God is in an all out war against PRIDE this morning. He wants to stamp it out in our lives this morning. Let’s let Him give us an exam this morning and help us cure our “I” problem today! The most glaring portrait of pride is Lucifer, Satan, the devil. His downfall was deadly pride:
In this angelic[1] host of the Lord God in heaven, above the archangels and above the seraphim and above the cherubim, there was one that God chose to be the crown prince of them all. His name was Lucifer, the star of the morning, the leader of the host of heaven, the guardian of the throne of God. Into Lucifer’s hands was committed all that the Lord God had made and all of the angels that He had created. He was beautiful. He was perfect. And in his beauty and in his perfection he said in his pride that he would be like the Most High God.
Look with me at Isaiah 14:12-15. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend (that is self-assertion) into heaven, I will exalt (that is self-promotion) my throne above the stars of God: I will sit (that is self-centeredness) also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend (that is self-exaltation) above the heights of the clouds; I will be like (that is self-delusion) the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Please read James 4:1-12.
In our text, look with me and see that – A genuine Christian recognizes and turns from pride and its evils 4:1-12. Like ink blots on a lovely white wedding dress, these verses in James stain his words to those 1st century church members. When Satan comes into the scene as John 10:10 says he comes “ to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (NKJV).
