"Now an argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great."
Good Morning beloved,
We welcome you to worship today in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We're glad you're here. If you have been enjoying your time with us, growing in the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord, we'd like to encourage you to invite others whom you believe would benefit. Our goal is to glorify God, to see Christ lifted up and exalted, so that we might have a deep fellowship with Him. I humbly ask that you would pray that God would continue to bless this ministry in reaching the lost, and that they would come to know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
Jesus said, you cannot enter into His kingdom if you don’t come by way of the narrow road, a journey that signifies self-denial and transformation, refusing to associate with your former self and embrace a new identity in alignment with His teachings and principals. Such a transformation involves making sacrifices and choices that may not always align with personal comfort or societal norms. In today's world, where self-exaltation is prevalent and self-gratification is celebrated, it becomes increasingly challenging for individuals to turn towards Christ in submission. Nothing is more natural than pride to a fallen humanity, therefore, pride has to be broken in order for people to be saved, and it must be continually broken for them to be sanctified.
In our last message, we briefly addressed the issue of pride. It is crucial to understand that pride is not merely an isolated sin but the foundation upon which all other sins are built. Pride is a rebellion against God, and serves as a barrier between God and man, preventing people from seeking genuine salvation, because pride says, "I know what God says, and I choose to disregard it! I want what I want, and I am entitled to it." There is nothing more rebellious in the heart of a believer than to accept all the Christ has done on his behalf and refuse to give back the reverence, purity and holiness He deserves. Christianity is not about self-seeking self pleasure, it is about allowing the Word of God to dominate your decisions, in faithful obedience to His commands, and if necessary, even unto death. If you're a Christian, your pride was broken at the time of your conversion, when you came to Christ with a broken and contrite heart, acknowledging your spiritual bankruptcy. Have you noticed it isn't dead yet, it keeps coming right back? It's been severely wounded but as long as we're in this earthly flesh suit, it won't die, it just hangs on for dear life. That's where sanctification kicks in, the ongoing, lifelong process on the Holy Spirit constantly having to subdue that pride. It dies hard doesn't? That's why the Lord allows trials to come into our life to break that pride, crushing it little by little. We are being transformed by the Holy Spirit to reflect the image of Christ in the world. It is truly disheartening, to witness so many "comfortable" Christians who are far more content crossing over the boundaries that are clearly defined in God’s Word to be like the world than the Lord they claim to love.
In man's relentless attempt to elevate himself, seeking to un-god God and become the master of his own destiny, we have really messed things up. In our misguided ambitions, we have exchanged the sweet for the bitter, the Truth for the lies, and prioritized material wealth and possessions over people and the pursuit of peace, however, satisfaction and happiness have not necessarily followed suit, have they? Instead, we seem to have become successful at creating an environment of widespread confusion and chaos. In today's narcissistic society where everybody demands to be number one, I believe we must learn to consider the broader implications of our choices. So, today's text is a lesson in humility; humility against a backdrop of individual pride, selfishness and self-fulfillment.
In my personal journey, I have discovered that my greatest joy and sense of peace comes from fully committing myself to God's plan, even when the road ahead is uncertain. A process that requires embracing the unknown with unwavering faith, and placing absolute Trust in God and His promises. I've found it helps significantly to keep a journal of all the many times He has come through for me, especially in those moments when the future seemed unpredictable and daunting, enabling me to navigate life's challenges with greater ease and a profound sense of security and assurance, that if God did it before, surely He can do it again.
Let's pray together
Heavenly Father,
Father, we thank You for Your Word, so powerful, so precious, able to build us up and to bring us low. We choose to reject the lies of the enemy and celebrate the Truth of Your Word. We confess, that like the disciples, we'll need to hear this again and again before we finally get it and even then we'll need to be reminded over and over. Lord, thank You for Your unending grace. Help those of us who have received Your grace, mercy and forgiveness to willing extend it to other. Thank You for humbling us and we ask that You would continue to remove the remaining pride in our lives, so that we might be more useful to You. May it be for Your glory.
Amen.
Today's Message: The Ugliness of Pride
Pride is an unusual sin, isn't it? We can see it in others, and is detested in. However, we can rarely detect it in ourselves and when we do, it is often justified. Even as Christians, we can become proud, proud of how spiritual we are, how much Scripture we can quote and the positive changes we've made in our lives, rather than how much Scripture have applied to our lives. Although pride cannot be seen, the stench of pride can certainly be smelled, especially by those outside the church. Arrogance and self-righteousness among Christians has deterred untold multitudes of people, keeping them away from the church and a true knowledge of Christ. Our pride often makes us think we are better than others, to superior to get our hands dirty and much too good to be humble servants of one another. I believe there is a need in the church today, for men who not only teach the Bible to our young men, but embody the principles of the Gospel through their actions, living them out with integrity. Displaying a blend of strength, gentleness, humility, and meekness alongside their convictions. Choosing peace over conflict is a lost virtue in the world, as well as the church today. Crushing pride is a product of the Holy Spirit's work in our lives, reflecting the transformative power of the Gospel. I believe churches need to cultivate an environment where humble men can thrive and, in turn, nurture the next generation of men to follow in their footsteps.
Take out your Bibles and open them with me to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 9 verses 46-48. Though this is a brief portion of Scripture, it is no less important, in fact, in many ways it is a very crucial turning point in the Gospel of Luke, verses 46 through 50 record the last two incidents in Jesus' Galilean ministry. As many of you know, beginning with verse 51, Jesus begins traversing toward Jerusalem, where He's eventually crucified, buried for three days, raised from the dead on the third day and finally ascends back to the Father. I pray that you will follow along with me as I read to set the text in our minds. Luke 9:46-48.
"Now an argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great."
Let's look at verse 46, "Now an argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest." It's as if His statement, Let this sink into your ears, before telling them about His upcoming suffering and death had fallen upon deaf ears. They had just came down from the mountain, where they witnessed the transfigured Lord engaging in conversation with a post-resurrection Moses and Elijah, saying everything is right on schedule and they’re heading back to Capernaum and along the way they're already having a dispute as to which one among them might be the greatest. This scenario highlights the ugly manifestation of human pride, we can't help ourselves, pride will always seek to exalt itself. It becomes even more of a struggle to practice humility when you know that you were personally chosen by God, isn't it? The challenge is trying to balance having been personally chosen by God which can easily lead to an inflated sense of self-importance with humility, exemplifying the ongoing battle between pride and modesty. Satan uses pride to prevent us from seeing ourselves clearly, it's conceived in the heart but it isn't unable to be contained there for long, before it begins to wage a war within us.
By the way, this isn't the first time Jesus confronts their competitiveness. On a previous occasion, James and John, known for their zeal and ambition, took an extraordinary step by involving their mother in their aspirations, asking their mother to intercede on their behalf with their desire to occupy positions of honor and authority by sitting on His right and left hand. I believe it's important to recognize the contributions of others and understand that our successes are often the result of a collective effort rather than merely a solitary endeavor. As part of the ongoing sanctification process, you need to understand the Lord will do whatever the He needs to do to break your self-confidence to keep you from exalting yourself. In Mark's parallel account, he tells us they had just returned from traveling and they are back in Capernaum, which was sort of the headquarters for Jesus' ministry, they are most likely at Peter's house and He began to question them, "What were you discussing on the way?" Not because He needed them to tell Him, He already knew the sin that was in their hearts. He's about to confront their pride and give them a lesson on humility. But they kept silent, no doubt due to the embarrassment stemming from their self seeking exaltation. Pride will always seek to destroy unity within the Body of Christ. If you begin to notice division among the people of God, you can be sure that's Satan is in the middle of it. However, it never stops there, I am convinced that Satan has been seeking for some time to destroy the fellowship God intended to unify the Body of Christ. Pride is self-absorbed, which is very destructive to the church, because somebody isn't getting what they want. Just look at Hollywood, that's why there's so many award categories, everybody wants to be the greatest. It's the opposite in the kingdom of God, true greatness is not determined by personal status, but by selfless, sacrificial service.
Verse 47, "But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side." Remember back in Luke chapter 5, when Jesus said to the paralytic, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you." And, the scribes and Pharisees began reasoning in their hearts, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" Jesus confronted them too. Pride reveals depravity. You can almost hear the twelve arguing amongst themselves, tearing at each others throats. Peter was probably reminding them that he was the first to confess Jesus as Messiah. And Andrew saying "Hey big brother, not so fast, I’m the one who introduced you to Jesus in the first place. While James and John were probably saying, "Hello, we're related to Jesus, and blood's thicker than water." Or maybe Peter, James and John were saying "Look, it has to be one of the three of us, it was us Jesus invited up to the mountain when He was transfigured." Whatever they were saying, you can't miss the spiritual immaturity going here. But, that's the world they were living in, it's what they were used to. It's sad to say, not much has changed in over two thousand years. Sure, we might say we're all equal at the foot of the cross, but there's still a pecking order among the religious people. Personally, I find it really is disgusting that the professed people of God act that way. And, it's not exclusive to the church, it's in the secular society too. I see cars with bumper stickers or those little signs in the back window, "My kid is an honor student." It's like saying "My kid is better than yours!" There's really no other way to explain. We all should be proud of our children and give honor where honor is due, when they done something worthy of honor. The problem is we give everybody a trophy just for showing up. Some of you understand what I'm saying. Others, will probably find fault with it. The bottom-line is pride is a sin that will eventually ruin everything and it's the antithesis of what the Lord calls us to be. It's like Proverbs 16:5 says, "Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to Yahweh; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished." In Romans 2:5, Paul writes "But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God."
But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking was a heart problem, because all human beings have a wicked, depraved, stubborn heart, Jesus took a child and stood him by His side. Over the years, I've heard many say this child was an infant, but it would appear to me that the child is old enough to stand, yet, in Mark's account he says He took him in His arms, so it was probably a toddler, old enough to stand yet small enough to hold in His arms. The simple lesson on humility He's about to illustrate is what's important. Follow along as I read from Matthew's account in chapter 18, "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever therefore will humble himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea."
Jesus is saying that small children are weak and vulnerable. They make virtually no contribution to their care, they are completely dependent on the adults caring for and protect them. This powerful imagery serves as a two-fold lesson; first a lesson on humbling oneself and adopting the reliant nature of a small child, completely dependent on Christ for our righteousness, or you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. I don't care who you think you are, or what you think you've accomplished, you need to understand it's worth nothing to God. You have nothing of achievement to commend yourself. There's no such thing as a pecking order in the kingdom of God, everybody is the same, greatness is not relative. Paul reminds us in Romans 3:10-12, "as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; There is none who does good, there is not even one" The sin of pride fails to recognize your dependence on Christ, it has absolutely no place in God's kingdom; whoever exalts himself is going to be humbled by God in judgment. Those who humble themselves are going to exalted in due time.
Secondly, Jesus also issues a very stern warning against leading vulnerable believers astray, it is better for that person to have a massive millstone hung around his neck, and be drowned in the depths of the sea. New believers are fragile and susceptible to false teaching. Those of us who are more spiritually mature are to nurture and protect those who are most vulnerable, not take advantage of them of their vulnerability and defenselessness. He's emphasizing the weightiness of responsibility of fostering a nurturing and protective environment for the spiritually young.
That brings us to verse 48, "Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great." Jesus uses a visual illustration to help make His point, whenever you receive one another as a child, you receive Me. You receive Me, you receive the One who sent me, the Father. If you believe that you are far too superior to serve others, then you are severely misguided. Never imagine yourself too significant to bother with those who belong to God. You need to recognize that since Christ lives in every believer, when you turn away from one of His own, you are also rejecting He Who lives in them. So, make time every child of God who comes to you, they are the Father's too. John Stott, the late influential preacher, Bible scholar and prominent theologian, once insightfully said "Pride is your greatest enemy, humility is your greatest friend." By learning to recognize our own imperfections and limitations, we open ourselves to appreciating the gifts, talents, skills, and achievements of those around us. Serving others is what leads to true greatness.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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