Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy approaches Bible teaching with a passion for getting the basic doctrines explained so that the individual can understand them and then apply them to circumstances in their life. These basic and important lessons are nestled in a framework of history and progression of revelation from the Bible so the whole of Scripture can be applied to your physical and spiritual life.
Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
NT Framework - Not Weakness
Don't misunderstand humility, it's not what most people think it is. Being a doormat is not having an attitude of humility.
More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com
This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).
Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner.
Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament Framework. Today a smaller, bite-sized piece from the larger lesson. We hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 2:Humility is the foundational Christian virtue. So point four, the kenosis model of Christ, is a picture of what humility looks like. He is the epit be weak Is humility. Is it weak? Was Jesus Christ courageous? How many of us would have gone through what he went through if we were God and we could have stopped it all right, then he could have stopped it all right. Then he could have stopped anything. They said if you're really Him, take yourself off the cross. Could he have taken Himself off the cross? No problem, I mean he showed he had all the power right.
Speaker 2:Here comes Judas, here comes the high priest, here come the Roman soldiers, 600 of them, a cohort, 600. 600. And they say we are come for Jesus of Nazareth. And he said I am. What happened to those soldiers? Every one of them fell back on the ground. 600 soldiers fell back and now their swords are laying everywhere.
Speaker 2:They're trying to get their gear back on and stand back up to arrest the King of Glory. I mean, it's a total joke, right? I mean, can you imagine standing there seeing this scene? I mean, he didn't have to let them arrest him. I mean it's pretty obvious he was in charge, but he did see.
Speaker 2:He had humility because he was going to be obedient to the Father even at the point of death on a cross. So he's the model of humility. Was he a real man when I say, is he a man's kind of man? Absolutely, absolutely. Jesus was tough. He went right in the temple, but don't remove the dove. Total control, get rid of the injustice. But he was in control of the situation, right, it was a controlled anger, what we call a righteous anger. He was a true man. He's not going to stand up for that stuff in his father's house. So he stood up. He's courageous, he's a real man, okay, but was he humble? Absolutely, absolutely, 100%. See, humility is not the opposite of being courageous. In fact, if you're humble, I mean you're basically unstoppable. You want this more than anything. I know right now you think in your mind no, I really kind of want to stand out and have the glory of men and have the approval and all that stuff. You'll never get there unless you get this. He exalts in due time. See, exaltation is the business God's in, not us. We don't exalt ourselves, we humble ourselves, and he's the one who does the exalting at the proper time and the proper place. So that's point four. Point five humility is a pattern of life where you're not exalting yourself. Okay, I said that, but you are following God's plan for your life as a creature.
Speaker 2:Look at Hebrews 2, verse 10. Hebrews 2, verse 10. Verse 10, for it was fitting for him, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through suffering. Remember, we talked a little bit about this last week. This is the Father right. From whom are all things, to whom are all things Perfecting the author of our salvation? That is the Son. Now, obviously, deity can't be perfected. So it's not talking about Jesus Christ's deity, it's talking about perfecting him in his humanity, which is a word for bringing him to maturity.
Speaker 2:The maturity Through what? Through sufferings, through suffering. Do you suffer? Do you have suffering? Yes, what do you think he's doing? He's refining, he's bringing you to maturity. It's true, no pain, no gain. I mean, you're not going to become this super wonderful Christian who knows how to apply all the promises of God in every circumstance in life relaxed mental attitude in all circumstances, no matter what happens, unless you go through suffering. There's a track to get there. Same thing for athletics. You are not going to be the greatest football player in the world unless you work your butt off. You're just not. You're going to be last string. You're not even going to see the field. Why? Because you have to go through pain, you have to suffer, and the Lord Jesus Christ he suffered.
Speaker 2:Verse 11, for both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one father, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying I will proclaim your name to my brethren In the midst of the congregation. I will sing your praise, in other words, this exaltation. See this exaltation, this praise that would be given to believers for undergoing suffering. Why? Because they followed the same path that the Lord Jesus Christ followed, and they suffered and they matured, and so, in the end, right, there's exaltation. Let's look at Matthew 18, 1 through 6. This is one of the most interesting conversations in the Gospels Matthew 18, 1 through 6. He's already been rejected by the nation and he's taken his disciples aside and he's training them for their future ministry. And look at these guys. Okay, the disciples verse 1.
Speaker 2:At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and they said who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. You know who's going to be the greatest. This is all they care about. You know like I want to be the greatest. You know they have this discussion elsewhere, right? See this discussion? Because everybody wants to be great, right?
Speaker 2:He called a child to himself and he set him before them. Set the child there, and he said Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not even enter the kingdom of heaven. So the first thing is you know, you've got to become like a child to enter it. Whoever then humbles himself as this child there it is, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. He's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. What do you have to have? What is the chief Christian virtue, the foundational Christian virtue? It's humbleness, it's humility, because humility is what leads to exaltation, whereas the opposite of humility, which is arrogance or pride, cometh before the fall. See, this is the one characteristic that underlies every other. Well, the fruit of the Spirit that we're supposed to manifest as we walk by the Spirit, this one underlies all of them and that's why we call it the chief, or foundational Christian virtue.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spokane Bible Church. Find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spokane Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app. And until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.