PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK

Humility: The Beauty of Holiness

Murray, Andrew, 1828-1917 · 20,824 words · 31 reading sections

HUMILITY THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS

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 me as a creature, as a sinner, as a saint. The first we see in the heavenly hosts, in unfallen man, in Jesus as Son of Man. The second appeals to us in our fallen state, and points out the only way through which we can return to our right place as creat…

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I.

Humility: The Glory of the Creature _'They shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying: Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory, and the honour and the power: for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they were, and were created. '_--REV. iv. 11. WHEN God created the universe…

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Part 5

In the life of earnest Christians, of those who pursue and profess holiness, humility ought to be the chief mark of their uprightness. It is often said that it is not so. May not one reason be that in the teaching and example of the Church, it has never had that place of supreme importance which belongs to it? And that…

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II.

Humility: The Secret of Redemption. _'Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus: who emptied Himself; taking the form of a servant; and humbled Himself; becoming obedient even unto death. Wherefore God also highly exalted Him.'_ --PHIL. ii. 5-7. NO tree can grow except on the root from which it sprang. Thr…

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Part 7

In this view it is of inconceivable importance that we should have right thoughts of what Christ is, of what really constitutes Him the Christ, and specially of what may be counted His chief characteristic, the root and essence of all His character as our Redeemer. There can be but one answer: it is His humility. What …

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III.

The Humility of Jesus. _'I am in the midst of you as he that serveth.'_--LUKE xxii. 26. IN the Gospel of John we have the inner life of our Lord laid open to us. Jesus speaks frequently of His relation to the Father, of the motives by which He is guided, of His consciousness of the power and spirit in which He acts. …

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Part 9

Here we have the root and nature of true humility. It is because this is not understood or sought after, that our humility is so superficial and so feeble. We must learn of Jesus, how He is meek and lowly of heart. He teaches us where true humility takes its rise and finds its strength--in the knowledge that it is God …

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IV.

Humility in the Teaching of Jesus. _'Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart.'_--MATT. xi. 29. _'Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant, even as the Son of Man came to serve.'_--MATT. xx. 27. WE have seen humility in the life of Christ, as He laid open His heart to us: let us listen to His t…

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Part 11

'Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.' Would God that it might be given us to believe that Jesus means this! We all know what the character of a faithful servant or slave implies. Devotion to the master's interests, thoughtful study and care to please him, delight in his prosperity and honour and…

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V.

Humility in the Disciples of Jesus _'Let him that is chief among you be as he that doth serve.'_ --LUKE xxii. 26 WE have studied humility in the person and teaching of Jesus; let us now look for it in the circle of His chosen companions--the twelve apostles. If, in the lack of it we find in them, the contrast between…

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Part 13

Third, _It is only by the indwelling of Christ in His divine humility that we become truly humble._--We have our pride from another, from Adam; we must have our humility from Another too. Pride is ours, and rules in us with such terrible power, because it is ourself, our very nature. Humility must be ours in the same w…

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VI.

Humility in Daily Life _'He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?'_--1 JOHN iv. 20. WHAT a solemn thought, that our love to God will be measured by our everyday intercourse with men and the love it displays; and that our love to God will be found to be a delusion, e…

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Part 15

The humble man feels no jealousy or envy. He can praise God when others are preferred and blessed before him. He can bear to hear others praised and himself forgotten, because in God's presence he has learnt to say with Paul, 'I am nothing.' He has received the spirit of Jesus, who pleased not Himself, and sought not H…

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Part 16

And whence comes it that men who have joyfully given up themselves for Christ, find it so hard to give up themselves for their brethren? Is not the blame with the Church? It has so little taught its sons that the humility of Christ is the first of the virtues, the best of all the graces and powers of the Spirit. It has…

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VII.

Humility and Holiness _'Which say, Stand by thyself; for I am holier than thou.'_ --ISAIAH lxv. 5. WE speak of the Holiness movement in our times, and praise God for it. We hear a great deal of seekers after holiness and professors of holiness, of holiness teaching and holiness meetings. The blessed truths of holines…

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Part 18

_'Stand by; for I am holier than thou!'_ What a parody on holiness! Jesus the Holy One is the humble One: the holiest will ever be the humblest. There is none holy but God: we have as much of holiness as we have of God. And according to what we have of God will be our real humility, because humility is nothing but the …

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VIII.

Humility and Sin _'Sinners, of whom I am chief.'_--1 TIM. i. 15 HUMILITY is often identified with penitence and contrition. As a consequence, there appears to be no way of fostering humility but by keeping the soul occupied with its sin. We have learned, I think, that humility is something else and something more. We…

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Part 20

The point which I wish to emphasise is this--that the very fact of the absence of such confession of sinning only gives the more force to the truth that it is not in daily sinning that the secret of the deeper humility will be found, but in the habitual, never for a moment to be forgotten position, which just the more …

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IX.

Humility and Faith _'How can ye believe, which receive glory from one another, and the glory that cometh from the only God ye seek not?'_ JOHN v. 44. In an address I lately heard, the speaker said that the blessings of the higher Christian life were often like the objects exposed in a shop window,--one could see them…

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Part 22

Brother, have we not been making a mistake in taking so much trouble to believe, while all the time there was the old self in its pride seeking to possess itself of God's blessing and riches? No wonder we could not believe. Let us change our course. Let us seek first of all to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of …

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X.

Humility and Death to Self. _'He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death.'_--PHIL. ii. 8. HUMILITY is the path to death, because in death it gives the highest proof of its perfection. Humility is the blossom of which death to self is the perfect fruit. Jesus humbled Himself unto death, and opened the path in w…

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Part 24

Then follows: _Only this death leads to perfect humility._ Oh, beware of the mistake so many make, who would fain be humble, but are afraid to be too humble. They have so many qualifications and limitations, so many reasonings and questionings, as to what true humility is to be and to do, that they never unreservedly y…

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XI.

Humility and Happiness. _'Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the strength of Christ may rest upon me. Wherefore I take pleasure in weakness: for when I am weak then am I strong.'_--2 COR. xii. 9. 10. LEST Paul should exalt himself, by reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations,…

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Part 26

Let us trust Him who took charge of Paul to take charge of us too. Paul needed special discipline, and with it special instruction, to learn, what was more precious than even the unutterable things he had heard in heaven--what it is to glory in weakness and lowliness. We need it, too, oh so much. He who cared for him w…

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XII.

Humility and Exaltation _'He that humbleth himself shall be exalted.'_ --LUKE xiv. 11, xviii. 13. _'God giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He shall exalt you.'_--JAS. iv. 10. _'Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.'_--1 PET…

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Part 28

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will exalt you. And wherein does the exaltation consist? The highest glory of the creature is in being only a vessel, to receive and enjoy and show forth the glory of God. It can do this only as it is willing to be nothing in itself, that God may be all. Water always f…

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Part 29

NOTE A--'All this is to make it known the region of eternity that _pride_ can degrade the highest angels into devils, and humility raise fallen flesh and blood to the thrones of angels. Thus, this is the great end of God raising a new creation out of a fallen kingdom of angels: for this end it stands in its state of wa…

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Part 30

'I seek for all my salvation through the merits and mediation of the _meek, humble, patient, suffering Lamb of God,_ who alone hath power to bring forth the blessed birth of these heavenly virtues in my soul. There is no possibility of salvation but in and by the birth of the _meek, humble, patient, resigned Lamb of Go…

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A PRAYER FOR HUMILITY

I will here give you an infallible touchstone, that will try all to the truth. It is this: retire from the world and all conversation, only for one month; neither write, nor read, nor debate anything with yourself; stop all the former workings of your heart and mind: and, with all the strength of your heart, stand all …

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Source & rights

Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.

Project Gutenberg source record →

Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.

Humility: The Beauty of Holiness

Part 1