The Essential Grace of Humility, Part 1

Introduction: The Command to Humility in 1 Peter 5:5b

0:03 Now let us turn together in the word of God to 1 Peter and chapter 5, 1 Peter chapter 5.

0:15 I shall read in your hearing verses 1 through 11, 1 Peter 5 and verse 1.

0:23 The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed, tend or shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight not of constraint but willingly, according to the will of God, nor yet for base gain but of a ready mind, neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock. And when the charge is done, I will say to you, And when the charge is done, I will say to you, When your chief shepherd shall be manifested, you shall receive the crown of glory that fades not away. Likewise, you younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you, gird yourselves with humility to serve one another, for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore unto the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you. In due time, casting all your anxiety upon him, because he cares for you.

1:40 Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour, whom withstands steadfast in your faith, knowing that the same sufferings are accomplished in your brethren who are in the world. And the God of all, who now ATP, isố skin that gath thyself into holy moment, the Lord Godkeeth thy thyself, theain thy Things thy hand weiteth, and thy life tis weary of yourble delight. The only work thou hast. Thyself. Do thyself.

2:34 our Bibles, we are able to read them, thinking of the untold millions who have never seen a page of Holy Scripture. We do thank you for your word, and we pray that in the spirit of gratitude that you have given it to us, we may receive it and come with eagerness to understand and to obey its precepts and to lay hold of its promises. O God, attend the study, the preaching, teaching of your word with fresh measures of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Meet with us now, we plead, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

3:22 Now, in recent weeks, those of you who come here on a regular basis, Lord's Day mornings, know that we have considered together the Spirit-inspired words of the Apostle Peter, focusing upon the tasks of Elohim. The elders in relationship to the flock of God and the responsibility of the people of God towards their elders. That took us from 5.1 to 5.5a.

3:53 Now, here in the middle of the verse that we will be calling 5b, beginning with the word, yea, all of you, the Apostle Peter will set out some final words of directives to the people of God. culminating in a marvelous benediction and a brief doxology in verses 10 and 11.

4:18 And in our verse-by-verse studies of 1 Peter two Lord's Days ago, we completed our examination of that initial section, God's directives through Peter to elders and to the people of God in pastoral relationships. Now, as we come to verse 5a. 5b, the passage that I will seek to open up in your hearing, I come to the passage with a persuasion shared by the majority of contemporary Bible-believing, not skeptical or unbelieving or liberal commentators, but a perspective shared by the majority of contemporary Bible-believing commentaries that two things are true with respect to the text. And I want to dispense with these matters on the front end. You may have a translation of the Bible in which the punctuation is different. And a certain phrase or clause is attached to the directives of verse 5a. And, if so, then I want to just apprise you that I'm not butchering

5:28 the word of God. When the spirit of God gave these words through Peter, there were neither punctuation marks nor paragraphs norcharter. Or in other words, the intent of the Bible was to let you to throw these things out to the world. They remained with you throughout the first time until today. But Jesus generated these words to you via Bible study in 5b. These nor verse and chapter divisions and human judgments must be made with respect to the handling of the sacred text. So I'm assuming that the proper thought division demands the punctuation that you have if you have the New King James Version, the Old Authorized Version and the American Standard or the New American Standard or for that the NIV as well. So that the words, yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility are the beginning of a new sentence and in many ways the beginning of a new paragraph. He has dealt with the subject of

The Focal Point: Humility in Relationships with God and Others

6:15 directives to elders and as I sought to persuade you from verse 5a, you have a terse directive to all of the members of the church towards their elders, younger ones be in subjection to older ones. Now we have a new paragraph in which the Apocalypse says, And then the second persuasion that I share with the majority of modern commentators is that a participle translated to serve. You will notice in the New King James and the Old American Standard, yes, all of you gird yourselves with humility to serve one another. That's a participle that in all likelihood one of the

7:02 verses in the New King James and the Old American Standard was inserted by a scribe who felt the awkwardness of the grammar as Peter wrote it and felt he would help him out and smooth it out a bit. Now it does not introduce any heretical teaching. The thought that we are in certain dimensions of the dynamics of church life to be submissive to one another is clearly taught in a passage such as Ephesians 5 and verse 22. So it was not the importation of any heretical notion, but most of the time it was the importation of any heretical notion.

7:31 The thought that we are in certain dimensions of the dynamics of church life to be submissive to one another. Now, I see the The very nature of the passage here, where it says, It didn't introduce heresy, attracted to fibers, shew in the 1966 It smoothed out the grammar, it made the use of certain cases in the grammar a bit more understandable so it was inserted. But I share the conviction that we are not chopping up the word of God or coming under the curse of Revelation 22 and that rests upon anyone who would add, It didn't introduce heresy, attracted to fibers, shew in the 66 we're running out of words or words of muzzles so people can understand you they weren't looking to speak in the convoluted in person like they were, they didn't introduce heresy, attracted to fibers, shew in the 66 or would subtract from the words of God himself. Now, for those of you interested in such things, I commend to you the commentators such as Hebert, Lenski, Vaughn, Johnstone, Grudem, and others, and you can look up why I've come to that persuasion. Now, technical matters behind us, gird up the loins of your mind as we come to the passage. As Peter turns from specific directives to the elders in verses 1 to 4, and a specific directive to the people of God with respect to their elders, verse 5a is clearly the introduction of another dominant burden upon the heart of the apostle Peter. See if you can catch the focal point of that burden as I read the text with an exaggerated emphasis upon certain words.

8:58 Yea, all of you gird yourselves with... Humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

9:07 Humble yourselves, therefore, unto the mighty hand of God. Now, you see the emphasis, don't you? Three times in this short compass, we have both a verb and two different nouns translated humble, humble yourselves. Other translations may have lowliness of mind.

9:28 It is clear that Peter has this forethought. He has this focused pastoral burden as he's bringing his epistle to a close, having dealt very thoroughly with the subject of the great privileges that all believers have in Christ, what we've called the grand indicatives, having dealt with a number of specific imperatives, having thoroughly dealt with the subject of suffering and how the child of God is to respond to it and act in the midst of it, Peter yet has a number of specific imperatives. Having dealt with the subject of suffering and how the child of God is to respond to it and act in the midst of it, he has another, though not as focused as the doctrine of suffering, but he has another pastoral burden, and it is the burden to address the subject of humility. He first of all addresses it as humility works itself out in our relationships one to another. 5b, yes? All of you clothe yourselves with humility in reference to one another. For God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble, and then He will deal with humility in relationship to God, particularly in the midst of suffering and adverse circumstances.

10:46 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your anxieties upon Him, because He cares for you. So as he takes up the subject of humility in these verses, the focus in the first strand is humility as it works itself out in our horizontal relationships within the church. He has spoken to elders. He has spoken to church members. Now he speaks to both of them and says, all of you, gird humility about yourself as you relate one to another.

11:25 And then looking back at the major themes. One of the themes of the epistle, one of them being the Christian in the midst of suffering, he says, now humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties upon Him. And it is that participial phrase that points in the direction of Peter's concern in this second strand of emphasis on humility. So we come this morning, and it is my desire to open up in your hearing the remainder.

The Practical Duty Commanded: To Whom is it Given?

11:58 And it is my desire to open up in your hearing the remainder of verse 5. And many of you know that I'm not good at making nice, terse, catchy, attractive, scintillating little sermon titles. And I don't have one this morning. If I had a title, it would be a typical Martin title.

12:12 Humility, the essential grace for harmonious relationships within the church of Christ. Now if you can reduce that to something, be my helper, please. But that's what we're going to see God helping us in the text. Humility.

12:28 The essential grace for harmonious relationships within the churches of Christ. And in attempting to open up the text, we'll do so under two headings. First of all, the practical duty commanded. And secondly, the theological basis stated.

12:47 First of all, then, the practical duty commanded. And we'll approach this part of the text with three questions. Question number one. To whom is this command given?

13:01 For it is a command. It's another one of Peter's imperatives. Look at the text. Yes, all of you, gird yourselves with humility.

13:13 To whom is the command given? It is given to all of the saints in all of the churches who are addressed in chapter 1 and verse 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. To the elect sojourners of the dispersion.

13:27 In Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, having addressed the elders, the elders among you I exhort, and all the church in its mental eyes is looking at the elders as Peter addresses them. Then he addresses all the members and says, younger ones, under the metaphor of all of the church members being younger ones in relation to older ones, that is, their elders in office and function. And in a sense, all of the elders are looking at the members of the church as they are addressed. Now he says, members, elders, the whole bunch of you, I have a word for all of you without distinction. Now think back through the epistle. This was a church that would have utterly baffled the church growth experts. The people that say, like attracts like.

14:25 And there are people that write books on it. If you want a successful church, go into an area, find the different sociological, economic, ethnic, racial groupings, and say, we're going to target this one. And then as you target that one, light will beget light. It is disastrous, they say, to try to have a multiplicity of economic, social, ethnic backgrounds and relationships all in one pot.

14:54 You get a kind of ecclesiastical hash. Or soup that has all the leftovers from the week. If you want gourmet soup, make sure you have nothing but the choicest of your carrots, if it's going to be carrot soup, etc. Well, you see, Peter and the apostles knew nothing of that nonsense.

15:11 As we think back through this epistle, remember the different groups he's addressed. He's addressed slaves. People who are actually the property of another human being. And he addresses the slaves.

15:24 He addresses wives with unconverted husbands. In chapter 3. He addresses husbands in relationship to their wives. He's addressing citizens who stand in various relationships to the authority of the state.

15:39 He addresses people who have a raw, crassly, immoral, pagan background. You remember chapter 4, when he describes their past lifestyle. You walked in lasciviousness, lust, wine-bibbings, revelings, carousing, and abominable ideas. Abominable idolatries.

15:58 No doubt there were some who were converted out of a relatively respectable religious background. Jews who may have attached themselves to synagogues in those areas of the Roman Empire. But now Peter has the temerity to say, here is a one-size-fits-all directive. Yes, all of you.

16:19 All of you. Without exception. Be clothed or clothe yourself with humility. And furthermore, though there is no explicit reference, knowing what human nature is like, I am confident that in those churches, in those Roman provinces, one would find every single type of personality in the full spectrum from the very quiet, timid, reflective, introspective, socially shy, to the outgoing, back-slapping, gregarious, hail-fellow-well-met.

16:54 And no matter what their temperament, he tells them all, be clothed or clothe yourself with humility. The command comes to all of the people of God, regardless of what their background is, regardless of what their social, economic status may be, regardless of male or female. The text says, yes, all of you. Now, need I make the application?

17:27 I hope you've made it already. As we dig into the text, some of you are going to feel a little comfortable when you shouldn't. Because temperamentally, people would look at you and say, oh, she's so humble, he's so humble. You can be outwardly the dropped head, the soft voice, the shifty eyes, the twitching fingers.

17:48 Outwardly, you can look like a whipped curd dog. And inwardly, have your feathers spread like a pear. This has nothing to do with constitutional temperament. Nothing whatsoever to do with it.

18:01 So don't feel comfortable if you're shy and kind of wall-flowerish. And on the other hand, some of you that are more the back-slapping, outgoing, gregarious, don't you feel conviction because people wouldn't look at you and in the first three minutes say, oh, she's the most humble person in all the world, or he's the most humble guy in all the world. This has nothing to do with natural temperament. It has nothing to do with economic status and standing and background.

18:28 It has to do with those who are in Christ. Peter's addressing all of the saints who are sanctified by the Spirit, verse 1, who are sprinkled by the blood of Christ, who have been brought under the yoke of joyful obedience to Jesus Christ. So question number one, as we look at the practical duty command, it is to whom is this command given? It's given to you.

The Practical Duty Commanded: What is the Meaning of the Command?

18:53 It's given to you, to you, to you, to me, any of us who are in Christ. Now then, secondly, what's the meaning of the command? And obviously we have two key words that will unlock the meaning of the command. First of all, let's focus on the action commanded and then the object of that action.

19:11 Again, look at our text. Yes, all of you, and here's our verb, gird yourselves. The old American standard translates it, gird yourselves. The basic meaning of this verb is to fasten something to oneself with a clasp, with a knot, or with a bow.

19:34 Your mother's going to engage in some intense work in the kitchen, and so she goes to the place where she keeps this item called an apron, and what does she do? She puts the loop over her head, she spreads out the broad part of the cloth, and then she ties it in a bow behind her. Now, if you were to describe what she was doing, this is the verb you would use. To tie something to oneself with a bow, to fasten it with a clasp, or with a knot, so that wherever mom goes, her apron goes.

20:09 And wherever her apron is, she is. That's the image that is bound up in this verb. Tie to yourself with a knot. Tie to yourself with a bow.

20:21 This apron of humility or lowliness of mind. All the linguists that I've consulted, all the commentators I've consulted, are absolutely agreed, the lexicographers as well, that this is the fundamental significance of the verb. However, most of the commentators note that while the idea of tying to oneself is indisputable, they also state that the noun on which this verb is written, the noun on which this verb is built, was a noun used most frequently to describe the kind of an apron or the kind of a smock that a slave would put on over his sleeveless undergarments in order to prepare himself for his slave's service and to identify himself as a slave as opposed to a free man. So that's not a novel idea. That someone with a vivid imagination is just imported into the text. As I've indicated, almost all the commentators I've consulted agree that this noun on which the verb is built points then to the fact that this is not just tying to ourselves the virtue of humility, but tying to ourselves this apron of humility

21:45 in a disposition of one who is ready to take the place of a slave in relationship to the service gladly rendered to his brethren. You kids, when you go to, not to Trinity School, but other schools, they have crossing guards. See, sometimes Trinity School is death to my illustrations because you don't have crossing guards out here in the parking lot. But the crossing guards generally will wear a vest that goes over whatever jacket, whatever outer clothing that man or woman may be wearing, and the moment you see that vest, you identify the person as to position and function.

22:29 You say, that's a crossing guard who is ready to hold up his little stop sign or her little stop sign, let the kids pass the street. Well, that's the imagery. When the person puts on to himself and buttons it up or fixes the clasps together, immediately the crossing guard with his orange collar, vest over his regular clothing, he has done what this verb says we are to do. Yes, all of you, gird to yourselves, fasten upon yourselves, and now notice the object of the action.

23:04 What is it we are to fasten upon ourselves? Most of our versions render it humility. Now, you kids who think you get difficult spelling words in your English spelling class, imagine being a little Greek kid and coming up with a six-syllable word, . Imagine having to spell that.

23:32 But that's what the word is. And it's a beautiful compound word that often is translated, or several other times, lowliness of mind. It takes the concept of humility and lowliness and ties it with a root word that refers to the mind. That's why I said it has nothing to do with your native personality.

23:51 That's outward. That's what people see. This has to do with lowliness of mind. It has to do with tying to ourselves at the deepest level of the soul, of the mind, of the heart, and of the spirit.

24:06 This is the word Paul used when meeting with the Ephesian elders in Acts 20. He said, you yourselves know how I conducted myself all the while I was with you with, here's our word, . Lowliness of mind. Paul highlights that as the outstanding baseline characteristic of his three years of service among the Ephesians.

24:34 I was with you all the time. Lowliness of mind. Now, you see, he was no withdrawn introvert. He is willing to cause riots at Ephesus.

24:44 He's willing to boldly stand for the truth. But there is an inward disposition, that Paul says, is precisely what Peter enjoins as the apron that all of the people of God at all times, in all places, are to tie about themselves so wherever that Christian goes, his apron is on him. Wherever the apron is, he is. It's interesting that this word was not used in secular Greek literature.

25:12 The closest words to it were used in a derogatory way. Smallness. Neanness. Littleness of mind.

25:21 This was not an admirable characteristic. Listen to the comment Hebert makes on this very fact. He writes, This grace is the opposite of self-exaltation, the very essence of sin. Self-exaltation.

25:38 Such an attitude of humility is a distinctly Christian virtue. The pagan and secular idea of manhood is strong self-assertion, imposing one's will on another. When anyone bowed to others, it was done only under compulsion, and hence it was shameful, ignominious. The pagan mind did not have the idea of ethical humility.

26:04 It lacked the spiritual soil for such a concept. Christ and his ethics were required to make lowly-mindedness a great Christian virtue. Think of it. It was the power of the gospel taking root in a climate where this very concept was demeaned that made it a noble and a cardinal virtue among the people of God.

26:32 So the object of this action is lowly-mindedness. In certain linguistic fields one cannot find an exact parallel and one must use a combination of words and a concept. And in some languages this would be expressed to live without strutting, to walk without desiring to be noticed. When Bible translators go into various tribes that don't even have their language reduced to writing and they seek to reduce it to writing, to an alphabet and to grammar, and then they must fish for concepts.

27:12 And in some settings they don't have a word for this, so they have to use a description. And they would have Peter say, yes, all of you tie to yourself a manner of life in which you live without strutting, in which you walk without desiring to be noticed. Lowliness of mind. So in answer to the second question, what is the meaning of the command, we could use the very helpful rendering of Lenski.

27:46 All of you, with respect to each other, apron yourselves with lowly-mindedness. I like that. Apron yourself with lowly-mindedness. The disposition of humility is to be tied about us, identifying us as those ready to serve one another.

28:08 The closest parallel is found in Colossians 3 and verse 12, where Paul uses the word to dress ourselves. And here it is not merely tying on an apron, but it's being clothed with this grace. Verse 12 of Colossians 3, put on therefore. Dress yourselves therefore as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, here's our word, lowliness.

28:39 Tape nofrosyne. Dress yourself up with lowliness so that wherever you go you are found with the cloak, with the cloak of lowliness upon you. Whether your temperament is naturally diffident, retiring, quiet, shy, bashful, or whether your temperament is happy, outgoing, positive, Pollyannish, whatever other term you want to use, all of us, regardless of native temperament, is to be clothed with this grace. We're to have it tied about us as an apron.

The Practical Duty Commanded: By What Means Can We Obey?

29:19 So we've asked the question, to whom is this duty commanded? All of the saints, in all of the churches, without distinction or exception. We've looked at the basic meaning of the command. Now then, here comes the cruncher.

29:32 By what means can we obey this command? By what means can we obey this command? Can we go somewhere and purchase the apron? Of course not.

29:45 Someone would say, well, we've got to pray that God give it to us. We must. And I was convicted in my preparation, Lord, forgive me that I don't make it more a matter of focused prayer. Oh, God, help me to tie about the apron of lowly-mindedness today.

30:04 And I confess, I've had to confess my sin to God. Pray for love, pray for holiness, pray for zeal. But I've not prayed as I ought for that which daily ought to be tied about me. But if God's going to answer our prayer, there is a soil in which the Spirit of God, to change the image, will grow this grace.

30:26 To go back to the image of an apron, there is a divinely constructed loom on which this apron can be fabricated. And that loom is comprised of a growing, a fundamental and a growing awareness of what and who we are in three very basic areas. What and who we are as creatures of God. What and who we are as sinners before God.

30:56 And what and who we are as the recipients of grace from God. Would you be enabled by the Spirit to tie on the apron of humility, of lowly-mindedness? Then you must, at a fundamental level and with ever increasing expansion, come to grips with what you are as a creature of God. What you are as a sinner before God.

31:24 And if you are a Christian, what you are as the recipient of grace from God. Who and what are we as creatures of God? We open up Genesis 1 and we read, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And we come to the end of chapter 1 and we find God saying, Let us make man in our image and after our likeness.

31:48 And He created us. And He created him, male and female. Created He them. What does that tell us?

31:54 Before we even get into the details of specifically how God made the man and then the woman and brought her to the man. That this creature called man made male and female along with all other things in God's universe are created realities. That is, they come from the hand of God. They come because God willed that they should have being and existence.

32:20 And according to the scriptures when He made us as rational creatures, He put us on the lowest end of the scale. You have made Him little lower than the angels. They are on a scale of being. Angels and cherubim and seraphim above us.

32:39 The recognition that in God's creative design we were put on the lower end of that scale. The recognition that we are utterly dependent upon God for our being, for our continued existence. When Paul is preaching to those pagan philosophers at Athens recorded in Acts 17 and they have their altar to this unknown God. Paul says, I declare Him unto you.

33:06 And how does he declare Him? God that made the heavens and the earth. He has no need of anything we give to Him. Seeing in Him, we live and move and have our very being.

33:20 Our atoms hold together by God's sovereign imminent power over us. We are created beings utterly dependent upon God for the very next breath we breathe. In Him we live and move and have our being. This God, Paul says, seeing He gives to all life and breath.

33:45 Sitting here, how many breaths have you taken in in the past hour and ten minutes since we've gathered here for worship? Every one of them God gave you as Creator. Every one of them. He gives to all life, breath.

34:03 As we heard a few weeks ago in that powerful vivid imagery, that heart is going thump, thump, thump, thump, thump. God does. In the moment He says, no more breath, no more thump, you've had it. I've had it.

34:23 We are creatures utterly dependent upon the will of God and the imminent, present power of God for our very existence and the continuation of that existence. Where does lowliness of mind come from? When you embrace from the heart who and what you are as created. You are not a little self-sustaining, self-originating, self-perpetuating god or goddess.

34:52 You are not. I am not. That's why Francis Schaeffer said, every man and woman who becomes a Christian is someone who's bowed twice. And his first bowing is to own the reality of creaturehood.

35:05 We come from God. We are sustained by God. We are accountable to God. And we are on our way to stand in the judgment of God.

35:14 But then secondly, this grace of humility, humbleness of mind will come when we come to grips with who and what we are as sinners before God. We are fallen creatures. Genesis 3 follows hard upon the creation account of Genesis 2. Romans 5, 12 and following says that wherefore as to one man's sin entered into the world in death by sin for that all sinned, we sinned in our first father.

35:46 1 Corinthians 15, 22 as in Adam all die. We are born again dead. Dead in our trespasses and sins. We are depraved and defiled.

36:00 The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Jeremiah 17, 9 Jesus said for from within out of the heart of man proceed. What? He lists, excuse me, every form of human sin in its major categories.

36:18 And you see, you'll never know humble-mindedness until you own from the heart what you are not only as creature but as sinner. A sinner, natively guilty, hell deserving, depraved and polluted until you come to the place where that publican came described in Luke 18 who in the presence of God would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven but beat upon his breast saying God be merciful to me the sinner. Not a sinner generically. I'm a sinner.

36:56 Everybody's a sinner. No, no. Be sinner. When God isolates you and you come to grips with who and what you are as a sinner before God, in that context there are only two beings in the universe, you and the God before whom you stand.

37:12 You see, when we've come to grips with what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 7, 18 I know that in me that is in my flesh listen to his words, dwells no good thing. Paul is saying if anything ever comes out of me that can be called good it didn't originate with me in terms of what I was by nature, in terms of what I could produce by my own effort. If anything good ever comes out of me God will have placed it in me by His grace. You see, there never will be true lowly-mindedness. There may be a semblance of diffidence and humility but there will be no true lowly-mindedness until you come to grips with who and what you are as a sinner before God. Then for the people of God this grace grows out of the recognition and the constant reminder not only of who and what we are as creatures, who and what we are as sinners, but who and what we are as recipients of grace from God. If anything other than sin and condemnation and bondage mark my life it's because God has come in grace.

38:35 For by grace have you been saved. For by grace have you been saved. If anything of likeness to Christ we say with Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 10a I am what I am by the grace of God. If there is anything in me commendable and virtuous it is grace.

38:56 And if there is any usefulness and giftedness he goes on in that same verse and says not I when he speaks of his labors I labored more abundantly than the rest yet not I but the grace of God that was in me. Grace has put anything good in me. Grace has conferred any gifts and any measure of usefulness. It is all of grace.

39:20 Lowly-mindedness grows out of a conviction that John 15 5 is not overstatement when Jesus said without me you can do nothing. Nothing. Apart from union with me and the virtue of my risen life and grace operating in you you can do nothing that can be called fruit unto God. That's why Paul can ask the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 4 7 this very searching and penetrating question that we must ask ourselves here's the question for who makes you to differ?

40:00 What do you have that you did not receive? If you differ from those still in their bondage still unwashed in their pollution who know nothing of the power of Christ to break the dominion of sin know nothing of a cleansed conscience in the blood of Christ purged from the condemning finger of the law if you know anything of that who's made you to differ? Was it that somewhere along the line you said oh I think it's a good idea that I ought to go from bondage to liberty from guilt to sonship from wrath to blessing I think that's a nice note who makes you to differ? God's saying think who makes you to differ? Do you really believe not as something you forced out of your lips because you were catechized and well instructed but because in the depths of your being God has persuaded you as Paul was persuaded I am what I am by the grace of God not plus plus plus grace of God if I've labored it's because the grace of God has been at work in me What do you have that you did not receive? Why do you glory as though you had not received it? In other words he said if there's any boasting other than boasting in the Lord what you're saying is

41:27 you have something the ultimate source of which is in yourself in part it's the perverse notion that I have something praiseworthy that has its origin in me rather than in God if there is anything praiseworthy in us we are to recognize it but we're to recognize it for what it is the operation of grace Paul was not being puffed up and proud when he said I labored more abundantly than all the others when we lay out the scope of the labors of the apostles in terms of zeal extent, intensity I'm out the top of the list but all that does is brag on my God because it was His grace that was operative in me I don't cast crowns at my own feet I cast them at His feet now here's Peter's injunction to us this morning here's the command to every single one of us united to Christ and bound in church fellowship put around you take up as an apron and tie to you this matter of humility and notice I did not emphasize and I want to emphasize it now in relationship one to another you have the reflexive pronoun alelois this is something that is to be taken up and manifested particularly

42:56 in our interaction one with another we may feel very humble in our prayer closet Peter is saying hi to the lowly mindedness to be worn as you interact one with another what is the key to elders nobly prayerfully embracing their awesome task of shepherding the flock of God doing this not of constraint but willingly not for base gain but of a ready mind not lording it over God's heritage but making themselves examples to the flock it's when they tie about them the apron of humility and they are prepared to take the servant's role in ministry to the saints what's the key to the saints you younger be subject to the elder church members take a proper place of submission to your overseers what's the key to that it is all of us tying on the apron every one of us eager to take the servant's role one to another listen to what John Brown says so helpfully and this is where I got some of these thoughts that I've worked out more fully in your presence Christians are not to think of themselves highly but soberly if they are Christians they must believe their insignificance as creatures and their demerit as sinners

44:24 they must believe they are in their natural state thoroughly depraved deeply inexcusably guilty righteously condemned hopelessly wretched and that if their state is altered their desires are transformed if their prospects are improved it is all owing to sovereign divine kindness operating through the mediation of Jesus Christ and by the influence of the Holy Spirit the native tendency of such views is to make a man humble and lowly in spirit to make him feel that pride was not made for him isn't that a beautiful statement this will make us feel that pride was not made for us what will make us feel that believing our insignificance as creatures our demerit as sinners our recognition of any change of character and any hope of a positive destiny it's all of grace this should be the habitual temper of the Christian and should give a decided character to his habitual demeanor and behavior he should be clothed with humility in lowliness of mind esteeming others better than himself well we've looked at the practical duty commanded to whom all of the people of God

The Theological Basis Stated: God Resists the Proud, Gives Grace to the Humble

45:51 what's the meaning of the command how can we implement it by the grace of God now much more briefly notice our second major heading having looked at the practical duty commanded now the theological basis stated I know with some people the minute you use the word theological you have a knee jerk reaction I'm just a simple minded person my friend bring your knee back alright theological simply means that which grows out of the study of God and his relationship to his creatures and to his universe and in the text you and I are told to tie on the apron of humility now notice the next word for you're to do this in the light of something and the first thing that comes after the for is the word God for God in other words you've got to know some things about God if you're going to feel the weight of this injunction upon your soul you've got to know and remember something that's true about God for God tie on the apron for God in other words Peter's saying this injunction has deep immovable theological roots and he's creating the theological basis for the injunction and how does he do it look at the text

47:19 for God and then he does not give us some complex philosophical or metaphysical concept that floats by and can only be grasped partially by the academic egg heads of the world no notice what he does he doesn't give us some abstract notion of God but he says that theology has to do with two things God continually does that every one of us can understand look at the text for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble both verbs are present tense verbs God is continually resisting proud ones and God is continually giving grace to humble ones and if I were to give a more wooden translation it's one of the beauties of the Greek language when you want to emphasize something you put the things out of their natural order and you leave off the article to emphasize the quality and this would be a more literal rendering all of you tie on the apron of humility for proud ones God is continually resisting but humble ones he is continually to humble ones he is continually giving grace that's the emphasis what is God doing right in this place this morning you know what he's doing he's resisting the proud

48:47 sitting in this place and he's giving grace to the humble it's always like God to do that he always has and ever shall until there are no more proud ones in his immediate presence now what is this activity toward the proud God is resisting the proud and this verb resist means to set oneself against it has military overtones it's the antonym you kids are learning antonyms the opposite hot cold it's the antonym of the verb that Peter uses all the way through his epistle hupotasso obey range yourself under the authority of another this is anti tasso this is God standing in military array against every proud man or woman boy or girl God has set himself in array against all of the proud ones it's a frightening statement almighty God who can speak worlds into being and on one of the flights recently they featured pictures from a man that apparently is recognized in his field as the outstanding astronomical photographer and they've collated 25 years of his photography with very exotic telescopes and the rest into a book and this was excerpted from the book

50:15 and I almost lost my breath just looking at the pictures show side views of galaxies that stretch for thousands and thousands of light years and when we open up to Genesis it's describing God's creative work and it says oh and he made the stars also he made the stars also think of the power he made the stars also he speaks and out of his creative word galaxies spring into being that God is against some of you this morning frightening statement that's what the text says why are we to tie about us this apron of humility and lowly mindedness because the opposite of lowly mindedness is pride and to be a proud one is to have God arrayed against us God arrayed against us but then Peter says there's God's activity to the humble to the humble ones God is continually giving what giving grace his unmerited favor he is constantly conferring upon the humble ones you see when God would confer his unmerited favor the first thing he does is disposes the heart of the proud sinner to see how much he needs that

51:43 favor you see it's not like we bring to God and say oh God here's my lowly spirit now give me grace no no you don't know anything about grace if you have that notion God takes us down from the throne of our self importance our self justification our self absorption he shows us what we are as creatures what we are as sinners and what's the first beatitude blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God blessed are they who what mourn what's the first thing God does when he's going to confer initial saving grace he makes us humble that's why Jesus says several times in the Gospels he that humbles himself shall be exalted he that exalts himself shall be humbled that's the saying he put at the end of the story of the publican and the Pharisee the Pharisees in the temple preening his feathers look at me God I do this I don't do that I do the other Jesus concludes the whole parable contrasting that strutting peacock with this humble man broken over his sin the climax of the whole passage is he that humbles himself shall be exalted he that exalts himself shall be humbled in God's judgment our humility and lowliness of mind does not earn God's favor it's the very

53:11 indication that he intends favor to us blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled Jesus said to the Laodicean church because you say I'm rich increased with goods and have needed nothing I'm about to puke you that's course the Greek is course spew you you never said that oh mother I went into the bathroom and spewed you said I vomited that's the standard Greek word I'm about to vomit you out why because you're full of yourself full of yourself full of yourself God resists the proud God continually gives grace to the humble listen to Calvin's vigorous words came across this a few weeks ago and couldn't wait till this morning to read it typical Calvin the passage this is the most severe threat when he says that all those who try to elevate themselves will have God as their enemy and he will lay them low on the other hand God will be kindly and favorable to the humble we are to imagine God has two hands one which like a hammer beats down and breaks in pieces those who raise up themselves the other which raises up the humble who willingly bow themselves down and sustain them like a firm prop if we were really convinced of this and had it deeply rooted in our

Application: Which Kind of Person Are You?

54:40 minds who of us would dare to urge war on God in pride who of us would dare there's the theological basis for the injunction given to all of the people of God tie up the apron of lowly mindedness for God's activity continually setting in himself in array against the proud continually manifesting grace upon grace to the humble well in summary and application in the light of this unchanging inescapable statement of God's activity I want to ask you a very simple question as you sit here this morning according to this text according to this text only two kinds of people here this morning those against whom God is set in battle array and those towards whom he is kindly disposed to give more grace only two no middle ground now which are you which are you see I'm not asking you what kind of temperament do you have well I'm not actually shy backward you can be as proud as a peacock as I said earlier your outward demeanor may be a reflection of an inward grace but not necessarily so

56:07 not necessarily God knows may God help each one of us to know what God is doing in our lives and I'm not asking you to be a proud man or a proud woman I'm not asking do I struggle with the awareness of pride and when it rears its horrible ugly head and I find the hands of my soul wanting to lay themselves upon some gift or ability or task that I've accomplished whatever it may be when I find my filthy hands wanting to stain God's glory I pray God that I pull them back and fall down in his presence and say not unto us not unto us but to your name I'm not asking do you know what it is to struggle with remaining pride and to war with it cropping up in the most unlikely places I'm asking you this are you settled and comfortably nestled in a life of self stroking see this is why Jesus said the first requirement of discipleship is what if any man will come after me let him do what he will deny himself and I tell you folks with this generation worshipping at the God of self esteem and self actualization and self expression this word

57:35 will become as extinct in our society as it was in Roman and Greek society in the first century hurt yourself Jesus said deny yourself don't just learn the language of humility by the spirit of God tie on the apron in the deepest recesses of the heart is God resisting you this morning if you're proud he is if by God's grace you sit there with a basic disposition of humble humbleness lowliness of mind God delights to give more grace some of you struggle why don't I know more intimate communion with God could this be the problem listen to Isaiah 57 15 thus saith the high and the lofty one who inhabits eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him that is of a humble and a contrite spirit to revive the heart of the contrite and to revive the spirit of the humble ones God dwells in delightful experiential communion with the humble some of you have a very very subtle form of pride it's your pride that won't let you live

The Guild of the Towel and Basin: Jesus' Example

59:01 at the foot of the cross when you sin and when you fail you don't go immediately to Christ it's your pride that keeps you from him it's your pride because you know if you live at the foot of the cross you'll have to say I am what I am by the grace of God me that is in my flesh dwells no good thing this grace dear people is to mark us in all of our interaction with one another I close by reminding you of a passage that may have been an incident in Peter's mind when he penned the words turn to John 13 as we conclude this morning in our relationships to one another we are all to be members of the guild of the towel in the basin and the master of that guild is Christ himself you remember the incident they're gathered in the upper room apparently none of them thought about this common social courtesy of washing their feet no servant was there it was the task that was reserved for the house slave the house servant and you remember our Lord Jesus fully conscious of who he was where he came from where he was going verse 3 Jesus knowing the father had given all things into his hands he came forth from God and goes unto God rises from supper

60:30 lays aside his garment took a towel and girded himself then he poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded he tied about him this towel and he takes the function and position of a lowly house slave and when he is done he says in verse 13 you call me teacher and Lord and you say well for so I am if I then the Lord and the teacher have washed your feet you ought to wash one another's feet for I've given you an example that you should do not what I've done to you this is not a third ordinance come to the Lord's table tonight and take off our clean socks and shoes and wash each other's feet no to do as I've done to you that is to be willing to take the role of a servant to one another verily verily I say unto you a servant is not greater than his Lord neither one that sent greater than he that sent him if you know these things blessed are you if you do them God's calling us dear people in our life together not in what we may feel of a deepening humiliation in the secret place though I trust we feel it when we go into God's presence and own in an intense way what we are

Closing Prayer: Purge Pride, Grant Humility

61:58 as creatures dependent upon him for the very breath we breathe I'm not speaking of the humiliation that comes when our sins in David's word are set in the light of his countenance so I trust we know that but when we rise from our knees do we perceive ourselves as part of the guild of the towel and the basin when we enter into one another's presence do we think of ourselves as our apron tied on us ready to serve Peter says all of you pastors shepherds sheep in all relationships in the life of the church all of you tie upon yourselves the apron of humility for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble we confess in your presence that when we think of our Lord Jesus having come from your presence and all of the overflow of worship that was his by cherubim and seraphim and the innumerable host of angels coming to us by way of Mary's womb and a manger

63:24 willing to take the place of the servant saying I am among you as he that serves we're ashamed of every outcropping of our horrible pride and self serving and self preoccupation we pray that you would purge this from our hearts and enable us by your grace constantly and continually to tie on the apron of humility gracious God deal with those who've never been humbled who stand tall and erect in their pride and in their resistance to owning what they are as sinners and as creatures Lord we know they must own it in the last day but we don't want them to go before you unbent and unbroken only to be resisted for eternity may you not come in grace today and subdue them show them the largeness of your heart of grace and mercy and all that you are prepared to shower upon them if they will but bow their proud hearts and bow their stiff necks and cry to you for mercy we pray that you would seal your word to every heart and may it bear an abundance of fruit in all of our lives we ask in Jesus name Amen