[0:00] You've got your scripture sheets there. Follow along as I read these selected portions of God's wisdom from Proverbs.
[0:12] The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and shun evil.
[0:24] The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
[0:40] Pride only brings quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
[0:51] The Lord tears down the proud man's house, but he keeps the widow's boundaries intact. He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise.
[1:06] The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor. The Lord detests all the proud in heart. Be sure of this, they will not go unpunished.
[1:21] Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Before a downfall, a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.
[1:33] Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth, honor, and life. Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
[1:47] Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble. He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.
[2:01] A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor. There are those who are pure in their own eyes, and yet are not cleansed of their filth.
[2:16] Those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful. Those whose teeth are swords, and whose jaws are set with knives.
[2:28] Let's hear the wisdom of the Lord. Amen. Last week I began asking if you longed for wisdom.
[2:41] That was something that you most earnestly and eagerly desired, because you'll never grow in wisdom if you don't hunger and thirst for it, if you don't see it as beautiful and desirable.
[2:55] When that's where your heart is at, when you're longing for wisdom and you see the value of it, then you do pursue it, and you'll find it.
[3:13] But going hand in hand with wisdom, and really preceding it in every situation, is humility.
[3:25] And you cannot read the book of Proverbs without seeing the absolutely intimate connection between wisdom and humility.
[3:36] So I have to ask the same question that I began with last week. What about humility? Do you find humility to be beautiful and attractive?
[3:51] Something that is precious to you. Something that you long for and you see as something that you want to bring in and enfold into your life more and more.
[4:03] Because if you do, then you're on the pathway to wisdom. You're on the pathway to the fear of the Lord. Jonathan Edwards, when he was a young believer, wrote down a lot of his thoughts, his feelings.
[4:17] And later on, looking back at his notes, at his journals, he said this. And this is a lengthy quote, but I wanted to read it for you so that you'd hear this man's heart.
[4:33] He does such a good job of explaining his longing. The soul of a true Christian appeared like such a little white flower as we see in the spring of the year.
[4:46] Low and humble on the ground, opening its bosom to receive the pleasant beams of the sun's glory. Rejoicing, as it were, in a calm rapture, spreading around a sweet fragrance, standing peacefully and lovingly in the midst of other flowers round about.
[5:06] There was no part of creature holiness that I had so great a sense of its loveliness as humility, brokenness of heart and poverty of spirit.
[5:19] And there was nothing that I so earnestly longed for. He was a young Christian. And that's how he looked at himself.
[5:29] And that's how he saw true Christian character as one of these very little white flowers open to the sun, so low and humble to the ground. Most experts, most secular and even religious and even secular folks agree that there has been very few people, very few men or women like Jonathan Edwards as far as being a better thinker or theologian or philosopher.
[5:59] He lived on the edge of the wilderness.
[6:29] And he lived on the edge of the lake of water. And you are just diving in. And he has deep reservoirs of thought and places that he can go. But it wasn't just his intellect.
[6:39] It was his spiritual wisdom. And it was his Christ-like love affair with humility that brought him to that point. Later on in his life, when I think he was in his upper 40s, he had been pastoring for probably 20 years or so at the time.
[6:59] And his church basically fired him. And then they asked if he could stay on and preach until they could find a replacement.
[7:11] And he graciously did that for months. Now, I want you to imagine the heartbreak that that is, the discouragement, the difficulty that was.
[7:24] And I want you to think of the humility that it took to stand up there and keep on preaching when the majority had said, we don't want you.
[7:36] Well, he had become like that little white flower low on the ground, drinking in the sunshine, humble before people. He was full of that wisdom that James talks about in James chapter 3 that is from above.
[7:51] There's that wisdom that comes from below that would have told him to leave, that would have told him to be disgruntled and full of anger and just get out of there. But he was full of this wisdom that is from above, that is peace-loving and considerate and submissive.
[8:05] Well, here's the wonderful thing. That's Jonathan Edwards. But brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus Christ calls us to this very same humility.
[8:19] Not something special for him and something lesser for us. We've been actually seeing this on Sunday morning from the book of Philippians. And we've been looking at Jesus' example and how he took the lowest part.
[8:33] Colossians says that we're God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved. Holy, that means he set us apart. He set us apart to be different, different from the world, different from other people.
[8:47] We're dearly loved. And as God's chosen people, Colossians says we are to clothe ourselves. We are to put on and live out what I like to call the five practical points of Calvinism.
[9:02] Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. God saved us in order that we might live for him, in order that we might live in such a way that others can see our gentleness.
[9:22] And our patience and our kindness. And it's all born, I believe, out of that spirit of humility. You can't be compassionate or kind or gentle with people unless you're humble.
[9:36] Humility, as we saw a couple series back, is that grace that prepares us to exhibit every other grace. Well, humility is beautiful. We see that in Jesus Christ.
[9:48] We see that. So we see its beauty just as a baby lying in the manger in Bethlehem. This is now the Son of God emptying himself of all of his glory, of his outward glory, and now taking on the form of a servant.
[10:05] And we see it at Calvary's cross. And there is this beauty, if we have eyes to see it, that pierces and burns our heart.
[10:16] Because we see it's the meekness and the gentleness and the lowliness of the Son of God. And it's beautiful.
[10:28] But do we want it for ourselves? Do we want it for ourselves? There's no wisdom without it. There's no wisdom without it. You can't unlock the book of Proverbs without humility.
[10:39] And so in many respects, this sermon would have been a good one to begin with. But here we are. It fills the book of Proverbs. And so we can come back to it again and again. I have to begin this sermon like any sane person would begin a sermon on humility.
[10:56] I've never understood how people could write books on it. I guess if you're called to, then God gives you grace for it. But with a confession, humility is a beautiful flower.
[11:08] I very much appreciate it when I see it in other people. It's much more difficult to eat it myself. It's a beautiful flower, but when it comes my turn to taste it, it can still be distasteful.
[11:21] And I can be prickly and proud, full of myself. I can relate to what Bob Coughlin wrote. I think we sing one or two of his songs. He says this, My sin is that my heart is pleased or troubled as things please or trouble me without having a regard to Christ.
[11:41] That's very much what pride is. I'm pleased or troubled with things as they please and trouble me. But that's just disconnected from what Jesus has to say about any of it.
[11:52] It's that bent in heart. And so if that's you and that's me, then we can come together because the Lord is here to help us. The Lord wants to make us humble and make us beautiful.
[12:04] And he helps us in the book of Proverbs. And so we can learn from him and we can learn together. None of us have arrived. And we all need to grow. And so let's learn together with him.
[12:17] And just thinking about what we heard this morning. God gives what he commands. And so we can say, Lord, if you command humility, then give me this grace.
[12:34] And if you give what you command, then command what you will. And the spirit of God is with us to pour grace into our hearts that we might really do and really put on humility.
[12:48] Now, I have five lessons. That's a super long introduction. But now here I am. I have five lessons from Proverbs on humility. And I want you to think about them as five motives to put this on, to put humility on.
[13:01] We're not talking about humility in the abstract. We want to see what Proverbs is trying to do is to convince us to actually be humble, to act humbly, to have this heart and this attitude.
[13:13] It's not just to know about it. It's to put it on. And so all of these five lessons, these five points are driving us to put it on. So first lesson, humility is fitting fallen creatures.
[13:27] Humility is fitting fallen creatures. Proverbs talks a lot about things that are fitting, that go together, that belong, that should be, or things that aren't fitting. Arrogant lips are unsuited to a fool.
[13:41] How much were worse lying lips to a ruler? So there's two things that just don't really go together. A fool bragging or a ruler lying. Those don't fit.
[13:52] Well, humility is something that very much fits fallen creatures. Proverbs 9.10 says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
[14:05] Now, the fear of the Lord, we've talked at length about this, the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. So when we understand that God is our creator and we are his creatures, knowing the Holy One like that, it shows us that we should be humble.
[14:23] We aren't our own creators. We aren't our own makers. We aren't our own destiners. We very much are dependent upon him. He is infinite, eternal, and omnipotent.
[14:35] And at best, we began a few years ago and we shall soon die, and we are certainly not infinite in any regard or omnipotent. We are weak.
[14:46] We are creatures. And to know God as the Holy One is to know him as that exalted one and me far below him. It's to know him as righteous and good and just to the ultimate degree.
[15:02] He doesn't measure up to some standard. He himself is that standard. So his every act is perfect goodness, righteousness, justice, holiness.
[15:13] He is the standard. He is high above us. Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up and holy, holy, holy. And so what, if that's who he is, then what fits us?
[15:31] Well, we need to be with Job after the Lord was done interrogating him with our hands over our mouths. He's in heaven, Ecclesiastes says, he's in heaven and I am on earth.
[15:50] Humility is fitting every creature. It doesn't even matter. The highest angels, humility fits them as well compared to the creator. They bow before him.
[16:01] So then how much more fallen man? Because we're not only below him as just creatures, we're also fallen.
[16:14] Remember on the cross, the one thief said to the other, don't you fear God? We're here because of what we've done. We're guilty.
[16:25] Who are we to be talking and blaspheming and arguing and yelling at this man? Who are we? Humility is especially fitting creatures like us.
[16:38] We are not naturally wise. As much as we like to think we're not naturally wise. Folly, it says, is bound up in the heart of a child. Everywhere in the book of Proverbs, the point is, you don't have to teach folly.
[16:52] You have to teach wisdom. That's what comes naturally to us. None of, really, none of this insanity that natural man, native man, it has some sort of extra wisdom.
[17:08] The book of Isaiah makes a joke of this sort of thing. You know, native man, what do we do? Do we act with great wisdom? No. A native man cuts down a tree and with half of it, he cuts into logs and he puts it into the fire and he uses it to bake bread and then he takes another part of it and he carves the idol out of it and he bows down to worship it and more than bow down to worship it, he trusts it and he fears it.
[17:38] He puts himself underneath a piece of wood that he has just constructed and so, we come to wisdom not as native-born citizens, we come as immigrants, we're not natural-born citizens of wisdom's country and our proud foreign accents show themselves continually.
[17:58] of my pride comes out. That's how it is naturally and even as believers, we are learning to speak and to think and to act differently.
[18:12] So brothers and sisters, if we're fallen creatures, who are we to lift up our heads? Who are we to exalt ourselves against God?
[18:23] Who are we to talk? Who are we to judge? James says there's only one lawgiver and judge. Only one who's able to save and destroy. But you, who are you to judge your neighbor?
[18:38] James says, grieve, mourn, and wail. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up. Humility is what fits us. It fits our station, not just as creatures, but as sinners.
[18:53] And if humility was good enough for the perfect Christ, then how much more, how much more does it fit us? So put it on. It's where we start to get the right picture of things.
[19:07] God is up here. We are down here. Second lesson, humility brings God on our side. Proverbs 3, 34, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
[19:17] There is nothing so attractive to God as humility. Pastor Johnny was even talking about this this morning. There's nothing that draws the Lord's heart next to and in tune with and nearby and close to, to a person as humility.
[19:35] God, God's heart is like a bee to a flower, to the flower of humility. God, the Holy Spirit, is a lowly, a humble spirit.
[19:46] He makes sinners his home. My home is in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite in heart. And so when he sees a low heart, a humble heart, God sees a place to move into, to move into.
[20:03] So submit yourselves to God and he will lift you up. And likewise, Proverbs again and again shows us that there is nothing so detestable than pride to God.
[20:15] If humility attracts him to help us to our side, then pride does the exact opposite. It's smoke in God's nostrils. It's a stench. Maybe your dog's been sprayed by a skunk or had a run-in and he comes in and you say, get out of here.
[20:31] That's what it is. Wash it out. Get it away from me. 1525, the Lord tears down the proud man's house, but he keeps the widow's boundaries intact.
[20:42] So there's the poor, weak widow. She's low. She's low in the estimation of people. She's needy. And the Lord defends her.
[20:53] The poor, weak widow has a strong, fierce guard that continually guards her fence line. Or she has a dogged, vicious attorney that is on her side.
[21:06] When he sees she's in legal trouble, he goes and helps her. But the Lord tears down the proud man's house. It doesn't say he lets it be torn down. This is not passive.
[21:16] This is active. The Lord tears it down. There's something in this proud man that makes the Lord actively begin to strip away this man's life, to destroy his house.
[21:28] 16.5. The Lord detests all the proud in heart. Be sure of this, they will not go unpunished. It's because the Lord detests them that their punishment is guaranteed.
[21:40] There is stench in his nostrils. Pride goes before destruction. A haughty spirit before a fall. And so here we need to really take ourselves in hand and ask ourselves, what do we want?
[21:54] What do you want, man? What do you want, woman? Your creator all for you. Your creator attracted to you and moving towards you. Your creator on your side. Your Lord as your savior and as your friend or as your enemy.
[22:11] Humility and pride will determine that answer. Your heart's response to God will determine his posture towards you. And this works at the very beginning of do you need saved?
[22:25] Do you want God for you? How do you bring the Lord to your side to save you? How do you bring him to help you?
[22:36] Well, you get down and you confess your sins. This isn't a time to hold on to your pride. This isn't a time to put out your, these are my good deeds, Lord.
[22:48] No. Humility and confession, contrition, contrite of heart will draw him to you. Remember, two men went to the temple to pray and one was right up in the front where everyone can see and he prayed mostly about himself, to himself, and the other just stood at the back beating his chest and saying, have mercy on me, a sinner.
[23:09] And he went home right with God. God saw him praying. God saw him with his broken heart, his contrite, his, his, his, he's just sick with himself of his sin.
[23:23] He sees himself as needy and he calls out to the Lord and it's as the Lord says, I can't stay away. He rushed to that man's side and he forgave him of his sin and he, it says he went home justified.
[23:38] He became a friend of God, right with God. Humility brings God on our side. Now, isn't that enough of a reason to, to kill our pride, to stamp it out, to oppose it whenever we see it rearing its ugly head?
[23:57] And isn't that enough of a reason to just embrace humility? We, you, me, we need grace. We need strength.
[24:07] We're faced with troubles that are too much for us, difficulties that are too hard and we need help and we need joy and we need peace while God opposes the proud but he gives grace to the humble.
[24:20] So what are you facing in your life? What difficulty? What challenge? Here's this promise. You get down on your knees, get down on your face, ask for help and grace will be on the way.
[24:33] Third lesson, humility keeps us out of trouble. Humility keeps us out of trouble. There's all sorts of trouble that Proverbs sort of points at as saying, this is what happens when you're proud.
[24:46] It's not an easy way, it's not a trouble-free way. 1310, pride breeds quarrels. You get into relational problems because of pride.
[24:57] 11.2, when pride comes, then comes disgrace. Pride ends up bringing you shame, the exact opposite of what you are pursuing. 26.12, do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
[25:08] There's more hope for a fool than for him. More hope for a fool. What's hope? Hope is, I'm expecting some good things down the line. And, if you're wise in your own eyes, you can just write that all off.
[25:23] Good down the line is not coming your way. It's just trouble. Who gets into trouble in relationships? It's the proud. Who thinks they understand people and motives and when they don't?
[25:35] It's the proud. The proud think they can manipulate situations. They think they're greater than those situations. And so they go in and they make people, they think they can make people act in a certain way and they can't.
[25:46] Or the proud don't see it, see the need to be really careful about what they say or how they say it. The prudent see danger. The proud don't see danger. They only see how they're going to pull this thing off.
[25:59] They see how they're going to thread the needle. The proud think they're going to be able to sin and get away with it. Bernie Madoff thought he could get away with his scam forever and for years he did but then he didn't.
[26:20] He was caught. And whether in this life or the next, that false hope will always end up deceiving the proud. You cannot sin and just get away with it.
[26:31] 28-26, he who trusts himself is a fool but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe. Again, the proud, we talked about this I think last week, they think more of their words, of their judgments, of their opinions, of their abilities, of their position, of their safety.
[26:48] They think more of themselves and less of the danger than they ought. And in humility, I need to realize, you know, no one is giving me as much grace as I am.
[27:01] No one is more charitable in their opinions about me than I am. And so my own self-evaluation can be 180 degrees from how other people are seeing it.
[27:13] And my faults and my failures are far more glaring in someone else's eyes than in my own eyes. And my strengths and my graces are probably not nearly as evident to them as they are to me.
[27:26] The wise man sees all of that. The wise man sees that. He knows that about himself. He understands that. Sin can be deceptive and I can just be completely fooling myself.
[27:39] And the wise man sees that and he understands that and that makes him cautious. It makes him cautious with relationships, cautious with his money, cautious with his words, cautious with his judgments, all the things we looked at last week.
[27:53] But the proud just keep on going and they suffer for it. It's not safety. It just brings on trouble. And so there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
[28:06] That's just the explanation of a fool. He doesn't go down that path because he thinks it's wrong. He thinks it's right. But he just proudly goes on and he's completely deluded.
[28:18] So self-assurance, self-confidence, self-centered, deluded way of thinking, it leads to death.
[28:28] And so do you want safety? Safety in your life, security in your life. Well, wisdom is saying, the Proverbs is saying, well then be humble. Put this on. Put humility on and you'll be walking in safety.
[28:41] You won't get nearly into as much trouble. Now fourth, humility brings honor. Again, we've been seeing this on Sunday morning and so we don't need to go into this at any great length.
[28:54] Proverbs is showing us that this is indeed how it works. It's not just in the case of Jesus Christ in the book of Philippians. But Jesus Christ in the book of Philippians in chapter 2 there that we've read multiple times is the greatest example of this principle, this clearest example of this is really how things work in God's world.
[29:16] The way up is to go down. Jesus says, you want to be the greatest then become the least, the servant of all.
[29:31] 11.2, pride brings disgrace. And that works totally on the human level. We don't even need to bring God into the picture quite yet.
[29:43] This works totally on the human level. If you see someone who is full of themselves, isn't there something inside of you that just wants to see them brought down to size? They aren't likable.
[29:57] You aren't cheering for them. You aren't hoping that they succeed when they're full of themselves. You don't have any desire to honor them. But when you see someone humble, there is something just naturally that comes out that we want to lift that person up.
[30:12] We want to see them lifted up. We want to see them exalted. So there they are. They're doing a great job without expecting thanks, without drawing attention to themselves, without pointing out what they're doing.
[30:23] And we just naturally, we want to honor them then. If they're going to take that kind of position, then I'm going to shine the spotlight on them and bring them honor. But the person who wants to be the center of attention, the person who's always calling for people to notice them, is the exact person that we want to ignore.
[30:43] That just works on the totally human level. Proverbs says this and Jesus said the same thing in the New Testament. He says, when you're sitting around the king's table, take the lower spot.
[30:56] Take the lower spot. And the king will say, come up here. But if you sit at the high spot, then he's going to say, you know what?
[31:08] There's someone else more important than you. You go find a different seat. Move on down and you'll be ashamed in front of everyone. Jesus said the same thing because that's how it works in creation. That's how it works in the kingdom of God.
[31:19] A man's pride brings him low. God will oppose you. Men will oppose you. Your pride will bring you low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.
[31:32] So honor from the Lord, honor from men. Again, James' words, submit yourselves then to God. Humble yourselves before him. Again, take yourself in hand and put yourself before God and under God.
[31:49] And it says he will lift you up. God has this, when he sees someone low, he lifts them up. Now that's the fourth lesson.
[32:00] Humility brings honor. And there's nothing wrong with wanting honor. There's nothing wrong with that. First, wisdom says humility is the way you achieve it.
[32:13] So put it on. Serve. Now fifth, humility brings more wisdom. You know, there are vicious cycles, cycles that go down.
[32:29] That's how pride and folly work. The farther you go in that cycle, pride leading to more folly and folly leading to more pride, down, you go down, down, and down. There's vicious circles.
[32:39] Well, here's a virtuous cycle. Excuse me, a virtuous cycle. Humility brings more wisdom. And the greater wisdom you have, the greater humility you have.
[32:49] And the greater humility you have, the more wisdom comes in. And up and up you go. So who sees that they need to learn? I need to learn how to do this better.
[33:01] I need to learn to think about this differently. I need to learn to see the whys and the hows and the whats of this. The humble are there. They want to learn.
[33:13] They're open to learn. This is just, this works on pretty much every subject. I want to be a better dad. Well, if I think I'm already a good dad, I'm not going to go looking for help.
[33:29] I'm not going to go asking God for help. I'm not going to go reading anything. I'm not going to go pursue this anywhere. And I'll just stagnate and go down. But there I am. If I'm humble and say, I need this, then I'm going to go looking.
[33:43] And I'll turn over every rock and every stone and look on behind every tree to get wisdom. And I will find it. So the humble see that there's so much they don't know and they don't understand.
[33:57] understand. And what they do understand, they say, you know what? I don't do. I don't do this like I should. And so I need to learn more. And so they, they turn their heart to knowledge.
[34:11] They aren't looking back on what they already know. There are, they're just looking forward to saying, oh, there's so much I still need to learn. learn. So there, there goes the humble man.
[34:24] He's learning. He's never done growing. Education is not something that you finish in high school or college. It, it should be something that we do all through our lives because wisdom is always in front of us and we still need to learn.
[34:40] Or who's open to correction? The humble are. You know, the pride are, the proud are too overinflated. They just can't take any kind of correction.
[34:54] 1531, he who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be home among the wise. Not only is that how the wise act, that's how the wise became wise. They listened to that life-giving rebuke.
[35:07] And then they took their place at this, at the table with the wise. And they go on listening to life-giving rebukes. But the, no, no, let's, we need to be clear. The humble don't particularly like correction.
[35:20] It's not palatable to them. But they hear it. They aren't too prickly for it. They take it in. They aren't past it. And they, they say, okay, here it is. What can I do? What can I improve?
[35:31] What can I change? But not the proud. The proud are, they're right. You're wrong. And so they go on in their folly.
[35:43] And it's just one thing to another. The humble grow in wisdom. The humble add to their learning. And what is wonderful is the book of Proverbs says, this actually becomes something that you get better at.
[35:55] You get good at this. Proverbs 14, six, the mocker seeks wisdom and finds none. So the mocker gets himself into a situation in a position where, man, I really need to know what to do.
[36:07] And yet nothing comes to him. He has no idea. He doesn't know where to turn. He doesn't know what to do. He's just, he seeks it, but he can't find it. But listen to the second part, 14, six, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.
[36:23] It's like they're, the doors of their ears and the doors of their heart are open and you can just drive a truck of knowledge right through. That door isn't small. It just comes on in easily.
[36:34] And so it's when you are, this open little flower on the ground that we began with that God just pours out his wisdom from above. And the more open you are and the lower you are, that God just pull, put, takes that picture and just turns it over more and more.
[36:53] So, really, what, what kind of person do you want to be? I, you, all sorts of different ages and stages of life here, but here we are, wherever stage you're on, wherever you're at, what kind of person do you want to be?
[37:09] Is this as far as you want to go? Is this the cul-de-sac, the dead end road for you? You've reached this, you've, you've obtained. Is that what kind of person you want to be, a dead end person? You got what you got and that's it.
[37:22] Or, or do you want to be a growing person? A growing person. Growing in understanding, growing in Christ likeness. A learning person. You know, God made us to be growing people.
[37:35] That, that is definitely a part of our sanctification. Growing into our Christ likeness is not only learning what is right and what is wrong and doing what is right, but it's also doing it wisely.
[37:46] Doing it with more understanding. With, with, just more, we're doing it the way that it needs to be done. And God wants us to be those growing people.
[37:59] Not just doing right, but doing it wisely. And, and we want that. If you're a born again Christian, there is something in you that, that is a moving, a, a living thing is a growing thing.
[38:12] And so, if we're this vine, we want to be a growing vine and a spreading vine and a, and we're making more and we're doing more. We don't want to be withered weeds, yay high on the ground and that's all the far that we've gotten.
[38:26] Well, humility is the, is the power that makes us to grow. Humility gives us that ability to, to, to grow. Humility is the way. And so, what should you do then?
[38:39] Oh, clothe yourself in humility. Put it on. Practice it. Now, let's be very honest.
[38:50] Pride is quicker than humility. we need to understand that. You know, Usain Bolt did not have the quickest start, but he overcame his competition.
[39:07] There were other racers that could get off the, the, the blocks faster than he could. Pride is that way. Pride is quicker and it's normally our first instinct.
[39:21] We don't, we don't put on pride. We just, we're born with it and it comes naturally to us. We don't wear humility naturally. And so, here's where we're, we need to realize that if we're going to do this, we need to realize that about ourselves that pride is going to be our first instinct generally.
[39:39] It's going to be the easiest thing most of the time. And so, we're going to need our, to talk ourselves into putting on humility. Pride is sort of the shirt that we're going to wear all the time and we need to learn to take it off.
[39:56] Humility is in the closet and we need to learn to take it off the hanger and, and put it on. And so, we need to talk ourselves into it. Talk ourselves down from our proud ledge and talk ourselves down onto the ground and see the wisdom of it and see the promise that it holds.
[40:14] And then, as we believe and as we pray and as we actively put on that humility situation by situation, then we'll grow in it.
[40:25] It's not something that you arrive at or achieve in a day or just with one act of the will to decide. It is something that you just have to keep doing, keep putting on and on and on.
[40:37] But as we grow, what's going to happen is it will become more second nature to us. It will be more natural to us. And as we grow, we'll be more walking with our humble God.
[40:55] And so, we need to take ourselves in hand. I need to take myself in hand. And we need to talk ourselves out of those proud thoughts and put on the truth.
[41:08] Put on the truth. And just very, very, very basic as I'm a creature. God is my creator. I'm a sinner. God is my judge. But now, I've been saved not by what I've done, but what he's done.
[41:25] And I'm going to go and make it to heaven, not purely on my hard work and drive and motivation. It's going to be because he keeps me, preserves me.
[41:36] And so, I talk to myself about these big truths and I start to wear them and I start to live in them. And then you put on humility as you go. It's when your thoughts are right that your heart is low.
[41:50] Well, let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word in the book of Proverbs. Thank you that you speak to us as your children.
[42:03] And you tell us the things that we need to know and we need to learn and the things we need to do. Please help us.
[42:14] These things are not easy. We have crooked hearts still that are bent towards pride and towards self and blind to weakness and sinfulness in ourselves and in some ways very oblivious to your greatness and to your goodness to the mercy that you've had upon us.
[42:36] The salvation is not something that we've done or achieved but it's been a gift from you. So please help us. Help us to be like those little white flowers low to the ground open to you receiving from you the sunshine living with one another in love and humility.
[43:01] Give us more of that brokenness of heart. And as we see it in Jesus may we imitate it and as we see it in Jesus may we worship him for it.
[43:13] I pray this in his name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.