Paul Irvin - August 23, 2026
/Transcript
OK. All righty. Well, I decided not to do a PowerPoint, so you all are going to have to be looking into your Bibles a bit, rather than looking up at a screen. Trust that will work for you.
All right, an outline before we get started. Sometimes that's helpful, so you can have some idea of direction, and hopefully I will be able to somewhat stick to it. Again, our subject is the aspect of our attitude. Are we prideful in some way, or are we haughty?
Are we arrogant, or are we following the Lord's example of humility in our lives? And we'll start out, well, surprisingly enough, from the book of Proverbs. And we'll be looking at just some precepts, and we will see that Proverbs is very clear about condemning pride and commending humility. And as we've observed all through this summer, that there's usually comparisons involved.
If you act this way, this thing will happen. And if you act the opposite way, then this other thing will happen. And we'll certainly see that regarding our subjects of pride and humility. And then we will look at a parable that illustrates those precepts, one of our Lord's teachings.
And then what I hope will be our primary focus will be on humility and the Lord's pattern for us as he lived that out in his life. And perhaps looking at one or two other examples that we can follow in that regard as well. OK, so the precepts, we'll start out with-- we're going to try to go in order as these things are given in the book of Proverbs. There's probably some reason that they're put in this order.
And if you figure that out, then let me know. I wasn't particularly looking at that. But we'll start out in chapter 6 with this idea. Well, before we get started in that, let me ask you folks, because I do want to see if maybe I always like a little participation here, to think about a definition for pride.
And if you have one that's just not the opposite of that, for humility. So be thinking about those things. And if you have something, I will ask you to share it with us. If not, you'll have to bear with mind.
Proverbs chapter 6, and beginning at verse 16, we read about some things that the Lord hates. We certainly don't want to be involved with things that the Lord hates, things that are an abomination to Him. He says, these six things the Lord hates, yes, seven, are an abomination to Him. And it starts out with this, a proud look.
Or a haughty look. And then he lists other things, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among the brother. I thought it was interesting not only does it start out with the idea of just a proud look being something that the Lord hates or is an abomination before Him. I don't know if that makes it any worse than all the others.
But it does remind us that the sin of pride, and it is a sin, is kind of a foundational sin, if you will. It is the outcome of pride, both as far as the fallen angel, the devil, our adversary, Satan. He, of course, was lifted up by pride, and that was his fall. And then he induced our first parents to disobey, commit the first sin.
And if we look at that, certainly pride was involved in that. First John, the epistle of First John tells us about the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, and those things were certainly involved in the fall. The other thing that I found interesting about this list is that pride is one of those in the list, and maybe the only one that we could fall into and not even necessarily know that we have fallen into it. If we steal something, if we lie, if we are swift to shed blood, all those things are pretty apparent to us that, oh, yeah, that was a sin.
A lot of times, if we're not careful, if we're not yielding to the Spirit, if we're not trying to follow the pattern of our Lord Jesus Christ, it's something that we can fall into. And frankly, it's one of those things that might be more apparent to others around us than it is even to ourselves. OK. Anybody have a definition of pride yet?
OK. That's fine. This was a pop quiz, and the thing is, so as usual, we consult AI for various things. And so I have to tell you that the first time that I looked into this subject and put it into just the rudimentary AI that Google has for us, the Gemini, that surprisingly enough, one of the things that came right up at the top was an article from ethnos360.
Yeah, how about that? So it's not all bad. And somebody's doing something good with getting it out there, getting their material out there, so that AI would pick up on that. It was a very nice article on pride.
So here's a definition that we can think about. And the Bible pride is defined as an attitude of self-sufficiency, self-exaltation, and rebellion, where an individual elevates their own importance, desires, and opinions above God and his authority. It is viewed as the core root of human sin and the opposite of spiritual humility. So it involves self-reliance, self-worship, and then as a result of those things, as we'll see in our parable once we get there, a contempt for others.
OK, going on in Proverbs then, Chapter 8, and we're coming across these things, these precepts to us, just as they occur in the book, verses 12 through 14. Here wisdom is speaking to us directly concerning this subject. I, wisdom, dwell with prudence and find out knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance and the evil way.
He says, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. First of all, that's where we started out, of course, in our study in the book of Proverbs. So we have it coming before us again. And so he's defining evil as pride and arrogance and the evil way.
And the perverse mouth, I hate. Counsel is mine and sound wisdom, I am understanding, and I have strength. Fear of the Lord produces a hatred of evil, and as we've seen already, a hatred of pride and arrogance. OK, Proverbs 11 and verse 2, we're going to see a lot of these contrasts now, few anyway, with pride and humility.
When pride comes, then comes shame. But with the humble is wisdom. Chapter 16 and verses 18 and 19, this one's fairly familiar to us, I think. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud. The consequences of pride of haughtiness is that eventually, either in this life or the next, there will be destruction. But the result of being humble is much better, of course. And we'll see those results here as we go to chapter 18 and verse 12.
Before destruction, the heart of a man is haughty or full of pride, and before honor is humility. We will, again, keep these things in mind as we look at the parable as far as the outcomes of a haughty attitude or one that is humble. And we'll see that humility brings honor, if not in this life and in the next. Proverbs 22, 4, a similar thought, "By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches in honor and life."
Again, we might not see that in our present physical lives often, but it can be and should be. And if we are looking at riches in honor and life in the correct attitude and with the correct vision as to what those things entail, then humility will bring those things to us. And our brother Charles will probably help us out with the aspect of humility bringing riches into our lives next week. OK.
So we have-- there was one other one. One of the outcomes that we see from pride is this. We'll look, first of all, at Proverbs 13:10. So we will go back to pick that one up.
"By pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well-advised is wisdom." And then if you'll flip over to Proverbs 28 and 25, "He who is of a proud heart stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the Lord will be prospered." The outcome of pride and haughtiness is contention and strife. If we find ourselves involved in a situation of contention and strife with others, it may be all their pride that's causing that to take place.
But we need to take an assessment of our own hearts and attitude to make sure that we are not contributing to that strife and contention that we are not being prideful. I thought here, as we consider our subject, is that while humility invites God's grace and mercy, pride ignores God altogether. Humility is based on a proper assessment of ourselves and of God, which is essential to our understanding and accepting of the gospel. Pride puts self first and keeps us from understanding that we cannot save ourselves.
We are all sinners before a thrice, holy God. It's no wonder that the Lord speaks so disparagingly of having a prideful attitude if the outcome of that is to prevent a person from acknowledging that they need a Savior and for understanding that their own sin had before a thrice, holy God, has caused them to need salvation that we cannot accomplish on our own. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But the prideful person, I think, well, I'm not too bad.
I'm pretty good. And if that person is even acknowledging that there is a God, it would say, well, I'm good enough for him. So as we think about the awful results that can take place from pride, we want to also think about the benefits that come from true humility. As we are going to the New Testament, let's stop by just one familiar verse in the book of Micah.
Very familiar verse. Chapter 6 and verse 8. He has shown you, oh 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. There is no other way to walk with God other than to walk humbly with him. If we have a prideful attitude, we will not be walking with God. We've gone over the precepts.
We've seen the difficulties that come from pride or having a haughty attitude and how that compares with humility and the benefits of that in our lives. Let's look at a parable, Luke chapter 18. Of course, it has to be keeping with my somewhat alliterative outline there, the parable of the Pharisee and the public of Luke chapter 18. We'll begin reading from verse 9.
Also, he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector or a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. You can just kind of feel the contempt and the arrogance that the Pharisee was feeling at that point towards the tax collector.
I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess, and so it ended. That was his prayer. He can at least commend the Pharisee that he was showing up to the temple to pray.
His prayer, not so much. The tax collector, on the other hand, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breath, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. One thing that you'll notice right off is the publican's prayer was a whole lot shorter and a whole lot more to God's liking as we will see. Because the Lord tells you, and his reason for bringing these two before those who trusted in themselves was to say this.
I tell you, this man, that is the publican, went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. The Pharisee, he asked for nothing, he confessed nothing, and he received nothing. The publican, on the other hand, asked for mercy, confessed his sin, and received honor or justification from God.
The Lord says those exact-- gives that exact same principle if we just go back to another parable just to emphasize this point. In chapter 14 and verse 11, one of the parables-- the Lord was at the table with a group, again, consisting of some Pharisees and others. Verse 11, "For whoever--" and the parable here has to do with taking the lower place. When you come into a feast, you're invited to someone's event.
Don't take the best place in the house. Take the worst place. Take the lower place because someone else will come in, and they will have to ask you to move back. And so then, again, the conclusion of that is, "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
The reward of humility is that we will obtain God's favor. Again, whether in this life or the next, it's a guarantee. The third time-- well, not taking those in chronological order just the way we're taking them-- that he said the same thing is found in Matthew chapter 23. Here, it was not given in the setting of a parable, the direct teaching to those he was addressing.
Speaking at the beginning of this chapter, it tells us that Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples. And he talks about the Pharisees again. They say a lot of good things. Do what they say.
Don't do as they do. And says this about them, "They love the best places." This is verse 6, chapter 23, Matthew. "They love the best places at feast, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, rabbi, rabbi.
But you do not be called rabbi, for one is your teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father, for one is your father who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers, for one is your teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." The Lord repeats something three times in exactly the same fashion. It's pretty important stuff. And so we have that before us.
So having seen that, let's look at the one who we can look at as our pattern for humility. So we talked about the definition of pride. You can look at humility as being exactly the opposite of pride. It also has been said, and this quote has been attributed to several different people, that true humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.
It's often attributed to C. S. Lewis, also to Rick Warren, more contemporary. We go back a little bit further to John Nelson Darby.
John Nelson Darby had the same thought. And I had often heard that he said that exact same or wrote that exact same thing. But what he did write in a book called The Man of Sorrows is that true humility is forgetfulness of self, the same thing as the same thought as contained within the idea of true humility is not thinking less of ourselves or not to be beating ourselves up unnecessarily, seeing, you know, boy, we're just such terrible people all the time. That's not necessary.
What is necessary is the forgetfulness of self altogether as much as that is possible in our lives. We are to think more of God and his requirements and his desires for us, as well as thinking more of others than ourselves. Romans chapter 12, to start to get some one other thought before us, before we look at our Lord Jesus Christ as the pattern for humility in our lives. We're all very familiar with, of course, the first two verses of this chapter.
I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies of living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And what is part of that perfect will? For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly or accurately, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
Our pattern for a life of humility, of course, our perfect pattern is in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. And no better place is that set out in regards to humility and how that is to impact our lives, his example, than in Philippians chapter 2, of course. We'll just begin at the beginning of this chapter. "Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy--" it's amazing how much mercy shows up in our contemplation of this subject.
"Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition," or conceit, could also say pride, haughtiness, arrogance. "Let nothing be done through that. But in the lowliness of mind," and that's the same Greek word before us there for humility, "let each esteem others better than himself.
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interest of others." And then Paul exhorts us to have this attitude, to have this mind in us, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond server and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. "Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."
Our pattern has been set before us, our perfect example of living a life of humility. As we saw in Romans chapter 12, God doesn't ask us to get up on our cross and to have our bodies treated like the Lord Jesus Christ was treated. He asks us to be living sacrifices for himself. But Paul encourages us here to have that same attitude that our Lord Jesus Christ did exhibit in allowing himself to be taken to the cross for our sakes.
And of course, even before that, he lived a life of humble service. He, several times in the gospels, pointed out that he did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. So service, obviously, is involved in the aspect of humility. I think it's interesting that the ladies are going to be taking up that subject here in their next study.
And as a part of that, I understand one of the things they're going to be reviewing. They're going to have a study specifically on service. But they've also been encouraged to read a book by Ken Fleming called "He Humbled Himself." And this is a copy out of our library.
We appreciate Jonathan and his service in keeping the library up. We should more take advantage of it. But this will be back in there. And Brother Fleming's idea is to bring out the aspect of service as depicted, particularly in this portion of scripture, and to encourage us to be servants to one another as the Lord was to those he came in contact with.
One final exhortation along the same lines is if we just turn back a book into Ephesians. Chapter 4, verse 1, "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord beseech you," again, another beseeching, another begging us to engage in this attitude and with our actions. Here the emphasis is on actions. "I beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
We have the opportunities and everything that we encounter in our lives to have an attitude of self-sufficiency, self-worth, self-worship, in a sense. Or we can have a walk as we have been encouraged to do, to walk in lowliness of mind, to walk in humility, being as it's been brought before us the forgetfulness of self. Week to week, we come and have the privilege and the pleasure of remembering our Lord Jesus Christ and all that He has done in His person and all that He is accomplishing in us and will still accomplish in terms of coming again for us. But in keeping with Brother Darby's definition of true humility, being the forgetfulness of self, we also need to remember to forget ourselves.
Let's close. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank you once again for your word. We thank you for the exhortations that it has to us. Thank you for the wisdom that is given to us in the book of Proverbs, these precepts that are laid out that teach us the outcome of our actions and our attitudes.
We do pray for hearts that would be humble, certainly before you, but also before each other, and that we would endeavor to live lives that would be pleasing to you, that we would indeed walk humbly with you, our God. And our Lord Jesus Christ, we again thank you for being the ultimate example of a life of humility. We pray that we would endeavor to follow your example as we leave this place and go out to a world that is in the need of a Savior, that many that we encounter, we pray that we would deal with them in a humble fashion, confident of the truth, but not arrogant in it, as we pray these things in our Lord Jesus, most precious and worthy name. Amen.
