Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
March 11, 2001 p.m.
Clothed With Humility
Scripture Reading - I Peter 5.5-11
What would be the first thing that would come to your mind if I said to you... You need to dress like a Christian? Most likely you would begin to think about the subject of modesty... And the type of clothing that Christians should be wearing... RIGHT?
And this is correct... God’s children need to be concerned about DRESSING modestly. Paul wrote Timothy saying... I want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes.
So... There is a right and wrong way to dress... This principal applies, not only to woman...but also to the men. I think our dress ought to be such that the main thing people notice about our appearance is not our clothing... or the lack of it... but our personality.
Even though we are to be concerned about modest dress... Modesty is not our subject for the lesson tonight. You see... There is a clothing that we are to put on and leave on... Never remove... It should be permanent... Were talking about BIBLICAL HUMILITY.
Listen to these passages which admonish us to be clothed with HUMILITY...
James 4.6 & 10... God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.... Therefore, humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Matthew 18.4... Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Proverbs 15.33... The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.
Micah 6.8... He has showed you..What is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Colossians 3.12... Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Romans 12.3... For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
And now back to our text tonight from First Peter chapter five... Young men are to be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Webster defines HUMILITY this way... The state of being free from pride and arrogance.
In New Testament Greek...the word means... abased... lowliness of heart and mind.
When you put these two definitions together we see that...
HUMILITY is a heart condition...
HUMILITY is a lowliness of mind that’s exhibited in our being free from pride and arrogance.
OK... Look back at verses five through seven... Note with me four things that Peter teaches concerning our being CLOTHED IN HUMILITY
First... He says our humility has direction.
It is vertical... We are to have humility toward God.
Our text says in verse six... Humble yourself before God.
Isn’t that exactly what Micah says... We are to walk humbly with our God?... Of course!!
And humility is to be horizontal... Toward one another.
Peter says... Cloth yourself with humility toward one another.
Church... The blessing from God is not for humility in ONE direction... But in BOTH.
Secondly... Peter contends that God resists the proud and arrogant. Solomon gives us seven things that God hates most... Seven things are an abomination to Him. Do you remember what was number one on that list?... A PROUD & HAUGHTY LOOK.
God hates it... He resists those who exhibit it. Does this include me and you?
No wonder Peter insists that we clothe ourselves with humility... RIGHT?
Number three... God blesses the humble.
The Bible tells us that...
God gives His grace to the humble.
He gives greatness in His kingdom to those who will dress in humility.
He lifts up and exalts the humble.
In His Sermon on the Mount Jesus said... Blessed... Happy are the poor in spirit and the meek.
Church... I wonder how many blessings... How much happiness we are not enjoying tonight as a church and individually because we fail to be dressed in HUMILITY?
Then fourthly... Humility allows us to give God our problems.
Look at verse seven.. What does it say?.... Cast all you CARES... All your Anxieties upon Him... (WHY?)... Because He cares for you. I want you to know tonight that... Bootstrap religion is ugly. Thinking we can do it ourselves is prideful and thus keeps us form casting all our cares... Our problems... Our anxieties upon Jesus.
Again in the Sermon on the Mount... Jesus tells us that if God cares for the birds of the air and the grass and flower in the field... How much more will He care for us...
But church, we inhibit His caring for us by our refusal to be a people and person of HUMILITY... RIGHT?
Yes we do... Peter says so in our text.
Now, let’s examine this idea of clothing ourselves in HUMILITY.
First... Some Characteristics of Humility.
Perhaps the greatest characteristic of humility is that we recognize our spiritual needs.
Jesus said... Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
You see... When we have the idea that we are too good for God, or that God is lucky to have us in His church, we have not dressed ourselves in humility.
In our text, Peter said that... God resists the proud. The Greek here is a continual resisting.
God resists the proud and continues to resist anyone who continues to be without humility.
Folk... You and I are not worthy of God's love, or His grace... But...
If we will clothe ourselves with humility,
If we will see our need for God,
If we will respond to his love and grace, in His appointed way...
He will forgive us.
Another characteristic is this... When we are clothed with humility, we will be less critical and judgmental of others... Because we will see our own failures... And realize that we are nothing without God.
So... From this morning’s lesson... Humility makes us better Brothers Keepers.
We tend to extend more love... more mercy... and more grace toward those who struggle with the same problems we struggle with.
Still another characteristic... When we are clothed with humility, it becomes much easier to change the things that are wrong in our lives. Pride always defends my way as the right way. We have the attitude that if something needs to be changed... It's certainly not me! Sometimes it's my way or no way! But, when we are clothed with humility... It’s just easier to change the things that are wrong in our lives.
Secondly tonight... Let’s notice... What God Does For The Humble.
He gives grace to the humble.
Someone says, I thought the Bible taught that God's grace appeared to all men.... It does!!
However... Just because God's grace has appeared doesn't mean that God has given His grace to every man. God gives His grace to the HUMBLE... Those humble enough to obey Him... to submit to Him.
If a person will humble himself to the point of obedience to the God of heaven... God will give him grace... And all the blessing of His grace. However... If a person will not humble himself before God, but remains proud and arrogant, God will reject him.
Peter also says that... God will exalt the humble in due time.
When Saul was small...or humble, in his own eyes... God made him a great king and leader for the children of Israel. When he became great in his own eyes... God rejected him as king.
When David was a man of humility... God blessed him. But... When David became proud and numbered the people... Trusting in his own power... God brought curses upon him.
God exalts the humble... and rejects the proud.
Church... Listen to me... You and I need to understand that God is the only one who knows when it is the proper time to exalt a person. God will give His children their 15 minutes of greatness in His own time. A part of being humble is accepting God's timetable.
God will give grace to... and exalt, the humble... That’s what Peter says in our text.
When we decide to help God out and start the process of exalting ourselves... we are in trouble!
Then thirdly... Let’s notice… The Result Of Humility.
Again... Humility will allow us to cast our cares upon the Lord. Proud men can't and won't accept help from anyone... Even God. They pile the weight of the world upon their shoulders, and they are determined that no one will help them carry their burdens. They try to justify their pride by saying... I might as well do it by myself, because nobody cares about me anyway.
Folk... Feeling sorry for ourselves is not being clothed with humility. In its own way... It is a hideous form of pride. Pity parties stem from a heart of pride... Not from a heart of humility.
Humility allows us to understand that there is a limit to the amount of burdens we can bear, and it allows us to cast our burdens and worries upon the Lord.
Questions:
Are we daily clothing ourselves with HUMILITY?
Have we humbled ourselves before the God of heaven and obeyed His will?
You see... HUMILITY SAVES... HUMILITY FORGIVES. So, why not humble yourself this very day: Cast all your sins upon Him, because He cares for us.
If you are not a child of God... Become one tonight by faith, repentance, confession and genuine New Testament baptism.
Perhaps your hear tonight as a child of God and need to cast some cares upon Him... JUST DO IT!!
If you need the prayers of this good church family... Come... We are ready to pray with you and for you right now.
The invitation to genuine HUMILITY is yours as we stand and sing this invitation song... Will you come??
