TEXT: Proverbs 6:16-19

SUBJECT: 7 Deadly Sins #1: Pride

With the Lord's blessing, we'll begin a new series today on these verses. Long before the Medieval Church compiled its list of "Seven Deadly Sins", Solomon gave us this one. All sins are bad, of course, but not all sins are equally bad. These seven are among the worst.

You notice how God's judgment is not identical to ours. We all agree "Hands that shed innocent blood" are very wicked. But what about "a proud look"? That's not so bad. Is it? Yes it is. Every item on the list is "hated" by God and is "an abomination" to Him.

"Hate" is a word not often used of God. What does it mean when applied to Him? It doesn't mean "to love less" (as some say). For surely, He doesn't love humility a whole lot--and pride a little bit less! Nor is God's hate like ours. The Bible says, "The wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God". Of course it doesn't; it's too mixed up with pride, envy, and malice. But God's hate is as pure and holy as His love. Divine hate is a strong disapproval and a will to punish.

Psalm 5:4-6 makes this plain,

God hates all sins, of course--but these seven in particular. This means you ought to hate them too! You do, of course--in others! But the LORD hates them in you too. And so should you. Like the Psalmist, we should

These things are not only hateful to God, they're also "abominations" to Him. This is an old fashioned word. It means "horrid thing". It's something that turns your stomach; it's something from which you recoil in disgust.

The worship of Baal is an abomination to God. One reason for it is because Baal was a fertility god and his worship included things lewd and unnatural. The sort of things that sicken a decent man or a wholesome woman.

These are "abominations". Of course they are. But so is pride and deceit and gossip. These things are "dirty" to God and perverted.

If they're immoral to God, they are objectively immoral. Whether men tolerate them or not. Whether we celebrate them or not. Only God "knows good and evil". If He says they're "abominations", they are. They ought to be abhorrent to us.

That introduces the list. Let's now turn to it's first item.

THE MEANING

What is "a proud look". The Hebrew is "uplifted eyes". We've all seen people who cock their heads in such a way as to look down on everyone else. That conceited look is hateful to God.

It's not the "look" He cares about most, but the attitude that produces it. Obviously, "a proud look" is caused by pride in the heart. That's what God hates most.

There is no sin in the world--not murder or sodomy or treason--that is more hateful to God than pride.

EXAMPLES

Pride was the first sin. God did not create the devil. He made a holy angel who became Satan. How? I Timothy 3:6 says,

Aspiring to be a god, he became a devil instead. Pride.

Pride was the first human sin. The first sinner was Eve; the first sin was eating the forbidden fruit. What was it about the tree that appealed to her so? It's power to make her Divine--"You shall be as God, knowing good and evil".

Pride is a universal sin. The human race is not ignorant of God. According to Romans 1, it knows God perfectly well, but chooses to

Why? Because man is a creature. Deep down, everyone outside of Christ worships himself. Ayn Rand was very open about it--advocating "the virtue of selfishness". Others are a little less open. But they all do it. Pride is not lodged in the rich only or the powerful or the educated. It's in everyone. When it comes to pride,

Pride is the leading trait of the worst men. Think of Pharaoh sneering against God or Haman plotting to destroy His people, or Caesar commanding the whole Empire to pay tribute to his divinity.

Maybe your pride is not so obvious, but--don't kid yourself--you've got it too. Plenty of it. So do I. We all do. Nobody's more proud than the man who thinks he isn't.

When I think of pride, it's not Muhammad Ali who comes to mind. It's Mohandas K. Ganhdi, parading around in his loincloth, showing the world how humble he was!

Pride is like Crazy Glue. Easy to get on; hard to get off.

WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT PRIDE?

I've overstated my case, haven't I? If everyone's guilty of it, pride can't be so bad, can it? Yes it is. And worse.

Think of what pride does to God. It robs Him of His glory. I Corinthians 1:29,31 makes this clear. Look at the contrast. God chooses the weak and the foolish of the world so that,

It seems the more we think of ourselves, the less we think of God. The more we brag, the less we give thanks.

Augustus Montague Toplady understood this quite clearly when he wrote his hymn, How Vast the Benefits Divine. One line has it,

"The glory Lord--from first to last--

is due to Thee alone;

Aught to ourselves we dare not take,

Nor rob Thee of Thy crown".

What are we most proud of? The things that are best about us. It might be good looks or intelligence or money or talent or something else. Where do these things come from?

They come from God, James 1:17. Some come directly--like a beautiful face. Some women are beautiful without makeup or exercise or diet or hairdo or anything else. Other things come indirectly, like education. You had to work for it. But who gave you the potential and opportunity? It was the Lord.

This means boasting is blasphemy and pride is idolatry. Human conceit robs God of His glory. That's pretty bad.

Think also of what pride does to human society--either the family or neighborhood or church or even nation. Solomon and James knew very well--

Look of the family. Why does the wife disobey her husband? She has her "reasons"--she knows more than he does; he's not a leader; and so on. But the real reason is pride. Like Satan, she's not content being what she is. She must be more. By becoming the "husband" in the family, though, she doesn't become "more" than the wife; she becomes "less".

The same is true of the husband. When his leadership becomes dictatorial, he doesn't gain authority, he loses it.

Someone said, "When men try to be gods, they become animals". I couldn't agree more.

Pride is a cancer that eats up the family, the church, society, and the world. It's a "worm that never dies and a fire that is not quenched".

Think of what pride does to the person. At the least, it makes you impervious to correction. If you never admit you're wrong, how can you ever change for the better? But what keeps you from being honest about your faults? Only one thing: Pride.

This is pretty bad. But I know something worse pride does to you: It separates you from God. "God resists the proud".

Our Lord had fellowship with every scoundrel in the world--publicans, harlots, demoniacs, and more. But even He had His standards! There was one kind of person He'd have nothing to do with--Pharisees. What was their great sin? Pride.

To our Lord Zacchaeus was a sick man, but the Pharisees were rotting corpses.

Pride is an awful thing. In its nature and its result. No wonder God hates it so and calls it "an abomination".

Remember, it is all pride God hates--and not just the pride in others. My pride is no more pleasing to God than the pride of Judas Iscariot. And neither is yours. It may be forgiven--but it's no better!

TESTS

How do you know if you're proud? Here are three little tests:

WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE US?

This is not the most enjoyable sermon I ever preached. I didn't like it much preparing it; I don't like it much hearing it either. It convicts me of pride. Maybe it does the same to you. What do we do with the guilt?

We can feel it for a few minutes and then slough it off. But if we do, we're "hearers of the Word [and not] doers". And that person is never "justified with God".

It is better to confess your sins to God and to seek forgiveness and renewal in Christ.

That's where it leaves us. Broken at the feet of the Savior. There's no better place to be. For "This man receives sinners". And "broken and contrite heart He [never once] despised".

The start of humility is feeling your pride. Its end is fellowship with God.

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Our sense of pride should also make us think more highly of others than we do. It's easy to find fault with others--especially those you know well. But who made you a Judge? You're not behind the bench, but in the dock! It is you who stand accused of pride in the Courtroom of Heaven! And you're guilty of it. So am I. Being sinners ourselves, we ought to at others with a little less contempt and a lot more sympathy.

It's not only "love", but humility that "covers a multitude of sins".

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Our pride ought to make us thankful for Christ.

Heaven is open to no one but the humble. That means we're locked out for good. Unless we go in with Someone else. Someone who's welcome in God's Presence and will vouch for us. We have that Someone. He's Jesus Christ our Lord.

God accepts His humility and welcomes Him to glory. Because He's so pleased with His Son, He lets Him bring some friends with Him. We become His friends through faith alone in Christ alone.

He's the best friend we have. And so, we don't take His friendship for granted. We thank Him for it in word and deed.

SUMMARY

There are "seven deadly sins". And none is deadlier than "a proud look". May God forgive us of that sin. And humble us under His mighty hand. For Christ's sake. Amen.