Pride

Good morning, welcome to NHCC. Please open Bibles to Matthew 23.

Explaining the new series.

One underlying principle.

Sin is sin, and sin is destructive, no matter how seemingly insignificant, and not matter how beautifully dressed up.

Galatians, theology of faith plus works.

Good, necessary, right, religiously responsible.

Galatians 1:9- As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

It is with a similar spirit that we approach this series.

Our great desire- to live according to the life, attitude and spirit of Christ.

To do so means a putting to death of all sin.

The beginning of such a process is recognizing what in us is truly sinful, and especially examining within us what has been ignored.

Our search begins with pride. Listen to the words C.S. Lewis uses to describe pride: the utmost evil, the essential vice, the complete anti-God state of mind.

Read Matthew 23:1-12- Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Pray.

Addressing the text:

John MacArthur- “Jesus’ words in this passage fly from His lips like claps of thunder and spears of lightning. Out of His mouth on this occasion came the most fearful and dreadful statements that Jesus uttered on earth.”

Addresses the religious leaders, calling them out over things that He sees as God, but the crowds overlook.

Our text focuses on the topic of pride:

Desire to be seen.

Religious practices enlarge their worldly greatness.

Loving the place of honor.

Exalted themselves.

Couple things that instantly catch my attention:

This is sin that centers itself in the religious community.

This is not looking outside at pagan culture.

Makes me wonder if it is still present in the religious community today.

This sin is accompanied with a series of “woes” against the religious leaders.

A way of pronouncing condemnation or damnation on a person.

Pride, in the eyes of Jesus, brought with it a heavy consequence.

In a world that so heavily relies on and celebrates pride, our interests ought to be pricked.

1. What is pride?

Difficulty in defining, moving target. Think of all of the attitudes and behaviors that stem from a foundation of pride.

Give one example- body image.

Vanity on the one end, but the other end is still obsession.

Three types of pride commonly found, and embraced, in the church.

Moral self-righteousness.

Run the risk of becoming people of comparison.

How could others believe such a thing? I pity them.

What are we communicating of ourselves?

Danger of thinking ourselves to be something...

Azariah and Ainesis.

Charles Spurgeon- “You can never deserve pardon; it must be an act of pure grace. Nothing but the longsuffering of God at this moment keeps you out of hell. Yes, I mean you who think so much of yourselves. I mean you who set yourselves down among the naturally good. I would gladly strip you of your finery and throw away the false jewelry with which you have decorated yourselves; for a self-righteous man’s religion is nothing but a painted pageantry to go to hell in.”

Pride of achievement.

At the root, it’s plagiarism, not giving credit where credit is due.

1 Corinthians 4:7- For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

All we have is from God and for God’s purposes.

When we think ourselves responsible, we look inward for direction.

Leads to our own lordship.

An independent spirit.

The young adult problem.

1 Peter 5:5- Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Peter ties together teachability with humility, meaning that a heart that is unwilling to learn and be taught is at its core, proud.

2. How is pride destructive?

Pride enables blasphemy.

The accusation against Christ in Mark 14. For Jesus, He could make the claim. For us, we may not.

John Flavel- “They that know God will be humble. And they that know themselves cannot be proud.”

What is the point here? There’s a massive difference, or distance, between God and us. The more humble we are, the more clearly we see the distance. Pride rids the gap.

Pride breeds more sin.

William Barclay- “Pride is the ground in which all other sins grow.”

Consider King David in the episode with Bathsheba.

Guilty of adultery, of murder, of dishonesty, of coveting.

What grew all of those sins? The sin of pride, of position, of privilege.

Pride kills relationship.

We can always discuss the need for growing pride, but we must come to terms with the fact that pride is a relationship killer.

Why? Because we love pride in self, and despise it in others.

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. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.”

What do we find in broken relationships? Selfishness, arrogance, dominance. All stemming from…pride.

This is a sin not meant to be trifled with. No matter what the world may say.

3. How is pride to be conquered?

Know God truly and yourself rightly.

C.S. Lewis- “And He and you are two things of such a kind that if you really get into any kind of touch with Him you will, in fact, be humble- delightedly humble, feeling the infinite relief of having for once got rid of all the silly nonsense about your own dignity which has made you restless and unhappy all your life.”

Consider our approach to God’s Word.

What is revealed of God? How does it cause me to know God

Live in light of such knowledge of God and self.

Allow such a testimony of God’s existence and your existence to impact the person you become.

The example of Job.

No answers, no coddling, but revelation.

What Job needed was less thought given to his circumstances and more thought given to the person and power of God.

God was not stating things for a wow factor, these statements were meant to help Job.

John Wesley- “O, beware, do not seek to be something! Let me be nothing, and Christ be all in all!”