Hearing God: The Burden of Humility

Mar 14

Mar 14 Hearing God: The Burden of Humility

Joshua Rivera

I. The Burden of Humility

a. What is humility?

i. Definitions:

1. Humble – anav (Hebrew)

a. Poor, humble, afflicted, meek

2. Humble – tapeinoo (Greek)

a. To lower, depress

i. Of one’s soul bring down one’s pride

ii. To have a modest opinion of one’s self

iii. To behave in an unassuming manner

iv. Devoid of all haughtiness

ii. It plays a key role in access to the kingdom of heaven

Matthew 5:3 New King James Version
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

iii. It also plays a key role in our access to Holy Spirit and the grace(empowerment) of God He brings

Proverbs 3:34 New King James Version
34 Surely He scorns the scornful,
But gives grace to the humble.
James 4:6 New King James Version
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”

1. If we operate in pride we set ourselves up against God and He takes a fighting stance against us

iv. It is major part of maturing into the full stature of Christ Jesus (Ephesians 4:11-15)

Philippians 2:5&8b New King James Version
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, … He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

b. For the purpose of hearing the voice of God, Humility is the first and perhaps most important burden we must be empowered to bear.

i. The man who heard God the most clearly:

Numbers 12:6-8 New King James Version
6 Then He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. 7 Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. 8 I speak with him face to face, Even plainly,[a] and not in [b]dark sayings; And he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant Moses?”

1. Moses heard CLEARLY from God because He heard DIRECTLY from God, what was special about Moses?

Numbers 12:2-3 New King James Version
2 So they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. 3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)

2. Moses was the HUMBLEST man alive at the time!

a. He was the Lord’s servant

c. What does it look like to bear the burden of humility?

i. Correctable, Teachable, Submissive, Prefers Other, Glorifies God

1. Teachable, submissive and correctable – a great example of the first three

Exodus 18:13-22 New King James Version
13 And so it was, on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening. 14 So when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone [a]sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?”
15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. 16 When they have a [b]difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”
17 So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. 18 Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself. 19 Listen now to my voice; I will give you [a]counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God. 20 And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do. 21 Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you.

a. Moses is leading the nation of God on behalf of God, carrying the authority of God.

b. His father-in-law comes to visit, and Moses goes to him, bows down before him, and kisses him.

i. This is the leader of the nation of Israel, the man directing warriors.

ii. He bows down before and kisses his father-in-law

c. He then tells his father-in-law everything that God did through him for Israel and his father in law is impressed. So much so that he offers sacrifices to Yahweh.

d. The next day Moses goes out to the people to show Jethro what he can do, Moses meets with God face to face, he has all the wisdom and answers for the people. A full day of hard work. I’m sure he was giving out some fire wisdom and looking back at Jethro like, aren’t you glad I joined the family?

i. What’s Jethro’s response?

Exodus 18:17-18 New King James Version

17 So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. 18 Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself.

ii. Talk about humbling. What could Moses have said to Jethro?

1. Did you lead a million people out of slavery?

2. Did you call down ten plagues on the most powerful man on the earth?

3. Did you split the red sea?

4. Did God give you His commandments to teach His people?

5. Do you speak to God face to face.

6. As a matter of face, Jethro from Midian, we’re going to march into Midian one day and beat the ALL up! (Numbers 31)

e. But what did Moses do?

Exodus 18:24-27 New King James Version
24 So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26 So they judged the people at all times; the hard[a] cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.
27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way to his own land.

i. Moses humbled himself by being

1. Correctable – the thing you do is not good

2. Teachable – Listen to my voice and I will give you council

3. Submissive – So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law (a high priest of a nation that would be defeated by Moses and Israel)

2. Are you correctable, teachable, and submissive?

a. How do you respond when people tell you that you did/are doing something wrong?

b. How do you respond when people tell you the way you should be doing something?

c. How do you respond to authority when you believe you know better than them/are better equipped than them?

d. If you do not know the answers to these questions:

i. Ask your spouse

ii. Ask your parents

iii. Ask your siblings

ii. Bearing the burden of humility also looks like preferring others

Numbers 11:24-30 New King James Version
24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. 25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, [a]although they never did so again.
26 But two men had remained in the camp: the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28 So Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, one of his choice men, answered and said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!”
29 Then Moses said to him, “Are you [b]zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” 30 And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

1. Moses was not concerned about protecting his position as great prophet of the Lord/carrier of the Lord’s Spirit. He even desired and asked that the Lord would put His Spirit on all of the Lord’s people.

a. He preferred that they all would have what he had access to.

1 Corinthians 14:29-33 New King James Version
29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. 30 But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. 32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. 33 For God is not the author of [a]confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

b. People who bear the burden of humility prefer others because they realize that they need others to bear the burden of the voice of God – 1 Corinthians 12

i. Everyone has a part to play, a piece of God to bring to the table to see the fullness of Jesus in our gatherings.

Galatians 6:2 New King James Version
2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

iii. We must bear the burden of God’s voice together

1. It’s too much to do alone

a. We need Holy Spirit

b. We need one another

2. Prophecy/Hearing the Voice of God is for the community

a. Everyone has the opportunity to partner with God

i. His perspective of people, circumstances, etc…

II. The Goal is to Glorify God: More of Him, Less of You

a. We must grow in our ability to bear the burden of humility because hearing the voice of God is never about us. It is about God’s glory.

i. That means that Holy Spirit is not concerned about making us look good, but glorifying Jesus

ii. If you serve Jesus in humility, you will ever have to defend yourself because He will defend you like He defended Moses.

b. Do you want to grow in your ability to hear the voice of God?

i. You must grow in humility

ii. This can only be done through the empowerment of Holy Spirit

c. Invite Holy Spirit to fill you/baptize you in greater measure

i. Do not resist His work

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 New King James Version
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise (make of no account, consider nothing) prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
Ephesians 4:30-32 New King James Version
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, [a]clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.