Calvary Church
Attracting the Favour of God - Dustan Bell
‘We see a growing church, meeting in many locations around the world, helping people to know Jesus, find community and make a difference.’
Locations & Times
Calvary Port Moresby
7 Mile, Jacksons Parade, Port Moresby 121 National Capital District, Papua New Guinea
Sunday 9:00 AM
Attracting the Favour of God
There’s nothing we can do to attract God’s love; it is unearned and unmerited. But God’s favour comes upon people who possess a particular attitude, and every one of us can choose that attitude.
1 Peter 5:5-7
“In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Every one of us can experience God’s favour, but it comes at the cost of our pride.
Proverbs 3:33–34
The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
Toward the scorners he is scornful,
but to the humble he gives favour.
God loves humility, but He loathes pride.
Proverbs 6:16-17
These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
A proud look …
Humility
· From Latin ‘humilis’, meaning ‘low, lowly’
· From ‘humus’, meaning ‘ground’
· “Low to the ground”
· “To lower yourself”
Most of us assume that to be humble (or, ‘down to earth’) is more virtuous than to be full of pride. But it hasn’t always been this way.
Historian John Dickson writes in ‘Humilitas’:
Honour was universally regarded as the ultimate asset for human beings, and shame the ultimate deficit—so much so that academics frequently refer to Egyptian, Greek and Roman societies simply as “honour-shame cultures". Much of life revolved around ensuring you and your family received public honour and avoided public shame...
All of this might be hard for moderns to understand. That is because most of us no longer live in honour-shame societies. Our key axis points are things like good-evil, pleasure-suffering and prosperity-poverty. Honour and shame still have some value for us—who doesn’t crave a bit of praise and avoid public embarrassment?—but few of us would regard these things as the defining parameters of human life.
By contrast, without denying the importance of goodness, pleasure and prosperity, most ancient Greeks and Romans would not have thought about such things as the goals of human endeavour. Aristotle’s third-century BC dictum seemed to them eminently sensible: “Honour and reputation are among the pleasantest things, through each person’s imagining that he has the qualities of an important person; and all the more so when others say so.”
The ancient GreekDelphic Canon, written in 600BC, contained 147 maxims thought to be the summation of an ethical life. Of the 147 maxims there wasn’t a mention of the word, let alone the theme, of humility. In Greco-Roman culture, humility just wasn’t on the radar.
How did culture move from pursuing honour to prizing humility?
The catalyst was a Jew from Nazareth. Into a 1st century honour-shame culture, where Caesars published their own acclaim, and great ones lorded it over their subjects, Jesus stood in stark contrast.
Matthew 11:29
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
In an honor-shame culture, crucifixion was the ultimate public shaming. Nobody wanted to end their life on a cross. The gospel says that Jesus voluntarily chose the Cross as an act of service, taking the place of the sinner and bearing sin’s penalty in himself.
As the earliest followers of Jesus came to terms with the implications of His life, death and resurrection, they realized that in Jesus, the God of Heaven had literally ‘lowered himself’ to our level, then humbled himself to the lowest place imaginable – even death on a cross!
This turned their ethical assumptions upside down.
Philippians 2:3–8
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
John Dickson summarises in ‘Humilitas’
“… humility came to be valued in Western culture as a consequence of Christianity’s dismantling of the all-pervasive honour-shame paradigm of the ancient world. Today, it doesn’t matter what your religious views are—Christian, atheist, Jedi Knight—if you were raised in the West, you are likely to think that honour-seeking is morally questionable and lowering yourself for the good of others is ethically beautiful … it is unlikely that any of us would aspire to this virtue were it not for the historical impact of his crucifixion on art, literature, ethics, law and philosophy. Our culture remains cruciform long after it stopped being Christian.”
God is opposed to pride because it’s the opposite of His nature. Where the Bible peels the curtain back and reveals the nature of the triune God, we see that the Father, Son and Spirit are not characterized by self-centeredness, but by mutually self-giving love.
If humility is the attitude of Christ, then it would follow that pride would be the anti-Christ attitude.
Isaiah 14:13-15
You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the far reaches of the pit.
Lucifer exalted himself and was brought down to the pit, but Jesus humbled Himself, so God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name.
Philippians 2:10–11
… so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
God opposes the proud - because pride is opposite of Himself. But He loves to pour out favour, grace, and blessing upon humility, because where He sees humility He sees the reflection of Christ himself.
1 Peter 5:5-7
… because, “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Three things God gives us when we embrace humility.
1. He gives us grace
James 4:6
be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud,But gives grace to the humble.”
2. He gives us promotion
1 Peter 5:6
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
Matthew Henry
… his hand is almighty, and can easily pull you down if you be proud, or exalt you if you be humble; and it will certainly do it, either in this life, if he sees it best for you, or at the day of general retribution.
Martin Luther
God created the world out of nothing; so as long as we are nothing, he can make something out of us.
Matthew 5:5
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
3. He gives us peace
Through humility we find peace in ourselves.
Through humility that we find peace with others
Through humility we find peace with God
2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
1 John 1:8–9
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Andrew Murray
Pride needs to die in us for anything of heaven to live in us.
There’s nothing we can do to attract God’s love; it is unearned and unmerited. But God’s favour comes upon people who possess a particular attitude, and every one of us can choose that attitude.
1 Peter 5:5-7
“In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Every one of us can experience God’s favour, but it comes at the cost of our pride.
Proverbs 3:33–34
The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
Toward the scorners he is scornful,
but to the humble he gives favour.
God loves humility, but He loathes pride.
Proverbs 6:16-17
These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
A proud look …
Humility
· From Latin ‘humilis’, meaning ‘low, lowly’
· From ‘humus’, meaning ‘ground’
· “Low to the ground”
· “To lower yourself”
Most of us assume that to be humble (or, ‘down to earth’) is more virtuous than to be full of pride. But it hasn’t always been this way.
Historian John Dickson writes in ‘Humilitas’:
Honour was universally regarded as the ultimate asset for human beings, and shame the ultimate deficit—so much so that academics frequently refer to Egyptian, Greek and Roman societies simply as “honour-shame cultures". Much of life revolved around ensuring you and your family received public honour and avoided public shame...
All of this might be hard for moderns to understand. That is because most of us no longer live in honour-shame societies. Our key axis points are things like good-evil, pleasure-suffering and prosperity-poverty. Honour and shame still have some value for us—who doesn’t crave a bit of praise and avoid public embarrassment?—but few of us would regard these things as the defining parameters of human life.
By contrast, without denying the importance of goodness, pleasure and prosperity, most ancient Greeks and Romans would not have thought about such things as the goals of human endeavour. Aristotle’s third-century BC dictum seemed to them eminently sensible: “Honour and reputation are among the pleasantest things, through each person’s imagining that he has the qualities of an important person; and all the more so when others say so.”
The ancient GreekDelphic Canon, written in 600BC, contained 147 maxims thought to be the summation of an ethical life. Of the 147 maxims there wasn’t a mention of the word, let alone the theme, of humility. In Greco-Roman culture, humility just wasn’t on the radar.
How did culture move from pursuing honour to prizing humility?
The catalyst was a Jew from Nazareth. Into a 1st century honour-shame culture, where Caesars published their own acclaim, and great ones lorded it over their subjects, Jesus stood in stark contrast.
Matthew 11:29
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
In an honor-shame culture, crucifixion was the ultimate public shaming. Nobody wanted to end their life on a cross. The gospel says that Jesus voluntarily chose the Cross as an act of service, taking the place of the sinner and bearing sin’s penalty in himself.
As the earliest followers of Jesus came to terms with the implications of His life, death and resurrection, they realized that in Jesus, the God of Heaven had literally ‘lowered himself’ to our level, then humbled himself to the lowest place imaginable – even death on a cross!
This turned their ethical assumptions upside down.
Philippians 2:3–8
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
John Dickson summarises in ‘Humilitas’
“… humility came to be valued in Western culture as a consequence of Christianity’s dismantling of the all-pervasive honour-shame paradigm of the ancient world. Today, it doesn’t matter what your religious views are—Christian, atheist, Jedi Knight—if you were raised in the West, you are likely to think that honour-seeking is morally questionable and lowering yourself for the good of others is ethically beautiful … it is unlikely that any of us would aspire to this virtue were it not for the historical impact of his crucifixion on art, literature, ethics, law and philosophy. Our culture remains cruciform long after it stopped being Christian.”
God is opposed to pride because it’s the opposite of His nature. Where the Bible peels the curtain back and reveals the nature of the triune God, we see that the Father, Son and Spirit are not characterized by self-centeredness, but by mutually self-giving love.
If humility is the attitude of Christ, then it would follow that pride would be the anti-Christ attitude.
Isaiah 14:13-15
You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the far reaches of the pit.
Lucifer exalted himself and was brought down to the pit, but Jesus humbled Himself, so God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name.
Philippians 2:10–11
… so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
God opposes the proud - because pride is opposite of Himself. But He loves to pour out favour, grace, and blessing upon humility, because where He sees humility He sees the reflection of Christ himself.
1 Peter 5:5-7
… because, “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Three things God gives us when we embrace humility.
1. He gives us grace
James 4:6
be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud,But gives grace to the humble.”
2. He gives us promotion
1 Peter 5:6
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
Matthew Henry
… his hand is almighty, and can easily pull you down if you be proud, or exalt you if you be humble; and it will certainly do it, either in this life, if he sees it best for you, or at the day of general retribution.
Martin Luther
God created the world out of nothing; so as long as we are nothing, he can make something out of us.
Matthew 5:5
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
3. He gives us peace
Through humility we find peace in ourselves.
Through humility that we find peace with others
Through humility we find peace with God
2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
1 John 1:8–9
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Andrew Murray
Pride needs to die in us for anything of heaven to live in us.