The Problem of Pride, Part 2

We belie we deserve more than we are getting After all that we have done and all that we've been through, we truly believe down deep in our hearts That we deserve something better And that's because we tend to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think of ourselves The Bible, specifically the book of Proverbs, helps us understand life's puzzles We love to think about ourselves And that's what the boastful pride of life is all about This is where we left off last week Let's move on, and that is the spread of pr You know, pride begins to spread You know, pride has a couple of cousins

You know that, don't you? Jealousy, envy, greed, and anger Anger, by the way, is next week's topic For most of you, I know that you're so kind and sweet and gentle, you never get angry But you need to understand what the righteous anger is and how you are to exemplify that. as well as anger management That is, what does the Bible say about managing your emotions, keeping them in check, so that God Himself is honored amidst the conflict or amidst your conversation But that's next week's sermon But anger is a cousin of pride It's a cousin of envy It's the cousin of jealousy and greed

Because you see, pride tends to fuel all those things. I like how one author said it. I think it was James Packer, who said that envy is one of the most cancerous and soul-destroying vices there is It is terribly potent, for it feeds and is fed by pride, the taproot of our fallen n The taproot of our fallen nature Pride begins to spread because we believe that in our own eyes, everything is right Our way For instance, the book of Proverbs says in chapter 3, verse number 7, these words: Do not be wise in your own eyes Fear the Lord, turn away from evil

It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones What is healing to your body, and what brings refreshment to your bones? Those who are not wise in their own eyes Those who think they have wisdom, those who think they know what's going on, those who think they're always right Have you ever met somebody like that? Somebody who thinks they're always right, or better yet, somebody who knows they're always right You ever met somebody like that? I meet them all the time They believe that they are always right and they are never wr The story is told of a man named Zeke

And Zeke believed that he was always right He couldn't be wrong He was always right And when he was wrong, he could never admit that he was wrong And he always had to make an excuse To let you think that he believed he was right So the story goes that one day Zeke was walking along the street and he happened to shuffle into a blacksmith's shop Sawdust all over the floor What he didn't know was just before he got there, the blacksmith had been working with an uncooperative horses and beat on it until it was black It was still hot But it wouldn't cooperate, so he tossed it over in the sawdust

Zeke walked in, looked down, saw that black horseshoe, picked it up, not knowing it was still hot Naturally, he dropped it very fast The old blacksmith looked over his glasses and said, Kind of hot, ain't it, Zeke? And Zeke replied, Nope, just don't take me long to look at a horseshoe See, we can never admit that we're wrong You know, one of the greatest things my wife and I have found in our marriage is when we say those great words, I was wrong Forgive me You know, it takes a pretty big man, a pretty big woman to say, you know what, I was wrong But we don't like to say that

We like to hear it from somebody else telling us they were wrong, but we don't like to admit That we were wrong Why? Because every man is wise in his own eyes In fact, over in Proverbs chapter 12, verse number 15, it states it this way Proverbs 12, verse number 15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel Proverbs 11, verse number 2 says it this way When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom See, when pride comes, then comes dishonor What happens when you're prideful is the opposite result of what you're anticipating

You see, we are prideful because we want to receive recognition We want notoriety We want honor But the Bible says that when pride rises up, the only thing you receive is dishonor instead of honor The point is, pride never delivers what we want it to deliver We so desperately want people to think how great we are, only to realize that it brings dishonor, not honor And we have a hard time dealing with that The Bible says these words over in Proverbs 21, verse number 2 Every man's way is right in his own eyes, but the Lord, the Lord weighs the hearts

Then verse number four, haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked is sin The lamp in the book of Proverbs is the life or the path a man travels The arrogant man, the haughty man, that's his path That's his lamp And the Bible says it's sin His direction is the arrogant way His direction is the prideful way That's what lights his path That's what he believes is the right way And all of a sudden, pride begins to spread

It begins to spread into everything I do. I become more arrogant. I become more angry because you don't see it my way. I become more envious of you because I want what you have Therefore, I will do whatever I can to get it. I become more jealous of you, how you look, what you wear, where you live, where you go to church, what you do And I want what you have. I can't get it So I do all I can to deceive and to obtain what you have because I want it All that because of pride All that because of my arrogant spirit All that because of my discontented spirit, because I am opposed to God

And God is opposed to me because he gives grace to the humble, but he scoffs At the prideful Proverbs chapter 30, verse number 13 says this There is a kind, oh, how lofty are his eyes, and his eyelids are raised in arrogance Oh, there is a kind There's many more like that than we'd ever dream there would be Proverbs 25, verse number 6, and verse number 7 Do not claim honor in the presence of the king, and do not stand in the place of great men For it is better that it be said to you, Come up here, than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince. whom your eyes have seen

Simply this don't seek to be among the el It'd be better for you to be asked to come stand with the prince, to come stand or sit beside the king Than for you to make your way up to the front thinking that you deserve to be there when, in reality, he sends you away, gives your spot to someone else, and you be shamed Christ would use this as a key note in his story of the parable in the book of Matthew concerning pride and arrogance You see, we love to associate ourselves with powerful, popular, prominent people

Yeah, I was talking to so-and-so the other day and just want to let you know that we're like this, you know? We're together, you know We want the name drop that we were with certain people and did this with them because it makes us look good You know, people say, oh, wow, you're with him Oh, man, you must be top dog Yeah Well, yeah, a little bit, I guess You know, we love to hear that stuff And we want people to recognize that in us And it's pride, and it begins to spread throughout our entire life And it begins to touch all the people we come in contact with, and they then are affected by it

Sorrow and pride Look at Proverbs 13:10, Proverbs 21, 24, 22, 10, Proverbs 28, 25, Proverb Chapter 30, verses 22 to 33 And what do you find? You'll find strife Quarrel, contention, anger There's great sorrow and pride Why? Because nobody's happy being around you, and you're not even happy to be around anybody else because you're never satisfied And the Bible says over in Proverbs 13:10, let me read that verse to you It says these words Proverbs 13, verse number 10 Through presumption comes nothing but strife Presumption Or in other words, through pride Presuming

Presuming something, presuming you are due something, presuming that you are due respect, presuming that others should honor you, you're in a state of presumption That only brings strife That arrogant spirit only brings strife It doesn't bring tranquility It only brings arguments and quarrels That's why the Bible says over in Proverbs 21, 24, these words: pr, haughty Scoffer are his names who act with insolent pride Verse number 10 of chapter 22: Drive out the scoffer, and cont will go out, even strife and dishonor will cease Get rid of the scoffer And guess what? Peace No dissens

There 's great sorrow in pride Nobody 's happy That leads us to the next point, and that is the sentence for pride What is the sentence for pride? Proverbs 15, verse number 25, states it this way: The Lord will tear down the house Of the proud The Lord will tear down the house of the proud Proverbs 18, verse number 12 Before destruction, the heart of a man is haughty, but humility goes before honor Proverbs 29, verse number 23, says it this way: A man's pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor

The punishment for pride is that God will destroy your home, that God will bring you down low, that God will deal with you There was a group of people, a group of people who were very arrogant They are called the Edomites The Edomites were descendants of Esau Remember Esau? Jacob and Esau And Esau was the one who despised his birthright He despised the covenant of God He despised what God wanted to give him because he was firstborn Because he loved the fleshy things, he had a carnal appetite, he would sell his birthright for a pot of stew And the Bible condemns Esau for what he did

The Bible says that Esau began to marry the Canaanite women Knowing full well that God had told his father and mother that they were never to marry the women of Canaan But Esau did Because you see, Esau was a proud man, he was an arrogant man And the descendants of Esau are called the Edomites That's a very important name Very important If you have your Bible, turn with me to the book of Obadiah Obadiah is 21 verses, it's the shortest book in the Old Testament But the book of Obadiah tells us much about God's punishment of the arrogant and of the prideful Listen to this

The book of Obadiah, you need to look it up just for no other reason than to know where it is in the Bible Verse number one: The vision of Obadiah, thus says the Lord God concerning Edom, the descendants of Esau We have heard a report from the Lord, and an envoy has been sent among the nations saying, Arise and let us go against her for battle Behold, I will make you small among the nations You are greatly despised The arrogance of your heart has deceived you You will live in the clefts

Of the rock in the loftiness of your dwelling place, who say in your heart, who will bring me to earth or down to earth? Though you build high like the eagle, though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord God says, I'm bringing you down Why? Because of your arrogance, because of your pride Now, Edom has a capital This is important for those of you going to Israel And for those of you who want to go to Israel, Edom has a capital The capital of Edom is Petra Now listen very carefully Esau's name means re Petra is the red rose city of the rock

Petra is that impregnable force, so thought by the Edomites Petra is that place, that city built out of the rocks in Edom And the Enomites believed that they were invulnerable because of their arrogance and because of their pride And God prophesied the downfall of the Edomites, the descendants of Esau And in 300 B, the Nabataean Arabs found a way to get into Petra and defeat the Edomites But God says you're going down because of your pride You're going down because of your arrogance And when we go to Israel and we go to the red

The rose red city of rock, you're able to see that wonderful fortress that the Edomites had built, that city, literally into the rock of That facility, and it's an amazing scene But God says, I'm bringing you down And He did He brought him down You want to know why He brought him down? Listen, this is very important He brought him down because in the book of Numbers, when Israel was passing through Edom, they sent word, Let us go by your direction In order that we might quickly get to our destination And the Edomites told the descendants of Jacob: No, if you come this way, we'll kill you

Because of the decision, listen, because of the decision to not support Israel, God says you will die Now note this Esau and his descendants, the Edomites, are representative of the unbelieving world Who cares more about their selfish ambitions and their carnal desires instead of the blessing of God? And because they are more concerned about themselves, they will turn against the people of God, Israel And the book of Obadiah prophesies the day of the Lord and prophesies into the future about what's going to take place

Because if you read Jeremiah 49 and you read the book of Isaiah 63 and Isaiah 34, you realize That when God returns, he returns to Edom He returns to a place called Bozra, which is the capital of Edom And why does God return to Edom? Because in Edom is gathered the nation of Israel, and the world is coming against Israel, all those who are against the covenant blessing of God

Because of their arrogance and because of their pride, because of their self-centeredness and unwillingness to submit to the plan of God, they come against the people of God, and you cannot come against the nation of Israel and live And God will kill them And that's what the book of Revelation is about Because he descends to Edom He comes to Bozerah He comes to that place in Obadiah that was prophesied that they would be no more because of their arrogance and their pride and their selfish ambition And that's the way it's going to be in the end, see? And that's the punishment of pride

It's the end of man It's the downfall of man He will bring you low He will bring you down because God will not let the arrogant stand in his presence Because he says, To this one will I look, to him who is broken and of a contrite heart, and who trembles at my word He says, I'm not looking to the arrogant man. I'm not looking to the self-sufficient man. I'm not looking to the independent man. I'm not looking to the se Self-serving kind of man. I'm looking to the only man that I can allow in my presence who can ascend. and to God's holy hill, but those who have clean hands and a pure heart

So what's the solution? I've got a few minutes Let me give you the solution to pride Turn me in your Bible to the book of James James chapter 4 In seven minutes, let me give you seven principles. I know, it's a stretch We'll try to do it, though, okay? Verse 7 Verse 6 But he gives greater grace Therefore, it says, God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble Therefore, submit to God Resist the devil He will flee from you Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded Be miserable and mourn and weep

Let your laughter be turned into mourning, your joy to gloom Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will ex you Listen, God will exalt you in due time But your responsibility, number one, is to rest in God's sovereignty Submit to God Submit to him Rest in who he is See, the prideful person doesn't want to do that because he wants to be in control The prideful man says, I am sovereign God says, No, I'm sovereign The prideful man says, I'm in control, and God says, No, you got it wrong, I'm in control

And we need to learn to rest in God's sovereignty, that he is in complete control We need to be able to relax in the fact that God has everything under control His cont and believe that his perfect plan will be accomplished You know, we have seminars today for assertiveness We have seminars today for leadership We have seminars today for dominance and leadership How to be number one Give me a seminar on submissiveness and see who attends We have a seminar on what it means to submit Everybody be here on Saturday Ain't nobody going to be here Who wants to do that? We want to be dominant

We want to be in control on top of our world And God says, Submit to me Follow me Lean on me Rest in me. I'm in complete control Rest in God's sovereignty Number two, make sure you res your adversary Resist the devil and he will flee Why? Because of the snare of the devil The arrogant Satan him wants you to be just like him And you've got to resist that You've got to resist him How? Steadfast in the faith, according to Ephesians chapter 6 That is, steadfast in the word of God, knowing what God's word says You need to resist the fact because He wants to entrap you in His devices

He wants you to think that you're better than you are He wants you to think His way, not God's way You need to resist your adversary You need to rest in God's sovereignty And number three, you need to relish int with God He says, draw near to God, and he will draw near To you Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you Practicing the presence of Almighty God We need to realize that our walk with God is the most important thing in all the world Number four, rep from all your iniquity, cleanse your hands You sinners The word for sinners, hamat, is used only of unbelievers in the New Testament

Unique phrase: Cleanse your hands, you sinners Matthew 9, Mark 2, Luke 5, Romans 5:8, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 1 Timothy 1:1, Christ came to save sinners The point being is that before there's communion, there needs to be cleansing And there needs to be that regular repentance From our iniquity, we need to repent from the fact that we want to be number one We got to say, God, forgive me for my arrogant, insolent pride Forgive me of my haughty spirit Forgive me for demanding people to submit to me

Forgive me, Lord, for my assertive behavior, which dominates other people's lives We repent from our iniquity We need to reject all impurity The Bible says we need to purify our hearts You double-minded, he says Dip su It's a unique word It means that you claim one thing and you live another way You double-minded person That's the pride of life You claim to be this way, but in reality, you're that way And the Bible says that we need to purify our hearts, we need to redeem our Reject all impurity And you know what? You need to remember Calvary Remember Mount Calvary Why? He says, be miserable

Mourn, weep, let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into gloom You need to remember Mount Calvary When you remember Mount Calvary, it's hard to be arrogant And lastly, you need to radiate humility He says, humble yourselves in the presence of Of the Lord Oh, I wish I had time to go into each of those in greater detail But the point being is that, you know what? We need to have no longer an identity crisis in the church We need to realize that we are servants of the living God, and we are here not to be served, but we are here to serve our fellow man Let's pray

Our most gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day and all that you have done And thank you, Lord, for the trueness of your word Forgive us, Lord, for that attitude that seems to be so prominent in our hearts and lives, that attitude that is one of great arrogance Forgive us, Lord, for thinking too highly of ourselves Forgive us, Lord, for looking at ourselves and estimating ourselves to be one thing when in reality we are another Help us to look at ourselves as you see us in the Word of God As we fall before you and humble ourselves before you, you pick us up

You exalt us in due time as children of the living God And pray, Lord, that our hearts would be fixed on Jesus Christ alone That when we leave this place, our homes would know that we have been with God because we submit to the Word of God And submit to those round about us in the fear of our God We pray in Jesus' name Amen.