SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/30/2013
9:44 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Pride
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Studies in Proverbs
Message of the verses: In today’s SD we will look at the popular sin
of pride, which is the last popular sin we will discuss, but we will also do a
brief review of all of the popular sins that we have looked at over the last
few days.
Pride
It seems that whenever I think about pride I cannot
help but thinking about a song that Roger Miller sang back in the 1960’s or
1970’s I don’t remember the exact year.
I don’t even remember the name of the song but a line in the song was “Pride
is the chief cause in the decline of the number of husbands and wives.” I can’t help believe that this is a true
statement. I looked the song up on the
internet and the name of it is “Husbands and Wives.” The section I am talking about is as follows,
“The angry words, spoken in haste Such a waste of two
lives It's my belief, pride is the chief cause and the decline In the number of
husbands and wives.”
I want to
quote the different verses in the book of Proverbs that have the word “pride”
or “proud” in them.
Pr 8:13 "The
fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I
hate.
Pr 11:2 When pride comes, then comes
dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom.
Pr 16:18 Pride goes before
destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.
Pr 21:24 "Proud,"
"Haughty," "Scoffer," are his names, Who acts with insolent
pride.
Pr 29:23 A man’s pride will bring him low,
But a humble spirit will obtain honor.
Pr 15:25 The LORD
will tear down the house of the proud, But He will establish the boundary of the widow.
Pr 16:5 Everyone who
is proud in heart
is an abomination to the LORD; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.
Pr 16:19 It is
better to be humble in spirit with the lowly Than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Pr 21:4 Haughty eyes
and a proud heart,
The lamp of the wicked, is sin.
There are
many theologians who would say that pride is the “sin of all sins,” and I would
have to agree with them, for who am I not to agree with them. Let us look at what was probably the first
sin that was ever committed, which is recorded in the book of Isaiah 14:12-15, “12 "How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the
morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have
weakened the nations! 13 "But you
said in your heart, ’I
will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount
of assembly In the recesses of the north. 14
’I will
ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ 15 "Nevertheless you will be thrust down to
Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.” What
was this first sin? Pride. Who committed this first sin? Lucifer whom we know as Satan. When I
was studying about creation I read somewhere or heard somewhere that it
probably took Lucifer about twenty minutes before he sinned. If one reads the description that is given to
him in the Scriptures I suppose that once can understand why he fell and fell
quickly for he was the highest being that God created.
Next we
see the sin of pride in the garden of Eden where the sinful Lucifer, now the
devil temps Eve with the sin of pride, telling her that she can become just
like God knowing good from evil. Telling
her that God had held out on her and not given her all she deserved, and she
and Adam believe the lie of Satan and plunged the entire creation into
sin. It took the death, burial, and resurrection
of Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son to pay for that original sin and
all the sins that man has ever committed
to bridge the gap between God and man can again have fellowship with God.
Dr.
Wiersbe quotes a Scottish Pastor in his commentary on this section who said, “No
man can bear witness to Christ and to himself at the same time. No man can give the impression that he
himself is clever and that Christ is might to save.” Dr. Wiersbe goes on to write “That quotation
should be printed in large letters and displayed in every church sanctuary and
conference auditorium where God’s people gather. It might humble some of the preachers and
musicians who call so much attention to themselves that the hungry sheep can’t
see Jesus. If the greatest sin is the corruption of the highest
good, then people who use the Christian religion to promote themselves are
guilty of great transgression.”
Dr.
Wiersbe goes on to talk about something that is very interesting to me, when he
writes “Solomon illustrated our desire for recognition and praise by writing
about honey. ‘It is not good to eat too
much honey, nor is it honourable to seek one’s own honour (Pr. 25:27).’ Balance this with Pr. 25:16: ‘If you find honey, eat just enough—too much
of it, and you will vomit.’ If honey
represents praise, then beware of trying to digest too much of it.”
Now we
will attempt to review these five popular sins that we have been looking at
with the help of Warren Wiersbe. I
suppose that when we look at those who are not believers we are not surprised that
they commit these five popular sins probably with regularity, but what about
believers? Let us take a look at some
different passages in the Bible to show that believers have this some kind of
problems with these sins. 1 Cor. 11:21
illustrates that the Corinthian believers had trouble with getting drunk, “for
in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and
another is drunk.” What does 1 Cor. 6:10
say? “nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.”
I am not saying that those that Paul was writing to were not believers
for I believe that when Paul writes this verse that he is speaking of the
habitual sins, not the occasional sin of a believer.
When we
read Ephesians 6:1-3 we can see that there were some children of the parents
that Paul was writing to that did not respect their parents. “1 ¶
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 "Honour your father and
mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 "that it may go well with you and that
you may enjoy long life on the earth.’”
In Luke
12:15 we read that Jesus said “Take heed, and beware of covetousness” and then
Paul writes to the Colossian believers that covetousness was idolatry. (Co.
3:5)
In Paul’s
letter to Timothy he warned him that young believers should not be appointed to
spiritual leadership roles because “lest being lifted up with pride [they] fall
into the condemnation of the devil. We
also see that the Apostle John wrote in his third letter about a proud believer
named Diotrephes who was running the church and wouldn’t submit to the
authority of God’s Apostle. (3John 9-11)
We conclude
with the words of James who said in his letter “My brethren, these things ought
not to be so.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: When I think about the fact that I, along
with every other human was born a sinner, and that it took a loving and just
God to provide salvation for me, and it takes the Spirit of God, who lives in
me to show me the good works that I am to do for the cause of Christ, that will
bring glory and honor to Him, I have to ask myself “Why should I be proud of
anything I do?” Because I still have
that old nature within me there is surely a battle that goes on over things
like doing good works for the Lord.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Holy Spirit of God to lead me to
accomplish the works that the Father has chosen for me to do, and through them
bring honor and glory to my Lord and Savior.
Memory verses for the week:
Psalm 32:1-8
1 How
blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! 2 How blessed is the man to whom the LORD
does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit! 3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body
wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained
away as with the fever heat of summer.
Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to
You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said “I will confess my transgressions to
the LORD”; and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. 6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray
to You when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they will not
reach him.
7 You are
my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I
will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question: “Joseph”
(Genesis 39:9)
Today’s Bible Question:
“Persecution in the church at what place caused the Christians to be
scattered through Judea and Samaria?”
Answer in Tomorrow’s SD
3/30/2013 11:13 AM
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