The Mother of Sins
Notes
Transcript
16 These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, 19 A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.
The author of Proverbs mentions things that the Lord hates.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all sins, but these sinful ways are especially detestable or abominable to God. Which is to say that God especially hates them.
Why does he say, six that the Lord hates, then he says yes seven that are an abomination to Him, it is an ancient writing style to say that there are six things the Lord hates but the seventh is the most abominable.
They are not an exhaustive list, you don’t see lust, greed, envy or gluttony. or those that belong to the seven deadly sins but these are sins that the LORD especially hates or the the strong word is detest.
Characteristics of these Sins the Lord hates.
They start with Pride.
Directed against someone (your neighbor).
Plots against the innocent.
4. Destroys relationships.
5. They End in Discord (Division).
God cares about our relationships.
Today among these sins we are going to focus on the very root - Pride.
Mother Lode is the main source of something, or the principal supply.
With this understanding of what a mother lode is we can say that...
Pride is the Mother Lode of all sins!
What is pride?
Pride is misplaced confidence in oneself.
The Source of Pride
This sin of pride is not the same as the satisfaction we feel over a job well done or the pride we express over the accomplishments of those we love. Like when we are made proud of our graduates and what they have accomplished.
What is pride really?
Image of Pride here.
The word Me.
I, Me and Myself - The Trinity of Stupidity.
Pride:
Excessive self-esteem; an unreasonable feeling of superiority as to one’s talents, beauty, wealth, rank, and so forth; disdainful behavior or treatment; insolence or arrogance of demeanor; haughty bearing.
Pride in its most practical definition makes people so consumed about themselves. The tendency is to put one’s self interest over the interest of others.
2. The Consequence of Pride
a. In Human Relationships.
Discord, Infighting, broken relationships, wounded souls.
A lot of the issues in marriage are rooted in pride, that one person just not giving in.
COVID-19 situation, with husband and wife quarantined together..
Finger pointing putting the blame on the other person, remember when you point your finger on someone there are three fingers pointing right back at you.
In an argument in marriage, a lot of husbands or wives don’t even begin to ask the question: “What am I willing to do to improve the issue in my marriage?”
Or in any relationships.. Isn’t this true?
That we judge ourselves by our best intentions and others by their worst actions.
Oh but he hurt my feelings.. he’s bad.
You know something about feelings they are very deceptive. It is based on filters you have already put as a line of self defense.. never consider that we may have hurt others too.
I know that,, men we don’t like when our wives get mad— the silent treatment.. in the Philippines..
Guia and I can have the most fun and enjoyable conversation, all of a sudden she turns silent… uh oh.. then I have to rewind the conversation in my mind..
we say dumb things sometimes.. there are times when I rewind, I pause at one sentence I said — there that’s it! Then I go sweetheart that was not what I meant.. then I explained.. point #1, point #2 — that does not work!
There are times when I am absolutely clueless, with what I said wrong — totally blindsided.. I find out when I finally get her to talk, oh oh yeah..
You make your case, but putting yourself in your spouse’s shoes..
This is my intention, I only wanted to “fill in the blanks”.. we come up with the best intentions when we offend, but if we are the offended, we don’t entertain whatever their intention may be...
Don’t be quick to judge..
Pride destroys Human Relationships
b. Pride Severs us from God
4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
This is a very profound verse of scripture, we may easily dismiss it as a problem only for the atheists, those who do not believe in God.
But even Christians, can behave like there is no God in their attitude.
When we call ourselves followers of Jesus and do not call on Him.. start the day with prayer..
God allows the Coronavirus, some Christians think it will just blow over, it is one of those 100-year cycle pandemics, it will be gone.
We should always be dependent on God trying to live our lives not depending on Him is prideful and arrogant.
I like what John Piper said about the coronavirus:
God is giving the world in the coronavirus outbreak, as in all other calamities,
a physical picture of the moral horror and spiritual ugliness of God-belittling sin. (John Piper)
God in His sovereignty allowed the coronavirus as a physical picture of the moral consequence of sin.. it is for people to rethink their lives,, God can bring this upon the world in less than two months..
Warning to the greater calamity..
14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”
God is being merciful to the world even through the coronavirus.
To not see it this way is pride.
God’s warning:
18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Destruction is the worst consequence of pride.
3. The Antidote to Pride
We will be quick to say that the antidote to pride is its opposite - humility.
I would say it all starts with repentance and brokenness before God.
Humility starts with a right relationship with the Lord.
There is a saying that goes like this:
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. (Robert Green Ingersoll)
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
There is one man however, and I have created an image of his exploits here, guess who he is:
- He stood before the most powerful and evil ruler in the world and fought for freedom.
He brought down the strongest Nation in the world of his time
He liberated a whole nation from oppression
He destroyed the strongest army in the world
He singlehandedly performed mighty acts of power to save a nation
He gave the laws that founded a great nation
So the saying that… did not apply to this man.
Yet this is also true of him:
This man was the most humble man on the face of the earth.
Can you guess who this man was?
Moses - the man I spoke about last week, who craved for the presence of God and not satisfied, He ask the Lord to show him His glory..
3 Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.
The closer you are to God the humbler you become
One of the worst signs of pride is taking credit for something that only God can do.
This church Crosswind belongs to God, this work is ours. The moment you hear me or someone take credit for something that only God can do, kick him out (maybe too drastic, talk to him first).
I won’t describe myself as someone who turned around the ministry. If you hear that from anyone or any pastor saying that about himself there is something wrong with him.
You don’t have to exalt yourself, let God exalt you.
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
Don’t exalt yourself, wait for God to exalt you.
One thing you also see here is that..
Humility is a command from God therefore it involves an Act of Obedience.
It is not only an attitude, it is an act of the will. Humble yourselves before God.
One warning:
Humble yourself before God before God humbles you.
11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
Save yourself from the pain of God’s humbling..
Just imagine the quarrels, the stress, and the division that can be avoided by just humbling ourselves before God.
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Then Paul continues with the greatest example of humility.
5 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. 6 He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. 7 Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! 8 Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion. 9 Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, 10 so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, 11 and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.
What an example..
Going back to our main text from today..
16 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, 19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.
Out of the sins the Lord hates, it all starts with pride and ends in discord.
The opposite is true:
Start with Humility and Attain to Unity.
Do you want a stress free life? Humble yourself before God.
That is the end of my message but before we end the service..
One consequence of pride that I have to mention is that Pride is what keeps many from accepting Jesus and surrendering their lives to God. Pride is an impediment to salvation.
people say:
I don’t need God
There is nothing wrong with me.
I can work my way to salvation