Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
—Philippians 4:5
2303 The Real Servants
“The great leaders of men in all fields have not been the arrogant and the greedy, but the servants. The real servants are the true nobility. The greatest of all, the Son of God Himself, declared that He had come not to be served but to be a servant, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
—John E. Mitchell
2304 Humility Is
Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble.
—Andrew Murray
2305 Sweetest Music From Smallest Birds
Have you ever thought of it, that only the smaller birds sing? You never heard a note from the eagle in all your life, nor from the turkey, nor from the ostrich. But you have heard from the canary, the wren, and the lark. The sweetest music comes from those Christians who are small in their own estimation and before the Lord.
—Watchman-Examiner
2306 How To See Growth In Christ
Dr. Bonar once said that he could tell when a Christian was growing. In proportion to his growth in grace he would elevate his Master, talk less of what he himself was doing, and become smaller and smaller in his own esteem, until, like the morning star, he faded away before the rising sun.
—D. L. Moody
2307 Creeping into Heaven
Dr. F. B. Meyer wrote to a friend a few weeks before his death, as follows: “I am now eighty-two, and in a nursing home. I want to tell you what the Spirit of God has been showing me lately. That I have acquired a reputation for sanctity by my books. This may grow upon me. It makes one want to creep into Heaven unnoticed.”
—The Bible Today
2308 Still A Chief Sinner
Many years ago John Newton, the converted slave trader who became a preacher and a Christian poet, lay upon his deathbed. A young clergyman came to see him and expressed deep regret at the prospect of losing so eminent a laborer in the Lord’s vineyard.
The venerable servant of God replied, “True, I m going on before you, but you’ll soon come after me. When you arrive, our friendship will no doubt cause you to inquire for me. But I can tell you already where you’ll most likely find me—I’ll be sitting at the feet of the thief whom Jesus saved in His dying moments on the cross!”
Although a distinguished man, Newton felt with Paul that he could only class himself among the chief of sinners who have been saved through marvelous grace.
2309 Copernicus’ Desire
Copernicus was a great mathematician. His studies and calculations revolutionized the thinking of mankind about the universe. When he lay dying, The Revolution of the Heavenly Body was placed in his hands. It had just been printed. At death’s door, he saw himself, not as a great scholar, or astronomer, but only as a sinner in need of the Saviour.
On the tombstone at his grave at Frauenberg are carved the following words which he chose for his epitaph: “I do not seek a kindness equal to that given to Paul. Nor do I ask the grace granted to Peter. But that forgiveness which Thou didst grant to the robber—that, earnestly I crave!”
2310 Conquering His Remaining Pride
Here is an account of the Founder of Harvard, Thomas Shepard (1605–1649). One midnight, towards the end of his life, Shepard was found lying on his face in his study with a copy of the New England Gazette crushed in his hands. The reason was afterwards known. At the same time when a sermon of Shepard’s was printed in the Gazette, his close friend, Mr. T. H. also had his printed. And it became well-known that the latter was more eloquent and better in English than the former! That midnight’s paper contained an especially beautiful sermon of T. H. And as Shepard tried first not to read it, then turned in prayer to try to read it, he could not, and fell on his face as at Gethsemane.
In a diary under Nov. 10, 1642, Shepard wrote “I kept a private fast to see the full glory of the Gospel—and the conquest of my remaining pride of heart.”
—Selected
2311 The College President At Work
Dr. T. F. Cowan once told the story of a small religious college that was having financial difficulties, even though their academic standards had been exceptionally high. One day a very wealthy man came on the campus, found a white-haired man in overalls painting the wall, and asked where he could find the president. The painter pointed out a house on the campus and said he was sure the president could be seen there at noon.
At the designated time the visitor knocked at the president’s door and was admitted by the same man he had talked to on the grounds, though now he was attired differently. The visitor accepted an invitation to have lunch with the painter-president, asked a number of questions about the needs of the college, and told him he would be sending a little donation. Two days later a letter arrived enclosing a check for $50,000. The humility of a man who was fitted for his position as college president, but who was not too proud to put on the clothes of a workman and do the job that needed doing so badly, had opened his purse strings.
—Evangelical Illustration
2312 Simpson’s Most Valuable Discovery
In the year 1847, a doctor from Edinburgh, Sir James Simpson, discovered that chloroform could be used as an anaesthetic to render people insensible to the pain of surgery. From his early experiments, Dr. Simpson made it possible for people to go through the most dangerous operations without fear of pain and suffering. Some people even claim that his was one of the most significant discoveries of modern medicine.
Some years later, while lecturing at the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Simpson was asked by one of his students, “What do you consider to be the most valuable discovery of your lifetime?” To the surprise of his students, who had expected him to refer to chloroform, Dr. Simpson replied, “My most valuable discovery was when I discovered myself a sinner and that Jesus Christ was my Saviour.”
—Glad Tidings
2313 Doing Good Without Knowing
There is a legend of a man so much beloved of the angels for his saintliness that they asked God to bestow upon him some new power. They were permitted to ask him to make the choice of a gift. He said he was content and wanted nothing. But on being urged to make some request, he asked for the power to do a great deal of good in the world without knowing it.
And so, ever afterward his shadow, when it fell behind him where he could not see it, had wondrous healing power; but when it was cast before him where he could see it, it had no such power.
—J. H. Bomberger
2314 A Discovery
I used to think, that God’s gifts were on shelves
one
above
another
and the taller we grow,
The easier we can reach them.
Now I find, that
God’s gifts are on shelves
one
beneath
another
and the lower we stoop,
The more we get.
—F. B. Meyer
2315 Epigram On Humility
• True humility is not to think low of oneself but to think rightly, truthfully of oneself.
• A Christian minister once said, “I was never of any use until I found out that God did not intend me to be a great man.”
• It is possible to be too big for God to use you but never too small for God to use you.
• God had an only Son, and He was a missionary and a physician. A poor, poor imitation of Him I am, or wish to be.
—Livingstone
• A hundred times a day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am receiving.
—Einstein
• There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a King among his.
—Helen Keller
• Second street is the first street in America. According to R. L. Polk & Co., publishers of city directories, Second Street is the most common street name in this country. Park Street is in second place. Third Street is third, Fourth is fourth, Fifth is fifth, Main is sixth. First Street?—it’s seventh.
See also: Proud.