Isaiah 2:11

The lofty looks of man shall be humbled. .. the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day

Man humbled and Christ exalted

The day may be very properly applied to any of those days when the Lord abases the pride of guilty man, or when He makes His presence felt by the power of His Spirit upon the heart; for it is then the lofty looks of man are humbled; it is then the haughtiness of man is bowed down, and the Lord is exalted in the heart.

What other than this is God’s object in the Gospel? It is definitely that self may be humbled, and Christ exalted.

I. Let us look at some points on which MEN ARE APT TO BE LIFTED UP and to bolster themselves up in their pride and self-sufficiency.

1. They hold that they have natural ability to understand the Word of God. What saith the Scripture upon this point? (1 Corinthians 2:11, etc.) How many take up the Word of God to read it just as they would any other book, forgetting its character--forgetting its object! They read it merely to know, not in order to be. Whereas the value of the Book is, that it is to tell upon man’s character. It is to make him altogether a new creature in Christ Jesus.

2. Another point of deep importance is the opinion which men have with respect to their power to save themselves. It is not that they think that they can actually blot out their sins, or that they can perfectly keep God’s law; but they, in imagination, strike a kind of balance between their good and bad deeds. They think that there is something good in what they do, and that what they fail in Christ will make up; and the consequence is, there is no real humiliation before God while this idea lasts.

3. The foolish thoughts men have of the character of God, as if He were such an one as themselves. You will often hear men speak of what they conceive the justice of God to be, without attending in the smallest degree to the declarations which He makes of Himself in His Holy Word. They speak as though they thought the difference between themselves and God, who is holy, is one of degree merely, and not of nature. They put on one side altogether the fact that God is a Spirit, and that they themselves are carnal, and they speak as if morality would fit a man for heaven, utterly ignoring the words of the Lord, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Men, indeed, form their own opinions; but remember the way in which God speaks of it: “Thou thoughtest that I was such an one as thyself; but I will reprove thee.”

II. Now, all these mistaken views are so many sources of pride in men; but when the Holy Spirit comes into the heart in power, they ARE BOWED DOWN AND HUMBLED BEFORE GOD. One of the effects produced by the Holy Spirit, when He comes upon a man’s heart, is to make him consider his ways. He looks to himself and sees nothing but sin; that there is not one single ground of hope; and when the Holy Spirit has graciously brought him to this point, then He shows him the salvation of Christ. And then in this exaltation of the Lord Jesus comes the true abasement of the man himself. Lessons--

1. The object of all God’s dispensations is to humble us, and to bring us down to the feet of Christ.

2. The nature of true faith. It is humility; it is dependence; it is coming down from all self-confidence; it is resting upon another, and that Christ alone. (J. W. Reeve, M. A.)

God exalted

1. By entertaining elevating apprehensions of His infinite majesty, and exercising suitable affections towards Him--fearing Him who pours contempt upon princes, trusting in Him in whom is everlasting strength, and loving Him in whose favour there is life.

2. By celebrating the praises of His Divine excellencies with gratitude and joy.

3. By such conduct as may give the most sensible and lively representation of God--beginning, carrying on, and ending all their businesses in Him; making His love the principle, His law the rule, and His glory the end of all their actions. (R. Macculloch.)

Humility

Life is a long lesson in humility. (J. M. Barrie.)