House of Hope Online

March 17, 2024

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Last week, in the podcast “Hearing in the Spirit – Part 2,” we continued our study of discerning the voice of God, and specifically, how He spoke to both Cornelius and Simon Peter in separate but coordinated visions that brought these two men together and opened the door for the Gospel to be preached to the Gentiles, and for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit to be made available to you and me.

In Acts 10, Simon Peter saw a vision of a great sheet coming down from the sky and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures and birds of the air.  When God’s voice told him to kill and eat, Peter refused because he had never eaten anything that was unholy and unclean.  He then heard God say: “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”  Peter struggled to understand the prophetic symbolism of the vision until he met Cornelius and his friends and family.  Cornelius bowed down to worship Peter, but Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am just a man.”  Peter’s act of humility led to God’s revelation of the sheet symbolizing that the Gospel would cleanse Gentiles as well, and those cleansed should no longer be considered unholy.

Peter went on to explain to the assembly of people in Acts 10:28 that God gave him a word of correction that he should not call any man unholy or unclean.  Again, Peter humbled himself in front of the assembly and we saw how God then brought the anointing for Peter to preach the Gospel.  As Peter preached, the Holy Spirit fell upon the Gentiles assembled at Cornelius’ house and many spoke in tongues and exalted God.

We made the point last time that Peter’s humility opened the door to God’s revelation of the vision and yielded the anointing to preach and to soak in and receive from the Holy Spirit.  And so today, I want to go further on how important it is for us to have a humble spirit to hear in the Spirit and to receive a greater grace.

The scriptures encourage us to be humble, especially this week’s keynote scripture from James 4:6.

James 4:

 6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore [it] says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

The Greek word for “grace” in verse 6 means a divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in life, including gratitude, acceptance, benefit, favor, joy, liberality, and pleasure.  The significance here is: if we humble ourselves, God will give us a greater grace, i.e., a greater divine influence, greater favor, and liberal amounts of joy and pleasure.  This is our reward for being humble.

If Simon Peter had accepted Cornelius’ worship and allowed it to feed his pride, God would have opposed him.  Instead, because he humbled himself, God brought a divine influence upon his heart which brought acceptance, benefit, and favor.  That greater grace also brought an anointing to preach and a move of the Holy Spirit.

The greater grace that comes to the humble manifested itself in the life of Jesus.  We see in Matthew 20 a powerful statement about the difference between our humble Lord and Savior Jesus and worldly leaders.

Matthew 20:

 25 But Jesus called them to Himself, and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and [their] great men exercise authority over them.

 26 “It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,

 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;

 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Jesus is our model for humility.  He is God, yet He humbled Himself and came down from Heaven and made Himself a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins.  He was stricken, and beaten, but He never called upon a legion of angels to defend Himself.  He submitted to death on the cross and burial in the grave.  He chose to humble Himself to the will of the Father, leading to the salvation of many souls.

Do you see the analogy here?  Simon Peter’s humble spirit led to the anointing to preach the Gospel and usher in the presence of the Holy Spirit, leading to the salvation of many Gentiles.

And so it is with us. The key to hearing in the Spirit is to have a humble spirit in the presence of the Lord, which leads to wisdom from above, which is first pure then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy, and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy (James 3:17).

Numbers 12 teaches us that Moses was humble.

Numbers 12:

 3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)

Numbers 12:

 8 With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the LORD….

In verse 8, God says He rewarded Moses by speaking directly to him, and Moses was able to discern the presence of the Lord because of his humble spirit.  Likewise, if we are humble in spirit, we will sense and discern the presence of the Lord and we will hear His voice.

In 2^nd Chronicles 7, God again re-emphasizes the connection between our humility and grace, divine favor, forgiveness, and healing.

2^nd Chronicles 7:

 14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Psalms and Proverbs give us many exhortations to be humble.  Here are just a few.

Psalms 25:

 9 He leads the humble in justice, And He teaches the humble His way.

Psalms 37:

 11 But the humble will inherit the land, And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

The Hebrew word for “prosperity” in verse 11 is “shalom,” which is loaded with meaning.  It means peace, favor, prosperity, good health, wellness, happiness, general welfare, and safety.  Our keynote scripture is James 4:6 which tells that God gives a greater grace to the humble.  That greater grace is shalom, which is a grace for living.

Proverbs 11:

 2 ¶ When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom.

The humble have a great advantage over the prideful, and that is wisdom.  So when we need wisdom, we are to humble ourselves and pray, and trust that the word of the Lord is true.

Proverbs 29:

 23 ¶ A man’s pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor.

God honors a humble spirit and opposes the prideful.  Prefer to be honored by God, not by man.

Finally, 1^st Peter 5 tells us to clothe ourselves with humility.

1^st Peter 5:

 5 ¶ You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.

 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

I always take notice when I see young people today respect their parents and grandparents.  Nancy and I are blessed to have grandchildren who are being taught the lesson of 1^st Peter 5:5. It takes a humble spirit to be subject to your elders.  I love that Peter tells us to “clothe” ourselves with humility.  Clothing is protection for the body, and humility is protection for our souls and spirits. 

Closing

Humility is the key to receiving a greater grace.  Grace is a divine influence upon our heart that reflects in our life as gratitude, benefit, favor, and liberal amounts of joy and pleasure.  We saw how Peter humbled himself before God and man, and the Lord brought him a grace and an anointing to preach.  The reward of the humble is shalom: peace, favor, prosperity, good health, wellness, happiness, general welfare, and safety.

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to clothe us in humility and to dispense a greater grace and shalom.

Let us pray.

Father God, thank You for being opposed to the proud and for the greater grace that You give the humble.  Thank You for the examples of Moses and Jesus.  Show us by Your Holy Spirit any pride that is in us, and help us Lord to lay that pride at Your altar.  Speak to our humility as You did Moses, and allow us to discern Your presence.  Give us the greater grace, the greater revelation, the greater anointing, greater divine favor, and shalom.  In Jesus’ name, we pray.   Amen.