If you had to rank the human characteristics that lead to sin, what would the top one be? Would it be anger? Greed? Jealousy? Hatred? All of those would rank high on the sin scale. But, the Bible teaches that PRIDE is one of worst human characteristics when it comes to sin. In the Book of Proverbs, it says: 18 “Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18 (CSBBible) And, “The LORD detests the proud; they will surely be punished.” Proverbs 16:5 (NLT2) In the New Testament, the Apostle Peter adds: “God opposes the proud but favors the humble.” 1st Peter 5:5 (NLT2) Surely with these Scriptures in mind, Pastor and theologian, William Barclay, rightly said: “Pride is the ground in which all the other sins grow, and the parent from which all the other sins come.”[1]
I was thinking about this when I read the following little story that author, Garret Keizer, told about himself. His minister asked him to visit an elderly gentleman named Pete who lived in a nursing home. Pete loved bananas, so Garret started bringing them to him when he visited. Garret tells of a time when he was on the way to the nursing home and stopped at a supermarket to buy Pete’s bananas. He writes: “I was standing with my Chiquitas in the checkout line behind one of those people who seem to think they have all the time in the world. She had a box full of coupons. I shifted from one foot to the other, sighing, glancing at the clock. I wanted to catch Pete before supper. No doubt I was feeling the tiniest bit righteous because I was about the Lord’s business on behalf of an old man who needed his bananas and was looking forward to my company. And here was this loser buying an armful of trivial odds and ends and taking my precious time by bumbling around with her appallingly disorganized coupons. When I finally got through the line, I watched her walk to her vehicle feeling that same uncharitable impulse that makes us glance at the driver of a slower car we're passing on the interstate just to “get a look at the jerk.” She got into the driver’s seat of a van marked with the name of a local nursing home and filled to capacity with elderly men and women who had no doubt handed her their wish lists and coupons as soon as she’d cut the ignition.[2]
Wow! What a picture of pride that was! Pride, in such instances, is defined as having a high opinion of your self-importance and a very low respect for others. Pride is an attitude that the rules applying to others don’t necessarily apply to you. In this case, the basic rules of civility and kindness were ignored. This makes pride a dangerous attitude that can cause people to be as arrogant as Garret Keizer was toward that hapless lady who was trying to buy groceries for all those nursing home residents. Being filled with such enormous pride, it is no wonder a person like him would become instantly impatience with others in the check-out line or arrogantly glare at slow moving drivers on the highway. After reading Garrett Keizer’s story, I immediately realized something. . . It was a pretty good picture of me too!. How many times have I been exactly like that in a check-out line, or when passing someone on I-64?
You might wonder why I am bringing up the sin of “pride” during the Easter season. What does pride have to do with the Passion Week? Well, the human pride of Jesus’ betrayer and the supernatural pride of Satan were at the center of activities leading up to Christ’s crucifixion. So, let’s move forward in the Scriptures to see how the sin of pride contributed to the betrayals of Jesus. In chapter 22 of Luke’s Gospel, it tells us: 1 “The Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is also called Passover, was approaching. 2 The leading priests and teachers of religious law were plotting how to kill Jesus, but they were afraid of the people’s reaction. 3 Then SATAN ENTERED INTO JUDAS ISCARIOT, who was one of the twelve disciples, 4 and he went to the leading priests and captains of the Temple guard to discuss the best way to betray Jesus to them. 5 They were delighted, and they promised to give him money. 6 So he agreed and began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus so they could arrest him when the crowds weren’t around.” Luke 22:1-6 (NLT2)
Satan is very persuasive in convincing some people to let him enter into their lives—as was the case with Judas. Satan is also very prideful. So, are we humans. That may well be why Satan finds it so easy to weasel his way into people’s hearts. Being an expert in pride, he is especially good at spotting people who are prideful. But, selecting Judas and persuading him to betray Jesus must have been child’s play considering Satan’s past track record of deception. As for his pride, Satan thought so highly of himself that he schemed to take over Heaven and dethrone God! At some indeterminate time in the past, Satan used his persuasive powers, fueled by his towering pride, to hoodwink one-third of the angels in Heaven and convinced them to join his rebellion against God. Can you imagine that? Satan was able to persuade these angels—the very ones who had stood in the presence of Almighty God—to join in a conspiracy to capture God’s throne! That sounds unbelievably evil—and it was. And yet, the Bible tells us that is exactly what happened. The Prophet Isaiah tells us about this satanic rebellion. In Isaiah 14, it tells us that Satan, at the height of his arrogance, said to himself: 13 “ I will ascend to Heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. 14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Isaiah 14:13-14 (NIV) Many New Testament scholars see Revelation 12 as describing this same rebellious act using symbolism and metaphors to describe Satan’s ill-fated rebellion.[3] After Satan failed in his coup to take over Heaven, he and his demons were thrown out of God’s presence and cast down to earth. Revelation 12:8-9 Once here, he turned his powers of deceptive persuasion on Adam and Eve and tempted them to join in another rebellion against God.[4] It didn’t take long for him to entice them to eat the forbidden fruit. When they committed that first human sin, it was then that death, disease, destruction, natural disasters, and a host of other evils entered this world in what theologians refer to as “The Fall.” Satan has been persuading people to sin ever since in an effort to bring his evil ways into their lives.
When Satan wanted to pick someone who was prideful as a top candidate to betray Jesus, Judas naturally stood out. Judas always thought he was a little smarter, a little better than everyone else. That’s why he took control of the purse of the disciples. In his arrogance, he deemed himself the only one capable of handling monetary affairs. Perhaps, it was then that Satan began his work on Judas. Playing upon his pride, he convinced Judas that God’s rules didn’t apply to him—particularly, the 8th Commandment: “Thou shalt not steal.” Exodus 20:15 (KJV) That’s what Judas did when he embezzled money from the treasury purse of the disciples. He’d steal a little money here, and a little there—but his pride told him that was alright.[5] Satan must have whispered in Judas’s ear: “After all, someone such as yourself, with all your talents and brains, deserves it—so, pinch some of the funds for yourself.” It was like the sales pitch Satan used on Adam and Eve. Just a little bite of the forbidden fruit here—just a dollar or two stolen there: No big deal—right? Well, that’s the way Satan planted those prideful thoughts in their minds. For the unfaithful, temptation leads to action. When that action goes against God’s commands, it amounts to nothing less than rebellion against God. WE CALL THAT SIN! Satan’s rebellious angels could have told Judas, as well as Adam and Eve, all about Satan’s powers of temptation. Even Jesus encountered Satan’s powers. Just before starting His ministry, Jesus was taken into the wilderness and tempted three times.[6] Each time, after pulling from God’s Word, Jesus defeated Satan by completely rejecting each temptation that Satan lay before Him. What a lesson that is to us—if we want to have a chance against Satan, we need to arm ourselves with the double-edged sword of God’s Word.[7] We need to know and study the Scriptures—we must plant God’s Word in our hearts so that we, in the words of David—“might not sin against God.”[8]
With this background in mind, we come to Wednesday of the Passion Week, as described in Luke 22. It was then that Judas met with the Jewish religious leaders who wanted to kill Jesus. Knowing their intentions, Judas willingly offered himself to aid them in their evil plans. Then, the next evening, Jesus met with His disciples in the upper room for the Last Supper. It was during this Passover meal that Jesus gave them some warnings about Satan. First, he told them that one of the disciples would betray Him. Now, Jesus didn’t directly mention Satan or specifically identify Judas, but Jesus knew Judas had made his evil commitment to betray him. Each disciple began asking Jesus if they would be the guilty traitor. But, Simon Peter had all the confidence in the world that it was not him. So, Peter proudly assured Jesus that he would never betray him. Jesus responded: 31 “‘Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. 32 But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have REPENTED AND TURNED TO ME AGAIN, strengthen your brothers.’ 33 Peter said, ‘Lord, I am ready to go to prison with You, and even to die with You.’ 34 But Jesus said, ‘Peter, let Me tell you something. Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know Me.’” Luke 22:31-30 (NLT2)
Think about it: We are told that Satan entered Judas, and he would soon “sift” the other disciples “like wheat”—presumably meaning that he would put them to the test through powerful temptations of FEAR. Peter appears to be the one who received the heaviest sifting. But, Judas and Peter were disciples. They had heard Jesus’ wonderful sermons and seen His amazing miracles. And, yet Satan entered one and sifted the others like wheat. How did they let that happen? Apparently, Judas had been allowing Satan to gain a foothold in his life over the course of time. It was Judas’s self-consuming pride of which Satan took advantage. For Peter, it appears to have been more like a momentary lapse where he gave in to pride. But, Peter’s pride was more akin to the pride of overconfidence. But, either kind of pride can prove fatal if not rectified.
In fact, it will always be fatal in the eternal sense… unless you do something about it. What is it that you must do in order to get off the road to Hell? Well, if you are on the wrong road, then about the best thing you can do is to “turn around.” But, you’ll never “turn around”—unless you first do something else. It is summed up by a Greek word that appears many times throughout the Bible. In our English translations, this Greek word is translated as “repent.” Strictly speaking, to “repent” means to “change one’s mind.” [9] You see, no one will ever truly “turn around” from the road they are on unless they have a “change of mind” that they are heading in the wrong direction. Luke’s Gospel gets at this when saying: “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” Luke 3:8 (NLT2) So, repentance involves “a change of one’s mind.” You start to realize that it’s in your best interests to turn away from the things in your life that are against God’s will. Instead, you turn around and start following God’s ways. For if you do repent and accept Christ, then your sins will be wiped away.[10]
But still, what is particularly hard to fathom is how Judas allowed Satan to actually enter into his heart! Perhaps, Judas simply left his heart’s door wide open. Or perhaps, he “locked” his heart’s door. But here’s the thing: It doesn’t do any good to lock the door to your heart if you turn right around and give Satan the key. If you let Satan keep a key to your heart, you can bet he’ll come right back in. In Judas’ case, the key was, again—PRIDE. Pride impedes the desire to repent. In Judas’ case, it appears that his pride was so great that he never truly repented when he first came to Jesus. Without repentance, you cannot be saved. Without repentance, you’ll never have that “change of mind” that makes salvation possible.
When you repent, you lay the keys of sin of your former life at the feet of Jesus. Jesus takes your sins far away from you. David, in Psalm 103, says: “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” Psalm 103:12 (NLT2) But, you can’t hold back and say to yourself, “I’ll give the keys to my heart to Jesus. I’ll allow the Holy Spirit to transform my old worldly keys into the keys to life that God wants me to have. . . BUT, I’LL KEEP ONE OR TWO OF MY WORLDLY KEYS OF SIN FOR MYSELF.” It’s surprising how many Christians think they can do that. They fail to remember what Moses told the Israelites: “Be sure your sin will find you out.” Numbers 32:23 (NASB) Those who attempt such a thing eventually find out that those evil keys they think are hidden in the darkness of their hearts are not hidden from God.
Satan will take those sinful keys you hold onto and put them on his keyring to control you. Satan has a whole key ring filled with keys that can unlock your heart and let him in. Pride is only one of Satan’s keys. On his key ring, there are the shining keys of self-centeredness, contempt for others, an angry deposition, rudeness, unkindness, impatience with others, a foul mouth, a lying mouth, a gossiping mouth, an attitude of unforgiveness toward others, greed, a thirst for alcohol and drugs, the craving of illicit sex, and a thousand other “keys” that give Satan access to your heart.
For a Christian, overconfidence can be one of those keys Satan uses. Bear in mind, I am not speaking of “overconfidence” as it relates to faith in Jesus. You can always be confident that your faith in Jesus secures your salvation.[11] What I am talking about is “overconfidence” in ourselves apart from Jesus. That may have gotten Peter into trouble with those three denials in the early morning hours following Jesus’ arrest. In their pride, Christians sometimes forget that they can’t defeat Satan alone. To an extent, that was Peter’s problem. Notice that when Peter assured Jesus he would stick with him, Peter indicated HE would do it through HIS own power. Peter used what can be the most prideful pronoun of all: “I.” He said: “I am ready to go to prison with you, and even to die with you.” But, when Satan is trying to sift you like wheat, you had better have something more that “I” as an ally. You need a better pronoun—like “WE”! Peter would have been so much better off had he said, “With the HELP OF GOD IN HEAVEN, WE are ready to fight Satan!” The same goes for repentance.
You see, one of the secrets to successful repentance is you cannot do it through the mere force of human will. It will do no good to turn to Satan and scream with all your might: “Satan, I am going to repent of my sins and there is nothing you can do to stop me!” Oh, yes he can. And, Satan will surely stifle any efforts you might make to repent based solely on your own power. He will rip through you like tissue paper; he will sift you like wheat! When acting alone, you won’t have a chance against him. But, the Good News is you don’t have to face Satan alone when coming to repentance. When you genuinely repent of your sins, you do so by completely surrendering to Jesus and allowing the Holy Spirit into your heart.
Yes, repentance requires action on your part whereby you must be willing to “change your mind” about the worldly life you are leading. But, that change of mind must be accompanied by something else. It requires the GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. It is ironic that Peter is the one who explains this. And yet, Peter is perhaps the best one to tell us about the need to repent—even after you have accepted Christ and been saved. Later, while preaching at Pentecost to a crowd that included those who had cried out for Jesus’ crucifixion, Peter told them: “Each of you must repent of your sins, turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to show that you have received forgiveness for your sins. Then you will receive the GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.” Acts 2:38 (NLT2) When you accept the gift and allow the Holy Spirit into your heart, it’s equivalent to allowing Jesus access to your heart. Again, that’s when the “I” pronoun turns into a “we” pronoun. It’s no longer you alone against Satan when you step forward to repent. When you come to Christ in repentance, He equips you with the power of the Holy Spirit. So, the bottom line is this: If you want to keep Satan permanently out of your heart, then you must be committed to allowing Jesus into your heart by accepting the gift of the Holy Spirit!
Christians need to be reminded of that from time to time. In fact, a little over 2,000 years ago, the Christians in the Church in Corinth, Greece, needed a refresher course on that. Paul gave them one when he said: 19 “Haven’t you yet learned that YOUR BODY IS THE HOME OF THE HOLY SPIRIT God gave you, and that HE LIVES WITHIN YOU? Your own body does not belong to you. 20a For God has bought you with a great price.” 1st Corinthians 6:19-20a (TLB) IT WAS THE PRICE OF JESUS’ BLOOD SHED ON THE CROSS!
When you accept the promise of forgiveness of your sins through Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary and accept the gift of the Holy Spirit, then salvation is yours. The Holy Spirit will start the process of turning that rock-solid heart of yours into a clay that God can remold and reshape. God promised that when He said: 25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” Ezekiel 36:25-27 (NLT2) Slowly, but surely, the Hands of the Master Potter will remold your heart into a sculpture that begins to look more and more like Christ. Even after accepting Jesus as your Savior in this life, will you have setbacks along the way? Yes, you will. But, if you hold on to Christ, He most certainly will hold on to you, and you will rebound every time. For the occasional step backwards, there will be leaps and bounds forward along the road to eternal life.
Judas never really experienced this security of salvation because he never repented in the first place; and without repentance there is no salvation. Now, someone might object: “But, Judas was one of the Twelve Disciples chosen by Jesus Himself—surely, he must have been saved.” The reality is that everyone is “chosen” by Jesus—everyone is “elected” unto salvation. Why is this true?—because Jesus offers His promise of eternal life to all who repent and surrender their lives to Him. But, being “chosen” or “elected” also requires you to accept the position for which you were chosen. In a way, Judas was a lot like the Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman. Back in 1884, Sherman was offered the nomination to run as the Republican candidate for president of the United States. But, he rejected the offer and said: “I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.” [12] Judas’ heart spoke these very same words when Jesus called him to be a follower. Oh yes, Judas tagged along for the ride but, he never truly accepted Jesus as His Savior. His pride always got in his way.
But, for those who come to the Cross of Christ and truly surrender to Him as Lord, they will be washed with the water and the blood. The hymn we sang this morning—“Rock of Ages”—tells the truth:
“Let the water and the blood, from thy wounded side which flowed—be of sin the double cure; Save from wrath and make me pure!” You’ll never be pure if you hold on to selfish pride. I need to remind myself of that when standing in the checkout line, or when I’m behind a slow driver who doesn’t move fast enough. Maybe you need to remind yourself of that as well.
Let us pray.
Darvin Satterwhite, Pastor
Forest Hill Baptist Church
March 17, 2024
©2024 All Rights Reserved as follows:
Anyone is at liberty to use this sermon or any portions thereof for educational or religious purposes, with or without credit. The pastor believes the material presented herein to be true to the teaching of Scripture, and desires to further, not restrict, its potential use as an aid in the study of God’s Word. The publication of this material is a grace ministry of Forest Hill Baptist Church in Louisa, Virginia.
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[1] Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World, “Pride” (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1992), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 508.
[2] Adapted from: Garret Keizer, A Dresser of Sycamore Trees, (Viking, 1991), p. 155, cited in PreachingToday.com.
[3] Revelation 12:3-9 3 . . . I saw a large red dragon [symbolizing Satan] with seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his heads. 4 His tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky [referring to the rebellious angels, and he [Satan] threw them to the earth. . . 7 Then there was war in Heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. 8 And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven. 9 This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.” (NLT2)
[4] Genesis 3:1-6 1 The serpent was the craftiest of all the creatures the Lord God had made. So the serpent came to the woman. "Really?" he asked. "None of the fruit in the garden? God says you mustn’t eat any of it?" 2 "Of course we may eat it," the woman told him. 3 "It’s only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not to eat. God says we mustn’t eat it or even touch it, or we will die." 4 "That’s a lie!" the serpent hissed. "You’ll not die! 5 God knows very well that the instant you eat it you will become like him, for your eyes will be opened—you will be able to distinguish good from evil!" 6 The woman was convinced. How lovely and fresh looking it was! And it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit and gave some to her husband, and he ate it too. (TLB)
[5] John 12:4-6 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples—the one who would betray him—said, 5 "That perfume was worth a fortune. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor." 6 Not that he cared for the poor, but he was in charge of the disciples’ funds and often dipped into them for his own use! (TLB)
[6] Luke 4:1-13 1 “Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness [where He resisted Satan’s temptations three times, as described in Luke 4:2-12] 13 When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came. Luke 4:13 (NLT2)
[7] Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” (NLT2)
[8] Psalm 119:11 “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (ESV)
[9] “What is repentance and is it necessary for salvation?” Got Questions Ministries, GotQuestions.org, accessed March 11, 2024, [https://www.gotquestions.org/repentance.html].
[10] Acts 3:19 “Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.” (NLT2)
[11] Ephesians 2:8 For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it. (TEV)
[12] Wikipedia contributors, "Shermanesque statement," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shermanesque_statement&oldid=1189109692 (access-ed March 14, 2024).
