(Clip) Why Pride Rejects God — Shane Idleman

Pride's Refusal to Acknowledge God

Of pride is when an unbeliever says, I don't need God, I don't need God. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Even if there's a plethora, a plethora of confirmation and information and facts, it doesn't matter to the person who doesn't want there to be a God.

And that is the pride of their heart. Because that's what pride is. At the heart of pride is a prideful heart. And we say, I don't want there to be a God. Do you know the number one reason why people do not want a God?

Moral Autonomy and Resistance to God's Authority

Why they're mocking God in, around our nation, around our country. Why they have these pride months and why they are mocking God. Why is that? I don't want there to be a God. I don't want God telling me what to do.

I don't want to bow my knee to anybody, anybody's agenda. I want to do what I want, when I want, how I want, to who I want. And I don't want the consequences. I don't want there to be a God. So it has to do with morality.

It has to do with morality. And that's why they're pushing God out of the schools. Or they have done it already. Pushing God out of the government. Pushing God out of all areas, all facets. That's why the church is not essential according to many leaders.

Why? I don't want there to be a God. I don't want the conviction of the Spirit. That's why, do you know that's why they removed the Ten Commandment monuments out of courthouses? There used to be big huge stone Ten Commandment monuments in Alabama in the courthouse.

You can read about it. And they had to remove it because atheists were offended. Well that offends me that you move it. Don't push your morality on me. Don't judge me. Doesn't the Bible say, don't judge?

Righteous Judgment Requires Personal Humility

No, actually Jesus said that we are to judge with righteous judgment. First remove the beam out of your own eye. Then you can judge others rightly. Call out sin. Preach repentance. Call people to morality.

It's very healthy and wise to judge with the right heart. And isn't it interesting? Jesus said to remove the plank, the pride, from your own eye first. The judgmental spirit. And then you can. Because when you remove that first you're not excited.

We shouldn't be excited about telling someone off. We shouldn't be excited about judging them according to Scripture. There shouldn't be an excitement. There should be a brokenness. There should be a pain.

There should be a hurting inside of us. But the Word of God compels us to share all of His truth. Again, the greatest deception is I don't need God. This just makes me laugh sometimes because we don't realize how much we do need God.

Humanity's Constant Dependence on God

That breath you just breathe with your lungs. Did you need God? Or you got that? You got that on your own? I used to take a course. It was called confined space training. When I was in construction. Confined space training.

Well just as the name says, we would have to go down, down, down into confined spaces with no or little airflow. And I would read certain things. Certain vapors could kill you within seconds. And they'll find that.

You go to some of these larger cities and somebody goes down into a confined space. And they look down there and the guy's passed out. He's actually dead. The next guy will go out. He'll go down there and then he's dead.

There's two guys laying down there. Finally the third guy says, there's something down there I don't need to go be a part of. Those things can kill within seconds. A tear in your artery. If you have a tear in your artery by your heart tonight, you will not make it to the parking lot.

Don't tell me we don't need God. Every breath we take. Every breath out of our body. Every beat of our heart. We need God. It is God that sustains us. And I love that song. I think they sang it on Wednesday.

I see the evidence of your goodness all over my life. Lord I can see the goodness all over my life. I can see if it wasn't for the grace of God, there go I. And I just told Pastor Abraham, I remember when I was driving down Avenue J, I left a bar known as Schooner's.

I know you guys don't know about that, but I did. And I left that bar when it was in an old location. I took my friend's Mustang. And it was going 80 miles an hour. And then I hit the nitrous oxide switch.

And I hit 120. And it's shaking. And it scared the life out of me. And I finally got home. And I remember that night. I'll never forget that night because if I would have just hit a pole or get off the road, I would never be here.

If it wasn't for the grace of God, how much of us would not be here? Oh, God sustains you. God holds you up. God lifts you up. When you're at your deepest hour, God helps you walk. You cry out to God and He saves you.

At 2 in the morning, He will listen. He's an ever-present help in time of need. Oh, if we could just rely on the power and presence of God again and turn to Him and humble ourselves under that mighty weight of God's glory.

Pride, Destruction, and the Rejection of God's Call

So is the pride of your heart deceiving you? Listen, some of you need to hear this verse. Proverbs 16, 18. Pride goes before destruction. And depending on how you define that word, the Hebrew, you can look at Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.

Or you can look at commentaries. The bottom line is pride goes before a ruined life. Pride goes before destruction. Pride goes before judgment. Anytime a person ruins their life, walks off the cliff, walks away from God, spends eternity separated from God, it was pride that put them there.

And I often hear this, and so do you I'm sure, but why does God send people to hell? And Scripture is crystal clear. God doesn't send anyone to hell. Prideful man rejects the call of God to repent and trust in Him.

That's the bottom line. That's the Gospel truth. The Bible says, whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And whoever rejects Him, the Bible also says that He is not willing that any should perish, but all come to repentance.

All come to the knowledge of God. So don't let anyone tell you that, and don't trick yourself into believing that. Well, God's just going to send me there. I can't measure up, or I'm already destined to destruction.

God's Universal Call to Repentance and Salvation

No, you're not. The Bible is clear. God calls all men everywhere to repentance for God so loved the world that He gave His own. Come on, the most famous Scripture of all time that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes, whosoever believes shall have eternal life that they not perish.

And God, it's a conviction of the Spirit. It's preachers preaching their heart out. It's family members praying for you. It's parents pleading the blood of Christ over your life that matters. All those things, if you just turn to Christ and live completely, turn your life over to Him, He will set you free.

And who the Son sets free is free indeed. If you're committing your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, you're saying, I want to publicly declare that I am tired of playing church. Anybody tired of playing church?

Anybody tired of playing? I remember in my 20s, I would go to church, and I would just sit in the back, and I would check off church. That's what good people do. But at some point, you got to say, come hell or high water, I'm committing my life to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Rejecting Double-Minded Discipleship

I'm done playing games. I'm not going to a social club. I need the power of God in my life. I need Him to reach down and pull me out of the miry pit, out of the clay, out of my destruction. Oh God, would you help me?

And you cry out. There is no scriptural support for living double-minded. Church on Sunday, hell like Monday. I cannot serve two masters. Jesus said, you'll love the one or hate the other. Be loyal to one or despise the other.

You cannot serve both God and this world. Make the decision today to pick up your cross and follow Him. Listen, things are getting interesting in our nation and in the world. These are desperate times, and desperate times call for desperate measures when we call out to Almighty God, and we say, God, move in our nation.

Returning to Christ in Desperate Times

Move in our cities. Move in our families. I'm committing my life to you. I'm tired of playing games. I'm tired of playing church. Prodigal sons, wayward daughters, you need to come home. You need to come home.

I remember, I thought I was a tough guy when I was bench pressing 400 pounds and beating people up, and they were beating me up. But I realized I was dying inside. I was dying inside. Christ is not a partial Savior.

He's an all-sufficient Savior.