The Doctrine of Sin..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. So let's refresh our minds and our together by opening our Bibles to the book of Proverbs. And it's chapter 6 in particular that we'll be going to.

So Proverbs chapter 6. And we'll be reading from verses 16 through 19. Proverbs chapter 6. From verse 16 through 19. There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to Him, haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

Amen. grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord it remains forever. Last week our brother got the ball rolling for us in the studies when he explained for us verse 16 in particular. And it's a verse that is answering the question, or at least our brother last week answered the question for us. by giving us the definition of what sin is.

What is the biblical definition of sin? The sin that is so hated in the eyes of God. And if you weren't here or you didn't hear it online, I would ask if you get a chance to find that recording on the website and have a listen to it. It is absolutely foundational to understanding the rest of our studies. So your proper understanding of sin by and in its nature is absolutely necessary for us to understand and appreciate that the remedy for sin found in Christ Jesus alone.

Not only does Christ forgive our sins, not only does He set us free from the bondage of sin and the consequence of sin because of His vicarious substitutionary sacrifice, but also we need to recognize that the life we live, that new life in unity in Christ, That's a life that we live by a God-given faith in Christ. Brother said last week that it is a faith that is rooted in Christ. Christ is the object of our faith. And apart from that faith, we could only sin continuously. And it sounds like it's an overstatement, but the Bible is crystal clear on this point.

Because Romans chapter 14 verse 23 says as much, And so a proper understanding of sin and what is required to be cleansed from sin and to avoid sin, continued sin and corruption of our soul, ought to bring us to a surrender to Christ. It ought to bring us to Him by faith, to renounce our own abilities, to renounce our own strength, to renounce our own understanding, and to recognize that it's only that we find strength in Him to live our lives as Christians. We need to humble ourselves before the Lord. We need to declare, I need You, Jesus. I can't do this on my own.

It should compel us to be convinced that the only way, only way any of us can lead a holy life, a God-honouring life, is to live by faith in total submission and in complete dependence upon the power of God in Christ Jesus. The alternatives, beloved, Whatever else there is out there, no matter what it is, will result in sin. That's the black and white of it. So relevant is the topic that is set before us this evening because the first of the seven sins that are listed for us in the text here in Proverbs chapter 6 is the very transgression that stands in stark opposition to that truth. This deeply rooted sin refuses to surrender and causes a man or a woman to stand in arrogance of the heart and to declare the opposite of what we need to declare as Christians.

Because the sin we're going to be examining and considering together this evening, this sin causes a person to say, I don't need help. I can do this on my own. I can do it by my own intellect, by my own strength, by my own ability. I'm okay. I don't need help.

And beloved, that is the recipe for destruction. So let's look down on our chapter here, verse 16. I want you to tell me, what is that sin? What is the first sin that is listed here? Haughty, haughty eyes.

We've probably heard that term before. Can anyone tell me what haughty eyes means? What does haughty eyes actually mean? Any takers? I know we're all shy, but that's okay.

Haughty eyes basically means Eyes that are elevated and looking down. Pupils that are exalted and looking down. So haughty eyes is for one to have a downward view on everything. It's a person who sees the world and everything in this world, everyone in this world, from an elevated vantage point, looking down. And it's not because this person is taller than the rest, like Saul was head and shoulders taller than those in Israel because he could look down on them.

No, no, that's not what Horti means. Because what it means in our passage is a person who has a higher esteem of themselves. A person who sees themselves as in greater importance than others. And beloved, we know that the eyes here are a reflection of the heart and a haughty, a one who has haughty eyes has a heart that is elevated above all else. And this, beloved, is very much the sin of pride.

Pride. Actually, haughty eyes, haughtiness in the Bible is synonymous with pride in the Bible, which itself means exalted or lifted up. And the most basic reason God hates haughty eyes, as we have in our text this evening, in verse 16, God hates and abominates the things that follow. The reason why God hates is because of what we're told in Proverbs 21, chapter 4, at the most basic level. Because in Proverbs 21, verse 4, we're told, haughty eyes and a proud heart the lamp of the wicked so the toiling and the tilling of the hands of the wicked that's what that means it is our sin a sin so haughty eyes is to transgress is a transgression of god's law remember last week first john our brother brought that up first john verse three chapter three verse four he said sin is lawlessness sin is lawlessness.

To have haughty eyes is to have something that we possess in us that is in stark contrast and opposing to everything that is good and righteous in the way of moral conduct expected from God of His creatures. So at the most basic level, haughty eyes. Sin. But this evening we'll be asking why. Why does God hate this sin?

And is there a reason why it appears first in our list of seven? Now look down at the verses before you, verses 16 through 19. Have a good look at those verses. Tell me, is there anything discernible that stands out? Are there any patterns that you see in those seven sins before you?

Do you think these sins are arranged in any particular order? Do you think that there is a pattern in the author's mind? It's King Solomon who wrote this, by the way. Was there something in his mind when he wrote the seven sins before you? Any takers?

It's okay. We'll get warmed up. There's a couple of things I want to bring to your attention. These sins are sins of mankind. The sins that you and I are able to commit, sins and attributes that we are able to have.

And it seems like Solomon, the author, is working his way from top to bottom. What do I mean? Can you see? First he begins with ice, haughty ice. Then he goes down to the tongue.

After the tongue, he speaks about hands, and then he goes to the heart, and then he goes to the feet. These are your five sins, and the rest, the other two, are the whole of the body, the whole of the person who commits those sins. So Solomon seems to be working from top to bottom, but is that why Hordiais comes first on the list? Or is there a greater reason? for why he would choose to have haughty eyes first on the list.

I submit to you, I believe there is a greater reason. And I would suggest it is because haughty eyes is synonymous, as we would know, with arrogance or pride. And beloved, pride is indeed the root of all sins. Pride is the root of all sins. You may have heard it said before that self-idolatry, self-idolatry is the root of sin, and that's true also.

But I ask, what is at the heart of self-idolatry? Is it not love for self? And does it not proceed from an exalted heart filled with self-worth and self-importance? That's pride. Everything revolves around me.

I'm the important one. I should be applauded. I should be praised. I should be honoured. I deserve the very best.

I'm worthy. That's pride. You might say the Bible speaks about the love of money being the root of all kinds of evil. And you're right in saying that. 1 Timothy 6 verse 10 speaks to that truth.

But I ask you, why is that? is not money, a tool used by the proudful heart, which sees itself as the center of the whole universe, superior to everyone and everything else. And this money is a tool to enable that selfish heart to acquire the very things that would satisfy the simple passions and the longings of the flesh. The very thing that an exalted heart believes he or she is entitled to. You see, a prideful heart cries out, I am worthy.

I am worthy. You see, a person with haughty eyes or a prideful person thinks of himself too highly. He says, I deserve the very best. And so money becomes an idol for that type of heart to be given over to self-entitlement. See, pride is found everywhere.

Where sin abounds, you'll find pride. So by inspiration, I believe, of the Holy Spirit, the first of the list is precisely there because it is very much the root of sin. Even as we'll see a little later, it's actually found in original sin. Haughty eyes. Pride.

It's a big topic. And the Bible speaks quite abundantly about the topic of pride. And a full study of the concept of pride and everything associated with it will take much time. Because, as I said, there's a vast amount of material throughout the Word of God that speaks to this topic. It's so important.

And, beloved, a good start is to grab a concordance and to look up the Word. Pride, haughty eyes. And then go through the Bible and read the texts that speak about pride or haughty eyes in the proper context. They'll give you a better understanding. But quickly you'll find that you need to expand your search.

Because the Bible uses different words, either as synonyms of haughty eyes, or words that come from the same family, that means something very different. Very, very same, I should say. They might have different nuances and different emphasis, but words that are very much speaking to the same concept. So you have to expand your search to include these words as well. Words such as pride, arrogance, conceit.

You can probably think of a few more yourself. Boastful, exultant, pomp, and many more. And in every one of these words, the concept is found that a mere human being, a mere created being, has such an elevated high view of himself or herself. Whether it's their own accomplishments, whether it's their own possessions, their skills, it could be because of the position at work, it could be because they have some form of power, some form of prestige or whatever else, fill in the box. A prideful heart cries out, I'm all that.

A prideful heart cries out, look at me, I'm great. Now, it may be a lot more subtle than that, but that's the essence. That's the essence. I'm worthy of praise, he would say. I'm worthy of honor.

I'm sufficient in myself. I don't need help. I can do it on my own. That is the cry of a proud heart. That is the cry of one who has haughty eyes, who looks down on others.

I'm smart, he would think. I'm strong. I'm capable. And then the comparing game begins to play. He begins or she begins to compare his or herself with others.

Because remember, looking down upon people means I'm elevated. I have better qualities than all these people. I've got a better job. I've got more money. I've got a better house.

I've got more skills. My kids are better disciplined than these. My wife. My character. Filling the gaps.

So one who has 40 eyes looks upon others looking down and then compares himself with others and he always comes up number one. There's a danger in that, beloved. There's a danger. You might say, I'm okay. That's not me.

I don't fall in that. If anything, I'm more humble. I've got more self-pity than anything else. Don't think you're out of the woods. The self-pity is actually another form of pride.

It's simply a type of pity or sorrow that comes from, not from true humility, but as a result of your ego being injured. You hear yourself say, you might have heard this, you might have even spoken to yourself these words, how could I have done this? I can't believe I would do such a thing. You tell yourself, what have I done? I know I'm better than that.

Sounds like repentance, sounds like sorrow, but it's not. You see, your pride is being attacked, your self-image is shaken, and you end up being upset. That's very much what self-pity is. Beloved, be careful. I say this to you as I do to myself, because that's not humility.

That's not biblical humility. It cloaks itself in humility, but nothing could be further away from the truth. So if you or I take the time to do our word study and go through Scripture, and we study synonyms, and we study the word, the haughty eyes, and go through all the texts that speak of it, and then we expand our study to further words, the words of the same family, and the synonyms of that word, and we work our way through the Bible, we will find that that's only the beginning. Because the sin of pride is so pervasive, it's inherent to much more of Scripture than you think. Let me give you an example.

Now, if I was to ask, what is the definition the Bible gives to an atheist? Said another way, what's the definition the Bible gives to someone who says, in their own heart, there is no God? What's the official title that the Bible gives to such a person? You would have to say, a fool. And then you would lead me and say, brother, let's go to Psalm chapter 14, verse one.

And you'd read that for me and say, the fool says in his heart, there is no God. And I'd say, yes, that's true. A fool is the official title the book gives to one who declares in their heart that there is no God. Now, nothing of pride is mentioned in that verse. Turn with me to Psalm 10.

I want to read the first four verses. Let's read the first four verses. The psalmist is making a complaint before the Lord of the unrighteous, wicked men, and he says, Why, O Lord, do you stand afar, or far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? Verse 2.

In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor. Let them be caught in their schemes that they have devised. For the wicked boasts of the desires of the soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. Verse 4. In the pride of his face, the wicked does not seek him.

All his thoughts are, there is no God. You see, a wicked person in this text is described as arrogant, verse 2, boastful, verse 3, and proud, in verse 4. The sum of his thoughts are, there is no God. Now we'll dig a little bit deeper on what that means a little bit later in the Bible study, but for now it would suffice to say that Psalm 14, the one who says in his heart that there is no God, that's the arrogant, boastful, prideful man of Psalm chapter 10. A person whose life is defined by unchecked pride.

There's no other way to say it. This wicked man is a fool, and a fool has unchecked pride and arrogance and boasting in his heart. So now we need to add another category to our concordance check, to our exploration, and another category, and we have to add in there what the Bible speaks, at the very least, about a fool. Because we have to add that into the pile. To what?

It speaks about pride and haughty eyes. And beloved, that opens up a whole flurry of passages relating to this subject. Look at the book in front of you. Look at the book of Proverbs that you have in front of you. Even if you've read this book only a handful of times, you would know, you would know that he has a lot to say about fool and the foolish on the one hand, and he contrasts them with the wise.

All the way through, you can't get through a chapter or two before you see several contrasts. And these passages have nuances, beloved, to teach us all about the total pervasive sin of pride, of haughty eyes. We don't have time to examine every one of them, of course. We don't have time this evening. But with that in mind, many of the references to fool begin to make a lot more sense when you think that the fool is one who is given over to pride, to arrogance, to conceit.

Let's look at a few together. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. That's chapter 1, verse 7, fairly early in the chapter. And in chapter 15, we're told a fool despises his father's instruction.

Both the fool is despising instruction, even that of his father. And that you ask yourself, why? Why does a fool despise instruction? Well, at least one answer is pride. Chapter 12, verse 15 makes that point clear.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes. But a wise man listens to advice. You see, a fool is wise in his own eyes. Why? Because he has a high view of himself.

A high view of his own understanding, of his own intellect. He thinks he knows it all. He's proud. With a proud heart, he says, why should I listen? Why should I heed instruction?

Why should I be concerned with wisdom? Why should I concern myself with understanding? What can you, or you, or you, or you, add to what I've already known? I know what's right, I know what's holy, I know what's just, I know how to live my life. What makes you think you can add to my knowledge?

You see, deep inside this fool, This proud person is thinking, I know it all. Another example is Proverbs 12, 16. And you read, the vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult. In other words, a fool is very quick to respond to an insult. You'll see his emotion, you'll see his anger very, very quickly.

Why? Because his ego is attacked. How dare you insult something so, so wonderful? Maybe not so obvious, but you get the picture. A wise man lets it slide.

You insult a wise man, he lets it slide. But the arrogant won't let you get away with it. He always has something to say about an insult. Because his ego is weak. So many of these proverbs, as we work our way through it, are self-explanatory.

Really, I can read them, and I don't even need to explain them, because they make so much sense to our minds and our hearts, I hope. And you'll see, as you work through them, they're riddled with pride. The fool is riddled with pride. He permeates his being. Every prudent man acts with knowledge, we're told in Proverbs 12, 16, but the fool flaunts his folly.

He puts it out on display, his foolishness, because he thinks it's wisdom. Fools mock at the guilt offering. They're mocking the offering, but the upright enjoy acceptance, Proverbs 14, 9. A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing, hear this, his opinion. I want to be heard.

This fool loves the sound of his or her own voice. That's the most important. I don't want to hear the understanding, just listen to what I have to say. Loves the sound of his own voice. Whatever or whoever trusts in his own mind, we're told, is a fool.

But he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. Proverbs 28 verse 26. beloved a fool, is a fool because he thinks too highly of himself. Haughty eyes, pride, these are the things that are found in the hearts of a fool. And let me tell you the scary thing about all this.

The very thing at the root of all this is haughty eyes and pride. And that resides in every single one of us without any exception to one degree or another. And that's the scary thing. This sin, this devastating, pervasive sin of pride, lurks within us. And God hates it.

We were told in verse 16, God hates these sins. These are an abomination in His eyes. We're told that in chapter 6 that is before us. We're told again in chapter 8, a little bit down the track, that God hates pride. And we get that God hates sin and loves the sinner, right?

Well, actually, here's the thing. We're also told that He hates the proud. You need to see it for yourself. Open to Proverbs chapter 16. Proverbs chapter 16 and it's verse 5 in particular that we'll be looking at.

Proverbs 16 verse 5, and it reads like this. Everyone who is arrogant in heart, that's the proud person, that's the conceited person, that's the boastful person. Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord. Be assured, he will not go unpunished. Beloved, it's not the arrogance that is imbued, it is the arrogant, the person who is arrogant that is imbued.

Not the sin, but the person who has this sin. The person who is defined by this sin. and realize how the word that describes God's attitude towards that person is abomination. It's the same word that we have in chapter 6. In the original, it's two-way bar.

Two-way bar in the original is a very strong word. From my study, there's no other word in the Bible, Old Testament and New, that is so strong to describe the absolute righteous hatred of God upon unrighteousness to waive our abomination. Sometimes it's translated detestable, sometimes loathsome. Very heavy word. Very heavy.

He hates the proud. That's what we're told. Why? Because of exactly what we saw, beloved. back in Psalms chapter 10, that psalm that I said that we'll go back to.

Because back there we're told the sum of the thoughts of an arrogant, boastful, proud person is what? You remember? Psalm chapter 10 verse 4? What is the sum of his thoughts? Same as a fool, is there is no God.

And the reason why he makes such a declaration, such a foolish declaration, is not because he can't prove that God exists, like an agnostic. That's not it at all. They may say that on the outside, but that's not true. You've got to see beyond that. The reason for such a sinful, bold declaration, that there is no God in their pride, is because of their exalted view of their own self.

And here it is, they choose to dethrone God, and place themselves in his place. That's wickedness. A heart given over to unchecked pride places self upon the throne of God and that's why God says that he hates the proud. It's rebellion. It's treason at the very highest level, that one would dethrone the God of the universe and take His place.

That's an impeachment and it is unimaginable. And it's this sin that it all began with, that very sin of pride. You see, yes, the first sin of our parents in the garden was the sin of pride. You remember the story. The serpent came to the woman and the serpent said, did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?

She said, yes, he did. If I'm to eat of the tree, then surely on that day I will die. And then the serpent says, you will not die. For God knows when you eat of it, your eyes will be open and you'll be, you remember, like God. You'll be like God, knowing good and evil.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delight for the eyes, and desired to make one wise, she ate and then gave some to her husband. Nevermind, Eve. Nevermind, you were created for God's glory. And He gave you all things and much more, more than you can ever imagine or need. But when she heard that God is holding back.

God's holding back. He's not giving you everything. He's holding back Eve. You deserve better. You deserve better, don't you?

Because you can be like Him. Don't you deserve it, Eve? And she thought in her heart, I do deserve it. I do deserve it. I do desire it.

I do want it. I should be exalted at the heights of God himself. I'm not satisfied being made in the image of God. I want to be God. I'm worth it.

What a high view of self. When I said earlier that it all started this way in the beginning, that's not what I was talking about. It wasn't the sin of our parents that I was talking about, although that sin is rooted and very much immersed in pride as well. But I was thinking about the serpent's sin. Satan's sin, the one who caused Eve to stumble and fall, because he fell in the same scene of pride.

You see, commonly, Isaiah chapter 14 and Ezekiel chapter 28, these two passages are commonly spoken of as passages that speak to a direct context, which is the fall of the king of Babylon and the fall of the king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28. But also, they say that these two passages are speaking to the fall of Satan himself from glory. I can understand why they would come up with this view. I mean, there must be a lot more. It seems like there's a lot more than mere earthly kings in view in these passages.

Listen to what Isaiah 14 says from verse 10b through 15. You can open if you like. Isaiah chapter 14. Isaiah chapter 14 from 10b through 15. And the reason why we're not going through the whole chapter is just to save a little bit of time.

Isaiah chapter 14 from Tim B, that is from Tim B through But before we go there, let's just verse 4 for context, so you get this in your mind. Verse 4 says, You will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon. We need to have that in the back of our minds. Now, 10b. You too have become as weak as we.

You have become like us. Verse 11. Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, the sound of your harps. Maggots are laid as a bed beneath you, and worms are your covers. How you have fallen from heaven, O day-starved son of dawn!

How you are cut down to the ground, you who lay the nations low. You said, Giles, in your heart, I will ascend to heaven. Above the stars of God, I will set my throne on high. I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

I will make myself like the most high. But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit. Did you count all the I's in the passage? At least if you get the last I in the passage. I will make myself like the most I.

Now that was Eve's sin in the garden, wasn't it? And in Ezekiel chapter 28, we're not going to go there for the sake of time. You only really have to read the first verse to get the gist of what's going on. Let me read that for you. Not even the whole verse, only a part of it.

It says, Because your heart is proud. Remember, directed directly at the king of Tyre in those days. Because your heart was proud and you have said, it is, I am God. heart that says, I am God. And then now I can't in good faith, with any degree of certainty, sit here or stand here and tell you that I know that Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 are passages that do indeed speak to the fall of Satan.

I'm not going to stand here and say I know that, because I don't. I don't think there's enough evidence of that. So I'll say that up front. Now they do, in my opinion, talk to you a lot more than just a mere earthly king, but I cannot stand in good faith and say I know that it's spoken of about Satan's fall. But I do know this.

Satan did fall. Jesus himself says in Luke chapter 10 that he himself saw with his eyes Satan fall from heaven like lightning. You remember the passage. And we also know that the fallen angels have fallen. The sinful angels fell with Satan and they were cast into hell.

And we're given the reason why they were cast into hell by Peter, and that is because they sinned. 2 Peter 2. The question I want to ask, and I think you may want to ask as well, is what was that sin? Why did that happen? If we're not referring Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, which would make it so obvious, it would have been the sin of pride, for sure.

No doubt. How can they stand and say, I am God? That would be the reason. But if we're not going to claim that is akin to the fall of Satan, then we have to ask the question, how do we know? Well, turn with me to 1 Timothy 3.

In this passage that doesn't speak about predominantly Satan or the Fall of Angels or anything like that, predominantly, it's actually a passage that speaks about the qualifications necessary for an elder to take up the office of eldership. But we're given an interesting bit of information there, in verse 6 in particular. So, 1 Timothy chapter 3 in verse 6. We're told about the person who is a candidate for eldership, he must not be a recent convert or he may become puffed up with conceit. Now remember, conceit is synonym, there's a synonym of pride.

So conceit is a synonym of pride. He may be puffed up with pride, literally to make haughty, we're told here, or lifted up and fall into the condemnation of the devil. You see, the Apostle Paul is saying, don't appoint a recent convert to the office of eldership in order to protect him from something. In order to protect him from falling into the same condemnation of the devil. We see that in the passage.

It seems to me that a parallel can be made. That the same punishment would be deserving in the event that the same sin is committed by both. What is the sin in question? Conceit. Puffed up.

Pride. I think we have reason to believe that the original sin that caused Satan and his minions, angelic angels for the ministry of Yahweh, to fall into their destruction. At the very core, at the very heart was the sin of pride. Can you see how ugly this sin is? Because it resides in you and it resides in me.

A heart that is similar to the heart that we saw described in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. A heart that seeks to take the glory and the place of God Himself. And beloved, if we know something for sure with absolute certainty, and I'm hoping we know more than one thing with absolute certainty, but it should be this, that Yahweh will give His glory to no one. So cultivate a heart of pride. Cultivate eyes that are haughty, looking down.

Train them. Be a person who is given over to this hideous sin. And what you're doing is you're declaring war with God. God opposes the proud James 4.6.

You want to battle with God of the universe? Then allow yourself to be puffed up against Him. Because pride attempts to dethrone God and replace God with self. And engaging in that type of war, beloved, will result only in one outcome, and I say that with certainty. God always wins, and his enemies are always humbled and even destroyed.

The law taught tears down the house of the proud. Proverbs 15, 25. As we all know this one, pride goes before what? Destruction, a haughty spirit before the fall. Proverbs 16, 18.

You try to dethrone God from his rightful place. And in time, in his own timing, you'll feel the full promise of his fury. You see why the proud are an abomination in the eyes of the Lord? It's treason, beloved, at the very highest level. And the Lord is very good at bringing down the exalted, the proud, the conceited, the puffed up, the arrogant.

He knows what He's doing and He's good at bringing them crashing down to their own destruction. Now can you think of some examples in scripture that we see this happening? Some examples in scripture where we see an obvious example of pride or conceit in the heart of someone and then we see how the Lord humbles that person, brings them down and even sometimes brings destruction upon them. Minds are probably running, you're thinking of some examples. How about Nebuchadnezzar?

Got a smile over here, Nebuchadnezzar. The king of Babylon. You remember what happened to the king of Babylon? You remember that Judah, the southern king, northern kingdom, was already taken into captivity in 722 by Assyria. In the meantime, another king, another empire, led by Nebuchadnezzar.

And Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, he conquers the southern kingdom of Judah. And in conquering the southern kingdom of Judah, he captures many. But he captures many, exiles them back into Babylon. One of those exiles is Daniel. Daniel the spying found a place in the courts of the king.

And this king had a problem with pride. And Daniel, about 12 months earlier, had warned this king of his unrighteousness, of his sin. And he's warned him, and he said, in a dream that you need to, God show me that He's going to humble you, but you need to take care of your sin. Come to Yahweh, come to God, confess your sin and your unrighteousness. Make terms of peace with God.

The thing is, the king was proud. He thought the accomplishments were His own accomplishments. Now, God tells us in His Word that He's the one who brought all this to take place. He's the one who raised up Nebuchadnezzar. In fact, in one of the prophets, it's...

I've got to remember now. In Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar is called a servant of Yahweh. So it's Yahweh who is the one who is instrumental in making all this happen. Now, there are some who are very upset. Of course, Habakkuk, the prophet, was quite upset.

He brought his complaint to the Lord. How can you allow a king or a nation so wicked to come and to capture the people, your people, to come to the people of Israel? But he quickly learned that God's ways aren't his ways. But Nebuchadnezzar was gripped with pride. And even though Daniel had warned him about a year earlier, Nebuchadnezzar didn't repent of his sin.

And so one day, about 12 months down the track, he's walking on the top of the roof and he looks upon his kingdom. And this is what he says, Is not this great Babylon which I have built? I have built by my power as a royal residence for the glory of my majesty. And beloved, the words were still on his mouth. Still on his mouth, we're told, when God cursed him from heaven and he brought seven years.

He cast him out as a wild beast for seven years to roam the paddocks like a wild animal. God knows how to humble the prophet. How about someone closer to home? How about a righteous? How about King Uzziah, or otherwise known as King Azariah?

I love the story of King Azariah or Uzziah. It's found in 2nd Chronicles chapter 26. This king reigned for 52 years, spoken of as a righteous king reigning in the southern kingdom of Judah. No one had reigned longer than him except for Manasseh who reigned for 55. But Uzziah had incredible achievements.

In my opinion, he probably achieved more for the southern kingdom of Judah than any other king before him. It was incredible. Actually, if you open your Bibles to 2 Chronicles 26, from verse 5, we'll see some of who this king is. 2 Chronicles 26. The Chronicles comes after Kings, 2 Chronicles 26.

Let's read from verse 5. I'm writing a little behind, so I'm going to read a little quickly. So 2 Chronicles 26, verse 5. Speaking about the king Uzziah, he set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of the Lord. And as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.

Wonderful, wonderful words. The man was righteous. The man sought after God. And then for 10 years, You have his legacy of achievements. I'm sorry, 10 verses, I should say.

You have this legacy of his achievements that come next for the next 10 verses, which we just won't read. But we'll commence our reading again in 15b. So go down to verse 15, and we'll look at verse 15 from b, from the point where it says, And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped till he was strong. Let's stop there. His fame spread far.

God made him prosper. His renown spread far and wide when he had become strong. So let me ask you this question, beloved. What's wrong with becoming strong? Is there anything wrong with becoming strong?

Absolutely not. It was the Lord who made him strong. We saw that. We saw that the Lord held His hand with this king. And this king sought after the heart of God.

He sought after the things of God. He looked to God. He acknowledged the strength of God. There's nothing wrong with being made the problem of the very next verse. If you put your eyes back down, look at this.

But when he was strong, he grew proud to his destruction. Pride goes before destruction and haughty spirit before the full, before A4. You see, the story goes on and tells us how his pride was manifested. This is a king, not a priest. But he went because he thought that he is all that.

He saw himself highly. His view of himself was too high. So he walked into the temple and he demanded to burn incense. The priests, 80 of them, came up to him and said, no, you can't do that. You're not a priest.

This is only lawful by God for priests to do. We'll burn the incense. You can't do that. But he demanded that he wanted to burn them anyway. So he went into the temple.

You know what happened? God struck this man. God struck him low. And he became a leper. disobeyed God's word because his pride brought him to a point where he thought, I know God disallows a king to do the priestly duty, but I'm a great king.

I'm a strong king. My renown goes far and wide. That pride puffed up his head and he began to believe his own lie. And before you knew it, he disobeyed God's word. God strikes him.

And until the day of his death, he is a leper and he's cast out as a leper. Pride. Pride, beloved. Pride. Knowing this, why would we oppose the Lord in this way?

Beloved, the disposition of our hearts ought to be from the examples of Scripture and what we've seen this evening. Not one of opposition in pride and conceit and boasting and elevating of self and looking down upon others. No, the disposition of our heart ought to be one of humility. Because in our pride, what we're doing is we're doing what the example of these men have shown us. We're trying to dethrone God and rob him what is rightfully his and take that upon ourselves because we see somehow as though we're worthy.

We can't be thinking of ourselves so highly. We ought to be thinking of Him highly. Beloved, He created us for His glory, for His honor, for His praise. Without Him, we are absolutely nothing. Mere men is all we are.

We are capable of nothing apart from Him. My brother said last week, apart from faith, which is rooted in Christ, we can only what? Sin. You see, the success of these men that we just read about got to their head. They thought they became something.

Their success was the work of God. It wasn't their work. It was God's work. He's the one who made these men prosper. He's the one who gave them the ability to create wealth, or the ability to receive understanding, or the ability to win battles in the battlefield.

He gave them breath and beloved. He can take away that breath at any time that He wants. And what are they left with? You remember the fool, the farmer who had a bumper crop in Luke chapter 12. You remember, you remember, I will do this and I will do that.

I will cast down my barns and build new barns and I'll fill them up. I'll put my feet up and I'll retire and relax. I, I, I, I, I. Got out of the equation. You remember what was said to him that night?

You fool, this night your soul will be required of you. I, pride. You don't even know if you can breathe the next breath, the next day. We don't know these things. These are in his hands.

What really belongs to us, beloved? Our achievements, our wealth, our intellect, our positions? He gives and he takes away. You and I don't deserve any credit for any of this, or any glory for it, but he does. He does.

And he deserves glory for all of it. Because the verse I quoted earlier from James chapter 4, God opposes the proud, he continues. He goes on to say, but he gives grace to the humble. Of all the achievements of men before us, all of them were undeserving by them, and they were given to them by God. And yet, we see that in pride they would turn around, and a sin that we could do also, and demand the glory for what does not belong to us.

And this, beloved, is the treason at the highest level, trying to dethrone God and placing ourselves on his throne. And that is an abomination to a vile, detestable, loathsome in the eyes of God. And if you seek His undeserving grace, then we need to be humble before Him. Not in false humility, but true humility, recognizing that He and you and I, we're nothing. But from dirt we were formed, and to dirt we shall return.

Pride is found in all of us. And that's the scary thing, because we do struggle with it. It's our sinful nature. It longs. It longs to be applauded.

Our sinful nature, it longs to receive accolades. It longs to receive the desire or the honor of man. We have haughty eyes. We look down, beloved, whether we know it or not. We do.

We go on about it in a sinful way. We want to receive glory, but we go about it in a sinful way by trying to strip God. Strip God of His rightful glory and His rightful exaltation and His rightful honor. And we want to take it for ourselves, but it doesn't belong to us. That's the fact.

And it always ends badly. Always ends badly. Always. He won't have it. And nor should He.

Because only He is worthy of all glory, praise and honor. But in His grace, we can receive glory. Not the type of glory that we try to steal from Him, but the glory that He freely gives to the humble. Proverbs 29-23, Once pride will bring Him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor. James says it this way, Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you.

The Apostle Peter, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. You see, the lowly is brought high, and there is an exaltation for those who humble themselves before the Lord. There's a bad type of pride and boasting and exaltation, but there's a good type that comes from the hands of God. We don't rob Him of His glory, He's the one who freely gives and exalts. You see, by nature we try to elevate ourselves sinfully, by taking what doesn't belong to us.

But we need to realise... that we need to be brought low in our own eyes. Think less of ourselves. Recognize who we are. Bankrupt before God.

Absolutely bankrupt. Thinking less of ourselves. Not more. And in humility, realize and acknowledge that we can't do it on our own. But rather, we are to cast our anxieties, our stresses, our burdens upon Him because He cares for us.

He then brings us to his heart. He brings us into his heart to enjoy an honour and a glory that no man can ever begin to imagine. You see, true religion is the last will be first and the first will be last. The low will be lifted up and the lifted up will be made low. And it requires our eyes to be taken off unworthy self and placed on the only one who is worthy above all, our good God.

I think John the Baptist knew this. I think he understood. He's mentioned in four of the Gospels, but then after that, He didn't write a book. Christians, for the most part, forget about it. You know, I spent some time studying this man and I'm convinced that that's exactly what he wanted to be forgotten about.

Because although in his day there was not another man, not another man like John the Baptist, even Christ our Lord said that. And his ministry was unlike anything else. It was probably one of the greatest revivals the nation of Israel had ever seen to that point. No greater following, no greater popularity. If he was to speak like the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11 and 12 and then again in Philippians chapter 3, then you would have to say, if he was listing his accolades and his achievements, you would say in the flesh that he has reason to boast.

But I'm convinced this man had a true love for the Lord Jesus Christ. He had a true love for God. Because despite all the accolades, despite all the glory that came his way, he didn't take any of it. When the disciples came to him and basically said, Rabbi, Jesus is across the river, and a lot more people are coming to Jesus to be baptized. Do you remember what he said in John 3, verse 27?

I love these words, because he hits the nail on the head in the essence of what godly humility is. He says, A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given from heaven. Now think about those words. He's saying all this popularity, all this following, all this prestige, all these people that you see before you, they belong here. They're not here to see me.

God has brought them here. And then in 28 he says, you yourselves bear witness, what I said, I'm not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete.

And then he says these words. He, that's Christ, must increase. I must decrease. Oh, beloved, what words. There's no false humility.

He's not saying something on his mouth, but really his heart is seeking to grab all that glory. No, his fame did not get to his head because he recognised that everything belongs to God. And beyond that, he's even confessing that the joy of his heart is made complete. when he sees the Word of God being accomplished through Christ Jesus. And that spurns him to humility and obedience.

He knew his place. He was able to declare, he must increase, I must decrease. And beloved, I'm in no way now exalting John the Baptist, because I know that humility is from the hand of God. And if it is a God who demands that we humble ourselves before him, it is the same God who gives us that humility. Because as we said earlier, we are unable in and of ourselves to conjure up a humility that is accepted before God.

If he demands it, he needs to give it. I believe he gave it to John. But the real example that we should follow is that of our Lord Jesus Christ. The humility of the Incarnation. Because unlike John, who recognized that everything that he sees, all the good things that were given, all the popularity and all the blessings were from heaven.

He said, we can have nothing unless it was given from heaven. John recognized that. The difference is that Jesus showed a particular type of humility. But, but, He's the Eternal Son of God. Heaven belongs to Him.

He owns Heaven. The Eternal Logos is that rightful owner of all that is from above. And therefore He has the right to be exalted. He has the right to be glorified. He has the right to look down upon everyone because He is the only one worthy of all honor, all praise, all glory.

And there is none like Him. He is God. And yet, He sets it all aside in this unfathomable display of unity that you and I ought to emulate. And in closing, let's read Philippians chapter 4. My apologies, Philippians chapter 2 from verse 4 through 11.

Philippians chapter 2 from verse 4 through 11. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself. by taking the form of a servant. Being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Therefore God has exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Amen. Hebrews 12, 1. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, looking not to self, Not to our own abilities, not to our own righteousness, not to our own strength. Looking to Jesus.

He is the founder and the perfecter of our faith. How do we do it? We look to the one who is the founder. who for joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. What humility!

He became a man. He washed His disciples' feet, beloved. He endured the cross. He bore the shame. So those who by grace, through faith, were united in Him, will at the right time share in His rightful glory for all eternity.

Beloved, the choice is simple. It's simple. Either one cultivates a haughty eyes and a prideful heart to be exalted now. To receive the glory that is of men, but not the glory that comes from God. And in doing so, becoming an abomination, detestable in the eyes of God.

Hated in the eyes of God. And then ultimately destroyed. We are to fix our eyes upon the author and the perfecter of our faith. Humbling ourselves with the humility he's given us by faith and humbling ourselves before the one who showed us true humility. What humility actually looks like by declaring to him.

We're not all that. We're not strong. We're not wise. We're not sufficient. Jesus, we need help.

We can't do it alone. I can't be looking down, I need to be looking up. Because the lowly will be exalted. And then we can cast our burdens, cast our anxieties, cast our fears, cast our insufficiencies upon Him. You know what it means to cast all these things upon Him?

It means, I can't deal with this. It's too hard for me. I'm not able or capable of dealing with these things. I cannot do it on my own. Jesus, I need you.

And Jesus says, bring them on. I'll take them. Cast them on me, bring them to me, custom upon the Savior. And it goes on to say in 1 Peter 5-7, because He cares for you. With that type of God given humility, we bend our knee in worship and in servitude in that humility to serve Him as He served us.

Not looking down with haughty eyes, not with prideful hearts, not with boastful tongues or conceited hearts, but to serve him in humility, to have lowly hearts, and to be assured. that He is the one who will one day bring the lowly and lift them up and bring them into the infinite, indescribable glory that He has earned for Himself and bring us to Him to enjoy that glory with Him forevermore. Why would you give that up for anything else? Let's pray.