The Self-Destruction of Pride (Acts 12:18-25)
Notes
Transcript
We live in a very self-centered, proud culture. Pride is something that’s looked on as a good thing. People speak about their truth. They say that what matters are the things that are true for them. Underlying that statement is a concept that we are the most important people in the universe. If the only thing that matters is what is true for me, then I am the most important person. People elevate themselves to a position that only God should have. People focus on themselves instead of focusing on the one who created them. This mindset of pride is destroying people. Pride destroys people, where God wants to build them up.
Truth matters. When we elevate ourselves larger than we should be, we commit a sin called pride. What does this sin of pride do to people, and how can we overcome this sin?
We will look today at an interesting passage in the book of Acts. Turn your Bibles or your Bible apps to Acts 12. We will read verses 18 through 25.
18 At daylight, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.
19 After Herod had searched and did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered their execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.
20 Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. Together they presented themselves before him. After winning over Blastus, who was in charge of the king’s bedroom, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king’s country.
21 On an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a speech to them.
22 The assembled people began to shout, “It’s the voice of a god and not of a man!”
23 At once an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.
24 But the word of God spread and multiplied.
25 After they had completed their relief mission, Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem, taking along John who was called Mark.
The Bible teaches here the self-destruction of pride through the character of Herod Agrippa I.
Herod Agrippa I
The term “Herod” is a dynastic name stemming from Herod the Great, who ruled from 37 BC to 4 AD. Herod the Great is the Herod who ruled during Jesus’ birth and had all of the children in Bethlehem killed.
Herod Agrippa I is a descendent of Herod the Great, and he is the Herod that we see in Acts 12.
What is essential to know about Herod Agrippa I is that he was Jewish. Herod the Great also claimed to be Jewish, but Herod Agrippa I was a practicing Jew. He was trained in Judaism and knew Jewish law.
He is also best friends with the emperor in Rome. For the first time under him, the territories of Herod the Great are united. He is in charge of a vast region (Galilee, Perea, Judea, and Samaria).
Herod Agrippa I had success with the Romans and grew in power under them. He also found a way to have success with the Jewish people.
There was an upstart sect of Judaism called the Way in Jerusalem, although they were now called Christians in Antioch. Herod Agrippa I learned that he could get favor with the Jewish leaders by attacking this group.
1 About that time King Herod violently attacked some who belonged to the church,
2 and he executed James, John’s brother, with the sword.
3 When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
Herod Agrippa I was a politically savvy individual. He figured out that he could get favor with the Jewish leaders by attacking Christians. Herod Agrippa had Rome in his pocket. His best friend was the emperor! He was trying to get the Jews in his pocket as well.
Herod was a man of power. He was doing something the Jewish leaders couldn’t do. He killed one Christian leader, James, and he put another leader in prison, Peter.
He thought he put Peter in prison. He wasn’t happy the morning he discovered that Peter was gone. Herod could not put up with this, so he executed the guards. Herod needed to guard the momentum he was building. Herod was already tight with Rome. If he could have Judaism in his back pocket, he would be unstoppable.
The story moves on to Caesarea, an important port city that comes up several times in the book of Acts. A delegation of people from Tyre and Sidon come to speak with Herod Agrippa I. The text says that Herod was angry with them, but it doesn’t tell us why, and the reason is uncertain. The delegation wins over a guy named Blastus, who was a personal assistant to Herod. They want peace with Herod because they are dependant on him.
Do you get a picture of what is happening? Herod Agrippa I is best friends with the emperor in Rome. Not only does he have power with Rome, but he is gaining inroads with the Jewish leaders for persecuting Christians. He is in control of all Herod the Great’s territory. The people of Tyre and Sidon want peace with him and depend on him for food!
Herod dressed in his royal robes and sat on the judgment seat. The judgment seat is this elevated stone seating area on a high stone platform above the people. Josephus, a Jewish historian, describes what his royal robes were like and what happened. He says that Herod Agrippa I was wearing a garment made of silver that sparkled and gleamed in the sunlight. When Herod spoke to the people, they were in awe. They say he sounds like a god.
The story of this encounter with Herod brings us to this:
Pride leads to a high view of oneself and results in God’s judgment.
Pride leads to a high view of oneself and results in God’s judgment.
Pride is filling up in Herod’s heart. After all, Herod Agrippa I had tremendous power. He has power with Rome, power with the Jewish leaders, and power with the people of Tyre and Sidon. He has control over a vast territory. He can give peace and take lives. People depend on him for food. He sits in judgment over the people, and they claim that he sounds like a god.
Maybe he is a god? Herod Agrippa I is a Jewish man trained in Jewish law, but he’s got power. He is more than a king to these people. He is a god.
The story of Herod Agrippa I is the literal fulfillment of Proverbs 16:18.
18 Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.
Next is the tragic story of self-destruction from pride and the resulting judgment of God.
23 At once an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.
Herod was so caught up in his pride that he failed to glorify God. This tragedy is a story that we see time and again with influential leaders in the Bible. What happens to Herod has happened to other biblical rulers. The Lord spoke through the prophet Ezekiel to the ruler of Tyre about the condition of pride in his heart, and it resulted in God’s judgment.
1 The word of the Lord came to me:
2 “Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Your heart is proud, and you have said, “I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.” Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god.
Look down to verse 6.
6 “ ‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Because you regard your heart as that of a god,
7 I am about to bring strangers against you, ruthless men from the nations. They will draw their swords against your magnificent wisdom and will pierce your splendor.
King Nebuchadnezzar went through a judgment from God because of his proud heart. Look at Daniel chapter 4, starting in verse 29.
29 At the end of twelve months, as he was walking on the roof of the royal palace in Babylon,
30 the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built to be a royal residence by my vast power and for my majestic glory?”
31 While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared that the kingdom has departed from you.
32 You will be driven away from people to live with the wild animals, and you will feed on grass like cattle for seven periods of time, until you acknowledge that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms, and he gives them to anyone he wants.”
Time and again, pride brings about destruction. The Lexham Theological Wordbook defines pride as the following: “an unwarranted attitude of confidence (with) an unhealthy elevated view of one’s self, abilities, or possessions.” We constantly see pride destroying the lives of leaders. That continues today with political leaders and with leaders in the church.
Power corrupts and exposes a proud heart. God never blesses pride. Someone said:
Just as “I” is found in the middle of sin, so “I” is found in the middle of pride.
Pride comes when we forget that our blessings don’t come from our abilities or talents. If you are in a leadership position, it’s not about you. Leadership is a service to God. He has put you in leadership, and He expects the glory.
What does a proud person look like? Pride is something that affects so much of our lives. Here are just a few examples.
It’s looking down on someone, thinking I’m better than that person: “At least I’m not like them.”
It’s bragging about all of your accomplishments, trying to elevate yourself above others.
It’s the feeling like you have nothing to learn because you know it all.
It’s the sense I am more important than others, and everyone should pay attention to you.
When everything is about “me,” that can only last for so long. The truth is that self-importance is a recipe for self-destruction. Pride leads to a high view of oneself and leads to God’s judgment. But this story doesn’t end there. In the last two verses of Acts 12, we see this incredible balance that leads to this second point.
Pride destroys people, but humble obedience to God grows people.
Pride destroys people, but humble obedience to God grows people.
The juxtaposition of what happens to Herod and verse 24 is good. We read about what happens to Herod and the judgment of God upon him for him not giving glory to God. Then the following two verses give us this jarring transition.
24 But the word of God spread and multiplied.
25 After they had completed their relief mission, Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem, taking along John who was called Mark.
You have two completely different pictures. On one side, you have the demonstration of a proud heart, a person with power that has exalted himself and suffered the judgment of God as a result. But what is this on the other side? You have these followers of Christ, these leaders of the church, returning from a relief mission.
What relief mission? We read about it in Acts 11:27-30.
27 In those days some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine throughout the Roman world. This took place during the reign of Claudius.
29 Each of the disciples, according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brothers and sisters who lived in Judea.
30 They did this, sending it to the elders by means of Barnabas and Saul.
What a difference! On one end, we saw Herod, a man with human power, a man corrupted by pride, who fell under God’s judgment. On the other hand, we see a church in humble obedience to the Spirit of God, sending relief to other brothers and sisters in need. Notice how the word of God spreads? It doesn’t spread through powerful men attempting to get the glory for themself. The word of God spreads through people loving God and loving other people, serving together in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible constantly talks about our need for humility.
4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child—this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.
4 Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.
5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Look at how Peter talks about humility towards one another in Christ. He says this:
5 In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time,
I heard this story of a walking stick.
300 Sermon Illustrations from Charles Spurgeon Proud of Being a Walking Stick (1 Corinthians 4:7)
Suppose a man, who is a great pedestrian, has been over the Alps and traversed Europe. Here is his walking stick, and it boasts, “I am the most traveled walking stick in creation! I have smitten the craggy brows of the Alps and bathed myself in the Nile.”
“Well,” says one, “but wherever you have gone you have been carried by a power beyond yourself.” So let the man who boasts in experience remember that in the paths of peace he has gone nowhere except as the Lord’s hand has borne him onward. He has been nothing but a staff in God’s hands, and while he should be grateful he should never be proud.
The word of God spreads as men and women serve God in humble obedience to His Spirit. We are tools in the hands of a mighty and holy God. If you are in a place to help, God has placed you there. Serve in humble obedience to Him. Clothe yourselves in humble obedience to God because God gives grace to the humble.
Humility is not an easy issue because it goes against our human condition. Sin drives us to focus on ourselves, to elevate ourselves as the most crucial person in the universe. But we serve a God who went to the cross because He sees other people as valuable. Humility is the willingness to put other people’s needs above our own. Jesus said:
11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
We are Christians because we follow Christ, a Savior who humbled Himself to death on a cross. May we live humble lives, encouraging others, living as a body of believers who live with humility towards one another. Pride destroys people, but humble obedience to God grows people. May we obey Him daily. Amen.