Joy
and Thanksgiving
spring from
Humility
From
Humility: The Beauty of Holiness,
Chapter 11
By Pastor Andrew Murray
(1828-1917)
"Let this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
who, being in the form
of God... 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..." Philippians 2:5
"God resists
the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves
under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:5-6
"...a
thorn
in the flesh was given to me,
a messenger of Satan to
buffet me,
lest I be exalted above measure.
Concerning this thing I pleaded
with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
And He said to
me, '
My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect
in weakness.
'” 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
Lest
Paul should exalt himself, by reason of the exceeding greatness of the
revelations, a thorn in the flesh was sent him to keep him humble. Paul’s first
desire was to have it removed, and he besought the Lord thrice that it might
depart. The answer came that the trial was a blessing; that, in the
weakness and humiliation it brought, the grace and strength of the Lord could be
the better manifested.
Paul at once entered upon a new
stage in his relation to the trial: instead of simply enduring it, he most
gladly gloried in it. Instead of asking for deliverance, he took pleasure in it.
He had learned that the place of humiliation, is the place of blessing, of
power, of joy.
“Most gladly
therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the strength of
Christ may rest upon me. Wherefore I take pleasure in weakness: for when I
am weak then am I strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10.
Every Christian virtually passes
through these two stages in his pursuit of humility. In the first he fears and
flees and seeks deliverance from all that can humble him. ... He has accepted
the command to be humble, and seeks to obey it, though only to find how utterly
he fails. He prays for humility, at times very earnestly; but in his secret
heart he prays more, if not in word, then in wish, to be kept from the very
things that will make him humble. He is not yet so in love with humility as,
the beauty of the Lamb of God, and the joy of heaven, that he would sell all
to procure it. ... He cannot yet say, ‘Most gladly do I glory in weakness, I
take pleasure in whatever humbles me.”
But can we hope to reach the stage
in which this will be the case? Undoubtedly. And what will it be that brings us
there? That which brought Paul there—a new revelation of the Lord Jesus. Nothing
but the presence of God can reveal and expel self. A clearer insight was
to be given to Paul into the deep truth that the presence of Jesus will banish
every desire to seek anything in ourselves, and will make us delight in every
humiliation that prepares us for His fuller manifestation. Our humiliations lead
us, in the experience of the presence and power of Jesus, to choose humility as
our highest blessing. Let us try to learn the lessons the story of Paul teaches
us....
It appears as if this were the
highest lesson that he had to learn, full conformity to his Lord in that
self-emptying where he gloried in weakness that God might be all.
"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt you in due time,
casting all your care
upon Him, for He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6
The highest lesson a believer has to
learn is humility. Oh that every Christian who seeks to advance in holiness may
remember this well! There may be intense consecration, and fervent zeal and
heavenly experience, and yet, if it is not prevented by very special dealings of
the Lord, there may be an unconscious self-exaltation with it all.
Let us learn the lesson,—the
highest holiness is the deepest humility; and let us remember that it comes
not of itself, but only as it is made a matter of special dealing on the part of
our faithful Lord and His faithful servant.
Let us look at our lives in the
light of this experience, and see whether we gladly glory in weakness,
whether we take pleasure, as Paul did, in injuries, in necessities, in
distresses. Yes, let us ask whether we have learnt to regard a reproof, just or
unjust, a reproach from friend or enemy, an injury, or trouble, or difficulty
into which others bring us, as above all an opportunity of proving how Jesus
is all to us, how our own pleasure or honor are nothing, and how humiliation
is in very truth what we take pleasure in. It is indeed blessed, the deep
happiness of heaven, to be so free from self that whatever is said of us or
done to us is lost and swallowed up in the thought that Jesus is all.
Let us trust Him who took charge of
Paul to take charge of us too. Paul needed special discipline, and with it
special instruction, to learn, what was more precious than even the unutterable
things he had heard in heaven—what it is to glory in weakness and lowliness.
We need it, too, oh so much. He who
cared for him will care for us too.... He watches over us with a jealous, loving
care, 'lest we exalt ourselves'. When we are doing so, He seeks to discover to
us the evil, and deliver us from it. In trial and weakness and trouble He seeks
to bring us low, until we so learn that His grace is all, as to take pleasure in
the very thing that brings us and keeps us low.
His strength made perfect in our
weakness, His presence filling and satisfying our emptiness, becomes the secret
of a humility that need never fail. It can, as Paul, in full sight of what God
works in us, and through us, ever say, “In nothing was I behind the chiefest
apostles, though I am nothing.” His humiliations had led him to true humility,
with its wonderful gladness and glorying and pleasure in all that humbles.
“Most gladly will
I glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me;
wherefore I take pleasure In weaknesses.”
The humble man has learnt the
secret of abiding gladness. The weaker he feels, the lower he sinks, the
greater his humiliations appear, the more the power and the presence of Christ
are his portion, until, as he says, “I am nothing,” the word of his Lord brings
ever deeper joy: “My grace is sufficient for thee.”
...the danger of pride is greater
and nearer than we think, and the grace for humility too... especially at the
time of our highest experiences.
The humility of Jesus is our
salvation: Jesus Himself is our humility. Our humility is His care and His work.
His grace is sufficient for us, to meet the temptation of pride too. His
strength will be perfected in our weakness. Let us choose to be weak, to be low,
to be nothing. Let humility be to us joy and gladness. Let us gladly glory and
take pleasure in weakness, in all that can humble us and keep us low; the power
of Christ will rest upon us. Christ humbled Himself, therefore God exalted Him.
Christ will humble us and keep us
humble. Let us heartily consent, let us trustfully and joyfully accept all that
humbles; [then] the power of Christ will rest upon us. We shall find that the
deepest humility is the secret of the truest happiness, of a joy that nothing
can destroy.
"He was crucified
in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God. For
we also are weak in Him,
but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you." 2 Co 13:4
"Lord Jesus, may our
Holiness be perfect Humility!
Let They perfect Humility
be our Holiness! "
Andrew Murray