Humility (Acts 20:19) - Charles Spurgeon Sermon

Devotional

Day 1: Paul’s Tentmaker Hands and the Humility of Labor

Paul’s calloused hands stitching tents by night and preaching by day reveal a humility that refused to leverage ministry for personal gain. His labor wasn’t a platform for applause but a quiet offering, blending manual work with spiritual urgency. True humility, as modeled here, rejects the divide between “sacred” and “secular” service. It labors without demanding recognition, finding dignity in obscurity. This daily surrender to God’s agenda—not personal ambition—fuels endurance. The call is to serve in hidden corners as gladly as in spotlighted pulpits. [13:42]

“Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
(Acts 20:34–35, KJV)

Reflection: Where does your work—paid or unpaid—tempt you to seek validation? How might Paul’s tentmaking reshape your view of “ordinary” labor as worship?

Day 2: The Death’s Head in the Mirror: Mortality as a Teacher

A skull stripped of flesh mocks human pride. Paul’s awareness of his fleeting life—a “vapor” soon dissolved—anchored him to eternal priorities. Mortality isn’t morbid fixation but a lens clarifying what matters: finishing the course, not curating a legacy. Like a painting that shifts from vibrant children to a grinning skull, our lives are transient brushstrokes. Humility thrives when we hold achievements loosely, knowing dust claims all. [34:23]

“For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.”
(Psalm 103:14–16, KJV)

Reflection: What “immortal” project or reputation are you clutching? How might holding it as dust-free you to live with lighter hands?

Day 3: Christ’s Towel and Basin: The Master’s Posture of Lowliness

The God who scrubbed grime from fishermen’s feet redefines greatness. Jesus’ humility wasn’t a temporary disguise but the heartbeat of His mission. Servants who mimic His basin-and-towel life don’t “stoop”—they kneel naturally, seeing dignity in emptying themselves. Pride withers where foot-washing love flourishes. To serve “from house to house” like Paul is to trace the Master’s calloused palms. [40:06]

“If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.”
(John 13:14–15, KJV)

Reflection: Whose “feet” irritate you to avoid? What practical act of unglamorous service could mirror Christ’s posture this week?

Day 4: Nebuchadnezzar’s Shadow: The Peril of Claiming Glory

The king who crowed, “Is this not Babylon my achievement?” lost his mind grazing like a beast. Success’s intoxication distorts vision, swapping gratitude for ownership. Paul’s “not I, but Christ” guards against this madness. Every spiritual victory, every converted soul, is grace’s fingerprint—never our craftsmanship. To build ministries or churches on personal branding is to court divine demolition. [45:58]

“The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built…? Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven… for those that walk in pride he is able to abase.”
(Daniel 4:30, 37, KJV)

Reflection: Where do you subtly claim “Babylon” as your own? What practice could daily reorient your heart to stewardship over ownership?

Day 5: The Wild Olive Graft: Remembering Our Native Roots

Paul never forgot he was a “graft” on mercy’s tree. Natural branches (Israel) were broken off; Gentiles, wild shoots, were grafted in—not for inherent worth but undeserved favor. To boast over natural branches is to ignore our roots in grace. Humility remembers: we’re adopted, not native. The sap sustaining us flows from Christ alone. [43:06]

“And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them… thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou… standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear.”
(Romans 11:17–18, 20, KJV)

Reflection: What spiritual privileges or insights tempt you toward smugness? How might dwelling on your “wild” origins cultivate gratitude?

Sermon Summary

Paul, speaking by the Holy Ghost, sets his seal on “serving the Lord with all humility,” not to commend himself, but to clear his hands and stand as a mirror for ministers in every age. The text presses not a bare humility, but all humility. Pride has many faces, and the apostle turns each one to the light. The heretic’s pride that crowns reason above revelation is shamed by Paul’s, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross.” The merit-monger’s pride is scattered by his “yet not I, but Christ.” The prying pride that would break the seven seals is refused by a man content to preach both man’s responsibility and God’s sovereignty without forcing their lines to meet. The persecutor’s pride yields to charity that “hopeth all things.” The rebel’s pride breaks under the cry, “O wretched man that I am,” and the confession, “chief of sinners.”

Humility, to be all, surrounds the whole service of God. Before the act, it chooses the low room and seeks no clap of praise, content to go from blistered hands at the bench to plain speech in the pulpit. In the act, when victories fall thick, it sings twice over, “Not unto us,” and will not filch a single jewel from the King’s crown, knowing that crown-wearing is not yet. After the act, it refuses self-congratulation, hides its own best feature with the finger of modesty, and names itself an unprofitable servant.

Humility is tried in opposite furnaces. Great abilities tempt a man to say, “I am something,” forgetting that the more talents, the more debt. Little gifts tempt the frog to swell to the size of the bullock. Success intoxicates like a brimming cup, but lack of success breeds a bitter pride that despises brethren. Long sunshine of assurance may engender presumption, while long doubts murmur against God. Station never secures a man; only grace does.

Strong arguments bind humility to the soul. Mortality whispers from the skull, “What had this man to be proud of?” Depravity and actual sin cry, “There goes John Bradford, but for the grace of God.” Christ himself makes pride impossible. He “made himself of no reputation,” ate with publicans without a hint of stooping, and washed the disciples’ feet. Shall the servant be above such a Master? Electing love and bestowed gifts clinch the matter. “What hast thou that thou hast not received?” Let the graft remember the clay pit, the wheel, and the Potter’s hand, and give all glory to God.

Therefore the church must enter any larger house with lowly aims, knowing pride can bar Christ from the door. Better humble than humbled. For the unconverted, the root is faith in Christ; from that root, humility grows.

Key Takeaways

1. All humility before, during, after. True humility surrounds the whole work of God. It bows low at the threshold, sings “Not unto us” in the thick of triumph, and calls itself unprofitable at the end. Such bracketing starves pride of air and keeps the crown where it belongs. [20:43]
2. Pride hides in opposite conditions. Both the full cup and the empty cup can intoxicate. Success tempts to self-worship, and failure tempts to despising others to soften disappointment. Grace alone steadies the hand in either season. [31:31]
3. Christ stoops lower than all. His condescension bears no theatrics, only natural lowliness. He takes the basin and towel, not to perform, but because love makes stooping his native posture. The disciple cannot be above such a Lord without shaming his own baptism. [40:06]
4. Gifts received forbid boasting. Talents are debts, not diadems, and differences are donations, not deserts. Remembering the Potter, the wheel, and the clay cures the itch for applause. Let the vase praise its Maker, not its own curve. [43:06]
5. Seek low places to keep Christ. A high head knocks at the lintel where a bowed one passes safe. Pride writes vacancy over sanctuaries and souls alike, but meekness makes room for the King. Choose the menial task, and find his nearness in the hidden place. [46:34]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:15] - Paul’s manner in Asia and aim
[01:20] - Serving the Lord with all humility
[04:34] - All humility defined against prides
[10:34] - Humility before, during, after service
[13:26] - The tentmaker’s lowly motive
[15:40] - Not unto us in success
[20:58] - Trials: talents, great and small
[27:08] - Success and failure both tempt pride
[31:31] - Grace, not station, keeps a man
[33:06] - Mortality, depravity, and self-abasement
[38:25] - Christ’s easy condescension and footwashing
[40:40] - Election and received gifts humble us
[46:34] - Pride shuts out Christ’s presence
[49:30] - Faith as the root of humility

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Acts 20:19 (ESV)
...serving the Lord with all humility of mind...

Observation questions

The sermon highlights several “faces” of pride (heretic’s pride, merit-monger’s pride, etc.). What specific contrasts does Paul’s humility offer to these forms of pride? [Key Takeaway 1]
According to the sermon, how does humility shape a person’s attitude before, during, and after serving God? [Key Takeaway 1]
What metaphor does the sermon use to warn against pride in both “great abilities” and “little gifts”? (Example: “The frog and the bullock”) [25:13]

Interpretation questions

Why does Paul’s example of humility act as a “mirror for ministers in every age,” and how might this apply to believers who aren’t in formal ministry? [Key Takeaway 1]
The sermon says both success and failure can “intoxicate” us with pride. How might pride manifest differently in these two extremes? [27:08]
What does Christ’s act of washing feet reveal about the relationship between humility and love? How does this challenge cultural views of “greatness”? [Key Takeaway 3]

Application questions

Reflect on a recent accomplishment or failure. How might pride have subtly influenced your response to it (e.g., self-congratulation, bitterness, comparing yourself to others)? [18:11]
The sermon warns that even “little gifts” can tempt us to swell with pride. What is one talent or role you’re prone to overvalue? How could you actively redirect praise for it to God this week? [43:06]
What practical step could you take to embrace a “menial” act of service (e.g., unnoticed kindness, a task others avoid) as a way to cultivate humility? How might this mirror Christ’s posture? [13:26]
When have you felt tempted to “crowd God out” by seeking recognition for your efforts? What habit (e.g., prayer, Scripture) could help you recenter on His glory in future moments? [16:13]
The sermon says humility “starves pride of air.” Identify one relationship or situation where pride often flares up. How could you intentionally “bend low” there this week? [Key Takeaway 5]

Sermon Clips

We are what God has made us so far as gifts are concerned. If the Lord said to Moses, "Who hath made man's mouth?" Because Moses said he was of stammering speech. Ye may say that to yourselves, if you can speak well, or if ye act well, who hath made man's arm? Or if you think well, who hath made man's brain? The honor never can be to the thing itself, but to that mighty one who made it what it is. [00:22:21]

Now Paul never had the heretic's pride. He could say, "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Nay, so willing was he to sit at the feet of Jesus that he counted all the learning which he had received at the feet of Galiel to be of no value in itself, but became a fool that he might be wise. He spake not with the wisdom of words, nor with human learning, but with the demonstration of the spirit and with power. [00:05:26]

There is not a position in the world where a man cannot be humble if he have grace. There is not a station under heaven where a man will not be proud if left to himself. [00:31:29]

But it will never do for the servant of God to honor himself. After his work is done, he must lay his head upon his death pillow, saying, I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies. What am I, and what is my father's house that thou hast brought me hitherto? I am, having done all, but an unprofitable servant. I have not even done so much as it was my duty to have done. [00:18:46]

Our master was never exalted above measure. You never detect in him one proud or scornful glance upon the meanest of the mean or the vilest of the vile. He condescended to men of low estate. But it did not look like condescension in him. He did it in such a way that there was not the appearance of stooping. [00:38:25]

We are so inclined to filch his jewels from the crown to put them on our own breasts. If we would not steal the diadem itself, yet we look with longing eyes upon it, as if we would like to wear it, if but a single moment. [00:16:22]

You may be a king and yet be humble. You may be a beggar and yet be proud. You may be great and yet little in your own esteem. You may be little and yet you may be greater in your estimation than those who are the greatest. See to it then that your lowest state do not make you proud any more than your highest state. [00:26:32]

When a man hath seven talents, he must recollect that he hath seven burdens. And he that hath 10, if he hath more than others, should feel that he hath 10 times any other man's burden of responsibility, and therefore he should be bowed down. [00:21:02]

If we do not come to God's altar humbly, we cannot come acceptably. Whether we preach or pray or give arms or whatsoever we do, it is needful that we bend exceedingly low before we enter upon the work. For if not, self-seeking, self- glorying will lie at the bottom of all, and God neither can nor will accept us. [00:12:10]

There is the pride of the heretic who will utter false doctrines because he thinks his own judgment to be better than the word of God. never content to sit like a child to believe what he is told. He is a disputant but not a disciple. He will insist upon it that his own reason is to be the wellspring of his own beliefs and he will receive nothing beyond his own reach himself. [00:04:58]

Begin, I pray you, with the root. This is the root of every Christian grace, faith in Christ. Come to Jesus today as you are. Trust him with your poor, guilty soul. Believe him to be both willing and able to save you. Repose your confidence in him alone. [00:49:30]

Take care that you put your finger on your own beauty. When you are painting another man, imitate Aelles who drew Alexander with his finger upon the scar. But when you are painting yourself, put your finger over your choice beauty. For depend upon it that the hiding finger of your modesty will be more beautiful than the beauty you conceal. [00:19:56]

It is not often that a man may safely speak about his own humility. Humble men are mostly conscious of great pride, while those who are boastful of humility have nothing but false pretense and really lack and want it. I question whether any of us are at all judges as to our pride or humility. [00:01:44]

For verily pride so often assumes the shape of loneliness when it hath its own end to serve. And loneliness on the other hand is so perfectly compatible with the heavenly dignity of decision that it is not easy at all times to discover which is the counterfeit and which is the precious and genuine coin. [00:02:06]

Never could you see that in Paul you could discover at once that his solitary aim was to win souls and so to glorify Christ. Let us labor after this as a part of all humility. [00:14:44]

Ask a question about this sermon

Spurgeon Sermon Series This sermon · AI assistant

What does serving God with all humility mean

What trials typically threaten Christian humility in ministry

What biblical arguments encourage believers toward humility