SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS DOWNWARD

Isa. 57:15

Morning Meditation 2/25/15

"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."

This is a self description of God. He says of Himself that He is the "high and lofty One. He says that He "inhabiteth eternity." He says His, name is Holy. He says He "dwells in the high and holy place." He says He also dwells with those have a "contrite and humble spirit." He makes a promise to "revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." This verse teaches the lower you go in your own eyes the nearer you are to God. When you read all the descriptions that God makes of Himself, you would think the next thing that would be said is that, "If you want fellowship with me, you will have to climb to the heights. But that is not what He says. He says one must have a contrite and humble spirit. Taking the lowly place will not only bring you into fellowship with Him but bring revival to spirit and heart.

I would like for us to look at the life of Paul to see the progression of the Spirit filled Christian and his estimation of self.

HE FIRST SAYS THAT HE IS THE LEAST OF THE APOSTLES; A.D. 59

1 Corinthians 15:9, "For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God."

We are told today that our attitude toward self is of major importance. I believe the Bible definitely teaches the opposite attitude toward self.

Romans 12:3, "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."

Paul also said in Romans 7:18, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not."

Paul made the statement of our text in A.D. 59. He said, "For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet (fit) to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God." It is important that you take note of when this book was written. (the parenthesis mine).

The words "I am," are two separate words in the Greek text. The "I" (Gk ego) means that Paul strongly emphasizes himself with the combination of these two words. The word "am" is I am. The Greek text (the text from which our King James Bible is translated" had a way of saying "I am" without using the Gk word "ego." The personal pronoun is attached to the ending of the verb. So Paul could have said, "eimi" and it would still be translated, "I am" without the "ego" positioned before it. When the Greeks wanted to make a special emphasis on the "I" they would say, "I am," using both the words, etc, "ego eimi" or "I, I am". It is the strongest way of expressing personal being.

This is the way Jesus identified Himself as the Son of God, co-equal, and co-eternal with God (1 Cor. 15:9).

What Jesus said here was equal in the Greek to the Hebrew "I am that I am" that Moses wrote of in Exodus 3:13-14, "And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."

This language would make His claim clear to the Jews who heard Him say this. He was claiming to be the Messiah, the One whom they had been expecting for thousands of years. What was the Jews response to our Lord's claim ? John 8:59 tells us, "Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by." They considered His claims blasphemous.

John Gill says in his commentary: "I am the least of the apostles." Not on account of any defect in his commission, or any want of qualification to bear witness of what he saw; but on account of the great crime of his life, the fact that he had been a persecutor. Paul could never forget that; as a man who has been profane and a scoffer, when he becomes converted, can never forget the deep guilt of his former life. The effect will be to produce humility, and a deep sense of unworthiness, ever onward.

"Am not meet to be called an apostle. Am not fit to be regarded as a follower of the Lord Jesus, and as appointed to defend his cause, and to bear his name among the Gentiles. Paul had a deep sense of his unworthiness; and the memory of his former life tended ever to keep him humble.. Such should be, and such will be, the effect of the remembrance of a life of sin on those who become converted to the gospel, and especially if they are intrusted with the high office of the ministry and occupy a station of importance in the church of God." -- John Gill 1697-1771.

PAUL CLAIMS TO BE LESS THAN THE LEAST OF ALL SAINTS (A.D. 64)

He does this in Ephesians 3:8, "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;" Paul strongly acknowledges his unworthiness. He tells us that he is not meet (fit) to be called an apostle.

Have you ever thought about the change in personality and function in the ministry, this would bring about, if one saw himself this way? It would stop anyone aspiring for an office in the Church. It would probably stop divisions in the church because most divisions are caused by the pride of knowledge, i.e., one thinks himself to be wiser and more knowledgeable than the other, so if he doesn't get his way, he will begin to talk to others and draw away many after him.

Paul warned the Ephesians about this happening even with them in Acts 20:28-31, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears." Paul draws attention to things they need to watch for:

1. The hardening of the heart and leaving their first love. We gather from this that Paul had spent three years with them teaching. I can't think of anyone I would want to sit under as a student than Paul. This church had to be well grounded in the Word of God. Let's look for a moment at the last letter to Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-5, "Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." The epistle to Ephesus just confirms the accuracy of Paul's exhortation to them.

2. Paul knew something about which he needed to exhort them: "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock." I don't know if Paul knew prophetically or if he just knew the enemies of Grace would come in "not sparing the flock." You want to cry at times when you see this in our day.

Paul had a great love for all Christians. He says that the "false" teachers are like grievous wolves who will purposely devour the flock. They will think they are doing God a service. Ezekiel uses wolves in this same sense in Ezekiel 22:27, "Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain." The purpose of the false teachers is identified in this verse. The false teachers claim to be of the truth and always put enough truth in what they preach to make what they say attractive.

THEN FINALLY PAUL CLAIMED TO BE THE CHIEF OF SINNERS; 1:TIM 1:15; AD 65

1 Timothy 1:15 says, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."

1. The words "faithful saying" means that you can count on it. It is God's declaration.

2. The words, "worthy of all acceptation," God never makes a promise that He does not keep. One can count on God's faithfulness concerning this matter. It means everyone should accept this without question.

3. The words "that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," simply stated, means that sinners being saved is His purpose and ours.

4.. The words, "Of whom I am chief," means that he is first in the giant line of sinners. He calls himself the chief. He does it in the present tense. He is not saying, "I was the chief of sinners," he is saying, "I am the chief of sinners." Paul no doubt is looking at what he was by birth (a sinner Rom 5:12), and a sinner by choice (Rom. 3:23).

Paul is saying, "If I Paul am the chief of sinners, you can count on one thing, if God has already saved the chief of sinners, He certainly will not have a problem saving you."

Growing in grace is not climbing higher, it is going down. Jesus said in Luke 14:11, "For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

You will notice Jesus speaks of, "humbleth himself." It means the spiritual man within the life of every believer, looks in the mirror every day, and says, "I want to announce to you that through Christ I am in charge this day, and I choose to walk in humility like my Saviour."

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White