1. Introduction

   1. What is arrogance?

[The greatest enemy of faith] What is the biggest disturbance to us from loving God and becoming more like God’s character? I think it is arrogance. In particular, the greatest enemy of faith is arrogance disguised as holiness. We know how much Jesus doesn’t like spiritual arrogance in Luke 18. This is recorded in verse 11,"The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector,". Jesus warns that it is eating out about the pride of the Pharisees. Also, Paul declares this in Corinthians 4:18-20. “Some have become proud of themselves, as though I would not come to you; but, if the Lord permits, I will come to you quickly, and I will recognize not the word of the proud, but the power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in word, but in power.” That's right. The characteristic of proud people is that their faith is only in words. Words make it plausible. However, if you look at that person's life, you don't have the power to love. I don't even have the courage to evangelize. I don't even have enough heart to devote myself. But when we teach and condemn someone, we speak most quickly.

An important characteristic of an arrogant person is that they don’t listen to others and only think they are right. And we have to remember that in someone's words, we must remember that God's words are included. Arrogant people look like they believe Jesus, but in reality they only believe their thoughts. This is because arrogance makes us close our ears. Arrogant people don’t listen to sermons.

 

1. Israel’s problems

[Considering themselves highly] We continue to feel this, most of the problems we face today are not new, they have been around for a very long time. The same is true of arrogance. It's not that people are particularly arrogant today; mankind has always been arrogant. The Israelites in the Northern Kingdom, which existed about 2,700 years ago, were also arrogant. The first characteristic of their arrogance was that they considered themselves high. If you look at verse 1 of today’s text, it says, “He exalted himself.” Isn't it the devil's nature to exalt himself? Jesus showed us the nature of God well, which we call kenosis. This can be described as “self-humility” or “self-emptying.” However, Satan's characteristic is self-exaltation. The problem with the Northern Kingdom is that they exalt themselves. So, if you look at the characteristics of arrogant people, they separate people and gather among themselves. A proud person exalts himself and naturally creates a class of people, and tries to get into the ruling class somehow, which is what Israel did.

As we are more and more religious we can notice spiritual arrogance. This spiritual arrogance is something that we should be careful with and be scared of. Today, if you feel superior than others in your heart or have a temptation to create your own group and discriminate against others, I ask in the name of the Lord to quickly realize that your heart is heading toward arrogance and turn around with a humble heart.

[Relying on their abilities] The second characteristic of arrogant people is that they rely on their abilities. That doesn’t mean people without ability are not  humble though. But people without great abilities do have arrogance but can't show it, so they look like they are humble. But the nature of arrogance did not disappear. The problem with arrogant people is that they rely on their abilities when they have them. Arrogant people think that they don’t need God. No need for God means no reason to have a good relationship with God. This makes arrogant people get further away from God.

It is very important for us to be independent. This means we can, by ourselves, take care of ourselves and make a living. Being able to stand on my own does not mean that I can solve everything by myself, but it means being helpful to each other. However, when we live in the world, there are people who live with an attitude of not helping or receiving help from others. They seem to live well on their own without saying sorry to others. But they are lonely.  And don’t have friends. They do not know the importance of neighbors and mistreat them. Because they have a great ability. The Northern kingdom is right now full. When we are full we get confident. But what happens when confidence turns into arrogance? We lose God. The people say to God, “God don’t care about me!”, “Just let me live however I want!”. This is what arrogance is. In fact, there is nothing we can do without God from one to ten. People don't feel the things that really matter because they are given so much for granted. A good example is the “fine-tuning problem”. It is a mystery in the physics world that all of this can exist because the physical constants that made our universe exist are finely tuned. But this is so taken for granted that we don't think of it as a variable, but as a constant. And within this constant we either boast or be discouraged by things other than what we get. For example, if a constant becomes a variable, we live a very insecure life, which means that how much money we have is not an important issue. However, we do not consider this constant as a variable. The result is that we become incredibly arrogant with really trivial things. Israel forgot God because they were full now.

People get arrogant very easily. If I do a small  it well or things turn out good, we leave God. Just like what the North Kingdom Israelites did. 

Resisting God] Lastly, Israel betrayed God. Another characteristic of arrogant people is that they betray God. What is the result of betraying God? It is to face the condition of having to fight God. In 1 Peter 5:5 it says: “In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble,”. God opposes the proud. God hates arrogance. Arrogant people betray God, and God opposes them because he despises them. When Israel, the Northern kingdom, became arrogant through God's blessing, they had already become God's enemies. An international political science professor said this. The United States is not a very strong country, but one thing you should never do with the United States is never let the United States designate your country as an enemy. This is because the country that the United States is hostile to has never gone well. America is a country powerful enough to thoroughly destroy its enemies.

What we must avoid most in life is to make sure that God does not despise us or be hostile to us. We call it reconciliation. In the Old Testament sacrificial system, there was a fellowship offering. It is a sacrifice to make peace with God. No matter how much we perform the sacrifice of peace, if we are arrogant, we become enemies of God. For God by nature hates arrogance. Arrogance is the root of all sins. Zephaniah 3:11-13 records this. “On that day you will not be put to shame because of everything you have done in rebelling against me. For then I will remove from among you your jubilant, arrogant people, and you will never again be haughty on my holy mountain. I will leave a meek and humble people among you, and they will take refuge in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel will no longer do wrong or tell lies;

a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths. They will pasture and lie down, with nothing to make them afraid,”. Arrogance is the root of all sins that God hates.

1. The Result

[Destruction] The end of arrogance is very clear. The arrogant exalt themselves, rely on their own abilities, and betray God. As a result, God opposes the proud. If you become a person that God hates, the result is destruction. So Proverbs 16:18 declares: “Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall,”. Arrogance is the shortcut to our ruin. The seven things God hates are mentioned in Proverbs. “The Lord hates six things; in fact, seven are detestable to him: arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil, a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers,”. The first of the seven things God hates is the proud eye.

I ask all the delays of the loving first love church. Be humble, I ask in the name of the Lord. Humility is a very important characteristic of Jesus that we must emulate. Philippians 2:5-8 explains it well. “Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death —even to death on a cross,”. God's heart is humble. Denying oneself and filling oneself with the personality and character of Jesus Christ, that is humbleness. Arrogance exalts or demeans itself. But humility is to humble ourselves and exalt Christ in us. I ask in the name of the Lord that this character of Christ be filled in our church.