Call To Worship November 19 2017
Luke 7:1-10
“We should notice, secondly, in this passage, the HUMILITY of the centurion. It appears in his remarkable message to our Lord when He was not far from his house — ‘I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof — neither thought I myself worthy to come unto you.’ Such expressions are a striking contrast to the language used by the elders of the Jews. ‘He is worthy,’ said they, ‘for whom you should do this.’ ‘I am not worthy,’ says the good centurion, ‘that you should enter under my roof.’
Humility like this is one of the strongest evidences of the indwelling of the Spirit of God. We know nothing of humility by nature, for we are all born proud. To convince us of sin, to show us our own vileness and corruption, to put us in our right place, to make us lowly and self-abased — these are among the principal works which the Holy Spirit works in the soul of man. Few of our Lord’s sayings are so often repeated as the one which closes the parable of the Pharisee and Tax-collector — ‘Every one that exalts himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.’ (Luke 18:14.) To have great gifts, and do great works for God, is not given to all believers. But all believers ought to strive to be clothed with humility.”
J. C. Ryle Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Luke