A Proud Look
“A proud look;” (Proverbs 6:17)
The term “the seven deadly sins” is from Proverbs 6:16-19: “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”
The Bible doesn’t say these are in order of severity, but they are seven sins that God hates. Interestingly, the first is pride. Pride is mentioned many times in the Bible: “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” (Proverbs 8:13) “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)
Psalm 10:4 also says, “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” Pride guides a wicked person’s heart. A wicked person will not seek after God, as our verse says. The reason he will not seek after God is not a lack of knowledge. The reason is pride.
God has given us plenty of evidence that He exists and is sovereign. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.” If you look in the sky at the stars and other glorious sights, you know there is a glorious, all-powerful God who put them there.
Romans 1:20 also says, “For the invisible things of him [of God] from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead;” The sun rises and sets. Seasons change at appointed times. People, plants, and animals are all complex beings but they all function amazingly well. All are God’s work. Yet pride turns people’s hearts from God.
Worst of all, pride provokes people to think they don’t need Jesus. It blinds them to the fact that they are hell-deserving sinners who need God’s grace. Jesus told the chief priests and elders, “…the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.” (Matthew 21:31-32)
Repentance means to turn from disobedience to obedience. Jesus said, “A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first and said, Son go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.” (Matthew 21:28-29) The son realized he was wrong to disobey, so he turned and obeyed. We might also infer that he sought and got his father’s forgiveness.
The publicans and harlots knew they were sinful, but they learned through the preaching of John the Baptist that Jesus, God the Son, offered forgiveness for their sins. They went to Jesus in repentance and were forgiven and saved. The religious leaders saw the change in the lives of the publicans and harlots, but they still would not turn to Jesus. They may have thought to themselves, “Those people were really sinful. They needed to be saved. Not me.” That’s pride.
Job 41 describes a huge, terrifying sea creature as a leviathan. God calls him “…a king over all the children of pride.” (Job 41:34) This is an illustration of the devil, who convinces people to listen to their pride and reject Jesus: “…the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world:” (Revelation 12:9) Please do not listen to your pride and lose your soul. Please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click “Helpful Links,” then “How Do I Go to Heaven?” to see how to have your sins forgiven and eternal life.
Brian Miller 8/6/2024