PRIDE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

Admin Sat 19 Mar 2011, 7:25 pm

PRIDE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

I. INTRODUCTION

Alot of christians today forget who they are in Christ.
We must know our rights in Christ and who we are in Christ, but also
must remember that without Him, we are nothing.

Are we prideful? Do we think who we are? Are we Selfish? Thinking
only of self?
Not christian traits beloved. "Pride" is one of the biggest
roadblocks to PRAYER. Pride, selfishness and self-rightouesness will
keep us from being in God's perfect will.

II. WHAT THE LORD REQUIRES

Micah 6:8 "And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and
to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8).

When we begin to think we can do things ourselves, when we want to be
independent and put ourselves FIRST, we don't live a liestyle
of surrender to our Lord or conducive to christianity. When we think
we can handle things ourselves, we begin to stop relying on God and
seeking Him in prayer.

A. HUMBLENESS

1. Luke 18:13 "God, be merciful to me a sinner"

None of us are without sin. We are all sinners saved by Grace. To be
completed committed to the Lord is to do away with all pride and
self-righteousness. We are to be humble in the sight of the Lord.

It has been said that the Cause of humanity has suffered much at the
hands of people who do what they think God would do if only He knew
the facts in the case. Jesus tells the story of two men, one of
whom is in the act of praising himself as he thinks God would praise
him if only He knew the facts in the case. And since he is in the
Temple, he finds it convenient to let God in on the facts. "I am not
like other men," he tells God. "I am not an extortioner. I am not
unjust. I am not an adulterer. I am not like that sinner standing
over there. I give my fair share to the Temple. And I am obedient to
all the religious laws." Pride will destroy you.

2. Luke 14:8 - We need to put off the old man/woman and
put on the new. Look at this scripture. Luke 14:8,11 "When thou art
bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room..."

(verse 11) For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased and he
that humbleth himself shall be exalted".

Jesus is not teaching social etiquette here. He is getting at
something much deeper. The "wedding party" symbolizes the Kingdom of
God into which we all are invited. The suggested protocol symbolizes
one necessary precondition of entry into the Kingdom: to acknowledge
God's absolute preeminence. We are dependent upon God, absolutely,
for life itself and for the means of bringing life to
fulfillment. "Not my will, but Thy will be done, Lord." Until we are
prepared to say that and mean it, we cannot possibly accept for
ourselves the life-fulfilling Grace God is offering us constantly.
For many of us, this is the point at which the whole religious
enterprise breaks down.

3. Matt.18:4 "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as
this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven".

4. Matt.23:12 "And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be
abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted".

5. Luke.14:11 "For whosoever exalteth himself shall be
abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted".

6. Luke.18:14 "I tell you, this man went down to his house
justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself
shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted".

7. 2 Corin. 12:21 "And lest, when I come again, my God will
humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned
already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication
and lasciviousness which they have committed".

8. Phil. 2:8 "And being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross".

9. Col. 3:12 "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy
and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind,
meekness, longsuffering; "

10. James 4:6 "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith,
God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble".

11. James 4:10 "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord,
and he shall lift you up".

12. 1 Peter 5:5 "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves
unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be
clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace
to the humble".

13. 1 Peter 5:6 "Humble yourselves therefore under the
mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.."

Jesus is looking for a humble people. A people without pride.

B. RIGHTEOUSNESS

We need to put off self-righteousness and be more humble. We need to
seek to be righteous but to do so in a humble manner.

1. Matt. 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

2. Matt. 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for
righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

3. Matt. 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and
his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

We are to seek to be righteous before God but not be self-righteous
where we are lifted up in pride and boastful.

C. WHAT IS MEANT BY RIGHTEOUSNESS

So then is righteousness good or bad? If it is self-righteousness
it then is evil when one is lifted up in pride and self-
righteousness. However, when a humble child of God seeks after the
things of God and seeks to live a righteous and holy life, then it
becomes good.

The Lord is looking for a humble people. Who that are thirsting and
hungering after the things of God.

D. THE WICKED DO NOT SEEK AFTER THE THINGS OF GOD

If you read Psalm 4 you will see that in this psalm we have a full
length portrait of a careless sinner.

Two of the features, which compose this portrait as shown in this
scripture:

1. Unwillingness to seek after God.

2. The second is pride, which causes that unwillingness.
The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek
after God.
God hates pride and the sin of pride.

It is the settled, determined purpose of their hearts, not to seek
him.

E. THE WICKED DO NOT SEEK AFTER THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

The wicked will not seek after the knowledge of God. This the
scriptures plainly assert. The wicked say unto God, Depart from us;
for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. They do not want to
know God and seek no knowledge of Him. They want to stay in their
wicked ways. Much like our generation of today. They follow after
lustful pleasures, riches, glory, but not God.

F. THE WICKED WILL NOT SEEK AFTER THE FAVOR OF GOD

Well it stands to reason that if they want no knowledge of Him that
neither do the wicked seek after the favor of God. It is the
righteous child of God who seeks after the things of God.

The children of God who truly seek to do His Will and follow after
Him need to put away all sin of pride and selfishness and not seek
vain glory or self-righteousness. They need a pure heart, a humble
heart, one who seeks to be righteous in the sight of God but ever
remaining humble in His sight.

G. PRIDE WILL KEEP MAN FROM PRAYING

Pride also renders the wicked man unwilling to pray. They have noi
fear of God, they feel no need to pray. Prayer is an expression of
wants and dependence, and a direct acknowledgment of a superior
which the wicked do not know or care to know.
In addition to this, prayer for the knowledge of God includes a
confession of ignorance, and a request to be taught. But this the
proud man abhors. No wonder then that he will not pray for divine
knowledge. No wonder, that even when he attempts this duty, he
forgets its design, and, like the self-righteous Pharisee, instead
of soliciting pardon, grace and instruction, proudly thanks God,
that he is better than others.

III. STAYING HUMBLE

So then how does one stay humble?
How does one avoid self-righteousness?
How does one become righteous in God's sight?
These questions can be answered simply.
Man needs to acknowledge that they need the Lord. When one admits
that they can do nothing of themself, but need the Lord, they are in
a humble state. That state of humility is pleasing to the Lord.
To be lifted up in pride and think that one knows it all and does
not need the Lord is a state of self-righteousness. This state of
mind will keep an individual from finding favor in the sight of God.

A. FIRST REQUIREMENT

The first requirement of pride is to remove the spiritual blindness.
Any glimpse of God reveals our frailty and sinfulness, just as a
well-lit bathroom mirror shows the flaws in our complexion.
Those who are prideful are spiritually blind. In order to remove the
pride in their life, they have to be humble before God and admit
that they are a sinner. Too often however, mankind is busy with
career, family and even church work to even realize they have
blinders on. In reality, we may be running away from God by running
away from ourselves. Nearly everyone else can see that we are
putting on a show, but not us. Our coworkers may hate us (they are
just jealous), our children may self-destruct or leave us (they are
ungrateful and rebellious), and we may never truly pray but are
diluding ourselves into thinking we are doing the right thing.

B. SECOND REQUIREMENT

Is to admit that we are nothing without the Lord. We can do nothing
without Him. Admitting that we are in need of a Savior is the first
step toward being humble and losing the pride and self-righteousness
in our lives.

Beloved, put away pride and selfishness. Be humble, love
mercy, walk justly with out God.
Copyright

1997 Theresa Quinto Pavone
Revised