Read Text (Numbers 12)
I call your attention to verse 3 in this chapter:
“Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.”
In this story, we are given a dramatic picture of the relationship between spiritual authority and genuine humility. Moses is the most humble man on earth. He is also has more spiritual authority than anybody else on the earth. I would hope that every person in this room today wants to function in more spiritual authority. Ministry is about functioning in spiritual authority. The scribes and Pharisees had positional authority; Jesus had spiritual authority. When people heard Jesus speak, they realized there was spiritual authority behind his words. The Pharisees taught from the Old Testament; but when they spoke there was nothing behind it. I find in today’s environment, preachers can go on the Internet and find words to speak on Sunday morning. There are all kinds of good outlines and illustrations and manuscripts. What you can’t get from the Internet is spiritual authority. Saying the right words with no spiritual authority is “sounding brass and clanging cymbal.” Saying the right words does not make anybody a preacher. The spiritual authority that God entrusts the speaker with is what impacts lives.
So to really impact people’s lives we need spiritual authority—not just positional authority. I want more spiritual authority because I know that is what will really bring help to people. The question for me and for every one in this room is this: Am I willing to get that authority by humbling myself in real life situations?
Here is Miriam and Aaron wanting what Moses has. Yet the way to get that is to do the exact opposite of what they are doing. Spiritual authority is not obtained by grasping for it. It is obtaining by increased level of surrender to God. If I will surrender more of Richard Tow to God, I will exercise more spiritual authority. Why is that? Because the more I am surrendered to God, the more He can trust me to use it correctly.
Look at how Moses exercises spiritual authority in this passage.
1. He does not defend himself. He does not try to make Miriam and Aaron do what he thinks they ought to do. We don’t even see him trying to control the situation at all. What we see is this: they verbally attack Moses with their criticism. Then what follows in verse 2 are these simple words, “And the Lord heard it.” There is certain weightiness behind those simple words, “And the Lord heard it.” I don’t ever want to say anything behind closed doors that is followed by that footnote: “And the Lord heard it.” The whole context tells us that the Lord was not pleased with what He heard.
I have learned this the hard way. I can defend myself or I can let God defend me—but I can’t have it both ways. If I insist on defending myself, God will let me do just that. If I will humble myself and trust Him with it, He will defend what needs to be defended.
2. Moses prays for the people attacking him. He is not praying that God will smite them and show them that he is right—quite the opposite. When Miriam is smitten with leprosy, Moses’ response is to plead with God to heal her. Think about that for a moment. Moses does not use his spiritual authority to defend or vindicate himself; he uses it to heal the person that attacked him. This is the kind of person God can trust with spiritual authority. Jesus did the same thing. He could have called legions of angels to defend him at the cross—instead He used his authority to pray “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” When Joseph found himself in a place of power, he used that power to feed the people who had tried to kill him. Can God trust me to use spiritual authority to represent His true character of love?
In Luke 14:11 Jesus sets forth a powerful principle of life, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled (literally put down), and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” If I push myself up, God will push me down. If I humble myself, God will lift me up. 1 Peter 5:6 “Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.”
First question we must ask ourselves (especially when in a conflict with someone else): Do I really believe what Jesus said? Do I really believe that if I humble myself, God will in due time exalt me? Or secretly in my heart, do I believe like the world believes—that those who exalt themselves will be exalted?
Second question we must ask ourselves has to do with the phrase in 1 Peter 5:6 “in due time.” The challenge I have wrestled with on this subject is how long the “in due time” can be. I typically want need to be defended and vindicated right here, right now. Most of the time, God wants to use the circumstances as an opportunity to work deeper humility in me—and then He exalts me on His time table. So will I trust Him to make that call in my behalf? If there are delays do I still believe He is working in my best interest?
Once those two questions are answered,
Third question becomes How do I humble myself? The biblical answers to that can be painfully practical.
For example, personal conflict is always an opportunity to humble ourselves. Most conflicts are perpetuated because of unwillingness to do that.
In a conflict I can humble myself by:
1. Choosing to trust God to defend me rather than defending myself. Time may prove that I wasn’t as right as I thought I was. Time may prove that I was right on the issue but not on the attitude. But the bottom line is this: will I give up the need to win the argument? Will I give up the need to be right? Will I give up the need to have the last word? Will I recognize that my irresistible urge to defend myself is probably rooted in my own pride. There are times we need to draw boundaries in our relationships. That is a sermon in itself. What I’m talking about here is relying on God to take care of you and your reputation, rather than behaving just like the world. In our text Moses’ behavior is an example of how that is done. He was far more concerned about Miriam’s wellbeing than he is about his own reputation. He doesn’t even answer their accusations. What he does is to pray for Miriam’s healing. We want to be used by God; but often the opportunity comes the way this one did. Moses is attacked by Miriam. Had he held a grudge against her, he would have never been in a position to be used by God for her healing.
2. Ask forgiveness and give forgiveness. It’s humbling to ask for forgiveness. To do that right, you have to acknowledge what you did wrong. It’s humbling to give forgiveness because you have to relinquish the right to hold it over the other person’s head. The truth is: any time two people are in a conflict, two people have the opportunity to humble themselves. The ones who do that have taken a step toward spiritual authority. The ones who won’t do that can do their devotional every morning, attend prayer meetings, go on 21 day fasts, and whatever else they might come up with—but God can’t trust them with much spiritual authority if they won’t confess their faults, ask forgiveness, and give forgiveness.
Philippians 2 gives us the ultimate example of how to move into spiritual authority by humbling ourselves. Phil. 2:5 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus
1. Who being in the form of God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped (NIV).
As God the Son He had every right to hold onto that place of grandeur—but love drew Him to you
and me. He took a lower place for our sake.
In Luke 14 Jesus illustrated a practical way we humble ourselves. He said that when you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t take the best place or you might run the risk of the telling you in front of everyone to take a lower seat. Take the lower seat and wait to be invited to the higher place.
That runs contrary to the way the world thinks. The world’s advice is climb the ladder anyway you can. Take care of # 1. Jesus was making a radical statement about the way His kingdom works when he gave the beatitudes. The first one says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit (that’s talking about humility) for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” That’s opposite of what the world really thinks. The world values prideful self-promotion. Yes, do it with a veneer of fiancé. But climb to the top.
When the church operates on the same principles that the world uses, the result is powerlessness—no real spiritual authority—a lot of hype and self-promotion—and usually using the same standards the world uses to define success. At Promise Church we want to be a people of faith, we want to reach people and grow, we want to see great things accomplished in God—but we want to do all that in a spirit of humility, dependence upon God, and graciousness. Phil. 2:3 “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”
2. God highly exalted Jesus as He took the route of humbling himself and submission to the Father. He made of Himself no reputation—He was not living to promote himself; He was living to do the will of the Father. After stating all that Phil. 2:9 begins with the word “Therefore”—because Jesus was willing to humble Himself to that extent, the Father has exalted Him above all others. That is the pattern we are to follow. He who humbles Himself will be exalted.
Benefits of increasing humility
1. Relief from Stress of Impressing others (nothing to prove)
2. Brings Contentment to the soul – less striving for things and position
3. Increases Confidence in God – resting from own works, now God can work in your behalf
4. Opens the flow of God’s grace in our lives.
“God resists the proud but gives grace (favor, empowerment) to the humble.”
5. Brings promotion in the right way “…he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
How have you learned to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God?
How has God honored that in your life?
Where do you want to go from here?
Are there any specific applications for what you’re going thru right now?
I close with signs that you might need to humble yourself.
1. You’re in a conflict that is not being resolved.
2. You’re offended at somebody and you haven’t turned loose of the offense
3. You’re frustrated because others aren’t recognizing your self-perceived ability.
4. You’re depressed because you don’t perform good enough.
5. You’re so focused on yourself that you never express admiration in others and their abilities.
