The Lifting Power Of True Humility by Apostle Joshua Selman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Father, we declare that we love You. We declare that we honor You. We declare that we need You. We have come with hearts opened, with meek hearts to receive. Lord, we pray that Your word will come with such prevailing power — let it transform us. Let the sick be healed, let the oppressed be delivered, let every yoke and every captivity bow to the name of Jesus Christ.

The Need for Discipleship

One of the greatest needs in the body of Christ today — and by extension in society — is the need for discipleship. Discipleship is methodical mentorship that leads people to become Christ-like and to become responsible.

When new converts are not discipled, the gaps in their spiritual understanding and the aliveness of the flesh will make them easy prey for the devil. Those who are not discipled will eventually become problems — first to the church, and then to the larger community.

• Every national problem was first a regional problem that was not managed properly.
• Every regional problem was once a family problem that was not managed effectively.
• Every family problem was once an individual problem.

An individual who is not discipled creates trouble in a family. A family that is not discipled creates trouble in a society. Eventually that individual will constitute a nuisance not only to the family and society, but to the nation and continent. This is how demon spirits operate — they look for individuals with no platform for discipleship, families with no code of conduct, territories that are lawless. All it takes to destroy a nation is to ignore discipleship at the individual level — just let people do what they want, unchecked.

Discipleship is therefore the foundation for true and lasting transformation in individuals, families, institutions, and nations.

The Danger of Being Misinformed

To be uninformed is bad — ignorance is terrible at any level. But to be misinformed is worse.

When someone is ignorant, they do not need renewal first — they simply need information that produces transformation. But when someone is misinformed, they need renewal before the journey of transformation can begin. Someone who has not yet started a journey only needs direction. But one who has veered off far will need to come back to the starting point before they can be pointed in the right direction.

This is why the content of discipleship matters as much as discipleship itself. Many people are in trouble today not because they refused mentorship, but because the content they received was inaccurate. Sincerity does not mean truthfulness. A sincere teacher can communicate error. The Scripture says: John 8:32 — it is the truth that sets free, not sincerity. The content of mentorship must be scriptural, balanced, and communicated with intention and intelligence.

The Lifting Power of True Humility

The goal of this teaching is to connect believers to the grace for lifting — by exposing the danger of pride and revealing from Scripture the character and excellence of a life of true humility.

Three key scriptures form the foundation:

• James 4:6 — God resisted the proud, but gives more grace to the humble.
• Philippians 2:3 — In lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves; let nothing be done through strife or vainglory.
• 1 Peter 5:6 — Humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.

The first revelation from James 4:6 is that whatever God gives, He can give more of it. More wisdom, more power, more revelation, more financial resources, more of His ability to keep you. Everything God gives is a seed that can be multiplied. The second revelation is the contrast: both the proud and the humble receive something from God. The proud receive resistance. The humble receive more grace.

Understanding Pride: The Human Nature

To truly understand pride, you must understand the human nature — both spiritually and psychologically. Man is tripartite: spirit, soul, and body. The mind connects spirit and body and has three compartments — the will, the emotions, and the intellect. These faculties allow man to interact with both the physical realm and the realm of the spirit. The body itself does not have a will of its own; it is a biological instrument that executes realities agreed upon in the spirit through the mind.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Behavioral psychologist Abraham Harold Maslow postulated a theory of motivation that produced the hierarchy of needs — an attempt to describe the motivation behind the activities of men. In ascending order, the five levels are:

1. Psychological (Basic) Needs — air, water, food, shelter, sleep, clothing. These are foundational. Men will fight and kill to secure these before any other concern surfaces.
2. Safety Needs — security, order, and predictability. Once basic needs are met, people begin thinking about employment, personal health, and safety. The motivation shifts from survival to control.
3. Love and Acceptance Needs — belonging, relationships, friendships, community. The need to feel loved and accepted. People join groups and form connections to fulfill this need.
4. Esteem Needs — the need for independence, achievement, status, prestige, titles, and recognition. This is where significant trouble begins in a person's life. At this level, people become sensitive to who says what, who acknowledges them, and how they are perceived.
5. Self-Actualization Needs — the need for fulfillment and legacy. At this level, the concern shifts from personal glory to what one can build and leave behind for others.

The highest psychological need of all men is the need to be loved, accepted, celebrated, and appreciated. People join clubs and groups because they want acceptance. People become offended when not invited to gatherings because the non-invitation communicates that their value is not recognized.

The Root of Pride

Pride is rooted in deep insecurity, fear, powerlessness, and unworthiness. Ninety-five percent of all manifestations of pride are a cover-up for these conditions.

Pride is the psychological cover people create to manage feelings of insecurity, fear, powerlessness, and unworthiness.

Behind the bravado of those who act with arrogance or aggression, when stripped down, you often find someone who says: "Nobody loves me. I came from a background where…" The intimidation was a cover — an attempt to wrongly manage insecurity and a sense of powerlessness. People create an attitude of boldness to cover what they genuinely feel inside.

Three Definitions of Pride

1. A lust for the praises of men — an ungodly, inordinate affinity for attention and approval.
2. A high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority — whether cherished privately in the mind or displayed outwardly in conduct. When expressed vocally, we call it boastfulness. But whether expressed or not, pride is pride.
3. A feeling of being better than others — on the strength of one's perception or obvious achievements.

What Scripture Says About Pride

• Proverbs 18:12 — Before destruction, the heart of man is haughty; before honor is humility. Pride does not come alone — it drags something behind it, and what it drags is destruction. Every time pride appears in Scripture, if there is no repentance and brokenness, things end worse than they began.
• Proverbs 16:18 — Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. When the enemy wants to destroy a man or a people, the first thing he introduces is pride. In the state of pride, destruction begins to form over destinies.
• Proverbs 29:23 — A man's pride shall bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. Many enviable destinies — kings, nobles, men of God — have been brought down by this cancer of pride.

Two Dimensions of Pride

1. Spiritual Pride

Revelation 3:14–19 describes the Laodicean church, which received the most severe rebuke of all seven churches — with no commendation at all. The indictment: "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing." This is a Luciferian syndrome. The very declaration "I am rich, I have need of nothing" mirrors the posture of Lucifer himself.

Luke 18:11–14 — In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, Jesus illustrates spiritual pride. The Pharisee stood and enumerated his spiritual achievements before God — fasting twice a week, giving tithes of all he possessed. The tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but struck his chest saying, "God be merciful to me a sinner." Jesus declared the tax collector — not the Pharisee — went home justified. Everyone who exalts himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.

Spiritual growth and spiritual excellence, if God does not help you, can tilt you to the wrong side of the pendulum and bring destruction. Spiritual pride manifests in these ways:

• Believing you are the only vessel God is using in a generation — the mistake of Elijah, who came to God and said, "I alone am left," when there were seven thousand others
• Using prophetic prowess, prayer hours, or revelation to bully or diminish other believers
• Allowing people to exalt your person beyond honor into something close to worship, and enjoying it rather than lovingly redirecting it
• Allowing the craving for a name in ministry to corrupt the motivation behind spiritual discipline — fasting or praying not to know God, but to achieve recognition
• Looking down on ministers or churches smaller than yours, as though God's activity is limited to your platform

The more a person is exposed to the glory of God, the more they see their own inadequacy before Him and the need to remain humble. The proof of genuine transformation by the Holy Spirit is humility connected to growth. The moment humility is exchanged for revelation, that is a sign of trouble.

God can do without you. It is a privilege beyond imagination to be part of God's program. It is a privilege to help build and bless people. It is a privilege to be granted the gift of influence and access.

Simplicity is not humility. Humility is not refusing to acknowledge what God has done in your life. True humility is publicly, intentionally, and continually acknowledging God as the source — that when all is said and done, more than your intellect, more than your business acumen, more than your gift, the doer of every good thing is God.

2. The Pride of Life

1 John 2:16 — All that is in the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father, but is of the world.

The pride of life is the self-exaltation and self-glorification that arises in the presence of tangible, obvious achievement.

Jeremiah 9:23–24 — "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me." The refusal to acknowledge God as the basis for success — the ashamedness to let men see Jesus as the reason for your victory — is the pride of life.

Deuteronomy 8:11–17 warns of what happens when houses are built, herds multiply, silver and gold increase. The biblical definition of the pride of life is in verse 17: "Then thou say in thine heart: My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth." This is the classic expression — attributing results to one's own strength, connection, intelligence, or strategy, forgetting the hand that opened the door.

Pride is the refusal to acknowledge God before men as the doer of every good thing in your life — either directly or indirectly.

It is an unusual passion for the attention of men. An unusual craving for the spotlight. A desire for men to keep singing your praises — or to sing them to yourself. When the spotlight shifts from you and it produces restlessness, that craving has crossed into the pride of life.

Symptoms of the pride of life:

• Embarrassment to acknowledge God publicly even when He has blessed you visibly
• Calculated worship — no longer willing to humble the body in expensive settings because of the cost
• Telling the story of your success without the chapter that includes God
• Going out of your way to ensure the world sees your achievements, rather than using them as a platform to redirect glory

The twenty-four elders in Revelation 4 take their golden crowns and cast them before the throne, declaring "Holy, holy, holy." That is what keeps them as elders. The day they stop doing that, the position is vacated. This is the posture God honors.

The most dangerous thing about pride is not that men will fight you — it is who will fight you. If men fight you, you can go to God. If demons fight you, you can use His name. But if God resists you — when the Owner of the name is the One fighting — every altar joins Him. Favor fights you. Good things fight you. Prophecy fights you. It is a fearful thing to be at the other end of that battle.

Rewards of Humility

• Proverbs 22:4 — By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honor, and life. Note the distinction: riches is not the same as honor. You can have riches and not have honor. You can have riches and honor and not have life. There is a relationship between untimely death and pride, and a corresponding relationship between humility and longevity.
• James 4:10 — "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up." The secret is in the humbling. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord — and He shall lift you.

When you see a man or woman whose end cannot be predicted, whose rising seems to have no ceiling, they have mastered this lift called humility. The end of a truly humble man cannot be predicted by any mortal. Just when men think he has attained, God lifts him again to another season. The path of the just is as a shining light — increasing more and more. When tomorrow is worse than yesterday, that is the mark of pride at work.

The humble man is never found at the same level where you last saw him. He is always further. As God lifts him, he acknowledges God. God lifts him again. He acknowledges God again. And God says: you had the opportunity to enjoy the spotlight and you redirected it to Me — you are ready for the next level. This cycle continues upward with no predictable ceiling.

The Key to Humility: Remembrance

Deuteronomy 8:18 — "But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God."

The key to humility is remembrance — remember where God took you from, and remember who took you.

• Remember the state before the blessing — the trekking in the rain, the lack, the obscurity, the doors that were closed.
• Remember who authored the change — not your intellect alone, not your connections alone, but the Lord who showed mercy.
• Archive the memory of your pain. Your pain is a gift. The scar is not a shame — it is a reminder of where grace intervened. Even Jesus still carries His scars. The mark on His hand reminds Him of His love for man.

Success has a way of eroding memory. This is why Israel kept forgetting. God gave them instructions to archive what He had done — so that when their children asked, they could say: "For 430 years we were in slavery, and the Lord brought us out." Every time Israel forgot and grew proud, He lifted His restraining hand and they saw what the enemy would do in the absence of His protection.

David stood before Goliath and drew from memory: "The Lord who delivered me from the lion and the bear will deliver me from this Philistine." Memory of past faithfulness becomes the fuel for present courage.

The leadership application: do not give those you lead only the rewards — give them the stories. Share the testimony of your process. Let them know this anointing did not just drop. Let them know once upon a time there was no reputation, no platform, no car. When people do not know the process, the result is carelessness. Process is the gift. Pain is the gift. Use them to train.

How Humility Is Expressed

John 3:30 — He must increase, but I must decrease.

To decrease is not to diminish or go backward. It means to exalt Him. The mark of true humility is this: when men look at you, they remember Jesus — not you. They see the miracles, the signs, the wonders, the lifting — and all they say is, "Lord, You." When men look at you and only your praises come to their lips, something is wrong with your approach.

"Son, if you will let men see Me, there is nothing I will not give you." — This is what the Lord made clear.

Stand before the estates, the credentials, the bank accounts, the influence, and say: "Lord, it is not unto these things but unto You that I lift my hands and my voice. It is because of You that these things are before me." When you redirect the spotlight to God, God says: you are ready for the next level. And He lifts you there. And the posture repeats. And He lifts you again.

Impartation and Prayer

The grace that lifts, the grace that exalts even through humility — may that grace rest upon you now. For some, this is the beginning of the fulfillment of prophecy. God was waiting for you to hear this message before the angels are activated, because where He is taking you, you need this truth to remain.

I declare in the name of Jesus Christ: begin to lift people from this moment — spiritual lifting, financial lifting, intellectual lifting, ministerial lifting. Access to systems, access to the hearts of kings — may that grace come upon you now.

Anyone due for promotion who has been held back by any capacity: in the name above all names, may this grace lift you. Ministries that have been stunted: by the power that raised Christ from the dead, receive His grace and rise. You have encompassed this mountain long enough — rise up in the name of Jesus.

Any spirit that has taken advantage of pride in your life, any spirit that has cooperated with the psychological need to prove yourself or be known — by the blood of the eternal covenant, those spirits are cast out of your life and out of your destiny.

I declare: no more stagnation. Age-long doors that have refused to open, in the name of Jesus, they are swung open now. Grace to walk in true humility — receive that grace. Grace to acknowledge Jesus as the source and the only source of your rising — may that grace be released upon you now. Any association that seeks to distract you from acknowledging Jesus, any root planted in your heart that makes you ashamed of letting the nations know that He is the Lifter — I command it out of your heart now.

But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God. But thou shalt remember the One who lifted you, the One who blessed you.

Lord Jesus, I have heard Your word. I humble myself before You. I ask You for mercy, for cleansing. I believe that You are the Son of God. I believe that You died for me. You rose again for my justification. Tonight I receive eternal life into my spirit. I receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. I declare that I reign in life. The power of sin, Satan, hell, and the grave is broken over my life. From today, I am born again. I am a child of God. I walk in victory. Amen.