Tag Archives: Humble

Richard Sibbes, The Art of Self-Humbling.3

17 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by in Humility, Richard Sibbes, Uncategorized

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Sibbes then provides six directions on how one is to obtain humility. In a nutshell, humility will flow from knowing who God is and who we are. The first direction is a summary of the rest, “First, Get poor spirits.” He then defines what is meant by a “poor spirit”,

[1]to see the wants [that is, what we lack] in ourselves and in the creature;

[2]the emptiness of all earthly things without God’s favour;

[3]the insufficiency of ourselves and of the creature at the day of judgment;

for what the wise man saith of riches may be truly said of all other things under the sun: they avail not in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivereth from death, Prov. 11:4.

We need to consider what we are as a creature, we come from the dirt and we will return to the dirt and we are not able to do anything without the power of God. We need to consider how guilty we are before God, due to our sin. We need to see how liable we are to sin.

The second direction is to see ourselves before God,  “[L]et us bring ourselves into the presence of the great God: set ourselves in his presence, and consider of his attributes, his works of justice abroad in the world, and open* ourselves in particular.” Having thought of how lowly we are in ourselves, let us think of how great God is. I do not know the reference off hand, but in one place Spurgeon speaks of having a thought of God before creation — before anything when there was only God. As we try to consider the greatness of God in every way, we cannot persist in great thought of ourselves.

Third, we must be content to receive the words of others that exposure our sin. We “naturally” repel at anyone who points to our sin — Yes, but what about yours! We love flattery, but, “a true, wise man, will be content to hear of anything that may humble him before God.”

Fourth, remember you will die, you will come to dust and you will be brought to judgment, “look to the time to come, what we shall be ere long, earth and dust; and at the day of judgment we must be stripped of all. What should puff us up in this world? All our glory shall end in shame, all magnificency in confusion, all riches in poverty.” How strange that such creatures with such an end should ever be proud — yet we are idolaters, “We are both idols and idol-worshippers, when we think highly of ourselves, for we make ourselves idols. Now God hates idolatry; but pride is a sacrilege, therefore God hates pride.”

Fifth, if we would be humble, let us consider Christ:  For this he relies upon Phil. 2:

Philippians 2:5–11 (ESV)

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

No Christian can truly hold this knowledge in contemplation and not become humble. “I say, is it possible that he which considers of this, should ever be willingly or wilfully proud? Do we hope to be saved by Christ, and will we not be like him?”

Sixth, reason with yourself — let us speak to ourselves. Consider our plight: other men can bring us low. What will we do when we stand before God? What will we do when we with our sins, with our body of dust are called to judgment? We cannot even keep our breath in our bodies, how will we stand? What can we do without Christ? How can we be proud when we have nothing in ourselves?

Further, There is an order, method, and agreement in these reflected actions, when we turn the edge of our own souls upon ourselves and examine ourselves; for the way that leads to rest is by the examination of ourselves. We must examine ourselves strictly, and then bring ourselves before God, judge and condemn ourselves; for humiliation is a kind of execution. Examination leads to all the rest. So, then, this is the order of our actions; there is examination of ourselves strictly before God, then indicting ourselves, after that comes judging of ourselves.

I ate umble pie

03 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Charles Dickens, Psychology

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The psychological observations of great writers are more useful than most of the “science” of psychologists (of all stripes). To prove that point consider the following section from David Copperfield by Dickens.

Uriah Heep is a fawning, scheming beast who has taken advantage of another’s sorrow and willingness to drink for solace. 

In this section, he explains himself. It is quite understandable when one knows that sin begets congruent sin:

‘I am not fond of professions of humility,’ I returned, ‘or professions of anything else.’ ‘There now!’ said Uriah, looking flabby and lead-coloured in the moonlight. ‘Didn’t I know it! But how little you think of the rightful umbleness of a person in my station, Master Copperfield! Father and me was both brought up at a foundation school for boys; and mother, she was likewise brought up at a public, sort of charitable, establishment. They taught us all a deal of umbleness—not much else that I know of, from morning to night. We was to be umble to this person, and umble to that; and to pull off our caps here, and to make bows there; and always to know our place, and abase ourselves before our betters. And we had such a lot of betters! Father got the monitor-medal by being umble. So did I. Father got made a sexton by being umble. He had the character, among the gentlefolks, of being such a well-behaved man, that they were determined to bring him in. “Be umble, Uriah,” says father to me, “and you’ll get on. It was what was always being dinned into you and me at school; it’s what goes down best. Be umble,” says father, “and you’ll do!” And really it ain’t done bad!’ It was the first time it had ever occurred to me, that this detestable cant of false humility might have originated out of the Heep family. I had seen the harvest, but had never thought of the seed. ‘When I was quite a young boy,’ said Uriah, ‘I got to know what umbleness did, and I took to it. I ate umble pie with an appetite. I stopped at the umble point of my learning, and says I, “Hold hard!” When you offered to teach me Latin, I knew better. “People like to be above you,” says father, “keep yourself down.” I am very umble to the present moment, Master Copperfield, but I’ve got a little power!’ And he said all this—I knew, as I saw his face in the moonlight—that I might understand he was resolved to recompense himself by using his power. I had never doubted his meanness, his craft and malice; but I fully comprehended now, for the first time, what a base, unrelenting, and revengeful spirit, must have been engendered by this early, and this long, suppression.

The Unsearchable Riches of Christ.14

21 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Humility, Thomas Brooks

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The previous post in this series may be found here: http://wp.me/p1S7fR-2jS

The eleventh property of a humble person is:

in all religious duties and services, he trades with God upon the credit of Christ.

This may take some explanation: When a humble being comes to God, it is “natural” for us to take comfort in our goodness, righteousness, duties. We like to feel good enough to come before God. The humble person knows he has no right standing before God, and thus he does come to God thinking that he has some earned credit for right of access.

The humble person rightly knows that our sins and rebellions have so defiled us that we have no right come to God on our own merit. Therefore, we come before God on the merit of Christ and thus are freely accepted:

Plutarch reports that it was wont to be the way of the Molossians, when they would seek the favour of their prince, they took up the king’s son in their arms, and so went and kneeled before the king, and by this means overcame him.1 So do humble souls make a conquest upon God with Christ in their arms. The Father will not give that soul the repulse that brings Christ in his arms.2 The humble soul knows that God out of Christ is incommunicable, that God out of Christ is incomprehensible, that God out of Christ is very terrible, and that God out of Christ is inaccessible; and therefore he still brings Christ with him, and presents all his requests in his name, and so prevails, &c. Oh! but proud souls deal with God upon the credit of their own worthiness, righteousness, services, prayers, tears, fastings, &c., as the proud Pharisees and those wrangling hypocrites in Isa. 58:1–3.

Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 3 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1866), 20.

This one is easily tested: Do you find yourself thinking that you have right of access when you have been well behaved but you skulk and whimper to ask forgiveness of known sin? It is a throne of grace. We have no right to grace, or else it would not be grace. But grace will receive us at all accounts. If our freedom in worship depends upon our own behavior and not the merit of Christ, we show ourselves to be foolishly proud. Let us repent on the basis of Christ’s merit and worship on the basis of Christ’s merit and rejoice on the basis of Christ’s merit and thus we will live forever on the basis of Christ’s merit.

The Unsearchable Riches of Christ.12

25 Friday Apr 2014

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Humility, Thomas Brooks

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The previous post in this series may be found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/the-unsearchable-riches-of-christ-11/

A humble soul sees sin as rebellion against God. Rather than justify himself before God, making excuses for sin, he sees sin for what it is. Thus,

The ninth property of an humble soul is this, It will smite and strike for small sins as well as for great, for those the world count no sin, as well as for those that they count gross sins.

He continues:

A proud heart counts great sins small, and small sins no sins, and so disarms conscience for a time of its whipping and wounding power; but at death, or in hell, conscience will take up an iron rod, with which it will lash the sinner for ever; and then, though too late, the sinner shall acknowledge his little sins to be very great, and his great sins to be exceeding grievous and odious, &c.

Brooks made a similar point in Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices: One excuse which leads to sin is the habit of making sins seem small: this is no great sin and thus I need not worry. A humble man would never think such a thing. One “remedy” offered by Brooks speaks to this:

The third remedy against this third device that Satan hath to draw the soul to sin, is solemnly to consider, That it is sad to stand with God for a trifle. Dives would not give a crumb, therefore he should not receive a drop, Luke 16:21. It is the greatest folly in the world to adventure the going to hell for a small matter. ‘I tasted but a little honey,’ said Jonathan, ‘and I must die,’ 1 Sam. 14:29. It is a most unkind and unfaithful thing to break with God for a little. Little sins carry with them but little temptations to sin, and then a man shews most viciousness and unkindness, when he sins on a little temptation. It is devilish to sin without a temptation; it is little less than devilish to sin on a little occasion. The less the temptation is to sin, the greater is that sin.1 Saul’s sin in not staying for Samuel, was not so much in the matter, but it was much in the malice of it; for though Samuel had not come at all, yet Saul should not have offered sacrifice; but this cost him dear, his soul and kingdom.

It is the greatest unkindness that can be shewed to a friend, to adventure the complaining, bleeding, and grieving of his soul upon a light and a slight occasion. So it is the greatest unkindness that can be shewed to God, Christ, and the Spirit, for a soul to put God upon complaining, Christ upon bleeding, and the Spirit upon grieving, by yielding to little sins. Therefore, when Satan says it is but a little one, do thou answer, that often times there is the greatest unkindness shewed to God’s glorious majesty, in the acting of the least folly, and therefore thou wilt not displease thy best and greatest friend, by yielding to his greatest enemy.

1 It was a vexation to king Lysimachus, that his staying to drink one small draught of water lost him his kingdom; and so it will eternally vex some souls at last that for one little sin, compared with great transgressions, they have lost God, heaven, and their souls for ever. [Plutarch. Cf. Bp. Jeremy Taylor, vol. iv. p. 457. (Eden).—G.]

The Unsearchable Riches of Christ.11

21 Monday Apr 2014

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Preaching, Thomas Brooks

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The previous post in this series may be found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2014/03/16/the-unsearchable-riches-of-christ-10/

The eighth mark of a humble soul is that such a one will never be holy enough. Yet, rather than seeing this is a miserable state, we must understand that this desire for ever greater holiness and the commensurate difficulty of this life; we must understand this as an aspiration for greatness — for the eternal state itself!

 No holiness below that matchless, peerless, spotless, perfect holiness that saints shall have in the glorious day of Christ’s appearing, will satisfy the humble soul. An humble heart is an aspiring heart; he cannot be contented to get up some rounds in Jacob’s ladder, but he must get to the very top of the ladder, to the very top of holiness. An humble heart cannot be satisfied with so much grace as will bring him to glory, with so much of heaven as will keep him from dropping into hell; he is still crying out, Give, Lord, give; give me more of thyself, more of thy Son, more of thy Spirit; give me more light, more life, more love, &c. Cæsar in warlike matters minded more what was to conquer than what was conquered; what was to gain than what was gained. So does an humble soul mind more what he should be than what he is, what is to be done than what is done. Verily heaven is for that man, and that man is for heaven, that sets up for his mark the perfection of holiness.

The Unsearchable Riches of Christ.10

16 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in Humility, Thomas Brooks

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The previous post in this series is found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/the-unsearchable-riches-of-christ-9/

The seventh attribute of a humble soul, as stated in The Unsearchable Riches of Christ is that humble soul treasures anything which has Christ in it:

The name of Christ, the voice of Christ, the footsteps of Christ, the least touch of the garment of Christ, the least-regarded truth of Christ, the meanest [mean: something of little repute or value] and least-regarded among the flock of Christ, is highly prized by humble souls that are interested in Christ, Song 1:3; John 10:4, 5; Ps. 27:4; Mat. 9:20, 21; Acts 24:14; 1 Cor. 9:22. An humble soul cannot, an humble soul dares not, call anything little that has Christ in it; neither can an humble soul call or count anything great wherein he sees not Christ, wherein he enjoys not Christ.2 An humble soul highly prizes the least nod, the least love-token, the least courtesy from Christ; but proud hearts count great mercies small mercies, and small mercies no mercies; yea, pride does so unman them, that they often call mercy misery, &c.