Dave’s Monday Blast – February 19, 2018

I read just last week that Evangelist Luis Palau has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer. Palau is the Billy Graham of South America. A gracious, humble guy with a terrific sense of humor and an infectious passion for Jesus, Palau has spoken to thirty million people in seventy-five countries across his ministry. He has authored dozens of books and featured in radio broadcasts on 3, 500 radio outlets in forty-eight countries.

One of the most impactful attributes of Palau’s life and ministry is his genuine humility. He believes passionately that his salvation and ministry are God’s gifts of grace. He points people to Jesus rather than himself because he knows our souls need not a man, but the Master.

Charles Spurgeon wrote: “The more thou hast the more thou art in debt to God; and thou shouldst not be proud of that which renders thee a debtor.” That’s good isn’t it!

In his book entitled Humility:True Greatness, author C.J. Mahaney begins his discussions with the following from Isaiah 66:2: “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” This promise causes him to note that “humility draws the gaze of our Sovereign God.” (In a good way 😊)

Just as our humility honors God, the converse is true: honoring God actually leads to humility. Mahaney quotes John Calvin: “It is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God and come down after such contemplation to look into himself.” Calvin’s observation leads to Mahaney’s definition: “Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness.”

Choosing humility as a life witness involves the following theological commitments: (Denison Forum)

1. View pride as “the essence of all sin” (John Stott) and “an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 16:5).
2. Remember that “God opposes the proud” (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5) because pride contends with His sovereignty.
3. Define greatness as serving others for the glory of God: “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (Mark 10:43 – 44).
4. Ask God to rescue you from pride, depending on the One who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

Next week we will examine what Mahaney refers to as the “Path to Humility”.