The Things that God Hates 2: Arrogant Eyes

Proverbs 6:16-17; Psalm 18:27; Proverbs 18:12; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Psalm 62:9-12; Psalm 131; 1 Peter 5:5-7.

This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 15, 2021.

Today, we will look at the first thing that is hated by God, arrogant eyes.  Arrogance is usually obvious to us when we see it in others.  However, there are times when it becomes infectious, or endemic, to a group of people, a nation, or even a whole world.

When the Titanic set out on her maiden voyage back in 1912, the world touted it as unsinkable.  Of course, they would not think they were being arrogant because they felt that they were just following the science.  The Titanic never finished that voyage and still lies at the bottom of the Atlantic to this day.  An iceberg flow that they were warned about became their date with destiny, a place where pride runs into reality and is cast down.

Since Proverbs 6 only lists the things that God hates, we will be looking at a number of other passages, but let’s start in Proverbs 6.

God hates arrogant eyes

The NKJV describes this first thing as “a proud look.”  Other versions use the word “haughty,” or “arrogant.”  The word that is being translated is a verb that would literally mean “exalting,” or “rising up.”  Secondly, it is literally talking about our eyes.  God hates exalting eyes, or eyes that are rising up.  It is understandable that the English translation has chosen understanding over being literal.  Of course, to have arrogant, or haughty eyes, one first has a pride problem that is going on inside their heart.  Before we get too deep into talking about pride and arrogance, there is one more aspect of this list of hated things that we should recognize.

The list involves parts of the body that are used in our sin.  It begins with the eyes and works down the body to the feet for the first five.  Things six and seven then point to things that actively extend from us towards others.  This will make more sense when we get there, but it involves the things we speak and the things we sow among others.

We could just treat this as a device to enable memorizing, or simply an artistic flourish of the writer, but we must not overlook the truth that God hates it when we use the body that He has given us for sinful things.  Our pride doesn’t stay in the heart.  If it is not humbled by us, then it will worm its way to the surface, and it will show itself on our face, and in our countenance.

Let’s look at some other passages on this issue.

“For You will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks.”  Psalm 18:27

“Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, and before honor is humility.” Proverbs 18:12

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”  Proverbs 16:18

In these verses, the arrogance of the proud is brought down and destroyed in contrast to the salvation and honor of those who are humble.  Of course, many proud people seem to avoid destruction in this life, and the humble often seem to know nothing, but it.  It is not always evident in life that God hates pride and will judge it.

Yet, if you were to look into the life of a proud person in the way that God can see, you would see countless ways that God has been rebuking their pride.  Like warning signs on a road, or messages about icebergs ahead, they double down on their pride and cruise on past it.  Proverbs pictures pride as an essential element to the destruction of anyone.  You can be poor and have nothing, and yet, still be proud.  Ultimately, all of us will face God one day after our death.  Remember, He hates arrogant eyes.  Many proud and pompous people will stand before God after their death.  It will not go well for them in that day.  You do not want to go into eternity as a person who rejected the rebukes of God concerning their pride.

Now, let’s look at 2 Timothy 3:1-5.  Here, we are warned that pride and arrogance will be prevalent in the last days.  Most of these phrases either list an aspect of pride, or something that is dripping with it: Lovers of themselves, boasters, proud, blasphemers, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, headstrong, haughty.  Wow, what a list!

These are the battlegrounds of our hearts today.  They are also part of what makes these last days so perilous and difficult.  We are a generation that loves to talk of love, but in our heart and actions, there is all manner of pride and arrogance against one another.  It is too little to say that God is not pleased.  Can we hear the Scripture warning us that God hates these things, and that our judgment is even now piling up, higher and higher?  It will reach heaven one day, and God will say, “Enough!”  He will send judgment upon this arrogant world, and many will be caught in the trap of destruction.

O friend, don’t be enamored and idolize the proud.  Don’t work to be like them.  Rather, choose to pick up your cross and become like the lowly Jesus, who is loved of God.  Such a person may suffer peril on this earth, but they will receive the wonderful welcome of God, His salvation and Life Eternal!

If God hates pride, then we should take some time to focus on what He loves, humility.

God loves humility

The flip side of all of these hated things, is that there are things that God loves, and the flipside of pride is humility.  Psalm 62:9-12 counsels us to put our trust in God and not in the things of this world.  It reminds us that God has mercy in quantities and in quality that this world can never understand, or give.

We can spend our whole life trying “to be something,” to the detriment of our own soul.  What do I mean?  Our psalm makes it clear that God only saves the lowly.  He does not save the proud; He brings them down in judgment.  Yet, the lowly receive His mercy.

Psalm 62 tells us something that we either don’t know, or too easily forget.  There is no difference between a person of low degree (as judged by this world) and a person of high degree (according to the world).  It tells us that the lowly person is just a vapor, here today, gone tomorrow.  When it says that the highborn are a lie, it is emphasizing that they are no different than the lowly person.  They too are but a vapor, here today, gone tomorrow.  So then, why be so proud over and against the lowly?  Or worse, why try to be one of the high and mighty?

The truth is that every human being on earth is lowly, and it is the most logical thing for us to be humble.  However, we use our minds and hearts to rationalize that we are better, smarter, more valuable than others.  Remember that God renders to each one according to his work.  If you have spent your whole life in arrogant judgment against others, rejecting God’s rebukes all along the way, then prepare for such from God when you get there.  He only saves the lowly.

Psalm 131 is a short psalm that I like to think of as the prayer of humility.  The humble person recognizes that there are things in life that are too great and difficult for us to solve, or figure out.  In such cases, we are faced with a choice.  Will I let arrogance and pride push me further into things that I am ill-equipped to face without God?  Or, will I remain humble and trust that God will help me through it even though I don’t understand it all?

The picture of trust in this passage is that of a weaned child.  The weaned child has grown up enough that it has learned to depend upon the mother’s care.  The weaned child is no longer dependent upon the mother as it once was.  As an infant, it screamed and cried until she nursed it, but now it has learned that it doesn’t have to scream and cry in order to get food.  Mom has been faithful in looking out for it.  The weaned child is still a child.  It cannot face life alone, but it doesn’t have to, and it knows it.  Such a child can face a big world, and big problems, with a calm and quieted soul, peace.  Peace like a gently flowing river can flood our souls when we learn to put our hope and trust in God.  I would say that this is a great prayer to pray each day, as we wake up to face the day.  Even better is to do what it says; trust Him!

Our last passage will be 1 Peter 5:5-7.  If you want the grace of God, then humble yourself in the sight of God, and the people around you.  Peter explains that part of the grace of God for the lowly is that He has a proper time of exaltation for them.  Of course, for us, the best time for exaltation is now!

We all have some measure of exaltation in this life, even if it is just maturing into an adult with abilities that no infant can have.  However, the true “proper time” of our exaltation is after we have shed these mortal bodies at the Resurrection.  Our mortal, and sinful flesh, is really bad at handling exaltation, which is proven every day.  As it is said, “Power corrupts, and absolute power absolutely corrupts.”  Can I live this life trusting God knows the amount of exaltation that I can handle without losing my soul?  And, can I trust that He holds in reserve for me an exaltation that I cannot begin to fathom?

Let me close by warning us of the trap of the proud.  Not all exaltation is duly deserved, and it is always a test of our character and choices.  When you are exalted in any way, you must work even harder to remain humble.  I am reminded of the warning that James gives to those who want to be teachers.  You will have a stricter judgment.  So, let us hear the warning to those who desire exaltation.  You will have a harder time wrestling with pride, and thus facing a tougher judgment.  Of course, someone has to lead, but let them not rejoice in that day.  The proud think that they are being exalted because that is their proper place (over the lesser others), but in truth, they are being exalted, like Pharaoh of old, so that God can make an example out of them.  The higher they rise the greater the fall. 

The end times will fall with a great crash as Jesus returns.  God help us to be a people who are feeding upon the humility and lowliness of Jesus, instead of the arrogance and pride of the spirit of this world.

Arrogant Eyes audio

Lessons from the Underground Church 8: Learn to be Silent

This is a 13 week series that will not be posted on our website.  If you would like an audio of the sermon or a written article on the sermon contents then please contact the church at AbundantLifeEverett@frontier.com.  You can also leave a message at 425.438.1500.  Thank you for your interest.

Peace on Earth

Luke 2:8-14.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on December 20, 2020.

I pray that you will have a wonderful Christmas this year because you have put your faith in Jesus.  If we thought we lacked peace in this world before now, 2020 has become a year to highlight that fact.  The turmoil of a pandemic that has spread worldwide has many in a panic.  The turmoil within the United States of America due to this, plus: the impeachment hearings, pandemic, race riots, and now questionable and corrupt elections, seems to be building.

If it weren’t for Jesus, there would not be a lot of hope in this world. Yet, there are many who are still doubling down on man’s ability to create Utopia without Jesus and God.  Mankind as a whole has rejected the path of peace that God the Father has offered it.  However, for all of those who embrace Jesus, we have peace with God, and we can have a peace that passes all understanding within our hearts because of it.

Let’s look at the story of the shepherds and hear the message that the angels brought that wonderful night.

When angels show up

Our story begins with shepherds doing normal shepherd things.  It is night and they are sleeping in the fields with their sheep.  Perhaps, they have a small fire to ward off the evening chill.  Suddenly an angel appears to them.  Now, the appearance of angels in the Bible is often accompanied by fright, which is often due to the unexpected suddenness of their appearance.  It is not generally what they look like that gives them away, but rather what they say and do.  Otherwise, we are often told that they look like men.

Hebrews 1:14 makes it clear that part of the job of angels is to serve those who will inherit salvation.  On this evening, God chose to send angels to these lowly shepherds in order to give them a message that is good.  However, it is not always a good thing when angels show up. 

These interdimensional beings are quite powerful.  God sometimes sends them to mete out judgment.  God sent two angels to Sodom in order to test their wickedness and to save Lot and his family.  In Genesis 19:13, the angel says that “the Lord has sent us to destroy it [Sodom and the surrounding cities].”  Yes, God gave the decree, but it is carried out by two angels. 

In 2 Kings 19, the Angel of the Lord slew 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night who were camped outside of Jerusalem in siege of it.  Also, the book of Revelation has the angels working hand in hand with Jesus in order to carry out his Trumpet Judgments, and the Bowls of Wrath.  Lastly, Jesus tells us that, at the end of the age, angels will gather out of the kingdom all those who practice lawlessness (Matthew 13:41).  Thus, when angels show up for judgment, it is a bad thing for those being judged.

Of course, that evening with the shepherd, God was giving grace to Israel and to the whole world.  When God sends angels for grace, it is good for those who are receiving it.  The angels were there to testify to a gracious message.  In fact, that is what the word angel means, “messenger.”  At first, there is one angel with the whole area lit up with what is described as the Lord’s glory.  Later, as if to emphasize the point, a multitude of the heavenly host, or army, join in at the end before all of them going back to heaven. 

It seems quite clear that the Old Testament prophets make the case that Israel did not merit the gift of the Messiah by their great loyalty and good works.  In case this seems uncharitable towards Israel, we can say that the other nations of the world had not merited it either.  These angels came bearing the news that the Messiah was now here to save mankind!  The statement is, “I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.”  Now, that was a glorious day!

When the Savior shows up

The incarnation is an amazing message in itself.  God does not send a servant, an angel, to do the great work of salvation.  Rather, He sends His Son who takes on the nature of a man in order to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.  Finally, after so many centuries of waiting for Messiah, he was there!

There is a certain parallel between how God is working with the Church today and what He was doing with Israel in those days.  Just as Israel waited centuries for the coming of Messiah, so the Church of Jesus is waiting for him to return.  And, just as it happened then, it will happen again.  Some will not be ready for his return.  We are in jeopardy of losing hope and surrendering to faithlessness and compromise.  Strengthen yourselves this morning because good things happen for those who are prepared for the arrival of Jesus the Christ, the Messiah.

The message of the angel states that a savior has been born that day in the city of David, which was Bethlehem.  The word for Savior and the verb, saving, that goes along with it are used throughout the Bible.  It is a general term that is understood best by the context.  For a person who is wounded or sick, a savior is one who heals and cures.  For a nation that is oppressed by an enemy, it a military deliverer who brings victory and freedom.  For a person who is in bondage spiritually, it is freedom and cleansing from that sin. 

Jesus is a savior in every way that the word can be used.  His emphasis in those days was to provide for our spiritual malady, and to weaken the power of our spiritual enemy.  One day he will return to set the world free from those who love wickedness, and the tyranny that results.  Though Jesus came as a Jew who was born within the kingdom of Judea, he had come to save Israel and anyone from the nations who would believe upon him, that is put their faith upon him.  So, each time you think that something needs fixing, either in your life or around you, rejoice that we have a mighty savior who has come and given us the greatest gift of God that we could desire, himself.  And, where the Lord is, there is freedom.

The angel also calls the Savior, Christ the Lord.  Christ is Greek and Messiah is Hebrew.  They both mean “anointed one.”  Jesus is anointed by God to be the perfect Voice of God, the perfect High Priest, and the perfect King.  Each of these roles were commenced with an anointing.  The outward ritual of anointing was to symbolize the spiritual anointing that God did Himself by His Holy Spirit.  The Spirit would be supplied to enable the person to fulfill the role that God had given them.  With Jesus, the Spirit of God was without measure.  He was not just a prophet, a high priest, and a king.  Rather, he was the final word, the final sacrifice, and the final coronation!

God had anointed him to be the Saving Lord for mankind.  He has the power to deliver us from ourselves and from the spiritual enemy that holds us captive.  One day, he will be Lord over all the earth.  The question today is this.  Is he lord of your life right now?  In Jesus, God has set the question before all people.  Here is your Savior.  Will you embrace him?  Let us fully embrace the Anointed One who is even now interceding on our behalf before the throne of God.

At this point, we have all of the angels showing up and saying, “Glory to God in the highest!”  Glory involves the opinion, or estimation that is held by others.  This can be congruent to the nature of the person or incongruent.  A person who is truly worthy of glory should receive glory from others and those who are not worthy, should receive none.  Yet, people often receive glory when they do not deserve it.

Our Father in Heaven is the most glorious being, and the incarnation of His Son on earth to save us is its ultimate proof.  However, not all beings in heaven or on earth glorify him as they should.  Here, the angels give glory to God who dwells in the highest place.  In the Old Testament, this is typically stated as “the Most High God.”  This statement is in contrast to the next statement.  God in the Highest place should receive glory because men who are on earth are receiving peace and goodwill.

At that point in history, both the Gentiles and Israel had proven that they do not deserve God’s goodness.  Yet here, we are told that peace and goodwill are now “among men.”  Jesus represents the peace of God, and is described in Isaiah 9 as the Prince of Peace.  He also represents the goodwill of God.  We should have received His wrath, but instead we get His favor and the most valuable thing that was dear to Him.  The word for “goodwill,” or “favor,” is related to the word for glory.  There is a poetic connection intended.  God thinks good things about us, or at least makes it possible.  And, therein lies the rub.  We must put our faith in Him and keep it there to have that peace and favor.

Today, the temptation is to view the message of the birth of Jesus as rubbish and no longer helpful.  It doesn’t look peaceful down here!  However, that is because multitudes are refusing to take hold of it.  Let me leave us with this.  Through Jesus, God has made peace available to you.  First, you have peace with Him.  You are no longer His enemy and under His judgment.  Instead, you are now under His favor because of your faith in Jesus, the Savior that He sent.  Second, this can give you peace in your heart in the midst of turmoil because God’s favor gives you a solid future, hope.  Do you have this hope today?  May God bring us all to the place where we see our sin, and yet also see His love giving us grace despite it.  Merry Christmas!

Peace on Earth audio

Fathers, Don't Quit

James 5:7-11.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Father’s Day, June 21, 2020.

It is always my goal to encourage moms and dads in continuing the hard work of being a parent, whether you have young kids, or adult children who have their own.  So, my message to fathers today is simply, don’t quit.  Your family needs you whether it feels like it or not, and whether it looks like it or not.  Don’t quit!

Don’t quit on the Lord

In James 5:7-11, the section serves as a conclusion to a problem described in the earlier verses of this chapter, an unjust world.  James warns the rich, who are defrauding their workers of their wages, as well as condemning and murdering those who have no power to stand against them.  He tells them, “You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.”  (NKJV). 

It would be easy to be overwhelmed in such a case.  Christians typically were not from the rich class and were quite used to dealing with injustice.  Everyone can reach a point where they feel like quitting in any endeavor.  Now, quitting a bad thing is good and conforms to the biblical message of repentance.  However, quitting on the Lord, His commands and plan, only leaves us without hope.  The world talks a good game, but it always delivers injustice.

James is reminding us that the ultimate judge is coming, the Lord Jesus.  2 Timothy 4:1 says, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom…”  (NKJV).  Jesus came to earth, suffered and died as a human.  It is God the Father’s decree that the man Jesus is to judge all of humanity and all of the heavenly beings as well.  It is fitting that we be judge by one who has been where we have been, and by one who can identify with all that ails us as humans.  He is the perfect and righteous judge.

Don’t join the scoffers who laugh and deride the idea that Jesus will ever come back.  And, don’t join the scoffers, who mock our faith in Jesus, as a pipe dream that makes us fodder for those who aren’t restrained by God’s Word.  Yes, Jesus turned the other cheek and they killed him for it.  We are not promised justice in this life because this world is the result of the choices of humans and fallen spirits.  What we are promised is a day in which all the righteous of every generation will be vindicated and God will settle all accounts through Jesus.  This is not the time to lose your faith in Jesus.  There is no hope in this world that will actually survive the increasing chaos into which we are plummeting.  Only Jesus can help us.

James then gives us the image of a farmer.  The farmer does a lot of work in order to plant seeds, and then he must be patient.  WE don’t always see an immediate effect from our hard work.  This world is hard work:  making a living, becoming one with a spouse, raising your children, and growing old.  The encouragement is that it takes time for hard work that is good to bear fruit.

There is a proper season for all things.  When your kids are young, it is critical to plant good seeds in their life.  You can’t look at your kid in the terrible two’s and say, “I quit; it’s not working!”  I guess you can, but you really shouldn’t.  You shouldn’t look at that angry teenager and quit parenting, if you really care about them.  Yes, kids often do not listen to their parents, and it is easy for parents to become offended, perhaps retreat from the hard work.  This is called immaturity.  There is a whole world around us suffering and just one of the reasons is this.  People in their lives quit trusting the Lord and that the hard work of doing the right thing would eventually bear fruit.  There are many things that will bear fruit in this life, but ultimately, the greatest fruit of trusting the Lord will be reaped at the Second Coming of Jesus.

In verse 8, James tells us to establish, or strengthen, our hearts.  This speaks of fixing yourself internally upon a certain course.  In Luke 9:51, this same word is used of Jesus.  “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” (NKJV).

We need to have a firm resolve and we need to maintenance that resolve.  In a way, the whole book of the Psalms is a case study in righteous people maintaining their faith in God’s ways, even though they were tired of the injustice in the world.  We strengthen our hearts when we spend time in the Word of God and praying.  We strengthen our hearts when we encourage one another.  Anytime I talk with someone who has failed in this area, they confess that they were not maintaining their faith like they should have.  God help us to fix our eyes upon the task at hand and to simultaneously see the finish line where our reward truly lies.

The devil’s design is to wear you down in this world until you just surrender to the system.  You either go along in order to get yours, or you fight against the system in your flesh.  Both choices are a choice to surrender to him instead of God.  I would rather live surrendered to the plans and purposes of Jesus than anyone else on this planet, myself included.

It is God’s intention that fathers would have good fathers themselves, role models that would be a source of strength.  In this day, it is becoming scarcer and scarcer.  In verses 10 and 11, James reminds us about the examples we have in God’s Word.  If you didn’t have a good, earthly father then know this.  You have good, fatherly examples in God’s Word because your heavenly Father knew that you would need encouragement and a model to follow.  Whether Jesus himself, or the man Job, we look up to these men because they endured great hardship.  They were faithful to God when it didn’t seem to help them.

The concept of patience is used several times in this passage.  In verse 8, “Be patient,” the word is literally to be long fused, that is not easily angered.  It is the patience of keeping ourselves from exploding in anger.  However, in verse 10, patience is a Greek synonym that means to remain under the load, that is endurance or perseverance under pressure.  Both are important to patience.  The first is the temptation of our emotions to throw everything aside and protect ourselves.  It is a temptation to do something bad rather than the good you are doing.  In the second, patience is focused on continuing to do the good work, which is a long hard work of persevering things.  We can do so more easily because God has promised us good things on the other side of the hard work. 

So, what do you do if you have failed in this area?  Quit quitting!  When Jesus found Peter fishing after the resurrection, he told him, “Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”  (NKJV).  Yes, in this world you will have trouble, but fear not, Jesus has overcome the world!  May God strengthen us to get up each day and do the hard work of being a father to those whom God has placed in our life.

Don't Quit Audio