Amen.
All right, we're there in Acts chapter 12.
And tonight we are finishing up this series on drop dead.
We kind of took a break from it.
I don't know if you forgot about it.
But I had one Sunday night where
I preached a sermon about that reprobate, Dario Shazier,
that's moving to Del Paso.
And then we had Brother Stuckey preach, of course,
while he was here.
So we kind of left off on one last story,
which we'll finish tonight.
And then we'll get into a new series on Sunday night
here soon.
If you remember, we started, and we learned about Onan.
Then we learned about Nadab and Abihu.
Then we learned about Azah.
Last time we were talking about this series,
we learned about Ananias and Sapphira.
And we've been learning about individuals
in the Bible who dropped dead.
That's why the series is called Drop Dead.
People that got killed, and we're
just learning why God did that
and what we can learn about it.
And here we learn about Herod and his death.
Now, Herod, of course, is a very famous character
in the Bible, and we hear a lot about Herod.
But here we learn about his death.
If you look at verse 20, Acts 12 and verse 20,
the Bible says, And Herod was highly displeased with them
of Tyre and Sidon.
But they came with one accord to him,
and having made blast us the king's chamberlain,
their friend desired peace because their country was
nourished by the king's country.
And upon a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel,
sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.
And the people gave a shout, saying,
it is the voice of a god and not of a man.
And immediately, the angel Lord smote him,
because he gave not God the glory,
and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost.
So here we learn about Herod's death, and his death,
and the sin that upset God so much that caused God
to have an angel smite him and kill him
right then and there was the sin of pride.
Now, I'd like you to keep your finger there in Acts 12.
That's obviously our text for tonight.
But go with me to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter
number 13, and I want you to understand something.
And we're going to look at this subject and this idea
of pride tonight, and we're going
to learn about pride from this story of Herod.
But I want to begin just by way of introduction
and explain that pride is a very ugly thing.
It's something that is not nice to see or observe
in the lives of others.
And unfortunately, pride is something
that is very clear to see in others,
yet it's so difficult to see in ourselves.
It's very clear to see when other people are struggling
or dealing with pride, and yet when
pride is staring us in the mirror,
it's difficult for us to see it.
And I don't want you tonight to think, well,
I'm a humble person, so therefore, this sermon
doesn't apply to me.
The fact that you might even think that thought
shows that you might have a problem with pride.
And here's what I know.
All of us have a problem with pride to some extent,
to some point.
So I don't want you, as we go through this sermon,
to think, oh, this is exactly what my husband needs,
or this is exactly what my wife needs,
or this is exactly what my kids need, because here's the truth.
This is exactly what each and every one needs,
because we all deal and we all struggle with pride,
and pride is a problem.
And today, people think like, oh, well, there's nothing wrong
with being arrogant.
There's nothing wrong with being prideful.
But what you need to understand
is that pride will bring problems into your life.
Are you there in Proverbs 13?
Look at verse number 10.
Proverbs 13 says this, and I want
you to notice when God makes these types
of absolute statements, it's really interesting to me.
Because usually when we make statements,
we'll say 90% of the time, or 95% of the time,
we make up these statistics or these percentages
that we really don't have any idea about,
we'll say most of the time.
And then sometimes God will say something like this.
He'll say, the love of money is the root of all evil.
And we're like, really?
All evil?
But that's what he said.
And if we believe the Bible, we have to accept it.
We have to say, well, God knows,
and God knows better than we know.
And here in Proverbs 13, 10, notice
what God says about pride.
He said, only by pride cometh contention.
But what the well-advised is wisdom.
Only by pride cometh contention.
And here's what I know based on the Bible.
Whenever there is contention, whenever there is argument,
when there is problems with individuals,
whether it's spouses arguing, whether it's maybe coworkers
arguing, whether it's fellow church members fighting
and arguing, whenever there is contention, pride is involved.
Because the Bible says that only by pride,
only because of pride, it is only
because of somebody's pride that contention cometh.
Only by pride cometh contention.
And here's what you need to understand.
And here's why this sermon is so important for you
and for me.
It's because if we want to have lives,
if we want to have lives that are free of contention,
then we're going to have to have
lives that are free of pride.
Because only by pride cometh contention.
And just know this.
Just know this.
Whether you are a parent or whether you
are a pastor who deals with a lot of contention
and a lot of problems, just know this.
Whenever somebody sits in my office
and there's some sort of contention that
is happening there, I know this.
At some point, to some extent, pride
is involved because only by pride cometh contention.
And if you study the Bible, you know that's true.
In fact, if you study yourself, you know that's true.
The Bible says, from whence come wars and findings
among you?
Come they not hence even of your own lust
that warned your members?
We know that it is our desires on the inside when
we don't get what we want and what we don't
get what we think we deserve.
Well, that's pride.
And here the Bible tells us that pride brings contention.
But I want you to notice, not only does pride
bring contention, pride also brings destruction.
You're there in Proverbs 13.
Flip over to Proverbs chapter number,
I think I might have miswrote the passage.
Let me see if I can find it real quick.
Go to Proverbs chapter 16.
Look at verse 18.
Proverbs chapter 16 and verse 18.
By pride cometh contention.
But not only by pride comes contention,
also the Bible tells us that by pride comes destruction.
Proverbs 16 and verse 18.
Notice what the Bible says, pride goeth before destruction
and an haughty spirit before a fall.
You say, Pastor, why would I want to listen and pay
attention and try to learn and apply and identify
pride in my life?
Here's why.
Because it will bring, if you don't get control of pride,
it will bring a lot of contention into your life.
You say, well, I don't care about that.
I like to fight with people.
It's kind of my thing.
OK, well, realize this.
Not only will it bring contention into your life,
but it will eventually bring destruction into your life.
Because God promised, and he kind of gives
this absolute statement.
And he says, pride goeth before destruction.
Which means you cannot have pride in your life
and not have destruction that follows and a haughty spirit
before a fall.
And God re-emphasizes this throughout the Bible.
Go to Proverbs chapter 18.
Look at verse 12.
Notice what he says in Proverbs 18 and verse 12.
This is all just by way of introduction.
Proverbs 18, verse 12, the Bible
says, before destruction, the heart of a man is haughty.
Just another way of saying pride.
And before honor is humility.
You want to be honored?
Be humble.
You want to be destroyed?
Then lift yourself up.
Then get haughty.
Then get pride filled.
Go to Proverbs chapter 11.
Look at verse 2.
Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 2.
Notice what the Bible says.
Proverbs chapter 11, verse 2, the Bible
says this, when pride cometh, then cometh shame.
But with the lowly is wisdom.
When pride cometh, then cometh shame.
And here's all I'm telling you.
If you want to have a life that is free of contention,
and you want to have a life that is free of destruction,
you're going to have to have
a life that is free of pride.
You say, why?
Because pride is ugly.
When you see it in your parents,
when you see it in your spouse,
when you see it in your co-workers, or your boss,
or your employer, or fellow church members,
or wherever it is, when you see it and you identify it,
it's ugly.
You don't like it.
It annoys you.
But realize this, that we often
don't see it in ourselves.
And pride brings contention.
And pride brings destruction.
I go back to Acts chapter 12.
And let's look at a few things
that we can learn in regards to pride.
And I'd like you to write these down
on the back of your course of the week place.
You can jot some notes down, maybe.
And if there's certain things that we need to understand,
and if we understand them, we can grasp them
from the story here with Herod,
then they'll help you with keeping your pride in check.
Because here's the point.
You have pride.
I have pride.
We all have pride issues.
We all have arrogance issues.
And we need to learn to keep them in check.
So let me give you three statements.
I'd like for you to write these down.
Number one, everything we have to be proud about
was given to us by God.
Everything you have to be proud about,
whatever you have to boast about,
brag about, to hold over somebody's head,
to say I'm better at this than you are,
and you're not as good as I am,
anything you have and everything
you have to be proud about was given to us by God.
See, in the story, we find a man who is a talented man.
Notice verse 21.
And upon a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel.
He had nice clothes.
He sat upon his throne.
He had a successful career and made an oration unto them.
He stands up to give a speech.
And this is kind of near and dear to my heart
because this is what I do for a living.
I stand up and speak for a living.
I stand up and give orations three times a week
for a living.
That's my job.
And here we have Herod, who stands up to give the speech.
And he must have been a very talented speaker
because the people said in verse 22,
and the people gave a shout saying,
it is the voice of a God and not of a man.
And this is where the mistake was made
because it wasn't a voice of a God that was speaking to them.
This man with these talents and this ability
to be able to communicate, to be able to hold
people's attention, to be able to take something that was
maybe complicated and make it simple,
to be able to instruct in such a way
that they could walk away and learn and apply it
to their lives, that was not given by a God.
But that ability was given to this man by God and everything.
Everything that you have or anything
that you have to be proud about, you need to understand this,
was given to you by God.
Keep your place there in Acts.
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 4.
1 Corinthians 4, you're there in Acts.
You're going to go Romans, 1 Corinthians,
Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians.
I thought about doing this tonight,
and I decided not to just because I
don't want to make the sermon super long
and we would have spent a lot of time doing it.
But in the Bible, you often find this term or this phrase
where it says, whenever it talks about someone
being prideful, it says that their heart was lifted up.
And if you study that phrase of people's hearts being
lifted up, you'll find that people had their hearts
lifted up because of their beauty.
You find that people had their hearts lifted up
because of their riches.
You find that people had their hearts lifted up
because of their successes, whether it
was kings who were winning battles
or kings that were doing things in their kingdom.
People got their hearts lifted up
because of different reasons in their lives.
And here's all you need to understand.
Whenever you find yourself kind of leaning
into that tendency, that human tendency to say, wow,
I'm good at that.
Wow, I'm great at that.
Wow, I'm getting all these compliments
because here Herod is getting compliments
because of his speaking ability.
But whatever it is, whether it's beauty,
whether it's riches, whether it's success,
whether it's your athleticism, whatever it is,
whenever you find yourself being tempted
to have your heart lifted up because of something
that you have, realize this, that everything that you have
and anything that you have that you could be proud about
was given to you, was not produced by you,
but it was put in you by God.
1 Corinthians 4, look at verse 7.
Notice what the Bible says.
For who maketh thee to differ from another?
Now notice the idea is he's not saying
you are different than others.
He's saying who makes you different from another?
And the idea that he's given us here
is in the areas that you are different from others,
whether it's beauty, success, talent, whether it's intellect,
whether it's your ability to do something in comparison
to other people, he says, for who maketh thee
to differ from another?
And then he says this, and what hast thou
that thou didst not receive?
What talent, what ability, what strength, what intellect,
what knowledge, what do you have?
And I'm not, don't answer out loud,
but ask yourself this question.
What is it exactly that you have, that you have,
that is a Bible-believing Christian who
believes in the Bible, who believes
in the God of the Bible, who believes that there is a God
that created you, that there's a God that equipped you,
that there's a God that favors you, that blesses you?
What is it exactly?
And I'm asking you, don't answer out loud,
but answer in your mind.
What is it exactly that you have that
wasn't given to you by God?
And if the answer is nothing, which is the correct answer,
then you really don't have anything to glory about.
Then you really don't have anything to brag about.
Then you really don't have anything
to boast about because everything that was given
to you, everything that you have
that you might potentially get your heart lifted up about
was actually given to you by God.
Notice what he says at the end of verse 7.
He says, now if thou didst receive it, oh, well,
I'm really smart.
Where do you get that from?
Well, God made me that way.
OK, well, if thou didst receive it,
well, I'm really talented with music.
Praise the Lord.
Where did you get that from?
I'm pretty sure God gave that to you
because there's nothing you have
that God didn't give to you.
Well, I'm really good with money.
I'm really good at business.
I'm very successful.
I'm very beautiful, whatever it might be.
If whatever you have, he says, now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory?
The word glory means to boast or to brag.
He's saying, if what you have you got from God,
then what are you exactly bragging about?
As if thou hadst not received it?
And here's what he's saying.
Here's what the Apostle Paul is kind of teasing out for us.
He's saying that we must remember
that every blessing or ability comes from God.
Any success you have is because God
allowed you to succeed.
Anything you have to be proud about,
anything you have to brag about was given to you by God.
Let me show it to you in another passage.
Go to John chapter 3.
John chapter 3.
If you're there in 1 Corinthians, you go backwards.
You've got Romans, Acts, John.
John chapter 3.
I'm not going to take the time to read
the entire context for you, but here in John 3,
we have John the Baptist, who is a very successful minister
in ministry, who the Bible says that all of Judea
came out to hear him preach, has now kind of lost
his ministry a little bit.
He basically gave a platform to Jesus.
When Jesus came, he looked at all the people
that were following him.
And he said, behold, the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sins of the world.
And then all those people that were following John,
now all of a sudden, they're following Jesus.
And people are asking him about this.
And they're trying to kind of say,
what do you think about this?
Is this bothering you?
Are you envious of the fact that all men go
to hear Jesus now?
And he gives a lot of answers that are great,
but the one I want to key in on is in verse 27,
when he says this.
John answered and said, a man can receive nothing
except it be given him from heaven.
Please understand this.
Whatever health you have, whatever wealth you have,
whatever success you have, whatever
you've got going on in your life that potentially could
get your heart to be lifted up,
please realize this, that you do not
have that for any other reason than God gave it to you.
And the fact that it was given to you from heaven.
Go to James chapter 1.
James chapter 1.
If you start at the end of the New Testament
and you head backwards, you've got the book of Revelation,
Jude, 3rd, 2nd, 1st John, 2nd, 1st Peter, James,
James chapter 1.
Do me a favor when you get to James, put a ribbon
or a bookmark or your bulletin there,
because we're going to leave it
and we're going to come back to it.
James chapter 1.
Look at verse 17.
James chapter 1, verse 17.
The Bible says this, every good gift and every perfect gift
is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights,
of whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Please understand this.
Everything we have, everything we
have that we could potentially be proud about.
Every ability, anything, whether it's secular or spiritual,
everything we have was given to us by God.
And when we understand that, it'll
help us check our pride, because I've
got nothing to brag about if everything I've
got was given to me.
I've got nothing to boast about if everything that I have
was given to me.
Now go back to Acts chapter 12,
and let me give you the second point.
We're talking about understandings
to help us check our pride.
And the first understanding, the first thing
that you have to be clear on in your mind
is this, that everything we have to be proud about
was given to us by God.
Anything you have to be proud about
was given to us by God.
And here's where contention comes in.
When we take what God gave you,
and then you start holding that over somebody else's head.
You start thinking, well, I'm better than you,
because I'm better than you at this.
And you're only better than someone in that situation,
if you even are better than that person in that situation,
because God allowed you to be better than that.
Because God gave you that talent,
because God gave you that ability.
And this is why Solomon would write in the book of Proverbs
that by pride, only by pride goeth contention.
Why don't you notice, secondly, in Acts 12, look at verse 23,
we read already that he gave this oration.
He had his nice clothes on.
They gave him the compliments.
They gave him the flattery.
They said, this is the voice of a man and not of God.
And in verse 23, the Bible says this,
and immediately the angel Lord smote him,
because he gave not God the glory.
And he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost.
And when he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost,
he was no longer able to dress himself nicely.
He was no longer able to sit on his nice throne.
He was no longer able to give orations.
And here's what I'd like you to understand.
Not only is everything that we
have to be proud about given to us by God,
but you need to understand this as well.
And I'd like you to write this down.
Everything we have to be proud about
can be taken from us by God.
You know those things you like to brag about?
Your house, your car, your success, your beauty.
You know that there's nothing that you have that
wasn't given to you?
But you know what's even scarier than that?
There's nothing that you have that can't be taken from you.
I mean, in 24 hours, you could lose it all.
Read the book of Job.
I mean, in a very short amount of time,
your entire life could be flipped over.
And everything you had that brought so much contention
into your life, everything you had
that you were so arrogant about,
that you were so boastful about,
that you were so proud about, that you held over people,
that you pitied and looked down on others,
that you caused fights and arguments because you're
so good and they're so not.
And it's even better when we spiritualize it.
Oh, it's not a pride thing.
I'm just a way better soul winner.
No, that's pride.
I'm just so spiritual.
No, you're not.
You're carnal.
I'm just so right with God.
No, you're actually the opposite
of being right with God because God hates pride.
And here's what you need to understand,
is that anything you have and everything you have
was given to you by God.
But even scarier than that, anything you have
and everything you have can be taken from you by God.
Go to 2 Chronicles 26, 2 Chronicles 26.
In the Old Testament, you've got all those one and two books
together.
They're all closer together.
1 Samuel, 1 Kings, 1 Chronicles.
2 Chronicles 26, I want you to notice a story.
We're going to develop the story a little bit.
And I want you to get the details.
And we could have gone to a lot of different places.
But I'm just going to focus in on this story
because it's just an interesting story.
But here's the point.
God is in control of your promotion.
God is in control of your prosperity.
If you're going to be promoted in life,
if you're going to prosper in life,
if you will receive the blessings of God
in the favor of God, realize this.
As a Bible-believing Christian, as a child of God,
we're not talking about the world, we're talking about you.
And I try to say this often.
As a Christian, you don't get to play the game of life
by the same rules that the world does.
They might cheat and steal and succeed, but that's not you.
You've got a Heavenly Father who
corrects and who chastens and who is working on you
and working with you and working in you.
And you need to understand that in your life,
if you're going to succeed, that God
is in control of that success.
God is in control of that promotion.
Are you there in 2 Chronicles 26?
Look at verse 3.
16 years old was Uzziah when he began to reign,
just a teenager, just a young person.
And he reigned 50 and two years in Jerusalem.
And by the way, 16-year-olds can live for God.
I hope that, and I know we do, but I
hope that we will continue to have young people that love
the Lord and that serve God.
And here, we're told about Uzziah.
He was 16 years old.
He began to reign.
He reigned 52 years in Jerusalem.
His brother's name also was Jeckeliah of Jerusalem.
Notice verse 4.
And he did that which was right on the side of the Lord.
According to all that his father, Amaziah, did.
And he sought God in the days of Zechariah,
who had understanding in the visions of God.
And as long, notice what it says.
Don't miss this.
You might want to underline this in your Bible.
And as long as he sought the Lord,
God made him to prosper.
That's an interesting statement there.
Here's the point of that statement.
God is in control of your promotion.
God is in control of your prosperity.
God is in control of your success.
And as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.
Notice verse 7.
And God helped him against the Philistines
and against the Arabians.
And dwelt in Gerbeil and Mahunim.
And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah.
And his name was spread abroad, even
to the entering in of Egypt.
Why?
For he strengthened himself exceedingly.
This guy is winning in every area of life.
He's winning in his kingdom.
God is helping him.
God is blessing him.
Notice verse 15.
And he made in Jerusalem engines
invented by cunning men to be on the towers
and upon the bulwarks and to shoot arrows
and great stones withal.
And his name spread far abroad.
For he was marvelously helped till he was strong.
This guy was well known.
He was famous.
He had a great reputation.
God helped him.
God blessed him.
He was prospering.
He was just hitting it out of the park when it came to life.
Why?
The Bible tells us.
Because he sought God.
And God helped him.
Because he sought God.
And God blessed him.
Notice verse 16, though.
But when he was strong.
And this is usually when things go wrong.
See, what I've learned over the last nine
years of ministry is that people will walk into this place.
And they are so humbled.
Their lives are a mess.
Their finances are a mess.
Their marriage is a mess.
Their parenting is a mess.
They've made a mess of life.
And they come into a church like this.
And they hear me preach about finances and family
and this and that.
And they're just like, whoa, I need that.
I need those truths.
I need to apply that.
And they're just learning.
And they're growing.
And praise the Lord for it.
But you know what I've noticed will sometimes happen?
Is those same people, just a few years down the road,
once they're a little stronger, once life is a little better,
once finances have kind of increased
and things have kind of slowed down, notice verse 16.
But when he was strong, don't miss it,
his heart was lifted up.
But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up.
But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up,
don't miss it, to his destruction.
You say, why?
Because pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit
before a fall.
For he transgressed against the Lord his God
and went into the temple of the Lord.
So here's what happens.
This guy is winning in so many areas of life
that he thinks, and I won't take the time
to develop the whole story, but he now
thinks that he can walk into the temple
and he can do a job that is not his to do.
God had given specific instructions
that in the temple, only the Levites and only
certain people were supposed to do certain things,
and this was not the job of a king.
But this king is doing so well in so many areas of life
that now he thinks that now he
thinks that he can overstep his boundaries into an area
that he has no authority.
And he went to the temple of the Lord
to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
So what happens?
Look at verse 20.
And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests
looked upon him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead.
And they thrust him out from thence,
yea, himself hasted also to go out,
because the Lord had smitten him.
And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death
and dwelt in a several house, being a leper,
for he was cut off from the house of the Lord
and Jotham his son was over the king's house,
judging the people of the land.
And here's what you need to understand.
Not only is God in control of your promotion,
but God is also in control of your demotion.
And anything you have, anything you have to be proud about
was given to you by God.
That's an awning thought.
That's a humbling thought.
There's nothing I have.
There's no success that I have.
There's nothing that I have that wasn't given to me by God.
But you know what will put the fear of God in you
is when you realize that anything
you have to be proud about can be taken from you by God.
This is why the Bible says in Psalms,
Psalm 75, 6, and 7, it says, for promotion
cometh neither from the east, nor from the west,
nor from the south, but God is the judge.
He put it down one and set it up another.
See, God can give you what you need to succeed.
And God can take from you and can cause you to fail.
Go back to Acts chapter 12.
I'd like you to notice a third thing in this story.
We'll be done.
Acts chapter 12.
I said, number one, everything we have to be proud about
was given to us by God.
I said, number two, everything we have to be proud about
can be taken from us by God.
Number three, everything we have to be proud about,
everything we have to be proud about
should be used by us to bring glory to God.
Acts 12, 23, notice what the Bible says.
And immediately the angel Lord smote him.
Why did the angel Lord smite him?
Here's why.
Because he gave not God the glory.
See, it wasn't Herod's fault that the people gave him
all these compliments and this flattery.
But at that moment, he should have said, no, no, no, no, no.
Just know something.
Everything I have was given to me by God.
And everything I have can be taken from me by God.
So if there's anything that I'm doing
that is worth glorying, let's just give that glory to God.
Because God gave me that talent.
God gave me that skill.
God gave me that success.
God gave me those riches.
God gave me that health.
God gave me that wealth.
God gave me that beauty.
God gave you whatever it is that God gave you.
So that you can use it to bring glory to God.
Everything we have to be proud about,
and anything you have that you might potentially
be proud about, realize that God gave that to you
to bring glory to God.
And just know this.
Just know this.
That when we diminish God, and I
don't know if you kept your place in James.
I asked you to keep your place in James.
Go to 1 Peter.
If you kept your finger in James,
it's just right next to that.
You got 1 Peter.
Here's how it works.
Let me just help you with this.
When you diminish God in your life, God will diminish you.
And when you exalt God in your life, God will exalt you.
This is why John said, he must increase, and I must decrease.
Because John understood that when I diminish God,
when I take my talents, my abilities, my successes,
my riches, my wealth, the things
that I didn't even give myself, that God gave me,
when I take those things and turn them around
to bring glory to myself, when I diminish God,
then God turns around and diminishes me.
You say, but I want God to favor me.
I want God to help me.
I want God to help me succeed.
I want to be exalted by God.
Well, then exalt God, and God will exalt you.
1 Peter 5, look at verse 5.
1 Peter 5, 5, notice what the Bible says.
1 Peter 5, 5 says, likewise, you younger,
submit yourselves unto the elder.
And I want you to notice that sometimes it
seems like that phrase there is kind of out of context.
Why is God telling us to submit ourselves unto the elder?
Then he says, yea, I'll be subject one to the other.
And the idea there, he's talking
about submitting yourself to those who have proper authority.
The younger should submit themselves to the elder.
But then he says that all of us
should be subject one to another.
And you say, well, what does that
have to do with what he's about to say?
Because he's telling us about submission.
And then he talks about pride.
He says, and be clothed with humility.
You say, well, what does that have to do with the other?
And here's the point.
Whenever you don't humble yourself,
whenever you don't submit yourself,
it's because you've got a pride problem.
When you are having an issue with an authority in your life,
whether it's your parents' kids,
whether it's your employer, sir, whether it's your pastor,
or whatever it is, whether it's your husband, wife, whenever
you have a problem with an authority in your life,
realize that the underlying cause is pride.
Why?
Because by pride cometh contention.
Because every conflict and every contention
has its root in pride.
And here he says, likewise, ye younger,
submit yourselves unto the elder.
Yea, all of you.
You say, well, what does that mean?
All of us are supposed to be subject one to another?
Here's a commentary on that verse.
The Bible says that we ought to esteem other, better
than ourselves.
And when we do that, we have put on the mind of Christ,
who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, yet he humbled himself.
And he brought himself low.
So he says, hey, submit yourselves unto an elder.
Here's the point.
When you have a problem with submission,
when you have a problem with submitting,
when you're constantly complaining and criticizing
about the authority in your life, it's a pride problem.
Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder.
Yea, all of you be subject one to another
and be clothed with humility.
Don't miss it, for God resisteth the proud
and giveth grace to the humble.
So when you want to diminish God or when you diminish God,
God will diminish you.
When you take the glory that belongs to God
and you turn it around to yourself, then God says, OK,
well, if you're going to glorify yourself,
then I guess I don't need to glorify you.
In fact, God says, I will resist you.
God says that I will bring you down.
See, when we diminish God, when we diminish God,
God will diminish you.
Go to Genesis 41.
Genesis 41, the first book in the Bible
should be fairly easy to find, Genesis 41.
And let me just explain this to you, though.
The reverse of this is also true.
OK, I get it.
If I diminish God, God will diminish me.
So don't diminish God.
But I want you to understand something.
The reverse is also true.
And the reverse is this.
When I exalt God, God will exalt me.
When I promote God, God will promote me.
And we find this throughout the Bible.
But there are two examples that
are my favorite examples to kind of bring this application home
from the Bible.
And I'd like to share them with you.
The first one is Joseph.
Because if you remember, Joseph got promoted by God.
I mean, we saw it this morning.
We won't take the time to read it.
But you had the world power at the time,
the nation of Egypt, which would be like the United
States of America of that day.
It was the empire.
It was the world power.
And you had Pharaoh, who took Joseph out of prison.
And he made him the second in command.
He said, only in the throne will I be greater than you.
I don't know about you, but to go from,
I mean, if I was in prison, just getting out of prison
would be good.
In fact, that was his request.
He told the butler, remember me.
I didn't do anything wrong.
Get me out of prison.
But man, not only did he get out of prison,
he became the most powerful, second only
to Pharaoh and the entire land of Egypt,
the most powerful kingdom in the world.
That's quite a promotion.
You say, well, I'd just like to get a promotion at work.
Well, when you promote God, God will promote you.
When you exalt God, God will exalt you.
And I want you to notice why I think
that God promoted Joseph.
Now, you study the life of Joseph.
It's obvious why God promoted Joseph.
Joseph was a great character in the Bible.
But I want you to notice, I love this whenever I read this.
In Genesis 41, 15, we have Joseph about to get promoted,
right before he gets promoted.
In fact, this is the reason why he gets promoted.
He gets brought out of prison because Pharaoh had a dream
that nobody could interpret.
And the butler remembers that there was this young kid
in prison who is able to interpret dreams.
And they bring him out in order
to interpret the dream of Pharaoh, Genesis 41, 15.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream,
and there is none that can interpret it.
Notice the contrast here is no one can do this.
Everyone has failed.
No one has succeeded.
There is none that can interpret it.
And I notice this.
I mean, how would you respond to this?
The most powerful man on earth says, I have a problem,
and no one can fix it.
And I have heard say of thee that thou can understand
a dream to interpret it.
Now unfortunately, you know what most people
would say at this point?
Well, Pharaoh, let me tell you a little bit about my life.
Well, I'm glad I'm finally getting
the recognition I deserve.
And that's exactly why we don't get promoted.
Because I want you to notice Joseph's response, verse 16.
Joseph answered Pharaoh saying, Pharaoh,
let's get one thing straight.
It is not in me.
God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
You want to know why Joseph was promoted?
Because when given the opportunity
to glory in himself, he chose to bring glory to God.
Because when given the opportunity to exalt himself,
he chose to exalt God.
When given the opportunity to promote himself,
he chose to promote God.
And here's all I want you to understand.
When you diminish God, God will diminish you.
But when you exalt God, God will exalt you.
And he says, it is not in me.
He says, it's not because I'm more talented.
Here's what Joseph would say.
If I can do this, it's not because I have it.
If I can do it, it's because God gave it to me.
And let me tell you something, Pharaoh.
If God gave it to me, God can take it away.
So let me just go in and give the credit to God.
It is not in me, but God.
He says, God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
Go to Daniel, chapter 2.
Daniel, chapter 2, towards the end of the Old Testament.
You've got Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel,
Daniel.
At the beginning of New Testament,
we have Joseph, a young man who was taken into captivity.
And he finds himself before the most powerful man on Earth
at that time.
Towards the end of the Old Testament,
we have another young man, Daniel,
who was also taken into captivity
and also finds himself now in front of the most powerful man
on Earth at that time.
Now Daniel's in Babylon, which is like the United
States of America of that day.
The most powerful nation on Earth
with the most powerful king before him.
And Nebuchadnezzar has a similar problem.
He had a dream, and no one could interpret it.
Notice what the Bible says, Daniel 2.26.
The king answered and said to Daniel,
whose name was Belteshazzar, he says,
are thou able to make known unto me the dream which
I have seen and the interpretation thereof?
And again, we find Daniel.
We find Daniel, who in every kingdom, under every king,
found himself exalted and promoted.
And you say, well, why is that?
Why is it that everywhere Daniel goes, he's promoted.
Everywhere Daniel goes, he's promoted.
I think it's because of one reason.
When you promote God, God will promote you.
And when you exalt God, God will exalt you.
And here we have Daniel, similarly to Joseph,
standing before the most powerful man on Earth.
And he's asked a question.
He's asked, art thou able to make known unto me the dream?
A perfect opportunity for Joseph to exalt himself.
A perfect opportunity for Joseph to say, yes, I can.
But before we do that, let me tell you about Potiphar's wife.
Yes, I can.
But before we do that, let me tell you about my brothers
and what they did.
Yes, I can.
But before we do that, let me tell you
about everyone who's ever done me wrong
because I want to get my revenge.
That's not what he did.
He says, art thou able to make known
unto me the dream which I have seen and the interpretation
thereof?
Verse 27, Daniel answered in the presence of the king
and said, the secret which the king had demanded
cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians,
the soothsayers, show unto the king.
So he's bringing up the fact that no one else has
been able to show you this king.
And you start to get a little worried about Daniel.
Daniel, are you about to take the glory for this?
Are you about to take the credit for this?
Exalt yourself.
But notice verse 28.
He says, but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets.
And maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar
what shall be in the latter days.
Thy dreams and the visions of thy head upon my bed
are these.
And he goes on to interpret the dream.
And here's what I want you to understand.
Here's what I want you to get.
When we diminish God, God will diminish us.
But when we exalt God, God will exalt us,
which is why Peter wrote, if you can go back to 1 Peter,
I'm not sure if you kept your place there.
I meant to ask you to keep your place there.
1 Peter 5, we read verse 5, but I'd like to notice verse 6.
In verse 5, he said that God resisted the proud.
And he says, for that reason, for that reason.
Here's what Peter is saying.
He's saying, because God will diminish
those who diminish him.
And God will exalt those who exalt him.
He says in 1 Peter 5, 6, humble yourselves.
Therefore, unto the mighty hand of God
that he may exalt you in due time.
I want to have the favor and the blessing of God.
Step one, stay humble.
Step two, give God the glory.
Quit telling me how great you are at whatever.
You're worthless.
I'm not saying that because you've been a bastard.
Look, we're all worthless.
You realize that?
You realize that we all deserve to die and go to hell?
That's what we deserve?
And we want to walk around with our heads up high
like we've accomplished something because we're
doing something for God.
Look, anything we do for God is a reasonable service.
Anything we do for God is what's
least expected of us to serve God with our life
when Jesus gave his life for us.
So before you start getting proud of all your abilities
and your intellect and your knowledge, and I know this,
and I've got that, and I've got this put together,
and I'm a better husband than that husband,
and I'm a better wife than that wife,
and look at where I live versus where they live.
Real life.
And everything you have was given to you by God.
And everything you have can be taken from you by God.
So you better just give God the glory.
Because if you diminish God, God will diminish you.
And if you exalt God, God will exalt you.
So he says, and I wish Herod would have heard this,
humble yourself before God.
Because he's the one, he's the one that can favor you,
that can help you, that can bless you.
You say, I don't need this sermon.
All right, just know this.
Pride brings contention, and pride brings destruction.
And it'd be wise of all of us to stay far away from pride.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word.
Thank you for the Bible.
Thank you for these stories you've given us,
these principles in scripture, Lord.
The truth is this, that we can live better lives if we
would just follow the scriptures,
if we would learn the principles in the Bible
and apply them to our lives, if we
would look at the ensembles that were given to us
in the word of God, then we could learn and live
happier lives, more blessed lives.
And Lord, I pray you'd help us.
I pray you'd help us in every area,
whether it's our finances like we learned this morning,
whether it's our personal relationship skills
like we learned tonight.
Lord, I pray that you would help us to be a people who
want to seek out the biblical principles
in the Bible and leverage them in our lives,
apply them to our lives, that we might live better lives.
Lord, thank you for not just leaving us
in this world without hope.
You gave us salvation, and you gave us these scriptures
to guide us through life.
Lord, I pray that you'd help us all
to be able to look in the mirror and identify pride
in our lives and help us to understand that all it'll bring
is contention and destruction.
In the matchless name of Christ,
we pray.
Amen.