"The Bigger The Ego, The Harder The Fall"

2 Kings 5:9-14 (ESV)

Proverb 16:18 (MSG)

15 February 2009

U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris

Fortress Chapel

F.O.B. Sykes

Tall-afar, Iraq

BIG IDEA: Humility will cause miraculous things to occur in the lives of believers, but pride will cause them to spiritually crash and burn.

REFERENCES: Sixth Sunday after Epiphany; Pride, Prescription and Promise; Isaiah 14:13-14 (KJV) – The pride of the creature who seeks to replace God as the center of the universe and deny the Lord the glory due Him; Genesis 3:4-5 KJV (The Original Sin) And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil; Luke 4:27 (ESV) And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”; Leviticus 13-14 (ESV) Laws About Leprosy and Laws for Cleansing Lepers;

James 4:10 (NIV) Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you; Proverbs 16:18 (ESV) Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall; Proverbs 11:2 (ESV) When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom; Proverbs 29:23 (ESV) One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor; Proverbs 11:2 (ESV) When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom; Daniel 4:31 (ESV) While the words were still in the kings mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you;

I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: 2 Kings 5:9-14 (ESV)

II. READ THE PERICOPE: 2 Kings 5:9-14 (ESV)

III. READ THE TEXT: 2 Kings 5:12 (ESV) Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage.

2 Kings 5:14 (ESV) So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

Proverbs 16:18 (MSG), “First pride then the crash – the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.”

IV. PURPOSE: To motivate the hearers to affirm to others that miraculous things occur in the lives of believers when they humble themselves, but pride (and a bad attitude) will cause them to spiritually crash and burn.

V. SERMONIC THEME: “… The bigger the ego, the harder the fall.”

VI. INTRODUCTION:

My brothers and sisters, as believers are you AWARE that if you aren’t spiritually mindful and careful, you can allow PRIDE and a BAD ATTITUDE to cause you to SPIRITUALLY CRASH and BURN?

Just because we have lived for God in the past or have served Him faithfully in some capacity in the church (in the past) doesn’t excuse us from serving Him now - in the present.

What type of health situation or personal trauma does God need to allow or send our way … in order for us to be obedient to His Word and His Instructions?

Remember - “The bigger the ego, the harder the fall.”

For don’t you remember, in the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 14:13-14, Isaiah describes a morning star fallen from heaven and points out the swelling pride that led to its downfall:

For the Good Book says, “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.

******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******

MOVE 1: Therefore, in our Scripture today, we want to briefly discuss the 3 Ps:… PRIDE, PRESCRIPTION, and PROMISE … which occurred in the life of Naaman … the Syrian Officer… that believers, here in IRAQ, should be AWARE of … in order to avoid spiritually crashing and burning.

a. Now, the First P – which we want to briefly discuss in order to avoid spiritually crashing and burning, is a P …

b. … That … has nothing to do with a GROUP of Lions … or a great American Video dubbed “Lion Kings 2”

c. But, my brothers and sisters … the First P … has had everything to do with the downfall of many STRONG Believers since the beginning of time – PRIDE.

d. Someone has said that PRIDE and BAD ATTITUDE are two of Satan’s firmest ALLIES.

e. In fact, it has been said that … arrogance and PRIDE describe an ATTITUDE that Scripture carefully analyzes – and condemns.