Produced by Free elf
BY
REV. Andrew Murray
Lord Jesus! may our Holiness be perfect Humility!
Let Thy perfect Humility be our Holiness!
There are three great motives that urge us to humility. It becomes meas a creature, as a sinner, as a saint. The first we see in theheavenly hosts, in unfallen man, in Jesus as Son of Man. The secondappeals to us in our fallen state, and points out the only way throughwhich we can return to our right place as creatures. In the third wehave the mystery of grace, which teaches us that, as we lose ourselvesin the overwhelming greatness of redeeming love, humility becomes tous the consummation of everlasting blessedness and adoration.
In our ordinary religious teaching, the second aspect has been tooexclusively put in the foreground, so that some have even gone to theextreme of saying that we must keep sinning if we are indeed to keephumble. Others again have thought that the strength ofself-condemnation is the secret of humility. And the Christian lifehas suffered loss, where believers have not been distinctly guided tosee that, even in our relation as creatures, nothing is more naturaland beautiful and blessed than to be nothing, that God may be all; orwhere it has not been made clear that it is not sin that humbles most,but grace, and that it is the soul, led through its sinfulness to beoccupied with God in His wonderful glory as God, as Creator andRedeemer, that will truly take the lowest place before Him.
In these meditations I have, for more than one reason, almostexclusively directed attention to the humility that becomes us ascreatures. It is not only that the connection between humility and sinis so abundantly set forth in all our religious teaching, but becauseI believe that for the fullness of the Christian life it isindispensable that prominence be given to the other aspect. If Jesusis indeed to be our example in His lowliness, we need to understandthe principles in which it was rooted, and in which we find the commonground on which we stand with Him, and in which our likeness to Him isto be attained. If we are indeed to be humble, not only before God buttowards men, if humility is to be our joy, we must see that it is notonly the mark of shame, because of sin, but, apart from all sin, abeing clothed upon with the very beauty and blessedness of heaven andof Jesus. We shall see that just as Jesus found His glory in takingthe form of a servant, so when He said to us, 'Whosoever would befirst among you, shall be your servant,' He simply taught us theblessed truth that there is nothing so divine and heavenly as beingthe servant and helper of all. The faithful servant, who recogniseshis position, finds a real pleasure in supplying the wants of themaster or his guests. When we see that humility is somethinginfinitely deeper than contrition, and accept it as our participationin the life of Jesus, we shall begin to learn that it is our truenobility, and that to prove it in being servants of all is the highestfulfilment of our destiny, as men created in the image of God.
When I look back upon my own religious experience, or round upon theChurch of Christ in the world, I stand amazed at the thought of howlittle humility is sought after as the distinguishing feature of thediscipleship of Jesus. In preaching and living, in the dailyintercourse of the home and social life, in the more specialfellowship with Christians, in the direction and performance of workfor Christ,—alas! how much proof the