Philippians 2. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil you my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind. Let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Amen. So we read the word of God. So our subject this evening is self-esteem, good or bad. The concept of self-esteem is now commonplace. The need to feel good about yourself is something that is almost taken for granted. Is this a good thing or not? That's what we want to address this evening. We all have an opinion of ourselves. We all think something about ourselves, one way or another. Well, how should we think about ourselves. What does the Bible say? Well, first of all, we are to believe what is true about ourselves. This may sound terribly banal and obvious a thing to say, but it is actually key, it's crucial to the whole subject. We are to believe what is true about ourselves. We are always to believe what is true, and we are to believe what is true about ourselves. We know more about ourselves than others, that's why it should come as no great difficulty to esteem others better than ourselves. But this is key, this is crucial to everything else. We are always to believe what is true, even about ourselves. We are dependent on the word of God, it comes from the God of truth, to get a right picture of ourselves. But it is the truth we are to believe and we need God to give us understanding of his word in order to understand ourselves. So the unbeliever cannot have a proper self-estimate of himself. He doesn't have a proper view of man in general, nor will he have a correct view of himself. But Romans 12 verse 3 tells us to think soberly of ourselves. Romans 12 and verse 3 For I say through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." We are to think soberly, that is, carefully, realistically, not just following impulse or feeling, but to think seriously about ourselves and not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. We are to think realistically and truly. When we think more highly of ourselves that accords with reality, this stems from pride. So, it was not pride in Christ to speak and to preach himself. Christ preached himself. He declared himself. In any mere man that would be pride and arrogance. But in Christ it was not because he preached the truth about himself when he said, I am the light of the world, I am the bread of life, I am the way, the truth and the life, I am the vine, I am the door and so on. The Lord Jesus was simply telling the truth and the truth which people needed to hear, namely that salvation was in Him. That we are in the dark and we need the light. That we are bereft of spiritual sustenance. We need the bread of life. That we are by nature dead in sins. We need Christ. as the resurrection and the life and so on. And when he says in John 8 verse 46, which of you convinced me of sin? It was totally true. It's not true of us, but it's true of him. Which of you convinced me of sin? And so, because it was true, there is no pride in his declaring what is true about himself and necessary for sinners to hear. It is totally consistent with his words that I am meek and lowly of heart because he never believed nor said anything about himself that was not perfectly and completely true. What is true of ourselves is that which is according to God's Word. What is true of ourselves is what is according to God's Word. We are created by God. God created man, male and female, in the beginning. And others come into existence by means of procreation and ensoulment. We are creatures of God and accountable to Him. In Him we live and move and have our being. He made us, we answer to Him and He keeps us alive. So that's one thing, we are created by God. And that may sound very obvious but it means a huge difference between our assessment of ourselves and the unbelievers' assessment of ourselves. Whether we believe that God made us or whether we believe that we simply emerged out of some evolutionary process over millions of years, it does matter. It's basic. What is man? What is a man? And we believe we are created by God and therefore accountable to him. We are sinners. That's basic. We are sinners by nature and practice, deserving the wrath of God. And by nature we are not willing to depend upon the Lord to save us from our sins. Psalm 10 verse 4. The wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts. And that's what we are by nature, wicked, unwilling to call upon God and deserving of His wrath. And the acknowledgement of that is essential to faith in Christ. There is no faith in Christ where there is no acknowledgement of sin and of deserving God's judgment. If we don't think God punishes sin, we don't believe the God of the Bible. We believe in some God of our own imagination, some idol, some mental idol. And because acknowledgement of sin is essential to faith in Christ, that marks the very beginning of Christian humility. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That is not just a slogan, it is a painful reality. We are sinners. and the acknowledgement of that sin and faith in Christ turning from it, which is the fruit of the new birth in the soul, that begins humility in the soul. If we are Christians, the second thing, the third thing, if we are Christians, we are new creatures in Christ. In principle, if we are Christians, we are new creatures in Christ and we are to acknowledge that. It's not proud to admit and to own and to acknowledge and to declare God's work within our souls. Romans 6 11, likewise reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is not to be dismissed as automatically proud to acknowledge and declare what God has done in our souls. Fourthly, under this point, salvation is all of God's grace. Salvation is all of God's grace. We must ascribe the whole of our salvation to God. Indeed, everyone who is truly born of the Spirit will do so. They may be muddled and unclear in their thinking, but it will be the desire of every sinner who is born again of the Spirit to ascribe salvation, the whole of their salvation to God. 1 Corinthians 1.30 For of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who is of God, made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Salvation is of God. through Jesus Christ. By His Spirit working in us, we are made willing to embrace Christ as freely offered in the Gospel, and our sins are forgiven, the guilt of sin is being removed. But that new birth is also the beginning of the work of sanctification, the removal of actual corruption, which is perfected in glory. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. And so any holiness, as well as forgiveness of the guilt of sin, any actual sanctification, any actual Progress in the removal of the pollution of sin is of God and not man. Christ is our sanctification as well as our righteousness. And so, Psalm 115 verse 1, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, even for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Fifty under this head. All gifts, natural and spiritual, are from God. 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 7. For whom maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? All our abilities are from God. Psalm 18 verse 29. Psalm 18 and verse 29. For by thee I have run through a troop, and by my God have I leaped over a wall." So that David acknowledges God's enabling, even in battle, even leaping over a wall. All that we have, all that we have ability to do comes from God, and God is sovereign in the bestowment of gifts and ability as the God of Providence. He gives some gifts in one direction, others in another. That's true in the natural realm and it's true in the spiritual in the Church. He governs all things. Now, all the above biblical truths are to be reckoned with when we engage in an estimate of ourselves. So thirdly, we need realistic self-assessment. We need realistic self-assessment. And the thing that stands out here is how difficult this is for people who are still sinners. We're still sinners, and it's very difficult, therefore, to realistically assess ourselves. There are dangers. to exaggerate both our holiness and our gifts and minimize our sins. That comes very easily to us because of pride. To think, to pretend we're making more progress than we are and to exaggerate our gifts as if we have far greater gifts than we really have. That's why the apostle let no man think of himself more highly than he ought to think. And the context is the various, is the gifts within the body of Christ. Because we easily think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. And the other thing, as well as exaggerating, is to think that we are, in any degree holy and have gifts independently of God. So that we think if we've made some progress in grace that we by nature have done it. We don't say that, we know too much doctrine to say that, but we behave as though it is the case, as if we've sanctified ourselves. And in terms of gifts, we treat our gifts as if they belong to us and we're not given for the benefit of the whole body. So these are dangers for sinners in trying to assess themselves. The real position is that we should be humbled for our real sins and not play them down. and we should be humbled in the knowledge of our dependence upon God for His grace to do anything good and for any gifts we may exercise. We have neither grace nor gifts apart from God. Apart from me, Christ says, ye can do nothing. And we all know that verse and yet how hard it is to truly apply it and to acknowledge that there is absolutely nothing good or worthwhile that we do or can do apart from the grace of God in Christ Jesus. But then fourthly, the apparently safe position is an illusion. The apparently safe position is an illusion. This shows itself in different ways with respect to whether we are born of the Spirit or not. To deny God's work of grace in us when it really exists is a falsehood. And this needs to be understood and grasped that for someone who is born of the Spirit to fail to profess Christ and to partake of his supper, for example, is saying that God hasn't done what he has. So it's not a safe position, you know, the idea that the fallback is, well, better not risk professing in grace. It's a false profession. But to not profess when there is grace in the heart is to bear false witness. And so, it's not a safe position to say, well, just in case, I'll not profess. It is to withhold the ascription of glory to God for His saving grace. And it is not safe. Self-examination must be used to either bring us to an assurance or seek to bring us to assurance of a state of grace or to show us the need of genuine repentance and faith. The same is true of our gifts. To deny the reality of God's gifts is false and may be as sinful as overblowing. A false defence for idleness in the work of the Kingdom. We say, well, we don't do anything because, well, we're not gifted to do anything. But of course, that's quite wrong and it's not a safe position at all. If God has given us abilities, we should use them to the glory of God as we have opportunity. And here, a third thing the place of compliments or at least encouragement. It does have a legitimate place. It's not flattery to encourage someone in doing what they are able to do in the work of the Kingdom. The Apostle Paul acknowledges God's grace in the Philippians, in Philippians chapter Philippians 1 verse 4 and 5, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making requests with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. That's not flattery, it's acknowledging the work of God among them and the preciousness of the fellowship he had enjoyed with them and with respect even to the use of his gifts. He admonishes Timothy, 1 Timothy 4 and verse 14. Neglect not the gift that is in thee which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. He says don't neglect the gift. So then, what is our conclusion? Our conclusion is as follows. We are to examine ourselves realistically as to growth in grace and as to gifts to use in the Kingdom. And that's not easy, we must ask God's help for that. But we must ascribe all that is good and all that is useful to the grace and power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Fundamental to Christian self-assessment is that we are sinners saved by grace. And that is to govern our whole thinking about ourselves. That's why the Christian is meek. Even Christians who have done great things are still meek because they acknowledge that God is the author of the whole of their salvation and the bestower of every gift and ability that they have. That's why some of the reformers, though they were brilliant men and gifted men, yet they were meek men because in assessing themselves, they began with this truth, God created us, God saved us, through Jesus Christ and every ability and every inclination to holiness comes from God. And in assessing ourselves it should be with that basic fundamental framework in mind. That's why we will always think differently about ourselves to the unbeliever. The unbeliever doesn't know where he's from, where he's going, what he's here for, or where his abilities come from. He doesn't have any consistent framework. Things are as they are. They just are. Facts are just there, hanging. They just happen to be as they are. And so it is easy for the unbeliever to boast in what ability he imagines he has and to give not God the glory. But for the Christian, it's different. He knows who put him here. He knows that he's been saved by grace, unlike the unbeliever. He knows that anything good in him is from God. and any ability proceeds from Him. Any gift is to be used as God-given for God's glory, whether it's natural gifts in the world or spiritual gifts in the church. So the Christian self-assessment is realistic. It's not that It's more humble to deny what is true of ourselves and of God's grace to us. There's nothing humble about contradicting the truth. It's realistic, it's sober and it's glorifying to God because the beginning of it is that we are sinners saved by grace and that we have nothing, that we have not received. and all glory is to be ascribed to God.