Sin Of Pride – The Sin of Sins
The sin of pride is the sin of sins. It was this sin, we’re told, which transformed Lucifer, an anointed cherub of God, the very “seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,”1 into Satan, the devil, the father of lies, the one for whom Hell itself was created.2 We’re warned to guard our hearts against pride lest we too “fall into the same condemnation as the devil.”3

It was the sin of pride which first led Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit. In Genesis we read, “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”4 And who do you think was that serpent of old who first introduced Eve to this sin of pride? It was none other than the devil himself,5 eager to share his condemnation with others.

St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.) wrote, “‘Pride is the commencement of all sin’6 because it was this which overthrew the devil, from whom arose the origin of sin; and afterwards, when his malice and envy pursued man, who was yet standing in his uprightness, it subverted him in the same way in which he himself fell. For the serpent, in fact, only sought for the door of pride whereby to enter when he said, ‘Ye shall be as gods.'”7

Sin Of Pride – Preoccupation With Self
The sin of pride is a preoccupation with self. It is thus very fitting that the middle letter in the word is “i.” Pride is all about “me, myself, and I.” So even as the word “pride” is centered upon an “i,” the sin itself is also centered upon “I.” We read of Lucifer’s fall, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.”8 Satan’s enmity against God began with “I”. And so it is with us. If you are preoccupied with yourself, you are suffering from the sin of pride.

One way to determine whether or not you are preoccupied with yourself is to evaluate your motives. Take the pursuit knowledge for example. If you study hard because that’s what the Lord wants you to do and you’re being obedient to Him, that’s good. That’s obedience to God. Or if you study hard because you want to become a teacher so that you can edify others and help them to grow, that’s good too. That’s love for others. But if you study hard solely to amass knowledge for yourself, just so you can say that you know more than everyone else, that’s bad! Your focus is upon yourself and your own glory. That’s preoccupation with self. That’s pride. And if this is the case for you, not only are you already suffering from pride, you’re setting yourself up to be totally consumed by it! The Apostle Paul wasn’t joking when he said, “Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.”9 And anyone who is ever been there will tell you, knowledge for the wrong reasons (i.e. personal glory) will lead to a proud heart and enmity against God.

Sin Of Pride – An Outline
The sin of pride is rightfully distinguished as the foremost among the seven “deadly sins,” each of the seven equally as deadly (Proverbs 6:16-19), but none quite as notorious as this “sin of the devil.”10 We’re going to look at this sin of sins: how it manifests itself in our thoughts and lives, what are its effects and how we are to fight against it taking hold in our hearts. We’ll begin by looking at two people in history that committed the sin of pride and how they’re portrayed in the Bible. We’ll look at how pride manifested itself in their lives and we’ll make some practical observations. Then we’ll look at how pride can infect our own hearts and minds, and finally, we’ll discuss how to combat the sin of pride with humility.
Sin Of Pride – Nebuchadnezzar
The great Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, suffered from the sin of pride and lost his kingdom for it. His story is given to us so that we might learn our lesson from him (rather than having to learn it the hard way), the lesson being: God is quite able to humble the proud and more than happy to do so. No more than twelve months after being warned by Daniel the prophet of God’s displeasure with him, Nebuchadnezzar looked out across the great city of Babylon and said in his pride, “Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?”1

While the words were still in his mouth, a voice spoke from heaven, “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.” And we read that at “that very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”2

Nebuchadnezzar was later given the opportunity to repent and upon doing so he was given back his kingdom by God’s grace. This is what he learned through his ordeal: “At the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’ At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.”3 The lesson we are to learn from Nebuchadnezzar’s experience is this: “those who walk in pride He is able to put down.”

Sin Of Pride – Belshazzar
Nebuchadnezzar was extended God’s grace and he repented of the sin of pride. His grandson however was not given the same opportunity. Perhaps that is because Nebuchadnezzar’s experience was meant to serve as a lesson to us all, and Belshazzar, who knew of his grandfather’s rebuke, refused to learn his grandfather’s lesson. On the night of king Belshazzar’s demise, Daniel the prophet stood before him and said, “‘O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor. And because of the majesty that He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. Then he was driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses. But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven.’ …That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain.”4

Sin Of Pride – How Pride Works
By looking at the lives of these two men we can learn how the sin of pride might work in our own lives. Nebuchadnezzar, on the one hand, didn’t acknowledge God for what He had given him, in this case the throne upon which he sat. He gave himself credit for his success and in doing so he compounded his sin by robbing God of the glory which He was due. Belshazzar, on the other hand, was so arrogant and foolish as to deliberately insult and provoke the God of universe. He defiled the vessels of gold and silver which had been dedicated to God by using them in a drunken orgy and he did so knowing full well how the Lord had rebuked his grandfather not many years before.1

From these two examples we see how pride can skew our perceptions of reality. In fact, pride must obscure the truth simply because the truth is often very humbling, something contrary to the sin of pride. Nebuchadnezzar’s pride deceived him into thinking something that wasn’t true: he believed that he had built the great Babylonian empire by his own wisdom and by his might when in fact it was God who “made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.”2

King Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, had the exact same problem. He gave himself credit for his victories, saying in his heart, “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am prudent; also I have removed the boundaries of the people, and have robbed their treasuries; so I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. My hand has found like a nest the riches of the people, and as one gathers eggs that are left, I have gathered all the earth; and there was no one who moved his wing, nor opened his mouth with even a peep.”3 And yet it was God who gave Sennacherib his success because God chose to use him to exercise His righteous indignation upon certain godless nations. But Sennacherib did not give God the glory due His name, but instead, like Belshazzar he exalted himself against God and insulted Him to His face. And just like Belshazzar, it cost Sennacherib his life. The Lord declared, “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger and the staff in whose hand is My indignation. I will send him against an ungodly nation, and against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, to seize the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Yet he does not mean so, nor does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and cut off not a few nations. …I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.”4 God showed His awesome power, wiping out 185,000 Assyrian troops in one night. Sennacherib fled in fear to his capital city, Nineveh, where he was slain in the temple of his false god, Nisroch.

Belshazzar also suffered from a skewed perception of reality. His pride gave him a deluded sense of security. He felt safe upon his throne, behind his high walls; safe enough to mock the God of the universe! But he was a fool to think that he could exalt himself against his Maker.

And so we see that pride can blind us to the reality of our situation. We also see that pride can lead us into further sin against God. Pride led Nebuchadnezzar to rob God of the glory due His name while pride led Belshazzar to insult God to His face. But God will not be mocked by man nor will He be robbed by us. “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! …You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me,”5 and “do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”6

Sin Of Pride – A Dangerous Enemy
The sin of pride is such a dangerous enemy simply because it pits you against your Maker, and God is an enemy to be feared! “Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world [that is, whoever chooses to embrace the ‘lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life’*] makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ‘The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously’? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'”7

* “For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world,” (1 John 2:16) a world which was, like Lucifer, created absolutely perfect, but has since, like Satan, departed from its Creator God and has created for itself its own abominable ways.

http://www.broadcastingcommission.org/uploads/releases/BCJ%20Release%20-%20Directive%20to%20NNN.pdf

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