Pride And Humility

“Pride and Humility” 1Peter 5: 5-10

There are several themes that God has recently revealed to His little flock here in Catlettsburg. Last week our sermon was about Self-Control. And we realized that the greatest attribute of Self Control is Humility. Over the last couple of years, God has impressed on this church to search for the true essence of Humility. Have you noticed the saying on the back page of our bulletin, it says “Greatness begins with Humility”. Some may say that that is a contradiction in terms. How can you be great if you are not your own best promoter. How can you be great if you don’t stand out in the crowd. Well, the kind of Greatness that we are talking about is quite different. To the world, greatness is about getting what you want and stepping on anyone who gets in your way. The survival of the fittest! It is about scraping and clawing your way to surpass your competitors.

The greatness that God calls us to is not popular to the world but is held in highest esteem in Heaven. It involves greatness in the eyes of God, not man. So how do you get this greatness in God’s eyes? How do you become what God calls you to be?

An overly pious Elder, who was full of himself, was teaching a Sunday School class made up of 7 and 8 year olds. He was trying to impress upon them the importance of living a Christian life, using himself as an example. With an aire of arrogance he asked, "Why do people call “ME” a Christian?"

After an awkward silence one of the little boys said, "Maybe it's because they don't know you."

Brothers and Sisters, this morning let us turn our eyes and minds and hearts to heaven and listen to God’s divine directive. What is that directive? BE Humble! BEFORE WE CAN FULLY UNDERSTAND GOD, WE MUST BE HUMBLE. Humility is the prerequisite for Heaven. Andrew Murry said, “Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you.” Can you see how important this is? We must get rid of pride before we can ever consider going to heaven.

You see, no prideful man may enter heaven! Scripture tells us in Proverbs 16:5 “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Be assured, he will not go unpunished.”

Humility is the key to approaching God. Humility is the key to Self-control Humility is vital to our understanding God and our mission on earth.

The world judges by achievements and moments of success and victory. While God prefers those who are clothed with humility. Think for a moment of the achievements of Peter who calls us to humility. Peter was the leader of the Apostles. He performed many great miracles. He gave his life for the Gospel of Jesus. Except for Jesus,….. he is the only one who ever walked on water. He preached one of the most important sermons ever preached on Pentecost, talk about great! But he did not consider himself great.

Today, just as in his days on earth, Peter calls us to humility. Why? because without it we can’t be righteous before God, and we can never be a disciple of Christ. If you can’t be mild mannered and rid yourself of pride, then you are wasting your time trying to be a Christian. That is how important this is.

Peter warns us because pride is the opposite of humility, and it is so easy for us to be deceived by it and become self-righteous. Kind of like the Mac Davis song “O Lord It’s Hard to Be Humble when you are perfect in every way”, I have met many hypocritical Christians who could sing this song.

Pride is the thing that renders Christians ineffective. They attend church and are there on time, give regularly, have respect of others, are honest and help others in need. But sometimes they become self-righteous, and they begin to see themselves as better than others. They get puffed up and proud. But Peter’s letter calls us down off our high-horses and put us on our knees before God. Let us look at it for a moment this morning.

1 Peter 5:5-7 “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

1. Let us look at this more closely, In verse Vs. 5a, he writes: “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older.”