0:00

When I am driven by

0:02

my own pride and not

0:04

by humility, I begin to

0:06

prefer myself to other people

0:09

and begin to act in

0:11

a hottie, a mean-spirited

0:13

and prideful way against

0:15

other people, all of

0:18

which again links pride to

0:20

selfishness, because selfishness and pride

0:22

go hand in hand where

0:24

the center of our concern

0:27

is the self. C.S.

0:35

Lewis said that the humble man

0:37

will not be thinking about humility

0:39

because he will not be thinking

0:41

about himself at all. This

0:44

side of glory, we will all continue

0:46

to battle against pride and the

0:48

various ways that it can appear in our life.

0:51

And today, on this Thursday edition of

0:53

Renewing Your Mind, R.C. Sproul

0:55

will share what he knew to

0:57

be the only antidote for pride.

1:01

Love does not boast, it is not

1:03

arrogant or rude, it does not insist

1:05

on its own way. It's

1:08

this humble love that Dr. Sproul will

1:10

address today. Before he does, I do

1:13

want to remind you to request

1:15

this entire 20 message series at

1:17

renewingyourmind.org with your donation of any

1:20

amount while there's still time, as

1:22

this offer ends tomorrow. Here's

1:25

Dr. Sproul continuing his study of

1:27

biblical love from 1 Corinthians 13.

1:33

As we continue now with our

1:36

study of growing in the Christian

1:38

life and developing a

1:40

Christian character, we've really looked

1:42

at this process in various segments.

1:44

We've spent considerable time on

1:47

the importance of establishing the assurance

1:49

of salvation. And now

1:51

we're looking at the standard

1:55

of sanctification that we find in

1:57

the New Testament in terms

2:00

of the fruit of

2:02

our salvation. We saw the fruit of

2:04

the Spirit that Paul listed in Galatians,

2:07

and we've also been looking now

2:10

at 1 Corinthians 13, the great

2:12

love chapter, because in

2:15

that chapter Paul elevates

2:17

love to the greatest fruit

2:19

of the Spirit and the

2:21

greatest of the Christian virtues

2:25

and incorporates in the

2:27

Corinthian letter an

2:30

expanded understanding of

2:32

the fruit of the Spirit as it's connected

2:34

to love. In Galatians, he

2:37

mentions love as the first fruit

2:39

distinct from the other fruits, whereas

2:41

in 1 Corinthians, the other fruits

2:44

are shown to be extensions of

2:47

the virtue of love. And so,

2:49

let's look once more at 1

2:51

Corinthians 13, and

2:53

we'll look at it today, beginning

2:56

in the second part of verse 4. We

3:00

saw already the passage, love

3:02

suffers long and is kind,

3:05

love does not envy.

3:08

And then Paul goes on to say, love

3:11

does not parade itself,

3:15

is not puffed up,

3:18

does not behave rudely,

3:20

and does not seek its

3:22

own. Now, these

3:25

characteristics of love in terms

3:27

of what love does not

3:29

do are all

3:31

linked to one of

3:34

the most deadly of

3:36

the deadly sins of which

3:38

the Old Testament speaks, and

3:40

that has to do with the sin of

3:43

pride. The

3:46

late Swiss theologian Karl Barth

3:49

once made the observation that the

3:51

three most basic

3:54

fundamental sins

3:58

of the human heart are,

4:01

first of all, pride, and

4:03

second of all, sloth,

4:08

and third of all, selfishness.

4:13

And these also are interrelated,

4:15

but the Scripture has much

4:17

to say about pride.

4:22

We hear the famous expression,

4:24

pride goeth before what? The

4:27

fall. Yes, that's not right. But

4:29

I knew that somebody would answer

4:31

my question that way. That's

4:34

an abbreviation, a telescoping of

4:36

the whole proverb. What

4:38

the Bible says about pride

4:41

is that pride goeth before

4:43

destruction and

4:47

a haughty spirit,

4:49

haughty, H-A-U-G-H-T-Y, a

4:52

haughty spirit before the

4:55

fall. So we

4:57

condense that and say pride goes

4:59

before the fall. And

5:02

one of the reasons why

5:04

Scriptures tell us that pride

5:06

precedes destruction and pride anticipates

5:09

a falling is

5:11

elaborated in the New Testament, as we've

5:13

already seen in an earlier study on

5:15

the book of James, that

5:18

God resists the proud,

5:21

and He gives grace to

5:24

the humble. And

5:26

so we see these

5:28

contrasting human characteristics, pride

5:31

and humility, humility and

5:33

pride. These two are

5:36

polar opposites. Now

5:39

pride, arrogance, haughtiness,

5:44

what the earlier translation

5:46

calls a vaunting spirit,

5:49

all of these characteristics are

5:51

again linked to the idea

5:54

of pride. And now we

5:56

have to ask the question, why

5:58

are we so proud? What do we... have

6:00

to be proud about. Paul

6:04

tells us elsewhere, let him who

6:06

boasts, boasts in

6:09

the Lord. And he

6:11

also indicates that we ought

6:13

not to think more highly

6:15

of ourselves than we

6:17

should, but that we ought

6:20

to have a sober

6:22

assessment, a sober evaluation of

6:25

who we are, of our strengths, of

6:27

our weaknesses, of our gifts, and

6:29

of our lack of gifts, and

6:32

have an honest

6:34

evaluation of our own

6:36

capacity. Now, when

6:38

we talk about evaluating who

6:41

we are and

6:43

having a sober

6:45

assessment of

6:47

the degree of our worth and

6:50

of our strengths and so on,

6:52

we need some kind of standard

6:55

by which to measure that. And

6:58

the Bible, in measuring

7:00

human activity, uses

7:02

alternately two different

7:05

standards. In

7:08

the first place, the ultimate

7:10

standard by which all virtue

7:13

is judged is

7:15

God Himself supremely,

7:18

and then proximately

7:21

in the person and work

7:23

of the God-Man, the perfect

7:25

man, Jesus. Now,

7:29

if we go to those standards to

7:32

measure ourselves and

7:35

make an honest evaluation of the character

7:37

of God and then look at our

7:39

own characters, what's the inescapable conclusion we're

7:42

going to come to? That

7:45

we have not just a

7:47

little bit to be proud

7:49

about, but we have nothing

7:51

to be proud about, because

7:55

when we compare ourselves by

7:57

the standard of virtue, and

8:00

of excellence and of

8:02

loveliness, it is

8:05

no wonder that the Scripture

8:07

uses some of the most

8:09

graphic terms imaginable to

8:12

describe the baseness of

8:15

our humanity. You

8:17

know, it's not just a self abasement

8:20

that makes an Old Testament man cry

8:22

out, I

8:24

am a worm. That seems to

8:26

denigrate the value of humanity to

8:28

say that we are

8:30

as lowly as worms.

8:32

You think of that thing that's attached

8:35

to the earth, that squiggly, dirty

8:37

thing called a worm, and we can

8:40

think of very few things that are

8:42

lower in esteem than

8:44

a worm, and yet biblical

8:47

characters will beat themselves on the

8:49

chest and say, behold, I

8:52

am a worm. And Jesus was not

8:54

far away from this kind of an

8:56

evaluation when He looked at His contemporaries

8:58

and called them serpents. I

9:01

remember John Calvin made a

9:03

comment about babies when

9:05

he was speaking about the

9:08

inherent corruption of the human

9:10

race and that

9:12

infants are born in original sin

9:15

and trying to explain the

9:17

degree of depravity with which

9:20

we enter the human experience.

9:22

Calvin made the statement that

9:25

babies are as

9:27

depraved as rats, and

9:31

I've seen that statement quoted

9:33

by opponents of Calvin

9:35

and say, look at this, what

9:37

an insult the human dignity this

9:39

is to call little babies as

9:42

wicked or as depraved as rats.

9:44

And I have to go on record

9:46

here of saying I also strenuously

9:49

disagree with John Calvin in that

9:51

association. I think it's a slip

9:53

of the pen by the

9:55

great reformer because he doesn't do

9:57

justice to the rat. Our

12:00

station in the universe is

12:02

of a higher degree than

12:05

any rat. So obviously

12:07

God has invested more dignity

12:09

in people than He has in

12:11

rats. That's what makes

12:14

our sin so serious. The

12:17

very elevated status and station that

12:19

God has given to us should

12:23

make us profoundly grateful

12:26

and profoundly humble that

12:29

the Creator should bestow upon us

12:32

this extraordinary level

12:35

of dignity. And

12:38

instead it has become an

12:40

occasion for our pride and

12:43

our imitation of Satan

12:45

himself. The Scriptures say that the

12:47

sin that induced

12:50

Satan himself as an angel

12:52

created above the level of

12:54

men to fall

12:56

away and to revolt against God was

12:58

his pride. The basic

13:00

approach of the serpent to Adam and

13:03

Eve in the garden

13:05

was an appeal and an

13:07

attempted seduction at the level of pride.

13:09

You remember the invitation that he gave

13:11

to Adam and Eve saying that if

13:13

you eat of this tree, what? You

13:17

shall be as gods. And

13:22

so the very first sin of

13:24

the human race was a

13:26

sin of pride, a

13:29

sin of refusing to be

13:32

willing humbly and

13:34

gratefully to submit

13:36

to the authority of God which

13:39

authority is inherent and

13:42

intrinsic. Now if we

13:44

compare ourselves again

13:46

with the character of God, if

13:50

we look in the mirror of

13:52

God's holiness, if

13:55

anything should teach us humility,

13:57

that should be it. merit,

14:01

because we have nothing of which

14:03

to boast in terms of

14:05

our own righteousness or

14:07

of our own goodness,

14:09

virtue, or merit.

14:13

But the Bible is concerned not

14:15

only with our evaluating ourselves with

14:18

respect to the standard of the character of God.

14:22

Even an unfallen creature has nothing

14:25

to be proud about before the

14:28

glory and the majesty of God.

14:31

But also there is that sense

14:34

in which Scripture at times condescends

14:37

to speak about our

14:39

relationship among ourselves

14:42

as human beings. And

14:46

there is where pride

14:48

becomes significantly destructive in

14:50

human relationships and where

14:53

pride violates love.

15:00

Because when I am driven by my

15:03

own pride and

15:05

not by humility, I begin

15:07

to prefer myself to

15:10

other people. And

15:12

I begin to seek a higher

15:14

status, a higher level

15:17

of power, a higher

15:19

level of applause, a

15:21

higher level of honor than

15:25

is rightfully mine.

15:28

And in seeking for that

15:31

honor and for that success,

15:34

so often we denigrate those

15:36

who compete and vie with us

15:38

for the places of power and

15:40

for the places of honor and

15:43

so on and begin to act

15:46

in a haughty, a mean-spirited,

15:48

and prideful way

15:50

against other people,

15:54

all of which again links

15:56

pride to selfishness, because selfishness

15:58

and pride requires

20:00

us to give honor to

20:03

whom honor is due. One

20:08

of the Ten Commandments speaks of

20:10

the need of giving honor. Honor

20:14

your father and your mother. That

20:17

means that you humbly

20:21

submit to their

20:23

status and station as

20:26

parents, and you honor

20:28

them in that role. We

20:30

are to honor the king. We

20:32

are to honor the civil magistrate.

20:36

The student is to honor the

20:38

teacher. The

20:42

employee is to honor the

20:44

employer. We have different levels,

20:46

and all of us live

20:48

in all of these different levels. In

20:51

some places, we are the ones who

20:53

receive honor. In other places, we are

20:55

the ones who are to give honor,

20:57

but we are to do it according

20:59

to what God has established in terms

21:01

of our circumstances. Where pride

21:04

becomes destruction is when we

21:07

refuse to give honor where honor

21:09

is due, and

21:12

set ourselves up arrogantly

21:15

and hotly above

21:19

the place where we have been

21:21

positioned. Self-confidence

21:26

is seen as the supreme virtue,

21:29

and I understand in athletics particularly

21:31

how important it is for a

21:33

player to have confidence when they're

21:35

executing their activities, but

21:37

there is a thin line

21:40

between self-confidence and self-reliance. Self-confidence

21:45

in a virtuous sense is to

21:47

be able to have a sober

21:49

assessment of our own abilities. Arrogance

21:53

really comes from insecurity when

21:55

we don't have the confidence and

21:58

pretend that we do. or

22:00

try to force it and impose

22:02

it by intimidating other people. But

22:06

love is not like that. Love

22:09

is not puffed up. Love

22:12

does not make an ostentatious

22:14

display of one's status, of

22:16

one's wealth, of one's gifts,

22:18

or of one's power and

22:20

authority. To

22:23

love is to be

22:25

humble as Christ was

22:27

humble. One

22:30

of the most dangerous concepts we ever

22:32

consider in the New Testament is this

22:35

concept of pride. We

22:37

may be able to escape the

22:40

indictment that comes with

22:42

the other criticisms of our behavior

22:45

under the law of God, but

22:48

who among us can ever

22:50

escape the indictment of

22:52

pride? You

22:54

may have mastered all kinds of

22:57

disciplines in your life, but

22:59

none ever masters

23:03

the power of pride in

23:05

this world. Think

23:08

of the ways, if you will today,

23:10

in which your pride has gotten you into

23:13

trouble, in trouble

23:15

on the job, in trouble in school,

23:17

in trouble in games,

23:19

in trouble in

23:21

your personal relationships, in trouble in

23:23

your marriage, in trouble with your

23:26

children. Think

23:29

how much destruction has come into

23:31

your life because of

23:33

your pride. And

23:36

also think in terms of the destruction that

23:38

has come into your life because of

23:40

other people's pride. And

23:43

the only antidote I know, the only

23:45

cure for pride I know is

23:47

an understanding of two things

23:50

of who God is and

23:53

who we are. The

23:56

more we understand the character of God.

24:00

And the more we understand

24:02

who we are with

24:04

respect to God, the

24:06

more we will be driven and molded

24:08

to bear the fruit of the Spirit

24:11

in a humble love. That was R.C. Sproul from

24:14

his series, Keeping in Step with the Spirit. And

24:26

this is the Thursday edition of Renewing

24:28

Your Mind. Over

24:30

the past few days, as Dr. Sproul

24:33

has walked through the biblical definition of

24:35

love, we've seen how far the world

24:37

has drifted from a right understanding of

24:39

love, and even how some in the

24:41

church hold to a very watered down

24:43

version of it. It's why

24:46

it's so vital that we return to

24:48

the Word of God and renew our

24:50

minds, our thinking, according to Scripture. The

24:53

message you heard today is from

24:55

a 20-message series, Keeping in Step

24:57

with the Spirit. And you

25:00

can have lifetime digital access to it

25:02

when you give a donation of any

25:04

amount at renewingyourmind.org, or when you call

25:06

us at 800-435-4343. In

25:11

addition to this extensive series

25:13

on Christian character, we'll send

25:15

you a new resource from

25:18

Ligonier Ministries. It's a 90-day

25:20

devotional called Our Great Salvation.

25:22

This newly published resource is filled

25:24

with biblical reflections on the Christian

25:26

life, and we'll send you a

25:29

copy to thank you for your

25:31

donation of any amount in support

25:33

of renewing your mind at renewingyourmind.org,

25:36

or when you click the link in

25:38

the podcast show notes. But be quick,

25:40

because this offer ends tomorrow. Join

25:45

us tomorrow as R.C. Sproul considers

25:48

the fruit of self-control and how

25:50

that relates to love. See you

25:52

then here on Renewing Your Mind.