He that Humbleth Himself

In this part of the sermon: Martin defines 'humbleth himself' as 'to bring or make low,' illustrating its usage in Scripture (2 Corinthians, Philippians 2). He emphasizes that it's a present participle…

Paul's decision not to take financial support from the Corinthians is used as an example of voluntarily 'abasing' or humbling oneself, stepping down from a legitimate privilege.

Hence, the word abased, sometimes used to translate it. Look at several instances of this usage in the word of God itself. In 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and in verse 7, the apostle Paul says, did I commit sin in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I preached to you the gospel of God for naught. He's referring to the fact that when he came to Corinth, he did not take advantage of his apostolic right, to live by the gospel.

6:04 - 6:40 Read in full sermon

Driving home: So it is not speaking of an act. Once performed. But it is speaking of a disposition and an attitude implanted within the heart. And it's important that we catch that.

Paul's fear that God might 'humble me before you' if he found the Corinthians in spiritual declension illustrates humbling as a divine act that brings one low from a position of joy or boasting.

2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 21. We should back up to verse 20. For I fear, lest by any means when I come, I should find you not such as I would, and should myself be found of you such as ye would not, lest by any means there should be strife, jealousy, wraths, factions, back-bitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults, lest again when I come, my God should humble me before you, and I should mourn for many of them that have sinned heretofore. Here's the people about whom Paul has boasted.

7:18 - 7:54 Read in full sermon

Driving home: So it is not speaking of an act. Once performed. But it is speaking of a disposition and an attitude implanted within the heart. And it's important that we catch that.

Christ's incarnation and obedience unto death (Philippians 2) is presented as the ultimate example of humbling oneself, stepping down from divine position to the place of a criminal.

I shall be humbled before you. It's the word used of our Lord in Philippians 2. He humbled himself and became obedient unto death. He stepped down from the position that was rightly his as God and took the place of a common criminal.

8:24 - 8:43 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He asserts that all true saving faith has moral content, involving self-humbling and confession of sin, contrary to historical Sandemanianism and modern 'easy believism.' Martin…

The image of Bunyan's Pilgrim with a sack on his back, suffering for years, is used to illustrate a legalistic view of repentance that Sandemanianism reacted against, where prolonged sorrow was deemed necessary before true faith.

Now historically, and this is where church history can help us, there have been periods when this element has been denied. There was a great controversy in the Church of Scotland. And this came to be known as the Sandemanian controversy because of a man named Sandeman who in his reaction against the kind of legalistic preaching of some of the people who gave the impression that a person had to go around like Bunyan's Pilgrim, you see, with that sack on his back until his knee joints got kind of arthritic with it for about 13 years before he could ever come to solid faith in Christ. And if they...

28:03 - 28:47 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He asserts that all true saving faith has moral content, involving self-humbling and confession of sin, contrary to historical Sandemanianism and modern 'easy believism.' Martin…

Martin describes a common evangelistic approach where a few verses are read, and a person is led to repeat a prayer, then pronounced saved, critiquing it for lacking genuine self-humbling.

You get the person to sit down and you show them a few verses. You say you believe the Bible? Well, most people will say it's something special about the Bible. Sure, that's why it sits there at home on the piano collecting dust.

30:05 - 30:16 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He uses an extended analogy of a city threatened by a volcano, with a shelter available. The mayor's commands, invitations, and promises (warrant) are ignored until the…

A detailed analogy of a city near a dormant volcano with a subterranean shelter. The speaker, with a warrant from the mayor, commands, invites, and promises safety, but the citizens only heed when convinced of the mountain's danger by geologists. This illustrates the difference between the 'warrant' and the 'way' of faith, showing that people won't come to Christ until they see their danger.

So, the way to faith is the way of self-discovery. Let me illustrate it this way. Imagine a small city on the side of a mountain. Within that city, there has been constructed in subterranean depths a shelter strong enough to withstand any kind of natural calamity.

38:45 - 39:05 Read in full sermon