"Pride and Humility"

[Dean] Good afternoon. Greetings to all of you. Thank you, David and Kayla. I thought for a minute there, David was going to do a solo, but babies have needs and she’s got her back. Good to be here with you. I don’t speak too often in the afternoon, but I enjoy it. I’m going to get a chance to be with all of you. Appreciate the sermonette. It’s always fun to watch younger men going through the ranks and preparing for longer messages later. So, Matthew, get ready.

God created man and put him on the earth to make a choice. The choice was life or death. God wants you to choose the way of life and be like Him and His Son. Satan wants you to choose his way, which brings to death. We’re given the Holy Spirit to help us. Today I want to talk about two ways of life. Mr. Armstrong, many of you remember years ago, talked about the way of give and the way of get, a very simple concept. Jesus lived the give concept. Satan lives by the get concept. Jesus lived by love. Satan lives by hate.

In the Garden of Eden, man was given that choice, and he made a choice for all of us, and he made a wrong choice. He bought the lie when Satan said that you’ll be like God, knowing good and evil. He played to their pride and their jealousies, and they chose the wrong thing.

Today I’d like to break the subject down to two smaller attitudes displayed, one by each way of life. Jesus, the way of love, is reflected in the attitude of humility. Satan’s way is reflected in pride and serving the self. God’s way esteems others. The Bible often emphasizes the importance of humility in esteeming others, to put their needs above our own interests. We’ll turn to Philippians 2 to start the sermon, but again, the Bible consistently encourages us to be grounded in the character of Jesus, who exemplified humility and self-sacrifice. It is the cornerstone of Christian conduct.

Paul in Philippians 2, beginning verse 3, says it this way, in telling us to be like Him: “Let nothing be done through strife or of in glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves, and humility. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Philippians 2:3–4).

How often do we treat other things as well or better than we treat our own? “Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5), probably the most difficult thing that we try to accomplish.

“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, made in the likeness of men. Being found in a fashion as a man, he humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:6–8). Crucifixion.

Paul encourages us to emulate Him, to be like Him, take on the role of a servant like He did, and sacrifice ourselves for others. Our sacrifice doesn’t save anyone. We’ve all been there. But he wants us to promote the benefits of humility.

We’ll look at a few Proverbs. I’ll start with Proverbs 8, verse 13. I’m going to read one verse in several places. I’ll start with Proverbs 8 and go to Proverbs 11 and 16 and 29. So if you can turn your pages that fast, you can keep up with me.

Proverbs 8:13, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the froward mouth, I hate” (Proverbs 8:13).

God hates pride. He associates it with evil because of what it does to you and what it does to others.

Proverbs 11, a few pages over. “When pride comes, then comes shame. But with the lowly is wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2). Pride eventually comes to shame. When you’re humble, God sees that and associates it with wisdom.

Proverbs 16, verse 5, over a couple more pages. “Every one that is proud and hard is an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 16:5). Wow, that’s pretty strong. “Though hand joined in hand, he shall not be unpunished” (Proverbs 16:5). The opposition to pride and the certainty of punishment.

Proverbs 16, verse 18, “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).

One of the things I fear with our president now in the country is the displaying of pride. And yeah, there are things this nation should be grateful for, mostly because of the blessings of Abraham. But pride goes before a fall.

Proverbs 29, a few pages over again, verse 23, “A man’s pride shall bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit” (Proverbs 29:23). Honor upholds you if you’re humble. Pride takes you down.

The disciples that lived with Christ through His ministry, they had these scriptures. I’m going to read a verse in Daniel 4, verse 37. I’ll paraphrase the chapter. It’s the story of the tree that grows with all the animals and people enjoying it underneath it, the shade, the fruits and things. The tree’s cut down, a band’s placed around it, and it sprouts up. For seven years, Daniel has to tell Nebuchadnezzar something he doesn’t want to tell him. He said this is for your enemies. But they knew of Nebuchadnezzar’s pride. They knew those stories.

And a year later, the king, after he was warned by Daniel, he looks out and looks at the great walls of Babylon. If you read Herodotus’ description of Babylon, it’s an incredible city, one of the wonders of the ancient world. And he says, this is my majesty, my power, what I have built. Didn’t give God any credit. And all of a sudden, his human spirit was taken out and he became an animal. For seven years, being like an animal, he finally came out of it, as God had said.

In verse 37, he says, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything He does is right, and all His ways are just. And those who walk in pride, He is able to humble” (Daniel 4:37).

It’s a sure thing. Even King Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged God’s ability to humble after experiencing it firsthand. We look at the disciples before they had the Holy Spirit and before becoming apostles, and even afterwards sometimes we see pride among them. So it’s something we all can have happen to us. Again, they had the stories, the scrolls, the scriptures, and Jesus Himself to lead them and teach them. But they fought with these issues just like we do. I’ve always said, if we had true humility, there’d be no divisions. There’d be no splits in the body of Christ. So we know we have a ways to go, having had those.

Turn to Luke 9, verse 52. I’ll read a few verses there. Again, the Old Testament stories were there for the disciples to use. Did they understand them? Not really. They didn’t seem to internalize it. Do we?

Verse 52, “They sent messages before His face, and they went and entered the village of the Samaritans to make ready for Him” (Luke 9:52).

“And they did not receive Him, because His face was as though He would go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:53).

Again, it was customary to house people, and these people didn’t make a place for Jesus and His disciples.

In their reaction, verse 54, “When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, will You that would command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (Luke 9:54). Just like Elijah did.

You know, recognize God, let’s just burn them up. That’s kind of the way humans think at times. Pride.

But “He turned and rebuked them, saying, You know not what manner of spirit you’re of. For the Son of Man has not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:55–56).

“And they went on to another village” (Luke 9:56).

Different reaction. Not the normal reaction when someone disses you or does something that you think is wrong. In this case, they didn’t recognize who the Messiah was. They wanted to call fire down from heaven. Pride can create the misuse of power. It often does. Do we want to teach through destruction? Do we get angry at people? Do we curb our anger? Humility serves men even when power is necessary. It’s still for service.

The desire for authority and position of power among the disciples of Christ, even after being rebuked, is addressed in the Gospels and other places. They still didn’t always get it. Just this week, turn to Matthew 20. Both Matthew and Mark—Mark 10—address this. It’s a familiar story. People tend to remember emotional confrontations. I think that’s why they both list this in their Gospels. It imprints it on your mind, anything emotional. And Jesus had just told them in prior verses He was going to die. So He’s about to die, and they are selfishly worried about their positions—His humility, their pride. This has been true in modern history as well.

Matthew 20, verse 20, “Then came to Him the mother of Zebedee’s children, with her sons, worshiping Him, and desiring a certain thing of Him” (Matthew 20:20). Yeah, that’s not something to do. Desiring a certain thing of Him. Not so good. “And He said to her, What do you want?” (Matthew 20:21). “She said, Grant that these my two sons may sit, one on your right hand and the other on your left in the kingdom” (Matthew 20:21). And then He said—Jesus answered—“You don’t know what you’re asking” (Matthew 20:22). A couple of reasons. “Are you able to drink the cup that I shall drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Matthew 20:22).

Oh yeah, we’re able. We often think we’re stronger than we are, or don’t really know what actually is coming.

And “He said to them, You shall indeed drink of my cup and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give” (Matthew 20:23). “It shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father” (Matthew 20:23).

No, Jesus tells them that they don’t understand. The positions are not His to grant. And He explains these places are prepared and decided by God. I went over thirty-five years in the church. I remember an old evangelist who traveled around, and he would talk about positions of men in the kingdom and things. It was fun to listen to. It was really inspiring, although he had a lot of speculation. And he’d talk of positions that men living today might have because of their jobs and things. And it caused some confusion.

And there are a few people that God does tell us. He says David will be king of Israel. He says that the apostles will be over the twelve tribes. So there’s a few positions. But other than that, if Jesus didn’t know who would be where, why should we speculate on who or where anyone would be, including ourselves? We can guess from jobs and experiences, but God has a trillion-piece puzzle, and He only knows where the pieces fit. We often try to put them in the wrong spot. Continuing in verse 24, Matthew 20, we can see the wrong reaction of others to this wrong request.

“And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren” (Matthew 20:24).

Probably coveting a little there, like the sermonette, thinking, hey, I wanted that spot. Well, again, I’ve seen this played out in the church. People want power and authority and position. And every time I see that, I wonder, have they read these stories? Because that can save you.

But “Jesus called them unto Him, and said, You know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them” (Matthew 20:25). “But it shall not be so among you” (Matthew 20:26). “Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister” (Matthew 20:26). Helper of your joy, we’re told in other places. “And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant” (Matthew 20:27). “Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

Jesus tells them that true greatness in His kingdom is contrasted with worldly authority, with power, and lording it over others. You’re supposed to be a servant, a slave to all. Jesus is that true example. Came not to be served, but to serve. The One who created everything had all power. Mr. Armstrong often talked to me when I was young about the early years of the church in Oregon, and how he moved down to Pasadena because he had no paid ministry. He’d start up a church, and people would come in, and he couldn’t be there, and they would kind of dissipate. He started Ambassador College to have a biblically literate ministry, people who really knew what the scriptures said. And the church was growing through the radio program.

And in those early years of the college, Mr. Armstrong ordained some very young men as evangelists to go out. Too young, probably, in many cases. He told me about two men who, after a few years of the college, wanted to be over church administration. He realized that there had to be administration and sending them out to various churches. And the two men who really wanted it got into some heated discussion. One was in Pasadena, the other was pastoring in Eugene, Oregon. The man in Oregon was more qualified, Mr. Armstrong said, but he was in Oregon, and the other man was in Pasadena.

So he gave him that job because he could interact more readily with the people. He felt it was a mistake later on because both men desired power. Both men. And that power they wanted carried on into later years. Hopefully they got over it, but because of pride, eventually both of these men started their own churches. I think that’s sad. They saw that they had to be in charge. They had to be over other men. God is their judge, but I wouldn’t want that on my resume. Hopefully anything that was theirs was repented of, but I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes.

People in the church don’t always use the scriptures properly either. If we don’t get rid of pride, we can fail. It’s just like others who haven’t. Shortly after the Last Supper, they did it again. Now back to the book of Luke. When Jesus talked to them, Luke 22, starting verse 24.

“And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest” (Luke 22:24).

Again, leading to strife was coveting, like the sermonette said. Coveting, actually, if you look backwards through the Ten Commandments, coveting leads to all the others. It’s the damage it does to you. If all you do is covet, not a lot of damage. If it leads to lying or hate or adultery, a lot more damage. So looking at them from the forward to the end, the damage that it causes other people gets greater going up. The damage it causes to you goes the opposite direction.

But they had strife among them. “And He said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors” (Luke 22:25).

Yeah, leaders like to be told good. They like to give money and donations and things and get the tax benefits and all the things for it. But the praise of men is what they’re after.

“But it shall not be so among you: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that does serve” (Luke 22:26).

“For whether is greater, he that sits at meat, or he that serves? Is not he that sits at meat? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27).

Service-oriented. Again, He addresses this dispute by His disciples by teaching them what true greatness is. He set the example. They should have learned this lesson earlier, but it took time. Matthew 18, we’ll go there next. Again, do the words we hear go over our heads? We think we’re not susceptible to the same things that the disciples, who then became apostles, were? Fear not. We should learn that. We really hear them.

Matthew 18:1, “At the same time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matthew 18:1). Again, a preoccupation with where they would be in the kingdom. And Jesus called a little child, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Verily I say to you, except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:2–3). Small children, innocent, they recognize they’re small. “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4).

“And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receives me” (Matthew 18:5). “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6).

Christ was concerned with their attitude. They had to learn it’s not about power or being great. Greatness comes from service. He would say the same thing to you and me if we’re listening. God’s Spirit helps us to be like a little child, but we have to master the influence of pride, which is always there. We have to infuse ourselves with humility, and God’s Spirit helps with that. Do we seek high positions now? Do we want to be seen as important? That’s pride.

There was a treasurer who traveled with Mr. Armstrong many years ago. The older members will know who it is. His name’s not important. On the Sabbath, he met a lot of important people with Mr. Armstrong, and he used to have people to his home, and he would call various dignitaries to impress people with who he knew.

I was there one time when he called King Leopold of Belgium, and it made him feel important. But I remember the phone call. It actually embarrassed me because it was late in the afternoon. I knew six hours later in Belgium it wasn’t appropriate to do it, but he wanted people to know he had his phone number. He could call him.

I knew King Leopold. I’d flown with him on the G-2, actually served him on my first flight that I took right after graduation. I always joked with him. He’d joke with me about the food and the wine or whatever, and he’d say, well, what bottle is that? I’d show it to him. That’s a good choice. You should get a different year. I’d say, I’ll go out and get one, which obviously on a plane you can’t do that.

We had a rapport that way.

Soon after, Mr. Armstrong removed this treasurer because of things he had done. He had a meeting with King Leopold III in the palace in Argenteuil. I was there sitting on the couch with him, and he asked if he could remove this man from his board. He’d given contributions there, and the man had actually kind of tied the contributions to him being on King Leopold’s board. Mr. Armstrong said, well, I had to remove him from my boards, and so no, you can go right ahead and do it. You can remove him.

The king then went on to explain some of the things that the man had done. Mr. Armstrong said, why didn’t you tell me? Well, they had known each other for some fifteen years by this point. The king replied something I found fascinating. He quoted “It is not my job to judge another man’s servant” (Romans 14:4).

He said, but now that you’ve asked, I’ll tell you. He said all these things, and it was interesting because I was sitting there listening to it, and I knew a lot of these things that had happened. And the king, he looked at Mr. Armstrong, he looked at me, and he said, Mr. Armstrong, that young man. And I thought, oh great, what did I do wrong? That’s usually what we think, because we’ve done the thing negatively.

He says, you can trust him. He’ll never leave you. Can I have him on my board? So I served on King Leopold’s board for ten years. Didn’t really tell anybody about it. Telling people things that you do often leads to jealousies and problems. And so to me, it’s easier if you leave those alone. But it was an honor I didn’t expect. And I tried to honor it and not think of it more than it was and not abuse the privilege.

And yes, some of the things you go through in life do seem unreal at times. That’s what God does. And the disciples, like most people, struggled with these things, these issues, and desire for recognition and authority until they had the Holy Spirit and began to understand it. And Jesus consistently taught them—and us—get rid of pride. His kingdom is not about power and prestige. It’s about service.

Jesus Himself modeled this in His entire human existence. This is a radical redefinition from the world’s point of view. The world’s definition is you power, you rise in rank, and titles, and power, and money, and whatever. You with the most toys. God’s is the opposite. It doesn’t mean you can’t be rich. It doesn’t mean it’s wrong to have toys. But if that’s what you’re seeking, and wanting power over others, that’s a problem.

Again, we have the entire Bible. We have Jesus’ words and example, and we have a lot of history. Do we see how we must act? We don’t have any excuse. Turn to Romans 12. I’m going to read verses 9 and 10. And we’ll look at some of the scriptures we should be taking note of if we want to stay connected to God, if we don’t want to create division, if we want to be in His kingdom, which is the goal of all of us.

Romans 12:9, “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil” (Romans 12:9). Pride, remember? Set up God of our land. “Cleave to that which is good” (Romans 12:9). Humility, wisdom.

“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another” (Romans 12:10).

Do we see each other that way? Deep affection and honor toward each other? We should. Turn to Ephesians 4. Again, we ask ourselves, do we honor each other? And if we do, it has to be real, not fake. I served on a different board with a man who would tend to state facts by saying, I could be wrong, but this is how it happened. It was a very humble way of making a point. However, when challenged, he would become a lion and challenge you and state how high his IQ was and that he’s right and you’re wrong. Pride. He was wrong several times, but he tried to make you feel unsure of yourself so he wouldn’t be challenged. And that’s what pride does.

Let’s see how the apostle Paul was when he talked to people. Ephesians 4:1. “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation where you were called, with lowliness and meekness” (Ephesians 4:1). Real humility and gentleness. “With longsuffering, forbearing one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2). Why? Unity. Verse 3, “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). Unity and peace. “There is one body and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:4–5). Unity.

Humility comes through as Paul highlights humility to keep peace and to have unity. Gentleness, patience, they all create unity. We will be children of God. Turn to 1 Peter 5. It’s interesting that in the resurrection, all the firstfruits get resurrected at the same time. Christ is the only one who is resurrected ahead of the rest of us. We are equal in time. There were two elders in conflict once that wanted a position. And the one said, well, I was ordained before you. And the other one said, well, I was ordained by Herbert Armstrong himself.

It turned out both of them were ordained after Armstrong, about a month apart. But they were getting in a contest, which pride does. Pride puts you in a contest. Who can win? Well, does it make a difference? Wasn’t Paul a bit late to the table? Yet he wrote a bunch of the New Testament.

1 Peter 5, verses 5 and 6, “In the same way, you who are younger submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be subject to one another, and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5). “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6).

Peter calls that mutual submission. It’s where you receive God’s favor by being humble. John 13, verse 14. Of course, that’s the greatest act of humility that we see. Washing the disciples’ feet when they didn’t understand what He was doing. I’m sure I would have been in the same boat.

You wonder why would someone do something like that. John 13:14, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). “For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15).

The demonstration of humility and service shocked them. It wasn’t what the norm was. He tells them to do likewise, but it can’t be a ritual. Sometimes it is. Most of us probably had the cleanest feet of our lives right before Passover. So you’re washing already washed clean feet pretty much, which wasn’t what Christ did.

I like smaller, more intimate Passovers. I was in Pasadena for a few Passovers where they had about 2,000 people keeping it, and I always called that the McDonald’s of Passovers. Next, next, next. I mean, it took about two and a half hours to finish everybody. And I had to ask people what their names were. And, you know, I got embarrassed a couple of times with, oh, how long you been in the church? About 20 years? Oh, and I don’t know who you are.

But we had three different congregations, PM and AM and Pearl Jim, so it happened. But it was difficult. It’s got to be a way of life, not a ritual. A few years ago at the GCE, Dr. Baker gave a talk on servant leadership. I thought it was fascinating. It was interesting. He talked about the chairman of Southwest Airlines. They had a great culture in Southwest that’s kind of changed a bit in recent decades. But he talked about the chairman of Southwest Airlines going down and loading luggage the weekend of Thanksgiving, the busiest weekend of the year, to show he wasn’t better than the other people in the company. He wanted it to be a team effort.

And the talk, Bristol-Sommon may have been a bit intense in delivery, but the point he made was good, even though it bothered some ministers. One of the leading men, a prominent council member, no longer with us, said, well, you won’t catch me loading luggage. It hurt me. I talked to him later and I said, I’d be ashamed to say that. I said, when my wife took her first trip, we were in New Zealand. I got stuck on the plane with the immigration people and other people that were coming on the plane. She had to go out and try to do the luggage.

And Mr. Armstrong saw her. He’s eighty-eight years old at the time. He saw her loading luggage, trying to get the stuff off the thing. He goes over there and tries to help Michelle load the luggage, take it off. Of course, Michelle’s trying to stop him. She didn’t want him to die with a heart attack from luggage. But he did it. He wanted to be part of a team. That’s what leadership should be. If you see a need, you should fill it. I’ve always been taught that. And you fill it not to be seen. If you do it to be seen, that’s pride. If you do it because it needs to be done, that’s humility.

Acts of humility bear out Jesus when He said, love your neighbor as yourself. That’s what that is. Jesus highlights mutual respect and care. Humility is central to His theme.

I’m going to quote Proverbs 22:4 when it says, “Humility is the fear of the Lord. Its wages are riches, honor, and life” (Proverbs 22:4).

Riches, honor, and life. That’s what humility gives. Our acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice and baptism and the Holy Spirit, we are offered an inheritance of eternity. Never-ending. The riches that come with that. You don’t need riches. You can create things. Turn to Isaiah 57, another scripture that shows the attitude that God wants us to have. Again, our inheritance is far beyond the physical. It may not be riches and honor and life now, but it will be forever.

Isaiah 57, verse 15. “For thus says the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15).

That’s our attitude if you want to dwell with God. And since that’s our calling, to be with Him, we have to have that.

Over a few chapters, Isaiah 66, verse 1. Again, a similar statement. “Thus says the Lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you build to me, and where is the place of my rest?” (Isaiah 66:1). “All these things have my hand made, and all those things have been, says the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:2).

You want God to look at you? God dwells with and looks at those who are humble, promising to revive them. Turn to Matthew 23, verse 10. Christ again making it clear to them what you should be.

Matthew 23, starting in verse 10, “Neither be called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ” (Matthew 23:10). So what do we have now? Our Master is Christ. All of us have to do what He says. If someone asks you to do something different than He says, then don’t do it. Other than that, you can submit to authority.

Verse 11, “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matthew 23:11). “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Matthew 23:12).

There’s a reversal of fortunes for the proud and the humble from what this world does.

He says the same thing in Luke about taking the chief seat at a wedding. In Luke 14, when he says, “For all those who exalt themselves shall be humbled, and those who humble themselves shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11).

It impressed them what He said, but they still fought with each other for a while. Humility leads to a position in the kingdom. Pride leads to being humbled and not in God’s kingdom.

In James 4:10, James writes, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10). Do we believe that? It’s a promise that He—Christ—will keep when He returns. He’ll lift us up.

Do you want what God wants for you? Do you believe those promises He makes? God’s been shaking the church tree for decades. If you have pride, you’ll fall off. We’ve all seen people fall off. I’ve probably seen more than most. If you remain close to God and are clothed with humility, you’re not going to fall off. You can’t. God’s Spirit will keep you there.

Turn to Isaiah 2. We’ll read verses 11 and 12, if you would. Again, you see humility is the pathway to receiving God’s grace and His blessings. That’s the path. Pride leads to downfall and opposition. Humility leads to honor and life. Pride leads to humiliation and death. Which do you want?

Isaiah 2:11, “The eyes of the arrogant shall be humbled, and the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:11). Verse 12, “For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low” (Isaiah 2:12).

All the people. That will come. Again, Isaiah prophesies the humbling of the proud and the exaltation of God.

Romans 12:3. Again, Paul writing to the Romans. Similar type thing. “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3).

Christ taught Paul the same things He taught His disciples. Service. Humility. Do you have a realistic view of yourself?

You know, 1 Corinthians 13:4, the love chapter, says, “Love suffers long, and is kind; love envies not; love vaunts not itself, is not puffed up” (1 Corinthians 13:4).

If you’re proud, you don’t have God’s love. If you’re humble, you can. We had a book that we produced, Mr. Armstrong. The world leaders would always call me and ask, what do you believe? What are you about? When he’d visit different world leaders. Usually it was the understudies who would call me, because they wanted to know what, you know, this man we’re letting in to see our leader or our king or whatever. They wanted to know who he is.

Mr. Armstrong got upset and thought I was trying to buy meetings by saying who he was with the documents we produced. I said, Mr. Armstrong, what do you ask me when someone wants to see you? Who is he? What does he do? What does he want? I have to ask these same questions. I said that even if the leader knows who you are, the people under him don’t.

And so we ended up writing a booklet, The Ambassador for World Peace. He’s looking at it, he’s looking at some of the pictures we’re putting in it, and he says, Aaron, why aren’t you in any of these pictures? And I said, Mr. Armstrong, I am. He said, well, where? I said, well, here’s this picture. I’m here. Here’s this picture. I’m over here. And then I turned to him and I said, see you and Judge Singh there? See that painting between you? I said, that was one of the evangelists that got between you and the leader.

See this picture here, the palm tree painted in there? That was the former treasurer that left. I said, Mr. Armstrong, it costs $500 to airbrush somebody out of a picture. I’m not going to spend the widow’s money getting airbrushed out of a picture. If I go south someday, you’re important. He’s important. I’m not. I have some of the pictures because I have the larger versions of them. But I said, I can do my job a lot better if people don’t know who I am. And that’s the case. It’s true. 

Turn to Colossians 3:12. It’s interesting because Paul, again, talking to the Colossians, says the same things.

“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering” (Colossians 3:12). “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do you” (Colossians 3:13). “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness” (Colossians 3:14). God’s love. God is love. And that is perfect. “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also you are called in one body; and be thankful” (Colossians 3:15).

We have unity. We all are thankful. With human nature, it’s easy not to do those things, because that’s not the way the world works. It’s interesting to look at what people have done in the past. Some of the issues of pride have taken people out of the church. They take hold on a lot of people. I’ve seen it happen. You’ve seen it happen, I’m sure, too. One of those is new truth. New truth usually takes the form of God showing me something that you all don’t see, and you need to follow me. It often leads to separation from the body or leading to a new Church of God group. It’s nothing new.

Peter, John, and Paul all saw it happen. That’s the truth that Jesus taught being changed in their time, in their day. They wrote of it. It frustrated them. Gnosticism was based on new truth in the Greek philosophies. Things mentioned include Jesus was not really human, because the Greeks had this idea of light and darkness. And if Christ was God, He had to be in light, so He couldn’t have been human because humans were wrong.

There were Diotrephes, who John writes about, seeking preeminence among others. He threw out people John sent to him. I can’t imagine throwing out someone that was with Christ. I’d want to lock the doors and keep them in the house and get every story I could out of them. But he threw them out. He probably used some of these new truths to convince people. I’m sure he was an eloquent speaker. He probably looked good, with things that people tend to look at, unfortunately. And he was able to take over the church, but he was wrong.

And 3 John shows people that they bought into it and followed him, letting him throw people out. Some new truth is simply old truths resurrected, such as the calendar and sacred names. They’ve come up and down, up and down, up and down for years. You can be susceptible to things that may seem new or seem real and sound good.

Mr. Armstrong was presented with this at one time. A minister came up and said, well, you know, Zechariah talks about Zerubbabel building the temple, and you’re the one God has used to build the church. Joshua had filthy rags on, if you read Zechariah, and that’s your son Ted with the problems. He’s going to repent and come back.

It was something Mr. Armstrong really wanted to believe, and these selective verses in Zechariah seemed to make it fit. Mr. Armstrong couldn’t really read at that time. Even with the magnifying glass, it was difficult. And it was something you wanted to believe. So he preached it for almost a year. And I always bristled, because one day he asked me, Aaron, what do you think? Isn’t it great this is going to happen?

I said, Mr. Armstrong, I hope so. But I said, frankly, God may be showing you something I don’t see, but I don’t see it. That’s right. You don’t see it. He got mad at me. I went and sat on the chair. He realized after half an hour he couldn’t work without me because he couldn’t see. And so he finally came up and said, Aaron, why don’t you see it? I said, can we read that chapter? We did. And I said, Mr. Armstrong, see, that doesn’t fit. See, this doesn’t fit. This verse here doesn’t fit.

He didn’t like it, but he never talked of it again, because the Scripture didn’t agree. And that’s our challenge. If the Scripture doesn’t agree, throw it out. But he wanted to believe it. Again, our duty sometimes is if somebody asks us to disagree. I didn’t want to the first time he asked me if he did something wrong. I figured I’d get fired. But I realized he really wanted to be right with God. And if he wasn’t, it didn’t make any difference who showed him, if it could be proved. That’s humility.

Hang on to something you want to believe when it’s not the truth—that’s pride. Some are here in UCG because they were thrown out of some other groups because of the flaws they saw in that group’s new truth. And they left. Their leader didn’t like it. They didn’t do it like Mr. Armstrong did, when something was proven to him, changing. In the 1950s, Mr. Armstrong didn’t believe that we would be God, part of His family. He thought that was blasphemy. But the Scripture seemed to point to that.

What did he do? He asked the students—eighteen, nineteen, twenty years old—look, this is what it looks like. I want you to look through the Bible, all of you, for the next week or so and just see if there’s anything that disagrees with this in Scripture. None of them could put anything against it. We’re going to be like Christ. We’ll see Him as He is. Quote in the sermonette. Christ is our older brother. Well, if you have a brother, it’s not a dog or a cat. I mean, it’s one of you.

Scripture says it. It’s true. It became part of the church. Mr. Armstrong thought before that maybe we’d be something kind of between angels and God. We knew we’d judge angels. He didn’t know where to put us. But the Scriptures were clear, and that became part of the church. Again, he asked the students to search it out biblically. Pentecost on Sunday was an issue that changed. One gentleman came to Mr. Armstrong, a minister, and basically got upset, called him ignorant. You don’t see this and that.

Mr. Armstrong ended up addressing the attitude. He didn’t get around to the issue. The man was right about the issue, but he was wrong in the way he presented it. A couple other men saw that same thing, and they realized that, yeah, the Bible, we should keep it on Sunday instead of Monday. They kept both days. They kept it on Sunday because they thought it was right, and they kept it on Monday to not cause division in the church. Two years later, it changed. One of them asked, have you ever asked Mrs. Ravved? She was a friend of ours, wife of the Consul General in Los Angeles of Israel. She taught in Sabbath school in the synagogue.

So he did. He went there and asked her, what does this mean? And she said, oh, that means you start counting on that day. But it says count away from in English. She said, well, that’s wrong. That’s not the Hebrew. Count on it, which means it moves up a day, a Sunday. Well, he didn’t like that, but he went to the Hebrew University when we were in Jerusalem the next time. And he went to them and said, hey, what does this scripture mean? How do you count this?

You start with this day, and it ends on a Sunday. He went to the Bible translators and said, hey, you guys are translators—what does this mean? They all three agreed. So in 1974, in April, we started keeping Pentecost on Sunday instead of Monday. The two men who just asked simple questions were still in the church. The other man left. Pride versus humility. Patience is a sign of humility. I truly believe that attribute helps you have the humility you need. Demanding your way, even if true, is one of pride. It leads to destruction.

Pentecost is still a controversy now. I read about the symbolism of Jesus as the unleavened wave sheaf offering, offered when the wave sheaf offering was acceptable to God, which is what happened. True, that’s there. Now people are comparing the two leavened loaves that Pentecost offered up to God as the church. And some people are stating, well, that’s when we rise for the wedding supper. And therefore, it will be that. And they add to it the sea of glass and different things to try to add credibility to it.

And so they think it must be the firstfruits rising to meet God. But that’s not what Pentecost is about. It’s about the Holy Spirit coming to the church and other things. And the question I ask people who have brought that to me is pretty simple. I ask the question, are the two witnesses at the end time firstfruits? Most people say yes, obviously. I say, okay, when does the Bible say they preach? Well, they preach before Christ comes, and they die three days or so before Christ returns as King of kings on the Day of Trumpets.

Okay, if they’re firstfruits and they die three days before Christ returns on Trumpets, and Pentecost is when the supper is, are the two witnesses up having dinner? Or are they down on earth prophesying? I understand the symbology, but symbology doesn’t take the place of Scripture. And Scripture is quite clear on when they die and that they’re left dead in the street. The other problem is you can say, well, maybe they go up there and come back down. Well, if their spirit beings, how do they die and lie dead in the street for three days? It doesn’t seem to work.

I just ask them, explain that to me. Maybe I’ll buy into it. But it doesn’t fit. Scripture is king, and that’s what we have to look at. Patience shows humility. Arrogance is my way, shows pride. Before ending, I just want to state a few misconceptions about humility, because there are some. Some commonly held misconceptions about humility include thinking humility is weakness, mistaking low self-worth as humility, or denying one’s actual achievements to appear humble. A lot of our achievements are examples for others. The achievements of David, slaying Goliath, and others—those are all good things. We don’t hide those.

True humility is not a sign of weakness at all. Christ was the most humble of all, and He certainly wasn’t weak. Nor is it an invitation for others to exploit you because you’re weak. Humble people have strength under control. Christ turned over the money changers’ tables. That was an act of humility. It was strength under control, because they were desecrating God’s temple with what they were doing. You have to have the courage to be vulnerable. Humble people have a secure, healthy self-esteem. Again, Christ was willing to die. He didn’t fight death.

For us, along with being vulnerable, we have to admit mistakes, and we learn from other people. I’ve learned a lot from people. People that did things well, I try to copy. People that did things wrong, I learned from them too. I was able to see those things at a young age that most people don’t get to see, and it helped me a whole lot. A humble person is not a doormat. You can be assertive, but set boundaries. Stand up for yourself when necessary, but without becoming arrogant. It’s not easy, but humility involves knowing when to be flexible and when to stand firm.

Jesus did. He set the example. Some think being humble requires low self-esteem, putting yourself down or thinking poorly of yourself. That’s not humility. C.S. Lewis wrote it pretty well when he stated, humility is not thinking less of yourself. Humility is thinking of yourself less. Is it always about you? You can be part of a story—you all are—but there has to be a greater point to that story. It shouldn’t be, follow me, I should be in charge, which so many make it that way.

A humble person has an accurate view of themselves, recognizing strengths and weaknesses. They don’t have an inflated ego, but they don’t hate themselves either. That’s what Jesus said: love your neighbor as yourself—not more than, not less than. A humble person, rather than being preoccupied with whether they are better or worse than others, is outward-oriented, just like Christ was. They are free from the constant need to measure their worth against other people. That’s something we tend to do sometimes, to compare ourselves out of pride. I’m better than them. Well, are you better than God? Better than Christ?

That’s who you compare yourself with. Humility does not require that you hide your talents. A humble person does not overinflate their abilities, but does acknowledge them. Again, the Bible says we should shine as lights to the world. So true humility allows you to acknowledge those things with gratitude. The humble leader takes ownership of mistakes. Yeah, I’ve been wrong. Sorry. But they also share credit with the team when things go well. They don’t take credit to themselves. That’s not what most people in this world do.

Again, it’s not about hiding your light, but shining it on other people as well. Christ exhibited that so well when He takes a step up and brings people with Him. Satan pushes people down so he looks taller. Which way do you use?

He celebrates the success of others and gives credit. That’s why Paul says, “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26).

That’s hard if you have jealousies or a grudge against someone. Very difficult. Those things happen because of pride. Humility lets you rejoice and suffer with others. Humility is not self-deprecation. Oh, I’m no good. I can’t do anything. I’m nothing. That’s not humility. Self-deprecation may seem humble, but it often stems from insecurity and is actually a subtle form of pride, trying to get people to lift you up. It’s a superficial performance of humility, a false humility rooted in pride. A self-deprecating person often seeks reassurance from others. Where does your assurance come from?

Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). That’s where it comes from.

True humility is born of an inner security that comes from God. It doesn’t need external validation. Don’t believe that confidence and humility are contradictory. They’re not. They’re actually a powerful combination in effective leadership. Peter and John were considered uneducated Galileans. And yet, after they had the Holy Spirit, they spoke with authority. People said, these are ignorant men. How come they’re speaking this way? Confident humility is knowing where your strengths lie and having the self-awareness to admit your weaknesses.

Peter and John said, we’re not doing this ourselves. Jesus Christ, whom you crucified, is by Him that we do this. They knew where their authority came from. Humility is a crucial and often underestimated strength in effective leadership. Like Christ before Pilate, He did not act the way Pilate or anyone else expected the King of the Jews to act. He was silent. He knew what He had to do, and He did it. Christ fostered trust. He engaged collaboration. He drove them toward the goal of helping to build His church.

We’re here because of His work and their work, through the Holy Spirit and God’s calling. Humble leaders empower their teams without seeking personal glory. Those collective goals He gave us empower us for others, not just for us. True humility is an inner strength marked by awareness of our reliance on God, not reliance on men or position. That’s where our hope comes from. It focuses on others to help them toward that goal.

Again, the Bible strongly warns against pride, which does the opposite. It focuses on self. It’s a sin that leads to disgrace and, in the end, downfall and opposition from God. God makes it clear in Micah 6:8 what we should be. You probably know that scripture.

“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?” (Micah 6:8).

That’s what God wants. With God’s Holy Spirit, we can do that. If you do what God asks you with all your heart and all your soul and all your might, you find favor with God. But you don’t do it to seek a following. Be seen as someone who is an example to be followed in how to follow God. I give examples of people—I don’t dislike any of the people that I bring examples of. I’ve seen some really good examples, and I use those as well. And I’ve seen a lot of bad ones.

I pray for them. I hope they either repent or that they never had God’s Spirit and they come up in the second resurrection. That’s where we all want to be. These were today’s stories. The stories that you and I read in the Bible were today’s stories for them.

Some of your stories may be today’s stories now for those in the future. We don’t know what God has left to put in the Bible for others that come after us. Their stories were written for us. Yours may be written for them. My bucket is full. I’m old enough now that I don’t really have anything anybody can offer me that I want—although I did have four teeth removed last week and four implants, and I do wish I didn’t have to do that.

In fact, I was wondering if I’d be able to speak today, but it seemed to work. So it’s okay. Fight pride. Seek humility. That’ll help you. Humility draws you close to God. Pride takes you away from Him. Humility and mercy toward others are the central theme. Much of the Bible is about pleasing God. What God wants is for you and me to yield to Him and use the gift of His Holy Spirit to truly become humble.

If you have humility, it will stop division. If you have humility, we’ll have unity and peace. If we have humility, we’ll all be in God’s family as His children. I love helping others look forward with you to the day that we join God and Jesus Christ—and the rest of mankind after their resurrection—and they have a chance as well. If you learn humility today, you’ll use it forever. Learn humility. Eliminate pride.