LOWERED TO BE LIFTED UP
When Joy and I lived in Manville, NJ, we had a beautiful magnolia tree in our side yard. However, the roots were so persistent, that they grew right through the sewer pipes and caused a clog that only roto-rooter could fix. So we cut down our lovely tree, only to find the roots were still a problem. We drilled holes in the stump and put root-killer in the holes but the problem continued! We then decided to remove the stump - we dug and dug and dug, and chopped, but it wouldn’t budge. Finally, we got one of our young men with a 4x4 truck, to wrap a chain around the stump and pull out the roots with great force!
Why do I tell this story? Because the book of Proverbs tells us there is a ROOT sin, which is deeply imbedded in our souls- that keeps effecting us even after we think we have remove it, and that leads to many other problems. Unless we cut it off and pull it out, PRIDE will clog up our pipeline to God.
Prov. 11:2 "When pride comes, then comes dishonor!"
Pride was actually the first sin in the universe. Satan proclaimed in Isa. 14:14 - "I will make myself like the most High." The Lord rebuked him for his pride in Ezek. 28:17 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, you have corrupted your beauty by reason of your splendor, therefore I will cast you to the ground."
God had created Satan with such great wisdom and beauty, but Satan wanted to take the credit for it himself. He became so self-centered that he was no longer of any use to God, and God had to bring him low. The same root sin caused the fall of man. Eve gave in to Satan’s temptation when he promised her: "You will be like God." W.B.Erdmans has written: "Pride is at the bottom of disobedience and rebellion against God’s laws. We think we are too good to live under His standards, so we would rather make up our own."
Since pride is the root that needs to be destroyed and humility is the flower that needs to grow in its place, I would like us to study from the book of wisdom:
1. The Dishonor of Pride cf The Honor of Humility
I. THE DISHONOR OF PRIDE
A. The Description of Pride
1. Pride is ARROGANCE
Prov. 8:13 "Pride, arrogance, the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate."
In pride, we often debase and devalue the rights and opinions of others. Pride convinces us that we know it all, that we have all the right answers and that makes us "better" than those around us.
Prov. 30:12+13 "There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not washed from its filthiness. There is a generation - O how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up."
2. Pride is HAUGHTINESS
Prov. 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."
The word haughty means snobbish or phony. A haughty person thinks that he’s greater than others- he is often "status conscious," aloof, patronizing and a "name-dropper."
3. Pride is SELF-GLORIFICATION
Prov. 17:19b "He that exalts himself seeks destruction."
Prov. 25:27 "It is not good to eat much honey; so to seek one’s own glory is not glory."
Prov. 27:2 "Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips."
4. Pride is BOASTING
Prov. 25:14 "Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of his gifts falsely." Boasting is telling everyone how great you are.
It’s interesting that this verse is basically calling a boaster a "windbag" or "full of hot air."
Prov. 20:6 "Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?"
Prov. 30:32 "If you have done foolishly in lifting yourself up, lay your hand upon your mouth."
5. Pride is CONCEIT
Prov. 26:12 "Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him."
Pride causes us to feel we have arrived and are much wiser than others. We than take it upon ourselves to "become the Holy Spirit" to other Christians - telling them how to live their lives, what to believe, what they should do in the future.
It is ridiculous to think we are spiritually sufficient, God is our only sufficiency!
6. Pride is SCOFFING
A proud person makes fun of and ridicules people and ideas that do not coincide with his
own values and opinions.
Prov. 28:25 "He that is of a proud heart stirs up strife."
Prov. 13:10 "Only be pride comes contention, but with the well-advised is wisdom."
Prov. 13:34 "Surely God scorns the scorners."
So, pride can be described as arrogance, haughtiness, self-glorification, boasting, conceit and scoffing; (Illus) Like the man who wrote the best-selling book, "Humility and How I Attained It" and "The Ten Most Humble Men in the World and How I Chose The Other Nine." But it goes much further than that.
Pretty soon we begin to believe that we are superior and this leads to many other sins:
-Hatred - of anything or anyone who detracts from our importance.
-Selfishness - Putting ourselves first, with a disregard for the needs of others.
-Stubbornness - Demanding our own way without compromise.
-Greed - Desiring that which will make us look important.
-Envy - wanting to have or be what someone else has or is
-Anger - resisting anyone who gets in our way, disagrees with us, or steals our glory.
Pride is the root of all these sins and more!
Appl. Are we suffering from any of the symptoms of pride I’ve described?
Let’s examine ourselves with these questions:
(Never, Sometimes, Usually, Always)
-Do I act as if I know it all?
-Do I devalue the opinions of others?
-Am I snobbish or status-conscious?
-Do I search for situations that make me look good?
-Do I boast about my accomplishments?
-Do I feel that I am wiser than most people?
-Do I ridicule those who don’t agree with me?
-Do I get angry when I am criticized or challenged?
If we answered "yes" to any of these questions, we need to confess the sin of pride and ask God to deliver us from it.Because God HATES PRIDE!
From Prov. 6:16, 17 "These six things the Lord hates [#1] a proud look."
Prov. 16:5 "Everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; he shall not go unpunished."
B. The Destructiveness of Pride
1. Pride leads to DEFEAT
Prov. 16:18 "A haughty spirit goes before a fall."
The more we build ourselves up, the greater will be the fall when we fail, and all of us will fail sooner or later.
Someone has said, "Never stand on your pride. If you do, you will surely slip and fall." My mother used to say, "If your nose is too high in the air, you’re apt to trip over your feet."
Illus: In a certain pond, there were two ducks and a frog who were neighbors and the best of friends. They played together all day long during the summer time.
But as the cold drew near and the water dried up, the ducks realized they would have to move. This would be easy for them, but what about their friend the frog?
Finally it was decided that they would put a stick in the bill of each duck, and then the frog would hang onto the stick with his mouth and they would fly him to another pond. And so they did.
Just then, a farmer looked up and said to his wife, "What a great idea! I wonder who thought of that?"
Proudly, the frog said, "I did!" Thus illustrating: "Pride goes before a fall!" (taken from "Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations Signs of the Times, compiled by Paul Lee Tan, page 1100, illus. #4824)
2. Pride leads to DESTRUCTION
Prov. 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction."
Pride brings destruction because it causes us to take on more than we can handle or to set unrealistic goals. Pride won’t allow us to admit when we’re wrong or seek advice, so we are actually programmed for destruction. If we can’t learn from others or from our own mistakes, we’ll never learn at all!
3. Pride leads to DISHONOR
Prov. 29:23 "A man’s pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor."
This is a paradox, because the very thing we think will give us honor actually leads to dishonor. People usually can see right through a proud person and instead of respecting him, they reject him!
Now, I’m sure none of us wants to live in defeat, destruction or dishonor. What then is the antidote for the root sin or pride? The replacement is called True Humility. Now that’s different from "false humility," when we take pride in the fact that we’re so humble. Also, telling someone how awful and unworthy we are, attracts just as much attention as telling them how wonderful we are!
II. THE HONOR OF HUMILITY
A. The Description of Humility
Although humility is described in the
book of Proverbs, I feel the best description is located in Phil. 2:3, 4 -
"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but also on the things of others."
1. Humility is LOWLINESS OF MIND
Rom. 12:3 "For I say, through the grace given to me to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has given to each one a measure of faith."
Humility is first of all, the recognition that everything we are and everything we have is a gift of God’s grace. If we have a talent - it is because He has given it to us. If we are wise - it is because He has made us so. If we have a particular spiritual gift, it came from His Spirit. If we are rich, He enabled us to earn the money. We cannot take credit for anything, all glory must go to God. We should reflect this attitude in "lowliness of mind." You see, "it is possible to be too big for God to use you but never too small for God to use you!" (quote from "Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations Signs of the Times, compiled by Paul Lee Tan, page 572, illus. # 2315)
"When pride comes, then comes shame, but with the lowly is wisdom." Prov. 11:2
2. Humility is LOVING OTHERS MORE THAN OURSELVES
"Esteeming others better than ourselves" doesn’t mean that we need to think everyone is better than we are - that would be false humility. But it does mean that we should love them or care about them more than we do about ourselves. Instead of being self-centered, we are to be other-centered; instead of the me-first philosophy, the them-first philosophy; instead of "how can I get my way," "how can I help others along their way?"
Prov. 16:19 "Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud."
3. Humility is LOOKING MORE ON THE NEEDS OF OTHERS
This is where the rubber meets the road where humility is practiced! Most of us have so many of our own problems, concerns and needs; that we don’t have time to help others with theirs. But true humility is putting the needs of others above our own…going out of our way to help our brothers and sisters who have spiritual, emotional, physical or financial problems.
Appl: As a result of this message this morning, will you find someone this week that you can help, even if it is at the expense of meeting one of your own needs?
B. The Destiny of the Humble
Proverbs says that the humble will be blessed in three ways:
Prov. 22:4 "By humility and reverence for the Lord comes riches, honor and life."
1. RICHES
Although material riches can come through humility - I believe that the primary reference is to spiritual riches from God.
Prov. 3:34 "Surely God scorns the proud, but gives grace to the humble." God loves to pour out His blessings on those who humble themselves before His greatness.
2. HONOR
Again, this is a paradox - the less we desire honor, the more we will receive it.
Prov. 15:33 "The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility."
When we lower ourselves in order to love others and meet their needs, they will respond by truly appreciating and honoring us. When we praise others, rather than praise ourselves, they will respond by commending us. Humility brings honor!
Prov. 25:6, 7 "Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, and do not stand in the place of great men; for it is better that he say to you, ’Come up here,’ than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, whom your eyes have seen." (Message title: "Lowered to be Lifted Up")
3. LIFE
You see, this is what life is really all
about - not one great race to see who can get to the top of the totem pole; but to the believer, a race to get to the bottom, in order to hold everyone else up.
Jesus said in Mark 10:44, "He that would be the greatest in My Kingdom must be the servant of all."
Illus:(received in e-mail) His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of
college. He is intelligent. Kind of esoteric and very, very bright.
He became a Christian while attending college. Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students, but are not sure how to go about it.
One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair.
The service has already started, so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat. The church is completely packed and he can’t find a seat. By now people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything. Bill gets closer to the pulpit, and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet. (Although perfectly acceptable behavior at a college fellowship, this had never happened in this church before!)
By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick.
About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill. Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and
a three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking toward this young man, everyone is saying to themselves that you can’t blame him for what he’s going to do.
How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some
college kid on the floor?
It takes a long time for the deacon to reach the young man . The church is utterly silent, except for the clicking of the man’s cane. All eyes are focused on him. The minister can’t even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he
has to do. And now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and worships with him so he won’t feel alone.
Everyone chokes up with emotion. When the minister gains control, he says,
"What I’m about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget.
"Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up" (James 4:10).
Micah summed it up this way: "What does the LORD require of you? To do justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)
Will you ask God to cut off and pull out of you the evil root of PRIDE and replace it with the beautiful flower of humility? Every time we are tempted to be arrogant or haughty or self-glorifying or boastful or conceited or scoffing; let’s ask God to humble us - to give us lowliness of mind, a greater love for others, and a willingness to look on their needs before our own.
May we always remember Prov. 11:12 "When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the lowly is wisdom."
As we prepare our hearts for the
Lord’s Table, let’s remember the example of Christ, who humbled Himself to DEATH that we might live - who "though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we, through His poverty might be rich." 2 Cor. 8:9 May we follow His example, so we can join in His exaltation!
~Pastor Jim Westervelt
gracefellowship3@earthlink.net
~CHURCH WEBSITE:
http://LovingGrace.net
