Check Yourself: The Dangers of Pride | Minister Brandon Allen | Ellwood Community Church

[Music] for [Music] wonderful to be in your presence I have the distinguished privilege this morning of standing in our pastor's shoes so y'all pray for me and I'm going hurry up and get out your way is that all right hey man I know it's uh it's week one of football season and uh everybody looking to kick off the season right well praise be to God my Eagles played on Friday so I don't have to rush out of here today so I hope y'all got it recorded amen I'm just kidding let us pray dear Lord we thank you for this preaching moment father I ask now that you minimize Allen and maximize your power now Lord let the words of my mouth meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight oh Lord You Are My Strength and my redeemer all agreed said amen amen those of you that have your word with you this morning we going to go briefly to the Book of Daniel chapter 4 I'm going to be reading from the New Living Translation this [Music] morning Daniel chapter 4 beginning at the 28th verse you got to say amen amen and it reads thus wise but all these things did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar 12 months later he was taking a walk on the flat roof of the Royal Palace in Babylon and he looked out across the city and said look at this great city of Babylon by my own Mighty power have I built this beautiful city as my Royal residence to display my Majestic Splendor my my my while these words were still in his mouth a voice called down from heaven oh King Nebuchadnezzar this message is for you you are no longer ruler of this Kingdom you will be driven out from here Human Society you will live in the fields with the wild animals you will eat grass like a cow seven periods of time will pass while you live this way until you learn that the most high rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses that same hour the Judgment was fulfilled and Nebuchadnezzar was driven from Human Society he ate grass like a cow and was drenched with the Dew of Heaven he lived this way until his hair was as long as eagle feathers and his nails were like Bird's claws brothers and sisters for the time that is ours I want to speak from a subject check yourself check yourself amen success can be a difficult burden to bear like a garment that is too tight or too loose rarely does it seem to fit just right so for many of us the challenge is learning how to navigate the highs of life it's easy to praise God in our low moments but real maturity comes when we are able to manage and navigate when things are going well the challenge comes because the intent and perhaps the implicit occurrence that takes place in our success is that we are not careful is that if we are not careful we can be subject to the toxic thought that the success that I'm experiencing is on our own accord we'll assume that because things are going well in Ministry or on the job or even at home we assume that it's because of our Ingenuity our intellectual capacity or just plain old hard work work the rise of so-called self-awareness can be attributed to social media in many ways one of the most popular phenoms being the selfie y'all know what a selfie is Right selfie is a photo of me taken by me see when I don't I don't need anyone to take a picture for me so when I want to show the world what I got going on I can show off at any time there are even filters so I can change my look if I so desire a study was done recently that highlighted the severity and narcissism of this selfie culture the onset has caused what is now known as a kilie a ky is when a person loses their life taking a selfy in dangerous places going to places they are not meant to be and taking pictures ladies and gentlemen here is the problem that I want address with this message is that sometimes our pride and our selfishness will put us in some dangerous places the pride of thinking that we made it on our own the pride of thinking that we are where we are because of ourselves truth be told Saints we all struggle with pride in one way or another such as the circumstance of King Nebuchadnezzar God gives us here a clear example through Nebuchadnezzar that if we don't check ourselves we can lose it all this is what the Bible means when it said pride comes before the fall so my challenge for us today is that we learn to check our pride so that we will not fall victim to the detriment that is sure to follow it is okay to Pat yourself on the back occasionally it's okay to give yourself a high five but check yourself in the words of the Prophet David Ruffin ain't nobody com to see you Otis amen you are not the reason that the seats are full you are not the reason that the altar is packed you need to check yourself tell your neighbor check yourself first thing we have to do when checking ourselves is avoid the temptation of taking the credit for our own success in Daniel 4 Nebuchadnezzar has a dream and when you read Daniel 4 you understand that his he he dreams this dream of a large tree this amazing tree with branches that are outstretched and you see things purched upon these branches until all of a sudden something descends from the sky cuts the tree down and all that's left of this Grand Tree is a stump Nebuchadnezzar decides to call on his cabinet of magicians Sorcerers to inquire of them can you help me interpret this dream none of them can put can do it once again and once again the protagonist of this book shows up on the scene his name is Daniel Daniel comes in once again and prophetically begins to unpack what the dream means to Nebuchadnezzar life wherein Daniel gives him the first couple of verses of chapter 4 he says King I wish I could tell you that this dream was about your enemies but no this dream is all about you this dream is God warning you that yes you are great and yes things are wonderful and yes your branches are outstretched and yes it seems like you're doing everything perfect but if you get the big head if you lose your mind you will start to assume that God himself you will start to assume that it is you and not God himself and God will swoop down and cut you like the tree in your dream Daniel gave King Nebuchadnezzar as the text says in verse 28 12 months had passed it seems a year later all of a sudden King Nebuchadnezzar is now on his balcony and in the place of the palace can you see the king he's draped in his Warrior garments and now he's walking on this balcony looking at Babylon line pastor Daniel gives him the prophetic word and it's been a year since God has given him this word and and it's been a year since Nebuchadnezzar has heard this word and for some reason Nebuchadnezzar like some of us think that God's word has an expiration date he thinks that God's word uh has has passed and perhaps the king uh does like some of us and and think that God doesn't want or doesn't want to move on that word that he gives us anymore like Nebuchadnezzar we often times struggle because sometimes we act like God has forgotten some stuff we act like what God has told us some years ago will not come to pass and it's been a year in our text and Nebuchadnezzar is here and he's walking on top of this balcony and he looks over it and starts to look at it the grand city of Babylon and starts walking about how great this city is he looks at the buildings sees the wonderful plal structures that he's erupted because if you study Nebuchadnezzar Not only was he a skilled Warrior but he also was a skilled Builder so he's walking and gazing and it's almost like he was taunting God and thinking to himself look what I did look what I built this city this city wouldn't be nothing without me my brothers and sisters there is the warning here uh because even though it's been a year God had not forgotten what he had told Nebuchadnezzar and reminds us brothers and sisters what happens this reminds me of a story uh in the Kentucky Derby there was a horse horse named maxilon maxilon won the race but what end up being disqualified and he didn't he didn't get disqualified because he didn't come in first second or third place but he was disqualified because he was running in the wrong lane somebody say he was in the wrong lane yeah maximum security ran in the wrong lane of God this was what happens and this is what Pride causes us to get when you start to run in the wrong lane when you start to assume that instead of God it's you and start to believe that you are the reason you're here I'm here to tell you child of God that's the problem with Nebuchadnezzar he got disqualified because he ran in the lane in the wrong lane that's what happens here in the text and what gets me is why while he is there all of a sudden a voice comes down from heaven but watch this y'all King Nebuchadnezzar the Bible says is talking to himself and he's not talking in some large conference he's not speaking to a throng of people in Babylon that he's brag he's not bragging to a cabinet of trusted advisors the conversation is taking place on the balcony in the palace where Nebuchadnezzar is by himself and while the words are still on his lips God hears what he has to say and and what's going to miss some of y'all up here is that we assume because we are humble publicly and boastful privately that God is somehow pleased with this Behavior but the text teaches us that God is not just concerned with how you operate publicly but God also hears the private groans and petitions of your heart child of God I need you to hear me today because Nebuchadnezzar gives us a warning that just because you may outwardly look humble God sees the reality of your heart and you may not tell everybody what you're thinking or or what's going on or the things that you're doing but God hears everything that you have to say are y'all with me Nebuchadnezzar was just talking matter of fact the text says he he hadn't been it hadn't been released from his mouth and God heard him I don't know who I'm talking to here today but in those moments where you said some things I know you thought nobody else heard you but God heard you amen I know you made some assumptions and you thought you were alone and nobody heard you but let me tell you something God heard you and I know you didn't tell your closest friends and your board members and your co-workers about everything that's on your mind but God still hears you tell your neighbor God hears you amen hallelujah amen so even when you think no one else is paying attention God is tell your neighbor God is amen that reminds me of another story the final words of a great Spanish Matador by the name of Jose cabaro in in the 1950s was a great uh uh uh uh Matador there was no greater athlete than him in the whole country of Spain to watch him go back and forth with the bull they said was Artistry in motion but what happened to this young Matador is that one day something got the best of him there was an amazing josting match with his him and the bull and he was going tick for toe and he was pounding the field all day against this bull and things were going wonderful he was dodging and moving away from the bull he was trying and finally starting to fatigue the bull until the final Encore after tiring the bull the Ferocious bull out he unshed his sword and pierces the side of the bull as it runs past as The Bull begins to sway and fall to the aside the crowd at the same time you can hear the crowd yelling his name Jose Jose hose turns to the crowd faces them throws his arms in the air to take in all the love and unbeknownst to Jose the bull was still alive and in what seemed like to be a flash the bull pierced and Gorge him in the back now brothers and sisters here's the warning here because the crowd may not kill you watch this y'all but the bull will Hallelujah so it's the pride children of God that is whatever you think you have mastered it whenever you think you have controlled it whenever you think you have pierced it and brought it down somebody can testify it can sneak back up on you touch somebody next to you and tell them that to watch out for the bull watch out for the bull amen I'm almost done already it's the scripture that tells us that the first thing I need okay I'm Excuse me y'all the first thing I we need to talk about today is how to avoid the temptation of taking credit for your success but there's something else we need to do as we journey further in the scripture cuz there's another principle I want to deposit in your spirit here the second thing we see here in this passage that gives us warning The Perils and the pitfalls of pride is what we learn also is we have to acknowledge that even positions of favor can change because just when you think you're high enough is when things can come crashing down are y'all still with me amen this is what take place for King Nebuchadnezzar in our passage that even before he could get it out of his mouth God Rings loud and gives him a word of judgment he speaks of the consequences God remembers what he had told him 12 months earlier he had told him that if you didn't get yourself together I myself would cut you down this warning that God gave us in this passage was two things number one I'm going to take your kingdom and number two I'm going to relegate you to being a mad man who grazes in the grass like a cow can you imagine for a moment this man who was larger than life in Babylon that King Nebuchadnezzar whom in the things that he was able to accomplish there was no one greater in Antiquity babyon the empire was considered the number one Empire in the world he was the ruler the Arch over all them but now in a now because of a private moment of Pride he had that this private moment of Pride had infiltrated his soul and his spirit and his heart and God said unto him I'm going to condemn you and this is what your judgment is going to be I'm going to cease operating you're going to cease operating and looking like a king you're going to look like an animal you the one who was high the one who was the one who had everything the one who had it all together going to be grazing like a cow brothers and sisters imagine making this kind of fall can you imagine being that high and coming down it's like what has happened uh recently in the seven Club of those who tried to climb the heights of Mount Everest many lives have been lost as people have been trying their best to reach this Pinnacle of Mount Everest some find out that as soon as they get there many have died because trying to achieve this uh it was shown in the study that the reason that a lot of people don't survive is because they are stricken with altitude sickness something about being too high causes nausea something about being too high causes you to disorient yourself something about being too high causes problems y'all stay with me I'm going somewhere so on this on on on this Mount because of this sickness and because of this disorientation many people lose their lives that may be why some of you are disoriented here in the sanctuary that may be why some of us are nauseated in the church not because you ate the wrong thing last night not because you're frustrated in traffic this morning but the reason you're disoriented is because you come to lwood too high the reason why you're looking why you're losing your mind and losing your footing is because you're too high tell your neighbor you're too high and there is danger in the altitude that's what took place here and why Nebuchadnezzar is being struggled and and immediately right then God's word of judgment takes place without any kind of warning in between there was no period to adjust immediately the scripture says his hair began to be matted and his nails began to grow this man who was a king of Babylon who was used to eating the finest of everything the choices of animals were gracing the tables his pallets were used to the finest Libations that Babylon had to offer and now he's subject to eating grass I mean it's amazing to me this trajectory because he moves from gazing over what he thought was his yeah come on with me y'all he moves from gazing over what he thought was his to now grazing in the grass and perhaps this this this move is this this this is how things happen because that's the pathway way of Pride it starts with gazing out at what you think you have accomplished but gazing always ends up in grazing can you see Nebuchadnezzar now now he is is Desiring grass and you can see him in in in in my spiritual mind I can see him as he munches around on this grass and you're trying to see him chew the grass even though his teeth weren't made for it he's literally eating something that cannot satisfy him he's eating something that cannot satisfy him amen and it's got to be frustrating to be attracted to something that does not fill you up and it's got to be hard to desire something that gets you down because the truth is that your altitude affects your appetite and if if you're not careful you'll start Desiring stuff you know is beneath you I got to get ready to go Daniel 4 shifts back into uh uh its own self-reflection and personal pronoun is introduced back to us in verse 34 after Grazing In the grass verse 34 says after the time passed and I don't know if anybody else can see a shout in that but this makes my Soul happy because when I think about my own life and my own soul I know what it is to be down I know what it is to succumb to my own Folly I know what it is to be attracted to the wrong things I know what it is to struggle but the good news about this text is that we serve a sent benevolent and gracious God that even though we have to be punished thank you Lord God will not allow the punishment to last forever look at somebody and tell them God didn't throw me away and I thank God that after I had to deal with the pain and the consequences and the Judgment that I'm glad that I got a God that before he will put me before he put me in it he knew he would bring me out of it come on that's enough to shout about right there I'm grateful that I serve a God hallelujah that before before he put me in it he knew he was going to get me out but you got to see you got to see what king nebuch nezza says here because he gives us watch this he gives us the orientation of restoration notice what nezzar says here he says I looked up y'all missed it let me help you in other words what took place here is what got him in trouble was looking out and he looked out and had to look down are y'all with me but after after the time had passed my God hallelujah he learned that I cannot look out and I cannot look down but I'm going if I'm going to be everything that God wants me to be I have to look up tell your neighbor look up I don't know who I'm talking to today but I came to tell you that this is your season to look up the Bible says I will lift up mine eyes un the hills from when cometh my help cuz all of my help comes from the Lord hallelujah all of my help comes from the Lord I'm done y'all if but if you don't get anything else remember this check yourself realize that it's not our own power not our own doing not our own intellect or Ingenuity Hallelujah but we operate through the power of An Almighty God Amen come on and bless the Lord hallelujah the doors of the church are open Hallelujah there may be one that says I'm ready to check [Music] myself I'm ready Hallelujah to step into what God has for me I've made some mistakes I know yeah I've done wrong I know Hallelujah but thanks be to God hallelujah just as sure as I'm alive I have another chance to get it right hallelujah hallelujah he loves you exactly where you are he knows exactly what you're thinking Hallelujah he knows what's on your mind Hallelujah but we serve a mercy F gracious God hallelujah he's always willing and always waiting for us with open arms amen let's thank God that we're all saved hallelujah hallelujah come on and bless the Lord for our first lady as she comes hallelujah amen praise the Lord thank you Minister Brandon for that message check yourself that's something we can all do right check ourselves amen amen the announcements there will be a brief 's meeting meeting today after service a brief 's meeting today after service our birthday list we have Junior John he celebrated on the 6th of September happy birthday Junior Jones amen amen also this Friday say this Friday my husband and our pastor will celebrate his 57th birthday 57 amen amen and he is so deserving of our honor for all of his sacrifice on our behalf I would like for everyone who loves and honor our pastor to be a blessing to him on this day on his special day or on today and you've been given an envelope we ask that you would utilize this envelope to give him a gift to celebrate his birthday so to you Pastor Crum happy early birthday amen amen amen let's continue to pray for our members who are experiencing health challenges on the list we have sister Jackson sister Wilner sister cluster sister Brown mother Dillard brother and sister Reese let's continue to pray for those members amen amen and now it is the opportunity for prosperity in this place amen this is the time when we so Seas invest in the kingdom of God this is also our time to worship God through our giving with that being said please stand with me all across this place as we prepare our hearts to give unto the Lord [Music] [Music] let us pray father we thank you that you are The Giver of every good and perfect gift and that all things come of thee and it is of your own that we give back unto you we thank you now for the promises of your provision we thank you God that you're raising up somebody somewhere to come into our lives to speed up our prosperity to use their power their resources on our behalf we thank you God in jesus' name and all of God's people said amen amen and amen please for the directions of the ures and deacons Ministry at this time and be blessed [Music]