David B. Curtis
David B. Curtis
Yesterday our country celebrated its birthday, 222 years ago we declared our independence from Great Britain. The declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776, by the delegates in the colonies, announcing the separation of Great Britain and the creation of the United States.
We live in a truly blessed nation. Think of all we have. We live in huge homes that are climate controlled. We simply turn a dial and our house gets warmer or colder. We have bathrooms with hot and cold running water, several of them. We have refrigerators and pantries filled with every kind of food you can want. And if we run out, all we have to do is get in our air-conditioned cars and drive to the supermarket where we can buy every kind of food imaginable. We have telephones that allow us to talk to anyone around the world. We have televisions that bring us movies and news and sporting events. We are blessed!
We live in peace, counting on our military might to keep us safe from any aggressor. What more could we ask for in this country? We should be the most thankful people on the planet. But are we?
Do you realize that there are many people on this planet who have no electricity, no running water, and have to work all day just to get enough food to keep them alive? They live in constant fear for their lives as war is a daily part of their life. Yet, here we are, we're rich, we're blessed, we're at peace, we've got it all.
The problem with all of this prosperity is that it creates a great spiritual danger. In our abundance there is a tendency to forget God. We begin to think that we are independent of Him. I thank God that we celebrate our independence as a nation, but in our prosperity we need to guard against thinking that we are independent of God, and acting as if we don't need Him.
In Deuteronomy 8 there is a warning to Israel against the spirit of independence. Let's look at it.
Deuteronomy 8:1-3 (NKJV) "Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers. 2 "And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.
God led the Israelites into the desert where they had no alternative but to trust Him. Think about that; they had no food and no water, they had to depend on God to provide what they needed each and every day. There were no faucets to get a drink from, there were no refrigerators to get food from. Each day God provided what they needed for that day.
When Moses reminded them that they did not live on bread alone, he meant that even their food was decreed by the word of God. They had manna because it came by His command. It was, therefore, ultimately not bread that kept them alive but His word! God wanted to show Israel that he alone is the life-source of their corporate existence. Moses said that God did this to humble them.
HUMILITY is a personal quality in which an individual shows dependence on God and respect for other persons. Humility keeps us from depending on our own strengths. God was bringing Israel to a place of complete dependence on Him-- humility.
Too often we rely on our own skills and strength, especially when the task before us seems easy. We go to God only when the obstacles seem too great. The humble person knows that he is dependent on God for everything!
The New Testament affirms, as does the Old Testament, that God will exalt those who are humble and bring low those who are proud.
James 4:6 (NKJV) But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
James 4:10 (NKJV) Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Lets continue on:
Deuteronomy 8:4-6 (NKJV) "Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 "You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you. 6 "Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.
This was a special or miraculous intervention of their loving Guardian in preserving them amid the wear and tear of their nomadic life in the desert. The Lord disciplined Israel by making her depend on Him for everything: food, water, and clothes. Since all these were provided by His decree, the only logical response was to obey His commands, following and fearing Him. Fearing to disobey the One who is so powerful and holy.
I think that our problem is that we don't see ourselves as dependent upon God and therefore we don't fear or obey Him.
Deuteronomy 8:7-9 (NKJV) "For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 8 "a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 "a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
In contrast with the severity of the wilderness, these verses describe the abundance of Israel's new land. What a contrast! In the promise land they would lack nothing. It sounds a lot like what we have, only we have even more. Now, note carefully what their response was to be to all this prosperity:
Deuteronomy 8:10 (NKJV) "When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.
They were to praise God for what He had given them, they were to be thankful to Him. All they had He had provided and they were to praise Him for it. Failure to praise God was to disobey His commands.
We have a problem being thankful for all God has given us. Four times in Psalm 107 the psalmist cries out for men to praise the Lord for His goodness.
Psalms 107:8-9 (NKJV) Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! 9 For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.
Moses then spelled out the danger inherent in abundant prosperity. Please listen carefully.
Deuteronomy 8:11-14 (NKJV) "Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 "lest; when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 "and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 "when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
Whereas in the wilderness they had to depend on God for the necessities of life, their newfound prosperity might conceal their need for the same dependence.
If the children of Israel faced the danger of becoming independent of God because of the blessings of the promise land, how much more do we face this danger in twentieth century America? The faced the danger of pride, "Your heart be lifted up." An Israelite who ceased to praise the Lord for what they had would find that his heart had become proud in his abundance.
Hosea 13:6 (NKJV) When they had pasture, they were filled; They were filled and their heart was exalted; Therefore they forgot Me.
Israel's prosperity caused pride. In their pride they forgot God. Moses said that they forgot God by failing to keep His commandments. They ceased to obey Him. Do we face the danger of pride? Yes, I believe even more so than Israel did.
What is pride?
Pride is an expanded view of self. It is an undue confidence in and attention to one's own skills, accomplishments, state, possessions, or position. Pride places self above God. We must all understand that pride is something that everyone must carefully guard against.
In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis calls pride the "great sin" and says this about it, "There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else. Pride is spiritual cancer, it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense. If anyone would like to acquire humility I can I think tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step too. At least nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed."
Pride is a sin we all struggle with; no one is free from the temptation to be proud. Pride is the opposite of humility which is the proper attitude for man in relation to God. Humility is dependence upon God, and pride is rebellion against God because it attributes to self the honor and glory due to God alone.
Believers today are also guilty of pride. The church today is biblically illiterate and ignorant of the standard. In the world, pride is a virtue but in the Scriptures, it is a sin.
MTV did a documentary entitled "The Seven Deadly Sins," which is interesting because those seven sins-pride, covetousness, lust, anger, envy, gluttony, and sloth -are standard MTV fare. It turned out to be a montage of celebrity quotes, movie out-takes, interviews, one-liners, and quips. It was an enlightening program. It clearly revealed the profound moral confusion of our culture. Rap singer Queen Latifah was asked about the sin of pride. "Pride is a sin?" she responded. "I wasn't aware of that." Actress Kirstie Alley added, "I don't think pride is a sin . . . I think somebody made that up." Rapper Ice-T echoed the same idea: "Pride is mandatory. That's one of the problems of the inner city. Kids don't have enough pride." It seems that one of the basic teachings of scripture is totally out of touch with the values of our modern culture.
The Old Testament scriptures clearly condemn the sin of pride. Proverbs has a lot to say about pride.
Proverbs 6:16-17 (NKJV) "These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood..."
Proverbs 8:13 (NKJV) "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate."
Proverbs 11:2 (NKJV) "When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom."
Proverbs 13:10 (NKJV) "By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom."
Proverbs 16:5 (NKJV) "Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished."
Proverbs 16:18 (NKJV) "Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall."
The Scriptures have nothing good to say about pride: it is a very destructive, very damaging sin that is to be avoided.
We have a good example of pride and God's judgement against pride in Daniel chapter four:
Daniel 4:27-37 (NKJV) Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity." 28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. 30 The king spoke, saying, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?" 31 While the word was still in the king's mouth, a voice fell from heaven: "King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! 32 And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses." 33 That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws.
This is an unusual psychological delusion called, lycanthropy. It comes from lukos, which means wolf and anthropos, which means man. A person thinks he is an animal and lives accordingly. There was a documented case of this in a British mental hospital in 1946.
These verses are a commentary on James 4:6, "God resists the proud." Nebuchadnezzar refused to acknowledge God's rule, and God judged him until he humbled himself before Him.
34 And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom is from generation to generation. 35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, "What have You done?" 36 At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.
After seven years had transpired, Nebuchadnezzar with his sanity restored praised the Most High. The only person he was praising was himself until God judged him.
The king who had sought honor and glory for himself now acknowledged that the Most High lives forever. The king confessed that God's dominion is eternal, that His kingdom endures. Thus he acknowledged God's sovereign authority.
Nebuchadnezzar also acknowledged God's irresistible will: He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. Also, the king confessed that man is answerable to God, not God to man, for no one can stop God and no one has a right to question Him
This is a warning to those of us who may never rule an empire other than the little one we all invent within ourselves.
Proverbs 29:23 (NKJV) "A man's pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor."
James I. Packer, in his book "Rediscovering Holiness," writes, "Pride blows us up like balloons, but grace punctures our conceit and lets the hot, proud air out of our system. The result...is that we shrink, and end up seeing ourselves as less--less nice, less able, less wise, less good, less strong,
less steady, less committed, less of a piece--than ever we thought we were. We stop kidding ourselves that we are persons of great importance to the world and to God.... We bow to events that rub our noses in the reality of our own weaknesses, and we look to God for strength quietly to cope."
Pride lures us into living independently of God. There is an incompatibility between blind arrogance and the presence of God in our life. The proud person depends on himself rather than on God. This causes God's guiding influences to leave his life. When God's presence is welcome, there is no room for pride, because he makes us aware of our true self.
Deuteronomy 8:15-20 (NKJV) "who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 "who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end; 17 "then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.'
This is a danger we all face, "My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth." We think, "Well I have worked hard for what I have, or I studied hard to get where I am." Some how we think that we have accomplished things apart from God, this is self-deception.
18 "And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
We must remember that God gives us all we have no matter how hard we have worked for it. Who gives us the health to work? Who gives us the ability, skill, intelligence to work? God does, all we are and have come form His gracious hand.
19 "Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. 20 "As the nations which the LORD destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God.
Did Israel forget God? Yes, they did. Did God destroy them? Yes, he did. In AD 70 God used the Roman army to destroy forever the nation Israel.
As we celebrate our nations independence from Great Britain, let's remember that we are not independent from God. As America walks away from God, we praise Him less and less, we begin to think, "My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth." We become more and more proud as a nation, turning from the God who made us great. This country needs to repent before God brings judgement on us as he has on other proud nations.
In 1953, President Eisenhower made history by being the last President to refer publicly to the need for our nation to confess and repent of our sins in order to receive mercy and pardon. Even though many presidents have used religious terms and imagery in their speeches, none since Eisenhower have addressed the crux of the problem of American society and called for national repentance. Can you imagine the backlash such a statement would create today?
We look back at the history of Israel and we see how they turned from God and were destroyed. History shows us many nations who have turned away from God and been judged, but do we learn?
Some people never learn. A man hired a pilot to take him Caribou hunting in Canada. He asked the pilot to land in a remote place. The pilot said, "There aren't any Caribou in this area." The hunter said, "There were last year. I hunted here and I know what I'm talking about." Sure enough, in a few hours the hunter returned, dragging two caribou. As he got ready to load the plane, the pilot said, "You can't load two caribou on this plane. The plane can't bear the weight." The hunter said, "I did last year. Same size plane, same size caribou. I know what I'm talking about because I did it last year." The pilot finally agreed, and they took off. The plane, however, couldn't carry the load, and crashed into the side of a mountain. The pilot got angry at the hunter and said, "I can't believe I let you talk me into this. I knew this plane couldn't carry two caribou. Now we're stranded on this mountain and no one will ever find us." The hunter said, "Don't worry, the rescue squad will find us here in no time. We're right by where they found us when we crashed last year."
This story is funny but sadly true, some people never learn. We are so often like this, we see the damage and pain that sin of pride and independence causes and yet we continue to act as if we are independent of God.
Pride becomes our deadliest enemy because it causes us to trust ourselves rather than God. Where do you put your trust? In your intellect? Your health? your possessions? There may come a time when all of these will fail us. If we trust in ourselves-our accomplishments, our possessions, our investments-there will come a time, regardless of how much we have accumulated, when we will stare into the darkness and feel the waters rise around us. If we confess that our strength is inadequate and put our faith and dependence in God, then we will discover why the humble and the meek of this world are blessed.
A business consultant said, "There are two things that are the most difficult to get people to do: to think...and to do things in the order of their importance."
Getting straight with God requires that we think. We think about ourselves, we think about God, we think about the past, and we think about the future. It's not a haphazard, helter-skelter existence. We must be focused. Getting straight with God means that we do things in order of their importance. We confess our sin of independence, and we worship and praise God for all we are and have.
Getting straight with God means that we take a long look at ourselves, and it means that we take an even longer look at God, and His absolute sovereignty over our lives.
We are rich, we have an abundance in this country, we are truly blessed. Do you recognize that all you are and all you have come from God? Do you live your life in thankfulness and gratitude for all that God has given you?
Micah 6:8 (NKJV) He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
We walk humbly with our God when we walk in total dependance on Him, being thankful for all that we have.
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