The Call to Humility (Philippians 2:1-11)

““When pride comes, then comes shame; …””

““By pride comes nothing but strife …””

““The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate …”

““Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall …””

““A man’s pride will bring him low …””

““For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world …””

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These are just a few of the many, many verses in the Bible where God tells us what He thinks of pride … and the results of pride … that is … those who are proud.

In fact … pride led to the original sin of Adam and Eve and the entrance of sin into the world.  

In her pride … Eve wanted to be like God … and the rest we know is history!

Throughout the scriptures there are examples of pride … and how it led to destruction.

I give you a few examples.

Saul … who had been anointed by the prophet Samuel to be Israel’s first king … in his pride he offered an unlawful sacrifice … and as a result … God’s spirit was withdrawn from him … which led to his downfall and eventual death.

Nebuchadnezzar … in his pride said: “““Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?””

As a result … his kingdom was taken away from him for a time … and he lived like a beast in the fields.

And then … after a period of time … we read:

““At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.””

And in the book of Esther we read of Haman who was filled with so much hate towards Mordecai and all the Jews … that he then had the king make a decree for the destruction of the Jews.

We read in Esther 6 & 7, how Haman’s pride led to his downfall.  And I read in part:

… Esther 6:1-3 … and then 6:4-10 … 

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… the Lord works in mysterious ways … and ultimately Haman was hanged on the gallows that he made for Mordecai! 

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And so we read … ““Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall …””

All this leads to the next thing that I want to look at this Lenten Season … as we continue looking at the meaning and ramifications of this Season of Lent …

… the season that prepares us to look at the last week of our Savior’s earthly life … culminating with his death … and then his glorious resurrection!

We have seen that first we need to acknowledge that we are sinners … and that we need to repent from our sins … 

… then we looked at the fact that temptations are all around us … and we need to trust in God … and His Word to help us not to give into the temptations that are before us.

Then last week we saw that we need to have a heart for others … that our faith needed to be other oriented.

Today … as you might have guessed already … is the fact that we are called to be of a humble spirit … following the example of our Savior.

The Bible defines humility or a humble spirit as the practice of meekness … obedience to God, with the respect of self and others.

People with humility put others’ needs before their own … sacrificing for the love of others.

As we read in Colossians 4:12-13:

““Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.””

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And we are given the example of our Savior in Philippians 2:1-11 … and so I read …

Here we see that we are to follow the example of our Savior … and we are to be of a humble spirit … having humility in our actions and our reactions.

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Every aspect of his life was one in which his humble character was visible … 

… from his incarnation … his birth … his growing up … his ministry … and finally his death of the cross … 

At any point in his earthly existence he could have exerted his divine power, authority and prerogative and said “ENOUGH” … and exercised his power.

He could have come as an adult … he could have turned the stones into bread … and he could have called a legion of angels to deliver him from the cross.

But we read: 

““who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,  but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.””

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I want to pause here for a moment to tell you that being humble DOES NOT mean weakness … 

Our Savior … while the greatest example of humility that ever existed … could not in any way be considered weak.

He showed his strength … in part … in resisting the temptations of the Devil himself after fasting 40 days and nights …

He showed his strength … when he cast the money changers out of the Temple … at least twice … as recorded in the Scriptures …

He showed his strength … I would say incredible strength … when he endured his torture and death for us and our salvation … which he did willingly!!

We see how humility is connected to what we looked at last week … when we said that we need to have a heart for others … we need to be other oriented.

As we were reminded is Philippians 2 … ““ … He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross …””

As I said … at any time during his earthly life … he could have said … enough … and exerted his divine authority … and said … these people are not worth it.

Think about … he healed the sick … he gave eyesight to the blind … he walked on water … he raised the dead … and yet … the crowds called out … crucify him … crucify him …

He could have said … after all I’ve done for you … you still say … … crucify him … crucify him …

And yet … he remained silent!

I am reminded of our Savior’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount … where Jesus says … in part:

““You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

And … as he continues in the Sermon on the Mount:

““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.””

Our normal human reaction is to stand up for ourselves … and exert our rights …

… you hit me … I’m going to hit you back … no way are you going to take my coat …

… your out of your mind if you think I’m going to walk a mile for you … 

… and there’s no way I’m going to love you after what you’ve done.

And yet … we see that our Savior not only told us what we should be doing … but he lived his life doing exactly what he taught.

This is the example that we have before us.

And so I have to ask … is it evident in your life … but, I first have to ask … is it evident in mine?

I have to be honest with you … the world tells us that we have to stand up for ourselves … we have to exert our own authority … after all … they tell us … we don’t want people to walk all over us.

And yet we read … ““ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, …””

Jesus was without sin … and as I said … he could have exerted his divine authority at any time during his life.

But here we are … sinners who have been saved by grace through the Lord Jesus Christ … and we are told to follow his example.

I am reminded of what Paul said to the Christians at Rome …

““For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.””

If we honestly think about those of us who know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord … it is ONLY because of the grace of God.

He is the one who has called us out of darkness into the light of His salvation …

He is the one who chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blame …

He is the one who has made us alive in Christ … because before we were dead in trespasses and sins.

It is only because of what God has done for us through Christ that we can stand before Him … 

… and so, in reality … we have NOTHING to be proud of … we cannot say … look at me and who I am …

What we must really say … and think … is what God has done for us … 

He has done it all!

And so … as we proceed in this Season of Lent … let us always think … of NOT who we are … but what God has done for us … and let us be thankful … eternally thankful … 

… and let us walk humbly before our God.