I brought recently three messages on victory over fear, and I trust that when we went through those messages that probably everybody can identify with some particular sinful fear that perhaps you have struggled with and it's something that you needed God's word to address in your life. And today I'd like to speak on this subject, the great struggle, pride, versus humility, the great struggle, pride versus humility. Now, you might have said, Pastor, I needed the one on fear. I needed to know about how to overcome sinful fears. But pride is not really my thing. I'm just a humble person. That's just naturally what flows for me. I'm just kind of small spoken. I'm not quiet. I'm not a braggadocio like other people. I don't talk a lot. Just kind of keep to myself. I'm a quiet type. So that means that I am not struggling with pride. But I trust, as we go through it this morning, that the Holy Spirit hopefully will bless that we will all be able to see that we all have the great disease of pride. And we should take this seriously because the first thing I want to do is read what God says about it, what God thinks about our sinful pride. You will look, first of all, in Proverbs, chapter 16. Proverbs, chapter 16. It was really pride that led Satan to be kicked out of heaven. He was the fallen angel, and he led a proud revolt and rebellion against God. It is pride that leads us to sin in so many fronts, and we see that pride in God's eyes is just particularly odious. It's particularly repulsive to our God. In Proverbs 16 and verse 5, he says, everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord. Though hands join in hand, he shall not be unpunished." Everyone that is proud in heart, so it starts with the heart. It's a heart condition that manifests itself in perhaps the way that we speak or perhaps in things that we do, motives that we have. It starts in the heart like every other sin does. And so he says, everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord. I remember growing up, hearing the word abomination being preached. I just knew the way it sounded. It wasn't good, but I didn't know exactly what it meant. It doesn't sound good. Abomination. But we look up the word abomination. What it means is this. I'll give you a word picture to illustrate the meaning. Some of us as young parents, let's go to that dirty diaper. It's a repulsive smell, isn't it? You drive by the city dump. Your senses are assaulted, aren't they? It's too much. Perhaps you been in a place where there's a certain restaurant food that you couldn't handle or other smells or something that just was particularly repulsive to you that even perhaps turned your stomach. That's the idea of what the word abomination means. It's something repulsive to God, something that, if we can say it this way, that as it were, something that would gross us out, something that would make us sick. Well, that's the idea with the word abomination. So when we're looking at pride. We're looking at how it relates to God, obviously. But I can tell you this morning, don't be a proud person because it's so annoying to others. And that's true. And when we are walking in humility, not only will it glorify God and be a blessing to others, but our number one reason this morning is not to overcome pride and fight against pride so that we can be less annoying to others. Now, that's part of it. But I can tell you, listen, be a loving person because it'll get you farther in life. Be a humble person or at least act humble because it'll get you farther in your career or it'll get you more friends. It'll get you better in your social group. But is that really what we're about? You see, if we believe in a God centered faith, everything goes back to what it goes back to God. So the passage here says, does not say everyone that's proud in heart doesn't get far in life because they're annoying to other people. No, it says it's an abomination to the Lord. You see, we have to set our focus where it is due. What does God see about pride? So it's something repulsive to God. Proverbs chapter six, another very weighty passage where we see God's mind towards our sinful pride. Proverbs chapter six. In verse sixteen. He says, These six things that the Lord hate. We think about God, we think God's loving, God is, or at least how some of the world portrays God. God is soft and loving and the lights are dim and the candles are on. That's just kind of how God is. God is a soft, warm, fuzzy God. Well, there is none who loves like God. We can say that. There is none who has such deep, sacrificial, glorious love as our God. He's full of grace. But our God is also holy. And it's God that loves his people, that has redeemed his people, also hates some things. It doesn't say here that there are six things that just bother God a bit. No, six things that the Lord doth hate. And so if we care about God, if we fear the Lord, if we love our God, our ears perk up and say, I better listen to this because I desire to please the God who's been so good to me as we sung about this morning. So these six things that the Lord hate, yea, seven are, here's our word, an abomination to him. What's the first one mentioned? A proud look. I'll read the rest for our own benefit. A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, deepened to be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. So we see that God hates pride, that pride is something repulsive to God. Let me turn to James, chapter four, give one more of just a sampling of verses that give us God's attitude towards pride. James, chapter four. James, chapter four, if that if the others didn't seal the deal for you, hopefully this one will. James, chapter four. In verse six, it says, But he giveth more grace, wherefore he saith. God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. God resisteth the proud. The word, therefore, resisteth, in the original language, it's a military term speaking of God putting himself in battle position against the proud. Now, if you're like me, that should get our attention, because we know that our lives are difficult enough and hard enough without God putting himself in battle position against us. None of us need that, do we? We don't need God in battle array, in battle position, forming his positions against us. That's what he says here, that God, he resists the proud. He's standing in opposition to the proud. He will not bless the proud. He will not honor the proud. God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble, he says. So we think about pride. Again, someone might say, that's not really my thing. That's not something I struggle with so much. But we think about pride. Some of the definitions for pride is the idea of putting ourselves up, a higher opinion of ourselves than is appropriate. A exalting of ourselves. In one sense, pride, let's just say it, is self-worship, self-glorifying. I know it's painful for us to hear that. It's painful for us to think that we actually sometimes worship ourselves, glorify ourselves. But it's as ugly as that, and we just see it for what it is. What are some manifestations of pride in our lives? I'll just touch on a few today. I saw a young man at a social event back in the summer. Probably, I don't know, his early 20s. My heart really, I really felt sorry for him. I actually talked to him about it at one point because it just bothered me so much. But this guy, every, I kid you not, every 30 seconds or so, was literally looking at the reflection of his cell phone to fix his hair. Literally. And we all need to look nice. It's not against looking nice and grooming ourselves and looking presentable. But I really, my heart went out to this guy. This guy apparently was a slave to making sure that his appearance was so perfect. Why? So that he would look good to others. Right? And we chuckle at that. Hopefully, none of us have ever been that far, but we've all been there, haven't we? To some degree or another, putting an overimportance on how I'm coming off to others. Now, again, please groom yourself before you come to church or go out in public. Look nice, brush your teeth, all those things. But you see, so easily we can take something that is legitimate and turn it into something else. Why? Because we're going to put all the attention, all the focus upon ourselves, not a manifestation of pride, perhaps a young person, perhaps an old person who loves the attention of others. Perhaps they walk into a room and wonder how many people noticed me when I came into the room. Have you ever done it? Can you look back in your life and see some of the ridiculous things that perhaps you have done just to get attention from others, just to get someone looking at me? And how about this? How many of us from time to time have just had the thrill of our heart to hear others talking about us? How many of us have had the thrill of our heart to hear our names spoken well of, had perhaps our accomplishments to be thought well of? We've all been there, haven't we? Now, encouragement is appropriate. The Bible speaks of encouragement. We can encourage one another, bless one another. But you know how quickly it is that we can take something that's good? It's good to be encouraged. It's a blessing to be encouraged, for faithfulness to be praised in the right context. But you've been there where, wow, your heart just leapt to hear others speaking well of you. Perhaps it's the businessman who has had a great month, whether he's sold a lot or he's developed some projects that have been such a success. And finally, the boss at the meeting at the end of the month brings him before everybody and says, this right here is our employee of the month. This guy's going to have the special parking place. I'll tell you, that guy, every day when he parks into there and then he pulls out, he just loves to think of him going in that parking spot and knowing that everybody must be thinking well of him. Knowing, boy, Snow and Snow hadn't gotten this award. Old Joe Blowdown the Hall, he's never been the employee of the month, but I got it. I got it. I'm smart, let's just face it, I'm intelligent, I've got talents, I've got gifts, and I put them together and wow, look at me. Now, you know what? We ought to strive for excellence. This is not a sermon that says humility leads us to do a half rate job. Not at all. We ought to strive to do it well, as best that we can. But what's the motive? For the glory of our God, using the talents and gifts that he's given us to do well. But so often we turn it back into a polishing of ourselves, turning it back to a self-exaltation, a lifting up of ourselves. Pride can be manifested in subtle ways. That's why it's so poisonous and dangerous. Pride can be manifested even in things that start out good. The diligent Christian, the person who's faithful, the person who reads the Word of God, the person who's serious about serving God and putting off sin and obeying the Lord, the person who's committed and sacrificial in serving God. But even that the enemy can use against it to where we begin to compare ourselves with others to say, boy, you know, so and so they as faithful as I am to be here at church or as faithful as I've been to to give financially to the church and all these things that I've done. And look at how little they've done. Look at how ungrateful they are to the Lord for his mercies. And certainly it's wrong to not be committed to the Lord and to be faithful. And there are times for rebuke, as we've talked about before, but oh, how quickly even good things, even faithfulness to the Lord, we can take in our sinful nature, compare ourselves to others and begin to lift ourselves up into a place that is not right in the sight of God. Pride can be manifested in the fact that sometimes we refuse to confess our sins. And that we can refuse to confess our sins. Confession of sin is painful. It's painful, but it's a good kind of pain. It's a healing kind of pain. Confession of sins means we have to admit I was wrong. I messed up. It's nobody else's fault but mine. Oh, but what a freedom there is, what a joy there is. It's the first process of repentance and of restoration where we confess our sins to God. We heard a message yesterday at Ripley where the preacher said, you've heard the name it and claim it gospel. He said, I preach to you to name it and slay it. Name your sin, own your sin so that you can mortify it and slay it by God's grace. But we often try to make excuses for our sins, whether it's confession of sin to God or confession to others. What about in the marriage relationship or other relationships? Do you have a hard time admitting that you're wrong? Have you ever struggled with admitting that you're wrong? I've said this before, when you have disagreements, when you have differences of opinion or arguments, whatever it may be, we always, all of us, including me, ought to remind ourselves there is a faint possibility, as faint as it may be, that I could be wrong. That's a hard one for some of us to swallow, isn't it? Because we tend to think, I'm normally right. I normally see it the right way. I normally do it the right way. But friends, God calls us to live at the feet of one another. And if we really believe the doctrine of total depravity, we'll recognize I'm a sinner through and through, sinner saved by grace, but still sinner. And I'm flawed and I'm not perfect. And I don't truly know it all. Or perhaps we confess that we're wrong to somebody else or to God. But boy, that confession is followed by a machine gun speed of excuses. We confess, but when we say, honey, or whoever it is, I was wrong about this, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But really, if you've done it this way and think, well, I don't know about this, and I wouldn't have done it wrong. But you see, the humble person, the spirit of humility confesses when we've sinned. doesn't make excuses, like David in Psalm 51, where he doesn't make excuses. He doesn't say, Lord, there were accentuated circumstances. He says, Lord, it's against you. I have sinned. It's my iniquity. It's my transgression. No excuses. None of that. But we live in a we are proud people and we live in a proud society where we'd like to pass the buck, pass the blame, pass the guilt. It's not my fault. It's somebody else. It's some other reason. Oh, but there's freedom. There's healing. There's humility. when we bow and own up to our sins before God and our mistakes even before others. On the opposite side, it's pride. It's exalting of myself. I don't want to see myself as somebody who's failed. I don't want to acknowledge I've messed up. I don't want to acknowledge I was wrong. Because it's me. It's me here. I'm concerned about me. I love me. And I don't want me to look bad. I don't want me to be wrong. I don't want me to be imperfect. I don't want me to be thought... You see this? It's all about me. And that's why our Lord Jesus tells us if you're going to follow me, who do you have to deny? yourself, yourself, but he may come back to me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily to follow me. So pride can be seen in all of those things. Pride can be seen in status, finding great satisfaction in some kind of status. We don't live in the days of like back in Europe where they had very strict class societies where it was obvious that you were either, I can't remember the names of their classes, but you were a merchant or you were a servant, the servant class, or you were aristocracy or whatever it may be. We don't have that so much in our society, but we still have some class things, don't we? Because our hearts is long, because of our sinful hearts, we're longing to find something to find pride and glory in. So it may be that new car. Is it wrong to have a new car? No. Is it wrong to have a nice house? No. Is it wrong to enjoy trendy clothes? To enjoy something that looks nice? No. But you know where I'm going with this, don't you? Oh, how easy it is to say, wow, I bet I'm driving down the street and everybody sees this new thing. I wonder how many people looked and turned and saw what I was wearing. And I can't go out unless I've got the best possible thing on, because I could never be seen as something less than perfect for all of my fan club out there, as we think. Or perhaps we think, I've got this. I've got this possession, whether it be house or wealth or whatever. I've got this brand new gadget or whatever it is that makes me more worth of a person. It makes me greater. You ever notice how all of us sometimes, or some people, many people, can tend to treat Perhaps the wealthy with more respect. Now, listen, it's not wrong to be wealthy. Praise God for godly wealthy people who are generous with what God has given to them and have earned it in an honest way and uses the glory of God. Do you ever notice how we sometimes can give respect, extra respect in our hearts? Oh, it's Mr. So-and-so coming. Why? Because we're proud and we value things. We think this person has more value. They have more status because they have more things or It may not just be wealth, it may be other things. You see how that our hearts simply do that. Pride can be seen in so many ways. Pride can be seen in taking credit for those things that really God has done. Pride can be the preacher who's blessed to preach a powerful sermon that says, wow, I really showed them today, didn't I? They must be very impressed with my knowledge. Wow, they must be really impressed with the skills with which the message was put together. Pride, pride, taking credit for something that belongs to the Lord. Pride can be seen in, well, we could go on and on and on, couldn't we? We could go on and on. God resisted the proud. The proud heart, the proud heart is something repulsive to God, something that God finds obnoxious to Him. And so hopefully right now your heart's hurting a little bit. I hope it is. I hope right now our hearts are a little in pain. But we see that just a few manifestations of the pride that looms from our hearts. And don't you see how it must look to the holy gaze of God, this God that truly has it all together, who's holy and pure and who's the giver of life and all of our gifts to look and see us just this grasping to find pride for ourselves, to glorify ourselves in something other than in Him. And we see how that it's not just a little peccadillo, it's not just a little small thing, but that God resists the proud, that God hates our pride. May we hurt, may we mourn over our sins. May God give us godly sorrow, as 2 Corinthians says, a godly sorrow over sin that leads to true repentance. It's easy for us to say, I want to get that out of my mind, it hurts. But we need to see our sin, do we not? But the sermon doesn't end there, praise God, because the Bible doesn't end there, because the gospel doesn't end there. It wouldn't be gospel, it wouldn't be good news if it ended just with our incredible flaws and sins. What are the remedies? What are some remedies for us to help overcome our pride? Turn to Galatians chapter six. Galatians chapter six. Paul is writing to people who were boasting in something they had in themselves. In this particular context, they were boasting in works, rituals of the Old Testament that they thought would make them right with God, would make them accepted with God. They were boasting in their law keeping. But Paul would say in Galatians 6 and verse 14. Here's where you and I ought to plant our flag. Here's where we ought to stake our claim right here, Galatians 6, 14. But God forbid. That I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. Notice Paul's language. God forbid. Don't let it be. Don't let it be said of me that I glory. The idea of glory is boasting, glorying in. That I would boast in or glory in anything. Except what? Except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know the remedy for our pride, number one, is the cross of Jesus Christ? The first way is our remedy is this. Is that Jesus Christ, if you were his, get a hold of this. He bore every proud fault you've ever had on the cross. Every motive that arose from self-exaltation. Every time you refuse to admit you're wrong. Every time you did something to get the attention and the praise of others. Every time our hearts swelled with pride. We heard people talking of us or seeing what we had and somehow glorying in that. Every time we foolishly took credit for what really was his. Every time we compared ourselves and despised others because of what we thought we'd attained, Jesus bore every one of those sins in His body on the cross. Jesus on the cross in His work of salvation, He was essentially saying this, Father, I will become responsible for their pride. I will be chargeable for their vanity. I'll take ownership of it. I'll pay whatever, whatever that they lack because of their sin, whatever they owe because of their pride. I'll take care of that. Now, friends, that is that is grace. That is love to think of the son of God, the pure, holy son of God, who has no sin, who has no flaw, who has no evil. But say, Father, I'll bear it and I'll suffer for every bit of pride they've ever manifested or ever will manifest. Can I get an amen on that? Praise the Lord. Because you know what? Either you bear your pride before God or Jesus bears it. Either you bear your pride and pay for it before God's justice or Jesus bears it and He except for he bears the justice of God on your behalf. Praise God for his grace. So we glory in nothing but in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. But how else does the cross help us to remedy our pride, to build a mindset in our hearts, to build a mindset and a frame of mind, a way of thinking, a spirit within us that we glory in nothing except the cross? Well, pride, again, is exalting of ourselves in some shape or form. But what does the cross tell us? The cross tells us who we really are by nature. The cross tells us who we really are by nature. When you look at the cross, I recognize it is a scene that we think about that produces tremendous comfort, and it does, the eternal comfort of salvation. But, you know, the cross and what happened to the cross was not warm and fuzzy in a sense. In a sense, it was gloriously loved. But the cross was an ugly scene, my friends. The cross was a filthy scene. On the cross, Christ was stripped naked and he was whipped and brutalized and blood flowed from him and they didn't even recognize him as such. Isaiah 50 speaking of him said his face was so marred more than any man. They jerked the hair of his face out, blood flowing. And the Roman soldiers were having a fun day. They're gambling over his clothes to see who gets his clothes. And they're mocking him. And the priests are just throwing it in his face and saying, if you're really the Christ, show us, prove it to us. Come on down. You're the Savior. You can save others. Save yourself. It was an ugly scene. It was a wretched scene. And then the earth got dark. In the middle of the day, it was dark. on the earth. And Jesus cried out, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Words that he had never, ever uttered and words that those who he was dying for will never have to utter because the father turned his back on his son on the cross as he was bearing sin. Now, why was that necessary? You know why? It's because of us, because of us. You say, if I'd been there, I would have stood right next to Jesus. I would have been all the way there. But you know what? That's not true. In a sense, it was you and I insulting Jesus. Not really, but in a sense, that's what we would have done. In our rotten flesh, our sinfulness, we would have mocked him. We would have been the one thief on the cross who's there dying himself. And in this dying moment, he can find nothing better to do than to mock the Lord of glory himself. The reality is this, is that you and I are that bad. You and I are that bad that it took the cross of Jesus Christ to redeem us and bring us to salvation. Romans chapter 3 verse 10 is more than just a good memory verse to prove that we believe in total depravity. Do you believe Romans 3 10 about you? The Bible says this in Romans 3 10, there is none good, no, not one. Verse 23 says, for all that would include all of us here today, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Do you believe that about you? Do you believe it's true? No. I'm a good person. I'm sure I make some mistakes, but deep down, I would never do some of the things that some people on the news do. Deep down, I'm better than most folks. And hopefully we are living a better life if God's spirit has come into our hearts. But naturally speaking, without Jesus, without grace, without the work of the Holy Spirit, it's true of you and it's true of me. We are not good people. I read it in Romans 5 this morning in our scripture reading. In due time, when we were without strength, Christ died for the nice folks. Is that what it says? Christ died for the people who mostly had it together. Christ died for the people who lived on the right side of the tracks and had their life more arranged. No, it says Christ died for the ungodly. Oh, friends, to really appreciate the gospel, you've got to see, I've got to see, I in myself am an ungodly person. I, myself, am a sinful person. I am a failure. I've fallen short of God's glory and of his honor. Only then, only then will we really love the gospel. Only then will we really love Jesus, when we can see what he saved us from. If all Jesus came to do was to help some people who are slightly flawed improve some of their flaws, if that's all he came to do, why worship him so much? Why praise him so much? What Jesus came to do is what he did. Let's take a ruined, failing people, ungodly people, filthy people, sinful people, and make them perfect in the eyes of God. Make them complete. Make them beautiful to God. Make them holy to God. Make them redeemed from God. Make them clean in God's sight. The Revelation says, Unto him that loved us and watched us, from our sins in his own blood. And we who were dirty, he made clean. We who were guilty, now because of Jesus, the father says, not guilty, innocent, justified, not condemned. Now, because of Jesus, we stand forgiven, free from the from the payment of our sins, because Jesus has paid it all. You see, the cross reminds us who we really are. So how can I glory? How can I boast? I want people to look at me when I fit into the Romans 3.10 category. I want them to say, no, y'all look at him. Look at him. Is there anything good in me that came from him? Because I'm the Romans 3.10. I've been one of the none good, no, not one. I'm not going to boast in something so trivial. Praise God, I got the employee of the month. I want to get the employee of the month. I want to do well. I want to be excellent. I want to glorify God. I get it. Thank you, God. Thank you. I got it. Don't let me glory in that. That's just a temporary. That's for the month. Jesus saved me for eternity. He brought me everlasting salvation. I'm going to sit here and think I'm better than the guy down the road. I'm going to sit here and think, boy, look at all that I've accomplished. And perhaps I have been diligent and I should be diligent. I should be faithful. I should be obedient. We must be in light of the cross. But, oh, God, instead of comparing myself with others and congratulating myself on how far I've advanced, I just praise you because anything good in me has all come from the cross ultimately. My brothers and sisters, may we glory, may we boast and may we do it. May we really boast in the cross. He doesn't say if you're going to boast. No, he says, I'm going to boast. It's just not in myself. It's just not in what I've done. It's just not in what I've accomplished. I'm going to brag. I'm going to boast in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because without the cross, no eternal life. Without the cross, a life of vanity and ruin. Listen, if we're not covered by the blood, our lives, no matter how impressive to the world they may be, no matter how many accolades we may attain from the world, it's all vanity and waste and ruin and useless in the grand scheme of things. But if we've been redeemed, our lives count for the glory and the honor of our God. If we've been justified, if we've been forgiven, if we've been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, our lives are no longer just something vain and useless. But our lives count. for God's glory, for His kingdom and for His honor. Without the cross, there's no forgiveness. Without the cross, there's no victory over death. Death wins. Sin wins. Without the cross, all that's true. But with the cross, because of the cross, all doing, all owed to the cross of Christ, God's people are forgiven, justified, have victory over death, have eternal life. Have the gifts now of faith, of repentance, of living a life of righteousness. All of those things, why we trace them back to what Paul said here, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Part of our problem with pride is that we're trying to find significance somewhere. We're trying to find significance somewhere. Some people join social groups just to find significance. And then they feel like they're worth something now because I have a group of friends, we have these common interests. So now I've got significance. Some people seek to find significance in their accomplishments. They can never do enough. It's always the next thing. I've got to get the next whatever because that's where my significance lies and what I've done and all the accomplishments I've got. But you know what the cross tells us? Here's where our significance is. Our significance is that we are found as being identified as the sons of God. That's our significance. That's our identity. That's our identity. That's what gives us worth and value is that we are owned by God as being his children. What gives us worth, what gives us significance is that we are friends of Jesus Christ. that our identity is in Him, that we're actually, the scripture says, in union with Christ. Like a husband and a wife, we're united, we're bound, we're connected, we have a union with Jesus Christ. So the next time you're tempted to think, well, I've got to find some significance. I've got to keep up with what everybody else is doing so that I'll look good and I'll have the appearance and all these things that we chase after. You say, wait a second. Hold on. If God accepts me, if God calls me His child, I need to have all the approval of everybody else around me. I've got to keep up with all the stuff so I can look good. Is that really where it's at? No. See, it's freeing. It frees us to live, to live a life of pursuing Him free from these things because of what He's done for us. Jeremiah chapter nine goes along with this. Our remedy is the cross of Christ, glorying in the cross, boasting in the cross. Our remedy is seeing those things which really are valuable. Jeremiah chapter 9. I love this verse, one of my favorites for a long time. It's what they call, some people call a life verse. It really is a verse to build your life on. Jeremiah 9, verse 23. Thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in his riches. All those things we can see. The person who has power, the person who has a title, they're mighty, they glory in that, they boast in that. The person who has great wisdom, great knowledge, great entertainment, they glory in that. Look at all that I know. The person who has wealth, they can be tempted to glory in that. This makes me more valuable. This makes me better than others. This sets me farther ahead on the road than most other people are. But God says, the word of the Lord says, don't glory in those. temporary things. He says, But let him that gloryeth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord, which exercise love and kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, saith the Lord. My brothers and sisters. Everyone here today, if we truly know the Lord. Not just know about him, not just going to name off some facts about him, but if we have eternal life in the sense that Jesus spoke it in John 17, where he said, this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ who now has sent. If we know our God in a living relationship and he has revealed himself to us, If He's taken the blinders off of our eyes, given us eyes to see Him and know Him and love Him as the God who is a God of love and kindness towards us, then you've got something to glory in. Think about it. You go outside this morning, a beautiful fall morning. You see the sun shining, the leaves turning. It's a beautiful, beautiful day. Think, wait a second. I know the one who made all that. But he knows me most importantly. I know the one who formed all that. He calls me. He's my father. I mean, he loves me. He gives me his word. He gives me promises. I've got something to glory in. I know the Lord. I'm forgiven. I've got God's spirit in my heart. Praise be to his name. That's what I have to glory in. That's what I have to glory in. Well, what other remedy can we look at? to help us to overcome our pride. And hopefully we'll look more at this next week. The Lord being willing. So the first Corinthians chapter four, we have a principle here that is so powerful to overcome our pride. So first of all, look at the remedy of the cross, of what Christ has accomplished, of boasting in the cross, of of glory and knowing God. And here in first Corinthians chapter four, to give a little background, a reminder of the church at Corinth. You remember, they were a church that had a lot of problems, a lot of problems, serious problems. But they were also a very gifted church. In chapter one, Paul spoke to the church and said, you come behind no church in gifts. This church was a very gifted assembly. Even back in the days where they had the gifts of tongues and the gifts of healing and miracles, all these various gifts of that age, this church was chock full of spiritual gifts. And that was a blessing, obviously, but also they kind of turned it to a curse. Because many of them began to boast in the gifts that they had. And even later on in 1 Corinthians 12, when he's talking about the church being a body, remember that he said the hand, I'm paraphrasing, but one member of the body can't say to the other, I don't need you. As if the hand was saying to the foot, I don't need you. But no, Paul made the point in 1 Corinthians 12 that every member of the body had value. But they had a problem with boasting. They had a problem with their status. Look at me, I've got the gift of tongues. You only have the gift of hospitality or something like that. I've got a great gift. In 1 Corinthians 13, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, oh, I'm very gifted. If I don't have charity, I'm nothing. I become a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Though I have the gift of prophecy, though I understand all mysteries, I've got a lot of knowledge. I know more than you people. But I have not charity. It profits me nothing. So they obviously had a problem with pride. They were lifted up in the things that they'd received, even from God's hands. They were even getting to the point where they were boasting in preachers. I'm a preacher, but God's Word says that anyway. You're supposed to honor your preachers. I enjoy that. I like that. We're supposed to respect those who lead us. Oh, but do you know that preacher worship crosses the line, doesn't it? This is my guy over here. This is the one I follow. Well, they were beginning to fight over preachers. One said, I'm with Paul. I'm with him. He's my guy. Another one said, no, I'm with Apollos. He's my guy. He's a better preacher than Paul. Others said, I don't need any preachers. I'm with Jesus. I'm with Jesus. They had a problem with pride. Well, in 1 Corinthians 4, in verse 6, I'll start reading there. Paul says, And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes, that you might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. And then here's verse 7, For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? Let's just say for a minute that somebody were to give me a mansion. They built it with their hands, they paid for it, and they gave me a mansion. And people would come to visit me in my new mansion and I'd say, do you like the house I built? Yes, it took a lot of work, but I've really grown in my house building skills and I'm a good architect and I can make the plans and look at what I've done. People look at me and say, what are you doing? You didn't build the house. This generous person gave you the house, but you're acting as if you built the house yourself with your own skill and with your own ingenuity. What are you doing? Paul says, who makes you differ from another? What do you have that you did not receive? Now, Paul's talking here in the realm of spiritual gifts, but I believe the principle can apply to many things. Let's say that you're a person of tremendous intelligence, that you just are. You're just a person of great intelligence, more so than others perhaps around you. So, the temptation is to despise people with less intelligence around you and to glory in your intelligence, glory in your attainments. Quick question, who gave you that intelligence? Who gave you that intelligence? Let's say that you're a person who is naturally talented at sports, and you can do it well. You can play ball well, and you can do it so well that you're going to get the big head and think, man, look at all these little pretenders around me. Look at what I've done. Who gave you the talent? Who gave you the hand-eye coordination? Who made you not? Bowleg, you know, you can move around and get it done. Let's go to spiritual things. We might say, look at all these lost people around here. I tell you what, this world is so sinful. These people don't have a clue. They're living for themselves. They're not living for God. They are rejecting Jesus. And all those are serious things and we ought to care about those things. Oh, but you know them. We have to ask ourselves, wait a second, what makes me to differ from them? It's not that they're victims, they're wrong, they're sinful, they're to be called to repentance or to be preached to and prayed for. But what made me to differ from another? Why is it that you believe the gospel? Why is it that your eyes have been opened? Why is it that your heart hungers and thirsts after righteousness, but perhaps one of your family members doesn't care? Was it because you were naturally better? Was it because you just were born in this world more of a spiritual person? You're more attuned to God by nature. We all know that's not true, don't we? Not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Why is it that we love the Lord? Why is it we've been bought to believe upon him? The cause of God's mercy is something that we received, something that we were given by God. Somebody said, well, that doesn't apply to me because I've worked. I wasn't naturally smart, but I worked at it. And I developed my career or whatever it may because I worked and it was me that did this. Don't try to take that and give it to God. That's me. I worked hard for that. Oh, my brothers and sisters. Who gave you the breath every morning? Who gave you the ability every morning? who spared you from perhaps a car wreck that would have ended your life or injured you where you couldn't continue in your career. It all goes back ultimately to the mercy and the grace of God. You see, a proud spirit does not breed thanksgiving. A proud spirit does not breed thanksgiving. A humble spirit breeds thanksgiving because a humble spirit recognizes the source of all these blessings. The humble spirit says, it wasn't me. If I had gotten anywhere, I may have worked hard, I should have worked hard. But ultimately, it all goes back to the grace of God. Ultimately, it all goes back to his mercy and his goodness to me. Without his provision, without his promise, without his grace, I would not have made any of these attainments. But it all goes back to the Lord. A humble spirit breeds a thankful spirit. It breeds a thankful spirit. Who maketh thee to differ one from another? One person may say, I have more knowledge because I've studied God's word more. I've borne more fruit than many people. The question is this, or the statement is this, you should have. We should have. We should have. Jesus said, when you've done all the things I've told you to do, you're still just unprofitable servants. You've simply done what your master has told you to do. Sometimes we speak of, in God's service, somebody going above and beyond the call of duty. In a sense, there's a place for that. But you know, in another sense, we can never go above and beyond the call of duty of service to our Savior. The Lord has been so good to me, we sing. What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me? And if we haven't done as we should, if we haven't been as diligent and faithful as we ought to be, then we ought to repent. And say, I want to follow the good example of those who've done it. I want to love this Savior who has been so faithful to me, who's been so generous to me that I want my life to be lived for His glory. And if I do grow and I must, I should grow. I want glory in that. I give thanks for that. I boast in Him. Anything good in me all ultimately goes back to the Lord. But do you know that human nature will not have that? Human nature won't have that. I've got to have some credit. I'm going to have some credit for something good I've done, whether it be for my salvation or even for my sanctification. I'm going to hang on to something I can boast in. No, it all goes back to the grace of God. Paul would say, God forbid I would glory in anything, not even in my obedience. I want to glory in what produced the obedience, ultimately, which is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. A humble spirit. A humble spirit prohibits us from glorying as if we have not received the things that we've received. A humble spirit prohibits us from despising those who've not come along, perhaps as we think as far as they ought to have come. John Newton. Some of you've read the booklet that I passed around here a little while back. John Newton was a scoundrel. It's hard to really describe how hateful a person he was. And he admitted it. He hated everybody. Everybody hated him. He was a hateful, awful, wretched person. We all are, but I'm not saying he showed it. He lived it out. He lived it out. And then grace reached him. Grace, amazing grace reached him. That's why he wrote it. This man was changed. He became a preacher. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds, the hymn that we sung this morning, just full of Christ. And this man was a godly man, used to the Lord abundantly. John Newton was also a very compassionate man. William Cooper, who wrote the hymn God Moves in Mysterious Ways, was a troubled soul. William Cooper struggled with depression. He struggled with he just he had a very privileged life and he didn't have to do anything. He should have been doing something. That was part of the problem. He just sat there and did nothing. He was in a wealthy family. He had a very just he was a tough guy. He was a tough person to deal with. But you know what? John Newton had compassion on William Cooper. He took Cooper under his wing and Cooper actually lived with Newton for a time. And even later, Newton would write him letters and would encourage him. And Cooper wrote many of those hymns because Newton said, all right, today we're going to write a hymn. You're going to write a hymn today. And Cooper had a lot of Bible knowledge, so he would sit down, he would make him do something to write a hymn. He would take Cooper with him to go visit people, shut-ins and sick people. You're coming with me. You're going to go with me. And Cooper didn't like visits. He was kind of a shy guy. No, you're coming with me. John Newton could have said, what is wrong with you? I mean, you are a privileged person. Look at me. I'm not in the dumps all the time. I'm not depressed all the time. Get with it, Cooper. But no, John Newton knew what it was to receive grace. And so he dispensed grace. to a person who wasn't really pleasant to be around. He dispensed grace to somebody who didn't have it all together, to somebody who struggled. But John Newton gave him grace. Why? Because he received grace and that made him humble. That made him humble to see what he had received, and therefore he gave it to others. Our remedy to overcoming pride, one of our remedies is recognizing where we have been blessed from, recognizing it didn't come from ourselves. but has ultimately come from God. Ultimately come from God. God hates pride. He does. It's repulsive to Him. And we ought to repent of our pride in the many ways that it manifests itself in our lives. But you don't do it just in your own strength, in your own figuring it out. One of the remedies, the remedy is the cross of Jesus Christ. Not only that it has removed our guilt, but also as we look at the cross, no matter, that's who I am. That was because of me. That was because of me. So therefore, I'm humble. How can I glory with the sinner that I am? But I also boast in the cross because in the cross of Christ, blessings are brought to me that really matter, not the trivial things of the earth like status and applause of men and all these different things. We have a remedy for pride in recognizing where the blessings have come from. Who maketh thee to differ one from another? May it produce within us humility and thanksgiving to God and praise to God, compassion and love to others. Let us bow. Our Father, I pray today that your Holy Spirit has been at work. And I pray that he would continue to be at work in our hearts, because we know that overcoming pride is not a one time thing, it's a life journey. to battle against our pride. Just as with fear, Lord, we'll still have fearful thoughts. We'll still have proud feelings, but help us to battle those by the cross of Christ. Help us to battle those by the truth of your word. Make us more and more a people that reflect humility, that reflect gratitude. Father, we know that on the outside, perhaps we can fool people. But we know that you see past our Sunday bests and you see right into our hearts. And so we pray that you would create within us, as David said, a clean heart of God and renew a right heart within us. That we may be a people who praise not ourselves, but praise you. For we ask it in Jesus' name and amen.