Humility and happiness.
Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the strength of Christ may rest upon me. Wherefore I take pleasure in weakness, for when I am weak, then am I strong. - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.
To keep apostle Paul from exalting himself because of the greatness of the revelations he had received, a thorn in the flesh was given to him, a messenger of Satan to humble him.
At first, apostle Paul asked the Lord three times to take it away. But the answer he received showed that the trial was actually a gift.
In the weakness and humiliation it brought, the grace and strength of Christ could shine more clearly.
Apostle Paul's response was immediate and complete. He entered into a new understanding of suffering.
Instead of merely enduring the trial, he began to rejoice in it.
Instead of praying for it to be removed, he took pleasure in it.
He had learned that the place of lowliness is the place of blessing, of power, and of joy.
Every Christian in the pursuit of humility passes through two stages.
In the first stage, he fears and avoids everything that might humble him.
He has not yet learned to seek humility at any cost.
He accepts the command to be humble and tries to obey it only to discover again and again how deeply he fails.
He prays for humility, sometimes very earnestly, but deep in his heart, he also prays, whether with words or silent wishes, to be spared from the very things that would make him humble.
He does not yet love humility as the beauty of the lamb of God or as the joy of heaven, so much that he would give up everything to gain it.
In this stage, both the pursuit of humility and the prayer for it still carry a sense of burden of duty or even bondage.
Humbling himself has not yet become the natural expression of a life and nature transformed by humility.
It is not yet his joy or delight.
He cannot yet say, "Most gladly do I glory in weakness. I take pleasure in whatever humbles me."
But can we truly hope to reach the place where this becomes real in us without question?
And what will bring us there?
The same thing that brought apostle Paul there.
A fresh revelation of the Lord Jesus.
Only the Presence of God can reveal and drive out self.
Apostle Paul was given a deeper understanding of this truth that the presence of Jesus Christ removes every desire to find anything in ourselves and causes us to rejoice in every humiliation that prepares us for more of him.
Through these humblings and through the power of Jesus Christ made real in them, we come to choose humility as our greatest treasure.
Let us learn from apostle Paul's lifestory.
There may be mature believers, gifted teachers, and those with deep spiritual experiences who still have not fully learned the lesson of perfect humility, of gladly glorying in weakness.
We see this even in apostle Paul. The danger of pride was still close.
He had not yet fully learned what it meant to be nothing, to die so that Christ alone might live in him, to truly take pleasure in all that brought him low.
It seems this was the highest lesson he still had to learn.
Full likeness to his Lord in self-emptying where he rejoiced in weakness so that God might be all.
The highest lesson a believer must learn is humility.
Oh that every Christian seeking to grow in holiness would take this deeply to heart.
There may be great consecration, burning zeal, and even heavenly experiences. But unless the Lord in his mercy brings special dealings to humble the soul, there can still be an unconscious lifting up of self beneath it all.
Let us learn this truth well.
The highest holiness is the deepest humility.
And let us remember it does not come naturally. It comes only through the faithful working of our Lord Jesus Christ and through a heart fully yielded to him.
Let us examine our lives in the light of apostle Paul's experience.
Do we gladly glory in weakness?
Do we take pleasure as Paul did in reproaches, in needs, in hardships, in wrongs?
Let us ask ourselves honestly, have we learned to receive a rebuke, whether fair or unfair, a reproach from friend or foe, an injury or difficulty caused by others as a precious opportunity to prove that Jesus Christ is truly all to us.
To show that our own pleasure or honor is nothing, and that humiliation is in truth something we welcome.
Yes, it is a blessed thing, the deep joy of heaven to be so free from self that whatever is said about us or done to us is swallowed up in this one thought.
Jesus is all.
Let us trust the one who took charge of apostle Paul to take charge of us as well.
Apostle Paul needed special discipline and along with it special instruction to learn something even more precious than the heavenly things he had heard.
What it means to glory in weakness and lowliness.
We need this just as much.
Oh, how much more than we realize.
The same Lord who cared for apostle Paul will care for us.
He watches over us with jealous, loving attention, lest we exalt ourselves.
And when we do, he seeks to expose the pride and deliver us from it.
In trials, in weakness, in hardships, he works to bring us low until we have learned that his grace is enough.
And then we come to take pleasure in the very things that humble us and keep us low.
His strength made perfect in our weakness.
His presence filling and satisfying our emptiness. This becomes the secret of a humility that does not fail.
Like apostle Paul, we can look at what God works in us and through us and still say, "In nothing was I behind the chiefest apostles, though I am nothing."
His many humiliations had led him to true humility, a humility full of joy, full of glorying, full of delight in all that brings the soul low before God.
Most gladly will I glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses.
The humble man has discovered the secret of a joy that remains. The weaker he feels, the lower he goes. The more
1:48:41 deeply he is humbled, the more fully he experiences the power and presence of Christ. And when he can truly say, " I am nothing," the voice of the Lord speaks with ever deepening joy. "My grace is sufficient for thee.
Let me gather all into two great truths.
The danger of pride is nearer and greater than we know. And the grace for humility is nearer and greater still.
The danger of pride is greater and nearer than we think, especially in our highest spiritual moments.
The preacher of deep truth with an admiring crowd listening closely.
The gifted speaker on a holiness platform explaining the life of heaven.
The believer giving testimony of a blessed experience.
The evangelist moving invisible triumph and blessing many.
None of these knows the full depth of the hidden unconscious danger surrounding them.
Apostle Paul himself was in danger and did not know it.
What Jesus Christ did for him is recorded as a warning for us that we might recognize our danger and know where our safety lies.
If it has ever been said of someone who teaches or professes holiness, he is full of self or he does not live what he teaches or his blessing has not made him humbler or gentler. Let it be said no more.
Jesus Christ in whom we trust is able to make us truly humble.
Yes, the grace for humility is greater and nearer than we think.
The humility of Lord Jesus Christ is our salvation.
Lord Jesus Christ himself is our humility.
Our humility is his care, his work, his gift.
His grace is sufficient even for the temptation of pride.
His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
Let us choose to be weak, to be low, to be nothing.
Let humility become our joy and gladness.
Let us gladly glory in weakness and take pleasure in all that humbles and keeps us low.
The power of Christ wil rest upon us.
Christ humbled himself. Therefore, God exalted him.
Christ will humble us and keep us humble.
Let us fully agree and joyfully receive all that humbles.
The power of Christ will rest upon us.
We will find that the deepest humility is the secret of the truest happiness, a joy that nothing can take away.
Chapter 12 - Humility and Exaltation (continue here)
Chapter 12, Humility and Exaltation.
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