Pride Ruins Everything: Isaiah 13-16

Sermon series in Isaiah that we're doing 18 weeks that I'm calling Hope for a Broken World.

Hope for a broken world.

And this week we're in chapter 13.

And if you read ahead those four chapters, 13, 13 through 16, you might feel like this doesn't feel very hopeful.

Did anybody read ahead by any chance?

No.

You might have read ahead.

These are some challenging verses.

And so, though the sermon series is hope for a broken world, today we're talking about pride ruining everything.

Because it's hard to ignore that when you read these four chapters.

Pride is a topic that we don't love to discuss, probably because it hits a little too close to home for many of us.

But we can't ignore it in these chapters if you read them ahead of time or if you read them afterward, because as you will see, they the pride is running throughout these chapters.

Though we can often ignore it in ourselves.

Thought it'd be helpful just to first define what pride is.

We often think of pride as just feelings of superiority, right?

That I'm better than the rest.

And based on that definition, we may not think that we are very proud, prideful.

But pride is not merely thinking that you are better than others.

Instead, it's actually thinking that you are the center of it all.

That everything rotates around you, that you are the center of the universe.

That's where the delusion begins.

If you know the Greek story of narcissists, where we get the word narcissistic, I think it demonstrates pride well, where he becomes captivated by his own reflection in a pool.

He cannot pull himself away from this image of himself.

He's obsessed with himself, only looking at himself, only considering himself.

And if you if you understand the story, it wasn't that he thought he was so attractive, that he was so beautiful.

It's that he became so consumed with himself that there was nothing else look worth looking at.

His world became smaller and smaller until all that remained was his own reflection.

Like that's a good picture of what pride actually is.

Pride turns the soul inward until self becomes the center of the universe.

Everything begins to orbit around me.

How does this affect me?

What do they think about me?

Why didn't they recognize me, or why didn't I get what I wanted?

And eventually we no longer see the others.

We only can see them for what they might do for us.

That's the great deception of pride.

So pride doesn't necessarily say there is no God.

More often it says, of course there might be a God, and his job is to orbit around me.

My plans, my happiness, my reputation, my comfort, my success, my will.

Pride takes good things and makes them ultimate things, particularly ourselves, so that we will build our identity apart from God.

In fact, pride does ruin everything.

And today I'll give us four points about pride from Isaiah, then tell you precisely how we eliminate it from our life.

And if that I don't know if that is an introduction to a sermon, but I will pray for us and then we will look at pride.

But Lord Jesus, we just thank you, God, that you save us from pride, Lord, and that you've given us this window into the uh through Isaiah, into your perception of pride and how it does actually ruin us.

It ruins everything, Lord.

But you've saved us from it, Lord, and that we have been redeemed and made new.

So Lord, I just pray that in the midst of this, somehow, Lord, we would still find encouragement.

Well, chapter 13 starts an entirely new section in Isaiah.

And if you again, if you read through it, this is a series of very extremely severe judgments directed against Babylon, Assyria, the Philistines, Moab, and Damascus.

And it starts with in verse 1, the oracle concerning Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amos saw, which is which is fascinating if you think about it, really, because the the empire of Babylon came a hundred years after Isaiah began processing, more than a hundred years after Isaiah.

If you remember from the first couple of weeks, throughout Isaiah's lifetime, he's seeing the rise of the Assyrian Empire.

Just before Isaiah came on the scene, right?

The Assyrian Empire began expanding under this guy, Tiglath Pelezer III.

And throughout Isaiah's lifetime, it's the Assyrian Empire that's expanding east and west.

So it says Uzziah died somewhere around 740, and that is the beginning of Isaiah's ministry.

About 20 years after that, Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Samaria, of Israel.

Um and about 20 years after that, Assyria attacked Judah, conquering parts of Judah, invading Jerusalem.

So throughout Isaiah's lifetime, we're seeing the Assyrian Empire.

Long before the Babylonian Empire comes on the scenes, but chapter 13 starts with this anticipation concerning this great Babylon, which Isaiah saw.

Babylon didn't rise to uh become a status of empire until again, a hundred and more than 120 years after Isaiah began prophesying.

The expansion of the Babylonian Empire began when the town of Babylon seceded essentially from Assyrian rule, and very quickly they became conquering lands, eventually conquering Assyria, moving toward Jerusalem and Egypt.

And as we'll see, the reason for these extreme judgments is their pride.

It says in verse 13 of chapter 14, you said in your heart, talking of the Babylonian king, the Babylonian Empire, I will ascend to heaven above the stars of God, I will set my throne on high.

I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far north, far reaches of the north.

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

I will make myself like the most high.

Many people think that this describes not only Babylon, but also the fall of Satan.

In Eden, the garden of God.

But his heart became proud on account of his beauty, exalting himself.

So a lot of people will see, oh, I see Satan in this rise of Babylon.

But others suggest really this is just a demonstration of the universal condition of pride for all of us.

That we don't say it out loud.

I will ascend to heaven.

I will make myself like the Most High.

But in our hearts, we say we will make ourselves like God.

Which leads to the first point on pride.

Pride steals the seat of God.

Like narcissists, we begin to believe that life revolves around us, that we are the center and our dreams are our priority.

That we don't say in our our our with our mouths that we will ascend to the throne of God, but we believe in our hearts that we can be like God, taking control, living self-sufficiently, taking all the credit, seeking our own glory.

If you remember, even from the beginning, it was the fall of Adam, the temptation that he would be like God.

Pride steals the seat of God.

Babylon's pride wasn't based in imaginary greatness, though.

Babylon was actually exceptionally great.

We read in verse 19 Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans.

The Chaldeans were the were a tribe that established the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and they were in fact incredibly wealthy.

They were very powerful.

They conquered kingdoms.

They were extremely successful.

They were admired and feared by the world.

They bore built extraordinary cities.

They seemed in untouchable.

So in their excellence, it seemed right to them that they were the gods of the age.

They were the powerful ones for almost a century.

And you might be thinking that, well, that's not me.

That's not you.

You're not necessarily that and wealthy and powerful lords of much of the earth.

So how could you be saying in your hearts that you will ascend to heaven to make yourself like God?

Leading to the second point.

That pride is not based on a circumstance.

We also read about Moab in chapter 15, where Moab is laid waste in a night.

Moab is undone.

He has gone up to the temple, to the high places, their places of worship, and what are they doing?

They're weeping.

In the streets, they're wearing sackcloth.

On the housetops and in the squares, everyone is wailing, melting in tears.

Isaiah even says, My heart cries out for Moab.

He feels bad for them.

But still, we read, in the middle of this devastation, we have heard of the pride of Moab, how proud he is, of his arrogance, his pride, his insolence, in his idle boasting, he is not right.

Why is it idle?

Because Moab was devastated.

Their cities were destroyed, their people were fleeing.

They were weak, homeless, grieving, wailing.

Throughout the chapter, Isaiah is describing tears, ruined fields, dried up vineyards, refugees, cries of anguish throughout the land.

And yet in the middle of this suffering, Isaiah says, We have still heard the pride of Moab, how proud he is, of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence.

To me, that's somewhat remarkable.

Moab had lost almost everything except their pride.

Pride is not based on circumstances.

We might look at Babylon and say, okay, they had these circumstances to be proud.

We look at Moab and none of their circumstances would establish pride.

But still, they were proud.

I think sometimes we assume that suffering automatically makes us humble.

That if life gets painful enough, we naturally turn toward God.

But pain doesn't necessarily produce repentance.

Pain can soften us or it can harden us, it can make us dependent or it can make us bitter.

It can turn our eyes toward God or turn us even further inward.

Moab was in fact hurting.

But Moab was still at the center of their universe.

Their circumstances had in fact changed, but their hearts didn't.

And we can do the exact same thing.

Pain doesn't automatically remove pride.

Sometimes it actually reveals it.

Take away my success and I discover where my identity is.

Or take away my control and I discover how badly I needed to be in charge.

Or take away people's approval and I discover how much I live for their praise.

It's true, you can be broken without humility.

Moab was weeping without repenting.

They lost everything, but they were still clinging to the throne of their life.

Moab shows a humility isn't having nothing left because they remained on God's throne.

So the point two about pride, pride is not necessarily based on circumstances.

Leading us to the third point.

God will destroy pride.

And you see that throughout these four chapters, it's hard to read them without feeling a sense of fear almost.

God will destroy pride.

We read earlier, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

I will make myself like the Most High, the king of Babylon, Satan saying they will make themselves like God, really reflecting all of our hearts, that we can become like God.

And in response, God responds, but you are brought down to Sheol or hell, to the far reaches of the pit.

Not only to the pit, but to the bottom of the pit.

We also read Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans.

They were in fact successful, admired, revered in the earth.

They will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.

Goes on in chapter 13.

I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.

We read throughout Proverbs that pride goes before destructions.

Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord.

He hates them.

James and 1 Peter quote quote a Septuagint version of Proverbs that God opposes the proud.

He is against the proud.

And throughout these chapters, we see, we feel the judgment of God, the wrath of God, the destruction of God as a response to their pride.

God is rightly retaking his place as ruler and lord.

It leads to our next point.

Why does God destroy pride?

Why would he do this?

Why is there so much wrath?

Is this just the God of the Old Testament?

Or is this the God that is avenging pride?

I think it's important, and you see it throughout this chapter.

Why is God destroying pride?

Because pride is violence.

Violence is power causing injury.

And that injury isn't necessarily physical, though with the Babylonians, it was physical.

Violence can be emotional, relational, psychological, spiritual.

It's using our power, positions, words, influence, or strength to diminish, control, exploit, or harm another person.

I think it's an important point that pride doesn't remain internal.

Pride begins with how I see myself, but it changes how I treat you.

At first, pride says, I'm most important in this life.

I am God of my life.

Then it says, I will use my power over you.

We see this in chapter 14 of the Babylonians described as the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers, that struck the peoples in wrath with unceasing blows, that rule the nations in anger with unrelenting persecution.

We may read that and think, well, I'm not moving in wrath with unceasing blows or unrelenting persecution.

But the fact is that all pride hurts people.

Pride turns people into objects.

Because once I am the center of my universe, once I'm the God of my life, other people are no longer objects of love.

They become people who can help me or hinder me or admire me or threaten me.

So pride begins with an inflated view of self.

And it ends with a diminished view of God and others.

More simply, pride hurts people.

Pride never stays contained in our own heart.

It spills into every relationship.

That's why C.S.

Lewis in Mere Christianity wrote, according to Christian teachers, which he's quoting back throughout Christian history, that this has been a common theme, that the essential vice, the utmost evil of life, is pride.

Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, all that, everything else, are mere flea bites in comparison.

It was through pride that the devil became the devil.

Babylon became Babylon.

Pride leads to every other vice, he says.

It is the complete anti-God state of mind.

And it's true.

Pride is relational, divides us, creates envy, it compares, it competes, it gossips, it criticizes, it controls, it covets, it hates, it excludes, it mocks, it dishonors, it resents, it slanders, it deceives, it boasts, it manipulates.

It is true that pride ruins everything, which is why God destroys pride.

So how do we get rid of it, you might ask?

God will destroy all pride.

What can we do in this life to get rid of it?

Leading to my final point pride dies in sight of God.

I think there are four main ways we typically deal with pride.

First way is we try to hide our pride, we disguise it from ourselves or others.

We don't go around saying I'm better than everyone.

No, we just constantly notice where everyone else falls short.

We don't say I have to be right.

No, we just keep on arguing until everyone else gives up.

We don't say I'm the center of the universe.

Who says that?

No, we just get frustrated whenever life doesn't revolve around every one of our expectations, all of our dreams, all of us.

But hidden pride, though we may try to disguise it or confuse ourselves, is still pride.

Second way sometimes we deal with pride is we even just go ahead and celebrate it.

Our success becomes proof of our greatness.

I built this, I earned this, I deserve this, I don't need anybody, nobody gave me anything.

Look what great things I have done of myself.

That's the deception of Babylon and Isaiah.

Their greatness was, in fact, real.

If we knew them today, we would be in awe of them.

They're powerful, they're effective, they're incredible leaders, they're great managers, they're successful, they're wealthy, they build amazing things.

Their power was real, their accomplishments were real.

And they celebrated their accomplishments apart from God.

So the second way sometimes we deal with pride is we just celebrate.

Third way sometimes we deal with pride is we compensate for it.

And this one may be the most subtle.

We were taught that pride is ugly.

So we try really hard to act humbly.

We become nicer, we compliment, we serve, we don't talk about ourselves, we intentionally give other people credit.

And those can all be great practices.

But it's also possible to change the surface behavior without changing the heart.

I can serve while seeking secretly wanting people to notice how much I serve, how great a servant I am.

I can compliment you just because I want you to like me.

I can refuse recognition while secretly hoping someone notices how humbly I refuse it.

I can even become proud of how humble I am.

That's why simply telling a proud person, try harder to be humble, doesn't solve the problem.

Because pride isn't a manners problem.

Pride is a worship problem.

The pride isn't merely that I talk about myself too much.

The pride is that self has become the center, my obsession, that I am the God of my life, ascending to heaven, like the Babylonians, like Satan, trying to be like God, like Adam.

And if that is the disease, behaving a little nicer isn't the cure.

The fourth way I think sometimes we try to deal with pride is we can turn it into a self hatred.

This one is deceptive because self hatred can feel like humility.

We hate the decisions we made, we hate the problems we created, we hate our failures, we hate that we're not further along in life, we hate the way we look, we hate the person we become, we replay our mistakes and punish ourselves for not.

Being the person we think we should have been.

But thinking terribly about yourself is not the same thing as humility.

Self-hatred is still profoundly self-centered.

I'm still staring at myself.

I'm still consumed with my performance, my failure, my reputation, my expectations, my dreams, my hopes, my disappointments.

The prideful person looks in the mirror and says, Look how amazing, incredible I am.

The self-person, self-hating person looks in the same mirror and says, Look how terrible I am.

But both are still staring into the mirror.

And that's why narcissist is such a helpful picture.

Pride's problem wasn't simply that he liked what he saw.

The deeper problem was that he couldn't stop looking at himself.

Four ways that we often try to deal with pride that don't leave us or relieve us of pride.

So you say, okay, Vernon, well, how can I find freedom from this pride that God will destroy?

Thankfully, the New Testament tells us God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

So Peter tells us, humble yourself, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you.

We don't wait for to be humbled.

We don't wait for him to humble us.

No, we humble ourselves.

So you say, Well, okay, well, how do I go about doing that?

Thankfully, James tells us, humble yourself in sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Pride dies in sight of God, in the presence of the Lord, and the light of his glory.

We discover true humility.

We find freedom from the lies that pride has taught us to believe.

So the more we see and know God, the more pride begins to disappear because we finally see everything in its true form.

We see his greatness and wisdom, his sovereignty and sufficiency, his grace and love, his holiness and his glory.

That is what happened to Isaiah, if you remember, chapter 6.

I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up.

And suddenly Isaiah sees himself truthfully.

Woe is me, for I am lost, and I am a man of unclean lips.

But notice seeing God didn't leave him with self-hatred, because God cleansed him, if you remember from verse 7.

Your guilt is taken away, your sin atoned for.

The presence of God destroyed both pride and self-hatred.

So the answer to pride isn't simply try harder to be humble or to love yourself more.

It's simply see more of God.

How do we see more of God?

We pursue him, we seek him, we love him, we are amazed by him, we set our gaze toward him.

Babylon kept saying, Look at me, look at how great I am, and look at how successful we are.

Far the greatest empire, greater than Assyria that has ever been.

Isaiah, though, looked up and said, I saw the Lord.

Babylon's looking inward led to pride.

Isaiah's looking upward led to humility, cleansing, and freedom.

Pride dies in the sight of God.

So my encouragement to us today is that we pursue him, we seek him, we love him, we are amazed by him, we set our gaze toward him, we hunger for him.

Because the more we see his greatness, the less we need to prove our own greatness, the more we see his grace, the less we need to defend ourselves, the more we see his love, the less we need the approval of others, the more we are amazed by him, the less we need to be amazed by, the less we need others to be amazed by you.

It's true that pride fades or dies when Jesus fills our vision.

So stop staring at yourself.

Look to Jesus, be captivated by Jesus, make much of Jesus, and in the presence of his greatness, we return to worship.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, we do just thank you that Lord, in the vision of you, Lord, you just rightly align us, Lord, and that, Lord, there is humility and meekness.

So God, I just pray that we would, just inside of you, in vision of you, in the presence of God, Lord, um, just come to live in the right place of humility, not out of duty, but out of truth, out of knowing your salvation, your grace, your kindness, your love, and your redemption.

That you have cleansed our lips, that your salvation is certain.

So, Lord, I just pray that um you just build an us a people that is hungry for you, that seeks you, that looks to you, Lord, no longer just looking to the left and right, but Lord, like Isaiah, we would look upward.

Um, see the Lord high and lifted up, the train of your robe filling the temple with our voice or the joining with the angels.

Um, holy, holy, holy.

So, Lord God Almighty.

Thank you, God.

Amen.