Pride - Proverbs 29:23
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 18 viewsNotes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Proverbs 29:23
A man’s pride shall bring him low:
But honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
Genres in the Bible
Law
Narrative
Poetry
Wisdom
Prophecy
Gospels
Epistles
Apocalypse
Wisdom
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Songs of Solomon
The one I struggle with the most is the Book of Proverbs - a book filled with principles of truth.
One of the main reasons I struggle with getting excited about Proverbs is the variety of Literary devices. Honestly, I do not want to think that hard!
Personification - Inanimate items given characteristics
Mathematical examples - Used as emphasis and adds in memorization
Synecdoche - Where the part represents the whole
Metaphors - Comparisons without using the words “Like” or “As”.
Simile - Comparison using the words “like” or “as.”
Synthetically Parallelism - Where the second line advances the thought of the first line.
Synonymous Parallelism - Where the second like restates the first line using different words - Usually, intensifying the idea
Antithetical Parallelism - The second line is opposite of the first
The Proverb before us is an Antithetical Parallelism - The second line is opposite of the first.
This morning I want to examine this Proverb. Why? The key to this work moving forward is heeding the second line of this Proverb
Pride
Pride
Proverbs 29:23
A man’s pride shall bring him low:
But honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
A man’s pride shall bring him low
The word “pride” has to do with swollen, inflating, high-minded. It is when a person thinks they have arrived in any category of life.
Examples:
David was prideful when he did not go out to battle as other kings did.
Peter was prideful when he thought his plans were more important than God’s plans.
Abraham was prideful when he thought lying was better than telling the truth.
James and John were prideful when they wanted to call down fire from Heaven to destroy a Samaritan village that had rejected Jesus; even though, the Jews had rejected Jesus.
Problems with Pride:
In our text - A person who is prideful will eventually trip over their own pride - I would argue one of the main reasons President Trump lost his reelection bid was he kept tripping over himself.
James 4:6
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Proverbs 6:16-17
These six things doth the Lord hate:
Yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
A proud look, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
Pride is prevalent in our lives - 1 John 2:16
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Pride is so hard to diagnose
Pride comes in all shapes and sizes. It is easy to discern the overt aspects of pride but most pride is covert - Disguised as humble by the great deceiver and liar of all-time.
So, how can we diagnose whether or not we have covert pride?
Fault-finding - Pastors, deacons, teachers and parents can easily fall into this category of fault-finding. Where they can see the faults in others but struggle with seeing their own faults. Or, they maximize the faults in others, while they minimize their own faults. Matthew 7:3
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
A harsh spirit - Contempt, irritation, frustration, judgmental. The Pharisees have a hash spirit. Especially, with their oppressive Sabbath Day rules. We can have a harsh spirit towards really awful sin - Gays, transgenders, etc. There are two reasons I try not to have a harsh spirit towards them:
Based upon Romans 1 - the flagrance , openness and acceptance of such sins is a sign of judgement against society.
Grace is the answer - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Superficiality - The Corinthians
Defensiveness - Not open to ideas or change, or correction - Adam and Eve were defensive when God came on the scene!
Presumption before God - Samson
Desperate for attention
Neglecting others - Ephesus
How to conquer Pride
How to conquer Pride
We need to have the proper view of God!
God is so much higher than us and we are so much lower than we think. There is not anything about God that I can successfully wrap my mind around. He is infinite and I am finite. I cannot explain the Trinity of God; I cannot explain His self-existence; I cannot explain grace.
We need to see God in His holiness and us in our wretchedness
We come to God so casually and cavalierly, without any concept of His holiness. Habakkuk 1:13
Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil,
And canst not look on iniquity:
Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously,
And holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
2 Chronicles 20:21
And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever.
Someone once wrote: “Power is God’s hand or arm, omniscience His eye, mercy His bowels, eternity His duration, but holiness is His beauty.”
God swears by His holiness becasue it is a fuller expression of Himself than anything else - Psalms 89:35
Once have I sworn by my holiness
That I will not lie unto David.
The problem is people have spent 6000 years humanizing the holiness of God. Hoping God’s mercy will prevail over His holiness - Psalms 50:21
These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;
Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself:
But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
Isaiah 6:3-5
And one cried unto another, and said,
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts:
The whole earth is full of his glory.
And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
Luke 5:8
When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
Job 40:1-4
Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said,
Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him?
He that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Then Job answered the Lord, and said,
Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee?
I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
We need to have more of these encounters with God!
We need to have encounters with God’s holiness so that we can exalt Him to His proper place - Psalms 99:5
Exalt ye the Lord our God,
And worship at his footstool;
For he is holy.
We need to be praying people - But praying people in a Biblical way.
Consider a lesson we learn from Jesus preaching on prayer during the Sermon on the Mount and teaching His disciples to pray in Luke 11:3
Give us day by day our daily bread.
Think about that statement for a moment - How many of us will eat our lunch this afternoon believing that the only reason we have food to eat is becasue of God’s graciousness and goodness to us. It is more than thanking God for food. It is believing that without God, we would go hungry this afternoon. That is the force of the statement! Christians live in a state of continual dependence on God.
Our prayer life reflects this dependence. I heard a missionary once say this - Much prayer, much power - little prayer, little power. I believe that statement is true but what makes the statement true? Much prayer, much dependence upon God - Little prayer, little dependence upon God!
Another aspect of praying is, praying speaks of our confidence in God - rather than in us! Psalms 73:26
My flesh and my heart faileth:
But God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
We need God’s word - God’s word is our milk and meat. We need more of God’s word, not less. There is a correlation between how people feel about themselves and how much of God’s word they consume.
Illustration - The Army way or the Air Force way - God’s word is the key to know God’s way
We need to fear God
Proverbs 2:5
Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord,
And find the knowledge of God.
Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:
And the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil:
Pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way,
And the froward mouth, do I hate.
Humble
Humble
The person who is humble - who views himself lowly - shall be upheld by honor.
The word “honor” - weight
It is the same word translated glory throughout the Old Testament
Oftentimes focused on God.
God came down and weighted the holy of holies with His glory
This word reflects the fulness of God - His understanding, virtue, holiness and happiness
The weight or honor that sustains us is not the humble spirit. It is God!
James 4:6
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
1 Peter 5:5
Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
If God’s work is going to grow in 2022, it will grow on the heels of God upholding the humble.
Isaiah 66:1-2
Thus saith the Lord,
The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool:
Where is the house that ye build unto me?
And where is the place of my rest?
For all those things hath mine hand made,
And all those things have been, saith the Lord:
But to this man will I look,
Even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And trembleth at my word.
“look” - Regard with pleasure!