Is not that I did choose thee? Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibbert. I'm speaking this morning from
the 14th chapter of Luke. I'm going to begin reading in
verse 7. I've entitled the message for
this morning, Taking the Lowest Seat. In Luke chapter 14, verse
7, we read, And He put forth a parable to those which were
bidden, when He marked how they chose out the chief robes. The
Lord notices those things when men are stepping on one another
and jockeying for position for a more honorable place. The Lord
notices those things. So He says in verse 8, When thou
art bidden of any man to a wedding, Sit not down in the highest room. Now, what this is talking about
is a table. The wedding party would be in
the middle, and the closer friends you were to the wedding party,
the closer you got to sit. And there were some seats pretty
far away, and there were others that were real close. And some
people went to the closest seats thinking that's where they belonged.
Now, let's go on reading. When thou art bidding of any
man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room, lest a more
honorable man than thou be bidding of him. And he that bade thee
and him come and say to thee, give this man place, and you
begin with shame to take the lowest room. And that would be
embarrassing. You come up into this place and
the fellow says, you don't belong there, you belong down there.
How embarrassing that would be. The Lord says, don't take the
high place, take the low place. He says in verse 10, but when
thou art bitten, go and sit down in the lowest room. That when
he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, friend, go
up higher. Then shalt thou have worship
in the presence of them that sit and meet with thee. For whosoever
exalts himself shall be abased. And he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted." Now this could well be called the unalterable
law of the kingdom of heaven. The person who exalts himself,
God's going to abase him, and he knows how to do it. And the
person who humbles himself, God is going to exalt him. Pride
exalts self. It looks for the highest seat.
humility abases itself, it takes the lowest seat. Now I'm gonna
try to talk some about pride and humility. Pride, most people
think it's a good thing, but it's not. It's not. Now, that
doesn't mean that you don't try to do your best in whatever you're
doing. You want to have excellence in
it. I want to be the best preacher I can be. Whenever I do something,
I want to do my best job. I don't want to have some kind
of bad attitude. So I'm not talking about not caring about what you're
doing, but this thing of pride. Pride is ugly. Pride is sin. Pride is offensive to God. Pride is the child of ignorance.
ignorance of the character of God, and self-ignorance, not
knowing how you really are. Pride is a groundless thing.
First Corinthians 4.7, Paul said, who makes you to differ from
somebody else? What do you have that you didn't
receive? Now, if you're smarter than somebody
else, God made you to differ. You can't be proud of it. If
you have a more ability than somebody else, you can't be proud
of it. God gave it to you. Particularly in this thing of
salvation, if you're saved, you can't be proud of that. God saved
you. He made you to differ from somebody else if you're saved.
If you're saved, it's because He elected you before time began.
It's because Christ paid for your sins. It's because God,
the Holy Spirit, gave you a new life. God made the difference. Who makes you to differ from
another? God does. What do you have that you didn't receive?
Why, even if you have faith, he gave it to you. You can't
be proud of yourself and say, well, at least I've got it. Somebody else
doesn't. No. What do you have that you didn't receive? There's
absolutely nothing to be proud about to think that it came from
you. It didn't come from you. It came from him. Not only is
it a groundless thing, it's a brainless thing. Pride has no rewards. It makes God resist you. God
resisteth the proud and gives grace to the humble. It's what
goes before destruction. Pride goeth before destruction
and a haughty spirit before the fall. God hates pride. The scripture says in Proverbs
6, 17, six things that God hate, yea, seven are an abomination
to him, a proud look. God hates that. You know, pride
makes an individual ugly. If you find someone who's proud
and arrogant, they're ugly. Very ugly. Pride is contrary
to love. Scripture says charity vaunteth
not itself. It's not seeking to push itself
and promote itself and knock people out of the way. It's not
puffed up with pride and arrogance. Charity's not like that. The
Scripture says, "...by pride only cometh contention." It's
the disturber of peace and unity. It keeps things stirred up and
it creates drama. That's what pride does. You know,
pride was behind the fall of Adam in the garden and Eve. They
thought that they could be like God if they ate the fruit. They
thought that would put them on the same footing as God. That's
the temptation Satan used. Pride was behind it. When Satan
fell, you can read about that in Isaiah chapter 14, it's because
he said, my thrones shall be exalted above God's. It was pride
that caused him to be cast out of heaven. Pride is a horrible,
horrible thing. It's pride that prevents a man
from believing the gospel. That's just too easy. Just believe. Give me something to do. I need
something to do that I can feel good about and proud about. It's
pride that causes men to reject salvation by grace through faith.
They think it's too easy. Actually, it's impossible. The
only way you can be saved is if God saves you. But men think,
well, that makes things too easy. Don't my work count for anything?
Pride makes men reject the gospel. You think of all the examples
of pride going before destruction. I think of Nebuchadnezzar. He
looked at the kingdom that God had placed him in and given to
him. He said, has not my own power and might brought this
kingdom to me? God turned him into a beast for seven years.
And he found out that the Lord knows how to abase them that
walk in pride. Uzziah is a great king, but all
of a sudden his heart is lifted up because he thinks he's strong
and he thinks he can come into God's presence without a priest
and offer up incense. God turns him into a leper as
soon as he tries something like that. Pride had taken over. Nadab and Abihu offer up strange
fire to burn their incense. They didn't take fire from off
the altar of sacrifice. They thought any old fire will
do, and they made a strange fire, thinking as long as our hearts
are right, we're sincere, it'll be okay. And the scripture says
fire came down from heaven and consumed them. When the sons
of Korah tell Moses, we're just as holy as you, we have just
as much right to offer up offerings as you do, God sent him to hell
with the shoes on. He opened up the ground. Pride
was controlling them. When Aaron and Miriam accuse
Moses for having a black wife and they accuse him of that and
say, we're just as holy as you. You think you're the only one
that's holy around here. God turned Miriam into a leper. You
see, in all these instances, it was pride going before destruction
and a haughty spirit before the fall. Humility is the child of
knowledge. Pride is the child of ignorance. Ignorance of God, ignorance of
self, but humility is the child of knowledge. The knowledge of
God and the knowledge of self. If you have any true knowledge
of God, you can't be anything but humble. You can't see yourself
as anything else but a sinner and very little and very insignificant
in and of yourself. If you see anything of the greatness
and the glory and the majesty of God, you'll walk in humility. You won't be able to walk any
other way. And humility is so beautiful. Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ
is humble? He described himself, now we're
talking about the Son of God. the creator of the universe,
the second person of the blessed trinity, the only savior of sinners,
the one who is Lord of all, who controls everything. He's meek
and lowly in heart. That's so glorious. To think
of a man being proud, the Lord isn't. He's meek and lowly. That's his own description of
himself, meek and lowly in heart. That speaks of the beauty of
humility. And everyone loves a truly humble
person. God resists the proud, but He
gives grace to the humble. Psalm 138.6 says, God hath respect
to the lowly. Somebody once said this about
humility, taking the lowest seat. Humility is a just estimate of
yourself. You take the lowest seat, because
you really believe that's where you belong. You have a just estimate
of yourself. You see, in reality, the only
people who know me is myself and God. And I know that I belong
in the lowest seat. You may think, oh, you do not.
You're a preacher. I know myself. I know what goes
on in my heart. God does too. And I know the
lowest seat is where I belong. Humility is a just estimate of
yourself. The Apostle Paul was a truly
humble man. He spoke of serving the Lord
with all humility. And the only way you can serve
the Lord is with humility. And oh, what a just estimate
Paul had of himself. I think this is interesting. He called himself the least of
the apostles. He was the greatest of the apostles,
but he called himself the least of the apostles. And then when
he grew in grace more, he called himself less than the least of
all the saints. He would look at any believer
and say, I'm less than you, and really mean it. It wouldn't be
mock humility, which false humility is so offensive. But true humility
is beautiful, isn't it? But Paul was not being false
when he said that. And when he grew in grace some
more, he called himself the very chief of sinners. I'm the worst
man to ever live. Now, if God gives me or you a
view of ourselves, that's how we're going to grow. We're going
to grow to where we see ourselves to be the very chief of sinners,
and that's how Paul saw himself. And he expressed this in Galatians
6, verse 14. This is how he expressed his
humility. He said, God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, think
of who said that. This is the man that God used
more than anybody else to expound the gospel. This is the man that
God brought up into the third heaven and taught him the gospel
directly. He said, I certify you the gospel
that was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received
it of man nor as I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ. He tells us of going into the
third heavens in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. He was a man used
to start many churches and thousands of people were brought under
the sound of the gospel through him and believe the gospel through
him. He wrote 13 books in the Bible. Now, if there's a man
that you think would glory, it would be Paul. But what does
he say? He says, God forbid that I should glory. saving the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ. I don't have confidence in, I
don't give credit to anything but what my Lord accomplished
on Calvary's tree. My only way into the Father's
presence is by what Christ did for me on Calvary's tree. That's
the only hope that I have that Christ died for my sins. And
I don't glory in anything else. I don't glory in my preaching,
I don't glory in the way God used me, I glory only in the
cross. Now that's what humility does.
Pride glories in something else. Pride boasts in its works and
the things it's accomplished. Humility looks to Christ only. And there are such advantages
to humility. Friend, go up higher. When you
take the lowest seat, that's what you're going to hear. Friend,
go up higher. God gives grace to the humble. The humble shall hear thereof
and be glad Before honor is humility. Paul said, when I'm weak, then
am I strong. Put on therefore as the elect
of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercy, kindness, humbleness
of mind. Do you know you can only see
Christ through humbleness of mind? Now I'm gonna try to illustrate. Pride and humility. And I'm going to do so with two
believers. Yes, an unbeliever can be guilty of great pride.
Now, when you think of Thomas, what is the first thing that
comes to your mind? Doubting Thomas. He was the one who doubted. He's the one who said, I will
not believe when the other disciples came to him and said, the Lord's
risen. He said, I will not believe.
The Lord told him. Lord told all of them that he
would raise from the dead the third day. They should have been
there at the grave waiting for him to come out because he told
them. His enemies knew he told them, but even after he had risen
and made himself known to his disciples, Thomas said, except
I see the print of the nails in his hands and stick my hand
in his side, I will not believe. He's known as Doubting Thomas. Now, the first time we read of
Thomas, we don't have a lot of information about him, but the
first time we read about him is found in John chapter 11,
where the Lord said, Then Jesus said unto them plainly, Lazarus
is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to
the intent that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go unto
him. Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow
disciples, Let us go, that we may die with him. Now, Thomas
knew that when the Lord went to Jerusalem, they'd get him
and kill him. He knew it. And he says, well, let's go with
him and die with him. Now, that sounds good, but what
a high opinion he had of his own courage and strength. Let's
go with him and die with him, you fellas. This is what we need
to do. He should have asked the Lord to give him grace to do
it, rather than say, this is what we're going to do. He showed
a very high opinion of himself and his own strength. It may
sound good on the surface. Well, he was going to go die
with Christ, but he didn't say, Lord, give me grace to do this.
I'm afraid I'll end up being the coward. I know myself. No,
he didn't say anything like that. He said, let's go do it. The
strength and the energy of the flesh. Thomas had a high opinion. of himself and his own strength. And then we read in John chapter
14, verse 6, verse 5, Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know
not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? How are
we supposed to know? Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father,
but by me. Now, when Thomas asked that question,
he demonstrated that he had way too low a view of Christ. Lord,
show us the way. Thomas, you're looking at him. Who do you think I am? I am the
way. I am the truth. Not, I'll tell
you the truth. I'm the truth. I'm the life.
Not, I'll give you life. I am the life. If you have life
before God, it's going to be my life. No man comes to the
Father but by me. Now Thomas had way too low a
view of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, whenever you have a high
view of yourself, you will have a low view of Christ. The two
always go together. A high view of self always has
with it too low a view of Christ. And then the next time we read
about Thomas is found in John chapter 20. Verse 24, But Thomas
of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus
came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the
Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands
the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the
nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. Thomas had way too high a view
of experience, things you see, things you touch. He couldn't
simply believe the message. He had to experience this and
see this and touch this. He had way too high a view of
experience. People put so much stock in the
experiences they have rather than just believing what God
says. They think, well, I felt this, I did that, I really experienced
something. I'm thankful for any experiences
that the Lord gives me, but I don't trust Him. All I trust is His
Word. Feelings come and feelings go.
Feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the Word of God.
Naught else is worth believing. He had way too high a view of
experience rather than just hearing the Word. And listen to this.
Who was the one disciple who was not there when the Lord appeared? The Lord told the disciples,
you go to this place and I'm going to appear. And they were
all there waiting. They were all there waiting. Thomas knew
about that, but he wasn't there. Now, why was he not there? I
don't know. But what I see from that is Thomas
had way too low a view. of worship. You see, Christ is
in the presence, the public presence of God's people getting together.
Thomas felt no need to be there for whatever reason. And so he
was the one doubting disciple. And what he missed from not being
there when the Lord was there. Now there is pride. It begins with a high view of
yourself. Let's go die with him. It has
too low a view of Christ. Show us the way. He's looking
at the way. Too high view of an experience. I won't believe
from what I hear. I've got to touch something and feel something.
And too low view of worship. He's the one disciple that was
not there when the Lord appeared. Now, I want to contrast Matthew
chapter 8, the centurion, and I want us to hear what the Lord
said about him. He said regarding this man, Verily I say unto you,
I have not found so great a faith, no, not in Israel. Now the Lord
says this man has the greatest faith I've seen. the greatest faith in all Israel.
Now, isn't that interesting? Doesn't that make you want to
know, what is it that this man believed, or how did he believe,
or what was the attitude of his heart where the Lord would say,
this man has the greatest faith in Israel? Well, beginning in
verse 5 of Matthew chapter 8, when Jesus was entered into Capernaum,
there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him and saying, Lord,
My servant lieth at home, sick of the palsy, grievously tormented,
and Jesus saith unto him, I'll come and heal him. The centurion
answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst
come under my roof. And the Lord said, I'll come
to your house and I'll heal him. And this man said, I'm not worthy
to have you come under my roof. Now, what I noticed about this
man is he had a very low view of himself. He didn't think he
was worthy to have the Lord come to his house. He had a very low
view of himself. He believed himself to be sinful. He believed himself to be insignificant
in the grand scheme of things. He was a humble man. He was a
lowly man. He didn't think the Lord needed
to come under his roof. He didn't think he was worthy
of it. He was very much like Peter. When Peter found out who
the Lord was, he said, depart from me. Lord, I'm a sinful man. You don't want to have anything
to do with me." That's the way this man felt. He didn't want
to presume on the Lord. He said, I'm not even worthy for you to enter under my roof.
Not only did he have a low view of himself, he had a high view
of the Lord Jesus. Look what he says. He says in
verse nine, for I am a man. He said, you speak the word only
and my servant shall be healed. There's no doubt about that.
I know who you are. For I'm a man under authority, having soldiers
under me. I say to this man, go, and he goes, and to another
comes, he comes, and to my servant do this, and he does it. I understand
authority, and I understand you have all authority. I understand
all you have to do is will it, and my servant shall be healed.
He had a high view of the power and the authority of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And he had a low view of experience. The Lord said, I'll come and
heal him. He said, you don't need to do
that. He's not even worthy for you to come under my roof. Just
speak the word. All you've got to do is will
it, and it takes place. speak the word only, and my servant
shall be healed." And you'll notice that he came to where
Christ was. He had a high view of worship. He wanted to be where the Lord
was. And the Lord called this man's
faith the greatest faith in all of Israel. Now, let me remind
you of this Scripture, the unalterable law of the kingdom of heaven,
And it describes that one who comes and takes the lowest seat.
Everyone who exalts himself shall be abased, and he that humbles
himself shall be exalted. Now, what's it mean to humble
yourself before God? God resists the proud, and He
gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time." Now, what does it mean to humble yourself? Well, first
of all, it means take the lowest seat. Don't seek to promote yourself,
but really believe that you belong in the lowest seat. That's what
it is to humble yourself under God's mighty hand. It's to take
your place as a sinner before God. Remember the publican? He
beat upon his breast, crying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And the Lord said, I say unto
you, that man went down to his house justified, rather than
the other. And then he quotes what he had
just said in this parable. Everyone that exalts himself
shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. The only way I humble myself
before God is to take my place before him, confessing my sinfulness. and my need of propitiation,
my need of the blood of Christ, my need of His grace. Now conviction
of sin isn't feelings of worthlessness. You may feel worthless when you're
convicted of sin, but you can be as proud as the devil and
still feel worthless. Conviction of sin is where you
really believe your guilt before God and your only hope is the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, humility submits in this
sense. It believes. Peter said, humble
yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you
in due time, casting all your care upon him, for he careth
for you. Now, when you humble yourself
under his mighty hand, you cast all your care Your physical care,
your spiritual care, your care of salvation, you cast all your
care upon Him. You don't bear it anymore. You're trusting Him to take care
of it for you. You're trusting Him to take care of you spiritually. You're trusting Him to bring
you into heaven. All your eggs are in this one
basket. He does it all, and I'm casting all my care upon him.
And you cast all your care upon him for everything else. And
if you humble yourself under his mighty hand, you'll cast
all your care upon him. But the scripture says, he careth
for you. In Ephesians chapter 4, when
Paul is speaking of the worthy walk, He says, beginning in verse
1 of Ephesians chapter 4, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech
you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called,
with all lowliness. First thing he says, with all
humility. And meekness, with long-suffering,
forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace. That's what humility does.
One day the disciples were arguing over which one of them were the
greatest. And the Lord let them know, except you be converted
and become as little children, you won't even be in the kingdom
of heaven. You all arguing about being greatness, no, you're to
humble yourself like this little child. Now, humility. May God deliver us from pride
that prevents us from believing the gospel. and cause us to humble
ourselves just like little children. May this be branded in my heart. Everyone that exalts himself
shall be abased. And God knows how to do it. And
everyone who humbles himself just like a little child. That
person will be exalted by God Himself, making them just like
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we have this message on DVD
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