the chief of sinners, that Christ came into this world to save sinners. And Paul in this text is saying that Christ displays his patience through the Apostle Paul's life and gives him as a gift eternal life. It is not his due. It is not his right. And to understand that is so important for us, that we recognise that God owes us nothing. And we are nothing before God. And yet God, in his mercy, extends his grace towards us. In Matthew chapter 15 and verses 24 through 27, Jesus said, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, But a woman came and knelt before him, saying, Lord, help me. And he answered, It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. She said, Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. This woman was a foreigner. She was not an Israelite. And yet she came for help to Jesus. And Jesus responds by effectively calling her a dog. Now we might say that's a rather rude way of speaking to someone. And in a sense, yes it is. But this woman didn't respond in that way. She didn't take offence at the words that Jesus spoke. She acknowledged herself, in a sense, to be a dog before him, and yet pleads for his mercy on the basis that even dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. Now, the take-home message for us, of course, is that as we come before God, this is the attitude of our hearts. This is true humility, to sincerely confess that we are dogs, that we are nothing, that we are pitiable, and there is nothing in us that deserves God's favour or his blessing. And this is the sincere confession that we need to have in our lives as we display humility before God, as we come to the Lord. This needs to be not just the words that we speak, but this needs to be the attitude of our hearts. He doesn't look on the outward appearance. He doesn't look on the sorrowful expression and the bowed head. He looks at the heart and he wants to see truth in the inward parts. The second answer to this question, how can we display humility before God, is by a lack of trust in one's own heart and complete dependence on God. A lack of trust in one's own heart and complete dependence upon God. We need to realise that we are foolish. We need to realise that our sinful hearts lead us astray. We need to realise that we cannot depend upon ourselves, that we must depend completely upon God. Jeremiah wrote in Jeremiah 17 and verse 9, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it? The heart is deceitful. It leads us astray. Even as those who have been redeemed, even as those who have been given new hearts, we still have to put to death the old man, don't we? We still have the old nature there that keeps rearing its ugly head and trying to regain the territory that it has lost. And we're in a warfare, in a spiritual warfare within and without. And we need to recognise that even as those who have been redeemed, we cannot depend upon our own judgement, upon our own hearts. Proverbs 28 and verse 26 says, whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. And where is wisdom found? Wisdom is found in the fear of the Lord. Wisdom is found with God and we need to go to God and lean upon God and be dependent upon God and not trust in ourselves. Paul wrote in Romans 3 and verse 4, let God be true though everyone were a liar as it is written that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged. We need to recognise that when there's a contradiction between what we say and what the Scriptures say, the Scriptures are right, the Scriptures are true, the Scriptures are trustworthy, we are liars. And that's the emphasis of what Paul is saying there, is that God must have the priority in his words. in his laws, in his judgments. And we must humble ourselves before that and put ourselves under God, in dependence upon God. So Jeremiah in chapter 9 and verses 23 through 34 Quotes the Lord are saying, let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, and justice and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord. And so we're to cast ourselves upon the Lord, in dependence upon his wisdom and his word. And as we do so then we will be displaying humility before God, giving the preeminence to God rather than to ourselves. The third answer to this question, how can we display humility before God, is by renouncing any glory from our own good and giving all glory to God. By renouncing any glory from our own good and giving all glory to God. You see, we do works, we do actions, we succeed in the things that we put our hands to, and we receive praise, we receive honor, we receive glory for those things that we do. And what this answer is telling us is that we mustn't take that glory for ourselves. If we are to be humble before the Lord, then we will acknowledge that these things are because God has blessed us. The Psalmist in Psalm 115 and verse 1 says, Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness. He is the one who receives the glory because every good gift and every perfect gift is from him, as James says in chapter 1 and verse 17. coming down from the Father of lights in whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. So everything that we're able to do, every good work that we're able to perform, every praiseworthy action that we are engaged in is because of God, is because of His work in our lives. So Paul writes to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 7 and says, what do you have that you did not receive. If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? Paul is exhorting the church in Corinth to recognise God's gifts, God's works in them and through them, and to honour God in those things, not to receive the praises of God for themselves. but to rightfully pass them on, as it were, to God, as people acknowledge us and acknowledge what we've done. And we say, well, it's the Lord's doing. He's the one who enabled me to do this. He's the one who strengthened me for this task. He's the one who's given me the skills to be able to perform this. He's the one who gave me wisdom in the decisions that I made. He's the one who should receive the glory and praise. And I acknowledge his gifts, his goodness to me in this success that I've achieved. And so by renouncing any glory from our own good and giving all glory to God, we display humility before the God who made us and who sustains our lives in this world. A fourth answer to this question, how can we display humility before God, is by respecting, receiving, and responding to the Word of God. By respecting, receiving, and responding to the Word of God. We need to recognise that God has given us his Word for our blessing, for our guidance, for our help, for our instruction, for our training in righteousness, so that we might live before him to honour and glorify his name. And by respecting his word, receiving his word, responding to his word, we show our humility. We're not puffing ourselves up, but we're giving glory to God. In Isaiah chapter 66, in the opening verses, Isaiah says, 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. The Lord is saying through Isaiah to us that It's not important what we do. It's not important that we build a magnificent temple to glorify God. That is not what is important. What is important is that we are humble and we show our humility when we tremble at his word. We show our humility when we submit to his word, when we acknowledge that the Lord speaks and he speaks to us today and his word to us today is to be built on. Our lives are to be built on this rock of his word, to glorify and honour him in our obedience to him. In Hebrews chapter 4 and verses 12 and 13, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. And so the Word of God is able to penetrate the inner recesses of our hearts and lives and display the reality of our thoughts and our understanding so that we're brought to conviction of sin and we're trained in the way of righteousness. And so God's Word ought to be before us. We ought to respect God's Word. We ought to receive God's Word. We ought to respond to God's Word. And in doing so, we humble ourselves before the God and his authority and his revealed will. And that leads us into the fifth answer to this question. How can we display humility before God? Well, by completely submitting to God. By completely submitting to God's will, even when His will is difficult. And the will of God is sometimes difficult. It's difficult at times because He calls us to obey Him when we can't see the outcome of that obedience. We can't see where it's eventually going to take us. The conclusion is not in sight for us, and yet we are called to submit to God's will, even as Abraham was called to submit to God's will. Genesis 12, verses 1 through 4, tells us that the Lord said to Abraham, go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.' So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. The Lord said to Abram, go from your country to the land that I will show you. And Abram went. And he didn't know what that land was. God was going to show him. God, in effect, was saying to Abram, follow me. I'll be your guide. And I'm going to take you on a journey to a destination that I know. And Abram had to trust him, had to follow him. And that is the case for us at times. The will of the Lord, the conclusion isn't in sight, the destination isn't in sight. We have to trust that the Lord's will is the right way for us to go and to submit to his will. Sometimes we know the destination, we know the conclusion, we know the outcome of the way that the Lord is leading us, but it's a difficult one. It's a hard road to take. It's something that we don't really want. that our hearts, our lives, our minds turn away from this calling, this expression of God's will for us, and we say, we don't really want to go that way. But we must go that way. Humility is a submission of our wills to God's will, even when it's difficult. Even when it's difficult because what it's leading to is hard for us to accept. A difficult road to walk. We see this in the life of Jesus himself in Philippians chapter 2 and verse 8. Paul writes and says that being found in human form, Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. Before the Son of God left heaven, he knew that he was heading to the cross. As he grew up and grew in his understanding of the scriptures and in his obedience to God and to his parents, He knew what lay before him, the road that he must journey, the road of holiness that would bring upon him the scorn, the ridicule, the hatred and animosity of those around him through his childhood and adolescence and into adulthood. He knew the journey that he must go on and he knew the destination. He knew the place of suffering that it would lead to. And he knew the wrath of God that he would have to incur on behalf of those he represented. And yet he went that way because that was God's will. And he submitted to God's will, even though it was difficult, even though he cried out, Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, your will be done. And this was the pattern that Jesus followed and the example that he's given to us. And this is how we show our humility before the Lord, by completely submitting to God's will, even when it's difficult. A sixth way that we display humility before God is by submitting to the providences of God without complaint. submitting to his providences without complaint, the things that happen to us in our lives, the difficulties that we go through, that we struggle with. We mustn't complain about these things. In Philippians chapter four and verses 11 through 12, Paul says, I am not speaking of being in need, for I've learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. He had learned contentment. do everything he has written without grumbling or complaining. That is the way that we are to respond to God's providences in our lives, to submit to the sovereignty of God, to know that he is bringing us through those providences for his glory and for our good. Knowing that all things work together for good to those who love God, even even the difficult providences that we are brought through. And so, rather than complaining, we should do as Paul urges us, to rejoice. Again, I say, rejoice in every circumstance of life. We are to trust God and submit to him without complaint. Job understood this, though it was a struggle for him in the providences of God in his life. You know how he was a wealthy man and a healthy man and a happy man, but God allowed Satan to take all of those things away from him. All of his wealth was gone. His children were killed, his health was taken away, and even his wife had no confidence in him. His wife said to him, do you still hold fast your integrity? In Job chapter 2 and verse 9. Curse God and die. But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil? In all this, Job did not sin with his lips. Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil? In this context, evil means suffering, hard times, difficult providences. He's saying we need to submit to God, whatever God brings into our lives, riches and health, or the lack of riches and ill health. We submit to God without complaint. He has his purposes in these things. And so we trust in God in the midst of these providences. By doing so, we humble ourselves before God. And then the seventh way in which we display humility before God is by delighting in the worship and praise of God. And perhaps this is one of the most obvious ways that we humble ourselves before God as we worship him, as we exalt him, as we glorify him, as we give honour and praise to the God who has made us and who sustains our lives. The psalmist in Psalm 42 verses 1 and 2 said, As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? The heart that is humble before the Lord delights to come into the presence of God and to sing his praises and to glorify his name. Again, the psalmist in Psalm 84, verses 1 and 2 says, How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Then verse 10 goes on to say, for a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. Oh, just to be a doorkeeper, just to be the man at the door, opening and closing the door to those who come in, handing out the hymn books. Or psalm books. welcoming the worshippers of God. If it was only that, that would be my delight, that would be my joy, because it would be in the temple of my God, where the worship of God is conducted. And in these days, when we're not able to gather together in person, how our hearts yearn to be able once more to unite our voices in singing praise to our God and to our Redeemer. to delight in worshipping the God who made us and who is remaking us in the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ and with whom we will dwell forever and ever. We want to dwell with him now. We want to be in his presence now together to worship and praise him because he is everything to us and we humble ourselves before God as we worship him together. An eighth response, an eighth way of displaying our humility before God is to continually seek God in prayer. To continually seek God in prayer. As we pray to God, we are displaying before him our dependence upon him. We're acknowledging our own weakness. We're acknowledging our frustration. We're acknowledging our sorrow. We're seeking his comfort. We're seeking his wisdom, his guidance, his strength. We're asking for help. We're asking for him to intervene. We're showing our dependence on him as we come before him in prayer. In 2nd Chronicles chapter 7 verses 11 through 14 Solomon finished the house of the Lord that he had built. And we're told that Solomon planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. And then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him, I have heard your prayer. and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among the people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven. and will forgive their sin and heal their land. If they will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear. I will forgive. I will heal their land. And this is how we are to come before the Lord, in humble prayer, seeking his face, that he might bless us from his riches in glory. Later in the book of 2 Chronicles, in the 33rd chapter, verses 10 through 13, the Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention, we're told, Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks, and bound him with chains of bronze, and brought him to Babylon. And when he was in distress, he entreated the favour of the Lord. his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty, and heard his plea, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. And Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. Manasseh took the word of God seriously and submitted to it. He humbled himself before the Lord in prayer and sought his help. And the Lord responded to this humble approach of Manasseh. We humble ourselves by continually seeking God in prayer. Ninthly, we humble ourselves before God by considering service for Christ an undeserved privilege. It is a privilege to be a servant of Christ, to be a slave of God, to be active in His work. In Luke chapter 17 and verses 7 through 10, Jesus said, will any of you who has a servant ploughing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, come at once and recline at table? Will he not rather say to him, prepare supper for me and dress properly and serve me while I eat and drink and afterward you will eat and drink? Does he thank him because he did what was commanded? So you also, Jesus says, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, we are unworthy servants. We've only done what was our duty. And that is the attitude of heart that we should have as we live our lives in this world under submission to God's word and his revealed will. We are unworthy servants. We have only done what was our duty. We are blessed to be your servants, to be in your house, doing your work. And we've only done our duty. We're not deserving of praise or honour. We've just done what we are supposed to do. And Jesus set the example, didn't he, in John chapter 13 and verses 12 through 17, with the example of him washing his disciples' feet. And he concludes that portion of his word by saying, "'Truly, truly, I say to you, "'a servant is not greater than his master, "'nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. "'If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.'" So we are to follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ in service. But unlike the Lord Jesus Christ, we are unworthy servants. And it is but our duty to honour God with the service of our lives. We should consider service for Christ a privilege, an undeserved privilege. We deserve to be cast out from his presence for our rebellion. We deserve to be punished forever in hell. But he has redeemed us. He has bought us with his blood. He has brought us before his throne and he has made us his servants. And in our service for him then, we should acknowledge this privilege that he has given to us, so undeserved. And then tenthly and finally, we display humility before God by willingly acknowledging God's infinite wisdom and knowledge. We again come back to where we started. and acknowledge God as the great creator, as the one who is omniscient, knowing all things, the one who is omnipotent, all-powerful, the one whose knowledge knows no limits, and the one who is wise in all his ways. Job understood this. at the end of the book that records his experiences when the Lord came to Job and asked him a series of questions. Asks him about the way that the world was made, what has happened in it, and how it was accomplished. And the Lord answers Job at the end of two chapters of questions and says, I lay my hand on my mouth. He understood God's infinite wisdom and knowledge. And we need to understand that and we need to humble ourselves before the Lord, God, who knows all things and who is all wise. And we need to understand what Deuteronomy 29, verse 29 tells us, that the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. In other words, what it's saying to us is that there are questions that we will have that God knows the answer to, but he has not disclosed those answers to us. And we need to humble ourselves and acknowledge that God knows and he has chosen not to disclose. There are things, secret things, that he has hidden from us. Our responsibility is to take the revealed things that he has made known to us and to live our lives on the basis of those revealed things, and to willingly acknowledge that God has the right to know what we do not know, and to give him praise for revealing the things that we need to know for life and godliness in this world. And so as we do these things, we display true humility before the living God. This isn't about going through outward motions. This is about the sincerity of our hearts before the God who looks upon the heart and not upon the outward appearance. But this is how we are to display humility before our God. Let's pray. Our Father, we do ask you that you would teach us this humility as in the coming days we think upon these scriptures that we've considered briefly this evening, as we meditate upon what it means to display humility before you, our Creator and our Redeemer. Help us to grow in our understanding of these things. and help us to grow in our display of humility from a sincere heart. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.