Prayer Meeting 22/10/2024

Living Like A Christian Is To Love Like God - Part 4

(Hugh Binning)

Watch the Full Sermon HERE.

We continue tonight with our look at the work of Hugh Binning, Scottish covenanter/Puritan, who wrote a treatise on ‘Christian Love’.

Hugh Binning was born in 1627 in Dalveen, Ayrshire. He was ordained in 1650, and became minster of Govan church. Sadly, Binning died at the young age of a mere 26 years old.

Our Puritan prayer is the same as our last prayer meetings - from ‘The Valley Of Vision’ page 250 on the leather version and page 137 of the paperback, entitled ‘Christian Love’, which shares the same title as Binning’s work.

O Lover of the loveless, It is thy will that I should love thee with heart, soul, mind, strength and my neighbour as myself. But I am not sufficient for these things. There is by nature no pure love in my soul; Every affection in me is turned from thee; I am bound, as slave to lust, I cannot love thee, lovely as thou art, until thou dost set me free. By grace I am thy freeman and would serve thee, for I believe thou art my God in Jesus, and that through him I am redeemed and my sins are forgiven. With this freedom I would always obey thee, but I cannot walk in liberty, any more than I could first attain it, of myself. May thy Spirit draw me nearer to thee and thy ways. Thou art the end of all means, for if they lead me not to thee, I go away empty. Order all my ways by thy holy Word and make thy commandments the joy of my heart, that by them I may have happy converse with thee. May I grow in thy love and manifest it to mankind. Spirit of love, make me like the loving Jesus; give me his benevolent temper, his beneficent actions that I may shine before men to thy glory. The more thou doest in love in me and by me, humble me the more; keep me meek, lowly, and always ready to give thee honour. 

We are drawing from Binning’s treatise on ‘Christian love’. Binning draws from many verses in his treatise. But the anchor verses are:

Matthew 22:37-39 (ESV)

And he said to him, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

And John 13:34-35 (NKJV)

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Tonight, we come to the last part of Binning’s work. Also, chapter five, which is the final chapter of his treatise.

Last time we shared on chapter four, where Binning predominately writes on how we ought to love those in the world; not the world but those in it.

To close tonight, in chapter five Binning writes predominately on the Christlike characteristics, especially that of the realm of humility and lowliness. And challenges the reader to truly consider what it means to live a life of humility, which love and service comes from, versus pride - the mother of all sin.

Binning writes how at times it’s such an overlooked wonder of the riches of Jesus Christ living as a lowly Servant, with humility and gentleness.

Binning, in his very first line in chapter 5 writes:

Humility is the root of charity and meekness the fruit of both.

He goes on:

There is no solid and pure ground of love to others, except the rubbish of self-love be first cast out of our souls.

Until then there is, as Binning says:

No solid foundation to love.

Love’s foundation therefore comes from self-denial and in that there is the key to humility.

Binning says, and I paraphrase, that: ‘Not until we unhinge ourselves from self-glory and pride will be in a position to truly love.

He writes and I quote:

These are the a-b -c’s of Christianity.

Why can Christ carry our burdens?

Because He says: “I am gentle and lowly of heart”.

We spoke about it on Sunday. That we ought to cast our cares upon Him.

Mathew 11:28-29

Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

But I want to add tonight that we ought also to be like Christ where we are humble and lowly in heart, that we can bear others’ burdens and pains. Yet we can’t do that when we are too busy trying to get our own needs met continually.

People should be able to find rest in our humility. Have you considered that? Are you one whom others can feel unburdened by? Or are you so full of self, that you put your burdens onto others?

We ought to give all to Christ, so we are free to take all off others.

If Christ could walk lowly knowing all He is, how arrogant is it for us to think too highly of ourselves and be consumed by self?

Of all the riches Christ knows, of all the heavens and glory that He left, He could have taught us so, so much. Yet above all He taught us and modelled to us, was a humble Servant who denies self for the sake of serving others.

Look again at the first three verse of 1st Corinthians 13:

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

None of it profits because love is the greatest of gifts. And that love is shown in lowliness and meekness.

So many want the profound, and so many want the blessing and favour. But fewer desire the doctrines of humble servanthood.

Binning stunningly writes:

Truly there is majesty in lowliness… …if you would stay and hear a little longer, and enter into a deep search of this doctrine, we would be surcharged and overcome with wonders. It seems shallow till you enter, but it has no bottom.

Truly there is no depth, no wonder greater than to delve into the doctrines of Christ as a humble, lowly Servant.

If we can learn from him - what does the verse say? – ‘Learn from me , for I am gentle and lowly in heart.’

Think of whence were we were before we met Christ. People who were rotting in a pit. Yet we still can look at life from a superior standpoint; from a place of pride - from a place of ‘serve me’, and ‘love me’, and ‘bow to me’.

Binning then, as the final chapter unfolds, shares much on pride, which is the opposite of lowliness, however, there are few more poignant points he makes than when he writes:

Pride is an excrescence (abnormal growth), it is nature swelled beyond the intrinsic, or limits of magnitude, the spirt of a mouse in a mountain.

In other words, it thinks way, way too highly of itself.

Thats pride, it places itself way, way higher than it can ever perform at. And that pride is unnaturally forged from the flesh.

‘Love is not puffed up’ – it’s not prideful.

Binning says:

There is a lie in every sin, but the greatest and grossest lies are committed in pride.

Binning writes:

Humility bows down low and digs down that it may find a foundation of true worth.

Where, as he writes:

Pride wants to fly high on its own wings.

Again on humility Binning wrote:

Humility towards men depends upon that poverty and self-emptying under God’s mighty hand.

There’s a thought to ponder here brothers and sisters: How often, and to what degree do you self-empty, do you rid yourself of you?

Jesus gave up heaven to walk among the sinner and lowest of the low - us. Yet we can’t let go of an ounce of self at times.

To rid ourselves of ourselves is the beginning of humility and killing pride, but more, it’s the catalyst in which love and serving are birthed.

To get over yourself is what we need, not in a superficial way but in a deep, emptying way.

The pragmatic church, modern psychology, all teach about learning how to value yourself and know your worth. True lowliness and humility is learning to devalue yourself.

I know it’s not a great sell but that is what we sell in this church.

Come and learn to devalue yourself, and in so doing you will learn to serve like Christ, and also find shelter in Christ.

Psalm 91:1-2

He who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty. I will say of the Lord, “he is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in him I will trust.”

It’s in humility and self-emptying we seek shelter from Him. In pride we go it alone. Like we spoke of on Sunday about hope and hopelessness, true hopelessness is the result of going it alone, of not letting go, of dragging our heels.

The word ‘deferred’ in Hebrew, as I said, is ‘moshakk’, and means to drag along, or drag out.

Proverbs 13:12a

Hope deferred makes the heart sick…

What makes us do that more than our pride? Hope deferred makes the heart sick. In meekness we look to Him. In pride we look to self.

It’s in casting our cares upon Him, this is the spirit that will in turn lead us to humbly serve and love others.

If my starting point is low, I won’t Lord it over people but seek the Lord with people. And do so not from a lofty place but a place of humility

.

Binning again writes:

Humility makes a man compare himself to the best, that he may find how bad he himself is. But pride measures by the worst that it may hide from man his own imperfections.

We are taught comparing is wrong, but it’s good to compare ourselves to those who are more humble and Christlike, so we can get a clearer view of our sickness, our ugliness.

Pride is such a great excuse maker, it doesn’t want to compare itself to those who are like Christ.

Pride wants to be in charge and not submit, so it prefers to compare to negatives, to wrongs done, to those that are worse, to justify its need to remain in charge.

Yet to compare ourselves to those whom do live godly lives, leaves us with a knowing how feeble we are, or as Binning says: ‘leaves us with nothing’. Whereas pride leaves us thinking we are everything.

Okay we need to finish. Before I do, if indeed pride is an issue, you would do yourself well by reading and meditating on the whole of chapter five of Binning on Christian love, as he says way, way more than we have time for.

Binning closes by sharing the part of Matthew 11:29 where Christ says “learn from Me.”

Binning writes:

I know not of any greater antidote to rid ourselves of this evil.

Meaning no other thing is a greater lesson that Christ was humble and lowly, and told us to learn from Him.

Binning earlier writes:

If this does not prevail to humble the heart, I know not what can.

If Jesus’ life, if His example, if Him in saying “learn from Me for I am gentle and lowly of heart” - If that won’t teach us, nothing will.

Binning closes with reciting Philippians 2:5-8.

Philippians 2:5-8

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

He then writes:

This is the wonder that he knew himself to be equal to God, should notwithstanding become lower than men, that the Lord of all and the king of glory make himself of no reputation.

He closes:

Now then how monstrous and ugly a thing must pride be after this, that a wretched, miserable man should be proud when it pleased the glorious God to be humble.

Amen.