This Week's Sunday School Lesson, "Pride; Enemy Of The Cross", 1/19/2014

PRIDE; ENEMY OF THE CROSS

 

Luke 14:7-14

 

INTRODUCTION

The day of this event is the Sabbath. The place is the home of the Chief Pharisee. The

occasion is a dinner by invitation only.

 

Jesus met the enemy on their territory. He showed up in the company of those who

hated Him and those who plotted to kill Him. Jesus was aware that He was invited to

be trapped in to saying something or doing something that could be used to condemn

Him.

 

Jesus is no stranger to danger, because danger is His opportunity to be glorified.  

Jesus showed up not to destroy His enemy, but to teach the principles of God. Jesus

showed up in the house of sick folk. He showed up with power to heal with the Word

of God.

 

If a doctor is going to heal somebody, he has to go where the sick folk are. The church

is a body of sick folk. A sure place to find a doctor is in a Hospital. The Church is a

Hospital of sick folk. A sure place to find Doctor Jesus is in the Church.  

 

If the truth be told, we all need this hospital called the Church. We got some folk that

just need a vaccination. We got some folk that need a hospital bed. We got some folk

that need major surgery. We got some folk recovering in ICU.

 

SEEKING HONOR, AN INDICATION OF PRIDE 

V:7. " And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them."

 A. Among believers, one of the enemies to the cross is pride. The Lord said, I hate

     the proud.

    1. Jesus used a common event to teach the sin of pride, a wedding.

       a. Weddings are ordained by God.

       b. Weddings are commanded by God.

       c. A wedding is the first human institution created by God.

   2. A wedding is a celebration of the union of a man and a woman.

      a. The Jewish Wedding was an invitation only event.

      b. In a Jewish Wedding, the seating is usually prearranged.

 B. It is our natural inclination to want to be honored.

     1. That inclination is driven by pride.

     2. Pride will drive us to seek out the best place to be noticed.

 C. The right hand of the host of the dinner is the most honored position.

    1. There are only so many seats at the table with the host.

    2. There would be people seated and people standing around the walls.

 D. Every believer is in the Church by invitation only.

    1. Our invitation does not give us the liberty to show up with a prideful attitude.

    2. It is not by works that we are saved, but by grace, so no one can boast.  Eph 2:8

 

THE INVITATION IS HONOR

V:8. "When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him."

A. The first rule of checking your pride is to not assume the position of honor.

    1. To be invited is an honor.

    2. Your invitation does not carry a rating of honor.

        a. God is no respecter of person. 

B. All believers have been invited to attend the wedding banquet of Christ and His

    bride, the Church.

  1. The Lord honored us with his presence in our lives.

  2. The Lord honored us by calling us out of the world and into the body of Christ.

C. There are certainly, some disciples that are going to be more honored than others in

     heaven.

   1. We store up treasures in heaven by the sacrifices and the work we do for the Lord.

   2. There will be some saints in heaven who did much more than you or I.

   3. Jesus told His disciples that to sit at my right hand or my left hand was not His to

       give.  Mat 20:23

   4. The Father determines the high positions in heaven.

D. If we seek the places of honor, we are seeking to be admired by others.

   1. Seeking the praise of man is a vain effort.

   2. You can be admired today by men and hated tomorrow. 

   3. What others think about you has no heavenly value.

   4. What others think about you may have no earthly value.

 

V:9.  "And he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this man,' and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place. "

 A. What goes up can easily come down.

     1. You really never know what other people think of you.

     2. People may invite you out of courtesy, but really hope you don't come.

 B. Sometimes people invite you to their function to humiliate you.

    1. Jesus was invited to the home of the chief  Pharisee to trap Him into

        doing something or saying something to condemn Him.

    2. A party of like minded people are sometimes up to no good.

 C. Jesus noticed that the invited guest were competing for position at the head table.

    1. You must watch who you get close to.

    2. It may be that the closer you get to someone, the closer you get to the source of

        evil.

    3. The chief Priest was the chief sinner of the group.

         a. He should have had more knowledge of the scripture than anyone.

         b. Yet he was trying to destroy the author of the scripture.

   4. The most popular person might be the most evil person.

        a. It would be nothing for that person to push you aside for someone else.

        b. When you are asked to move aside to make room for someone else,

            you will be humiliated.

   5. Your position and status in the world has nothing to do with how God sees you.

     a. The safest position is the least position.

     b. The best attitude is a humble attitude.

     c. The best spirit is a humble spirit.

     d. One of the jobs of the Devil is to set you up to bring you down.

     e. If you derive your self worth from the people you are close to, then you

         are  setting yourself up for a fall.   

 

HOW TO MAINTAIN A HUMBLE ATTITUDE

V:10. "But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you."

 A. There is nothing wrong with being in the last place among men.

     1. Self assertion goes to far and is often dishonored.

     2. When one gets caught up in himself, he is often blinded to the realities of the

          situation.

     3. When we get caught up in self, we can't see the pit falls in front of us.

     4. When we get caught up in self, we quit listening to divine guidance and reason.

     5. When we get caught up in self, we can't see the importance of others.

     6. When we get caught up in self, we can't recognize the sin in ourselves, but the sin

          in others.

 B. The best position in life is a humble position.

     1. When we humble ourselves, we have no problem letting others go first.

     2. When we humble ourselves, position cease to be important.

     3. When we humble ourselves, we let others speak so we can learn.

     4. When we humble ourselves, we can more easily see the needs and concerns

         of others.

 C. Sometimes sitting in the back is the best place to be.

     1. When you take the back seat, you can watch the actions of others.

     2. If you are sitting in the back when trouble arises, you can get out first.

     3. If you are sitting in the least position, you can watch others rise and fall.

         a. You can learn from someone rising.

         b. You can learn from the fall of others.

 D. A humble person is a better friend than a proud person.

    1. A humble person is more likely to be helpful than a proud person.

    2. A humble person is more likely to be more dependable than a proud person.

    3. When you see others as more important than you, others are likely to see the

        importance in you.

    4. A true friend will lift you up, and not tear you down.

    5. A humble person knows the value of other people.

       a. When you value others, they will in the long run come to value you.

       b. If you have a life style of esteeming others, you will soon be esteemed.

 

THE GRACE OF GOD

11 "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

A. The Lord hates the proud, but He loves a humble spirit.  James 4:6

    1. Jesus humbled himself to step down out of Glory to take on the sins of man.

    2. He who knew no sin, became sin for all mankind.

B. Jesus said if I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself.   John 12:32

   1. In order for me to lift somebody up, I have to make myself low.

   2. The one who lifts others up, will draw others to himself.

   3. The one who lifts others up will be lifted up. 

C. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

   1. Would it be better to give up yourself to gain heaven?

   2. Pride is offensive to the Father and draws His condemnation.

   3. A proud person is a selfish person, and he cannot please God.

   4. We must have a sense of our own unworthiness to see the righteousness

        of God.

   5. We must have a sense of our own unworthiness to seek change in our

        lives to please God.

 

ACTIONS OF A HUMBLE SPIRIT

V:12. " And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment."

 A. The Lord is saying there is no gain in inviting those who can return your invitation.

     1. The Lord is not saying don't fellowship with your friends and relatives.

     2.  The Lord is not discouraging you from preparing a meal for friends.

          a. The Lord loves family.

          b. The Lord encourages family unity.

     3. What the Lord is saying, is that there is no heavenly gain in doing so.

 B. If everybody you invite can repay you, your reward is on earth.

    1. It does not take much to love those who love you.

    2. It does not take much to love those you know and have a relationship with.

 C. You will not store up treasures in heaven, when you help those who don't need

      your help.

    1. In addition to close family and friends, we have a higher calling.

    2. There are those who we don't know who would benefit from our fellowship.

 

13 "But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind."

 A. The higher calling of believers is to reach out to those in need.

     1. What we do for the least, we do for God.

     2. A humble spirit recognizes that if it were not for the grace of God, we would be

         the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.

 B. God blessed us so that we could extend our blessings to others in need.

    1. We have been equipped to help the needy.

    2. The poor need to be blessed with a portion of what we have and uplifted.

    3. The crippled and the lame need to be carried to a higher ground.

    4. The blind need to be brought into the light and encouraged with a Word from

        the Lord.

    5. Our role model for compassion is Jesus.

       a. When He walked this earth, He never failed to take time to heal and make whole

           those in need.

       b. He said that the things He did, we would be able to do greater things.

 C. We have this higher calling to put others before us.

     1. Each of us have a cross to bear and that cross will lead to rewards in heaven.

 

REWARD OF A HUMBLE SPIRIT

V:14.  "And you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

 A. The Lord has a repayment plan for us.

     1. Every unselfish act to help others is counted by God.

     2. We need to take on this new attitude of inviting those in need to fellowship with

         us and those who do not look like us.

     3. This new attitude of helping those in need excludes being repaid by others.

 B. We got a God in heaven that pays us for the good we do.

    1. Our God in heaven has been our help, when we were His enemy.

    2. Our God in heaven has been our help, when we didn't know we needed help.

 C. Our God in heaven has reserved a place at His table in heaven that we can't

      buy and that we don't deserve.

    1. It is our duty and responsibility to reserve a place in our hearts for the those in
       
        need.

    2. When we reach outside our comfort zone to those we don't know, the Church
       
        grows.