Well, I had an experience yesterday that will long remain in my memory. I learned to speak three words of Norwegian. I attended a meeting of what is called the Norske Torske Kuben. Do you know what that is? Well, that's a group of people of Norwegian descent, primarily. There are some exceptions, obviously. who get together once a month, nine months out of the year, to
eat Torsk. I was introduced at the meeting. I guess there must have been about 300 people there, and there were four or five pastors who happened to be visiting yesterday. And we were all introduced together, and the emcee then said, Well, it's nice to see you pastors in person and not on television. That's kind of how I felt, too. I wanted to laugh, and yet there was a certain cut to that comment because of the scandal within Christian broadcasting in the recent two weeks.
It has produced calamity and confusion, embarrassment, sorrow. Sad to say, the gospel of our Savior has been subjected to ridicule among the unregenerate. because of the actions and manners of certain Christian television stars. That was one example of several in recent days which showed to me how much the world has rather enjoyed seeing the dirty laundry hanging, flying in the wind.
Our family, my wife and I and son, walked into a local restaurant a week and a half ago, just after the news first broke, and walked by a table of four men who were making a joke of what had happened to the bakers and some crude remarks about it. Undoubtedly, many of you, as I watched Nightline, as on two consecutive nights they interviewed some of those associated with these events, I tell you we're all the losers for it. What does the typical citizen of this world say
when these kinds of things occur? I'll tell you what they say. They say, see, they're not really any different than any of us, except that they're hypocrites. And the sad thing is, And in some cases, they're absolutely correct. That surely is not the design of God, is it? I'd like you to turn in the Bible first this morning to 1 Peter. And notice with me the consistent teaching of the Holy Spirit through Peter to us regarding
our lifestyle. For example, in chapter 1, beginning in verse 14, it says, As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, that is, before you knew Christ. But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior. That's our lifestyle. Because it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy. God isn't saying there that he expects us to be sinless in this world. He has made provision for the sins that
we do commit. He knows that we're not going to be sinless. But what he exhorts us to here is a different life, a life that is separated from the lifestyle of the unregenerate. And it's based upon his holiness. Look in chapter 2 and verse 9. You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. For once you were not a people, but now
you are the people of God. You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you, as aliens and strangers, to abstain from fleshly lusts. which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior. There's your lifestyle. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles. That's the unconverted. So that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe
them, glorify God in the day of visitation. Turn over a page to chapter 3 and look at verse 13. And who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness
and reverence, and keep a good conscience. So that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior, there's your lifestyle, your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. How sad when that's reversed. And then chapter 4 and verse 3. For the time already passed is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousals, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.
And in all this they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excess of dissipation, and they malign you. How sad when they malign because of some deed of darkness. My point is this, that God has called us with an unbelievably high calling. He has called us to be the royalty of his universe. And because of who we are in Jesus Christ, we cannot, we dare not, live a lifestyle that is in conformity with the world system around us. That is not the design or the
plan of God. Our destiny is to share the glory of Jesus Christ and to inherit with him an eternal kingdom, beloved. Because that is our destiny. The design of our life now needs to be one that pleases God. My brother -in -law teaches in a public high school in the Cincinnati area. For a time he was a part of a faculty in an inner city school that was largely black. They invited to one of their sessions Jesse Jackson. That was when he was running for president the last
time, I think. And as he came into the session with the students, he had basically one message to communicate to them. Now, as typically inner -city students, they were not too respectful at first. They were talking and so on, but he quickly got their attention by getting them to repeat after him three simple words. His message to that student body that day was this, I am somebody. And of course he said it as only he
could say it. He got them repeating that until the whole room was reverberating with the students shouting those three words, I am somebody. May I say to you today, They're based upon the word of the living God. If you have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, not in some temporal, earthly sense, but in an eternal and real sense, you are somebody. You are a prince, a princess of God's eternal kingdom. And because of that high calling of God in Christ Jesus upon your
life, he tells you to live a certain way. He appeals to us to live, as it says in Ephesians chapter 4, going to our text for today, he appeals to us to live, to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. In other words, he is saying that we should live a lifestyle that befits a person professing Jesus Christ as Lord. He is telling us here that there ought to be a certain equivalency between our position in Jesus Christ and our practice in
our daily living. Now what does that kind of a lifestyle look like? When you boil those words down into the everyday practice of living, In the world where you and I live, what does a life like he's talking about here really look like? Well, he gives us the answer not only in our text today, but in these last three chapters of the book. He tells us, first of all, that a life that is worthy of the calling of Jesus Christ is a life that is noted for unity. That
is oneness of heart. and action with other people in the body of Christ. He tells us in our text, which we have already read this morning in our scripture, that this unity originates with the Holy Spirit. It is not something that you and I work up. This unity is said to be the unity of the Spirit, verse 3. It's the Holy Spirit who works this unity into us. And it's evidenced by what is said to be here the bond of peace. Peace. Christians ought to be known as peacemakers.
I commend those who have sought as best as they could to try to make peace in the last two weeks in the evangelical television world. The bond of peace is evidence that the Holy Spirit is working in unity. But he tells us here that the bond of peace, the unity of the Spirit, is preserved by the personal and individual character of the believer. I want you to notice that. He tells us that we are to preserve what the Holy Spirit produces. And you and I individually preserve
that by our integrity. by the character that we are, by the spiritual and godly qualities that mark us as people. It is that integrity, it is those qualities which produce unity, or rather preserve unity, which the Holy Spirit produces. When a person is marked by these qualities, that's the kind of character that you'll never
forget. When you run across a person who's marked with the words of verses 1 through 3, that's a person that you'll never be able to erase from your mind because the mark of that life will be indelibly imprinted upon you. I want you to notice these qualities. And the first one that we're going to look at is found in verse 2 where he tells us that we are to walk, that is to live with all humility. The first quality that marks the life of God's child and which preserves unity
among God's people is humility. What is humility? Well, literally the word means lowly thinking. It is esteeming oneself as small. That's the idea. Frankly, the Greeks and Romans of the New Testament day had no such word because they despised this concept. This word was created by the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. It does not exist in classical Greek because those people hated this kind of a concept. To them, the concept
of humility was cowardly. and weak. In their writings in the first and second century they mocked this concept. To the pagans of that day, the key to being a real person was self -assertion. That's right. It was self -assertion, not humility. And I think you see that in the pagan society in which we live today. In fact, there are seminars that people take in order to learn to be self -assertive. In Philippians chapter 2, I'd like
you to turn there. In Philippians chapter 2, we have an important statement on this matter of humility. He uses the very same word where it is translated here, humility of mind, in verse
3. Here's what he says. If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, and the way he writes this, he's saying, since therefore there is encouragement in Christ, since there is consolation of love, since there is fellowship of the Spirit, since there is affection and compassion, Make my joy complete, says Paul, by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. He is writing to a church
that was not united. Now what all of the problem was, we might not know, but there were two individuals in the church who were feuding, and it seems as though the people had sort of become parties to the feud. The church was divided into teams, opposed to each other. And so Paul says, look, there's all of these benefits in Christ. Now he says, I want you to be of the same mind, the same love, be united in spirit, intent on one
purpose. Do you see what he's after here? And then he tells them in verse 3, do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind. Now there's the very same term as back in Ephesians. humility of mind that each of you regard one another as more important than himself. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. He elaborates upon the idea of humility here, and I think it's important so that we can understand
what real humility is. Humility is not cowardice. Humility is not weakness. But humility is esteeming oneself as small. Here's how he puts it positively in Philippians. He says, first of all, that humility means regarding others as having it over oneself in priority. That is, as being more important. It means looking at the other person and settling in advance this important basic fact regarding your relationship. That other person is more important than I am. That's what humility does.
To regard means to thoughtfully consider the situation and come to that conclusion, inevitably. In Romans 12 .3, he tells us that proper self -esteem is not erased in this. He puts it this way. He says, for us not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. Now, folks, there's an important principle there. that I think some people have skewed out of size in our day. But nonetheless, it's an important principle, and that is that we are to have a certain sense
of self -esteem. We are to be satisfied with ourselves and to love ourselves in this sense that we're satisfied with who we are in Jesus Christ. Humility is not thinking myself worthless. Would you please note that? Humility sees myself as unworthy, but that's different than worthless. I am worth so much to God that he sent his only begotten Son into the world to die for my sins. So are you. We are not worthless. We are unworthy of God's blessing. We are to have a certain sense
of self -esteem. That is not erased by humility. But the point is that we are to regard others as more important than ourselves. He says it also this way in Philippians, that we're to look out for the interest of others. But notice, we're to do that as well as look out for the interest of ourselves. That's there too. We have interests we have to look after. That's part of responsibility in life. We are to be a faithful people to those
interests that have to do with our lives. But we are also to take time to look after the interests of other people. We are not to be totally self -absorbed and self -centered. We are to look out for the interests of others. And Jesus Christ is said to be the example. He says in verse 5, had this attitude in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. In other words, what he's talking about here is the very attitude that Jesus Christ possessed. He is the great example. He says it this way
in Romans 15, 1 and 2. He tells us, don't just live to please yourselves. But he says, let each of us please his neighbor for his good to his edification, just like Christ did. That's what he says. We are to live to look after our own interests, but we're not to stop there. We're not to draw the border and say, that's as far as I go. As we look after our own concerns, we are to be concerned about others as well. Now negatively, he says a couple of things about
humility. He says it means doing nothing out of selfishness, what we just said. Nothing out of selfish ambition. or self -seeking to exalt ourselves before others or above others. Never let that be your motive, he says. That's not humility. And he warns us as well against empty conceit. Don't do anything through empty conceit. That is hollow boasting. Have you ever met a grade -A braggart in your life? Some of the most disgusting people I've ever met are people like
that. Would you agree with that? All they can do is talk about themselves. They boast of their abilities, boast of their achievements. Everything is focused on themselves, and it's all hollow. He says, look, don't be that way. That produces disunity in the church. in the fellowship of God's people. Selfish ambition only divides. He says, rather, be characterized by humility of mind. Let's think this morning not only about an explanation of humility, but the enemy of
humility. We've already talked about it, really. It's pride. Pride is the absolute antithesis of humility. The first expression of pride in recorded history is not in a human being. Did you know that? Go back with me to Isaiah chapter 14, and you find out who it is. Now what is said here is being said to the leader of Babylon, but the words have to go beyond. The king of Babylon. This cannot refer to a mere human being. The statement is too broad in its scope for that.
Look in verse 12 of Isaiah 14. How have you fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, sun of the dawn? You have been cut down to the earth. You have weakened the nations. But you said in your heart. I will ascend to heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of the assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will make myself like the Most High. Nevertheless, says God, you will be thrust
down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit. Who is this? Well, it is Satan. That's who it is. It's Lucifer. This is something that occurred before, as much as we know, before the creation of mankind. Satan conceived pride in his heart, expressed here in five strong, I will. And for that pride, he was thrown down to the earth. And then that pride was passed on through sin. to human beings. I will. That was the origin of pride, and pride is now the natural mentality
of those who are in Satan's world. That is, the order of humanity that he has organized against God, the world system which controls the population of the world. The world system, which determines the styles and the attitudes and the wars and peace, the world system, which I repeat is headed by Satan, advances this mentality of pride. Pride in ourselves, in our achievements, our abilities. So the human beings are noted today by saying, I will do this, I will do that. I'll see an example
of that in a moment. Because it is the mentality of the unregenerate, it is therefore grotesquely out of place in the child of God. The Corinthian church was one that was characterized by pride. Just go back in the New Testament with me quickly and look at the Corinthian church. Here we have a church that had spiritual gifts. It had a lot of advantages, but it's a church that was carnal, and that carnality was evidenced in their pride. Look in chapter 3 of 1 Corinthians, verse 18.
He says, Let no man deceive himself if any man among you thinks that he's wise in this age. Let him become foolish that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. It is written he is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness. And again, the Lord knows the reasoning of the wise that they are useless. So then, let no one boast in men. What is Paul saying? Well, he's kind of concluding
an argument he began back in chapter 1. He warns them that they have divided themselves up over their spiritual leaders. Here you've got the camp of one television evangelist, and here you've got the camp of another television evangelist, and here you've got the camp of yet another one, except they weren't on television in those days. And the leaders' names were Peter and Apollos, Paul. Then there were the very super spiritual
ones who said, we just follow Jesus. And Paul doesn't commend them because their attitude was wrong. What's the problem? The same as we see in our evangelical world today. They were boasting in men, pride. They boasted in their heroes. And look at what he says in verse 6 in chapter
4. He says, These things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant in behalf of one against the other. You see how the pride in the church was evidencing itself? They were following their heroes. And that was pride. They were boasting of these superstars of that day, just like people boast of the superstars today. My friend, there
are no superstars. There's only one, the morning star, Jesus Christ, that we ought to be boasting in. Turn over to chapter 5. He says, it is actually reported that there is immorality among you. An immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that is the unsaved pagans around them, that someone has his father's wife. So here is a man who professes to be a Christian who is living with his stepmother as his wife. Paul says even the pagans don't do
stuff like that. And he says, you have become arrogant. and have not mourned instead in order that the one who has done this deed might be removed from your midst. Here he accuses them of being proud of their broad -mindedness. Let me tell you, there is a kind of broad -mindedness that God condemns. And you see an example of it right here. We are not to be broad -minded about sin. We are to detest it, to hate it, and
to judge it. And he says that these people in Corinth were so boastful of their broad -mindedness that they refused even to judge sin in the church. They bragged about the fact that their fellowship was so broad -minded that they would even have people like this living a sinful lifestyle flagrantly, publicly, disgracing Jesus Christ. He says that's an evidence of your sinful pride. We won't take time to look at it, but over in chapter 12, he suggests that they boasted of the carnal abuse
of their spiritual gifts. Even the very things that God had given them to use to exercise for the glory of his name, they abused and they were boastful about that. Some bragged because they were an eye in the body and some bragged because they were another part of the body. And Paul says to them, look, quit doing that. You all need each other. And then he puts the capstone on his whole argument in chapter 13 when he says,
Love does not brag and is not arrogant. Pride is grotesque when it's among the people of God. Pride can be based on a number of matters. Pride can be based on God -given abilities, as we see here among the Corinthians. Let's slip back to chapter 4 for a moment and look at verse 7 again. He says, Who regards you as superior? And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, then why do you boast as if you had not received it? You know what he's
saying here? These people were bragging about their spiritual abilities. And Paul is saying to them, look, why are you bragging about it? You're just the recipient of a gift from God. Do you think that that originated with you? That it's inherently yours? He's arguing against their pride. We can be boastful of spiritual abilities. To one, God gives the gift of teaching. That can go to a person's head. To another, God gives
the gift of helps. And because of that kind of ministry that's helping others, He gets a lot of pats on the back, a lot of words of appreciation that can go to a person's head. We can become proud of our God -given abilities, even our natural abilities that God gives us, such as our intellect, athletic ability, musical ability we have. You see, humility keeps me focusing on the Savior. and then using whatever he's given me for his glory. I don't focus on the gifts and allow myself
to become proud of them. I brag about my Savior. I'm boastful of him and his cross. And as I'm focused on him, I simply use the gifts, whatever they are that he's given me, for his glory. Pride can be based also on our wealth and possessions. I wish we had time to read it. We don't. But in Luke chapter 12, verses 15 to 21, there's a man Jesus talks about who is a real successful farmer. When he filled up his barn, he said, what am I going to do now? He says, I know what
I'm going to do. I'm going to tear down these barns. I'm going to build bigger barns, and I'm going to do this, and I'm going to do that. And finally God came to him and said, you fool. Tonight your soul is required of you. An example of a person who became proud of wealth and possessions. I want to tell you that's a tendency that Christians face just like the unregenerate do. Begin to parade and display our economic gains, whether it be through our cars, our homes, jewelry we
wear, our clothes. Now there's nothing wrong with those things inherently. Of course not. But when those objects become... the point of our pride, then it's sin. It's sin. The object doesn't become sin, but our attitude about it becomes sin. We have to watch our hearts about these things. We run the danger in this day of thinking that we're somehow self -made. And once we arrive at that conclusion, then we begin to waste what God has given us rather than investing
that wealth in God's work. We absorb it for ourselves. And we save it up for our children. And in some cases, how sad it is that godly people have built up wealth in their lives and left it to their kids who've wasted it. Sometimes leaving it to ungodly kids who have no appreciation for their parents' value. I think parents make a mistake in doing that. What should I do with my wealth?
What Jesus tells us to do, is to have enough to take care of us, to be wise in preparation for our older age, but to be investing it all of our life long in the work of God. Because in that way, you see, we're sending our treasures on ahead. We're investing in eternity, and we're wise. Humility keeps things in perspective, so that I lightly grasp the things of life, and I freely give. and I wisely invest them for eternity. Then pride can be based upon personal position.
It may be a social position, or it may be the prestige of an office. It may be one's race. But when this kind of pride enters the life, there's a tendency to become snobbish, to despise those that we consider to be beneath us. and to only socialize with those who are our equals. There's the danger that we will then expect to be treated in a certain way because, well, after all, who we are. And all of that is nauseating
to God. Over in the book of James, in the second chapter, he warns against this kind of thinking. He says, my brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism, that is, with discrimination. If a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who's wearing the fine clothes and say, you sit here in a good
place. And you say to the poor man, you stand over there, sit down at the footstool. Have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives? He goes on in the following verses then to condemn that kind of activity. Luke chapter 14, Jesus says, rather than having an attitude of pride about your position, take the low spot. Very practical advice that Jesus
gave. You ever notice that? They were arguing about who should sit at the head of the table, and Jesus says, look, when you come to a feast, don't go to the head of the table. Go down to the foot of the table. And then you won't be embarrassed if your host says, scoot down a little bit and let this fellow sit there. Very practical advice. Don't seek the spot of fame, the spot of notoriety. But he says, take the low spot.
What is Jesus saying? Be humble. Be humble. It may be that the host will say, hey, come up here and sit here. And then you've been honored. But be humble in your attitude. Pride can be based upon physical appearance. Oh, this is big these days. If you want to find the crowded place. In Roseville you go to one of these sports clubs around here later in the afternoon I'm not condemning
them. They have a spot, but I'll tell you what People are very concerned in our day about their physical bodies and They go to lengths to show them off They wear clothing that or sometimes they don't wear clothing That is intended to attract sensually the opposite sex. Sometimes jewelry is worn for the same reason. Have you ever looked at your wardrobe and said to yourself, now why do I wear those clothes? Is Jesus Christ honored when I dress this way? When I adorn myself
in this particular fashion? That's an important question. We can become so proud of our physical appearance that it becomes sickening. Now, we ought not to be sloppy. I'm not saying that Christians ought to wear only ugly clothes, dress in black all the time, and never wear makeup, never wear jewelry. I don't think men ought to wear makeup. No, the principle of Scripture is that we are to dress ourselves, to adorn ourselves modestly. Modestly. Now Satan is another example in this
whole area. Because it tells us in Ezekiel chapter 28, beginning in verse 11, that Satan became proud of his appearance. He was apparently the most beautiful, the most glorious of all of God's created angels. before the very throne of God, and somehow his appearance caused Satan to become proud and feel that he could become his God. My point is just this, simply. Do not become proud of your physical appearance, and if you are, repent of it. Because your physical appearance,
whatever it is, is God's design. And then we can become proud, and this is perhaps the most deceitful and dangerous of all, we can become proud of our spiritual and religious experience. And we begin to judge others because they're not as committed as I am. We begin to judge because they haven't had the experiences that I've had. Perhaps of all the kinds of pride, this is the
most nauseating to God. It's the kind that Jesus condemned so roundly in Matthew chapter 23 when he absolutely lacerated the Pharisees because of attitudes like that. They were filled with abominable hypocrisy. I don't know where pride may be in our lives today. It may be that God has dealt with all of us. And that we're truly walking in humility. But wherever the finger of God may have fallen upon us this morning, that's where we need to do some repenting and
do it fast. Because there are few sins that are so destructive as pride, that so take us down the tube spiritually and in every other way as pride. The mark of lifestyle that witnesses to one being a child of God. is humility. Spurgeon said, God will deny no blessing to a thoroughly humbled spirit. You want God's blessing? Then walk in humility. John MacArthur tells the story of some Moravian missionaries to West India who
desired to reach the slaves. But that population of slaves was so separated from the ruling classes that no one could reach them. And so these two missionaries decided that in order to reach the slaves for whom they were burdened and to whom God had called them, they themselves would become slaves. And that's what they did. They entered that society of slaves. They worked side by side with them until God closed the gap. between the hearts of the slaves and those missionaries.
And the result was that the slaves eventually listened to their message and their hearts were touched. And they came to Christ because they saw missionaries who had humbled themselves to their condition. Walk in humility. That's what Jesus did, my friend, when he emptied himself, as it says in Philippians 2, and came into this world for you and me. And so because he has come for us and lifted us to the heights of heaven in our calling, let's also walk in humility like
he did. Let's bow together. I can't know your heart, but you know God knows your heart as well as he knows mine. What is the point today that he's talking to you about? Will you allow the Holy Spirit of this moment to deal with you, to speak to you, humble yourself? O Spirit of God, lover of our souls, one who desires to sanctify us, to make us like our Savior, we pray that
you will humble us. And enable us to follow the instructions of your word that says to us, humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God. Speak to us, I pray, in this moment. In Jesus' name, amen.