To Boast Or Not To Boast?

To Boast or not to Boast?

Thesis: The Christian is to go around boasting about the goodness and the blessing of the Lord in his or her life. But the Christian is to never go around boasting about their good works or there personal accomplishments. We are to give credit to the Lord for working the miracles in our lives.

Texts:

Psalm 34:2: - The good kind of boasting

My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Psalm 44:8: - The good kind of boasting

In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever.

Selah

Eph. 2:8-10: - The good kind of boasting

8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith¡Xand this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God¡X9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God¡¦s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Psalm 52:1-3: - The bad kind of boasting

Why do you boast of evil, you mighty man? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God? Your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor, you who practice deceit. You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth.¡¨ Selah

Luke 18:9-14 ¡VSpeaks to the hypocrites, who are full of boasting ¡V bad kind

9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10¡§Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ¡¥God, I thank you that I am not like other men¡Xrobbers, evildoers, adulterers¡Xor even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.¡¦

13¡§But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ¡¥God, have mercy on me, a sinner.¡¦

14¡§I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.¡¨

Proverbs 27:1-3: The bad kind of boasting

1 Do not boast about tomorrow,

for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;

someone else, and not your own lips.

3 Stone is heavy and sand a burden,

but provocation by a fool is heavier than both.

1 Cor. 1:10-12, 26-31; - The Bad kind of boasting

10I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11My brothers, some from Chloe¡¦s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12What I mean is this: One of you says, ¡§I follow Paul¡¨; another, ¡§I follow Apollos¡¨; another, ¡§I follow Cephas¡§; still another, ¡§I follow Christ¡K.¡¨26Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things¡Xand the things that are not¡Xto nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God¡Xthat is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: ¡§Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.¡¨

Introduction:

As we look to unlock the truth about prideful boasting we need to understand that there are two types of boasting referenced in the Bible. One is good and one is bad. The Bible which by the way means:

B = Basic

I = Instructions

B = Before

L = Leaving

E = Earth

Tells us that boasting means the following:

Boasting, in a good or a bad sense:¡Xboasting, whereof I may glory, glorifying, rejoicing. In essence it refers to prideful comments made about another or about ones own accomplishments.

The Bible tells us which boasting we need to practice daily and which one we must avoid at all costs. There are two types of boasting referenced in the Bible ¡V the first type is rooted in humility and is considered good and the second type of boasting is rooted in pride and considered bad.

T.S. ¡V Lets first look at the Good!