Last week we learned that as Christians, we’re all like vases: vessels designed to be used in the house of God, and as vessels we’re called to be sanctified: set aside as holy vessels, for noble use in the house of God… To be used for God’s purposes, in His Kingdom.
Unfortunately, all of us sanctified vessels have little faults, which are constantly in need of attention. Those little cracks and leaks represent the desires of the flesh, and the things in ourselves that we constantly struggle to keep under Godly control such as worry, anger and lust. As vessels in God’s house, we all have our faults.
Let’s face it: there are just some days when we just don’t hold our “holy water” very well, aren’t there? One of our major faults is the powerful and life-altering sin we call pride.
Pride and noble service in the house of God don’t mix well, do they? Satan: 1st example.
Isa 14:13-15, “You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.”
I will… I will…, I will… Five times this proud angel named himself above God.
He was the first passenger on the ego trip and GOD cast him out of his presence, as He will do to all of those who follow Satan on the Pride Ride.
Lucifer convinced Adam and Eve to take the Pride Ride. His foremost temptation to them was this; “you will not surely die! For God knows that in the day you eat of its fruit your eyes will be open, and you will be like GOD.”
Note the parallel. Satan said, “I will be like the most high. He told Adam and Eve, “you will be like GOD,” his words are the very essence of pride. “I can be like GOD. I can make my own decisions, my own judgments, my own laws and rules.
When Adam and Eve took the Pride Ride they took us along with them. And we had been struggling with pride ever sense.
Most of us have heard the story of the Triumphal Entry…
That incredible day when our Lord Jesus came riding into town on the back of a little donkey. The crowds went berserks that day, running ahead of Jesus shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!"
On that wonderful day, Jesus was hailed as King of the Jews, and rightly so! Most of us have heard the story told from many points of view, but I’ll bet none of you ever heard it from the donkey’s perspective: the little animal on which The King rode that day.
That donkey had a great time on Palm Sunday! In fact, on the morning after, the donkey woke up, still in the afterglow of the most exciting day of his life. He never knew such praise and adoration before in his life. What a rush of pleasure and pride that was! In fact, it felt so good, he thought he’d go out and try it again.
So the donkey gets up, shakes the dust off and trots into town for a replay of the day before.
But as he approaches a group of people by the well he thinks, “I’ll show my beautiful self to these people and get some more of that praise like I did yesterday.”
But nobody noticed him. They all went on drawing their water and ignored him like he wasn’t even there. He was a little upset. His pride was bruised, so he said, “Throw your garments down! Don’t you know who I am?” All the people turned around, looking at him in amazement. Someone even slapped him on the rear and ordered him to move.
Man was that donkey upset. Distraught and indignant, he scampered off saying, “Those miserable heathens! I’ll just go to the market where the good people are. They’ll remember me from yesterday.” But the same thing happened at the market that happened back at the well. No one paid any attention to the donkey as he strutted down Main Street in front of the market place.
“The palm branches! Where are the palm branches?” he shouted. “Yesterday, you threw palm branches!” So the donkey headed back home to his mother, tail between his legs and told her his story of bewilderment. His mother just looked at him with a smirk on her face and said, “Foolish child. Don’t you realize: without Jesus, you’re just an ordinary donkey?”
Without Jesus, you and I are just ordinary donkeys. It takes the power of Jesus Christ to transform us into EXTRAORDINARY BEINGS: to transform our lives into something powerful. And even when we are elevated to a position of being able to shine for God’s glory, sometimes we’re still tempted to drink in a little glory for ourselves, like the little donkey did.
But it’s so important for us to remember as we perform our acts of servanthood to maintain a position of humility, a bowing of the head toward the Lord Jesus, because HE is the King, who deserves all the Glory and all the praise! Without Jesus, you’re just an ordinary donkey.
The donkey’s problem was his pride. Like a lot of us Christians, he served Jesus and lifted Him up as he carried The Savior down through the Sheep Gate and into a large crowd of worshippers, but somewhere in the middle of all that celebration and praise, the donkey got it into his head that he was the one worth celebrating, instead of the King riding on his back.
The donkey elevated himself to a level higher than he was worthy of. He made a much higher appraisal of himself than he should have. In his heart, he was robbing the King of the worship and praise that belonged to The King. He was taking for himself something that belonged to the King, exalting himself to a higher status than that which he was worthy of.
Pride comes when we begin to elevate ourselves above others.
“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12
C.S. Lewis says of Pride, “There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves than pride. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.”
Pride is dangerously deceptive. A while back I had been doing some work on the computer when it crashed and I lost all my work. I came upstairs and Vanessa was amazed at how good my attitude was. She said, “Are you okay after losing your work?” I said, “Well, the computer certainly saves me a lot of time, but I can’t complain if it takes some back now and then. It’ll be
okay.” She said, “It’s amazing how calm you are and how happy you seem even though you’ve lost a lot of work. You really have a great attitude.”
She left the room and I thought, “She’s right. I really do have a good attitude. Instead of ranting and raving, I just accept it and move on. That’s good. That’s mature. In fact, that’s how Jesus would respond.”
? How many of you husbands have been there before, where you let a little compliment go to your head?
Later on the kids did something they shouldn’t have and my wife got a little upset. A little later I forgot to do something and she became upset again. I thought, “I have this great attitude, but hers is awful. Why can’t she just roll with the punches like I do?” Being the one with the more mature attitude I felt it was my duty to lecture her on how rotten hers had become.
He ends his story by saying, “Do you see how pride is conceived? That morning I might have been Christ-like, but by evening I had become a Pharisee. Pride is just that potent, that abusive, that offensive, that destructive. Relationally there are few things more obnoxious than self-righteousness. Spiritually there are few things more lethal than pride.”
Human pride is the 2nd greatest spiritual stronghold people struggle against on a daily basis, right after materialism.
The problem with pride is that it is an idolatrous sin. It is a sin in which the flesh (human animal) willingly places one’s self before others in terms of importance, and before God in the areas of governing our life, decision making and in submission.
Pride impairs our ability to express genuine love and compassion toward others.
Pride impedes our willingness to express true worship toward God. (Hence the inability to raise one’s hands and worship with a whole heart.)
And it prevents us from coming to the altar when God has something special for us to receive there, like baptism in the Holy Spirit, salvation or healing.
Pride prevents us from receiving what God has for us at the altar.
Mark 6:1-6, “Jesus …went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.”
The people of Jesus’ hometown robbed themselves of God’s blessings because they were too proud to accept the fact that someone like them rose above them to become their savior.
You see, Pride robs. Satan uses it to kill, steal and destroy what we could have had, if we only had the grace and humility to approach the throne of God with sincerity and faith: without pride.
It blocks us from brokenness before God and therefore it cancels out the power of reconciliation in our lives.
How many of you married couples have been in a knock-down, drag out fight where both you and your spouse were too mad, or too proud to apologize, even though you were both wrong to some degree? The result of refusing to apologize, refusing to submit to one another and forgive each other is a house divided.
Luke 11:17, "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall."
Until someone humbles himself enough to say, “I’m sorry,” there is no chance of reconciliation.
It’s no different in our relationship with the Lord. If we refuse to admit our guilt and come to Him with an attitude of repentance, seeking forgiveness, then there remains no chance of reconciliation and we live a life divided apart from Christ because of our pride and our stubbornness and our unwillingness to repent.
How do we overcome our pride?
I: Overcoming pride begins with REPENTANCE.
In the book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar received a warning from the prophet Daniel because of his overwhelming pride. Daniel’s advice to the king was to REPENT.
“Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.”
Dan 4:29-31, “Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, "Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?" The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you.”
It took 7 years of living like an animal and eating grass like a cow to cleanse Nebuchadnezzar of his pride. At the end of the 7 years,
Dan 4:34-37, “At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?" At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” (full submission from a man who lived as an animal)
Nebuchadnezzar lost it all because of pride, but when he repented his sanity returned to him and his life was restored to him, even greater than what he knew before.
Let’s learn a lesson from a man much wiser and more experience than us: Nebuchadnezzar.
Put yourself aside. Praise, exalt and glorify the King of heaven or be humbled before Him.
Repent… Overcoming pride begins with repentance and in full submission to God’s will.
II: Overcome pride with SERVICE:
Of all the classical Spiritual Disciplines, service is the most conductive to the growth of humility. When we set out on a consciously chosen course of action that brings out the good of other and is for the most part a hidden work, a deep change occurs in our spirit.
Nothing disciplines the inordinate desires of the flesh like service, and nothing transforms the desires of the flesh like serving in hiddenness. In our flesh, we want to be recognized for every righteous deed. The flesh whines against service but screams against hidden service.
It strains and pulls for honor and recognition. The flesh will even find subtle, religiously acceptable means to call attention to itself. If we stoutly refuse to give in to this lust of the flesh we crucify it, and every time we crucify the flesh we crucify our pride and arrogance.” This is how we train…
III: Overcome Pride by Surrendering our will to God’s:
The captain of the ship looked into the dark night and saw faint lights in the distance. Immediately he told his signalman to send a message" "Alter your course 10 degrees south." Promptly a return message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north."
The captain was angered; his command had been ignored. So he sent a second message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am the captain!" Soon another message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am seaman third class Jones." Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing the fear it would evoke: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am a battleship." Then the reply came "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am a lighthouse."
In the midst of our dark and foggy times, all sorts of voices are shouting orders into the night, telling us what to do, how to adjust our lives. Out of the darkness, one voice signals something quite opposite to the rest--something almost absurd. But the voice happens to be the Light of the Word of God, and we ignore it at our own peril.
Listen to His Word, surrender your will to His. Quit doing the things you know He’s asking you to not to do. Don’t be so bold as to ignore God to satisfy your own desires. Cast away pride.
Christians, it’s absolutely vital that we learn to exercise the discipline of humility: self-control against the destructive sin of pride.
That we cast away the pride, which is idolatry: placing something else, whatever it might be, before God in importance: seizing Lordship over a life that belongs to God.
Repent. Surrender to God’s will and serve Him with Grace and Humility.
Hold nothing back—no earthly life, no material gain, no pride-filled position—but simply say, “Jesus, do with my life whatever You want.”
The man who conquers his pride is the one who gives a fair appraisal of Himself in light of humankind and what the Lord Jesus did for us unworthy sinners 2,000 years ago.
The man who is truly saved by Jesus is the one who finds himself lost, ruined and ruined, like king Nebachudnezzar.
Until you truly know and understand your ruin: how dry and ravaged your life is without Christ, and confess your sin to Him in repentance, it is not likely you will ever accept a Savior.
Your pride may convince you that you can save yourself by some means, and you may struggle all your life to be whatever you think it is that your religion dictates for your life.
But when you finally reach the end of yourself: when you’re trying to drink fresh water from the mud, when you can do no more, then you will fall into the arms of your Savior; and what a glorious fall that will be!
Altar Call: Is that you today? Are you struggling with pride? Give in to God. Give Him the opportunity to restore your sanity and your life to better than you could ever imagine. Trust Him.
