Scripture
Luke 18:9-14
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Main Idea
God hates Haughty Eyes, because that sin keeps you from him.
Going Deeper
Questions from this weeks Sermon
- What insight, principle or observation from this week’s message did you find to be most helpful, eye opening or troubling? Please explain.
- When you were young, what was the really bad sin in the church, top of the list kind of sin in your mind? What would you say it is today in the church?
- What about you, what sin in others causes you to think, “common, get over it already.” What types of people are you most tempted to look down on because of their sin or struggle?
- Read Proverbs 6:16-19. What is the top of the list sin that God hates mentioned in this passage? Is this surprising to you?
- Why do you think we struggle, as a church and a society, with this particular sin so much? Where do you see it happening in church, society and in your own life?
- Read Luke 18-9-14. What catches you from this passage? Who of the two characters do you most relate to and why? What can you change in your life because of this teaching?
- The things God hates is driven by his love. Discuss this concept, and how it may relate to God’s hate of haughty eyes.
- If the antidote to arrogance and pride (haughty eyes) is humility of self and grace toward others, which one of these two do you need to focus on and grow in most?
Summary
God Loves and God Hates.
Everything God hates is actually driven by His love…for us.
Because God is love, the things that God hates are actually driven by his love for us. It’s his Love for us that cause him to hate the things that he hates.
At the very top of God’s list of things that are really bad is the very thing we all do, when we think we are pretty good and we look down on others.
In Proverbs 6:16 it is called God’s list of hated things
Haughty Eyes has to do with pride but it is a very specific kind of pride, it goes beyond just traditional pride. It’s pride that isn’t just about how good I am, but how bad others are. It’s a “condemning of others” kind of pride, and God absolutely hates it.
All of our salvation is a gift of God, it is all God’s grace.
When we are confident in our own righteousness, that becomes a problem. Pride has set in. And pride leads its way to comparison, and haughty eyes. Looking down on others. But we can be confident in Christ’s righteousness in us. That is being confident in the Grace of God.
As Christians we should be the most grounded humble people alive, because we know it was all God. But along the way we start feeling good about our good works, or moral lives, and we can get haughty eyes.
God hates Haughty Eyes, because that sin keeps you from him.
God hates anything that keeps us from him, anything that keeps us from the best life possible, the life he created us to live with him.
Call to Action
If you do not have a relationship with God, if you have never looked to God for forgiveness and receive Jesus as you Lord and Savior, God would be asking you, what are you waiting for. Your best life, real full eternal life is waiting on the other side of putting your faith in Jesus.
It is simply: ABC. Admit you’re a sinner, Believe in Jesus as your Savior and Commit your life to him.
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if you are a believer, remember that Humility of self and grace towards others are the antidote to Haughty Eyes.
