THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES WHAT IS OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS OUR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS?

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES Human beings have always had a tendency to think more highly of themselves than they should. There have been many athletes who thought they were unbeatable. Many a nation has thought they were unconquerable. At one time in history men thought they could build a ship that was unsinkable

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES There have been many books written, tv shows and movies made and expeditions conducted about the sinking of the Titanic. Man’s arrogance made this one of the greatest disasters of all time. The main reason so many lost their lives was the Titanic did not have enough life boats for all of the passengers. Why would they need lifeboats? The ship was unsinkable, right?

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES The Bible tells of men who thought to highly of themselves. Pharaoh had this problem Ex 5:1 ¶ Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.'" 2 And Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.“ That was a Big Mistake!

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES Sennacherib King of Assyria had this problem when he came up against Jerusalem. 2Ki 18:17 ¶ Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh from Lachish, with a great army against Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they went and stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, which was on the highway to the Fuller's Field.

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES 18 And when they had called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. 19 Then the Rabshakeh said to them, "Say now to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: "What confidence is this in which you trust? 20 "You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me?

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES Skip down to verse 28 28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and spoke, saying, "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 "Thus says the king: 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand; 30 'nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, "The LORD will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."'

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES 31 "Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: 'Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; 32 'until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive groves and honey, that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, lest he persuade you, saying, "The LORD will deliver us."

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES 33 'Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 'Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim and Hena and Ivah? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 35 'Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?'"

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES Sennacherib thought there was nothing that could prevent him from taking the city of Jerusalem. Not even the Lord Himself! Another Big Mistake! 2Ki 19:32 "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: 'He shall not come into this city, Nor shoot an arrow there, Nor come before it with shield, Nor build a siege mound against it.

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES 33 By the way that he came, By the same shall he return; And he shall not come into this city,' Says the LORD. 34 'For I will defend this city, to save it For My own sake and for My servant David's sake.'" 35 ¶ And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the LORD went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses-all dead.

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES Another famous example of someone thinking to highly of himself is Nebuchadnezzar. Da 4:28 ¶ All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. 30 The king spoke, saying, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?"

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES Nebuchadnezzar made the mistake of thinking all of the things he had built and amassed was by his own power and not from God. This was another Big Mistake made by man! Da 4:31 While the word was still in the king's mouth, a voice fell from heaven: "King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES 32 And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses." 33 That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws.

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES Nebuchadnezzar stayed in this condition for 7 years. It’s easy to see the folly in these wicked men who trusted to much in their own physical abilities. As Christians we need to be careful about thinking to highly of ourselves. Certainly none of us would think that we could defy God like Pharaoh and Sennacherib. But we may think to highly of our own righteousness.

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES Paul warns the Christians at Rome against this danger Ro 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. When we consider our own life we need to do so soberly or with a clear mind.

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES One of the reasons we may think to highly of ourselves is because we are comparing ourselves to others instead of to the Word of God. Paul tells the Corinthians that this is unwise. 2Co 10:12 ¶ For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES We need to be comparing ourselves to God’s pattern. It is not hard to fool ourselves into thinking we are doing great when we are comparing ourselves to other imperfect human beings. Only when we compare ourselves to the Word of God is our true condition seen. Joh 12:48 "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES It is thru the Word of God that our lack of righteousness is revealed. It shows us how sinful we really are. It shows us how desperately we need the mercy of God! Lets read what Paul tells Titus. Tit 3:1 ¶ Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work,

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES Tit 3:2 to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. 3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, Christians will be saved by the mercy of God and not because we have been such good people. We need this mercy because we are all sinners. Ro 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES When considering our own righteousness we need to learn a lesson from the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Lu 18:10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men--extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES Lu 18:12 'I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.‘ Are we thankful that we are not sinners like other men? Do we look at ourselves as righteous because of all the good things we do. This is the attitude the Pharisee had and Jesus was not pleased with him. Listen to the prayer of the Tax Collector.

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES Lu 18:13 "And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' 14 "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.“ The tax collector recognized he was a sinner and in need of the mercy of God!

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES We need to understand ourselves that all men, including ourselves, are sinners and under the penalty of spiritual death if these sins are not forgiven. Ro 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. What will separate the saved from the lost on the day of judgment will be the Grace and Mercy of God.

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES Eph 2:4 ¶ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

THINKING TO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. It was by the Grace of God that His plan of salvation was revealed to man.

Conclusion The Christian will just barely make it into Heaven. 1Pe 4:17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?“ If it were not for the Grace of God we would all be in the same condition, condemned before God for eternity!