Pride comes before the fall.

Alright if you have a bible this morning open it up to Romans Chapter 1.

I have titled the message this morning Pride comes before the fall. Pray

You might ask why preach on this specific text we when are not in the book of Romans. Well if you are living under a rock you may not know this month is pride month for the LGBTQ+ community, and I wanted to specifically address not just the issues of that group, but more specifically today the issue of pride.

Pride is talked about a-lot in that community I listed this morning.. Its talked alot about in many different places, but pride more often than not leads you down a path that stray’s away from the Word of God.

C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity said, Pride is what made the Devil become the Devil, and Pride leads to every other vice, it is the complete anti-God state of mind.

The text we are in today we will see those specific vices and how God feels about those who go against his created order, and his word.

Let me read you a couple more quotes before we get into the text this morning..

Jonathan Edwards said.. Pride is the door by which the devil comes into the heart of man.

One more.

R.C. Sproul says.. You dont have to give up your intellect to trust the bible.. You have to give up your pride.

I wanted to end my three quotes with that one, because the reality is God is God and you are not, and we discover through his word what he wants us to know about him, and this text we are in today is so powerful, I would argue its life changing for those who understand it, and I believe it shows us that Pride truly does come before the fall.

As always I have a main idea for you and today it is this…

The Wrath of God is revealed from heaven against the prideful.

Listen to verses 18-20

Romans 1:18–20 ESV

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Looking at the text you see that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.

This part of the verse really sets the tone for this text we are in today and really all the rest of chapter 2 into chapter 3 . And this wrath that comes from heaven is a wrath that is Holy. God’s anger is not like yours and i’s anger its Holy perfect and just. He is not irrational in his anger, his anger comes from those whom he created going against him. I thought of it like this looking at todays text.

Wrath goes beyond eternal punishment. x2 This means that God’s wrath even extends into his own creation that we presently live in.

In the text you see that this wrath goes against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Meaning what provokes God’s anger and wrath is ungodliness which is dishonoring going against him, and his word, and unrighteousness which deprives God of his honor. God is angered by things that are ungodly and things that are unrighteous, and I would argue today that when we go against God pride is the very root, we often think in our fallen nature that we know more than God does, and I am here to tell you if you live your life thinking you have all the answers and you can figure it out the wrath of God is real to those who are prideful, and are not in Christ. More can be said about this, but for now I want to move on.

several points this morning about pride which brings upon the wrath of God the first is this..

Pride suppresses the truth.

Looking at the text you see Paul use the language that essentially says unrighteous people suppress the truth, now you have to look at the next few verses to see what they are suppressing and what they are suppressing is that God through his creation has revealed himself to his own creation, so Paul says they are without excuse.

Paul is telling them in this letter there is no good reason that anyone would say there is no God. Pride wants that, because pride does not want to acknowledge the fact that there is a God. That we are all accountable to the creator of all things.

The text here is referring to what theologians and scholars refer to as general revelation. General revelation is seen through Gods creation. The Psalmist is Psalm 19. speaks that The heavens declare of the glory of God. Here in Romans chapter 1. Paul says that Gods power and nature are clearly displaying the fact that there is a creator. That God is real.

Paul says that God has made it plain to them. He does not say that he has made plain to them the Word of God, or what certain doctrine is, but he does make plain to them that there is a creator.

In verse 20 he hammers that point home. Now if you have been exposed to any teachings outside the bible there are many people who argue that there is no God. That God does not exist, they suppress the truth that Paul is saying in this very text.

Even reading things this week many people say there is no proof that God exists. Even One Scholar brings up Immanuel Kant who he said is the greatest philosopher in the history of Western civilization, said this about knowing God. it is impossible to use the traditional arguments for the existence of God, whereby men reason from this world back to a Creator. They look at the world around themselves and say, Something had to make this world. Kant said that it is not possible for us to move from visible things to an invisible God.

And Paul says that is not true. That same scholar would say.. Just as we can look at a painting and know that there was a painter, so we can look at this universe and know that there is a Creator. Something of the nature of that Creator can be discerned from the visible things of his creation.

The complexities of the human the body, the complexities of even looking outside this church testify there is a God, Its clear but our pride wants to suppress it, and even though general revelation does not save and it does not tell us how to be saved its enough to prove you are guilty against a Holy God. God without speaking a single word to any of us through his creation shows us that we are without excuse.

One man said.. The excuse that Paul has in view here is the excuse of ignorance. In all ages, there have been atheists and agnostics. There is a difference in attitude between the atheist and the agnostic. The atheist comes right out and says there is no God, but the agnostic says simply, I don’t know. The reason the agnostic gives is ‘insufficient knowledge’. The dreadful fear I have about agnosticism is that the agnostic adds insult to injury. He blames God for not producing enough evidence.

The evidence is clear do not let your pride suppress the truth, because if you do something else happens..

Listen to verses 21 and 22

Romans 1:21–22 ESV

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

Next point this morning is this…

Pride makes you foolish.

I know one particle person in this church body thinks being called a fool is the worst thing you can be called, and when you go against God and your pride says you know the answers and you can live as though you want and choose to not acknowledge him not honor him, not give him thanks, you become a fool.

Paul said in the previous verses that we cannot use the excuse of ignorance, God deserves to be honored and thanked.

Our problem is not that we can’t know God its that we refuse to know him.

And in turn that makes our thinking Paul says as futile? What does futile mean? It means being incapable of producing any useful result; pointless. In Christian terms this way of thinking is fruitless, there is no life in this sort of thinking. This way of thinking is the way of the world.

For the Christian our first thoughts on anything should start with the reality that there is a creator, and that creator has taught us something, Paul has used so far that even the creation teaches us that there is a God, that there is order out there, and if you are a believer we have the Word of God to influence our thinking.

But when our thinking is futile God darkens your heart. That is a scary reality. Because the fallen mind outside of Christ leaves God’s truth, and itself defines what is truth, and when our heart is darkened you become a fool.

Paul says what makes you a fool is not giving thanks to God.. Even the unbeliever has this common grace, things like air, water, ways to get food, the sun rising and falling every day, the beauty of his creation, the restraining of evil, and really so much more.

Paul says people who are fools claim to be wise. There may be wise things people say but the truth is wisdom is found again most notably in the word of God.

Today to many people who claim to be experts in this and experts in that just like they did in Pauls day have this wisdom that is every changing, God’s wisdom does not change, and the thing about human wisdom is it never measures up to God’s standards, and Paul says our foolishness leads to something else..

Which is my third point today.

Pride leads to idolatry.

Listen to what Paul says..

Romans 1:23 ESV

23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Have you ever thought about idolatry like that? thinking about the context of these verses really makes you think of the audience that it was originally written to and how this message is for the world, and how even those who have never heard the name of Jesus worship God with images. Exchange his glory for images.

I went to London a few years ago I cant remember if i have told you this story or not, but the British Museum is one of the best Museums in the world it has the world famous rosetta stone but it is full, and I mean full of idols that were created by man and worship by man throughout the years and they are truly incredible some are covered in Gold, carved out to perfection, from the greek and roman God as well as some Egyptians in fact one of the idols i remember seeing was from the very palace was from Nebuchadnezzar from the scriptures.

And if you have ever met a faithful Christian brother or sister from Africa that was not Muslim before coming to Christ they will tell you about all these little animals/birds in their homes who they would worship and who they would pray to for certain things.

Going back even 500 years John Calvin said.. The human heart is an idol factory, churning out new idols like the conveyor belt in a manufacturing plant rolling out new widgets.

Idolatry is prideful. Because it distorts the immortal God.

What are some modern day idols… Ill just name a few because I don’t have time to name them all because you can turn anything into idol if you want to.

Stuff. What kind of stuff well any stuff? Your home, your car, other peoples stuff.

Science? God has given us the amazing ability to figure out the complexities of this life yet so many people elevate things like science above the creator who gave us that very thing.

One man I read this week said 1 John 2:16 is a great example of Idolatry

1 John 2:16 (ESV)

16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

Pride makes us elevate things where they should not be God knew it would be such a problem it is the second of the 10 commandments.

R. C. Sproul who i like to quote said.. The fundamental prohibition of the biblical God is the prohibition against idolatry. Not only have men refused to worship God as God, but they have insulted the majesty of God by replacing him with a creature.

This was a tremendous point of conflict in the Old Testament world. The prophets thundered again and again against those who practised idolatry. The essence of idolatry is that it substitutes the majesty of God for the corruption of this world. The glory of God is traded in for the glory of a snake or a crocodile or a block of wood.

But idolatry is something that takes place at every level of life in every human culture. We can even turn Christianity into an idolatrous religion by substituting the glory of God for something else and stripping him of his holiness. We make God in our own image, rather than responding to the God who is. This brings the judgment of God, for God will not tolerate idolatry.

And Idolatry leads to improper worship which is my next point…

Pride leads to improper worship.

Listen to Paul again in verses 24-25

Romans 1:24–25 ESV

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

We see more judgement here in the text.. God gave them up. God gave them up. There is a punishment not only in the next life but in this life, God darkened there hearts because of their pride, and he gave people up to their pride this does not mean they can’t be saved, because God brings people out of their pride, but he can give you up to your own lusts.

and what the text is saying is when we go against God, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS we dishonor the bodies he gives us. We use our bodies for prideful things things like it said in 1 john the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life and ultimately we worship God’s creation rather than God.

That is what idolatry is worshiping something other than God. That is what pride is we see it clearly this month from the world, but Paul says what pride does it take what belongs to God and exchanges it for a lie.

If you have ever went to a foreign country and have exchanged money you know you are somehow getting messed over not truly getting what you should out of that exchange when we go and worship the creator it is like taking all we have and getting dust in return.

God is the only one who deserves worship. Paul even in this what appears to be harsh statement stops and praises the Lord the creator who is blessed forever.

Dont get caught up exchanging the truth for a lie and worshiping something that should not be worship.

Its out of God’s design to worship something other can God.

Which brings me to my next point.

Pride leads you away from God’s design.

Hard words to read in this day and age, but listen carefully..

Romans 1:26–31 ESV

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Again we see more judgement here and we see it now from a different perspective.

Now Gods intended design in found in Genesis chapter 2. Which i referenced last week. Genesis 2:23-24

Genesis 2:23–24 ESV

23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

This is even said by Jesus in Matthew 19:4-6

Matthew 19:4–6 ESV

4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Just a quick biblical interpretation method for you to consider. Because people like to say Jesus does not talk about this stuff if the word of God clearly like it does in this case defines something then that means anything contrary to it goes against God in his word, and pride leads you to twist God’s natural design.

And that is exactly what Paul is talking about here. Paul here specifically lays out to these people the sin of homosexually. Which goes against God’s natural design. And So God gives them over to this darkness that they choose to participate in. I don’t want to single out the sin of homosexually as the worst of all sin, but in the text God says those who participate in it go against his design. Its unnatural.

And there is punishment for it. Some people have argued that God has given diseases to people who practice the sins of sexually immorality. And that being Gods wrath in this life, but never the less these shameless act of sexual sin means they did not see fit to acknowledge God and his design and God gave them over to their desire and their minds to continue down the path of being prideful, and against God’s design. Its not just an issue of who we claim to love its a sin issue rooted in Pride that is driving you away from how God designed human sexuality. ( Which he designed you to enjoy in the context of biblical marriage between a man and women )

The truth is this.. Our view of who we thank God is will determine everything we believe in this life. And in order to not have a debased mind you have to go to the scriptures… Because if we follow God’s word we will know his design, now Paul does not end just with the sin of homosexuality.

He goes really into all sin..

Now scholars have noted that the sins listed which if you count number are at 17. Can be listed with a little bit of structure.

The first 4 sins are really just general teams for sin..

all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness -self centered, and malice.

Our next section are sins that affect our relationships with one another. AND THOSE I WILL GIVE QUICK definitions OF.

Envy- looking at what somone else has and desiring it for yourself.

murder- which is the termination of God’s creation.

deceit- not being truthful.

malice-having no regard to the things of God.

This last lists are usually vices and come in many forms.

gossips- casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true.

slanderers-one who attacks the reputation of another

Haters of God- Prideful people hate God.

insolent- rude or arrogant, lack of respect ( I have to work on that one at times )

haughty- arrogantly superior and disdainful.

boastful- showing excessive pride and self-satisfaction in one's achievements, possessions, or abilities.

inventors of evil- this is a unique one, but you see everyday new evils in this world, you read in history the terrible things we have done to one another, that is what sin will do it will create more sin.

disobedient to parents- I touched on this last week, but God wants you to obey your parents in the Lord.

foolish-which was one of our points today

faithless- not believing in the God or the things in God.

heartless- displaying a complete lack of feeling or consideration.

Ruthless- having or showing no pity or compassion for others.

There is no place is God’s design for any of these things that i mentioned, and if we do a little bit of self examination we all struggle with one or more of these sins.

I wanted to go through those 1 by 1 to show you that pride leads to going against God’s design. Because we sometimes in our pride get to a place where we choose to believe we have the authority to judge over our lives matters.

For the past several years I have had countless conversations with others saying you have no right to judge me you have no right to tell me how to live my life, but God does, and God says all these things go against him and wrath comes to those who choose their way over God’s way. whether its sexual sin-suppressing truth- being wise is your own eyes, creating idols, worshiping false gods, and going against his design. God gets to be the final judge not you, I have to mention one other thing about Pride…

Pride says I am the final judge.

Last verse today…

Romans 1:32 ESV

32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

If none of the verses have fully hit you yet this should…

Reading this week from Charles Hodge who was alive from 1797-1878 he said this…

The Gospel of God: Romans Judgment on Idolatry (1:24–27)

to take pleasure in those who do good, makes us better; to delight in those who do evil is the surest way to become even more degraded than they are themselves.’ It is fair to say that it shows a greater depravity to encourage others’ sin than to commit the sin yourself. Remember, Paul first says that such people know God’s righteous decree. They sin against knowledge; they are not ignorant of the demands of God’s righteous law. This, too, only serves to intensify their guilt and shame.

The danger I see many Christians face is the danger of comprising the word of God, even it its just a little bit. x2

In 2015 when the Obergefell decision happened that legalized same sex marriages we began to see a trend not only in the culture, but in the church of what is accepting and pleasing to God.

And that decision I believe came as wrath from God. As punishment, because marriage which he created for man and women had become in our own culture nothing more than a piece of paper when he created to be a forever covenant representing Christ and his bride, and what we have seen just in those few years is a total shift away from what God’s word says. We have professing Christian couples who claim to be gay- Christians who live together and have sex before they are marriage, Christians who are doing shameful acts with Children, Christians who are getting sex changes, and these people don’t just want to do what they want in the privacy of their home, they want you to celebrate with them.

and before it seems that I am just picking on a group of people here any believer when it comes to any sin must never give approval to it. one man said something like Charles Hodge to.. it is worse for a person to “approve” those who practice sins than to do them oneself. Paul would be the last to minimize the seriousness of actual sin. But he apparently wants to let especially those people who, while not themselves perhaps tempted by a particular sin, lead others into it by their approval of it. Another man says, “we are not only bent on damning ourselves but we congratulate others in the doing of those things that we know have their issue in damnation.”

The Wrath of God is revealed from heaven against the prideful.

I can’t just end the message with that statement, because there is good news for us despite what Pride leads to..

Listen to 1 Cor 6:9-11

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 ESV

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Such were some of you.. You may feel beat up after that message, because you have your own issues with pride, and you know that it leads to the wrath, but know something greater today If you believe in Christ as Lord you can saved.

Imagine that right.. You come in here today struggling with everyone of those sins feeling condemned from head to toe, and I can tell you there is way to be washed of all that sin?

The Hymn says what can wash away my sin nothing but the blood of Jesus.

See Jesus came because his creation did abandon his way whether it was the gentiles who did not have the word of God or the Jews that did all are guiltily before a Holy God, but if you believe that Jesus Christ lived a perfect sinless life dying on cross, rising from the dead and on the third day rose again you can be washed saved, and begin a life turning away from all these things which may rule your life today, you can stand before the true judge who judges based on the fact of whether or not you are in Christ to be saved. Its not a check list its a relationship and that relationship is found through repentance, turning away from your old life and running to Christ by faith, and you even though you have a checkered past can be saved.

James 4:6 ESV

6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Humble yourselves today before the Lord and make him the Lord of everything in your life. For the born again believers in the room. Don’t suppress the truth, learn it live by it. Become wise by knowing the Word of God, rid yourself of the idols, worship him like Paul does, and follow his design for all your days, because you know that he is the judge, not you.. Let us pray…