All right, I want you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Proverbs chapter
29. Proverbs 29. I'd like to look at verses 22 and 23. Proverbs
29. Verse 22, an angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious
man aboundeth in transgression. A man's pride shall bring him
low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. I'd like to
speak for a few minutes on these verses, and I've entitled this
message, Upheld by God's Honor. Last part, verse 23, honor, but
honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. Now, I'd like to look
at three things out of these two verses. I'd like to see the
attitude of all men being born in Adam. This is attitude of
all men born in Adam. Secondly, I'd like to see the
root cause of that attitude. And then thirdly, is required
of God, that any sinner might be delivered from what we all
deserve because of a bad attitude. Now, number one, the natural
attitude of all men born in Adam toward God. natural attitude
of all men born in Adam toward God. And I'm gonna just say this
up front. This is an attitude that all
of us are gonna continue to have until we leave this world. Verse
22. Here's our absolute natural attitude
toward God. Anger. Anger. Man, by nature, turn with
me to Ephesians two, hold your place there. Ephesians chapter
two, verses one and two, sets forth. I've always said, if I
can't prove this to you in the scriptures, I don't have any
business saying anything. If I can't prove something from
the scriptures, then it's not worth bringing up. Ephesians,
2 verses 1 to 3, and you hath he quickened who were dead in
trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in
time past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of Wrath, even as others. We're all children, angry. That's what back in Proverbs
29, 22, anger, to be enraged or wrath,
wrath. Now, what does this attitude
of anger. What does it do? Well, the scripture
says, an angry man stirreth up strife. An angry man has a spirit
of quarreling. He's got a spirit of brawling. That's what it means. A contest. Mr. Webster defines strife as
that state or condition of distrust or enmity. What is the carnal
mind? It's enmity against God. As I
was reading these passages of scripture right here, here's
what I try to do every time I look at a passage of scripture. I'm
going, I'm looking for Christ. I'm looking for the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ in that passage. I'm looking for his
honor, I'm looking for his praise, I'm looking for his glory. And
so when I look at this, an angry man, and I know we're born with
that attitude. We're all children of wrath,
even as others. Now let me inform us all again
about something. That attitude has never changed.
The attitude with which we were born, this old man, the Apostle
Paul said, I see in me, that is in my flesh, There dwelleth
no good thing. The same attitude with which
we were born, that spirit of strife and anger, wrath toward
God, it hadn't changed. It's still
there. Somebody say, well, I can see
why somebody could get mad over something, be angry over some
insignificant offense, but can it be? that anger and strife
is still so ingrained even you mean even in the old man of a
believer that Christ's blood must continually
cleanse and cleanse and cleanse and cleanse that spirit of anger
and strife against God? You're talking about even in
me? In a believer? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. The scriptures declare
that this is the case. In ourselves, there's none righteous. We're all as an unclean thing. Go back and read Romans 7 again
and ask yourself this. When Paul was writing those things,
Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, Paul said, of
whom I'm chief. I'm the bottom of the barrel,
top of the rung, whichever way you wanna go. That's me. Now, I wanna prove this by the
scriptures. that this spirit of anger and
strife, that attitude of being mad and wrathful toward God,
even in that old man, and there's a battle that's going on right
here, I can tell you right now. There's a battle that's going
on because that new man and that old man don't agree on anything.
That new man, that new man loves God. That new man does not sin,
and that old man It's angry with God. Turn with me to Book of Jonah.
Hold your place right here in Proverbs. I wanna look in Book
of Jonah for a few minutes. I'm gonna just relate for the
sake of time. I'm gonna read a couple passages
out of chapter three, chapter four in Jonah, but Jonah was
a prophet called of God. God told him, he said, I want
you to go to Nineveh and preach to him. So Jonah decided that
what he would do, he'd buy him a ticket. Got him paid the fare
to go to a place named Tarshish. That's where Jonah wanted to
go. Well, they got out there in the water on the way to Tarshish,
God sent a storm. And looked like the boat was
gonna sink. And so these mariners that was
on that boat, they were doing all they can to try to keep that
boat afloat. Jonah, he admitted, he said,
this is because of me. This is me. The only way that
this boat's not going down, you throw me over. Well, they kept
rowing, trying to get, you know, they okay. We're going to throw
you over, because we're going down if we don't. They threw
him over. And the Lord sent a great fish. Another passage, it said
a whale. Jonah was found to be swallowed
by that whale. He was in the belly of a whale
three days and three nights. Now here was a prophet sent of
God, a prophet whose experience the Lord himself related while
he was on this earth. He said, here's the only sign
that you're gonna have. As Jonah was in the belly of
the whale three days and three nights, so shall the son of man
be in the belly of the earth three days, three nights. That's
the only sign that you're gonna get from me. Here was a man that knew God,
a man called of God, a man that God Almighty had commissioned
to preach the gospel. And the scripture says after
he was in that belly of that whale for three days, three nights,
God, God spoke to that fish and that fish vomited him up. It
was a mammal, but okay. He was a whale. He vomited Jonah
on the shore. And the scripture says, Jonah
chapter three, Verse 1-5, And the word of the Lord came unto
Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that
great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
So Jonah arose and went unto Nineveh according to the word
of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three
days' journey. And Jonah began to enter into
the city a day's journey. He cried and said, Yet forty
days in Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed
God. and proclaimed a fast and put
on sackcloth from the greatest of them even to the least of
them. And what was Jonah's response?
What was his reaction to God's mercy to this city? Rejoicing? Look at chapter four, verse one.
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly. And he was very angry. And he
prayed unto the Lord and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not
this my saying when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled
before unto Tarsus, for I knew that thou art a gracious God
and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and repentest
thee of this evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take I
beseech thee my life from me, for it's better for me to die
than to live. Then said the Lord, Doest thou
well to be angry? So Jonah went out with the city,
and set on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth,
and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would
become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a gourd,
and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over
his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding
glad of the gourd. But God prepared a worm when
the morning arose the next day, and it smoked the gourd that
it withered. And it came to pass, when the
sun did rise, that God prepared a vehement east wind, and the
sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted and wished in
himself to die, and said, it's better for me to die than to
live. And God said to Jonah, doest
thou well to be angry for the gourd? And I said, I do well
to be angry, even unto death. Then said the Lord, thou hast
had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored,
neither madest it grow, which came up in a night and perished
in a night, and should not I spare Nineveh, that great city wherein
are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between
their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle?" It was a man that knew God, and he was mad because God had
shown mercy to a group of people that Jonah didn't think deserved
the mercy of God. And the Lord asked him, do you
do well to be mad? He said, yeah. Yes, I do. I do. Brethren, if we did not have this marvelous
revelation of the remaining seed of rebellion found within every
one of us, we'd be hard-pressed to set forth that this point
is truly right, that it's with us, is what I mean. And it's
so. If you think that there's anything
that has ever changed within any of us concerning our old
man, read the book of Jonah and find out what are we by nature? We are rebels against God. Never
do we behold our need of mercy, mercy, than when we see something
of ourselves. Even after the Lord had shown
mercy to Jonah, delivering him, he didn't kill him in that belly
of that whale. He didn't suffocate him. He remained
alive. Even after God had delivered
him, he did strive against God's good pleasure to show mercy to
whomsoever he will. Jonah was angry, and strife was stirred up, and
this furious man abounded in transgression. Now that's what
the scripture says. Back in Proverbs 29, 22, an angry
man stirs up strife, a furious man aboundeth in Transgression. Let me ask you this. Here's my
second point. This is gonna be a real short
point. What is the cause of such anger, strife, and transgression?
What's the cause of it? Verse 23. Pride. Pride. A man's pride shall bring
him low. Pride, here again, I gotta look
these words up. I mean, you know, you ask somebody,
what does pride mean? Well, we know what it means.
I wanna know what scripture says it means. Here's what it means.
Majesty, heartiness, swelling, arrogance, rising up. Now, where
did that spirit come from? I'll tell you exactly where it
came from. No other place, but from Satan himself. the father
of all rebellion. Isaiah 14, 13, we've read this
so many times, but listen to what, this is what Satan said,
the scripture says, in his heart, and God heard him. You know,
we don't hide anything from God. I've often said, listen, whenever
you seek the Lord, enter into your closet in secret. Go ahead and be honest with God,
because he knows. Believe me, you're not hiding
anything from him. Here's what Satan said in his
heart. Thou hast said, Isaiah 14, 13. Thou said in thine heart,
I will ascend up to heaven. I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount
of the congregation of the sides of the north. And this is the
same attitude that we're all born with. and we all continue
to maintain in our old man. Like I said, it's not reformed. Whenever you see that reformed,
I always think to get a good idea of what somebody's talking
about when they say reformed, like somebody's in prison, you
know, well, he went to prison, he still, you know, and they
reformed him, he changed, he cleaned up his act. The old man
never cleans up his act. That old man's still there. He
has not changed. God's gotta give him a new man.
He creates a new man, created in righteousness and true holiness. Here is the attitude through
which, by which men are angry, strife is stirred up, and transgression
abounds. Pride, pride. I will, I will. In Proverbs 6, 16. This of the things that God hates,
here's the first one. A proud look. As if we're somebody. Lastly, what is required that
man might be delivered from what he deserves because of this attitude
right here. And we're all born with it. We
all got it. We all continue to maintain it
in our own man. Oh man, it's there. Just give it the right set of
circumstances and you're gonna see. Linda told me she's only seen
me really mad just a few times, but buddy, I'm telling you, I
got mad, I got mad, didn't I? I mean, I was mad. I'm telling you, I hide it well,
I do. Buddy, I'm telling you, a few
times it slipped out really well. And I knew just as soon as I
started talking, I've said way too much. But that anger is there. And really, the bottom line is
this, it's against God. And I'll tell you why. Every
time something comes up and somebody does something that angers me,
is ordering all these things. Who puts us in the situations
where we are? Who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will? And when the Lord orders something
and it makes me mad, it doesn't matter what the situation was.
It doesn't matter. Whatever it was, he worketh all
things. All things work together for
good to them. But I'm telling you, when that
certain set of circumstances come together, just like Jonah,
and it didn't go the way I thought it ought to go. I'm looking at
somebody and I'm saying I'm mad at them, but who am I mad at? Because God Almighty is ordering
these things. So really what I'm doing, and
it's just pride. It's all in his pride. So what
is required that I be delivered from what I deserve because of
what I am by nature. I'll tell you what is required.
That God honor himself, the Lord honor himself. Last part of the
23rd verse. But honor shall uphold the humble
spirit. Now, whose honor are we talking
about? Well, certainly not man, because
honor before God, and the word honor means splendor and glory. That's what it means. Before
God, no man born, no man, nobody born in Adam, before God in themselves
has got any splendor or glory acceptable to the Lord. We don't
have it. So this honor is none other than
the Lord's honor. God's honor. And how has the Lord been pleased
to bring honor to himself? I'm going to tell you, and then
I'm going to read a scripture to prove it. It's two sides of the same coin. He's going to destroy his own
enemies, his people's enemies, and he's going to save his people.
He's going to destroy their enemies, and save his people. That's how
God brings honor. Turn with me to Exodus 14. Exodus
chapter 14. I'm gonna try to wrap this up. Exodus 14. Israel was hemmed
up between the Red Sea and Pharaoh's army. Exodus 14. Standing there on a point called
Pi-Ha-Hi-Roth, right there on a point, There's the Red Sea,
here comes the Egyptians. Exodus 14, verse 11 to 18. Scripture declares, the Lord
shall fight for you, you shall hold your peace. And the Lord
said unto Moses, wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the
people, the children of Israel, that they go forward. But lift
thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea,
and divide it. And the children of Israel shall
go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I, behold,
I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow
them. And I will get me honor upon
Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know
that I am the Lord. when I have gotten me honor upon
Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. God's people
were between a rock and a hard place, and God was gonna bring honor
to himself. What's he gonna do? I'm gonna
open up the Red Sea for you, and you're gonna pass over, and
I'm gonna harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they're gonna
follow you, and I'm gonna destroy them. The Lord brought honor,
glory, that's what the word means, glory unto himself by saving
his people and overthrowing their enemies. All the dire straits
that we're brought into, you think the day that The nation
of Israel ended up on that little point of land right there. You
think that was just bad luck? You think God didn't deliver
them to that place? That he might bring honor to
himself in saving them? They weren't gonna save themselves.
They were either gonna drown or they were gonna get killed
by the Egyptians if left to themselves. That's what's gonna happen. But
the Lord would be honored and that we might remember when these
times come And I'm talking to myself. I need to remember that
when these times come, instead of questioning God, how in the
world can somebody be so silly, so foolish as to do something
like this and make me mad? Let me remember that the Lord
has ordered these things. that I might bow my heart in
submission unto him and say within my heart, it's good. The Lord has brought honor to
himself. What a glorious declaration of
hope set forth for sinners like us, all of us right here, that
God would bring honor to himself And listen, back in Proverbs,
last part, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. Almighty God has been pleased
to bring his people down, cause them to see something of themselves,
humble them. He shall uphold, that is, he
shall obtain, keep fast, help, and sustain. the ones that he's
humble. Leave me to myself and I'm gonna
be mad. Just ask the Lord. He said, would
you show me your glory? He said, I'm gonna have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy and I'll have compassion on whom I'll
have compassion. Anger. stirreth up strife. And I'm telling you, every time
something comes our way that doesn't seem to fit our sales,
and we get mad about it, that's nothing but that old man raising
his ugly head and acting just the way he acts because of his
nature. This is what I do. But honor. She'll uphold, she'll
sustain, she'll keep those that God's humbled. I pray God bless
this to our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen. All right, let's
take a break.