To days post will be dealing with the subject of our being Humble before the LORD our GOD. I was at fist planning on doing a treatment on the Promise to Answer Prayer. But that was changed as I was getting ready. I will again pull from my E-Sword program on Pastor Hoekstra's writings and the ESV translation.
"The New and Living Way"
"Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us." (Hebrews 10:19-20)
"Here, Life under the New Covenant of Grace is described as the "New and Living Way." This could be contrasted with the "Old and Dying way" of attempting to live under the Old Covenant of Law. The "newness" of Grace is not really a matter of time sequence, because the Grace of GOD actually precedes the law in man's history with GOD. The "tree of life" in the garden of Eden was GOD's provision of Grace for Adam and Eve. The Promises of GOD to Abraham, given hundreds of years before the law, depended upon the Faithful Grace of GOD, not the legal performance of Abraham.
The "Newness" of Grace is its every day freshness and vitality. Day by day, by the Grace of GOD, fresh measures of Life are abundantly available to those who look to the LORD as their supply. This makes Life with GOD fresh and new every day.
Under the Old Covenant, only one person, the High Priest, could enter into the intimate presence of GOD, the Holy of Holies. Furthermore, this was only allowed one day a year. Such limited access would certainly "get old" in the hearts of all who hungered after the Living GOD.
Now, under the New Covenant of Grace, every believer in Jesus, our great High Priest, can confidently approach the LORD personally any moment of every day. "Having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus." Through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, which forgives All of our sins, we can speak to the LORD and enjoy His presence in our lives continually.
Jeremiah gave some early insight into this kind of fresh and vital relationship with GOD. "Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I hope in Him! '" (Lamentations 3:22-24).
The Apostle Paul wrote profoundly concerning such "Newness." "But now we have been delivered from the Law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the Newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter" (Romans 7:6). This the "New and Living Way." This will never "get old."
To the Humble:
Psalm 138:4-6 "All the kings of the earth shall give You thanks, O LORD, for they have heard the words of Your mouth, and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD. For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar."
Isaiah 66:1-2 "Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool; what is the house that you would build for Me, and what is the place of My rest? All these things My hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My word."
Luke 9:46-48 "An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by His side and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him Who sent Me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great."
Luke 14:7-11 "Now He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, "When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this person,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
James 4:1-10 "What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with GOD? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of GOD. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that He has made to dwell in us"? But He gives more Grace. Therefore it says, "GOD opposes the proud, but gives Abundant Grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to GOD. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to GOD, and HE will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the LORD, and HE will exalt you."
1Peter 5:1-5 "So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of GOD that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as GOD would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "GOD opposes the proud but gives Grace to the humble."
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