Acts 12:18-13:3

Open up God's Word to Acts. Acts chapter 12. Picking up on our study. So, as a lot of you are aware, I'm going to be married in a couple of weeks.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

But in all seriousness, I'm feeling like the weight that a lot of you have experienced who are married.

And just preparing yourself, not just for the event, but for actual marriage.

And preparing yourself spiritually above all.

Feeling just the weight of this is a big deal and I have to come to God to work on me and to prepare me as best as I can be.

And I reached out to a friend of mine recently, Zach Watson, who lives in Dawsonville now.

But a guy who invested into me a lot of my early Christian life.

God's really given this guy just a talent and a gift to understand the Word and to teach the Word.

Just a man who loves Jesus.

And one of his, when he went to seminary, he exempted his first Greek course by translating the book of James.

Yeah, he's that kind of guy.

I hate people like that.

I feel like I, but, but I reached out to him just to say, hey.

And he just encouraged me like, man, as you're preparing to get married, like let that elevate your thoughts towards the heavenly marriage and the return of Christ.

And as you will be purifying yourself for our heavenly bridegroom one day.

For the marriage supper of the Lamb.

And allow that to like even be the driving force behind, like while you're preparing now.

And just really, really challenged me.

And to think about Christ returning and the end coming, there's some things that do have to happen first.

And one of those is that the gospel should be preached to all nations and then the end will come.

And with that in mind, I just want you to be aware that the end will not come easily.

That there are many people, many leaders, many nations who hate Christ, who hate the gospel.

And many obstacles that we as the church are going to have to wade through with our own blood, with our own sweat.

That many will die to bring the gospel to the nations.

And with that in mind, I want us just to keep that in our minds as we're reading today and as we're looking at Acts.

And just to throw some other stuff out there, like while you're listening, like look for yourself in the story.

Like that's a tip for listening to God's word.

Not just kind of waiting for the preacher to give you the application and you can kind of check out until then.

The application is going to come from text.

And you need to be able to pay attention and ask God and His Spirit to open your eyes.

And as if God was addressing you personally from His word, because He is.

And every time that you hear the word, you're accountable for what you hear.

So if you're just here to gain knowledge, then you need to ask God to change your heart,

because we're held to the standard of which we've attained in God's word.

So let's just read our text and then we'll dive into it.

It would be really awesome for me to turn there myself so I can do that.

All right.

All right.

Our text today is just going to be Acts 12.

We're going to start in verse 18 and go down through chapter 13 into verse 3.

Chapters and verses are not inspired by God.

Just the text is.

So we are going to just continue reading down a little bit.

But starting in verse 18, it said,

Now when the day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.

And after Herod searched for him and did not find him,

he examined the sentries in order that they should be put to death.

Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.

Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon.

And they came to him with one accord.

And having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain,

they asked for peace because their country depended on the king's country for food.

And on an appointed day, Herod put on his royal robes,

took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them.

And the people were shouting, the voice of a God and not a man.

And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down,

because he did not give God the glory.

And he was eaten by worms, and he breathed his last.

But the word of God increased and multiplied.

And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service,

bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.

Now there was in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers,

Barnabas, Simon, who was called Niger,

Lucius of Cyrene,

Manon, a lifelong friend of Herod the Tetrarch,

and Saul.

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting,

the Holy Spirit said,

Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.

Then after fasting and praying,

they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Let's join me in a word of prayer.

Father, I just ask that during this time,

your people would worship through the hearing of your word,

that you would have the desired effect on them,

and that it would carry them from this place to obedience,

to sacrifice,

and to laying down our lives for others for the sake of Christ.

And I pray that you would help me to communicate with clarity

and to not fear man,

but to only fear you.

God, we just offer at this time,

I pray it would be pleasing to you.

In Christ's name, amen.

So last week,

Daniel preached in the,

starting in the earlier part of chapter 12,

and this was basically the acts of Herod Agrippa.

There are several Herods in the New Testament.

This one is more or less the third main Herod,

Herod Agrippa.

And so he kind of went on a rampage,

and he sought to stop the advancement of the gospel in his territory.

Herod Agrippa was in some hot water with the Roman authorities.

He owed a lot of debt,

and he had just some chaos going on in his realm

that he had been given charge of.

And basically, he had to get his stuff together,

or he was going to feel the wrath of Caesar.

And in some ways,

he thought that the new sect of Christianity

was causing a lot of this problem

and causing threat to the stability of the region.

So, with that in mind,

I just want you to,

again, as we look through this,

just think about how

it just feels like

the whole world

is against us as believers.

Here in the West,

we've enjoyed a season of peace

where there hasn't been

that much hostility

as you might find

in some other parts of the world.

But I feel,

just as many of you might,

just if you've been looking at

our nation now,

and even just the crazy political situation,

that,

I mean,

things are,

you should just know,

like the Bible says,

things are not going to go our way.

They're not.

Our hope is not in America

or in our government.

Though we pray for them,

and at any moment,

God could,

if He wants to,

bring revival.

But we also just know

that it's just not going to go our way.

We know that it's going to get harder.

We know that it's going to be

increased secularization

and increased hostility to the truth.

And when that happens,

we've got to have enough fiber in our faith

and trust in our Lord

to press through that regardless

of like what comes.

And I feel like many of us

are just going to blow over

when this happens

because we've become so used to

comfort and ease in the West

and our Christianity

really isn't what's exhibited

in the Word of God

a lot of the time.

So we have to prepare ourselves

and I want this text

to be a means of that,

a means of encouragement to you.

And we're just going to do it

with just asking two questions

just about the text

and then applying that.

So again,

listen for yourself throughout this,

but what are,

the first one,

number one,

what are Herod's evil desires?

What are Herod's evil desires?

Like what are his intentions

in this,

in these chapters here?

Because they are pretty evident.

And you can see,

you can see this,

but I want you to jump back

just briefly to the beginning

of chapter 12

and look at verses 1 through 5.

Just the beginning of chapter 12.

This is what Daniel preached on last week.

It says,

about that time,

Herod the king laid violent hands

on some who belonged to the church.

He killed James,

the brother of John,

with the sword.

And when he saw

that it pleased the Jews,

he proceeded to arrest Peter also.

This was during the days

of unleavened bread.

And when he had seized him,

he put him in prison,

delivering him over

to four squads of soldiers

to guard him,

intending after the Passover

to bring him out to the people.

So Peter was kept in prison,

but earnest prayer for him

was made to God

by the church.

Alright, so in this,

you can see very clearly

Herod's evil desires.

One, just sort of very plain,

was that Herod desired

to contain or even eliminate

the expansion of the gospel.

He didn't want it going any further.

He said,

this has got to stop.

So he had never been a fan of Jesus,

never been a fan of believers.

And it says that he laid

violent hands on them.

It means like to render

an evil effect,

to inflict evil harm on someone.

This was his desire.

This will be the desire

of anyone that is hostile

towards the gospel

coming to their nations.

And then it says that they,

he not only did that,

but he kind of singled out

the leaders of the church.

He killed James,

the brother of John,

with the sword.

Kind of implying,

like under the law,

someone who preached

blasphemy was to be beheaded.

So more or less,

that's what his charge was,

but that's how he died.

And then on the other hand,

he arrested Peter

and threw Peter in prison,

more or less kind of saying

that I'm going to keep you

for something special.

You're going to be

the prized bird in my cage.

I'm going to bring out

for a special occasion

to humiliate you

and then show you

who's really the boss.

So he kind of held Peter

over to the side

as a prized captive

or a trophy of his power.

And Jesus had said to James

earlier in the gospel of Mark,

this cup that I drink,

you also will drink.

This idea that very soon,

like you will be charged

for the same crimes

which I'm being charged for,

and you're going to die.

And Jesus had told them,

remember the word

that I've said to you.

A servant is not greater

than his master.

If they persecute me,

they will persecute you.

If it's happening to our Lord,

then it's going to happen to us.

If we really are following him.

And Herod would be the first,

in a way,

of many kings,

emperors,

presidents,

chancellors,

who would seek to halt

the stop of the gospel

by trying to kill

the followers of Christ.

It's going to happen.

It's going to happen.

So,

but even underneath this,

underneath this,

this desire

to eliminate

or contain the church,

look at our text.

Very scary.

Verse 3 says,

when he saw

that it pleased

the Jews.

So,

underneath all of this

was a very sinister desire,

and that was

he wanted

the praise of men.

He wanted,

really,

which is fueled by

pride,

right?

He wanted the approval,

the praise of men.

It says,

when he saw

that it pleased the Jews.

So,

the ultimate source

of all these atrocious acts

is Herod's pride

underneath it all.

So,

I want you to

follow me here.

We're going to kind of

single out some things,

but let's just simply,

for the sake of

just understanding,

let's just define

pride

as an excessive

desire

for others

to see us

as impressive

or admirable.

An excessive

desire for others

to see us

as impressive

or admirable.

And so,

he wanted

the applause

of his subjects,

and he also

wanted the approval

of Rome

to,

you know,

that he's bringing

stability to his region.

And this was

his desire

very clearly

in our text.

And he sought

desperately

the praise of men.

That's why he kept

Peter on the sideline

because later on

he wanted to bring him

out to show

in front of all

the people

that he was

the man.

So,

don't get this wrong.

Like,

here his actions

are an overflow

of the evil heart

that he had,

not the other way around.

Alright,

that's what our Lord

said,

like,

out of the hearts

of men

come all kinds

of evil.

And he even

names,

like,

pride

among those things.

So,

we're not really

defined by that.

What's in here

is what comes out.

It's just

how it is.

That's our nature.

It's an overflow

of our heart.

And notice

that,

unlike Saul,

who earlier in Acts

was persecuting

the church

for religious zeal,

he was doing it

for just his own

pride and vanity.

So,

even unlike Saul

who had become Paul.

If you look

over to verse 20

in our text,

you see that

he has some

of the people

that are dependent

on him

coming and groveling

before him,

begging,

you know,

to get back

in his good graces

from Tyre and Sidon

because they

were dependent

on his food

supply.

And just,

you know,

come and beg,

come and grovel.

Let me show you

who's really

in control.

Let me show you

that you're going

to die

if I don't feed you.

And so,

that's what they're doing.

They sent these delegates

or whoever

to come to Herod

and to plead

with him

to like not cut off

their food supply.

these are like

little coastal cities

in Syria.

And so,

he'll do whatever

it takes

to feed that ego.

He'll do it

through killing believers.

He'll do it

through giving speeches.

And he'll do it

through,

you know,

showing that

I'm the one

who feeds you.

This is the hand

who feeds you.

So,

he has a desire

for power.

But then we go on

and we see

in verses 21

and 22,

that he just,

you know,

bit off the whole thing

and began to like

array himself

and pump.

And it's,

whatever it takes,

he's going to do it.

And he delivered

a speech

or an oration.

So,

back in this time,

just in ancient times

in general,

in Greco-Roman society,

like,

people who came to give

who were great orators,

they would,

it was a source

of entertainment.

Like if,

you know,

you could invite

somebody up here

and they could,

use very smooth speech

and persuade you

and control you,

you would get applause

for that.

And so,

whether he was good at it,

who knows,

but that's what he did.

And he delivered

this speech

and we see very clearly

in our text

that all the people

just cried out,

you know,

bravo,

like you are amazing,

you are the man.

And then they said,

the voice of a god

and not a man.

Right?

Very scary words.

And so,

I want you to contrast,

contrast,

earlier in Acts

when Peter

encounters Cornelius

and he,

like,

Cornelius falls to the ground

to worship Peter

and Peter says,

get up,

stand up,

I'm a man

just like you,

I'm not a god.

In contrast,

later on with Paul

when people try to

identify him

as the god of Hermes

and he again

pushes that off

and says,

I'm a man,

like,

get away from me.

Do not call me

anything supernatural.

So,

the difference

is Herod is like

craving this,

loves it.

Yes,

call me a god.

Right?

And,

people who

crave the praise

of man,

Christ is always

going to be

a thorn in their side

because,

he said,

how can you believe

you who receive glory

from one another

and do not seek

the glory that comes

from the only God?

Like,

how can you just receive

the praise of man

and not,

like,

that's why you won't

come to me

because you love

the praise of others

and you reject

the praise of man.

If you have

real faith in Christ,

your desire will be

to exalt him,

to take attention

off of yourself

and put it on him.

A long time ago,

maybe in the 70s,

doesn't matter,

but,

if you go down

to my study,

you'll see a picture

of a guy that has

like a nice,

like,

fro and a beard

and,

his name was Keith Green.

He was one of my,

definitely one of my heroes.

We sang one of his songs

a while back,

There Is a Redeemer,

I think the name,

and,

but he was

a man just radically

changed by Christ

back in the,

the hippie movement,

the Jesus freak movement,

and,

he immediately just like

turned into like

the,

one of the most like

on fire evangelists

I've ever,

ever seen.

But he was a musician.

He played the piano

and he was a songwriter

and he was the,

one of the first

Christian musicians

to kind of come out

and say,

I don't want to charge

people for my music

because if,

I don't want to like,

I don't want money

to be a barrier

to ministry

and to the gospel.

And,

I go on and on about him,

but anyways,

my uncle,

Scott,

he actually heard

Keith Green play

like back in the day

and I was like,

really?

So he told me a story,

he said,

yeah,

like,

Keith came out

on the stage

and people were just like

going crazy,

like applauding him,

and like shouting his name

and he just like sat down

at the piano,

his head low

and like everyone's out here

just cheering

and Scott said that

when everyone finished,

he like grabbed

a little microphone

and pulled it down

and he says,

God despises

the praise of man.

Like,

let your,

the Christian music

that you listen to

kind of be judged by that.

It's just turning to a circus

in a lot of ways,

but like,

don't crave the praise

of man

at all.

He would like go ballistic

on people.

That wasn't the only occasion

who,

who like gave him great,

you know,

praise and stuff.

But,

so very clearly

in our text,

we see

that

two evil desires

that are kind of

pushing Herod

to do these things

that he has

coming from his evil heart.

He wants to contain

or eliminate the gospel

and the spreading of it

and he really just wants

to fuel his own pride,

his own vanity

and he wants to seek

the praise of men

above the,

above praising God himself.

So,

kind of like

the height of this,

the height of this,

he,

uh,

raised himself

in God-like pomp,

puts on his royal

robes

and he thinks

that he is the man.

Like,

this is,

this is it,

right?

And you see

that God

has his own plans

for Herod

and his schemes.

So,

listen,

lives that are driven

by pride

and by vanity

and by the approval

of others

is in opposition

to God.

Okay?

It just is.

So,

Herod is talking

some serious trash

to his Creator.

So,

what does God do?

What is God's response?

This goes to our

second question.

How does God

thwart

Herod's evil desires?

Or how does he dismantle?

Or how does he,

uh,

you know,

um,

tear apart

Herod's evil desires?

And we see this,

um,

first,

and we're going to,

like,

correspond to all these

little things

that I just mentioned.

But if you,

I just want you to stop

and just think about this

before we do it.

Um,

I want to encourage you

that

in this,

this day

when,

like,

everything seems to be

going horribly wrong

in the church,

um,

not just here,

but worldwide,

when,

when so much is,

at least here in the West,

you see people

sacrificing the truth

for the praise of man

to gather crowds

to be cool.

And over,

and abroad,

you see,

like,

death and persecution.

So much is,

is happening.

But I just want to

encourage you

that God

still reigns.

I want to assure you

that God

is not subject

to man's sinful desires

and man's sinful schemes.

He is not.

He holds

the life breath

of every living thing

in His hand.

He is not threatened

by any of this.

So Herod proudly

sought

all this stuff

by plotting

and by cunning

to have this place

of honor,

right?

And it's,

it's scary

because if you're

really careful,

you can see

this sort of stuff

in our own lives,

right?

But,

what I want to

encourage you with

is that

wicked men

do not

thwart God's plan.

He thwarts

their plan.

It says in Psalm

146

that He thwarts

the way

of the wicked.

They fall

into their own traps.

Job wrote,

He frustrates

the devices

of the crafty

so that their hands

achieve no success.

He catches the wise

in their own craftiness

and the schemes

of the wily

are brought

to a quick end.

Be encouraged

by that.

And if Herod

had just read

the scripture

that he had

at his disposal,

he could have read

the words of Solomon,

and he could have

seen this,

the Lord tears down

the house

of the proud.

Pride goes

before destruction

and a haughty

spirit before the fall.

why is God

opposed

to people

who are proud?

There's a lot

of ways

to answer that,

but if I had

just one stat

that I would say

because we have

nothing to be proud

about,

we have nothing

in and of ourselves

to which we can brag

or boast about.

any good

that is in me

or in you

or anyone else

has only come

by the grace

of God.

And so how can

you boast

about something

that you were

given

by somebody else?

It's a,

for sinful,

broken,

corrupt man

to say

that like,

I am worthy

of praise

when he received

everything he did

from God himself,

it's,

it's blasphemous.

Only God,

because God

is perfect,

God is pure,

God is holy,

only he is worthy

of that kind

of praise,

so it's not wrong

for him to ask

for it.

A long time ago,

Jonathan Edwards

said,

it is right

for us to give

glory to someone

in proportion

to that person's

excellence.

True?

God has infinite

excellence though,

so he is worthy

of infinite glory.

And only then,

right,

only then can we

actually be

made right with

God,

if we lay

our pride

aside.

We have nothing

to be proud

about at all.

The wicked,

the pride,

the vanity

of Herod

puts him

on a collision

course with

God.

Alright?

Puts him

on a collision

course with

God.

So,

as we talk

about this,

I want you

to just see

three things

that God

does

just to

dismantle

or thwart

Herod's

plans.

So,

first,

if you

remember,

he was

persecuting

the church

and he

arrested

Peter.

I want you

to look at

verse 18

or 19.

it says,

And when

the day

came,

there was

no little

disturbance

among the

soldiers

over what

had become

of Peter.

And after

Herod searched

for him

and did not

find him,

he examined

the sentries

in order

that they

should be

put to

death.

And then

he went

down to

Judea and

Caesarea

and spent

time there.

Peter.

So,

what's

happened is,

like God,

with no

problem at

all,

releases

Peter from

prison.

That's what

Daniel preached

on last

night.

Go back

and listen

to that

or go back

and read

this chapter.

But God

just miraculously

just set

Peter free.

The angel of

the Lord

came and

set him

free.

They like

slipped past

the guards.

They went

out the door

and into the

city.

And Herod

was so

angry that

he just

like ordered

all the guards

to be put

to death.

Word can't

get out of

this,

so you

have to

die.

Again,

defeat his

own ego

and pride.

So,

I want you

to hear this

too,

though,

just a

little

connection.

Why didn't

God do

that for

James?

Why did

James die

and not

Peter?

I don't

have the

answer to

that.

But I

can tell

you that

by this

act,

James

dying

does not

mean that

God couldn't

deliver him

and chose

not to.

Some

people bear

witness to

the gospel

through death

and others

bear witness

to the gospel

through life.

And so,

God dismantled

this and

took away

his prized

prisoner from

right under

his nose.

It's

awesome.

So,

to God,

like Herod's

schemes are

laughable.

Psalm 1

says that

he who

sits in

the heavens

laughs at

the schemes

of men.

So,

the score

so far

is God

won,

Herod's

zero.

Look down

to verse

21 and

23.

We see

that he,

at the

apex of

all this,

he kind

of raised

himself with

all the

prompt and

gives the

speech.

It's the

moment he's

worked for,

and just

when all

eyes are

on him,

just when

all eyes

are on

him,

that's

when God

shows to

reveal to

Herod that

he is not,

there is only

one God,

and he is

not it.

Ends his

life.

So,

the score is

now game

over,

God wins.

So,

the other

way is that

he thwarts

this plan is

he just

kills Herod,

takes his

life,

takes his

life.

His angel,

the Lord,

struck him

down.

I like the

old language,

the Lord

smote him,

I like that,

the smote.

So,

amazingly

enough,

I'll spare

you,

but just

so you

know,

the ancient

Jewish

historian in

the first

century A.D.,

Josephus

Flevius,

he wrote an

account of

this,

and it's

pretty much

what Luke

says.

Luke gives

you the

short version,

Josephus

elaborates a

little bit,

and makes

it very

dramatic.

It says

that right

after Herod

made this

speech,

that he saw

like an

owl fly in,

and he

just like saw

it,

and like

to a lot

of cultures,

owls are

bad omens,

and the

people were

praising him,

saying he's

a god,

and he

just falls

and he dies

with something

going on in

his stomach,

you know,

the worms,

eaten by

worms,

very dramatic,

and so,

we see at

this point that

God has said

to Herod,

enough,

like I've

allowed you

to live and

blaspheme

my name,

enough,

and some

of these

people standing

by would

have clearly

seen that

their praise

was wrong,

right?

So,

why death,

right?

Why is death,

what is the

theology behind

death,

okay?

There is a

theology behind

death.

Death was a

part of the

judgment of

God on

people who

have rebelled

against him,

who have

sinned against

him,

who said,

you are not

worthy,

so we're

going to live

the way that

we want to,

and all of us

have done

that.

All of us

have done

that.

So,

I want you

to hear

this,

though.

This is

Don Carson.

He said,

the modern

mood is

to live as

if death

was not

waiting for

us in the

end.

We just

kind of go

on about

like it's

not going

to happen,

hoping it

won't happen,

but then he

says,

but why

death?

And listen

to this,

death is

God's

limit on

creatures

whose

sin is

they want

to be

gods.

Death

is God's

limit on

creatures

whose sin

is they

want to

be gods.

So,

it's God's

ultimate way

of saying

like,

do you

think you're

like me?

Well,

let me show

you how

you're not.

You're going

to die

because I

am the

only

immortal,

invisible

God

who was

and is

to come.

Death

shows us

that.

And he

says,

the soul

who sins

will die.

And because

of sin,

we all

will die.

Because of

Christ,

though,

we can

have life

and life

eternal

in him,

but we

still will

face a

judgment

because of

sin.

So,

the moral

of the

story is,

if you

stand against

God and

his purposes,

you're going

to go down.

There's no

way to

stop what

he has

planned.

That is

the moral

of this

story.

If we

oppose God,

you will

lose.

And not

just lose a

little bit,

lose massively.

for eternity.

So,

he frees

Peter.

He kills

Herod.

And then,

what's the

third thing

that God

does?

He spreads

the gospel.

Look at

verse 24.

The very

thing that

Herod was

hoping wouldn't

happen,

he's like,

just get

out of my

way.

This is

going to

happen.

But the

word of

God

increased

and

multiplied.

So,

again,

God made

the fame

and glory

of Christ

spread,

not the

fame and

glory of

Herod

spread.

So,

salvation

is going

to come

to the

nations.

And like

Jesus said,

it's going

to start

here in

Judea,

and it's

going to

spread out.

It's just

going to

go out.

And to

all the

nations

are reached.

And the

whole number

of the

church

is brought

in.

It's going

to happen.

So,

don't stand

in God's

way.

Get behind

Him.

And if

this is

God's

purpose,

you have

nothing to

lose.

Like,

throw

yourself

into that

recklessly

even.

Who cares

what it

costs you?

This is

God's

purpose.

And we

go on

and see

this,

in this,

just without

getting in

it too

much,

we see

the church

that had

started

in Antioch,

and we

see that,

you know,

who is

Paul and

Barnabas and

some others

kind of all

coming together

there.

But a

really interesting

one that

stands out

is that,

you see,

verses this,

it's verse

one,

you see

Manan,

a lifelong

friend of

Herod,

the Tetrarch.

So this

guy who

was a

leader of

the church

of Antioch

grew up

with the

same Herod

who killed

John the

Baptist,

the same

Herod who

stood at

the trial

of Jesus,

the same

guy he

grew up

with,

and now

he is a

leader of

the church

in Antioch,

so just

go figure.

And so

they began

to commission

and send

out Paul

and Barnabas

to go on

what we

might call

Paul's

first

missionary

journey,

and he

begins

taking the

gospel out

to the

Gentiles.

Most of

us are

Gentiles,

this is where

it started,

just kind of

going out.

So God

exploded

the cause

of Christ

because of

this little

incident,

right,

that was

nothing for

him to

overcome

at all.

So,

in conclusion,

I want us

just to

think about

a couple

of things.

One is,

very clearly,

if you've

been listening

to the

text,

that we

need to

beware of

pride in

our own

lives.

Don't

be too

swept to

Judge

Herod.

Pride is

not a

small matter

to God

at all.

I'll just

go back

to the

definition.

Pride is

an excessive

desire for

people to

see us

as admirable

or

impressionable.

So,

I want you

to also

know that

insecurity

that we

all have

is like

connected

to pride.

Pride is

this hope

that they

will see

us as

great

and

admirable.

Insecurity

is that

instead of

them seeing

that,

they see

that we're

not perfect,

that they

see our

imperfections,

that they

see our

flaws,

that we

can't live

up to

who God

is.

And we

all have

that problem.

I don't

care who

you are.

Some deal

with it

more than

others,

but we

all have

it.

So,

what is

that one

thing that

you're afraid

of that

you want

people to

see you

as?

You want

the praise

of men.

You crave

the praise

of man.

What area

is that in

your life?

It's linked

to pride.

C.S.

Lewis said,

pride is a

spiritual

cancer.

It eats

the very

possibility

of love

or contentment

or even

common sense

away.

Pride is

a serious

thing.

So,

what area

do you

really want

others to

recognize you

for?

What do you

seek to

portray?

Is it like

brains,

knowledge,

and how

smart you

are?

is it

wealth,

accumulation,

and luxury?

You want

people to

see how

well off

you are

and all

the stuff

you have?

Is it

for physical

attraction?

Is it

I want

people to

see me

as cute

or sexy

or attractive?

This is

what I'm

going to

invest my

life into

and I

hope that

they don't

really see

that I'm

not that

way.

What is

it for

you?

Is it

athletic

skill?

Is it

I want

people to

praise me

for my

performance

on a

field?

All those

things,

guys,

like hear

what James

said,

James 4,

6,

God opposes

the proud

and gives

grace to

the humble.

Pride robs

us from joy

and contentment

as believers

because it

takes our

gaze off of

the one who

gives us that

joy and

contentment and

puts it on

us.

We can't

really produce

any of that

in and of

ourselves.

We can't.

It says

that God

regards the

lowly,

the broken,

those who

recognize that

they are

nothing apart

from him,

that they

need him.

They rightly

acknowledge their

spiritual condition

before him.

And it is

those who

come to

Christ and

say,

I am far

from perfect.

I am a

sinful,

broken person

and I need

you to be

my deliverer.

I want to

give you

my life.

Jesus said,

everyone who

exalts

himself will

be humbled,

but the

one who

humbles

himself will

be exalted.

So,

where is

that in

your life?

Attack it.

Attack it

with God's

word,

attack it

with prayer,

attack it

with other

believers around

you.

Like,

pray that

you be like

John the

Baptist where

he said,

I must

decrease,

but he

must increase.

that when

they see

you,

they see

Jesus and

not who

you're trying

to make

yourself into.

So,

that is

one,

and just

beware of

pride in

our own

lives.

It's there.

So,

where do

you struggle?