AGAINST PRIDE (PT. 2)
“I hate pride and arrogance!” (Proverbs 8:13)
Of all garments, none is more graceful, none wears so well, and none is as rare as the virtue called humility. “A man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor” (Proverbs 29:23). Humility is essential in the life of every believer and it’s a defining mark of a true Christian. The key element to a life of humility is submission to the Word of God. A person who is unwilling to submit to God’s Word is a person filled with soul-damning pride, which is exactly opposite of humility. You see, an attitude of submission is the fruit of humility, and true humility is demonstrated by obedience to God. Therefore, Scripture calls every believer to “…be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5). And James calls on every believer to “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10). Does your life mostly manifest humility or pride? Our prayer should be that the Lord digs out every stench of pride that still dwells within our sinful heart. Praise God our salvation rests securely in the person and work of Jesus Christ, the only One who never had a prideful attitude, but always walked in perfect humility before God and men! Praise God for JESUS, our ONLY hope of humility, forgiveness, wisdom, redemption, and reconciliation with God. Jesus truly is our only hope of salvation! Trust Him! Praise Him! Submit to Him!
—Pastor S. Henry
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“Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.”
~Psalm 135:6
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"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes."
~Proverbs 21:1
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AGAINST PRIDE (PT. 1)
“I hate pride and arrogance!"
—Proverbs 8:13
It’s a horrible fact, whether we admit it or not, that pride is the most common sin which permeates the sinful human nature. We are all born Pharisees and rebels against God. We all naturally think far better of ourselves than we ought to think. We all naturally imagine that we deserve something better than we have. “A proud and haughty man; “Scoffer” is his name; He acts with arrogant pride” (Proverbs 21:24). Pride is an age-old sin. It began in the heart of Lucifer when he was determined to exalt himself above the Almighty (Isaiah 14:12-14). The sin of pride next reared its ugly head in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve thought, just like Lucifer, to be like God determining good and evil. They wanted to be their own authority, to do their own thing, to be their own boss. Pride is a subtle sin that rules and reigns in many hearts without being detected and can even wear the costume of humility. “Therefore, pride serves as their necklace” (Psalm 73:6). Pride is a soul-ruining sin. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). The sin of pride causes a person to: resist repentance, start a feud, cast forgiveness behind the back, overlook the needs of others, and pride continually fuels hatred for Christ and His church. “By pride comes nothing but strife…” (Proverbs 13:10).
—Pastor S. Henry
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GRACE, GRACE, GOD'S GRACE!!
"You and I need to say it to ourselves again and again. We need to look in the mirror and make the confession as part of our morning routine. Here’s what we all need to say: “I am not a grace graduate.” We all tend to want to think we are more righteous than we actually are. We don’t like to think of ourselves as still desperately in need of God’s rescuing grace. And we surely don’t want to face the fact that what we need to be rescued from is us! When you argue for your own righteousness, working hard to deny the empirical evidence of your sin, then you fail to seek the amazing grace that is your only hope.
God's grace is only ever attractive to sinful people. The riches of God’s goodness are only ever sought by the poor. The spiritual healing of the Great Physician is only ever esteemed by those who acknowledge that they still suffer from the spiritual disease of sin. It’s a tragedy when we praise God for his grace on Sunday and deny our need for that grace the rest of the week. Face the fact today that you’ll never outgrow your need for grace, no matter how much you learn and how much you mature, until you are on the other side and your struggle is over because sin is no more (see Phil. 3:12–16). The way to begin to celebrate the grace that God so freely gives you every day is by admitting how much you need it."
—Paul David Tripp
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GOD’S LIGHT AND LAMP
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
—Psalm 119:105
Our text should be the confession of very true believer because it says something about the role of Scripture in our life as our guide, and it also says something about our view of Scripture. To have Psalm 119:105 as your confession means you believe that Scripture is the pure Word of God without error; therefore, it’s your only guide in matters of faith and life. “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him” (Proverbs 30:5).
Is this your view of Scripture? Do you make the same confession as the psalmist in our text? If so, then praise God because you could never truly make this confession unless you were born of the Spirit of God and given true faith in Christ. The person who is spiritually dead would never say, “The Word of God is my lamp and light.” The fallen, unregenerate mind of man always despises the Word of God. “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be” (Rom. 8:7). Therefore, to truly make this confession we need the grace of God working in us to believe what the psalmist confesses is true. There is no other reliable lamp to our feet and light to our path than the Word of God. Therefore, study the Word of God and let it guide and direct you in all your decisions so that you might truly say with the psalmist: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
Tuesday Encouragement: November 5, 2024
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
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