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Discussion Forum : Articles and Sermons : PRIDE GOES BEFORE DESTRUCTION by Bishop M.A. Lalachan

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 PRIDE GOES BEFORE DESTRUCTION by Bishop M.A. Lalachan

“A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.” (Proverbs 29:23)

There is a very dangerous sin that destroys homes, ruin society, cause many to live in failure and defeat, and finally destroy man than any other sin. It is the sin of pride. Pride is such a deceitful sin. As a matter of fact, the proud person is often very proud of his humility. The more you have, the less you think you have it. The Bible is very clear that God hates pride and will work against the proud to humble them. Pride is the infection in the human heart that leads to many other sins. Pride causes men to lie, covet, envy, and be jealous. Pride is an attitude of independence from God. If you’re wrestling with prayerlessness, what you’re really wrestling with is pride. Pride is also esteeming one’s self above other people. The sin of pride must be handled consciously. If you don’t take it seriously, you won’t even recognize your prideful attitude. It will infect many of the decisions you make. At the root of every quarrel, conflict, battle, and war are the sin of pride, and here are five ways it will devastate human life.

Pride defy God.

Pride was the first sin to destroy the calm of eternity. It was pride that cast Lucifer from heaven and it was pride that cost our first parents their place in Paradise. It was pride that turned Lucifer, the son of the morning, into Satan, the father of the night. In the Garden of Eden, when Satan came to tempt Eve, the temptation was to be as God. It was the same thing that had caused Satan to fall. Never forget that God did not make the Devil—Lucifer only became the devil when he arrogantly became infatuated with himself. Lucifer is a created being. God said,” You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you.” (Ezek. 28:15NLT). This beautiful, powerful, intelligent, and gifted cherub fell from his perfect estate when his heart was lifted up because of his own beauty and brightness (v. 17). No longer was he willing to be subservient to the Creator. Terrible pride was to blame for the tragedy in heaven. Pride is the first sin to enter a man’s heart and the last to leave. No sin is more offensive to God than the sin of pride. It rebel against God’s authority, God’s law, and God’s rule. This is why the Bible equates rebellion with witchcraft (1 Sam. 15:23). Pride assaults God’s throne and asserts its independence in an attempt to dislodge God as the Sovereign of the universe.

Remember the way up is always down. Satan fell because he said, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God” (Isaiah 14:13). He sought honor and dishonored himself. As a Christian, we love Lord Jesus Christ, we thank Him for His sacrifice for us, and we want to please Him. When we have someone in our life we deeply love, we want to find out their likes and dislikes and please them with what they really like. Are you aware that there are things God actually hates? Pride Provokes Deity and angers God; Proverbs 16:5 reads “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; assuredly, he will not be unpunished.” Why does God feel this way about pride? It caused Lucifer to fall from heaven (Isaiah 14:12-14). Pride made the devil what he is. Pride ruined the entire human race when the devil baited Eve (Genesis 3:1-7). Satan does the same thing today when he tempts us—he appeals to our pride.
Pride defiles man.
Bible says “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:21-23) Pride is indeed a sin and as the passage says, it “defiles a person.” Pride makes you unclean and impure. We were born with pride, and it defiles the very heart of man. Pride is a sin to be hated, a sin to be confessed, a sin to mourn over, a sin to flee, and a sin to fight against. Pride is on the inside and makes its way out of our hearts. We need to be born again, because when we were born the first time, we were born with a nature inclined to pride. William Law said, “Pride must die, or nothing of heaven can live in you.” God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. The first step toward becoming humble is realizing we are proud. Then we must take the witness stand against ourselves and plead “guilty as charged.” Continually, we must bring pride to the foot of the cross to be washed away by the blood of Jesus. Surveying the wondrous cross surely makes it easier to pour contempt on all our pride. Even though pride is hateful to God, the powerful blood of Jesus can cleanse it away.

Pride divides society.

There has never been an argument, a war, a divorce, nor was a church split that pride not the major factor. Proverbs 13:10 says, “Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise.” and Proverbs 28:25 says, “He that is of a proud heart stirs up strife,.. . ." If God resists the proud, then the proud man is out of fellowship with God. Anyone who is out of fellowship with God is going to be out of fellowship with other people. Just as surely as pride erects a barrier between us and God, it also builds a wall between us and others. Whereas love seeks to build a bridge, pride seeks to erect a wall. Pride can keep you from apologizing when you’ve been wrong. Pride can cause you to defend yourself. Pride can cause you to look down on others. If you allow it, pride can rob you of the most treasured relationships in life. Whenever you find a man willing to humble himself before God and man, you have found a man who will be exalted, because “humility comes before honor.”

Pride dishonors life.

The proud person wants praise, honor, and esteem, but through pride he gets dishonor. Proverbs 11:2 says, “When pride cometh, then cometh shame . . ." Proverbs 18:12 also states, “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility." As Jesus taught us, the way up is down and the way down is up. The proud person always ends up not with admiration, but contempt. If pride is the evil of evils, then humility is the virtue of virtues. Humility is our responsibility. Humility is a choice, and so is pride. Self-will displaced God’s will, and the Devil emerged. It has been said, “Man is never more like the Devil than when he is full of self-will.” The Bible strictly forbids placing a novice in leadership, “lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil” (1 Tim. 3:6). It was pride that caused Lucifer’s fall and subsequent condemnation. The snare of pride is a deadly peril to which new converts should never be willfully subjected. Nothing does more to set a person out of the devil’s reach than humility.

Pride destroys souls.

Pride ultimately destroys all that it controls. It is the road to ruin. Proverbs 15:25 says, “The Lord will destroy the house of the proud . . ." Also, Proverbs 16:18-19 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to live humbly with the poor than to share plunder with the proud...”
Two of the greatest characters in the Bible possessed the common qualities we must consider.“Moses was very meek, above all men on face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3) and Jesus said, "I am meek and lowly in heart."(Matthew 11:29, 30) see How opposite was the attitude of our Lord Jesus Christ! He said, “I will descend.” Though He was God, He didn't hold at His divine rights. Instead He humbled Himself, and so God exalted Him. (Philippians 2:6-11). Humility is the foundation of all virtue, but pride is the essence of all sin. The world system operates on the basis of pride for all that is in the world is lust and pride (1 John 2:16). Pride and lust are root sins from which all other sins spring. Pride is the mother of evil. God detests pride. The Creator never has and never will compromise with pride. He even hates a proud look (Prov. 6:16-17). God’s loathing of pride is unalterable, for “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD” (Prov. 16:5). Jesus said, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”(Matthew 23:12). God resist the proud, but gives grace unto the humble," (James 4:6). Grace is both the desire and the ability to do the will of God. The grace of God is sufficient for everyone, and no one can be saved apart from the grace of God. Don’t let pride escort you to hell. Humble yourself and lay your pride in the dust.


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