Confessions of a Church: Pride Will Bring You Low

The Psalm writer wrote:  Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received.   This is the word of God.  It is eternally true and applicable for all of life.

Proverbs 29: 21-27 He who pampers his slave from childhood Will in the end find him to be a son. 22  An angry man stirs up strife, And a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression. 23  A man’s pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor. 24 He who is a partner with a thief hates his own life; He hears the oath but tells nothing. 25  The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted. 26  Many seek the ruler’s favor, But justice for man comes from the Lord. 27  An unjust man is abominable to the righteous, And he who is upright in the way is abominable to the wicked.

Exodus 20:2-3 says
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. [3] "You shall have no other gods before Me”.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear this commandment? When you begin meditating on this, seeking to identify what “gods” may exist in your life, what are some things that come to mind? Material things? Wealth? Food? Drugs? Pornography? Your relationships? Your Job? Your toys? Your video games? Your extracurricular activities? Your homeschool curriculum? When we contemplate the different ways idolatry may spring up in our lives, oftentimes it is the very tangible, concrete things that are the easiest to identify. An asherah pole in the front yard, or a cupboard full of household idols are good indicators that you may be an idolator. Everyone knows that murder, adultery, lying, stealing, coveting, gossiping, and sexual immorality, these very visible violations of God’s Law, are sins, but there is another sin that is often present with the others which is just as detestable in His sight. This other sin leads one to believing that they can conceal their sins from God, and reveals that they are idolaters, worshipping themselves, their own wisdom and understanding. It’s pride. Pride. It is pride and arrogance when lawmakers shake their fist at God and allow baby murder to continue, claiming they know what's best for women. It’s pride and arrogance when sodomites flip God the bird and adopt the rainbow as their logo. It is pride and arrogance when so called church leaders twist scripture so that people won’t be offended, but have no fear of offending God. Oh, to be sure, if you want to behave like a reprobate, you can store up for yourself a mountain of wicked counselors and teachers to support you in your sin. You can fool those around you into believing that everything is alright. You can deceive your wife, your parents, your friends, and family into thinking that you are a fine upstanding young man or young lady. But you cannot fool God! You cannot hide your sin, your idolatry from Him! There is no room dark enough, no thought so quick, no plotting so complex, that you can hide your sin from God! To believe that since you have mommy fooled, since your wife has no clue, no one at your workplace has an inkling, and your church family are blind as bats, therefore you will be able to pull the wool over God’s eyes….pride. Arrogance! A man’s pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor.  For those of you sitting here today who have attempted to hide your sins in the deep recesses of your minds and hearts, it is pride, and arrogance, and God will bring you low. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling (Proverbs 16:18). Tremble at this truth. The pride of man will be humbled and the loftiness of men will be abased; and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day (Isaiah 2:17). Your attempt to carve out an area of your life where your lusts and cravings can be satisfied apart from God, is prideful, and reveals your nature: Son of Adam, Daughter of Eve. Child of rebellion, doing the work of your father the devil. God resists the proud. He resists the proud! But gives grace to the humble. Jesus said repent, lest you likewise perish. Dear brother and sister, I do not wish that you die in your sins. Repent today while you have breath. Let us kneel and cry out to God for mercy.
Oh Gracious, merciful Heavenly Father, it is to your grace and mercy that we appeal at this time. We are sinners Lord. Weak, frail, and pathetic, yet full of pride and arrogance. Father, there isn’t a breath, a heartbeat, or a brainwave that we can take credit for, yet we believe we can hide our sin from You. We say that we trust in the Lord with all our hearts, yet we lean on our own understanding. We know the things we ought not do, and that we deserve Your wrath, but in our arrogance and pride we follow in the footsteps of Adam and Eve, attempting to hide and cover our sins. Father, please be merciful towards us sinners and help us to remember that it is only the blood of Your Son Jesus which can blot out our transgressions. Please soften our hard hearts of pride and rebellion, and wash us thoroughly from our iniquities. Please create within us clean hearts, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within us. O Father, please do not cast us away from Your presence, and do not withdraw Your Spirit from us. It’s in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Listen now to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to all that believe: 

Colossians 2:9-13 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,  and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.  When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

 To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts

(From the 1/27/19 liturgy of Sovereign King Church.  Written by Aaron Sabie.)