The first and worst cause of errors that abound in our day and age is spiritual
pride. This is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those
who are zealous for the advancement of Christ. It is the chief inlet of smoke
from the bottomless pit to darken the mind and mislead the judgment.
Pride is the main handle by which he has hold of
Christian persons and the chief source of all the mischief that he introduces
to clog and hinder a work of God. Spiritual pride is the main spring or at
least the main support of all other errors. Until this disease is cured,
medicines are applied in vain to heal all other diseases.
It is by spiritual pride that the mind defends and
justifies itself in other errors and defends itself against light by which it might
be corrected and reclaimed. The spiritually proud man thinks he is full of
light already and feels that he does not need instruction, so he is ready to
ignore the offer of it.
On the other hand, the humble person is like a
little child who easily receives instruction. He is cautious in his estimate of
himself, sensitive as to how liable he is to go astray. If it is suggested to
him that he is going astray, he is most ready to check into the matter.
Nothing sets a Christian so much out of the devil
s reach than humility and so prepares the mind for divine light without
darkness. Humility clears the eye to look at things as they truly are. Psalm
25:9—He leads the humble in justice, and He teaches the humble His way.
If spiritual pride is healed, other things are
easily corrected. Our first care should be to correct the heart and pull the
beam of pride out of our eye and then we shall see clearly.
Growing Christians Beware!
Those who are most zealous in the cause of God are
the most likely to be targeted as being filled with pride. When any person
appears, in any respect, to be noticeably excelling others in his Christian
walk, odds are ten to one that it will immediately awaken the jealousy of those
about him.
They will suspect (whether they have good reason
or not) that he is very proud of his goodness and that he probably thinks no
one as good as he is, so that everything he says and does is observed with this
prejudice.
Those who are themselves cold and dead, and
especially those who have never had any experience of the power of godliness on
their own hearts, will easily entertain such thoughts of the best Christians.
This arises from nothing less than a secret hostility against essential and
fervent holiness.
But the zealous Christian should take heed that
this does not prove a snare to him, and the devil take advantage of it to blind
his eyes from beholding the true nature of his heart and to think that because
he is charged with pride wrongfully and with an unkind spirit, that such
charges are not sometimes valid.
Alas, how much pride the best have in their
hearts! It is the worst part of the body of sin and death; the first sin that
ever entered into the universe and the last that is rooted out. It is God s
most stubborn enemy!
Pride: a Secret Enemy
Pride is much more difficult to be discerned than
any other corruption because of its very nature. That is, pride is a person
having too high an opinion of himself. Is it any surprise, then, that a person
who has too high an opinion of himself is unaware of it? His thinking is that
he thinks that the opinion he has of himself has just grounds and therefore is
not too high. If the grounds of the opinion of himself crumbled, he would cease
to have such an opinion.
But, because of the nature of spiritual pride, it
is the most secret of all sins. There is no other matter in which the heart is
more deceitful and unsearchable and there is no other sin in the world that men
are so confident in. The very nature of it is to work self-confidence and drive
away any suspicion of any evil of that kind. There is no sin so much like the
devil as this for secrecy and subtlety, and appearing in great many shapes that
are undetected and unsuspected.
Spiritual pride takes many forms and shapes, one
under another, and encompasses the heart like the layers of an onion: when you
pull off one, there is another underneath. Therefore, we have need to have the
greatest watch imaginable over our hearts with respect to this matter and to
cry most earnestly to the great Searcher of hearts for His help. He that trusts
his own heart is a fool.
Since spiritual pride in its own nature is so
secret, it cannot be so well discerned by immediate intuition on the thing
itself. It is best identified by its fruits and effects, some of which I will
make mention of below together with the contrary fruits of Christian humility.
Pride: the Great Fault-finder
Spiritual pride causes one to speak of other
persons sins, their enmity against God and His people, or with laughter and
levity and an air of contempt, while pure Christian humility disposes either to
be silent about them or to speak of them with grief or pity.
The spiritually proud person shows it in his
finding fault with other saints, that they are low in grace and how cold and
dead they are, and are quick to discern and take notice of their deficiencies.
The eminently humble Christian has so much to do at home and sees so much evil
in his own that he is not apt to be very busy with other hearts.
He complains most of himself and complains most of
his own coldness and lowness in grace. He is apt to esteem others as better
than himself and is ready to hope that most everybody has more love and
thankfulness to God than he, and cannot bear to think that others should bring
forth no more fruit to God s honor than he.
Some who have spiritual pride mixed with great
learning and joy, earnestly speaking to others about them, are likely to be
calling upon other Christians to emulate them and sharply reprove them for
their being so cold and lifeless.
There are others who are overwhelmed with their
own vileness, and when they have extraordinary discoveries of God's glory, they
are taken up by their own sinfulness. Though they are disposed to speak much
and very earnestly, yet it is very much in blaming themselves and exhorting
fellow Christians, but in a loving and humble manner.
Pure Christian humility causes a person to take
notice of everything that is good in others, to make the best of it and to
diminish their failings; however, he turns his eye chiefly on those things that
are bad in himself and to take much notice of everything that aggravates them.
Pride: Ministering in a Harsh Spirit
It has been the manner of spiritually proud
persons to speak of almost everything they see in others in the most harsh,
severe language. It is frequent with them to say of other's opinion, conduct,
advice, coldness, silence, caution, moderation, prudence, etc. that they are
from the devil or from hell.
Such kind of language they will commonly use, not
only towards wicked men, but towards those who are true children of God and
also towards ministers of the gospel and others who are very much their
superiors. Christians who are but fellow-worms ought at least to treat one
another with as much humility and gentleness as Christ treats them.
Pride: Putting on Pretenses
Spiritual pride often causes persons to act
different in external appearance, to effect a different way of speaking, to use
a different sort of dialect from others, or to be different in voice,
countenance or behavior. But he that is an eminently humble Christian, though
he will be firm in his duty, however different — going the way of heaven alone,
though all the world forsake him — yet he does not delight in being different
for difference s sake.
He does not try to set himself up to be viewed and
observed as one distinguished, as desiring to be accounted better than others —
despising their company or conformity to them — but on the contrary, desires to
become all things to all men, to yield to others and conform to them and please
them in all but sin.
Pride: Takes Offence Easily
Spiritual pride takes great notice of opposition
and injuries that are received and is prone to be often speaking of them and to
be much in taking notice of their aggravation, either with an air of bitterness
or contempt.
Pure and unmixed Christian humility, on the other
hand, causes a person to be more like his blessed Lord when reviled: quiet, not
opening his mouth, but committing himself in silence to Him who judges
righteously. For the humble Christian, the more the world is against him, the
more silent and still he will be, unless it is in his prayer closet, and there
he will not be still.
Pride: Presumption Before God and Man
Another effect of spiritual pride is a certain
self-confident boldness before God and men. Some, in their great rejoicing
before God, have not paid sufficient regard to that rule in Psalm 2:11 —
Worship the Lord with reverence, and rejoice with trembling.
They have not rejoiced with a reverential
trembling, in a proper sense of the awful majesty of God and the awful distance
between Him and them. There has also been an improper boldness before men that
has been encouraged and defended by a misapplication of Proverbs 29:25 — The
fear of man brings a snare... It is as though it became all persons, high and
low, men, women and children in all Christian conversation to wholly abandon
all manner of modesty or reverence toward man.
Not that any should refrain from Christian
conversation, but with such humility as in I Peter 3:15—But sanctify Christ as
Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks
you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and
reverence.
Pride: Hungry for Attention
Another effect of spiritual pride is to make the
subject of it want attention. People often tend to act in a special manner as
though others ought to take great notice and regard of them. It is very natural
to a person that is very much under the influence of spiritual pride to take
all the respect that is paid to him.
If others show a disposition to submit to him and
yield in deference to him, he is open to it and freely receives it. It becomes
natural for him to expect such treatment and to take much notice if a person
fails to do so, and to have an ill opinion of those who do not give him that
which he feels he deserves.
One under the influence of spiritual pride is more
apt to instruct others than to inquire for himself and so naturally puts on the
airs of control. The eminently humble Christian thinks he needs help from
everybody, whereas he that is spiritually proud thinks everybody needs his
help. Christian humility, under a sense of other's misery, entreats and
beseeches, but spiritual pride tries to command and warn with authority.
Pride: Neglecting Others
As spiritual pride causes persons to assume much
to themselves, so it treats others with neglect. On the contrary, pure Christian
humility disposes persons to honor all men as from I Peter 2:17. To enter into
disputes about Christianity is sometimes unseasonable, such as in meeting for
Christian conference or for exercises of worship.
Yet, we ought to be very careful that we do not
refuse to converse with carnal men, as though we counted them not worthy to be
regarded. On the contrary, we should condescend to carnal men as Christ has
condescended to us, to bear with our unteachableness and stupidity.
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