If you would turn back with me, please, to that portion of scripture that we read in 1 Peter, chapter 5. 1 Peter, chapter 5, and we'll look at verse 5 again. 1 Peter, chapter 5, and at verse 5. Peter says this, by the power of the Holy Spirit, likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders, clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. We're going to do something a little bit different this morning. What I have before me here is a sermon that is not new. I wrote it a number of years ago, and I came across it again last week. And it was based upon a sermon that was written by a fellow called Ebenezer Erskine, who was a Church of Scotland minister in the 18th century. Now, if you know a little bit about church history, Ebenezer Erskine and his brother, Ralph Erskine, were one of a group of men, there was 12 of them, called the Mallow Men. Now, these 12 ministers went to war, they went into a dispute with the church of their day, because the church in their day was becoming legalistic. And the church in the day, in the early 1700s, was becoming legalistic in that ministers were not allowed to offer the free offer of the gospel out to congregations. They were only allowed to preach the free offer of the gospel. They were only allowed to preach the gospel to those that they deemed repentant enough to receive it. And they said that does not come from the word of God. They say that the Lord Jesus Christ instructed each and every one of us disciples and preachers to go out into the whole world and to preach the gospel to every creature on the earth, and that it's all about grace. and they went and they battled against the Church of Scotland and they won. They won that battle. Now that is significant in Scottish Church history because each and every Lord's Day, when you listen to the reverends you preach, you will hear them exhorting each and every one of you to come to Jesus. To come to Jesus, no matter who you are. to come to Jesus, no matter what you have done in any stage of your life, that the gospel is for sinners. The gospel is to be preached to those that are sick, and each and every one of us are sick because of sin. Now the marrow man warned me. They won that battle and that is why we as preachers and as ministers today can go out and preach the gospel to everyone who will listen and it is the Lord's work and the Lord's work only and the Lord will get into the hearts of people and the truth that is preached will change lives. So that was Ebenezer Erskine and if you want to google him you'll find his sermons online and they are wonderful sermons, wonderful gospel-rich, centered, Christ-centered sermons where he's pleading with those in his congregation to come to Jesus, that Jesus is for all people. So that is Erskine. And the sermon that he preached, he preached on a fast day, what they call a fast day, and it was pre-preached before he administered the Lord's Supper. And he preached it on July 27, 1721. And it was all about free grace. And the topic of the sermon was on humility, on how to have a humble heart. For any minister or preacher to come into a pulpit to preach a sermon on humility is on a hiding to nothing. Okay, so bear with me. We are all broken sinners and we are all on a level playing field below the cross. And we all need Jesus. So we preach to serve on our humility. And the topic of the sermon was humility and he says, the humble soul, the humble soul is the peculiar favourite of heaven. The humble soul is the peculiar favourite of heaven. And he used this text from 1 Peter chapter 5 and he says, Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. And what Erskine did, and what they did back in the early 1700s, they would sit and they would listen to a sermon for up to an hour and a half. Now, don't worry. I'll have these out, hopefully, just after 12 o'clock, OK? And the way they preached sermons back then was that they would have questions and answers. Do you remember the catechism? It would be a question and answer. So very often, sermons were questions and answers. And these are the six headings that Erskine had in his sermon. Number one. What is a humble soul, he asked. And then he would turn to the word of God and he would explain to the congregation from the word of God exactly what a humble soul is. Number two, why is the humble person a peculiar favorite of heaven? Why is the humble person a peculiar favorite of heaven? And can I prove this from the scripture? Number three, Why does God appreciate the humble? Why does God appreciate the humble? Number four, what are the marks of the humble soul? What are the marks of the humble soul? Number five, why should we seek a humble spirit? Why should we seek a humble spirit? And number six, and finally, he asks the questions, how do we attain a humble spirit? So he asked these six questions in the seminar. I'm not going to copy the seminar. It's my own application, and it's my own illustrations. And I've just followed the structure of Erskine's questions. And I found it quite interesting as I was doing so. They would only reach point three or something. We're never going to get through six, not a chance. Okay, maybe God willing we'll do that another time. And as I read this a number of years ago, it really challenged me. It really, really, really challenged me. And it still challenges me today. So the topic is the humble soul, the peculiar favourite of heaven. And as I was preparing this, I came across a story. about two ships in the Baltic Sea a number of years ago. And the two captains were on a collision course. And as they headed toward each other, they knew that they were heading towards each other. There was no technological failure in the ships. There was no fault. It was a nice day, a nice bright day. But the two ships collided. And many, many, many people lost their lives in that tragedy. And the reason for that tragedy was that neither skipper, neither captain was willing to change course by just 10 degrees or even 5 degrees. And the ships crashed. And the reason that happened was because of human pride. Neither was willing to yield. C.S. Lewis says this about pride. He says, there is one vice of which no man in the world is free, which everyone in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else, and of which hardly any people except Christians, he says, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. It was through pride that the devil became the devil, Pride leads to every other vice, he says. It is the complete anti-God state of mind. So the very opposite of humility is pride. And with sin comes pride. And when Adam and Eve fell in the garden, pride came into the human heart. Came into the human heart. And it's because of pride we have sin. And our text tells us and exhorts us, clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the pride, but gives grace to the humble. There is only one thing that can cure my pride and any other person's pride, and that is looking to the cross of Jesus Christ, where you will see humility like no other. where the very Son of God would come and he would humble himself. and He would be stripped naked and He would be fastened and nailed to a cross to deal with your sin and to deal with my sin. And it is only the cross of Jesus Christ that can deal with pride in the hearts of men and women, boys and girls. It is only by looking at the humility and the grace of Jesus that can do anything in this world. So we ask six questions. So what is a humble spirit? What is a humble spirit? Well, a humble spirit, and we'll start by looking at ourselves. It's about doing a health and safety check on our own souls and our own minds. And we must do this, and we must challenge ourselves every day under the word of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit to see where we are spiritually. to see where we are and we need them. We're exhorted by Peter here and throughout the Word of God that we are to have a sensible view of ourselves. We are not to be haughty. We are to have a sensible view of who we are, a sensible view of our limitations, a sensible view of what we can do, a sensible view about where we came from. Listen to Jacob. Listen to Jacob in Genesis 32, 10. He says, I am not worthy of the least of the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown me. Jacob realized that in his own heart it was full of pride and he knew that everything that he had came from the Lord. And he says, Lord, I am not worthy of the least of your mercies. I am not worthy of the least of your mercies. We must never think there is no one like us. Now you know why I say I want to hang into nothing in preaching this sermon, but we are never to think there is no one like us, and sin and pride does that to us. That we came from such and such a family, that we are friends in high places, We are not to think of these things. A humble soul makes little account of these things in life. A humble soul will look to Jesus always and know that every good thing that that soul has, has come from Jesus, whether it is spiritual or whether it is material. And listen to King David when he was made king and he He was the least in his family. King David was the youngest and he was out tending the sheep when Samuel came to find he was going to be the next king of Israel and nobody regarded young David that he would be the next king. And when he's made king, David says to the Lord, he says, Who am I, O Lord? And what is my house that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord." You see that in 2 Samuel 7, David had a realization that everything he had was from the Lord. Now the story is told of Charles Spurgeon who was preaching one evening in the tabernacle and as he was stood at the door shaking hands with the congregation he recounts that this young man came up to him and he had never seen the young man before and the young man came up to him and the young man couldn't but wait, tell him who he was. And he couldn't wait to tell Spurgeon what an influential family he came from, and all of the rest of it. And Spurgeon just listened at the door, and he just looked at him, and he says, young man, he says, young man, I don't care where you've come from. I only care about where you are going. I only care about where you are going. The young man needed to hear that. The young man needed to hear that. You see the humble soul has no thoughts or sensible thoughts on his or her abilities. Listen to Paul, he says, not that we are sufficient in ourselves. This is the great apostle Paul, the greatest evangelist after the Lord Jesus there ever was. And he says, not that we are sufficient, he says, in ourselves or claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God. and it is from God alone. You'll see that in 2 Corinthians 3 and at verse 5. We are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything that's coming from us. He also knew that everything that he had, every gift, spiritual, everything he had in his experience and in his life came from the Lord. And Paul says elsewhere, not that I have already obtained this or I'm already perfect, but he says, I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. I press on in this life of faith. Lord, keep my feet grounded. Keep my feet grounded in the gospel and in Jesus and in nothing else. So that's concerning ourselves. What about concerning others, though? You know, the word of God tells us to love one another the way that Jesus loves us. Now concerning a humble spirit, Erskine says, will put others before themselves. A humble spirit will put others before themselves, and that's just saturated right throughout the whole of the scripture. Listen to Paul again, he says, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others as more significant than yourselves. We learned that, of course, when Reverend Hugh was going through Philippians, and you'll see that in Philippians 2, chapter 3, where Paul would then go on to say, look at Jesus. Look at the way he humbled himself, even to the point of death on a cross. You know a humble spirit, Erskine says, will not envy the graces and the gifts of others. We are commanded not to envy other people and what they have or what they are. A humble spirit has a gracious and courteous attitude toward all people. I've told you this story before, but I'm going to tell you again about the story about Abraham Lincoln. I love Abraham Lincoln stories. Abraham Lincoln, and you've heard it before, and give me a line at the door and you say, yes, we've heard this before, Joe, go on. But Abraham Lincoln got caught up during the Civil War. During the Civil War, Lincoln got caught up in this situation where he wanted to please a certain politician. And in pleasing this certain politician, he decided to move regiments from one end of the country to the other end of the country during the war. Now, he did not confer with or say anything to his Secretary of War, whose name was Edwin Stanton. And when Stanton received the order, he refused to carry out the order. And he says, I will not carry out this order. And he said that the president was a fool. And of course, this went straight back to the White House. And when Lincoln heard that Stanton had refused to carry out the order and called him a fool, you know what Lincoln's response was? If Stanton says I'm a fool, then I must be a fool, because it's always nearly right. And you know what? Santon was right. Even Lincoln was not that big on himself to be corrected by those below him. He had that teachable spirit where he could be open to correction. And that is what the word of God calls us to be, that we should be open to correction and when we're in the wrong, and when we're told we're in the wrong, we are to take it with a humble disposition. Now that's concerning others, we've looked at ourselves, we've looked at others. Now concerning God, how does a humble spirit, well a humble spirit has a high view of God. A humble spirit will realize that this Lord of glory is holy like no other, that this Lord of glory is the one who has created him or her, and this Lord of glory gives him or her even the very breath that they breathe. A humble spirit has a holy fear of God. A humble spirit will love God. And you know when the psalmist says in Psalm 24, he says, who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? He couldn't even ascend the hill of the Lord because he looked at his hands and he saw that his hands were full of sin. Who can ascend the hill of the Lord, the psalmist says, and who shall stand in his holy place? The psalmist had a humble disposition and he knew that it was only by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that he could ascend that hill and go into that temple and worship the Lord. He loved the Lord. A humble spirit is grateful toward God, Erskine says. A humble spirit is always grateful toward God for all that they have. A humble spirit will surrender himself or herself to the will of God. The story is told in the word of God about King David later in life. And King David later in life, of course, was mired in sin himself, even the king himself. He had committed adultery, he had committed murder, and his kingdom was starting to fall apart. And his own son Absalom rose up against him in a civil war. His own son, whom he loved dearly, would rise up against King David, and his own son would die on the battlefield at the hand of his general. And the King David was brokenhearted at the death of the son who rose up against him. But what did King David say to the Lord? He says, let him do to me what seems good to him. Let him do to me what seems good to him. He had lost his own son, but he knew that the Lord's ways were not his ways, and he knew that all things were in the hands of the Lord, and he submitted his will to God. And hundreds of years later, we would see another one submitting his will to the will of his father at Calvary. Jesus of course, a humble spirit like no other. The humble spirit of Jesus would go off to desolate places and he would bow down and go prostrate and he would pray to God as father for the strength to carry on every day to do all the miracles and to go out preaching the word of God and remember Gethsemane Do you remember Gethsemane where he says, let this cup pass from me, but let your will be done, not mine. You want to see humility in action, we must look to Jesus for it. He surrendered his will to the will of his father. And when King David said, let him do to me what seems good to him, how difficult to start at times of brokenness in our own lives. How difficult is that at times, when things go against us? How difficult is that at times? Even my own daughter said, well, you were probably mourning. How difficult it is at times to surrender our will to the will of God, when we do not get our own way and we say, Lord, let you do whatever is pleasing in your sight. A humble spirit says that and agrees with God. A humble spirit says he does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. Psalm 103, verse 10. He does not deal with us according to what we deserve. And what do we deserve? We deserve the wrath of God, but instead we are bestowed with grace upon grace if our faith and trust is in this Jesus. And if your trust and faith is not in this Jesus, then put your faith and trust in this Jesus, because this gospel, as Ashton says, goes out to every creature under heaven. A humble spirit will see the cup that is put into his or her hand and sees that it is nothing compared to the cup that was put into the hand of Jesus. It's all about perspective. And as we come to the house of God on the Lord's day, we sit in silence and we listen to the word of God and we get perspective. We get perspective and we get a reminder from the word of God of all that this Jesus has done for us. And it fills our hearts and it humbles our hearts and it renews our minds. So the humble spirit concerning ourselves, a humble spirit concerning others and how we treat each other, and a humble spirit toward God. Micah 6.8, what does he say? He has told you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you? The Lord requires of you to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God. So I'm only on number one now, only five to go. So we'll do number two anyway very quickly. Why is the humble person a peculiar favorite of heaven and can this be proved from the Bible? Do you remember the story of Jesus and the centurion who had the servant who was sick? In Matthew 8. What are the centurion's words to the Lord? Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word and my servant will be healed. These words pleased the Lord Jesus Christ. And do you remember Jesus' response? Truly I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. Go, let it be done as you believed. And we see this from a Gentile centurion who has that face. And then we look at Jesus' disciples fighting over who's going to sit at Jesus' right hand and who is going to sit at Jesus' left hand. And of course the Lord Jesus rebukes them and says, it's not for you to know who's going to sit at my right hand and left hand. The disciples need to be taught, they needed to be taught that humility and that would come to them later. You know, when God gives the grace of humility, he intends more grace to the soul. What does our text say? Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. You know, somebody once said, we will not be able to change the world unless God changes us. And that is the promise of the gospel. That is the promise that is contained within the Word of God, that the Lord will enter into your heart and into mine, and He will change us, and He will mould us, and He will recreate us. but sometimes that might be difficult on a day-to-day experience. The psalmist says he raises the poor from the dust and he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. That is the promise that is for you and for me if our faith is in Jesus, that we will sit with princes. He raises the brokenhearted. He came into this world to seek and to save that which was lost. He came to bind up the brokenhearted, and that is what sin has done to us. It has broken humanity, it has broken the world, and it has broken our own hearts. And it is only through the gospel that we can become whole and complete again. So why is the humble person a peculiar favorite of heaven? Well, look at the centurion. Jesus loved him for his simple faith. For his simple faith. Just by having that faith. Lord Jesus, I have that faith in you. But the Lord Jesus loved him first. Solomon said before, honor is humility. The story is told of the famous scientist George Washington Carver. Now, he is the scientist who developed hundreds of useful products from the peanut. And he tells the story, he says, when I was young, I said to the Lord, Lord, tell me the mystery of the universe. Will you tell me the mystery of the universe? And the Lord answered, that knowledge is reserved for me alone. So I said, God, will you tell me the mystery of the peanut? And God said, well, George, that's merely more your size. And he told me, and he told me. You know, those that know and love God will be humble. That's what Erskine says, and that's what the Word of God says. Because God's ear is toward the humble soul. Listen to the Psalmist in Psalm 10. O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted, and you will strengthen their heart, you will incline the ear. That is what the Lord does for you and for me if we're in Christ. He inclines his ear, and he listens to our worship, and he listens to our praise. and petitions because he loves us. Will I never ask you that? But I promise to not have you out to the back of 12, but I shall. And we're only on number two. Maybe another day we'll get through all six. So why does God appreciate the humblest of number three? But we're not going to go into it. But I'm going to finish. I'm going to finish with question and answer number one from the Heidelberg Catechism, the catechism that was written in the 16th century by two young men who were only in their mid-twenties, two young men who loved the Lord, two young men who would be active in setting the gospel throughout Europe. And question and answer number one of the Heidelberg Catechism asks, would you like to question and answer thing? If I was to ask you, What is your only comfort in life and in death? How would you answer that question? What is your only comfort in life and in death? Listen to the answer from these two young men 400 years ago. I am not my own but belong with body and soul both in life and in death to my faithful saviour Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all of my sins with his precious blood and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my father not a hair can fall from my head. All things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and he makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for him. Isn't that lovely? What is your only comfort in life and death? Is your answer today? But I am not my own, but I belong to Jesus. And if it is, you are saved. If it is, God is at work in your life. But if that is not your answer today, then once again, that free offer of the gospel goes out to all. And I ask the question, why is it not your answer? Because the Lord Jesus Christ is offering you grace and love and salvation and power and eternal life today again. And God willing, God willing this evening, I think it's James, is it James that's preaching tonight? And the Lord, James once again will exhort all to come to Christ. So what is a humble spirit? And maybe another time we'll get through the others. So let us pray. Lord, we thank you for your word. And Father, it is too far to be challenged. And Lord, we thank you that you want to tell us that you are changing their hearts and taking away that heart of soul and replacing it with a heart of flesh. And Lord, once again we look to Calvary and we thank you for Jesus, Lord, a humble soul like no other, the one who gave us life for our rights and for pain, and the one indeed who did all things for us. Lord, would you go before us now and pardon us and for Jesus' sake. Amen.