The Way Up Is Down – Secret #6 – Part 1

Guest (Male): Hey, podcast listeners, thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's Word through the most effective media available, like this podcast. To support Pathway to Victory, go to PTV.org/donate, or follow the link in our show notes. Now, here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.
Dr. Robert Jeffress: Hi, this is Robert Jeffress, and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory, God promises that the person who is infected with pride is ultimately going to fail, but the person who learns humility will succeed. We're in a series right now talking about success in life. I've called it The Solomon Secrets for Success. And today we're going to look at another one of those Solomon secrets, and it's simply this: The way up is down. What we're talking about is humility.
Guest (Male): Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. You know, most people think the surest way to achieve success is to be ambitious, get noticed, and climb to the top. But according to the Book of Proverbs, just the opposite is true. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress shares Solomon's counterintuitive wisdom for getting where you want to be in life. But first, let's take a moment to hear some important ministry updates.
Dr. Robert Jeffress: Thanks, David, and welcome to Pathway to Victory. Sometimes life can be highly overrated. Do you ever feel that way? When our anticipations, our hopes, our dreams go unrealized, we struggle to find meaning in it all. You might think that's a cynical view. No, I think it's honest. Even Solomon, the wisest and most powerful man of his times, came to the same conclusion. And Solomon's wisdom easily translates into our times. That's the reason I wrote my book called The Solomon Secrets. Solomon provides uncommon sense for extraordinary success. I use the word uncommon because many of his pithy sayings will surprise you. He told us that fear is good, and to succeed more, we need to fail more. And today's topic, The Way Up Is Down. And I'm going to send you a copy right away when we receive your generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. And if this is your first time reaching out to Pathway to Victory, I want to send you a complimentary gift. "In God We Trust" is a two-disc collection featuring our First Baptist Dallas Choir and Orchestra in a patriotic celebration. It's perfect for America's 250th anniversary. Just contact us today at PTV.org, and a copy is yours. More about these resources later.
Guest (Male): But right now, let's get started with today's message titled The Way Up Is Down.
Dr. Robert Jeffress: You may remember, in fact, some of you may continue to watch the reruns of the classic sitcom Seinfeld. If you're not familiar with the show Seinfeld, one of the central characters in that sitcom is a middle-aged, stocky man named George Costanza. George Costanza is a loser in every sense of the word. He never works, he lives at home with his parents, he strikes out with women all of the time. But in one episode, George Costanza decides he wants a change in his life. And he decides that the way to start succeeding is to do opposite of what he has been doing. After all, you know the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Well, George Costanza decides he'll start doing things differently in his life. Instead of ordering chicken salad on white bread at the diner, he starts ordering tuna on wheat. Instead of being timid around women, he starts acting flirtatiously. Instead of remaining silent during important meetings at work, he starts to speak out. And suddenly, he notices he begins to experience wonderful success in his life. Now, George Costanza is an agnostic in the show. But he actually demonstrates a very Christian principle that you find throughout the Bible. And that is, if you want to succeed in life, usually you need to do just opposite of your natural inclination. Instead of holding on to your life, Jesus says, let go of your life. Instead of retaliating against your offender, forgive your offender. Instead of hating your enemy, love your enemy. Do what is opposite your natural inclination. And perhaps the greatest example of doing opposite of what we normally would do has to do with the subject we're looking at today. In Matthew chapter 20, verses 26-27, Jesus said, "It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant. And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave." Notice Jesus says there's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be successful in life. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be great. But what Jesus said is, if you really want to be great and important and significant, you need to follow a different path to success than that which the world offers. For example, the world says, "Look out for number one." Jesus says, "Look out for others." The world says, "Destroy your opposition." Jesus says, "Love your opposition." The world says, "Hold on to your rights. Don't let them go." Jesus said, "Let go of your rights." The world says, "If you want to be great, rule other people." Jesus said, "If you want to be great, serve other people." The world says, "Promote yourself." Jesus says, "Humble yourself." Solomon understood the importance of humility to achieve success in life. And throughout the Book of Proverbs, you find all kinds of warnings against pride and exhortations toward humility. Just jot down some of these verses, we don't have time for you to look them up, but just jot them down. Proverbs 8:13, "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate," says God. Or Proverbs 11:2, "When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom." Or Proverbs 15:25, "The Lord will tear down the house of the proud, but He will establish the boundary of the widow." Or Proverbs 16:18-19, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling. It is better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud." Proverbs 18:12, "Before destruction, the heart of a man is haughty. But humility goes before honor." Or Proverbs 29:23, "A man's pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor." If there's one theme you find throughout these verses, it's simply this: Pride is a prerequisite to failure in life. Humility is a prerequisite for success. Somebody has said, "Pride is the only disease known to man that makes everyone sick except the one who has it." Nevertheless, God promises that the person who is infected with pride is ultimately going to fail, but the person who learns humility will succeed. We're in a series right now talking about success in life. I've called it The Solomon Secrets for Success. And we've been looking at the Book of Proverbs at ten pieces of wisdom, ten pieces of what I call uncommon sense that guarantee extraordinary success. I call it uncommon sense because it goes against our natural inclinations. Every one of these Solomon secrets. And today we're going to look at another one of those Solomon secrets and it's simply this: The way up is down. What we're talking about is humility. Now, when we talk about humility, what do we mean by humility? When we think of humility, we think of milk toast men, or we think about cowering women shuffling behind their husbands in submission. Who wants that? Who wants to be humble? But that's not what humility is according to God's Word. The best way to understand humility biblically is to understand the opposite of humility, which is pride. Above all things that God hates in our life, He hates pride. Let me give you this definition of pride. Pride is the attitude that credits ourselves with our successes and blames others for our failures. By the way, that's worth writing down, too. God hates pride more than any other sin, the Book of Proverbs tells us. What is pride? You better guard against it. Pride is the attitude that credits ourselves with our successes and blames other people for our failures. A prideful person is somebody who is convinced that every good thing in his life is a result of what he has done. The prideful person is the one who believes in every conflict, he's right and everyone else is wrong. The prideful person is the one who believes he has everything he needs. He is self-contained to handle any problem that arises in life. What is it that pride produces in our life? Pride, first of all, results in ingratitude toward God. You know, if you're convinced that the good things in your life are the result of what you have done, then you're going to fail to give God the credit and the praise for the wonderful things He's brought into your life. I remember when our oldest daughter, Julia, was two. One Christmas we had gone to Amy's parents to celebrate Christmas and we were opening Christmas gifts. And Julia opened up this gift and she pulled it out of the box and it was something she had really wanted. And she pulls it out of the box and she says, "Grandma, Grandma." She thought her grandmother had given her that gift. I'm the one who gave her the gift. And it hacked me off. And then it kind of hurt my feelings. Why? Because I wanted my daughter to know, "I'm the one who purchased the gift." I wanted her to know that I loved her enough, I wanted to give her exactly what she wanted. Now, why did I feel that way? Why did I feel angry and then hurt? You know the reason I felt that way? Because I was created in the image of God, just like you are. Every parent here knows that feeling. You want your children to know when you give them a gift. You want your children to know that you love them and care for them. The reason we feel that way is because we have been created in God's image. God is the perfect parent. He loves to show his his care and concern for us by giving us, by showering us with wonderful gifts. And whenever we fail to give God the credit for the good things in our life, it hurts the heart of God. He feels both hurt and angry when he does not receive the credit. That's what pride does. It leads, first of all, to ingratitude. But secondly, ingratitude leads to independence. I mean, if we falsely believe that all the good stuff in our life is the result of what we've done, we fail to give God credit for it, then we come to the conclusion, we really don't need God at all, and we move away from God. Moses understood that the Israelites were in danger of doing just that when they entered the promised land. And that's why he warned in Deuteronomy 8, verses 12 and 14, "Be careful, lest when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, then your heart becomes what? Proud. And you forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." There is a link between pride, ingratitude, and independence from God. And you see that illustrated in the very first sin that was ever committed in the universe. It had to do with Lucifer. Remember Lucifer? He was the head of the highest angelic realm in heaven. He was God's right-hand angel. But listen to what happened to Lucifer and what led to his downfall and which he became Satan. In Ezekiel 28, verses 15 and 17, God explains why it is that Lucifer fell away from God. He said, "You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created." Underline that word created. "Until unrighteousness was found in you." What is that unrighteousness? Look at verse 17. "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor." One day in heaven, Lucifer started doing some self-evaluation. He started thinking, "You know, I've got it all. I'm the real deal. I've got everything anybody could want." But Lucifer made the fatal mistake of forgetting he was a creature and thinking he was the creator. And because of that pride, because he forgot that he was a created being, that led, that ingratitude led to the next step, which was independence from God. We find Lucifer's declaration of independence in Isaiah 14, verses 13 and 14. God explains why it is that he cast Lucifer out of heaven. And verse 13 says, "But you, Lucifer, said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven. And I will raise my throne above the stars of God. And I will sit in the mount of the assembly in the recesses of the North. And I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. And I will make myself like the Most High.'" Do you hear that over and over again? "I will, I will, I will, I will." No thought of God whatsoever. And for that reason, you know the rest of the story. God cast Lucifer out of heaven. He is now named Satan. And ever since that time that he was cast out of heaven, Satan has been trying to create a rival shadow empire against God. And do you know what the basis of Satan's empire is? Here's the purpose statement of Satan's kingdom. Life apart from God is both possible and it's preferable. That's the basis of Satan's kingdom. "I don't need God. I can live life on my own." When you understand where pride comes from, that it was the basis of the first sin that led to the satanic rebellion against God, you understand why it is that of all the things God hates most in our lives, He hates pride. That is the attitude that credits ourselves for our successes and blames other people for our failures. The contrast to pride is humility. What is humility? Jot this down. Humility is the attitude that realizes everything good in my life is the result of what either God or others have done for me. Humility is the attitude that recognizes any and every good thing in my life is the result of either what God or other people have done for me. There are three components of humility. What does it mean to be humble? If it's the key to success, we better get this and understand it. Humility, first of all, demands an accurate evaluation of ourselves. To be truly humble, you have to have an accurate evaluation of yourself. If somebody were to ask you, what are your three greatest strengths? Would you be able to answer that? If somebody said to you, what are your three greatest weaknesses? Would you say, "Weaknesses? Who, me?" Or would you be able to name some weaknesses that you have? See, to be truly humble means to have an accurate evaluation of yourself. Most of us go to one of two extremes. We think, "Oh, I'm worthless. I can't do anything." Or the other extreme is, "I'm so wonderful. How can the world get along without me?" Neither is an accurate view of yourself. In Romans 12:3, Paul encourages us to look at ourselves accurately. He says, "For through the grace given to me, I say to every man among you, not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think. But to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith." And interestingly, Paul uses that verse as a launching pad to talk about the subject of spiritual gifts. That is, God has given every Christian a unique gift to fulfill his purpose. So there's no reason for us to feel like lowly worms. We're not if we're in Christ Jesus. We have been given a unique spiritual gift by God to achieve his purpose. So don't think too lowly of yourself. All of us have one gift, but on the other hand, none of us has all of the gifts. And that's why we shouldn't think too highly of ourselves. We do need other people in the body of Christ. If you're truly going to be humble, it means, first of all, having an accurate assessment of yourself. Secondly, humility involves an authentic appreciation of other people. An authentic appreciation of other people. John Wooden, the former coach of the UCLA Bruins basketball team, has a great word when he says, "Talent is God-given, be humble. Fame is man-given, be thankful. Conceit is self-given, be careful." Genuine humility is built on the recognition that every good thing in our life is the result of either what God or others have done for us. Now, many people have a hard time believing that. Many people have a hard time not having an inflated view of themselves. I remember the story about the pastor who was driving home one day with his wife after the morning service, and he was feeling especially good about his sermon that day. And so he said to his wife, "Honey, how many truly great preachers in America do you think there are?" His wife said, "One less than you think." You know, Paul had a way of deflating the Corinthians' ego as well. They had an inflated view of their own importance. So Paul asked one question that completely put them on the course to reality. In 1 Corinthians 4:7, he said, "You Corinthians, who think so highly of yourselves, let me ask you a question. Who regards you as superior? And what do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you have not received it?" You know what he was asking? He said, "Before you get boastful about some great achievement in your life, something you have, ask yourself the simple question, 'What good thing in my life cannot ultimately be traced to the hand of God?'" Your appearance? "Oh, the reason I look so great is I work out and I eat right. That's why I look so great." No, that's not what the Bible says. Psalm 139:13-14 says, "Your appearance is a result of God's work in your life. For Thou didst form my inward parts. Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to Thee. For I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Thy works and my soul knows it very well." What are you proud about? Your possessions? Your net worth, your balance sheet, the money you've got socked away in stocks and bonds, the business you've built? "Oh, my possessions are the result of all my hard work. I work harder than anybody and I'm so shrewd in business. That's why I have what I have today." Is that true? No, that's not what the Bible says. In Job 34:19, we find these words about God, "Who shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich above the poor, for they are all the work of His hands." If you have money today, if you have great possessions, it's because of God's blessing in your life. And remember, when you think it's because of your hard work, God's the one who gives you the breath to wake up every morning and go to work. And he could take it away just like that. What are you proud about? Your children? "Oh, my children, they're so wonderful, they are the result of exceptional parenting and a superior gene pool. That's why my kids are the way they are." No. If you've got wonderful kids, it's probably in spite of what you've done, not because of what you've done. In Psalm 127:3, the psalmist reminds us, "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward." When you understand what Paul understands, that every good thing in our life is ultimately because of God's grace, then you come to the same conclusion that James did in James 1:17. Remember what he said? "Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow."
Guest (Male): We're often surprised by the counterintuitive advice in Proverbs. King Solomon said if you truly want to find success, the way up is down. Earlier, I mentioned a book I've written that coincides with this study, called The Solomon Secrets. It's great for your small group Bible study because I've included a study guide with discussion questions. When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, be sure to request your copy. It comes with my thanks for your investment in this listener-supported ministry. And then, if you've never reached out to Pathway to Victory, I want to give you every reason to do so today. I'd like to send you at no cost and with no strings attached, "In God We Trust." It's a two-disc patriotic celebration performed by our First Baptist Dallas Choir and Orchestra, and a message from me. It's my personal gift to every new friend who contacts us this week. Finally, maybe it's been a long time since you've been in touch with Pathway to Victory. Perhaps you've never given a contribution. And yet, you've been part of our audience for a long time. Why not make today the day you step forward? I promise you, God will use your gift to pierce the darkness with the light of His Word. Here's David to tell you more. Today when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, you're invited to request a copy of Dr. Jeffress's best-selling book, The Solomon Secrets. Here's our toll-free number: 866-999-2965. You could visit PTV.org or text PTV to 78800. And if this is your first time contacting Pathway to Victory, we'd like to send you a complimentary copy of "In God We Trust." That's a two-disc collection of powerful messages from Dr. Jeffress and dynamic performances by the First Baptist Dallas Choir and Orchestra. Just visit PTV.org. And finally, when your ministry gift is $75 or more, we'll send you the book, The Solomon Secrets, along with the corresponding teaching series on DVD video and MP3 format audio disc. One more time, call 866-999-2965 or make your request online at PTV.org. You could also write to us if you'd like: PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. That's PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. I'm David J. Mullins, inviting you to join us again next time for the conclusion of our message called The Way Up Is Down. That's Thursday, here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.
Dr. Robert Jeffress: The Apostle Paul sailed these waters, walked these streets, and the church was never the same.
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