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Colin Smith: What is success doing in your life? Is it increasing your praise or is it increasing your pride? Perhaps you will find yourself saying there is too much pride and too little praise in this heart of mine.

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Open the Bible Weekend with Pastor Colin Smith. I’m Steve Hiller, glad you’ve joined us. Colin, we may have some listening today who can say, "You know, I can relate to that." And as we begin looking at last time, with success often comes a subtle test.

Colin Smith: That’s right, and subtle is the keyword. You see, when a test is obvious, it's not difficult for us to face up to it. When we are finding that our backs are against the wall, boy, I need to pray. I really need to trust the Lord at this moment in my life.

But when things are going well and when we’re blessed with success, it's easy to lose the sense of our own dependence upon God. It’s easy to become self-satisfied and even to become arrogant. And that’s where the subtle test begins.

Steve Hiller: And that’s what we’re going to look at in today’s message. So if you can, join us in Deuteronomy chapter eight as we continue "Beware the Subtle Test of Success." Here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: Here is the subtle test of success: that if we forget the Lord when his blessing comes into our lives, we get the sense that somehow this came from our hand, that it came from our strength. And so Moses says, "Now, when you come into experience the abundant blessing of the Lord, be careful." It’s like a big danger sign. Watch out! Because when God blesses you, you are going to go into one of these two circles. It'll either be one or otherwise, verse 12, it will be the other.

What this means for us, folks, is something like this. When you move into that new home, there is a temptation that you will face. When you graduate with that degree, there is a spiritual danger for you to overcome. If your salary moves from five figures to six figures, there is a subtle test that you will face. You cannot avoid it.

These things are all good gifts from God’s hand, and if they are received, they are to be welcomed, they are to be celebrated, and we are to remember that the blessing comes from the Lord. But Moses says to us, "Be careful. Be on your guard because every blessing from the hand of God carries within it the subtle test of success."

This is counter-intuitive. It is the opposite of what we normally think. It is instinctive for us to think that the time that is dangerous to your faith is when you're sick. But actually, what Moses is saying, "Be very careful when you're well. That's the time you're more likely to forget the Lord." You'll pray when you're sick. The time of your greatest testing may not be when you lost the job, but when you gained the job. The time you are most likely to grow cold in your walk with the Lord is not when your stocks are going down, but when your stocks are going up.

Students, if you are getting straight As, you may be in greater danger of spiritual pride. Satan may be more active in tempting you right there than if you got a B or a C. This is why Moses is saying, "Be really careful because whenever you are granted success, and that is a good and a wonderful thing, it carries within it the subtle test of spiritual pride."

By the way, remember this when you are tempted to envy someone who has more than you. Tempted to envy someone who has greater opportunity, someone who has a larger property, someone who has a bigger income. Don't wish yourself into another man's temptation. You don't know what kind of steward you would be. And the very fact that you are struggling with some degree of envy may suggest that, in fact, you would not be the best steward of it, and that it may be God's kindness and mercy that is keeping you protected from the ravages of this kind of temptation.

From everyone who has much, much will be demanded. And from the one to whom much has been entrusted, from him, much will be asked or required. I think with great sadness about a man that I knew in London. He told me one evening, I remember the joy in his face, he was just in his early 30s, and he said to me, "Pastor," he said—he'd been headhunted and given a job in the City of London and overnight he tripled his salary. And he said to me, "Pastor, something wonderful's happened. It's just the blessing of God," he said, "just the blessing of God."

Over the next few months, I saw him change. Within a year, he had denied his faith. He had left his young wife and two young children. Satan got him. And all it took was an increase in his salary. All it took. He forgot the Lord. He began to say in verse 17, "My strength and my power have produced this wealth for me." He felt strong, and it destroyed him.

C.S. Lewis puts it like this. He says one of Satan's greatest tactics is that he causes a man to feel that he is making his way in the world when all the time the reality is that the world is making its way in him. Let’s pause here for a moment longer. Success can destroy a generation if we forget the Lord.

This scripture here in Deuteronomy chapter eight, I think could be written as a banner over the boomer generation, my generation, the 78 million of us born between 1946 and 1964. I was watching a documentary by Tom Brokaw, who of course wrote the book on "The Greatest Generation," the earlier generation, now focusing his interest and attention on analyzing the dynamics of the boomer generation, the largest generation ever. And we have enjoyed as a generation greater wealth than any other generation, period.

But from Woodstock on, in large measure, we have forgotten the Lord. As we have amassed great wealth, we have said, "My strength and the power of my hand has done this." Os Guinness has this perceptive comment. He says rebellion against God does not begin with the clenched fist of atheism, but rather with the self-satisfied heart for whom thank you is redundant—the lives of those who feel no need to give thanks to God. In large measure, that is the story of this generation, is it not?

More than that, success can destroy a church if we forget the Lord. Think about this. There is a subtle test that comes to a church when it grows and when ministry begins to expand. When a church grows, other churches want to know how it happened. What was the secret of your success? Books get written. Seminars go on the road. The church begins to say, "Look what we were able to do." And Satan runs rampant. Have you not seen this?

A few weeks ago, I asked you to join me in prayer for two things: God's protection and God's provision. We need his protection because we are experiencing his blessing. Here we are on the countdown, about to open two new sites. And if Moses was here, he would stand on this platform and he would say to us, "Be careful. Be careful. Do not forget the Lord your God. And whatever you do, don't be tempted for one moment to say my power or the strength of my hand has done this." So success can destroy a church.

Steve Hiller: You’re listening to Open the Bible Weekend with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called "Beware the Subtle Test of Success." We’re going to pause here, but we’ll get back to this message from the book of Deuteronomy in just a moment.

Our message is part of a larger series called "Take Two: The Power of a Fresh Start." And if you ever miss a program in the series, you can listen online at openthebible.org. You can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. You can also listen if you have the Open the Bible app. That’s free. You’ll find it at your app store, and that’s a great way to listen to Pastor Colin’s teaching on the go. Again, you’ll find the Open the Bible app at your app store or come and listen online at openthebible.org. Back to the message. Here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: I was ordained in Charlotte Chapel, a wonderful church in Edinburgh. It was the largest Baptist church in Scotland. And you know what I mean when I say at least some of the members were very aware that it was the largest Baptist church in Scotland. And my pastor, Derek Prime, was very sensitive to the temptation that that involved. And he used to say very regularly something like this. He would say, "Remember that the life of the church is the blessing of God, and if God were to shut off that blessing, any church would dwindle to nothing before you even knew it." Is that true? It's true. He was right. The blessing of God.

Now, here's my question then. Since the blessing of God will lead you into one of two circles—it will either lead you into a circle of praise or it will lead you into a circle of pride—my question then is: what is success doing in your life? Is it increasing your praise or is it increasing your pride? And maybe you will find as you look into your own heart, as I ask you to search your heart as I have again been seeking to search mine, perhaps you will find yourself saying there is too much pride and too little praise in this heart of mine.

Now, that then leads to the question: where we detect pride, how do you break out of the circle of pride? How do you get back into the circle of praise? How do you break that pattern of thought that takes credit to yourself for what you have accomplished in your life? Look with me at verse 17 and 18. You see, Moses is describing in verse 17 the person who's locked into the circle of pride. You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." Verse 17. Now, verse 18: "But. But." Now, you see here's a transition. Here's how you break out of the circle of pride. "But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth and so confirms the covenant which he swore to your forefathers as it is today."

Now Moses is just making this obvious point, isn't he? You say it was my strength that did this. You say it was the power of my hand that did this. And Moses is simply saying, "Well, where did you get the strength? Who gave power to your hand? Where do you think that came from? Who gave you the skills that built that successful business? Who gave you the mind that was able to discern these truths? Who gave you the strength that achieved your success?"

The book of Daniel there is a story that really is a wonderful illustration of what Moses is speaking about here. It tells us in Daniel chapter four about Nebuchadnezzar, a king who accomplished extraordinary things. And one day—you can read it in Daniel chapter four and verse 30—King Nebuchadnezzar was out there walking on the roof of his royal palace in Babylon. And he's looking over these wonders of the ancient world. And he says this, it's recorded in the scripture. He says, strutting on the roof, he says, "Is this not the great Babylon that I have built by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?" That is what Nebuchadnezzar said on the roof of his own palace.

The Bible tells us that while Nebuchadnezzar was actually saying this, before the words were off his tongue, God spoke. And Nebuchadnezzar in a moment lost his mind. He became completely mad. The Bible tells us that for a time after that, he was away from the palace, away from the people. He ate grass, lived with the animals in the field. And can you picture this? His hair grew like the feathers of an eagle, and his nails became like the claws of a bird. Can you imagine how desperate that man became?

And he gives us his testimony. This man who'd been strutting on the roof and saying, "Look at what I've done." He says that after a time in this dreadful condition, he says, "I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes towards heaven, and my sanity was restored. And then I praised the Most High God. Everything he does is right, and those who walk in pride he is able to humble." See, Nebuchadnezzar, you're saying it's the strength of your hand that's done this. Boy, apart from the mercy of God, you haven't even got a mind that can put two thoughts together.

Luther has a lovely picture here. He says this, I find it helpful to think about it. He says, "God uses our effort as a mask under which he blesses us." That makes you think, doesn't it? God uses your effort—all the effort you put into your work and all your skills, all your gifts, all your abilities—God uses all of that as a mask under which he blesses us. You see, people see what you've accomplished. People see the mask. They see what's on the outside. They see the mask. They say, "Well, you're very gifted. You're very talented. How much he's accomplished."

But Luther says if you are very wise, you will know that that's just a mask and that underneath it, the real explanation of the good that has happened in your life does not lie ultimately in your talent and your gift and your effort and your success, but in the blessing of God that has come to you, without which you would be nothing. And so he says, "God blesses us sometimes through our efforts, sometimes without our efforts, never from our efforts, and always because of his mercy."

Matthew Henry has this lovely comment. He says, "Only God can say 'I am who I am.' All the rest of us have to say 'By the grace of God, I am who I am.'" And then he says this, I'll just read this quote to you here. I love the way Matthew Henry puts it. He's writing from a past century, as you'll understand from his wording here. He says, "When we have got it, we must not say it was the might of our hand that got it. We must own that it was God who gave us the power to get it and therefore in him we must give thanks and praise and consecrate the use of it. To him we must consecrate the use of it."

See, the New Testament puts it like this in the form of a very simple question: "What do you have that you did not receive?" That's the question. 1 Corinthians 4:7. Really, what do you have that you did not receive? And you see, that takes us to the heart of the gospel, doesn't it? You are justified freely by God's grace through the redemption that comes by Jesus Christ. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, bearing your sins on the cross, shedding his blood. And so Paul says when he explains how we are saved, he says in Romans chapter three, "Well, where is boasting? It's excluded, obviously." Because we are redeemed not by the strength of our hands, not by our gifts or our intelligence or our effort, but by the shed blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

One story and then we're through. Carl F.H. Henry was an extraordinarily gifted man. Many of you will have heard his name. His brilliant mind and his wise judgment were used by God perhaps more than any other person in shaping the evangelicalism of the second half of the 20th century. Carl Henry, who is with the Lord now, was a man of extraordinary scholarship. He was a prolific author. He was involved in the founding of Fuller Seminary, had influence in the seminary we love at Trinity, director of Christianity Today.

Late in Dr. Henry's life, Dr. Don Carson conducted an interview with him. And the interview really covered his career and the events and the achievements of half a century. And at the end, Dr. Carson asked him this question: "Dr. Henry, having achieved so much in your life, how do you stop it going to your head?" And Henry said this, "How can a man possibly be proud if he's standing beside a cross? How can a man possibly be proud if he's standing beside a cross?"

And friends, at the end of the day, there are only two kinds of men, there are only two kinds of women. There are those who are standing on their own achievement and there are those who are standing beside the cross. What about you? Fear the Lord and his blessing will lead you into a circle of praise. Forget the Lord and his blessing will lead you into a life of pride. But how can anyone be proud if he or she is standing beside a cross?

Steve Hiller: What a question. How can you possibly be proud when standing beside a cross? You’re listening to Open the Bible Weekend with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called "The Subtle Test of Success." It’s part of a series on the book of Deuteronomy called "Take Two: The Power of a Fresh Start."

The book of Deuteronomy is really Moses’s words to the next generation. Their parents, the earlier generation, well, they had an opportunity to enter the promised land, but they didn’t. The book of Deuteronomy, well, it’s Moses’s challenge to that next generation, a generation that had that fresh start. And if you’re interested in hearing this entire series on CD, ask about that when you call us at 1-877-OPEN-365. That’s 1-877-673-6365. Or you’ll find ordering information online at openthebible.org.

Open the Bible is a listener-supported ministry. We’re able to do what we do and bring you Pastor Colin’s teaching each day because of your generosity. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we’re going to send you a copy of Pastor Colin’s brand new 30-day devotional book called "Grow in Love." And Colin, who is this book for?

Colin Smith: Well, people have very different experiences of love, and perhaps you knew what it was to grow up with a godly mother, a godly father who loved you well and you've had all the benefits of that. But you still find now you've come to adult life that you want to know how to grow in love yourself. And if that's where you're at, this book is for you.

But there are other folks who have not had the blessing of being loved well. And if that's been your experience, you may find that you struggle with some real questions. What does it mean to love another person? What does real love actually look like? Where are you going to find it? Well, you're not sure that you know. Well, this book is for you. It's going to show you how receiving love from God through Jesus Christ can put you in the position where you're able to give love and receive love from others well.

Steve Hiller: We’d love to send you a copy of Pastor Colin’s new book. It’s called "Grow in Love," and it’s our thank you for your financial support this month. You can find out more or give online at openthebible.org or when you call 1-877-OPEN-365. That’s 1-877-673-6365 or openthebible.org. For Pastor Colin Smith, I’m Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you’ll join us next time. Open the Bible Weekend is a listener-supported production of Open the Bible.

Colin Smith: This is Pastor Colin, and I want you to know about a resource that will help you in your devotional life. It’s called Open the Bible Daily. My colleague Pastor Tim Augustyn takes what you hear on Open the Bible and he edits it into daily, bite-sized chunks that you can read in your devotional time in less than three minutes. Every day, you’ll find a verse of scripture, a short teaching from God’s word, and an application that you can carry with you through the day. People who use this tell us that they read it every day, and I think that if you try it, you’ll love it too. For more information, visit openthebible.org/daily. That’s openthebible.org/daily.