1 Peter 5:5,6; Proverbs 29:23; Jeremiah 13:15
Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.
A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.
JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): Pride is a weed that will grow out of any ground—like mistletoe that will grow upon any tree—but, for most part, it grows from the best. Like air in all bodies, it will have a being in every soul, and creeps into every action, either in the beginning, proceeding, or conclusion.
WILLIAM GURNALL (1617-1679): It is hard starving this sin; there is nothing almost it cannot live on—the Christian is prone chiefly to be puffed up with perfections suitable to his life. First, Pride of gifts. By gifts, I mean those supernatural abilities, which the Spirit of God doth enrich and endow the minds of men for edification of the body of Christ…Satan labours to do what he can, to taint these gifts, and fly-blow them with pride in the Christian, so he may spoil the Christian’s trade, which is mutually maintained by the gifts and graces of one another. Pride of gifts hinders the Christian’s trade—at least its thriving.
MARTYN LLOYD-JONES (1899-1981): The greatest of all the temptations that assail a preacher is pride.
WILLIAM GURNALL: Pride of gifts is the cause why we do so little good with them to others. So far as pride prevails, the man prays and preaches, rather to be thought good by others, than to do good to others; rather to enthrone himself, than Christ, in the opinions and hearts of his hearers. Pride carries the man aloft, to be admired for the height of his parts and notions, and will not suffer him to stoop so low as to speak of plain truths, or if he does, not plainly; he must have some fine lace, though on plain stuff. Such a one may tickle the ear, but is very unlikely to do real good to the soul. Second, pride of gifts is why we receive so little good from the gifts of others. Pride fills the soul; and a full soul will take nothing from God, much less from man, to do it good. And this is not the way to thrive. Pride destroys love, and love wanting, edification is lost.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): “Let him that thinks he stands,” with the proudest talents, “take heed lest he fall,” 1 Corinthians 10:12. Others have a pride of Grace. It is a curious fact. There is such a thing as being proud of Grace.
WILLIAM GURNALL: A Christian may be proud of grace, by trusting in the strength of his grace. To trust in the strength of grace is to be proud of grace…It is God’s method to give His children into Satan’s hands, when they grow proud and self-confident. Hezekiah was left to a temptation, “to try him,” 2 Chronicle 32:31. Why? God had tried him a little before in an affliction; what needs this? O, Hezekiah’s heart was lifted up after his affliction. It was time for God to let the tempter foil him. Probably Hezekiah had high thoughts of his grace—O, he would never do as he had done before!—and God will let him see what a weak creature he is. Peter makes a whip for his own back in that bravado, “Though all should forsake thee, yet will not I.” Christ now in mere mercy, must set Satan on him to lay him on his back, that seeing the weakness of his faith, he might be dismounted from the height of his pride.
ANDREW GRAY (1633-1656): Peter’s example may scare you. His confidence was high. Yet he was soon dismounted when he denied Christ with cursing.
WILLIAM GURNALL: All that I shall say from this is, to entreat thee, Christian, to have a care of this kind of pride. You know what Joab said to David, when he perceived his heart lifted up with the strength of his kingdom, and therefore would have the people numbered. “Now the Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?” 2 Samuel 24:3. The Lord add to the strength of thy grace an hundredfold, but why delightest thou in this? why shouldst thou be lifted up? is it not grace?
ANDREW GRAY: Remember, pride is both a sin and a solemn sign of a diseased soul.
JOHN TRAPP: It is God’s care to cure His people of this dangerous disease, as He did Paul, who, if he had not been buffeted, “had been exalted,” and carried higher in conceit than he ever was in his ecstasy, 2 Corinthians 12:7.
WILLIAM GURNALL: The second way a Christian may be proud of grace, is by trusting on the worth of his grace—resting on it for his acceptance with God. Scripture calls inherent grace “our own righteousness”—though God indeed be the efficient cause of it—and opposeth it to the righteousness of Christ, which alone is called “the righteousness of God,” Romans 10:1-4. Now, to rest on any grace inherent, is to exalt our own righteousness above the righteousness of God; and what pride will this amount to? If this were so, then a saint when he comes to heaven might say, “This is heaven which I have built—my grace hath purchased;” and thus the God of heaven should become tenant to His creature in heaven. No, God hath cast the order of our salvation into another method—of grace, but not of grace in us, but grace to us. This is Christ’s work, not grace’s.
ANDREW GRAY: O beware of pride in grace—trusting in its strength or relying on its worth. Should a mud wall be proud because the sun shines on it? If you are proud in this way you will be delivered into the devil’s hands by some terrible fall. Your confidence will then be cut off.
JOHN TRAPP: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall,” Proverbs 16:18. A bulging wall is near a downfall. Swelling is a dangerous symptom in the body; so is pride in the soul.
C. H. SPURGEON: A man says, “I have great faith, I shall not fall. Poor Little-Faith may, but I never shall.” “I have fervent love,” says another, “I can stand, there is no danger of my going astray. As for my Brother over there, he is so cold and slow, he will fall, I dare say.” Says another man, “I have a most burning hope of Heaven and that hope will triumph. It will purge my soul from sin, as Christ the Lord is pure. I am safe.” He who boasts of Grace, has little Grace to boast of! But there are some who do, who think their graces shall keep them, knowing not that the stream must flow constantly from the fountainhead, otherwise the bed of the brook shall soon be dry. If a continuous stream of oil comes not to the lamp, though it burn brightly today, it shall smoke tomorrow.
ANDREW GRAY: Your grace will wither and dwindle if you pride yourself in it.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Pride makes a god of self…Ministers should not be proud of their gifts or graces; the better qualified they are for their work, and the more success they have in it, the more thankful should they be to God for His distinguishing goodness.
