#99 Lu. 11:43 The Proud And Egotistical Pharisees

Introduction:

    Jesus pronounced a whole series of woes against the Pharisees.
Luke recorded most of them, but Matthew records some which Luke
does not record.  In our message last Sunday we studied the first
woe on the list as recorded by Luke.  Today we will study the
second woe on the list.
    I call your attention again to the meaning of the word, woe.
The word, woe, speaks of extreme pain and suffering.  Jesus was
pronouncing upon the Pharisees the future time of great pain and
anguish for the Pharisees.  He was talking about the time when the
Pharisees would stand in judgment before Himself and they would be
sentenced to a place of great pain and suffering.  He was talking
about everlasting pain and suffering.
    In our text today Jesus reveals at least one of the reasons
that the Pharisees will be sentenced to such great pain and
suffering.  The reason that He gives in this text is their great
pride and egotism.  The words, pride and egotism, are not found in
the text, but the conditions of pride and egotism are most
certainly found there.

I.  What Jesus says about the proud Pharisees

    V. 43, "Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost
seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets."  Luke here
records two things which Jesus says about the Pharisees which show
them to be filled with pride and egotism.  First, Jesus said that
they love the uppermost seats in the synagogues.  Second, He said
that they love the greetings in the markets.
    The term "uppermost seats in the synagogues' refers to the
seats which were right down front.  The Jews seated the
congregation according to their social rank.  Those with the least
social standing were seated in the back of the auditorium.  Those
of the common rank made up the majority and they filled the center
section.  Those of higher social standing were seated toward the
from.  Those of the very highest social standing were seated on
the very front.
    The Pharisees loved to be seated on the very front.  They
loved the seats which drew attention to their great importance.
It was not likely to happen that a Pharisee was seated to the very
rear of the auditorium.  In those circumstances when one was
seated about mid-way with the common people, he was very much
offended.  In our East-Texas vernacular, he was very much hacked
off about it.  A Pharisee was not satisfied to be seated just near
the front with the more important people.  He wanted to be seated
at the very front where only the most important people would be
seated.  They loved the uppermost seats in the auditorium.
    Jesus also said that they loved the greetings in the market
places.  In Matthew's account, Jesus said that they loved to be
called "Rabbi" in the market places.  The word, rabbi, means
"teacher."  The Pharisees loved to go to the market places where
it was not at all uncommon for them to be called "rabbi" or
"teacher."  They would have been pleased to be called "rabbi"
any place.  But they were especially pleased to be called "rabbi"
in the market place where a lot of people could hear them
addressed with such honor.  They would be highly displeased if
anyone should fail to address them as "rabbi" especially in a
public place such as the market place.  Whenever they were out in
public anywhere they always wanted to receive the highest honors
of anybody around.  They loved to be honored.  The especially
loved to be honored in a public place such as a synagogue or
market place.
    Why?  Why was it that the Pharisees always wanted to be
honored above anybody else?  The answer is that he was filled with
pride.  He was egotistical.  This was a common trait among the
Pharisees.  Almost without exception, the Pharisee thought of
himself as being better than anybody else.  He was especially
better in religious matters.  He thought he knew more about the
Moses and about God than anybody else.  He thought he knew more
about truth than anybody else.  He thought he lived closer to God
than anybody else.  He thought he was better than anybody else in
the eyes of God.  The Pharisee was a proud, self-centered,
egotistical do-gooder and know-it-all.
    The Pharisees were highly honored among men.  The people gave
them the highest seats in the synagogues.  They gave them the
highest praises in the market places.  But that did not cut any
ice with God the Father.  And that did not cut any ice with Jesus.
Jesus pronounced woe on the Pharisees.  There is one thing about
it, the Pharisees would not receive the highest places of honor in
heaven.  And they would not receive the highest praises when they
would stand before the Lord in judgment.
    Instead they would receive woe.  They would never make it to
heaven.  They would receive woe.  They would not hear the praises
of God.  Instead they would hear the most frightening words.  They
would hear themselves being sentenced to everlasting torment.  The
places of honor and the words of honor would all be over and
nothing but anguish and woe would await them.  They would be
sentenced to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone.

II.  What is wrong with pride

    Now let me ask you some questions:  Why would Jesus pronounce
such severe penalty upon them?  What is wrong with being proud of
yourself?  What is wrong with tooting your own horn?  What is
wrong with patting your own self on the back?  What is wrong with
having a good opinion of yourself?  What is wrong with feeling
good about yourself?   Isn't that what the psychologists tell you
that you ought to do?  Don't they all tell you that you ought to
feel good about yourself?  What's wrong with pride?
    Let me tell you what is wrong with pride.  It was pride that
caused Lucifer to rebel against God so that he is known to us
today as Satan.  Pride is the most Satanic of all sins.
    What's wrong with pride?  Proverbs 16:18 says that pride goes
before a fall.  Pride caused Satan to fall.  Pride has cause
nations to fall.  Pride has caused many men and women to fall.
Pride even today causes many people men to fall.
    Psalm 10:2 says that the wicked in his pride persecutes the
poor.  It is the thief in his pride that takes that which
rightfully belongs to another.  He thinks that he is better than
everybody else and that everything he sees and wants he ought to
have.  It is pride that causes the unsaved to reject Jesus as
Savior and try to get to heaven by their own works.  It is pride
that causes the religious heretic to reject the word of God and
think that his opinion is better than the word of God.  It is no
wonder that the Bible says that God resists the proud and gives
grace to the humble.  It is no wonder that Jesus pronounced woe to
the Pharisees who were lifted up in their pride.
    Pride can cause a boy or man to think that he is more handsome
than just about any other woman in the world.  It is pride that
can cause a girl or woman to think that she is more gorgeous than
just about any other woman in the world.  Pride can cause a
individual to think that he or she is smarter than just about
anybody else in the world.  It is pride that cause an individual
to think that he deserves the very best and that it makes no
difference how he gets it.  It is pride that can make one think
that de deserves to have more than anybody else in the world.  It
is pride that makes one think that he should be deprived of
nothing in this world that his heart desires.  It is pride that
can cause an individual to reject the gospel message and try to
get to heaven by his own works of righteousness.  It is pride that
doom and damn a soul to the everlasting fires of hell.  It is
pride that can blind a man's eyes to the danger that he is in.

III.  Pride, a danger to all

    The sentence of woe that Jesus pronounced upon the proud
Pharisees should sound out a warning to all men to beware of
pride.  Even those who are saved can be lifted up with a measure
of pride.  The saved still live in their sinful fleshly bodies and
they can be guilty of pride.  They are saved and they can never be
lost again because they are kept by the power of God, but they can
think of themselves too highly.  Galatians 6:3 says, "For if a man
think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth
himself."  Some churches have been wrecked and ruined by one man
or woman in the church being lifted up in pride and thinking,
"Everything here in this church has got to be done just like I
say."  I dare say that not anyone here has gone to that extreme,
but I also dare say that every Christian has been plagued by a
little touch of pride at one time or another.  It is something we
have to fight and it is something that only the grace of God can
help us to overcome.
    But the greatest danger of pride is in the life of the
unsaved.  He is in danger of letting his pride cause him to reject
Jesus Christ as his Savior and going to hell without a Savior.
How many unsaved people have felt the need of being saved, but
they somehow associated walking the church aisle with being saved
and they had too much pride to walk the aisle!  How many unsaved
people have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and they said to
themselves, "I know that is what the Bible says, but here is what
I believe"!  They think they know more about how to go to heaven
than God does!  How many people desperately need to turn to God in
repentance of their sin, but they say, "I haven't done anything
wrong.  I am good enough to make it just like I am."  How many
people hear the warning about the fires of hell, but they laugh it
off and say, "If there is a hell, I'll worry about that when I get
there"!  The jails and penitentiaries are filling up with men and
women who are lifted up in pride.  But what is worse, the fires of
hell are filling up for the same reason.

Conclusion:

    If you want to be saved then I appeal to you to humble
yourself before God and call upon the Lord Jesus Christ to save
your soul.
    If you are saved and you want to serve God then humble
yourself and call upon the Lord to show you the way that He would
have you to live.