The Subtlety of Pride: Lessons From the Prodigal Son | Bible, Bros & Brew

We know from the scriptures that "pride leads to destruction" (Proverbs 16:18), but how can we recognize pride before it gets a chance to gain a foothold in our lives? In this third installment of our series called "The Subtlety of Pride", David, Phil & Ryan explore the parable of the Prodigal Son (we took a "divine detour" that wasn't exactly planned ahead of time) to discover some of the spiritual flashpoints where pride can creep in unawares. Using this iconic tale of moral failure and redemption, the BBB crew touch on several characteristics of pride, providing a biblical perspective on how to recognize and combat this insidious spiritual enemy. So brew up your favorite coffee or tea, grab your Bible, and join us as we unpack this fascinating topic!

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Chapters

• 0:00 Understanding Pride and Its Consequences
• 12:08 What's in the Cup: Coffee Talk
• 18:43 Defining Pride from Scripture
• 25:12 The Story of Nebuchadnezzar's Fall
• 32:37 The Prodigal Son and Hidden Pride
• 49:12 Coming to Your Senses: The Path Home
• 54:14 Final Thoughts: The Importance of Sober Thinking

Transcript

Ryan: 0:00

Nobody ever is driving down the road and intentionally is trying to drive themselves off the cliff or into the into the into the median so that their car explodes. But sometimes uh we get sidetracked and it's called an accident for a reason because it's unintentional. That's what we're talking about when we're defining pride. This has been our our our anchor verse, Proverbs 16, verse 18, pride goes before destruction in a haughty spirit before a fall. So we've been defining this word uh pride and what it means and the subtlety of it in our lives. I encourage you to go back and watch the first couple of episodes. We're in week three. Don't be too prideful to stop right here and go take a look at them and then come right back here. If you've already watched them, get your coffee, get your Bible, and let's get started right now. We've been talking about it, we've been defining it, we've been digging it out. I hope you've gotten something out of it. Uh, if you have, comment below, send us a note. We would love uh to hear from you. Um, maybe something that has stuck out to you or been helpful to you um over the last couple of weeks. But we're gonna continue to dig it out tonight. But before we do, we want to take a look at what is in the cup. Let's start with the one and the only Mr. John DeZuba. Yo, we gotta get to him first, otherwise, it's gonna be all gone before we go around.

Jon: 2:06

You know, I'm glad you did. My wife made something so delicious. Um if you haven't been to Disney World, there's this place called Galaxy's Edge where it's basically just Star Wars Land. It's really cool, and they have this really cool cold brew that you can only get there. But today you can get it at home because we found the recipe. Sabrina made it, and it's like this. I forget the actual title for it, but it's like this cold brew. Uh, it's got like vanilla flavoring, it's got some uh like heavy uh heavy whipping cream, like it's like a half and half cream. Sorry, she's giving me side notes on the side here just to make sure I get the details right, but it is delicious, and I mean, you already know homemade coffee is like the best kind of coffee, so yeah, I'm having a great time personally. Like, do you feel like you're on the galaxy's edge at this point? I feel great.

Ryan: 3:06

That's awesome, it's awesome, man. I love it. Well, um, David, we saw you sipping right there. We caught you. What's in your cup?

David: 3:16

First of all, let me apologize for not having my bag of coffee with me to share with you. But today I am drinking Jim's organic chocolate chocolate. Um, this is one that I found actually over on Amazon. And since, oh, I just realized I need to order some more pumpkin pie. Um, okay, sorry. I just realized I missed one. Um I you know, finding a good coffee, look, unless you go, I this is my opinion. Nobody else has to have this opinion. If you want a really good coffee, nine times out of ten, you're gonna have to go to a roaster to find it.

Phillip: 4:00

Yeah.

David: 4:01

Um the stuff that you can pick up off of the shelf in the grocery store, unless it comes from a roaster like uh Black Rifle Coffee Company or some of these other places, um, they're really not all that great. And so I didn't trust that Amazon could actually do a good coffee, but I saw a good review of it and tried it, and it is a fantastic coffee. It's double chocolate, so you can taste it. You can also put some extras in there, as you guys know. I like my vanilla flavor, I also like uh cinnamon, so you can put either one of those in there, and it just amplifies this particular cup. And then, of course, I have it in my but I think I love fall most of all cup.

Phillip: 4:48

Well, you know, David, to your credit, sir. The fall solstice happened what yesterday or day before, right?

David: 4:55

Uh just I looked at it was on the 22nd. Yeah, yeah, and so we are having this fall. That is correct, and that's why we're starting fall with a bold double chocolate flavor, so that we'll be ready to slide into winter's cocoa.

Phillip: 5:16

Yes, it's a transitional coffee, if you will.

David: 5:19

That is correct. So and then I will, of course, be treating you guys to recommendations on wonderful fall flavors over the next few weeks. So have your pen and paper ready, and of course, your wallet.

Phillip: 5:33

Yes, sir. Oh my god, goodness, Phil. What you what you um brewing today? Uh well, like David, I apologize for not having the bag with me, but I have Peregrine decaf, and I did a little something, something here because I've had I've had an issue, guys. I ordered some new coffee from Peregrine, but when I was checking the delivery status, they said there was a quote, and this is coming from like the UPS facility. They said there was a sortation error. So the package got rerouted somewhere it wasn't supposed to go. So it was probably already supposed to arrive. Like I ordered it this past Friday, so it's what Wednesday? It should typically it'd be here by now, but now they're saying it isn't until Monday that I'll get the package. So sadly, I have run out of all of my caffeinated peregrine. I only have decaf left. So what I've been doing is buying cheaper coffees at the store and then combining them with peregrine decaf to still get that great flavor. So I've got like a uh I don't know, a third calf going on here or something like that. The Biltmore cup. So um I just like peregrine, man. You know, that they roast like nobody's business. So oh, thank you, X-Frist. Yes, the Biltmore mug, man. I wanted to highlight that because um if you haven't been to the Biltmore mansion in Asheville, North Carolina, it'll remind you that you're not bawling hard at all. It's quite humbling, it's a very humbling experience. Um, there's I think I read or I heard the stat that the the Biltmore estate is like two acres under the roof. So you gotta really think about that. That's uh that's crazy. I did not know that. Yeah, but anyway, that's all. Neither here nor there. Ryan, how about you, sir? What's going on in your cup, man?

Ryan: 7:43

Man, I've got something new, I got something bold, I got something never seen before. Watch out, and it's uh really good. It is pee. Just kidding. It's actually done it again. Um, I did bring the bag, um, but not to upstage Phil or David, uh, simply to prove that this is not Pete's coffee. Um, this is actually a Lone Pine Coffee Roasters. Uh and this is the 10 alley or the 10 pan alley blend. Um, Lone Pine Coffee Roasters is a uh coffee roaster um in um Bend, Oregon. My parents went up there over the week uh over the week last week, and they picked this up for me. And um, yeah, it's pretty cool. It's got the little roast date on here. So, what David was talking about freshness from some of your big ones, um, could be over a month old, but this was roasted on September the 15th. It's currently September the 24th, and uh so we're living large in charge in caffeinated.

David: 8:56

Hey, and can we can we just have one more little conversation just to FYI? Because you know, I'm guilty of this. You know, I've got to do some house cleaning with my coffee, right? Because you know, you really coffee does have a lifespan, yeah. And if you're not careful, uh if you start smelling some of your coffee that's been sitting around for a while, for a while, you might find that you've got mildew in it, right? And so you have to be very careful about the lifespan of your coffees. I have a couple of bags that date back to last year, yeah. And so those could go bad on you quickly. So be careful with your coffees and don't be like me and buy too many that you can't possibly drink it all up in one time and then have a problem later on where you're throwing good money away because you mismanage the process, right?

Phillip: 9:52

Absolutely, man. Dude, oh, quick little factoid. Um, I looked it up just to be on the safe side. It's actually four acres under the roof at Biltmore. Okay. I couldn't help myself 178,000 square feet. That's a pretty big house.

David: 10:12

Yes, it is.

Ryan: 10:14

That's a lot of house.

Phillip: 10:16

It's like a super Walmart.

Ryan: 10:17

So that's been this segment of what's in the cup now. Yes. Let's do the next segment of what's in the scrumpures. Sorry, the scriptures. Uh so we've been we've been looking at this Proverbs uh 16, verse 18. It says, Pride goes before destruction in a haughty spirit before a fall. And so I'm gonna let David and Phil take it away. Or we're tonight, I think the one big idea that we're talking about tonight is the anecdote to pride in our lives. Now that we defined, now that we've defined pride, we're gonna kind of look at it a little bit more tonight, and then we're gonna talk about how do we dig it out of our lives if it's if it's festered, if we found ourselves in a place of destruction, how do we how do we get out of it?

David: 11:11

So yeah, that's good. Thanks, Ryan. You know, Philip, I think it's good to start at Proverbs 16, 18 again. I know Ryan's already read it once, but let's just read it one more time, uh, because it is kind of the foundation of where we are, and it says this it says that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before fall. You know, that word haughty is one that you could kind of overlook if you're not being mindful, and really that word haughty means to be arrogant. Um, it's uh it can be arrogant, it could be self-exalt self-exalted, it can be puffed up is another word. Um, but you have to be very careful of that because you just think of it and then and and even even when you think about this scripture, you know, pride goes before a fall, which gives this indication that um if you find pride working, there's literally a fall around the corner.

Phillip: 12:20

There you go.

David: 12:22

Yeah, and a haughty spirit, an arrogant spirit. So if you find yourself or see others walking in arrogance, there is um there's a fall coming there as well. Yeah, so it's two things to to kind of be mindful of. Now, last week we dealt with the story of Nebuchadnezzar, and we saw this picture of Nebuchadnezzar walking on top of or walking around the Garden of Babylon, and he's seeing the beauty of everything that was created, but he made a very significant mistake that led to his fall and his destruction. And the mistake he made was by saying that it's it was by the might of my hand, look at the beauty I've done, and he gave himself the credit for all that really the one who had done it was God, and he stepped in to take credit for God's work, and so God met him where he was and told him, I think, by the end of the night or the end of the day, uh, that basically he was gonna be crawling around, uh, basically taking on the form of an animal eating grass, and that's exactly what happened. And he literally lost his mind and was like an animal to the degree that he even grew hairs. He I think it said, um, I don't have it right in front of me, but that he grew feathers, yeah, something to that nature, something, yeah, yeah, and that all of that just came together, and at the appointed time, he came to himself, he sobered up, and um all of a sudden he acknowledged the Lord and demonstrated gratitude and thanksgiving towards the Lord, and not only was he restored, but the Lord gave him double portion for his restoration. And so we got to see this storyline where we see the destruction, we see the fall, but we see when we come back to Jesus and give him what is due his name, hallelujah. Um, when we give unto God what is due his name, that the Lord still rewards, and he gives that double portion to Nebuchadnezzar, and Nebuchadnezzar goes on the rest of the days of his life. There's more to his story, but that is a critical piece to that puzzle. Um, I would also dare say that it was an act of pride for Nebuchadnezzar to listen to his um listen to his advisors before Christ, right? There's a Nebuchadnezzar before Christ, and there's a Nebuchadnezzar after Christ, right? Well, I think before God, but Christ is there. And before he was building a statue to himself and demanding that everybody work on it. Talk about pride uh and arrogance, that was very present there, but you see, at that point, God did not put him to eating the grass and going through that, and and it's I I I would submit to you the reason why that didn't happen then was because Nebuchadnezzar had not given himself to the Lord, and so all he could do was be prideful because that's what human nature is, yeah. But after he saw what happened to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and the fourth man in the fire, he confessed and declared that he accepted Jesus as his Lord. And so on the other side of that, now you have a different outcome because God doesn't tolerate pride, God doesn't tolerate arrogance, he has no place in his heart for it. And over and over again, and maybe Philip will look at some of those scriptures in just a little bit here. Um, he he denounces pride and arrogance and tells you he's gonna get with you about it. Yeah, so that's not the part of God you want to fall on, no sir. Which which leads me just a little bit of a different way than I thought we'd go for just a second, Philip. Because maybe let's just explore this together if if you don't mind. Let's look at this. Let's look at the story of the um oh god, I was about to say the apostate son. It's not apostate the prodigal son. Um, because he was functioning in some pride, too. Yeah, a great deal of it. Ryan, can you pull that up? Let's look at that. Let's just we're gonna do this on the fly, you guys. Let's just see what we can draw out of that.

Phillip: 17:27

It's the Bible Rosenbrew way, my friend.

David: 17:30

Right, right. Because I I do want to get to Matthew 23, but I I think they're I just feel by the spirit, there's something in here for us. So, Ryan, can you pull up the prodigal son for us? And you guys all well, I'm not gonna let me not assume. So, there's the story of the prodigal son, and basically there is a father, his two sons, and one of those sons is what we would call a faithful son. He's committed to his father, he's committed to whatever they've got going on, and so he stays and is committed to doing the work of the house and the family and the father. But then the other son, it says, Well, let's look at it in verse 11 here. It says, Then Jesus said, There was a man who had two sons. The younger son said to him, Father, give me my share of the estate. So he divided his property between them. After a few days, the younger son got everything together and journeyed to a distant country where he squandered his wealth and wild living. Um maybe I'm wrong, Philip, but with the way that this reads, it reads very nicely. After a few days, the younger son got everything together and journeyed to a distant country. Now he's like an impetuous teenager. And and he dipped. Yeah, he dipped on his family, he dipped on his responsibilities, he dipped on everything and just went his own way. Yeah, it says he journeyed to a distant country where he squandered his wealth, that means everything his father had given him in wild living. After he had spent all he had, a severe s famine swept through the country that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country who sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. He longed to fill his belly with the pods, the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing. This is quite an interesting perspective because on top of this verse, you see that he was a son, and as a son, he had privileges, and he was eating good, he was drinking good, he had work to do, but he was his father's son, and his father is the for all of a better black better word, the king of the house, and so he has these two princes for sons, and life was good for them, but somewhere he got a wild hair up his butt and decided he could do better on his own.

Phillip: 20:26

Typically, in and and maybe some scholars out there can correct me, but typically uh the children don't receive the inheritance until the father passes away. And it's up to the oldest brother, actually, to deal out or dole out the inheritance. Uh, that was like the duty of the oldest son was to do that. So this this younger son, he he skipped all the typical protocol and tradition. He's like, go ahead and give him my inheritance now, you know. And I have a feeling this guy will probably have younger sibling syndrome, you know, where they're used to getting everything they you know they want, they're kind of spoiled a little bit. And um maybe the dad had a soft spot in his heart for this, his younger son anyway. And so he kind of gave in to him and just said, okay, go for it, you know. Uh it's just my thoughts, man. But I I thought about that like he he prematurely got a hold of his inheritance and and and also prematurely spent the entire thing, so it didn't turn out good.

David: 21:30

And you can and I'm about to talk wild, Philip. Do it, so you pulled me back, but it's almost what I you know, it's this thought that I think he thought he could do better on his own.

Phillip: 21:46

Yep, and so you could feel right.

David: 21:50

That's it, Philip. That's it, Philip. He was feeling himself. If you've ever dealt with teenagers, they get to this place sometimes and young adults too. Don't get it twisted. When your kids grow up and become adults, they doesn't mean they've lost that per se. But they get to this point where they just think they've got everything figured out, yeah. And um, you know, and they don't need mom and dad's help, they don't need anybody else to tell them what to do, how to live, how to go about doing whatever. Is that pride in arrogance, Philip?

Phillip: 22:24

Wow. I'm gonna say, yeah, I'm gonna say there's an element of pride. I don't know if that it may border over into arrogance per se, but there is pride there of this idea that they don't know as much as they think they know, and I know more, and or I've got this, I don't need no help. And I thought about something uh, I think it was Mark Twain said this. He said, When I was 18, my father was the dumbest man alive. He said, and then when I came back to him at 22, I was amazed at how much he had learned in such a short period of time. And I'm like, that's exactly how we think as young people, you know, like when you're at that age, it's true. I remember having those thoughts myself. Like my dad would tell me stuff, and I'm like, he don't really know what he's taught, he don't really know what I'm going through, you know, and all this stuff like that. And and little, you know, uh, what's that what's that phrase I'm trying to think of, but uh without me even knowing it, basically, he had already been through that stuff, right? And so that's why he's trying to tell me what to avoid and the pitfalls to to watch out for, but I couldn't hear it, I could not hear it at the time because I'm like, he don't really know it's times are different now and all that kind of stuff, you know.

David: 23:46

Right, right, right, right. And see, that to me, that's foolishness, yeah. Um and we're all guilty of it, but you know what? I'm also guilty of I'm guilty of having called my dad back and apologizing. Yeah, I have already I've told my dad on and my mom on multiple occasions. I'm sorry, I'm sorry for how difficult I made things for you guys. Yeah, I am sorry for the tears that I cost you on this occasion and that occasion doing this stupid thing and that stupid thing, thinking that I had it all figured out, yeah, that I was wiser than y'all, and I was wiser than God. And if you and if you recall, as you look back, our definition, and we're gonna keep going through here in just a second. Our definition of pride is the sinful elevation of self that leads us to a place, leads us to place our confidence in our own strength, our own wisdom, or status rather than in God. And I kind of see that here with this rich young ruler. I see him placing, he's betting on himself. Yeah, he's not even betting on uh you don't even get the uh in the sense that he's betting on God to help him to do this, right? I can do, he's just saying, I'm gonna do what I want to do and live my life, yeah. And so, Ryan, if you pull that back up, as we go on here, he's gone from sitting at the king's table, the family table, and eating and living well, to now he's broke, he has nothing, and at this point, just wants the pods that the pigs eat. That is a significant fall. Yeah, that to me that's a fall from grace because you were sitting in a place of grace, and now you have fallen, you have descended into a place that you were never intended to be.

Phillip: 26:02

That's right.

David: 26:03

And so in verse 16, it said, He longed to fill his belly with the pods of the pigs, with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing. Finally, listen to this and think back to what happened in Nebuchadnezzar. Finally, he came to his senses. In other words, I would dare say he had a revelation in the middle of that pig pen. Come on, and he said, How many of my father's hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am starving to death. I will get up, go back to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. There, I think there, right there, is where we see that his that his behavior was both against God and his father.

Phillip: 27:02

Yes, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

David: 27:07

Father, I've sinned against heaven and against you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants. So he's gotten to the point, Phil, where he was like, I'm not even trying to go back and be a son. I think he I think he realized, you know, he said to himself, that door is closed based upon how I handled it.

Phillip: 27:31

Right, right.

David: 27:33

But he was willing to be a hired servant, yeah, and to take the risk to try to get that piece of the puzzle wrapped up for his life. Wow, this is wild, but this is in the same way Nebuchadnezzar came back to his senses. We see this prodigal son coming to his senses, and at the moment of sobriety, everything points back to God.

Phillip: 28:00

Come on, man. And you know what's so interesting? Can you like okay? Can we say then that both of these guys had to hit rock bottom, Nebuchadnezzar and the prodigal son, the famous rock bottom story that we all hear about, you know, that that people tend to hit before they finally turn to God. I think both of these guys were there, you know, and it's just fascinating. It's like like with Nebuchadnezzar, you know, he he he had everything. You know, there was he didn't lack anything. He was king of the most powerful empire in the world at the time. And it's just his exalted position just went to his head. And so all of a sudden now he's like, hey, look what I've done. Check out all the stuff I put together. And that that uh that self-sufficiency that he thought he had, you know, was what kind of led him down that road into pride that ended up leading to rock bottom. But on this end, this honestly, the son didn't have anything of his own to call or to call his own. He was living off his father's wealth and then found out quickly, oh, this stuff runs out, you know, and so they they arrived at rock bottom in different ways, but they both were there when they realized who God really was, you know. So it's like, man, there are many roads to get you to the bottom, but it but only one way out, is what I'm trying to say.

David: 29:34

So that is so true, Philip. That is so good, so so good. So here this kid is, and he's made the decision he's gonna go back to his dad. So in verse 20, it says he got up, went to his father, but while he was still this is this is this is so good, mm-hmm. And this is this is the kind of stuff that messes me up. So he got up versus. Verse 20 and went to his father, but while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. See, that's the that's the thing we never understood. At least with good parents. We never truly appreciate that. They never hated us. Right. They never, they never, they they may have been I can talk about my parents, maybe. And over my life, I have felt that I've disappointed my parents over and over again. And I have felt like my parents don't like me. And the reason why I felt that way had nothing to do with what they said, nothing to do with what they did. My parents have always loved me and cared for me, but I felt so guilty and so bad about how I had handled them and the junk that I bought to their front door and the junk that I put on the table for them that I looked at me the way that I would look at myself and say, How can they love me?

Phillip: 31:19

Right, right.

David: 31:20

How would they want to keep dealing with me after all the stuff, all the heartache that I've caused it? You know, as a parent now, you know, my kids don't have any clue the nights my wife and I have spent in tears concerned about them. They don't know the time that we spent in prayer, the time that we spent in such frustration and anguish and praying that God would intervene in their lives. They have no idea that investment that has happened since they've all grown up.

Phillip: 31:56

Right.

David: 31:57

Right. And we don't, I just know that I've put, you know, for me, I put my parents through stuff. And I wonder the same way that I got in trouble with God, and I wondered, after all that I've done, how could you love me? How could you look me in the eye and tell me that I'm your favorite, I'm I'm the apple of your eye, that you're always thinking about me, ways to do me good and make me happy, you know, that you want to bless me, that you want to favor me. And my parents have never treated me with anything other than the love of God, and they have been the demonstration of the love of God in my life. Every so much of what I know and understand and appreciate about the love of God and the loving people outside of the word. My parents have been the example of that in my life. I love that, and and so I feel guilty, I feel shame, I felt shame about it, and God helps me because every now and then I fall back into that pit, and it's it's not a good pit to fall into because that's not how God sees us.

Phillip: 33:12

That's right.

David: 33:14

But here's this father, and all he wanted was his son. Yeah, he didn't care about the money, he didn't care about the inheritance being blown. I'm sure he probably would have got mad about it later on privately. Uh but he didn't care about anything, he just wanted his son back.

Phillip: 33:32

Yeah, yeah.

David: 33:33

But I tell you else, something else that he wanted from his wanted of his son, and I think was he wanted his son back sober, yeah, yeah, in his right mind again, right?

Phillip: 33:46

Right, absolutely, yeah.

David: 33:49

I think I you go you go ahead. You're about to say something.

Phillip: 33:53

No, no, I was just just thinking about that, like because he didn't leave in that state, you know, when he first left the house, he was in a state of arrogance, he was in a state of uh, you know, like we talked about, feeling himself and wanting to sow his wild oats and that whole thing, like that. And so he was just the mindset that the younger son had departing from the family was completely just off base and self-centered. But then when he finally, you know, ran out of all the money and he ran out of all the status and whatever else he might have had, you know, that that moment of coming to your senses um happened to him. And so, like you said, David, when he came back, he was sober. You know, he had he had experienced life in a way he had never had before. And I'm sure that somewhere along the way, he was like, Wow, I didn't realize just how good I really had it at my father's house, you know. I mean it it says that he said, even the my father's hired servants have it better than me, man. You know, there and so he had he didn't really have a taste of reality until he got out on his own. Um, but then yeah, reality slapped him upside the head a few times, and he's like, you know what? I think I need to go back, man. So um I I I just think that um pride, you know, the the places it can lead you. Um you'll find out. You will, you know, there's a there's a famous saying right now to mess around and find out. Yeah. I'll say it. The PG. Yeah, but pride will do that for you. You know, you start messing around, you will find out. That's for sure.

David: 35:38

That's good, Philip. And you know, you could also just a note for the parent, and then I'll let Ryan jump in. Um, stay right there, Ryan. Don't go anywhere. The note for the parent here. If I could just give a note to the parent, is you could be that parent that says, uh-huh, you ain't got nothing, do you? Uh-huh. Went out there and blew it all, didn't, and I now you come back begging. But you know in your heart of hearts that you love that child and you want to see them well, and that you're really happy to see them coming up that road.

Phillip: 36:13

Yeah.

David: 36:14

Give in to it. You yes, you have in one sense, you could say that you have the right to lambass them, you have the right to deride them, you have the right to remind them over and over again about their failures and mistakes. But that's not Christ. That's right. That's that's that's not God. That's not the way that He would have us to deal with these things because God wants your children.

Phillip: 36:42

Yeah.

David: 36:43

And nobody can show them the kind of love that turns their hearts to them, to him, like you can for your child.

Phillip: 36:52

Come on.

David: 36:53

Nobody. Ryan, what were you about to say?

Ryan: 36:58

You're on mute there, Ryan.

David: 36:59

You're muted, yeah.

Ryan: 37:00

Oh, can you hear me now? Yes, sir. All right, cool. Sorry about that. So, you know, this the story of the prodigal son is a parallel between how God views us, right? And in the story, you know, the father does give over uh the estate. Not really, I mean, I'm sure I'm sure the father has an idea, like the he knows his son, right? He knows his son, doesn't know, doesn't know anything, but still gives it over to him, and he allows him to go to his own destruction.

Phillip: 37:34

Yeah.

Ryan: 37:34

Um, and so you know, sometimes, you know, um we may question God and say, you know, why am I in this mess? Well, God removed, you know, because you were begging him or manipulating a situation or when to go live your own way, God had removed his hand so that you could do that. In fact, we see that in First Corinthians uh 5 5. Um, it tells, you know, this is Paul's instructions to the church when you know the church is kind of out of control out of control in Corinth. He says, then you must throw this, you know, if he's not willing to repent, you know, this man, he says, then you must throw this man out, hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed, and he himself will be saved on the day of the Lord's return. And so, you know, kind of twofold. Um, one, sometimes God's just gonna take his hands off and say, you know, Ryan, just do what you want to do because eventually you're gonna come back to me. But also, too, as disciple makers and as parents and the rest of it, like sometimes we try to put our kids and we try to put people that we love in this bubble and try to protect them and and control them so much, trying to get them to not do these things. But yes, to a degree, you're supposed to help them and disciple them and tell them. But if they're still not willing to listen after all that, sometimes you just have to let them do what they're gonna do. And I call it, I call it, um, you know, especially as a youth pastor and dealing with these young men that always know better, like in the story, it's I you know, sometimes their mom would be like, Well, why would this happen? I was like, Sometimes they just have to learn the hardest way possible. Yeah, like you and I know because we're old enough, yeah, that sucks. But sometimes they just have to learn the hardest way possible. And um, and that's a good and it's not always a bad thing.

Phillip: 39:33

Dude, can I can I jump in on with something that you you just totally sparked a thought in me, Ryan, um, about that first Corinthians five scripture. And um actually, if you if you could go to 1 Corinthians 5, that that whole chapter. It just came to me as you were talking, man. Like, right in verse, duh da. Probably, yeah, in verse 3, he said, Oh, sorry, I'm sorry. No, in verse one, let's start with verse one. It's reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles. That's bad. There were some wild folks back in the day, so this is some really bad stuff going on, man. But um, that one should have his father's wife. So this dude was sleeping with his stepmom. That was not a great situation there. Um, but look what happened right here in verse 2. And you are puffed up. Yep, there's the problem, and have not rather mourned that he that has done this deed might be taken away from among you. Now, here's what got to me, Ryan and David. I've read this before, and I'm like, how in the world were they puffed up for an obvious, like like how could they be bragging about an obvious blatant sin? Like, what exactly were they puffed up about? You know what I mean? And it hit me. They weren't sitting there puffed up or prideful about the sin itself. And I'll put it this way they were puffed up in the same way that we've seen these modern day scandals where the ministry refuses, or the pastor, or whoever refuses to acknowledge that a wrong has been done. If anybody mentions it or confronts them about it, it's uh, oh, you're just sowing division, you're being rebellious. You're speaking against the man of God, you're touching the anointing. You know, that I believe that's probably what was going on here, man. And so Paul was like, instead of you mourning over this thing, you're puffed up. So, in other words, it was probably a lack of accountability in some way or the other, where they just simply would not acknowledge that a wrong is being done. And then Paul's like, I ain't got no choice, man. I gotta deliver this dude over to the destruction of the flesh so his spirit can be saved. That just came to me, man. I was like, I've never understood that scripture till just now, man. Like in that kind of way.

David: 42:14

So, dude, that's awesome.

Phillip: 42:16

Praise God. So it could have been an element of pride that would not allow them to acknowledge that the sin has been done, right?

David: 42:24

You know, so yeah, I agree with I agree with it, especially since he used that term puffed up, which is another variation of that pride and arrogance. Yeah, you know, I read somebody said that uh pride is the tree and arrogance is one of its fruit. Yeah, and so I I see that completely, Phil. That's that's awesome. Praise God. Brian, can we jump back over to the prodigal and let's finish this up real quick? So the father sees the son, he's filled with compassion, he runs to his son and embraces him and kisses him. In verse 21, it says, The son declared, just like he had practiced saying, You know, Father, I've sinned against heaven and against you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. But before he could get any further, the father steps in and says, Quick, bring the best robe and put it on him, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet, bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. That goes back to what you're just saying, Philip. Wow, let him letting him go to kill the flesh so the spirit could live. Come on now. Praise God. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. Another variation of that is that when we lose our minds, we lose our sanity, we're dead, and when we regain our sanity once again, we are alive again. Wow, and so he was lost and is found, so they began to celebrate, and so we see here that the father didn't want to hear anything about you working in the pig pens. You were restored, not only were you restored to your place as a son, but then there was a big celebration and to-do about you, so everybody in the family, everybody in the house knew that our son, who was once lost, has been found again and is taking his rightful place with the father, yes, and and with his brother. Now, there's another piece of this that goes on to the brother. Um, we'll that's maybe for another time. Um, but you kind of you kind of see what happens here in this story that um here we are, and in the subtlest places, we see pride and arrogance, the ability to want to exalt oneself, yeah, above God's plan and will for your life, and exalt your own plan, your own choices, your own design, and come to a place that God never intended for you to be. And so it's um it's I think it's a it's an encouraging story for us, and one and that's worth saying this too. You don't have to hit rock bottom to learn.

Phillip: 45:38

There you go. That's right, David. Yeah.

David: 45:43

You just don't have you just don't have to, but we often choose to hit rock bottom to learn because we get so full of ourselves that we just won't do it God's way, and when we don't do it God's way, then we're left to let it happen the way that it will happen.

Ryan: 46:01

Wow. Um, I I wanted to just point out one thing here though, just really quick to encourage everybody, is that um, you know, throughout this, um the identity of the younger son never changes. So throughout this, even when he hits rock bottom bottom, it's still his father, and it and then the father still sees him as his son still. And so the you know, his identity never, even though he he morphed and he had you know, he morphed from living in this luxurious place to living in a pig's pen throughout that his identity remained the same. That's right. And and so um just I want to encourage you if you're going through destruction, maybe, maybe destruction is you know, I would hate to say it, but unfortunately it's come upon your life. And it does you don't feel like a son, you don't feel like a daughter, you don't feel like your old identity, you don't feel like your old self. That's a lie from the enemy. You are the same, you your identity hasn't changed. It's just um, it's just deception from the enemy. And so when you come to repentance, it comes back to you and um a celebration comes. Yeah, that's good, Ryan. That's good.

David: 47:19

Yeah, that is good. That's good. All right, let's do a couple of final thoughts on this particular one. Thanks for letting me take us completely off the plan.

Phillip: 47:31

It's the only way we know how to roll, man.

David: 47:32

So right. Uh Philip, what are your final thoughts?

Phillip: 47:36

Oh man, I I just pride goes before destruction. That's really my final thought for the day. You know, just um ask God to show you any area where you might be in pride. I know that's not always easy because when you're in pride, you don't want to admit it a lot of times, you know. But if you can learn how to be very brutally honest with yourself and ask God, show me, please show me, where I'm I'm off the mark, where I'm in pride. Am I being self-centered? Am I only trying to benefit me? Whatever the case is, um, sometimes you'll be surprised at you know how, and we all have been there, but how your motives may not be as awesome as you thought they were in some things. So um, but the the purpose of it, whatever God does show you those types of things, is not to beat you down or to make you feel horrible and hate yourself for the rest of your life or anything like that. It's for the purpose of like like Hebrews 12 talks about for chastising you so that you can bring about a fruit of holiness uh that that more aligns with his character. That's what it's all about. So um, yeah, self-examination, never a bad thing.

David: 48:54

Yeah, how about you, Ryan?

Ryan: 48:57

Um yeah, I just wanna, I guess the the word of encouragement is, you know, when you come to your senses and um hi Ollie, and uh and you do repent. It's not, you know, a lot of times the lie can be, well, I'm gonna be chastised, and you know, I need, you know, the human response is, well, I have to come in lower than I left. But no, the father is waiting to restore you. And so um, I just want to encourage you that no matter where you're at in your life, um, don't allow pride to keep you from your rightful restoration, your rightful place in the kingdom. Um, he's he's waiting and looking with anticipation. Um, and he's filled with compassion, he's ready to run to you, he's ready to embrace you, he's ready to kiss you, and um, he's ready to restore and celebrate you. That's awesome.

David: 49:53

That's good. You know, there's a proverb that says, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. And as we saw with Nebuchadnezzar, and as we saw with the prodigal son, something that stands out to me is that both had to come to a place of sobriety. And which means that sober thinking is a critically important part of not falling prey to pride and arrogance.

Phillip: 50:25

That's right.

David: 50:26

And so, you know, the word tells us to not think more highly of ourselves. I believe it's in Galatians. Uh, let's not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to.

Phillip: 50:38

Yeah.

David: 50:39

And so I want to encourage you to begin to think soberly. And the only way that I know of for sure that you can think soberly the way God intends is to begin to know his word for yourself. Yeah, you you've got an understanding and appreciate. Now, look, I don't sit here and I can't sit here and proclaim to know every word that's in this Bible. You know, I've I've forgotten so many things. I know it's I know it's filed away back there, and from time to time I find my way back to an old file. They're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But the reality is that our spending time daily reminding ourselves what God says and what he wants from us, and how he believes and thinks about us helps us to begin to think soberly. And with sober thought comes a sober approach towards the things of life that help us to not fall prey to pride and destruction and arrogance, you know, pride in the fall and arrogance and destruction. So think about begin to think about how you ought to see yourself, and then practice doing that and allow God to let that sobriety sink in. And if you're guilty of pride now and you belong to Jesus, you know, it's time to repent. It's time to repent of that pride, to turn your back on it, and to fully give your life over both your thought life and your active life over to Jesus and let him, as the in the immortal words of Carrie Underwood, let Jesus take the wheel.

Phillip: 52:26

Amen.

David: 52:27

And do great things in your life. You guys, we are so glad that you've joined us for this episode. Before we go, Philip, you want to pray for everybody? Uh let's see what God wants to do here for just a moment.

Phillip: 52:40

All right. Heavenly Father, thank you for sharing this with us tonight. Thank you for the help of the Holy Spirit. Uh, without him, we can do nothing, Lord. But we thank you for helping us to abide in him. Uh, for every per person listening to this podcast, every person watching, um, and for those who'll be touched um uh by it by hearing these these things that have been shared tonight, Lord, we ask you to help us all to avoid pride wherever it tries to crop up, Lord. Um the Holy Spirit is in us. He is our helper, he is the one who leads us into all truth. And so I pray over all of us, Father, that we would recognize deception, including self-deception, when it tries to rear its ugly head, that we would be able to um recognize pride at the onset before we walk into it. Lord, that we'll be delivered from every trap of the wicked one in that regard. And Lord, we know that um you said in your words so many times that we are to be clothed with humility. Uh, I pray that over all of us um that that we would be clothed with humility, Father, that we would humble ourselves and stay in that place of humility, uh, not only towards you, but towards one another as well. And we thank you for that because we know ultimately that is the the quality that keeps us out of pride um and and better reflects the character of Jesus in our life. And so we thank you for these things. We just praise you, Father, for being our help in this regard. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Ryan: 54:16

Amen.

David: 54:16

Amen. All right. Well, thanks again for joining with us. Remember, you can connect with us on social media. We're on TikTok and Instagram. We're also out there on Facebook somewhere in the Facebook sphere. And uh you can also find us uh even just hanging on by a thread on Twitter. Uh, you can also find us at one of our favorite, two of our favorite places, Rumble and YouTube. And once you go there, do us a favor. Would you like and subscribe to the channel and then hit that star button so you'll be notified anytime there's a new episode coming out. Finally, I want to make you aware that there is a Bible study guide that comes out with every episode. Every new episode hits on Mondays at 6 a.m. So you can use it as part of your daily devotion that day. But if you go ahead and use the uh sign up right in the description section at the bottom of this page, you'll or towards the middle bottom of this page, you just sign up for it. And every week we're going to send you a Bible study guide that supports that week's lesson uh that we've walked through with you. And there's something in it for all five, at least all five days of the week, sometimes seven, but always five, to help you to just stay encouraged and stay connected with the things of God through the week. We encourage you to take advantage of that. Once again, I'm David. He's Philip, he's Ryan. Hanging out in the back, doing great work is John, and we are out.