WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:13.620 Brilliant. Let me pray for us and then we'll come and have a look at God's word together. Let's pray. Father, thank you that we're not here just to share our good ideas with each other, but that we get to listen to what you say in your word. 00:00:13.619 --> 00:00:32.579 And we pray now as we do the slightly more tricky task of jumping around the Bible to see what it says on a theme, that you might help us to think carefully about your word. And Lord, we pray that you might bless our time together for our good and for your glory. In Jesus' name. Amen. 00:00:32.579 --> 00:00:32.780 Amen. 00:00:35.379 --> 00:00:44.820 So if you were with us last week, you might remember that we said humility, which we've been looking at last week and this week, is the root of the graces of the Christian life. 00:00:45.659 --> 00:00:55.899 In other words, the good fruits of the Christian life come from humility. So love, joy, peace, patience, kindness have their root in the soil of humility. 00:00:55.899 --> 00:01:15.379 And we spoke a little bit last week about a guy called Andy Murray or Andrew Murray, not the tennis player, but the theologian from last century that said the lack of humility is a sufficient explanation for every defect and failure. 00:01:15.379 --> 00:01:23.679 See, I think I've put that quote back on your handout. Humility is the only soil in which the graces root. 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:32.340 The lack of humility is the sufficient explanation of every defect and failure. Humility is not so much a grace or a virtue along with the others. 00:01:32.479 --> 00:01:40.620 It is the root of all because it alone takes the right attitude before God and allows him as God to do all. 00:01:40.620 --> 00:01:48.660 Now, that was last week. This week, I want us to think about how we might define humility, exactly what it is. 00:01:48.980 --> 00:01:59.159 What is Christian or Bible humility and how does that relate to both sin and salvation, our identity as sinners and the work of Christ in salvation? 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:04.439 Now, I think defining humility is perhaps slightly harder than it might first seem. 00:02:04.439 --> 00:02:19.419 So let me just suggest an obvious thing. Firstly, that humility is the opposite of pride, by which I mean that if humility is the root of the graces of the Christian life, that is because pride, its opposite, is really at the heart of what sin is. 00:02:20.699 --> 00:02:26.919 All sin essentially is the self-centered, selfish wickedness. It's pride. 00:02:26.919 --> 00:02:31.579 Adam and Eve in the garden are not just breaking the law or the rule that God has given them. 00:02:32.379 --> 00:02:35.259 They are grasping after God's status for themselves. 00:02:35.799 --> 00:02:40.119 If we eat this, we will be like God. That's the heart of sin, isn't it? 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:41.919 It's pride is in the driving seat. 00:02:42.799 --> 00:02:48.199 So while God says and God's law says God is God and we are not, pride says I can be my own God. 00:02:48.579 --> 00:02:53.299 I can go my own way. I can do my own thing, which is the lie of sin. 00:02:53.300 --> 00:02:58.939 So pride's evil twin is unbelief, right? 00:02:59.600 --> 00:03:08.740 Pride is the heart of unbelief, which means as the opposite of pride, humility is really a twin with faith. 00:03:09.540 --> 00:03:13.939 Because faith is, Christian faith is the action of self-emptying. 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:19.800 It's the empty hand which takes hold of what God offers in the gospel. 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:27.580 You know, faith is not a work that we do, which merits God's saving graces. 00:03:28.420 --> 00:03:29.939 Faith is an empty hand. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:38.860 It's the self-empty person reaching out and receiving what God has given with no confidence in themselves at all and all their confidence in Christ. 00:03:40.160 --> 00:03:41.540 Faith is humility in action. 00:03:41.660 --> 00:03:45.260 Now, that's not to say that every person who you think of as humble is necessarily a Christian. 00:03:45.259 --> 00:03:49.379 There is a common grace humility that is spread around the world. 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:56.359 But this uniquely Christian kind of humility sees not just human weakness in a in a general sense, 00:03:56.379 --> 00:04:05.799 but sees itself as sinfully weak and in need of a salvation which is beyond its own grasp, recognizing its emptiness, throwing itself on Christ for salvation. 00:04:05.800 --> 00:04:10.960 Now, what I want to try and do is build that picture up using various different passages of the Bible. 00:04:11.140 --> 00:04:17.100 And to save us spending ages jumping around the Bible, I've printed out the cross-references on your handouts. 00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:25.120 And to try and, in a vague attempt to try and make this memorable, I've also done it as three statements that a humble Christian says. 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:27.900 Now, obviously a humble Christian would say more than these three things. 00:04:28.420 --> 00:04:31.300 It doesn't just say that you can only say three things if you're a humble Christian. 00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:35.480 But these are three statements at the heart of Christian humility. 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:37.540 So let's take them each in turn. 00:04:37.620 --> 00:04:38.680 The first one is this. 00:04:39.319 --> 00:04:42.900 A humble Christian says, it's not just that I have sinned. 00:04:43.220 --> 00:04:44.939 I am a sinner. 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:46.439 I am a sinner. 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:50.400 Now, I think this is surprising, but let's have a look through these New Testament references. 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:54.319 The first one is in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 9 to 10. 00:04:54.319 --> 00:04:56.219 Then, the Apostle Paul writes, 00:04:56.339 --> 00:05:02.959 For I am the least of the apostles, and do not even deserve to be called an apostle. 00:05:03.740 --> 00:05:08.100 I am literally unworthy, because I persecuted the church of God. 00:05:08.540 --> 00:05:12.659 But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. 00:05:12.759 --> 00:05:18.100 No, I worked harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 00:05:18.100 --> 00:05:22.600 Paul is really clear, isn't he, here, about his status as unworthy. 00:05:22.960 --> 00:05:24.500 I do not even deserve. 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:28.939 I am the least amongst the apostles, because I persecuted the church. 00:05:29.020 --> 00:05:33.300 I rounded them up, handed them over to the authorities for persecution and even execution. 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:37.120 Now, he's not still doing that, right? 00:05:37.180 --> 00:05:40.960 So he has repented of that, and is no longer doing that. 00:05:41.180 --> 00:05:46.920 Yet still, he identifies himself with it, and says that he is the least among the apostles because of it. 00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:52.080 It's a similar idea in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 8, where Paul talks about his ministry like this. 00:05:52.180 --> 00:05:52.460 He says, 00:05:53.020 --> 00:05:56.960 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord's people, 00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:02.800 this grace was given to me to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ. 00:06:03.740 --> 00:06:07.300 Now, you might just say, oh, Paul's just overstating it for effect, but I don't think he is. 00:06:07.560 --> 00:06:13.460 As far as he is concerned, he is the most undeserving of all of God's people. 00:06:13.459 --> 00:06:13.759 Right? 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:19.239 Again, while Paul isn't referencing any particular kind of sin, any action, 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:22.199 still he has this status in mind of being the least. 00:06:22.939 --> 00:06:25.239 The least who is given the task of preaching. 00:06:26.219 --> 00:06:30.539 I think probably 1 Timothy 1.15 puts it really clearly, doesn't it? 00:06:30.919 --> 00:06:33.759 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. 00:06:34.599 --> 00:06:38.039 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, which is written up behind me, 00:06:38.040 --> 00:06:40.340 of whom I am the worst. 00:06:41.260 --> 00:06:45.319 But for that very reason, I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, 00:06:46.060 --> 00:06:51.220 Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example to those who would believe in him 00:06:51.220 --> 00:06:53.040 and receive eternal life. 00:06:53.200 --> 00:06:58.700 Now, to the king, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. 00:06:58.860 --> 00:06:59.100 Amen. 00:06:59.100 --> 00:07:05.379 Paul captures this truth about humility, that he is the foremost among sinners, or the worst of sinners. 00:07:06.180 --> 00:07:11.640 And the worst, so that his ministry might be able to point people to the possibility of salvation. 00:07:12.040 --> 00:07:17.500 If Jesus can save someone like Paul, he can save someone like you, or someone like me, anyone else. 00:07:18.180 --> 00:07:21.700 Now, again, notice, Paul isn't confessing any particular individual sin. 00:07:22.280 --> 00:07:26.120 He is not saying that he is the foremost sinner because of any particular weakness, 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:28.540 or bad habit, or pattern of behavior now, right? 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:32.540 He's not saying, I am the worst of sinners because I'm doing this today or tomorrow. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:36.920 And that doesn't mean he's not guilty of ongoing sins. 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:37.939 Of course, he is. 00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:45.920 Rather, the point is that beyond just that, Paul recognizes himself, in himself, I am a sinner. 00:07:47.019 --> 00:07:49.100 Now, it's not the only thing that is true of Paul. 00:07:49.180 --> 00:07:50.379 We'll talk more about that in a moment. 00:07:50.379 --> 00:07:58.120 But still, somehow, in his Christian life, as he lives it and grows in it, he doesn't shake this understanding of himself. 00:07:59.180 --> 00:08:02.699 But left to himself, he's a rebel against God, undeserving of salvation. 00:08:03.459 --> 00:08:06.159 Someone in whom nothing worthy of saving could be found. 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:16.399 Now, notice with me, this is very different from Paul saying, I get a few things wrong, or I've done a few things wrong. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:22.139 You know, everyone will be or should be willing to admit that they've got things wrong, sometimes even deliberately, but it's not that, is it? 00:08:22.259 --> 00:08:25.639 Rather, this is a different kind of humility. 00:08:25.899 --> 00:08:29.699 It's not humility rooted in guilt for a particular sin. 00:08:29.979 --> 00:08:33.100 It's really an understanding of who he is. 00:08:33.959 --> 00:08:38.860 I am, before God, someone who is unworthy of his grace and mercy. 00:08:38.860 --> 00:08:52.139 The point seems to be that for Paul to properly appreciate God's saving grace and to understand that saving love, Paul has to keep on remembering that there is nothing in him that deserved it. 00:08:52.820 --> 00:08:56.399 That he was dead in his sin when Christ saved him. 00:08:58.100 --> 00:09:06.720 And so the ongoing process of his growth and development as a Christian is to hold on to and even grow in that self-understanding. 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:11.720 I don't know if this illustration actually works perfectly, but let me give you it. 00:09:12.160 --> 00:09:14.620 Just say that it's a bit of a break. 00:09:15.420 --> 00:09:21.480 My granddad, who was Thomas Jackson Palferman, went down the pit as a coal miner aged 14. 00:09:23.019 --> 00:09:28.600 1926, along with a whole load of others his own age, he spent day after day crawling around digging out coal. 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:38.500 And to the day my granddad died, he carried around in his wallet his first wage slip, just so that he could prove to you that that was his job. 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:45.960 He never wanted you to forget where he was from and how little he got for it and how far he'd come. 00:09:46.100 --> 00:09:47.040 Now, it's a dumb example, isn't it? 00:09:47.040 --> 00:09:48.100 Because it breaks down very quickly. 00:09:48.100 --> 00:09:50.040 But in a sense, this is it, isn't it? 00:09:50.340 --> 00:09:54.500 Paul never wants to forget who he is and where he comes from. 00:09:54.840 --> 00:09:56.820 His identity is that he is a sinner. 00:09:56.940 --> 00:09:58.920 It's never far away from Paul's thoughts. 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:04.600 Because appreciating this about himself makes God's grace all the more amazing. 00:10:05.259 --> 00:10:13.440 It's as he drills down into this kind of I'm a sinner humility that he goes up in grace and joy because he realized that God has saved him. 00:10:13.500 --> 00:10:15.660 He loves people like me, even me. 00:10:15.659 --> 00:10:20.679 And if you think about it, this will still be the case in eternity after we've stopped sinning. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:24.480 The song of heaven is the song of the blood of the lamb, right? 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:26.559 The one who gave his life. 00:10:27.059 --> 00:10:29.159 Do you think we'll be singing that going, well, I wonder why he did that? 00:10:29.719 --> 00:10:31.219 Why did Jesus die? 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:32.199 I don't know. 00:10:32.439 --> 00:10:33.259 I haven't done anything wrong with you. 00:10:33.259 --> 00:10:33.839 I don't know. 00:10:34.279 --> 00:10:35.939 Of course, we all know ourselves, won't we? 00:10:35.959 --> 00:10:37.639 That we are the redeemed. 00:10:37.740 --> 00:10:38.579 We're the rescued. 00:10:39.240 --> 00:10:40.639 We're the ones who didn't deserve it. 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:42.879 But Christ died for us and saved us. 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:48.980 That's humble, sinless sinners enjoying eternity with their saviour. 00:10:49.159 --> 00:10:49.620 That will be it. 00:10:50.840 --> 00:10:57.639 Now, just with the person next to you for a minute, why do we find this identity difficult to take on? 00:10:57.879 --> 00:11:03.779 What is it about that that we find difficult to think of ourselves in the same category that Paul thinks of himself? 00:11:04.179 --> 00:11:05.320 Have a think about that for a moment. 00:11:05.320 --> 00:11:07.460 And then we'll move on to the second one. 00:11:11.540 --> 00:11:13.960 Anyone want to help us out? 00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:14.460 Yeah. 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:14.460 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:21.660 yeah 00:11:21.660 --> 00:11:26.680 yeah 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.680 --> 00:11:26.680 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:51.699 I think inside of each of us is deeply planted this idea that God saves the deserving and not 00:11:51.700 --> 00:11:59.680 the undeserving and so that the more I understand my undeservingness the lesser confidence I'll have 00:11:59.680 --> 00:12:04.879 that God saved me but when I read the Bible it's the opposite isn't it God saves the undeserving so 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:12.240 the more I understand myself to be undeserving the more I have confidence that Christ can save 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:19.300 people like me so Christian assurance is not about am I you know am I working and living in such a way 00:12:19.299 --> 00:12:26.319 that I demonstrate myself to be a person that God saves it's it's more do I realize that Jesus saves 00:12:26.319 --> 00:12:33.579 people like me that he's a savior for people like me and the more I see that the more I yeah 00:12:33.579 --> 00:12:36.219 go on Andrew 00:12:36.219 --> 00:12:43.939 I think I see that based on where I was saved 00:12:43.940 --> 00:12:46.960 right 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:50.960 you know 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:57.980 yes 00:12:57.980 --> 00:13:01.000 yes 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:04.000 but then times come when I know 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:05.000 got it wrong you know 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:05.000 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:05.000 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:05.000 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:05.000 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:05.000 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:09.000 I'm not even up to the standard that I should be so I'm 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:17.000 yes but of course I think the inherent nature we're in here as a human being I probably do have times where I visit 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:20.019 yeah 00:13:20.019 --> 00:13:21.019 yeah 00:13:21.019 --> 00:13:23.019 yes 00:13:23.019 --> 00:13:24.019 yes 00:13:24.019 --> 00:13:25.019 yes 00:13:25.019 --> 00:13:30.019 yes 00:13:30.019 --> 00:13:34.019 yes 00:13:34.019 --> 00:13:35.019 yes 00:13:35.019 --> 00:13:35.019 00:13:35.019 --> 00:13:35.019 00:13:35.019 --> 00:13:37.039 yes 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:37.039 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:38.039 yes 00:13:38.039 --> 00:13:39.039 yes 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:39.039 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:39.039 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:40.039 yes 00:13:40.039 --> 00:13:40.039 00:14:05.019 --> 00:14:07.259 It's not that I can't do anything. 00:14:07.259 --> 00:14:10.039 I just can't do what really matters, right? 00:14:11.659 --> 00:14:13.699 Just consider a couple of passages with me. 00:14:14.059 --> 00:14:15.819 Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3. 00:14:16.299 --> 00:14:18.720 For this reason, I kneel before the Father, 00:14:19.179 --> 00:14:22.379 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:25.799 I pray that out of his glorious riches, 00:14:25.799 --> 00:14:30.340 he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being, 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:33.519 so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith. 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:37.620 And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 00:14:37.720 --> 00:14:41.199 may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, 00:14:41.319 --> 00:14:46.659 to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. 00:14:47.079 --> 00:14:49.919 And to know this love that surpasses knowledge, 00:14:50.419 --> 00:14:53.220 that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 00:14:53.539 --> 00:14:57.500 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, 00:14:57.639 --> 00:14:59.460 according to his power that is at work within us, 00:14:59.460 --> 00:15:03.519 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, 00:15:03.780 --> 00:15:04.940 forever and ever. Amen. 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:11.780 Do you see here that there's an impossibility without divine help 00:15:11.780 --> 00:15:14.860 for us to really grasp what needs to be grasped? 00:15:15.100 --> 00:15:18.759 Yeah, so that you may know what is unknowable. 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:20.679 You need divine help. 00:15:21.480 --> 00:15:26.639 It is not possible for the Ephesians to grasp the depth of love that God has for them. 00:15:27.620 --> 00:15:30.519 They are incapable of grasping what needs to be grasped. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:32.779 So their Christian lives, if they're to be fruitful, 00:15:33.080 --> 00:15:34.360 if they're to be lived with joy, 00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:36.980 then they're going to need the Lord's help. 00:15:36.980 --> 00:15:44.300 I'm sorry, Anthony. 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:45.620 Shh, Anthony. 00:15:45.980 --> 00:15:46.320 Thank you. 00:15:46.659 --> 00:15:46.860 Right. 00:15:48.800 --> 00:15:50.899 Sometimes your train of thought just totally disappears, doesn't it? 00:15:50.980 --> 00:15:51.139 Right. 00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:54.720 So Paul prays that God, by his spirit, 00:15:54.940 --> 00:15:57.340 might do for them what they cannot do, 00:15:57.960 --> 00:16:00.039 abundantly more than anything they ask or imagine. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:01.620 So you think about it like that. 00:16:01.680 --> 00:16:04.860 If you really want to grow as a Christian, right, 00:16:04.860 --> 00:16:06.860 if you really want to grow in the Christian life, 00:16:07.460 --> 00:16:08.720 what Paul is saying to you, 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:11.800 you need to admit there is nothing that you are able to do to do that. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:12.080 Right. 00:16:12.139 --> 00:16:15.420 So if you want to get a good job, right, 00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:16.180 what are you going to do? 00:16:16.620 --> 00:16:17.519 Are you going to work hard? 00:16:17.560 --> 00:16:18.539 Are you going to study hard? 00:16:18.920 --> 00:16:21.019 Are you going to get a good night's sleep before your exam tomorrow? 00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:22.340 All that kind of thing. 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:22.560 Right. 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:23.399 That's what you're going to do. 00:16:23.680 --> 00:16:25.480 If you want a good marriage, what are you going to do? 00:16:25.539 --> 00:16:26.659 Well, you spend time together. 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:27.960 You work hard at communicating. 00:16:28.340 --> 00:16:30.600 If you want to be good in the workplace, 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:34.039 then you're going to read some books and train up and ask for help and go on courses. 00:16:34.039 --> 00:16:35.300 All those things will help you. 00:16:35.299 --> 00:16:38.740 But you can't just apply the same thinking to the Christian life. 00:16:39.159 --> 00:16:40.079 We can study. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:41.240 And it's important, isn't it? 00:16:41.379 --> 00:16:43.039 There are means that the Lord uses. 00:16:43.779 --> 00:16:50.079 But fundamentally, Christian growth is accepting that I am unable to do that on my own. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:56.320 All's prayer shows you that the humbling fact at the heart of Christian growth is that I can't do it on my own. 00:16:56.840 --> 00:16:59.100 I need the Lord to shape and mold me. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:03.740 So if I want to grow as a Christian, I have to get on my knees and say with all sincerity, 00:17:03.740 --> 00:17:09.339 I can't do this, Lord, I don't have access to my heart to change it. 00:17:09.819 --> 00:17:13.039 Heart transformation comes by the work of the Spirit. 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:19.319 And for the work of the Spirit to take place, we need to drain ourselves of self-reliance and self-importance. 00:17:19.799 --> 00:17:21.940 Or we need to be humble. 00:17:21.940 --> 00:17:26.880 This is one of the challenges, isn't it, in church life. 00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:28.140 It's in pastoral ministry. 00:17:28.840 --> 00:17:33.200 That as you look at one another and you seek one another's Christian growth, you can't do it, can you? 00:17:34.039 --> 00:17:36.440 We long for one another to grow in Christlikeness, 00:17:36.539 --> 00:17:40.759 but we don't have the capacity to reach into each other's hearts and transform one another. 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:42.980 Actually, we need the Lord to do it. 00:17:43.319 --> 00:17:46.000 To grasp the love of God, God needs to do it. 00:17:46.039 --> 00:17:47.599 We can't nag each other into doing it. 00:17:48.500 --> 00:17:51.859 I think Titus chapter 2 puts it really well, doesn't it? 00:17:51.900 --> 00:17:53.160 So Titus 2, it's on your handout. 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:57.619 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:04.299 It, as in the grace of God, teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions 00:18:04.299 --> 00:18:07.859 and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 00:18:07.859 --> 00:18:14.319 while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, 00:18:14.779 --> 00:18:18.059 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness 00:18:18.059 --> 00:18:23.939 and to purify for himself a people that are of his very own, eager to do what is good. 00:18:24.899 --> 00:18:26.179 It's full of action, isn't it? 00:18:26.259 --> 00:18:29.259 Things that we're doing, training, renouncing, zeal for good works, 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:30.359 but where do they come from? 00:18:30.979 --> 00:18:33.039 Well, they come from the grace of God that has appeared. 00:18:33.299 --> 00:18:34.159 How does that work? 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:41.300 Well, the grace of God is about the Son of God emptying himself to redeem us and purchase us as his own people. 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:48.060 In other words, it's more, the more you recognize your unworthiness and your helplessness, 00:18:48.500 --> 00:18:50.860 that you're trained to be useful as a Christian. 00:18:51.580 --> 00:18:53.040 Which is really counterintuitive, isn't it? 00:18:53.620 --> 00:18:58.220 The more I know that I don't know, the more useful I will be to the Lord. 00:18:58.220 --> 00:19:01.279 I'll be more zealous. 00:19:01.940 --> 00:19:06.420 Okay, if that's true and that's right, the person next to you, 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:09.660 what then does progress in the Christian life look like? 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:13.880 What do you think progress in the Christian life looks like? 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:19.579 If you were to say, take a snapshot today as a Christian and take a snapshot in a year's time, 00:19:19.860 --> 00:19:22.779 what's progress going to look like for you as a Christian? 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:24.380 What do you think, given what we've seen? 00:19:24.380 --> 00:19:30.940 Okay, sorry to interrupt your conversations. 00:19:33.740 --> 00:19:37.540 What do you think progress looks like in the Christian life? 00:19:44.360 --> 00:19:46.500 What did you say, Grace, because it sounded like it was good. 00:19:48.300 --> 00:19:48.700 Okay. 00:19:48.700 --> 00:19:58.819 Yes, increased dependence on the Lord. 00:19:59.259 --> 00:19:59.440 Yeah. 00:20:01.019 --> 00:20:01.340 Yeah. 00:20:13.059 --> 00:20:13.580 Yes. 00:20:13.579 --> 00:20:17.779 That actually being helped to understand what you're doing wrong is helpful 00:20:17.779 --> 00:20:21.099 because it helps you to turn to the Lord to help you do it better. 00:20:21.419 --> 00:20:21.539 Yeah. 00:20:22.339 --> 00:20:22.579 Yeah. 00:20:25.019 --> 00:20:30.099 And if we're humble, and we're going to come on to this about Christ being our treasure, 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:35.419 then criticism can never really erode the thing that's really important to us, can it? 00:20:37.259 --> 00:20:39.099 It's not important to me that you think I'm brilliant. 00:20:39.099 --> 00:20:41.480 My treasure is Jesus. 00:20:42.579 --> 00:20:45.559 And so please tell me where I'm not brilliant because I need to learn. 00:20:46.339 --> 00:20:46.419 Yeah. 00:20:47.219 --> 00:20:47.939 Anything else? 00:20:47.940 --> 00:20:58.640 I think this is wonderfully liberating, right, for somebody, you know, in pastoral ministry. 00:20:59.059 --> 00:21:03.700 For you to grow as a Christian, I just need to expose you over and over again to the gospel of grace, right? 00:21:04.380 --> 00:21:06.880 I don't need to come up with some kind of magic trick to help you. 00:21:07.340 --> 00:21:10.500 I'm actually just constantly exposing you to the gospel of grace, 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:14.660 to keep showing you that you can't rely on yourself, but you can rely on Christ, 00:21:15.019 --> 00:21:17.380 that you're a sinner, but he loves to save sinners. 00:21:18.120 --> 00:21:19.220 And you can be secure in him. 00:21:19.300 --> 00:21:22.400 That will grow you as a Christian in whatever area you find yourself. 00:21:22.800 --> 00:21:25.000 You know, we're all in complex different situations, aren't we? 00:21:25.040 --> 00:21:26.080 But that will grow us as Christians. 00:21:28.580 --> 00:21:28.900 Brilliant. 00:21:30.560 --> 00:21:33.400 So don't ever come to church and go, well, I've heard this before, right? 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:36.260 That's the point, right? 00:21:36.300 --> 00:21:36.960 You've heard it before. 00:21:37.060 --> 00:21:37.760 We need to hear it again. 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:38.720 Great. 00:21:38.820 --> 00:21:39.740 Okay, the final thing. 00:21:39.880 --> 00:21:42.400 It's not just that Jesus is my savior. 00:21:42.580 --> 00:21:43.860 He is my everything. 00:21:43.859 --> 00:21:49.379 One passage, final passage from Philippians 3. 00:21:49.380 --> 00:21:55.640 Paul writes, watch out for those dogs, those evil doers, those mutilators of the flesh. 00:21:56.280 --> 00:22:02.400 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:06.780 and who put no confidence in the flesh, though I myself have reasons for such confidence. 00:22:06.779 --> 00:22:10.899 If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more. 00:22:11.619 --> 00:22:18.319 Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in regard to the law of Pharisee, 00:22:18.660 --> 00:22:23.039 as for zeal, persecuting the church, as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:28.619 But whatever were gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 00:22:29.159 --> 00:22:36.839 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, 00:22:37.319 --> 00:22:39.240 for whose sake I have lost all things. 00:22:39.659 --> 00:22:44.220 When I copy and paste the passages out of the Bible, it gives me the American version, I'm sorry. 00:22:44.220 --> 00:22:53.360 I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, 00:22:53.779 --> 00:22:59.259 but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 00:22:59.539 --> 00:23:05.380 I want to know Christ, yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:10.700 becoming like him in his death, and so somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 00:23:10.700 --> 00:23:15.600 You're sort of given a window, aren't you, here into Paul's self-counseling session. 00:23:16.340 --> 00:23:20.019 And he is weighing up the relative worth of things that he has. 00:23:20.580 --> 00:23:24.279 And on the one hand, he has this mental list of all the good things that he has in himself, 00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:28.299 things that he can be proud of, good things, most of them, except for persecuting the church. 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:30.380 And on the other hand, he has Christ. 00:23:31.120 --> 00:23:37.319 Then he makes this extraordinary statement that not only are those things not reliable for his salvation, 00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:39.140 you would expect him to say that, wouldn't you? 00:23:39.140 --> 00:23:43.560 You would expect him to say, I can't rely on my good works for my salvation, I can only rely on Christ. 00:23:43.880 --> 00:23:46.320 He does say that, but then he goes further than that. 00:23:46.440 --> 00:23:53.240 He says, doesn't he, I consider all things to be garbage, rubbish, dung, literally, compared to knowing Christ. 00:23:53.720 --> 00:23:58.680 Compared to the treasure that I have in Christ Jesus, nothing is of value to me. 00:23:59.160 --> 00:24:00.700 That's an incredible statement, isn't it? 00:24:01.259 --> 00:24:06.900 Jesus is not just more reliable, but more precious than anything else that he has. 00:24:06.900 --> 00:24:09.740 Jesus Christ is of supreme value. 00:24:09.880 --> 00:24:13.980 Anything that he has earned himself, done himself, achieved himself, thought himself, 00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:21.860 none of that has any value compared to the surpassing glory of belonging to Jesus, being saved by him and being his. 00:24:21.859 --> 00:24:25.659 Now, just put this together with me for a moment as we finish. 00:24:25.779 --> 00:24:28.259 And we see this is the great joy of humility, isn't it? 00:24:28.699 --> 00:24:30.919 Because it's a joy that can't be robbed from you. 00:24:33.199 --> 00:24:37.319 Humility brings you a joy that can't be stolen by your sin or killed off by your weakness. 00:24:37.319 --> 00:24:44.200 Because in your weakness and your sin, it is the joy of knowing Christ, isn't it? 00:24:44.460 --> 00:24:45.399 He is your treasure. 00:24:46.299 --> 00:24:52.059 That's why being humble or even being humbled, which can be really painful, can't it? 00:24:52.579 --> 00:24:56.819 Is itself a road to joy and glory that you'd not known before. 00:24:56.819 --> 00:25:05.200 To the extent to which we know that we have nothing of value or treasure outside of Christ. 00:25:05.700 --> 00:25:10.000 That's the value to which we actually are able to live joyfully for him. 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:13.799 Let me finish with an Andy Murray quote for you. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:14.439 Here we go. 00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:19.660 Let us choose to be weak, to be low, to be nothing. 00:25:20.460 --> 00:25:23.860 Let humility be to us joy and gladness. 00:25:24.539 --> 00:25:31.000 Let us gladly glory and take pleasure in weakness, in all that can humble us and keep us low. 00:25:31.640 --> 00:25:34.120 Then the power of Christ will rest upon us. 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:36.059 Christ humbled himself. 00:25:36.820 --> 00:25:38.180 Therefore God exalted him. 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:41.299 Christ will humble us and keep us humble. 00:25:41.580 --> 00:25:43.480 Let us heartily consent. 00:25:43.480 --> 00:25:47.400 Let us trustfully and joyfully accept all that humbles. 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:50.220 Then the power of Christ will rest upon us. 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:59.940 We shall find that the deepest humility is the secret of the truest happiness, of a joy that nothing can destroy. 00:26:01.160 --> 00:26:03.660 Let me pray and ask that it would be true for us. 00:26:03.740 --> 00:26:04.160 Let me pray. 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:15.660 Heavenly Father, we want to pray and say these statements that we're not just people who've done stuff wrong. 00:26:15.779 --> 00:26:17.540 We are sinners. 00:26:17.539 --> 00:26:17.759 We are sinners. 00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:21.000 But we are sinners saved by grace. 00:26:21.500 --> 00:26:25.819 Who you've loved in the Lord Jesus and given him for us. 00:26:25.819 --> 00:26:30.439 And we know that we can't do anything that really matters in our own strength. 00:26:30.659 --> 00:26:31.740 We can't grow as a Christian. 00:26:31.879 --> 00:26:33.899 We can't even grasp your love for us. 00:26:34.919 --> 00:26:37.480 So we pray that by your spirit you might be at work in us. 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:45.539 We want to thank you for the great treasure that is the Lord Jesus Christ and that he is ours and we are his. 00:26:46.180 --> 00:26:47.420 That we are in him. 00:26:48.279 --> 00:26:52.500 And we pray that treasuring Christ like that would bring us deep joy. 00:26:52.500 --> 00:26:54.660 Even in humbling circumstances. 00:26:55.779 --> 00:26:56.740 So Lord, we want to pray. 00:26:57.259 --> 00:27:03.480 Acknowledging our weakness but knowing that actually it is in our weakness that you meet us with the strength of the Lord Jesus. 00:27:03.980 --> 00:27:05.819 So we pray in glory in his name. 00:27:06.500 --> 00:27:06.799 Amen. 00:27:07.259 --> 00:27:07.579 Amen.