Pride Goes Before the Fall
Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 20:12-18
12 At that time Berodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to
Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah was attentive to them, and
showed them all the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and
all his armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his
dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
14 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from
where did they come to you?”
So Hezekiah said, “They came from a far country, from Babylon.”
15 And he said, “What have they seen in your house?”
So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures
that I have not shown them.”
16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: 17 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all
that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon;
nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD. 18 ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will
descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of
Babylon.
Scripture Reading: Acts 4:34-37 & 5:1-11
34 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold
them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, 35 and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and
they distributed to each as anyone had need.
36 And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of
Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, 37 having land, sold it, and brought the money and
laid it at the apostles’ feet.
1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. 2 And he kept back part
of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of
the price of the land for yourself? 4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not
in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to
God.”
5 Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those
who heard these things. 6 And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried
him.
7 Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter
answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?”
She said, “Yes, for so much.”
9 Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the
feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Then
immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her
dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. 11 So great fear came upon all the church and
upon all who heard these things.
As you can tell, I liked taking a concept from the Old Testament to the New Testament last
week. This week we’re going to start with the OT first. Here in 2 Kings we read the story
of King Hezekiah. The first verse we read explains that the king of Babylon sent a present
because he heard he’d been sick. It starts out nice enough, right? Just one king being
friendly to another king. So Hezekiah returns the favor by being nice to the envoys of the
other king but he goes a bit too far. He doesn’t just show them a good time, he shows
them everything! Have you ever had something you wanted to show off? Maybe he wasn’
t even trying to lord it over them or anything. Maybe he was just trying to show them that
he was as good as their king. Who knows? It’s not really important why he did it, what’s
important is that he did it.
The way Isaiah ask him his question makes me think that God had already told him
something. Probably something like, whatever they saw they’re going to come back and
take. Isaiah first ask who they are and where they came from. The king tells him. Then
he ask the really important question. What have they seen? Can you imagine what he's
thinking as Hezekiah tells him everything. In fact, he says that there's not a thing among
his treasures that he hasn't shown them. So Isaiah drops the bomb. Wow! Too bad he
had to show off, huh?
Proverbs 16:18 says, Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before the fall.
How true that statement is in this case. Let's move forward to our passage in Acts. This is
a time in the early church when the believers were very close. So close that they didn't
consider their possessions there own but gave to any that were in need. People began to
sell off there possessions and bring the proceeds to lay at the apostles feet. Remember,
they were on fire for the Lord. Many of them had actually seen Him alive after they had
seen Him crucified so they knew. Plus, they were sure that He was coming back any day,
during their lifetime. They had no concept of us, living 2000 years in the future and God
being patient that we would be able to come into the kingdom.
Many of them, it mentions Joses by name (Barnabas) as being one who came and laid the
price of what he sold at the apostles feet. Evidently, Ananias and Sapphira see this and
maybe the see the brethren patting him on the back or exalting him in some way because
of his sacrifice so they conspire to get some of the glory. So they sell some possession
and get the money and decide to make it seem like they've brought the whole amount.
They wanted, like Hezekiah, to show off. You what ends up happening to them. Not
because they didn't bring all the money. Even Peter tell them, hey wasn't it yours to do
what you wanted with it. They could have just as easily come and said here's some of the
proceeds. But they didn't and they were destroyed because of their pride. Sound familiar?
We've turned into a society of show offs. We're so used to seeing this 'show-off' spirit on
television in programs and in commercials that we've become desensitized to it. I don't
even think we realize how prideful we are, in almost everything we do. What's the first
thing we do when we get something new. We want to show everyone what we got. Do we
ever think that maybe they'd like to have what we have and us putting it in their face is just
reminding them that they don't have it?
This society is so prideful that we don't even have to say anything to show or pride. I'll
give you an example. You're at the grocery store an you get in a line and realize that the
cashier must be new and she's going really slowly. Then she sees that she's running low
on register tape so she has to change it but she doesn't know how so she has to call the
manager but he doesn't seem to be coming. You've been there before. I know I have. Us
being so obviously impatient isn't exactly edifying her is it? And why would we have the
attitude? Maybe, because we have more important things to do so we shouldn't have to
wait in some stupid line in the stupid store because this cashier doesn't know what she's
doing. Then we get up to the front, paste on a smile and make sure everyone sees our
Jesus pin or our WWJD bracelet and as we drive out in our car they see the fish on our
bumper. What do you think Jesus would do in the situation? Probably encourage her that
she would get it. Ease her mind by telling her not to worry about it.
You don't even want to know how many times I've said, "They just don't know who they're
dealing with." We have to become more aware of that prideful, haughty spirit. That's the
only way we'll be able to case it down. It's not just a part of who we are. It doesn't have to
be. You know how it says that by the witness of two or three a thing is established.
Proverbs 11:2, When pride comes, then comes shame. Proverbs 13:10, By pride comes
nothing but strife. Proverbs 14:3, In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride. Proverbs 15:25,
the LORD will destroy the house of the proud. Proverbs 16:5, Everyone proud in heart is
an abomination to the LORD. Proverbs 16:18, Pride goes before destruction, and a
haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 29:23, A man's pride will bring him low. I think this
point has been well established. Proverbs 21:4 even says, A haughty look, a proud heart,
and the plowing of the wicked are sin. Pride is equated with sin itself because that is what
its fruit is. We, as 'the church' have got to cast down this demon so we can get ready for
our king. It was pride that kept the religious people of Jesus' from being able to see the
truth. It blinded their spiritual eyes. As we go through this week, let us be aware of when
we become prideful and arrogant and as we see it manifest let's cast it down.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: March 19, 2006