Pride

Pride hurled Satan from heaven, and turned angels into devils. Pride drove Adam out of paradise, and barred its gates against his posterity. Pride of intellect, pride of family, pride of wealth, pride of power, are adamantine chains, which bind men in fetters of sin. Boasting and vainglory are inherent to fallen nature. Angels, archangels, and cherubim, who stand in the unveiled presence of Jehovah, are the most humble of God's creatures the most conscious of their own unworthiness. But fallen man ever boasts of his sufficiency, his goodness, his wisdom, his power. He will not believe that he can do nothing, and that God must do everything for his deliverance. Now, pride is a blind sin. It is an illogical sin. It has lost all sound logic in theology. Let man help grace to save him, and what would be the result? Why, just in proportion that man helped God he would "vaunt himself" against God. He would claim a share of God's glory. Now, God will not give His glory to another. He is jealous of His own honour, majesty, glory.
I. WE HAVE A REMARKABLE INSTANCE OF THE LORD'S JEALOUSY OF HIS OWN HONOUR AND GLORY. Salvation is essentially for the happiness of God's people, But it is supremely for the glory of God. The Lord gives the victory to Israel as a free gift. Now, the salvation of the sinner is just as much a free gift as was Gideon's victory. There is no more fitness in the creature to win heaven than there was power in these three hundred to win the victory. We are as powerless to help ourselves, as were they. Our calling, repentance, adoption, sanctification, are a free gift.
II. Now mark MAN'S TENDENCY TO VAUNT HIMSELF AGAINST THE LORD. We may truly say of every man what Joash said to Amaziah, "Thine heart lifteth thee up to boast." Vainglory is natural to the human heart. In the fable of the ancients the fly that sat on the axletree of the chariot-wheel gave out that she made the glorious dust of the chariot. Sin is proud. It exalts itself at the expense of God's glory. When, therefore, the Lord visits the sinner with grace, grace is at once opposed by pride. "I will save thee," saith the Lord. "Be it so," saith the sinner. But "I will save thee freely," saith the Lord. "Freely?" saith the sinner. "But what am I to do? Am I to do nothing? Are my good works to go for nothing? God! I thank thee that I am not so bad as some other men are!" Thus pride speaks, and would vaunt itself against the Lord, and say, "Mine own hand hath saved me, or at least helped to save me." Do any doubt this? Think you that we are drawing colours too deep? Look for a moment —
1. At man's notion respecting some good thing still remaining in his heart, notwithstanding his fall. How few really believe in the total depravity of the natural heart!
2. Look at man's notion respecting the only ground of the sinner's acceptance before God. The vaunting of the first-named evil is against God the Holy Ghost; boasting that He need not do everything in the soul. This vaunting is against God the Son, boasting that He need not do everything for the soul.
III. THE MEANS BY WHICH THE LORD HUMBLED MAN AND EXALTED HIMSELF.
1. The reduction of external means may be God's way of giving success. Man's extremity is God's opportunity. Be not discouraged, then, if God cut down numerical strength. What if 32,000 be reduced to 300? "If God be for us, who can be against us?" "What are all the hosts of Midian to the Lord?"
2. The Lord thus manifests His tender care for His own people. The ungodly, like the Midianites, count the people of God "as sheep for the slaughter." They think they can swallow them up as in a moment. But they forget that the Lord regards the cause of His people as His own. They forget that He hath said, "He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of Mine eye." Oh! how sensitive is God to all injuries done wrongfully to the least of His saints!

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