The title of the sermon tonight is Pride Goeth Before Destruction.
Pride goeth before destruction.
And I have four points tonight of how a lot of times through circumstance or through situation pride can enter into someone's life.
And the Bible makes it clear that pride goeth before destruction.
And now we're going to focus on a man in the Bible named Haman who was just an epitome of pride in several ways.
But I think sometimes they would look at Haman and they would say, well this guy is wicked, this guy is not a believer, this guy is unsaved.
But we need to be careful that even as Christians, even as believers, pride can enter in.
Pride can enter in in our lives and it can destroy us. And it will destroy us.
You know, if we're too prideful, God will humble us. God will abase us.
And we need to make sure that we avoid pride at all costs being God's people.
Well let's look at verse one here. It said,
When they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matter would stand.
For he had told them that he was a Jew.
And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.
So we see the introduction of this character named Haman in the book of Esther.
And it starts off with him being promoted.
And we don't know exactly what, you know, situation he was in before, but now he's been promoted to a great position, a great piece of authority.
And we see through position, or through authority, a lot of times pride can enter into someone's heart.
Just because they've been given some extra authority, just because they've been given a position of leadership,
just because now they have some type of accolades, now pride is easily entering into their heart.
They think more highly of themselves than they ought to think.
And just because of your position, just because of your authority, is not reason to have pride.
It's not reason to elevate yourself.
You know, I think sometimes, you know, the feminists don't understand this, but just because a man is over the woman doesn't make it more important.
He shouldn't be prideful about the fact that he's over the woman.
Just because of your position is not a reason to have pride.
But we see Haman, because of his position, when Mordecai bowed not unto him, nor did him reverence, Haman's full of wrath.
Haman doesn't like it.
But the interesting thing is, is Mordecai, before this in chapter 2 at the very end,
he had basically told of some two guys that were going to try and kill the king, who had insurrection against the king.
They wanted to slay the king.
And because of what Mordecai said, they found out that these two guys were going to commit treason,
so they got rid of them.
And that's what prompted the fact that Haman was promoted.
We see, it says after these things, that king is yours to promote Haman, the son of Hamaditha, that guy.
So we see, if Mordecai hadn't done what he did, Haman most likely may not have even been promoted in this position.
But Haman doesn't, you know, look at it that way.
He doesn't look at Haman as being a Jew, someone who is fearing God more than man,
and say, why is this guy not bowing down to me?
Is it because he doesn't like me? Is it because of, you know, some kind of anguish between us?
No, he's doing it because you're not supposed to bow down to a man.
You're supposed to fear God, and he's not fearing this man Haman.
So if Haman, you know, had considered the cause of why Mordecai wasn't bowing down unto him,
considered the cause that Mordecai was even, you know, an instrument into giving him his position,
maybe he wouldn't have been so full of wrath.
Maybe all that pride wouldn't have been entered into his heart.
Go to Romans chapter number 12 if you would.
Now the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter number 3 that the bishop is not a novice.
Less being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
The Bible warns that someone that would enter into the position of a bishop, or a pastor,
or someone over the church, if he's a novice, if he's someone that doesn't really, you know,
he doesn't really meet up to the qualifications of being that pastor, pride can easily come into his heart.
Because he hasn't been proved, because he hasn't been tested, because he hasn't really gone through the ringer.
And so he thinks, well, I'm some great person because now I'm a pastor.
I mean, yesterday I was drinking alcohol in the bar, then I got saved at night, now I'm a pastor in the morning.
I mean, that's not what the Bible, you know, lays out for the life of a pastor.
The pastor has to prove himself. The pastor has to be diligent in the work of the Lord.
He's not to be a novice. He's not to be someone that just, well, I've read a couple pages of the Bible,
let me be your pastor. Let me teach you the word of God. No, it should be someone that's diligently sought the word of God.
He's full of the Holy Ghost. He's proven himself.
And if you're put in a position where you really don't, you haven't earned it,
when you're put into some type of authority that you didn't really strive for, or you don't really deserve,
you don't have the pedigree to get in, a lot of times, sometimes people have pride.
They'll say, oh, it's because I'm so great.
You know, other people, they couldn't get into the position of authority like I did.
You know, there's something special about me. It's how good I look. It's how good I talk. It's how smart I am.
They try to make excuses for why they're in this position rather than just maybe thanking God that they've been given, you know, some great elevation.
There's been times in my life where I've been given a position or some type of authority or some type of leadership in a very quick manner,
or maybe in a very speedy manner, not necessarily that it was hasty, but just the fact that it was an early advancement.
You know, some kids are more precocious than others, and I shouldn't take that opportunity to say,
well, I'm great because I've gotten this position quicker than others.
You know, maybe somebody has a job, and at this job, nobody gets promoted after two years.
You know, it takes at least two years where you get promoted in your job to become a manager.
But for whatever circumstance, you know, the couple guys, they start stealing on the job,
and they get fired, and they need somebody to be the manager.
So you get put in that position, and you've only worked there for a year.
Now, you shouldn't be, oh, I'm just the greatest employee. I'm so smart. I deserve this. I earned this.
This is what Haman did. And Haman, by that pride, is going to destroy him.
He's letting that pride into his heart. He's thinking more highly of himself than you ought to think.
And look at Romans chapter 12, verse 3.
For I say, through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you,
not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly,
according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
People ought not think too highly of themselves. We ought to always be humble.
We always should look at others and esteem them better than ourselves.
Go to Philippians chapter 2. We'll read that.
The Bible says in Proverbs 8,
The Bible makes it clear that God hates pride.
And if you're a proud person, if you're prideful in the area of your life, God hates that.
God wants you to correct that with the Bible.
And we're going to read a lot of Bible tonight, a lot of Proverbs even,
where God's making it clear that pride is not good.
Pride is something that God hates.
And when God's people have pride, he's going to punish them.
He's going to chastise them.
It's better to just hear the reproof of a preacher, of a pastor, and just get it right now.
Just always think, hey, I should never think more highly of myself than I ought to think.
I never think by my position, by some kind of leadership, by some kind of authority that I've been given,
I'm better than other people. I'm smarter than other people.
Oh, I'd be a soul-winning time. I must be the best soul-winner in the church. Wrong.
Don't think that. Oh, you know, I've been asked to lead the music. I'm the best singer. Wrong.
Hey, I've been asked to read the Bible. I'm the best, you know, person at reading the Bible.
No. We ought not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.
You know, if you get lifted up with pride in your heart, God will abase you. God will bring you down.
It's not just unsaved people.
Look at Philippians chapter 2 verse 1.
If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any vows and mercies,
fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded, having the same love being of one accord of one mind.
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other, better than themselves.
Look not every man in his own things, but every man also in the things of others.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death in the death of the cross.
I want to focus on verse 5 for a second.
It says, Let this mind be in you.
What mind? The mind that was in Christ Jesus.
Think about this. Jesus Christ is literally God in the flesh.
Did he think himself more highly? Did he go around just demanding praise from every single person,
demanding respect, demanding all these things? He's the creator of the universe.
He gave everybody their breath. He gave them every good gift.
Every good gift comes from the Father above, right? And there is no variableness.
The Bible makes it clear, though, that he became a man, he became a servant.
He was literally serving sinful man.
Now, today, people, they get so prideful and so arrogant.
Oh, I can't serve this other person in the church. I'm better than they are.
I'm a better soul winner. I'm a better singer. I'm better at reading the Bible.
I'm a better preacher. Why would I serve this person?
Hey, Christ served all kinds of people, and he's way better than all of us could ever be.
He's perfect. He's God.
We should never have this mindset that I'm better than other people.
No, we should always esteem others better than ourselves.
We should always look to how to serve other people, how to build them up, how to encourage them,
how to be excited when they get something good in their life.
The Bible says when pride cometh, then cometh shame, but with the lowly is wisdom.
If you want to be shamed, if you want to be embarrassed,
if you want things like that to happen in front of you, then have pride.
If you want to think more highly of yourself, guess what?
God will shame you. God will bring you down. God will abase you.
It's not me. I'm not going around trying to embarrass you or shame you,
but God will make sure that it will happen to you.
Go to Numbers chapter 16. It says in Deuteronomy chapter 17,
I'll read this for you.
And it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom,
that he shall write him a copy of this law and a book out of that which is before the priests, the Levites.
And it shall be with him.
And he shall read there in all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord his God,
to keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them,
that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren,
and that he turn not aside from the commandment to the right hand or the left,
to the end that he may prolong his days and his kingdom,
he and his children in the midst of Israel.
Now the Bible gave instruction in Deuteronomy 17 for the king.
He said the king needs to write a copy of the law and read it every day
so that his heart would not be lifted above his brethren. Why?
Because the king is the highest position, is it not?
I mean the king of Israel, he's the top back in the Old Testament law, right?
But he was supposed to read God's word.
He was supposed to make a copy of the law
so that he would not think that he's better than any of the other people.
He's the king, but he's not better. Why?
Because God's not a respecter of persons.
God doesn't care that you're in some position of authority,
you're in some position of leadership.
You know what often puts people in those kinds of positions?
People that are humble. He puts Saul as the first king. Why?
Because he was little in his own sight.
He put Moses in a great position of authority
because he was the meekest man upon the face of the earth.
You say, I want to be someone great, but I want it to be ordained by God.
Well, you better be meek. You better be humble.
You better esteem others better than yourself
because if you think you're someone great, God will make sure that you get shamed.
The Bible says before destruction, the heart of man is haughty
and before honor is humility.
If you want honor from God, you have to be humble.
I mean, do you really think that God's just going to honor your pride?
He's going to honor how great you think you are?
You need to change your mind. You need to change what's in your heart.
If you think because you're a great person God's going to be honored,
he's going to destroy you.
It says before destruction, the heart of man is haughty.
Look at Numbers chapter 16 verse 1.
It says, Now Korah, the son of Ishar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi,
and Dathan of Byron, the sons of Eliath, and On, the son of Peleth,
sons of Reuben, took men, and they rose up before Moses
with certain of the children of Israel, 250 princes of the assembly,
famous in the congregation, men of renown.
So this guy Korah, he's famous.
This guy Korah, he's renowned.
This guy, people know him.
He has some type of position.
Skip down to verse number 8.
And Moses said unto Korah, Here I pray you, ye sons of Levi.
So not only is he a position of authority, he's also of the sons of Levi.
And what he did is he was arguing against Moses and Aaron.
He was saying, you take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy,
every one of them, and the Lord is among them.
Wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord.
He was complaining against Moses, the man that was put in authority by God,
saying, How come we don't have more authority?
How come we don't have more elevation?
Why are you lifting yourself up?
But Moses was not lifting himself up. God lifted him up.
It wasn't Moses that wanted to be in that position of authority.
He didn't want it.
I mean, nowhere in the Bible do you see Moses being like,
I want to be in this position of authority.
He's like, Send somebody else. I'm not an eloquent speaker.
Is there anybody else?
You just send whoever you want. I'm going to stay here in the wilderness.
I mean, he didn't want that position.
But God chose him.
And we see Korah, he just likes the authority too much.
He has some position already, but he wants even more.
And that's usually how it works.
Look at verse 8 again.
And Moses said unto Korah, Here I pray you, you sons of Levi,
seemeth but a small thing unto you,
that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel,
to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord,
and to stand before the congregation and minister unto them.
And he hath brought thee near to him,
and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee,
and seek ye the priesthood also.
He's saying, Look, I mean, you're already of the children of Israel.
That's quite a separation from the world.
I mean, that's only a small nation amongst all the nations of the earth.
And the Bible even said that they were one of the smallest nations at that time.
They were smaller than the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
He said, Y'all are a little nation.
And it makes it clear, hey, you're already separated in that regard,
but not only that, you're the sons of Levi.
God separated you amongst all the children of Israel to serve him.
But now you also have to have the priesthood.
I mean, you just can't be satisfied with the position that you've already been given.
A quite elevated position.
I mean, he's a member now. He's famous in the congregation.
He's been separated from the other brethren by being a Levi to serve the Lord.
But now he just has to be Moses.
He just has to have that position of authority.
That pride is entered into his heart, and he wants to be at the top.
We see this through all kinds of people in the Bible.
Satan, we see Satan, hey, he's the God of this world.
He was one of the highest, if not the highest angel, according to the Bible.
But guess what? He wanted to sit in the sides of the north.
He wanted to be like the Most High, didn't he?
He couldn't be satisfied with his position.
And we see because of our position, we should not let pride enter into our heart.
And we shouldn't even necessarily seek out to just have these high positions of authority,
to always be in leadership, to always have these things given unto us.
Hey, if you're a humble person and you're serving God,
God will put you in good positions.
God will lift you up.
God will give you the honor in due time.
So go to Esther chapter 5. Let's go back to Esther.
We see because of position, people can be lifted up in the pride of their heart.
This could even happen within the church.
It could happen to an evangelist.
It could happen to a deacon.
It could happen to a pastor.
We see a pastor could think, well, I must be better than all the congregation because I'm a pastor.
And because of that position, he gets so much pride in his heart.
And he can't do anything else.
Being a pastor is the only thing that even matters to him, doesn't it?
Oh, I just have to be a pastor because if I'm not a pastor, then I don't have this great position of authority.
They elevate the position of a pastor too much.
The Bible said the king was not to think of himself more highly than any of the brethren.
Is the king better than the lowly servant? No.
God's not a respecter of persons.
Is the pastor, you know, a better person than the Joe church member? No.
As long as they're following God's commandments, God's not a respecter of what position he's put you in.
And you know what? The guy that goes out and does soul winning, is faithful unto God, is keeping his commandments.
God is just as happy and pleased with that person as someone who's a faithful pastor.
And even more so if the person's humble and the pastor's not.
If the pastor has pride in his heart.
I mean, the Bible memory passage we have is about 1 Corinthians chapter 13, is it not?
I mean, the Bible makes it clear that if you have not charity, you're nothing.
I mean, though you have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries
and have all knowledge and you have all faith so you can move mountains and have not charity, I am nothing.
The Bible makes it clear. Why?
It doesn't matter how great of a preacher you are.
Oh, I have all this faith and oh, I understand everything in the Bible.
Oh man, I've read my Bible 20 times cover to cover and I can preach better than anybody else
and I'm so great and I have all this faith and I know the Bible's true and I've got all this doctrine.
But you're always focused on yourself.
I, me, I, you're nothing.
In the sight of God, in the sight of man, you might be elevated.
Oh, you're famous in the congregation.
Oh, you're a man of renown, aren't you?
Oh, way to go, Cora.
But then you went straight into hell.
Now obviously I'm not saying you can lose your salvation or that salvation's based on how much pride you have
but the Bible says that God giveth grace to the humble and resisted the proud.
To be saved, you have to at one moment have been humble enough to realize, hey, I'm a sinner.
I need Jesus Christ.
The person that never, you know, can admit that's never going to be saved.
Look at Esther chapter 5 verse number 9.
We'll look at the second point I have.
It says, Then when Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart,
but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him.
He was full of indignation against Mordecai.
Nevertheless, Haman refrained himself and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends
and Zarech his wife, and Haman told them of the glory of his riches and the multitude of his children,
and all the things wherein the king had promoted him.
And now he advanced them above the princes and servants of the king.
Haman said, moreover, yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king under the banquet,
that she had prepared but myself, and tomorrow I am invited unto her also with the king.
Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai, the Jew's city, at the king's gate.
You see, he's so filled with envy that he just can't even stand the joy that he has.
It says at the beginning he has a lot of joy,
but just the fact that Mordecai has any kind of position of authority,
any kind of success in his life, it just burns him up.
It just eats him up. He can't stand it.
He has to have all the glory. He has to have all the honor.
He has to have all the recognition.
As long as Mordecai has any position, any authority, he can't be happy.
And we see that through pride.
The person that's esteeming others better than themselves,
they don't care when someone else has a good position of authority,
when they've been elevated, when they're doing something great.
They rejoice with them.
Man, this guy, that's great.
He's in the king's gate. He's such a wise person.
I mean, he saved the king from treason.
I mean, it makes sense that he be in the king's gate.
Hey, he's honoring God. He's fearing God.
This sounds like a righteous guy that should be in the king's gate.
He can't have any joy in his life, though,
because he's so filled with the pride that he has to have all the glory.
And we see through envy, through the envy of someone else's success,
we see there's so much pride that's going to destroy Haman.
That's why I got the title of my sermon from Proverbs chapter 16.
It says,
Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Haman could not share glory with another.
He was envious of all glory.
And we see when you're envious of all position, all power, all glory,
there's just pride filled in your heart.
Go to Numbers chapter 11, if you would.
Numbers chapter number 11.
Now, this could happen a lot of ways.
We could see, you know, maybe you're working on the job,
and you have a co-worker, and he's a real diligent worker, real smart.
You know, he's doing a good job, and he gets the promotion that you're wanting.
Now, the righteous person, the godly person, will rejoice with them.
They would say, yay, you did a good job, you deserve that, I'm excited for you.
You know, that's great.
But the person that just is so full of pride, they're envious of all recognition.
They're envious of all promotion.
Well, why didn't I get that? I'm better than that guy.
I do a better job than him. Me, me, me, I, I, I.
Oh, why did he get the lead the soul at any time?
Why did he get to read the Bible?
Why did he get to go on the missions trip?
Why did he get to do, you know, X, Y, and Z?
We see that's not a Christian attitude.
And you see, the person's filled with pride when they can't rejoice
with another brother who's doing great works for God.
We see the person that's a servant, the person that's humble,
he's going to rejoice when another brother's doing great works for God.
Why would you not rejoice when someone's doing great works for God?
But we see a lot of times, people, they just got to get all the glory.
They got to get all the recognition.
They have to have men praise them.
They want to be renowned in the congregation.
They want everybody looking at them.
Oh, I'm the best preacher. I'm the best soul winner.
I'm the best everything.
This is not a good thought process.
This is not a good attitude.
It's not a good thing to have in your heart because why?
God will bring destruction in your life.
God will, Shane.
Numbers chapter 11, look at 25.
It says, And the Lord came down in the cloud and spake unto him,
and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave unto the seventy elders.
And it came to pass, that when the spirit rested upon them,
they prophesied and did not cease.
But there remained two of the men in the camp.
The name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad,
and the spirit rested upon them.
And they were of them that were written, but went not out into the tabernacle,
and they prophesied in the camp.
And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said,
Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.
And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses,
one of his young men answered and said,
My Lord Moses forbid them.
And Moses said unto them, Envious thou for my sake?
Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets,
and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them.
Now, what was Moses' idea?
Did he have to get all the glory?
Did he have to get all the recognition?
Hey, it's all about Moses.
It's all about me.
It's only I that get to prophesy.
No, he's like, I want God to give all of you the spirit.
I want you to all be prophets.
I want everyone in the camp to, you know, be on fire for God.
To be serping God.
To preaching God's word.
You know why?
So they can go in the promise lane.
So they can defeat all the giants.
Moses is tired of being in the stupid wilderness.
He just wants to go in the promise land.
And you know, a godly pastor, a godly leader,
he's not looking for all the recognition.
He wants everybody in the congregation to have God's spirit poured upon them.
He wants all of them to prophesy.
He wants them to get more recognition.
Why?
Because when the whole congregation is prophesying,
when the whole congregation is doing great works,
it's not them that are increasing,
it's God that's getting the increase.
It's God that's getting the recognition.
That was John the Baptist's attitude.
He must increase, but I must decrease.
What was the context there?
It was the fact that when Jesus Christ was going out,
he was baptizing more disciples than John.
And he's like, great.
I don't have to be just the only guy getting recognition.
I don't have to be just the prophet in Israel.
No, it's all about Jesus Christ.
It's getting people on his program, not my program.
Not about how many people follow me,
how many people watch me,
how many people talk about me,
how many times they share my sermon and upload my sermon and talk about me.
Now it's great when we see great sermons
and great works being done for God being shared
and the light being shown
and people getting recognition through the word of God,
God getting the increase, God's word going out.
I'm not against people putting out sermons
and sharing them and liking them and being excited.
We need to make sure that we're giving God the increase,
not a man, that we're not focused on a person.
And the novice, the novice a lot of times can't handle that.
It's really prideful in his heart.
And then he starts feeling like, I need all the recognition now.
I really liked it when everybody gave me that recognition,
so now I need all of it.
I can't let somebody else get it.
It's not about anybody else, now it's just about me.
Go to 1 Peter chapter 5.
The Bible says,
A man's pride shall bring him low,
but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.
The Bible makes it clear that pride is going to destroy you.
Pride is going to bring you low.
Pride is going to bring you shame.
But if you want honor, you have to be humble in your spirit.
Being humble is thinking more highly of other people.
Being more excited when they do great works.
Sharing and giving testimony of other people.
1 Peter chapter 5 verse 1.
The elders which are among you I exhort,
who am also an elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ,
and also partaker of the glory that shall be revealed,
feed the flock of God which is among you,
taking the oversight thereof,
not by constraint, but willingly,
not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind,
neither as being lords over God's heritage,
but being in samples to the flock.
And when the chief shepherd shall appear,
ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Likewise ye, younger, submit yourselves unto the elder.
Yea, all of you, be subject one to another,
and be clothed with humility,
for God resisteth the proud,
and giveth grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves therefore into the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time,
casting all your care upon him,
for he careth for you.
God careth for you.
But you know what, it says be subject one to another.
It says all of you.
Meaning what?
Hey, if I were to show up on Monday night
to chat with Rich Sol anytime,
I'm not going to roll in and be like,
hey, let me tell you all what you're going to do.
I'm going to say, hey, what do you want me to do brother Rich?
And as soon as he gives me instruction,
you know what I'm going to say?
Yes, sir.
And I'm going to do it.
It doesn't matter what position I have.
It doesn't matter what position he has.
Hey, when I show up, I'm just going to do whatever he says.
Hey, yes, sir, how can I help you?
How can I serve you?
That's being subject unto one another.
And if someone were to show up in my soul anytime,
that maybe had position or authority over me,
the appropriate thing, the godly thing, the humble thing,
would just be, yes, sir, what can I do?
How can I help you?
And as soon as someone gives you instruction,
you just say, yes, sir.
No, well, I don't know about that.
What about this area?
You know, I don't really like that place.
Why don't we do this over here?
Well, no, I don't want to go be with that person.
Why would you put me with that person?
Let me pick who I want to be with.
I mean, just arguing, just complaining.
That's not have a humble spirit.
That's not godly.
That's not what God wants.
It's not about you.
And we need to be able to be subject unto another why.
That's being clothed with humility.
When you argue and resist against leadership,
when you murmur and complain, oh, let's do it my way,
that is not humble.
That's being proud.
And if you want God to exalt you, you have to be humble.
But notice it said in due time.
Don't think that just because you humble yourself today,
God's going to exalt you tomorrow.
That's not how it works.
God will exalt you in due time.
It means there's a process.
Go, if you would, back to Esther.
Just make me think of 1 Corinthians 3 when it says,
for while one sayeth, I am of Paul, and another I am of Apollos,
are ye not carnal?
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos,
but ministers by whom ye believe?
Even as the Lord gave every man, I have planted,
Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
So then neither is he that planted anything,
neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase.
You know, it's not about whose plan you're on,
whose man's plan you're on.
It's about God.
It's about getting on his program.
Now, I'm not against following a man.
I preach the whole sermon on following a man.
You find a man of God that's on fire for God,
that's following God's commandments like Paul,
and be a follower of him as long as he serves Christ,
as long as he's following Christ.
You know what?
If you're not humble, you'll resist leadership.
If you're not humble, you don't want to get into church
and learn from a man of God.
You don't want to find the Paul.
You don't want to find, you know, the Apollos.
You're just a lone wolf.
But we ought to make sure that we're not giving them too much glory.
Hey, I'm only of Apollos.
No, I'm only of Christ, and I'm on a Christ program.
And if Apollos gets off a Christ program,
I'm going to drop Apollos like a bad habit,
and I'm going to get on a Christ program.
Because it's not about man,
and as soon as man decides to just disregard the Bible,
get off the Bible, I'm getting off his program.
I don't care who you are.
I'm not respecting persons.
I'm going to get on a Christ program.
It's all about him getting the honor and him getting the glory.
Look at Esther chapter 5 with my third point, verse 11.
And Haman told them of the glory of his riches
and the multitude of his children,
and all the things wherein the king had promoted them,
and how he had advanced them above the princes and servants of the king.
So now every time that Haman gets a chance to speak,
what is he speaking about?
Hey, all the things wherein the king had promoted him,
how he had advanced him above all the princes and servants of the king.
Look at the verse of the first part.
And they told the glory of his riches.
He's just always talking about himself.
And the third way that people really enter into pride,
really struggle with pride, is with their mouth,
is the words that are coming out of their mouth.
And the Bible is crystal clear about this.
And it's even for God's people.
The Bible says in Proverbs 27, verse 2,
Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth,
a stranger, and not thine own lips.
When someone's just going around
and they're talking about how great they are, beware.
There's pride in that man's heart.
There's pride in that person's heart
because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
And when someone just calls me,
Oh man, you gotta hear what I did,
you gotta hear about how great I am,
and you just gotta hear what I did the other day,
that person's prideful.
You know, the non-prideful person, you know what he's saying?
Oh, you gotta hear what Jesse did the other day.
I mean, he preached to all these kids in Jamaica.
I mean, he got up there and boldly overcame the gospel.
He got tons of people saved in Jamaica.
He did great works.
I mean, the Lord was mighty upon him.
The Lord was mighty upon us
because we were met with a lot of adversity in Jamaica,
but the Lord kept bringing us through the doors.
We give the honor and glory unto Jesus Christ.
The Bible is constantly saying to sing praise unto God,
sing praise unto the Lord.
The most common thing that should be coming out of our mouth
is praise towards God, is lifting up his name,
is giving him the glory.
And then secondly, it should be praising others.
It should be lifting up other men
and glorifying the works that they're doing for God,
not, hey, did you see, you know, who won the Super Bowl
and how strong they are and that super cat,
you know, they got the football
and they got this great reception
and this one guy ran a 27-yard touchdown
and all men used to do that sack at the end of the game.
I mean, no.
Hey, give glory unto the things that they're doing for God.
Let the light of the gospel shine forth.
I'm just going to read for you a slew of verses.
I'm going to go through Proverbs pretty systematically
if you want to follow,
but I want to make this super clear what the Bible says.
It says in Proverbs chapter 10 verse 14,
Wise men lay up knowledge,
but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.
Proverbs chapter 10 verse 18,
He that hideth hatred with lying lips,
and he that uttereth a slander is a fool.
Why is it that the fools,
he's always being condemned by his mouth.
The mouth of the foolish is near destruction.
It says he that hideth hatred with lying lips
and he that uttereth a slander is a fool.
Every time it's talking about the fools,
guess what it's always, you know, paired with?
Him talking, things coming out of his mouth.
It says in Proverbs 12 verse 15,
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
but he that harkeneth unto counsel is wise.
The fool is too busy talking
that he doesn't just shut up
and let some wisdom come into his ears.
Proverbs 12 verse 16,
A fool's wrath is presently known,
but a prudent man covereth shame.
I mean, look, if the fool is upset, you know it.
Why? Because he's just talking about it.
His countenance has changed.
I mean, he's making it known that he's upset.
But it says the prudent man, guess what?
He's covering things.
He's hiding shame.
You know, if someone messes up or screws up,
he's not quick to point it out.
He wants to try and cover that transgression.
He wants to help that person.
Is God going around just telling all your dirty secrets?
I mean, that would be terrible.
I mean, if God was just walking around
advertising every sin that you've ever committed,
I mean, that would be horrible.
You know what? God covers all of our sins.
He's not going to even mention them to us anymore.
How great is that?
Why don't we have Christ's mind?
It says in Proverbs 12, verse 23,
A prudent man concealeth knowledge,
but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness.
The fool is just constantly talking.
He's constantly proclaiming foolishness.
It says in Proverbs 13, verse 16,
Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge,
but a fool layeth open his folly.
Man, this guy just can't shut up.
The fool is just constantly talking.
Look at Proverbs 14, verse 3,
And the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride,
but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.
The mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride.
Look, he just can't stop opening his mouth
and letting all the pride ooze out of his mouth.
Proverbs 14, verse 7,
Go from the presence of a foolish man,
when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.
How do you know some of the fool?
They're going to tell you.
You're going to figure it out real quick
because they can't shut their mouth.
They're always opening their mouth.
They're always talking.
They always have to proclaim their goodness.
They always have to reclaim how great they are.
They're always talking about themselves
and all the things that they do.
Proverbs 15, verse 2,
The tongue of the wise useeth knowledge aright,
but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.
Man, the fool is just constantly,
just words are just coming out of his mouth.
It's just so much foolishness.
Proverbs 15, verse 14,
The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge,
but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.
This guy just loves to just talk foolishness.
I'm driving this point in. Why?
Because it makes it really clear in the Bible,
the fool is known by just all these words
that are constantly coming out of his mouth.
He just can't keep his mouth shut.
That's why it says in Proverbs 17, 28,
Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise.
And he that shuteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
If you just are, every time someone's around you,
you're just always talking,
guess what, they probably think you're a fool.
It doesn't even matter what you're, I mean,
even if you're just always talking about the Bible,
it's a foolish thing to just always have to be the person that's talking.
Always the person that's just, I have to make known what I think.
I have to tell you what I believe.
I have to tell you all about me.
The Bible says, hey, when the fool keeps his peace, he's counted wise.
Why? Because there's a connection with just pouring out all this foolishness of your mouth
and keeping your mouth shut.
It says in Proverbs 18, 2, A fool hath no delight in understanding,
but that his heart may discover itself.
He doesn't really want to know anything.
He doesn't want to learn more.
You know, you learn by hearing.
You learn by reading.
You don't learn by talking.
You don't learn by instructing others in that way.
But the foolish person, he just wants his heart to discover itself.
Now obviously I'm not saying that by teaching you don't learn.
A lot of times the best way to learn something is to teach it,
is to gain that knowledge and understanding.
But you're really not going to grow and learn if you're always the one talking.
You're going to grow and learn by receiving instruction,
by receiving knowledge, by listening under the wise.
And you know who's the wisest person? The Bible.
That's where you need to be getting your primary hearing from, is the Word of God.
It says in Proverbs 18, 7, A fool's mouth is his destruction,
and his lips are the snare of his soul.
Proverbs 21, verse 23, Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue,
keepeth his soul from troubles.
Proud and haughty scorners his name, who dealeth in proud wrath.
Man, if you keep your mouth and you keep your tongue,
guess what, you're going to be kept from trouble.
When you keep opening your mouth. I mean, so many people, there's this expression,
he put his foot in his mouth. Why? He said something he shouldn't.
And when a thought just comes into your mind, just comes into your heart quickly,
you shouldn't just be quick to open your mouth and let it pour out.
Why don't you meditate on it for a little bit?
Why don't you think about it for a second?
Say, hey, what I'm going to say actually edifying,
is what I'm actually going to say biblical.
Am I just about to reclaim my own foolishness?
Am I about to reclaim my own glory, my own honor?
Or am I giving honor unto God?
Am I giving glory unto the Lord Jesus Christ?
Am I redeeming others better than themselves?
Proverbs 26 verse 4, answer not a fool according to his folly,
lest thou be like unto him.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
I mean, man, when it talks about a fool, it's just always what he's saying.
It's always what's coming out of his mouth.
Proverbs 29 and 11, a fool uttereth all his mind,
but a wise man keepeth it in until afterwards.
You say, oh man, I just have to let you know everything I'm thinking about.
That's a foolish mind.
That's not a godly mind.
A wise man keepeth it in until afterwards.
He really meditates on what he's going to say,
and he makes sure that the words that come out of his mouth are very important.
The fool, he just wants to let you know everything he thinks,
everything that's coming into his mind.
You know, the Bible says the thought of foolishness is sin.
I'm not without foolish thoughts.
I still have foolish thoughts.
I need to be corrected by God's word,
and if I just utter everything that comes into my mind,
I'm going to utter a lot of foolishness.
I'm going to utter a lot of carnality.
I'm going to utter things that are prideful or things that are just, you know, arrogant.
I still make this mistake.
I need to be corrected by God's word.
We need to make sure, though, that we understand, hey,
we're driving in the point that the fool just has to be talking,
and if you just have to just dictate every conversation,
you just have to constantly be overheard over every single person.
You're constantly interrupting people.
You're constantly just overtalking them.
You just have to make sure that they always have to be corrected.
If they say something just not quite perfect or not quite right,
oh, I just have to make sure I correct them.
I just have to make sure that I overtalk them.
That's a foolish attitude.
That's not what the Bible is really teaching in Proverbs.
It's saying the wise man keepeth it until afterwards.
Not every trans-fession has to be corrected immediately.
Not every imperfection has to be corrected immediately.
And I thank God that I wasn't perfect when I first started reading the Bible.
I didn't know everything.
I didn't have all wisdom.
I didn't have all knowledge.
But you know what?
Charity is not going to lower their knowledge over other people.
Because the person that's got a lot of wisdom,
they probably learned it from somebody else.
They probably got it from another person.
And so a wise person is going to constantly hear.
I'm not teaching that you should never talk.
I'm not saying that you should never open your mouth with wisdom.
That you shouldn't let known the Bible.
That you shouldn't teach others.
We need to make sure we're doing it with meekness.
That we're not doing it with foolishness.
We're not just uttering everything that comes to our mind.
We don't have to approve every single situation.
The Bible says we approve not of scorn.
You know, don't even approve certain people.
The person that when you start telling them something or correcting them,
and they're just arguing with you.
They just can't listen to anything you're saying.
Stop instructing them.
I mean, there's no point.
If they're not going to hear, if they're not going to see the correction,
if they don't want to be humbled, just move on.
The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 5.3,
For a dream cometh through the multitude of business,
and a fool's voice is known by a multitude of words.
Oh, how can I know who the fool is?
He just can't stop talking.
There's just a multitude of words coming out of his mouth.
The Bible says a fool also is full of words.
A man cannot tell what shall be and what shall be after him.
Who can tell him?
The Bible says the fool is full of words.
2 Timothy warns it says,
But foolish and unlearned questions avoid knowing that they do gender strides.
Sometimes people just ask dumb questions, stupid questions.
I mean, even about the Bible.
They're just asking dumb questions that you can't even answer from the Bible.
They're just speculating. Just avoid them.
Don't continue to just talk about them.
We should talk about things that are pure, things that are high,
things that are focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, things that are edifying.
Why are we going to argue and, you know, just try to think of stupid things
like did Adam have a belly button?
I mean, you know, who cares?
Did Noah have an aquarium on the ark for any of the amphibious animals?
I mean, just stupid questions that have nothing to do with the Bible,
have nothing to do with somebody getting saved,
have nothing to do with the clear doctrine of the Bible.
They're just foolish questions.
And the Bible says when someone asks you the foolish question,
you should avoid it.
It doesn't say, hey, I'm going to make sure I'm going to reprove them.
I'm going to make sure that I, you know, discuss them
and I'm going to make sure that, you know, don't answer a fool according to his folly.
You know how you should answer them?
Hey, I'm going to avoid foolish questions.
That's a dumb question.
Hey, that doesn't have any profit. I'm not going to answer it.
Unless he's wise in his own conceit.
That's what the Bible means there.
It's not saying, some people get confused what that means,
like answering out a fool according to his folly.
But, you know, the Bible makes it clear,
look, we shouldn't just go down foolish lines of thought.
We shouldn't just have all these stupid arguments and stupid conversations.
Titus chapter 3 says, but avoid foolish questions
and genealogies and intensions and stridings about the law,
for they are unprofitable and vain.
The Bible says only by pride cometh contention,
but what the well advised is wisdom.
You see through pride and you see through the mouth,
people can really struggle in this area.
And God made it clear, hey, I'm going to abase you.
I'm going to make sure you're brought low.
So, if we're just constantly opening our mouth,
if we're just constantly overtalking every situation,
guess what? People are going to perceive that we're a fool.
And the Bible says to avoid that person.
The Bible says to avoid their foolish questions,
to not have any fellowship with this person.
I mean, just get away.
It's going to rub off poorly on you.
You're going to start doing the same things they do.
You're going to start asking foolish questions.
You're going to have foolish thoughts.
You're going to be lifted up with pride
when you hear pride coming out of another person.
And you just avoid that.
Last point, go back to Esther chapter 6.
We'll kind of hurry for this last point.
This is kind of the culmination of a lot of things.
This is where pride kind of magnifies itself to the highest level.
But it's that of self-worship.
It's that of needing and desiring to have worship.
Haman thought so highly of himself that he was worthy of praise.
Look at Esther chapter 6 verse 6.
So Haman came in and the king said unto him,
What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor?
Now Haman thought in his heart,
To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself?
I mean, who's better than me?
Who's greater than I?
I mean, if he's delighted in somebody, it has to be me.
I mean, I'm the greatest. I'm the best.
And he thought he was worthy of worship.
He wasn't thinking more highly of other people.
He wasn't thinking, well, it could be Mordecai.
I mean, this guy, you know.
He saved the king from treason.
He's in the king's gate.
He fears God.
I mean, it can't be any other person in the kingdom that's doing good.
I'm sure there's other people in the kingdom doing good things.
But it's like, who in the world could be more than myself?
I'm so great.
Look at me.
Give me all the honor and glory.
Wicked.
If we start to think, hey, I'm probably the best.
I mean, I'm probably the best soul winner.
I'm probably the best preacher.
I'm probably the best in any category.
You better be feared.
You better be afraid.
Because God will bring destruction.
Pride goes before destruction.
You better make sure, hey, do I have the right spirit here?
Do I have the right thought?
It's probably never right to have that thought.
Because we see Moses, he was the meekest man on the face of the earth
and he didn't think highly of himself.
He never thought that.
King Saul was little in his own sight.
Peter said, you know, Lord, I'm a sinful man.
Depart from me.
We see the greatest men.
I mean, even the apostle Paul, he said he was the least of the apostles.
He says, I can recognize the fact that I'm doing the greatest works,
but I still think I'm the least apostle.
I mean, that's a great attitude.
That's the mind of Christ.
That's the mind that he wants us to have.
And when you start thinking that you're the greatest,
you better beware.
I mean, the disciples, they argued amongst themselves who should be the greatest
and Christ rebuked them.
He said, if you want to be the greatest, you have to be the servant.
You have to be humble.
Go, if you would, to Isaiah chapter 14.
You know, it made me think of the parable when Jesus was teaching in Luke chapter 14.
It says, when thou are bidden of any man to a wedding,
sit not down in the highest room, lest a more honorable man than thou be.
Be bidden of him.
Guess what? There's always a more honorable man than you.
It says, and he bade thee, and him come and say to thee,
give this man place, and thou beginless shame to take the lowest room.
But when thou are bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room,
that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, friend, go up higher.
Then shall thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meet with thee.
For whosoever exalted themselves shall be abased,
and he that humbled himself shall be exalted.
He's saying, look, if you were to come into, you know, your friend's house,
and there's a great feast, and there's a really nice seat sitting right next to him,
make sure that you don't just sit yourself right down there.
Sit down in the low place, and then he's like, what are you doing?
Hey, no, come sit by me, friend. Come up higher.
Come sit by me. Be my buddy.
You don't want to be the guy that sits down, and he looks, and he's like,
oh, hey, I wanted, you know, Jesse to sit there.
Can you go down over there real quick?
Anybody who has the walk, you take the walk of shame.
Oh, he's not really as great a friend as we thought, was he?
It's humbling.
But we need to make sure that, hey, who in the world could want them to sit,
you know, want anybody to sit there close to them besides me?
I must be the person he wants to talk to the most.
I'm the most interesting person here.
I have the best things to say. Let me proclaim all my goodness.
I mean, who in the world could be better than me?
The Bible says for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh
and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father,
but is of the world.
Pride is not of the Father. It's of the world.
When you think more highly of yourself, it's not of God.
The Bible warns of Leviathan.
It says his scales are his pride.
Shut up together as with a close seal.
He beholdeth all high things.
He is the king over all the children of pride.
Saying, look, this beast that's like the serpent, that's like Satan,
that's like the devil, he's the king of pride.
His scales are so tightly wound together so nothing could penetrate it,
so nothing could get to it.
You couldn't reprove him. You couldn't rebuke him.
You know what? A prideful person can't be rebuked, can't be rebuked.
They will never hearken under instruction.
They're always going to resist.
Even Nebuchadnezzar, when he exalted himself, the Bible says he was a beast.
It says, but when his heart was lifted up and his mind hardened in pride,
he was disposed from his kingly throne and they took his glory from him.
Look at Isaiah chapter 14 verse 12.
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning?
How art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations?
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven.
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
I will sit also upon the mound of the congregation in the sides of the north.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.
I will be like the most high.
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee and consider thee, saying,
Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake the kingdoms,
that made the world as a wilderness and destroyed the cities thereof,
that opened not the house of his prisoners?
All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory every one in his own house.
But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch,
and as the reign of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword,
that go down to the stones of the pit, as a carcass trodden under feet.
It says, you know what? You think you're so great,
you're going to be like a dead dog laying in the street that people are just trotting over.
They're just stamping over. It's like dung upon the face of the earth.
It's like nothing.
You exalt yourself.
You see, what was Satan's problem?
He wanted to be assaulted high.
He wanted to get the worthy, all the praise, all the adoration.
He had to be at the top.
And when you think more highly of yourself, God will abase you.
The Bible says in I Chronicles 12, this verse always struck me.
When reading Chronicles, it can seem kind of boring,
but there's some nuggets in there.
It says of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war,
with all instruments of war, 50,000, which could keep rank.
They were not of a double heart.
The Bible says, hey, these guys, they could respond to leadership.
They could submit themselves under leadership.
And when they didn't, they were of a double heart.
And the Bible says in Psalms chapter 12, verse 1,
Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth,
for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
They speak vanity over one of his neighbor, with flattering lips,
and with a double heart do they speak.
The person that cannot respond to authority,
that cannot respond to leadership, they have a double heart.
They're not faithful.
They're not godly.
And guess what?
God is going to cut them off.
He says the Lord shall cut off all flattering lips
and the tongue that speaketh proud things.
Why is it always the person that's proud?
He's always talking.
It's just always this correlation.
We have said with our tongue we will prevail.
Our lips are our own.
Who is Lord over us?
You see, it's always by the mouth that we see the pride coming out.
When someone gives you an instruction,
when someone gives you some type of thing that you want to do,
you're just arguing with it.
You're just complaining.
You can't get over it.
God hates that.
God punts the children of Israel when they complain in the wilderness.
And we see through pride is what's coming out of your lips.
When you're humble, you're not going to sit there and argue and resist.
And we see it's a picture of how you would serve God.
When you can't serve man,
you're not going to serve God's commandments either.
God put man in leadership positions of authority
so that he could learn how to obey.
Go to one last place, 1 Corinthians 1, and we'll finish there.
The Bible says,
O love the Lord, all ye saints,
for the Lord preserveth the faithful,
and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
God preserveth the faithful,
but the proud doer God will reward.
But it's not going to be good.
So when you have a position that you've been given,
some position of authority, some position of leadership,
don't let pride into your heart.
Don't think more highly of yourself when you're given that position,
when you're given that authority,
when you're given some great opportunity.
Don't be so envious of other people's success that you can't just be humble.
Oh, I just have to get all the recognition.
If somebody else gets something great,
if somebody else gets something I wanted,
we need to be able to rejoice with that person.
We need to have joy and happiness in our heart for others to succeed,
for others to do great things.
We need to make sure that we're careful with our mouths.
We're not just proclaiming all this foolishness.
They're not just constantly talking.
The Bible says,
In the multitude of words, there wanteth not sin.
Man, when you're just pouring out a bunch of words,
there's probably going to be sin there.
But we need to make sure that we don't think ourselves worthy of worship,
worthy of praise.
I mean, who does the King delight more than me?
Better be careful about that statement.
1 Corinthians 1, verse 27,
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise,
and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things of the mighty.
And the base things of the world,
and the things which are despised,
hath God chosen,
yea, and the things which are not,
to bring to naught things that are,
that no flesh should glory in his presence,
but of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God hath made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,
that according as it is written,
He that glorieth,
leadeth glory in the Lord.
You know what, when you're focused on Christ,
and him giving the glory,
you're too busy to think about yourself.
You're too busy to think about all the pride,
and all the things that he's giving you.
We need to just make sure that our eyes are on Christ,
and not on our own glory,
our own position,
our own successes,
all the things that we can talk about that we did that are so great.
Let's be focused on what God did,
and if we're going to glory,
hey, let's glory in the Lord.
Let's glory in what he's done.
Let's close in prayer.
Thank you Father so much for your word,
thank you so much for your instruction.
I pray that all of us would never just have a haughty heart,
that we'd never be filled up with so much pride because of anything you've given us,
because of any gift you've given us,
because of any position of authority that you've given us,
that we realize that you're not respective persons,
that we would humble ourselves before you,
and that we'd give you all the honor and glory and praise,
because we can do nothing without you.
You deserve all glory and all honor and all praise,
and I pray that we would just be focused on you.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.