CLS Proverbs 12_15 Humility or Uncertainty

Humility or Uncertainty

Proverbs 12:15

Secular:

Jesus promise to us…

This will be easy…
People will love the truth…
People will welcome the message or sin, repentance, and new life….
There will never be a reason to stand-up for your faith… it will all be self evident

The real deal…. Jesus never said those things!
We have tried to smooth off the rough edges of a hard message…
We have feigned some form of humility within the church and in our relationship to the world…
G.K. Chesterton warned of the move toward this false sense of unity with the world and even within the church… on the back of uncertainty
"What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert - himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt - the Divine Reason. . . ." G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy: 1908
Christianity is not a popularity contest… we don’t win more to Jesus because we are popular!

Truth convicts, truth sets them free… we don’t need to be hostile… but it is about the truth… steadfast… not proud… convicted…. Not arrogant

Christianity is not a popularity contest… a friendship club….
We are fellowship of believers, gathered around the truth of Word, justified by Christ, renewed and sustained by the Holy Spirit of God.
Called to share the message of the Gospel with the world and live its reality amongst them…
On the day Christ became Lord of our life… It ceased to be about what we want to believe, what we want to share… and became a compulsion…
1 Corinthians 9:16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. 17 For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.

Bridge:

The faithful follower has no option….
We are to declare and proclaim, live and teach…. The impossible message of God
Apart from the Spirit they are words without significance…
They are words of condemnation…
With the Spirit of God… and open ears….
They are words of Supreme Love and Eternal Life

Body:

1) Humility starts with a right understanding of our relationship to God (subordination)

Matt 10: 24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
God is perfect we are not
God is holy we are not
God is all-powerful we are not
God is all-knowing we are not
So listen and learn…
Ever been to a seminar or class… where one person keeps trying to one-up the speaker…
“oh but sir I think… oh but mam have you considered… oh but… oh but…”
Sometimes you want to tell them to sit down and listen so that we can get the full value out of the presentation!
1 Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
Most issues in life are related primarily to disobedience?... it is rarely about not knowing!
“Do not grumble”
“Do not go to bed angry”
“Keep no record of wrongs”
Humility starts with a right understanding of our relationship to God (subordination)
What God says I do… no squirming… no hiding… no disobedience…. No games
Are we overwhelmed by the transcendence or just the imminence…
Certainty comes when we submit to the Word…
Often our failure to be certain is because it is less favourable to our preferences or our social circumstance!

2) Humility does not feel a right to receive better treatment than Christ received.

Uncertainty makes us ineffectual…
And less of a target… it is much harder to believe something…. Because you may have to defend it…
Mt 10:25It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.
Follow Christ and you will be ridiculed…
They said he was evil of Satan….
How can we expect better…

No matter the issue
We need to be willing to stand with Christ

1 Pe 2: 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
That’s the promise… you will face calls of arrogance… intolerance… persecution….
It was what Christ faced…

Uncertainty may deflect criticism…
But is less than we are called to!

Standing firm… means trusting in God for the right outcome of relationships… means trusting God for the right outcome of debates…. means trusting your life to God… and never expecting to be treated better than Christ.
Is that unreasonable?

3) Humility asserts truth not to bolster the ego with control or with triumph in debate, but as a service to Christ and love to the adversary

“Do I look fat in this?”
“So… how did I do?”
We have developed a “white lie” mentality that has left us hurting for the truth and it has grown into a much larger issue!
Truth is to be spoken in love… two key elements…it must be in love and it must be true…
1 Cor 13:6b Love… rejoices with the truth
That is a hallmark of love….
Say it… in Love…
Never is it to score points… or beat someone down…
But is should not be neglected… it is a key element of love!
Mt 10:27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
We should not fear to speak truth in the body or out outside the body…
We do not whisper our faith, or what we believe….
It is too valuable…
It is not polite to be dismissive or silent about God.
2 Co 4:5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
It is the supreme act of love… to declare God regardless of consequence…. For the promise to others is Jn 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Theological controversies live in human sin… the Bible is clear, the Word is complete and the Spirit is effectual… it is sin that clouds the mind!
We want to as a body… hear the Word as it was meant to be heard… and apply it to our lives that the Spirit might renew us… sanctify us….
Jn 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
It is no small thing to turn from truth!
Deceit in one area may be a signal… a warning…
Pursue the truth… in love… in Christ
2 Th 2: 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
“Love the Truth”… not a proper name in this case…
It is the pure truth, free from error, of God, from God…
Truth must be a pursuit…. Or all else is folly…
If you can’t answer why? Than what you do doesn’t matter!!
1 Jn 5:12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Why because Jesus is the Way the Truth and Life!
If you don’t know the truth… you know nothing…
Not arrogance… not clever and self-serving… for that is not the truth…
The truth is of God and from God, and is shared with ALL in Love!

4) Humility knows it dependant on grace for all knowing, believing, living and acting.

Pride is anchored in self

My view of myself
In our world’s view of self (Self esteem)
My rights
What I want
How I want it

Eph 2: 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Our faith / our truth isn’t about what we have… who we are
It is about who Christ is and who we are in Him
1Co 4:7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? – It is from Christ
To him be faithful
To him be true
It is his message… we are merely messengers
James 1:18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures… 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
Arrogance in declaring Christ?
Arrogance in declaring truth?
It is about setting aside (put away) that which is vile…. And let the Word speak! Let the Word transform…
Jas 4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
I will, I want, Best for me, my plan….
My ego, my self-esteem,
Your life is a mist!
Live to the glory of God

5) Humility knows it is fallible and so considers criticism and learns from it, but it also knows that God has made provision for unshakable human conviction and that He calls us to persuade others.

Hear… Assess… refine
1 Co 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
Be Open, be in fellowship, be in community
Pr 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.
Perspective… clarity… (from the Word)…. But…
2 Co 5:11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.
Doesn’t mean we are pushed around….
Counsel is to clarify God’s Word and purpose
Counsel isn’t preference
Counsel is Application (of the Word)
Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
Hebrews 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,
Re 12:11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,

but a wise man listens to counsel. -Proverbs 12:15

1) Humility starts with a right understanding of our relationship to God (subordination)

Matthew 10: 24
1 Peter 5:6

2) Humility does not feel a right to receive better treatment than Christ received.

Matthew 10:25
1 Peter 2: 21-23

3) Humility asserts truth not to bolster the ego with control or with triumph in debate, but as a service to Christ and love to the adversary

1 Corinthians 13:6b
Matthew 10:27 -28
2 Corinthians 4:5
John 8:32
John 17:17
2 Thessalonians 2:10
1 John 5:12

4) Humility knows it is dependant on grace for all knowing, believing, living and acting.

Ephesians 2: 8-9
1Corithians 4:7
James 1:18, 21
James 4:13-16

5) Humility knows it is fallible and so considers criticism and learns from it, but it also knows that God has made provision for unshakable human conviction and that He calls us to persuade others.

1 Corinthians 13:12
Proverbs 12:15
2 Corinthians 5:11
Revelations 12:11

~ Conclusion ~