Battle Of Pride Series

Introduction: Pride is a dangerous thing. Pride can lead to destruction and pride can even cause lack of favor from God. Why? We will take a look at some scriptures.

Proverbs 28:25 reads: ‘He who is of a proud heart stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the Lord will be prospered.’

Proverbs 25:27 reads: ‘It is not good to eat much honey; so to seek one’s own glory is not glory.’

Proverbs 27:21 reads: ‘The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, and a man is valued by what others say of him.’

Proverbs 16:18 reads: ‘Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.’

James 4:10 reads: ‘Humble yourself before the Lord and he will lift you up in honor.’

I like what William Penn wrote: ‘A humble able man is a jewel worth to a kingdom.’

*WHAT CAUSES PRIDE

1. Beauty

Isaiah 14:12-14 reads: ‘How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest side of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’

Luke 12:15 reads: ‘And he said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses.’

In our country today we are corrupted by beauty. We think that we are all that, but we aren’t. We are prideful.

2. Greed

Genesis 11:1-4 reads: ‘Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. Then they said, “Come, Let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens’ let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’

*BLESSINGS OF A HUMBLE PERSON

1. Lifted Up

Psalms 147:6a reads: ‘The Lord lifts up the humble.’

2. Receives Grace

Proverbs 3:34b reads: ‘But gives grace to the humble.’

3. Receives Wisdom

Proverbs 11:2 reads: ‘But with the humble is wisdom.’

4. Increased Joy

Isaiah 29:19 reads: ‘The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice.’

Conclusion: Pride is not the best thing to get into. Actually it is one of the worst things to get into.