Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. James 4:6b–10.
We talk much about faith; and it is very essential that we know that without faith we cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6). But there is a certain thing that can cross out the effectiveness of faith, and I have seen it in operation again and again.
It is the pride and arrogance which is natural to the human spirit. I have observed that it can grow anywhere. I often take the sword of the Spirit to it in the soil of my own spirit. This is something that I watch carefully, because I have seen that pride can grow anywhere, in anyone.
It is human nature to take the blessings that the Lord gives you and begin to assume personal credit for them. When God blesses you, you praise Him for it; but after a while you think, “Well, I had it coming to me anyway. I earned it.” When you assume things of personal credit, there is a pride that assumes a place or a position or worthiness. Authority is one thing—to know who you are or what God is making you—but it is another thing to find your own spirit lifted up with a certain pride about it.
When faith is wavering in a person’s life, it is almost always because pride is wiping it out. There does not seem to be much recourse when you do not walk humbly with the Lord, because, as the Word says, “God resists—He opposes—the proud” (James 4:6). You can love God and be serving Him, but because of that spirit of pride within you, God resists everything that you are trying to do.
I do not want everything in life to be difficult for me. I want to walk with God. I want Him to be blessing me. I want to feel the impetus of moving with Him. I want the wind at my back; I do not want to be facing it. I do not want God opposing me as I put forth every effort, day after day and month after month, loving Him and believing His promises, but wondering, “Why am I not making better progress? Why isn’t God cooperating with me more? Why am I struggling to do and to become something, which I find that I cannot be?” Look in your heart for some insidious form of pride, and ask yourself, “What is it in my spirit that rises up in arrogance—that which God must condemn?” This is a difficult job, because pride will grow out of anything.
There is a certain pride that comes when you have just the right clothes and the right figure, the right appearance—whether you be male or female. We are all familiar with this kind of pride. We recognize it by many different names; people call it “self-confidence,” and so forth. But there is also a pride that comes to people who work for the Lord. After a while they become proud, because they have worked so humbly before God and have not asked for any recognition; they have not asked for any praise; they have done nothing selfishly. Nothing they have done has been to lavish anything upon themselves. And they become so proud of their humble walk. How subtle pride is! How it eats away at your spirit! Pride works on you, and you feel it. You get such a deep sense of satisfaction.
I have watched many young men preach. It is a delight to see someone preach his first sermon. As he preaches, the flow seems beautiful! When he finishes, everyone praises the Lord and rejoices with him. He can hardly wait to preach again; at every service he is ready with his finger in his Bible, waiting for someone to give him another chance. When he finally gets up to preach again, he fails miserably. His second sermon seems to be the worst sermon ever heard. As he makes his way off the pulpit, you can feel him shrinking. He is dejected. All of his spiritual starch has been taken out of him. That is when I say, “I heard his first sermon. Now I have heard the second one. But the one that I really want to hear is the next one.” His next sermon is the one I am waiting for, because God has wrought something within this young man’s spirit; he is feeling the humility that comes from humbling himself before the Lord. You can’t circumvent this truth: “God is opposed to the proud” (James 4:6).
Why should God be opposed to the proud? Why shouldn’t He be proud of people who are proud? This goes right back to the fact that Lucifer introduced sin into the world through pride. He introduced sin and drew out of heaven a third of the angels in rebellion over pride. He was exalted in himself.
“How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.” Isaiah 14:12–15.
And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. Revelation 12:3–4.
And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death.” Revelation 12:9–11.
Pride is the basis of sin in the spirit world.
Pride was what worked on Eve. The serpent, subtle above all of the beasts of the field, came up to her saying, “Hath God said …?”
“Yes, that’s what He said.”
“Ahhh, but the day that you eat this fruit you’re going to be wise; you’ll be as God.”
“It looks nice. I think I’ll try it.” Do you see the pride? Pride was at the beginning. And that is exactly what enters into us still.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.’ ” And the serpent said to the woman, “You surely shall not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:1–6.
Why can’t we come down from our pride and acknowledge the Lord and humble ourselves before Him? Why do we continually divorce ourselves from Him and say, “Lord, I’m very grateful that You started me out. But I think I can handle it from here on. Lord, I can manage just fine.”
The Galatians were that way. Paul wrote to them, “You began in the Spirit. But now if anyone comes along and tells you how to be religious, you listen to them. You think that you are going to be made perfect in the flesh” (Galatians 3:1–3). This is like the story of the little girl who was asked, “Who made you?” She answered, “Well, God made me a little baby, but the rest I grew all by myself.” We, too, say, “God, You started it—You did a little bit for me—but look at what I did. Look at all the rest of it that I did. Isn’t it marvelous? I did the rest of it all by myself.” This attitude brings disaster. God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).
When we humble ourselves before the Lord, the Lord receives us. But pride is subtle. Some of the nonconformists, who are too proud to put on shoes, say, “Look at all those proud people in the establishment. Look how proud the establishment is.” Pride grows in both extremes. It grows with the nonconformists and it grows with those in established society. Pride is a strange thing. There is no human soil in which it will not grow. And our eternal vigilance must be that we walk humbly before the Lord.
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8.
Two things are necessary for you to be a winner: humility before the Lord, and faith. This combination is interpreted in the language of the Scripture as meekness.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5, ASV.
This is the aggressive faith that drives a mature believer forward. But the ambition, the self-exaltation, is gone because it is a humble faith. This makes the individual meek, inasmuch as his own spirit is not arrogantly seeking to excel for the sake of pride and self-satisfaction. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Submit therefore to God. Submit to God. In that humility, that submission to the Lord, what can happen? Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7.
When a man walks without pride, it is hard for the devil to get a handhold on him. If humility is there when the devil comes to defeat you and to throw you, your humble spirit makes Satan’s efforts like someone trying to catch a greased pig at the county fair. It is hard for the devil to hold onto you.
Have you ever seen a greased pig contest at a county fair? It is an exciting sight. The shoat is brought out and axle grease is put on him as he is snorting and squealing. Finally he is turned loose. Next, several contestants go into the pen determined to be the one who will walk out with that pig. Then the fun begins. They grab the pig and hold on with all of their might; but that slippery pig kicks and kicks and slides right out of their hands. What a beautiful sight to see! Don’t you want the Lord to make you like a greased pig when the devil goes after you, so that there is no handhold for him, there is nothing he can hang onto? Humility is the best grease I know (II Timothy 2:24–26).
It is the arrogance and pride of Satan, who exalted himself against God, which finds a kindred spirit in the human nature when it is proud and arrogant. And this is what gives Satan his hold. But the Word tells us to submit to God, to humble ourselves under the hand of the Lord (I Peter 5:6). Then what will happen? Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Then Satan cannot defeat you. But the ability to resist Satan does not come until your submission is perfect.
You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. I Peter 5:5–9.
Do you want immunity? Do you want victory? Have you been in the midst of spiritual assault? Have you had times of nightmares, accidents, and spirits of affliction hitting at you? What is the answer for you? Humility. When there is danger, and you are in jeopardy, dig a foxhole! The foxhole of humility enables you to resist all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Put up the shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16). Dig your foxhole of humility. Get down real low and trust God, and all the fiery darts of the wicked one will pass over. This is what God wants to do for you. Humble yourself under the hand of the Lord! Come down! You do not need to be a target of every demon and devil. Let us humble ourselves before the Lord, and go into the days ahead as a humble people, a believing people, prevailing in the power of the Spirit over everything that comes against us.
I never preach something that I am not set to go through myself. As I humble myself, He becomes more real to me. I cannot afford for the Lord to be dim or a vague entity to me. All I can do is walk with the Lord; and when He is more real than anything else in my whole life, then I can teach you. I cannot afford to have one twenty-four-hour period in which I am cut off from the Lord. And neither can you; you are raised up for the praise of God.
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:8a.
Does this put all the initiative with you instead of with the Lord? Not really, but this is the way it appears. God speaks it this way, “Draw near to the Lord and He will draw near to you.” How will you do that? Where is He? How do you draw near to Him? Just open your eyes; open your heart. Develop your awareness of the Lord; practice His presence. When you open up, you will find that He was always right there with you. You draw near to Him by taking your walls down, by removing the veil that hides Him; and you find that He is standing right there with you. Draw near to the Lord, and He will draw near to you.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom. Verses 8b–9.
Does this seem like a depressive put-down—“be miserable and mourn and weep”? No. People do one of two things: they either do what this Word says, or they bury their feeling of condemnation that will later come out in a subconscious self-condemnation that was always there just below the surface. They never have faith, or confidence, because it is nullified by a deep undercurrent of self-condemnation. Every believer has had that self-condemnation.
You have probably had that problem, haven’t you? You find yourself self-condemned, always blaming yourself, and yet not really blaming yourself because your pride will not let you go too far with it. So that self-condemning thing stays just below the surface. Repent of whatever is bothering you; repent and deal with it.
The difference between a thing either being absolved completely, or remaining a subconscious response to trouble your mind and your thinking the rest of your life, is in one simple little word: repentance. What you truly repent of is removed from the very depths of your consciousness and your subconsciousness; you are free of it.
The Lord knows what He is saying: “Humble yourself before the Lord. Come on; be miserable, mourn, and weep. Don’t cover it over; get it out! Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into gloom.”
Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. Verse 10.
You never walk in the joy of the Lord without knowing the prelude of a time in which you open up in honesty before the Lord; you humble yourself before God and repent of the offensive thing.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23–24.
Pride is the weed of the spirit world, and it will grow any place, any time, and in any soil.
Satan will fight your faith; God Himself will fight your pride.
Pride was the basis of sin in the Spirit World, whether in heaven, or in earth.
The ability to resist Satan successfully depends upon your humility and submission to the Lord.
Pride is a sin to be repented of, yet pride is rarely acknowledged as a sin.