Be Not Wise in Your Own Eyes

Introduction: Approaching Proverbs with a Gospel Framework

0:03 I urge you to turn in your own Bibles to the third chapter of the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 3.

0:18 I shall read the verses, which at this present juncture I believe we will be studying together for at least three Lord's Day evenings. Proverbs chapter 3, verses 7 and 8. Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It will be health to thine navel, and marrow or moisture to thy bones.

0:51 As we continue our studies in Proverbs chapter 3, we do well to remember something that I emphasized, I trust, with some degree of clarity at the beginning of our study of the book of Proverbs in general. That we are approaching this study within a very decidedly evangelical framework, and by that I mean we are reading the book of Proverbs in the light of the glorious gospel of Christ. And this is perfectly proper to do, in fact it's absolutely essential if our study of the scriptures is to be truly Christian. We are not coming to the book of Proverbs like some kind of a sanctified little poor man's almanac.

1:35 You know, that we can just turn up and find a little tidbit about something concerning every area of life. But we are approaching it from the standpoint that when the Lord Jesus said, Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you. We are studying this section of the word of God with the understanding that this is part of that which Christ has commanded. His people.

2:07 For it was the spirit of Christ in Solomon, giving counsel to his son, to his pupil, throughout this entire book. And as those who recognize the wisdom of the greater than Solomon within the book, we come to it, I trust, those of us who are the people of God, with that sense that we are sitting not at Solomon's feet, to learn a few little tidbits about life that will help us to live a little better, richer, safer life. But rather, we come as those whom we've confessed ourselves to be in the singing of the hymns tonight. We confess ourselves to be those who've entrusted ourselves to the Lord Jesus, who have heard his call of discipleship, and now as his disciples, longing to know what he has commanded, to the end that we may please him in a life of obedience, we come to these detailed instructions of the book of Proverbs, out of love to the Savior, to be instructed by the Savior, to look to him for grace, that we might comply with his directives, and thereby glorify him here upon the earth. In this particular chapter, the third chapter, we have already studied three of these rather disconnected admonitions, enforced with very practical and strong motives. We come tonight to begin a study of the fourth. And the way I propose to,

Overview of Proverbs 3:7-8: Directives and Promise

3:34 to take you through these two verses, is tonight to give a very brief, broad overview of verses seven and eight. So that we see the thing in its wholeness, and the interrelatedness of each part to the whole. And then we shall go back and begin a detailed study of the first of the three, or possibly two commands in the text, namely, be not wise in thine own eyes. First of all, then, by way of a statement of a broad, overview, it should be clear to us that the text is basically broken down into the two divisions.

4:11 You have this threefold, or possibly twofold directive, a call to humility of mind, be not wise in thine own eyes, a call to godliness of heart, fear the Lord, and a call to holiness of walk or of life, depart from evil. If the phrase, fear the Lord and depart, depart from evil, is to be regarded as one directive, which it could well be, grammatically, and in terms of the other passages which link together, departing from evil from the fear of God, then we have but two directives. A directive, which is an indictment against the sin of self-conceit, be not wise in thine own eyes, and then the positive directive, fear the Lord and depart from evil, and to that is appended this very unusual, promise, it will be health to thy navel. I was talking to someone recently, didn't even know what that old English word meant, and I said, your belly button. And we shouldn't be embarrassed, the word of God mentions it. And we shall see when we expound this, that in the oriental concept, that spoke as it were, the navel was regarded as it were, the knot of the internal organs, and health to the navel meant, health to your whole inward being.

5:33 And then he says, it shall be marrow or moisture to thy bones, bones that are moist and producing blood, so that the person is healthy. It is a general statement, concerning a promise of good health. So then, in a broad overview, we see once again, this connection between the path of God's precepts obeyed, and the peculiar promise of God's blessing, within that pathway of obedience. And so, the promise is a general promise concerning good health, broken down into two areas, using these concepts, health to the navel and marrow to the bones.

6:15 Now, one thing I do want you to note, before we begin a detailed study of the text, is that though each of these duties, whether there are two or three, that are enjoined upon us in verse 7, though they stand independent of other responsibilities, in other parts of the world, we are commanded in other parts of the word of God, be not wise in thine own eyes, we are commanded in other parts of the word of God, to fear the Lord. In this context, they are brought before us, in a peculiar relationship to one another. And we know that, because of the wording of the promise. He does not say, be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil, for they will be, that is all of these things individually, but he says, it will be health to thine navel. That is, a course of life in which these things are fused in the thinking and conduct of the child of God. So much then for that broad overview, so that you see the text in its wholeness. Now we shall begin a detailed exposition.

Indictment Against Self-Conceit: Biblical Condemnation

7:20 And the first thing we see in the text is this call to humility of mind, or, I think I'll use the negative statement, because it has more teeth in it, an indictment against the sin of self-conceit. Be not wise in thine own eyes, and hear Solomon by the Spirit, and of course the greater than Solomon, the Lord Jesus himself, says to us as his people, if we would know the path of true physical and spiritual health, he indicts any trace of the sin of self-conceit that would rear its head in the life of his child. Now, this sin of self-conceit is one condemned elsewhere in the Word of God. Let's look at several passages so that you realize we are not, as it were, majoring upon a minor in spending our whole time tonight expounding the meaning of these words. In Isaiah chapter 5, when God is speaking to Israel through the prophet Isaiah, pronouncing woes upon them for their specific and many sins,

8:35 He says, in Isaiah 5 and verse 21, perhaps we ought to take verse 20, Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. And that text so gripped me when I was looking up the cross references, I was almost tempted to prepare a sermon to preach on it. All the so-called intellectuals telling us, you see, that what was perversion 50 years, is no longer perversion now, it's sophisticated behavior.

9:12 Woe unto them that call evil good. And when a man or a woman has some sense of decency and morality, and some sense of biblical ethics in his conduct, what's that called? That's called puritanical prudery. Psychological hang-ups.

9:28 It's an evil thing. And they claim to be the messiahs who are going to deliver us from all our hang-ups. Woe be unto them that call evil good and good evil. But that's not the sermon.

9:39 Verse 21.

9:42 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight. God says, Woe upon the man who looks himself in the mirror and says, Wisdom comes from you, begins and ends with you. Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight. It's condemned again.

10:06 In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul, giving directives to the church at Rome as to how they may show their appreciation for the manifold grace of God in Christ, gives in the midst of these many directives in Romans 12 and verse 16, these words, Set not your mind on high things, but condescend to things that are lowly. Be not wise in your own conceits. That's pretty blunt. Language, isn't it?

10:41 And so when we come to this indictment against the sin of self-conceit in the words of Solomon, we're dealing with a sin that is recognized in the Old and the New Testaments as a sin that will plague the world and more particularly, will even plague the people of God. As we think our way through this indictment against the sin of self-conceit, in the first place, let me give a brief description of this sin. Secondly, we'll turn to a biblical and practical analysis of this sin. And thirdly, spend some time on the biblical remedy for this sin.

Description of Self-Conceit

11:21 First of all then, a brief description of this sin. The person who is wise in his own eyes is that person who feels he is competent to make judgments, lay his plans, and assess circumstances without the aid of God, his word, or the wise counsel of those who can help him understand the word of God. That's the person who is wise in his own eyes, who feels perfectly competent to make judgments, lay his plans, and assess circumstances without the light of God's word being shed upon his judgments, without the light of the word of God framing his plans, without the light of the word of God giving him insight to his circumstances, that's the person who is wise in his own eyes. I'm sure it's already occurred to some of you that it is a parallel to the thing dealt with in the previous, two verses previous to that, in which Solomon says, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not upon thine own understanding. It's in the same field of concept. You see, the person who is wise in his own eyes is the person, who will follow the natural inclinations of his own heart and take that for his oracle.

12:46 Whereas the scripture says in Proverbs 28, 26, whoso trusteth in his own heart is a fool. The person who is wise in his own eyes will follow the natural reasonings of his own mind, not aware that the scripture says, many men think if he knoweth anything he knoweth not yet as he ought to know. God says of all of us, we are weak, erring, sinful creatures who, intently and desperately, the light of His wisdom if we're to walk aright. The person wise in his own eyes acts as though God had never said that.

13:21 He feels he has the infallible oracle within his own breast, his own vaunted wisdom, which God calls nothing but glorified ignorance. Now in brief, that's a description of the person wise in his own eyes. Now having given a brief description, now let's turn for a more detailed biblical and practical analysis of this sin. And the first thing I want us to observe is that this sin is the peculiarly aggravated sin of youth.

Self-Conceit as the Aggravated Sin of Youth

13:54 Now I did not say it is the exclusive sin of youth. I don't know any sin that is the exclusive sin of youth. Even picking up stones and throwing it at someone when you're mad. Adults will do this.

14:06 No, but I am saying though this sin is present wherever the sinful nature of man is present, unsubdued in the unconverted or subdued in the converted, wherever there is sinful nature, the sin of self-conceit will be present. But I am stating that it is the peculiarly aggravated sin of youth. You say, where do you get that? Well, remember, to whom is Solomon speaking?

14:34 The passage began, chapter 3, verse 1, My son, forget not my law. And the whole general context of the first nine chapters makes it clear that the sin of youth is very clear that Solomon is thinking particularly of young men and women in his council. And it's interesting, isn't it, that of the things that he's previously mentioned in this chapter, the only one that he touches again was that directive, lean not upon thine own understanding. Now he goes back and underscores it again.

15:07 Why? Because he was an astute observer of human nature. And he saw that one of the peculiarly adverse aggravated sins of youth was the sin of self-conceit, being wise in one's own eyes. Now why is that the peculiar problem of youth?

15:27 May I suggest three reasons, and I'm deeply indebted to another of God's servants who has written upon, or at least gave some sketchy thoughts upon the text for these things. First of all, because young people generally know very little of themselves. Hence, they be wise in their own eyes. Let me illustrate.

15:49 A young person sees an older saint crack under certain pressures, and he's amazed. He says, that will never be to me. He's like Peter, you know. Though all forsake you, you all never...

15:59 He hadn't been around enough to really know himself. And it took the denial of the judgment of Christ to give Peter disclosure of his own heart and to humble him. And so often, youth is wise in its own eyes. Why?

16:21 Because there's so little true self-knowledge. A few more years and a few more humbling discoveries of the potential for sin and weakness within their own breast, and they're not quite so quick to be so judgmental, to be so pompous in their pronouncements concerning others. This is the peculiar sin of youth because they know but little of themselves. Secondly, because they know but little of the ways of the world.

16:51 The world, the world is still in great measure a very glamorous, undiscovered commodity out there. You read about this in chapter 7 when Solomon's warning his son about the wiles of the immoral woman. And he said, I beheld a youth void of understanding. He doesn't know that behind her flattering words is the sting of death and the path to hell.

17:17 When you're older and you've seen people go down that path, you've learned something. But this is the peculiar problem of youth. Wise in their own eyes, not only because they know but little of themselves, they know but little of the world. It is still quite a glamorous, attractive, tinseled thing out there.

17:35 They haven't gotten into it enough to smell its rottenness and to see the horror of its influence.

17:44 And the third reason why it's a peculiar problem of youth is because youth generally knows very little about how little it knows.

17:56 A young person, generally knows very little of how little he or she knows. You see, experience is not only a great teacher, it's a great exposer of ignorance.

18:11 Time has a way of eroding my apparent mountain of great learning and understanding.

18:21 Time has a way of eroding that great imposing structure of opinionation and bringing me down to size. Things about which I made some pretty positive pompous pronouncements ten years ago. I'd now put my hand on my mouth and say, oh Lord, thou most. I don't.

18:41 Now that's why I say this is a peculiar problem of youth. Now those of you who are visiting with us, I think you ought to know that I have no gripe with youth. You can see from the age in the congregation that we have a number of young people. I love them.

18:55 They know that I love them. I tell them that I love them. I show them that I love them. So I feel if I who love them and who I know, know that I love them, if I can't tell them these things, who's going to?

Manifestations of Self-Conceit: Hastiness and Unfounded Confidence

19:09 Now how is this sin manifested? In analyzing it we've seen that it's the peculiarly aggravated sin of youth. Solomon gives that perspective by repeating this emphasis. Now how is it manifested?

19:25 Well, in the first way, this sin of being wise in your own eyes is manifested by hastiness in judgment. Issues that perplex the most mature, but the ones that are not, wise in his own eyes has an immediate assessment. He says in essence, if only the rest of you were as spiritually sensitive and perceptive as I am, well I have the answers very clear. Plain as the nose in my face.

19:53 Hastiness in judgment. So the person wise in his own eyes can analyze with accuracy issues that have baffled the most sensitive, profound, godly people for years. And it's all very simple to them. Wise in their own eyes.

20:11 Oh, young people listen to me. Beware, beware, beware that attitude that causes you to swell with the sense of great insight so that you're making judgments on issues where the godliest, most mature people have spoken with real diffidence and almost with bated breath. And you come in just pronouncing your pompous insights and conclusions. That's how the Bible says it. That's how the Bible says it. That's how the Bible says it. That's how the Bible says it. That's how the Bible says it. That's how the Bible says it. That's how the Bible says it.

20:41 That's how the Bible says it. That's how the Bible says it. That's how the Bible says it. That's how the Bible says it. That's how the Bible says it. That's how the Bible says it. That's how the Bible says it. сам manifestas hastiness in judgment and manifest itself in what I'm calling on founded confidence in our own opinions on the phonePad confidence in that our own opinion you see if depression can use are to be trusted generally it's because that person has a history of sound judgment built up over you and he already Learns the reputation for being a man or woman of sound counsels.

21:25 That's why you remember the book began. What was the purpose of this book? Chapter 1, verse 5. That the wise man may hear and increase in learning, and that the man of understanding may attain unto sound counsels.

21:44 It's one thing for someone who has been seasoned through the years to have some measure of confidence that his opinions are rightly given because he has seen again and again where the Spirit of God has granted wisdom in the application of the principles of the Scripture to given problems, and there has been a rightly earned reputation for being a trusted and a sound counselor. But, oh, the person that's wise in his own eyes has this unfounded confidence in his opinions, not only with reference to things for himself, but he's always willing to come up and put his hand on your shoulder and give you some counsel.

22:27 When there's been nothing about him or her that has elicited the sense of confidence. There is no history of sound counsel. There is no reputation of sound counsel, duly earned. This person is wise in his own eyes and comes with the attitude, oh, you lucky people, I will make you the benefactors of my counsel.

22:47 And then they wonder why you're a little bit squeamish about it, you see. Be not wise in thine own eyes. One of the greatest curses that can come to a nation, to a church, to a school, to any society, any structure in society, is when God gives it up to youthism. You know what I mean by youthism?

23:15 I mean the leadership of youth. It's a curse from God upon a society. It's a curse from God upon a church. It's a curse from God upon a school.

23:27 When he gives it up to the leadership of youth. You say chapter and verse? All right, turn to the prophecy of Isaiah.

23:37 Isaiah chapter 3.

23:41 God indicting again the people for their sins. And how is he going to show them his judging hand? Behold, the Lord God of hosts doth take away from Jerusalem and Judah stay and staff, whole stay of bread and the whole, whole stay of water and the mighty man and the man of war, the judge, the prophet, the diviner and the elder. God says, I'll judge you.

24:12 I'll take away your elders. I'll take away your mighty men. The captain of 50, the honorable men, men who've earned a reputation for honor and the counselor and the expert artificer and the skillful enchanter. And I will give children to be their princes and babes shall rule over them.

24:39 I say it is a judgment from God when God gives a nation up to the leadership of youth. And our foolish nation looks upon it as the height of its intellectual maturity that it's willing to follow the pompous pronouncements of men who are driving from a historical perspective, who've had no opportunity to build principles and they drag a nation into ruin, morally, economically, politically.

25:18 It's the judgment of Almighty God. The doctrine of the word of God is that the hoary head is a blessing when it is found in the way of righteousness.

25:30 Ye younger be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you be clothed with humility. That's the doctrine of the word of God. That's the doctrine of the word of God.

25:39 Be not wise in thine own eyes. I speak to you young people lovingly, but I trust forcefully. If you're wise in your own eyes, it will show itself in this area. You have unfounded confidence in your opinions.

25:57 And there's no warrant for it. A third area.

Manifestations of Self-Conceit: Rash Condemnation and Youth Leadership

26:02 This sin is manifested in rashly condemning the opinions and principles which have the stamp of time and experience upon them.

26:14 Rashly condemning opinions and principles which have the stamp of time and experience. One of the marks of youth is its restlessness, its idealism and its impatience. Hence, when evils are seen within the church, within society, there's the temptation to strike out and rashly condemn perhaps things that God in time and on the basis of His word has honored. Let me explain.

26:43 Let me illustrate. I was at a conference a number of years ago way out in Western Canada. There was a missionary who had just returned from his first missionary term. Five years in the field.

26:54 When he went to the field, he went to a senior missionary, or just before he went, I forgot what the exact circumstances were, and he said, now look, I'm a young missionary, I'm full of zeal, full of vision, full of concern. Can you give me as an old missionary some real sagacious advice? Can you tell me something? And maybe he expected some very, very spiritual.

27:13 But this is what the older missionary said. He said, my advice to you, young man, is learn to keep your mouth shut for the first five years on the field.

27:28 He said, learn to keep your mouth shut. He says, you're going to go out to the field and you're going to see things that anyone with half a brain in your eyes are going to see are stupid, asinine, no reason for them, there's no sense in them, and you're going to want to just, he said, learn to, keep your mouth shut for the first term. And he stood at this conference in which I was sharing, he said that was the most helpful advice he'd received from anyone, and it proved to be the greatest blessing for his first term in the field because, he said, many of those things to which my initial reaction was, well, that's stupid, it's asinine, there's no...

28:07 He says, the longer I analyzed it, the more I realized that the policies and principles by which these people were operating had been swept away. had been swept away. had been swept away. had been swept away.

28:15 had been swept away. had been swept away. had been swept away. had wet out on their knees, had been born of wrestling, had been born of a long-range perspective, had been born in careful analysis of the need and of the application of the Word of God, and who was I to come in with my fresh, green, missionary eyes, as it were, and looking out through those squinty eyes to see the thing in its wholeness?

28:41 Now, that doesn't mean that we're to look upon any tradition as sacrosanct, as evangelicals we say there is but one cork of authority in religious matters, the Word of God. And I'm fully aware that Jesus had to indict the Pharisees and say to them, you may void the Word of God by your tradition. I'm fully aware of the abuse of this principle. I'm fully aware of it.

29:04 But with the abuse notwithstanding, there is still this principle from the Scriptures. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Learn to keep. Learn to keep.

29:16 Keep your mouth shut. A person wise in his own eyes feels that nobody knows anything but himself. Nobody has right motives but himself. Nobody can really understand the Word but himself.

29:30 Hence, he's willing to go in and tear down and overthrow with a zeal that is not the zeal of the Lord of hosts. May I give a contemporary application of this? Not may I. I'm going to.

29:43 I must. Will you look at Proverbs 26 and verse 6? Be not wise in thine own eyes. Don't be that in this rash condemning of opinions and principles which have the stamp of time and experience.

30:02 Proverbs 26, 16. The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.

30:13 Here's the sluggard. He sits around sipping his beer and stroking his...

30:19 And all of a sudden he sees a problem in the town and the mayor and the town council have been wrestling and he goes in and he's got an answer. Boy, he just tells them what ought to be done.

30:33 Students sitting around in dens blowing their minds with pot and acid and with that jungle music turned up to the place where it tortures the eardrum.

30:47 Then they go into the streets to command godly, some of them, if not godly, thoughtful, perceptive statesmen how to run the country. National policy. The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men who can give a reason. Some of you wonder why all through this Vietnam conflict, Vietnam conflict, you've never heard any kind of pronouncement from this pulpit.

31:14 If you wondered why, I'll tell you why. I did enough investigating to know that there are men who have spent their lifetime, their lifetime, their intellectual academicism, their academic lifetime seeking to be astute students of Far Eastern policy. Men of equal mental competence, of equal exposure to the whole structure, economically, politically, sociologically of the Far East, Indochina in particular. Men of equal loyalty to our own country come up on different...

31:57 Who in God's name is some stupid preacher? To come up and make pronouncements. These men have spent 15, 20 years in Asia exposing themselves, wrestling with problems, half high on...

32:17 Being put through school by the money that's hard earned by the man down there on two jobs.

32:32 Stands under the indictment of almighty God.

32:38 They've never spent three hours... Getting a book down and even studying many of them.

32:44 The majority... The geography of Southeast Asia.

32:50 Get them out! What do they know about it? Am I...

32:54 Am I justifying what went on? No! But I'm commanded in scripture to honor the king. I'm commanded to pray that God would bring peace.

33:03 And that's what we did here Sunday after Sunday while that conflict went on. And when peace came, was declared, we've praised God and we've continued to pray. We're not unconcerned.

33:15 God nowhere says that little children, let alone grown-up preachers, are infallible statesmen. You see the application of the principle? Apply it. In the whole area of ecology.

33:30 Young people who know nothing about the economic structure of our country. On the one hand, crying out about the evils of unemployment. On the other hand, demanding that factories shut down by the thousands so that it'll double the unemployment. Ask them, do you have any perception of the large fabric and interaction of the economic structure of our country?

33:52 They couldn't care less.

33:55 Rashly condemning, throwing off... Oh, young people don't get sucked into this.

34:02 Their ignorance... Stench in the nostrils of thinking men, let alone a stench in the nostrils of God.

34:10 The sluggard, wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.

34:20 Be not wise in thine own conceits.

Manifestations of Self-Conceit: Reluctance to Seek Counsel

34:23 Another manifestation.

34:27 When a person is wise in his own conceits, particularly the young, there is a reluctance to honestly, or honestly to seek. I'm working on those split infinities. There is a reluctance...

34:40 Honestly to seek counsel of others. And I put that word honestly in there on purpose. Honest, I did. You see, it's one thing to seek confirmation of your notions.

34:57 You're so convinced you're right, but since you don't have much authority, you want to get somebody who's got a little more experience, a little better name than you, to agree with you.

35:08 Then when you say, this is my decision, then you can hang on it and it's... You see, that's being wise in your own eyes.

35:19 Wise in your own eyes. A reluctance honestly to seek counsel of others. You see, the person wise in his own eyes feels that when he faces a situation, he has a broad enough perspective and an astute enough perception to take it all in and make a sound judgment. And that's the peculiar temptation of youth.

35:42 Hence, in this book written to you, Solomon says in the multitude of counselors, not confirmers, all the difference between running around looking for confirmers and really seeking counsel.

35:57 Man, what do you do? Go around looking for confirmation or real counsel? Do you come with the attitude, my perspective is too narrow, my peripheral vision is too constricted. I'm looking at the situation, and as I look at it, I see facts A, B, and C, and in the light of those things, I think I ought to make decision D.

36:15 But I know, I know my limitations. You see, I'm not lazy. I'm really looking at it. I'm praying over it.

36:20 I'm exercised about it. I'm not lazy. But I realize, but oh Lord, my experience is so limited. My knowledge is so limited.

36:28 I need to have someone who perhaps can look at it from this angle, and lo and behold, they see D, E, and F over here. And someone else sees H, I, J over here. And I'm really seeking counsel. I'm seeking the corporate wisdom of those who are competent, to help me.

36:48 Some of you would not believe me. Yeah, I hope you would, because you have confidence in my basic Christian integrity. You don't know how often I'm seeking counsel from others. You come to me and think that I've just, you know, I don't have to go to anybody for counsel.

37:04 I'm seeking counsel from my wife all the time. From my fellow elders all the time. From fellow pastors. Much of the time.

37:13 Why? I don't have that kind of exalted confidence in my affairs. In my ability. Really to look at the thing and see it in its wholeness.

37:23 And time after time, and how I thank God for these fellow elders. When there's been a problem, a circumstance, then I thought the answer was very clear. And I've almost gone to them with the thing just for them to rubber stamp what I had thought was right. When I've dumped the problem out, they've said, oh, have you considered?

37:40 And I said, you dumb ninny. And I've just looked at myself with horror. Why? I was looking at it with tunnel vision.

37:46 You know what tunnel vision is? I was looking at it like that. And lo and behold, they'd just reversed the thing. And they were looking at it in the wholeness.

37:55 Be not wise in thine own eyes. Don't be wise in your own eyes. If you have a reluctance to seek the counsel of others, it's either because you're wise in your own conceits, or you're guilty in your own conviction about what you do, and you're afraid someone else is going to intensify the guilt.

38:15 One of two reasons. If God's put you in a place where counsel is available and you don't seek it, it's either because, because you're wise in your own eyes, or you pretty well know what that sound counsel will be and you're afraid of it.

Manifestations of Self-Conceit: Neglecting God's Counsel

38:31 Hmm? I don't see any other alternative but those two. And there's another way that this sin manifests itself, particularly, now, no, not particularly with the youth, but with the other than youth as well. It's what I'm calling the neglecting to ask and seek counsel from God.

38:50 Be not wise in thine own eyes. Men who are wise in their own eyes feel that the storehouse of wisdom and perception is in their own minds. Those who are not wise in their own eyes, but who truly fear the Lord, they say with David, thy testimonies are my counselors.

39:12 They are conscious of Psalm 1. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, but who meditates in the law of God day and night. Every day. Every time you make decisions without reflexively turning to the Word of God, I don't mean actually opening up, but having your heart lifted up, saying, Lord, bring to remembrance the principles, the precepts that apply.

39:39 What you're saying in essence is, I can make it on my own.

39:45 You're wise in your own eyes. You don't need to say like David, I'm a sojourner in the earth, hide not thy commandments from me. Read the 119th Psalm in the light of this. Be not wise.

39:56 And see how David, we look to David as a mature Christian, a trusted counselor, and yet where you find him in Psalm 119, on his face saying, Lord, I'm a little child. I'm a lost sheep. Seek thy sheep. That's how he ends the psalm.

40:12 I've gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek me, Lord. I can't even find my way back. I'm a stranger in the earth.

40:19 I'm a sojourner. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath to thy commandments at all times. What is this? Here's a man who was not wise in his own eyes, but seeking counsel from God.

40:32 Oh, I plead with you young people. Be not wise in your own eyes.

Crowning Manifestation: Rejecting God's Revelation in Christ

40:38 Don't, don't neglect the counsel of God's word. Now I come to what I would call the crowning manifestation of this sin of being wise in one's own eyes, both in the young and in the old.

40:54 And it's the kind of a manifestation which unless repented of will bring everlasting, it's described for us in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Let's look at it, please. 1 Corinthians chapter 1,

41:19 verse 18. For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us who are saved it is the power of God, for it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning will I bring to naught. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe?

41:40 Where is the discerning? Buter of this world. Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God.

41:58 The crowning and most tragic expression of this sin of being wise in one's own eyes, the sin of self-conceit is that manifestation that causes a person to think that he can plumb the depths of the ultimate questions of life without any reference to God's revelation in Jesus Christ. Who am I? That's an ultimate question. Who am I?

42:26 Therefore, what happens to me when I die? If there be a God,

42:35 then be forgiven. If I have sin, how can I know what sin is? Those are ultimate questions.

42:44 Paul says, Be not wise in thine own eyes. When a man says, I will attain an answer to life's ultimate questions, I will attain them by myself. God says, No, you'll perish in the folly of your so-called wisdom. Hence, Paul says, Where is the wise man?

43:11 The one wise in his own eyes, wise in the estimation of his peers. The scribe, the one who writes down all the information, all the information, all the information, all the great insights, who follows the wise man around as choice says. Those are ultimate questions. Where is the wisdom of this world?

43:38 His self and his ability to get his point across by careful argumentation. Where are the wisdom? I'll tell you where they are. God's made them all a bunch of fools.

43:49 Not God made them of this world. And how has he made it foolish? He's made it foolish by answering all of those ultimate questions in that one who came by way of heaven's glory and the glory of God. To a virgin's womb, to a bloody cross, through an open tomb, and back to heaven so that Paul is able to say in verse 30, He, Christ, is made unto us.

44:19 That's the ultimate expression of this self-conceit. Am I talking to people tonight who sit here thinking that they can, unaided by the revelation of God in Christ, find out who they are, what they're here for, who is God, how can I know them, I say to you on the basis of the word of God, it is impossible. Oh, you say, but wait a minute, preacher. You sound pretty opinionated like that person you've been condemning.

44:50 Oh, but my friend, I'm not saying that that's a wisdom I've discovered. I'm proclaiming it as the wisdom God's revealed, and that's all the difference in the world. I'm not standing here tonight saying I think and I have discovered. I'm saying unto you, Almighty God declares.

45:08 That's what I'm doing. I'm preaching. I'm proclaiming that God in Christ has made the world's wisdom foolishness.

45:21 And there are men who'd rather go to hell than say, my little old pea brain can't discover who God is. My little old pea brain can't discover how I can know Him. My little old pea brain can't discover how I can be forgiven. My little old pea brain can't discover what I'm here for.

45:40 They'd rather go to hell than be crucified in the place of a skull and say, oh God, all my vaunted wisdom is foolishness.

45:55 It's not an accident that the first beatitude is this. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That's poverty of spirit. When God strips me down to size and shows me I'm dark, ignorant, full of the spiggy and nightly of the darkness of sin and that only Christ is the light of the world.

Biblical Remedy: Becoming a Fool for Christ

46:26 And that brings me and I touch upon it just briefly. Having looked at this brief description of the sin, a biblical analysis of the sin now in the last place, what's the biblical remedy for the sin?

46:40 Ah, the biblical remedy if you're committing that crowning expression of the sin. Trying to find answers to life's ultimate questions while ignoring what God is saying in Jesus Christ. Look at chapter 3 of 1 Corinthians. God says, here's what you must do.

46:57 Verse 18. Let no man deceive himself. If any man thinketh that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise. See what he's saying?

47:12 This man says, oh, I'm wise. I can, my own little bit. He says, no, become a fool. A fool is a man who doesn't know anything.

47:18 He says, alright, you become a fool and say, God, I don't know from nothing. Oh, I know what my name is. But God, I don't know from nothing about how to know you. God, I don't know from nothing about how I'm, my sin's forgiven.

47:31 He says, Paul does. And he's using a play on words. If any among you seems to be wise as far as the world's estimation, let him become a fool that he may become truly wise for the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, he taketh the wise in their craftiness.

47:53 And again, the Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise that they are vain. They're a puff of wind. They're spun sugar candy. They're nothing.

48:05 Now you see, that's where the offense of the gospel comes in our day. To declare into the teeth of a generation that prides itself about its wisdom and say, God says all of your vaunted wisdom is nothing but glorified foolishness. That's all.

48:23 So you send a man to the moon. Fine. Tell me how to send my sin from off my conscience.

48:30 And then the world turns around and says, oh, there really is no such thing as sin. Your conscience has just been wrongly conditioned by your old American puritanic heritage. So go out and act like an animal and prove that you have no conscience until you sear your conscience and go into hell with your conscience asleep. That's the wisdom of our day.

48:50 That's his wisdom. Someone goes into the psychiatrist's office saying something's wrong with me. I can't sleep. What's your problem?

48:57 Well, I've been cheating at school. Or I've been cheating on my wife. I've been cheating on...

49:02 Oh, well, you see, your problem is, you see, is that all that tension and that conscience... We'll use the word conscience, but you see that thing in there, we've got to get that reconstructed.

49:10 You see, somebody told you growing up it was wrong to cheat. That's not wrong. Somebody said it's wrong to commit...

49:15 That's not wrong. See what they're doing? The so-called wisdom of this age is foolishness. The biblical remedy for this sin of being wise in your own eyes, my friend, is to become a fool and say, God, I know nothing about how...

Practical Steps to Combat Self-Conceit

49:31 how to get rid of my sin, how to know you, but I'm willing to be taught by your Son through your Word. Now, what about you young people, particularly now I'm thinking of? What should you do if God has zeroed in upon you tonight and shown you that you're guilty of this sin, self-conceit? What should you do?

49:52 Well, the first thing you've got to do is acknowledge the sin. That's the first place. Own up to it and say, Lord, you found me tonight. And I can't believe that God has laid upon the heart of His servant to spend, all this time when that wasn't my intention and it was the biggest wrestling with regard to dealing with the text and I was unsettled even up until late this afternoon.

50:13 Lord, can I justify spending a whole hour just dealing with one sin and taking it? That's not pleasant for me. I got much more blessed preaching about the inheritance this morning.

50:23 But that's not my responsibility to manipulate the Word of God and only preach what's pleasant. Here it is. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Has God found you out?

50:34 Then, confess that sin. He that covers his sin shall not prosper. But whoso confesseth and forsaketh shall have mercy. Acknowledge the sin.

50:44 Secondly, set yourself to pray against it. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. Begin to pray specifically for that sin.

50:59 Say, Lord Jesus, slay that sin in me by the power of Your grace. May the virtue of Your cross and Your risen life shrivel that sin in me. Then, not only acknowledge it, pray against it, but watch against it.

51:16 Watch as well as pray. And when you're in a group and you're tempted to give out that pompous opinion, swallow it.

51:24 Be not wise in thine own eyes. Say, Lord, set a watch upon my lips.

51:30 And I think I can appreciate something of what this is like.

51:35 It's not easy. Some of us who perhaps are given a bit more particularly to an act of worship, to an act of mind, and have some measure of fluency of tongue, it's easy for us to be jumping in hither and yon with our opinions. Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak. Remember Jesus' words, judge righteous judgment?

51:55 Wait till you get all your facts.

51:58 Wait till you get all your facts. Wait till you get all your facts. That takes time.

52:06 And if all those man hours put in by sluggards, half high on pot, who can't even write a decent, a sentence in English, and yet are dictating to presidents and statesmen how to run the world,

52:23 they just spend a little time facing honestly what they are.

52:29 There wouldn't be time to be pouring out their pompous opinions and showing their ignorance with such a gross and disgusting display. Watch against the sin. And then, fourthly, set up guidelines to be kept from that sin.

52:47 I've made some guidelines for myself that I will never make an important decision that affects the life of the people of God, my family, my own life in a significant way. I'm not talking about the decision whether or not I should have a glass of milk or a glass of water before I go to bed. But I've made the policy never to make such a decision reflexively. He that believeth shall not make haste, the scripture says.

53:13 He that maketh haste with his feet, sinneth.

53:17 I've asked God to give me a big back burner on the stove where I keep all the various pots of important decisions. that have to be made. Like what to preach. Right now, there are three or four pots with three or four sermons, series of sermons brewing.

53:35 And I've come right up to starting something and I said, no, no, no, I'm not ready yet. I don't see that thing clear enough to make it clear enough to the people. But wait, too many people are affected for me to be guilty of irresponsibly running in. Then I seek the counsel of the elders.

53:49 What do they think? You see, seek the counsel of my brethren. What do they think? Set up some guidelines to keep yourself from being wise in your own eyes.

54:00 I'll not make hasty judgments. I will not make independent decisions on vital matters. These are just a few suggestions. You say, well, that doesn't sound very spiritual.

54:10 No, it doesn't.

54:13 If you mean by spiritual some concept of the Christian life where you just pray and then float and the Lord just whacks you on wings of impulses,

54:27 you don't find that life justified in the Word of God. These are biblical directives. In the multitude of counselors, there is safety. He that maketh haste with his feet sinneth.

54:36 That's Bible. He that believeth shall not make haste. That's Bible. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation.

54:43 That's biblical directive. And I trust that by God's grace that if we up till now have had a great measure of the sin of self-conceit that God will slay it, the Lord will purge it from us by the blood of His Son and by the spirit of His Son keep us from it because this is tied in with the promise. It shall be health to thy navel and moisture to all thy bones. Do you know there are some of you suffering physically tonight because you've been wise in your own eyes.

55:16 You've made decisions unwisely because of your own cockiness that are giving you second thoughts and you've got a troubled conscience and you can't sleep well and you're suffering physically because you were wise in your own eyes. See the connection? And I want to show a number of those connections when I come to it. I don't want to anticipate myself but this is tied in.

55:34 I haven't forgotten the promise. This is tied in with physical well-being. There are some of you suffering physically. Now don't go out and say the pastor said if you're suffering physically it's because you're full of self-conceit.

55:47 I didn't say that. I did not say that. And if you say I said it you're telling a lie. You're bearing false witness.

55:54 You're breaking the ninth commandment. What I am saying is that there are some of you who are no doubt suffering physically because of decisions and attitudes made because you're full of the sin of self-conceit. May God help you to shut yourself in with Him and say Lord is it I? May God be pleased to purge this sin from our ranks and all what I long to see amongst you young men and women and thank God for the measure that I see developing in many of you and I want you to know you make my heart glad as a pastor.

56:34 I see in many of you young people oh, oh, a holy diffidence a sanctified reserve and I didn't got a sneaking suspicion why some of you aren't so forward to lead in prayer in our midweek service. I know some people get upset what's wrong with our team? You know what I think? I think it's because you've got a wholesome respect for the perception of the adults who pray that you feel it would be pushing yourself into a place of unfounded leadership and I want you to know that that's what I'm convinced it is and I'm grateful for that.

57:09 I'm glad we don't have a church. A church run by young people where everybody makes heroes out of young people and I'm glad we've got young people who are glad to be followers of those who set a godly example and so I'm not scolding you tonight but I do want to plead with you that if the Lord has shown the roots of this sin that we deal with it that we be kept by His word from the curse of the sin of self-conceit. Be not wise in thine own acts. Let us pray.