Love Destroys Pride, Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ when I love God with all that I have. I see God for who he something else out. I see me for who I if I'm consumed with my love for God is, he saw and what was his response.

I saw God I saw God I said hey right it is that I saw about 100 on Monday joining us today on this additional Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt Fellowship in the Words the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible church located in Metairie, Louisiana.

Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now again he shows us how God's word meets our work that almost always, we overlook. Andrew Murray said this is the root of every sin and evil John Bloom wrote this he said this in Mark's ambition. He said a perverse sexual desire and unspeakable lust and interprets network as though it self-worth and twist competition in the conquest it has been championed by the Greeks, the Romans and the Americans is been embraced by philosophers from Aristotle to Nietzsche. But God hates it and he says I hate Jesus said that it defiles a man in the Bible says that it always precedes destruction talking about pride and the reason I'm talking about pride is since the beginning of this pandemic.

Pride seems to be on the rise, and not just with the culture, but in the church of Jesus Christ. I've had conversations with believers who want to let me know in the world know that I have my rights. No one is going to tell me what to do pride, as are statements of pride. They have no place in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, are you willing to be last so that you could be first. Are you willing to serve everybody brothers and sisters in Christ in the world at large. Your world, how do we overcome the sin of pride. By the way, if you are powerful you don't think this is for you at all. Just talk to someone who you trust and knows you well. My experience with prideful people as they never see it, but everyone else does he see how do we overcome our pride. We know that the opposite of pride is humility.

That's how we do it, you know that's how you destroy pride with humility yet but how do you do that I will make myself humble.

That's I will do it. You can make yourself humble.

Humility is the result of a process. In fact, if we could make ourselves humble would be proud of it but there's a different approach and word of God. I like to start with me in Matthew chapter 22 in verse 34 Matthew chapter 22 and verse 34 verse 34 says, but when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together and one of them, a lawyer that means, by the way, he's a scribe. One of them, a lawyer ask him a question. Actually that were questions in italics is not in the text.

Ask him to test him this scribe once the test Jesus because they realize when Jesus talked of the Sadducees. He made them look like fools. So he wants to turn the tables on Jesus and ask him a question. He said teacher or rabbi, which is the great commandment of the law.

The law being from Genesis to Malachi. What is the great commandment of the old testament. Notice that Matthew doesn't say. And Jesus pondered this and thought deeply about it. He just spoken.

He said you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets. Jesus said if you want me to summarize the way God wants you to live from Genesis to Malachi. Here it is.

And I'm telling you, if you wanted to say how does God want us to live from Genesis to Revelation. That's Jesus statement.

He said you're the love God with all you have. Everything about you and the words going to be used in amusing this morning for love is the word agape okay that that we get a lot of trouble in our culture the way we use the word love. Love fluctuates in our culture, and you hear it, and I hear this often. I've heard it just not long ago someone in a marriage tells their spouse. I don't love you anymore, as though that justifies what they're about to do.

I don't love you anymore in our culture says well what can they do they don't love each other. That's not this word you see the three words in the New Testament. The first word is full of hope that means friendship relationship. The second is Eros that means physical attraction and you could see how those would fluctuate hey you fight with your spouse for six months. You might not want to be as close of friends as you were before. And the Bible says beauty fades falls under the law of diminishing returns.

But this is agape. This is your choice. Agape is a willful choice.

The love that is a very different thing is exactly the way God loves us. It's not unconditional it's agape and he says that's the way you have to choose to love God.

This way now. If you think about it when I love God with all that I have.

I see God for who he is something else happens.

I see me for who I am.

If I'm consumed with my love for God.

Think of Isaiah.

He saw God and what was his response.

I saw God I saw God I said hey right. He just said well I saw God, he said, warm, undone, undone.

Remember the book of Job. We talked about that a lot in the book of Job, Job just said I like to have an audience performed as a like to know why Amcor through all this and then God appeared to Job, and he saw God how that worked out. Job repented spec often matches what I he saw God. You see, that's what happens when we say that we see God. I see my nothingness in the presence of his greatness.

I see my sinfulness in the presence of his holiness. So once I really have a consuming love for God and seeing God the way he is. I see me for the way I am and or something that that does to me the challenges and beats up my pride.

When my proud of how I stand before God and I'm proud he says you also love your neighbor as yourself. Follow this up with what Paul says about that for us.

Go with me to Philippians chapter 2 Philippians chapter 2 the first four verses the apostle Paul says this therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ. By the way, these are first-class conditions of assumption in the Greek means of course to raise. Is there any encouragement in Christ.

Yes. Is there any consolation of love.

Yes. Is there any fellowship of the Spirit yes is there any affection and compassion. Yes then you make my joy complete.

Paul said by being of the same mind maintaining the same love, united in spirit intended on one per one purpose. He said let me explain what I'm saying here. Let me try to tell you what this looks like do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit.

So what can I do for my empty conceit my pride. One of the things that I can do as a believer in Jesus Christ, the champion my own pride, he said nothing. He said, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than you yourselves do not merely look out for your own interest, but look out for the interest of others. You do that is everybody else in the world more important than you to you do you look out for their interests. Is that what you care about is that what you're preoccupied with. You see, this is sort of like through this pandemic. I think a lot of our mindsets are every man for himself, you know, we just gotta get it. I I'd love to do with you people but I can't right now I'm doing with me said with that's not exactly loving your neighbor as yourself. You want a simple illustration.

Think of the whole controversy even in the church but think of the whole controversy of wearing masks no matter what the epidemiologist the virologist say no matter what the government says local governments take up no matter we turn this into something you know why I wear a mask for you that for me. In fact that's what they even told us the medical community. You said you were mask for other people. So the idea I'm not wearing a mask because I know my rights as just empty pride, where mass because you love other people.

It's as simple as that. We consider the other people as more important than us. That's the way we love our neighbors ourselves. Notice he goes on, he says, look have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus you want to be like Jesus then destroyer pride you want to be like Jesus be sacrificial you want to be like Jesus, he said, who, although he existed in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, he emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant being he said made in the likeness of men being found any appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even to the death and on the cross and therefore for this reason, God highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name which is above all names. If there someone in the universe that could be proud. It's the son of God, I mean after all, I am the son of God, I'm part of the triune God and how that he solve our dilemma, he humbled himself before me say this before, but when the son of God became a man to be just like me becoming a slug and is probably more distance between him and Mandan arisen between me and a slug is another that not just any man to become a servant of the mall why I consider the mall is more important than me, not just that I'll go to the cry of the cross and died in unfair death for them.

Sacrificial love of humility said God loves that he bestowed him a name above all names. He exalted him just like you would us. We don't act out of pride, but we do act out of humility. Why did he do that. Go with me to Romans chapter 5 Romans chapter 5.

Disagree chapter 1 of my favorite in the New Testament. He starts on verse one aces. Therefore, having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

That's what happened when Christ emptied himself, went to the cross.

You and I as sinful people have a relationship with God, we have peace with God. We been reconciled with God, he says, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand and we exult in hope of the glory of God. Not only this is that we exult in our tribulations.

I talked about this before, even in the pandemic. We exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance.

Perseverance brings about proven character, proven character, hope, hope doesn't disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Then he writes this for while we were still helpless at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one, will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for a good man someone would dare even die. God demonstrates his own love toward us. How does God demonstrate his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us that humbling of the son of God ends up demonstrating his love toward us, that we are at enmity. Paul says in Romans with God were not as friends, we are at enmity with God, weird laws that are sin, he said yeah but I love them so I would die for them you see his love is demonstrated by the sacrifice. How was your love demonstrated. What is your sacrifice.

See, how do you show your love to who to the rest of the world. How do you show your love to your brothers and sisters in Christ, your neighbors, how do you do that or do you get all you see that's a very important part.

You see, when it comes to pride and humility. The key is love. How does a proud person become humble love agape. They love God with everything they have and they love everybody else like they love themselves.

That's the solution to pride. You will never ever overcome pride if you don't and never will and you will never be conformed to the image of your Savior. While on earth you live your whole life and pride which God says he hates sin amazing thing I can still remember how shocked I was the first time I went to conferences with a lot of other pastors from around the country and really when you just sit and listen to the conversation so much of it was simply one upmanship or you have some to brag about you know what I have to brag about me to what I done what I can tell you what you've done nothing, same as me. This is Jesus Christ were all susceptible to this turn with me now to first Corinthians chapter 13. This is an amazing set of verses in light of what I'm talking about this morning. I'm sure most of you know this, but what was the church of cornflake. It was by a mile.

The worst church in the New Testament it in any area could be wrong. It was wrong and we read the whole book. Guess what Paul is able to illustrate what was the root of all their wrongness, pride. There were man followers name dropper. They were everything you could be. They even took spiritual gifts. Grace is from God and made them an issue up pride in Paul's like what are you doing there is nothing in our experience, or lives as important for you and for me, as the love God with everything we have an abundance of letters is nothing more preferable. Never if you ever miss one of our broadcast or maybe you just like to listen to the message one more time remembering a great website called in one place.com that's one place.com and you can listen the fellowship and the word online that website you will find on with today's broadcast but also many of her previous audio program, had Fellowship in the Word. We are thankful for those who financially support our ministry and make this broadcast possible with all of our listeners to prayerfully consider how you might help his radio ministry continuous broadcast on this radio station by supporting a monthly with just a one-time gift support for ministry can be sent to Fellowship in the Word.

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Once again our website is FVC Nola.org forecaster Bill Gebhardt, unseasoned and hard. Thanking you for listening to fellowship in order