Love is not puffed up

1) One creature that has always fascinated me is the frog.

2) We may be more prone to hear than see frogs, but they are very interesting.

3) Frogs can lay up to 4,000 eggs at one time.

4) They form a “growth ring” every year that allows scientists to tell how old they are.

5) What frogs may be best known for is their “croaking” sound.

a) Male frogs croak because lady frogs like croaking.

b) Male frogs also croak to tell other males to stay away.

6) There may be some exceptions, but prior to croaking a frog puffs itself up with air.

7) If you can imagine a frog that is puffed full of air, you can appreciate the thought in 1 Cor. 13:4.

a) Paul said, “love is not puffed up.”

b) People can be like a bullfrog; they can put on airs. They can, figuratively speaking, inflate themselves.

c) It is possible for people to be conceited, arrogant, and filled with pride.

d) The word Paul used is found seven times in the New Testament; these are all on the outline.

e) I want to read the places where the word occurs and make some quick observations.

8) Our first passage is 1 Cor. 4:6, and while you turn there I will share this little detail.

9) The word we are looking is a fairly uncommon word. It is used a limited number of times in the New Testament.

10) It is also very rare in non-Christian texts.

11) At Corinth there were “puffed up” Christians – 1 Cor. 4:6 - READ.

a) Christians are susceptible to this sin and Paul warned the Corinthians about it.

b) We do not need to move very far to find this word being used a second time in this letter.

c) Verse 18 in this same chapter uses the word again – READ.

d) The next verse also has the term – READ.

e) Three times in fairly rapid succession we have this word being used by the writer of this letter.

f) Paul used it again just verses later – 1 Cor. 5:2 – READ.

g) Other than 1 Cor. 13:4 which we read, the term occurs for a final time in 1 Cor. 8:1 – READ.

h) Our final reference is found in Col. 2:18.

i) Paul knew there were false teachers who were a threat to the brethren at Colossee.

j) He issued some very strong warnings including this one: verse 18 – READ.

12) Of the 7 times “puffed up” is used in the Bible, 6 of the references are in the Corinthian letter.

a) We may be inclined to think it is the unsaved who are proud and haughty.

b) It is only the unsaved who are conceited and uppity.

c) God warns us that such is not true; this spirit can also be a problem for Christians.

13) Furthermore, when people behave in this way, Paul said they do not have love.

14) One source defines puffed up as “arrogant self righteousness.”

15) This would be an excellent three word description to put into your Bible margin.

16) It is bad to be self-righteous. Puffed up goes well beyond that.

17) We see this type of thing in the world at various times.

a) Perhaps it is seen in a person who has wealth and power.

b) He or she believes their fame and money elevate them above the law (better than others).

c) People such as this may engage in criminal acts and expect to be exempted from punishment.

d) When the police show up with the handcuffs, the people are shocked – what? Take me to jail?

e) People who are puffed up often expect to be treated in a special way.

18) Puffed up leads to other problems as well.

19) Those who are full of themselves cannot usually see or stand to hear the truth if something involves them.

20) I know that not because I have a degree in psychology but because God tells me.

a) Think back to an incident in the life of Jesus, the time in Lk. 4.

b) Jesus had gone back to Nazareth where He had been “bought up” (Lk. 4:16).

c) It was as if the Lord had returned to His earthly home.

d) People were impressed by some of the things the Lord said – verse 22 - READ.

e) Jesus then went on the recount some Old Testament history.

f) In verse 25 He said there were Jewish widows who suffered during a famine.

g) Only one widow was helped during this time (verse 26) and she was not a Hebrew.

h) Then there were a lot of Jewish lepers (verse 27), but none of these were healed.

i) There was, however, a Syrian leper who was healed.

21) The Jews were a proud people.

22) Jesus essentially said in Lk. 4, “God helped some foreigners but He did not help any of our race.”

23) Because of Jewish pride this is what these people did – verses 28-29 – READ.

24) When people are filled with pride they cannot think and reason correctly.

25) It is certainly impossible for them to love as they should.

a) Many of the Lord’s teachings are related to an internal swelling of self righteousness.

b) One is reminded of the Jesus’ words at the start of Mt. 7.

c) Jesus spoke of seeing a small piece of dust in the eye of someone and offering to remove it.

d) Something in the eye can be painful; we want it to be removed.

e) No one wants a blind man poking around in their eye, saying, “Let me try just a couple more times.”

f) Jesus essentially described a blind man who wants to remove a speck of dust from the eye of another.

g) Why would a person with a giant beam in their own eye try to find the little faults in others?

h) One reason is self-righteousness.

i) Although a person may have a life that is riddled with problems, they do not see their own faults.

j) Pride will blind a person to their own shortcomings.

26) Pride is a powerful sin that can easily overcome people.

a) We find it in Jesus’ teachings once again in Lk. 15.

b) A young man left home, did some things that were unwise, and then returned.

c) Dad was thrilled that his son came back home. This was not the reaction of the older brother.

d) The oldest child realized something was afoot and asked a servant.

e) The servant said his brother was back.

f) Lk. 15:28 says the brother who had never left was “angry.”

g) This is a word that should stop us in our tracks.

h) It should be the type of word that causes us to go back to the text and say, “Does it really say that”?

i) Yes, the text really does say the young man was angry because his brother had returned.

j) Then we are told the older brother “would not go in” to the house.

k) Dad came out and begged him to enter (28b).

l) The older son said to his father, “I have served you for many years.”

27) “I never transgressed a commandment.”

28) Were these statements true? Surely they were.

29) It is very likely the younger brother had done a lot of things that were wrong after he left.

30) Yet, the older brother had a spiritual condition that was worse than that of the younger brother.

31) His heart was wrong while his brother’s heart had been renewed.

32) When we look at the life of Jesus we see that He had a pretty easy time with repentant sinners.

a) Such is also true today.

b) When people have good and honest hearts, it is not hard to help them.

c) When dealing with those who are filled with pride, their lives are like a locked vault.

d) Sometimes the person can be helped, but in most cases we will fail.

33) At times we receive information about things that are “high risk.”

a) A person may be told he has a “high risk” for heart disease.

b) There are raised warnings about ocean tides, terror risks, and many other items.

c) In this country people have a high risk of being negatively affected by pride.

34) We are encouraged to be proud, and this encouragement can lead to arrogance.

a) We are told to be proud of our country, our state, and our community.

b) We are told to be proud of our schools, our profession, our family, and our achievements.

c) Our world makes it sound like the proud will inherit the earth.

d) Jesus could have said that in the Sermon on the Mount, but He said something else.

e) He said “the meek” shall inherit the earth” (Mt. 5:5).

35) Meek contains the ideas of a soft voice, a tranquil demeanor, accommodating and affable

36) These traits are not how people act when they are filled with pride.

37) What Paul said in 1 Cor. 13 also brings to mind Jas. 4:10.

a) James said, “humble yourselves in the sight of God.”

b) This single text should suck all the wind out of pride.

c) We have no right to be arrogant before God.

d) Jesus demonstrated that in Lk. 18 with the Pharisees and the publican.

e) A man went to the temple and bragged before God; Jesus said he was not justified.

f) Jas. 4:10 speaks of humility before God.

g) Other passages leave no doubt about that humility also needing to be demonstrated before men.

38) Several years ago I spoke to a preacher who is a friend.

39) At the time he had a son who had accomplished some very good things.

a) My friend struggled to describe his son’s accomplishments.

b) He wanted to say he was “proud” of the child’s achievements, but he did not like that word.

i) We find no prohibition in the Scriptures when it comes to things like self-esteem.

ii) Pride, however, is strongly condemned.

40) People can feel good about themselves and the achievements by others.

41) Pride such as we have described this morning is wrong..

42) Someone once said a frog puffs up with air before it croaks.

43) In a figurative sense such is also true for human beings.

44) If self righteousness is the way we choose to live our lives, we will croak.

45) We might sound big and mighty for a while, but the end result will be destruction.

46) It may be in this life or the next one, but God will punish the haughty.

47) We cannot violate the laws of God and prosper. Sin must be addressed.