This evening I'd like to turn in the Word of God to Philippians chapter 4 and to read to you verses 2 through 9. Philippians chapter 4 and verses 2 through 9. Paul writes to the church in Philippi and he says, I entreat you, O dear, and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women who have laboured side by side with me in the Gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, If there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Well, we're continuing this evening our consideration of the subject of humility. We began by considering the problem of pride that is an issue that every one of us has to deal with. For some of us it's an ongoing battle that we have almost every day of our lives. For others it may be an issue that raises itself at various times in their lives. But I think for every one of us at different times, or it may feel constantly, we're having to deal with the issue of pride and to put pride to death in our lives. We've been considering the subject of humility, having laid out that problem of pride. We've thought about what humility is. and how humility was presented in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then we thought about the way that we are to display humility before God in our relationship to God, and how we display humility before others in our relationship. with others. And having covered that ground then, we're now in the next three studies going to move on to think about how we develop humility in our hearts and in our lives. How we respond to Peter's exhortation in Philippians chapter 5 to 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. So we're exhorted to clothe ourselves with humility. How do we do that? How do we clothe ourselves with humility? Well, we'll look at how we develop humility by the renewal of our minds and that's the focus of this evening's study. And then next week we will consider how humility is developed in us through the providences of God in our lives. And then we'll think about the way that we can further the development of humility by self-discipline. And we'll finish off wrapping up our studies on this subject by considering the relationship of humility to honour. Well, let's give some thought then to the development of humility by renewal, by the renewal of our minds. And really as we do this, I need to emphasize that there's an assumption that we're making. There's a prerequisite to developing humility by the renewal of our minds. And that is that our hearts have been renewed by the Spirit of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, I'm assuming that in speaking about developing humility, I'm speaking to those who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, who have entrusted their lives to his sovereign care, and who have submitted their lives to being under his lordship, And it is because of that lordship of Christ that we are called to renew our minds through his word. Paul, writing to the church in Romans in the 12th chapter, speaks of the importance of this, even as he has presented to them the theological foundation on which their faith is built and on which their salvation is founded, Paul writes in chapter 12 of Romans, and in verses one and two, I appeal to you brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. And he goes on to say, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. We are to be not conformed to this world, not to fit in to this world, not to adopt this world's way of thinking and way of behaving, but we are to be transformed, we are to be changed, we are to be different, made different, by the renewal of our minds. So the means to this transformation is through the mind, through the renewal of the mind, through the changing of the mind. The compiler of Proverbs in Proverbs 4 and verse 23 says that we are to keep our hearts with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. That it's out of our heart that our words speak. It is out of our heart that our hands move, that we do the works that we do. In other words, that there are motives from within us that drive us in the things that we say and in the things that we do. Jesus expressed it in Matthew 15 and verse 19 in this way. Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. Now Paul, in his writings, tells us to mortify, to put to death those things. And in order to put to death those things, it must begin with a change of heart. We must have our hearts renewed within us. And it is only with our hearts renewed within us that we can begin to change the way that we live our lives. And part of the way that that is accomplished is through the way that we think. What is it that we put into our minds? What is it that we allow to take up residence in our thoughts? What is it that we allow to flow through our minds that will affect how we speak and what we do? And so this evening I'd like us to think to think about thinking. And that's really at the heart of this study. How we think, what we think affects our attitudes and our behaviour. That is what Paul says to the church in Rome. That is what Jesus said to his disciples. How we think What we allow into our minds, into our hearts, affects our attitudes and our behavior. So there are seven things that I want to say about this subject. Seven thoughts that we should have. And these are drawn again from what Wayne Mack has written in his excellent book on humility, the forgotten virtue. and he has many more. I've brought them together, his 13 or so points into my seven points. But the first thing that I would want to say is that we are to think about God's greatness and holiness in contrast to ourselves. We are to think about God's greatness and holiness in contrast to ourselves. Now we can think about God, we can think about what he's like, about who he is, in an abstract way. We can take up the systematic theology and look in the section about God and we can learn about the triunity of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We can think about his incommunicable attributes and we can think about his communicable attributes. And we can think about his transcendence and his holiness. We can think about his creative work and the way that he sustains the world. We can think about God and we can think about him in a theoretical, abstract way. But what I am saying is that we need to think about God's greatness and his holiness in relation to us. Now in a sense we've covered this subject and much of what I'm going to say this evening we've touched on as we thought about what humility looks like, how it looked in Jesus and how it looks in our relationship to God and how it looks in our relationship to others. But in order for us to develop humility, in order for us to make it real in our lives, we need to think about these things. And we need to think about God's greatness and holiness in contrast to ourselves. Earlier in our studies, we looked at Isaiah chapter 6, and that passage in Isaiah 6, in which Isaiah was confronted with a vision of the Son of God. In the year that King Uzziah died, he says, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up. And the train of his robed filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim, each had six wings. With two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. and the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke, and I said, Woe is me, for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. We see in this passage that Isaiah caught a glimpse of the glory of God. He saw something of the holiness of God. And as he considered God in his glory, in his holiness, he himself had a reaction to it. There was a response to it as he considered himself, as he considered his own life, as he considered his own insignificance and his own sinfulness in comparison to God. He realized that he was nothing more than that. He realized that he was really to be condemned before God, that in comparison to God, his own life was one of impurity. I am a man of unclean lips, he says, and this is a man whom God has called to be his spokesman, to speak God's Word, and out of those lips that were to speak God's Word, he was to tell others of God, and yet he says, I'm a man of unclean lips. They're contaminated lips, they're sinful lips. As he is confronted by the holiness and purity of God, he realizes his own impurity. and he is brought to his knees before this holy God. And it is in this way then that we are to think about God's greatness and his holiness, not in an abstract way, but in a way that affects us, that draws from us a response, and that response must inevitably be a response of humility. in comparison to the greatness and the glory of God. And so we can think about the perfections of God's attributes. We can think about his power, the awesomeness of his power that brought all things into being and that sustains all things. just with a word and we think of our impotence, we think of how weak we are, how lacking in control we are. We want to control our circumstances, don't we? And we think, at times we think we've got things under control and then all of a sudden our lives are turned upside down by a microscopic virus. And we realize how out of control this world is, that it's not in our control. We have such little ability to command our destiny, do we? But God does. God is in control. We can think about the perfection of God's knowledge, how he knows all things, how he is at once aware of every detail of every life, of its past, of its future and of its present. God knows it all. He understands every situation, every circumstance, everything that has brought it about and all the repercussions of it. He knows it all. And we don't. We don't know our lives. We don't know one minute from the next. We struggle even to interpret the past and what's happened and how we've been brought to our present situation, let alone understanding what will happen tomorrow or next week or next month. And yet, God knows it all. and how futile are our attempts to understand this world, this world that God knows intimately. And so as we think about God and we think about ourselves, that breathes within our hearts a sense of our own smallness, a sense of our own insignificance before Him. And that then feeds a right and proper sense of humility before him. that we bow before him as our great God and our creator and our Lord. So we're to think about God's greatness, to think about God's holiness in contrast to ourselves. And as we think about those things, then that will help us to develop an attitude of humility. Secondly, we need to think about how God views the humble in contrast to the proud. We're to think about how God views the humble in contrast to the proud. I read to you from 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 5, where we're told to clothe ourselves with humility because, Peter says, God opposes the proud. but gives grace to the humble. And James says exactly the same thing in chapter 4 and verse 6. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. And we ought to think about that then. We ought to think about how God views the humble in contrast to the proud. God opposes the proud. The writer or compiler of Proverbs in one place says that there are six things that God hates, even seven, and one of those things is pride, an arrogant heart or a haughty spirit. God hates it. and God opposes it. In other words, God is working against the proud. We need to, we need to stop and think about that when pride begins to take hold of our hearts and fills our thoughts and we begin to think about ourselves and how good we are and how successful we are achieved and how much better we are at other people, at a particular thing. and those thoughts then possess our minds and then we begin to look down on those others who haven't achieved as much as we've achieved, who haven't been as self-disciplined as we have to have made progress in a particular skill, a particular sport and we begin to puff ourselves up and think how great we are and then we need to and how he's thinking about the way we're thinking and the way we're looking at ourselves and how God is opposed to that and he's going to work against that in our lives. Pride comes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Well, where does that destruction come from? Where does that fall originate? Well, it originates in God, in the God who opposes the proud. But this God who opposes the proud, he gives grace to the humble. He gives grace. He gives that which is undeserved to the humble. He draws near to the humble. They don't deserve his presence, but he comes. He comes to them, to help them. He gives his strength to the humble, the weak. He bears them up. He gives his wisdom to the humble. The wisdom of the omniscient God, the all-knowing God, is given to the humble. He is there for them, to help them. in every way that they need his help. Because his grace is given to the humble, you see. He's on their side, as it were, in contrast to the proud, whom he's against. And then as we think about how God views the humble in contrast to the proud, where do we want to be? In which camp do we want to be? Do we want to stand amongst the proud and have God against us? Or do we want to bow down with the humble and know that God is with us? We need to think about how God views the humble in contrast to the proud. And then thirdly, we need to think about our imperfections and the judgment we deserve. I've already intimated that pride feeds on what we have accomplished. Pride feeds on the things where we are strong, where we do achieve. And, you know, it's easy for us then to focus upon those things, those things that we are good at, those things in particular that we are better than other people at. And pride feeds on that and focuses on that to... to the detriment of everything else, our weak things, well we don't want to think about our weak, our weaknesses, where we fail, where we fall short, we'll focus on the things that we're good at because those other things, well, they make us uncomfortable and we don't like being uncomfortable. And they give us a sense of failure, and we don't like being a failure. And so we don't think about those things. But if we want to develop humility, then we need to think about those things. We need to think about our imperfections. We need to think about our sins. We need to think about the judgment that we deserve. Proverbs, again, speaks in chapter 16 and verse 2 of the ways of a man being pure in his own eyes. The ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. A man looks at himself. He looks at his life. He looks at where he's come. He looks at what he achieves. He focuses upon the gains that he has made. But the Lord, the Lord looks inside. The Lord weighs the spirit. And the spirit is what is the reality. The spirit is the heart of a man. in relation to God. And that's what the Lord is looking at. Romans chapter 3, quoting from the Old Testament scriptures, in verses 10 through 18, Paul says, it is written, none is righteous, no not one, no one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they've become worthless. No one does good, not even one." And so it goes on. And we react to that. We say, well, Paul's just exaggerating to make a point. He's using a little bit of hyperbole to get his argument across and to reinforce it in the minds of those to whom he's writing. But I don't think that Paul is doing that at all. What Paul is doing is what the writer of Proverbs is expressing when he says that the way of a man is pure in his own eyes. We read those words from Paul. We read them in the Old Testament. None is righteous. No, not one. Oh, no, that's not true, we say. I know righteous people. I know people who seek after God. I know people whose lives are not worthless, but who do good. And we contradict God. The ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, you see. That's the way we think. But the Lord weighs the spirit. And the Lord says, no, there's none who's righteous, no, not one. None who does good, not even one. And we need to realise that the Lord's ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts. He looks with clarity at our lives, at the lives of those around us. He sees with absolute perfect understanding. And we don't. We colour everything. We make everything look better than it really is to suit ourselves. And that's what pride does. But we need to look with the eyes of the Lord and we're only going to be able to do that when we turn to the Scriptures and we accept what the Scriptures say and we accept the assessment that God gives us of this world and of us and of our hearts through the Scriptures. And so Matthew, Jesus speaking in Matthew 7 verses 3 to 5 says, Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Well, how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, Jesus says. First take the log out of your own eye and then you'll see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. And you've got this amusing picture really of someone with a great log jutting out of his eye as he's trying to help a friend with a speck that's in his eye. It's ridiculous. But this is what pride does, you see. Pride gives us this warped perspective on our lives that is totally wrong. And we need to think about our imperfections. We need to think about the judgment we deserve. We need to think about the reality of the impurity of our lives and to subject ourselves to the judgment of the scriptures. And then we need to respond with humility in repentance, seeking the forgiveness of God and the help of God to overcome these things. And so we're to think in the way that the Bible speaks, we're to think in the way that God expresses the reality of our world and of our own individual lives. And then fourthly, we're to think about the origin of our abilities, skills, and accomplishments. We're to think about the origin of our abilities, skills, and accomplishments. There are times when we achieve great things. There are times when we've disciplined ourselves to hone a skill until that skill has reached a point that we are better than most other people at this particular thing. It may be a sport or it may be some particular aspect of knowledge and understanding of a particular area of expertise that we've gained. And we've achieved, we've reached a high standard. But we're not to praise ourselves for that without thinking about the origin of that ability. of that skill, of that accomplishment. Paul, writing to the church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 17, asks, 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? And you may say, well, you know, I've worked really hard to achieve what I've achieved. I've got up early. I've trained hard. I've developed my skills. I've used every means available to me to do this. And I've got where I've got through diligence and determination and perseverance. And that may well be true. But the origin of that ability, even to be determined, even to persevere, comes from God. Every good gift comes from the Father of Lights, in whom there is no shadow due to change. He is the one who gives even the gifts to persevere in developing a skill, a skill that he has given to us. And we must think about that, we must dwell upon that when we're tempted to think about, oh, look what I've done, look how well I've achieved, look at my medals, look at the things that I've won. how they speak of my diligence and my perseverance and my skill, but we need to think about who gave us those gifts and that those medals wouldn't be there if it were not for him and we should give all glory. to him. Which leads into the fifth point that we should think about how other men and women have exemplified humility. We should think about how other men and women have exemplified humility. We can think about people in our own lives, perhaps, who have done that. Or in church history, who have done that. Or in the Bible, who have done that. Let me give you a couple of examples from the Bible. We can think, for example, of Joseph. You know how Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt. And there he was thrown into prison. where he interpreted the dreams of a couple of men who were in prison with him and those dreams came true. Then Pharaoh himself, the ruler of Egypt, had a dream and he wanted someone to interpret the dream and we're told in Genesis 41 verses 15 to 16 that Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have had a dream and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you, that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it.' And Joseph answered Pharaoh, It is not in me. God will give Pharaoh a favourable answer. Joseph could have said to Pharaoh, Well, yes, actually, as a matter of fact, I've had some success in this area. And I have been able, on occasion, to interpret dreams quite accurately. So I'm quite happy to hear your dream and see if I can give you an answer. He doesn't say that. He says, it's not in me. Whatever you've heard, it's not from me. But God, God will give Pharaoh an answer. He is the interpreter of dreams, not me. And so Joseph gives glory to God and doesn't take the glory and the honour to himself. He is an example to us there of humility. Similarly, Daniel, in a very similar way, in Daniel chapter 2 and verses 25 through 30, Ariok brought Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him, I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation. And the king declared to Daniel, whose name was Balthasar, are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation? Daniel answered the king and said, no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologists can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked. But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these. To you, O King, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king and that you may know the thoughts of your mind." So Daniel, like Joseph before him, gives glory and honour to God. He doesn't say, well, yes, your highness, I can tell you your dream and interpret it for you. No, he says, it's not in me. It's not in me. No wise man. No one can tell you your dream and what it means, but God, he is the one who gives visions and dreams and can interpret them. And it is because God desires that you should know this dream and its interpretation that he's revealed it to me. And so these are examples of men who could have got the glory to themselves, but gave the glory rightfully to the God who had given them this ability. And as we think about how other men and women have exemplified humility, then that can help us, ourselves, to respond in a similar way in humility, to clothe ourselves with the humility that God desires to see in us. And then, sixthly, we're to think about the humility of those who are in the presence of God. To think about the humility of those who are in the presence of God. We've already thought about the humility of Isaiah, who came into the presence of God even during his earthly life. We've thought earlier in our studies about Job, and the way that Job was confronted with the living God, even during his life here in this world, and how he responded as a result in humility. But in the book of Revelation, we're able to catch a glimpse of those who have gone before us into heaven and who are before the throne of God there. And in Revelation chapter 7 and verses 9 through 12, we read, that John looked and behold, he says, a great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God for ever and ever. Amen. And so as we catch a glimpse of the saints who have gone before us into heaven, we see them giving glory and honour and praise to God and to the Lamb who sits on the throne, to our Saviour Jesus Christ. They have achieved the goal of their lives. They have entered into the presence of God and there they bow before him along with the angels who have never sinned, who prostrate themselves before the Lord of glory, and there they acknowledge his greatness, there they acknowledge his goodness, there they acknowledge his salvation, and therefore that all glory and honour and power and thanks should be to him. As we think about the humility of those who are in the very presence of God now, it humbles us to think that this God is working out our salvation for us. That this God is using his wisdom and his power in order to bring us at last into his presence. Who are we then to trumpet our own achievements in light of the glory and grace of this God? As we think about the humility of those who have gone before us, it should stir in us humility before our God. And seventhly and finally, we should think about the humility of Christ. We should think about the humility of Christ. We all have already thought about the humility of Christ, haven't we? As we began to think about what humility is in our second session, and we considered the way that humility was exemplified in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. as Paul summarises it in Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 through 8. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. As we think about the humility of Christ, we're confronted with the life of one who deserved all honour and glory and praise, and yet who became a servant. for those who are in rebellion against him, who came into this world of sin and pain and death in order to bring sinners out of this world of sin, out of this world of pain, out of death into life. that he did so by clothing himself in our humanity and experiencing all of the weakness and the pain and the suffering associated with our humanity in order to lift us out of the meanness and the degradation of our sinful lives into the glory of the presence of a holy God. And as we think about the humility of Christ, we're to think of it as an example that we are to follow, that we are to follow in his footsteps, to be imitators of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be servants and not masters, to seek to do good to others, not to do good for ourselves, to have that goal of honouring Christ in our lives through imitation of him, so that we may see his glory and share in his glory at last. So as we think about how we are to develop humility, we're to develop humility by the renewal of our minds, by the way that we think. We're to think about God's greatness. We're to think about how God views pride and humility. We're to think about our imperfections. and the judgment that we deserve. We're to think about God's grace towards us in the abilities and skills and accomplishments that he has given. We're to think about how other men and women have exemplified humility in their lives and the humility of those who have gone before us and are now in the presence of God. And above all, we're to think about the humility of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, we're to think about these things. and they are perfected in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose life we are to imitate. Let's pray. Our Father, we do ask that you would help us, help us to cast aside those thoughts that are impure and imperfect, Those thoughts that focus upon ourselves, upon our goodness, upon our greatness, upon our achievements. Help us instead to have our minds renewed through your word. and brought to think about the Lord Jesus Christ, brought to think about his life, his words, his works. Help us to think about who you are and how you have related to us in mercy, giving us many great and good gifts. Help us to see the way that you view this world and its sin and its ugliness. Help us to turn from it and from our imperfections. Help us, Almighty God, to view the lives of other saints who have shown humility and who have made it a mark of their lives before you and help us to imitate them. And help us, Almighty God, to be ready to come into your presence and there to bow in humility splendour and holiness. And so we pray that all through our lives, every day of our lives, we would be marked by humility, clothing ourselves with this virtue that you delight to see in your children. Help us, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.