Faith Is the Victory, Part Nine Selfish Ambition

Introduction

For some time we have been considering the subject of faith, particularly certain attitudes that are inimical and destructive of saving faith. Today I want to speak on selfish ambition.

Selfish ambition is really self-trust. It is pride, the sin that made Lucifer the devil. A well-received sermon, a promotion at work, children’s accomplishments and other blessings-when we take credit for such things instead of giving glory to God, we are putting faith in ourselves-in our power, our wealth, our brains, our beauty, our family, and our country. Such self-adulation and self-glorying is of the devil.

1. The Devil

In Genesis 3 we see the devil, the ancient serpent, counseling Eve to violate God’s law so that she may become like God. Satan himself refused to submit to God as a creature, but desired to be God.

In Isaiah 14, Isaiah speaks of the king of Babylon, yet he is also describing the nature of Satan: “How have you fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High'” (vv. 12-14). Note the repetition: “I. . .I . . .I . . .I . . .I.” He was saying: “I will make myself like the Most High-like El Elyon, the Creator of heaven and earth.” The devil desires to be the Most High, as do all his followers. This is selfish ambition. But pride goes before a fall. So notice verse 15: “But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.”

In Ezekiel 28:11-19 Ezekiel is speaking about the king of Tyre, but it is also a description of a supernatural creature, for the description transcends that of a mere human king:

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. 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. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you . . . . Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings”‘” (verses 11-15, 17).

Here we see a creature who was the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, an anointed guardian cherub by divine ordination, who walked among the fiery stones, a blameless creature until wickedness was found in him. God threw him out. Selfish ambition was the cause of his fall.

In one sense, then, to [desire to] be like God is the height of wickedness. But in another sense, it is the very essence of true piety, for it is the plan of God to transform us sinners to be like him and bring many sons to glory. So God calls us, justifies us, and glorifies us in his Son Jesus Christ. First John 3:1-2 says, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Philippians 3:20-21 says, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

The arrogant strives to be God. The selfish ambition of the devil drove him to be like God, only to be thrown down. And we read in the book of Revelation that the devil and the beast and the false prophet were thrown into the lake of fire along with all who follow them. We never win by selfish ambition. We never win by rebelling against our parents, our pastor, or any other God-ordained authority. According to the determinate counsel of God, he will throw us down-down, down, down-until we are thrown finally into the lake of fire.

So we must go down first. The Bible says, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God and he will lift you up in due time.” Yes, God makes miserable sinners like us to be like him, not through our selfish ambition and empty conceit, but by self-abnegation and faith in God. But behind every proud man of selfish ambition stands Satan, the very incarnation of pride. The arrogant man who glories in himself is inspired, not by the Holy Spirit, but by the devil himself.

2. Saul

There are many examples of selfish ambition in the Bible, including Korah and others, but let us examine the life of Saul. King Saul was a nobody, a nothing, like all of us, but God chose him to be the first king of Israel. Yet he proved to be a self-worshiper and refused to believe in God. He was told to wait until Samuel came, so that Samuel could offer sacrifices. But Saul would not wait. He overstepped his authority and treated God’s agent with contempt. Then we are told that he was asked to completely destroy the wicked Amalekites. But again he did not obey this divine command. He spared their sheep, cattle, and king, Agag. Saul did what he pleased. He never learned subordination. He never learned humility. He never learned to trust.

In 1 Samuel 15:22-23 we read, “But Samuel replied: ‘Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?'” Believing is obeying. “‘To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.'”

Selfish ambition is rebellion. It is setting oneself above God. We see in this chapter that Saul built a monument for himself in Carmel, south of Hebron. He gloried in himself. Verse 12 says, “Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, ‘Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.'” A self-esteem person honors himself.

Saul was fascinated with himself and his accomplishments. He worshiped, not the God of Israel, but himself. He suffered from the “me” syndrome. Look at verse 30: “Saul replied, ‘I have sinned. But please honor me. . . .'” (italics added) And in 1 Samuel 22:8 Saul asked, “Is that why you have all conspired against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is concerned about me or tells me that my sons has incited my servant to lie in wait for me, as he does today” (italics added). Look at verse 13: “Saul said to him, ‘Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so that he has rebelled against me and lies in wait for me, as he does today?” (italics added)

Saul was a man of selfish ambition who would do anything for his own honor. He refused to destroy the Amalekites completely, but he did destroy Nob, the city of priests. He did not have any problem in killing when it served his purposes. In 1 Samuel 22:18-19, we read, “The king then ordered Doeg, ‘You turn and strike down the priests.’ So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep.”

Saul was possessed of the evil spirit of selfish ambition. But what finally happened to him? The prophet Samuel left him, the Holy Spirit left him, the evil spirit tormented him, and he committed suicide on Mount Gilboa. Pride goes before a fall.

3. Absalom

The third son of David, Absalom was the sex symbol of his time. He had a perfect body and was extremely handsome. Even he was fascinated with himself. The Scripture says, “In all Israel there was not a man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom” (2 Samuel 14:25). Whenever he cut his hair, he would carefully weigh it and the weight came to four and a half pounds.

Absalom had a sister, Tamar, who was also very beautiful, and three sons and one very beautiful daughter. It appears all his sons died before him. Like Saul, Absalom was also interested in building monuments in his own honor. In 2 Samuel 18:18 we read, “During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King’s Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, ‘I have no son to carry on the memory of my name.’ He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.”

Proud Absalom killed his brother Amnon for raping his sister. Then he also planned to kill his father David, so he began to campaign against him and speak evil of him. He stole the hearts of the people, telling them, “If only I were made king, I would help you. I would hear your case and decide it favorably toward you.”

Like the devil, Absalom wanted to replace his father. The only problem was that God did not call Absalom to be king. So God killed him. Pride goes before a fall. In 2 Samuel 18:9 we read, “Now Absalom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s head got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going.” In verse 14 we read, “Joab said, ‘I am not going to wait like this for you.’ So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree.” So he died. Pride, self-esteem, self-adulation, selfish ambition, self-trust, empty conceit, and rebellion-all of these go before God’s judgment.

4. Adonijah

Adonijah was next in line to Absalom to become king when David died. All older sons were dead and David was dying. This was his opportunity. Yes, there was a divine revelation that his younger brother Solomon was chosen by God to be king of Israel, but no matter.

Adonijah was full of selfish ambition and vain conceit. In 1 Kings 1:5-6 we read, “Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, ‘I will be king,'” just as the devil said, “I will make myself like the Most High.” “So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. (His father had never interfered with him by asking, ‘Why do you behave as you do?’ He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom).”

God’s choice was not Adonijah but Solomon. But Adonijah would not submit to God’s order. He tried to frustrate God’s ordination, but God frustrated his plan to become king. Yet Solomon let him live conditionally. First King 1:52-53 says, “Solomon replied, ‘If he shows himself to be a worthy man, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground; but if evil is found in him, he will die.’ Then King Solomon sent men, and they brought him down from the altar. And Adonijah came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said, ‘Go home.'”

Adonijah went home, but he was still arrogant. So he went to Bathsheba and said, “I have just one request.” He desired to marry Abishag the Shunammite, David’s concubine attendant. What was Adonijah doing? Conniving to assert his claim to the throne. Notice how his words betray him: “‘As you know,’ he said, ‘the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as their king. But things changed'” (1 Kings 2:15). It was God’s plan that Solomon be king. So Adonijah was killed. Pride goes before fall.

5. Nebuchadnezzar

In Daniel 4 we read that Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a very large tree full of fruit being cut down, leaving only the stump and roots. When Daniel was called to interpret the dream, he said that God would deal with the pride of Nebuchadnezzar by cutting him down to size. God cuts people down to size. Everyone who exalts himself will be brought down by the Sovereign Lord. Nebuchadnezzar would be reduced to being like an animal, eating grass, until he acknowledged his submission to the God of Israel, the God Most High.

But note the words of Daniel 4:28-32. They are written for our admonition: “All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, ‘Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?'” I, by, for myself! “The words were still on his lips when a voice came down from heaven, ‘This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you.'” It was given to him by God; it was taken from him by God. “‘You will be driven away from people and will live with the wile animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.'” And verse 33-34 tells us, “Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. . . . At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.” Then he preaches a sermon, saying, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble” (verse 37). Selfish ambition self-destructs. In due time, the arrogant will destroy themselves.

6. Moses

A self-centered life leads to pride; a theocentric life leads to humility and faith. One either trusts in himself and glories in himself, or he trusts and glories in God. How, then, can we deal with pride and selfish ambition and vain conceit?

Moses is an example of one who was the opposite of selfish ambition. Numbers 12:3 says, “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” Why was he so humble? Because he saw a greater reality than himself-he saw God. (PGM) If we see God, we become humble too. The reason people are arrogant is because they are blind, not seeing anything beyond themselves. But we must see the reality greater than ourselves. That reality is God-the uncreated, self-existing, independent Creator God, I AM THAT I AM. When we see I AM THAT I AM, then we will humble and stop saying “I am.”

Isaiah saw God and became very humble. Paul saw the glorified Christ and became very humble. John saw him also-him whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose face is like the sun shining in all its brilliance-and he fell as his feet as though dead. This is why we must read the Bible and pray. This is why we come to worship the Lord on his day. Thus we will see by faith a reality that is greater than ourselves and we will be cured of our pride, our selfish ambition, our vain conceit. Thus we will live theocentric lives, humble lives, lives of obedient faith.

7. Jesus

In Philippians 2:5-11 we read that our attitude should be the same as that of Jesus, the man who lived his life in service to others. The eternal Son, God the Son, humbled himself and took upon himself human nature for our sake. Living in a sinful world, he became a suffering servant in our behalf. He humbled himself and died for us the death of a criminal, the death on the cross.

Jesus Christ lived a theocentric life. He obeyed the Father in everything. He was greater than Moses. Clothed with humility, he glorified, not himself, but the Father.

It is he who calls sinners to himself: “Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Therefore, Paul says, “God exalted him to the highest place” (Philippians 2:9).

Do you share Jesus’s attitude of humility before God? Philippians 2:1-4 tells us, “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Paul exhorts the Philippians to a life of love and unity on the basis of the reality of what God has already done for them. God has saved them, and this salvation is expressed in a fourfold way: comfort in Christ-that is what salvation is; consolation of love, which means the consolation of Christ’s love for each of them; participation in the Spirit-that is, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the knowledge of his indwelling and activity; and the tender mercy and compassion of Christ experienced by the Philippians when they became believers through the preaching of the gospel.

So Paul writes, “In view of God’s saving you. . . .” So there is an imperative here after the indicative of salvation: “to fulfill my joy, to make my joy complete.” Paul is telling them, “Yes, I am being persecuted by outsiders, but I am also experiencing pain in my being because you, Philippians, are not united. I can put up with suffering from outsiders, but this gives me great pain-your lack of love for each other. Your disunity hurts me. Fill my cup of joy by living a life of love and unity.” Then he tells them how to do this: “by being like-minded, having the same love for each other.” That is a big commandment. “The same love for each other” means the same love for the master and for the slave, being one-souled-that is, of one spirit, of one purpose, “doing nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but doing everything for the glory of God alone.” It says, “Be clothed in humility,” and “Consider others better than yourselves.”

A master must consider his slave better than himself. This is amazing. In the Christian church, each one should be looking after the interests of others also, not just one’s own interests. Didn’t Jesus say, “If you want to be first, be the servant of all”? Paul said in Romans 12:10, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.”

In Romans 15 Paul writes, “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: ‘The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me'” (vv. 1-3). Jesus told us there is a first and second commandment. The first is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength” and the second is like unto it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Christian priorities are God first, others second, and yourself third.

These priorities are the opposite of those of the world. The world says, “By all means, look out for number one.” That is the satanic priority. Before Jesus’ crucifixion, the disciples were asking who is the greatest, who is number one of the Twelve? That is demonic. If you want to be first, be the servant of all. In the upper room no one wanted to be a servant. They were all sitting there with unwashed feet. But if we appreciate anything in terms of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, we will be clothed with humility.

It is amazing to see what the early church did: “Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need” (Acts 2:43-44). We read the same thing in Acts 4:32-37. God first, others second, and me last. This is humility.

Dr. James M. Boice related a story that he learned from Watchman Nee about a Chinese Christian who would go to his rice field and irrigate it by pumping water into the field. A farmer whose field was below his drained the water from the field of the Christian into his own field. So the Christian farmer went home and prayed about this problem. When he next went to his field, he first pumped water into the non-Christian’s field and then into his own. The non-Christian farmer was amazed at this. He repented of his sins and became a believer in Jesus Christ. This is the principle: God first, others second, and me last.

Scriptures on Humility

Let us then look at some scriptures on selfish ambition and humility.

1 Corinthians 4:7 – “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” In other words, Paul is asking, “How come you are so arrogant?”

Deuteronomy 8:17-18 – “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.”

1 Corinthians 1:27-31 – “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.'”

Isaiah 57:15 – “For this is what the high and lofty One says-he who lives for ever, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.'”

Psalm 138:6 – “Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar.”

Proverbs 11:2 – “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”

Proverbs 16:18 – “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Proverbs 29:23 – “A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.”

Isaiah 2:11-12 – “The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled). . . .”

James 4:6 – “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'” If we are smart, intelligent, and wise, we will humble ourselves.

1 Peter 5:5-6 – “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility towards one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

Matthew 23:11-12 – “The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Luke 18:11-12 – “The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'”

Conclusion

What is the conclusion of the whole matter? A theocentric life is a life of humility. It is a life lived in the consciousness of the existence of God. A theocentric life is a life of humble faith and service. Its priorities are God first, others second, and myself third.

The word humility comes from two words in the Greek: tapeino phrosunê – “lowly” plus “mind. It means a mind that thinks very lowly of itself. Such humility was not considered a virtue for the Greeks but weakness, for it was shameful in the Greek world to be humble. But humility is a virtue in Christianity. It is the result of a God-centered life. We are either self-centered and self-serving, or God-centered and God-serving.

Selfish ambition, brothers and sisters, is an enemy of faith. On the last day those who are proud will be outside, in the lake of fire. But in God’s eternal plan, the humble servants of God will be blessed with the very presence of God. In Revelation 22, beginning with verse 3 we read: “No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face. . . .” This is what blessing in all its essence is all about-seeing God. “and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night,” and they will reign forever and ever. The humble will have a share in the tree of life and access to the city of God, whose builder and maker is God. Thus, the humble shall dwell with God forever.

If you have never trusted in Jesus Christ, it is because of arrogance. But I say to you, even now you can call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. Fall down and worship him. Believe in him and trust in him. Christ died for all who repent. fAnd instantly you will be translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son. You will be raised with Christ and seated with Christ in heavenly places. You will experience the joy that is inexpressible even now and forevermore.

Heavenly Father, we detest, abhor, and repent of our pride, selfish ambition, empty conceit, self-adulation and self-worship. Lord, we resolve this morning to live a God-conscious, theocentric life. We believe that you oppose the proud but give grace to the humble. This morning, Lord, we humble ourselves under your mighty hand and embrace the attitude revealed to us in the life of Jesus Christ. Give grace to all of us and clothe us with humility. Help us to become servants of Jesus. There is joy in serving Jesus. Amen.