Clean Transcript

The Cure For The Sin Of Pride

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• If you would, to the book of John, John chapter 3, and we're going to be reading verse 22 through 36, John chapter 3. So let's begin reading there with verse 22. Let's begin there with verse 22: "After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. And John also was baptizing in Enon near Salem, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. For John was not yet cast into prison. Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him."

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• "He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth."

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• "And no man receiveth his testimony. He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

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• The message today is simply this: the cure for the sin of pride, the cure for the sin of pride. Pride is a root sin. Every individual, whether saved or unsaved, by nature is proud and by nature has a problem with the sin of pride. When I say that pride is a root sin, I mean that it grows and flourishes into a much larger plant or tree, and it produces much fruit. It's much like that mustard seed that our Lord spoke about in Luke chapter 13 and verse 19. When he was talking about the kingdom of heaven, he said, "It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden."

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• "And it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches thereof." So pride then allows other fruits to multiply from its root. None of the fruits are good, godly, or biblical. And fowls of all kind lodge in the branches of the tree of pride. And all of these other sins and other fowls that come from the roots of pride fertilize it with their droppings. And of course, that means that then increases pride in the heart and in the life. The Bible says in Proverbs 11 and verse 2, "When pride cometh, then cometh shame." Think about that. When pride cometh, then cometh shame, but with the lowly is wisdom. So let me point something out: that pride is a sin of the heart.

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• Let me say this another way. Pride is a sin of the mind. Usually in the Bible, the heart and the mind are synonymous. They're considered the same. When David was sent by his father Jesse to check on his brothers in 1st Samuel chapter 17, Eliab, his older brother, criticized David immensely. And I want you to listen to what he said. There's two thoughts I want to come from this sentence. So in 1st Samuel 17 and verse 28, Eliab is censuring David with these words: "And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle." Well, first of all, obviously, he said, "I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thy heart." So pride and the naughtiness of the heart are indeed from the heart or from the mind.

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• But the interesting thing is this: when Eliab was censuring David for pride, Eliab was expressing pride himself, because he is saying to David, "I know who you are. You're a kid and I know what you're doing. Look at us. I'm a soldier. These are soldiers out here. You're nothing but a shepherd boy. And besides that, you don't have very many sheep. With whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? Yeah, yeah, I know you." And so while he's censuring David, he himself is exposing the pride and the arrogancy of his own heart as well. So pride, of course, comes from the heart. I want you to turn in your Bibles, holding John 3, we're coming back there, but look in your Bibles to 2nd Chronicles chapter 32, and let's begin reading there with verse 25. In 2nd Chronicles chapter 32, God has healed Hezekiah and given him a great healing, but Hezekiah did not render back to the Lord that great honor and glory that he was deserving. So notice, if you would, in 2 Chronicles chapter 32 and verse 25, "But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him."

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• Why did he not? "For his heart was lifted up: therefore was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem." Notice: heart was lifted up. Now watch verse 26: "Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah." So pride is, of course, a sin of the heart. I'm sure that you remember that passage in Daniel chapter 5, in verse 20, when we're talking about Nebuchadnezzar. The Bible says there, "But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him." So again, it says his heart was lifted up and his mind was hardened in his pride. In the New Testament, in the book of Mark chapter 7, verses 21 through 23, our Lord teaches us that pride comes from the heart. So obviously we have that command then in Proverbs 4 and verse 23, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."

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• And we understand also, or at least we should, Proverbs chapter 23 and verse 7, because the Bible says, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he," which means if pride is in our mind, if pride is in our heart, ultimately it's going to be revealed in our conduct and in our actions as well. There's going to be a great demonstration of it.

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• Now, there are several different Hebrew words for pride, but each of these words are intermingled and interwoven. So let me give you just a definition of pride based upon the Hebrew words. Here we go: pride is a rising up and exalting of oneself, haughtiness, arrogance, a swelling up, assuming a position of superiority, which also results in a judgmental attitude. When you come to the New Testament, one of the main words there is the Greek word tuphoō. And the word tuphoō literally means to make proud, to puff up, to be foolish or stupid, and to be insolent. Interestingly, it is this word, tuphoō, that is used in 1 Timothy 3, verse 6, where the Apostle Paul is talking about bishops and elders, and he says this: "Not a novice, that is, not a neophyte, not a beginner, not someone new to the faith, not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride,

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• being puffed up, he fall into the condemnation of the devil." So I find it very interesting that the word pride is often associated with the word insolence. So the word pride, of course, talks about pride, arrogance, haughtiness, but also insolence. Let me give you a definition of insolence. Think about this: it means to be boldly rude or disrespectful, contemptuously impertinent, insulting, and brazen. When I read that definition—to be boldly rude or disrespectful, contemptuously impertinent, insulting, and brazen—I could not help but think of pastors that I know, preachers that I know, even Christians that I know, who are often insolent to those with whom they disagree or to those who do not see exactly as they see or understand that which they understand.

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• And so consequently, they look down upon with a judgmental attitude those who do not agree with them. They mock them, they ridicule them, and all of this stems basically from pride. It's impossible almost to think about pride without thinking about Pharaoh. I hope you remember that in Exodus chapter 5 verse 1, Moses came to Pharaoh and he said, "Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may serve me." And when you get to Exodus chapter 5 and verse 2, "And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go." Now listen to what he said: "Who is the LORD that I should let Israel go? Who is the LORD that I should listen to him? I don't recognize Him. I don't acknowledge Him to be God.

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• He has no authority over me. He has no right to command me. I do not know Him and I'm certainly not going to allow Israel to go."

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• Now, you have to remember that there were 10 plagues in the land of Egypt. And each of these 10 plagues, each one was directed at a different god in Egypt. The 10th plague was the death of the firstborn. You have to remember that Pharaoh himself claimed to be a god. That's why he said, "I know not the LORD. I don't recognize him. I'm certainly not going to obey him," because Pharaoh's claiming to be a god himself. In that 10th plague, when his firstborn child died and he could not protect that child, obviously it disproved his godhood. Moreover, he could not protect his own child. He could not protect any of the children in the land of Egypt. So obviously and clearly, here's a great demonstration of pride. Now, when he said, "I know not the LORD, why should I obey him? I'm not going to let Israel go," you have to remember that he persecuted the children of Israel. He had them beaten.

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• He would make them work, I would say, mercilessly. In fact, he increased their work when they were trying to go into the wilderness to serve God.

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• Now, let me show you two verses that will verify exactly what I'm teaching you. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 10. And look, if you would, first of all, to verse 2, Psalm 10 and verse 2. Look what the Bible says. Psalm 10 verse 2: "The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor." And then he says, "Let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined." The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor. So Pharaoh, thinking himself to be a god, he persecuted the Israelites, the poor, helpless Israelites. And so that is exactly what happens today when you have a superior persecuting an inferior, or you have someone who has knowledge mocking and ridiculing and persecuting someone who does not have like knowledge. So he says, "The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor." Now skip down to verse 4. He says, "The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts." In other words, his thoughts are centered upon himself, what he wills, what he wants, what he desires. And here's a picture of Pharaoh. He claimed himself to be a god.

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• And while individuals, they would never ever come out and say, "I am a god," yet they will live like they are a god by ignoring the one true and the living God and ignoring his word. So we've never really, as Christians, discerned that most of our problems really and truly stem from our pride. And the truth of the matter is that most of our faults and failures also are caused by pride. It's interesting when you read the Bible, how many times God warns us about the sin of pride over and over.

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• So let me show you a few of them. If you look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs 11, and look, if you would please, at verse 2. We'll turn through several of these very quickly. Proverbs chapter 11, look, if you would please, at verse 2. The Bible says, "When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom." So when pride cometh, then cometh shame. Look, if you would, in Proverbs 13 and verse 10. Proverbs 13 and verse 10. Here's a verse we really need to pay attention to: "Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom."

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• Now the word contention means strife, debate, arguments, confusion. So only by pride cometh contention, all of these things, he says. Then if you'll look in Proverbs 16 and verse 18, here's a passage that most of you can quote, Proverbs 16 and verse 18, where he says that "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." So pride precedes destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Then if you'll look in Proverbs 29 and verse 23, look what the Bible says here. Proverbs 29 and verse 23: "A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit."

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• Now, the interesting thing is this: although pride is condemned over and over in the scripture, before we are converted, we enjoy our pride. We relish our pride. After we are converted, we understand that pride is a sin and we are taught from the word of God to hate pride. So the Bible says in Proverbs 8 and verse 13, "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate, saith the LORD." So the fear of the LORD is to hate evil, and the very first evil that he mentions is pride. So I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, first of all, to the book of James chapter 4—Hebrews, James—and then we're going to go to 1 Peter. So look in James chapter 4. Notice, if you would please, beginning there with verse 5. James chapter 4 and verse 5. He asks this question: "Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?" In other words, actually the spirit fights against envy, fights against the flesh. That's what he also says in the book of Galatians. But look, if you would please, at verse 6.

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• "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." God resisteth the proud, but he giveth grace unto the humble.

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• Now the word resisteth is the word antitassomai, and it literally means to resist, to oppose, to fight against, and to rage in battle against. So God actually fights against and rages in battle against pride. If you look in 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 5, you'll see the same word that is used again. 1 Peter 5 and verse 5, he says, "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." So God actually fights against pride.

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• Now, I told you in the very beginning of this message that pride is a root sin. And a root sin means that it naturally produces other sins. It grows. One of the main sins that happens to be connected with pride is envy. The Bible says in the book of Proverbs chapter 14, verse 30, "A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones." Envy is the rottenness of the bones. And then he also says in Proverbs 27 verse 4, "Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?" In other words, envy is a very powerful enemy. Who is able to stand before envy? When he says that envy is the rottenness of the bones, it literally means it will eat us alive. Now, I want to show you that pride, arrogance, haughtiness will always lead to the sin of envy, but it's also going to lead to a number of other sins as well. So if you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 7, we could find this in the Old Testament as well.

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• But in Acts chapter 7, the first martyr, Stephen, is preaching to those who are going to stone him to death. And he makes a statement in Acts chapter 7 and verse 9 in talking about the patriarchs or the fathers. Look at it: "And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him."

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• Now stop and think about that. The patriarchs moved with envy. Why were they envious of Joseph? God was giving him all those dreams. He was telling them that your sheaf is going to bow before my sheaf. He got the coat of many colors. He was going to be the administrator of the estate. They were envious. And not only were they envious, they were proud, they were arrogant. In other words, when they were saying, "This young whippersnapper is not going to take our place."

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• And don't you remember at first when they planned on murdering him? They said, "Yonder cometh this dreamer. Let us kill him and see what comes of his dream." So the Bible says they were moved with envy. Look in your Bibles, Acts chapter 13 and verse 45. You'll see it again. Acts chapter 13, verse 45. Look at it: "But when the Jews saw the multitudes," now we're talking about people who were coming to hear the apostle Paul preach, "but when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming." Why were they moved with envy? Because they saw the multitudes. They saw that Paul was having greater response and a greater success than they were having, and so they disbelieved the Apostle Paul and began contradicting and blaspheming. Then if you will turn to the book of Acts chapter 17 and look again, if you would please, at verse 5. Acts 17 and verse 5: "But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people."

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• Note, if you would please, all the violence, all the trouble, all the pain begin with envy. And the envy was a product of their pride. And what was their pride? They were unwilling to submit to God. They were unwilling to listen to the Word of God. They thought they knew better. They thought their traditions were far better than the truth of God. And so their pride led to their envy, and their envy led to all of these other problems.

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• Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 6. I want you to see a large number of sins that are connected with pride. So if you look in 1st Timothy chapter 6, and let's begin reading there with verse 3. Watch carefully. 1st Timothy chapter 6 and verse 3. The apostle says, "If any man teach otherwise." So he's just laid down the principle that servants are to be obedient to their masters—or the word servants is the word slaves. Slaves were to be obedient to their masters and masters were not to despise their slaves, because God had made them masters, and they themselves have a master in heaven. So after teaching what he does in verses 1 and 2, he says this: "If any man teach otherwise," that is, contrary to verses 1 and 2, "and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness." Now watch, if someone does not submit to the word of God, they're not going to take the teaching or the doctrine of Jesus Christ, what is the result?

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• Look in verse 4: "He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself." Note all of these sins are connected with pride, and envy is leading the way, and then of course strife, railings, surmisings, all of these. So here's the question: since each of us have pride in our lives, how do we deal with it? How do we even realize the expressions of pride in our lives? I realize that in some instances when people use the word pride, it could be used in a good sense. For instance, I could say, "Well, Gary has pride in his work." You would understand that to mean that he does a good job and he wants to do it correctly. But in reality, we're not talking about pride. We're talking about character. We're talking about integrity. We're talking about a biblical work ethic is what we're talking about.

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• Although we use the word pride, usually pride in the Bible is a word that is condemned. So how do we deal with our pride and what is the cure for the sin of pride? And my answer is this: that cure for the sin of pride is found in the life and in the testimony of John the Baptist. We're going to go back to John chapter 3 in just a moment, and we're going to look at that. But may I remind you that in Luke chapter 7 and verse 28, our Lord himself testified and said that John the Baptist was the greatest prophet. He said it like this: "For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." So our Lord testified to the fact of the greatness of John the Baptist. So I want you to turn back in your Bibles, if you would, first of all, to the book of John chapter 1, and let's see what John says concerning himself.

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• John chapter 1. Let's begin reading there with verse 19. Here's where the scribes, the Pharisees sent to John asking who he was. So look in verse 19, John chapter 1: "And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias?" or Elijah.

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• "He saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees." So they come to John and they ask, "Who are you? Are you the Messiah?" "No, I am not the Messiah." "Well, are you Elijah?" "No, I'm not Elijah." "Are you that prophet?" What are they asking? "Are you that prophet?" They're talking about Deuteronomy 18, where Moses said, "The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken," which is another expression for the Messiah. And John says, "No, I'm not that either." Well, they said, "Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?" And here's what John said: "I'm a nobody. I'm just one, the voice of one, crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord."

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• I want you to note something. When they came to John the Baptist and asked, "Who art thou? What sayest thou of thyself?" Do you know what he could have said? And he could have said it truthfully. He could have said, "What? Why are you asking who I am? Have you not read your scriptures? I am one who is a subject of Old Testament prophecy. Not only am I the subject of Old Testament prophecy, I was miraculously and supernaturally conceived and born. Moreover, I was filled with the Holy Ghost from my mother's womb. And I happen to be the forerunner of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ." He could have said all of those things. Each one of those things were true. But "Who are you?" "I'm just one man. I'm just crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord." Now with that in mind, I want you to look back to John chapter 3. This is astounding to me. In John chapter 3, the Jews endeavor to excite pride, envy, and jealousy in John the Baptist.

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• Look in verse 25: "Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying." Now, wait a minute. Purification. We've got a question about purification. Okay, that's the legitimate question. But look at verse 26: "And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him." Now, here's my question: what in the world has verse 26 got to do with verse 25? Verse 26 has nothing to do about purifying. If you have a question about purification, ask about purification. Why are you coming and telling John, "You know that one whom you gave witness to beyond Jordan? Wow, he's now baptizing and he is gathering followers. In fact, he's getting more than you. All men are now coming unto him." Wow. Now here is their argument.

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• I want you to think with me. They were saying, "John, you were here first. You were the one that started baptizing. He came to you. You baptized him. You gave witness to him. And now John, he's getting more followers than you. He's becoming more popular. He's gaining where you're not. I mean, John, look at you and look at him. You're the one that was first." Do you realize with this little bit of argument right now, the average Christian would already be falling apart because his feelings would be hurt, his pride would be bruised.

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• His envy and his jealousy would be aroused and he would immediately become angry, resentful and bitter. And he'd be saying something like this: "It's not fair. It's not fair. I've worked so hard. I've worked my fingers to the bone. I've prayed. I've done this. I've done that. And everything I'm touching now is falling apart." I've heard pastors say that. I've heard Christians say that. But you see, the reason they did not upset John and the reason he did not get angry and bitter was because he understood the sovereignty of God. If you look in verse 27, when they tried to pull this on John, "John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven." A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Now the Greek word didōmi means to give, to bestow a gift, to grant, and to furnish. It's the same as the noun dōron, which means a gift. That's why in Ephesians 2:8 it says, "For by grace are ye saved through

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• faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." Let me ask you a question, and I want you to think about this. Do you realize right now that everything that you are and everything that you have, everything that you ever will be and everything that you ever will have is the gift of God? He holds your soul in his hand. Your times are in his hand. Your life happens to be in his hand. Everything you are, everything you have is his gift.

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• If you don't believe that, you just try living without breathing his air or drinking his water. Everything about us has been given to us. Let me show you, hold John 3. But I want you to turn over in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 7. I want you to notice this question. In fact, there are two questions here. 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 7.

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• "For who maketh thee to differ from another?" Well, who makes you to differ? Why do you see what you see? Why do you understand what you understand? Why do you have what you have? Who maketh thee to differ from another? Here's another question: "And what hast thou that thou didst not receive?" In other words, everything that you have, you received it of God. And here's the third one. He said, "Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" So three questions: Who made you to differ? What do you have that you've not received? You say, "Well, I work for everything I've got." Who gave you the breath to work? Who gave you the ability to work? Who gave you the knowledge to work? Who gave you life to work? Everything we have is the gift of God. Now watch this.

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• Turn right over to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. We're coming back to John 3, but I want to begin reading there with verse 1. And this chapter deals with spiritual gifts. Not everyone has the same gift, but watch if you would. He says, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." Now watch carefully: "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." Now, let me just stop right there. He talks about diversities of gifts. So not everybody has the same gift.

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• There are diversities or differences of administrations, but the same Lord, there are diversities of operations, but it's the same God. Now skip down to verse 11 with all these diversities, with all of these differences.

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• Now he says in verse 11, "But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." So here's another question: whatever gift you have, do you realize that God gave it to you? I did not get to choose my gift. You did not get to choose your gift. God gave me the gift of teaching, and I am thankful for that. I'm not crying and bemoaning the fact that I do not have the gift of singing. I can't sing. I can't carry a tune in a bucket. I've said that before. One lady said, "No, Brother Weaver, you can carry it. You just can't dump it." Well, whatever it is, I can't do it. But I'm not gonna sit around and bemoan the fact that I really and truly cannot sing. The choice was his and not mine. Whatever I have, God gave me. Whatever you have, God gave you. Now listen to me very carefully. There are two truths that we need to really emphasize and we need to really grab a hold of. The first one is this: everything we have, God gave us, okay?

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• Everything we have, God gave us. I don't care if we're talking about abilities, we're talking about gifts, we're talking about talents, we're talking about money, we're talking about possessions, we're talking about life, we're talking about health, everything that we have, God gave us. The second thing is, not only did God give us what he gave us in his sovereign will and sovereign pleasure, he can also take it away in his sovereign will and sovereign pleasure.

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• It's totally up to him. I've got news for you. I know men, or I have known men, that were much greater preachers than me, much greater students of Scripture, had much greater understanding than I would ever acquire. And they died in their forties and their fifties. Why? All I'm saying is, as Job, "The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." I want to show you something.

  #44 | 42:14 to 42:58 | cleaned

• Turn in your Bibles to Psalm 75, Psalm 75. So the point I'm trying to make is this: I don't care how talented we are. I don't care how many gifts we have. It's nothing to be proud and arrogant about. It's nothing to brag about because everything that we have, we received. It was gifts. I probably told you I have a friend, a missionary friend. His name is Kevin McCoy. And when I read about Kevin, another missionary sent out his qualifications. And when I began to read, Kevin was a master builder.

  #45 | 42:58 to 43:54 | cleaned

• He was project manager on numerous high rise buildings and expensive buildings. The man could draw blueprints, read blueprints. He built his own jeep. He was a mechanic. He could do heating and air. He could do electrical. He could do plumbing. I don't know. There's 15 or 20 different things that he mastered. And his number was there. So I got on the phone and I called him up.

  #46 | 43:55 to 44:31 | cleaned

• And I said, "Is this Kevin McCoy?" He said, "Yes, it is." I said, "Well, this is Pastor John Weaver in Georgia." He was in Florida. I said, "I just want to tell you up front that I hate you." He just laughed. He said, "Well, you're probably not the only one." And then I laughed. I said, "No, the reason I'm saying that is I can't do any of those things that you can do." And I can't.

  #47 | 44:33 to 44:58 | cleaned

• But, you know, you stop and think. How in the world does one man have all these talents? It was the same thing with Melvin Stringer, one of my best friends. He built over 500 homes in North Carolina alone. If you wanted a house built and you just told him what you wanted, he didn't have to have a blueprint. He could wire, he could plumb, he could carpenter, he could do mechanical work. I often times tell Melvin, "Melvin, I just hate you." But better than that, I loved him because he was one of my best friends. But I could never do anything that he could do like that. But there were things that I could do that he could not do.

  #48 | 45:00 to 45:43 | cleaned

• The point I'm trying to make is everything we have we receive. Now look if you would at Psalm 75 and let's begin reading there with verse 4. Look what the Bible says. Psalm 75 verse 4: "I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn." Now lifting up the horn means that you're proud, you're arrogant. Watch it. He says, "Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck." In other words, don't be so arrogant, proud, haughty, heady, and high-minded. Why?

  #49 | 45:46 to 46:19 | cleaned

• Verse 6: "For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another." God gave it, God can take it away. That's exactly what he is saying. God gave it, God can take it away. Promotion does not come from the east nor the west nor from the south, but it comes from God. Now I want you to go back to John chapter 3. Because instead of John being upset and angry and proud, no, no, he answers beautifully. When he says, "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven." Now watch if you would what he says. He said in verse 27, "John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness,

  #50 | 46:19 to 47:12 | cleaned

• that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled." I like what John said. John said, "I told you at the beginning, I'm nothing. I'm a nobody. I'm just the voice of one crying in the wilderness. I'm not the Messiah. I'm not that prophet. I'm not Elijah. I am just the voice of one." John said, "Jesus Christ is the bridegroom. The bride belongs to him and not to me. I'm merely the friend of the bridegroom. Listen to me. I'm happy that he is excelling. I'm happy and rejoicing that he is surpassing me. My joy is fulfilled. Just watching him grow and dominate and conquer. Wow."

  #51 | 47:12 to 48:16 | cleaned

• Have you ever prayed for a heart that would rejoice in the successes and blessings of others? We are so narrow minded. You see, a heart that rejoices in the blessings and successes of others is the opposite of selfishness, envy, jealousy and pride. When you stop and think about this, we always try to build up ourselves. We always try to build up our house, our family, our ministry, our church.

  #52 | 48:21 to 49:02 | cleaned

• We're not really concerned with the ministries of other people. We're not really concerned with the work of God in other areas. And when we see someone who's excelling and someone who is blessed, being blessed by God, and someone who is given a greater degree of success than we have, normally what we begin to do is to criticize and belittle and to ridicule and to mock those people and say, "Yeah, I bet something's wrong." In other words, what we try to do is to build ourselves up by tearing them down.

  #53 | 49:04 to 49:37 | cleaned

• John's attitude was not like that. John said, "I'm just rejoicing that he's increasing. I'm happy. I'm glad. I'm thankful." Let me point something out. Do you realize that God has set our bounds? God has set our bounds in the fact that we can't pass. He said in the book of Job chapter 14 and verse 5, talking about man, "Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass." So in my life, in my ministry, God has set my bounds. I'm never going beyond those bounds, whatever those bounds are. Whatever gift he has given me, or whatever blessing he gives me, I'm to use and improve to reach that boundary wherever it is, whatever it is, but I'm not going beyond it. I'll never be a George Whitefield. I'll never preach to 10,000 people at one time. I've probably preached so far more than that in times past and over the period of years, but I've never done that at one time.

  #54 | 49:40 to 51:03 | cleaned

• Yeah, a couple thousand, but not 10,000. No. And George Whitefield did that on a regular basis. I'm just somebody pointing out the fact, you know, God has set our bounds just like he set the bounds of the ocean in Job chapter 38 and verse 11. Then he said to the ocean, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." So we can go to our bounds, but that's as far as we're going, but we must improve our talents until we reach that bound.

  #55 | 51:03 to 51:38 | cleaned

• And we should never be envious of someone else's gifts, someone else's talent, someone else's success, someone else's family. I'm thankful for every family that has good, godly, obedient, and Christian children. I'm thankful for every husband and wife that have lived together to old age. I am. Alice and I were talking this morning and I asked her, I said, "Do you remember how long your parents were married before your father died?" I think 57 years. Well, my parents were married about 57 years before my father died.

  #56 | 51:39 to 52:16 | cleaned

• But Alice and I are going on our 60th. I passed my father as far as life is concerned. Dad died at 76. You follow what I'm saying? Do you understand that whatever my bounds are, when I reach those bounds, that's it. It's in life. It's in ministry. It is everything that you and I are going to reach. Now I want to show you, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Philippians chapter 1 and look if you would beginning there verse 12. I want you to see how the Apostle Paul rejoiced not only in the good but also in the bad and the ugly. Philippians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul is in prison. He says in verse 12, "But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel." Now, let me ask you: if I got thrown in prison for preaching the truth of God, I'm sure that probably I'd be sitting around saying, "Lord, why am I in prison, Lord?

  #57 | 52:18 to 53:34 | cleaned

• I was trying to do what was right, Lord. You know, everybody say, 'Lord, help him.'" Yeah, why? What did Paul say? "I'm happy where I am." He said, "I want you to understand that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear." So he said, "I've encouraged a lot of them to be more bold and to be more vocal." He said in verse 15, "Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: the one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice."

  #58 | 53:34 to 54:34 | cleaned

• So he said, "Some of these people that are preaching are just mocking me. They're just ridiculing. They're insincere. It's a game to them. They don't care." But he said, "Christ is being preached, and I'm happy with that." I mean, if God can use a jackass to rebuke a prophet Balaam, he can use an unsaved man to proclaim the word. In fact, I read years ago, I forget where I read it, about one man who was a preacher who was preaching as an unsaved man, and he got convicted by his own preaching and got converted. I thought, boy, an amazing thing. And other people had been converted under his preaching before he even got converted himself.

  #59 | 54:34 to 55:26 | cleaned

• So whatever our lot, whatever our station in life, whatever gift we have, like the Apostle Paul, we can always rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. So is it possible to rejoice in the gift that God has given you? And the answer is, of course it is. We need to learn only one thing, and that is that everything that we have, every gift that we have, is from him. Do you realize that God is not obligated to give us any gift? He is not obligated to give us another breath of air. He is not obligated to give us another blessing. Everything that we receive of him is of his grace and his mercy. And the very fact, the very fact that we're alive today is a demonstration of that love and grace and mercy.

  #60 | 55:27 to 56:14 | cleaned

• Now, if you'll go back in your Bible to John chapter 3, I want you to see one verse that will show you the absolute pinnacle of John's humility. If you look in John chapter 3 and verse 31—or verse 30, it is: "He must increase, but I must decrease." And then he says this: "He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all." So the pinnacle of John's humility is found in verse 30. Here is the greatest expression against pride, envy, arrogance, haughtiness, when John said, "He must increase, and I must decrease." So are we willing then to decrease in order that the Lord Jesus Christ may increase?

  #61 | 56:15 to 57:25 | cleaned

• Have you realized that he that comes from above is above all, and we should be seeking to honor him in our life and in our death because he is above all. You know, it's astounding to me and I'm thankful and I give God praise, but I say this, I know I'm getting old, but I'm not getting tired and I'm thankful. I mean, we can go all day long from 5:30 in the morning to 10 o'clock at night, and we can keep going. I'm getting old, but I'm not getting tired. And my life has been a life of preaching and teaching the word of God. And I know this, I know I'm not going to live forever. I understand that. I know I'm going to die.

  #62 | 57:26 to 58:18 | cleaned

• But one of my greatest desires is to be able to preach and teach up until I do die. That's what I want, because that's been my life. When my dear friend, Pastor Bob McCurry, was dying, his son David was sitting by his side and the doctor was there trying to encourage Brother Bob to hold on. And the doctor asked him, "Pastor McCurry, is there one thing that you'd really like to do before you die?" In other words, he could give him hope to get to do this one thing. He was thinking he'd put a little more fight in Pastor McCurry. Pastor McCurry shook his head, "Yes. There's one thing I wanted to do before I died." And the doctor said, "What is it?" With his almost last breath, he said, "Preach. Preach." That's what he wanted to do. Preach. He'd been preaching since he was 14 years of age. He preached for 70 years. Yeah. That's exactly what I'd like to do till I die. Preach. Preach. As the old saying goes, I'd like to die with my boots on.

  #63 | 58:19 to 59:50 | cleaned

• Preach it. Do you understand that any and every gift that we have has been given to us for God's honor and God's glory. We must improve the gifts all that we can. I want you to look in your Bibles very quickly to 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 11. Watch this verse. This is a powerful verse. It will explain to you what you are supposed to be doing.

  #64 | 59:51 to 1:00:20 | cleaned

• It will give you your duty. 1 Peter 4 and verse 11. Look what he says. 1 Peter 4 verse 11: "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God." In other words, if I'm going to preach, I better preach the word of God. So if any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. "If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." Whatever we do, whatever gift we have, do it, he said, to the best of our ability, for God's honor and God's glory. So let me give you some very quick applications. The first one is this: the way to overcome pride, envy, and jealousy is learn to be thankful for any and everything that God gives us. Whether it's another day alive, whether it's another ability to eat a meal, whether or not it's another opportunity to preach, whether or not it's another opportunity to help someone.

  #65 | 1:00:21 to 1:01:47 | cleaned

• In other words, just simply be thankful and we need to improve and use the gifts that God has given us until we reach our boundary. Here's the second one: pride and the desire for praise and recognition from men makes faith impossible. And I will go further and I will say it makes ministry impossible. Our Lord asked this question in John 5 and verse 44, he asked, "How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?" How can you believe when you're seeking honor from one another, from man? He said that kind of thing, the desire for pride and praise and recognition of man makes faith impossible.

  #66 | 1:01:47 to 1:02:47 | cleaned

• And the third application is this: we have to come to the realization that was expressed by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 10, when he said, "By the grace of God I am what I am." Think about that. It's only by the grace of God that we're alive. It's only by the grace of God that we have any ability. It's only by the grace of God that we can do anything. And as our Lord said in John 15 and verse 5, help me out now, "Without me ye can do" what? Nothing, nothing, nothing. So it's only by the grace of God.

  #67 | 1:02:49 to 1:03:34 | cleaned

• We are what we are. And it's only by the grace of God we have what we have. And how in the world can we be proud, arrogant, haughty, heady, high-minded, envious, jealous, full of anger, bitterness and resentment, when we realize whatever we have God gave us. Was it ours to begin with? And really and truly, it's still not ours. Because when we die, Steve, we're not taking any of it with us. It'll be gone. So I am what I am, only by the grace of God.

  #68 | 1:03:35 to 1:04:18 | cleaned

• Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word, and Lord, we do confess in our lives the sin of pride. And it has indeed risen its ugly head many times, but Lord, we ask for Your divine forgiveness and we ask, Lord, that You'd help us to realize everything we are and everything that we have, You gave to us. These are Your gifts and You deserve all honor, praise and glory. And help us to realize that we are what we are only by Your grace. And give us, Lord, a desire to use these gifts and improve them for Your honor and Your glory until we reach the boundary that You've established for us. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T00:38:00Z