A Battle You Cannot Win - Part 2 of 2

The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder Lacerre Bradley, Jr. O for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise! The praise of my God and King, the triumph of his grace!

This is Lacerre Bradley, Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. Be holy, as God is holy! Be holy, as God is holy! Just as he who follows us is holy! Be holy before the Lord!

God his grace up his shout, and strength to run the race! And he calls us to be holy, holy before his grace! Be holy, as God is holy! Be holy, as God is holy! Just as he who calls us is holy! Be holy before the Lord! Be holy before the Lord! Today we'll be continuing the message entitled, A Battle You Cannot Win. If you'd like to get the complete message on CD, request that one writing us, and if you ask for it, we will also send you a sample copy of our publication, The Baptist Witness.

Our address is the Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. The text for this message is the book of 1 Peter, chapter 5. In verse 5, it says, God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. We first noted that a warning is delivered. God resists the proud.

And then we've talked about the fact that there is a description given. Traits of the proud are clearly made evident in God's Word, and we continue there today. And then another evidence of a prideful heart is the tendency to always shift blame. Now we saw that in the case of Saul. He was going to blame the people, not taking full responsibility himself.

But that tendency started a long time ago. It started back in the Garden of Eden. When the Lord came in the garden and said, Adam, where art thou? And Adam had hidden himself. He had partaken of the forbidden fruit. God said, you can have all of the fruit and all of the garden, but this one tree, you're not to partake of the fruit, and Adam had partaken of it.

And what does he say? Lord, the woman that you gave me, she caused me to do it. Well, he was taking a swipe at God and his wife both at the same time.

Lord, you gave me this woman, and she's the one that has enticed me to partake of the forbidden fruit. In other words, I'm not really responsible, but he was. God held him accountable. How many times is there a tendency in our human nature, and I dare say I can hit everybody here this morning with this, including myself, we would like to point to somebody else as being the source of our problem if we have failed in some area. I've seen that sometimes in a counseling situation where man would finally confess, well, yes, I didn't do that just right, but if it hadn't been for what she did, I never would have done that. I didn't say everything I should have said. I didn't say, but, but, but, if you could have just heard the tone of her voice, you'd have understood why I blew up. It's all her fault. Her children will say, you just don't know how unreasonable and overbearing and difficult my parents are.

They just feel that I'm entitled to break some of their rules because they're too hard. There are too many of them. Shifting the blame. Shifting the blame. And then the proud find fault with others while minimizing their own sin.

You see that Jesus mentions it in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 7, verse 3. And why beholdest thou the moat that is in thy brother's eye and consider'st not the beam that is in thine own eye? The moat being a little small speck.

And the beam actually has reference to a log. Can you imagine? Here's somebody going to pick down here in their neighbor's eye to find a tiny speck. They've got a big log coming out of their own eye. This is the absurdity of that kind of a spirit that Jesus speaks of. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, let me pull out the moat of thine eye and behold a beam is in thine own eye. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the moat out of thy brother's eye.

Oh, how easy that is to slip into that kind of an attitude because of our fallen sinful nature. Very critical of other people. Constantly seeing their faults. Sometimes talking about their faults to other people which becomes gossip. Or you may be talking about their faults to them.

If a husband and wife are constantly looking at each other's faults and constantly picking at each other. Well, let me tell you what you did. Well, let me tell you this.

Well, you did that. And then if they want to get rolling on it, then they bring up something that happened five years ago. Or in the midst of a main conflict, we'll go back 10 or 20 years if we have to. And I'm going to pick at the fault in somebody else. The proud are contentious and envious. Proverbs chapter 13 verse 10 says, Only by pride cometh contention, but with the well-advised is wisdom.

A contentious person is a person who's constantly picking, constantly raising issues, constantly criticizing. They can never be content. And then we look at the book of James chapter 3 verse 14. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not against the truth.

This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish, for where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. Contentious and envious. Envious of what somebody else has. Envious of their possessions. Envious of their position.

Envious of their looks. There's a lot of things where envy comes into play. And then the scriptures say that envy is as cruel as the grave. And then the individual that is proud feels that he is wiser than anybody else and consequently refuses to learn.

Can't tell him anything, he already knows it all. Already got everything all straight in his mind, knows exactly what he believes, why he believes it, where he's going, what he's going to do, and what everybody else ought to be doing. Jeremiah chapter 8 and the 8th verse. How did you say, we are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us. Lo, certainly in vain made he it, the pen of the scribes is in vain. He says the writing of the law was vain for these individuals. The pen of the scribes that wrote it down, it's of no use because they say we are wise.

We are wise. Jeremiah chapter 26 verse 10. Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness. Let favor or grace, you're gracious to somebody, you're kind to them. Let grace be shown to them, but they will not learn. In the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly and will not behold the majesty of the Lord. A person that is full of pride doesn't even recognize it when they've been dealt with on the principle of grace.

They feel like I'm entitled to it and probably feel they're entitled to more. Proverbs chapter 10 verse 17. He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction, but he that refuseth reproof eareth. A person that will not be reproved. You try to talk to somebody and it may be that you approach them in a kind loving spirit. You're concerned for their spiritual welfare, but this individual will not receive it.

You have the idea, nobody need to approach me and tell me about my faults and my failings. Proverbs 29 verse 1. He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy. Now, somebody might say, well, I've seen some situations where somebody seemingly had an awful lot of pride and they were very arrogant in their approach to life, but nothing has happened. Well, it didn't say it's going to happen today or tomorrow, but when it does happen, it'll be sudden.

Suddenly they will be cut off and that without remedy. Another characteristic of the individual that is proud, they fail to recognize their own weakness. First Corinthians 10, 17 says, Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

A person that says, I can handle it. I've had young people in particular where I would advise them as to what the scripture says, even communications corrupt good manners. This says you're not tough enough on your own to stand against temptation.

If you're traveling with the wrong people, people who are already on the wrong road, you're going to go down that same path, be guilty of the same sin, suffer the same consequences. Oh, no, they'll say, I can't give up my friends. And one young man who had spent the night in jail because his friend was selling drugs, he said, I didn't have any drugs, I didn't take any drugs, it wasn't me, but I was with him.

And so it wasn't fair that I got arrested, I had to spend the night in jail. I said, well, I'm telling you, if you don't give up friends, including this one, you'll continue to go down the wrong path. Oh, no, he's too good a friend. I said, a great friend introduced you to spending the night in jail.

What kind of a friend is that? But my, how people close their eyes to the truth of what God says. He that thinketh he standeth, you think that you're tough, you can stand against any temptation, you're headed for a downfall. And him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. So then our text says, humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, a change is needed. There's some wonderful promises in Scripture to the humble. Matthew chapter 23, verse 12, and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, but he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. You exalt yourself, you continue to walk in pride, you continue to be self-willed, selfish, focusing on the things you ought to do, forgetting God, forgetting God's word, you've embarked on a battle that you cannot win. But on the other hand, the one that humbles himself shall be exalted. Look at the book of Isaiah, chapter 57, some wonderful promises in this book concerning those who are walking humbly before God. Verse 15, for thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy, I will dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Although God dwells in the high and lofty place, I'll also dwell in this individual, this one who has a humble spirit, a humble and a broken, a contrite spirit.

Changes are needed. The promise then that God makes is that you humble yourself and he will exalt you. You don't exalt yourself, he will exalt you in his way and in his time and to his glory.

So then the question may come to mind, how do I do that? How do I humble myself? First of all, you need to pray for the Lord to search your heart and help you to know what's within you. But you may already be sitting there this morning thinking, well this message doesn't have a thing to do with me.

No pride in my heart, I have no problem with it. You definitely need to pray. You need to pray this prayer. Psalm 139 verse 23, search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Sometimes after you pray that prayer you might say, I wish I hadn't because the Lord shows you more than you cared to see. But the fact is, a person may say, well I know my heart, well you don't because Scripture says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately who can know it?

You can't know your own heart. So you pray, Lord, search me, try me, make me to know what's within me. And he may begin to reveal some attitudes and some thoughts and something in your spirit that you didn't even recognize was there.

There's a lot of pride that influences you in many areas of life. So you need to pray for the Lord to search your heart. Secondly, you need to consider the greatness of God. When you consider how great God is, then you'll see that there is no place for you to boast and to walk in pride. Isaiah 40 verse 12 says, Who hath measured the waters and the hollow of His hand and meted out the heaven with a span and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains and the scales and the hills in a balance? Seeing the greatness of God with whom took key counsel.

Who instructed Him and taught Him the path of righteousness and taught Him knowledge and showed to Him the way of understanding. And then he says he takes up all the nations of the earth and they're counted as a drop of a bucket and less than nothing. So any time you get to feeling like I'm really important, I'm really somebody special, I just, you know, I just think I ought to be getting a lot more than I have.

I'm entitled to more. Just come to understand that when God looks on all the nations of the earth, He says they are altogether reputed as nothing. Where does that put you as one little insignificant human being? I might say, well preacher, I don't think that's healthy. I think people ought to be taught to esteem themselves and think highly of themselves.

That's only what they're going to get by in life. No, that's not the teaching of scripture. I know that's the concept of the culture in which we're living. But what's needed today is not self-esteem, but Christ-esteem.

You see Him as the one in whom you trust and whom you have confidence. So you consider the greatness of God. And then you confess your sin. When you see your pride, confess it. Lord, I have to admit, I've tried to keep it covered up.

I haven't recognized it before. I haven't admitted it, but I acknowledge to you that I have sinned because pride is the underlying basis of almost every sin that is committed. I admit it, Lord. You come like the prodigal.

The prodigal was full of pride. He said, I want my inheritance. I'm tired of living in my father's house. I don't like the arrangements here. I don't like the rules here.

I want to go out on my own. He spent his substance in riotous living. And then when he fainted, he would have filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat. He said, I will arise and go to my father and say, Father, I've sinned in thy sight and I'm not worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of the hired servants. What a different spirit is there seen. That's the attitude with which you've got to come. Lord, I have sinned.

I have strayed. I have undertaken a battle that I could not win because I have tried to fight against the things that you expect of me and command in your word. And the text says that we are to submit. Submit yourself to the Lord. It says the younger should submit themselves to the elder.

And it says that you should be subject one to another and that you are to submit under the mighty hand of God. And then think about the blessings that will be enjoyed when you humble yourself. First of all, it says God will lift you up. When God lifts you up, that's a lot different than lifting yourself up.

You lift yourself up and you're ready for a downfall. But you walk humbly before God. And when He lifts you up, He will bless you in a way you never had imagined. He'll give you joys that the world could never offer. He'll give you opportunities to minister in His service that you wouldn't have envisioned. The Lord will lift you up. And then 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 5, the last part of the verse and also in verse 10, He says He will give you grace. He will give you more grace. If you come to see your unworthiness as you ought to see it, you understand, I can't come to God expecting that He's going to reward me. I don't deserve anything. I'm coming because I see that I am a rebel by nature. I'm an unworthy sinner.

I have walked in pride. I'm asking for forgiveness. What I need is grace.

And that's what He has promised to give. He will give you the grace, the help that you need. Come boldly to the throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. If you've been on a course of action in your life where you have been self-righteous, judgmental of others, discontent, ignoring some of the plain teaching of God's Word, you embarked on a course that leads to destruction. You've engaged in a battle that you cannot win.

But when God gives you the grace and help you need to face the trials of every single day that you live, what a blessing. No longer at war with God. No longer at war with yourself.

And no longer at war with other people. There is peace then to be enjoyed. Now there are those who in their pride deny the very existence of God. They don't believe there is God.

A lady came to the class over there I was referring to that I've been visiting in northern Kentucky. They have Bible reading. One lady told the teacher, said, I just tell you, I don't believe in God. But I will read the Bible, so why should I be offended by the Bible? Because I don't think there's anything to it anyway.

It's just like a book of poetry, so I'll read that. Well, there are people who say, I don't believe in God. I don't need God.

I don't care anything about Him. But God declares that He has given clear evidence of His existence. And He talks about those who suppress, seek to suppress the truth about God.

And the basic underlying reason is they don't want to be accountable to anybody. They say, I'm my own person. I can live like I want to live. I can do what I want to do.

I don't want to be accountable. But He goes on to say that not only has God revealed Himself in His handiwork and what He has done by His creation, He has also put it in the conscience of human beings to know there is a God. But there is a rejection of it because man is full of pride. Psalm 10 verses 4 and 6, The wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts. He hath said in His heart, I shall not be moved, for I shall never see adversity. This individual says, I can handle it whatever comes my way.

I don't expect any troubles. I don't expect adversity. I don't need God. He will not seek after God because of His pride. Do not fear the Lord. Yet the fact is that every thought of every human being on this earth is known to God. If you happen to be an individual who has struggled with this whole idea but thinking, not sure that there is a God, remember this, that every action, every thought, every motive, everything about you, your past, your present, even your future, God knows about it.

No doubt there are things that you have thought, things that you have done, you wouldn't want anybody else to know about. God knows about it. Isn't it an example of how we really do not fear God with the fact that if you have done something wrong, you are trying to cover it up so somebody doesn't find out and yet God already knows it. God is a just and holy God and He commands that men repent, acknowledge their sin, humble themselves before Him. The proud man who says, who is God that I should obey Him like Pharaoh said long ago, he's embarked on a course that leads to final destruction. There is coming a judgment.

Psalm 9 verse 17 says the wicked shall be turned into hell and all nations that forget God. There is coming a time that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God. If you today have walked in pride, may you humble yourself before the Lord and acknowledge, Lord, I want to walk in a way that's acceptable in thy sight. Or if there should be one here today who has struggled with the whole idea about whether there is a God.

And you may have said at times, I really don't think that there is. May you recognize today that there is a holy God, the sovereign creator of heaven and earth, before whom we all must stand. And you would either stand there in the day of judgment to be cast from His presence to suffer because of your sin forever, or have an advocate to plead your case, Jesus Christ the righteous, and stand clothed in the righteousness that He provides. May the proud humble themselves, may proud self-righteous sinners fall prostrated at the feet of Jesus, praying God be merciful to me, the sinner.

The scriptures are clear. God commands all men everywhere to repent. Those who are proud and boastful and see no need of a Savior and fail to humble themselves will ultimately come into judgment.

God gives grace to the humble, but He resists the proud. May we indeed walk humbly before our God to the glory and praise of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I hope that you will write us this week, and until next week at this same time, may the Lord richly bless you all. The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley, Jr. Address all mail to The Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. That's The Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. His voice shall blip the skies and tear every grave, for Christ alone can save, and every knee shall bow to Him, and every tongue shall then confess, Jesus is Lord, yes, Jesus is Lord, Christ Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God.