INTRO: In the previous message we looked at what humility is. Then we looked at the two requirements for humility and the first is a new view of God and the second, a new view of ourselves. We saw that God requires that we humble ourselves. Humility is a self chosen thing and it is totally unnatural. Pride reigns in the hearts of all fallen angels, and in the hearts of all fallen mankind. Pride is a natural state and to get out of it, unnatural events have to occur and God Almighty allows many things to happen in every person's life that call for a decision to humble oneself or live in pride.
The only person whose life is not ruled by pride is the person who humbles him or herself under the mighty hand of God, and that person is only humble to the degree that they have learned to submit themselves to Almighty God.
This morning, we want to look at possibly the most wicked king Judah ever had, anybody know the name? King Manasseh. I have read that Isaiah died as a martyr when Manasseh had him sawn in two. Manasseh became king after king Hezekiah and Manasseh was an unbelievably proud man and when he humbled himself, it was a huge miracle.
For any human being to become truly humble is a miracle, and it is a miracle, I believe, greater than the miracle of creation! It took God 6 days to create the entire universe with everything in it. To bring man to humble himself before God takes a lifetime of many different circumstances. In creation, darkness preceded everything. It was a natural state and then God said, "Let there be light." He was talking to the second Person of the Triune God, whom we know as Jesus Christ. And immediately there was light. As darkness precedes light, |
