Four Things That Corrupt Us

What leads to us to being prideful?  What leads to our heart being corrupted by sin?  What do we need to guard against?

There are four main things that corrupt the human heart; wisdom, riches, beauty, and power.

These are the four things that caused Satan to become extremely prideful.  These are the things that made him rebel against God and fall from heaven.

Ezekiel 28 says:

"In the pride of your heart
you say, “I am a god;
I sit on the throne of a god
in the heart of the seas.”
But you are a mere mortal and not a god,
though you think you are as wise as a god."

How did Satan come to be so prideful?  First of all, he THOUGHT he was wise. 

Wisdom

I saw this a lot in the Great Books program I was in at Biola University.  It was called the Torrey Honors Institute.  We were the top 5% of Biola, and most of them knew it.  Wisdom has a way of making us very, very prideful. 

Other students at Biola actually hated Torrey people, so I would never admit to the general population that I was in Torrey. lol.  The reason being was, when Torrey people were in the cafeteria line with other people they would say, "Did you know...." something about what they had just learned from a great philosopher in our discussions. 

The problem was, the other person didn't care, and the Torrey person just came off as pompous and arrogant. 

That is why Paul says, "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up."

We need to guard against letting any intelligence or wisdom or knowledge we have from making us arrogant, because ultimately it ALL comes from God.  Apart from Him we are nothing.  Apart from Him we would not even exist. 


Riches

Ezekiel 28 says regarding Satan:

"By your wisdom and understanding
you have gained wealth for yourself
and amassed gold and silver
in your treasuries.
⁵ By your great skill in trading
you have increased your wealth,
and because of your wealth
your heart has grown proud."

Jesus talked about money more than ANY other topic in his ministry on earth! 

He said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter heaven."  Riches can easily become a stumbling block to growing in one's walk with God. 

Look at America!  The richer we become the more and more we FALL AWAY from God.  The middle class is not just a middle class anymore, we are an upper middle class.  We can go on cruises to anywhere we want to IN THE WORLD!  We can eat out whenever we want, for the most part.  Some of us have more cars then we even need to drive.  Many people have cars in their garages JUST to look at. lol.  We have toys, lots of toys.  Electronic gadgets, flat screen TV's, I-pads, I-pods, deluxe beds and furniture, the cost of which could feed a whole tribe in Africa!  But we keep hoarding and getting and wanting MORE and MORE.  And where has it gotten us?  We are SPIRITUALLY VERY, VERY POOR. 

Jesus said, "You CANNOT love both God and money.  You cannot serve two masters.  You will love the one and hate the other."

We all need to be careful of letting our riches make our hearts conceited. 

God says in Hosea 13 of His people, the Israelites:

"I have been the Lord your God
ever since you came out of Egypt.
You shall acknowledge no God but me,
no Savior except me.
⁵ I cared for you in the wilderness,
in the land of burning heat.
⁶ When I fed them, they were satisfied;
when they were satisfied, they became PROUD;
  THEN THEY FORGOT ME."

That is America!  We got what we wanted.  We have prosperity and fame and fortune now and we have FORGOTTEN about God.  On the whole, we think WE got ourselves where we are!  SCIENCE got us where we are!  SCIENCE is OUR modern God that has replaced the God of the Bible. 

We or science did not get us where we are, God did!  We were founded as a CHRISTIAN nation, but my how we have completely forgotten that.

Obama himself said in a speech, "We are no longer a Christian nation."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi-V_ilJu0w

That is quite sad and quite unfortunate.  Our riches have made us very, very arrogant and corrupted us.  And perhaps we are past the point of no return.  :(  I believe God will judge us, the question is only when. 


Beauty

Ez. 28 says of Satan:

"You were the seal of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
¹³ You were in Eden,
the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you:
carnelian.....turquoise and beryl.
Your settings and mountings were made of gold;
on the day you were created they were prepared.....
Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor."

Beauty has been my main stumbling block of these four.  I said once to my mom that I feel it is somewhat of a curse that God made me attractive.  In some ways I have not liked it, as it attracted guys but they were usually the wrong ones and got me into trouble.  My outward appearance has also made me somewhat arrogant.  I have let it go to my head. 

It helps to remind myself that true beauty is on the inside.  Many people are attractive on the outside but their hearts are black.  Therefore their beauty is of no use to them.  I know many women who are very attractive on the outside but have no substance.

I love the proverb, "Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."  Amen?  Amen!

Power

Ez. 28 says of Satan:
"You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
you walked among the fiery stones."

I heard once, "Sexual drives are not basic.  The will to dominate and control other human beings is basic."

People love power.  People love to make others submit to them.  People love to be the one in charge, calling the shots. 

Power corrupts.  A good quote is, "For those the gods would corrupt they first made drunk with power."  I can understand this somewhat when I have worked with kids.  It was nice to have power over them.  It made me feel good.  I liked being in charge.  I liked having the kids do what I told them to do. 

But power is about controlling others.  It is not about loving them. 

May we all seek to show love more than power over others. 



On a side note, Ezekial 28 is generally thought to be speaking of Satan, but what if it, like Rev. 18 and 19, is actually describing America? 

"In the pride of your heart (we as Americans are incredibly prideful)
    you say, “I am a god;  (we think we are God in that we control who lives and dies: abortion)
I sit on the throne of a god (we thought we did since we were founded as a Christian nation)
IN THE HEART OF THE SEAS.” (it says seas, plural, we are in the heart of the two biggest seas)
But you are a mere mortal and not a god, (we are mortal, we can die, Satan cannot, he is immortal)
though you think you are as wise as a god. (we think we are the smartest and most powerful nation)
³ Are you wiser than Daniel? (Daniel told of many end times prophesies)
    Is no secret hidden from you?  (We think through science we can explain EVERYTHING)
⁴ By your wisdom and understanding (we have become smarter, look at the invention of the Internet)
    you have gained wealth for yourself (we are the RICHEST nation in the WORLD)
and amassed gold and silver (We have more of that then any other country, despite monetary debt)
    in your treasuries. (Who knows what the gov/bankers are holding onto)
⁵ By your great skill in trading  (Surrounded by oceans, we can trade better then other countries)
    you have increased your wealth, (we have greatly increased in our wealth)
and because of your wealth
your heart has grown proud.  (extremely)

⁶ “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘Because you think you are wise,
as wise as a god,
⁷ I am going to bring foreigners against you, (Russia and China just signed a pack to share weapons)
    the most ruthless of nations;  (China-largest standing army)
they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom (quite possible)
and pierce your shining splendor.  :(
⁸ They will bring you down to the pit,
and you will die a violent death
in THE HEART OF THE SEAS.  (Again we are right in the heart, middle, of the 2 major oceans)
⁹ Will you then say, “I am a god,”
in the presence of those who kill you?
You will be but a mortal, not a god,
in the hands of those who slay you.
¹⁰ You will die the death of the uncircumcised
at the hands of foreigners......

I made a fire come out from you, (an atom bomb perhaps)
    and it consumed you, (same thing it says in rev. 18 and 19, in one day destruction came)
and I reduced you to ashes on the ground
in the sight of all who were watching." (it said the other nations of the earth mourned over Babylon)

 

Some things to think about. 

 

May God give us all eyes to see our own sin more and more.  May he hold up mirrors to us to show us ourselves. 

 

God be with you! :)  Grace and peace be with you!