Eph 4:1-2

Do you know who wrote the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible? Tradition and history agree that Moses was the author. The books themselves are anonymous, but it is clear that Moses was the chief author. That’s why I love Numbers 12: 3 which reads, “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” Do you find it a bit strange, that Moses, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, announced with great confidence that he was the most humble man on the face of the earth?! Even thought Moses wrote the Pentateuch, it is most likely that he did not write this sentence about himself. This is probably similar to the end of Deuteronomy which reads, “and Moses the servant of the Lord died…” If Moses had written that, it would have been the last thing he ever wrote. We can picture his pen trailing off at the end of the sentence!

Moses probably didn’t write that comment about his great humility either, because humility is not something you can brag about or else it ceases to be humility! Imagine if I announced that I believed I was obviously the most humble person at Grace Church. Your first reaction would be, “Um, I don’t think so!” If I said that, only one of two things could be true—either I did not understand the definition of humility, or else I was probably the most prideful person at Grace Church. I am convinced that pride is the mother of all sin. I believe you can take any sin, and if you could trace it back to its root—the original source—you will always find pride there. Call it selfishness, self-seeking, self-protecting, but where there is sin, there is pride. Just the opposite is true with humility. If pride is the mother of all sin, then humility is the mother of all true righteousness. I believe you can take any righteous act, and if you could trace it back to its source, you will always find humility there.

If you were going to write a book on practical Christian living, you would want to build the entire book on the virtue of humility. In fact, this is exactly what the apostle Paul did. The first three chapters of Ephesians is almost pure theology. The first three chapters expound and explain the gospel message. The second three chapters are all about practical Christian living. Put another way, chapters 1-3 could be titled, “this is what it means to be a Christian” and chapters 4-6 would be called, “This is how you live as a Christian.” The transition between being a Christian and living as a Christian is verse one. As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Based upon our understanding of chapter three from last week, we could just as well summarize verse one this way. Therefore, since your cup is already overflowing, live your life out of the overflow.

In verse two, Paul wastes no time in describing what a full cup looks like. “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient with one another, bearing with one another in love.” There’s that humility word again. The command is not just to be humble, but to be completely humble. Admittedly, this is a high standard, but the Bible never makes apologies for promoting high standards. Would you be inspired if Paul had said, “Since you have been filled to the measure of all the fullness of God, I want you to meditate on humility and occasionally attempt a random act of humility.” This may describe our lives but it certainly cannot inspire us in any way. The standard is to “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient with one another, bearing with one another in love.”

But as high of a standard as that is, it’s not really the end of the standard. The end result of humility is seen in verse thirteen, “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” The end result is not that we as individuals become completely humble, but that our entire church body would become completely humble.

Let’s apply this to the building project. In order to build a building, does everyone need to be completely humble? Let me ask the question another way. Do you think all of the construction workers who built the Dubai Tower—the current tallest building in the world—were all completely humble? Absolutely not. Humility has very little to do with such a massive project. The fact is that anyone can build a building, including the church building we are about to construct. Anyone can work hard. Anyone can sacrifice their time, talent and treasure to get this done. The fact is that anyone can build a church building.

I want to paint a vision of the finished project for a moment. Picture us sitting in our new sanctuary on the day that we dedicate the building. You aren’t sitting on hard, wooden seats but soft, cushy pew chairs. You are no longer looking at peeling paint but rather freshly painted walls, so fresh in fact that we may still be able to smell the fumes! Picture yourself sitting in the brand new building which we are about to dedicate to the Lord. I stand up before you all and remind you that only God could do such a thing. Only God could have raised the money and brought together the volunteers to have built such a facility. Would that be a true statement? I can imagine myself saying such a thing. In fact, I already have said it. I have said that when we get to the end of this project I want us to look back and together say, “God did that. Only God could have done this.” In one sense, it is an absolutely true statement. With our modest sized church and our modest resources, it will take a work of God to accomplish it. On the one hand it will be a true statement to gather in the new building and say, “Look what God did.” But on the other hand, I want to tell you that I believe that this is still too small of a vision, because at the end of the day, God is not really interested in bricks and mortar. He doesn’t get overly excited about 2x4’s and drywall. Anyone can build a church building, but only God can build a church body.

I want us to see that this is the end result of humility. The end result is not just that you as an individual would be completely humble, but that our entire church body would become completely humble, “ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” If such a church body can be built within the family that we call Grace Church, then we really could look back and say, “God did that. Only God could have done such a thing.” Anyone can build a church building, but only God can build a church body.

But how does such humility get built into us? We began to touch on this last week when we realized that the building project itself will be like a spiritual xray, peering into our inner being and revealing the attitudes of our heart. If you want to grow in humility, it is absolutely necessary that your pride be uncovered and shown for what it is. The intensity of the next five to six months will serve to chip away at our false exterior. If you have a conflict with another person, it is almost certain that the pride of one or both parties will be evident. The fact is that we very often want our own way, and when we don’t get what we want, we will bump heads with other people. When we get aggravated this will show our pride by revealing our seeking after comfort. Think about that—if we weren’t continually interested in comfort and the easy path, then we could never get aggravated. Even a small aggravation is our inner being screaming, “This isn’t fair! Why should I have to put up with this inconvenience? Why should I be treated in this way? I deserve better than this!” If the nail won’t go in straight; more examples…

This kind of thing will happen naturally. Like we said last week—maybe we should post a sign on our property which reads—“Danger: Inevitable Conflict Ahead,” but there are two things that we can do to derail this process. The first is that we can deny the problem. If we become frustrated about a bent nail, our first reaction will be to blame the nail: “Stupid nail, why are you doing this to me?!” When we do this, we immediately cut off any opportunity for spiritual growth. We must be willing to look at our pride so that something can be done about it. But when we deflect it, the end result is that we become more and more blind to its presence. The second thing we can do to derail this opportunity for spiritual growth is to become depressed when we see our pride revealed. These are the twin strategies of Satan. If he can’t keep your sin hidden from you, he will use it to destroy you. This happened to me a short time ago when a hidden source of pride was suddenly revealed. Once I saw it for what it was, I thought to myself, “Can I really be that prideful? Am I really that bad?” It was a heavy burden which sent me into a two-day depression. I want to be careful because there is a part of having our pride revealed which should result in Godly sorrow. My pride was pretty big in this case so my sorrow was big, but I am sure that I had a bit of self-pity or satanic accusation mixed in with my Godly sorrow. As we said last week, each example of pride that is revealed to us is itself a gift from God.

We had a child dedication this morning which was an opportunity for the parents to make a commitment before their church body to raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. This so vital because when we begin our lives, we are the very opposite of completely humble. We start out as completely self-centered. Every baby inherits a sinful nature, but the bottom line is that newborns cannot help but be self-centered. It is not possible for them to be aware of anyone else’s needs but their own. A newborn baby does not know if I am tired, but he or she knows when they are tired. They cannot ask mom or dad if they need something to eat, but they are fully aware when their tummies are running on empty. But as soon as they know the word “no,” you begin to see the presence of their personal will. From that point forward, their selfishness will show itself every day of their lives. This is what parenting is all about—training the selfishness out of our children. Parenting is a whole lot more than this, but it is not less.

But parenting works both ways, doesn’t it? If we are willing, parenting also trains the selfishness out of the parents too. For me, being a dad is the second best tool of sanctification in my life. As I help my children see their selfishness, my selfishness is also continually revealed. I have a practical parenting tool in honor of Mother’s Day which was written by another pastor and is called Questions to Ask Your Kids. [i] The first few are directed from the mom’s to the kids.

Then the rest of these questions are meant to reveal the heart attitudes of mom.

A moment ago I said that being a dad was the second best tool of sanctification in my life. Any guesses as to the identity of number one? The number one tool that God uses to chip away at my pride is my marriage. Now before you go jumping to conclusions, let me explain what I mean. My marriage is the number one tool of sanctification, not because my wife causes me so much trouble, but because my relationship with her reminds me that I cause so much trouble. My marriage is like a magic mirror. I approach the magic mirror and ask, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most prideful of them all?” On my bad days the mirror responds, “Why that’s so obvious—Karen is the one who is causing you so much trouble. She is to blame for your problems!” But on my better days when I really have ears to hear, the mirror replies to my question this way: “Rich, I hate to break the news to you again, but you are the one. You have been seeking your desires above all else. You have not preferred Karen in honor.” That is a gift, and if you don’t see it as a gift, then you don’t understand marriage.

So we know that humility is a chief virtue, the mother of all righteous acts and the key to building unity in our church body, but how do we develop humility? We can’t just say, you are so prideful, now be humble! Remember that “stop it” video from a few months back? Stop being prideful—just stop it right now! That would only be discouraging. Christianity must never be reduced to a list of character qualities or a list of good behaviors: Be loving; be humble; be truthful, be kind. That’s not enough. Nor is it enough to follow the example of Jesus. I know that Philippians 2 on this very subject of humility says, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” That seems plain enough, but it is wrong to think that we can merely follow the attitude of Jesus. Jesus was humble, now you be humble. Admittedly, this is a step up from just saying, “Be humble!,” but even this still lacks power to change. The only way to be humble is to actually be made humble, and this can only happen through the transforming power of the gospel. The gospel transforms from the inside out. Let me read the key verses from last week’s message in chapter three.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

You see, if we begin to grasp this gospel love, then it will transform us from the inside out. We cannot simply add a layer of humility onto yourself, but we must actually be made humble.

I want to close with a story about a young man who developed an ability to see his overflowing cup very early in life. BJ possessed a spiritual maturity far beyond his age and that of his peers. He often wrote in his journal or wrote his friends notes of encouragement. BJ’s mom found the following note in the pocket of his jeans that were about go in the laundry. It was written for a girl he had recently met.

Getting to know me, the first and foremost thing you’ll discover is that I am 100% a Jesus Freak. I have given my entire life to live for him. Whenever I am in a bad mood or if I have had a horrible day, I think of him and his love and companionship, and that always brings me joy.

More so than that, even, he gives my life purpose and meaning and fills that…emptiness inside of me that we all have that causes us to yearn for more, like money or a boyfriend or girlfriend or drugs or love, etc. And I have found that whereas all of these things may make you feel better for a moment, it will pass, and you will always want more.

However, basking in Jesus Christ’s forgiveness and love is the only thing that will satisfy. So I want to encourage you: do not seek companionship from me or any other guy, but from the only one who can fill that void: the one who put it there, Jesus.

BJ Higgins developed a serious disease during a mission’s trip to Peru. When he was very sick and admitted to the pediatric ICU. BJ noticed the worried look on his dad’s face and said, “Dad, I know you’re scared. I believe the Lord will deliver me through this. But if he doesn’t, I’m going home to be with him, and that’s OK with me.” BJ died four days before his sixteenth birthday. Moms, don’t you think BJ is a good model for a mature teen? Maybe none of our kids will get there, but BJ is the kind of kid to shoot for as a parent. Let me say something to the teens and preteens. For the girls here this morning I would say, BJ is the kind of man you should want to marry. For the boys here this morning I would say, this is the kind of young man you should want to be. Let me offer you a challenge. Most of he older teens have a Facebook page, right? Why don’t you post this letter on your Facebook page?

[i] Written by Rick Gamache, senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Fellowship.

[ii] Brent & Deanna Higgins, I Would Die For You, c. 2008, Revell Publishing, pp. 34-35.