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The Spirit Of Charity Is An Humble Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:4-5) | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome to Reformed thinking. I was just walking through a
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  bookstore the other day and I was just scanning the best
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  sellers, you know, the ones they put right up front.
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  And I noticed this pattern was was overwhelming.
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  Actually. It felt like every single book
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  was about expansion. How to expand your influence?
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  How to expand your wealth? How to, you know, take up more
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  space in the room? Sure, the be bigger section.
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  Exactly. Assertiveness training books
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  with titles like The Art of Not Caring What People Think.
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  It's all designed to make the self bigger, louder, more
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  invincible. Well, that's the air we breathe,
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  isn't it? The entire modern world is sort
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  of built on this foundation of self projection.
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  You're not projecting yourself, you feel like you're invisible.
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  Right. And then, because I guess I
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  enjoy a bit of whiplash, I went home and opened up a sermon from
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  1738 by Jonathan Edwards, and it felt like he was taking a
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  sledgehammer to that entire bookshelf.
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  That sounds like Edwards. We're continuing our series on
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  his famous work Charity and Its Fruits, which is his big
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  exposition of First Corinthians 13.
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  Today we are looking at the sermon titled The Spirit of
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  Charity is an Humble Spirit. And this is really the one where
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  Edwards argues that the Christian life is it's not about
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  that expansion we see in the bookstore.
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  It's about a kind of contraction, or maybe a better
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  way to put it is a right sizing of the self.
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  A right sizing. I like that the sermon is based
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  on 1st Corinthians 13 verses 4 and 5.
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  Specifically, the phrase charity vaunteth not itself is not
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  puffed up. And I have to say, just looking
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  at the notes for today, this might be the most
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  countercultural topic we've ever tackled.
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  We're talking about humility and not that fake humility where
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  you're sort of fishing for compliments, you know?
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  Oh, this old thing. No, we're talking about the kind
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  of humility that Edwards says is the actual engine of all
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  Christian love. That's a great way to frame it
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  because we often think of humility as just a personality
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  quirk. You know, some people are loud,
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  some are quiet, some are arrogant, some are humble.
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  It's just a temperament. Yeah, preference.
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  But Edwards is going to argue, no, humility is not a
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  temperament. It's a theological necessity.
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  In fact, he's going to make the case that without this specific
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  view of yourself, you literally cannot love God, and you
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  certainly cannot love your neighbor.
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  It's that central. So we've got a lot of ground to
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  cover. We're going to look at Edwards
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  definition of humility, which is a suprisingly technical it's not
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  fuzzy at all. Not at all.
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  We're going to discuss a really mindbending idea.
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  He resents that God cannot be humble.
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  We'll look at why the devil is in one sense a very good
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  theologian but a very bad Christian.
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  And then we're going to get practical and go through a whole
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  checklist of behaviors that humility prevents.
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  Oh, that checklist is brutal. I'll just warn you now, it's a
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  mirror that most of us will not like looking into.
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  I can confirm I certainly didn't.
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  But let's start with the text itself.
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  Charity Vanteth Not itself is not puffed up.
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  Edwards connects us immediately back to what we talked about in
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  the last deep dive, the subject of envy.
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  Right context is everything here in the verse right before this,
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  Paul says charity envieth, not now.
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  Envy is a feeling directed at what other people have.
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  It's an outward. Look, it's totally outward.
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  It's looking at your neighbor's new car or their happy marriage
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  or the promotion they just got, and you feel that sourness in
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  your stomach. You want to tear them down
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  because they have something you think you lack.
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  So Envy is looking out. Correct.
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  But now, Edwards says, Paul just flips the coin.
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  Vaunting or being puffed up is about what you have.
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  It's looking inward at your own success, your own money, your
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  own spiritual gifts and feeling a sense of inflation.
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  Inflation is a perfect word for puffed up.
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  It really is like a balloon. You're full of hot air.
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  And Edwards makes this really sharp social observation.
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  He asks what causes envy. Well, usually it's someone else
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  vaunting themselves. It's a cause and effect.
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  When a rich man walks around acting like he's the king of the
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  world, it directly provokes envy in the poor man.
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  It stirs up strife. It creates tension.
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  That's interesting. So my pride is actually a
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  stumbling block for you. If I'm arrogant about my
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  blessings, I am actively tempting you to sin against me.
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  Precisely, You're creating the conditions for envy to flourish.
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  And this is where the spirit of charity, as Edwards calls it,
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  comes in. If love is operating in me, I
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  will not act superior. It just won't happen.
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  And if I don't act superior, it acts as a kind of soothing balm
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  to everyone around me. Edwards argues that humility
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  reconciles people to your high status.
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  He says you can be the richest man in town.
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  You can be the most successful person.
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  And if you are genuinely humble, people won't hate you for it.
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  They might even be glad for you. Because you're not rubbing their
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  noses in it. You're not making them feel
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  small to make yourself feel big. That is the core of it.
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  Pride is a 0 sum game. It's competitive.
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  For me to win, you have to lose. Humility is cooperative, it
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  says. We're all in this together.
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  OK, so if being puffed up is the problem, humility is the
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  solution. But we really need to define our
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  terms here. In the modern world, humility
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  gets confused with all sorts of things, like self hatred, or
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  it's just seen as weakness, you know, being a doormat.
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  How does Edwards define it? He gives a definition that is
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  incredibly precise. There's no wiggle room, he says.
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  Humility is a habit of mind and heart corresponding to our
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  comparative unworthiness and vileness before God.
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  OK, let's stop right there and just pull that apart.
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  That is dense, a habit of mind and heart.
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  First part, it's not a one time decision.
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  You don't just wake up on a Tuesday.
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  I decide today I'm going to be humble.
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  And then you're done. It's a habit.
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  It's a settled disposition, something that becomes part of
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  your character over time. And mind and heart both.
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  Both. He's very clear on this.
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  It has to start with the intellect, the mind.
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  You have to understand something true about yourself.
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  But that's not enough. It has to move to the will, the
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  heart. You have to not just know that
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  truth, but agree with it, consent to it, even embrace it.
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  And the truth you're supposed to be embracing is your comparative
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  unworthiness. That word comparative, is the
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  absolute key to this whole sermon.
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  It's the hinge. Edwards is going to argue that
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  you cannot know who you are in a vacuum.
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  You can only know who you are by comparing yourself to something
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  else. This reminds me of that old idea
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  that a man who's, say, 5 foot 5 might feel tall in a
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  kindergarten class, but he feels very, very short in the NBA.
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  It's all about the comparison point.
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  That's spot on, Edwards says. Our constant problem is that we
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  usually compare ourselves to each other.
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  I look at you and I think, well, I pray more than he does.
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  I give more money to the church. I'm a pretty good guy.
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  I'm judging myself by the standard of other broken finite
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  people. We're all 5 foot five guys
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  comparing ourselves to other 5 foot five guys.
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  We. Are and we might feel pretty
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  good about it, Edward says. True humility only, and I mean
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  only, happens when the comparison point becomes God.
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  And when you compare yourself to God, the result is unworthiness
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  and vileness. Those are very strong words, I
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  know. Especially vileness.
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  But he's talking about two very specific gaps between US and
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  God. The first gap is the gap of
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  being a creature. That's the unworthiness part.
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  You are finite, God is infinite. You have a beginning.
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  He doesn't. And the second gap?
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  The second GAD is the gap of being a Sinner.
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  That's the vileness part. You are morally dirty.
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  God is perfectly clean. And for Edwards, you have to see
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  both of those gaps to have true humility.
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  We're going to unpack those two gaps in a minute because he goes
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  into incredible detail there. But before we do, I want to
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  tackle this theological paradox he sets up.
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  I honestly read this Section 3 times because I thought I was
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  misreading it. Edwards argues that humility is
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  a virtue that applies to every holy being in the universe,
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  angels, Saints, even Jesus Christ, but it does not and
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  cannot apply to God the Father. It just stops you in your
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  tracks, doesn't it? It's completely
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  counterintuitive. We're trained to think that we
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  should imitate God in all things, be holy as He is holy,
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  be loving as He is loving. Right.
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  Be merciful as He is merciful. But Edwards says you cannot be
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  humble as he is humble because God is not humble.
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  OK, walk us through the logic there.
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  Because if humility is a good thing, a virtue, and God is the
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  sum of all good things, how can he possibly lack it?
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  It goes right back to that definition we just talked about,
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  comparative unworthiness. For God to be humble, he would
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  have to look at something outside of himself and see it as
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  superior. He would have to have a sense
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  that he is small compared to some other higher standard.
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  But he is the standard. There's nothing higher.
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  Right. There is no one above him.
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  He is, as Isaiah says, the high and lofty one who inhabits
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  eternity. If God were to act humble in the
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  way we think of it, if he were to say, oh, I'm not that great,
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  or I submit to a higher authority, he would be lying.
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  He would be denying his own nature as the supreme being of
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  the universe. And God cannot lie.
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  He cannot. So Edwards concludes that
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  humility is the specific, defining virtue that
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  distinguishes the creator from the creature.
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  It's the boundary line. To be a creature is to be
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  humble. To be the creator is to be high.
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  There's no crossover. So when we try to be proud, when
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  we get puffed up, we're essentially trying to cross that
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  boundary line. We are trying to wear God's
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  clothes. That is the essence of sin,
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  going all the way back to the garden.
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  It's a creature trying to steal the glory and the status that
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  belongs only to the Creator. It's cosmic plagiarism.
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  It's trying to be God. But what about Jesus though?
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  He is God. He is God, yes, but he is also
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  man, and this is where the distinction is so important.
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  Edwards points out that in his human nature, Christ is the most
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  humble being. Whoever lived, He told people He
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  was meek and lowly. He washed his disciples feet.
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  He submitted to the Father's will, even to the point of
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  death. So Christ is our model for
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  humility. He is our model for what a
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  perfect human should be. He shows us how a perfect human
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  relates to God the Father. So He embodies humility in his
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  created human nature while still being God in His divine nature.
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  It's a profound mystery. That makes sense.
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  So humility is basically just sanity.
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  It's simply acknowledging the reality of your position in the
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  hierarchy of being. Sanity is the perfect word for
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  it. I think Edwards would love that.
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  Pride is a delusion. It is a genuine break with
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  reality. It's walking around thinking
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  you're a giant when you're actually an Ant standing next to
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  a mountain. Humility is simply turning the
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  lights on and seeing things as they really are.
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  OK, so let's get into the two ways Edwards says We are mean
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  again for you listening. In 1738, mean didn't mean nasty
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  or cruel. It meant low, common, or small.
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  He breaks this down into natural meanness and moral meanness.
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  Let's start with the natural. Natural meanness is simply the
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  state of being a created thing. That's it.
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  This applies to you, it applies to me.
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  It applies to the highest Archangel in heaven, and it
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  would have applied to Adam and Eve even if they had never eaten
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  the forbidden fruit. So this is not about sin.
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  Not yet. This is just about ontology.
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  It's about what you are. It's the infinite distance
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  between something that has a beginning and the being that has
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  no beginning. He uses that phrase dust and
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  ashes. He's pulling that directly from
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  Abraham. In Genesis 18, Abraham is
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  interceding for Sodom. He's talking to God, and he
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  says, Behold, now I've taken upon me to speak unto the Lord,
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  which am but dust and ashes. Abraham isn't confessing a
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  specific sin in that moment, he's confessing his
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  creatureliness. Right.
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  He's saying you are spirit, I am dirt, you are eternal, I am
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  fragile. You breathe life into me.
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  Exactly. It's a staggering thought when
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  you really sit with it. Even the angels in heaven, who
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  in our minds are these terrifying, powerful beings of
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  light? If they stand next to God,
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  they're like a single candle held up against the noon sun.
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  The flame just disappears. It's swallowed up.
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  So even a perfect unfallen creature has this natural
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  meanness. Yes, and Edwards makes the point
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  that we have to feel this natural meanness first.
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  Why? First, why is the order
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  important? Because if you don't understand
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  the sheer scale difference between you and God, you will
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  never understand the real problem of your sin.
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  You have to 1st realize you're dealing with what he calls the
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  fountain of being. If you just think God is a
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  slightly bigger, slightly better version of a human, then your
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  sin doesn't seem like such a big deal.
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  A minor infraction. The minor infraction against a
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  local king. But if you realize He is the
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  infinite fire of all existence, then your sin is an absolute
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  catastrophe of cosmic proportions.
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  Which brings us to the second type, moral meanness.
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  This is where the Reformed doctrine of total depravity
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  comes walking into the room. It kicks the door down.
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  Natural meanness is just about being small.
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  Moral meanness is about being bad.
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  Edward says that because of the fall of man, we now have a
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  tenfold meanness. Our natural smallness is
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  compounded by a moral corruption.
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  Using these really jarring words like filthiness and pollution is
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  not very flattering language. It's not meant to be.
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  He's a doctor diagnosing A fatal condition.
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  He says that the fall did two things to us.
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  First, it impaired our natural faculties.
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  We became spiritually stupid. We are ignorant of God.
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  We are weak. We are totally dependent on Him
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  for our next breath. And yet we act like we're in
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  charge. So our natural smallness got
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  worse. It got worse.
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  And 2nd on top of that, we became morally.
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  We turned against the very source of our life.
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  We became rebels. So now when we stand before God,
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  we are not just small fragile creatures standing before a big
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  creator. We are guilty criminal creatures
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  standing before a perfectly holy.
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  Judge. He quotes Isaiah 6.5 here.
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  When Isaiah sees God in the temple, woe is me, for I am
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  undone because I am a man of unclean lips.
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  Note that reaction. Isaiah sees the Lord high and
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  lifted up and he doesn't say, wow, what a cool light show.
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  He says I am coming apart at the seams.
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  He is disintegrated by the stark contrast between God's absolute
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  holiness and his own deep seated corruption.
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  And he mentions Job too. Oh yes, after Job spends what,
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  30 something chapters questioning God and defending
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  himself, God finally shows up in the whirlwind.
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  And what does Job say? I have heard of thee by the
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  hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, Wherefore I
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  abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
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  I abhor myself. I mean that that is a sentiment
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  you will not find in the self help buy all at the bookstore.
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  No, you will not. But for Edwards, it is the only
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  possible path to real joy. Because until you are emptied of
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  that false, puffed up confidence in yourself, you cannot be
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  filled with God. You have to be brought low
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  before you can be lifted up. This leads to one of the most
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  fascinating distinctions in the whole sermon.
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  Edwards brings up the devil, and he argues that in one sense, the
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  devil is very, very aware of his meanness.
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  This is just a psychological master class from Edwards.
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  He asked this question, Does Satan know he's smaller than
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  God? Of course he does.
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  Of course he does. Satan is not an atheist, and
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  he's certainly not stupid. He knows God's power better than
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  any of us do. He has felt the weight of God's
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  hand casting him out of heaven. He's seen it first hand.
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  So in terms of that natural meanness, the devil gets it.
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  He knows he's a creature and God is the creator.
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  Correct. The Bible says the devils
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  believe and tremble. They have a very clear
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  intellectual grasp of God's infinite greatness and power.
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  But, and this is the absolute pivot point of the whole sermon,
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  they have no humility. Why not?
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  If they know the truth about their creatureliness, why aren't
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  they humble? Because they see God's
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  greatness, but they do not see his loveliness.
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  This is crucial for Edwards. The devil looks at God and sees
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  a terrifying judge. He sees a power that can and
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  will crush him, so he shrinks back in fear and terror, but his
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  heart remains as hard as a rock. He hates the power that crushes
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  him. So terror is not the same thing
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  as humility. Not even close.
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  Being crushed by a bully makes you resentful and ditter, not
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  humble. True humility, the kind that
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  creates a spirit of charity, requires seeing the beauty of
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  God's holiness. You have to look at God and not
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  to say he is strong, but he is good, He is desirable, He is
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  excellent in every way. So when you see that beauty, you
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  don't just bow because you have to, like a prisoner before a
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  king, You bow because you want to.
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  You're captivated. Exactly.
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  The Saint sees God's holiness and says that is what I was made
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  for, but I am so far from it. It breaks their heart.
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  But it's a sweet breaking. It's a melting of the will.
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  The devil is broken like a rock being smashed with a hammer.
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  The Saint is broken, like ice melting in the spring sun.
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  That's a beautiful image, and it explains why legalism just
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  trying to follow the rules out of fear never produces real
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  humility. If you're just afraid of God's
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  rules, you might act obedient on the outside, but inside you're
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  just managing your pride. You aren't killing it.
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  Right. You're just a scared rebel.
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  You're not a humble child. OK, so we have the definition,
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  we have the theology behind it. Now Edwards moves to the
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  practice. He asks if a person actually has
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  this sense of their comparative unworthiness, how does it change
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  the way they act in the real world?
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  And he starts with their behavior toward God.
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  He lists several specific responses and they all flow from
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  this new self-awareness. The first is confession, and he
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  adds this little qualifier. Free confession.
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  What does he mean by free? He means you don't have to be
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  dragged to it kicking and screaming.
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  For a proud person, admitting you're wrong is like pulling
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  teeth. It's painful.
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  They make excuses. Well, I did it, but I wouldn't
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  have done it if you hadn't. The humble person confesses
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  freely because they already know they're nothing.
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  They're not trying to protect some grand reputation.
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  They're just agreeing with what God already knows to be true
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  about them. It's like they're just stating
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  the obvious facts of the case. Yes, I'm a Sinner.
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  Of course I messed up. What did you expect?
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  It creates a kind of spiritual lightness.
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  Then he talks about self distrust.
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  This is the complete opposite of the believe in yourself mantra
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  of our age. Edward says a humble man knows
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  his own heart is deceitful above all things.
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  He knows his own wisdom is incredibly limited, so he
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  doesn't trust his own hot takes on everything.
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  He's slow to speak. He's suspicious of his own
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  certainty. Deeply suspicious, which
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  naturally leads to the next point, reliance.
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  If I can't trust myself well, I have to trust God.
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  I have to cast myself wholly on Him.
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  I have to lean on His wisdom, His strength, and especially His
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  righteousness. Then he mentions subjection, and
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  this is where the rubber really meets the road for most of us.
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  I think. He talks about subjection to
• 18:10
  God's laws, which is basic obedience, but then he talks
• 18:14
  about subjection to God's Providence.
• 18:16
  And that is the harder test by far.
• 18:18
  Subjection to Providence means accepting the life God has given
• 18:21
  you, even when it's painful, even when it seems unfair,
• 18:25
  without charging God with wrongdoing.
• 18:27
  This is the job mindset again, isn't it?
• 18:29
  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
• 18:31
  Blessed be the name of the Lord. It's the ability to suffer
• 18:34
  without becoming bitter. The proud person in suffering
• 18:37
  says I'm a good person, I deserve a good life.
• 18:39
  Why is this happening to me? The humble person says I am a
• 18:43
  Sinner saved by grace. Anything short of hell is a
• 18:46
  mercy I don't deserve. That sounds incredibly harsh to
• 18:49
  modern ears. It is harsh, it's supposed to
• 18:51
  be, but Edwards would argue it's also the only thing that makes
• 18:55
  suffering bearable. If you feel entitled to a pain
• 18:58
  free life, then every headache, every flat tire, every
• 19:01
  disappointment is a grave injustice you are constantly
• 19:05
  litigating against God in your heart.
• 19:07
  Constantly on trial. Constantly.
• 19:08
  But if you're humble, you can find a strange contentment even
• 19:12
  in the valley. You submit to God's sovereignty.
• 19:14
  You say you are the king. You do what you will.
• 19:16
  I trust your character even when I don't understand your plan.
• 19:19
  OK, so that's the vertical aspect of relationship with God.
• 19:23
  Now let's shift to the horizontal.
• 19:25
  Edward spends the bulk of the sermon talking about how this
• 19:28
  humility toward God totally transforms our behavior toward
• 19:32
  other people. He lists 7 specific things that
• 19:34
  humility prevents. It's the diagnostic checklist
• 19:38
  for Pride. And this is where we really see
• 19:39
  why he calls humility the spirit of charity.
• 19:41
  Because you simply cannot love people well if you're doing any
• 19:44
  of these seven things. Pride makes love impossible.
• 19:47
  OK, number one on his list. It prevents aspiring or
• 19:51
  ambitious behavior. Now we need to be careful here
• 19:54
  and add some new ones. Edwards was a Puritan, but he
• 19:58
  wasn't saying you can't have a job or try to feed your family.
• 20:01
  Well, he's not against work. He's talking about that
• 20:03
  restless, climbing spirit, the spirit that is never content
• 20:07
  with the station God has allotted to it.
• 20:10
  The person who is always looking over the fence thinking the
• 20:12
  grass is greener. Or the person who sees other
• 20:15
  people not as fellow humans, but as rungs on a ladder to their
• 20:19
  own success. He quotes Jeremiah 45.
• 20:22
  Seekest thou great things for thyself?
• 20:24
  Seek them not. The humble man is not obsessed
• 20:27
  with getting a bigger title or bigger house or more followers
• 20:30
  on social media. He's happy to serve where he is.
• 20:32
  It's a death blow to careerism, not to excellence.
• 20:36
  Christians should always be excellent in their work, but
• 20:39
  that desperate gnawing need to be somebody important.
• 20:42
  Right, because if you already know you're a child of the King,
• 20:44
  you don't need to climb some rickety corporate ladder to find
• 20:47
  your identity. You already have the highest
• 20:49
  possible status. Everything else is just a
• 20:51
  temporary assignment. #2 Humility prevents ostentatious
• 20:56
  behavior. This is, Simply put, showing
• 20:59
  off. It's the difference between
• 21:01
  doing a good deed and making absolutely sure everyone knows
• 21:05
  you did that good deed. It's the selfie you take while
• 21:08
  giving money to the homeless person.
• 21:09
  It is exactly that, Edward says. The humble man is largely
• 21:13
  indifferent to human applause. He goes right to the Pharisees
• 21:16
  who prayed on street corner so everyone could see how spiritual
• 21:19
  they were. Why did they do that?
• 21:22
  Because they wanted the glory of men.
• 21:25
  The humble man is content that God sees in secret.
• 21:28
  Just think about how much anxiety that one principle
• 21:31
  removes from your life. If you genuinely do not care if
• 21:35
  other people clap for you, you're free.
• 21:36
  You're completely free from the performance trap.
• 21:39
  You can just be faithful, whether you're on a stage, in
• 21:41
  front of thousands, or alone in a closet.
• 21:43
  All right #3 it prevents arrogant or assuming behavior.
• 21:47
  This describes the person who walks into any room and just
• 21:50
  assumes they're the smartest one there.
• 21:52
  They take too much upon themselves.
• 21:54
  They dominate every conversation.
• 21:55
  They expect everyone to just defer to their opinion as if
• 21:58
  it's the final word. Edwards quotes Philippians 2
• 22:01
  here. Let each esteem other better
• 22:03
  than themselves. And what a radical command that
• 22:06
  is. Esteem others better.
• 22:08
  The arrogant man thinks I should be in charge here.
• 22:11
  The humble man thinks I can probably learn something from
• 22:14
  every single person in this room.
• 22:17
  It's the death of what we might call main character syndrome.
• 22:20
  You realize you're a supporting actor in God's great story, and
• 22:23
  so is your neighbor. #4 on the list.
• 22:26
  It prevents scornful behavior. This is a huge one for the
• 22:29
  Internet age. Scorn, contempt, sneering,
• 22:33
  sarcasm as a weapon, Edwards says.
• 22:35
  This is a primary, unmistakable sign of pride.
• 22:38
  If you are constantly mocking people, ridiculing their
• 22:41
  intelligence, or treating them like they're garbage, you are
• 22:43
  not a humble person. Full stop.
• 22:45
  He uses the word condescension here, but he uses it in the old
• 22:48
  positive way, which is confusing for us.
• 22:51
  Yes, we've completely ruined that word today.
• 22:54
  Condescending means talking down to someone like they're an
• 22:57
  idiot. In the 18th century, it meant a
• 23:00
  superior person voluntarily coming down to the level of an
• 23:03
  inferior person in order to treat them with kindness and
• 23:06
  dignity. It's what a good father does
• 23:09
  when he gets down on his knees to look his toddler in the eye.
• 23:12
  It's what God did in the incarnation.
• 23:14
  Precisely. God condescended to become man,
• 23:18
  Edwards says. The humble Christian is willing
• 23:20
  to condescend to men of low estate.
• 23:22
  They treat the janitor with the exact same respect and courtesy
• 23:25
  as the CEO. They don't roll their eyes at
• 23:27
  people who are less educated or less cultured than them. #5 it
• 23:32
  prevents willful or stubborn behavior.
• 23:34
  This is about being flexible and yieldable.
• 23:37
  Now, Edwards draws a very important line here.
• 23:40
  He says the humble man is immovable, inflexible as steel
• 23:43
  when it comes to the cause of truth and virtue.
• 23:45
  If God says something is a sin, the humble man doesn't budget an
• 23:48
  inch. He doesn't compromise God's
• 23:50
  honor. But in matters of personal
• 23:52
  preference or self-interest. He yields.
• 23:54
  He gives way if we're arguing about where to go for lunch, or
• 23:58
  who gets the credit for a successful project at work, or
• 24:01
  who has the right of way in traffic.
• 24:03
  The humble man let's it go. He follows that coat and cloak
• 24:07
  principle from the Sermon on the Mount.
• 24:09
  If any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let
• 24:13
  him have thy cloak also. The proud man fights that
• 24:16
  lawsuit to the bitter end because it's the principle of
• 24:19
  the thing, the humble man says. It's just a coat.
• 24:22
  You can have it. My real treasure is in heaven,
• 24:24
  and you can't touch that. He is a peacemaker, even if it
• 24:28
  costs her his preferences. OK, number six, it prevents
• 24:31
  leveling behavior. This one needs some cultural
• 24:34
  translation because leveling was a specific political movement in
• 24:38
  Edwards Day. It was.
• 24:39
  We have to remember Edwards was not a modern Democrat.
• 24:41
  He believed in a structured, hierarchical society.
• 24:44
  He believed God ordained different stations, magistrates,
• 24:47
  kings, fathers, masters. Levelling was the spirit that
• 24:51
  wanted to tear down all authority and make everyone
• 24:53
  equal by force. Those of that burn it all down.
• 24:56
  Energy we sometimes see. Right, Edward says.
• 24:59
  True humility respects the order God has placed in the world.
• 25:03
  It renders honor to whom honor is due.
• 25:05
  If someone is your boss, you treat them with respect, not
• 25:08
  because they are necessarily a better person than you, but
• 25:11
  because they hold an office ordained by God.
• 25:14
  You don't try to drag them down out of envy or resentment.
• 25:17
  But he flips it for the person in the superior position too.
• 25:20
  He does. It's a two way St. he says if
• 25:23
  you are in a high position, humility prevents you from
• 25:26
  crushing those below you. You don't try to keep people
• 25:29
  down to protect your own power. In fact, a humble leader should
• 25:33
  be happy when their subordinates rise and succeed, even if they
• 25:36
  eventually surpass them. That's the test, isn't it?
• 25:39
  Can you genuinely cheer for your subordinate when they get
• 25:42
  promoted above you? That is the acid test of
• 25:44
  humility and leadership. If you can do that with a
• 25:46
  sincere heart, you have the Spirit of Christ.
• 25:49
  If you resent it, you have the spirit of the world.
• 25:51
  Finally #7 it prevents self justifying behavior.
• 25:55
  This brings us right back to confession.
• 25:57
  The proud man cannot bear to be wrong.
• 26:00
  It's physically painful for him. If you criticize him, he
• 26:03
  immediately attacks you back. He changes the subject.
• 26:06
  He brings up your past faults. Well, I wouldn't have yelled if
• 26:08
  you hadn't done X. That's blame shifting.
• 26:11
  It started in the Garden of Eden, The woman you gave me.
• 26:14
  It's Adam's move. It is the oldest trick in the
• 26:16
  fallen human playbook. But the humble man, Edwards
• 26:19
  says, is easy to entreat. He takes the shame to himself.
• 26:23
  If you correct a humble person, they actually listen.
• 26:26
  They weigh it, and if there's even a kernel of truth in it,
• 26:29
  they accept it with gratitude. He quotes Psalm 141.
• 26:33
  Let the righteous snipe me, it shall be a kindness, and let him
• 26:36
  reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil.
• 26:39
  Just imagine that. Imagine viewing a sharp rebuke
• 26:42
  as a kindness. Imagine thinking, thank you for
• 26:44
  pointing out that spinach in my teeth instead of how dare you
• 26:47
  look at my teeth. That is the freedom of humility.
• 26:50
  You're not trying to maintain a facade of perfection, so you
• 26:52
  don't have to panic when someone points out a flaw.
• 26:55
  This checklist is. It's exhausting really.
• 26:58
  It shows how far most of us are from this standard.
• 27:01
  But Edwards moves from diagnosis to application.
• 27:03
  Now he wants us to examine ourselves, and he starts by
• 27:07
  warning us about counterfeit of humility.
• 27:10
  This is very pastoral of him. He knows that some people are
• 27:12
  just naturally shy or quiet, or maybe they have a melancholy
• 27:15
  temperament. They're prone to sadness and low
• 27:18
  moods, he says. Do not mistake your depression
• 27:22
  for Christian humility. That is a vital distinction.
• 27:25
  Depression is often a chemical or psychological distortion of
• 27:28
  reality. It tells you lies like I am
• 27:30
  garbage, I am completely worthless.
• 27:33
  Humility is a clear eyed vision of reality.
• 27:35
  It says I am a Sinner, but I am a Sinner who is infinitely loved
• 27:39
  and valued by God. They are not the same thing.
• 27:41
  Right, and depression is often very self focused.
• 27:44
  You become obsessed with your own farriers and your own
• 27:46
  sadness. True humility is actually self
• 27:48
  forgetful. You're so busy looking at God's
• 27:50
  greatness and beauty that you stop thinking about yourself all
• 27:52
  the time. He also warns about Satan's
• 27:54
  delusions. People who act super spiritual
• 27:57
  and are always groveling, but they're actually proud of how
• 28:00
  humble they look. The holier than thou humble
• 28:03
  person. It's a subtle trap.
• 28:05
  False piety. The standard, Edward says, is
• 28:09
  always the source in the heart. Does your low view of self
• 28:12
  spring from a genuine sight of God's loveliness?
• 28:15
  Or is it just a performance to get attention or to manipulate
• 28:19
  people? Then he turns and addresses the
• 28:21
  unregenerate, those who are not Christians, and he does not pull
• 28:24
  any punches here. He says if you're not a
• 28:26
  Christian, you are by definition a proud person.
• 28:29
  Even if you're the nicest, most polite, most modest grandmother
• 28:33
  on the planet, if you have not submitted to the Gospel of Jesus
• 28:35
  Christ, you are in a state of high treason against the King of
• 28:38
  the Universe. Why?
• 28:40
  What's this connection? Because the gospel requires you
• 28:42
  to do the one thing the proud heart cannot stand to do, admit
• 28:46
  you can do nothing to save yourself.
• 28:48
  It requires you to accept charity.
• 28:50
  It requires you to hold out empty hands and say I am
• 28:53
  spiritually bankrupt and I need the perfect righteousness of
• 28:55
  another. The proud heart hates that.
• 28:57
  It wants to earn its way. It wants to contribute
• 29:00
  something. So to refuse Christ is the
• 29:02
  ultimate act of arrogance. It's saying to God your
• 29:05
  diagnosis is wrong, I'm not that sick, and your remedy, the
• 29:08
  cross, is unnecessary. I am good enough on my own.
• 29:12
  There is no higher pride than that.
• 29:14
  And Edwards reminds us that God is literally at war with that
• 29:17
  spirit. He uses this terrifying
• 29:19
  language. He says God sets himself in
• 29:21
  battle array against the proud. He lines up the artillery.
• 29:24
  He gives historical examples. Pharaoh, Haman, Herod, all these
• 29:28
  men who thought they were gods in their own right and God just
• 29:31
  flicked them away like flies. But for the believer, the tone
• 29:33
  is completely different. Humility isn't a punishment,
• 29:36
  it's a gateway to joy. It is the ornament of great
• 29:39
  price, as Peter says. Edwards argues that humility is
• 29:42
  the very spirit with which God chooses to dwell.
• 29:45
  He quotes Isaiah 57.15. For thus saith the high and
• 29:49
  lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is, that is
• 29:55
  of a contrite and humble spirit. Just think about that for a
• 29:58
  second. The God who is too high for the
• 30:00
  heavens to contain shrinks himself down, in a manner of
• 30:03
  speaking, to fit inside a humble human heart.
• 30:06
  It's the greatest promise in all of Scripture.
• 30:09
  If you go low, God comes near. If you try to stay high and
• 30:12
  puffed up, God stays far away. He resists the proud.
• 30:16
  And in the end, humility leads to glory.
• 30:19
  He that humbles himself shall be exalted.
• 30:22
  It's the basic physics of the Kingdom of God.
• 30:24
  Down is the only way up. As we wrap up this deep dive, I
• 30:28
  want to leave you with that thought we touched on earlier,
• 30:30
  the one about the demons. It's a haunting thought, really.
• 30:33
  You can know everything about God, His power, His wrath, His
• 30:37
  sovereignty, and still be a devil.
• 30:39
  You can be the best theologian in the seminary, get a perfect
• 30:42
  score on your systematic theology exam, and still be
• 30:45
  totally lost. Because the missing ingredient
• 30:47
  isn't more knowledge in your head, it's the sight of beauty.
• 30:51
  It's that melting of the heart that says he is not just great,
• 30:55
  he is lovely. And that, Edwards would say,
• 30:58
  only comes from the work of the Holy Spirit.
• 30:59
  You can't manufacture it. You can't psych yourself up for
• 31:01
  it. You have to ask for it.
• 31:03
  So that's the challenge for all of us this week.
• 31:05
  Not just to try and act humble by keeping our mouths shut more
• 31:09
  often, but to actually look at God in His Word until we see His
• 31:14
  beauty. Because once you truly see it,
• 31:16
  the humility will start to take care of itself.
• 31:19
  You won't have to try to be humble, you will just be stunned
• 31:22
  into it. Thank you for joining us on
• 31:24
  Reform Thinking. We hope this heavy lifting helps
• 31:26
  you walk a little lighter this week.
• 31:28
  Grace and peace.