For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Christ spoke this rule at the house of a chief Pharisee on the Sabbath while being watched, when He saw guests choosing the chief places and aimed His words at invited leaders whose ambition and self-esteem kept them from His kingdom. It closes His parable on conduct when invited to a wedding, not to seize the highest place lest a more honored guest come and the host put the intruder to shame before all, but to take the lowest place so the host may call him higher with honor. Though given as a parable, it lays bare a real danger of pushing for the chief place and states the law of true social life which is the law of God's kingdom, that lifting self up brings being brought low while putting self low brings being lifted up. It therefore calls workers to humble cooperative service and esteem for fellow laborers rather than pride, supremacy and grasping for the first place, since pride hinders God's work and success is not entrusted to those who take the glory to themselves. God Himself governs exalting and abasing in His providence, resisting the proud but giving grace to the meek and lowly of heart learned from Jesus, so that those who walk humbly and share Christ's sufferings without worldly honor will be truly exalted to share His glory at His coming.
Parable Setting and Rule
On the Sabbath He had gone into the house of a chief Pharisee to eat bread while those present watched Him, and He marked how they chose out the chief rooms. The word that closes the parable was spoken to those who were bidden as invited guests. It was directed to the appointed leaders of that time, whose ambition and self-esteem kept them from understanding the principles of His kingdom. They had settled down to work on set lines, were displeased with anyone who worked in a different way from themselves, and were content to teach the law without bringing its living principles into their lives.
It lays down the rule for conduct when bidden to a wedding not to take the highest room but to sit in the lowest room. If a more honorable guest should come, the one who seized the highest place must suffer shame when the host gives that place to another and lowers him before all who sit at meat. To take the lowest place leaves the way open for the host to call the guest upward to a higher place with honor before fellow guests. Choosing the highest place is therefore wrong, for the one who exalts himself will be brought low while the one who humbles himself will be lifted up.
Though spoken as a parable, it pictured scenes of self-seeking for honor that He Himself had witnessed in actual life. It was uttered as one having authority, with great clearness and simplicity. It exposes the danger imperiling the soul in pushing for the chief place. What it states is law, that lifting up self brings being brought low and putting self low brings being lifted up. In this it instructs disciples in the duties and regulations of true social life, which are the same as the laws of the kingdom of God.
The call is to humble self instead of exalting self and to preserve humility before God. It is better to be honored by being lifted up by another than to lift up and exalt self. That lowliness is to be maintained in the esteem held for fellow workers and in the attitude toward them.
Pride Abased, Humility Exalted
Whoever lifts up self will be brought low, and whoever puts self low will be lifted up, so reaching for the highest place through pride, self-importance and self-exaltation ends in the lowest place. Striving for status and insisting on being first must give way to humility before God and to modest, humble, cooperative service, for success is not entrusted to those who claim credit for themselves. Reaching beyond capacity in pursuit of a more exalted position for human honor ends in being brought low with shame, with seeking the highest place ending in taking the lowest. Seeking the highest place and the praise of others forgets that human talents and wisdom are gifts from God, so self-praise forgets their true source. God's judgment will expose the worthlessness of striving to be first, and those who see it will bow in shame, while humility recognizes the greater gifts of others, uses its own talents faithfully, and returns their benefits to God.
Trusting in one's own righteousness while despising others and claiming an excellence not possessed shuts a person out from the grace that truly exalts. True righteousness does not produce self-conceit or contempt for others, while false righteousness does. High ambitions, showy plans and desire for display reveal that Christ is not truly being received as spiritual food, for humility is a fruit of conversion and of living by God's Word. Taking a high place and becoming self-important leads to being brought low, and humility is better than occupying the highest position, since a position of influence or recognition does not prove wisdom or merit but should lead to meekness and lowliness. No one is to seek the highest place or treat self as worthy of all that Scripture describes, and trying to reach the highest place without patient step-by-step growth ends in failure and disappointment.
The spirit behind striving to be greatest and to be the greatest leads away from God and leaves a person in the lowest place. Believers are instead to keep learning in Christ's school and depend on God as they serve. Everyone who exalts self exalts the power of Satan even without desiring to do so. This happens when heed is not taken and watchfulness unto prayer fails, because Satan's subtle influence seeks entrance on every side, and given the least opportunity he leads people to bring his pattern into the web they are weaving. Seeking advantages that are not rightfully one's own is selfish self-exaltation, and no one should treat self as self-sufficient or make it a task to humble others. The Lord humbles the one who seeks to exalt self, and the Lord's work is to be carried forward by hearts renewed and purified from selfishness. Self-exaltation that seeks to thwart God's purposes brings grave danger, so that unless the person recognizes it and changes it would have been better never to have been born, while humility is the safe course.
Jerusalem illustrates the rule, for by rejecting Christ, choosing Barabbas and refusing to submit to God's way its people humbled themselves by their own choices. When they persisted in rebellion God allowed them to follow their own purposes and withdrew the protection of His Spirit, showing the consequence of disobedience for all who bring reproach on God's glory. Humility is meekness and lowliness of heart learned from Jesus, serving rather than seeking supremacy or distinction. It is a mark of excellence of spirit, while pride and self-sufficiency meet God's resistance, for God gives grace to the humble. Christ's followers are to be meek and lowly like their Master and to walk meekly before God with deep humility, accepting that they may not be popular or honored in this world. Those who walk humbly with God and serve faithfully share Christ's sufferings and will share His glory in His kingdom.
Humbling oneself before God by acknowledging sin and seeking forgiveness through Christ raises a person before people and angels, and confessing to God is noble rather than degrading. This stands in contrast to debasing oneself by confessing the secret thoughts of the heart to a fallen human being. God Himself controls exaltation and abasement in His providence and corrects exalting of self and seeking the highest place with humbling, while humility is the right spirit before God. Whoever humbles himself will be exalted by the Lord Jesus Christ and by God's hand in due time, and the Lord will reward such humility. Those fully consecrated as missionaries, willing to be anything or nothing, willing to endure in the path of duty and to work anywhere God places them, rising by merit and letting others testify to their value, will be made a blessing, for merit exalts far more than words or position and no encouragement is given to seek exalted positions as an inducement. The way into this humility is to look at Christ meek and lowly of heart, study His life and character closely, and copy it to be like Jesus.
Humble Service and Reward
For those invited to serve, lifting self above others ends in being brought low, while making self low leads to being honored, and the wedding-seat picture of choosing the lowest place instead of claiming the highest expresses the humility and regard for fellow workers to be maintained. The warning is against ambition and self-esteem that shut out the principles of the kingdom, against settling down to work on set lines, being displeased with anyone who works differently, and teaching the law without bringing its living principles into life. It is applied to ministers and to medical workers who sought supremacy and control for themselves and insisted on being first: their pride hindered the work, and success would only have led them to take the glory to themselves. The call therefore is not to seek the highest position but to humble self-seeking ambition and give humble, cooperative service with courage, without claiming to be the only agent at work.
Humility of heart with dependence on God marks the path to future success, and the Holy Spirit must guard the worker against self-exaltation and self-praise. Success is not entrusted to those who claim the credit for themselves, while humble workers can advance in usefulness without letting the attitudes of others discourage them. The nearer people come to Jesus the less they desire high position or prominence.
The way into this humility is to look to Christ meek and lowly of heart, to study His life and character closely, to copy it, to keep learning in His school, and to depend on God in service. Those fully consecrated as missionaries, willing to be anything or nothing, willing to endure in the path of duty and to work anywhere they are placed, rising by merit and letting others testify to their value, will be made a blessing and will be exalted by God's hand in due time. No encouragement is given to seek exalted positions as an inducement, for merit exalts far more than words or position, and striving for supremacy with great anxiety for the highest place ends in the lowest place because that spirit leads away from God.
One who truly knows self works in all humility without proud boasts, regarding an experienced physician as a father and self as a child to be instructed, nourished, and corrected if in error. Humbling self is beginning at the lower round of the ladder and climbing round after round by careful, earnest, thoughtful exertion, content to come up gradually and to prove ability and a sense of responsibility in lesser matters before being trusted with grave responsibilities. Exalting self is seen in a new graduate with a diploma feeling equal to one who has devoted time, energies, and soul to the work for years, too self-sufficient to be instructed by one who has had experience and made a success, taking work easy and working as a machine without burden-bearing care. Such self-exaltation leaves a worker shallow, untrustworthy, and dangerous until experience is gained.
Christ's followers are to be meek and lowly like their Master, accepting that they may not be popular or honored in this world. Those who walk humbly with God and serve faithfully share His sufferings and will share His glory in His kingdom. At His coming those counted lowly will be truly exalted, and His faithful servants will share in the light and glory of His appearing.
Christ spoke this rule at the house of a chief Pharisee on the Sabbath while being watched, when He saw guests choosing the chief places and aimed His words at invited leaders whose ambition and self-esteem kept them from His kingdom. It closes His parable on conduct when invited to a wedding, not to seize the highest place lest a more honored guest come and the host put the intruder to shame before all, but to take the lowest place so the host may call him higher with honor. Though given as a parable, it lays bare a real danger of pushing for the chief place and states the law of true social life which is the law of God's kingdom, that lifting self up brings being brought low while putting self low brings being lifted up. It therefore calls workers to humble cooperative service and esteem for fellow laborers rather than pride, supremacy and grasping for the first place, since pride hinders God's work and success is not entrusted to those who take the glory to themselves. God Himself governs exalting and abasing in His providence, resisting the proud but giving grace to the meek and lowly of heart learned from Jesus, so that those who walk humbly and share Christ's sufferings without worldly honor will be truly exalted to share His glory at His coming.
Parable Setting and Rule
On the Sabbath He had gone into the house of a chief Pharisee to eat bread while those present watched Him, and He marked how they chose out the chief rooms. The word that closes the parable was spoken to those who were bidden as invited guests. It was directed to the appointed leaders of that time, whose ambition and self-esteem kept them from understanding the principles of His kingdom. They had settled down to work on set lines, were displeased with anyone who worked in a different way from themselves, and were content to teach the law without bringing its living principles into their lives.
It lays down the rule for conduct when bidden to a wedding not to take the highest room but to sit in the lowest room. If a more honorable guest should come, the one who seized the highest place must suffer shame when the host gives that place to another and lowers him before all who sit at meat. To take the lowest place leaves the way open for the host to call the guest upward to a higher place with honor before fellow guests. Choosing the highest place is therefore wrong, for the one who exalts himself will be brought low while the one who humbles himself will be lifted up.
Though spoken as a parable, it pictured scenes of self-seeking for honor that He Himself had witnessed in actual life. It was uttered as one having authority, with great clearness and simplicity. It exposes the danger imperiling the soul in pushing for the chief place. What it states is law, that lifting up self brings being brought low and putting self low brings being lifted up. In this it instructs disciples in the duties and regulations of true social life, which are the same as the laws of the kingdom of God.
The call is to humble self instead of exalting self and to preserve humility before God. It is better to be honored by being lifted up by another than to lift up and exalt self. That lowliness is to be maintained in the esteem held for fellow workers and in the attitude toward them.
Pride Abased, Humility Exalted
Whoever lifts up self will be brought low, and whoever puts self low will be lifted up, so reaching for the highest place through pride, self-importance and self-exaltation ends in the lowest place. Striving for status and insisting on being first must give way to humility before God and to modest, humble, cooperative service, for success is not entrusted to those who claim credit for themselves. Reaching beyond capacity in pursuit of a more exalted position for human honor ends in being brought low with shame, with seeking the highest place ending in taking the lowest. Seeking the highest place and the praise of others forgets that human talents and wisdom are gifts from God, so self-praise forgets their true source. God's judgment will expose the worthlessness of striving to be first, and those who see it will bow in shame, while humility recognizes the greater gifts of others, uses its own talents faithfully, and returns their benefits to God.
Trusting in one's own righteousness while despising others and claiming an excellence not possessed shuts a person out from the grace that truly exalts. True righteousness does not produce self-conceit or contempt for others, while false righteousness does. High ambitions, showy plans and desire for display reveal that Christ is not truly being received as spiritual food, for humility is a fruit of conversion and of living by God's Word. Taking a high place and becoming self-important leads to being brought low, and humility is better than occupying the highest position, since a position of influence or recognition does not prove wisdom or merit but should lead to meekness and lowliness. No one is to seek the highest place or treat self as worthy of all that Scripture describes, and trying to reach the highest place without patient step-by-step growth ends in failure and disappointment.
The spirit behind striving to be greatest and to be the greatest leads away from God and leaves a person in the lowest place. Believers are instead to keep learning in Christ's school and depend on God as they serve. Everyone who exalts self exalts the power of Satan even without desiring to do so. This happens when heed is not taken and watchfulness unto prayer fails, because Satan's subtle influence seeks entrance on every side, and given the least opportunity he leads people to bring his pattern into the web they are weaving. Seeking advantages that are not rightfully one's own is selfish self-exaltation, and no one should treat self as self-sufficient or make it a task to humble others. The Lord humbles the one who seeks to exalt self, and the Lord's work is to be carried forward by hearts renewed and purified from selfishness. Self-exaltation that seeks to thwart God's purposes brings grave danger, so that unless the person recognizes it and changes it would have been better never to have been born, while humility is the safe course.
Jerusalem illustrates the rule, for by rejecting Christ, choosing Barabbas and refusing to submit to God's way its people humbled themselves by their own choices. When they persisted in rebellion God allowed them to follow their own purposes and withdrew the protection of His Spirit, showing the consequence of disobedience for all who bring reproach on God's glory. Humility is meekness and lowliness of heart learned from Jesus, serving rather than seeking supremacy or distinction. It is a mark of excellence of spirit, while pride and self-sufficiency meet God's resistance, for God gives grace to the humble. Christ's followers are to be meek and lowly like their Master and to walk meekly before God with deep humility, accepting that they may not be popular or honored in this world. Those who walk humbly with God and serve faithfully share Christ's sufferings and will share His glory in His kingdom.
Humbling oneself before God by acknowledging sin and seeking forgiveness through Christ raises a person before people and angels, and confessing to God is noble rather than degrading. This stands in contrast to debasing oneself by confessing the secret thoughts of the heart to a fallen human being. God Himself controls exaltation and abasement in His providence and corrects exalting of self and seeking the highest place with humbling, while humility is the right spirit before God. Whoever humbles himself will be exalted by the Lord Jesus Christ and by God's hand in due time, and the Lord will reward such humility. Those fully consecrated as missionaries, willing to be anything or nothing, willing to endure in the path of duty and to work anywhere God places them, rising by merit and letting others testify to their value, will be made a blessing, for merit exalts far more than words or position and no encouragement is given to seek exalted positions as an inducement. The way into this humility is to look at Christ meek and lowly of heart, study His life and character closely, and copy it to be like Jesus.
Humble Service and Reward
For those invited to serve, lifting self above others ends in being brought low, while making self low leads to being honored, and the wedding-seat picture of choosing the lowest place instead of claiming the highest expresses the humility and regard for fellow workers to be maintained. The warning is against ambition and self-esteem that shut out the principles of the kingdom, against settling down to work on set lines, being displeased with anyone who works differently, and teaching the law without bringing its living principles into life. It is applied to ministers and to medical workers who sought supremacy and control for themselves and insisted on being first: their pride hindered the work, and success would only have led them to take the glory to themselves. The call therefore is not to seek the highest position but to humble self-seeking ambition and give humble, cooperative service with courage, without claiming to be the only agent at work.
Humility of heart with dependence on God marks the path to future success, and the Holy Spirit must guard the worker against self-exaltation and self-praise. Success is not entrusted to those who claim the credit for themselves, while humble workers can advance in usefulness without letting the attitudes of others discourage them. The nearer people come to Jesus the less they desire high position or prominence.
The way into this humility is to look to Christ meek and lowly of heart, to study His life and character closely, to copy it, to keep learning in His school, and to depend on God in service. Those fully consecrated as missionaries, willing to be anything or nothing, willing to endure in the path of duty and to work anywhere they are placed, rising by merit and letting others testify to their value, will be made a blessing and will be exalted by God's hand in due time. No encouragement is given to seek exalted positions as an inducement, for merit exalts far more than words or position, and striving for supremacy with great anxiety for the highest place ends in the lowest place because that spirit leads away from God.
One who truly knows self works in all humility without proud boasts, regarding an experienced physician as a father and self as a child to be instructed, nourished, and corrected if in error. Humbling self is beginning at the lower round of the ladder and climbing round after round by careful, earnest, thoughtful exertion, content to come up gradually and to prove ability and a sense of responsibility in lesser matters before being trusted with grave responsibilities. Exalting self is seen in a new graduate with a diploma feeling equal to one who has devoted time, energies, and soul to the work for years, too self-sufficient to be instructed by one who has had experience and made a success, taking work easy and working as a machine without burden-bearing care. Such self-exaltation leaves a worker shallow, untrustworthy, and dangerous until experience is gained.
Christ's followers are to be meek and lowly like their Master, accepting that they may not be popular or honored in this world. Those who walk humbly with God and serve faithfully share His sufferings and will share His glory in His kingdom. At His coming those counted lowly will be truly exalted, and His faithful servants will share in the light and glory of His appearing.