Dealing With Pride 2

Pastor Mike will be speaking on Dealing With Pride 2. He will be reading out of Acts 12:20-25.

Why should I go to work and give my best every day that it may bring glory to God that people might see my good works and that they would give glory to my God? Hear me church, nothing brings more glory to our God than the salvation of souls.

Hello this is Pastor Mike Sanders and we are coming to you from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania where I serve as the senior pastor of the Opendoor Church and we have this wonderful ministry called Hope Worth Having.

It’s a ministry of the radio, television, internet and social media where we are proclaiming the Gospel to every heart and to every home. Thank you for joining us today. In this broadcast we’re going to be in Acts chapter 12, verse 20 through 25.

We’re continuing our study on dealing with pride. So join me as we begin. Insisting that we get what we deserve, that we take the approach that somehow we are worthy of these things, this royal apparel, that we are somehow given things that we demand in our life.

What happens is that pride begins to emerge and we begin to think that we’re really something. When everybody around us is pretending because they are appeasing us, they’re trying to keep us from having an emotional blow up, they spend their entire life walking on ice around us afraid to upset us and always giving us exactly what we want.

But we don’t get upset. Some people find themselves in relationships like that. Some parents have attempted to raise their children like this. And they wonder what’s wrong with Johnny. When you spend your life giving Johnny everything that he wants and trying to appease him with all of his selfish desires, it is no wonder that he grows up self -absorbed.

It’s no wonder that he feeds off the appeasement of others, which build more and more pride in his heart. I know that you love your little Johnny, and I want to give you some advice. Number one, don’t let the grandparents raise little Johnny.

Amen. Grandparents aren’t designed to raise children. I know some of you have to, and we certainly… are praying for you, but somehow you gotta get out of grandpa mode, and you gotta get into mom mode or dad mode, and that when this child does something wrong, we’ve gotta deal with it, we gotta address it, because if you just keep on handing them a sucker, or you keep on handing them candy, and you keep on handing them a Mountain Dew,

hoping that it will appease them and make them happy and like you, you’re gonna raise up a child that is gonna be destructive in society. Are you with me? Number two, this is just Mike Sanders’ parental advice to you, okay?

And you say, okay, is do not wait until your children are 16 to realize there’s a problem. The greatest truth every parent could learn is that their child is born a sinner, in need of a savior. And the very heart of every child is this heart that is deceitful, a heart that is destructive, the Bible says, who can know it?

Sometimes people say to me, they say, pastor, I’m gonna follow my heart, and I say, please don’t. You follow your heart, and you may go down the wrong path, because your heart doesn’t always know what’s best, but I tell you that you don’t build your life on your feelings, you don’t build your life on your emotions, you build your life on the truth and the promises of God.

And when you understand that your child is a sinner in need of a savior, and little Johnny, I mean, you don’t have to have a training session on how to have a meltdown at Target, and how to lose your senses, fall on the ground, kick and scream, yell.

I mean, no mom and dad saying, let me teach Johnny how to do that, right? Can’t get them everything that they want. You gotta teach them to work for it, you gotta teach them to be humble and talk to them.

teach them to make effort and that everything’s not gonna be handed to them in their life. Can I give another piece of advice? Like I wouldn’t, right? Some of you have grown children. Are you with me?

This is where you’re gonna get mad at me, okay? Don’t worry, I am capable of dodging the tomatoes. Would you quit bailing out your kids? Would you quit bailing them out? Your kids need to learn to not trust you, but trust the Lord.

They need to look to the Lord Jesus Christ for their hope, their strength, and their help, and these parents that are always covering and making up and bailing out their children are only deepening the pride that’s in their heart and they think that they are worthy of it and they deserve it.

and they are very much in this progress of pride that we see in the life of Herod in that there is not only unresolved anger that has never been dealt with, there is appeasement that is constantly going on because we want to keep them happy.

God is more interested in the character of your children than he is the comfort of your children. And God is more interested in the holiness of your children than he is in the happiness of your children.

And let me just throw this out there. I know it’s just a lot of stuff flooding in my mind at heart right now. But think about that prodigal son’s father. He had the capacity, the ability to step in at any point while his son was walking down the hog pen trail getting ready to bottom out into that he would live with the hogs and the pigs.

Dad could have stepped in any time. Paid the bills, covered the debts, but he never did. Because God was doing an effective work in the life of that young man and he would have never came to himself until he bottomed up and there is many a young person that’ll never look to Jesus until they’re flat on their back.

But yet you keep jumping in. You’re the Holy Spirit. You’re gonna save the day. You’re gonna make that one difference when you are really only slowing the process of God’s redemptive work in the heart of that child.

Not only do we see anger and appeasement, but we see adoration as part of this progress of pride. We jump down to verse 22 of chapter 12. The Bible says the people kept shouting the voice of a God and not of a man as.

Herod was putting on this show as he was making this orientation, as he was declaring this speech, who knows what he was talking about. It was so irrelevant and insignificant that Luke does not even record the substance of what he said, but rather reminds us that he was a raid and royal apparel.

And according to the historian, the Jewish historian, Josephus, he was wearing a garment that was made of silver. It was flashy, it was dynamic. And so he was putting on this show and the people were shouting, it is a God.

He’s a God, not even a man. They began to adore him, flatter him. They began to give him words of praise that were not even appropriate for the moment, but elevated him in his own mind, thinking that he was superior to everyone and that he was above even God himself.

I need to drop a word. This idea that if our kids show up to a ballgame, they deserve a trophy. Time magazine put out an article and said, this generation is called the self -esteem generation. Like no other generation, they have been told how wonderful they are and they believe it.

And they are shocked when they have to show up to work. They are shocked that they have to have evaluations and they have to have progress reports and they are shocked when they receive critique in the real world about their job performance because they have been told all their life that they were so wonderful and they just showed up to a T -ball game and all of a sudden were handed out medals and trophies to them,

telling them they’re the greatest thing since peanut butter. And you say, peanut butter? I know it’s sliced bread, but I like peanut butter. And my point to you is be careful that you yourself are not only emerging yourself in the adoration of others, but that you are giving it out so much that it is really not authentic and it is really not worthy and that you are feeding the beast of pride in the hearts of yourself as well as others.

Life is not gonna be, everything’s wonderful every day. There’s true challenges, there’s true suffering, there’s true sorrow in this world and what we have to teach our young people is how to endure, how to power through, how to look to God in these moments of sufferings and difficulties and that life cannot always be where you’re on a stage and you’re receiving adoration.

and you’re receiving accolades yes when you achieve something yes when you accomplish we celebrate your good work we celebrate God’s good work in your heart but my friends when you’re done we need you to get out there and make a difference because every day is not a graduation ceremony and every day is not a t -ball game with trophies and medals and candy so we see this adoration unfolding in the heart of Herod which only feeds his pride in his life and I want you to note the punishment of pride in verse 23 the Bible says then immediately then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him now why because he did not give glory to God The Bible says pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

We see first the messenger of punishment. It was an angel and sometimes God sends angels to be his instruments of judgment. I found Acts chapter 12 to be an interesting chapter because we saw in Acts chapter 12 verse seven through 11 that there was a delivering angel that delivered Peter out of prison.

And then we saw in verse 15, there was a personal angel. Remember I taught you a few weeks ago that in Judaism they believe that every person is assigned an angel. And when the young lady came to the door and Peter was knocking wanting to let them know that he had been set free, she went back to tell the folks that were praying and they said, no, you just saw his angel.

Not a angel, but his angel because they believed in their heart that every person was assigned an angel. Jesus affirmed this truth in the gospel of Matthew chapter 18 when he reminded us that we are to receive the little children unto him and that we are to allow the little children to come to him and that we are to never offend or hurt these little children.

Why? Because their angel is before the throne of God every day. So God reminds us that yes, we do have an angel signed to us. Some of you have probably been assigned many angels because of your behavior and your risk -taking and some of your choices.

The Lord decided we better send 10 ,000 angels to take care of that person, but there are not only delivering angels, personal angels, but I want you to know there was a death. angel. In verse 23, the angel immediately struck Herod.

And I want you to see the motive because he did not give glory to God. The crime for which God would judge Herod was he would not give glory to God. Remember what the scriptures teach us that God gives more grace.

The Bible says therefore it says God opposes the proud but he gives grace to the humble. God opposes every heart that lifts itself above him and towards him. God opposes pride in the life of every individual but the heart that is humble before God.

He keeps pouring grace. upon grace upon grace on that individual you say why is it that that person seems to have so much grace manifested in their life it may be that they are humbly coming before god on a daily and moment by moment basis receiving the grace of god because he responds to humble hearts but Herod he said look at me look at me look how wonderful I am he didn’t give glory to god the scriptures teaches us in 1st Corinthians 1 31 he who glories let him glory in the Lord you and I have no grounds for pride or boasting in ourselves we are aware of what the bible says for by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourselves it is a gift of god not of works lest any man should boast you’re not gonna be able to stand before god and say lord look how many times I went to church lord look at what I did for you and look at all the things I accomplished for you oh my friends if that becomes your motivation and if you think that somehow you’re gonna have credentials that you can bring to god that will give you entrance into heaven and that your religion or the manifestation of your faith and your determination and your perseverance is gonna somehow make you more favorable to god than any other person that I’m telling you you will fall short you will fall short for the only way that you and I can enter into the pearly gates of heaven the only way that our sins can be forgiven is through the eternal work of christ on the cross as he rose again affirming that god has accepted his sacrifice that he gave his life for you and he gave his life for me it’s not my work that saves my soul,

it is the work of Jesus Christ on the cross that brings eternal life to all who believe in Jesus. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

My friend, have you turned from the world? Have you turned from the flesh? Have you turned away from your sin and turned to Jesus Christ and received him as your Lord and savior? Have you come to God and said, Lord, I am a sinner and I wanna just bow before you and ask you to do an eternal work in my heart and to save me from my sins?

You don’t get to come to God and say, Lord, look at me. Every once in a while I hear people say, man, if that person gets saved, look what all they could do for God. Are you kidding me? That’s not how God works.

God chooses the foolish things of the world, the weak things of the world. And the Bible tells us, why does God do this? Why does He choose the most insignificant and the most unlikely people? It is because that He would receive all the credit and all the glory and all the praise for whatever is done in and through, around any of us.

Yes. The scriptures remind us in Isaiah 42 .8, I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. In the Westminster Catechism, we are reminded that what is man’s primary purpose?

The answer is simply this, man’s primary purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Your entire life is about bringing glory to God, even those minute tasks, even those what you might find in your life to be insignificant moments.

It’s all about bringing glory to God. Why should I raise these children to love God and to love people? It is that they may bring glory to God. Why should I go to work and give my best every day and do my best every day?

It is that it may bring glory to God, that people might see my good works and that they would begin to give glory to my God. Why should I make every effort to reach others who are hurting and struggling and suffering because it brings glory to God?

Hear me, church, nothing brings more glory to our God than the salvation of souls, nothing. And that’s why there is nothing more significant that you could be a part of than the ministry of reaching others for Jesus.

I want you to see the misery of the punishment in verse 23. Hang in there, then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give glory to God and he was eaten by worms and he died.

Again, historian Josephus, he was a Jewish historian. He recorded that Herod suffered terribly for five days before his death. In life, sometimes we see people, we learn what to do. But other times, we see people and we learn what not to do.

And I propose this question to you this morning for you to consider in relating to Herod’s life, that if God’s wrath breaks out against a man for not giving God the glory in a speech, how much greater danger must hang over the heads of those who refuse to give God glory in their journey of faith?

If God would judge a man who did not believe in him, because he did not give glory, how much more would he judge us, who know better, who love God, who have the spirit residing in us, how much more would he hold us accountable for not giving glory to him?

When the apostle taught on the Lord’s table in 1 Corinthians 11, he reminded the believers in verse 31 of chapter 11 that if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. His point was saintly this, if you would deal with it now, God would not have to deal with it later.

That’s why every day in this struggle of pride that each of us wrestle with, and it doesn’t matter who you are, how long you’ve been living for Jesus, that we all must be cognizant of this battle that exists within our hearts, and that we must bring the sin of pride and confess it to God on a daily basis, asking the Lord to judge that sin and address it, and be confident of this, that if we confess our sins,

he is faithful. faithful and just to what church? Forgive us, cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness. You see, Jesus took the judgment of sin on the cross for you and he took it for me and therefore I do not have to bear that judgment when I bring it to Christ.

I am washed, I am cleansed, and I am forgiven, and I am given a brand new start in Jesus Christ. Don’t wait. Don’t wait. Though pride has embedded in your heart and you have become addicted to adoration and appeasement, and anger controls your thoughts and your decisions before you finally come to Jesus and say, please slay pride in my heart.

The final truth that we see in this text, and I won’t take you long, I won’t keep you long, but it is one that you can consider for your own self, and that is the parting of pride. In verse 24, what is the response?

Remember that this man, he already murdered James, one of the apostles, he threw Peter into jail. He was a man who was out to destroy the church and the word of God, but what is the response? The word of God grew and multiplied.

I remind you church, that there is no political leader, there is no government that can ever be a threat to the church, because our God is sovereign. While Christians should be salt and light in the world, it’s easy for us to be deceived into believing that political power alone will help our church or the cause of Christ.

It will not, God can take care of any ruthless leader. Move them out of the way, judge them so that the gospel will go forward. Do not be discouraged church. Do not be shaken by the circumstances of this world and the political drama that unfolds on day -to -day basis.

Do not be driven by your emotions of what you see on a news station or what’s popping up on your phone, but rather you be driven by the confidence and the promises of the sovereignty of God and the cause of his purposes in this world.

Volitaire was a man who tried to stop the ministry of the word. He wanted every Bible to be burned and destroyed, but 25 years after his death, his house was sold to the Geneva Bible Society to be used to store newly printed Bibles.

God’s word will never stop. When we deal with pride, God’s word spread, and we see God’s people are serving. And I just want you to see there in that last verse how Barnabas and Saul just picked up the baton and got busy.

They could have spent all their time in grief. They could have spent all their time in depression about James being martyred in the beginning of the chapter. They could have been all hiding and fretting because Peter was thrown into jail.

They could have been shook into their core as they witnessed the advancement of Herod the king as he was making political negotiations and people were praising him. But in a moment, God humbled and destroyed the kings of this earth and he laughs.

at their arrogance and Barnabas picks up the baton and says let’s carry on the work of Christ. There are times church that God calls home our loved ones. He calls home our friends. He calls home the patriarchs of our churches but I promise you this he is not calling on you and I to quit and give up.

There are times that the political atmosphere is oppressive and difficult but God does not call us to run and hide but he calls us to be victorious marching forward. Rest assured church that if in any moment the Lord calls Mike Sanders home that you take a couple minutes show up to the funeral slap me a high five and say pastor we’re so happy you’re in heaven and you get back to work and serve Jesus amen.

Do not spend all your time whining and crying and complaining or maybe some of you might be rejoicing and partying. We finally got rid of him. God is so awesome. I’m just teasing maybe not at all but church we got to move forward for Christ and don’t be so self -absorbed that it’s all about you because it is about the glory of God.

Pick up the baton and let’s get busy for Jesus Christ. Would you pray with me? It’s not natural for us to be humble. It’s not natural for us to put others first. It’s not natural for us to seek the will of God and the plan of God.

So it requires us to deal with our pride and that’s something that we have to bring to the altar every day of our life and making sure that we are confronting it and that we are willing to slay it, if you will, and get it under the surrender of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that’s when we can maximize our life for Christ. So we’re grateful for the opportunity to learn about this and even though it’s been a little bit difficult, I hope that it has touched your heart and challenged you in different areas of your life.

We want to encourage you to check us out on hopewithhaving .com. If you haven’t had a chance to get to our website, you can learn more about our ministry, more about what we are doing. We also have a newsletter you can sign up for.

So if you go to hopewithhaving .com and just click on the newsletter, then you can take advantage of receiving that material, keeping you updated on the ministry. This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ there is hope worth having.