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The Army of Humble Warriors


Although the “Kingdom of God” is slowly but surely advancing in our country, it’s an undeniable fact that we Christians aren’t as spiritually healthy or as vibrant as we could and should be. For example, instead of exerting a godly Christ-like influence upon our society, it appears as though many Christians are being transformed by it. When you take into account the prevalence of the proud self-centered lifestyle’s of many Christians,  and couple that sad fact with all the fiercely proud individualism and an almost voice-less apathy regarding societal ills; then you will have just some of the reasons our country appears to be on the verge of becoming spiritually and morally bankrupt. We Christians ought to be ashamed of ourselves for doing oh so little to prevent the diabolical inroads Satan and his “Kingdom of Darkness” has successfully achieved through demonically influenced atheist and homosexual activists; not to minimize all he has been able to pull off in the media, education, sports and entertainment and governmental segments of our society. In my opinion, that’s a very sad commentary on the spiritual health of the contemporary Christian Church. It’s almost as though a spiritual cancer has attacked and greatly weakened the effectiveness of the Church Christ paid such a horrendously monumental price to establish. So much so, that it’s on the verge of becoming irrelevant in America. I firmly believe the reason is because Christians such as you and me still fall far short from resembling the humble Servant Leader we profess to follow!

There wasn’t an iota of spiritual pride in that sinless human being. Instead, it seemed as though He clothed Himself with a spirit of humility and His followers have been commanded to do likewise, (1 Peter 5:5). And by humility I’m not suggesting you and I become a laid-back bunch of silent wimps. On the contrary, in describing the characteristics of this beautiful Christ-like virtue, R. Kent Hughes reminds us: “This meekness/gentleness is not weakness. It is rather strength under control. There is nothing spineless or timid about it. Jesus describes himself with both words saying, “I am gentle [meek] and humble in heart (Matthew 11:29). We see his steel-like meekness in two ways. First, in respect to himself-his power not to practice retaliation, his ability to forgive. And second, in his fierce defense of others or of the truth.” (A) In his outstanding book, The Fruit of The Spirit, John W. Sanderson has also characterized this beautiful Christ-like virtue thusly, “Humility is strong—not bold; quiet-not speechless; sure-not arrogant,  “Fear and courage are symptoms of our inward state.” “Meekness and gentleness are not opposites of courage: it takes courage to be meek and gentle in and evil world.” “Meekness is the opposite of self-seeking.” (B) Sanderson 126-127

As I have been explaining in this series of sermons; the greatest impediment to fully possessing a beautiful Christ-like spirit is an insidious spirit of pride which continues to lurk within each of us. Pride is a sin so odious in God’s eyes that He hates it with a passion. and He couldn’t express Himself with any more clarity. For instance,

Proverbs 6:16-17 (NIV)
16 There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

Proverbs 16:5 (NIV)
5 The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 16:5 (KJV)
5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

In what I believe is the finest commentary on The Book of Proverbs, Charles Bridges explains: “Men see no abomination in this spirit. It brings no disgrace. Nay, it is often thought to be high minded. But it keeps the heart away from God. It lifts up the heart against him. It contends for its superiority with him. (C) Concerning this grave sin; the Lord told the Prophet Ezekiel to:

Ezekiel 28:2,8,10 (ESV)
2 “….say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God: “Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god— 8 They shall thrust you down into the pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas 10 You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners; for I have spoken, declares the Lord God.”

Elaborating on this verse, Bridges expounds: “Moreover, how unseemly is this sin! Here we have a prince, a mere creature who is so utterly dependent upon its Creator, a man who is so fearfully guilty, and yet he is proud in heart!” Also consider the temptation of Adam, “A true child of a fallen parent, who, in dreaming to be just like God, made himself just like a devil. (Genesis 3:5). There are many forms of this hateful spirit. Some are proud because of their good looks; some because of their talents; some because of their rank; and some because of their goodness—all the while forgetting, that “they have nothing that they have not received from God,” (1 Cor. 4:7); and all of them are completely oblivious of the fact, that they are an abomination to the Lord! (D)

Bridges goes on to ask that whenever, “A proud heart strikes at God in this way, is it any wonder that God strikes at it as an abomination to him?” (D)

1 Peter 5:5 (ESV)
5 “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

The old Puritan, Richard Mayo explains, “…. we are all infected with this plague. No human being can truthfully say they aren’t. There is nothing as contagious or more wide-spread. It reaches the poor as well as the rich and the godly as well as the wicked. However, although it rules in the latter, it still dwell’s in the godly. You see how it was with the Apostle Peter, with David, with Hezekiah, etc. The holiest persons on earth are more or less sick with this infectious disease. That’s why we must endeavor to prevent and cure it!”

“…. it is a sin of the greatest magnitude, a first rate sin, greater then theft, intemperance, or uncleanness, or any other fleshly wickedness.  It is, indeed, the strength and heart of the old man; it lives in us; when other sins are dead, yes, it will help to kill other sins, so that it may boastfully show their heads, and puff the sinner up with conceit bragging of his own strength and holiness.” “When men are convinced of its sinfulness, when they believe it has more evil in it than other disgraceful sins, then they will earnestly strive to mortify and subdue it. They will put it far away from them, and deal with it as other sins which, in the opinion of all men, describe them as being graceless and ungodly persons. Remember, therefore, what has already been hinted at concerning the odiousness of this sin. It is indeed hateful to men when it is discerned; but it is most hateful to God. His nature and his honor both engage him against it. He severely punishes it, both in this world and the next. Pride is the forerunner not only of temporal, but of eternal destruction.”  (F)

Proverbs 16:18 (ESV)
18 Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

“What more vivid exposition of these Proverbs is needed, than our own ruined condition? Our first father’s pride, desiring to “be as God,” plunged the entire human race into destruction.” Then citing the Puritan Richard Baxter, Bridges writes: “as long as any man is proud, he is akin to the devil, and a stranger to God and to himself.” “The most awful strength of Divine eloquence seems to be concentrated to delineate the character and ruin of pride.” (F) For examples, read Isaiah 14:4-19; Ezekiel 28:29. Ponder also what the Lord once said to the godliest man living on the face of the earth at the time:

Job 40:6-14 (ESV)
6 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: 7 “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. 8 Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? 9 Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? 10 “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor. 11 Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him. 12 Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand. 13 Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below. 14 Then will I also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you.

Bridges continues: “Example abounds in the Scriptures; Pharaoh, Exodus 9:16-17; Amaziah, 2 Chronicles 10:12; Haman, Ester 5:11; 7:10; Pharaoh, Ezekiel 19:3-5. Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 4:29-33; Herod, Acts, 12:21-23; In the Church, David, 2 Samuel 24:1; Uzziah, 2 Chronicles 26:4-16; Hezekiah, 32:25; Isaiah, chapter 39; Peter, Matthew 26:33, 69-74. Yes, examples abound throughout the Scriptures; each sounding this solemn admonition—“…. do not become proud, but stand in awe, Romans 11:20, (ESV). “If the warning isn’t welcomed, if the need for it isn’t felt deeply, the danger will be fearful indeed!” (G)

You and I must do everything we possibly can to get rid of this deadly spirit and cultivate a Christ-like spirit of humility. However, we must proceed with extreme caution. For instance, contrasting true humility with what he characterizes as being a weed and therefore an artificial fruit of the Spirit, Sanderson explains: “The weed of self-centeredness embitters, blinds, and frustrates the grace of God. It is a noxious weed, and Jesus rebuked his disciples severely for it.” (H)  For example, think about the time when,

Luke 9:46-56 (ESV)
46 An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. 47 But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side 48 and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.” 49 John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.” 51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village.

“Some time later, as the point of discussion festered within their hearts, violence reared its ugly head and two of their leaders succumbed to it.” (I) Sound familiar! It’s that old “us versus them” mentality! We know the truth! We’ve got it all systemized. I still remember a pastor once proudly telling the congregation that was the reason the word “Orthodox” was included in the name of their denomination. Many believers don’t seem to realize that they are majoring in minors when they get themselves all worked up over non-essential things such as the proper mode of baptism, or if they must serve wine as opposed to grape juice when they observe “The Lord’s Supper” or whether or not speaking in tongues has ceased. I’m not suggesting sound doctrine isn’t important because it is. But not to the extent many people and denominations make it out to be. It’s almost as though they’re at war with each other. Of course, Satan and his demonic forces of darkness are making headway. But if you and I would only take the time really think about it and try to view that kind of strife through God’s eyes we will be able to see glimpses of reality. Commenting on differences of opinion among Christians, Alexander Maclaren explains: “The things on which they differ are on the surface, and sometimes by reason of their difference of opinion Christians stand like frowning cliffs that look threateningly at one another across a narrow gorge, but deep below the ground they are continuous and the rock is unbroken,” because “by one faith they each have been joined to the one Lord.” (J) And that’s one of the reasons I can say with confidence: “The Kingdom of God is ‘slowly but surely advancing’ in America and throughout the entire world.

Commenting on the argument that broke out amongst the disciples concerning which one of them was the greatest, Sanderson explains: “The disciples “party spirit had begotten party-spirit, and party-spirit, vengeance. They had forgotten the meaning of “the Gospel,” the good news, and the significance of Jesus’ words, “The son of man is come not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (K) He goes on to ask: “But if not self-centeredness, party-spirit, and violence, then what? Surely their opposites-false modesty, self depreciation, and spineless refusal to stand for anything! This artificial fruit denies one’s personhood, ones God-given abilities and talents. God has given every man some gift, so every man is worthwhile in God’s eyes. This is not to deny our sinful depravity or our true guilt before God. But it is to assert that even the lowest person has a dignity, a value, and a uniqueness because he was made in God’s image. Now the artificial fruit denies all this, and dehumanizes the individual so that he is no longer what God intended him to be.”

“This artificial fruit is not true virtue. It is a cowardly retreat from reality which substitutes a passive selfishness, and only avoids trouble at the cost of allowing even greater trouble to develop. We see examples of this on every hand: the speaker who has just given an excellent speech, who mutters, “It was nothing; the soloist who has real ability to sing, who pushes it all aside with, “I’m just getting over a cold.” It is the refusal to recognize God has given us abilities and has given successes as we have used them.” Far better is the advice of Susanna Wesley, the mother of John and Charles, who was equally concerned with meekness and modesty. She counseled men not to praise children because of their natural talents-the beauty of a little girl, the natural athletic prowess of a little boy. Her approach was to say something like this to the girl, “Hasn’t God given you pretty curls, and to the boy, “wasn’t it good of the Lord to give you a fine body?” “Here was perfect honesty: The acceptance of ourselves as we really are, as God has endowed us with His gifts; but also the full recognition that we are what we are only because He has created us, and has given us gifts of grace. False modesty denies all this, and Christians should be aware of its heinous character and of God’s feelings toward it.” (L) It took a while for those formerly self-centered disciples to realize how infected they were with the spirit of pride. It sure didn’t happen overnight. For instance:

Matthew 18:1-4 (NIV)
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3 And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Hughes reminds us of the fact that, “Jesus once put on the slave’s apron and undertook the humblest of all duties, washing his disciples’ feet; so we also must in all things put on the apron of humility in the service of Christ and of our fellow-men; but that very apron of humility will become the garment of honor for us, for it is he who is the servant of all who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.,” Matthew 18: 1, 4. (M)

It was only after having endured all the heart-breaking sorrow connected with the arrest, trial, Crucifixion, and then the joyful Resurrection of Jesus that the disciples were prepared to serve mightily in His war against Satan and his cosmic forces of darkness.

Matthew 28:16-20 (ESV)
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The Great Commission must have seemed like an impossible task. How could they possibly accomplish something so monumental? Quoting Jesus, Luke answers that question and later went on to give an account of some of the results.

Acts 1:8 (NIV)
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 17:5-7 (AMP)
5 But the unbelieving Jews were aroused to jealousy, and, getting hold of some wicked men (ruffians and rascals) and loungers in the marketplace, they gathered together a mob, set the town in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring [Paul and Silas] out to the people. 6 But when they failed to find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brethren before the city authorities, crying, These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 And Jason has received them to his house and privately protected them! And they are all ignoring and acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, [actually] asserting that there is another king, one Jesus!

The great Apostle Paul kept jogging the memory of those first Christians. In spite of the horrendous tribulation they were enduring, he boosted their spirits when he reminded them they had accomplished their mission:

Colossians 1:23 (NIV)
23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Throughout his Epistles, Paul described the characteristics of a true warrior in the Lord’s Army, and the first one he mentions is humility.

Ephesians 4:1-4 (NIV)
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit– just as you were called to one hope when you were called–

The “Kingdom of God” is slowly but surely advancing in our country but, as I have been reminding us; we Christians aren’t as spiritually healthy or as vibrant as we could and should be. We must relentlessly struggle every day of our lives to overcome the spirit of pride which is still lurking within us. If we clothe ourselves with a Christ-like spirit of humility, and rely on Him for the strength; God may be pleased to turn our country upside-down through the organized corporate Body of Christ, just as He did through those early Christians. Meanwhile, let’s constantly remind ourselves and one another that we have been inducted by Him to serve in “The Army of Humble Warriors.”

Lord willing, in a couple of weeks…

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  1. Ephesians, The Mystery Of The Body Of Christ, © 1990 by, R. Kent Hughes. Published by Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, 1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, pg.123.
  2. The Fruit of The Spirit, by John W. Sanderson, ©1972, 1976 The Zondervan Corp., Twelfth printing 1982, pg.125, 126.
  3. A COMMENTARY ON PROVERBS, by Charles Bridges, The Banner of Truth Trust, 3 Murrayfield Road, Edinburgh EH12 6EL, P. O. Box 621, Carlisle, Pa. 17013, U. S. A. First published 1846, Reprinted by photo litho 1968. Reprinted 1983, pg. 228.
  4. Ibid. pg. 228-229.
  5. SERMON # 16: What Must We Do To Prevent Spiritual Pride? Preached by the Rev. Richard Mayo, A. M. Puritan Sermons, 1659-1689. Being The Morning Exercises at Cripplegate, ST. Giles in the Fields, And in Southwark, by Seventy-Five Ministers of the Gospel, in or near London, with notes and translations by James Nichols.  Richard Owen Roberts, Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois 1981.  Pg. 382.
  6. Bridges, pg. 228.
  7. Ibid pg.238.
  8. Sanderson p. 126.
  9. Ibid pg. 126.
  10. Expositions Of The Holy Scripture, by Alexander MacLaren, D. D., Vol. 13, Ephesians. Reprinted 1984 by Baker Book House Company, pg. 205.
  11. Sanderson pg. 127.
  12. Ibid pg.128.
  13. Barclay’s Daily Study Bible: The Letters of James and Peter, Revised Edition, ©1976 by William Barclay, Second edition, published by The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, Pa. May, 1960, p. 270-271.
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May 16, 2010 Posted by Categories: Uncategorized 3 comments

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