International School of The Bible
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The Law of Humility and Pride
Chapter 1
Natural and Spiritual Laws
Spiritual laws.
There are spiritual laws just like natural laws. Gravity will work every time except when the law of lift supercedes it. Humility and pride work as a spiritual law. We don't really "break" laws they break us.
The Lord said that humility would bring promotion. The world system says just the opposite. Jesus said, “And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12). Since He and the Father are the Ones who made the law, we should take this verse seriously! This same phrase is recorded three times in the Gospels.
Like a child.
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, 'Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven'” (Matthew 18:1-4). A child does not develop nor seek his/her vision and plan for life. They depend upon their parents. You cannot be used to further God's Kingdom unless you are in it while here on earth, and you cannot enter His Kingdom without humility. I believe there are many born-again believers who will not enter His Kingdom until they die.
One of the greatest acts of pride is for you is to make your own decisions for your life without hearing from God.
The bottom line issue for this great act of pride is "I don't want to surrender." The sin nature, the flesh, unregenerated nature, will do most anything but surrender. Pride may accept help, but it resists surrender. That is exactly what Jesus requires.
This is what Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden when they went to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Humility is soaking in and meditating upon the Word of God so that you can hear and obey. It includes not only following the Word of God, but following the Word quickened by the Holy Spirit.
“who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6).
It is turning ownership of yourself over to Jesus and trusting Him for all issues in your life. It is being led and guided by the Holy Spirit.
Submission to authority.
In this series we will devote an entire chapter to authority. Briefly, submission to authority, offering direct obedience to God, is referred to in Scripture only in a few places when compared to our submission to those earthly authorities over us. Watchman Nee said, "Perhaps this is because we as Christians need to learn that submission to God is not possible if we are not in submission to those He has placed over us (Romans 13:1-2).
Pride does not only go before a fall, it goes before destruction!
This is an absolute law!
“Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud” (Proverbs 16:18, 19).
“Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, And before honor is humility” (Proverbs 18:12).
The greatest example of the danger of pride is Satan.
There were three archangels, Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer.
Lucifer was the first being that sinned (from what we know). His sin was iniquity (Ezekiel 28:15), and his pride and fall were the greatest! “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer , son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!” (Isaiah 14:12). I submit that Lucifer's iniquity is what caused him to cover it with pride (Ezekiel 28:15). Adam attempted to cover his sin with a leaf, Cain attempted to use the fruit of the ground as well. Nothing is new!
Ezekiel 28 tells a lot about Satan.
Prince of Tyre.
First, Ezekiel is ordered by God to speak to the Prince of Tyre. Tyre was a very wealthy city on the Mediterranean known for its wealth in commerce. Its name infers perjury. It was probably a lot like New York city today.
History and Bible scholars tell us that the Prince of Tyre was most likely the human ruler. He claimed to be a god.
Ezekiel 28:1-9
1The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,
2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas,’ Yet you are a man, and not a god, Though you set your heart as the heart of a god
3 (Behold, you are wiser than Daniel! There is no secret that can be hidden from you!
4 With your wisdom and your understanding You have gained riches for yourself, And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;
5 By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches, And your heart is lifted up because of your riches),”
6 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god,
7 Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you, The most terrible of the nations; And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, And defile your splendor.
8 They shall throw you down into the Pit, And you shall die the death of the slain In the midst of the seas.
9 “Will you still say before him who slays you, ‘I am a god’? But you shall be a man, and not a god, In the hand of him who slays you.
10 You shall die the death of the uncircumcised By the hand of aliens; For I have spoken,” says the Lord GOD.’”
King of Tyre.
It is widely accepted that the King of Tyre is Satan himself. While it appears that earthly rulers are operating independently, most of them are actually puppets of beings in the spiritual world.
Ezekiel 28:11-19
11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.
16 “By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.
17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you.
18 “You defiled your sanctuaries By the multitude of your iniquities, By the iniquity of your trading; Therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, And I turned you to ashes upon the earth In the sight of all who saw you.
19 All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; You have become a horror, And shall be no more forever.
Notice these attributes:
Lucifer excelled in wisdom, he had been in Eden, was he the anointed cherub. He was on the Holy Mountain, he was blameless, he had been created by God, he was into widespread trade, his heart was proud, and he was proud of his beauty. Iniquity was found in him. Perhaps as this passage in Ezekiel 28 suggests, this included controlling the Prince of Tyre with "iniquity of trading," or wicked and corrupt business ventures.
How can pride and humility be described?
Pride is the lifting up of one's self above and beyond that which God ordains. Humility is gentle, mild, and meek. Humility is recognizing that God knows better than you do, and therefore causes you to submit to Him. It is also recognized in reflecting any glory from one's self to God. In later chapters we will give a list of the many ways pride manifests itself.
Pride always takes while humility gives.
Satan kills, steals and destroys. He is a taker. God gave His only Son to keep you from eternal damnation. In order to prosper in the Kingdom of God, you have to be a giver. The world system just the opposite; it says you have to take. That may seem to work for a season, but it will come back and "break you." These laws affect everyone. They determine our success or failure.
The greatest example of pride is Satan, and the greatest example of humility is Jesus. Often pride can be sneaky. Pride can be manifested in a believer who continually degrades him/herself. God says you are a New Creation in Christ. He says you are righteous. When you call yourself a worm, or a nobody, you are exhibiting pride. How? You are claiming to know more than God. You may think that is humility, but it is false humility.
Another form of false humility is found in Colossians 2:20-23 which says, “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—'Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,' which all concern things which perish with the using--according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh."
Most people attempt to exalt themselves. They tend to choose better seats, better and more advantageous positions and titles, whether it is in business, social or church life. Oh you person of pride, God will resist you! You should rather exalt someone else, and allow God to exalt you. This will make you a winner. Exalting yourself will make you a loser.
“So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: 'When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 14:7-11).
Jesus knew about the laws of pride and humility because He established them.
He won the ultimate prize with humility. "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross [He allowed Himself to be considered a criminal by the public]. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:8-11).
Notice, Jesus had to intentionally, by an act of His will, exercise humility. If He did, then certainly we need to!
How can we be intentional about seeking humility?
If you live a life submitted to Jesus, He will naturally live His life through you. Your old nature, your flesh is what is striving to be proud. Therefore we must be intentional about our humility.
Scripture tells us we must be intentional about our humility.
God asks us to humble ourselves. If we do not, He will not. However, your pride will begin to destroy you, and as you go down in that destruction, you could very well be humbled involuntarily. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10).
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6).
“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering” (Colossians 3:12).
“to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men” (Titus 3:2).
“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).
Sometimes it is impossible for proud people to humble themselves.
According to the inner healing research I have done with people who deal with addicts, pride is not a root it is a fruit. They say that pride is the negative fruit of shame and inner wounds such as rejection. It can be caused by a lack of discipline and/or a lack of love. I can only assume that in Lucifer's case that the cause of pride was his iniquity: see Ezekiel 28:15.
Wounded people use pride as a defense mechanism. They project their faults on others. They use blame. Often guilt, both valid and false guilt, brings up pride as a defense mechanism.
There is normally a total lack of conviction when their pride surfaces. Often it is impossible for the Holy Spirit to convict them until they are healed of their inner wounds. They feel that all correction is condemnation and criticism. They fail to take responsibility for their own sin, faults and pride. They often are very judgmental and critical of others. Often, they have no mercy and lack an accurate understanding of the grace of God. They may be experts in the Scriptures, but totally lacking the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Pride can become an addiction. If one focuses on getting rid of pride, it can actually get worse. Read Colossians 3:20-23.
Often a proud person is the last person that we feel merciful towards. However, Jesus sees the potential in everybody. He knows who will accept His grace and we do not.
When inner healing takes place, pride leaves. However their pain needs to turn them to God's grace.
God's answer, I believer, is that He allows pride to take people down until the pain of what they are in is greater that the pain of change. That is how I got saved in the first place back in 1979! He lets us hit rock bottom. We cry out, He answers and heals. Then pride leaves. We will discuss areas of inner healing in later chapters.
God will deliver.
“Then the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: 'I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land'” (2 Chronicles 7:12-14).
In this part of Scripture Solomon was praying to dedicate the new Temple. He had entreated God several times in his prayer to "hear from Heaven" on behalf of the Jews in their times of trouble.
The Lord answered Solomon with a big "if." The "if" had to do with humility! God seeks to move on behalf of the humble person.
Pride: to be lifted up, be raised up, be exalted.
Iniquity: injustice, unrighteousness, wrong, violent deeds of injustice, injustice (of speech) unrighteousness, wickedness
Lucifer: An Arch angel. (in the sense of brightness); Lucifer = "light-bearer" shining one, morning star, Lucifer of the king of Babylon and Satan (fig.) 'Helel' describing the king of Babylon, The hind or the deer that brings the dawn.
Humble: to be humble, be humbled, be subdued, be brought down, be low, be under, be brought into subjection