Preached @ Metro 12th March 2006 by Jeff Williams

According to Greek Mythology Achilles was the son of the bravest hero of the Trojan war. When Achilles was born his mother, tried to make him immortal by dipping him in the river Styx. She held him by the heel as she immersed him in the water. But the heel which she held remained untouched by the magic water , and that part stayed immortal and vunerable.

To this day any weak point is called an achilles heel. We all have weak points, points of vulnerablity in our life. 

The Sin of Arrogance

The bible says we have a sin nature.

We are going to look at one of those areas that affects many of us.

1 Corinthians 8:1 Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. 

Another word for arrogance is pride.

Arrogance is having or showing an exaggerated opinion of one’s own importance, merit, ability, accomplishments, etc. It is being conceited. It leads to having and demonstrating contempt for others. Arrogance, on the other hand, often says, ‘No one is going to tell me what to do! No one is going to tell me how to run my life!’

It is arrogance that leads one to reject the Lord and rebel against His Will.

Job 21:14-15, "They say to God, `Depart from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways. `Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we entreat Him?’

We can become arrogant because of trust in our abilities, knowledge, talents giftings wealth etc.

Let’s look at the Life of Paul

Phil 3:12-15 12I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. 13No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be,[a] but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.[b] 15I hope all of you who are mature Christians will agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. Basically I don’t know everything yet!

What Should We Put our Confidence In?

It is so easy to put our trust and hope in things.

Look at Paul Phil 3:3We put no confidence in human effort. Instead, we boast about what Christ Jesus has done for us. 4Yet I could have confidence in myself if anyone could. If others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! 5For I was circumcised when I was eight days old, having been born into a pure-blooded Jewish family that is a branch of the tribe of Benjamin. So I am a real Jew if there ever was one! What's more, I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6And zealous? Yes, in fact, I harshly persecuted the church. And I obeyed the Jewish law so carefully that I was never accused of any fault. 7I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ 9and become one with him

Paul said he counted all these as cow dung/ garbage.

We were created to rule and reign – subdue the earth. It is within our nature. If we leave God out of the picture we do this in our own strength and abilities.

Pride and arrogance can develop.

1. Arrogance can cause us to have a false sense of security. It is based on us and our abilities and what we have.

2. Arrogance can cause us to have a certain level of blindness.

3. Arrogance can cause us to look down upon others.

4. Arrogance can cause us to walk upon others.

The Opposite of Arrogance

The opposite of arrogance is humility. To live in humility :- we need a relevation of our sin, and then a powerful revelation of the cross and what Jesus has done for us.