Title: It Was Because of Pride.
Contents
Proverbs 16:18 It was because of pride.
About a hundred years ago, in 1912, England built an enormous ship. It was a luxurious passenger ship with a gross tonnage of 46,328 tons, a length of 259m, a depth of 19.6m, and a width of 28.1m. The British dubbed the ship 'Titanic' and called it 'a ship that could never sink'. Some people were arrogant, arguing that even that was not enough, 'a ship that even God cannot sink'.
However, on April 14, 1912, while on her first voyage to cross the Atlantic Ocean, it struck an iceberg and sank. Of the 2,208 people on board, 1,513 people were killed, excluding women and children. They received five radio calls to watch out for icebergs from the Arctic before reaching Newfoundland Island off Canada's east coast. The sixth radio was, "The iceberg is coming, look out." At this time, the navigator of the Titanic believed only in the safety of the ship and spoke proudly. "Shut up, I'm busy."
And exactly 35 minutes later, the luxury cruiser collided with a huge iceberg from the Arctic and sank to the bottom of the sea. It was the biggest maritime disaster since Noah built the ark and set sail. Why the hell did such a catastrophe happen? It was none other than the tragedy of human pride. Human pride has always reached its peak at the center of human history, which is naturally declining.
In the 4th chapter of Daniel in the Old Testament, there is this true story. One day, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who had absolute power, had a dream. In my dream, I saw a very large tree in the center of the earth. The tree grew and its tip reached the sky. And the tree was so great that the wild animals rested in its shade, and the birds made nests in its branches. Suddenly, a holy angel came down from heaven and cut down the tree, causing all the birds and beasts to leave the tree. And he left only the stump of the tree on the ground, and bound the tree with iron and brass cords. And the tree received the heart of the beast, and it was soaked with the dew of heaven, and it remained with the beast in the grass of the earth for seven years.
Daniel was brought before the king to interpret the dream. “O king, that big tree means king. But the king will go crazy and spend seven years in the dew of the sky like a wild beast.” A year after this dream, King Nebuchadnezzar went crazy and acted like a beast, as the real Daniel interpreted. In the end, as he had dreamed, he ate grass like a cow for 7 years, and his hair and claws became like that of an eagle.
When I looked into why the hell this happened, the cause was this. One day King Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof of the palace of Babylon and said to himself: "I the king said, 'Is not this great Babylon my city, which I have built with power and authority, and by it my majesty is glorified?' (Daniel 4:30) Ahem!
Before he could even finish these words, a voice came from heaven, saying, "I tell you, King Nebuchadnezzar, the throne of the kingdom has departed from you. You will be driven out of men, and you will dwell with animals and graze like cattle. In this way you will spend seven times. until they know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he pleases” (Daniel 4:31-32).
In other words, when King Nebuchadnezzar trembled with pride, ignoring that God had given him the authority of the kingdom, he lost his mind and became like an animal. He humbly realized that human intelligence has returned and restored the authority of the king. He confesses after going through this. “For God is righteous, and he is able to humble those who walk in pride” (Daniel 4:37).
What is the greatest sin among the sins God speaks of in the Bible?
Murder is a great sin, and fornication is a great sin. It is also a great sin to deceive others. But Jesus also saved the robber on the right who committed the murder, and forgave the prostitute who committed fornication, and also forgave the tax collector who said that he sucks the blood of his own people. However, toward those who trembled proudly that only one class of people believed in God themselves, he rebuked them, saying, "You brood of vipers!" And he did not extend a hand of mercy or salvation to them.
In other words, the sin that God hates the most is not murder, fornication, or fraud, but pride. The Bible warns against pride: “Pride is the beginning of destruction, and a haughty heart before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18) “God opposes the proud.” (James 4:6) “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord. Even if they hold hands, they will not escape punishment” (Proverbs 16:5).
I thought to myself. "No, how much do I pray that I tell you to keep praying!" I asked because it was a little strange to hear that I was asked to pray. "Isn't it because I'm arrogant?" Then the pastor said, "How did you know?" That's it. What does this mean? Doesn't that mean I'm proud? But how did you know that arrogant fact is that it is quite difficult to realize that fact, isn't it?
I was quite shocked to hear that. Still, I thought I was humble, but in the sight of God I was proud!" Guys, it is difficult for a proud person to realize, "Oh, I am a proud person!" The person who commits fornication realizes, "Oh, I have committed fornication!". The person who cheats or robs also realizes, "Oh, I cheat and rob!" It is easy, but it is very difficult for a proud person to realize his pride. Even in the courts of the world, if they commit robbery, fornication, or murder, they point out and punish them. year! Death penalty for your arrogance!"
Why? Because the sin of pride is invisible to the eye. Because the sin of pride doesn't seem like a big sin. Therefore, people take the sin of pride lightly. However, those who know the Bible and know the disposition of God realize that the sin of pride is the greatest sin. We also realize that the sin of pride is the cause of all sins. I also realize that if there is a sin of pride, God cannot be near. Therefore, the sin that Christians should be most wary of is the sin of pride.
Our God hates pride, arrogance, arrogance, and arrogance. In the Korean dictionary, pride, arrogance, arrogance and arrogance are explained like this. Pride (驕慢): boastful and arrogant; Pride: boasting and boasting about oneself or something related to oneself losing or arrogant. or its attitude or behavior. That is, pride, arrogance, arrogance, and arrogance are generally used in the same sense. And the word pride is the Greek word 'huperepanos', which means one who puts himself above others.
Pride is an easy word to say, "I'm good!" And "I'm smarter than you!" is to do As a result, "I must be higher than others. I must be respected more than others." is to do And when it gets worse, they ignore God and think that they are smarter than God. And everyone has their own reasons for being proud. These are things like being more handsome than others, having more money than others, learning more than others, being more talented than others, or having a higher honor or status than others.
Furthermore, there is such a thing as the pride of faith. The pride of this faith is a more serious disease than any other pride. All the people Jesus rebuked were those who had come to this kind of pride of faith. If you fall into the trap of this pride of faith, it is quite difficult to get out of it on your own. There are many different viruses all over the world right now. There is the bird flu virus, and there is the swine flu virus. The most deadly of these is the pride virus. When the pride virus enters, quarrels arise. Bathing comes. Destruction also comes. That's why Psalm 1:1 says, "Blessed is the man who does not sit in the seat of the scornful."
King Uzziah, a great king of Israel, was also proud and violated the authority of the priests and got leprosy. Moses' sister Miriam also got leprosy while arrogantly judging Moses. King Nebuchadnezzar was also proud and became insane and became like an animal. That is, it was because of pride. It was because of pride that the problem arose, and it was also because of pride that the problem was not solved coolly.
Therefore, the root of solving the problem is to repent of pride. It is about realizing pride, turning away from the sin of pride and returning to a place of humility. There is a saying "You have to think back to when you were a frog tadpole." We must remember the times when we were poor and could not live without food. We must also remember the difficult times when we were criticized and ridiculed. I was sick and moaned, "God, please heal me!" And you have to think about the times when you hung on. We must also reminisce about the bleak, pitiful and pathetic past. And you have to commit to yourself. "You must not be arrogant. Let's never be arrogant."
Ladies and gentlemen, there is absolutely no reason for human beings to be proud in the sight of God the Creator. If you realize the futility of life, where you only have to live for 100 years at most and then die, you cannot become arrogant. It is absurd that we who were born into this world brought nothing with us, and that we have to return to a handful of dust that we cannot take anything with us when we die. It's ridiculous.
There are also these words in the Bible. "Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but not the log that is in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:3) It is because we are proud to know that we judge and criticize each other. In other words, if you go into the root of the sin that God hates, there is always a guy called pride hiding like a snake. We must expel that hidden viper of pride. God cannot bless the proud. God cannot show grace to the proud.
In other words, the cause of infidelity was pride. The cause of the problem was also pride. The cause of suffering was also pride. The reason God's answer was blocked was because of pride. Human pride brought judgment upon itself, human pride destroyed the Garden of Eden, and human pride caused great suffering. Our enemy is this pride. Therefore we must shout. "Go away, pride. You are a stumbling block to me."