Transcript: Overcoming Self Pity: The Sin of Pride in Christianity

Today, I'm going to discuss a subject that we give very little thought to or consideration to in regards to its villainous effect on our lives. And this subject is called self-pity. And self-pity is really a sin of pride. Yes, just think about that. Self-pity is a sin. And its origin stems from the age-old sin called pride. And I'm going to show you that today in this word. Well, Satan is the author of pride, and he was found guilty of this sin when he rose up in anarchy against God and tried to usurp God's sovereign authority. Well, scripture says that Satan was hurled out of the eternity of eternities. In Ezekiel 28, 17, the Lord spoke, your heart was proud and lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. And I cast you to the ground and I lay you before kings that they might gaze at you. Well, the term here being laid before kings or leaders was meant to be an example of God's wrath against presumptuous pride, and that was meant to be a warning for all not to fall into this same sin called pride, which God truly hates with a vengeance and a passion. And as I said, self-pity is a sin, and its origin stems from the age-old sin called pride and deals with me, myself, and I. when it comes to anything that deals with our feelings, our thoughts, our emotions, and also involves what I think. One of the most sinister things about this horrific sin is that it blinds us to the good that God has graced us with and also blinds us to God's present provision and reasons to praise and thank him from our hearts and not from our heads or out of duty. Self-pity, according to Webster's Dictionary, defines pity as having pity for oneself, especially a self-indulgent attitude concerning one's own difficulties or hardships, and it's dwelling on one's own sorrows or misfortunes. So boil down and bottom line, then self-pity is really all about self. And this is why it is called a sin and this is why it is a sin of pride. One of the greatest biblical examples in scripture is found in the book of Ruth And that is in the account of where Naomi and her husband flee to another land due to famine in the land of Canaan where they lived. The story of Naomi occurred in the time of when there was no king in Israel. And every man did what was right in his own eyes. Well, let's open with Judges 21, verse 25. Judges 21-25 and see the story unfold in regards and reference to our subject today called Self-Pity is a Sin of Pride. And we will begin in the last chapter of Judges and the last verse of the chapter. So as you go to just look for the last verse in that chapter, I want you to catch the flavor of this account as it moves into the story and sets the stage for our subject today, again called Self-Pity is a Sin of Pride. Judges 21-25, and in those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did what was right in his own eyes. Moving into the next chapter, Ruth 1-1, in the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem, of Judah, went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The man's name was Abimelech, and his wife's name was Naomi, and their two sons were named Melon, which means invalid, and Chilion means pining. They were Ephraimites from Bethlehem of Judah, and they went to the country of Moab and continued there. But Abimelech, who Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. And they took wives of the women of Moab. The name of one was Oprah, and the name of another was Ruth. They dwelt there about 10 years. Well, we read that there was a famine in the land. And this land was Canaan. And it was once known as a land flowing with milk and honey. And the famine in the land was due to one of the judgments which God had threatened to bring upon the people for their sins. And we can read about this judgment in Leviticus 26 verse 17. The Lord said, And I will break and humble your pride and power. And I will make your heavens as iron, yielding no answer, no blessing, no rain. And your earth as sterile as brass. Verse 20. And your strength shall be spent in vain. For your land shall not yield its increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. If you walk contrary to me and will not heed me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. So at this time in these days, the word of God was unfolding as a true reality. When God finally had enough of his people's disobedience, he allowed the Chaldeans to bring torment to this rebellious nation who refused to comply with God's standards of righteousness. The Chaldeans ravaged the fields of the Israelites, causing famine and poverty in Naomi's day. Verse 20 said, and your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and neither shall the trees of the field yield their fruit. You see, a fruitful land is turned into barrenness in extreme poverty, all because of the sinful practice of doing things their own way by rejecting God and his commandments, which obligate them to act in accordance with his righteous laws and principles which he has established for his people to live by. And these laws and principles define and set apart his holy people. God acts in accordance with these laws which he has established and the people who call him by name do not act within the confines of these laws and principles. God in due time, as we have seen in scripture, we have just read, will project his righteous anger at that sin. And this stands for whole nations, but also individually as well, we will see in the account with Naomi and her husband. Disobedience is a grievous sin. And because of habitually disobeying God, the people in this particular account today experienced lack and emptiness and hardship in trying to make a living where they once experienced having plenty. So we see this one particular family singled out in their state in distress in the famine, caused them to think that the grass would be greener on the other side of the fence. So they resorted to doing things in their own way. Remember Judges 21-25 again says, In those days there was no king in Israel, and every man did what was right in his own eyes. The family decided to leave Bethlehem, their own God-given land, and move into a country that was on the other side of the Jordan called Moab because of the famine in their own land. Now it seems like there was plenty in the land of Moab when Israel's own land had scarcity of bread, and we read also that this land once flowed in milk and honey. And this is saying that the land was fertile and the grass was plenteous for the livestock, and thus they produced much milk for their owners, a land of milk and honey. Well, honey was symbolic of the abundance of the bees and the honey that they produced. All of this is showing that the abounding rain upon the land provided the necessary support and comforts of life. But the rain stopped for the inhabitants of the promised land called Canaan. And how many times we see where those who are strangers to God seem to benefit from God's gift of providence or abundance more than those who know him. But yet many who know God do not submit or obey to his commands, and that is what we are seeing in this story of Naomi today. Now, the reason for God blessing unbelievers is not because God loves them or pities the unbeliever more, but it is because they will have their allowance or ration in this life. And God provides for even the most common bird called the sparrow. But be reminded as well, those who remain unbelievers or backsliders will receive their judgment at the end of their days. This will purely be for declining God's offer of eternal life through his son, Jesus Christ. and the wages of sin is eternal death and all sinners and liars will earn this place for themselves in eternity. Well, now we have to wonder, in our example of Abimelech and Naomi, what logic did they have to go to a godless nation any more than any of their neighbors had him going? In fact, the account in scripture tells us that this family went out in full. Verse 21 of Ruth, chapter 21, Naomi says, I went away full and Jehovah has made me come back again empty. Please read with me in Ruth, chapter 1, verse 18. As we see this great pity party unfold, and when Naomi saw that Ruth had made up her mind and could not be persuaded otherwise, she stopped urging her. So they both came to Bethlehem and the entire village was stirred by their arrival. Is this really Naomi? The women asked. But she told them, don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara. Naomi means pleasant. Mara means bitter. For the Almighty has dealt me bitter blows. I went out in full and the Lord has brought me home empty. Why should you call me Naomi when the Lord has turned his back on me and sent such calamity? Naomi comes back into her own land once again and begins to hit herself over the head and wallows in her own pity party. And in the whole process of her big show, God gets the blame for her own carnal reasons and decisions for fleeing into the land of a godless people. Or we would say flee into Egypt. Go back to the world. And the definition of a pity party is an instance of self-indulgence in self-pity and eliciting or getting others to join you in your emotional and irrational poor decisions or unfortunate situation. self-pity is not only a sin of pride but it is also a sin of manipulation and in this case with Naomi finally returning back to her country because she had heard that God had satisfied his righteous justice on the people and that they had sought his forgiveness for their continual and habitual sin against him He had blessed them once again. So when Naomi returns, the people couldn't believe this was the same woman that they had remembered 10 years ago. So in those 10 years, she must have aged considerably. Naomi's name means pleasant and my delight. and I'm sure that she lived up to that name before she moved away from under the protection of God. And not only did she lose her husband, but her two sons as well. But they experienced lack in the land of Moab because God didn't bless them there either. You know, we can't try to outsmart or outwit God and try to make our lives better for ourselves when we disobey his righteous decrees and set the limits and boundaries of what are sinful and unjust practices in our everyday life. We do that to ourselves. ourselves. Naomi and her husband were going to the world, so to speak, to do things their own way so that they could maintain their standard of living and enjoy the comforts that they had known in the land of plenty. But how many know that there is always a penalty for doing things our own way? When we do things our own way, God isn't in it. And sooner or later, we realize, Hey, where are you, God? You're not with me in this. So Naomi must have come back looking like she aged 20 years, and she must have had a countenance on her face that looked forlorn with grief, and she'd lost her loved ones and came back with absolutely nothing but poverty and a daughter-in-law who was a foreigner in the land of Canaan now. Well people can expect to prosper when they go out from underneath the divine protection of God blessing and take up measures in their own hands to help themselves God will not bless our impatience nor our trying to beat the system or use his grace and stretch it to justify our carnal reasons of why we did what we did or we still do what we do. Well, now we have the story in a nutshell. Now, Naomi, in her pity party, blames God for afflicting her. She said, I went away full, now I come back with nothing. Like it was God's choice and decision for them to pull up stakes and move into the land where his blessing upon a people did not rest because they knew him not and didn't care to know him. Not God's fault that her sons took Chaldean wives. which was forbidden by God. But yet, she too, in essence, blamed God for that by saying, he brought me back empty and has turned his back on me and has sent me such calamity and has given me such bitter blows. Can we see here that she was really hitting herself over the head with all of this? And yet, and this is the way so many people do today because of wrongdoings, bad choices and even tragedies or trials and with inconveniences that come their way. They blame God or others instead of taking into account their own sins of negligence and bad choices and decisions and even outright disobedience to God's command in keeping with honest and upright practices in their dealings and day-to-day operations in business and in living their Christian life honorably before God and man. You see, the grievous results of disobedience invokes a penalty from God, and disobedience results in death, as we see in the case of Naomi's husband and her two sons. Disobedience results in drought in our own land, in our own business and famine is always the aftermath of drought. But if after their disobedience, Israel would come back to God, he would fulfill his promises to Abraham and he would restore the nation. He said, just to remind you again in Leviticus 26, 15, we had read earlier, I, the Lord, will set my face against you, and you shall be defeated and slain before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you. In other words, they live in terror and constant fear. And if in spite, verse 18, all of this, you still will not listen and be obedient to me, I will chastise you and discipline you seven times more for your sins. I will break and humble your pride in your power. And I will make your heaven as iron, or other scriptures say as brass, yielding no answer, no blessing, no rain. In other words, to our prayers. And your earth will be sterile as brass, and your strength shall be spent in vain. Everything will run through the fingers, and your land shall not yield its increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. And if you walk contrary to me and will not heed me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. All this to say, again, when we continually show disobedience to God's commands, there will come a time when he will let us experience drought and famine in our own lives so that he can break and humble the pride of our power that has set itself up in our hearts. He said, your strength will be spent in vain, and your land shall not yield its increase. So it's at times like these that we have to ask ourselves and say, God, you're silent, and the heavens are like grass. and some even go beyond that and they say, God, what am I doing wrong? Why is your blessing not with me? What am I doing wrong? But not Naomi. She had a pity party. She blamed God instead of looking at her own life and where she might be at fault. You see, self-pity causes blindness. Self-pity is all about self. Self-pity is really bitterness, and it distorts our view of God and reality. Naomi heard the people talking, and she responds with heartfelt bitterness. You can just imagine once she came back into the city gates, these memories flooded her mind with seeing her little boys running around with their friends playing in the marketplace or remembering that her husband Abimelech before Sabbath and how he used to avoid the rush hour traffic and getting home before sundown. All the sights and the sounds would remind her of what she had lost. And when she went home, how for a widow the house seemed to be dark and empty and void of what sounds and joy that were once there but are not any longer. And all the mile markers of memories come flooding back to her with all the vivid tastes and smells and seeing the fruit and the vegetables and plenty once again and the vivid colors of life once again open up the wounds of her loss. I wonder how many today in God's church would honestly call themselves a Naomi too when their loss overwhelms them and their faith of God's promises. Self-pity dwells on the loss until people can't see anything but that. And as I said, self-pity is blinding and blinds everything else and finally produces faithlessness. Oh, yes, people will say, well, I trust in God and I know that he's on my side. But deep in their hearts, they're poor and miserable and bitter about their circumstances, and it comes forth and manifests itself in many different ways. And Naomi probably didn't know what she was really saying when she said, my name isn't Naomi any longer, which means pleasant and delightful. But call me Mara instead. Mara means bitter. That's what was in her heart. She was really describing how she felt. She was bitter, and her bitterness was with God, and it was God's fault. She bites or growls at the women when she selfishly blames the Almighty for her bitterness. Almighty means El Shaddai. It means the one who rules and is all-powerful, and she blames him for her lack and extreme poverty. She feels the weight of the Almighty, the supreme and sovereign God, whom she feels has dealt bitterly with her. And because she once experienced fullness, but now has lack. She once had her family, but now she has nothing but memories. It's understandable that to lose a family member will be a devastating loss. Let alone your entire family. as she had experienced. We have to say in all generous judgment here, Naomi's grief and sorrow was genuine and real. And this was not attributed to her faithlessness, though. Her faithlessness was the fact that she blamed God and accused him for all of her troubles and woes. She didn't look at her decisions and choices in fleeing from the land that God had given to his people. But in comparison, the difference between Naomi and David is that David in Psalms 18, David praised God for having delivered him from all of his enemies, especially from Saul. And David exalts God and says in biblical imagery, God thundered from the heavens and he drew me out of deep waters and he placed me upon the rock of safety. David further says in this particular psalm, which I'm paraphrasing, God has rewarded my righteousness. David saw God's faithfulness to him as the just reward for his own faithfulness to God. And David, rather than his devious and dishonest enemies, received the reward. David received the reward. David praised God as the glorious God, and he continued his praise and thankfulness. And God continued to project to empower and lead him into every victory over all of his enemies. He supplied everything he needed. And this is the difference between David and Naomi. David was rewarded for his faithfulness and obedience to God. He didn't cry out to God and accuse him, but Naomi did. We read in scripture that when David sinned, he said God was right in giving him what he did in his punishment. I deserved what I got from God. And Naomi sees that God has judged her situation, but she does not understand his indictment or charges against her. She only blames and labels God for to be at fault for bringing her back empty. and she said the Lord has afflicted me he's testified against me it was him who brought me back with all of this agony and pain and her whole theology is puny and distorted because her feelings and her suffering blind her from seeing the reality of this whole scene and bottom line her lack of trust in the almighty the El Shaddai the all-breasty one who will supply all of our needs when we need them and when we are faithful to him. But rather, Naomi and her husband ran to the world to do things their own way. And remember, in those days, there was no king in the land and people did what they saw fit in their own eyes. Self-pity blinds us to the good things that God has graced us with. Self-pity makes us forget that the promises are yea and amen in Jesus Christ and in him alone. You see, fulfillment of God's promises are for those who qualify because of right relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And Naomi had forgotten the promises of God. You see, when people get in a tight place with their circumstances and trials in life, they can have this knowledge in their head but not in their hearts. They really doubt God and his promises and rather tend to not believe him and they prove this when they step out to take matters in their own hands to do unjust or sinful things to hurry or speed up the results that they now want rather than wait on God for him to bless them and do it the right way. and self-pity makes us forget the present blessings of God too Naomi really couldn't see that Ruth was a true blessing to her and how many times we as God's people fail to appreciate and take this matter into account that is the people that God has placed around us that are truly a blessing and a gift to us in so many ways Ruth was a beautiful treasure in God's eyes because she saw something special in her husband and in Naomi also. And that she knew and recognized as something different from her own godless and idolatrous religious belief system. She truly loved her mother-in-law. She knew enough that she wanted to follow her and her God into a land where she knew no one except this woman who had grown very dear to her and very special, and she wanted to be a help to her. She wanted to take care of her. What devotion and what love. And Ruth was truly devoted and committed to Naomi, and Naomi couldn't see this fact because she was blinded by wallowing in her own sinful pity party. In fact, Ruth's wonderful statement of faith and commitment is contrasted with Naomi's regurgitation of bitter accusation against God. Ruth's touching words of commitment and devotion to her mother-in-law are found in Ruth 1.16. And Ruth said, was determined to go with her, she said no more. Honestly, dear church, there is no way to justify faithless self-pity. Self-pity is sinful and manipulative. It blinds us to God's present provision and robs us of reasons of why we should honestly and earnestly from our hearts give him the praise that he is due. Naomi and Ruth came back into the city of Bethlehem. And it was at the beginning of the barley harvest. And there was plenty of food once again in the land. And Bethlehem means house of bread. God has provided and soon after the barley harvest of the wheat would soon follow after that. And we've read many times in scripture where David's bed was soaked with tears and his hope in his God was always near on his heart and his praise for his God was always on his lips. And let me say this. God has blessed us tremendously in Jesus Christ. Naomi's self-pity lied in the fact of where she found her true joy. Her real joy and happiness and fullness was in her family and all of her abundance. Her self-pity was sinful and prideful because her joy was not found in her God who provided her with everything, but it was in what she lost. And I'm not talking about grief at the loss of a loved one. This grief for true Christians will pass in time. This grief does not steal our joy. because our joy is found in Jesus Christ. God has blessed us tremendously in Jesus Christ. Jesus in time takes the grief of our loss and helps us to focus on him and his goodness And by his mercy we shall see our loved ones one day again 1 Thessalonians 4.13 declares, And now we would not have you ignorant, brethren, about those who fall asleep in death, that you may not grieve for them as the rest do who have no hope beyond the grave. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him through Jesus those who have fallen asleep in death. Verse 15. And for this we declare to you by the Lord's own word that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall in no way proceed into his presence or have any advantage at all over those who have previously fallen asleep with him in death. For the Lord himself will descend from the heavens with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, the blast of the trumpet of God, and those who have departed in this life in Christ will rise first. Then we, the living ones who remain on the earth, shall simultaneously be caught up along with the resurrected dead in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so always, through the eternity of eternities, we shall be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort and encourage one another with these words. But Naomi did not grieve. Naomi had bitterness. So she could not have true joy because she was blinded by her situation and circumstances, and it had all gone wrong from the beginning. Self-pity only brings hopelessness and self-centeredness. There was a man in the early 1400s who served God and shared the words that the Lord had given to him specifically, had encountered this very subject that we are talking about today, and that is self-pity. It is called a letter from Jesus Christ to the soul that really loves him. And the letter reads, and the Lord says, One thing I have to warn you of especially is that your constant tendency to grow faint-hearted under the weight of your faults and oversights and an inclination almost to despair when a sudden lack of confidence reduces your firm decisions to do nothing. The Lord says, You must hope and trust in me absolutely. My mercy is infinite. You see, this dear saint is sharing the bottom line and result of what so many of us have at one time or another have fallen into and experienced, and that is self-pity. And it's saying, I want control. I don't have it. and God wants us to rely and trust in him and he'll work out everything else on our behalf to comply with his plans for us. Self-pity is simply the loss of hope in one's own control and ability and it produces faithlessness and hope in God's control. His ability, his willingness to help us in all of our trials, in all of our adverse circumstances and troubling times. You see, dear ones, you can't make life work for yourself on your own terms. Neither can I. You will lose hope if you try and continue to try. And you lose hope and then fall into self-pity and then try to manipulate people and circumstances and things to accommodate yourself. and this is really saying to Jesus Christ your blood and your righteousness and your life are not enough for me you're my God and my Zenyu all day long all day long he didn't say just in this moment or just in this few hours but he says all day long and further in Psalm 62 verse 5 David says Find rest, O my soul, in God alone. My hope comes from him. He is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress. I will not be shaken by my circumstances. I'm adding that. By my trials. But my salvation, verse 7, and my honor depend on God. He is my mighty rock and my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people. Pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. I ask you, dear church, where does your hope come from? What do you need to be joyful and filled to the brim? Do you want closeness with your Savior, or is he distant and a stranger to you and your trials and your adverse circumstances and situations? Are you trusting in your own strength and means of your own ability to make things work in your business, in your family? And your relationships, your career, your reputation, your ministry, your church, and the list goes on. You see, you and I were created to love God and to reciprocate his love back to him. Because the word says, God first loved us so we could then love him. An apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 8, through glory and dishonor, through bad report and good report, genuine yet regarded as imposters, known yet regarded as unknown, dying yet we live on, beaten yet we're not killed, first tense sorrowful but always rejoicing, poor yet making many rich, having nothing and yet possessing everything. We can only glory in our trials when we're close to God and fulfilling our vows of faithfulness, of honesty and sincerity and purity of heart. And it is here where you can look to Jesus and see how greatly he has blessed you, even in the midst of your crying out to him in your suffering and your lack. Paul said, when we are sorrowful, yet we always rejoice. Jesus became poor so you and I could become rich. And the word says that through his poverty, you might become rich. And if you have experienced true joy at times in your life because of growing in the knowledge of the one who desperately loves you, then it is by his spirit you have known this. It is by the Lord who blesses you with every spiritual blessing in Christ. And there's nothing in life that will fulfill your desire for holiness and righteousness and meaning. You were created to love Jesus Christ, and then you were expected to reciprocate his love back to him. It is only here where you will find true peace and happiness. And it is here where you find true protection from the terror and the fears that Satan sends to torment you with. With all the doubts and the fears, with this divine protection over you, all doubts and fears must flee. It's in this place, too, where you will recognize that self-pity is a sin of pride. And results because you have tried to do things on your own and it's brought God's judgment. And his judgment is designed to turn you around so that you might enter back into his divine protection and promise covenant that comes by the yes and the amens that are found only in Christ Jesus. And finally, in regards to self-pity, there is a place where people have elevated themselves to a place of judgment. and then they begin to accuse God of their plightful circumstances and trials. And this is a time for many in the church today to examine their own hearts and get their eyes off themselves and place them back on Jesus Christ who was the author and the finisher of their faith. It's a time to realize that God wants to bless his people and shower them with the riches of his glory and his providence. It's time to depart from this insidious sin of self-pity, which robs so many of God's wonderful and blessed grace and provision. Self-pity produces depression and sadness and anger and bitterness and most of all poverty in the natural, but more so it produces spiritual poverty to where people become blind and cannot see that God really loves them and that he is not against them. It is their sin that he hates. The sin of doing things their own way and breaking his laws and trying to justify what they do all in his name and then expect him to bless them. People who immerse themselves in this insidious sin look for sympathy from others. and in that sympathy endeavor to find their happiness and hope and good feelings again. They depend on support and encouragement from others to feel better. And unfortunately, such dependence is saying, God, I don't need you. Your way doesn't provide me with what I need and when I need it. So they go into the enemy's camp and find what they need, just like Naomi and her husband sought to do. Just remember, self-pity causes blindness, and it is here where true gratitude cannot enter in. Thanksgiving cannot exist in such a dark place. Thanksgiving is the antidote to self-pity, and self-pity is like a weed that grows in the garden of expectation. That is, I expect things to go well for me, or I expect that I shall not have to suffer, or I expect things to go my way, or how could God do this to me, or so what's next? What can I expect to go wrong now? when in fact, Apostle Peter tells us something quite to the contrary in 1 Peter 1, verse 6. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you might have to suffer griefs in all kinds of trials, and these have come so that your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even through refined fire, may be proved genuine and may result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you've not seen him, you love him. Thank God for saving you. Thank God for giving you eternal life. Thank God for giving you his Holy Spirit. Thank God for adopting you into his holy family. Thank God for his steadfast love. For his love never ceases, and dear ones, his love will never cease. It will never end because it will endure forever and ever and ever and ever. This you can count on every day of your life. Stay true to God, and he will bless you immeasurably beyond what you can imagine or think. Thank you. Today, we are going to speak on a subject that I believe is much neglected and little talked about in the church these days, but yet is described as a very deadly and detrimental foe for those of us who journey on our Christian path. This clever tool of saint and the devil is disguised or camouflaged as ingratiating oneself to win favor by beguiling someone to take advantage of them for selfish reasons and motives. Beguiling means to lead into deception, to hoodwink them, to deceive through evil motives. Our subject today is why flattery is called a deadly sin. The Greek word kolakia means to flatter. Flattery is defined as a cloak of covetousness, not only as an effort to give pleasure, but with the motive of self-interest. Probably one of the greatest or the best scriptures that we could find on this subject in the absolute deception of this abominable and oppressive sin that puts people in prison would be found in Psalms 12, verse 1. Psalms 12, verse 1. Help, Lord, for principled and godly people are here no more, faithless and the faithful vanish from among the sons of men. To his neighbor each one speaks without use or worth of truth. With flattering lips and double heart deceitfully they speak. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and tongues that speak proud boastings. Those who say, with our tongues we prevail. Our lips are our own to command at our will. Who is Lord and Master over us? Verse 5. Now will I arise, says the Lord, because the poor are oppressed, because the groans of the needy, I will set him in safety and in the salvation for which he pants. The words and promises of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times over. You will keep them and preserve them, O Lord. You will guard and keep us from this evil generation forever. Well, this verse shows the futility and the horrendous end for both those who are caught in this deception and for those who are instrumental in the entrapment of God's people and beguiling them with their cloak of covetousness for self-gain. These people speak vanity with their neighbors and with flattering lips and a double heart do their empty words flow forth as smooth talk and with enticing sound good appeal Their feigned and false speech only holds out hope but their empty and hollow words are only doomed to disappoint and cheat their prey by their lying lips. And Apostle Paul gives us great admonishment in regards to this subject which we are looking into today in Ephesians 4, 25, when he says, Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. Flattering lips speak of one who speaks with the lips of smoothness. And this is done with a double heart, literally a heart with double motive. A double-minded man is one who has faith on the surface, but underneath lies unbelief. This is saying that ungodly professors of the faith have two hearts, two lords, two ends, two ways. I believe we have all been guilty of the sin of flattery at some point in time in our lives, whether before conversion and even after our conversion. God's word declares my people perish for the lack of knowledge. and it is my intent to lay this subject out before you today and unfold a greater insight for those of you who may be unaware of the depth of this kind, of this masked foe and enemy that steals many off their Christian path. And we are speaking of both the victims of this enemy and also the one who is used by Satan the devil as a tool of iniquity. I pray this word will be an enlightening word for both parties. The flattering tongue is one that needs a bit put in its mouth. But let's understand first the difference that honest and hearty praise is not sinful. And this should never be avoided. In fact, there probably is not enough of it in these days and times. There are many people who work in their lifetime and are heartsick and hopeless and discouraged, where one word of recognition would be like cold water to a wilting plant or to a thirsty soul. But let us understand that this is not flattery. Flattery is false praise. This is not praise which is to the recognition of the quality of someone deserving acknowledgement of their actions or deeds in a particular job, an exploit or a feat. To praise your child's looks or appearance or even his mind, for example, is only stimulating his or her vanity. And this is flattery and a most disgusting and nauseating demonstration of it. This is where the flattering tongue ought to be bridled. There is the kind of flattery that seeks to please. And so because of this bewitching evil, it entices its victims with artful and insincere empty praises. And this is called lying. And of course, it is wicked and dangerous. And it needs to be singled out and identified and denounced by those who recognize it for what it is. and it should be renounced by those who are guilty of this sin because of their own deception. All flattery is dangerous, but I believe one of the most dangerous of all, the forms of flattery, is the one who stands behind the pulpit, professing the faith and in this place of the Lord's business of the salvation and discipling of souls. There are multitudes of these kinds of self-deceivers, among them people of faith or God's people. And the reason for the bases and causes of these flatterers behind the pulpit is found in Jeremiah 17.9. Jeremiah 17.9. The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely mortally sick. And who can know it? Who could perceive and understand and be acquainted with his own heart and mind? I, the Lord, search the mind. I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doing. So the natural deceitfulness of the heart, this scripture says, is nothing more sick or perverse or treacherous or false. and we must know dear church that Satan is the chief plotter and schemer in this disloyal and faithless work and the familiar and widespread work found in these unregenerate people who deceive many is that their victims cannot distinguish the difference between the real or the profane and many times this is because of lack of growth and maturity in God's word or ignorance due to new believers coming into the faith. And they cannot tell the difference with God's spirit at work in his true ministers of the gospel versus the work of the deceivers who are professors of Jesus Christ but live contrary to the truth. Paul in Hebrews 6.1 encourages us to grow in our faith. And yet in these same verses he gives the perilous end for those who go about deceiving God's people. Hebrews 6.1 Therefore let us go on and get past the elementary stage in the teaching and doctrine of Christ, advancing steadily towards the completeness and perfection that belongs to spiritual maturity. Let us not again be laying the foundation of repentance and abandonment of dead works or dead formalism and of the faith by which you turn to God. Verse 2, with teachings about purifying the laying on of hands, the resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment and punishment. These are all matters of which you should have been fully aware of long, long ago. If indeed God permits, we will now proceed to advance teachings. Verse 4, it is impossible to restore and bring again to repentance those who have once for all enlightened, who have consciously tasted the heavenly gift and become shares of the Holy Spirit and have felt how good the word of God is and the mighty powers of the age and the world to come. Verse 6, if they then deviate from the faith and turn away from their allegiance, it is impossible to bring them back to repentance, for because while as long as they nailed upon the cross the Son of God afresh, as far as they are concerned, and are holding him up to contempt and shame and public disgrace. For the soil which has drunk the rain that repeatedly falls upon it and produces vegetation useful to those for whose benefit it is cultivated partakes of a blessing from God. But if that same soil persistently bears thorns and thistles, it is considered worthless and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. So if we, as God's people, do not grow in the grace, knowledge, and truth of God's word, we will be easily deceived by those who have deviated away from the faith and now wound and crushed with their flattering mouths as they wreak havoc in the lives of the unsuspecting and naive people of faith. Proverbs 26, 28 declares, A lying tongue hates those it wounds and crushes, and a flattering mouth works ruin. Flattery cannot compensate for the damage that it brings in its ruin. The flatter is the most dangerous of all people. They usually attack in the areas of where people are naturally most vulnerable in being assaulted, And this is where they are in most danger of being thrown off guard and giving their attacker entrance. As our scripture says, a flattering mouth works ruin. And once the flatterer has gained entrance, he goes for the execution of his victim. He works ruin. Where a door is open to vanity or deceit, the individual's character will suffer ruin. Someone can have character traits or abilities that are admired and worthy of admiration, but flattery can be the downfall of any lovely and worthy attraction that an individual may have been blessed with. And whatever selfish motive or aim of the flatterer, his goal is wrapped up in the gratification of the ruin of the one who has received his flatteries and fallen into deception. And this is the way our scripture in Proverbs 26, 28 is defined. A lying tongue hates those it wounds and crushes, and a flattering mouth works ruin. You see, there is just no way, absolutely no way, dear church. There is no building up in flattery, but only ruin and destruction for the victims and also the perpetrators. There is a testimony which gives a graphic depiction of what this verse is speaking to us today. The story happened sometime back, maybe in the 40s or 50s. But it is an ongoing story for many, many people who have good intentions as believers of our Lord Jesus Christ in every generation, but have not guarded their hearts, nor did they take time to grow and mature in the truth as they had learned it. There was a man from New York who, traveling in the South on business, met a young woman of great beauty and wealth. And after a short courtship, they married and returned to New York and plunged into a wild and mad whirlwind of merriment and high society living. The young wife before her marriage had been a gentle, thoughtful young lady who was anxious to help all who were suffering or in need and desired to serve her Lord faithfully. But now, as a new wife living in high society, she had troops of flatterers. Her beauty and dress were described and written in the society journals, and her clever remarks and wit went all around near and far. And her group of attendants was one of the most attractive even for a stroll in the park. It brought much notice. In only a few months after she had made her mark in New York, she was intoxicated with admiration. She and her husband flitted from New York to Newport, from London to Paris, with no objective but solely for enjoyment and pleasure. and there were other men and women of their class who had some worthier pursuit that is literature or the arts or even the help and assistance of the poor and the needy. But this couple lived only for the amusement and pleasures of life. Our once humble and contrite and beautiful wealthy young woman was now looked upon as the foremost leader in society. and it happens that she was returning alone from California when an accident occurred to the railroad train in which she was a passenger and she received a fatal internal injury. She was carried into a wayside station and there she was attended to by a doctor from the neighboring village where she died. And the doctor reported that it was one of the most painful experiences of his life. He said, I had to tell her that she had but one hour to live. She was not suffering any pain at all. Her only consciousness of hurt was that she was unable to move. So it was of no wonder she would not at first believe me. She said, but I have but an hour to live. You tell me not one more than an hour, and this is all that has left me of all the world. It is not much, doctor, she said with a half smile. Then the others left the room, and the doctor says I locked the door so that she might not be disturbed. She threw her arm over her face and lay quiet a long time, And then she turned on me in a great frenzy and said, To think all that I might have done with my money and my time. God wanted me to help the poor and the sick, but it is too late now as I only have an hour to live. She struggled up and wildly she said, Why, doctor, I did nothing, nothing but lead the life of fashion. the fashion, now I have only one hour to live, only an hour. But she had not even that, for the exertion proved fatal, and in a moment she lay dead at my feet. No sermon that I have ever heard was like that woman's despairing cry, It's too late. It's too late. Again, dear church, this story is told many, many times over with different characters and different circumstances in every generation. But nevertheless, our scripture in Proverbs 26, 28 states, A lying tongue hates those it wounds and crushes, and a flattering mouth works ruin. There are many people ruined by the flatteries of others, where they have had natural abilities, character traits, and so on, that really are admired and worthy of admiration. But flattery many times over is the downfall for those Christians who do not keep their guard up and stay connected with the only one who can fight every battle that stands in the way of our Christian journey. Apostle Paul, in his epistle beginning in 1 Thessalonians 2.1, speaks on our subject of flattery by saying that it has greedy motive or pretense for self-gain. Let's begin in 1 Thessalonians 2.1. For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming among you was not useless and fruitless. But though we had already suffered and been outrageously treated at Philippi, you know, yet in the strength of our God, we summon courage to proclaim to you unfalteringly the good news, the gospel with earnest contention and much conflict and great opposition. Verse 3. not to please men, but to please God, who tests our hearts, expecting them to be approved. Verse 5, For as you well know, we never resorted either to words of flattery or to any cloak to conceal greedy motives or pretexts for self-gain, as God is our witness. Verse 6, Nor did we seek to extract praise and honor and glory from men, neither from you or anyone else, though we might have asserted our authority, stood on our dignity and claimed honor as apostles of Christ the Messiah. But we behaved gently when we were among you, like a devoted mother nursing and cherishing her own children. So Paul says in these verses that flattering talk or literally a word of flattery can mean either talk which consists in flattery or talk which flatters. It makes little difference because both are evilly motivated. See, flattery combines the ideas of insincere and dishonest talk and the desire to use someone else for their own end by telling them that they are very good or telling them how great or smart they are or saying beautiful words about them. These all inspire pride, vanity, self-confidence, self-righteousness, and so on. Everything that is contrary to godliness and continually looks to be fed with more and more of the same. Again, our scripture, Proverbs 26, 28, declares a flattering mouth works ruin. And Paul was certainly laying this truth out before the people in 1 Thessalonians 2, 1. When he said, we didn't come to you bringing talk to please you, nor did we use words of flattery as a cloak to conceal greedy gain. And he also said, nor did we seek to extract praise and honor and glory from you for ourselves. So one word of Paul describes the hidden motive of flattery, which cloaks itself in its pretense of lustful passion of covetousness. And that word is called greed. And greed means the desire to possess something that one does not have. It is the sin condemned in the Tenth Commandment. Greed in this way through words of flattery is cleverly cloaked by beautiful or enticing words. And this is what Paul was concerned about when he was speaking to his flock in verse 5 when he said, For as you well know, we never resorted either to words of flattery or to cloak, to conceal greedy motives or pretexts for gain as God is our witness. You see, the greedy motives of those who had crept in was the love of money. And that was their passion, not the promotion of the good news like that of Paul and the other apostles who had been approved of God because their hearts were pure in their intentions in serving their God. And their hidden motives that Paul was speaking about in the scripture was totally a self-seeking or to one's own advantage with a veiled desire to exploit the people of God. Paul said, you know that we did not flatter the people by anything we said, and God knows that greed was not our hidden motive. And he said, God is our witness. Paul and the other apostles were driven with a burning passion to build the kingdom of Jesus Christ in the lives and hearts of the people of God in their time. Paul in verse 3 says, For our appeal in preaching does not originate from delusion, error, or impure purpose or motive, nor in fraud or deceit. And in verse 5, he declares, but we behave gently when we were among you, like a devoted mother nursing and cherishing her own children. And you know, there is nothing more beautiful than to see a loving mother care for her baby and tending to her children with such tender care and devotion. And this is the analogy of Paul here, saying in effect that the church is like the mother who nourishes and feeds and loves and cares for her children, as God cares for each of us individually with loving kindness and mercy and wholehearted devotion. This is totally opposite of those who come to wreak havoc and tear apart what God desires to build up. People who flatter, especially those who stand behind the pulpit, are not servants of the Lord. But they are serving their own bellies, their own appetites, their lustful appetites. And mammon is their God. Their motive through their flattery is to ruin or spoil their victims for their own gain. And their hearts are not sincere. Neither is their profession or their intention. Jesus Christ is the only one who is worthy of our praise and worship. He alone did all by his death, burial and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins that we might have eternal life, which comes only through him by faith and his grace. We aim to serve him and to promote his interest and obedience to his divine commands. Only the pseudo-professors of the faith cloak themselves with the uniform of saint and with impure motives and words to deceive, to destroy and kill the uninformed, the ignorant and unregenerate people of God, who may be still growing in his grace and knowledge or are negligent of putting on Christ and his armor so that they may grow in wisdom and discernment to identify the wolves in sheep's clothing. Look with me in 2 Corinthians 11.12. But what I do, I will continue to do, for I am determined to maintain this independence in order to cut off the claim of those who would like to find an occasion, an incentive, to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms that we do. Verse 13, for such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen masquerading as apostles of Christ. And it is no wonder for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. So it is not surprising if his servants also masquerade as ministers of righteousness, but their end will correspond with their deeds. Verse 16, I repeat then, let no one think I have lost my wits but even if you do, then bear with a witless man so that I too may boast a little. What I say in the way of this confident boasting I do not say with the Lord's authority by inspiration but as it were in pure witlessness. Verse 18, for since many boast of worldly things and according to the flesh I will glory, boast also, for you readily and gladly bear with the foolish, since you are so smart and wise yourself. For you endure it if a man assumes control of your souls and makes slaves of you or devours your substance, spends your money and prays upon you or deceives and takes advantage of you or is ignorant and puts on airs or strikes you in the face. These who masquerade as ministers of righteousness seek to serve their own bellies merely to have a way of making a living for their own personal gain. And having one's own private interest by serving under the pretense of Christian zeal leads to sure death in the end. Many, like this, use God for their own means instead of making godliness a gain for others, they use him for their own gain. And one day, if they do not cease to repent, these flatterers' sweet tastes in the moment will come quickly to be judged by the great judge himself. They are themselves deceived because of their evil motives and intentions. They seek to deceive others and do not think for one moment that they are used by the great deceiver himself who is saint and the devil. But the simple, the innocent, the unsuspecting and inexperienced, those who are not amply protected and grounded in the truth are their victims. And we have seen so far in this word today that flattery is truly a deadly sin. And it also works ruin and will lead to death if not recognized for what it is and overcome and cast out. We have seen what flattery really is. It is a sin in disguise of the semblance of beautiful words, sweet words, and words that tickle our fancies in the way of pride, vanity, and vain imaginations. there is a self-flattery and a flattery from others. And the motive of these is always bent on revenge, envy, covetousness, self-gain, and greed. The love to be flattered is a sickness within our human nature. It is an excessive desire for praise and laudation. And when this desire prevails within your soul, dear one, you will certainly be the recipient of Satan's devastating ruin. And another way this sick foe is at work in our human nature in the way of seeking to be flattered is by giving to others on unnecessary occasions. This is motivated by seeking our worth as a person, by way of our actions, our qualifications, by trying to please in order to hear great and good things others may speak about us. And this falls under the category of the love to be praised or flattered. It is again an excessive desire to be praised. Love for undue praise is sin. It destroys godly virtue and is self-seeking. And it robs one of the true love of God because it is seeking the soulish way of happiness and fulfillment. Self has become an idol. And God's promises will never be apprehended in the lives of those who love themselves in this way. Seeking praise through flattery is self-love. And let me say this precious one. This is like an empty hole that will never be satisfied or quenched unless repented of and renounced. We have already mentioned the proper praise that is good and godly in the ways of acknowledging someone for a job well done or a child who may be in need of encouragement and can be praised for a job well done in his or her effort in schoolwork, you know, in their physical labors, and yes, even athletic accomplishments or musical abilities and so on. This wholesome praise is different, as we have discussed, from pumping up their pride and vanity, which leads them in the conquest and desire to have that enemy constantly fed. People's lives are ruined because they sought to please and fell into ruin because they never measured up. and Satan makes sure of this. So, what is the best way for us then to be free of this deadly sin or disease called flattery? Number one, dear saint, you can begin to understand that flattery is sinful. It is deadly and it will lead one into ruin. And ruin, according to Nelson's Bible Dictionary, is total collapse or failure. And it is the remains of something completely destroyed. It is moral and spiritual ruin that comes to those who worship idols or hear the words of Christ and do nothing with them in the way of practicing and honestly living in them. Jesus spoke in Luke 6 46 and he said why do you call me Lord Lord and do not practice what I tell you for everyone who comes to me and listens to my words in order to heed their teachings and does them and I will show you what he is like though verse 48 he is like a man building a house who dug and went down deep and laid a foundation upon the rock. And when the flood arose, the torrent broke out against that house and could not shake or move it, because it had been securely built or founded on the rock. But he who merely hears and does not practice my words is like the man who built his house without a foundation, against which the torrents burst and immediately collapsed and fell, And the breaking and the ruin of that house was great. Another point, second point, that we as Christians can do in the way of being delivered of this foul foe of flattery is to give heed to the bad title or name that it carries in the eyes of God. In Job 32.21, Job declares, I will not, I warn you, be influenced by respect for any man's person and show partiality. Neither will I flatter any man, for I know not how to flatter, wasting my time in mere formalities, for then my maker would soon take me away. Job knew that to flatter would be sure death for him. It would give sweet pleasure in the moment, but it is worthy of death in God's book. He says, my maker would spare me no time before he would cast me far from him. And dear ones, this is not cast into China that he would be banished to, but this would be into the lake of fire. It's only good to keep ourselves in the place of holy fear and healthy respect for God's judgment that Job demonstrates for us here. It is God who can take us away in his wrath if we do not conduct ourselves in the way that we should according to his precepts. And the more closely we view the majesty of God, who is our maker and his son Jesus Christ, the more we dread his wrath and justice, the less danger we will be in the sinful pleasures of life or the flatterings of men or be one who is used as an instrument of Satan in this deadly sin. The third point for us to consider in the way of being free to flattery is to take a good look at the awful and the horrendous miseries that has filled the world with. And we see this in the fashion world, where it dominates the headlines with the drop-down necklines, daring slits up the skirts and below the hip pants that reveal private areas of the body with the slightest bending or sitting motion. I was in a store a few weeks ago, and a woman was bending over to reach something on the bottom shelf and her whole gluteus maximus was exposed And my first impression was to run over to her and say Lady, I don't think that you're aware of this, but your whole backside is exposed when you bend over. But then I think it must have been the Holy Spirit who gripped me in the reality of a possible confrontation that I would be told to mind my own business. It would not be my exhortation that this woman was looking for, but it was a word of flattery that she was seeking by exposing an area of her body that should have been fully clothed. Fashion is only one of the ways that flattery has brought ruin upon the world. People in the business world flatter one another to get ahead and ride on each other's backs by self-seeking motives to reach the top of the pinnacle. We see the ruin of the business economy in the United States today because the work of flattery, pride, vanity and greed. And these are only a few of the many results of this deadly disease and the effect and ruin that it has in the world. We've already covered flattery from the pulpit or in any form of ministry earlier in this word today. but it is the most despicable in the eyes of God. An apostle Paul gives us warning in his epistle of Romans 16, verse 17, when he declares, I appeal to you, brethren, to be on your guard concerning those who create dissensions and difficulties and cause divisions in opposition to the doctrine, the teaching which you have been taught. I warn you to turn aside from them, to avoid them. Verse 18, for such persons do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own appetites and base desires. By ingratiating and flattering speech, they beguile the hearts of the unsuspecting and simple-minded people. And a fourth point in our consideration of being freed of flattery is, you should suspect and be aware of all those who come to you with undue and excessive praise. Proverbs 29, verse 5 declares, A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a threat. Verse 6, In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare, but the uncompromisingly righteous man sings and rejoices. And you will absolutely be free when you reject the praises or flatteries that issue forth in appealing to your vanity, pride, and so on. He whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I remember I was ministering in prayer line alongside another woman who was ministering to a woman next to me. And I heard her say boldly to the woman she was praying for, I do not receive your flatteries. I reject them and will have no part of them. And I rebuke you for this sin. She called it what it was and she stopped it. Praise God. The fifth point you should be aware of is that you should reject the friendship of anyone who turns something that ought to be given godly praise into flattery. This friend ought to be warned of their sin, and then if not repented of or renounced and turned away from, this friend ought to be rejected from your list of friends. Psalms 36 verse 1 declares, Transgression, like an oracle, speaks to the wicked deep in his heart. There is no fear or dread of God before his eyes, for he flatters and deceives himself in his own eyes that his iniquity will not be found out and be hated. The words of his mouth are wrong and deceitful. He has ceased to be wise and do good. Verse 4. He plans wrongdoing on his bed. He sets himself in a way that is not good. He does not reject or despise evil. Verse 5. Look on flattery and your love for it as diametrically opposed to God in the truth of all his word. Very clear. Very, very clear. And our sixth point here to remember in regards to being delivered from flattery is that you must grow in the knowledge, grace and wisdom and ways of God and develop a pure love to all things that are good and righteous and generous in the eyes of God. And of course, all of these ways are found in God's holy book of life. And lastly, seek humility. Humility is opposite of pride. You will no longer care to hear and love the excessive praises of men. This is a violation to the ways of God and shows gross irreverence towards his ways and actually is robbery of his purity and righteousness. Guard your hearts, because what is sacred and holy unto God belongs to him. He is jealous over your soul, dear one. Guard your heart and be diligent in keeping it. You see, God will reject a divided heart. Flattery cannot be mixed in the pure and righteous ways of God because he is holy. You and I and all others who profess to live in Jesus Christ are called to a royal priesthood. In 1 Peter 2.9, the word declares, But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, and God's own purchased special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people at all, but now you are God's people. Once you were unpitied, but now you are pitied and have received mercy. Beloved, I implore you as aliens and strangers and exiles in this world to abstain from the sensual urges, the evil desires and passions of the flesh, your lower nature that wage war against your soul. We are called to live in the light of Jesus Christ. And we are called out of darkness into the marvelous light of the truth. There is no longer a divided heart here, dear church. We have received everything we need to overcome the enemy with all of his hordes of hell that come to destroy the holy temple that God is building within each and every one of us. Flattery is truly a deadly disease and difficult to deal with because it is generally, it has a good sounding appeal to it, its deeds and its actions. But the scripture shows us that the most clever of all flatterers is a man's own heart. Your own heart will flatter you, even about your own sins. The enemy sees fit to have you live content and self-satisfied in your own sin because of a double heart or being double-minded. But today, even as simple and short as this teaching is on this grave sin called flattery, you can see that we have a great physician who loves us very much and one who went to great lengths to delive