A Lesson in Humility
PRIDE COMETH BEFORE THE
FALL
by: Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
Ed Murrow, famous American commentator said, "Keep your perspective! Remember that just because your voice reached halfway around the world, you are no wiser than when it reached only to the end of the living room."
The technology that sends a broadcaster’s voice thousands of miles across the globe is not that person’s invention. Certainly, your ability to communicate got you in the position to release your talent but it took a lot of other people's technical ability, and other people's capital to assemble the equipment that would transmit your voice.
No one is
self-sufficient and "no man is an island". We all have something to
contribute!
A
HAUGHTY SPIRIT GOES BEFORE DESTRUCTION.
Pride has a subtle
way of seeking to enter a person, especially after an initial success. It is
noticeable in many first and second year university students. In their third
and fourth years they calm down and realize how much there is yet to learn.
And many young people at age 21, are suddenly amazed at how much Mom and Dad have learned during the past 5 or 6 years. The real truth is found in an old German proverb, "We get old too soon and smart too late".
The Bible says,
"Pride goeth before a fall and a haughty spirit before destruction".
(Prov. 16:18. How true that is! Pride causes overconfidence which triggers the
downfall.
During the Beatles' heyday, John Lennon stated that they were more popular than Jesus Christ. And according to Abery Goldman's book 'The Lives of John Lennon', the freaky John Lennon, while "tripping out on acid" together with his close friend Pete Shotton said, "I think I'm Jesus Christ".
The next afternoon,
"the inner circle of the Beatles' organization - Paul, George, Ringo and
other Apple executives - met with John and Pete in Lennon's office. All arrived
in a mood of keen expectation wondering what could have inspired the normally
passive Lennon to sound the alarm. John rose from behind his desk and addressed
his colleagues.
"I've got
something very important to tell you all", he began. "I am Jesus
Christ come back again. This is my thing." He demanded that "Apple
prepare a press release immediately announcing His return."
SATAN
IS REALLY BUSY THESE DAYS. HE HAS HIS ‘DONKEYS’ CARRYING HIS FILTH AND GARBAGE
TO THE YOUTH OF OUR GENERATION.
Marilyn Manson the weird, satanist pervert made waves across North America with his Shock Rock concerts. This self-proclaimed Satan worshipper often ripped up the Bible, denounced God and Christianity and appears on stage as an awkward mix between a scantily dressed drag queen and a living corpse.
But here’s the irony
of the whole farce - He’s as proud as a strutting peacock! Please note: You
don’t need to be beautiful, talented, intelligent or rich to be proud! I’ve met
some of the ugliest, ignorant, clueless and poorest of people who were proud.
PRIDE,
I REPEAT, IS THE SIN OF SATAN!
And the worst manifestation of pride is a person’s refusal to humble himself and receive
Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
Commenting
on his philosophy of life, Marilyn Manson, who chose his name from Marilyn
Monroe - Hollywood sex symbol who committed suicide - and Charles Manson - the
brutal, insane serial killer - said, “Man is God”.
The Bible says, “The fool hath said in his heart there is no God”. (Ps. 14:1)
In the literal Hebrew, King David was inferring that only a fool, imbecile or
insane person would say that there is no God.
And only a bigger
fool would say that weak, puny, temporary (here today gone tomorrow) and dying
humanity is God - omnipotent, omniscient, omni-present and eternal! What a
grand fool Marilyn Manson was! He takes top honor for fools.
And here’s another
nut case! According to Newsweek (July 21, 1997) Noel Gallager commenting on the
influence of his band, ‘Oasis’ said, “We’re more popular than Jesus Christ
now...Some of the pop stars I like are more important than God...I hope
we mean more to people than putting money in a church basket and saying 10 Hail
Marys on a Sunday”.
WHAT FOLLY AND FOOL HEADED PRIDE!
Soon after Lennon’s
blasphemous statement, the Beatles disbanded and sometime later Lennon was
dead, at the hands of a former admirer. And a study of his life shows a streak
of madness, including many days he and Yoko Ono stayed in bed in a
"love-in for world peace" and appeared with Allan Rock, Canada's
former Justice Minister - at a university in Toronto, clad only in his pajamas.
And get a load of
this garbage - he and other members of the Beatles sat at the feet of the weird
occultic Maharishi who is the proponent of Yogi - leap frogging (flying) for
world peace and other deceptive Eastern Hindu occultic practices! WHAT LIES,
DECEPTION AND PRIDE!
It would be wise for us all to listen to the words of Ed Murrow, which is in
fact a call to humility. St. Paul stated,
"Let no one think of himself more highly than he ought". (Romans
12:3)
A STUDY OF HISTORY REVEALS THAT PRIDE DOES PRECEDE A RUINOUS FALL
A good example is Adolph Hitler, who constantly raved about conquering Great Britain, envisioning a 1000 year Nazi dynasty. Where did he end up? Dead by his own hand in a bunker in a ruined Germany.
His name will forever be synonymous with sadistic, demonic brutality, and insane lust for power!
What of Napoleon Bonaparte, the proud Emperor of France who crushed every foe under his feet? When he entered Milan, Italy, Napoleon summoned the archbishop of the church and demanded, "Prove to me that there is a God and the Bible is the Word of God".
NO GOD, NO JEW!
The archbishop never uttered a word but simply pointed to Napoleon’s leading soldier, General Mesina, a Jew. Proud as he was, the Emperor recognized the truth of what the archbishop had revealed, shouted a command, turned his horse around and together with his troops gallopped away, without firing a shot!
If there is no God there would no be Jew, for Abraham was 100 years of age and
Sarah 90 (who was barren) when Isaac was born! Where did Napoleon end up? In exile and disgrace
on the island of St. Helena! Before he was poisoned, however, he confessed his
faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, to his trusted friend General
Bertrand.
Voltaire, the
atheist, almost destroyed France with his twisted philosophies. He was
going to rid that nation of every Bible and dethrone God. He boasted that
within 100 years there wouldn't be one Bible left in France, except in some
dusty old museum.
BEFORE HIS DEATH,
VOLTAIRE BECAME DEMENTED AND THE NURSE ATTENDING HIM DECLARED THAT FOR ALL THE
MONEY IN FRANCE SHE WOULD NEVER AGAIN NURSE ANOTHER DYING INFIDEL.
When the doctor,
nurse or friends entered his room he would shrink back in his bed and shriek,
"the Nazarene, the Nazarene"! Just before his death Voltaire
screamed, "Thou hast conquered, Thou Nazarene".
Ironically, the very
house in which Voltaire lived was purchased 100 years later, and turned into a
Bible Publishing House.
Soviet communists
had long scoffed at God, the Bible and the West, but it was the USA and
Canada's shipment of subsidized wheat that kept the Soviet Union from starving
during the Cold War.
Thirteen minutes
after Israel became a nation at 4:00 PM, May 14, 1948, the American President
recognized Israel as a free, sovereign and independent state.
Joseph Stalin
refused to do so saying, "Israel is only a nation on paper". Since
the fall of the Soviet Union, about 800,000 Jews have left the bankrupt
countries of Eastern Europe to live in Israel! For several decades the USSR had
persecuted Jewish citizens and refused them permission to leave.
It is therefore ironic, that when Russia Bear meets its doom, it will be at the hands of the little nation of Israel. The prophecy is recorded in Ezekiel 38 and 39 and will surely come to pass!
PRIDE: THE SIN OF SATAN
Pride has properly been called 'The Sin of Satan', because it was this sin that brought him down. In a future column to the Edmonton Sun I will share an in-depth study on this evil, destructive and arrogant tendency which the human race has inherited from the Master Deceiver himself.
Here is an outline of that important message:
Pride is the basis
of all rebellion against God.
Pride is the root
cause of secular humanism and false religion.
Pride is the
underlying reason for occultism, spiritualism and the New Age Movement.
Pride caused Satan's
downfall and is perpetuated by his lying spirits.
Pride is the basic
reason for the creation of an infidel science and the evolutionary theory.
The Archangel
Lucifer, because of his great wisdom and beauty, rebelled against God and was
expelled from heaven. He is now "the prince of the power of the air"
and the world's leading terrorist!
He said, "I will ascend into Heaven; I will exalt My throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the clouds; I will be like the Most High". (literal Heb. "I will be the Most High")
PRIDE WAS HIS DOWNFALL!
What will be his end? God spells it out in Ezekiel 28, Isaiah 14 and Revelation 20:10. "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Revelation 20:10)
It is imperative
that we guard against the spirit of pride! May we all remain humble and
flexible in the hands of God, as we serve Him with joy and gladness.
The Premier Sin of Sodom - for which God judged that city with fire and brimstone - was PRIDE! The other four sins were fullness of bread, abundance of idleness, lack of compassion for the poor and needy and the abominable, perverse sexual practice of homosexuality! (Ez. 16:49)
After God judged Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon declared: "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase". (Dan. 4:37)
The Bible warns: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in
the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For
all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world
passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth
for ever". (1 John 2:15-17)
Let us remember the lesson we have learned from studying the lives of Adolph
Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte, Voltaire, the Russian communists, John Lennon and
Lucifer himself.
Vladimir Lenin boasted in 1917: "Religion is the opiate of the people. There is no God, but woe unto us communists if there is one."
Joseph Stalin
declared: "Give me 50 years and there won't be one Christian left in
Russia".
Nikita Kruschev
said, "I will close the Churches with one blow".
Leonid Brezhnev
stated, "By 1980 the Church will be dead in Russia".
Chinese communist
leaders said in 1976, Decadent religion and capitalism is thriving in
Russia".
While in the USA in 1989, Mikhael Gorbachev, "Only Jesus Christ had all the solutions to life's problems. I don't possess that skill". When a Reporter pressed him on his statement about Jesus Christ, he answered, "Yes! Jesus Christ!"
Boris Yeltsin said, "Communism is dead in Russia! We have lied to you for 70 years. I promise you - NO MORE LIES"! What a joy to hear the Russian president speak to the US Congress and the American people by television in 1991. I was preaching in Russia at that very time and heard is voice broadcast.
During my Cusades in Russia shortly there after I had the privilege of leading the sister of Michael Gorbajev to Christ in outr crusade in Chernigov. After I had delivered my Gospel message through an interperter many answered the invitation to be saved,, among them was Galina the sister of the Russian Leader.
My routine was to give a Bible to those receiving Christ. After a mass prayer of salvation for the forgiveness of sins and accceptance of Jesus Christ as Sviour and Lord, I sat on a chair and signed every Bible. One of the personal workers whsipered in my ear that a woman wanted to speak with me personally before I signed her Bible,
That lady was the sister of Michael Gorbachev. She asked if I had heard of Michael Gorbachev. I said, "The whole world knows about him." She answered, "He is my brother but we have different mothers. His name is Michael Sergai Gorbachev while mine is Galina Sergiovana Gorbachev." We kept our coverstion private because the Ukrainians had little love for Russians! She left the Meeting rejoicing in Jesus!
Jesus Christ said:
"...I will build My Church and the gates of hall not prevail against
it". (Matt. 16:18)
JESUS
IS OUR GREAT EXAMPLE!
A study of the Bible clearly shows us the beautiful spirit exemplified by our Lord! In order to secure our salvation, God the Son humbled Himself and was incarnated (God in human flesh), born of a virgin woman in Bethlehem, and lived among men as the "Carpenter's son".
He was blasphemed,
castigated, spat upon, scourged, condemned as a common criminal and crucified
in shame on a Roman cross, for our sins!
TALK
ABOUT HUMILITY!
Jesus - the Son of
God - the Creator of the universe was put to death by the very men He was
giving life for! He died on the hill He had created, between two common
criminals!
St. Paul writes,
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself
of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men:
"And being
found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross.
"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2:5-11)
WHAT MUST WE DO TO RID OURSELVES OF PRIDE?
St. James
admonishes: "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift
you up". (James 4:10)
Again the Bible says: "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. 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.
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time:" (1 Peter 5:4-6). Amen.
