I'll ask you now to take your
Bibles and turn with me to the book of Proverbs, chapter 16. Proverbs, chapter 16. I'd like to read verses 18 and
19. Proverbs 16, verses 18 and 19. Better it is to be of a humble
spirit. No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Let
me read. I started in verse 19. Verse 18. Pride goeth before
destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to
be of a humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil
with the proud. That verse sets forth this truth. Arrogance. Lifting up of self. Swelling. Goeth before. Bursting. I'm giving the literal
interpretation. Affliction and a lofty, exalted
spirit before a fall, before a stumble. Better it is to be
of a humiliated, depressed, and abased spirit with the needy,
with the afflicted, with the brow beaten, than to be smooth
with and divide the spoiled, the booty, with the arrogant. Now this morning, I think we
do well to remember who penned these lines under the direction
of God's Spirit. It was a man named Solomon, a
man that Almighty God had raised up, made king. And you remember what Solomon
said when the Lord asked him, he said, what would you that
I should give you? And Solomon said that you'd give
me wisdom to judge your people. Who's sufficient for these things? And the Scripture says it pleased
the Lord. And the Lord gave him. what he
asked. Gave him wisdom. Gave him understanding. But the scripture says that in
time Solomon's heart was drawn away with many women. And Almighty God allowed this
man to do what he wanted to do. And in time, Almighty God, through
that man's frailty and rebellion, taught that man much of man by
nature. And Almighty God allowed this
man to pen these words after that man's heart was taken up. So while we read, I want to be
reminded myself and I ask you, pray that God give us understanding
concerning who we are in ourselves. Who we are in Christ. If the
Lord has been pleased to call us out of darkness and to remember
afresh the mercy of God, that Almighty God would not leave
a man or a woman to themselves. Pride. Pride goeth before. It's the face of. That's what
it means when it says before. If you want to know what the
face of impending destruction is, unless Almighty God shows
mercy, calls a man out of darkness, You want to know what the face
of destruction is? It's pride. Arrogance. Lifting up. Mr. Spurgeon made a few comments
on pride. And I thought they were real
helpful to me. I'll share a couple of them with
you. He said, that demon of pride was born with us and it will
not die One hour before us. We carry it. Nothing has changed
in the old man. It's there. He said, here we
are, the offspring of a day. Unclean things brought out of
an unclean thing. Children that are corruptors. The seed of evildoers. And what are we at best but mere
animated earth? And ere long we shall be brought
into that lowly bed where the worms shall be under us, and
the worms shall cover us, and we shall become a puff of wind,
a handful of brown dust, and now shall we glory. This was the sin of Adam. When
man fell in the garden, what happened was man listened to
the lie of Satan. Satan came to Eve and he said,
Have God said that you shall not eat of the fruit? She said,
Yeah. That's what God said. She said, God said that if we
eat, if we even touch it, she changed what God said. He said, we're going to die.
And Satan said, you're not going to die. If you eat of that fruit,
God knows that you're going to become as gods. And pride told
man that man would be as gods. Pride tells a man that he knows
more than God does. and that God cannot be trusted.
That's pride. That's the heart of pride. Of the six things listed in Proverbs
6, 17, 18 that God hates, the first one is a proud look. We think so little of this attitude
of pride, lifting up. And it's at the very heart, the
very source of all rebellion against God. Pride. I tell you, there's nothing more
that can be said of pride than that it is the reason of man's
absolute danger. What's the heart of man's danger? Pride. Pride. Pride is the evidence
of sin that shows a man as he's born in Adam to not trust God. The reason that any man, any
woman has not bowed to the absolute sovereignty, purpose, will of
Almighty God, pride. Pride. Man thinks he can. God tells him he cannot. Pride tells a man, you will. The Scripture says, you won't.
Man says, I don't believe you. Pride's got a man convinced.
God's not going to judge him. To not be content with God's
providence, to take matters into our own hands, Pride tells a
man that he's the source of his salvation, or at least he's got
his hand involved in it. He and the Lord is going to work
this thing out. But for the grace of God, we'll
all die in that state where pride rules and reigns. Pride is still
with us, but thanks be unto God, For those that the Lord has called
out of darkness, it doesn't rule. It has no dominion over. It's there. It's there. It's
not a person in this room this morning that doesn't struggle
with pride. Arrogance. We war against it
because we see it in us. But the Lord mercifully has given
His people a new nature. It strives against, wars against,
contends against. And they see it. And that's what
Paul is talking about. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? The body of arrogance. Isaiah
23.9, this is what the Scripture says God is going to do with
pride. The Lord of Hosts has purposed it to stain, to pollute
the pride of all glory, of all of man's thinking, Almighty
God is going to deal with and to bring into contempt all that
are honorable of the earth, or those that think themselves to
be. The Lord is going to deal with that penalty of pride, either in the
Lord Jesus Christ, or in a man or a woman. But He is going to
deal with it. It's going to be put down. The
Lord who rules in the army of heaven among the inhabitants
of the earth is purposed. And His purpose is going to stand.
He's going to obey. He's going to pollute. That's
what it means. Bring to nothing the pride of men and everything
that they're proud of. He's going to deal with it. He's
going to bring into contempt. That is, He's going to make light
of. when men stand before Him and confess what they've done. And that's it right there. Here's the evidence of pride.
Not all that say unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Many shall say to me in that
day, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your
name? Haven't we cast out demons in
your name? Haven't we done many mighty works in your name? Pride. Pride. A heart prepared to stand
before God and thinking that it's going to answer for itself.
Pride. The Lord is going to show what
all men are, either in this life or in the life to come. that
they're nothing. Without me, you can do nothing. Man is in his best state. Empty. Vain. Vanity. It's a fearful
thing. The fall of the hands of the
living God. Be arrogant. Go about like all
things well. Everything is fine. Pride, the
Scripture says, goeth before destruction. And a hearty spirit
before a fall. Well, that's man. That's man
as he's born in Adam. And that's just as truthful,
just as basic, just as down to earth as it's going to get. There's
not one good thing that can be said about man as he's born in
Adam. Not one good thing. He's a proud, arrogant rebel
against God. But better it is to be of a humble
spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoiled with the proud. There's something that the Scripture
reveals that's better. And oh, this is what I want to
hear right here. Tell me that which is better
Tell me of some hope. Give me some peace. Give me some
comfort. Better it is to be of a humble
spirit. To be made to understand myself. That's what humble is. Humility. To be made to understand what
I am. A believer has no problem with
the Scriptures telling him what he is by nature. He knows it.
A believer knows it. He knows what he is by nature.
Better to be brought down now, better to be of a humble or humbled
spirit with the lowly. It's better to be brought down
in my estimation of myself, to be brought down by the mercy
of God, than to stand before God with a spirit of pride. David said in Psalm 119.71, it's
good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn
thy statutes. There's not a believer that sits
here today that doesn't admit, I thank God that Almighty God
has shown me what I am by nature. That the Lord has shown me that
outside of Him, I have no hope that outside of Christ I am nothing
before God but a rebel. I thank God that I've been afflicted. Blessed Psalm 94.12 is the man
whom thou chasteneth. It's good that he's with me.
It's good that He's chasing me, O Lord, and teacheth Him out
of Thy law, that Thou mayest give Him rest from the days of
adversity until the pit be digged for the wicked." What a blessed
time it is to be able to come together and to be reminded afresh
what we are. We never tire of hearing what
we are by nature, because it paints and is the backdrop of
the glorious grace of Almighty God. Proverbs 3.12, Whom the
Lord loveth, he correcteth, even as a father of a son in whom
he delighteth. Listen, I've said so many times,
I've told you this. How many times have I told my
kids this? The evidence of love that a parent
has for the child is that they'll correct them. When that child
raises up that head of rebellion, and boy they do, get them. Get them. Tell them, say, listen,
I'm doing this for your good. I'm doing this because I love
you. I'm not going to let you talk to me like that. You're
not going to act like that. Fit your fit, I'm going to win. I told my kids that so many times.
I'm going to win. You're not going to win. I'm
going to win. You're going to lose. It may
take you a while, but you're going to lose. What a blessing
it is. Whom the Lord loveth, correcteth. Doesn't let them go. Don't let
them go. They're not going anywhere. One that expresses and evidences
the spirit of humility before God. That is, not looking to
self or self's ability to please God is a wonderful example of
God's chastening grace toward them. It's an evidence of the
Lord's mercy and preserving grace that God would keep them. Look
at Luke 18. Hold your finger right there.
Just look at Luke 18, verses 10-14. Luke 18, verse 10. You want to know the expression. The heart of one that has been
chastened by God. Here it is right there. Luke
18, verse 10. Two men went up into the temple to pray. One
a Pharisee, the other a Republican. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men
are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Republican. I
fast twice in the week. I pay tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar
off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but
smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather
than to the other. For every one that exalteth himself
shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
Of all the things that can be said of a humbled by the grace
of God, a humble spirit. And no man, I'll tell you this,
no man has the ability to humble himself. Only one humbled himself,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Only one made himself of no reputation. He did what you and I could never
do. We cannot do that. I'll tell
you what's going to happen. The moment I think that I've
humbled myself, I'm proud of it. I'm telling you, boy. Man, you talk about a humble
spirit. Man, I've got one. That's nothing but pride. A humble
spirit is a broken spirit. And it's only by the grace of
God. But you take a man, one that
Almighty God has truly brought down. That man is broken and
he stays broken. He stays like that. He's got
a spirit about him. He's just like that old publican
right there. God, be merciful to me. I don't even deserve to look
up. But Lord, You've had mercy on me. How much better, better
it is to be of a humble spirit, brought down, abased with the
lowly. Now here's the sweetness of this
passage right here. The lowly, I am so thankful that
I can be in the presence of God's people, those that have been
brought down. But to be in His presence, the one that made Himself
of no reputation, the one who truly humbled Himself, the lowliest
of all, the most humbled of all, who humbled himself, and the
Father saw the humility of the Lord Jesus Christ and said, that
is my beloved Son, and whom I am well pleased. You hear Him. He is the lowly. How much better
it is to be of a humble spirit with Christ,
with the lowly. Here's what the Lord said, Matthew
11, 29. Take my yoke upon you. You know, I have read that Scripture. I have read that Scripture and
read that Scripture. And I was going over my notes
yesterday. I thought, what was he truly
saying when he said that? I bet you've read that Scripture. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest
unto your souls. And it went through my mind.
What did he really mean when he said that? Take my yoke. Here's the heart of that, that
word yoke. Take my service. Take my obedience. Take my faithfulness. He who as the servant of Jehovah
in that everlasting covenant of grace yoked himself to our
nature Absolutely. But to our nature in obedience
to His Father, as our representative, as our federal head, as our elder
brother, as the husband of His people, the husband of the sheep,
take my service, take my obedience, He said, take my yoke upon you. Not what you've done. Not what
he's done. Not what you can do. What he
did. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. Understand. Understand. For I am meek and lowly in heart
and you shall find rest unto your souls. What I desperately
need is to be in agreement with. Yoked to. Yoked with. to Him to His obedience. To realize that His obedience
is imputed to me. That His righteousness is imputed
to me. That His faithfulness is imputed
to me. And to believe by faith when
I see myself in the frailty of myself. How often have I found
myself? You that know Him, you know what
I mean. It's lonely. It's a lonely feeling
when you see yourself for what you are. And you don't like what
you see. You don't like what you see.
I mean, anybody that's sitting here that knows Him, do you truly
pray as you ought? Do you read as you ought? Have
you faithfully heard everything that's been said this morning?
I'll be the first to admit that I haven't. There's been some
things I've read, and I've said them, I've got them written down
in these notes, I've prepared them, I've gone over them, I've
prayed about them, asked the Lord's blessing upon them. There's
been some things that I've said here this morning that I truly
have to admit, I didn't hear the fullness of what I even wrote
down. The Scriptures that I quoted. How many times have I found myself
in just Who's sufficient for these things?
You know what I need? I need a comforter. I need someone
to sit and talk with me. I need to talk to. I need to
talk to Him. who has abased himself, humbled
himself as my friend, the lowly in heart, one in whom I find
rest and comfort, who reminds me by His Holy Spirit, through
His Word, I'm not going to leave you. I'm not going to leave you. You know what you are by my grace. That's what He says to His people. weary, overloaded under the guilt
and burden of your sin yourself, find rest in Him. He's not a tyrant. He's not a
tyrant. He's the lowly, one humble Himself
who is God Almighty. What a thought! that I can talk
to him and find rest in him because he knows the daily needs of his
people as they are tossed with the burden of this old man, old
nature. The believer is made by the grace
of God to see himself and to know himself. And he sees himself
in self as being proud, And he realizes, but for the grace of
God, what could I do but fall? What could I do but be judged? But oh, how much better it is
to be of a humbled spirit, brought down. Pride, what do I have to
offer Him? Nothing. I am what I am by the
grace of God. William Mason wrote this little
poem. I want to share it with you.
Let me but hear my Savior say, strength shall be equal to thy
day. Then I rejoice in deep distress,
leaning on all sufficient grace. I glory in infirmity that Christ's
own power may rest on me. When I'm weak, then I'm strong. Grace is my shield. And Christ
is my song. May the Lord bless these words
to our hearts for Christ's sake. And give us comfort only in Him. In His name. Amen.