In his sermon titled 'Two Faces of Pride,' Peter Allison explores the dual nature of pride as depicted in Proverbs 18:12-14. He discusses how pride manifests in two ways: those who think too highly of themselves and those who think too lowly, but both are self-focused. The sermon emphasizes that pride leads to destruction because God opposes the proud, whereas humility leads to honor because God gives grace to the humble. Allison provides biblical examples, like the Egyptian army's downfall and David's hasty judgment, to illustrate the consequences of pride. He highlights the importance of prayer and seeking God's wisdom, contrasting it with the folly of self-reliance. The sermon concludes with a call for humility, urging believers to rely on Christ's strength and recognize the beauty and power of His righteousness. It encourages the congregation to seek the Holy Spirit's help in mortifying pride and pursuing true humility.

Proverbs 18. I'd like to read verses 12-14. Proverbs 18 verse 12, Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, and before honor is humility. He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him. The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit?" As far as the reading of God's Word.

Heavenly Father, as we look into this, Your Word, we ask for Your Holy Spirit. For these matters are spiritually discerned, such that the natural man cannot understand them. And so we ask that you give us spiritual eyes and ears this morning. Father, I ask also that you sanctify, that you set apart this vessel of clay, these sinful lips that they might proclaim what is true and holy. In Jesus' name, amen.

Well, one of the commitments I made last year was was to bring God's Word to you out of the overflow of his work in me. Given the fact that I work two jobs, to accept that sometimes I won't have the time that I would like to have to prepare messages. And I purpose to accept that and to live with that fact and to simply come to you with what the Lord had given and if it wasn't a lot to accept that. And so this morning is really one of the first tests of that commitment to come to you with what the Lord has given And I trust that even though this message may be shorter than many that he will feed us this morning with his word This these three verses I think deal with the issue of pride. This is something that's not new at all to our study of Proverbs.

There are many, many verses in Proverbs that speak of and warn of pride teaching us against it. And Some of that repetition is because we need to hear these things again and again. We need to be reminded. We need to hear what we already know. But also, in different times that these are mentioned, there are different nuances, different aspects of, in this case, pride that are being drawn out.

I think we have before us in these three verses the two faces in which pride is sometimes expressed. The two faces in which pride is sometimes expressed. In verse 12 is a general statement, a statement that is repeated in other places in previous chapters that we have looked at. That before destruction, the heart of man is haughty, or pride goes before destruction, and before honor is humility. The reason for that is very simple.

It's not a karma, it's not some force in the universe that those who exalt themselves will somehow be brought low. It's not a self-leveling principle of physics that those who are low are going to naturally come up or those who are high are going to fall. It's not that at all. This is a truth because God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. God is opposed to the proud.

The proud fall because God is opposed to them. God opposed the Egyptian army because it exalted itself against the Lord. He caused the wheels of their chariots to fall off. He caused them to get stuck in the middle of the Red Sea and When God had part of the waters and then therefore inundated when God released the waters God the Egyptian army the proud Egyptian army fell because God opposed them God opposed Isaiah when his heart was lifted up. And he thought that he could sacrifice, do the work of the priest as well as the king.

His heart was lifted up and he fell. He was humbled by being struck with a disease. He fell because God opposed him. And those who are humble are exalted, honored, because God gives grace to the humble. But these three verses, I think, speak of the two faces of pride.

Verse 13 speaks of the pride of those who think too highly of themselves. This is a pride that is too eager to speak. A pride that thinks that we pride ourselves on our discernment and our judgment. We know, we are so discerning that they don't even have to finish their sentence, we know what they're, we already know what they're talking about, we know what they're going to say and we already have an answer for it. This is the pride of being too sure of knowing someone's unspoken mind.

It's the pride of thinking too highly of ourselves. This is probably what we often think of as pride. This is what we easily recognize as pride. And to this pride we need to remember the words of Jesus that said, I am the vine and you are the branches. I am the vine and you are the branches.

I am the vine and you are the branches. If you are cut off, you are separated from me, you wither and die. Without me, for without me you can do nothing. Absolutely nothing. Without me you can do nothing.

Without me you have nothing, because everything that you have has come from, is a gift of the Father of Lights. Come down from above. He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is a folly and a shame to him. That kind of pride leads us to fail to Not only listen to the complete thought of whoever is talking or even reaching a judgment before we have Heard the matter But it also it certainly will lead to a failure to seek wisdom seek counsel to go to the Lord in prayer for wisdom. That's one of the indicators of pride.

Just a failure to pray. A thinking that we know the answer. Just like this person here who can answer a matter before he hears it. When we don't pray, we're Basically taking that same attitude that we we know the answer we we are able in ourselves to do what needs to be done We know what needs to be done What need is there to pray what need is there to come before the Lord and? Ask his wisdom ask him to direct our steps to give to guide us To give us understanding of what is before us.

Or to ask him for strengths to do what he has led us to do. See, all that is really a form of pride. Not needing the Lord. Not needing His wisdom. Not needing to hear a matter before we can answer it.

There are many examples in the scriptures of this, and if you're like me, you can probably find many in your own life as well. Joshua, when the Gibbianites came, forgot to cry out to the Lord and ask for the Lord's wisdom and guidance in answering them. He answered the matter not knowing, not having heard, not having discerned the situation. Because he didn't hear the whole situation, he answered a matter really before he had heard it, before he knew all the facts. There's another verse that is a couplet to that a little bit later, in verse 17, the first one to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him.

Gibbunites came first and it seemed right but there was nobody that examined that and verified whether they really were from so far away. Or David, when Mephibosheth's servant, Zibia, came to him and gave him a story. David made a judgment. He never checked with Mephibosheth. Later on, Mephibosheth gave his side of the story and at that point David was a little stuck and just tried to split the difference between them.

It's very easy to do. It's very easy to do. Just run along. Forget to pray. Forget to ask the Lord's wisdom because maybe it's something we've done many times before.

But Jesus says, I am the branches. I'm the vine, you are the branches. Without me you can do nothing. Without the vine we have no life. Without the vine we can produce no fruit.

Without the vine we just shrivel up and die. And when we live without prayer, we are living as if we are a branch separated from the vine. There's another kind of pride though, that is mentioned in this next verse. It's the other face of pride and it's often not recognized as pride. The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness but who can bear a broken spirit?

Who can bear a broken spirit? This is the woe is me. The woe is me. The broken spirit that is always thinking themselves unable to do anything, always putting themselves down. That you might say they think too lowly of themselves.

They think too lowly of themselves. One thinks too highly of itself, the other thinks too lowly of themselves. What's the problem? They're all thinking of themselves. This is the problem.

Pride thinks about itself. The pride thinks about itself. The humble look to the Lord and don't think about themselves. It's a little in when there's Ohio class submarines came out a long time ago, they were very big submarines and they were very quiet. In fact, they were so quiet that when they passed by the sound, they have ranges where they can go through and you hear the sound signature they actually block they actually got caught the background noise got quieter because they they blocked out the background noise A humble person is not somebody who is going around saying how lowly they are and how bad they are.

It is not somebody who is going around saying how great they are either, it's somebody who you just don't realize is there, because they are not thinking of themselves, they are not pointing themselves out. These people need to say that God is able to make all grace abound toward me and that I have all sufficiency in all things and can abound to every good work. As Paul told the Philippians, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And the thought then turns our heart and thoughts are turned back to Christ where they ought to be.

He is our strength. He is the vine that nourishes us. This also thinks too lowly of God. Thinks too lowly of ourselves and too lowly of God. God is mighty.

He can make a donkey testify to the truth. He can cause 90 year old ladies to have a baby. He can stop the sun from advancing and just make it stay there. In fact, he can make the sun go back. He can make the sundial go backwards.

He makes sightless eyes to see, deaf ears to hear, he makes lame people to leap, he brings the dead to life. The woe is me is really wallowing in self-pity, is really thinking far too low of the Lord, the mighty God. If He's put us somewhere, if He's called us to do something, pride says, woe is me, I can't do this, I'm not good enough, I can't talk. Humility says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. My God is a mighty God.

And it's not me. Humility takes the focus off Me and puts it back on Christ. He is able. He gives us life. Pride focuses on the failure of others.

Pride is critical. It's a fault-finding spirit. Humility has its compassion because it recognizes it has similar faults. Pride looks down on others. Pride is self-sufficient, doesn't need the Lord.

Pride has to be proven right. Humility is willing to yield their rights. Pride wants to protect all its time and reputation. Humility is self denying. Pride desires to be served.

Humility desires to serve others. Pride desires to be a success. Humility is willing to help others succeed. Pride is wounded when others are promoted or recognized. Humility is happy when others are recognized or promoted.

Pride thinks of all the things that they can do. Humility recognizes they can't do anything except they can do everything through Christ. And so it looks to Christ. Pride is confidence in how much we know. Humility is recognizing how much we have to learn.

Pride is self-conscious. It's self-conscious. Self-conscious. It's self-conscious. Humility is others conscious, not not concerned about ourselves.

Pride is defensive when criticized, unapproachable. Humility can be criticized. Pride wants to blame others. Humility is willing to accept responsibility. Pride is concerned about having an image, being respectable, and working to protect that image.

Humility is concerned with what really is, what's true, and what God thinks and what God sees. Pride wants to cover up humility is willing to confess. Pride wants to be generic. Humility confesses specifically. Pride is concerned consequences of sin.

Humility is grieved over the root of sin. Idolatry. To be proud is to be blind to our own heart and our own condition. Humility is to see the corruption of our own heart and our own condition. And it is in that state to long for, to desire for the Holy Spirit to fall, to come with life-giving power, to come with refreshing water, Recognizing that we are like a dry and a parched land.

It's just it's to desire to be caught by God It's the desire to be to chase after him To know him to catch him to be caught by Him and taught by Him. The spring of humility is true self-knowledge that sees us as the Lord sees us. And it also springs from seeing the Lord for who He is. It sees our sinfulness for what it is, and sees Christ's righteousness, and Christ's beauty, and Christ's power for what it is. That which can transform us, that which can restore us, that which can empower us, that which gives us life.

May God give to us His Holy Spirit to every day, every day, hour by hour, mortify our pride. Our pride. Father in heaven, we thank you for your word that speaks to us, that gives us a true understanding of our own heart, but also reveals your righteousness from heaven and shows to us the perfections of Jesus Christ, his beauty, his glory, for His beauty, His glory, for He is truth, His Word is truth. And in that Word we have a true mirror showing to us our true nature. And we ask, Lord, that you would teach us humility day by day in all of its insidious forms as it comes in many different disguises.

Lord, by Your wisdom and Your sight, may you enable us to peel those away and to see both the true depth of our own heart and also the beauty of our Savior Jesus Christ. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.