Sermon: He Gives Grace to the Humble

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All right, if you would, open your Bibles to the book of Proverbs, chapter 3, Proverbs chapter 3, it's our series through the book of Proverbs, God's book of divine wisdom, wisdom from above, verse by verse.

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We're in chapter 3, we actually completed chapter 3 last week, but I wanted to spend time on an important section of chapter 3, because I want to make sure we stay as close to the gospel as we can, as God shapes us, renews us, renews our mind, makes us more like Jesus, heals our own lives, heals our relationships with one another.

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We want to stay as close to the gospel, the good news of God, as we possibly can.

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So let's just read from Proverbs chapter 3, verses 31 through 35.

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Hear now the word of the living and the true God. Do not envy a man of violence, and do not choose any of his ways.

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For the devious person is an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are in his confidence.

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The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.

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Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.

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The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace. Thus far is the reading of God's holy word.

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Let's pray together. Lord, we pray that you would bless us today as we examine pride, humility, and grace.

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God, by your spirit, may you move today, please move, within the hearts of your people.

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So Lord, help us to put to death pride within us, in our own minds, in our own hearts.

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Lord, we know how much you hate pride, how much you speak against it, how much it's the source of so much trouble and conflict.

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We pray, Lord, you grant to us the grace of your spirit to hate pride.

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We pray, Lord, for anyone in this room, or anybody who hears this message, who does not truly know you, has not been broken by the truths of your word about their condition, their sinful condition.

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We pray that you would open the eyes of the blind, give hearing to the deaf, give life to the dead.

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Please get the preacher and teacher out of the way. Please teach by your spirit, oh God, in Jesus' name, amen.

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So, staying as close as we can to the gospel, we are in this series, we call it

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Wisdom from Above. If you're new to this, there is a difference, fundamentally, between simple knowledge, knowing things, being given truths, and wisdom.

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Wisdom is skillful application of truth. It's skillful living.

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How do I actually live? It's interesting, because oftentimes, we can find ourselves in theological discussions trying to hash out all of the precise doctrinal issues, and that's very important to do in terms of, when

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God has spoken, we have to be precise. You need to use theological precision. That has been so important in church history, where false views of Jesus, false views of salvation have come up.

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The church has to stand in the word of God and be theologically precise, and so oftentimes, we can get to a place, though, where we are actually overemphasizing, in our own lives, doctrinal precision, even pridefully, at the abuse of another believer, and we are completely dismissive of what

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God shows such a great concern for in His word, and that is actual skillful application of that truth.

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In other words, you can take a concept like loving your neighbor as yourself, and you can say, you can actually give, recite all the verses in terms of, greater love has no man than this, than a man lays down his life for his friends.

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You can give all the verses about love is kind, love is patient, love hopes all things, believes all things.

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You can give all the proper definitions and still be an animal, still be a person who is just abusive, not kind, not gracious, not self -sacrificing to others.

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You see the difference? You can know all the answers, you can actually pass a theological exam and still not be a wise person.

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You have no ability to actually live that truth out. And so when we study the book of Proverbs, we're studying it in worship, together as a church, as people who have been wrecked by God's grace, people who have been humbled.

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We've seen our condition, we know about the holiness of God, we know the need for that cross, we know just why it's so beautiful, we know what it speaks to, we've been already humbled.

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And so we go to this study as the people of God because we're saying, Lord, have your way with me, here

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I am, Lord, change my heart, change my mind, Lord, there's so much more that has to be done in me.

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So we're coming to this as God's people saying, Lord, shape me, make me more like Jesus.

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Jesus is wisdom incarnate. He is truth.

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He's the way, the truth, and the light, but he is truth, and you see in Jesus that he is

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God incarnate, living out truth. He has the skill of godly wisdom in absolute perfection.

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Of course, because he's God, he's the very reference point for all truth to begin with. But I want us to stay close to the gospel, and there's something here in this particular section of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 3, verse 34, you're familiar with it because it's something that's actually recited elsewhere in the

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New Testament. Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.

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Now, you know this, and you've heard it before as God resists the proud but gives grace to the what?

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To the humble. If you move in your Bibles to the New Testament, James. Go to James. That's the brother of the

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Lord. In James chapter 4, you'll see it, this truth highlighted in James chapter 4, starting in verse 3 as you get there.

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You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your own passions. You adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?

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Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that it is to no purpose that the scripture says, he yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us, but he gives more grace.

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Therefore it says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

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He opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. And we talked last week, actually in this very section at the end of chapter 3, about heroes.

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Remember that? We talked about heroes and actually not wanting what the violent man has, don't follow any of his ways.

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We actually appeal to James chapter 4 that friendship with the world is enmity with God. That's the very same section that James is pointing to that principle truth that God resists the proud, he gives grace to the humble.

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Another place. If you just move a little more to the right. First Peter chapter 5, and you'll see how the apostle

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Peter highlights this very same truth. First Peter chapter 5, starting in verse 5, he says, likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders, clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

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Good, good godly wisdom for the church, right? Submit to your elders, be humble towards one another, that will heal a lot, but it takes us actually doing some internal looking at ourselves and putting to death pride in our lives.

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God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. This is important. I didn't want to pass up this important section of scripture, because again,

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I want us to stay as close to the gospel as we possibly can, but I wanted to talk about this issue.

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The contrast to humility is pride. God resists the proud, he gives grace to the humble.

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To the scornful, he scorns, he resists the proud, he gives grace to the humble.

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Let's just take this. I believe now, sin has complexity to it.

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A lot of times there are a lot of things happening, any particular sinful choice someone makes, but I do believe that pride, pride is the premier sin of fallen humanity.

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Pride is at the core of so much brokenness, so much evil, so much of our hostility towards God, so much hostility towards one another.

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Pride is the destroyer of marriages. Married couples, amen, yes?

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Yes? Some of you guys are honest, some of y 'all are liars, and you're prideful, okay? Pride, right?

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You have a conflict with your spouse, generally speaking, there is sin going on in both of us, but we drift further and further apart because honestly, we want to make sure that the other person is exposed for their sin and not us for ours, or we minimize our sin in the marriage, and we highlight the sin of our spouse, like, yeah,

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I know I'm a sinner, but it's really you that's causing most of the problem. I want to sort of minimize my sin and highlight your sin.

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Pride destroys marriages. Pride destroys the relationships we have with one another within church, with one another.

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We see ourselves as more important than the others. We don't want to submit, we don't want to be humble, we don't want to be seen to be as wrong, and so we puff up our chests, we pull up our commitments to ourselves and our own position, and we are ultimately prideful.

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Pride is a premier sin of humanity. I was thinking about this this week, and just in terms of you see it everywhere, you see it in yourself,

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I hope we do, we see it in ourselves, we see it in our neighbors, you see it all the way to the top. Even this week, an important moment happens where, and it was something you could so easily apologize for, in terms of like leadership, making a mistake.

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Are we sinners? Are we fallible? Now, if you have, and we're going to end on this today, if you have the gospel, you have the hope to actually destroy pride in yourself, because if you have the gospel, you already say that you acknowledge that you're sinful, and you're fallible, and you're in need of a savior, but more important than that, you're saying with the gospel that your king, your savior, your

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God said it's finished. So you have the ability to simply say,

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I'm wrong. I'm wrong. He's right. I'm wrong.

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You have the ability, even in leadership, to say, I made a mistake. I fell. I face -planted.

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I sinned. Forgive me. This week, there was a moment where our president was at an event, and they were highlighting people who were doing work in the area of hunger, and those sorts of things, and the president of the

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United States actually, in the meeting, he started to ask for and look for somebody that had actually died a month ago.

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Now here's the thing. Everybody knew this person had died. The president was supposed to know this person had died, and he started actually looking for her and asking if she was in attendance.

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It was kind of a really cringy moment, like, oh, that hurts, and rather than simply saying he made a mistake, he got it wrong.

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We asked for forgiveness of the family. That was really a mistake. Rather than simply saying that was a mistake, there's such a commitment to pride, and we couldn't possibly be wrong that there was a

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White House press conference where they went on for like 10 minutes where all the reporters just kept asking, yeah, but he asked for a dead person, and all the

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White House press secretary was doing was giving the political answer, trying to shift around it, saying, well, she was on top of mind.

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She was on top of mind, and she did so much to help, and she was on top of mind, and every reporter kept coming back to, yeah, that's great, but she's dead.

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He knew it. Everybody else knew it. Why can't we just simply say we were wrong?

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And the answer is what? Pride. We couldn't possibly be wrong. We couldn't have made a decision that we shouldn't have made.

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We're just right, and we'll find every possible way to justify ourselves in our error.

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Pride will destroy nations. It'll destroy states, cities, communities, churches, families.

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Pride is the premier sin of humanity. You see it at the very beginning of the Bible. Premier sin of humanity.

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What happens? God splashes this amazing universe into existence.

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He is creative. He is innovative. Everything he makes is good. He calls it good.

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It is crazy awesome. All the beautiful colors, all the amazing creatures, this complexity, this machine, it is glorious.

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And then he makes man in his image, and then he makes this incredible creature woman.

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Whoa, man. That is a theological nerd joke. Okay. He just does so amazing, and he gifts this image into the world, shines his light, and he says, be fruitful, multiply, take dominion over the whole earth.

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And God says, as God, as the eternal God, as the perfect one, as the all -knowing

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God, as the holy God, as the good God, the creator of it all, he made it.

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He made you. They're responsible to God. He says, this you can do, but don't do that.

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When you do that, the day you do, you'll die. Right? He's God. They're not.

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And of course, we know the story. The deceiver comes in. He comes in. Hath God said?

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What's in that? What's in that first challenge to what

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God says? What is it? Did God really say? What's that? Challenging God's authority.

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Deceiving Eve. She's deceived. And he says, no, you won't. You won't die.

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So he denies what God says. There's pride behind that. The source of it all is pride. God doesn't know.

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God is wrong. You should test it. You should try it out. How does he know?

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He just did all this. It's his first go at it too. He just made this. This is totally innovative. How does God know?

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Did God really say? You won't die. You'll be like him. Knowing good and evil,

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I know oftentimes we think knowing good and evil in an experiential way. Like then you'll get to really feel it and know good and evil.

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That's actually incorrect. Knowing good and evil is determining for yourself what is good, what is evil.

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You will be the sovereign. So God created this place. He puts you in it.

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He gave you the rules. But you know what? How does he know? There's pride. And then he says, you'll be like him.

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You'll be the sovereign determiner of what is right and what is wrong. Pride, the premier sin of humanity.

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You'll be the little God. You'll be the determiner. You will be the one who says, no, this is right and that is wrong.

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Pride's the source. It is the premier sin of humanity. It destroys as a premier sin in relationship to others.

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Just think about this. There's a lot of things. Complex sin is always complex.

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There's so many things going on in sin. There could be anger. There could be hatred. All those things in terms of when we hurt someone next to us.

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When we don't love God and love neighbor, there are a host of issues. But what is at the core, what is a premier issue and what is foundational to the hurt that we cause is pride.

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Go back to Proverbs. And just consider with me as the book of wisdom, divine wisdom from above, tells us about what is true, beautiful, lovely, holy, good.

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Proverbs 26. Look at how pride is at the source, the foundation of so much of our hurt that we cause to others.

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Proverbs 26, 12. Let's just take a look at a few sections of this divine wisdom. Proverbs 26, 12.

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Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?

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There is more hope for a fool than for him. More hope for a fool.

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A man who is wise in his own eyes. He says so. It's not based on objectivity.

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Like I know a lot of wise people. There's a lot of very godly wise people in this room.

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Love the Lord. They're wise. How do I know they're wise? Not because they tell me they are.

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Like if someone came to you right now and said, listen, I want to get involved in this because I'm a very wise person. Whoa.

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You'd be like, please do not mediate this conflict. I don't want your answers. I don't need your help at all.

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We recognize if someone said, I'm very wise, I'd like to help, we'd say, uh -uh. Wise people don't talk like that.

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Amen? Yeah? Wise people don't really talk like that. I'm very wise. A person who is wise in their own eyes is dangerous because they're the sovereign determiner of their own wisdom.

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They think they're right. They think they know how to do all of this, whereas the truly wise person is basing their wisdom on the fact that they're clinging to God and his truth and his wisdom, not themselves.

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They're not the determiner of their own wisdom. But if you look in Proverbs chapter 12, move to the left now, we're going to do a lot of jumping around here so you can see that this is actually thematic.

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Proverbs chapter 12, verse 1, it's the favorite life verse of all the children in Apologia.

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Whoever loves discipline, loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

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See, I get to get away with saying that because it's in the Bible, okay? Whoever hates reproof is stupid.

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Now, what would be at the core, consider it now, what would be at the core of a person who doesn't want to be corrected?

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What would be at the core of it? Stubbornness and what? Pride. I think that I know.

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So, what actually leads to actual stupidity is a person refusing correction because they think that they couldn't be wrong.

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Pride. It's the premier sin. I can't be wrong. I know what's right. I'm the right one.

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You're the wrong one. And they're unwilling to even see, to take an internal critique of themselves to say, maybe

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I can be wrong. Maybe I do need to investigate whether I've taken a wrong step or I'm not thinking about this correctly.

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Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. What would it take for you and I to actually love discipline and to love knowledge?

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What would it take? Humility. Humility would have to be at the bottom of a person who loves to be corrected, who loves to learn, who loves to grow.

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Think about the fact, when you and I walk into, say, a college course that we're paying for or to any school, we go to the teacher, what are we doing when we sit in that seat and we're trying to gain knowledge?

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What are we saying with us in the back of the classroom and them at the front? What are we saying? You know more than me.

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I need to know what you know. I need to gain your knowledge. I actually need to be corrected.

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You have to teach me. I don't know. I don't understand. Please correct me. Fix my mistakes.

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Fix my errors. What is that posture? That is humility. I don't know.

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But the person who is stupid is the person who refuses correction. They don't want correction.

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They actually despise knowledge because they think they already what? They already know.

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They already know it all. Pride is the premier sin of humanity from the beginning into our lives today.

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Think about this. In terms of the premier sin of how we hurt others and we involve ourselves in the fights of others that aren't our own.

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Look at Proverbs 26. Proverbs chapter 26, verse 17.

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There's so much here. It was tough to pull this message together, actually, because it's like where do you start and where do you actually stop?

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Proverbs 26, verse 17. Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.

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That should be actually, by the way, for us, like one of the life verses that we have.

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Put it on your screen. You know what I'm saying? Like when you turn your phone on, you got the lock screen. It should be there as like the verse when you open your phone.

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If you meddle in a quarrel that is not your own, it's like taking a passing dog by the ears.

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Social media today, right? Everyone wants to give their opinion. Everyone wants to jump and dive into somebody else's fight.

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They want to involve themselves into a fight that is not their own. Now what would be a sin that would lead me into involving myself in somebody's fight that is not actually my fight?

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What would be a sin that would lead me to that? Pride. Why? Because you need to hear my opinion.

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You need to know what I think. I actually know. And everyone here needs to listen to me and my wisdom because I am actually very wise.

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Right? What would lead somebody to doing something so foolish like grabbing a dog, a passing dog by the ears?

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You're going to get bit. So what would actually cause someone to go ahead and enter into that folly?

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Well, pride. I think that I know. I want everyone to respect me and to respect my opinions.

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Think about how pride is a premier sin that leads to that. It is also another verse,

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Proverbs 18. Move to the left now. Proverbs 18, verse 2.

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It makes us a fool in only wanting us to voice our opinion, 18 -2.

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A fool takes no pleasure in understanding but only expressing his opinion.

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What would be a foundational source of sin behind not wanting to understand but only wanting to vocalize your own opinion?

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Pride. I know. You need to listen to me. I don't care what you think and I don't care what you think you understand.

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I know. Pride is the premier sin that leads to all of these moments where there is failure and conflict between people.

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Pride leads to that. Do you ever meet people like that? Do you know people like that? Like when you're talking to them and you realize they have zero interest.

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Zero interest in hearing your take, your side, and really anything you want to say. They're always talking, talking, talking, talking, talking, talking.

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They will talk your ear off to the point where they don't even get the social cues where you're like going, huh, whew.

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Or like you're looking at your watch while they're talking like, oh boy, yeah, I gotta get out of here. They just keep on talking, talking, talking, talking, only wanting to voice their own opinions.

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Nobody in here does that. But you know people like that, right? People that don't want understanding.

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They just want to give their own opinion. What would lead to a person that doesn't want to listen, that doesn't want to hear, that doesn't want to actually learn and grow from something another person says?

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They just want to be heard constantly. You need to hear their take. You need to learn from them.

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The answer, premier sin. Pride is behind all of that.

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I know. I'm the important one. You need to hear from me.

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Pride's the premier sin. Pride is a sin that gets us into constant trouble.

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Proverbs 18 and here, verse six, same section.

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Verse six. I love the Proverbs. I just love it. Proverbs 18, verse six, it says, A fool's lips walk into a fight and his mouth invites a beating.

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A fool's mouth is his ruin and his lips are a snare to his soul.

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The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels. They go down into the inner parts of the body.

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So here's a section that talks about the fool's lips walking them into a fight and his mouth invites a beating.

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The fool's mouth is his ruin, his lips are a snare to his soul. What would lead to that? What would lead to a person actually allowing themselves to get themselves into taking a beating?

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And the answer, premier sin. Why do I want to involve myself? Why would I do something so foolish as to invite a beating?

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And the answer, premier sin. Pride. Pride. Because I know.

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Because I want to be involved. Because I have something to say. Because I am the wise one.

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Pride leads to so much of the destruction that we cause in our own lives.

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I was thinking last night, it's perfect. I love how God providentially brings these things together. So my grandkids were all at my house last night.

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And so I've got my two grandsons, I've got my granddaughter, and I've got my own son.

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Now this is four toddlers running around. And somehow people forgot that there were four toddlers and they were with just me.

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And so I remember that I vocalized very gently into the other room, hey,

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I might need some help. Like, you know, very graciously, hey, help, help, help.

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Right? Like four toddlers. And I'm telling you, they were so excited to see each other and they're just wrecking the room.

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And my house, it's like Hurricane Ian came through my home last night.

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I love them to death. But it's just what they do. So we're in my room. And we have these big cushion things where you can build houses out of these cushions.

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And it seems like a good idea when you buy these things until, like, you actually buy them.

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And then the children are like, oh, make me a house, make me a castle. And it's all day, every day. Make me a house, make me a castle.

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And so you've got to figure out, how do I build a new house? Because they're not interested in the old one anymore. They want the new one now.

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And so you're trying to figure out, like, how do I become a construction worker with no skills? And, like, you know, you're in this situation with these four children who are so demanding and wise in their own eyes.

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And last night, I'm in the room, and I can tell trouble is about to happen. And so there's these things that are built in a really, really dangerous way.

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I didn't do it. They just ended up that way. And so you have, like, two -year -olds climbing up on these, like, they're these things that are like this.

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And they're, like, this high off the ground, but there's concrete under them. And they're climbing to the top, and they're, like, whee, and they're, like, sliding off.

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And I'm calling out to the room, help, help, four kids doing dangerous things.

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And so I start telling the kids, I'm like, hey, let's go in the other room. What you're doing is dangerous.

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And so I must have said for five minutes, all right, guys, you're going to get hurt. Someone's about to get hurt.

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And you know what these wise children said to me?

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They're, like, two -year -olds, like, diapers are on these things. And they said, nah -ah, people.

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They told me no. I said, I said, you are going to hurt yourselves. And they said, nah -ah.

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And then they all start feeding off each other, these little sinners. They all start feeding off each other.

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They say, nah -ah. And then they say, people, no, we won't. And I said, you're going to get hurt.

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So for five minutes, I was like, guys. And one, like, almost dies. I catch him and, like, you know, put him back.

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And then another one almost dies. I snatch her, put her back. And they keep saying, nah -ah, no, people, no, we weren't, and won't.

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And then all of a sudden, my granddaughter, Eve, still in diapers, at the top, she just tumbles off the side about three or four, like, four feet off into the ground.

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And what hits the concrete? Her skull. And so what do you hear?

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You hear, like, no, it was like, like that. You know, like, bone on hard, like that.

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And what do you hear? It's the sound that you kind of delight in, but also hurt you.

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It's when the concrete catches the skull, and you hear, ah, like the, ah.

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You're, like, halfway going, I what? Told you. And the other one is, well, now we want to love her and sort of nurse her back to health and hope she doesn't have a concussion, right?

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But it's this pride from the earliest days. Pride, that's what these are.

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They're pride in diapers, is really what it is. Toddlers are pride in diapers.

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They know. And as much as you love them, it's like, you know, I want to say to them, hey, you exist in this world because of me.

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Like, you ever think about that? Like you would have no existence without me. So do what I say. Like, I'm just trying to protect you.

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Sorry, I'm having a moment here, okay? These little sinners think they know so much.

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And then what happens is you try to give instruction, you try to give wisdom. And because they're stupid, and I mean that in a holy sense.

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And they are little sinners that don't want what? Correction or understanding.

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They walk themselves into a beating and walk themselves into calamity.

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Now as much as, listen, as much as I told you that story and you're laughing about these kids in diapers and they're playing on these things, actually that's a story of you and me constantly, right?

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God says, no. God says, this way. God says, this is wisdom. God says, follow me. God says,

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I don't want you to get hurt. I want you to stay out of darkness. I want you off that path, on this path. This is where there is life and there is light and there is peace and there is delight.

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And what do we constantly say? Nah, I know better, right? We say, no, no, my way.

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I can do it. No, maybe God, you don't know. That's a little microcosm.

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That little moment last night is a microcosm of my own life, so pray for me, okay? Think about how pride gets us into trouble.

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It's a premier sin that gets us into trouble. Think about this. Just, I'll throw out some sins here for a moment. Sins that we all have to deal with and we'll constantly have to put to death.

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God calls us to gossip, slander, factions, division.

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We can go to all the texts, right? We can do that. We can unpack those. We can talk about it. We can reflect on it in ourselves and say, how do

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I avoid that? How do I put that to death in my own life? If you think about it in terms of all the things that could be going on in our lives to lead to gossip or slander or factions and division, the premier issue behind all of it is pride, right?

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Pride. If I'm gossiping about another person, what's behind all that? Pride. I want to take down their dignity.

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I want to lower others' view of that person because ultimately, pride is something within me.

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I want you to feel a certain way about me and a certain way about them, and so I will take down their dignity.

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Or if I slander, I lie about another person, ultimately, it's prideful.

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If I'm part of a faction, if I'm part of actually dividing believers and creating conflict between believers, even online or in that internet world, ultimately, it's pride.

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It's not loving the other person. It's seeing myself as the wise one, seeing myself as the important one.

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So what do you have to put to death? Pride. It's the premier sin that causes conflict between brothers and sisters in Christ and actually destroys our ability to walk with divine wisdom with each other.

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But pride is also the premier issue and sin in our relationship between us and God.

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Now just consider this for a moment. Go to Proverbs chapter 6. Proverbs 6, starting in verse 16.

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It's a famous section. You know this. You've heard this section. We've actually preached it a lot.

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But here's a famous word from God. Proverbs 6, 16. There are six things that the

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Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him. Haughty eyes.

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That's pride. A lying tongue and hands that shed innocent blood.

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A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil. A false witness who breeds out lies and one who sows discord among brothers.

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It's interesting because we talk about the modern context. We've said this a lot, right? Like we know of one attribute of God in the modern context.

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Everybody's favorite attribute. It's what's emphasized the most. We may not even acknowledge that God has other attributes.

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We just know that God is love. Man is he love. God is love.

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Love, love, love. That's it. And we act as though God only has one attribute. He's a loving God. We forget about all the other attributes of God that are given to us clearly in Scripture.

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And one of the things that's very clear in Scripture is God's holiness and God's settled opposition against evil.

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God does hate things. He does hate.

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And it is a perfect holy hatred. It is a settled opposition against evil.

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It's not an evil hatred. It's not the kind of hatred you and I are familiar with in our own lives that's tainted by our sin.

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This is a perfect and holy hatred. And God says one of the things that he actually hates, he considers an abomination, is pride.

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So in terms of our own relationship with God, this premier sin of pride that has been from the beginning of the human experience and it just moves its way through all the way to the end of history.

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God is constantly working on this in us. God hates pride. He considers it an abomination in his sight.

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And it's clear in Scripture, again, it's almost like where do you start, where do you end with this? Scripture is very clear that God punishes.

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God punishes. He punishes the proud. So just as some examples here, you're in Proverbs.

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Go to Isaiah chapter 10. I like to go to Scripture that actually will work in a number of different ways for us.

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But Isaiah chapter 10, verse 5, look what

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God says here. Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger.

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The staff in their hands is my fury. Against a godless nation, I send him.

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And against the people of my wrath, I command him to take spoil and seize plunder and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

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But he does not so intend and his heart does not so think. But it is in his heart to destroy and to cut off nations, not a few.

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For he says, are not my commanders all kings? Is not Calno like Carchemish?

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Is not Hamath like Arpod? Is not Samaria like Damascus? As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, shall

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I not do to Jerusalem and her idols as I have done to Samaria and her images? When the

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Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes.

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For he says, by my strength, by the strength of my hand,

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I have done it. And by my wisdom, for I have understanding. So you see here, here's this epic section of Isaiah that speaks so much to the sovereignty of God, God's control over all things.

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In this instance, God is going to punish his own people for their sin.

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And what he uses it, what he uses, is he uses Assyria, he uses

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Assyria to do it. Woe to Assyria. But there's actually a curse being pronounced on Syria that he's going to use to unleash to punish his own people.

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And then what's interesting here is that you've got Assyria that is so prideful, so boastful that Assyria wants to destroy.

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But it isn't necessarily in their heart to destroy Jerusalem. They're on a leash. God is holding them back.

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They're this rabid dog that wants to simply destroy. And for God's own sovereign will and purposes, he unleashes this beast for a moment to punish his own people.

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And then when his work is done, what does he say? I'm actually now going to punish, you've got two sinful groups.

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Two sinful groups, Jerusalem, Assyria. God says, okay Assyria, I'll let you do what you want.

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I'll remove my restraining hand for a moment and I will let you devour.

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And then he turns around and he punishes Assyria for what? Their pride.

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Their boasting. Their sin. But God in scripture is very clear.

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He hates pride. He considers it an abomination. Isaiah chapter 10, you see him punishing nations for their boastful, proud hearts.

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Jeremiah 50, 31, Amos 6, 8, Isaiah 2, 12.

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And this is a key one. Isaiah chapter 14. Just move to the right here. Isaiah chapter 14, verse 12.

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God says, how you are fallen from heaven,

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O day star, son of dawn. How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low.

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You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven. Above the stars of God, I will set my throne on high.

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I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

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I will make myself like, what? The most high. I'll make myself like God.

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But you are brought down to shield to the far reaches of the pit. Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you.

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Here's this key text. We can't unpack all of it today in terms of the day star, the sun of the dawn.

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What's that sin there? What's that sin? Wanting to be like God and being cast down.

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God punishes the prideful, boastful hearts. Now, this discussion right now is moving past this premier sin of pride.

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Because what's the contrast in Proverbs chapter 3, verse 34? It is God resisting the proud and giving grace to the humble.

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So you've got pride and you've got humility. We've already talked for a moment, at least a cursory look at how pride is that premier sin that creates the conflict between us and others.

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It invites the beating. It's the source of so much of the slander and the gossip and all the things that happen in conflict with one another.

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Pride disrupts our relationship with God. He hates pride. He considers it an abomination.

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It's at the beginning of our experience with God. God punishes pride throughout scripture.

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But this is a key issue. And this is us staying close to the gospel. Pride, pride blinds us.

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This is the key issue. If the whole message was for anything, it's for this. Pride blinds us to our real, true condition before God.

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There's so many ways to display this, but my favorite is John chapter 8. My favorite gospel.

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One of my favorite scriptures about our condition. In John chapter 8, verse 31, listen closely and just consider the background.

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Jesus, God, in the flesh, humbling himself to walk among the rebels, to minister to them, to give them truth, to give them wisdom on his way to lay his life down for the lost, the friend of sinners, the one who's going to receive in himself the punishment that was not his own.

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It was ours. And now here you have God incarnate walking among us, listen, here it is, with, before him, the covenant people, the ones who were entrusted with the oracles of God, Paul says in Romans chapter 3.

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They were entrusted with the oracles of God, they've got the scriptures. And here's this moment where God incarnate is coming to rescue his people, he's giving truth and listen to the pride.

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Verse 31, chapter 8, so Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

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They answered him, we're offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone.

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How is it that you say you will become free? What kind of insane pride is that?

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Let's remark on the moment they're in. Where is this taking place? This is taking place in an area that is controlled by who?

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The Roman Empire. And I seem to remember a little bit of history before Rome, you've got

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Egypt, you've got Babylon, you've got the Babylonian captivity, that's not slavery, that's not being under the boots of Babylon, you've never been enslaved.

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They just don't understand, they cannot even see it. Jesus is talking about their sin, he's talking about their condition, he's talking about their need for him, the

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Savior, that he will set sinners free, and all they can think in that moment is that we're sons of Abraham, we're descended from Abraham, we've never been enslaved to anyone.

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First of all, absolutely you have, and you can't even see it. You can't even see it, you're so prideful you cannot even see the one who is giving you as the master physician a real look at your own soul.

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And so in verse 34, Jesus answered them, truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

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The slave does not remain in the house forever, the son remains forever. So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

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Here, how does this end? Does anybody know how this chapter ends? Chapter 8. Chapter 8, it ends with Jesus saying what?

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Ego eimi. He takes a divine name of God that only belongs to Yahweh, and he applies it to himself.

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Before Abraham was, before Abraham sprang into existence, ego eimi, I am, he calls himself the eternal

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God, and they pick up stones to kill him. They can't see. Their pride has blinded them to their true spiritual state.

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They think they're alright as far as it goes. They think they've got some special past with God. They couldn't be enslaved to anybody.

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They are enslaved to many people throughout history, they're enslaved to their own sin, but they can't see it because their human pride, their religious pride, has blinded them to their own slavery to sin.

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And Jesus says, this is your most important thing, you are a slave to sin. If the son sets you free, you'll be free indeed.

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Pride will blind us to our condition. It'll blind us.

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Pride, and this is connected, it's connected, is actually the source of false religious systems.

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Why? Well, they didn't even know they were slaves to sin, they couldn't understand it. We're not slaves to anybody, what are you talking about, we're fine.

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Religious people will think that they're fine as far as it goes. And pride will blind you to your true condition before a holy

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God. You don't see how bad it actually is. And so man -made religion will create systems of religion that actually diminish how broken and sinful we really are.

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How? They'll actually say, well I know things are bad, but I'm not really a slave -slave to sin.

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I know things are bad, I know I'm messed up, but I'm not really that bad, so maybe if I just cooperate, if I do these rituals, if I participate in this, if I try my best to be a righteous person in myself, then

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I'll be okay with God. All man -made religion says that. As a matter of fact, you know this, the distinction between true religion, a relationship with a living

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God, salvation with Christ, and all man -made religion is at this point of human pride, we think that we can establish a righteousness in ourselves that'll actually be something that God looks at and says, okay, we're good.

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That's righteous enough. And the answer is, you will never be righteous enough, I will never be righteous enough, we're slaves to sin, we need to be set free.

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Paul talks about this when he's referring to the same crew of people living in Jesus' day in Romans chapter 10.

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In Romans chapter 10, this is probably a familiar section to many of us, here's what he says in Romans 10, verse 1, he says,

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Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.

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Who's he talking about? Who's he talking about, do you know? He's talking about the

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Jews in his day. He's talking about the people in his day who had

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God's word. I mean, think about this, they're doing the temple, they're doing their religious system, they have the words of God, and they so revere these words that they lay these scriptures up in the temple itself.

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Like they're entrusted with the oracles of God to the degree that they're not only giving it at Sabbath, they're not just giving it in synagogues, they're remembering it, reciting it, they're memorizing it, and they lay it up in the temple itself.

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They have the whole story right before them, and they're chastised by Jesus for being slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.

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They've got the words of God, and they still can't see it. And Paul is remarking on the fact that, yeah, many of the

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Jews of his day have rejected their own Messiah, and they've got the Bible, it's crazy, why?

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Paul answers it, for I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, for being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own.

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They did not submit to God's righteousness, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

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That's too simple. You see, listen, do you see it? Prideful, man -made religion looks at a message like that and says, that's too easy.

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That is far too easy. That is far too gracious. You see, we've got problems in ourselves, and we've got this law, and so what we'll do is we'll obey that law, and maybe we'll even add some stuff.

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Different ways you can break the Sabbath, different ways you've got to wash yourself, ways to keep yourself pure, we'll even add some additional stuff that maybe

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God forgot, or we can help him with, to make people more holy and more acceptable to God.

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And what's Paul say? Yeah, they've got a zeal, but not according to knowledge. What are they trying to do? There's being ignorant about God's righteousness, and so they're seeking to establish their own.

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Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for everyone who what?

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Believes. That's too easy. That is far too humbling.

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Because what does it say? It says you've got nothing. You can offer nothing.

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You can't fix this. You can't do anything. You can't add anything.

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It's all Christ. You're a slave. He has to make you free. You have no righteousness in yourself.

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You can't fulfill this law. What do you come to God as? A beggar.

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You come to God as the humble. You've got nothing. God gives grace to the humble.

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He resists the proud. The proud religious system says, I can do it. I can accomplish it.

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I will make it work. I will be righteous in myself so that God can accept me.

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And it's very, very clear in scripture. God resists the proud. He gives grace to the humble. If you are going to receive salvation, if you're going to experience

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God's blessings of life and forgiveness, you will be a person that is humbled by your own sin.

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You will see that you've got nothing. You have empty hands. You bring nothing.

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Your mouth is open to receive living water. You come to God naked. You give nothing back.

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He clothes you in a righteousness that is not your own. You have no boast before God. Your resume is irrelevant.

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And Paul says that much in Philippians. Doesn't he say it? He says, OK, look. You want to do this? You want to spar?

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This is my Jephthah Urban paraphrase. You want to spar a little bit? All right, let's do this. Me, trained as a

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Pharisee. As to the law, that's the highest school in commitment to the law itself, a

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Pharisee. I was trained under Gamaliel. He is the bomb diggity first century Jewish teacher.

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He's the best. That's my teacher. I've got the best teacher. I've got all of the best accolades.

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Pharisee, he says, of the tribe of Benjamin. Big deal to the Jews. Circumcised on the eighth day.

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And he says, you know what? As to the law, blameless. Now, that's not before God. He's saying, you wouldn't have been able to accuse me of anything.

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That's how rigorous I was committed to the law of God. And he says, and here's how

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I feel about that in Philippians. What's he say? I consider this scubalon.

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I just said a naughty word in church. It's from the Bible. It's a word that's supposed to provoke like, ew, why are you talking like that?

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This is worthless. Everything I've got, everything

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I did as a Jew, it is worthless. And he says, I don't want my own righteousness derived from the law.

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I want the righteousness that comes from God. It's from God through faith.

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What is that? That's a person that's been humbled. Man -made religious systems can't actually accept that, because it must be me.

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I've got to add something. I have to put something towards this. It must have something to do with me.

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And pride, this premier sin of pride, will keep you away from that gospel of grace.

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God gives grace to the humble. Now, this is my favorite story to fully express this.

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Go to Luke. I am so grateful to God for this section of Scripture.

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Jesus gave us gold. It's a small section.

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It's literally verse 9 through verse 14. And when we talk about God resisting the proud, giving grace to the humble,

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I can't think of a better example in the teaching of Jesus than this. It's my favorite.

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Because here's, look, this is the truth. You've got to find yourself in this story. Can I just say that transparently to each of you individually?

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To myself? We have to find ourself in this story. Which one are we?

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Because one of these people leaves declared righteous. They go home righteous in God's eyes, forgiven of their sin.

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One of them goes to hell. One of them is condemned. And here's how the story goes.

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Luke 18, verse 9. He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous.

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What would cause? What's a sin that would cause a person to trust in themselves that they are righteous?

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Pride. And so Jesus tells this story. He told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.

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Now, can you think of a sin that would cause a person to trust in themselves that they were righteous and to treat other people with contempt?

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What would it be? Pride. Two men, Jesus says, went up into the temple to pray, one a

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Pharisee and the other a tax collector. These are opposite ends of the spectrum.

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If you're new to the faith, just so you understand, the Pharisees are the most respected, revered school in that first century.

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They were the ones who were the most intense, committed. They were precise. They were strong, disciplined.

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We see them many times as Christians, admittedly, as the bad guys in the story, because sometimes they are.

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But in this day, to the people Jesus was talking to, these were the elite

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Christians. They know it all. They're solid. They're to be respected.

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They're disciplined. They're trustworthy in a religious sense. And Jesus says, these two men went up into the temple to pray, one a

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Pharisee, the other a tax collector, scum, scum, scum, abuser, sinner, ugly, not trustworthy.

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See the spectrum? Democrat, just kidding. That was totally joking.

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I was seeing if you were listening. I was seeing if you were listening. I did that on purpose, though.

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Do you see what I did? I gave you a word that provoked an immediate response of emotion to that class.

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And that's what Jesus did here. Pharisee and tax collector, that emotion.

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Whoa, I know that guy, right? The worst of the worst, can't be trusted, ruining everything, ruining my lives, our lives.

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So the Pharisee, listen to this. Just these details are so awesome.

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The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus.

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Now notice something. In the story, we've got now a contrast. The best of the best, the worst of the worst.

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And what Jesus is saying is he's going to the temple. And did you notice what the Pharisee is doing? He trusts in himself that he's righteous.

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He condemns others. He treats them with contempt. And it actually says, as a

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Pharisee, he's standing and, interestingly,

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Jesus says, praise thus to himself. God, I thank you.

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See, there is always an acknowledgement in man -made religious systems, the passing nod to God.

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Hey God, you made me like this. You did this. I'm only, hey look,

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I'm only righteous in myself. And this guy's dirt, because God, you did this.

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You made me like this. Do you see how man -made religious systems, they're not going to denial a necessity of grace.

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They're going to acknowledge you need God's grace. I need God's help. But you know what, God? I thank you very much that I'm not like other men, extortioners, untrust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

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I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. So he actually has the audacity to come before God and to stand up and to say,

01:02:31

I'm not like others. I'm righteous in myself. Thank you, God, that I'm not like him and her and this guy.

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And thank you that I'm not like this miserable tax collector over there. Now notice the position of the tax collector.

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Where is he located? It says this. But the tax collector standing far off.

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Do you notice his location? This Pharisee thinks he's able to get to that temple, get as close to God as he wants.

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Why? Because he's righteous. He's righteous. I got it all together. I'm righteous in myself.

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I'm not like everybody else. I do all these things, these religious things, and I'm righteous in myself. I treat everyone else with contempt.

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And God, thank you. You're the superstar. You made me like this. And he actually has the audacity to stand.

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And it says that this tax collector, this dirtbag, this evil one, he is where?

01:03:29

It says standing far off. It says this. Would not even lift up his eyes to heaven.

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Can you just picture it? That Pharisee, right?

01:03:48

Praise in the street corners. Everyone respects him. Everyone reveres him. He's like, God, I thank you.

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I'm not like other men. And here you have this tax collector. He recognizes he has no basis to be there.

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He shouldn't be there. He's not worthy to be there.

01:04:10

So he's far off. And he acknowledges so clearly his condition before God that he can't even bring himself to look up to heaven.

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He can't even look up to God. And this is what's interesting. It says, but he beat his breast, saying,

01:04:32

God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And what's beautiful about this is this is something that's understood if you know your

01:04:43

Bible. The heart, in biblical thinking, in Jewish thinking, the heart is the seat of all your passions.

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It's that place of corruption. It's where the issues of life flow from.

01:05:00

What does Jesus say about the heart? Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth what?

01:05:06

So what's the source, right? And what's amazing is that this tax collector, this scum, this evil man, he's far off.

01:05:17

He can't even bring himself to look to God. He knows his plight. He knows his condition before God. All he can do is with his head down is literally, it's like he's trying to tear at the place of all of his sin.

01:05:32

Like he's trying to get at it. This is where it comes from. What's inside me is so evil.

01:05:38

And he's beating his chest. This thing is so wicked. And he can't bring himself to look to God.

01:05:45

All he can say is be merciful to me. God resists the proud, gives grace to the humble.

01:05:58

Here's the portrait for Jesus. There's two kinds of people. One is the one who trusts in themselves that they are righteous.

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They treat others with contempt. They think somehow that because they do all these things, God's going to accept them.

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They think that they actually have earned that spot in the temple, that they can get that close to a holy

01:06:15

God. And Jesus says, over here is the miserable, broken sinner who has nothing to offer to God at all.

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All they recognize is their humble position before a holy God. And they recognize what a wretch they are to the degree that he wants this out of him.

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And Jesus has the most beautiful words in the world in this scenario.

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He says, I tell you, this man, the tax collector, the miserable, broken tax collector, he said, this man went to his house justified.

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Do you hear that? If you didn't, listen, please. He did not go home to work on being justified.

01:07:20

He didn't go to his house to get justified. He left that place pleading for the mercy of God, declared righteous in God's eyes.

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He left at peace with God. And it says, rather, there's the terrifying words, rather than the other.

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That miserable, broken, begging for mercy, humble sinner was declared righteous, went home right with God, whereas the

01:07:57

Pharisee did not. So one has peace with God. One is condemned.

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One trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.

01:08:09

And one recognized that they were wholly dependent upon God and his mercy. God resists the proud.

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He gives grace to the humble. That's the story of the gospel. That is the story of the gospel.

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And in principle, that is how the world works between us and God. Now, of course, as a quick excursus, as a move, yes, it gets even better.

01:08:36

Because of the fall, Jesus says we're slaves to sin. Because of the fall,

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Romans chapter 3, there is none who does good. There is none who seeks for God.

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There is none righteous. Because of the fall, Ephesians 2 says, we are dead in our sins and trespasses.

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So get it. Ready? No one's good. No one's righteous. No one seeks for God. We're slaves to sin.

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And we are dead in our sins and trespasses. How bad is that? That's complete wreckage.

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And the glory of God is that his love for sinners is so powerful, so strong, that he does what for the sinner?

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Ephesians 2, though we are dead in our sins and trespasses, God made us alive together with him.

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By grace, you've been saved. Philippians 1 .29, God grants to us, gives to us faith.

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2 Timothy 2 .25, God gives to us repentance. So are you ready for this? Talk about the vanquishing of all human pride.

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Salvation from start to middle to finish is God, God, God, God to his glory forever.

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Where am I in that story? A humble beggar, a tax collector, a sinner who came beating their chest.

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That's what you and I have. God resists the proud. He gives grace to the humble.

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Start to finish, grace, grace, grace, humble.

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That's how we come to God. What's going to keep us from transformation?

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As we go through the book of Proverbs, what's going to keep us from transformation? Pride. Last word,

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Proverbs. Go there again, three. Same chapter we've been in. This is what

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I want to end on. Proverbs 3 .11, it says this. My son, do not despise the

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Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof. For the

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Lord reproves him whom he loves as a father the son in whom he delights.

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What's going to keep us from being renewed, from being transformed?

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What's going to keep us from growing and being sanctified in our relationships within the body here, or even our own marriages, our families, our friendships?

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What's going to keep us from growing and healing is pride, pride, pride, every time.

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Not being willing to ask the question when someone points something out or challenges you.

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Not being willing to ask the question, is he right? Is she right?

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Are they right? Not being willing to ask the question, is pride lurking?

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I mean, what's all these words in the book of Proverbs that warn us about being the kind of person who will not receive correction?

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We won't receive rebuke, right? We're stupid because we just refuse any correction.

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Why is God telling us, don't despise it? Don't despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof.

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The Lord reproves him whom he loves as a father the son in whom he delights. All these words, why?

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Because of the premier issue of pride. God resists the proud.

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He gives grace to the humble. A good word for you that's,

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I think for me, one of the greatest hopes I have in my own sanctification, in my marriage as a father, as a husband, as a pastor, and that is this, that the gospel gives us freedom.

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The gospel gives us freedom to put pride to death. Why? Are you ready?

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Because if you're fearful of condemnation, listen, if you're fearful of condemnation, if you're fearful of being exposed, you'll protect.

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You'll protect. You won't do the internal critique because you're fearful of condemnation.

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But if you have the gospel, if you have Christ, then what does that mean?

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You know you're a sinner. You know that you're fallible. You know that you'll blow it.

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And you know that you have Christ, who is a mighty savior who says it's finished. Are you ready?

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So in marital conflict, in difficulty in relationships, because you have the gospel, you can be open to humility and to put pride to death.

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Why? Because you have a savior who already was put to death for your sin and your pride.

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There is forgiveness. There is mercy. We don't have to protect ourselves. If we blow it, we face plant, we sin, we can freely say, you're right.

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I confess. I have a mighty savior. My sins are forgiven. You do not have to protect yourselves because you have such a mighty savior.

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Pride can be put to death because you are forgiven and you know you are because it's finished. Amen? So consider that.

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Consider that, brothers and sisters. You have the freedom because the gospel to put pride to death between you and God and between you and others.

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Put it to death because you have a mighty savior, a savior who gives grace to the humble.

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Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word. Thank you for the gift of your word.

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We pray, Lord, that you'd be glorified through the word that went out today. We pray for those who heard this message of grace and peace that you'd open the eyes of the blind, that you'd bring life where there isn't any.

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And Lord, be glorified in the healing that you bring to us in this area of your resistance to the proud and your grace to the humble.