Leavening

Well, we will be observing the days of 11 bread coming up soon, the Passover. And during the days of 11 bread, or before the days of 11 bread, we will take leavening and we will remove it from our homes. And, of course, we'll eat unleavened bread during that time. And we'll avoid leavening as much as we can. It seems like sometime during that week you find some leavening you've eaten, or you forget, or you go someplace, or you're at work and someone hands you something and you eat it, or I still have this memory as a child. My mother and I were driving down out in the country and we had stopped someplace, and I don't remember, and we bought those great big long pretzels. And we're chewing on those pretzels and we're talking and all of a sudden we both looked at each other. I must have been about eight or nine years old, and we both said, Here's today's 11 bread. And my mother would never let us do something like this, so it was so much fun. I get to roll down the window and throw them out one at a time as we drove down the window. She said, The birds will eat them. It's okay, just throw them out the window. So that's what I did. We talk about leavening. We talk about leavening usually as a type of sin. But when you go through the Bible, it's much more than that. It's much more than that. It's not just the act of sin that leavening is a type of. It is actually the motivations for sin. The motivations for sin. What is it that leavening does? We all know that. What it does. We'll talk about it again. But this is why God has us do this every year. We must go back and rehearse these truths.

Leavening is put into bread, and since most people don't make bread today—my wife, she doesn't so much anymore. She used to make bread all the time. My mother made bread. They take that little piece of dough, put leavening in it, and put it away, cover it up in a bowl after it was all mixed. We need to go back an hour later, and the bowl was full. It pops up. It injects and creates air bubbles that take that bread and pops it up. It is the difference between a nice big fluffy piece of bread you can get at the local bakery and matzo. That's the difference. That's what leavening does. It puffs up. It's interesting that in Colossians 2, the apostle Paul tells Christians and warns them about being vainly puffed up by the fleshly mind, vainly puffed up by the fleshly mind. In fact, all through the book of 1 Corinthians, numerous cases throughout that letter, Paul tells them, you are puffed up. If you go through there, there are three or four different reasons why they are puffed up.

Being puffed up, the symbol of leavening isn't just about sin. It is about what causes us to sin. It puffs us up. Many times when we talk about sin, we're looking at the final act, the person who finally goes and steals, the person who commits the act of adultery, the person who breaks the Sabbath, the person who does this act of dishonesty or dishonors their parents this way. We look at these and say, okay, these are these sins. But leavening, this symbol of leavening, is more than just the act of sin. What's fascinating is in the Old Testament, leavening has to do with the fact that they left Egypt in such a hurry and did not have times 11 in their bread. And really, when you read too much about the unleavened bread during the Old Testament, it is, look, God supernaturally took you out of Egypt. He took you away. And as you left, you didn't have times 11. So when you eat unleavened bread, remember what God did for you by saving you from Egypt. It's not until we get into the New Testament, when we get all these nuances of meaning, especially with the Apostle Paul, where he begins to say, wait a minute, this leavening has a much more deeper spiritual meaning than even what was revealed in the Old Testament. And he really zeros in on. I mean, you do a search someday on the words puffed up. They're almost exclusively, not exclusively, but almost exclusively used by Paul. The term that he uses, that's not used by other writers in the Bible. And he uses it in 1 Corinthians, because 1 Corinthians is written during the days of unleavened bread. He uses it to drive home important points about the days of unleavened bread. So what puffs us up?

The puffing up that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians and in Colossians is an exaggerated view of self. It is a spiritual leavening that fills us with these big, gassy bubbles that puffs us up so that we have a distorted viewpoint of our self and our relationship with God, and a distorted viewpoint of our self and relationship to others. In other words, we forget we're simply lumps of dough. We forget that we're lumps of dough, and we think, oh look, I am the best French bread around, filled with all these big holes, these big bubbles.

It's what we call pride. So I wanted to look at pride, though, today in a little different way. I want to look at pride in terms of these bubbles that puff us up, that make us feel bigger than we are, more special than we are, make us look on others differently, make us look on our relation with God as differently.

Now, as I go through this, I'm also going to show that this doesn't mean that you and I are supposed to feel worthless. In fact, the exact opposite. Well, we truly understand who we are, and who God is, and what God will do for us and in us if we will just submit to it. We understand our true value. If we don't understand our true value, then we're always searching for meaning. We're always searching for purpose. We're always searching for significance.

And if I'm searching for significance and I can't get it from God, you know what I'll do? Well, I'll just put spiritual leavening inside myself and puff myself up until I feel significant until I feel important. Because there's an emptiness inside of us only God can fill, and when it's not filled, we will do anything to fill it up. And pride is the motivation to puff ourselves up. So what I want to do is I'm going to go through nine different ways that we get puffed up, and how this pride ... When I'm talking about pride, I'm not talking about proper pride when people say, well, I have real pride in my work.

In other words, I'm accomplishing something, and I feel good about what I'm accomplishing it, because I'm doing high quality and producing something that is good. By the way, we have one of the little girls here in church, her science project back in the lobby. Take a look at that, because there's something interesting about that.

She had a plant she put water on, and a plant she put soda on. Water was soda. The one she watered was soda died. Well, the other one did too, but that's because the cat sat on it. But that's not the point. One died because it was unhealthy. One died because it was murdered. Those are two different things. You can be as healthy as you want, and, in fact, big giant cat sits on you as a man. But it is an interesting point, isn't it?

She should take pride in that. There's a proper pride. Pride is an exaggerated viewpoint. See, that's not an exaggerated viewpoint to say, I did a good job. That's not exaggerated. It's not exaggerated to look at the talents God has given you and say, thank you, God, for these talents and then use them properly. That's not exaggerated. Pride has to do with exaggeration.

It's a big bubble. Think spiritual bubble that we put inside ourselves. Let's look how this is exhibited and what we can do. Nine different ways. That pride exhibits itself. So we're told to examine ourselves, and this time of year we begin to look at our sins. We begin to look at our attitudes. This year spent some real time looking at, am I puffed up and don't even know it? First of all, pride is exhibited in a false humility towards God and an arrogance towards other people.

In other words, you will feel very humble towards God, and it causes you to look at other people as inferior. It causes you to look down on other people, to constantly condemn other people. Look at Luke 13. Luke 13. Sometimes this parable by Jesus, or not parable, a story about what Jesus did is misinterpreted. He's making a point, and it's a very important point. Verse 10 of Luke 13. Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years and was bent over and could no way raise herself up. Here's a woman who's so crippled she's bent over.

She must walk, stooped over. You can imagine the pain. Her knees probably hurt, her back hurts, and how uncomfortable, and the agony, and the discomfort, and just the problem she has. Getting through a crowd, going from one place to another, going to the synagogue.

But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, Woman, you were loosed from your infirmity. And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight and glorified God. He walked over, laid His hands on her, probably gave a quick prayer, and suddenly she straightened up for the first time in eighteen years. That's a long time to suffer. And she praised God. Now, you know, this is a very good thing. You're reading through this and thinking, wow, how is there a negative or bad to this? This is wonderful. Verse 14, But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. And he said to the crowd, There are six days on which men ought to work, therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.

The Pharisees were very, very, very humble before God in their own mind in the way that they kept the Sabbath. Now, sometimes this is used as an excuse to profane the Sabbath, and that's not what I'm saying here, because that's not Jesus's point. Jesus isn't saying here that He's doing away with the Sabbath. But He's making a very important point in the way He handles this.

The ruler of the synagogue, the chief rabbi here, the chief elder, said, This is wrong. This is breaking the Sabbath. And they had a pride in their Sabbath-keeping. They had a pride in their obedience to God. It's interesting that we can become proud of our obedience. And in doing so, instead of seeing others as people that need to learn and grow, we see other people as people that need to be condemned. Instead of seeing other people as people who need to be led to God, we see other people as people who need to be punished.

There's going to be lots of punishment. But if we're humble before God, truly humble, not humble because we're proud of our own... This is a fake humility.

Those are what Jesus says. The Lord answered Him and said, Hypocrite! He says, You know, this is just play-acting. You're keeping the Sabbath, but you're really not keeping the Sabbath. Oh, they were very strict. They wouldn't walk more than a quarter of a mile on the Sabbath, except under very particular situations.

They were very strict. There were dozens and dozens of rules about how to keep the Sabbath.

And He says, You know what? For all your Sabbath-keeping, you're a hypocrite. That's a pretty strong statement made for the one who gave the Sabbath.

But remember, the one who gave the Sabbath is being accused as a Sabbath-breaker. I've found that interesting. And all through Jesus' ministry, the one who gave the Sabbath is being accused as a Sabbath-breaker. There's something wrong here, and it has to do with their pride in their obedience. Does not each one of you on the Sabbath lose his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it? He says, Everybody knows if you have an animal, you have to feed it and water it on the Sabbath. Well, that's work. He says, But that's known to be acceptable work on the Sabbath, because we have a responsibility to feed and water our animals. He says, So odd not this woman being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has bound. And I find this interesting. He says, Just think of this. Just think of what she suffered for eighteen years. Be loose from this bond on the Sabbath. He says, If you'll feed a jackass on the Sabbath, do not think God wants to heal someone who has suffered for eighteen years on the Sabbath. Don't you think your... What do you think your obedience matters to God right now? When this woman's praising him because of what she's done for him, she was a Sabbath keeper, too. This woman was never accused of breaking the Sabbath. She was in the synagogue. But it was their pride in their obedience. Verse 17 says, And when he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the mollitudes rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.

They became ashamed when they started to realize what the point that Jesus was making.

Shouldn't that they be glorifying God in what God was doing on that day? Which brings us to a question we have to ask ourselves sometimes.

Do you obey God because you love him or because it makes you feel superior to others?

I've heard people say, you know, I obey God simply because he commands me to do so. And that's good!

But is it done out of fear? Do we just obey God because the fear because I don't obey him, he'll squash me like a bug? I obey God because I don't want to, but I have to?

Or do we obey God because we love him? It's the first of all the great commandments, right? The greatest of all commandments. What did Jesus say? The greatest of all commandments. Love God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul. That's a motivational reason for keeping all the other commandments. We can't actually become puffed up at our obedience. So we look at somebody else and say, you know what? You have a sin. Get out of my presence.

Get out of my presence with your sin.

Instead of, how do I help lead you to God? How do I help you repent? How do I help you be healed? Now, there are times when it's true. We can't be around certain sins. And I'm talking specifically about the world. I mean, you just can't be involved in certain things.

But, especially among ourselves, what is our initial motivation?

Because God desires motivation to come from our desire to please Him.

Not because we're proud of what we do, but we're proud of God. Look at Isaiah 66.

I bring this out as the first one, because obedience is commanded. Obedience is what we must do. If we don't obey God, we can lose our salvation. But, you know, we can become so proud of our own obedience, just like those Pharisees did. That in doing so, we have this false humility before God, and we have an arrogance towards other people. Isaiah 66, verse 1, Thus is the Lord. Heaven is my throne. Earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will build me? Where is the place of my rest? God, did you want to build a house for me? Where are you going to build it? Mars? I own everything. What on earth are you going to build greater than earth itself? I want you to look around. This is what I work. I do.

Now, that should make us a little bit humble in whatever we're doing. Okay? Whatever we're doing, we should be able to look at God's work and say, not quite that good yet. Not quite that good yet. For all these things, verse 2, my hand is made, and all those things exist, says the Lord. He says, I made these things. They exist because of me. You know, if God did this and he wanted to, everything in the universe would cease to exist and just be one big black void.

He says, now remember, that's who I am. So he says, when you come before me, the second part of verse 2, but on this one will I look. On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at my word. Someone who actually is humble before the presence of God, who does not take God for granted, who does not take the privileges that God has given us for granted, who goes before God with the humility of who you are. If you have trouble with this, just ask God to reveal to you more about him, himself. Just ask Him. Go to Him and say, Father, I need to have a little more humility before the greatness of you, so would you show me a little bit of your greatness? Don't ask Him to show you all of it. Just say, would you show me a little bit of your greatness so that I can understand it? The second problem we have is, pride is exhibited in a life of strife. When we are puffed up with pride, we need other people to recognize how puffed up we are. The spiritual air inside of us is what we're proud of. We're proud of empty air, but that's what we're proud of. So what we want is everybody else to acknowledge how good that is, and because of this, we have this exaggerated viewpoint of our own opinions, exaggerated viewpoints of ourselves. So you know you could run, you've worked for 15 bosses, and you know you're better than all 15 of them throughout your life. They were all idiots. In fact, you're on welfare because you can't find one boss worth working for because they're all idiots, right? I've actually known people like that. Can't hold out a job because they always get to the place after their inner job of a while. It's like, you know, I went to my boss, I just told him you're an idiot. He fired me. How many times has this happened? Eight? I'm not making this up, okay? It was actually, I think, 11, but it's been a number of years since this specific situation I dealt with. And it's this idea I do everything better than everybody else. So why even participate?

I know people that won't set up chairs at church because, well, the head usher really doesn't know what he's doing. You know, the hall should be set up differently. We should have certain parts of it roped off, and we should take down these chairs and move them this way. That head usher does know what he's doing, so I'm just not going to serve anymore. I'm tired of being an usher. I can't work for an usher as stupid as that. If you find yourself in constant strength, all of us find ourselves in conflict with each other, with other people. That's part of life. But if you're in conflict all the time, at some point you've got to ask, who is the one consistent? What is the one consistent thing in all those conflicts? If I'm in conflict with 75 people, what is the one constant? Well, it's me.

If you're in constant conflict, it's that pride, the belief that you have this exaggerated viewpoint of yourself. And so you have to win at all costs. You have to be the one who is right at all costs. And at that point, you can't teach people about God. You can't submit to God because you're walking around all puffed up. I mean, I want you to think of like the Pillsbury Doughboy or the Michelin Man. You know, the Michelin Man's arms are like real short because he's all puffed up. Okay, that's what it's like to be filled up with pride. You can't even walk, you know, you're just sort of, you're like a big hot air balloon at Macy's parade. That's what we are, all spiritually puffed up, thinking that we're the biggest balloon in the parade, so we're the most important thing.

Philippians chapter 2, this passage always gets read in a sermon, and it's probably going to be read two or three times during this time of year. So Paul drives home this point about using Christ as our example, as it was mentioned in the in the sermonette. Philippians 2 verse 1, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, he's talking about the church, he says, if we have those things, can we not find those things? Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord of one mind. So how do I do all this? Let nothing be done, he tells us in verse 3, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Now that doesn't mean you look on yourself as meaningless, it doesn't mean you look on yourself as worthless. In fact, the only way you can do this is because you see yourself as having great value because God is in your life and God is the one that you're following and God is the one you're motivated by, and it's that that can motivate you to be this. Because if God doesn't help you do this, it's impossible to do. You have to go into every situation, if possible. I've never known a human being who's done this yet, and we're going to try. Every situation, our main concern should be what is the best for the other person? What is good for the other person? That doesn't mean you deny your own needs. You know, this idea that Christianity means you deny all your own needs, you deny all your own desires. That's not what it means. It means what is your first motivation? And our first motivation, according to Paul, should be, okay, what do we do here that's best for you? What do we do here that's best for you?

It's an interesting way to approach everything. You know, as a parent sometimes, what we do, which is best for our child, is hard because it makes our child dislike us. You tell that ten-year-old something, and they don't want to do it. It's like, boy, you're being mean to me, so I know parents who buckle. What they don't realize is they're not loving their child. Loving your child is doing what's best for them, even if they don't like you for a short period of time. Someday they'll thank you. What we have to do is realize, looking at every situation, not through our own emotional needs, but through what is best for this person. This is hard because our own emotional needs just puff us up, and we're just that big, I want you to think about that big Macy's balloon. That's what we become.

He says in verse 4, let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interest of others. He says, not only for your own interest, but remember, look out for the interest of whatever person you're interacting with. If you're in a business deal, and it's like, let me take advantage of this person. That's our approach. That's not what this is talking about. We say, well, yeah, business is business. Some of the most successful business people I've ever met.

I went to a business seminar one time back when I worked in radio, and I'm thinking it was Zig Ziglar. I can't remember who it was, some famous motivational speaker. I sat right in the front row, and they kept asking me questions, and I just said, oh, well, I didn't know how to answer anything. I just, you know, was a kid. But the point I took out of that that was so strong was, whatever you're doing, whoever your client is, whoever your customer is, do what's best for them, even if it costs you something sometimes. Because in the end, you will be making sales, you'll be having customers, and those are two different things. And I remember that because that became the foundation of how I did business.

Okay. What can I do for you, instead of, I've got to make a sale here? Because, you know, I'd like to be selling you something a year from now. Not one time, but a year from now.

This is the approach that we're to take in everything we do as a Christian.

And what is the example he gives us? Verse 5, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men. It's interesting, that word form, the Greek word there is morphe. And it means, basically, the core nature of what you are. Being in nature God, he became in nature a servant. At the core of what he thought and felt, he was God. And then, one day, he woke up, and at the core of what he thought and felt was God in a body.

It's a very interesting word. Paul's making a point here. How do you make a decision to go from this to this? Because it changes at the core of how you feel, how you go through the day, what you experience. It changes everything. What would make someone do from this to this?

Why would he do that?

Verse 8 says, and he's being found in the appearance of a man. He now was encased in flesh and blood. He had a brain. He had to process everything through.

He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name. That this name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on the earth and those under the earth, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That's a pretty strong 11 verses there, and understanding what God is doing.

What we have is, you want to know what humility is. I want to understand. I just have this strife. I have these troubles. I'm always feeling like I have to win. I'm always feeling put down by other people. I just, okay, let's understand what you are. Okay, I'm humble. I'm humble, but I'm not going to take that. Or I'm humble, but I'm not going to do that.

To understand it, we have to understand a conscious decision to move from this to this. For what purpose? Why did he make that conscious decision to be in the morphe of God, to become in the morphe of a man? Now, he didn't give up his character. He didn't give up all his memories. So, that way he was still God. But he gave up a bunch of privileges. He gave up a bunch of privileges. Like, oh, I think I'll go from Jerusalem to Damascus. I'm there. Oh, man, that's a whole... I get a walk all day off a blister by the time I get there. That's a huge change! What causes you to consciously do that? It was his love for us. That's humility. Humility... You think of anyone who has an exaggerated viewpoint of themselves, it would be God and Christ, right? He was willing to do that for others. I'm going to read this passage, or part of this passage, from the New American Standard.

Verse 5 says, Verse 5 says, But emptied himself. Now, the important thing here is, this is a verb in which he is taking the action.

There's a point where I don't know what happens in heaven, but the Word looks at the Father, and He says, now, and He wasn't there anymore. He was a baby. No, He was a fetus inside a human woman.

He consciously made the decision to empty Himself. That's humility.

See, you have to have a motivation to do that. That's why... Why isn't God puffed up? Now, God doesn't have an exaggerated view of Himself. When He says, I'm the Creator of the heaven and universe, He means it. When He says, I'm the only one who really knows the difference between good and evil, that's not exaggerated. It's true.

He just, you know, when He presents Himself, but with all that power, why isn't He puffed up by it?

Why didn't He say, you know what? You know, I'm offended by all you people. I'm just going to wipe off and start all over again. Why doesn't He do that? It's because inside God Himself, part of His nature, He's actually humble.

This great being who isn't afraid of His own majesty, He's embarrassed by His own great power. He's not embarrassed about His own righteousness. He's not embarrassed to say, I'm the only one that's right, because He is the only one that's right. But if He had pride, in the way we're talking about the false human pride here, we would be in bad shape. He emptied Himself. He made the decision. He emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. I'm going to read this from the new international version. They all translate it slightly different, but it's interesting when you put them together, you begin to get a real understanding of what Paul is writing here.

He says, Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who being in very nature, His morphe, in very nature He was God, and did not consider equality with God something to be held onto, grasped. I'm not going to hold onto this. I'm giving this up. I'm going to empty myself, but made Himself nothing. Empty Himself. Made Himself nothing. This was a conscious decision on His part. I just can't imagine what it was like the second before it happened.

Okay, let's go. I can't imagine what happened in heaven the second before it happened.

But made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. He was a very nature God, and He became in very nature a human being. A dinneracist is divine nature, and that was still part of it, but He emptied Himself of those privileges. He emptied Himself of a certain power.

Remember those verses, when we find ourselves in strife, always having to win, always having to be right, always having to put others down.

The third is that pride is exhibited in being preoccupied with how you are treated by others.

None of us like to be mistreated, and all of us have to deal with being mistreated. But prideful people are always offended. They're always offended. Well, this person didn't talk to me, this person wasn't nice to me, this person did this, this person did that. Oh yeah, with the church, but they're all just a bunch of hypocrites.

Nobody called me this week. Sometimes, well, nobody wants to call you this week. You know, you're just a hard person to be around. A prideful person always sees other people as how they relate to them. They don't see other people as, how do I relate to you? How do I relate to you? How do I get to know you? How do I get to, okay, find out your quirks and how sometimes we're all weird, just different levels, right? We're all weird, just different levels, different ways. So what's your quirks? Okay, because if I get to know you, then I have to put up with you. But what we do as a prideful person only sees life, and how do other people put up with me? And I'm really a good person. My wife and I went and saw this week with Mrs. Lockhart and her kids, we went and saw My Fair Lady on the big screen in Blu-ray. It was free at the local college, which I tell you the truth, it was so amazing. I didn't remember half the movie, because it's almost 3D, it's just stunningly made the movie. But, you know, Henry Higgins' character is so filled with pride, it just gets hilarious. Especially when he sings, you know, Why Can't a Woman Be Like a Man? We're such regular folks, we're so good, and we're so wonderful, we're so kind, and we're so logical, and they're so muddle-headed and stupid. Why can't a woman be like a man? And of course, everybody was laughing in the audience, and Rex Harrison plays the part so well. But the whole movie is about...

his pride is what drives the funny parts of it, many times in this man's pride.

Luke 14. Luke 14.

Jesus goes, he's invited to this person's house. He says, So he told a parable to those who were invited, because he noted how they chose the best places.

In other words, there was always this competition. Satan's way is always competition, to show who's the top dog. And what we have here is people invited to a place, and then, you know, everybody wants to sit at the head table. Or if you can't sit at the head table, you want to sit at the table that's closest to the head table, right? The last thing you want to do is sit at the table by the door where the waiters come in and out, you know, because you're really an important end. You want your place. Just watch the Oscars or anything as people parade in, right? Everybody's got to be noticed. Everybody's, you know, and what's funny, I only watched maybe 10 minutes of the Oscars this year. I usually don't watch them. But I watched just a little bit, and every time the camera was on somebody sitting in the audience, you could tell they were, you know, they were posing. They were seeing themselves on a screen someplace and posing, you know. And this is the way we are as human beings, this pride. We want to be the center of attention. Now, there's times for everybody to be a center of attention. That's not wrong. But some people love that spotlight so much. They have to have it.

He says, verse 8, when you're invited to anyone, or Jesus says, when you're invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable New Year is invited. You know, look at me, I've got to sit here at the head table. This is really cool. And then, you know, the father of the bride comes in, and they realize they don't even know who you are. Why are you doing at this wedding? Right? So be careful what you do. And he invited you, and here, it says, you give this place to this man, and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you're invited, go and sit down at the lowest place. So when he invites you, comes, he may say to you, friend, go up higher. Then you have glory in the presence of those at the table with you. He says, you know, just from a human standpoint, don't grab and fight for all this spotlight. Because when the spotlight's on you, it actually will mean something.

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Then he said to him who invited him, so you know what the very head table was, the man, it was the head of the house who invited all these people, obviously very wealthy. And he said something to him. He says, when you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you have a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just. He says, why don't you use more of your wealth? He didn't say it was wrong to have a party and invite your friends or invite the wealthy, but he said, you know what, why don't you spend some more of your time and your money and your resources, and why don't you help people who can't ever do something like this? He says, why don't you take everybody you know, your neighbors, that are poor, and invite them into your nice mansion one time for a meal? They'll remember it for the rest of their lives. All your friends will remember is, oh, she got a better table than we did. Did you see so-and-so? Oh, the way she had her hair. Yeah, did you see such-and-such? He was just playing politics so he could get some more business out of that guy. You know, that's what he's, that's what your friends are doing. Why don't you invite people in and we'll go home and say, that was the most gorgeous place I'd ever been. I've never had roast duck before. I've never seen or had anything like that before. Give them a blessing. Once again, see, if pride is exhibited by being preoccupied with how you treat others, what he's saying here is, why don't you spend a little more time in how, or I mean, how others treat you? Spend a little more time thinking, how do I treat others? Not only the people I know the closest to me, but people I don't know. Or the people I'm not closest. Or the people that maybe I look down on a little bit.

The fourth point is pride is exhibited by being quick to point out the sins of others, but you cut yourself a lot of slack. Now, we all do this if we're honest.

And it's just pride. It's just because, look, my air bubble is, well, we wouldn't say my air bubble is smaller than yours because the odds are all puffed up. You know, it's the Macy's balloon again. I'm a bigger puffed up balloon than you are.

And so what we do is we quickly say, yeah, look at you. As a balloon, you're not as pretty as I am. Your colors aren't as good. You're not as big. You're not whatever. Luke 7. Back a few pages here. Taking a lot of these stories right out of the life of Jesus Christ. Luke 7, verse 36.

Then one of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went to the Pharisee's house and sat down to eat. To hold a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil. And she stood at his feet behind him, weeping, and she began to wash his feet with her tears and wipe them with the hair of her head. And she kissed his feet and anointed them with a fragrant oil. Now, this is rather strange. I mean, you have to admit this is a bizarre situation. And Jesus let this go on. She obviously understood that he was the Messiah. He was of a God.

We see a woman. She just called a sinner. She may have been a prostitute. She may have been someone who had been caught in adultery. She may have been someone who was just known as a dishonest person. Probably to be marked as a sinner, she probably was either a prostitute or a woman who had been kicked out of her house by her husband from adultery. You know, she's publicly known. So this is a person who is publicly known as a sinner. Now, in the Pharisee, verse 39, who had invited him, saw this. He spoke to himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner. You know what? I thought this man was a righteous man. I thought he was a rabbi. I thought he was a good teacher. I thought he was from God. He's late. He doesn't even know who this woman is. We all know. We see her on the street with her illegitimate child. We know who she is. He doesn't even know. He's let her come into my house. What will my neighbors think? What will people say about me? And she's washing his feet with her hair. This is just gross.

But Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. Simon, I want to tell you something. So he said, Teach her, so rabbi. Rabbi, really. Rabbi, go ahead. You think you're a rabbi. You can hear what's probably going on in his head. There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed 500 denarii and the other 50. When they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him more?

I owe somebody $500 and some guy owes somebody $50. The guy forgives them both. Now, he misses something in this story. First of all, they both owed something.

They both owed something. The point he's making is, okay, this person has more sins than this person. Because this is how the Pharisees are looking at it. He's adding up sins. Remember the way they would add it up. In the end, he who had more good deeds than bad deeds got to go into the kingdom.

Those whose bad deeds outweighed the good deeds, well, they're the ones who don't get to go.

So he's looking at her and saying, hey, your sins are so great you could never go.

But he says, what happens if they're both forgiven? These two people, they both one owes more than the other, and they're both forgiven. Who will love the person who forgives the debt more? Simon Anson said, I suppose the one who he forgave more. You know, I suppose he has no idea. I know this guy speaks in parables, but this one is just wacko. But then if you have a woman washing your feet with her hair, I wish I would have never invited him over. Right? And Jesus says to him, you got this one right. Oh, I got this one right. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, do you see this woman? Now Simon's probably thinking, good. Finally, he's going to put her in her place. You see this woman, Simon? Get her out of your house, for she is truly an adulterous, and this woman needs to be taken out to the elders, and we probably just need to stow her in the street right now. That's not what he does. He says, see this woman? Yes, sir. What do you want me to do with her? I'll get my service. I won't touch her, but I'll get my service. We'll throw her out right now. I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss. This was a common greeting if you really love somebody. This Pharisee had invited Jesus in because he loved him, because he was his friend. He invited him in for status purposes. He didn't show him the common greetings of having his feet washed or give him a kiss. I'm sure he wanted everybody on the street to know that Jesus, this rabbi, had come to his house. Simon's got to be a little bit shocked here, because instead of throwing the woman out, he's saying, this woman's actually treating me much better than you do. She may own 500 denarii, but you owe 50. The point is, both have to be forgiven.

He says, You gave me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins which are many are forgiven, for she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.

Her sins are forgiven for this. She recognizes who I am. She's showing you melody. It's true, Simon. She owes God a whole lot more than you do.

But you know, if you're forgiven of your 500, you're forgiven. If you still owe 50, you'll go to debtors prison. It doesn't matter if you owe the 0, but wait a minute, she owed 500 and she's forgiven! That's right. She's forgiven. I'm demanding payment for your 50.

And so, we get, pride is exhibited by being so quick to point out other people's sins, but we cut ourselves a lot of slack. I don't mean we compromise. I don't mean we put up with other people's sins at times. You know what I'm talking about. I mean, the sermon I gave a few months ago on correction in the Church. Sometimes people even should be asked not to come to Church because of their sins. But what we're talking about is our attitude and our approach. Is it puffed up? Is it the Michelin Man? Is it a Macy's parade balloon?

Or is it simple humility as looking as each individual was having value before God?

The fifth is that pride causes us to refuse correction. We will defend ourselves at all costs. We will even take the slightest hint that we were wrong. You know, this was what drove people in the past to have duels. You know, you have hurt my pride. Meet me in the morning at eight o'clock. Bring your second, you know, and we're going to shoot it out. And dueling throughout western civilization has been very popular until the last, oh, hundred years. Well, I don't know, the late 1800s, they were still dueling throughout the West for any purpose that people could think of. You know, it wasn't quite like in the cowboy movies. You know, two guys standing in the street facing each other. There were thousands of people in the United States killed through gunfights. Usually it was like, you know, you're shooting at cards. You smack the guy over the head with a bottle and then shoot you after he's unconscious. I mean, they shot each other in the back. They shot each other. It was reading something on gunfights a while back. It's amazing how many gunfights the people's clothes caught on fire, because they were so close to each other. The muzzle, you know, the fire that comes out of the muzzle cut their clothes on fire. And how many times those old guns misfired? So, guys running down the street with another guy shooting at him because his gun won't go off. I mean, it was very seldom was it like in the movies where, you know, the two guys stand off and you hear the music in the background. And, you know, that was very rare. What idiot would do that? I mean, none of the guys could shoot you. What you want to do is steal his gun and shooting from three miles away with a Winchester. Well, he's not three miles, but 300 yards away with a Winchester. That's what you wanted to do. And, you know what? That's what mainly they did.

We just can't... we have to duel it out. We can't ever accept that we're wrong. We can't ever take correction. We just... we just see ourselves with an exaggerated viewpoint. Now, I have to mention something here because there's people that take this to mean, okay, I must always look on myself as the one that's wrong. Well, that's not true. Remember, pride is not having an exaggerated viewpoint. If you always see yourself as wrong, that's an exaggerated viewpoint. It's not true. I suppose it could be. I've met very few people in life that they were wrong all the time.

So, if you see yourself as, well, okay, I'm the one that's wrong. No matter what, I'm the one that's wrong. And it's not true. That's an exaggerated viewpoint. And so, it is just another way of getting puffed up. It's actually another way of getting puffed up.

I read something once, an interesting book called Humility by Andrew Murray. I think... I think Terry Bauer gave me that book years ago. But he makes a very important point in there. It says, being preoccupied with self, having the deepest sense of self-abhorrence, can never free us from self. Think about that. If I go around hating myself, now, we are to hate who we are when we repent. We are to hate our sins as we go on and we see them. But, I mean, just being absorbed with self-abhorrence, what are you absorbed with? Yourself. All you've done is filled yourself with a different kind of air. Once again, we're back to understanding our relationship with God. That God gives us value. God created us with a purpose. We're all messed up, and we should hate the fact that we have not allowed God to fulfill that purpose in our lives. But we also have to realize that He doesn't want us to surrender a whole lot. Humility is that I hate myself, I hate myself, I hate myself. How are you doing today? Oh, terrible, because I hate myself. I'd shake your hand, but I'm just dirt. That's not what God wants us to be, either. The sixth point of pride is that pride causes us to measure ourselves in a spiritual pecking order. In other words, my value, how I see myself in eternity, is measured by how many other people I'm better than. This usually comes in terms of somehow my position. I actually knew of a minister—I mean, this was 40, probably 50 years ago. He didn't last very long as a minister, but he taught people that their place in God's kingdom for eternity depended upon their position in the church today. So, the first thing you need to do, basically, is volunteer for, like, ushering so that you become the best usher. Now, if you want a great place in God's kingdom, what you have to do is eventually take over the head usher's job. Now you're the head usher. Now you get a better place in God's kingdom. You want a better place than that? You have to learn to take over the deacon's job. So, you have to compete with the deacon.

See, this kind of competition is not the way God does things. God is cooperation.

Then, once you get to be a deacon's job, of course, if you really want—now maybe you get, like, five cities that you get to be the master over in the millennium—you want ten cities, you've got to take that elder's job away from you.

You know what kind of church that guy produced? Backstabbers, gossips, people filled with hatred. It wasn't the way where God's spirit could thrive.

And there are people who see themselves that way. That's a pride. So, they're always looking at others in terms of, yeah, you think you're important because you're the section chief over five other ushers at the feast. Well, next year, I'll get your job.

I'll be the section chief. Well, the next year, they're not the section chief. What that proves is, you know, the guy that's in charge of the ushers, he's not even converted.

He's holding me back from what I should be. Look at Mark Jephter 9. Oh, this is such human nature. This is just being the Michelin Man. That's all this is.

Because this is now God measures things. This isn't what gives us our significance. These are ways to serve. There are opportunities to be leaders. With leadership comes authority. With authority comes more stress than you really want.

So, sometimes people equate that their pride is so… it drives them that they can only measure themselves by how much power they have, how much authority they have. Mark 9, 33. Jesus comes to confirm them. And when he went into this house, he asked the disciples, what was it you were disputed among yourselves on the road? They're walking down the highway going into this town. All the disciples have a big argument. And Jesus just ignores it, and he's all sort of separate from them. And they get in the house, and he says, okay, why were you guys arguing about this time? But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.

Okay. Okay. Peter, okay, we'll let you be the boss. But who's like your associate boss? Okay, but I want to be the assistant boss. Okay, but who's the assistant to the assistant boss?

And Jesus is saying, wait a minute, wait a minute, I'm the treasurer. I'm the most important guy here. Try to do something without me.

And he sat down and called the twelve and said to them, if anyone desires to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all. Then he took a little child and set him in the midst of them, and when he had taken him in his arms he said to them, they took a very small child that he could pick up. Okay, this is a very small child. But notice what he says next, whoever receives one of these little children of my name receives me. Whoever receives me receives not me, but he who sent me. Now, that's interesting. He says, you want to understand what real leadership is all about. I take this child, and if you look at human beings as the children of God, and you see yourself as a person, you can take this child and lead them to me, and then I will lead them to my father.

See what he's telling them? This isn't the case where he tells them you must become like a child. He says, you must treat people like this. He takes this child, he sits the child in his lap, and he says, you must lead people to me, right? Whoever receives one of these children in my name receives me. Whoever takes a person and leads them to me, notice what he says what he'll do, and whoever receives me receives not me, but the father. He says, I'll lead them to God the father. You bring them to me.

So you're arguing over who is the assistant to the assistant to the assistant, when I'll tell you how to get organized, and then go lead people to me.

Okay, they had to deal with that pride. Number seven. Pride causes us to value knowledge over godly character. We value knowledge over godly character. 1 Corinthians 8, one of the places here where Paul uses.

I know this. I had a little extra time today, so instead of an hour sermon, I'm going an hour and ten minutes. We'll end on time. So I know this is a little long, but stay with me, because I wanted to go through all nine of these. Usually, I don't have nine points. That's a lot. So it's a little bit of an information dump here. But if you could write these down, write the scriptures down, and really think about this before the Passover. 1 Corinthians 8, verse 1. Paul writes, Now concerning things offered to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up. The law edifies. He says, If our only pursuit is knowledge here, then we'll just get like the great big Macy's parade balloon, floating around, thinking that, hey, look at me! I'm a big balloon!

If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing, yet, as he ought to know. Remember, spiritual knowledge only comes to us from God.

Anything you know spiritually is because God gave it to you. That's what makes it so dangerous when we give this up.

Because we're shutting our minds to God, and we'll shut our minds down to where God no longer works with us. I've seen people—I've seen hundreds of people do that. Just shut it out, and then just shut it down, and shut it down, and shut it down until they just give up everything that God has given to them.

They either don't care about it, or they actually hate it, one or the other.

Notice verse 3, But if anyone loves God, this one is known by him. He's back to our motivation. Our knowledge then motivates us to love God, not just acquire knowledge. Because you and I can acquire knowledge, and acquire knowledge, and acquire knowledge, and be huge, puffed-up Michelin men, and still not love God.

Now, shall we have knowledge? Yes, this knowledge is required. Yes. Does God give us knowledge? Yes. It's our approach.

The eighth point is, pride causes us to be driven by envy. Because we always then look at what others have, other people's possessions, other people's property, other people's talents. And what we say is, they have what I deserve. If you go through life, if you ever feel like, wow, they have what I deserve. If you see another person, and you look at their car, or their house, or their job, or their purse, or their whatever, and you say, oh wow, she doesn't deserve that. Oh, wow, he doesn't deserve that. I should have that. That's called envy. That's pride.

We're relating to other people, not at who they are, but what they have. I relate to you by what you have, and I should have it. My balloon needs to be bigger than yours. I need to take some of your air out of your balloon and put it in my balloon. So, my balloon's bigger than your balloon. And then the last point. Pride is exhibited in extreme self-sufficiency.

And so, this pride masquerades as false faith.

Oh, I don't need anybody else. I don't need to interact with anybody else. All I need is me and God. All I need is me and God. Me and God, we have this down. That's interesting, because Jesus Christ didn't come and say, it's just me and God. Aren't you glad he didn't? And there's this, just me and God here. Come here, let me tell you, let me take you. You things of creation. You things that can have value if you turn to God and let me take you to God. And then he takes this little child and he tells his disciples, now, you see my example of humility? You take people and bring them to me, and let me take them to God. I think people so puffed up, they think we shouldn't even preach the gospel. That's wrong to tell other people. God's not dealing with everybody else. He's shut the doors. There's an actual doctrine called shut door. The shut door doctrine. And that is, God shuts the doors after a while, nobody else gets in, so it's actually a sin to preach the gospel.

That's part of this pride that masquerades itself as self-sufficiency. There's you and me, God. That's all he got. I can't wait till I get up there. I know Christ is at your right hand, I get finished with your left hand, and we'll run the universe.

Colossians 2, last scripture. Colossians 2.

Colossians 2, verse 18. He says to the people in Colossae, let no one cheat you of your reward. Now, he's talking about a specific instance here. We'll get to see what it was. But it's interesting how he takes them through this incredible just one sentence here in verses 18 and 19. He says, don't let someone take from you what God is offering to you.

Taking delight in false humility. A false humility. I'm just, you know, I'm so humble. It's me and God. You know, I don't worry about anything else. It's just me and God in my life, and I really don't care about other people. I don't care if I'm a fender. I don't care because, you know, it's just me and God. And I know how great and wonderful God is.

He says, in false humility and worship of angels, and part of the problem he was dealing with with Colossians, the heresy that came in, that actually worshiped angels as lower classifications of God, or I mean of gods. There was one great God, but other. It's sort of like the worship of saints today. The worship of saints today, they did then, this group of people, only they were angels. They had names for them and everything. And you went to angels to intercede for you. Just like today, people go to saints, they intercede for them. It's a false form of worship. The worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.

A false humility that really is nothing but hot air.

It's like, once again, the Macy's Day Parade, and, you know, the announcer says, well, here comes the humility balloon, and it pops up just as much as the other ones. But this is the humility balloon, you know, sponsored by the first humility church of Glendale, or whatever you know. And here comes the giant humility balloon, humility balloon, you know, showing a guy that just looks down and got his hands, you know. There it is, the humility balloon.

He says, verse 19, and not holding fast. Here is the problem with this false humility. It is not holding fast to the head. Now, you read all the collagians, you know who the head he's talking about there is Jesus Christ. One of the things that false pride or false humility, a religious pride will bring people to, and we have to be very careful of this, is the downplaying of Jesus Christ.

A downplaying of Jesus Christ. Acknowledge that he's there, we acknowledge the Father, but we downplay what God is doing through Jesus Christ. When you see people downplaying what God does through Jesus Christ, they're not acknowledging Him as the head, what you are looking at as a false humility. You're looking at pride. The reason I say that is because if we have the right relationship with Christ, yes, we've made the Father the center of our attention, because that's what He tells us to do, but we are also humble because we realize the price that was paid for us. You see what I mean? So when we have religious pride, what we do is we don't acknowledge Jesus Christ, because we're standing on our own righteousness so heavily that we don't see our own meaning for Him.

So whenever people start to downplay Jesus Christ, and the role God, all the holy days, by the way, are about Jesus Christ. When that gets downplayed, you're seeing false pride.

Because there is an acknowledgement that without what God does through Jesus Christ, there is no salvation. There is no salvation without what God does through Jesus Christ. It just doesn't, there can't be. He says, And not holding fast to the head, from whom all the body nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments grows with the increase that is from God. Verse 18 to 19, He's talking to the Church, a problem that He committed to the Church. False doctrines and pride.

In a short time, and once again, I know an hour and ten minutes is a long time for a sermon. I usually try to keep it an hour, so we went long today. We'll still like to sit in on time. But I wanted to give you this much. There was so much to cover. Because I want you to take those nine points and think about those things and pray about those things in your life, in your life.

Because in a short time, we'll be gathered in the night, same night that Jesus did with His disciples, to commemorate His sacrifice. That sacrifice was produced by His humility, a willingness, a desire, and a conscious decision to empty Himself for us, for the good of us. Before this Passover, meditate on humility and on pride. And now you are a direct benefit from God because of the humility of Jesus Christ.

Because if He wasn't humble, you and I would have no hope. The benefit we receive at the Passover is the humility of Jesus Christ, the empty Himself.

We can only experience that forgiveness and be willing to share that Gospel when we are also humble. When we also realize that what God has done for us, we now want to thank Him by living His way, by obeying Him, by following Him, by doing His commands, and by showing that humility towards others.