Join us now for the chapel hour, coming to you from the campus of Bob Jones University. Our speaker is Dr. Randy Yagley, Chairman of the Division of Bible at BJU. The title of his message is, Be Instructed, God Judges Pride. The text is from Isaiah chapter 14, verses 1 through 21. Quiz time. What is the singularly most deleterious character quality you can manifest. Question number two. What is the root of all sin? What is the one sin that is the root of all others? OK, somebody say the one word answer. Pride. Very good. You got 100 on that quiz. Turn, if you would please, with me to Isaiah 14. Pride is, in fact, the root sin from which all others stem. In Genesis three, five, we have the record of Satan's lying inducement to Eve, quote, For God knows in the day you eat from it. Speaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil from which God has said you must not eat for God knows in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. And ever since Adam and Eve fell, mankind has been seeking to make itself like God, to elevate the human condition and experience to the same level of deity. And in this redefinition of what is good and evil, good ends up being what makes me feel good, what makes me look good in the eyes of others. What brings me ease and pleasure and evil becomes anything that tries to circumvent the previous good. Mankind is out simply to seek its own way, but we're going to see in our passage today that someday God is going to deal with pride. Mark it down. He goes on record as predicting exactly what's going to happen to a proud person. In fact, in Isaiah 14, we meet up with the proudest person who will ever live. He is, in a way, pride incarnate. And it's no wonder he is like that since he is the bogus counterfeit of humility incarnate. So within the book of Isaiah, the concept of pride is quite important. The theme of the book of Isaiah is the holy one of Israel judges the proud who rebel against him, but saves the humble who trust him. And so there's this wide contrast between pride and humility in the book. Humility is seen in the life of the servant of the Lord, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapters 42, 49, 50, 52, 13 to 53, 12. They all present to us humility incarnate. But in chapter 14, we see the direct polar opposite of that humility. The proudest person who will ever live. And here's the thesis we want to consider this morning. Be instructed. God judges pride. First of all, we want to note that God warns us about coming judgment on pride so that we will repent today. That's always why God gives us prophecy so that we will know what's coming in the future in order that it might have an effect in our lives right now. Now, let's take a look at the wider context of our passage in Isaiah 14. Let's note in chapter 13 and chapters 13 and 14 basically comprised one unit. In 13 six Isaiah says, how will he for the day of the Lord is at hand? It shall come as destruction from the Almighty. And then Isaiah goes on to describe the massive outpouring of the wrath of God during this future time that we know of as the seven year tribulation period, just before Christ comes again to establish his rule and reign on Earth. A time in the future when God has had enough with the stinking pride of man and he will allow it no longer. Now, in this time period, notice Isaiah 14, one tells us this. For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob. and will yet choose Israel and set them in their own land. And the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob and the people shall take them and bring them to their place. And the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids. And they shall take them captives whose captives they were, and they shall rule over their oppressors. A time of tremendous blessing and peace for Israel. A time that has never been in all of human history, but will be. This is a time at the end of the tribulation period when Christ returns in glory and saves his people from the wrath of the person we're about to be introduced to in the rest of chapter 14. So who is this person? Commentators basically have suggested any one of four individuals. The first suggestion here is that this is speaking of Satan. Now, I reject that interpretation, mainly because this person is a king. He rules a mighty empire. He has a body. His body is killed and strewn out of the tomb onto the ground. He dies, he goes to He goes to show all the place of the wicked dead and they mock him. This is not Satan. Directly, we'll see this individual is greatly empowered by Satan, but the direct reference is not to Satan himself. The other possibility is that this is one particular king of Babylon. Some suggest Nebuchadnezzar and a whole host of other possibilities. But remember, this is going to take place in the future. This is not a king of Babylon who has already lived. The third possibility is that this is simply a personification of Babylon's pride and doesn't refer to any one particular individual. Well, that's possible, but I think the person that best fits the bill here is the Antichrist himself. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 13, just for a brief moment. And we're going to see what is going to characterize the Antichrist in terms of his monumental pride. Revelation chapter 13, look at verse two. And the beast which I saw. Was like unto a leopard and his feet were as the feet of a bear. and his mouth is the mouth of a lion and the dragon. There's Satan gave him his power and his seat and great authority. Verse four and they worship the dragon, which gave power unto the beast and they worship the beast, saying who is like unto the beast. And who is able to make war with him? Notice the dragon gives his power, his authority to the beast. Now, look what the beast does with his power and authority, verse five, there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and power was given unto him to continue 40 and two months, three and a half years, the last half of the tribulation period. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. It was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. An immensely powerful individual with an immensely arrogant tongue, And that is the individual we see portrayed here in Isaiah chapter fourteen. Now notice in verses three and four back in Isaiah fourteen again in that it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord will give you rest from your sorrow and from your fear and from the hard bondage that was made to serve. that thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon." Here is the Antichrist. He rules a system called Babylon. Babylon, the fount of all prideful rebellion against God. Babylon, the fount, the source of all false religion through all time. Now we have the ruler of this wicked end time system and God's people in this day when Christ rescue rescues them from this individual are said to take up this proverb. Now, what is a proverb? Well, it's a condensed truth that's meant to instruct us and to warn us now of the consequences of what's coming in the future. So when one reads the book of Proverbs, Solomon is instructing his sons. Sons, watch out for certain things. Make sure you stay away from this and this. Make sure you embrace this and this and this. It will produce great blessing for you if you will listen to my condensed truth. That's what God is doing for us as we study this passage. It is to instruct and warn us now. about the fact that the day is coming. When God is going to deal with pride, so the Lord is in treating us deal with pride in your life now. Next thing we want to see is God brings the proud person down the way the Lord manifests his holiness, the incomparable distinctive greatness of the infinite perfections of his character. is to bring down all those who try to exalt themselves to his level. How does God do this? How does God bring down the proud? First of all, by removing his ability to afflict others in life. Look at verse six. This Antichrist is described as he who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke. He that ruled the nations in anger Modern English version says, which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes, which subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution. This proud individual has done his dead level best to make everyone's life around him totally miserable, worse than miserable. Wretched. Always fearing death. Everything about this proud individual has been nothing but disaster for everyone who is around him, everyone who dwells in the whole world, because this individual has worldwide authority and power from the devil himself. Have you ever noticed that proud people are a continual grief to everyone around them? One time I knew a girl named Susie. She sat where you sit. Susie, by the way, not her real name, met a fellow named Fred, not his real name. But Fred, I had an opportunity to meet him when they were dating and I thought to myself, you know, that man is so full of himself, it's almost nauseating. Fred was big man on campus. Fred was a preacher boy. He was in the ministerial class. And any time you got around him, he didn't care how you were doing. All he cared about was how you knew how God was using him and what a great ministry he was having and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, future plans. I mean, Fred was going to let you know how he was going to be the greatest thing that God had ever allowed men to experience. Unfortunately, Susie married Fred. Fred flitted from one ministry to another, never stayed very long in one place, probably because his people couldn't stand him in that place. Soon he was involved in an organization that brought humanitarian relief in order to preach the gospel in places that people couldn't normally get into. Not too much later, Susie found out that Fred had established an entirely separate life in a South American country with a woman he was living with That woman did not know he was married. Susie found out about it. The mission board found out about it. Everybody started remonstrating with Fred to no avail. Susie divorced Fred. You'd think that would be the end of it, wouldn't it? But Fred went after Susie. Fred was ordered by the state where they lived to pay Susie alimony and child support. They had four kids. Fred spent a fortune hiring high-priced lawyers to keep from paying Susie a cent. He got a job in which he earned a lot of money, but he would not pay his wife anything. Susie even had the experience, she thinks, of having to fend off a hitman that Fred had hired to try to kill her. You talk about a proud individual who made this woman's life absolutely miserable. That's what a proud person will do to everyone around him. By the way, ladies, if you sense pride in the person that you are dating right now, I would dump him like a bad habit. And I mean that in all sincerity. Well, not only does God remove the ability of the proud person to affect others while he lives, God brings the proud person down by making him the object of ridicule in his death. Look with me, if you would, please, first of all. God brings ridicule for the proud person in weakness, ridicules his weakness. Look at verse nine. Of chapter 14. Says hell, that's our word for show. That's our word show all the place where wicked dead people dwell after death. Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming. It stirreth up all the dead for thee, even the chief ones of the earth. It hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy vials. The worm is spread unto thee, and the worms cover thee. Oh, yeah, the great man who used to shake the nations. Now he's being mocked by people in another world. Now, instead of being clothed with the finest royal garments. He's covered with worms, weak. Unable any longer to afflict anyone simply The result are the object of ridicule. Next, we want to see that ridicule in death brings humiliation. Verses 12 through 17. How are thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? You say, hey, wait a minute, isn't Lucifer a name of the devil? You said this wasn't the devil directly. Now it even calls him Lucifer. How do you explain that? Well, I'm glad you asked that question. All right. Now, Lucifer was the translation that Jerome made in his translation of Hebrew to Latin in the Vulgate right around the turn of the fourth or fifth century B.C. And he translated the Hebrew term, which means bright, shining one. He translated it with a term Lucifer. Guess what Lucifer means in Latin? Light bearer, bright, shining one. Now, what ended up happening was certain church fathers got the idea that verses 12 and following were talking about the devil, and so they ended up calling the devil Lucifer. But the Hebrew word simply means a light bearer. How are you falling from heaven, a light bearer, son of the morning? How are thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations for thou said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. Now, we don't have the time to go into all that is contained in verses 2 through 14. But suffice it to say that there is a there is reference here to a large corpus of ancient Near Eastern mythology in which a lesser God attempts to usurp the position of a far more powerful God and ends up being not just put in his place, but being brought down to complete destruction. You might say, well, why would Isaiah use pagan mythology to mock this person, this proud person? The answer is Isaiah is not quoting the mythology to endorse its theological content. He's doing it because these were well known literary concepts in the ancient Near East, and he took them and he applied them now to the most proud pagan person who would ever live. And in so doing, uses pagan mythology to mock the worst pagan who will ever live. Notice as well, verse 14, this one says, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high. Notice, however, the humiliation that God will bring against this individual. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee and consider thee saying, is this the man that made the earth to tremble that did shake kingdoms that made the world as a wilderness and destroyed the cities thereof that opened not the house of his prisoners, Is this the one God has brought him down very low? Now, the final way that God ridicules the proud person in death is to bring him dishonor. Look at verse 18. All the kings of the nations, even all of them lie in glory, everyone in his own house. That house is a tomb. All the kings have ornate tombs, but bow are cast out of by grave. Like a rejected branch, a branch that looked to the vine dresser like it had no hope of being agriculturally productive. And so it simply pruned and cast away. As the raiment of those that are slain thrust through with a sword that go down to the stones of the pit as a carcass trodden under feet. Thou shalt not be joined with him in burial because thou has destroyed the land and slain thy people. The seed of evil doers shall never be renowned. Prepare slaughter for his children, for the iniquity of their fathers. That they do not rise nor possess the land nor fill the face of the world with cities. God is going to bring this person so far down, he'll not have any posterity to carry on his pride. nor his prideful rule. He will be completely destroyed and forgotten, and his challenge to lift himself up to the level of God Himself will be dealt with irrevocably and irresistibly and eternally. Now, you ask yourself the question, If this is a proverb that is meant to instruct me now, what does this have to do with me? I've never tried to exalt myself above the throne of God. I've never tried to be like God, have I? And that's the question we need to answer as we close with the application of the passage. How is it that you and I can actually attempt to set ourselves and make ourselves like God? Stop and think for a moment. How can a human being do that? Could a believer do that? Just think, what is your attitude about the control of God in your life? What is your attitude about the Word of God? How long has it been since you have personally availed yourself of getting into the Word of God for yourself with the attitude, Lord, anything you show me today, I will do. I will submit myself to the control of the Holy Spirit through the Word. I'm taking my hands off my life I want to be directed by the Holy Spirit through the Word, and anything you show me today in your Word, if I have sinned against that, I will confess it. I will humble myself before you, and I will yield myself to you for whatever your purpose is for me. Is that your attitude? Or is your attitude, I pick the major I'm in because I wanted to pick it. I'm going to find a person to marry because I picked him or her. I'm not leaving this up to the Lord why the Lord might stick me with somebody I wouldn't like. When it comes to my future career, I am the master of my own ship. I'm going to pick what I'm going to do, and I don't really frankly care what God's will is for me. You see, we can be like God when we fail to submit ourselves to the control of God through the Holy Spirit as He uses His Word in our lives. That is a clear and present danger for each one of us here today. To take control of things I want to do, what I want to be, what I should say, what I should think rather than submitting ourselves to the Word of God. The antidote to pride is to gaze into the Scripture and see there the self-revelation of who God really is. And when we understand how great He is, We understand how far short of His holiness and glory we really do fall. And we understand how far into sin man really has degenerated, and we see the need for confession, the need for being in the Word, the need for ranking ourselves appropriately as we view the majesty of God in His Word. And then we can do exactly what James chapter four says to do. Turn it with me, please, in closing to James chapter four. We close with this passage, James four, seven. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw an eye to God and he will draw an eye to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. You see, the way up for the believer is the way down. The way up is the way of humility. It's a lifelong process of making sure we're under the control of the Holy Spirit through His Word. How is it with you today? Are there elements of pride in your life that you need to confess so that you have no part with a kind of massively arrogant individual we have encountered today in Isaiah 14? This passage ought to instruct us, be warned. God is going to deal with pride. Let's pray. Our Father, we're thankful for Your instruction. We're thankful that You have warned us ahead of time about what happens to arrogant people. We're thankful that our Savior was humility personified For our sakes, He was willing to humble Himself and to become obedient to the point of death. Now you have exalted Him and glorified Him and set Him at your right hand. Help us to model our lives after our saviors and to look forward to the time when we join Him in honor and glory because we love Him. and want to serve Him. The Chapel Hour has been sponsored by Bob Jones University.