What You Need More Than Self-Confidence
00:00:00.000 | (music)
00:00:04.000 | Well, the world says we need self-confidence more than anything else.
00:00:09.000 | Well, no, there are things more important to our lives than self-confidence.
00:00:14.000 | So what are those things?
00:00:15.000 | Pastor John answered this question in a sermon back in 2009,
00:00:20.000 | in a clip suggested to us from Hannah in Canton, Ohio.
00:00:24.000 | It's a good one.
00:00:25.000 | This is Pastor John back in 2009 preaching on humility.
00:00:30.000 | How important is humility?
00:00:33.000 | Listen to John Calvin.
00:00:35.000 | This is an amazing quote.
00:00:37.000 | I want to read this quote from Calvin.
00:00:39.000 | He's really quoting two of his heroes.
00:00:41.000 | So you don't hear Calvin's voice directly, you hear theirs,
00:00:44.000 | but he's quoting it because he agrees with them.
00:00:47.000 | "I have always been exceedingly delighted with the words of Christusom."
00:00:53.000 | "The foundation of our philosophy is humility."
00:00:58.000 | "And more with the words of Augustine, 'As the orator, when asked,
00:01:04.000 | "What is the first precept in eloquence?" answered, "Delivery."
00:01:08.000 | "What is the second? Delivery."
00:01:11.000 | "What is the third? Delivery."
00:01:14.000 | "So if you ask me in regard to the precepts of the Christian religion,
00:01:18.000 | "I will answer, 'First, second, and third, humility.'"
00:01:23.000 | Now my question to that quote is,
00:01:26.000 | why does John Calvin, Augustine, Christusom say,
00:01:30.000 | "First, second, and third, humility"?
00:01:35.000 | Like first maybe, but then a few other things.
00:01:37.000 | Why do they keep laying it like, "Fourth, fifth, sixth"?
00:01:41.000 | I think they could say that, and here's the reason, I think.
00:01:45.000 | The reason is because humility is the soil
00:01:50.000 | in which everything good in the Christian life grows.
00:01:54.000 | And if that soil goes away, everything good withers.
00:02:00.000 | It's unique in that regard.
00:02:03.000 | Let me give you some illustrations.
00:02:05.000 | Four, faith.
00:02:07.000 | Would anyone depend on Christ as a needy, weak, and sinful person
00:02:14.000 | if God hadn't given them humility?
00:02:18.000 | Second, worship.
00:02:21.000 | Would anyone earnestly make much of the worth of God
00:02:25.000 | instead of craving to be made much of himself
00:02:28.000 | if God hadn't given them humility?
00:02:32.000 | Third, obedience.
00:02:35.000 | Would anyone surrender his autonomy
00:02:38.000 | and submit obediently to the absolute authority of Scripture
00:02:43.000 | if God hadn't given them humility?
00:02:47.000 | Fourth, love.
00:02:50.000 | Would anyone seek the good of others at cost to himself
00:02:55.000 | if God hadn't created in his heart humility?
00:03:00.000 | And on and on and on we could go.
00:03:02.000 | So it's first, humility; second, humility; third, fourth, fifth, sixth,
00:03:06.000 | because under everything, everything good that we want to flourish and grow
00:03:11.000 | in the Christian life or in the church grows in this soil.
00:03:15.000 | And where this soil is ruined, things wither.
00:03:20.000 | I want to just give you a taste.
00:03:23.000 | This is sort of personal, I suppose.
00:03:25.000 | I could choose so many examples.
00:03:27.000 | I want to give you a taste of what the humble life feels like as we close
00:03:32.000 | with three objections that the world would raise, perhaps.
00:03:37.000 | I know that from time to time these have been raised,
00:03:40.000 | whether people you know would raise them, I don't know,
00:03:43.000 | but they give me a chance to illumine what the humble life looks like.
00:03:53.000 | Objection number one,
00:03:55.000 | humility makes a person gloomy, dismal, downcast, unhappy.
00:04:03.000 | My answer, no.
00:04:06.000 | Gospel humility frees you from the need to pose, calculate, posture,
00:04:19.000 | sniff out what others think so that you're free to laugh at what is really funny
00:04:31.000 | with the biggest belly laugh imaginable that makes your face contort
00:04:38.000 | and look ridiculous.
00:04:45.000 | I grew up in a home, and I am so thankful.
00:04:48.000 | Both my parents served with Jesus.
00:04:51.000 | I sat at the table.
00:04:53.000 | My grandmother sat here.
00:04:54.000 | My sister sat over there.
00:04:55.000 | Mommy sat there.
00:04:56.000 | Daddy sat there.
00:04:58.000 | That's what I called them until the day they died.
00:05:02.000 | And Daddy would come home with his jokes from his evangelistic crusades.
00:05:08.000 | We would hear stories of triumph of the grace with tears running down his eyes
00:05:12.000 | of how an alcoholic was converted on the last night of the meeting.
00:05:17.000 | And mingled in there, he would tell me jokes that he heard,
00:05:20.000 | and my father laughed hardest at his own jokes than anybody else did,
00:05:26.000 | and it worked to draw you in with amazing effectiveness.
00:05:31.000 | I remember sitting at dinner tables with my father here.
00:05:35.000 | He was portly.
00:05:36.000 | He always described himself as toothpicks and a watermelon.
00:05:44.000 | And so when he laughed, it was like Santa Claus.
00:05:49.000 | And my mother at the other end would begin with a loud soprano, "Hah!"
00:05:56.000 | And then it would just break over, and both of them would have tears running
00:06:00.000 | on their face, uncontrollably laughing.
00:06:03.000 | And my sister and I were drawn into this glory.
00:06:08.000 | There weren't any humbler moments in the world
00:06:12.000 | because they had totally lost control.
00:06:17.000 | No calculations whatsoever, "How am I being perceived?"
00:06:23.000 | This is a freedom that can only come to the humble.
00:06:31.000 | Proud people don't get red in the face and fall off their chairs
00:06:37.000 | with contortions of laughter.
00:06:39.000 | They go, "Haha, haha, haha, haha, haha, haha, haha, haha."
00:06:46.000 | "I'm totally in control here. I'm in control here."
00:06:53.000 | Because they will maintain their dignity.
00:06:57.000 | Well, when the father saw the son coming,
00:07:02.000 | he pulled up his ropes between his legs, and he ran.
00:07:07.000 | An old man ran.
00:07:12.000 | I disagree with the objection that being humble makes you gloomy.
00:07:20.000 | I think it frees you to be the happiest person you could possibly be.
00:07:25.000 | Number two, second objection, humility makes you fearful and timid.
00:07:32.000 | No, the world thinks that because the best source of courage
00:07:41.000 | that they can think of is self-confidence.
00:07:45.000 | It's the only source of courage they can think of.
00:07:49.000 | If you destroy my self-confidence by telling me I'm a sinner,
00:07:54.000 | I'm weak, I'm dependent,
00:07:57.000 | you cut my ability to be bold and courageous and aggressive and strong.
00:08:04.000 | It's because they can't imagine another source of courage.
00:08:07.000 | There is a better source.
00:08:09.000 | God-confidence.
00:08:13.000 | Not self-confidence, God-confidence.
00:08:16.000 | You want to be strong and bold?
00:08:19.000 | Be nothing and have God on your side.
00:08:25.000 | And I don't agree with the objection
00:08:28.000 | that the only or best source of boldness is self-confidence.
00:08:34.000 | This is Isaiah 51, 12.
00:08:36.000 | This is God talking.
00:08:38.000 | "I am He who comforts you."
00:08:42.000 | Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies
00:08:48.000 | and have forgotten the Lord your Maker?
00:08:51.000 | Isn't that amazing, friends?
00:08:53.000 | Who do you think you are to be afraid?
00:08:57.000 | When we're afraid, we don't usually expect accusations of pride.
00:09:03.000 | Who do you think you are to fear man
00:09:08.000 | and have forgotten the Lord your Maker?
00:09:12.000 | Man, if I am on your side, just humble yourself.
00:09:16.000 | I'm looking at you.
00:09:17.000 | I look to people that tremble at my word.
00:09:19.000 | When I look to you, they die if necessary.
00:09:23.000 | Or they get converted if necessary.
00:09:26.000 | No.
00:09:28.000 | No, no, no, no.
00:09:30.000 | Taking away pride and self-preoccupation,
00:09:35.000 | self-confidence and self-exaltation,
00:09:39.000 | taking all that away does not take courage away.
00:09:43.000 | Not if you replace it with God,
00:09:46.000 | His promises, His grace.
00:09:50.000 | Finally, number three.
00:09:53.000 | Objection three.
00:09:55.000 | Humility makes you passive
00:09:58.000 | and removes the driving motor of achievement.
00:10:04.000 | In America, the most achieving nation on the planet,
00:10:11.000 | you spread this message of humility, lowliness,
00:10:16.000 | dependence, meekness.
00:10:18.000 | You're going to ruin this economy.
00:10:26.000 | No.
00:10:28.000 | The world thinks that because for them,
00:10:32.000 | the driving motor of achievement is feeding the ego with accomplishments.
00:10:38.000 | That's what it feels like.
00:10:40.000 | I'm going to take that away.
00:10:41.000 | What have I got left?
00:10:42.000 | I'm feeding my ego by achieving something.
00:10:46.000 | I'm going to climb this ladder.
00:10:47.000 | I'm going to make this bundle.
00:10:49.000 | I'm going to buy that house.
00:10:50.000 | I'm going to have that retirement.
00:10:51.000 | I'm going to drive that car.
00:10:53.000 | I'm going to wear that ring.
00:10:55.000 | And people will know, I made it.
00:10:58.000 | You take that away.
00:11:00.000 | What are you going to put in its place?
00:11:02.000 | I mean, that's driving the motor of this economy.
00:11:04.000 | What you take that away, what are you going to put in its place?
00:11:08.000 | First Corinthians 1510, "By the grace of God,
00:11:13.000 | I am what I am, and I worked harder than any of them.
00:11:21.000 | Nevertheless, it was not I, but the grace of God that was with me."
00:11:28.000 | "By the grace of God, I am what I am, and I worked."
00:11:33.000 | This is the Apostle Paul talking.
00:11:35.000 | "While he had breath, he labored."
00:11:37.000 | "I worked harder than any of them."
00:11:40.000 | "He stayed up till who knows what hour, making a tent,
00:11:43.000 | so that he wouldn't have to charge his churches."
00:11:45.000 | "I worked harder than any of them. Nevertheless, it was not I,
00:11:50.000 | but grace that was with me."
00:11:55.000 | "The power of God's grace in the heart of the humble believer
00:11:58.000 | who depends utterly on God produces incredible industry."
00:12:05.000 | Say it again.
00:12:07.000 | "The grace of God, the power of His grace in the heart of a humble believer
00:12:13.000 | who depends utterly on God produces in Him incredible energy and industry."
00:12:21.000 | Amen.
00:12:22.000 | That clip was taken from Pastor John's 2009 sermon on Mark 10, 32-45,
00:12:26.000 | titled "Greatness, Humility, Servanthood."
00:12:30.000 | It came to us from Hannah in Canton, Ohio.
00:12:32.000 | "This clip has been so precious to me," she writes,
00:12:35.000 | "in understanding and experiencing the great joy and freedom of humility.
00:12:39.000 | It brings me to tears of joy each time I listen to this clip.
00:12:42.000 | Praise God for this message. I am so thankful for you, Pastor John."
00:12:48.000 | Amen.
00:12:49.000 | Thank you for listening to today's sermon clip.
00:12:51.000 | All of our sermon clips are now crowdsourced.
00:12:53.000 | You tell us what bits of Piper's sermons changed your life,
00:12:55.000 | like Hannah did today.
00:12:57.000 | We share that clip with the APJ audience.
00:12:59.000 | If you have one, email me.
00:13:01.000 | Give me your name, hometown, the sermon title,
00:13:03.000 | the timestamp of where the clip happens in the audio,
00:13:05.000 | and how it impacted you.
00:13:07.000 | Put the word "clip" in the subject line of an email and send it to me
00:13:10.000 | at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org.
00:13:13.000 | This is an email address, askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org.
00:13:20.000 | Well, we are in the middle of the five days of Holy Week,
00:13:23.000 | and Friday we return to look forward to Easter Sunday,
00:13:26.000 | the resurrection of Christ and how it has changed us already.
00:13:30.000 | It's a really important topic.
00:13:32.000 | I'm looking forward to it.
00:13:33.000 | I'm Tony Reinke.
00:13:34.000 | We will see you on Friday.
00:13:35.000 | Thanks for listening.
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