Sermon Tone Analysis

Pride Goes Before the Fall

*December 2, 2007*

*2 Chronicles 26:4-21*

Charles Stanley relates this story: “Years ago while I was on a business trip, I found myself talking with a leader of a large Christian organization.

We were together for a short period of time, and after a few minutes, he smiled and said, “Charles, we’re at the top of our game.

No one is doing what we have done.

We’re the leader, and I don’t think anyone can catch us.”

Immediately my heart sank — not because I wanted to be number one, but because I could sense God saying, “Don’t ever let that idea cross your mind.”

Charles said, “At that moment, it felt as though the Lord had sent an arrow straight into my heart.

I knew exactly what He was saying to me.

Pride brings destruction, and it does not belong in the life of a believer.

At least, not the kind of pride that lifts self up and fails to glorify and honor God.

Perhaps this man did not recognize what he had said.

Or it may have been that God wanted to send a word of cau­tion to me.

Regardless, pride can and does explode God’s plan for our lives.”

Let’s read today’s Scripture.

Please turn to 2 Chronicles 26 and we’ll read verses 4 through 21: /And he did right in the sight of the LORD according to all that his father Amaziah had done.

And he continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the vision of God; and as long as he sought the LORD, God prospered him.

Now he went out and warred against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in the area of Ashdod and among the Philistines.

And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gur-baal, and the Meunites.

The Ammonites also gave tribute to Uzziah, and his fame extended to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.

Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the corner buttress and fortified them.

And he built towers in the wilderness and hewed many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the lowland and in the plain.

He also had plowmen and vinedressers in the hill country and the fertile fields, for he loved the soil.

Moreover, Uzziah had an army ready for battle, which entered combat by divisions, according to the number of their muster, prepared by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the official, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king's officers.

The total number of the heads of the households, of valiant warriors, was 2,600.

And under their direction was an elite army of 307,500, who could wage war with great power, to help the king against the enemy.

Moreover, Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows and sling stones.

\\ And in Jerusalem he made engines of war invented by skillful men to be on the towers and on the corners, for the purpose of shooting arrows and great stones.

Hence his fame spread afar, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong.

/Now, here’s the crux of the passage/: But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.

Then Azariah the priest entered after him and with him eighty priests of the LORD, valiant men.

And they opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense.

Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful, and will have no honor from the LORD God."

But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the altar of incense.

And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he himself also hastened to get out because the LORD had smitten him.

And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the LORD.

And Jotham his son was over the king's house judging the people of the land.

/

Many times, we begin our Christian walk well.

Our focus is set on God, and our hearts are fully committed to Him.

Then without warning, pride begins to rise up, pre­venting us from being all God wants us to be by blinding us to His ways.

It tempts us to believe that we know better than He does.

If left unchecked, pride will alter our attitude toward God and the route He has chosen for us to take.

As believers, we need to be aware of Satan’s goal, which is to deeply wound and destroy the lives of God’s children.

He never gives up on his quest to reach this goal and will wreak as much havoc as possible in the life of a believer.

Our last message from Ephesians warned us about Satan’s ways in 6:11-12, before exhorting us to put on the full armor of God to protect us from that wiley creature – the devil.

And our innate pride is one of our weaknesses that Satan loves to use against us.

Pride, our selfish natural, is a constant struggle.

Of all the struggles discussed in the Bible, pride is the one that has the most devastating results.

Many of our problems result from pride’s work in our lives, but too many people fail to realize this.

They become prideful over the good things God has given them — jobs, children, churches, pastors, education, neighborhoods and much more.

God is very specific.

He hates pride.

In fact, it is at the top of His list of sins that He despises: “Pride and arrogance and the evil way…And the perverted mouth, I hate” says Proverbs 8:13.

The New International Version translates this bluntly: “I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.”

Each morning, the enemy lays out his landmines in our lives.

If we are not dis­cerning, we will fall prey to his tactics.

The landmine of pride can tear a gaping hole in the life of the person who yields to its folly.

It is one of Satan’s chief modes of opera­tion and favorite weapons of warfare because it tempts us to take our eyes off God and place them on ourselves.

When our daughter Lindsay was young, she was very shy.

One day a friend’s wife exposed to us that Lindsay’s shyness was pride.

It’s true.

She was afraid of what people thought of her.

That is pride.

What do people think of you?

If you are afraid they’ll think badly of you, chances are it is pride that is causing you to feel that way.

In his book /Power through Prayer /E.

M. Bounds writes, “[Today] somehow, self, not God, rules in the holy of holies…Self­ability in some wicked form has defamed and violated the temple which should be held sacred for God.”

No matter how hard we try to cover it up, excuse it or justify it, pride produces the same result — arrogance and rebellion against God.

Are you self-able?

You may ask, “Isn’t it right to have pride in my ability?

After all, I have talents and I’m smart.

What possibly could be wrong with me taking pride in the talents God has given me?”

There is nothing wrong with having a sense of pride in doing things well.

God gives us talents and abilities to use for His glory, and He wants us to do our best.

When we do, we honor Him and His life within us.

But beware you do not think more highly of your abilities than you ought.

Romans 12:3 warns us to think soberly or with sound judgment.

The Living Bible says: /“Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you.”/

Yes, God gave you your natural talents and abilities and therefore He, and only He, deserves the glory.

However, many people fail to honor the Lord with their attitudes.

They become self-centered, not self-able.They believe Satan’s lies, which tell them they can accomplish whatever they want apart from God.

This line of thinking always leads us away from God.

And Satan wins the battle.

God called a young man to the mission field.

From the beginning, one trial after another assailed him.

Each time, according to him, the problem involved key leaders within his organization.

Amazingly, he refused to admit that he was part of the problem — it always was someone else.

The young man began to tell others that those in authority over him could not do the work as well as he could do it.

Soon, he became wrapped up in getting credit for his work, but no one would acknowledge what he had done.

He was too prideful, and while his friends and coworkers real­ized this, he did not.

A short time later, he became discouraged, disgruntled and dis­appointed.

Pride tempts us to believe we are better than someone else.

Suddenly this young man felt as though he could no longer work with this organization.

Without knowing it, his obedience to God was at stake.

He was blinded by his pride and con­vinced that his only option was to leave the very work God had called him to do.

Yet he overlooked one detail: God never rescinds His call.

He may change our circumstances or location, but He will never ask us to abandon His will.

The first step this young man took toward defeat came when he did not submit himself to the authority over him.

He mistakenly believed that he knew more than the leadership God had placed in his life.