(Clip) Are You Proud God Moment by Moment Upholds You
We should be filled with humility and recognize God's mercy and providence in our lives, moment by moment.
This sermon emphasizes the profound impact of God's providence on our lives, highlighting the fragility of our existence and the need for humility in recognizing that everything we have and are is sustained by God's merciful providence. Various examples are given to illustrate how quickly circumstances can change and how easily we can lose what we take for granted. The message urges listeners to acknowledge the grace that has brought them to where they are and to guard against pride, as every aspect of our lives is upheld by God's providence.
Full Transcript
How should this truth of the providence of God affect our lives? First of all, this ought to fill all of us with great humility, great humility. Everything we have, everything we are, everything we have accomplished, even the fact that you are alive here tonight, sitting here tonight, is hanging from the slenderest thread of God's merciful providence. You have a strong body, so did Christopher Reeve, Superman, until he got thrown from a horse and became a quadriplegic who had to be on a breathing apparatus for the rest of his life.
You have good eyes, so did Fanny Crosby, until the doctor put the wrong thing in her eyes when she was a little girl and made her go blind. Are you athletic? So was Johnny Erickson until she jumped into that water that was too shallow and broke her neck. Mona and I were in a coma unit a number of years ago, and there was a fellow in there maybe in his 40s.
They said, what happened to him? Well, the wife and husband were out riding their bikes, and they got tangled up somehow and fell down. They weren't going fast. They were just out for a little bike ride, fell down, and he hit his head on the pavement, and he'd been in a coma ever since.
One little chance accident. You have financial prosperity. There are so many people in human history that thought they had it made.
They lost everything just like that, and you could too. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4.7, what do you have that you have not received? And we might well add to that, and what have you received that God hasn't sustained moment by moment, or you would have lost it by now. So I want to say to you, beloved, what are you tempted to be proud of tonight? You girls tempted to be proud of your beauty? Do you realize you could lose that in a second? Are you proud of how smart you are? One little thing and it could be gone, and you can't even put sentences together.
Beloved, we're being upheld by this slender thread of providence all the time. Everything, everything you have, everything you are, everything that you've accomplished, it's been accomplished through grace, grace, grace all along the way, and every little individual little things that have kept you alive to get you here tonight. If you're not a Christian, don't go out of here without crying out to God.
If you are a Christian, God have mercy on you if you've got pride welling up in you, moment by moment sustained by unspeakable slender thread of providence. you
Sermon Outline
- The Providence of God
- The Danger of Pride
- The Call to Humility
- We should be filled with humility
- We should recognize God's mercy and providence in our lives
Key Quotes
“Everything we have, everything we are, everything we have accomplished, even the fact that you are alive here tonight, sitting here tonight, is hanging from the slenderest thread of God's merciful providence.” — Charles Leiter
“What do you have that you have not received? And we might well add to that, and what have you received that God hasn't sustained moment by moment, or you would have lost it by now.” — Charles Leiter
Application Points
- We should be grateful for the gifts God gives us and recognize that they are a result of His mercy and providence.
- We should avoid pride and instead cultivate humility in our lives.
- If we are not Christians, we should cry out to God and ask Him to save us.