The Judgment the Proud Receive

Today's passage deals with how the people of Israel grew proud in their prosperity, forgot God, and sank into worldly pleasure and ease. They turned the sacrifices that should have been offered in the temple into luxury and indulgence, and boasted of their power and wealth while mocking God. The spiritual confusion grew so deep that even the poor envied the lives of the wicked rulers and were ready to leave God.

The sermon points out that this attitude is not a simple mistake but a grave sin that betrays the covenant with God. In particular, it warns against ministers who use worldly methods to satisfy people's feelings, and against believers who, carried away by momentary emotion, live without restraint and without true repentance. Because God looks at the heart, he does not accept put-on zeal or formal worship. Instead he asks for a faith that obeys him with honesty and humility, and that grieves over the work of the gospel as one would grieve for the affliction of Joseph.

We consider what the judgment will finally bring upon those who forget God's grace and live in pride.