Reverent Humility

Sixth: Humility—reverent humility. “If any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing as he ought to know.” This is only another name for docility. This is the characteristic of an ideal disciple. Disciple is the word those who followed Jesus first received. Disciple means learner. They entered the school of faith and of life. The Latin word from which humility comes means near the ground. An old writer said, “There are two safe places in the universe, the heavens and the dust. Of these two, the dust is the safer place, for there have been those who fell out of heaven, but who ever heard of any one falling out of the dust? Where could he fall?” Be clothed with humility, a new style of dress goods, prices not gone up on account of the war. “God resisteth the proud and giveth grace unto the humble.” But alas! when the consciousness of humility goes into the heart, the grace of humility goes out. Life is for learning, and there is no privilege greater than going to school. Christ is the Teacher, and we graduate into the High School of heaven to sit at His feet throughout eternity. Gifted godly men can teach you much, but by and by on the heaven side bank of the river of death, you’ll sit down with Paul and Abraham and Noah and Enoch, and they’ll give you Bible teaching that is worth looking forward to. That is a post-graduate course that awaits us on the other side. Humility is necessary because it tends to self-depreciation. There is no dogmatism or bigotry so hard and bitter as that of ignorance. Lord Bason said, “A little learning tendeth to self-conceit, but much learning tendeth to humility.” The men who know most think they know the least, and the men who know the least think they know it all.

Socrates was declared to be the wisest man in Greece. He was asked, “What do you know?” “I don’t know anything.” “That is very strange. The oracle declared you to be the wisest man in all the world.” They went back to dispute the oracle. “Socrates declares he knows nothing.” The oracle replied, “Others know not that.”