A minister, a Boy Scout, and a computer expert were the only passengers on a small plane. The pilot came back to the cabin and said that the plane was going down but there were only three parachutes and four people. The pilot added, “I should have one of the parachutes because I have a wife and three small children.” So he took one and jumped. The computer whiz said, “I should have one of the parachutes because I am the smartest man in the world and everyone needs me.” So he took one and jumped. The minister turned to the Boy Scout and with a sad smile said, “You are young and I have lived a rich life, so you take the remaining parachute, and I’ll go down with the plane.” The Boy Scout said, “Relax, Reverend, the smartest man in the world just picked up my knapsack and jumped out!”¹ Have you met people in your world who make themselves out to be candidates for the title “Smartest Man in the World?” People, who possess an innate overestimation of themselves? What you will find as you study the truth of God’s Word is that pride is an absolute downer. Overrunning pride always leads to a severe fall. In the case of this illustration, it was a several thousand foot fall. The way of humility is the right way, the normal Christian life. How do you diminish the pride of natural life while increasing in the fruit of humility?

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You can view a basic transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.

Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put into operation.
This week’s call is:

Determine within in your heart to add humility to your bucket list of things to develop in God. Get your Bible and your concordance and look-up the verses. Set yourself to read and learn all you can and adjust yourself accordingly.

Join the Conversation

Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question is:

Question: In what way has humility lifted in your everyday life?  Please leave a comment in the comments section below.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 35 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate it on Stitcher Radio and leave a review. If you have a suggestion for a Bible topic you would like to see taught, or if you have a question, please e-mail me at emery@emeryhorvath.com

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Podcast Notes

All That’s in the World

1 John 2:16 (ESV) — 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

• ‘All that’s in the world’, did you hear that?
• This passage is a sweeping statement on the ills of planet earth.
• Certain people think ‘Mother Earth’ needs rescuing.
• After all, they say, ‘she’s getting on in age.
• So, they covet conservation.
• Rescue the ozone is the cry of the naturalists.
• The polar bears are in trouble.
• The lions and tigers and bears? Oh, my.
• Focus on the butterflies, hone in on the bees, and with a little pro-activism, maybe we can save the seas?
• People are trying to save the fish that’s flopping on the shores but its the man that’s flopping in the supermarket that needs to be saved.
• But, the planet has way more problems than the biosphere being out of tilt.
• The desires of the flesh are in the world.
• Eye lust is teeming in throughout the streets of our cities.
• Pride has plummeted the planet into darkness.
• There are way bigger problems than the condition of the ecosystem.
• If you can get the two-legged creatures straightened out, you can save the four-legged ones.
• How did we get into this mess in the first place?
• God didn’t introduce the pride of life into the planet.
• What God made was made was good, very good, exceptionally perfect and extremely balanced.
• So, how did pride get planted into the fields of life?
• Genesis tells the story.
• It gives us the answer.

Pride and the Fall

Genesis 3:1–5 (KJV) — 1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

• You shall be as gods.
• Did you hear those words?
• The proposal of the serpent to the first family was one of exhalation.
  • “Lift yourself up”, the serpent said.
  • “You have to grab the bull by the horns here.”
  • “You’ve got to make your own way baby.”
  • “Grab hold of what God has withheld from you.”
  • “God can’t be trusted.”
  • “He’s holding out on you.”, slithered the serpent.
  • “You’re going to have to do it my way.”
• Adam bought the lie.
• He paid good money for it too.
• He paid for it with his spiritual life.
• When he reached into Satan’s grocery bag of lies, he got pinched with an exposed needle laced with pride.
• He got infected with it.
• It was pride, lousy stinking pride, which caused the fall.
• The pride of promotion.
• The exaltation of advancement.
• The arrogance of wanting to possess knowledge exclusive to himself.
• You know, having inside information can be a head exploding rush.
• That’s what you get when you try to get a ‘free lunch’ from the enemy.
• Satan is a liar and the father of them.

When In Doubt, Consider the Source

• How utterly devilish is pride?
• All you have to do to know the answer is to consider the source.

Isaiah 14:12–14 (KJV) — 12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

“That I Will Business”

• Satan had a huge issue with his prescription lenses.
• He couldn’t see straight.
• He had ‘I’ trouble, not ‘eye’ trouble, Single letter capital ‘I’ trouble.
• Listen to his words closely: ‘I will’, ‘I will’, ‘I will’.
• Mark this down, you don’t want any of that ‘I will’ business.
• You want God’s will, not your will.

A life that is wrapped up in itself makes a very small package.²

• No, the best life is not the one wrapped up in itself.
• The best life, the highest life is a life wrapped up in Jesus.
• It’s a life encased in others.
• And Jesus saw the issue right.
• He had 20-20 vision.
• Listen to His ‘I’ prescription.

Mark 14:36 (ESV)  — 36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

• Pride caused the fall of man, humility restored it.

Humility: A Kite in Redemption’s Story

• Humility is a kite which flies throughout redemption’s story.
• You see, Adam lost our place in the Garden through the abundance of pride.
• Jesus got it back through the abundance of humility.

Philippians 2:5-7 (KJV) – 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

• The words ‘made Himself of no reputation’ is a King James 16th century way of speaking.
• This is not the language we use today.
• It’s not how we communicate.
• Here are the same verses in the English Standard Version, a more modern translation.

Philippians 2:5–7 (ESV) — 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

• The words ‘made Himself of no reputation’ is translated ’emptied Himself’ here.
• Even the words ’emptied Himself’ doesn’t give the full import of the word.
• With that thought here’s the definition of the day.
• The Greek word for ’emptied himself’ is a verb which implies an action that Jesus took.
• He had to do this willing.
• It was the Father’s ‘I will’ for Jesus.
• And, He accepted it as His own.
• There is a definition of this word which means to lose power or be powerless.
• Jesus emptied Himself means He became powerless.
• That is, He willingly laid aside His mighty power and glory.
• He became dependent solely on God.
• It took humility for Jesus to do that.
• I say ‘do’ because humility is expressed in actions not just words.
• Think about the actions of the second member of the God-head.
• One day He arose from His Throne and stepped away from it.
• In fact, He stepped down.
• He took heavens elevator to earth.
• Notice that the emphasis is down.
• Adam wanted to go up in his attempt to be like God.
• To fix the problem required a stepping down.
• That’s where the humility piece lay.

The Humility of Jesus in His Earth Walk

• Not only did it take humility to step down from His Throne and be born in fashion as a man.
• It took humility to walk out God’s plan from the manger.
• His taking the elevator to earth was only a single act of humility.
• He had to walk out ‘being fashioned as a man.’
• Listen to how Jesus did this ‘being in the form of a man’ business.

Examples of Jesus Humility

• A leader spoke these words into my hearing one day.
• He said…

If you listen to people long enough, they will tell you what they are and whose they are.

• Jesus said these words.
• By listening to them, we know what He was and whose He was.
  • “The Son can do nothing of Himself” (John 5:19).
  • “I can of My own self do nothing; My judgment is just, because I seek not Mine own will” (John 5:30).
  • “I receive not glory from men” (John 5:41).
  • “I am come not to do Mine own will” (John 6:38).
  • “My teaching is not Mine” (John 7:16).
  • “I am not come of Myself” (John 7:28).
  • “I do nothing of Myself” (John 8:28).
  • “I have not come of Myself, but He sent Me” (John 8:42).
  • “I seek not Mine own glory” (John 8:50).
  • “The words that I say, I speak not from Myself” (John 14:10).
  • “The word which ye hear is not Mine” (John 14:24).
• Over and over again, Jesus expresses the opposite of what Adam expressed.
• Adam acted out of independence.
• Jesus acted out of dependence.
• The royal spirit of the Kingdom of heaven is humility expressed through trust, dependence, and leaning on God.

A Look at John 5:19

• Let’s put John 5:19 under the microscope for a minute.

John 5:19 (ESV) — 19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

• Jesus was equal with God.
• That’s a simple Bible reality.
• He told everyone as much one day.
• When He did, the religious leaders got mad to the point of picking up rocks to throw at Him.
• Go back just one verse to John 5:18 and you’ll see it.

John 5:18 (ESV) — 18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

• But, though Jesus was equal, He didn’t lean on, He didn’t require any of the perks that came with that equality.
• Yet, Jesus lived every single day cognizant of what He used to have with the Father.
• People like to relive the ‘good ole days’.
• Jesus did that one day.

John 17:5 (ESV) — 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

• So, as a man, Jesus had a consciousness of eternity past.
• He was the Creator of the ‘good ole days’ people yearn after, and yet He stayed within the boundaries of God’s plan
• He did it being fully aware of the ‘glory days’ where it was just Him, the Holy Spirit, and His Father.

Angel Power for Jesus Hour

Matthew 26:50–53 (ESV) — 50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. 51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?

• Don’t just read past this too quickly, you can miss a prodigious display of strength and humility.
• Twelve legions of angels were at Jesus disposal.
• All it took to get those boys on the scene was just a word of off Jesus lips to His Father.
• Twelve legions, that’s 72,000 angels.
• How much power is expressed in the words, ‘Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?’
• In the Old Testament, we have a record of the aptitude of one angel.

Isaiah 37:36–37 (ESV) — 36 And the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh.

• This angel took out 185,000 humans in one stroke.
• That’s a lot of dead bodies splattered all over the ground at one time.
• Work these numbers back into Jesus statement.
• Take 185,000 men and multiply that by the 72,000 available angels to Jesus.
• You get 13.3 billion men which could be struck down by a simple Jesus prayer to His Father.
• Thirteen billion plus, did you get that?
• That’s like almost twice the number of people currently on the planet today.
• This is a small crowd that came to take Jesus.
• No match for the Fathers capability which was just a whisper away.
• Father, “I need help”, that’s all Jesus had to say.
• This crowd came to take the man who was the most powerful man on the planet.
• It wasn’t the Roman Emperor who had the arsenal.
• It was Jesus.

The Discipline of Humility

• Put this in your mind.
• Turn it over in your imagination.
• The most powerful Jesus is confronted with a crowd of bullies with swords and spears.
• And, He didn’t pray the prayer.
• He knew He had the ability to do it but He didn’t do it.
• He refused to utter a word to the Father in this regard.
• The Father is watching all of this as this puny crowd is ready to take His Son.
• Think about the discipline involved here.
• Mediate on the absolute mastery Jesus had over His emotions.
• Fix your mind on His humility in bowing His will to the boundaries of the Father’s plan.
• Talk about having your mind blown, my goodness?
• He allowed Himself to be taken.
• He gave permission for the soldiers to arrest Him.
• While the religious crowd mistreated him, he never opened His mouth.
• He could have called for the angels while He was being beaten and whipped, He wouldn’t do it.
• When they mocked Him and put a crown of thorns on His head, He all He had to do was say, ‘Oh Father I need the angels right now and He would have delivered Himself.’
• But no, not a word.
• While they were driving the nails into His body, not even a whisper prayer came from His lips.
• He stayed in subjection to the will of the Father God all of the way through.
• What if that was you?
• Could You have done that?
• If you had this kind of power at your disposal?
• Put yourself in Jesus shoes with the way you think right now.
• With the current level of your soul development right now, what would you have done being confronted with a crowd of bullies who threatened your life?
• Would you have delivered yourself?
• Or would have turned it down?
• Do you see the huge humility here?

The Life of Jesus Dripping in Humility

• So, everything about His life from the Throne to the manger to the cross is dripping with humility.
• It took humility to become obedient to death.
• If all of our redemption is underscored by humility, don’t you think we should be walking in it?
• If He purchased our great salvation by the very meekness of His life, shouldn’t that be a supremely exclusive part of our life?
• We are commanded to copy Jesus.
• Do you remember the verse we already quoted, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus?”

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