INTRODUCTION:
Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
First of all I thank my lord for giving this wonderful opportunity to stand before
you. And I thank chaplain sir for giving this opportunity to preach the word of
God. And also greetings to all my fellow brothers and sisters. It’s my humble
gesture to thank the Lord for his grace in our lives.
Without getting late, let look to lord in prayer !
Prayer:
Our Gracious heavenly father, we thank you lord for this wonderful time. Here we
came to your presence to listen to your word. Speak to us and strengthen us by
your word. Lord, Please empower me with your holy spirit, so that I can deliver
your word correctly according to your will. I’m Submitting each and everyone into
your mighty hands, In Jesus holy name I pray. Amen.
Illustration:
Once there was a young athlete, he was extremely talented. Where ever,when ever
is participates in a race, he will be the winner. In the beginning he started his career
as a normal person…but later he became an extraordinary person- he became so
famous. He started feeling very proud.
One day, he stood at the starting line and started mocking other player's by
saying…
“ Why are you all trying …you know I will WIN ”
The race was started. But that day when he started running he slipped and fell
down…
He tried to get up and run but Another athlete named Cinna Bab, trained himself
quietly and humbly - so he won the Race.
The Crowd clapped and cheered not for Rajesh but for Chinna
Rajesh felt very ashamed.
In this story the Humility played an important role in Cinnas life to won the Race
This small story is an reminder for all of us to live with humility
So. I want to entitle my sermon as,
Title:- Power of Humility - God's Blessings
So therefore my dear brothers and sisters, today our Meditation is from Book of
Proverbs, I would like to turn your attention to Book of Proverbs 29: 23
Let’s turn our Bible’s to Book of “Proverbs: 29: 23” (2 times).
Proverbs 29:23 NIV
[23]
Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor.
=> This Proverbs 29:23 teaches us that, pride lowers us, but humility lifts us up in
honor.
When we read this verse carefully, we will find 2 words
1. Pride
2. Humility
Now…I just want to ask 2 questions
Q.1 What is Pride - It is nothing that, Believing yourself better, smarter than others
( Those who boast themselves )
Q.2 What is Humility - Humbleness, down to earth personality
Just I want to explain what is Pride and what is Humility ?
In the beginning I just shared one story about a Athletes
- If person wins a race and says,"I won because I'm the best-nobody can
beat me," that's pride.
- But if the person says,"I thank God for helping me do my best," that's
humility.
So my dear Brothers and Sisters
I would like to share 2 things from this verse.
First one,
1. Pride Leads to Destruction:-
When we observe the verse carefully the first line itself saying,
“Pride brings a person low”
Pride separates us from God. When we are prideful, we rely on ourselves, we may
depend on our own wisdom, and own strength. Pride creates a false sense, making
us believe we don’t need God or others.
=> There was a famous preacher Charles Spurgeon,
He gave a good quotation about pride,
“Pride is a groundless thing. It stands on a foundation of sand.”
A foundation on sand will not be strong. It may destroy or collapse at any time
# Let us think about King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 4.
He is one the greatest kings in the Babylonian dynasty.
He is so Powerful and conquered many nations including Judah in 586 BC
He boasted himself about his power and his kingdom expansion - Let's read 4: 30
Later, due to his prideful attitude, he lost his kingdom and lived in jungle with
animals……he ate grass like animals - he saw the destruction of his own kingd5
After when he recognized God’s sovereignty. Again he became king to the
Babylon.
#And let's see Naaman in (2 Kings 5):
He was a great military commander in the Syrian kingdom. But Naaman had
a big problem-he had a skin disease called leprosy. There was no medicine to cure
in those days.
One day, a young girl from Israel, shared the greatness of Prophet Elisha,
Naaman believed and went to Elisha Home, Elisha said that “ go and bath seven
times in river Jordan.
At first, pride made him refuse to bath in the Jordan. But later he changed
his heart and bathed 7 times in river Jordan miraculously he was healed completely
after when he left his pride.
So my dear Brothers and Sisters, this pride may separates us from God,
Some people may think I am a good singer, I'm a good worship leader, I'm a good
[Link] can destroy ministries, families, and our spiritual life with God.
Let’s examine ourselves and ask God to remove pride from our hearts.
Let's see the second thing from the verse….,
2. Humility Leads to God’s Blessing:-
When we read the verse carefully we see that,
“but the lowly in spirit gain honor.”
When we read other translations NKJV we see that,
but the humble in spirit will retain honor.”
Another word for lowly is Humble or Humility
There was one famous preacher who shared word of God in different parts of the
world his name is [Link],
He gave a good quotation about Humility,
“Be humble or you’ll stumble.”
My dear friends, Humility means lowering ourselves before God and others,
It means trusting God to lift us up at the right time.
Yesterday we listened to life of Samuel
Let's see the life of Samuel: how he was blessed by God
From childhood, he started serving God with humility and he was so faithful in
front of God and priest Eli.
So, God used him to guide a whole nation.
In the beginning he was an ordinary person, later God blessed him as an
extraordinary person.
And also let's see the life of Moses,
He was born as israelite later he grown up in royal family in Egypt - royal family
members may have pride,
After when he encountered with God in a burning bush, he left that pride and he
wore humility. So, Moses was Called the most humble man on earth.
Let's read Numbers 12:3, NIV
[3]
Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face
of the earth.
God used Moses to rescue his children ( Israelite ) from Egyptian slavery. He led
more than 20 lakh people towards promise land. So, he was called as the greatest
leader with Humble heart.
Conclusion:-
So my dear Brothers and Sisters ,
In this verse, God reminds us that true honor comes through humility, not from
pride.
So I want you encourage you all,
Trust our God with Humble Heart, God will surely lift us up and bless us in His
perfect time.
May God bless us through this word.
Thank You
[Link] we wear pride like a crown—or do we wear humility like a servant’s towel?