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Being Reasonable and Humility
RE'ASON, v.t. (From Webster 1812)
1. To examine or discuss …
I reasoned the matter with my friend. When they are clearly discovered, well digested and well reasoned in every part, there is beauty in such a theory.
2. To persuade by reasoning … as, to reason one into a belief of truth; to reason one out of his plan; to reason down a passion.
Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.
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When Yeshua (Jesus) walked the earth He told us to "Listen" and in Revelation we read again and again "He who has an ear to hear let him listen." For most of us in this world it is difficult to pay attention. How can we hear (understand and reason) if we are not listening. Yeshua came to take away the sin of the world and humbly died to accomplish this. He paid the required price for our ransom. Yet He was our Creator. Andrew Murray in his book on humility gives some insight on our problem of listening and restoring the humility necessary for us have a relationship with YHVH (the LORD).
"Humility - the Journey toward holiness" - italicized quotes are from Andrew Murray:
The Purpose:
From Preface: (Paraphrased) When I truly see and know God in all His glory as Creator and Redeemer then I will understand what it is to be nothing so He can be everything to me.
Pg 16 "The life God bestows is imparted not once but each moment by the unceasing operation of His mighty Power."
"And so pride-the loss of humility-is the root of every sin and evil… In heaven and on earth, pride or self-exaltation is the very gateway to hell."
"And so it follows that nothing can save us but the restoration of our lost humility, the original and only true relationship of the creature to its God. And so Jesus came to bring humility back to earth, to make us partakers of it, and by it to save us."
Pg 17 "The life of those who are saved, the saints, must bear this stamp of deliverance from sin and full restoration to their original state; their whole relationship to God and to man marked by an all-pervading humility. Without this there can be no true abiding in God’s presence…"
"…lack of humility is the explanation of every defeat and failure."
Reasonable Beings: (The Key)
"God has so constituted us as reasonable beings that the greater the insight into the true nature or absolute need of a command, the quicker and more complete will be our obedience to it. The call to humility has been too little regarded in the church because its true nature and importance have been too little apprehended. It is not something that we bring to God, or that He bestows; it is simply the sense of entire nothingness that comes when we see how truly God is everything. When the creature realizes that this is a place of honor, and consents to be-with his will, his mind, and his affections-the vessel in which the life and glory of God are to work and manifest themselves, he sees that humility is simply acknowledging the truth of his position as creature and yielding to God His place."
Pg 18 "…That this humility is not something that will come of itself, but must be made the object of special desire, prayer, faith and practice."
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The Humility of Yeshua (from Paul’s writings) :
Phil 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Phil 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Comment From Dale Cresap (Paraphrased)
Do you think of Yeshua’s death on the cross as a tragic misfortune? That would make Him a hapless victim. He made it clear that this was His mission from the first. He told His disciples in advance how He would die. Saying "…for this cause I came into the world …that no man takes my life from me, but I lay it down." He gave it as a deliberate and conscious act. This was necessary and only He could fulfill this mission. The eternal truth of this is demonstrated in the reference to Yeshua as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. It occurred at a point in time but it was part of the master plan from the beginning and continues to be the pivotal point in all of history.
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An application from nature as to our condition:
Pg 23 "No tree can grow except on the root from which it sprang. Through all its existence it can only live by the life that was in the seed that gave it being. The full apprehension of this truth in its application to the first and Second Adam cannot but help us to understand both the need and the nature of the redemption that is in Jesus."
The Need:
"When the Old Serpent, who had been cast out of heaven for his pride, whose whole nature was pride, spoke temptation into Eve’s ear, those words carried with them the very poison of hell. And when she listened, and yielded her desire and her will to the prospect of being like God, knowing good and evil, the poison entered into her soul, destroying forever that blessed humility and dependence upon God that would have been our everlasting inheritance and happiness. Her life and the life of the race that sprang from her became corrupted to its very root with that most terrible of sins and curses---Satan’s pride. All the wretchedness of which this world has been the scene, all its wars and bloodshed among the nations, all its selfishness and suffering, all its vain ambitions and jealousies, all its broken hearts and embittered lives, with all its daily unhappiness, have their origin in what this cursed pride-our own or that of others-has brought upon us. It is pride that made redemption necessary; it is from our pride that we need, above everything else, to be redeemed. And our insight into the need of redemption will largely depend upon our knowledge of the terrible nature of the power of pride that has entered our being."
Pg 24 "As we have said, no tree can grow except on the root from which it sprang. The pride that Satan brought from hell and whispered into the life of humankind is working daily, hourly, and with mighty power throughout the world. Men and women suffer from it; they fear and fight and flee it; and yet they don’t always know where it has come from or how it has gained such terrible supremacy. No wonder they don’t know how to overcome it. Pride has its root and strength in a spiritual power, outside of us as well as within us; as needful as it is that we confess and deplore it, it is satanic in origin. If this leads us to utter despair of ever conquering or casting it out, it will lead us all the sooner to the supernatural power in which alone our deliverance is to be found-the redemption of the Lamb of God. The hopeless struggle against the workings of self and pride within us may indeed become still more hopeless as we think of the power of darkness behind it; the utter despair will fit us better for realizing and accepting a power and a life outside of ourselves, the humility of heaven brought down by the Lamb of God to cast out Satan and his pride."
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Paul’s View of Defeating the Dark Spiritual Powers:
Eph 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Eph 6:13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Eph 6:18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints…
Eph 6:23 Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love incorruptible.
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Pg 25 "Even as we need to look to the first Adam and his failure to know the power of sin within us, we need to know the Second Adam and His power to give us the life of humility as real as abiding and enabling as was the life of pride. We have our life from and in Christ even more certainly than from and in Adam. We are to walk "rooted in him, holding fast the head from whom the whole body increases with the increase of God " (Colossians 2). The life of God that entered human nature through the incarnation, is the root in which we are to stand and grow; it is the same almighty power that worked there, at the Cross, and onward to the Resurrection, which works daily in us. It is of the utmost importance that we study to know and trust the life that has been revealed in Christ as the life that is now ours, and waits for our consent to gain possession and mastery of our whole being."
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Get to know the life of Yeshua.
Psalm 138:6 Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly…
Our Part:
Isaiah 1:16 "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless; Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. 18 Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.
His Promise:
2Chronicles 7:14 KJV If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
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"Humility is the proper estimate of oneself." Charles Spurgeon
"If you are looking for an example of humility, look to the cross." Thomas Aquinas
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Conclusion:
Isaiah 66:2 "For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being," declares the LORD. "But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.
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Thy Kingdom come… Amen
(* editing is done to shorten length - you are encouraged to read the full commentary(s))
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