A Tale of Kings (Prov18:12)
Illus: KING OF THE JUNGLE
I like the story of the arrogant, prideful lion, who wanted to remind other animals how great he was. He went to the gazelle and roared, "Who is the king of the jungle?"
Trembling, the gazelle answered, "Why, you are, mighty lion."
He went next to the giraffe and roared, "Who is the king of the jungle?"
Fearful, the giraffe answered, "Why, you are, mighty lion."
Next, he went to the monkey and roared, "Who is the king of the jungle?"
Startled, the monkey answered, "Why, you are mighty lion."
Finally, he went to the elephant and roared, "Who is the king of the jungle?"
The elephant reached out and grabbed the lion with his trunk, slammed the lion to the ground several times, and flung him at last into a large boulder.
As the lion lay there he said to the elephant, "Just because you didn’t know the answer, you didn’t have to take it personally."
Pride
Mankind has a problem that plagues him. This plague follows us wherever we go and threatens to cause us to stumble at any time. This problem is called pride.
Text: Prov 18:12
12 Pride leads to destruction;
humility leads to honor
Ill. A car skidded on some wet pavement and struck a telephone pole, injuring the driver. A woman rushed over to help, but was pushed aside by a man who barked, "Step aside. I’ve taken a course in first-aid." After a moment, the woman politely tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Pardon me, but when you get to the part about calling a doctor, I’m right here."
Man’s nature leans toward worldliness and pride. God makes His grace available to us, however. It is this grace that enables us to be victorious over sin and Satan.
1. What is Pride
PRIDE
Undue confidence in and attention to one’s own skills, accomplishments, state, possessions, or position. Pride is easier to recognize than to define, easier to recognize in others than in oneself. Many biblical words describe this concept, each with its own emphasis. Some of the synonyms for pride include arrogance, presumption, conceit, self-satisfaction, boasting, and high-mindedness. It is the opposite of humility, the proper attitude one should have in relation to God. Pride is rebellion against God because it attributes to oneself the honor and glory due to God alone. Proud persons do not think it necessary to ask forgiveness because they do not admit their sinful condition. This attitude toward God finds expression in one’s attitude toward others, often causing people to have a low estimate of the ability and worth of others and therefore to treat them with either contempt or cruelty. Some have considered pride to be the root and essence of sin. Others consider it to be sin in its final form. In either case, it is a grievous sin.
—Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary
2. What's wrong with Pride
a). Mankind wants things his way, in his time, and according to his rules.
b. Pride alienates us from those around us
c. Pride alienates us from God
2. God opposes the proud.
a The practical translation of verse six is “God sets up the battle lines against those who choose to do things their way, but gives grace to those who choose to do things His way.”
Man’s nature leans toward worldliness and pride.
Through God’s grace we can be victorious over sin and Satan.
The Tale of Kings
1.Uzziah
King Uzziah of Judah
26 1-3 After the death of King Amaziah, the people of Judah crowned his son Uzziah[a] king, even though he was only sixteen at the time. Uzziah ruled fifty-two years from Jerusalem, the hometown of his mother Jecoliah. During his rule, he recaptured and rebuilt the town of Elath.
4 He obeyed the LORD by doing right, as his father Amaziah had done. 5 Zechariah was Uzziah’s advisor and taught him to obey God. And so, as long as Zechariah was alive, Uzziah was faithful to God, and God made him successful.
6 While Uzziah was king, he started a war against the Philistines. He smashed the walls of the cities of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod, then rebuilt towns around Ashdod and in other parts of Philistia. 7 God helped him defeat the Philistines, the Arabs living in Gur-Baal, and the Meunites. 8 Even the Ammonites paid taxes to Uzziah. He became very powerful, and people who lived as far away as Egypt heard about him.
9 In Jerusalem, Uzziah built fortified towers at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and the place where the city wall turned inward.[b] 10 He also built defense towers out in the desert.
He owned such a large herd of livestock in the western foothills and in the flatlands, that he had cisterns dug there to catch the rainwater. He loved farming, so he had crops and vineyards planted in the hill country wherever there was fertile soil, and he hired farmers to take care of them.
11 Uzziah’s army was always ready for battle. Jeiel and Maaseiah were the officers who kept track of the number of soldiers, and these two men were under the command of Hananiah, one of Uzziah’s officials. 12-13 There were 307,500 trained soldiers, all under the command of 2,600 clan leaders. These powerful troops protected the king against any enemy. 14 Uzziah supplied his army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and stones used for slinging. 15 Some of his skilled workers invented machines that could shoot arrows and sling large stones. Uzziah set these up in Jerusalem at his defense towers and at the corners of the city wall.
God helped Uzziah become more and more powerful, and he was famous all over the world.
If the story ended here Uzziah would be remembered as a Great Man; but Pride entered Uzziah
Uzziah Becomes Too Proud
16 Uzziah became proud of his power, and this led to his downfall.
One day, Uzziah disobeyed the LORD his God by going into the temple and burning incense as an offering to him.[c] 17 Azariah the priest and eighty other brave priests followed Uzziah into the temple 18 and said, “Your Majesty, this isn’t right! You are not allowed to burn incense to the LORD. That must be done only by priests who are descendants of Aaron. You will have to leave! You have sinned against the LORD, and so he will no longer bless you.”
19 Uzziah, who was standing next to the incense altar at the time, was holding the incense burner, ready to offer incense to the LORD. He became very angry when he heard Azariah’s warning, and leprosy[d] suddenly appeared on his forehead! 20 Azariah and the other priests saw it and immediately told him to leave the temple. Uzziah realized that the LORD had punished him, so he hurried to get outside.
21 Uzziah had leprosy the rest of his life. He was no longer allowed in the temple or in his own palace. That’s why his son Jotham lived there and ruled in his place.
22 Everything else Uzziah did while he was king is in the records written by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 23 Since Uzziah had leprosy, he could not be buried in the royal tombs. Instead, he was buried in a nearby cemetery that the kings owned. His son Jotham then became king.
2 . Nebuchadnezzar
Daniel 4:30-32
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
The Rest of Nebuchadnezzar’s Letter about His Second Dream
28-30 About twelve months later, I was walking on the flat roof of my royal palace and admiring the beautiful city of Babylon, when these things started happening to me. I was saying to myself, “Just look at this wonderful capital city that I have built by my own power and for my own glory!”
31 But before I could finish speaking, a voice from heaven interrupted:
King Nebuchadnezzar, this kingdom is no longer yours. 32 You will be forced to live with the wild animals, away from people. For seven years[a] you will eat grass, as though you were an ox, until you learn that God Most High is in control of all earthly kingdoms and that he is the one who chooses their rulers.
3. Solomon
1 Kings 3:
5 One night while Solomon was in Gibeon, the LORD God appeared to him in a dream and said, “Solomon, ask for anything you want, and I will give it to you.”
6 Solomon answered:
My father David, your servant, was honest and did what you commanded. You were always loyal to him, and you gave him a son who is now king. 7 LORD God, I’m your servant, and you’ve made me king in my father’s place. But I’m very young and know so little about being a leader. 8 And now I must rule your chosen people, even though there are too many of them to count.
9 Please make me wise and teach me the difference between right and wrong. Then I will know how to rule your people. If you don’t, there is no way I could rule this great nation of yours.
10-11 God said:
Solomon, I’m pleased that you asked for this. You could have asked to live a long time or to be rich. Or you could have asked for your enemies to be destroyed. Instead, you asked for wisdom to make right decisions. 12 So I’ll make you wiser than anyone who has ever lived or ever will live.
13 I’ll also give you what you didn’t ask for. You’ll be rich and respected as long as you live, and you’ll be greater than any other king. 14 If you obey me and follow my commands, as your father David did, I’ll let you live a long time.
QUOTATIONS ON PRIDE
1.Pride is the only disease known to man that makes everyone sick except the one who has it. - "Uncle" Bud Robinson
2. It is out of self-love that all other evil passions spring. - Alexander Whyte
3. Pride is the ground in which all other sins grow. - William Barkley
4. None are so empty as those who are full of themselves. - Benjamin Whichcote
5. A man wrapped up in himself makes a pretty small package. - Anonymous
6. Did you notice how we shook that bridge? - a flea to the elephant he was riding after crossing an old bridge.
are you like Uzziah (full of pride)
(a leper as white as snow)
are you like Solomon (Humble)
( wisest man to ever live)
Most of us are somewhere between
Remember Pride leads to destruction
Humility leads to God's; Grace, Favor, and Mercy
A Tale of Kings (Prov18:12)
Illus: KING OF THE JUNGLE
Pride
Text: Prov 18:12
12 Pride leads to destruction;
humility leads to honor
Ill. Car Wreck
Man’s nature leans toward worldliness and pride. God makes His grace available to us, however. It is this grace that enables us to be victorious over sin and Satan.
1. What is Pride
PRIDE
Undue confidence in and attention to one’s own skills, accomplishments, state, possessions, or position.
Pride is easier to recognize than to define, easier to recognize in others than in oneself.
Many biblical words describe this concept, each with its own emphasis. Some of the synonyms for pride include arrogance, presumption, conceit, self-satisfaction, boasting, and high-mindedness.
It is the opposite of humility, the proper attitude one should have in relation to God.
Pride is rebellion against God because it attributes to oneself the honor and glory due to God alone.
Some have considered pride to be the root and essence of sin. Others consider it to be sin in its final form. In either case, it is a grievous sin.
—Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary
2. What's wrong with Pride
a). Mankind wants things his way, in his time, and according to his rules.
b. Pride alienates us from those around us
c. Pride alienates us from God
2. God opposes the proud.
a The practical translation of verse six is “God sets up the battle lines against those who choose to do things their way, but gives grace to those who choose to do things His way.”
2. God opposes the proud. (v. 6)
a The practical translation of verse six is “God sets up the battle lines against those who choose to do things their way, but gives grace to those who choose to do things His way.”
The Tale of Kings
1.Uzziah
2. Nebuchadnezzar
Daniel 4:30-32
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
The Rest of Nebuchadnezzar’s Letter about His Second Dream
28-30 About twelve months later, I was walking on the flat roof of my royal palace and admiring the beautiful city of Babylon, when these things started happening to me. I was saying to myself, “Just look at this wonderful capital city that I have built by my own power and for my own glory!”
31 But before I could finish speaking, a voice from heaven interrupted:
King Nebuchadnezzar, this kingdom is no longer yours. 32 You will be forced to live with the wild animals, away from people. For seven years[a] you will eat grass, as though you were an ox, until you learn that God Most High is in control of all earthly kingdoms and that he is the one who chooses their rulers.
3. Solomon
QUOTATIONS ON PRIDE
1.Pride is the only disease known to man that makes everyone sick except the one who has it. - "Uncle" Bud Robinson
2. It is out of self-love that all other evil passions spring. - Alexander Whyte
3. Pride is the ground in which all other sins grow. - William Barkley
4. None are so empty as those who are full of themselves. - Benjamin Whichcote
5. A man wrapped up in himself makes a pretty small package. - Anonymous
6. Did you notice how we shook that bridge? - a flea to the elephant he was riding after crossing an old bridge.
are you like Uzziah (full of pride)
(a leper as white as snow)
are you like Solomon (Humble)
( wisest man to ever live)
Most of us are somewhere between
Remember Pride leads to destruction
Humility leads to God's; Grace, Favor, and Mercy
