For It Is God Who Works In You Series

For It is God Who Works In You

Php 2:1-13

(1) So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,

(2) complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

(3) Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

(4) Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

(5) Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

(6) who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

(7) but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

(8) And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

(9) Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

(10) so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

(11) and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

(12) Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

(13) for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

EOLS: God will use a servant who is undivided, unselfish and unafraid to make his salvation walk priority.

Oh Lord it’s hard to be humble

when you’re perfect in every way,

I can’t wait to look in the mirror

cause I get better looking each day

To know me is to love me

I must be a “heck” of a man.

Oh Lord it’s hard to be humble

but I’m doing the best that I can.

(song by Mac Davis)

The next great best seller that I plan to write: Humility, How I Attained It.

In a society that sometimes has its priorities all wrong and its system of values a bit twisted, even something simple, a character quality of greatness can be twisted beyond recognition! We laugh about the funny song and quote, but it illustrates the contradictory way that our society views this enigmatic character quality that God tells us is one of His highest and greatest goals for His children.

Humility is not weakness; it is not accomplished or attained by being quiet and mousy. It’s not demonstrated by cowering or in being non-committal or constantly seeking the center. Humility sometimes can be tough and rigid, other times soft and pliable. Humility can be demonstrated by one man or woman taking a very unpopular stand, or it may be manifest in putting away your own ambition and desire in order to bring unity to God’s people as His will is revealed.

Andrew Murray, the nineteenth century South African missionary pastor said:

"Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is for me to have no trouble; never to be fretted or vexed or irritated or sore or disappointed. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord where I can go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret and be at peace as in a deep sea of calmness when all around is trouble. It is the fruit of the Lord Jesus Christ’s redemptive work on Calvary’s cross, manifested in those of His own who are definitely subject to the Holy Spirit"

Phillip Brooks made an apt comment when he said, “The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatness is.”

God calls us to be a humble people as we pursue His call on our lives.

Yet we must understand that Biblical humility is far different than the twisted parody notion which our society offers. True humility, its greatest demonstration is found in Jesus Christ. It was lived in the work that He did on our behalf; it’s grounded in his continuing work today in our lives.

The humility that God calls us to is not weakness; it is the pathway towards gaining great strength and might; the greatest power available to a human being. When I humble myself I avail myself to be used by the Creator of the Universe.