Proverbs 16, 18, pride goeth
before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. That's
a verse that a lot of people know, but I thought about that,
and just to be honest with you, and I suspect you're the same
as me, usually when that verse comes to my mind, it's because
I'm thinking about somebody else's pride, probably exclusively. I don't remember it when I'm
an idiot. I remember it when somebody else is an idiot. Pride is at the root of every
other sin. To sin is to disobey God. And it takes great pride to do
that in any form. It's rebellion against the God
that made you and gives you your every breath. and whose judgment
hangs over your head by nature. We've seen how that a proud look
is the first on the list of things that God hates. In Proverbs 6,
17, a proud look is number one on that list of things that God
hates. And a proud look comes from a
proud heart. And God hates it. Ought to get
our attention because we all exhibit pride every day Turn with me to Proverbs 21 Verse
4 Proverbs chapter 21 and verse 4 And high look and a proud heart and The plowing of the wicked is
sin Now think about this with me
for a little while Pride is an enormous subject all through
the scripture. We could spend we could do a
series on pride and Take months to do it But I wanted to go the
other way this morning and try to Teach us in a simple illustration
a simple example what pride is and why God hates it and High
look and a proud heart and the plowing of the wicked is seeing
what is what is plowing your fields have to do with being
proud Well, let's think about this the last part of this verse
is true the plowing is sin Because the first part is true A high
look, a proud heart. Remember the rich young ruler? Think about what plowing represented
in those days. Plowing was just a man's everyday
work. Most men, I suspect, did some
plowing, if not all. How much land you had to plow
was would result in how much produce you could grow, you could
farm, and your ability to do it well. Everybody's got their
secrets, their gardening or farming secrets. And I'm sure men took
great pride in that, because what we do every day, we take
pride in it. And there's a right kind of pride.
And there's a wrong kind of pride. Shouldn't just do what you do
in a lackadaisical way and don't take any not be conscientious
about what you do That's important But this plowing it had to do
with it with a man's status Again how much land he plowed and how
he did it and how much produce he could produce Was his status
his family status in this world and So a man going about plowing
his field was the equivalent of a man today, doing what he
does, succeeding to one degree or another, running a small business
or in sales of some kind or whatever you do. It's sin. It's sin. Your daily business
is sin. What you do every day is get
up and sin. And me too. What your family is supported
with is sin. If it's done just to increase
self, to increase your status, to pad your bank account, and
not for the glory of God. If you don't see what the glory
of God has to do with you making another sale, then it's evil. It's evil. Remember what Cain
offered to the Lord? Let me read it to you. Genesis
4, 2. And again, she bare his brother
Abel, and Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller
of the ground. And in process of time, it came
to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering
unto the Lord. Abel he also brought of the firstlings
of his flock and of the fat thereof and The Lord had respect unto
Abel unto his offering but unto Cain into his offering He had
not respect and notice that the two men were tied to their offering
It wasn't Cain that God didn't have respect. It was Cain and
his offering that was the problem and Had not respect and Cain was
very wroth and his countenance fell as a tiller of the ground
your pay Was what the ground produced the fruit of the ground?
Lord said by the sweat of your face. You'll eat bread and they
did and we do and they tilled and and plowed and sowed and
watered and weeded and everything you have to do to get produce
and The pay was the produce It was as if Cain offered money
to the Lord to redeem his soul. That's what he was doing. And Abel's offering cost him
something too. But he offered it by faith. The
scriptures tell us that. By faith, Abel offered a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain. Abel submitted to God's way of
salvation by the blood of an innocent victim. By faith in
Christ and his offering for sin once for all, Abel offered that
lamb. Cain thought that what he had
earned by the work of his hands could save him. And a whole lot of people still
do. False religion preaches the earning
of God's favor by the works that you do They preach it And men love it And that may be the epitome of
pride Think about the spiritual Reality
of this not only Is it terrible pride to imagine that anything
you've ever done or ever will do could ever measure up to God's
holiness? Do you see the pride in that? Oh, I can do, you know, I've
done some bad things, but I've done some good things, too. Really?
By whose definition? But think about this. God has
sent his only begotten son into this world to die for sinners,
to live and die for sinners, to be the righteousness and the
sin offering for sinners. And everybody knows it. Everybody
knows that. It wasn't done in a corner. So when you think for one second
that you can measure up to the holiness that God requires, you're
also trampling under your wretched feet the blood of God's Son.
You're saying, I don't need a sacrifice. I just need a chance to do the
right thing. I don't need a substitute. I
just need an opportunity. I don't need the blood of God's
Son. I just need to make a decision. What do you honestly think your
decision is worth to God? Anybody that might think that
way. What do you think your decision is worth to God Almighty? Only thing worth anything to
God Is the blood of his son? Poured out on Calvary that precious
priceless blood that our Savior shed for our sins That's the precious blood of
Christ To imagine that God will accept
anything or anyone else is abominable pride and It's to think that
you can measure up, that you can actually be as holy as God,
because that's what it takes. Anything less is sin. And I'll tell you this, and we'll
close early this morning. Like I said, we could spend months
on this, but I wanted to go the other way and show you how pride, it emanates throughout our daily
life. And there are spiritual ramifications
to that. It's to imagine that we can ever
please God or be acceptable unto Him by what we do or who we are. And that's great, great pride.
And God has promised destruction for that. I tried to think, and
I haven't studied through all and tried to find it. There may
be a place where some other sin God has said, I'll destroy you
for that. That's the only one I could think
of this morning. Pride, I'll destroy you. I will absolutely
destroy you. That's what God says in our text. And pride in everyday matters.
Of course, we all have it in us. It's an insidious thing. But pride in everyday matters,
a high look while you're plowing your fields, or whatever your
equivalent to that is, is an abomination unto God. And it's a sure, it's a dead
sure sign of spiritual pride. If you can live your life continually
thinking that God is pleased with what you do, And that what
you do, you've earned it and you'll enjoy it and it's done
for the lust of your flesh and that's it. And there's a root cause to that. It has to do with how you estimate
who God is and what you are. Pride is a subtle thing. It's
very, so very easy to believe in free grace, and yet, in practice,
think that God is impressed with you. And that's why Paul said, and
often in scripture we're exhorted unto good works, because as James
said, faith without works is dead. It doesn't mean your works have
to measure up to God, but what it does mean, because they won't,
and they never have, they never will, but what it does mean is
when you humble yourself before God in your heart and know that
it's only by his free grace, that if he put you in hell, it'd
be the right thing to do. By his grace you've obtained
mercy with God That'll show in everything you do That'll show
every day also in your life. Just as your sin shows up But that's why Paul said let
your conduct be without covetousness I Because if your conduct is not
without covetousness, then what difference does it make if your
doctrine is? You see what I'm saying? That's
what James was talking about. A man can say I have faith, but
he said show me your faith without works. Faith is shown by works. We're not to judge one another
based on that, but it's just the truth of scripture. It's
going to get out on you. You're going to worship him.
You're not going to live. We don't henceforth live unto
ourselves, but unto him which died for us and rose again. And
you can't see that looking at me. What difference would it
make if you could? It's not about that. Such a subtle thing Was the rich
young ruler covetous or proud When he said boy look at all
my stuff. I'm gonna have to tear down these little barns and build
bigger ones And I'm just gonna eat drink and
be merry Enjoying all the stuff. I've earned was he covetous or
proud they go together don't they? Every sin Pride go together Every
one of them And my prayer just simply is
this may God keep us at his feet May he keep us at his feet where
we belong Amen