TPW 29 Pride and Humility from the Conference on Proverbs

Do you know anything of what he's talking about there how evil we really are. What we really do deserve at the justice of God. Has the holiness of God humbled your sin-sick soul to the dust of the ground to beg for mercy.

Presbyterian Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. And today I wanted to post the sermon or talk that I did actually was a sermon. It was out of a worship service. At our Proverbs conference, I haven't had a chance to edit.

And actually pull the sound files from the other speakers. My hope is to eventually get that on our sermon audio site but this is what I preached the Sunday morning of the conference on the issue of Humility in the book of Proverbs that we looked at a lot of other passages as well.

This is something that everyone has to work out. Pride is one of the Worst sins that people have and you see a lot of that in our in ourselves. You see a lot of it in others and It's it's a repulsive quality, but we all have it at times in a sinful way.

So I really tried to hammer this as hard as I could in a sermon and a number of folks told me that it was really a blessing and helpful to him and it was. It was convicting to me to to work on this topic.

To deal with pride and to look at what the scriptures say about humility. And so I hope you find this out of fine. Let's pray together, please Our Heavenly Father. We thank you for breathing forth the words of eternal life.

For showing us what is good and what you require of us. We thank you for the gospel of Jesus Christ By which we stand and by which we are saved. Lord teach us to Understand to believe and to receive your truth with faith and love to lay it up in our hearts and practice it in our lives.

We ask in Jesus wonderful name. Amen, please take your Bibles and turn to Proverbs 18 Verse 12. There are a lot of passages In my sermon manuscript this morning on humility. So we're gonna have a short scripture reading because I'll be reading a lot of Passages to you as the Bible has much to say about humility and its opposite pride.

Proverbs 18 verse 12. Proverbs 18 verse 12. This is God's Word Before destruction. The heart of man is haughty. But humility goes before honor. May God bless the reading of his infallible Word. Paul wrote in the great application section of the epistle to the Romans in Romans 12 3.

For I say through the grace given to me to everyone who is among you not to think of himself More highly than he ought to think but to think soberly as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Psalm 103 15 the Word of God says as for man his days are like grass As a flower of the field so he flourishes for the wind passes over it and it is gone and its place remembers it no more.

James chapter 3 speaking of the tongue of human beings says even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. Proverbs 21 24 a proud and haughty man scoffer is his name. He acts with arrogant pride first.

Peter 5 5. 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.

I've given you three points there and your bulletin if you'd like to follow along that way. We're gonna cover these three things this morning. Number one. What is pride? Number two prides unique evil and then true biblical humility.

Number three. So what is pride. Prides unique evil and then true biblical humility, what is pride first and foremost? Pride is a vice that most people despise when they see it in others. Few things are more repulsive than a young man who is so sure of himself that he will not hesitate.

To open his mouth and share his great wisdom with all who are willing to listen. The Pharisees were castigated constantly by our Lord for their outward pretentiousness. But inward pride. To illustrate this the text of Scripture records for us our Lord's parable the tax collector and the Pharisee.

Who both went up to the temple to pray and the Pharisee prayed God? I thank you that I am NOT like other men. And the tax collector stood far off and beat his chest and wouldn't even raise his eyes to heaven and said God be merciful to me a sinner.

Guided by the Holy Spirit before he told that great parable and Luke as he recorded it for us and Luke 18 Described the reasons for that parable as follows in Luke 18 9 as he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.

That's what that parable was intended to address. Now before we all start thinking to ourselves boy. I know someone who would benefit from this message. Let's try to focus on weighing ourselves in the balance first.

If such thoughts cross our minds when we hear an introduction. Regarding the vice of the sin of pride if we're immediately thinking of all the prideful people We know who really ought to be here. Then the chances are maybe we need to hear this ourselves.

Remember the Pharisees were confident of their own humility they were proud of how humble they were and They were proud of their righteousness and they despised others. It says in Scripture Pride is a very ugly sin and those of us who have the most of it are likely to be the least.

Who recognize it?

Pride resides in the deepest darkest and most secret parts of our hearts. The Pharisees washed their hands in a special way that have been handed down from their forefathers not in Scripture mind you but from their Forefathers and they did many other outward acts in order to give themselves the appearance of inward holiness.

But Jesus taught that the source of our sin is not circumstances. It's not food that comes to us from the outside. It's not dirt or anything else that's on the outside of us. Wickedness is on the inside.

It's already there. Wickedness is what we are. It's where we live. Jesus told those same Pharisees who were proud of washing their hands in this traditional way to keep themselves from being defiled. He told them for from within out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts adulteries fornications murders thefts covetousness wickedness deceit lewdness and evil eye blasphemy pride.

And Foolishness. The Greek term that Jesus uses there for pride means an undue sense of one's importance bordering on insolence arrogance haughtiness pride. This is what is in the heart of fallen man, it's in the heart of everyone in this room.

It's in the heart of even a newborn babies that overblown sense of our own importance our own greatness. Proverbs 13 10 the scripture says by pride comes nothing but strife. But with the well-advised is wisdom and the Hebrew term that's used there for pride means presumptuousness.

Overconfidence presumptuousness. Overconfidence this presumptuous overconfidence this undue sense of one's importance which borders on insolence folks. You need to hear me. God hates it. The God that made everything you see the God who redeemed us in Christ hates the pride of man.

The first trait listed in the seven things that are toeva are an abomination to God. The first thing listed is a proud.

Look a.

Proud look an arrogant face. Proud looking eyes are hard to forget. Proverbs 21 24 a proud and haughty man Scoffer is his name. He acts with arrogant pride in The prophecy of Jeremiah the weeping prophet.

He delivered several special messages from the Lord to prideful people. God's words are memorable and stirring to consider. Weigh these carefully in Jeremiah 50 verses 31 and 32 Behold, I am against you.

Oh most haughty one Says the Lord God of hosts for your day has come. The time that I will punish you the most proud shall stumble and fall and no one will raise him up. I will kinder a file a fire in his cities and it will devour all around him.

The prophet Isaiah also delivered similar warnings from the Lord from our God. Isaiah 2 11 the lofty looks of man shall be humbled the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down and the Lord alone Shall be exalted in that day.

For the day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty upon. Everything lifted up and it shall be brought low. Our Lord echoed the same ideas in his ministry. Jesus detested the proud because he is God in the same way Luke 16 15 Jesus said you are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.

For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. To say that God is not impressed with human beings who think too much of themselves would be a massive understatement.

God.

Detests the pride of men. God detests the Arrogant the self-assured those who think that they are really something special and have an undue sense of their own. Importance. And folks you need to know if you haven't noticed this yet in your life pride destroys everything.

There are friendships in this room that have been ruined by pride. Marriage is ruined by pride all over the place. Denominations ruined by pride. Churches destroyed by pride. In fact James makes this terrible and stirring statement.

We would all do well to take to heart James 3 16 for where envy and self-seeking exist. Confusion and every evil thing are there. Where there's self-seeking. Where there's pride and envy. Where people don't rejoice in each other's gifts.

But rather are envious of one another and have self-seeking and have pride and undue sense of themselves. You will find confusion and every evil thing there. So that's pride. It's an undue sense of one's self-importance.

It's presumptuousness bordering on insolence. That's what the Greek and Hebrew terms mean. Now look at point number two there prides unique evil. Pride is a uniquely evil sin. It's a uniquely evil sin.

Why is that because most sins that we commit turn us away from God? Pride is a direct attack on God. A prideful heart lifts itself above God. Pride was God's first enemy. Puritan writer George Swinock said pride is the shirt of the soul put on first and put off last.

God even refers to people ruled by pride simply as the cursed ones. Psalm 100 1921 you rebuke the proud the cursed ones who stray from your commandments. Why does God have such a special hatred for pride?

Because pride is man's attempt to dethrone him and to exalt ourselves to his position. What could be more presumptuous and foolish than for clods of dirt from the ground? Created to worship and glorify God to desire that worship and glory for themselves.

What's more irrational and crazy than that? Pride is a terrible vice. Even the great Jonathan Edwards wrote in his diary 20 years after his conversion about how he groaned over the quote bottomless infinite depths of pride I see in myself and quote.

That glorious opening catechism question what is man's teeth end? What's the purpose for which we exist? The purpose for which God formed the dirt into us human beings in his image to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

Pride causes us to do the very opposite for which we were created. Why do I exist? Why did God make atoms and put them together in this body and give me a mind and give me eyes and ears and and Time to live in this world to worship and glorify him.

That's the only reason we're here. The universe is about the display and the glory and the magnificence of the triune God not for the display of the glory and the magnificence of.

Vapor.

That appears for a moment and then vanishes away. Seeking glory from men by pride and arrogance and the display of our gifts brings us to the dust of the ground. And I want to warn you if you seek glory and praise and honor From people the very same people who pat you on the back are often the first to stab you in the back.

The praises of men rarely come to us because of true piety or godliness. The godly person seeks praise and approval from their Lord and Savior not the fickle hearts of men. But make no mistake about it men will praise you when you prosper when they see your earthly or worldly Success.

And it can be intoxicating. Listen carefully to God's admonition about this one Psalm 49 16. Do not be afraid when one becomes rich when the glory of his house is increased. For when he dies he shall carry nothing away.

His glory shall not descend after him though while he lives. He blesses himself. For men will praise you when you do well for yourself. He shall go to the generation of his father's. They shall never see light.

A man who is an honor yet does not understand is like the beasts that perish. The praises of men come and go. Stars rise and fall and then they're unceremoniously forgotten. And yet because of our sinfulness we at times.

Long.

We long for the praises and approval of men. For them to think highly of our gifts to praise us to think that we're something special. It's one thing to desire. Encouragement is quite another when praise and approval for men is what motivates our actions when it dominates our thoughts our fantasies.

And we all must recognize together how susceptible to this temptation we are. There is a tendency to think far more of ourselves than we ought to there is a tendency to have an almost narcissistic fascination with ourselves with our unique gifts and talents.

And. Pride is as complicated a sin as can be imagined. Pride is multi-layered. It's multi-layered and it's complicated. It often sits in our hearts and layer after layer like an onion. So potent is pride and so powerful are its sinful and evil effects that God the Holy Spirit explicitly forbids new converts from serving as elders.

Think about that. How wise is that on God's part? The reason is really simple. You remember it first Timothy 3 6 about the elder not a novice. Lest being puffed up with pride. He fall into the same condemnation as the devil.

Really.

Elder candidates if they're selected by their congregations too early and their lives are too quickly after they're converted. Can fall into the same condemnation as Satan himself can be puffed up with pride.

If a young man is particularly godly. Particularly gifted and particularly eager to share his remarkable gifts with God's people. This would be a great blessing as there's no shortage of need for such men.

We pray that God would give them to the church. But such a man must stay on his face before Christ in prayer that he be not snared by the bear trap of arrogance. Because often when once it's stepped into it's like that trap.

It's Clamped shut and will hinder them from being able to do much of anything. We all know that phrase from the Proverbs pride comes before a fall. But everyone here remember that pride can feed off of almost anything.

Pride is a ravenous lion looking for something to feed it and make it bigger and stronger. People will ask our advice for something big in life and we're puffed up. I must be known as wise. People come to me and want my counsel want my advice.

Someone makes a compliment to us and it's as though they dumped a bucket of gasoline on the already burning fire of pride.

In our hearts.

We go through a season of time with few trials and we assume God's blessing me. Because I'm righteous and I'm obedient and I've got everything in order. We're asked to serve God in some special way or in a special place and we begin to assume We're God's greatest gift to his church.

Pride is like a reptile too. Reptiles have incredibly efficient metabolisms. An Alligator can come up out of the water eat a chicken and it's good to sit and bask in the Sun for about a month. For it needs to eat again.

Your pride is a cold-blooded reptile. It's a cold-blooded reptile. It uses very little food and it's incredibly efficient when it finds something to consume and Once it's consumed that little bit of food.

It's good to sit still for a long time before it requires another meal. It's difficult folks to starve a sin like pride when it can live and thrive on so little and. And this vice resides deeply in every heart here mine included.

We are far too easily impressed with ourselves. In describing the wicked who are always at ease the psalmist said. Therefore pride serves as their necklace.

What about the Apostle Paul.

Here is a man whose humility is manifest and open to the world in Luke's recordings of his Self-sacrificial and blameless missionary journeys Paul was a very humble man of God who seems to have put his nose to the plow and never look back.

Is one of the most humble people you could ever study reading through the book of Acts reading his letters. This guy was extraordinarily humble. But he shares something dark and frightening about his personal life that we would all do well to take to heart and 2nd Corinthians 12 7 Paul wrote and Lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of revelations a Thorn in the flesh was given to me a messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I be exalted above measure.

Now we don't know what this was. What is this storm thorn in the flesh the commentators speculate? I've seen as many as 13 different things they thought it might be but we're not told what it is other than a messenger of Satan and on the loss of Satan that word angel a demon to Buffet him.

That term means that Calafizo means to strike with the fist to cause physical impairment to torment Paul says just so I wouldn't get a big head and be exalted in my own heart mind. God sent a demon to strike me.

To torment me to cause a physical impairment to hit me. You know that same word of Calafizo to strike to hit. Very same word that's used to describe the Roman guards when they struck Jesus over and over again.

Whatever this was Paul to deal with it must have been just a terrible thing. He asked God three times with to take it away. Remember the answer My grace is sufficient for you Paul and therefore my strength is made perfect in weakness.

And then Paul says, okay fine. Then I'll boast on my weaknesses for when I am weak than God is strong. Paul knew it was given to him graciously and lovingly by God just to keep him humble. Just to keep pride from creeping into his life because of how much truth had been revealed to him.

Remember folks, especially seminarians.

Knowledge puffs up.

When the scripture says that that is an indication of how frail our hearts really are. The more you learn the more it should drive you to your knees and on your face before God. Now brothers and sisters if a man whose humility is remarkable like Paul if he was given a special angel of Satan a messenger of Satan a messenger of the adversary Young's literal translation translates it to strike him and torment him to keep him from having an undue sense Of his own self-importance.

Do you think that perhaps maybe all of us ought to make? Asking God to grant us a spirit of humility more of a priority.

Probably.

Should all of us ask the questions of ourselves. Do I care more about my reputation for godliness or godliness itself? Do we depend a bit too much on the praises of others. Cotton Mather Wrote after dealing with a serious battle with having a prideful heart.

He wrote this quote. I endeavored to take a view of my pride as the very image of the devil Contrary to the image and grace of Christ as an offense against God and grieving of his spirit as the most unreasonable folly and madness.

For one who has nothing singularly excellent and who had a nature so corrupt. With the Puritans wrote about this kind of thing a lot in their diaries and their journals battles with pride. They would write a lot.

They would preach a lot. People would come from all over to hear them preach and their heads would begin to swell. They start thinking more and more of themselves and they would write what a wretched thing.

That was the swelling of pride in our hearts. Consider with me a moment Just how much how frequently and how seriously all of us have sinned throughout the course of our few years thus far in this world.

How much of our time has been spent in Vainglorious fantasies in our mind where we're the center of attention and praise. How much time have we wasted on frivolous nonsense? How many times have we destroyed every person on earth who has ever wronged us in the theater of our mind?

How many times have we failed to show mercy to our fellow man? How many times have we reacted in righteous indignation folks against people who are doing things that we know? We have done ourselves. How many times have we failed to do our duty?

How many times have we boldly rushed into sin? How many times have we failed to take proper precautions in order to keep our besetting sins from besetting us? How many times have we violated the law of God and dishonored the name of Christ?

What sort of morbid fantasies have played out in the bold theaters of our minds that are in themselves? Abominable in the eyes of our sovereign God and judge who sees them all in plain view. And Lot of the answers to these questions that every person Listening would have to give if they're honest.

I would ask what the Puritan Richard Mayo asked long ago quote should that man be proud who hath such a heart as thou hast? Should a man be proud who's done all these things? One theologian was once asked the question.

How can we get across to our world today the message of human sinfulness? To which he very quickly replied. I usually just talk candidly about my last 24 hours. We did a sermon series here not long ago on sovereignty of God and suffering and in our trials and how Suffering and trials and heartache and things that really test us and push us and trust are always used by God for good to make Us more like Christ.

To make us long for heaven. To push us into the scriptures to make us pray harder. We looked in detail at all those good purposes for which God brings those trials and sufferings to us. Suffering marked the entire life of our Lord Jesus from the time.

He was conceived. There was a trail of blood around him left by people trying to destroy him. He was the special object of Satan's temptations after 40 days of fasting in the wilderness as we just saw.

And the old prophecies described him as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief if we would live humble lives. We must look to the sufferings of Christ. Joel Beakey said quote nowhere is humility so cultivated than at Gethsemane and Calvary.

When pride threatens you consider the contrast between a proud person and our humble Savior. Sing with Isaac Watts when I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died. My richest gain I count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride the great Augustine Was asked what three graces does a minister need the most.

And Augustine said there's three humility humility and Humility, so let's talk about humility now. What is humility number three? Let's look at just a few passages from Proverbs on humility. Proverbs 13 10 by pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well advised is wisdom.

Strikes an ugly word, isn't it? Psalm 133 begins with a glorious verse that very often is not experienced by Christians the way it should be because of pride. Psalm 133 behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

It's hard to do that. If you're not humble. It's hard to do that. If you can't admit you've ever done anything wrong. What about strife what generates strife pride the passage says? Now sometimes. Sometimes strife is necessary if the truth of the Gospels at stake.

Don't get me wrong here. I'm not saying peace at all costs. But when there is strife in normal human relationships, it's usually because of pride. Proverbs 28 25. He who is of a proud heart stirs up strife.

So what is humility? Well, it's the opposite of everything. We've been talking about. It's being unpretentious.

Lowly.

Having a low estimation of yourself. Let us remember that humility is a prerequisite for being a Christian. Humility is a prerequisite for coming to Christ. What does the Holy Spirit always do in the hearts of every person who is powerfully irresistibly and effectually called to Christ?

Question 155 of the larger catechism asks. How is the word made effectual to salvation the Spirit of God maketh the reading? But especially the preaching of the word and effectual means of enlightening listen.

Convincing and humbling sinners. And Of driving them out of themselves and drawing them unto Christ to come to Christ. You've got to be humbled first. You've got to see your need. You've got to see how helpless you are without him.

You've got to see how sinful your wickedness really is and what it really deserves at the justice of God. Until a person has been convicted by the Spirit that they are in fact a helpless sinner under God's just Condemnation for their sins and headed for hell that person will not really see their need for Christ.

Seeing our need for Jesus is a prerequisite to our receiving and resting upon him alone for salvation. As he has offered to us in the gospel All of God's children must confess with Ezra in Ezra 9 verse 6.

Oh my god. I am too ashamed and Humiliated to lift up my face to you. My god for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads and our guilt has grown up to the heavens. Folks need to understand that prayer and that mindset that heart.

That's where we live every moment of our lives as Christians not just once in a while. But every moment from the moment we come to Christ until we die.

For every person.

We must be taught by God how evil how selfish how desperately hopeless we really are apart from the grace of God in Christ. Our wickedness and evil may not display itself in overt acts of pure evil against the innocent, but our sin itself.

Manifests itself in so many more ways. The fact is folks if the Holy God Were to hold us accountable. Let's say for 17 minutes. For 17 minutes while we were awake one day He would see enough just in our mind to land us in the blackest corner of hell.

If we were judged by God for just 17 minutes of our thoughts for one day, that would be more than enough for us to be doomed. And an excellent collection of essays called won't let you go unless you bless me.

An author a woman named Andrea Su. Who wrote these essays? I believe she wrote them shortly after her. She lost her husband. She wrote this. Listen carefully to this. These are the thoughts of a woman driving home from the stop-and-shop on an ordinary day.

She conjures three comebacks. She could have hurled at Ellen had she not been caught off guard. She spots the baby shower invitation on the dashboard and hatches excuses to be busy that weekend. Then thinks better of it because she has a favor to ask the sender at a later date.

She sizes up a woman standing at the bus stop and judges her. She stews over a comment her brother made behind her back and crafts a letter telling him off and sounding righteous in the process. She reviews the morning's argument with her husband and builds her case against him for the evening installment.

She imagines how life would have been if she had married someone else. She magnanimously let a car merge into traffic then is miffed when she doesn't get her wave. Somebody rides up the shoulder and budges to the head of a traffic jam, and she hates the driver with perfect hatred.

She passes the house of the contractor who defrauded her and fantasizes blowing it to smithereens. She passes Audrey working in her garden and waves, but thinks if Audrey has chronic fatigue syndrome.

I'm a flying Walenda. She glares at a driver who runs a red light. Forgetting she did the same thing a mile ago. She mentally touches up her upcoming woman's Bible study lecture on Ephesians and considers How she can improve it and make it better than Alice's talk last week.

She is angry at God because she is a Christian and broke while her good-for-nothing heathen of a brother is rolling in dough. She wonders how her parents will divvy up the inheritance and how long she has to wait for it.

She rehearses reasons why her sister and not she should take care of the folks when they're old. She thinks about her childhood and counts the ways her parents have screwed up her life. And SUV cuts her off and she decides to punish it by tailgating her height her heart smites her for this.

So she thinks about trying to live righteously from now on. Maybe if she is good she thinks God will reward her in some amazing way like her husband divorced her and then lead her to mr.

Wright.

She tries to pray, but doesn't get past our father. She pulls into her driveway. Total drive time 17 minutes and if you were to ask the lady as she rustles parcels from the car. What she had been thinking about on the drive home.

She would say oh nothing in particular and She would not be lying.

Imagine.

Believing that we don't need a Savior. Last seminary course I took in seminary was an elective on Jonathan Edwards taught by the late John Gershner. We had to watch DVD recordings of dr. Gershner. If you ever wondered why Sproul Sounded the way he did just listen to Gershner.

In fact I thought it was Sproul when I first started hearing it. It's like no. That's not him. That's someone else that was his mentor. Jonathan Edwards is a fascinating person. And why shouldn't he be.

The Encyclopedia Britannica identifies Jonathan Edwards as the keenest scholar America ever produced. The man was a biblical theological and scientific genius. His book his treatise on the religious affections.

And his book on original sin are still in a category all their own. Edwards was one of the most godly men I have ever heard of or ever read about. Ian Murray's biography about him on Jonathan Edwards is one of the five most important books I've ever read in my life.

If I showed you my copy of it I think there's a tab on almost every page in that book with things underlined. He had a wonderful marriage and 11 children. His home was a model of Christian piety and devotion.

Part of the class required us to read some of Edwards diary. That's another book I underlined almost everything in Young Jonathan Edwards reflections on his own sinfulness are some of the most precious jewels ever written by a Christian.

Listen to this godly young man. Listen to what he wrote while meditating upon his own sinfulness. Quote. Often since I lived in this town I've had very affecting views of my own sinfulness and vileness.

Very frequently to such a degree as to hold me in a kind of loud weeping. Sometimes for a considerable time together. So that I have often been forced to shut myself up. I have had a vastly greater sense of my own wickedness and the badness of my heart than ever I had before my conversion.

It has often appeared to me that if God should mark iniquity against me I should appear the very worst of all mankind and All that have been since the beginning of the world to this time and that I should have by far the lowest place in hell.

When others that have come to talk with me about their souls concerns have expressed the sense that they have had of their own wickedness. By saying that it seems to them that they were as bad as the devil himself.

I thought that their expressions seemed exceeding faint and feeble to represent my own wickedness. My wickedness as I am in myself Has long appeared to me to be perfectly ineffable. Swallowing up all thought and imagination like an infinite deluge or mountain over my head.

I know not how to express it better. What my sins appear to me to be then by heaping infinite upon infinite and multiplying infinite by infinite. Very often for these many years. These expressions are in my mind and in my mouth infinite upon infinite.

Infinite upon infinite when I look into my heart and take a view of my wickedness. It looks like an abyss Infinitely deeper than hell and it appears to me that were it not for free grace. Exalted and raised up to the infinite height of all the fullness and glory of the great Jehovah and the arm of his power and Grace stretched forth and all the majesty of his power and in all the glory of his sovereignty I should appear sunk down in my sins below hell itself Far beyond the sight of everything but the eye of sovereign grace that can pierce even down to such a depth and Yet it seems to me that my conviction of sin is very small and faint.

It is enough to amaze me That I have no more sense of my sin and quote pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Before destruction the heart of man is haughty. The scripture says.