WEBVTT 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:13.599 Proverbs 21 verse 1 The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of Yahweh. 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:16.399 He turns it wherever he will. 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:21.600 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but Yahweh weighs the heart. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:25.760 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice. 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:29.440 Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked are sin. 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:31.839 They're sin. 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:33.840 This is the word of God. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:46.960 The Heisenberg uncertainty principle is a principle that basically teaches you cannot know both the position and speed of a particle, like a photon or electron. 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:49.359 You can't know both with certainty. 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:53.119 Once you know the position of a photon or electron, you fail to know its speed. 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:56.000 And once you know its speed, you fail to know its position. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:00:59.439 You can't know both at the same time. 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:01.520 Humility is like that. 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:06.480 Once you say you have humility, you no longer have humility. 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:09.760 But the flip side of that is also true. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:15.359 Once you say, I don't have humility, you're confessing to be an unrepentant sin. 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:21.280 So it's not okay for you to say, I'm not humble and I'm not working on it, kind of thing. 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:24.400 Because that's, you know, pride is a sin. 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:26.319 But you know the flip side of that. 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:27.840 Truth is a razor's edge here. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:32.079 You fall off the other side and just say, I'm so thankful, I've grown in so much humility this year. 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:35.280 I'm so humble, and this is this will be a blessing to you all. 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:37.280 My humility will, right now. 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:39.760 You can't do that either. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:41.680 Both are heirs. 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:47.120 That's a problem because humility in many ways is the essence of Christian character. 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:50.879 Acts 20, verse 19 provides a positive example. 00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:54.400 In Acts chapter 20, verse 19, Paul is speaking to the Ephesian elders. 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:56.799 This is where he pours out his heart to them. 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:01.359 He's weeping with tears about the false teachers who are going to come in and ravage the church. 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:10.400 While he's doing that, remember, he tells them that while he was with them, he served the Lord with tears, trials, and humility. 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:12.319 So he says that. 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:18.800 He tells those elders, I want you to follow my pattern because I served you with humility. 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:21.280 Ephesians 4. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:22.800 He says very similar thing. 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:27.840 Remember, Acts 20 is given to the Ephesian elders, Ephesians 4, written to them as well. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:38.479 He repeats that same thing, and he challenges us, everybody who reads the book of Ephesians, to serve the Lord with gentleness and humility, bearing with one another. 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:40.639 Philippians 2, verse 3. 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:42.639 We read it for a scripture reading tonight. 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:45.439 Similar context, but makes it practical. 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:50.240 He says, in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:53.599 That's baseline Christian ethics here. 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:57.439 You count other people as more important than you. 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:00.400 Or more some translations say more significant than you. 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:02.479 They have more value than you. 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:05.280 That's your own accounting, your own reckoning. 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:10.400 And the skeptic hears that and thinks, but if everybody did that, there wouldn't be a hierarchy. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:11.039 Aha. 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:19.039 If everybody counted others more important than themselves, then there would nobody be left to be first. 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:21.599 That's the model in Philippians chapter 2. 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:26.000 Jesus, who emptied himself, taking on the form and the nature of a servant. 00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:27.919 Peter tells us the same thing. 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:33.439 Peter commands us to clothe yourselves, all of you, he says, with humility towards one another. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:42.319 In fact, he ends 1 Peter, 1 Peter 5 5, saying that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:45.360 That's 1 Peter 5 5. 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:49.599 Very similar to what you see here in the book of Proverbs. 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:53.680 The Lord opposes the proud. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:57.199 His eyes go to and fro, though looking for the humble. 00:03:57.439 --> 00:04:01.120 The book of Proverbs pits humility and pride with each other. 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:04.560 And that's what Peter does and Jesus does and Paul does that as well. 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:08.240 Pride in the Bible is often put in tension with humility. 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:13.039 Pride is the opposite of humility. 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:17.040 Humility is thinking of others first, pride is thinking of yourself first. 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:24.319 Humility is putting yourself last, pride is putting yourself as far away from last as you can possibly be. 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:48.800 You are either wise or a fool. 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:51.199 You're either kind or you're violent. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:55.199 You're either humble or you are proud. 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:58.160 Proverbs does have a lot to say about humility. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:03.199 By my count, there's 18 different verses in Proverbs 11 through 29 that deal with humility. 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:07.839 Now, like most of the ethical teaching in Proverbs, they are addressed in contrasting form. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:15.120 As I mentioned, kindness to violence, righteousness to evil, work with lazy, confronting with forgiveness, and pride with humility. 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:19.839 Now, first you have to understand why humility is so important in the book of Proverbs. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:25.920 Because remember that Proverbs, more than anything else, is about living in wisdom. 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:28.160 That's the main point of the book of Proverbs. 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:31.120 It's teaching you how to live wisely. 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:41.519 And I've said just about every sermon through Proverbs so far, wise living means that you are understanding the way God made the world and you're living in accordance with that. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:44.240 And the metaphor of a river, I think, is very helpful. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:54.079 God is the fountain, the world is the river, and the wise person discerns how the river is supposed to be moving and moves with it. 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:58.000 The wise person, that's wisdom in every category here. 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:05.680 See the book of Proverbs: parenting, marriage, working, forgiving, communication, speech, every category. 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:12.560 Wisdom is the art of figuring out how God made the world and living in accordance with that. 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:14.560 The fool doesn't get that. 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:16.879 The fool tries to swim upstream. 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:19.439 The fool goes against the way God made the world. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:21.600 And that's why the life of the fool is hard. 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:25.600 I mean, the bottom line in Proverbs: the life of the fool is just hard. 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:28.160 Hard, hard, hard. 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:31.839 Nowhere is that more evident than with pride. 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:40.720 Because of all the sins, pride is the sin that says, I understand the way the world works better than everybody else. 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:43.519 So God's giving you in the Word the way the world works, go this way. 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:47.040 And a helpful analogy for me that I read in a commentary that stuck with me. 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:49.279 You know, if you drop something, it falls. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:50.720 That's the way God made the world. 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:58.560 Now, wisdom is being able to study that and use that kind of truth to your advantage throughout your life in a thousand different ways that I'm sure you can think of on your own. 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:02.800 The proud person looks for a way around that, refuses to bend his knee to that, etc. 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:04.560 Which is silly when you're dropping anything. 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:07.600 Like nobody is proud enough to think they can defy gravity, you know? 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:09.120 What is this, wicked? 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:14.240 The proud person tries to fight it. 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:19.920 The proud person tries to go upstream and won't be teachable. 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:24.560 That's why the proud person has such a hard life. 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:30.959 Proverbs 28, 26 says it this way whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:34.079 But he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:35.680 I mean, that's the bottom line. 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:39.600 That's true of all of Proverbs, of every category. 00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:44.959 The person who trusts his own thinking about something is foolish. 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:47.199 He's fighting the fountain. 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:49.920 He's going against the current. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:59.040 But the person who walks in wisdom will go with the flow, will go with the way God designed the world. 00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:06.800 You see in Proverbs 28, 26, this basic tension, your confidence demonstrates your spiritual state. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:13.199 The person who is confident in their own thinking is corrupt and lost. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:22.480 The person who is confident in Christ is free and delivered, is the language of Proverbs 28-26. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:23.519 You trust in Christ. 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:26.639 If you know the truth, the truth sets you free. 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:29.600 And you are free from the wages of sin and death. 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:31.759 You are free from the folly of this world. 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:37.919 You still care about the body of sin around you, of course, but you are free from its curse and you're free from its penalty. 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:40.799 You're free from being pulled under. 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:44.080 The wise person figures it out and is delivered. 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:47.519 The foolish person fights upstream and it will be hard for him. 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:50.240 The one who is confident in himself is lost. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:53.200 The one who is confident in Christ is delivered. 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:59.759 In contrast, Proverbs 28, 26, the humble person is meek. 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:03.279 And the meek person is flexible. 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:05.919 The meek person is flexible. 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:12.320 Not in the passive laissez-fier way, but in the understanding how God made the world way. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:18.480 The meek person goes with the flow because he understands the way God made the world. 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:21.600 Now, I'm, you know, I'm a child of hippies. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:27.519 I've told you before, I'm so lucky my name is Jesse and not Gentle River, like it was close. 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:40.480 So when I say the wise person goes with the flow, I'm not, don't hear me say the wise person fits in with the culture and fits in with the world and finds out whatever's in fashion and goes with that. 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:44.159 I mean, that's the manipulative person, that's the worldly person. 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:45.519 That's not that's not good. 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:50.399 But I'm talking wise person understands the moral and ethical way God made the world. 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:53.039 That's what he goes along with. 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:55.519 The wise person understands providence. 00:09:55.759 --> 00:10:00.399 The meek person understands providence and is directed by providence. 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:02.639 That's meekness. 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:04.159 It goes with the flow. 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:09.519 Meek does not insist on its own way, but it adopts itself to the will of God. 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:13.919 Meek understands providence. 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:18.399 Now we often say that meekness is strength under control. 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:20.720 I'm sure you've heard that said that a hundred times. 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:22.799 Meek is strength under control. 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:24.080 And that's true. 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:25.919 That's half of the truth. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:30.080 Meek is a word that is used for a broken animal, a broken stallion. 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:32.000 That is a word that's used for him. 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:38.000 But when you think of what that means, meek does not mean strength under control so that it stands there. 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:39.759 The donkey is not meek. 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:45.440 When you think of an animal that personifies stubbornness and pride and insolence, you think of the donkey. 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:46.799 And that guy is broken. 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:49.440 Like he's not he's not fighting you, he's not kicking at you. 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:50.639 He's just dug in. 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:51.679 He's not gonna move a mud. 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:53.519 When he's done, he's done. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:10:55.120 That's not meek. 00:10:55.440 --> 00:10:57.519 So meek doesn't simply mean broken. 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:00.799 Meek means broken for the purpose of being led. 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:03.600 A meek person is led. 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:04.799 That's the second half of it. 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:06.879 Yes, meek is strength under control. 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:07.679 That's true. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:12.639 Meek is strength under control, so that meek can be led. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:17.039 Led by the word of God, led by the will of God. 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:20.320 Ultimately led by providence. 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:22.720 That's the meek person. 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:25.279 He doesn't insist on his own way. 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:29.759 The meek person is not pulling his hair out when things aren't going right. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:31.679 That's the proud person. 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:37.120 The proud person is so upset that things are not going the way they should. 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:40.080 The meek person is not that way. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:43.919 Because the meek person is being led by providence. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:45.519 That is humility. 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:52.720 Humility is thinking low of yourself, and meekness is walking in that lowness. 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:56.240 Now it is wisdom to do that. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:00.799 It is wisdom to be meek and led by the Spirit. 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:06.799 It is proud and arrogant to kick against Providence. 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:11.840 Proverbs 16, 5 says something similar. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:16.320 Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to Yahweh. 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:18.960 Be assured he will not go unpunished. 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:21.200 And this is some harsh language, isn't it? 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:23.919 If you are proud in heart, it's an abomination to Yahweh. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:26.639 Abomination is the word for a sacrifice that's rejected. 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:29.600 It's, you know, it defies the temple. 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:35.039 It's the kind of sacrifice that you offer to the temple, the rabbis would be like tear the whole thing down and start over. 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:36.960 Because that thing was on the altar. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:40.000 That's the proud person before God for worship. 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:44.879 That's the abomination of desolation, is pride going to worship. 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:46.799 And God will punish those people. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:48.799 And you think, why such harsh language? 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:51.679 Because the proud person puts himself forward. 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:55.519 That is an attempt to occupy a space that is held by God and God alone. 00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:57.759 There's only one Lord of the church. 00:12:58.080 --> 00:12:59.360 Jesus is Lord of the Church. 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:08.960 And when a person puts himself in the front and makes himself arrogant and he's the front of the line and he's you know he's the one in charge. 00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:10.559 It's his place and his people. 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:11.440 That's arrogant. 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:15.759 He's putting himself in a position that belongs to Jesus and Jesus alone. 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:18.240 Jesus says something similar. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:20.399 He says, you cannot serve both Christ and money. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:21.360 Amen? 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:23.039 It's not that money is evil. 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:25.519 There's only room for one Lord in your life. 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:26.879 You can't serve two masters. 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:28.639 You'll end up loving one and hating the other. 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:30.799 That's just axiomatic. 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:33.919 The arrogant person is serving himself. 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:36.559 The arrogant person puts himself at the front of the line. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:38.000 That's arrogance. 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:39.919 Seeing everything through your own lens. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:41.759 You don't shouldn't see everything through your own lens. 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:43.039 You see everything through the Lord's lens. 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:45.039 You try to have his eyesight. 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:48.000 That's why God calls it arrogant. 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:50.480 That calls it an abomination. 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:53.360 And this goes back to the original sin. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:56.399 Pride is exalting yourself against the Lord. 00:13:56.559 --> 00:14:01.279 I mean, there's ways that you can make almost every sin go back to being Adam and Eve sit in the garden. 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.799 But pride has a special line back to Adam and Eve, doesn't it? 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:07.840 Remember what the devil told Adam and Eve? 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:15.919 That if you eat the fruit, you can know the difference between good and evil and be like God. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:17.600 Without God. 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:21.519 I mean, the whole idea was that they didn't need to know the difference between good and evil. 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:25.679 They were in a state of innocence because they were underneath God and his protection. 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:26.799 Be fine with that. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:30.559 You don't need to be discerning, you just need to listen to the Lord. 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:35.440 Well, they listened to the devil because they wanted the knowledge of God, but without God. 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:40.559 They wanted to know there's a difference between good and evil, but without having to go through God and His Word. 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:42.559 That was what the devil offered. 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:46.559 That's what Adam and Eve took, and it plunged the human race into sin. 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:49.679 That's one of the reasons that pride is such an abomination. 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:52.639 God had told mankind what was good. 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:58.080 Adam rejected God's word and pursued knowledge of good apart from the word and the will of God. 00:14:58.159 --> 00:14:59.679 And God judges that sin. 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:05.279 That sin resulted in sin entering the world, and it results in destroying lives here and now. 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:08.080 Proverbs 15, verse 5. 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:09.279 Verse 25. 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:13.759 Yahweh tears down the house of the proud, but he maintains the widow's boundaries. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:22.480 God's eyes go to and fro throughout the earth, looking for the humble, of course, to show grace to, but he's also looking for the proud, and he will tear down their houses, is what it says. 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:27.360 A proud person thinks himself in charge because he's built a house and a life for himself. 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:28.000 You know what? 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:29.679 God will dismantle it. 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:32.960 God will tear it down brick by brick. 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:35.519 Meanwhile, he maintains the widow's boundaries. 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:37.600 And remember, proverbs are, you know, they're proverbs. 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:38.960 The book of Proverbs is Proverbs. 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:41.840 These aren't promises or guarantees or anything, they're proverbs. 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:45.840 So generally speaking, proud people will come to a disastrous finish. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:50.799 So don't argue with this, be like, I know this one arrogant, proud guy, and he went to his grave arrogant and proud and rich. 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:51.279 Yeah. 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:54.000 Generally speaking, it doesn't happen that way. 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:57.679 Generally speaking, the wheels come off the cart long before that. 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:03.919 And generally speaking, God maintains the widow's boundaries, protects the widow's land, in other words. 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:08.000 Generally speaking, yes, there's some examples of widows that are proud and arrogant. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:10.399 I'm sure you can think of a proud and arrogant widow. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:13.919 But generally speaking, widows are humble. 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:22.000 Like they a person who's been married for decades and their husband has died is generally a very humble person. 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:25.120 They're just, they have their situation. 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:25.600 What are they? 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:30.320 They pray for the church, they pray for people, they serve people behind the scenes. 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:32.159 That's generally the widow's lot. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:35.120 And they accept it generally with joy. 00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:36.559 And God defends them. 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:38.559 Now imagine pitting these two against each other. 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:49.360 The proud, arrogant, He-Man person with a monstrous castle, and the poor widow with a postage stamp ties property, and any neutral observer would be like the proud monster guy, like he's winning. 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:49.840 Yeah. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.240 Well, just wait until the Lord shows up, and that proud monster guy gets torn down. 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:59.519 Meanwhile, the widow is like, you know, sipping ice tea in her porch and loving life. 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:02.559 That vexes the proud person. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:05.839 That the widow has a defender in Yahweh. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:09.839 The proud person always puts himself forward, and you know who doesn't do that? 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:11.200 The stereotypical widow. 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:14.559 The stereotypical widow is not pushing herself to the front of the line. 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:17.759 She's just accepted the will of the Lord. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:20.480 Meanwhile, the proud person will crumble. 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:22.799 Proverbs 16, verse 18. 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:26.400 Pride goes before destruction. 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:29.599 A haughty spirit before fall. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:32.480 Proverbs 18, 12 says something very similar. 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:35.920 Before destruction is a man's heart, a man's heart is haughty. 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:38.240 But humility comes before honor. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:39.599 Notice the sequence. 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:43.519 The humble people will be honored because they understand the world. 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:45.920 They're not honored for their humility. 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:49.519 They're honored because they understand the way the world works. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:51.279 This goes back to wisdom. 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:57.200 When you find somebody who understands the way God made the world, you respect that person. 00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:59.359 You look at that person and go, that guy is wise. 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:01.200 And you respect them. 00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:05.119 Therefore, it's the humble people that are ultimately respected. 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:07.200 Not the proud, arrogant person. 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:09.759 The proud, arrogant person is going to get destroyed. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:11.759 You see them now and they're proud and arrogant. 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:12.960 You think they haven't been destroyed yet. 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:14.160 Oh, it's coming. 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:18.960 Pride goes first, then destruction in Proverbs 16, 18. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:22.960 The haughty spirit first, and then the fall. 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:28.319 A man's heart is haughty in Proverbs 18, 12, and then destruction. 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:32.160 But a person is humble and then honored. 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:36.319 Do you see the like paradoxical nature of this or the contradictory nature of this? 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:38.720 The proud person, what does the proud person want? 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:40.160 To be honored. 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:41.200 What's going to happen? 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:42.960 He's going to be mocked. 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:45.920 Meanwhile, what does the humble person want? 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:47.359 Not to be honored. 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:48.799 And what's going to happen? 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:50.559 They're going to be honored. 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:59.839 I mean, you would think the proud person, if they were intuitive enough, they would say, okay, my goal in life is to be honored and respected and to be the first. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:03.519 The way to get there would be to humble, be humble and be the last. 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:07.920 And they would get what they want, but they can't reason that way because they're proud. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:08.559 Remember? 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:09.839 They're proud. 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:14.720 It's like here's the one secret that all proud people hate. 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:18.079 I shouldn't tell you this, it'll offend all the proud people. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:23.440 And the one secret, they don't want to get out, is the way to be first is to be last. 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:26.960 Well, if everybody knew that, then everybody was first. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:29.039 Yes, I know, but not everybody knows that. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:31.920 Not everybody knows that. 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:34.640 Proverbs 28, 11. 00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:38.960 A rich man is wise in his own eyes. 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:43.039 But a poor man who has understanding will find him out. 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:46.720 The rich person thinks, man, look at my bank account. 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:53.200 Woohoo! And the poor person looks at that guy and goes, What a clown that guy is. 00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:55.599 What a clown. 00:19:56.480 --> 00:19:57.359 Here's your choice. 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:01.440 Would you rather have wealth or humility? 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:02.960 You get to choose one. 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:05.519 Would you rather be rich or humble? 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:09.200 And so many people choose wealth, and what's going to happen? 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:12.640 They're just they're going to be destroyed. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:15.279 But the humble person will be honored. 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:16.799 The humble person sees through. 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:27.279 Proverbs 28, 11 is kind of a funny verse because the rich man thinks he's all that because of his money, but the poor people, they see through him, they recognize the guy doesn't know what he's talking about. 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:30.240 Yeah, but do you know who I am? 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:32.079 It's the kind of person who says, Do you know who I am? 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:34.079 I make more money in one day than you make all years. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:35.200 That kind of person. 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:41.759 And the poor person is like, Man, I go to bed tonight praying that I don't become you in the morning. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:45.680 There's more to life than wealth. 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:47.920 Namely, wisdom. 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:51.839 The rich man ascribes his success to his own worldly wisdom. 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:55.680 That's why this is a new is basically repeated in 1 Timothy 6.17. 00:20:55.839 --> 00:21:00.960 As for the rich in this world, charge them not to be proud in their own eyes. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:03.519 That's a good command for rich people. 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:06.640 Rich people in the church, do not be proud. 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:08.880 That's what Paul says. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:10.480 Instead, be humble. 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:12.640 So, how do you walk in humility? 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:14.160 I'm glad you asked. 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:18.720 I present to you the humble person's guide to humility. 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:21.200 The humble person's guide to humility. 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:22.160 1999. 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:23.599 Get your own copy. 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:26.480 The humble person's guide to humility. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:28.880 I have five steps to being a humble person. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:36.720 These steps are rooted in wisdom, tested throughout the ages, verified by the Lord Himself. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:39.759 You want to choose humility, you choose between riches and humility. 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:41.039 You say, I choose humility. 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:42.720 Alright, I'll tell you how to choose humility. 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:44.559 There's five ways to choose humility. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:47.359 The first is to fear Yahweh. 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:54.079 If humility is bending your knee to the will of the Lord, then that starts with knowing the Lord. 00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:56.400 You can't discern his will if you don't know who he is. 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:00.400 You can't be wise unless you understand the Lord. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:02.240 The fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:03.920 Of course, we we know this. 00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:09.359 The road to humility starts where all good roads do, namely with the fear of the Lord. 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:10.799 Proverbs 15, 33. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:15.119 The fear of Yahweh is instruction and wisdom, and humility comes before honor. 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:16.240 See how they're linked? 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:20.880 I had this verse up earlier to show you the focus on the second half, but now I want to focus on the first half. 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:23.680 The fear of Yahweh is instruction and wisdom. 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:27.759 You want to be taught in humility, you start by fearing the Lord. 00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:33.519 Without humility, honor would be a temptation. 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:35.759 Because pride wants to be honored. 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:38.720 If you look at Proverbs 15, 33, humility comes for honor. 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:43.359 If you don't have humility, the honoring would be a temptation to pride and arrogance and destruction. 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:46.960 But with humility, the honor is a blessing. 00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:55.279 Because the humble person has his faith and his life rooted in the fear of the Lord. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:23:02.000 Moses and David shepherded sheep for a long time before they shepherded people. 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:03.920 There's an order to that. 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:06.400 Care for the sheep, care for the people. 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:07.839 That's humility. 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:09.519 That is the fear of the Lord. 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:11.279 Moses was in Pharaoh's house. 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:17.599 And you think this Exodus would just have saved decades of Israelite slavery if you cut out those years shepherding. 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:18.880 Like what are they doing there? 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:20.559 Moses was in Pharaoh's house. 00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:22.640 He wanted to be the leader of Israel's people, didn't he? 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:23.200 He was in the house. 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:24.720 He wanted to be the leader of Israel's people. 00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:25.839 He wanted to deliver them. 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:27.440 Rise up, Israelites, and unite. 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:29.039 That was Moses' chant. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:35.599 And God said, spend, you know, some decades out with the sheep first. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:36.799 And you bring him back. 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:38.799 When he comes back, he's so old. 00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:40.160 So old. 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:42.079 But now he's ready to lead. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:45.440