From His Heart

Larry Nobles: Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve, a lesson on the attitude that so many people forget about. How well are you doing with an attitude of humility? Vance Havner, a well-known Southern preacher, teacher, and evangelist who was born in 1901, was a man who Billy Graham referred to as the most quoted preacher in America.

And for good reason. For example, Dr. Havner once said, "The rarest and most precious person in God's orchestra is the saint who knows how to play second fiddle." Today, Pastor Jeff is going to help us all do the same self-evaluation and see how we are doing about being a second fiddle. Are we a disgruntled second fiddle and demanding to be first chair? Open the Bible to the book of Philippians, chapter two. Here again is Pastor Jeff Schreve with the lowdown on the high road.

Jeff Schreve: I want to share with you three insights from this passage concerning the attitude of humility. Insight number one: Our default setting as human beings—as fallen human beings—our default setting is pride. Because when Adam and Eve sinned, they sinned, and it was a sin of pride, and they passed that down to all their descendants. And you and I are born with this thing, this Adamic nature that is rooted in pride.

That is the very first insight. Our default setting is pride. Insight number two: Our divine example is Jesus. Verse five: "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men."

Paul has already told us, "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit," and now he says, "Let me show you how Jesus fulfilled Philippians chapter two, verse three, and Philippians chapter two, verse four." Nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, let each of you regard one another as more important than himself. Jesus Christ fulfilled those commands. Jesus Christ did just that. He is a picture of humility.

How did Jesus humble Himself? Well, He humbled Himself by becoming a man. He humbled Himself by becoming a man. Who, although it says in verse six, He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but He emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, a doulos, and being made in the likeness of men. Now, you think about the humbling of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh, to become a man.

To the great eternal God, the God who spoke the worlds into existence, in the beginning was the Word, the Bible says. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him, nothing came into being that has come into being. Jesus Christ is Creator God. The omniscient, omnipotent, immutable, great, eternal, unfathomable God. That is who He is.

He is sitting on the throne, and then one day He takes off His crown, and He lays aside His robes, and He steps down off the throne—down, down, down—into a virgin's womb. And from there, He is born into this world. And where is the King born? In a stable. They put Him in a feeding trough. He has hay for a bed. He is there with the animals. This is the King.

He humbled Himself to become a man. He, the Scripture says, emptied Himself, laid aside His privileges. It says He did not hold on to those things as God. Now, do not ever get the idea that Jesus Christ somehow was not God when He walked the earth. He was God. He was in the form of God, the essence, the nature of God. The Bible says in Hebrews that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father's nature. The Bible says in Colossians chapter one, verse 15, that Jesus is the image of the invisible God.

He is God, but He laid aside His privileges of God to become a man. Jesus had angels that served Him at the speed of light, but He laid all that aside. The Bible says that the Lord is so great that He humbles Himself to behold the things in heaven and on earth. It is humbling for God to look around heaven because God is so great, and now here He becomes a man and He is in a stable. And now He does not have any angels attending to Him.

He does not have people even know who He is. It is the demons that know who He is. When they meet Jesus, they fall down before Him and say, "I know who you are, you are the Holy One of God." Nobody else knew that. Why? Because He just looked like a man, and He humbled Himself to become a man. He did not hold on to those things that were innately His as God. He laid them aside. That is humility.

He humbled Himself not only to become a man—as if that, for the great eternal God, the Creator, to become a creature—well, then it says in verse eight, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Stepping down from the throne of glory, stepping into a virgin's womb, being born and put into a manger—it got lower than that.

Because He was obedient to the point of death. He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. Do you remember when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and He told those disciples, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here with me, watch and pray. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." And then He went about a stone's throw from them and He fell down and He said, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done."

You ask yourself this question: Did Jesus Christ want to go to the cross to die for your sins and my sins? Is that what He wanted to do? If it be possible, let this cup pass from me. He did not want to do that. He was sweating blood in the Garden of Gethsemane because He did not want to go to the cross, but He chose to be obedient. Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done. He became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

You want to check to see how you are doing with pride? You ask yourself this question: How obedient am I to the things of God? How obedient am I to the Word of God? Am I doing what God tells me to do? Because you see, Jesus in His humanity did not want to go to the cross, but He was obedient to the point of death. He was obedient and said, "Not my will, but Thine be done."

And here is the thing about pride. Anytime that God tells you to do something, that God tells me to do something, and we say no, we are just lifting ourselves up, saying, "My will and my way is better than your will and your way, God." I do not like your way. I do not like your will. I am not going to do what you say because I know best. Remember what we said: The theme song of hell is, "I did it my way."

My way. That is what they sing in hell. What is the national religion of hell? Pride. Pride, doing it your own way. If you are going to be a humble person, if you are going to take on and put on the clothing of humility, you have to say, "Lord, I am going to obey you because you are God, you are King of kings and Lord of lords. You know more than I do. Your ways are right, my ways are not right. And so, I must obey you."

Jesus humbled Himself by becoming completely obedient, and He humbled Himself by thinking of others first. Others first. Second Corinthians chapter eight, verse nine says, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." So rich was the Lord Jesus Christ. So poor became the Lord Jesus Christ.

You think about it. What did He own? He is God who owns everything. The earth is the Lord's and all it contains, and yet Jesus as a man owned next to nothing. When He died, what did He have? He had sandals. He had a robe, He had a tunic. That is it. He did not have a tomb. They put Him in a rich man's tomb. Everything He had was borrowed, right? Did not have a donkey to ride in on Palm Sunday, had to borrow that. Did not have a place to have the Lord's Supper, had to find a place, had to borrow a place.

He did not have anything. He is God, He owns everything, yet He owns nothing because He humbled Himself, and He did all that for you. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor. Why? So that you through His poverty might be made rich. Jesus did nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, He regarded people as more important than Himself.

He did not look out for His own personal interest, but also for the interests of others. For the interests of you, for the interests of me. He gave up everything for you and for me. The song says while He was on the cross, you were on His mind. That the King would do that for me. And here is the paradox when it comes to pride. You know, we talk about, do you feel like you are really something? You stand tall because you are really somebody, and we say, well, that is pride. God does not want me to be like that. He wants me to be low in my thinking and in my mind. He does.

But the truth of the matter is you are somebody special. But you are not—let me put it this way: God does not love you because you are special. You are special because God loves you. God does not love you because you are valuable. You are valuable because God has set His love upon you. And so, in humility, I can stand up and say, "Praise God, I am somebody because Jesus loves me, not because I am just big and bad and all those things."

It is because He loves me and He has poured out His grace on me, and I do not have to walk around saying, "Oh, I cannot even lift up my head because I am such a terrible, horrible person and everybody hates me." No, it is not like that at all. I can stand up and say, "I am a child of the King." As one person said, what is witnessing? It is one beggar telling another beggar where you found bread. It is not, "Hey, I am super beggar, I am way better than you are, look at me."

It is saying, "Hey, I found grace. Come find grace too. You can become a child of the King too." It is all what the Lord does, and He was thinking of others. And He did for you and me. Why? So that you through His poverty might be made rich. So that me, through the Lord's poverty, might become rich. Jesus is the example, the divine example of humility.

Now, here is such an interesting contrast. In heaven, you have the Trinity, the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. And you have three angels that are higher in rank and power than any other angels: Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer. Now, Lucifer was, as many considered, the highest of the three. He was the crown of God's creation. He was, as the Scripture says in Ezekiel chapter 28, the anointed cherub who covers.

Lucifer was the guardian angel of God. You do not get any higher than that as a created being. But Lucifer did not like his position. Lucifer was not pleased with where he was. Lucifer says, "There is one more step up the ladder, and that is where I want to be. I want to be at the highest place. I do not want to be second fiddle. I do not want to play second fiddle to anybody, not even to God."

And you hear him say in Isaiah chapter 14: "I will ascend to heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of assembly. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will make myself like the Most High." And God said, "Oh, no you will not." And Lucifer, the star of the morning, became Satan, the father of the night.

And here is Lucifer—get this picture in your mind—here he is, the creature wanting to become the Creator. And what is his theme song? "I will." And here is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Creator who becomes the creature, whose theme song is "Thy will. Thy will." You are more like Jesus or you are more like Lucifer, whose middle letter in his name is "I." Our default setting is pride. Our divine example is Jesus.

And third insight: Our Heavenly Father is watching. Jesus did all that, and then it says in verse nine, "Therefore also God highly exalted Him." Because He humbled Himself to such an extent, God highly exalted Him. That means to be exalted beyond measure, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus humbled Himself, and God the Father exalted Him. What is the lowdown on the high road? Humility brings exaltation. James chapter four, verse 10 says, "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and what will happen? He will exalt you. He will lift you up if you humble yourself." Why? Because God is opposed to the proud. He is opposed to the big "I." He gives grace to the humble.

Humility brings exaltation. Self-exaltation brings humiliation. It is the paradox. Jesus said, "And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted." If you exalt self, what is going to happen? You are going to get humbled. It is going to happen every single time. What does the book of Proverbs say? Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling.

Pride. When you start thinking you are really something, God is going to knock the wind out from under you. He is going to knock your legs out from under you. Why? Because He lines up in battle array against you. He is opposed to the proud. When you are humble, God raises you up. When you are proud and exalted, God humbles you. I remember in college I was in a Bible study with David Ferguson.

He was doing a Bible study years and years ago. This is how the Lord puts things in your mind and you never forget them. We were doing a Bible study on First Kings, chapter one. David is on his deathbed, and David has a son named Adonijah. And in First Kings chapter one and verse five, it says this: Adonijah exalted himself and said, "I will be king." And I remember David Ferguson said, "Underline that. Underline that in your Bible."

And he said, "Know this: He who exalts himself shall be humbled." He said, "Adonijah is getting ready to get humbled, is he not?" Because the principle in Scripture is true. If you exalt yourself, you are going to be humbled. And it said that Adonijah exalted himself and said, "I will be king." That is First Kings chapter one, verse five. In chapter two, he is dead. Because God did not make him king.

And David had Solomon become king, and one of the first things Solomon did as king was kill Adonijah. Adonijah probably would have said, "Hey, can we do something else for the first thing as you become king?" But that is not the way that worked. You exalt yourself, you are going to be humbled. Satan said, "I will be like the Most High God," and God kicked him out of heaven. And he was humiliated and debased, and boom, he landed on the earth with a thud.

Exaltation brings humiliation. God is watching. He sees. He looks right now. The Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. Some of you have covered up your pride pretty well, but God sees in your heart. Let me tell you one of the biggest areas of pride. It is in people not yielding themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is people joining the church, but they are still in charge. They are still in control.

You do not bring your "look at me, Lord, I am really special, you should be happy to have me because I am so-and-so in this community and I am really somebody." Who cares about that stuff? It does not have anything to do with that. When you understand that you are a sinner before God and apart from the blood of Jesus Christ, you are going to die and go to hell, and you cry out to Him in humility and in brokenness and repentance, then the Lord comes in, and then your life is changed.

That needs to happen. You and I have a choice: Humility or humiliation before God. Humble yourselves, the Scripture says, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you. Are you humbled under the mighty hand of God? Are you walking in humility, recognizing that He is everything and that you are nothing?

Or does this Scripture apply to you: How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? The time is now to get your heart right with the King. The time is now to put on the clothing of humility before God and to regard one another as more important than yourself. If you will humble yourself, God will lift you up and God will exalt you, and you will see great and mighty things happening.

And for some of you, one of the reasons why life is such tough sledding right now is because you are walking in pride and you have Almighty God lining up against you. You are not going anywhere if God is lined up against you. And if you stay that way for too long, eventually you will find yourself in hell. The time is now for you who have never trusted Christ to trust Christ. The time is now for you who know the Lord, but you are walking in pride, to humble yourself and humble your heart before Him and say, "Jesus, I want you to be glorified in my life. I want you to be King of all. I surrender all to you." What is your choice? How long will you refuse, the Lord says, to humble yourself before me?

Larry Nobles: You are listening to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve today. The lesson: The Lowdown on the High Road, Part 2. Do you right now sense the convicting call of the Holy Spirit, calling you to humble yourself before the Lord and crown Jesus as your Lord and Savior? The prideful fool says, "Not interested." But if you sense sincerely in your heart that God is calling you, why not ask Him to save you for eternity right now?

From your repentant heart, say: "Heavenly Father, I want to acknowledge you as God, and you deserve to be worshipped. I believe in your son Jesus, that He lived, died, and rose again from the dead for my sins, so that I might have a personal relationship with you, free from guilt. I willingly turn from my sin. I want to live my life for you. God, save me. Help me to be the person you want me to be. Lord, I surrender it all. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen."

If you prayed a prayer like that from your heart and you meant it, the Bible promises that you are now a child of God and nothing can snatch you away. We would encourage you to tell others, especially some Christian friends. Find a good, Bible-believing church and surround yourself with people who are wise in the Lord to help you grow and resist the devil. Just go to the "Why Jesus" icon on FromHisHeart.org.

Well, time is gone for today. I am Larry Nobles, hoping that you will be with us next time for another powerful lesson from Pastor Jeff's Attitude for Altitude series. Join us then when Pastor Jeff will begin the lesson that we all need. It is called "An Attitude Check," right here on From His Heart.