Let us see every brother or sister who tests or troubles us as God's appointed means of grace. His tool for purifying us. His way of drawing out the humility that Jesus Christ our life breathes within us.
And let us put our faith in this that God is everything and we are nothing.
Then counting ourselves as nothing in our own eyes, we will by God's power seek only to serve one another in love.
Chapter 7 - Humility and Holiness
Humility and Holiness, which say, "Stand by yourself, for I am holier than you." Isaiah 65:5.
We speak much today of the movement toward holiness, and we rightly give thanks to God for it.
We hear often of those seeking holiness, claiming holiness, teaching holiness, and gathering in meetings centered on holiness.
The precious truths of holiness in Christ and holiness by faith are being proclaimed more clearly than ever. But the true test of whether the holiness we seek or claim is real, whether it is truly life and power will be seen in this.
Does it produce deeper humility in us as creatures?
Humility is the one essential condition for God's holiness to live in us and shine through us.
In Jesus Christ, the holy one of God who makes us holy.
It was divine humility that shaped his life, led him to the cross and lifted him to glory. In us, the one sure mark of real holiness will be humility before both God and man.
Humility is the beauty and fragrance of holiness. The clearest sign of false holiness is the absence of humility.
Every person seeking holiness must stay on guard, lest what began in the spirit be overtaken by the flesh and pride secretly enter where it is least expected.
Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a publican.
There is no place so sacred that the Pharisee cannot enter. Pride can raise its head even in the very house of God, turning worship into an opportunity for self-exaltation.
Since Jesus Christ exposed the pride of the Pharisee, that same spirit has often disguised itself in the clothing of the publican.
The one who confesses deep sin is just as much at risk as the one who claims high holiness.
Even as we sincerely seek to make our heart a temple for God, we will often find both men, the Pharisee and the publican, coming to pray, the publican's real danger is not the proud man beside him, but the proud spirit within him, one who praises self instead of mourning sin.
In God's temple, even when we feel nearest to His Presence, when we believe we stand in the holiest place, we must be on guard against pride.
Scripture warns us that when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, Satan came also among them.
Even in the place of worship, the spirit of pride can intrude.
So it was with the Pharisee who in the very act of prayer lifted himself up and said, "God, I thank you that I am not like other men or even like this publican."
It is possible for self to find its comfort and pride even in what should lead us to the deepest humility.
Even in thanksgiving to God, where we rightly confess that He has done all, self may quietly rejoice in itself.
Yes, even when we are in the temple speaking the language of repentance and trust in God's mercy, the Pharisee can rise within us, he gives thanks, but in that thanks, he's praising himself.
Pride can dress itself in the garments of praise or of penitence.
Though we may reject the words, "I am not like other men," the spirit behind them can still be found in how we feel or speak about our fellow believers.
Do you wonder if this is true?
Just listen to how churches and Christians often speak about one another.
How rare are the meekness and gentleness of Christ?
How easily forgotten is the truth that deep humility must shape how the followers of Jesus Christ speak of themselves and others?
Are there not many churches, gatherings of believers, missions, conventions, societies, committees, even remote mission fields where the work of God has been hindered and unity broken simply because those known as saints have acted in pride, acted in touchiness, acted impatience, acted defensiveness, with harsh words, and quick judgments.
They have shown that they did not count others better than themselves.
Their holiness lacked the meekness that marks the saints.
Mrs. Smith writes, "Me is a most exacting person, demanding the best seat and the highest place for itself, and feeling deeply offended if it's not recognized."
Most quarrels among Christian workers come from the demands of this great meme.
How few of us know the true secret of taking the lowest seat.
Many have experienced deep moments of conviction and brokenness before God.
But how different that is from being clothed with humility, from having a spirit that walks in lowliness each day, counting oneself the servant of others, and showing the very mind of Christ Jesus.
Lowliness means the state or quality of being low in rank, status, position, or worth.
Standby, for I am holier than thou. What a distortion of true holiness this is.
Jesus Christ, the holy one, is the humble one.
The holiest will always be the humblest.
There is none holy but God.
And we have no more holiness than we have of God Himself.
And the measure of God's Presence in us will be the measure of our true humility.
Because real humility is simply the disappearance of real self in the sight of God being all.
The holiest will be the humblest.
The phrase "Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou" originates from Isaiah 65:5 in the King James Version of the Bible. In this context, the speaker is God, who is rebuking a rebellious people who engaged in idolatrous rituals (such as eating pork and consulting the dead) while simultaneously claiming superior spiritual status and excluding others.
The idiom "holier-than-thou" describes a person who is self-righteously or sanctimoniously virtuous, often projecting a false sense of moral superiority over others. The earliest recorded use of this phrase in English dates to 1834, alluding directly to this biblical verse. The attitude is condemned in scripture as an unbearable irritant to God, likened to "smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day."
Though the proud and boastful words of the Jew in prophet Isaiah's day are rarely spoken aloud today, our manners have taught us to avoid such speech. His spirit still lives on.
It can be seen in how believers treat one another, and even in their attitude toward the world, in how opinions are expressed, how work is done, and how the faults of others are pointed out.
We may hear the voice of the Pharisee, even when it wears the clothing of the publican.
God, I thank thee that I am not as other men. But is there still a humility to be found so real and deep that men will truly count themselves less than the least of all saints and gladly be the servants of all?
Yes, there is, love does not boast, love is not proud, love does not seek its own.
Where the spirit of love fills the heart.
Where the divine nature is fully formed.
Where Christ, the meek and lowly lamb of God is truly living within.
There is power to love perfectly.
That love forgets itself and finds joy in serving, in bearing with others, in honoring them even the weakest.
Where love comes, God comes.
And where God is present in power, He reveals Himself as all and the creature becomes nothing.
And when a soul becomes nothing before God, it cannot help but be humble before others.
The presence of God is no longer a thing of certain times or places. It becomes the atmosphere in which the soul dwells.
And the soul's deep humility before God becomes the holy ground from which all its words and actions flow.
1May God teach us this vital truth that our thoughts, words, and feelings toward others are his test of our humility toward him.
And that only our humility before him can give us the grace to walk humbly with others.
Our humility must be the very life of Christ, the lamb of God living in us.
Let every teacher of holiness, whether preaching from the pulpit or speaking from the platform, and every seeker of holiness, whether in secret prayer or in public gatherings, take this warning to heart.
There is no pride more dangerous because none is more subtle than the pride of holiness.
A man may never say or even consciously think, "Stand by, I am holier than you." The thought itself may be deeply offensive to him.
And yet, without realizing it, a quiet habit of soul can form, a hidden sense of satisfaction in one's spiritual attainments, a quiet comparison that notices how far ahead one seems to be.
This spirit may not show itself in open boasting or self-praise.
It is often seen simply in the absence of deep self-abasement which must always be the mark of a soul that has truly seen the glory of God.
It shows not just in thoughts or words but in tone, in attitude, in the way we speak of others.
Those with spiritual discernment will sense the presence of self behind it.
Even the world with its sharp eyes notices and points to it as evidence that those who claim a heavenly life show little of heaven's spirit.
Oh brothers and sisters, let us be on guard.
If each step forward in holiness is not marked by a greater depth of humility, we may be deceiving ourselves, enjoying beautiful thoughts, stirring emotions, and sincere acts of consecration and faith while missing the one certain sign of God's presence, the death of self.
Let us flee to Lord Jesus Christ, right now. Let us hide ourselves in him until we are clothed with his humility. That alone is our holiness.
Chapter 8 - Humility and Sin (continue here)
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