Turn with me to the book of Micah.
Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah. While you're turning there, we
are going to observe the Lord's table together tonight. And also
next Sunday morning, Brother Mahan is going to be with us
and preach for us. He's going to be moving soon
to Rocky Mount, Virginia. So I'm going to take advantage
of it as long as he's here close and he's going to be with us
next Sunday morning. Micah chapter six. I'd like to read verses six through
eight of Micah chapter 6. Wherewith shall I come before
the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with
burnt offerings, with calves of a year old, Will the Lord
be pleased with thousands of rams or with 10 thousands of
rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for
my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed the old man what
is good. And what doth the Lord require
of thee? But to do justly and to love
mercy and to walk humbly with thy God. I've entitled this message, What
does God require of me? I got that title from verse 8
of our text. He hath showed thee, O man, what
is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee? What is necessary for me to be
saved? What are the entrance requirements
for me to enter heaven? Now if I don't meet these requirements,
I'll go to hell. That's how serious this is. What
does God require of thee? Not what should I do? We already
know what we ought to do. Everybody already knows that
they ought not kill anybody. You ought not steal. Everybody
knows that sexual sin is wrong. Everybody knows that covetousness
is wrong. Go on and on. I'm not asking
what should we do? You really already know what
you ought to do, don't you? People say, well, we need to
be taught to live. You're born knowing what you ought to do.
We're born with the knowledge of the law of God in our hearts.
So I'm not asking what should we do? We already know that.
But what is required? What is it that I must have for
me to enter the kingdom of heaven? Now let's begin with verse six
of our text in Micah chapter six. Wherewith, with what shall I
come before the Lord and bow myself before the high God? can I bring that will make me
acceptable to him? Now understand this, I'm going
to have to bring something. Remember Cain and Abel? Both of these boys understood
there was something they had to bring before the living God. What did Cain bring? The fruit
of his hand, his works, the fruit of the ground, the best he could
produce. He thought, surely God will take
my best. What did Abel bring? He brought a blood sacrifice. That's what he brought before
God. You got to bring something Now Micah says, wherewith? With what shall I come before
the Lord and bow myself before the Most High God in worship?
How am I going to go about that? Shall I come before Him with
burnt offerings, animals slain, with calves of a year old? Shall
I come with animal sacrifices? Will the Lord, verse 7, will
the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with tens of thousands
of rivers of oil? Now that word please means to
satisfy a debt. That's what the word means. Will
the Lord be satisfied with this debt if I bring 10,000 slain
animals? Boy, there was a lot of slaying
going on in the Old Testament, wasn't there? Animal after animal
after animal slaying. I was thinking about that and
I thought, what would the animal rights activists do about this?
I mean, there was just animal after animal slaying. Will that
please the Lord? Will that satisfy the debt? Everybody
in here knows deep down that the slaying of an animal will
never satisfy a debt. It pictures something. It illustrates
something. So he says, no, slaying animals
is not going to satisfy the debt. Or what if I gave ten thousands
of rivers of oil? That would be riches that the
richest man on earth could not come up with. What if I gave
him untold riches, if I gave him all that I had, wealth beyond
imagination, would that satisfy God? What a corrupt and ignorant
view of God we have if we think He can be satisfied with our
material gifts. Listen to me, God's got plenty
of money and He doesn't need yours. He said, if I were hungry,
I wouldn't tell you about it. The cattle upon a thousand hills
is mine. He's not worshipped with men's
hands as though he needed anything. So you could bring ten thousands
of rivers of oil. You could have all the wealth
this world has to produce and offer that to God and it would
be meaningless. Meaningless. God's got plenty
of money. He doesn't need anything from
you in that respect. What he says next Will the Lord,
verse 7, will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with
ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for
my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? What if I sacrifice my children?
I was so sorry over my sin that I was willing to give Aubrey
for it. Aubrey would like that, wouldn't she? But what if I gave
up... Here, take her. Take care. This is how sorry
I am for my sin. I'm not going to hold back anything.
I'd even give up my firstborn child. Surely God will be pleased
with the ultimate sacrifice on my part. Now, that's what I think. All I show by that is how blind
I am to the character of God. I think it's interesting the
way people think, well, God wants this from you, wants that from
you, wants you to give up this and give up that. And it's just
blindness to the character of the living God. I have to give
up something that'll really please God. We demonstrate by that attitude
what horrible thoughts we have of God and how we really view
it, thinking that that would satisfy the living God. You know,
God's not like me and you are. He's just altogether different. I love that scripture where the
Lord says, thou thoughtest I was altogether such a one as thyself.
That's where most people are, but he's not like you. He's not
like me. Verse eight. He hath showed thee, O man, what is good. He showed you what is good. Who's
good? God is good. He's always good. He's
good all the time. God is good. The Lord Jesus Christ
is good. It's his goodness that saves. Now, if we think that he would
be pleased with the things mentioned in verses six and seven, animal
sacrifices and wealth untold, rivers of oil, or even if I gave
up my kids for my sin, if we think he'd be pleased with something
like that, all we prove by that is we don't really believe God
is good. Not really. Somebody who believed God's good
wouldn't believe anything that foolish. Now that represents the belief
of all men right there. We think we need to come up with
some kind of sacrifice that we think God will accept and that
will make Him accept us. And we just show that we don't
really have any understanding of the goodness of God. I love
that scripture. It's the goodness of God that
leadeth thee to repentance. that gives you this change of
mind. You wouldn't even have this repentance unless God in
his goodness gave it to you. Repentance is the gift of God.
It's his goodness that saves us. I think of what Moses said,
show me your glory. And he said, all right, I'll
show you my glory. I'll make all my goodness to pass before
you. I'll proclaim the name of the
Lord before you and I'll be gracious to whom I will be gracious. And
I'll show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Verse eight, he has
showed thee, oh man, what is good and what doth the Lord,
get that word, require of thee. Now these are the entrance requirements
to the kingdom of heaven. If I don't have these, I will
not. enter the kingdom of heaven. I will not be saved. Now, once
again, remember, this is not just knowing what you ought to
do. This is talking about the requirements to get in. Now, look what he says first.
What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly? Now this is a requirement. Not
just knowing you ought to do justly. Everybody knows that.
But to actually practice righteousness. To do justly. And you will not be saved apart
from doing justly. Now what is meant to do justly? Let me answer that question by
asking another. What is sin? Claire, you quoted it. Sin is
the transgression of the law. Any want of conformity, any want
of perfect conformity to the law of God is sin. And I'm not doing justly if I
don't keep. Do you hear me? If I don't the
commandments. I am to honor my father and mother. I am to not kill, to not commit
adultery, to not steal, and to not lie, to not covet the commandments
of God with regard to the second table and the first table. I
am to put no other God before Him. I am to not committed idolatry. I am to not take his name in
vain. I am to remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. To do justly
is to have a perfect conformity to that law. He doesn't say to
do justly most the time or to intend to do justly or to at
least my heart's in the right place and I have the right motive
and so on. But no, to enter into the kingdom of heaven. I'm going
to have to have, I'm going to have to do justly before that
holy law of God. Let me show you this in the scripture.
Turn with me to Psalm 15. Psalm 15, verse one. Lord, who shall abide in thy
tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? Who's going to make it in? Well,
here's the answer, verse 2. He that walketh uprightly. and worketh righteousness, and
speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his
tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach
against his neighbor, in whose eyes a vile person is contemned,
but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to
his own hurt, and changes not, even if it's going to cost him
to do what's right, he's going to do it. He that putteth not
his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent.
He that doeth Doeth, not admires, but does these things, shall
never be moved. Turn to Psalm 24. The psalmist asked this question
in verse 3. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy
place? He that hath clean hands. and a pure heart, who hath not
lifted up his soul into vanity, nor sworn deceitfully, he shall
receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God
of his salvation. Now that person who enters the
kingdom of heaven, he's not lifted up his soul to vanity, not even
once. He's never sworn deceitfully.
He is perfect before the holy law of God. He doesn't do justly
some of the time, or most of the time, or partially. That's not what the Scripture
says. Now, a lot of times people look at this Scripture and they'll
say, well, what is this thing of doing justly? Being honest
and paying your bills and treating people right and so on? Well,
that's included, no doubt. But it says to do justly. Take it for what it says. To
do justly. If I do not do justly, I will
not enter the kingdom of God. I just read that passage of scripture,
except your righteousness shall exceed, shall surpass, shall
be superior to the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.
You shall what in no case under no circumstance whatsoever. shall
you enter the kingdom of heaven to do justly is to continue in
all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them to do them good master what good things shall i do to inherit
eternal life you know the commandments he
gives them he says this do D.O. do this do and you shall live. Now what do I need to do in order
to enter the kingdom of heaven? I got to do justly. Now, there's a problem. There's a real problem. Have
you ever lifted up your soul to vanity? Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever coveted? Have you ever committed sexual
sin? At least, if not literally, in your mind? Have you ever murdered anybody
so as to be angry at them without a cause? You're jealous of them.
You wish ill upon them. You wish that what they had,
you had instead of them. That's the murder. You see the
commandments are exceeding broad. How in the world can I do justly? How can I enter in to the kingdom
of heaven doing justly? Now there's only one way that
this can be understood. And this is dealing with the
scripture honestly. I don't know how many times I've heard people
preach from this passage scripture and they said, well, you know,
you need to do justly. You need to do right. You do need to do right.
Don't think I'm saying it's ever okay to do wrong. We're to not
sin. That's God's commandment. That's
to sin. These things are written into you that you sin not. But
in this thing of doing justly, how have you stood before the
10 commandments? Now listen, listen to me real carefully.
I want you to hear this. I'm talking about myself. I'm
talking about you. You have not, I have not kept one commandment
one time. You believe that? What if you believe that? Well,
it's true whether you believe it or not. Not according to God's
standards. No, sir. No, sir. Never told the truth once. Even
if you quoted scripture, you quoted it in such a way as to
put a slant to make yourself look better and make somebody
else look worse. Everything ever thought, ever
motive. The only way this can be understood,
this thing of doing justly is in light of the great biblical
doctrine of justification. I want to talk about that for
a few moments. Justification. Remember the Publican and the Pharisee in
the temple. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself.
God never heard a word he said. He thought he did. Lord, I thank
Thee that I'm not as other men are. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not an unjust. I'm not like
this pathetic publican over here who's got the audacity to come
in here and pray when he's such a wicked person. No, I'm not
like him. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess.
And then you had that Pathetic publican crying God be merciful
to me the sinner The sinner and what did our Lord say about that
fella? I tell you that man went down to his house. Anybody know
the next word? Justified not simply forgiven not simply pardoned
but Justified if you're justified that means you're not guilty not guilty with a covering, not
legally guilty, but in reality you're not. No, the only way
the Bible recognizes justification is if you're justified, you are
not guilty. You have a perfect standing before
the holy law of God. That's what the whole Bible is
about. Turn with me to Romans chapter
four, if you would please. Verse 1, what shall we say that
Abraham, our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For
if Abraham were justified by works, by what he did, by his
acts of obedience, he hath whereof to glory. He could say, I did
this, but not before God. For what saith the scripture,
Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.
Now, to him that worketh, is the reward, not reckoned of grace,
but of dead." In other words, God would owe it to you. But,
to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith. is counted for righteousness,
even as David also described the blessedness of the man unto
whom God imputeth righteousness without work, saying, Blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Now, how can God justify somebody
who is ungodly? What would we do? with a judge
in our courts. What if down there on Limestone
Street there was a judge and these people who committed these
awful crimes, he just said, you're justified. We'd have a hard time
with that. He'd lose his office, wouldn't
he? How is it that, you know, Proverbs 17, 15 says, He that
justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the just, even
they both are an abomination to the Lord. Now how is it that
God justifies the ungodly? There's only one way to answer
that, the gospel. the substitutionary death of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the way He justifies the
ungodly. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, For He, God, hath made Him to
be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the very
righteousness of God in Him. Because of union with Him, because
of substitution, His righteousness is my personal righteousness. It's not just a A legal thing. This is my righteousness. Now let me show you this from
the scriptures. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 3. Matthew chapter 3. Verse 13. Then cometh Jesus from
Galilee to Jordan and to John to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying,
I have need to be baptized to thee. And cometh thou to me? What if the Lord came to you
and said, I want you to baptize me? You'd have a hard time with
that, wouldn't you? Me baptize you? Let's get this
turned around. I don't understand that. He didn't
want to do it. I don't blame him. I wouldn't
want to do it either. Me baptize the Lord? Good grief. Let's go
on reading. And Jesus answering said unto
him, suffer to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. Thus it becometh us, us. When Jesus Christ kept the law,
so did I. When Jesus Christ obeyed God,
so did I. Thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. Now did Christ do justly? Then I did. Let me show you this
again in Revelation chapter 19. Verse 8, And to her, all of God's
bride, God's sheep, to her was granted, was graciously bestowed
that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness
of saints. I've heard people say, well,
that's the righteous deeds of the saints. Well, I reckon it is. I don't
have any problem with that because the righteous deeds of the Lord
Jesus Christ, His righteousness before the law is the righteousness
of the saints. This is the doing of doing justly. And anything else is a dishonest
view of this. The only way you can do justly
is if you're justified by the grace of God through the Lord
Jesus Christ. I love that scripture. In Isaiah
chapter 54 verse 17 where God says their righteousness, their
personal righteousness is of me. So in order for me to enter
the kingdom of heaven, first of all, I'm going to have to
do justly. Now let's go back to our text in the book of Micah. Verse 8, He hath showed thee, O man, what
is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly,
and second, to love mercy. Did you hear that? to love mercy,
not just simply to be able to give a proper definition of mercy
or even to go to the Bible and say, here's what mercy means,
whereas you need to do that, no doubt. But it says to love,
to love mercy. Well, first, what's meant by
mercy? I can't love it if I don't know what it means. Mercy, according
to the scripture, is God not giving me what I deserve. That's a very simple definition
of mercy. It's God not giving me what I
deserve. Now the only way you can enter
into this is if you really believe you're guilty. If you really
believe your sin is all your fault. Guilty as charged, you
take full responsibility for it. You don't blame God's sovereignty.
You don't say, well, God allowed me to do it, therefore I can't
help it. No, what you did, your sin is all your fault. Responsibility. Now that person
who really believes that they're completely responsible for their
sin, they're mighty thankful if God doesn't give them what
they deserve. Let me show you mercy in the scripture. Turn
with me to Genesis chapter 19. Matter of fact, this is the first
time the word merciful is used in the scripture. Genesis chapter
19. And God's going to destroy Sodom
and Gomorrah. Verse 15. And when the morning arose that
the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife and thy
two daughters which are here, lest thou be consumed in the
iniquity of this city. And while he lingered, he lingered,
God said, Get out of here. Wrath is going to come down on
this place. Lot lingered. Boy, there's so much here, I
don't want to leave. He lingered. And while He lingered,
the men, what did they do, these angels? They laid hold upon His
hand, and upon the hands of His wife, and upon the hands of His
two daughters, and the Lord being what? Merciful unto Him. Didn't say, the angels didn't
say, now what? God's given you this opportunity.
You can leave now. I mean, it's up to you as to
whether you're going to stay or leave. Here's your choice. Go ahead and make it. But you
need to get out. No, they grabbed him by the hand
and yanked him out. The Lord being merciful to him. Now, let me tell you two things
that are always true about God's mercy. First, God's mercy. is always
sovereign mercy. That means he gives his mercy
to whoever he is pleased to give it to. He said, I'll be merciful
to whom I will be merciful and I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. Turn to Romans chapter nine for
a moment. Sovereign mercy that means it's
at his disposal to give it or withhold it look in Romans chapter
9 Verse 11 for the children talking
about two twins Jacob and Esau being not yet born neither having
done any good or evil that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said
unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it's written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. That's God speaking. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? Is God unfair in loving Jacob
and hating Esau? Is he showing favoritism? Is
that unfair on God's part? God forbid, for he saith to Moses,
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy. and I'll have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. That's the mercy of God. For
the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy. And whom he will, he hardens. Do you love it? I'm not even
asking if you agree with it. Do you love the fact that His
mercy is sovereign mercy? The only way you'll love it is
if you believe that's the only hope you have. If you believe
the only hope you have is for Him to just sovereignly decide
to do something for you because there's nothing you can do for
Him, you'll love it. Second thing I'd like to say
about God's mercy, it's always sovereign and it's always saving. Paul said in Titus 3, 5, not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
His mercy. He saved us. And here's the mercy of God.
Turn to Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2. And you, hath he quickened, who
were dead, graveyard dead, unable to save yourself in trespasses
and sins, wherein time passed you walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in
the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
the mind. We were by nature the children of wrath, even as others,
but God. who is rich in mercy. For his great love, wherewith
he loved us even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ by grace ye are saved. Do you love that? I'm not asking you even if you
agree with it. Perhaps you do. Perhaps you don't. But do you
love this? I do. I love that God controls
mercy. I'm glad He's got all control
and I've got no control. I'm glad. And I'm glad He dispenses
His mercy to sinners. Now the only way this is actually
expressed is by being, if I say I believe in the mercy of God,
and you listen to me real carefully, all doctrine is practical. If
it's not practical, you don't really believe it. If it doesn't
enter into your life, into your conduct, into your attitude,
in what you do, it's not real. It's just theory. If I really
believe in the mercy of God, you know what it's going to do?
It's going to make me a merciful person. And if I'm not a merciful
person, truly a merciful person, I don't know anything about the
mercy of God. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
18. You know, the Lord said, blessed are the merciful for
they shall obtain mercy. Matthew chapter 18. You know,
somebody that talks about believing in sovereign mercy, and they're
not a merciful person, you know it's offensive. It's offensive. It's worse than meaningless to
talk about, I believe in the mercy of God, I believe salvation
by the mercy of God, and you're not a merciful person, you don't
know the first thing about God's mercy. Now look here at Matthew
chapter 18, verse 23. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven
is likened unto a certain king which would take account of his
servants. And when he began to reckon,
one was brought unto him, which owed him 10,000 talents. Uh, that's way up in the millions
of dollars, way up in the millions of dollars. But for as much as
he had not to pay, the Lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and
his children and all that he had and payment to be made. The
servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord,
have patience with me. I'll pay thee all. He had no
way of paying him all, but yet he's saying this right up to
the end. I'll pay it. Give me a chance.
I'll pay it. Yeah, you're really going to come up with the money.
Then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion. He
loosed him. He forgave him at the debt. You
don't owe me anymore. But the same servant went out and found
one of his fellow servants, which owed him a hundred pence, 15
bucks. And you think of this, he'd just been forgiven millions
of dollars. One fellow owes him $15 and he
laid his hands on him. He took him by the throat saying,
pay me that thou owest. And his fellow servant fell down
at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me,
I'll pay thee all. And he would not, but went and cast him into
prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants
saw what was done, they were very sorry, and they came and
told unto their Lord all that was done. Then his Lord, after
that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant,
I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desires me. Shouldst
not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as
I had pity on thee? And his Lord was wroth, and delivered
him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due to
him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you from
your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses.
Turn to Luke chapter six. Luke chapter 6, beginning in
verse 27. I love this passage of scripture.
This is what it is to be merciful. But I say unto you which hear,
love your enemies. Do good to them which hate you. Bless them that curse you. Do we really got to do this?
If you're going to enter the kingdom of heaven, you will. Pray for them which
despitefully use you. And unto him that smites thee
on the one cheek, offer also the other. And him that takes
away thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every
man that asks of thee. And of him that takes away thy
goods, ask them not again. And as you would that men should
do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if you love them
which love you, what thank have you? For sinners love those that
love them. And if you do good to them which
do good to you, what thank have you? For sinners do also even
the same. And if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive,
what thank ye? For sinners also lend to sinners to receive as
much again. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping
for nothing again. And your reward shall be great,
and you shall be children of the highest. For He is kind unto
the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore, what? Merciful. As your Father also
is merciful. Judge not, you'll not be judged.
Condemn not, you'll not be condemned. Forgiven, you'll be forgiven.
Given, it shall be given unto you. Good measure pressed down
and shaken together and running over shall be given to your bosom.
For with the same measure you meet, with the basket you bring,
it'll be measured to you again. Now, the only thing that expresses
me really believing in the sovereign mercy of God for which I'm so
thankful, I love the mercy of God. It's seen in me being merciful
toward men. Now, let's go back to our text.
And Micah, there's one other thing he mentions. Verse 8. He has showed thee, O man, what
is good. And what doth the Lord require
of thee? To do justly, And that's all to do justly. That's what he requires, perfect
justice. And to love mercy, to love it. And it's expressed,
and to walk humbly with thy God. And there's the third requirement,
to walk. Oh, listen to me. If you're a believer, You walk
with God through this world. In it, walk with God. You walk
with God. That's your conversation. That's
your life. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord of my
life. I walk with God. This isn't just
me giving assent to a few doctrines. I walk with the living God. The life of faith is a walk through
this world with the living God. Whatever you're doing, you're
walking with God. Now notice he says it is to walk,
and this is the only way you walk with God, it's to walk humbly
with thy God. To walk humbly with thy God.
Now what is humility? Somebody once asked John Calvin,
what are the three greatest Christian graces? And I like his answer. He said, well, first, humility.
And second, humility. And third, humility. What is
it to walk humbly with thy God? Well, first, I've got to understand
what humility is. What is humility? It's a just
estimate of yourself. It's not necessarily low self-esteem. You know, you can have low self-esteem
and just be as proud as a devil. Generally, low self-esteem has
something to do with pride. I mean, you know, it's not low
self-esteem. I mean, I want everybody to have
a healthy self-image. I am what I am by the grace of
God. Humility is not low self-esteem, but it's a just estimate of yourself. Now, what's a just estimate of
myself? And this is just, I'm telling you the truth right now.
I'm a sinner saved by the grace of God. That's a just estimate
of yourself. Paul said, I am what I am. How? By the grace of God. Now I am,
and I'm not saying this because I'm proud of it. I am a sinner,
but it's only by the grace of God that I even know that I'm
a sinner. That's the only way I know it. Or I might take the
title, but I don't really believe it unless God shows it to me.
But I'm also somebody who walks with the Lord Jesus Christ, and
that's by the grace of God. I'm a believer, and the faith
I have is by the grace of God. I love Jesus Christ. I adore
Him. That's by the grace of God. I
am what I am by the grace of God. Turn with me to Philippians chapter
4. How is humility, a walk with God in humility expressed? Well, same way as mercy. It's
only expressed by how I treat others. Look in Philippians chapter
4. I wrote a little article on this
in the bulletin. It's something that I certainly
thought a lot about. In verse 5, Philippians chapter
4, it says, let your moderation be known unto all men." Now,
what's that word moderation mean? It means a gentleness, a merciful
attitude, a gracious attitude. It's not holding people's feet
to the fire. The way I express humility before
God is by my humility before men, the way I treat them. And
you know how that is seen Most powerfully, a true humble attitude
is seen most powerfully in a non-judgmental attitude toward men. Non-judgmental attitude toward
men. Let me make good on this. I judge people all the time. And every time I do it, I'm wrong. You see, in this attitude of
a nonjudgmental attitude, what's that mean? It means to not feel
morally superior to somebody. You see, when I judge you, when
I judge you, when I judge where you're coming from, examine your
motives and so on, here's what I do. First of all, when I judge
you, I play the hypocrite. seems very, very much. Romans
chapter 2, 1 says, Thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that
judgest another. For what you judge a man, you
do the same things. Whatever you criticize somebody
for, if your heart was opened up, don't you know that you do
the same and worse? You believe that about yourself? When I judge somebody also, I'm
incapable of making a proper judgment because I don't know
the facts. I don't know what was going on behind that. I don't
know what they've gone through. And anytime I judge somebody,
I'm arrogating to myself a position that belongs to God only. Look in James chapter 4. You know, every time I judge
somebody, and it's a lot, it's a lot, I just feel this twinge
of guilt, this little voice that says hypocrite. Hypocrite. And that's proper, isn't it?
That's proper. Look in James chapter 4 verse
11. Speak not evil one of another brethren. He that speaketh evil
of his brother and judges his brother, speaketh evil of the
law, and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you're
not a doer of the law, but a judge. You've taken the place of God
Himself. There's one lawgiver who's able to save and destroy.
Who are you to judge somebody else? In the original, it says, you. You. Who are you to judge anybody
of anything? Does that speak to you? What is it to walk in humility
before God? It's to take the lowest seat
in the house. I love that parable of our Lord.
He said, when you're bidding to go in a feast, don't take
the high seat where you'll be honored. And then somebody comes and says,
get down to that lower seat. Somebody more honorable than
you is here. No, you take the lowest seat in the house. Take the menial task with no
recognition. Take the lowest seat of the house.
Esteem. Paul said, let each esteem the
other as better than themselves. Better. Not just the same, but
better. If I am humble, if I have the
attitude I'm supposed to have before God, I'm going to esteem
you as better than me. And it won't be an act of, you
know, the scripture speaks of voluntary humility. I'm going
to be humble here. That's the most proud thing.
To volunteer, okay, I'm going to take the humble part here.
Man, you ought to be in the lowest place. You believe that? You
ought to have the lowest seat. You ought to esteem everybody
as better than yourself because they are. I don't mean, well,
I need to esteem others as better. No, really believe they are better.
That's what humility is. To walk humbly with my God is
only expressed in walking in humility before my brethren,
actually esteeming them as better than me. Let me tell you what
the ultimate act of humility is. Believing the gospel. Simply knowing you're nothing
and Christ is everything, and believing the gospel, believing
what God has said. You know, it takes humility,
a just estimate of yourself, to believe the gospel, doesn't
it? You see, if you have a just estimate of yourself, you know
that in and of yourself, you're nothing but sin. You believe
that about yourself? In and of yourself, you are nothing
but see only when I believe that regarding myself it's easy to
trust Christ as my righteousness before God he's my justification what does
God require to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly
with thy God. Let's pray.