'PRIDE'

(CFRA broadcast date: Sunday, January 22^nd, 2012 - #662)

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http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/5728/good_news_662_jan22.mp3
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Broadcast Notes:

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Issues of Life Series…

‘Pride’

Proverbs 6:16-19

¹⁶ These six things the LORD hates,
      Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
       ¹⁷ A proud look,
      A lying tongue,
      Hands that shed innocent blood,
       ¹⁸ A heart that devises wicked plans,
      Feet that are swift in running to evil,
       ¹⁹ A false witness who speaks lies,
      And one who sows discord among brethren.

Pride…. What a topic for discussion

A minister received a card with a note in it from a lady in his congregation. He said she was very complimentary about his preaching, and compared him with Billy Graham.

She finished by writing,

"I think you are one of the really great preachers of all time."

Later that day, when he showed the note to his wife, she asked, "Who is that woman?" He replied,

"She is a very intelligent woman in the congregation who loves great preaching."

He then asked his wife,

"How many great preachers do you suppose there really are in the world?"

She replied, "One less than you think."

Story has been told of a lion who was very proud and decided to take a walk one day to demonstrate his mastery over all the other creatures.

He strutted his way through the forest until he came across a bear, ‘WHO IS THE KING OF THE JUNGLE BEAR?  ‘Why of course you are mighty lion’.

He went on until he found the tiger, ‘WHO IS THE KING OF THE JUNGLE TIGER?’ ‘Why you are great lion’.

Next the lion found the elephant, ‘WHO IS THE KING OF THE JUNGLE FAT ELEPHANT?’

The elephant immediately grabbed the lion with his trunk and spun him around a few times and slammed him to the ground.
He then stepped on him a few times and picked him up and dunked him in the water and then threw him up against a tree.

The lion staggered to his feet and said, ‘LOOK, JUST BECAUSE YOU DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER IS NO REASON TO GET SO UPSET!’

Some people are so full of pride they don’t even realize it.

The master pets a dog, and the dog wags its tail and thinks, “He must be a god.”

But the master pets his cat, and the cat purrs, shuts its eyes and thinks to itself, “I must be a god.”
Though Jesus in grace reached down to us, there is still a perverse human tendency to think like the cat!

Perfectionist
Nobody can do it as well as me, so I need to make sure I am the one that does it.

Rebellious
I will do it my way and that is the only way.  Most of the people who are in authority over me are in the place I deserve to be in.

Insecure
I am not really comfortable with who I am, but if I fake it well enough, nobody will ever know..
Dissatisfied
No matter how good it may be, they feel they deserve it to be better.

Pride and dissatisfaction can lead to excessive debt and poor financial responsibility as well.
Egotistical
It has always got to be about me.

If I am not the center of attention,

I will do what is necessary to change that.

Pride says, “I don’t need you God”.

Pride says, "I am good enough just like I am."
Pride says, "I don’t need Jesus to get me to heaven."

The ultimate expression of pride is to think we can do without God.

All sins root themselves in Pride.
C.S Lewis says that compared to pride all others sins: unchasity, greed, drunkenness and the like are mere flea-bites. He says that every vice comes from pride and that pride is that anti-God state of mind.

1     We are totally dependent upon God for all we are.

Four Re-Actions to that statement:

·         Anger

·         Apathy

·         Acting

·         Acceptance

"Hypocrisy"  is mentioned 20 times in New Testament. 
Hypocrisy = Actor

·         A person who pretends to be what he is not.

So why would a person pretend as an actor?

Pride

2    Truths about Pride

·         None of us are completely free of pride

·         It’s seems to rear its ugly head over and over

·         Those who refuse to admit to having pride are often the very ones who fall because of it.

3    Categories of Pride

·         Social pride

·         Spiritual pride

·         Financial pride

·         Political pride

·         Cultural pride

·         Educational pride

·         Intellectual pride

·         Pedigree Pride

·         Denominational pride
The list could go on and on...

4     God Hates Pride

Proverbs 6:16-19

Six things God hates and one more that he

loathes with a passion. (the Message)

·         Haughty eyes (a proud look)

      Eyes that are arrogant

Proverbs 16:18

“Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall”                                                                  

Leviticus 26:18-19 - God declares:

“If after all this you will not listen to me,

 I will punish you for your sins seven times over.

I will break down your stubborn pride...”

Psalm 10:4

“In his pride the wicked does not seek God;

in all his thoughts there is no room for God.”

We live in a "me-ism" world...where we might have:

·         A tongue that lies

·         Hands that shed innocent blood                                                

·         Hands that murder the innocent; (one might think about abortion)

·         A heart that devises wicked schemes

A heart that hatches evil plots

·         Feet that are quick to rush into evil

Feet that race down a wicked track

·         A false witness who pours out lies

A mouth that lies under oath

·         A man who stirs up dissension

among the brothers (church)

A troublemaker in the family

Acceptance

Hymn writers John Newton and William Cowper were

close friends.  One morning, reflecting upon the words

‘by the grace of God I am what I am’ (1 Cor. 15:10)

John Newton looked across the kitchen table and said to William Cowper

‘I’m not what I ought to be.

I’m not what I want to be.

I’m not what I hope to be.

But thank God I’m not what I used to be’

"There is no limit to how far a person can go as long as he doesn’t care who gets the credit for it."  -A plaque on Pres. Ronald Regan’s Desk.

 Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century

postulated that the earth was the center of the universe, that the earth was still, that other planets orbited and other planets rotated, but the earth not. The universe revolved around the earth. It made sense, and people believed it. For 1400 years.

In the 16th century came a man named Nicklaus Copernicus.

He started poking around and asking questions:

"Why do some stars appear in the day and others at night?"
"What causes the seasons to change?"
"Does anyone know exactly how far ships can sail before falling off the edge of the earth?"

Copernicus had figured out that not only did the earth itself rotate, it also revolved around the sun.

The world doesn’t revolve around US?

This was hard for people to accept.

Galileo came along saying the same things –

and for advocating these beliefs the church

kicked him out and the state put him under

house arrest.
Copernicus and Galileo pointed to the sun and said –

"The center of the universe"

Max Lucado in his book It’s Not About Me writes: "What Copernicus did for the earth, God does for our souls. Tapping the collective shoulder of humanity, he points to the Son - his Son - and says "Behold the center of it all."

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To listen to the above broadcast, click on the following link:

http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/5728/good_news_662_jan22.mp3