The Perils of Pride — C.J. Mahaney

The Perils of Pride — C.J. Mahaney

Well, regardless of your eschatology, I don't think anybody saw this coming. Actually, John, I have bad news for you tonight. Three years ago, when you so kindly and humbly and graciously extended your friendship to me, I became post-mill, because that was the only theological explanation for our friendship I could possibly find.

I think in light of what's taking place between us, God's purpose and plan is wrapping up. It is very kind and very humble and very gracious of John to extend this invitation, and I might add very risky as well.

Dangerous. I wasn't ten steps off of the plane and into the terminal when my cell phone indicated that there was a voicemail. I guess I'm not a particularly effective charismatic. I certainly did not anticipate that on the other end of the line would be the voice of John MacArthur informing me that he would like me to speak, and I listened to his voice trying to comprehend what was taking place, for I did not come here to work.

I came here to play, and this was not good news, which if I understand correctly is why they didn't inform me prior to my getting on the plane. These men know me well. They know me well. All the way to baggage claim, I formulated my appeal.

I thought I had a compelling and convincing appeal, and when I contacted John later that afternoon, I told him I was deeply honored, and I was, and that the invitation was sufficient, and there was no need to go through with it.

Invitation alone was good enough for me. I could use that. I can work that. I can share that with others, and I said to him, I just appealed to him, you have a team of world-class teachers here. Let one of them teach twice.

I think that would be wise, and I recommend you do that, and my appeal was immediately denied, and again, I went back to the whole honor thing, which was true. I deeply moved, and then before the conversation ended, I said to him, John, if you have an angelic visitation, or even an impression, and to work with the whole spectrum of possibilities there, to ask one of the other men to speak, rather than myself, I just want you to know, I would be fully and enthusiastically supportive.

John laughed, and he said to me, that's a problem with you non-cessationists, and I thought this isn't going where I wanted it to go right now, so I said, you're breaking up, John. You're breaking up.

You're breaking up. Got to the hotel, Dan Dumas, administrator extraordinaire, comes to inform me that there's a tailor standing by to fit me for a suit. This is worse than the invitation. So I tried to humbly say, well, is this John's preference, because I'm here to serve, I want to serve, I think I want to serve, I'm trying to serve, and if I certainly, not trying to make a statement with clothes, obviously I didn't bring a suit, and what's John's preference?

And so Dan informed me that John, he didn't think, cared, and so I said, well, that's great. If he doesn't care, I don't think it would be the best use of church money to buy me a suit, good possibility, I will never wear it again, okay?

It could just be wise to add that amount to my honorarium. That'll work. So as we walked downstairs, I said to John what I've said to him repeatedly since he issued this invitation, this is indeed a life and ministry highlight to address you men.

I told John it's exceeded only by the highlight he already provided me by inviting me to speak to Grace Community Church last year, a church that he has cared for and pastored for almost 40 years, so I have that highlight in my past, and now this highlight in the present, and I am deeply honored, and John, I hope, it is certainly my desire to serve you, and I hope I don't disappoint you, and if I do, don't tell me.

Just keep that to yourself, and don't ever invite me back. And obviously, we are all disappointed that John Piper isn't standing here right now. I wish he was standing here right now. And John kindly sent me an email this afternoon that was very kind of him, very kind of him to be thinking about me in the midst of his grief, and it moved me to tears, and I would encourage you to read his narration from his journal as he sat beside his father, his narration of his father's death.

It is deeply moving, and I assured him via email that we were all deeply disappointed and deeply cared for him, and I said to John MacArthur that I really appreciate that he cares more about John Piper personally than he does about this conference.

By the way, he communicated to John, you stay there. That says a lot about this man who is leading this conference, and I know all of us, yes, right now, I'm going to pray for John and Noel, and then for our time together in God's word.

Prayer for Grief, Comfort, and the Work of the Church

Father, we do pray for John Piper, a man we love so deeply respect and miss in this moment, and we pray, Lord, that in this time of grief that you would draw near to him and comfort him, Lord, by your Spirit like only you can.

Draw near to John and to Noel. Draw near to the children as they gather. Lord, thank you for the gift of grief. Thank you for the gift of tears. May they experience that gift of grief and tears and of joy as well, for they grieve with hope.

And we thank you. How can we thank you enough for the hope they have as a result of your Son's sacrifice on the cross for our sins? Thank you for that hope and the difference that hope makes in this moment of most painful grief and separation, and how we thank you, Lord, that this separation, it's a temporary one.

So, Lord, may your comfort sustain John. Give him grace to lead his family through this difficult and challenging time. We pray that he would feel and know our support even this evening. But most important, we pray that he would sense your nearness.

Now, Father, thank you for this privilege and this joy. You know how I feel and you have heard me articulate in private my inadequacy, my dependence, and, Lord, my confidence that you desire to bless these men.

Lord, you know of my deep respect for these men, that these men seated before me are doing the most important and difficult work as they care for your people, the church that has been purchased by your Son's blood.

So, I call upon you now to assist me in this sacred task in this place. I call upon you now to grant me the sacred anointing so that I might serve these men. I call upon you now to grant all of us the gift of illumination so that as we give attention to your word, we sense you drawing near to us in and through the preaching of your word.

And I pray, Lord, that there would be the appropriate transforming effect from the preaching and application of your word. I pray for this session. I pray for every session. I pray for every main session and every seminar.

Lord, may there be an abundance of fruit from this conference, immediate fruit and enduring fruit, Lord. I pray your blessing on this church. Lord, thank you for Grace Community Church. Lord, thank you for the way this church serves.

Thank you for the way this church serves, not only faithfully but joyfully. We pray, Lord, that as they have so unselfishly served us, pour out your blessing in every form and every way on John, the pastoral team, the elders, and this church.

We pray, Lord, we pray. Bless this church. Advance the gospel in this community like never before through this church. May in the coming years, they know the greatest prosperity they have known in their life as the gospel is proclaimed from this church, we pray.

And we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Please turn in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 66. Isaiah chapter 66. And I'm going to read verses 1 and 2, and our attention will be confined to these verses. John asked me to share something personal and something pastoral and something practical, something of the values that we have sought to transfer to the pastors in Sovereign Grace that we have the privilege to care for, serve, and lead.

Isaiah 66 and the Humble Person God Regards

So this is my attempt to fulfill his request. Isaiah chapter 66 verse 1, where we read, thus says the Lord, heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. What is the house that you would build for me and what is the place of my rest?

All these things my hand has made and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this, this is the one to whom I will, he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles. Just prior to my home church, Covenant Life Church, celebrating our 25th anniversary as a church, Gary Ricucci, a close friend and one of the founding fathers of Covenant Life Church, addressed a gathering of the parents and youth of the church, providing them with an historic overview of the origins of the church.

Gary mentioned that evening that though much has changed over the past 25 years and particularly the appearance of certain pastors, certain values, certain values present at the inception of Covenant Life Church by God's grace remain unchanged.

And listening, listening intently that evening was a new member to Covenant Life Church, a recent member of Covenant Life Church named Jim. And prior to his involvement with Covenant Life, Jim participated in a church, a church he loved and regretfully a church where a serious division took place, ultimately resulting in a church split.

And that evening as Gary listed the passions and the priorities of Covenant Life from our inception, as Jim listened, he compared his former church with Covenant Life Church, seeking to discover what the differences were, what the differences were and why his experience at Covenant Life was different.

That evening as Gary reminisced, he said that we had a love for God's Word. As he thought back and characterized our initial immature beginning, he drew attention to the love for holy scripture that was present in Covenant Life Church.

And as he made this point, Jim said to himself, yep, we had that. Gary continued and he drew attention to the gratefulness for the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ that was present in passionate form at the inception of Covenant Life Church.

And Jim thought, yep, we had that too. Gary accented the emphasis on grace and Jim thought, yep, had that. Gary went on to talk about the importance and priority of relationships and once again Jim thought to himself and responded, yep, had that.

And then Gary said the following. Gary said, and there was an emphasis on humility, especially among the leaders. And Jim thought, nope, that we did not. Humility, we did not. Neither, it appears, did the Israelites being addressed by God in Isaiah 66.

They had a unique identity and nationality. They had the law of God. They had divinely prescribed religious activity. They had the covenant. They had the temple. But they lacked humility, or as Jim would say, nope, that they did not have.

And so as an expression of God's mercy, God draws their attention away from their assumption of privilege as Israelites and away from their preoccupation with and confidence in the temple and ritual and describes for them the One, the One to whom I will look.

And this passage, like all of Scripture, was written not only for the original recipients but with a future audience in mind as well, with us in mind, with us this evening in mind as well. It is possible for us to gather at this conference primarily or exclusively preoccupied with matters that are in themselves legitimate and important and critical for ministry, sound doctrine, our role and responsibility as pastors, expository preaching, evangelism, church planting.

I mean, this conference is effectively designed to equip us in all these areas, perhaps like no other conference I am aware of. And for that, I am grateful and indebted to those who serve and lead us in this conference.

But tonight, tonight I believe the Savior would draw our attention away from the necessary pursuit of excellence and effectiveness in these areas, in these ministry skills, and direct our attention to that which is fundamental, fundamental to all of ministry, our hearts, our hearts, and specifically draw our attention to the subtle and deadly effect of pride in our hearts and the divine requirement for humility in our hearts.

Brothers, these matters of the heart are most important and most serious for all Christians, but they are particularly important and serious for all who are called to pastoral ministry. So this evening I would like to address you about number one, the perils of pride, number two, the promise of humility, and then I would like to conclude with purposeful application, a section devoted to purposeful application.

And I want you to know from the outset I address you tonight with a certain and definite reluctance. I address you with a certain and definite reluctance as a replacement for John Piper. No one can replace John Piper.

And I address you with a certain and definite reluctance as relates to this topic. Some of you might be aware I wrote a book on humility. It's titled Humility, True Greatness. And it was a humbling experience writing a book on humility in countless ways.

As I would write in any public context, I would be sitting in Starbucks and well-meaning people from the church would come and see me and inquire as to what I was doing. And I was tempted to evasive language.

How do you say to somebody, I'm writing a book about humility? How do you break that news to somebody? What are you doing? I'm writing. What are you writing? I'm writing a book. What's it on? Stuff. Please go away, you know.

And eventually I had to divulge what I was doing. And every time, I think each and every time, it's almost like it inspired people to assume they had comedic gifts. It did. So I was subject to all kinds of material as individuals were inspired to try to say something humorous about how incredible it was for somebody to write a book on humility.

It was a humbling experience. I can tell you that the one recurring inspiring thought I had through the whole writing process was this, you idiot. You idiot. Why did you agree to write a book on humility?

Because it wasn't my idea. My close friends, Mark Deversy down here in the front row, had played a significant role in this, and I still hold him responsible for this idea. So I did not initiate this.

This was not my idea. And throughout the whole process, I had to explain to people why I was writing the book. And here's why I'm reluctant to address you tonight. It's real simple. To my shame, I'm not humble.

When Churchill said of his political rival Clement Attlee that he was a humble little man with much to be humble about, the second part of that would be very true of me. And the sad, harsh reality is the first part isn't true.

I have much to be humble about, yet I would not consider myself a humble man. I'm a proud man who is pursuing humility by the grace of God. So please understand, in drawing your attention to this subject, I don't do it as someone who is some model, an example of humility.

And these verses have been having their fresh effect on my soul as I have had the privilege to interact with them this afternoon, and so I come to you with reluctance, and I hope you hear that reluctant tone throughout this message this evening.

The Perils of Pride as the Essence of Sin

Point one, the perils of pride. The perils of pride. Pride has quite the history. It would appear that the history of pride precedes Adam and Eve. Pride would appear to be the very first sin. In Isaiah chapter 14, we are informed of Lucifer's motivation.

Led by Lucifer, powerful angelic creatures possessing beauty and glory far beyond our comprehension, arrogantly desired recognition and status equal to God Himself, and God swiftly and severely judged them.

If I understand correctly, pride not only appears to be the first sin, but appears to be the essence of all sin. And as I study my Bible, it appears that pride is the most serious sin. There appears to be no sin God hates more than pride.

And as I'm sure is obvious to you, biblical support for this position just abounds. The proud man heads up the seven abominations in Proverbs chapter 6, verse 17. Consider this verse. Don't turn there.

Just listen and be freshly affected by this perspective. Consider the divine perspective of pride that's revealed in Proverbs 16, verse 5. Everyone, everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord.

I mean, stronger language for sin just cannot be found in Holy Scripture. And in Proverbs chapter 8, verse 13, we read the following, the fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance I hate.

Pride and arrogance I hate. Let me ask you, what do you hate? What do you hate? Typically, we confine the word hate to the trivial, or at least I do. Here's a sampling of what I hate. I hate meatloaf.

I do. I just hate it. I hate, even more I hate cottage cheese. I hate cottage cheese. I hate looking at cottage cheese, even the appearance of cottage cheese. And I particularly hate it when someone who eats cottage cheese opens their mouth while they're eating cottage cheese.

These are, these are things I hate. More importantly, I hate the Dallas Cowboys. Oh, man, I knew you were discerning. Okay. I do hate the Dallas Cowboys. I hate Duke basketball. Well, we're just getting started.

I hate all professional sports teams from New York. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you should too. Okay. You should too. Now, don't misunderstand me. Okay. I don't hate people. This is a well-thought-out hatred.

I do not hate people. Okay. I have a certain respect for Krzyzewski, certain respect for Joe Torre. This is not directed at people. I hate institutions. I hate uniforms. And I hate the media bias that is so evident in relation to the Dallas Cowboys and Duke basketball or any professional team from New York.

And I, in particular, hate the Dallas Cowboys because they have appointed and anointed themselves America's team. Therefore, you should join me in despising that kind of blatant arrogance. All right? Those are a few of the things I hate.

Here's what I've discovered as I study Scripture. Scripture, Scripture never trivializes God's holy hatred of sin. Never. And in our more reflective moments, we to some degree appropriately share God's hatred of certain sins.

So I, like you, hate abortion. I, like you, hate child abuse. I, like you, hate racism. But listen, listen. Regardless of what you hate, you and I hate nothing like God hates. Wait, nothing. Pride. Why does God hate pride so passionately?

Why does God hate pride so intensely? Well, here's why. Pride is when sinful creatures aspire to the status and position of God, refusing to acknowledge their dependence upon God. I like Charles Bridges' definition for pride found in his fine commentary on Proverbs.

He writes, pride lifts up the heart against God. And I love this phrase. It affects me. It contends for supremacy with Him, the essence of pride. Contending for the supremacy with Him, Bridges continues to write, how unseemly, moreover, is this sin, a creature so utterly dependent, so fearfully guilty, yet proud in heart.

Proud person seeks to glorify himself and not God. Proud person attempts to rob God of the glory only He is worthy to receive. Pride has many forms. Pride has countless forms, it would appear, but only one end, one end, that being self-glorification.

And in and throughout Scripture, God reveals Himself as actively opposed to the proud. God, it says in 1 Peter chapter 5, God opposes the proud, present tense continuous. God opposes the proud, and it's very clear that the proud will not go indefinitely unpunished or lacking discipline.

John Calvin stated that God cannot bear with seeing His glory appropriated by the creature in even the smallest degree, so intolerable to Him is the sacrilegious arrogance of those who by praising themselves obscure His glory as far as they can.

And the fruit of pride, well, the fruit of pride is sobering, and it's frightening. Pride is potent. It appears pride can stop a revival. At least that would be Edwards' observation. Edwards would attribute the premature end of the Great Awakening to, quote, undiscerned spiritual pride.

And he concluded with regret that the single greatest cause of the miscarriage of revival was pride. Pride undermines the unity of the Spirit. Pride ultimately can divide a church. Pride breeds quarrels and strife.

We read in Proverbs chapter 13, pride brings down leaders. We read in Proverbs 16 that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Oh, be sobered by that verse. Be frightened by that verse.

Be warned by that verse. Be protected by that verse and be informed. The next time you hear of a leader who falls, well, the next public figure to fall, there is the root issue revealed. Oh, the circumstances might appear to be complex, but at root it's simple, and it's simply explained in Proverbs.

Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. An excellent article for Table Talk magazine, Mike Renahan wrote the following, pride ruins pastors and churches more than any other thing.

Ruins pastors and churches more than any other thing. It is more insidious in the church than radon in the home. Well, if this quote is accurate, and I think it is, we as pastors should be sobered. We should be sobered about the potential effect of pride, and we should be diligent in our mortification of pride.

Brothers, let's not flatter ourselves this evening. To differing degrees and in different forms, we are all proud. We're all proud, and we're all vulnerable to pride, and we're all normally more perceptive of pride in others than we are in ourselves.

I know I am. I see your pride. It's all too obvious to me at times. It's my pride that I am all too blind to so often. So it's not if pride exists in your heart. It's where it exists and how it's expressed.

So I want you to be convinced from the outset of your own tendency to pride, because you have the same tendency. You have as much tendency to pride as anyone, as everyone else. And so we all gather here this evening in need of illumination.

We all gather here in need of illumination and discernment and conviction as relates to the presence and the power of pride in our hearts, because this radon resides in our soul. And we need discernment in order to perceive where and how.

And the good news tonight is I, the Lord, search the heart. And Lord, we welcome your search this evening. We need you to search our hearts. We ask you to search our hearts, and we ask you to reveal the presence of pride so that we might be protected, Lord, from the perils of pride.

The Promise of Humility Before God

Point two, the promise of humility. The promise of humility found in verse 2. This is the one to whom I will look, He who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. This is amazing. This verse 2 is amazing.

It is an astonishing, astounding statement by God Himself. The eyes of the Lord are a theme throughout Scripture, obviously the most familiar verse being found in 2 Chronicles chapter 16, for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth.

Now obviously God doesn't have eyes, but He uses this metaphor in order to obtain our attention and draw our attention to this rare quality that He singles out as capturing His attention, humility, His.

Nothing escapes His notice, but one thing captures His gaze. He is aware of all things, but He is searching for one thing. To this one I will look, He who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

And note here in verse 2 of Isaiah 66, we don't find a command. This is not a command to humble ourselves. Humility is not commanded in this particular text, but it is held out to us as divinely attractive.

God is not only passionately opposed to pride, He is decisively drawn to humility. The one who is omniscient, the one who is omni-aware is specifically attentive to the humble, specifically attentive to the humble, personally attentive to the humble, personally supportive of the humble.

He is particularly and personally supportive of the humble. That same mighty hand, if you will, that crushes the proud, opposes, gives grace. So perceiving the perils of pride isn't sufficient. We must also discern the promise of humility.

But be aware that momentary inspiration is not sufficient. So mere education, and I'm sure you are familiar with all I've brought to your attention so far, but mere education about the perils of pride or the promise of humility is not sufficient.

Momentary inspiration this evening is not sufficient. There must be specific application of truth to our lives for there to be transformation. So it isn't sufficient tonight to merely preach about humility.

It isn't sufficient for us to merely admire humility or even to desire humility because it is possible, it is possible to admire humility while remaining proud. It is possible for me this evening to preach on humility while neglecting pride in my own heart and fail to cultivate humility.

So there must be purposeful application. There must be purposeful application of truth to our hearts and lives if there is ever going to be genuine transformation and the genuine cultivation of humility.

So mere attendance at this conference does not ensure the creation and the cultivation of humility. Now, I commend you for attending. We need to attend conferences like this so that we can be taught and equipped by world-class teachers seated here in the front row.

But you shouldn't assume that merely attending this conference ensures the creation and cultivation of humility in your life. It does not. Actually, mere attendance at this conference could add to the pride that you came with.

Biblical knowledge comes with this on the outside of the package, handle with care, and listen, apply to your life. So there must be very specific, purposeful application for there to be the mortification of pride and the cultivation of humility.

John Stott has written, in fact, at every stage of our Christian development and in every sphere of our Christian discipleship, listen, pride is the greatest enemy and humility our greatest friend. Every stage, every sphere, pride is the greatest enemy and humility our greatest friend.

Now, I'm convinced of that. I believe you are convinced of that. Pride is my greatest enemy. Humility is my greatest friend at every stage and in every sphere of Christian discipleship. So, convinced of this, I must consider how for the rest of my life I can deliberately, listen, for the rest of my life in the shadow of the cross, motivated by grace, how can I deliberately and diligently mortify pride on a daily basis, my greatest enemy, and how can I deliberately and diligently cultivate humility, my greatest friend?

And so the following would be, well, would be, I hope, in effect, ways to tremble at His Word, purposeful application, ways to tremble at His Word, ways to apply His Word to our lives and experiencing the sweet transforming effect of His Word.

These are lifetime practices I commend to you for your consideration in the process of mortifying your greatest enemy and cultivating your greatest friend. Number one, number one, study the attributes of God.

Studying God’s Attributes to Cultivate Humility

Study the attributes of God. Study the character of God. And I recommend that you have a consistent diet of studying the incommunicable attributes in particular, the attributes of God for which there is no human reflection or no human illustration can be found, the attributes of God that God does not share with others, the attributes of God that are normally the object of questions by younger children.

I think back to Chad as he grew up and the number of times we would be out fishing, and he would, he just assumes, Chad just assumed, Chad just assumed that whatever the question, I had an answer. Now, Chad was met so often with the following answer, I don't, I don't, here's the following answer, often, that's a good question, son, I don't know.

Chad heard that and has heard that so much that I think Chad is convinced, you know, my dad, he means well, but he doesn't know a whole lot. He doesn't know a whole lot. And if other options don't work out in my career, I think I'm going to go into pastoring because I hear I don't know a lot from my dad.

Well, the reason I often said I don't know to Chad was he was asking about, he was asking questions related to mystery that I didn't know. He thought they were simple questions, so as he cast, he would ask me a question about how God began, when God began, or another one, hey, dad, explain the Trinity to me.

Or the most difficult one, what is a concubine? Okay, these are, these are difficult questions. These are, these are mysteries. And please note in verse 1, God is revealing His greatness. God is revealing incommunicable attributes.

He is infinite, and He is independent. One can hear the words of 1 Timothy 1, verse 17, now to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be glory and honor forever and ever. Amen. God is infinite.

God is independent. I mean, at this point, we are definitely swimming in the deep end of the pool theologically. New Bible Dictionary says, when we say that God is infinite Spirit, we pass completely out of the reach of our experience.

You might have missed that. We just passed completely out of the reach of our experience. He's infinite, not bound by a body, not confined. He's free from all limitations, space, and distant, omnipresent.

R .C. Sproul says, He's everywhere equally present. Let's think about that for a second. He's everywhere equally present. There is no place God isn't fully present. Listen, I can only be one place, and even there, I'm not always present, okay?

Check out God. He is everywhere equally present. He is infinite, and He's independent. He's self-existent. He's self-sufficient. Again, to quote Dr. Sproul, the grand difference between a human being and a supreme being is precisely this.

Apart from God, I cannot exist. Apart from me, God does exist. God does not need me in order for Him to be. I do need God in order for me to be. This is the difference between what we call self-existent being and dependent being.

We are dependent. We are fragile. We cannot live without air, without water, without food. No human being has the power of being within himself. Life is lived between two hospitals. We need a support system from birth to death to sustain life.

We are like flowers that bloom and then wither and fade. This is how we differ from God. God does not wither. God does not fade. God is not fragile. Matthew Henry said, The greatest and best man in the world must say, By the grace of God, I am what I am.

But God says, Absolutely, I am that I am. Now listen, what is the effect of even this brief contemplation of these incommunicable attributes? I think the effect is humility. That's the effect. When you contemplate the character of God, the attributes of God, how God is so different from us, the effect of that contemplation is humility.

Edwards says that the saints in glory are so much employed in praise because, number one, they are perfect in humility, and number two, they have so great a sense of the infinite distance between them and God.

Well listen, the more we are aware of this distance and the difference between us and God, the more humility we will experience and express. So I recommend that as part of your diet, part of your spiritual diet, you study the attributes of God.

The Cross, Grace, and the Doctrine of Sin

Number two, each day survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died. Don Carson relates an interview that took place that he conducted and led with Carl Henry, one of the foremost evangelical theologians of the latter half of the twentieth century.

At the time, Mr. Henry was in his seventies, and Don Carson asked Mr. Henry how he had remained humble for so many decades, and this is how Mr. Henry responded. He said, how can anyone be arrogant when he stands beside the cross?

How can anyone be arrogant when he stands beside the cross? Oh, what I desire to do, I'm sure you as well, I desire each day to stand as close to the cross as I possibly can. Why? Because it's harder for me to be arrogant when I stand close to the cross.

Therefore, I want to stand as close as I can on a daily basis so that my greatest enemy, pride, can be weakened, and my greatest friend, humility, can be cultivated. Number three, study the doctrines of grace.

Study the doctrines of grace. Consistently study the doctrines of grace, not primarily or not first and foremost for their presentation in the context of your church, but for the sake of your soul, because the doctrines of grace are intended to have a humbling effect on our soul.

To be theologically Reformed and personally arrogant is a profound contradiction, a profound one. Therefore, we who espouse the doctrines of grace, we who love the doctrines of grace should be different, and that difference should be discernible even in casual conversations.

There should be a discernible humility because we have been humbled by the doctrines of grace. Next, study the doctrine of sin. I'm going to go quickly through a number of these. I have some hope I'm going to get to some practices for a given day, although looking at the clock, it's not looking good right now.

But we were going to at least make the attempt, and we are well-meaning. Study the doctrine of sin. I turned to John before I went up and said, how long am I supposed to preach? Preach as long as you want.

I just said, you should never, ever say that to me. That is so kind of you and very unhelpful. And here's the problem. You are so attentive and responsive that one feels like one could preach on and on, and you would still be attentive and responsive.

Well, that's very kind of you, and I'm not sure that's representative of everybody in here, okay? Although I was told earlier that both John and Steve clocked in at an hour and twenty, so I'm working with that time frame.

That's nice to know. I can get this in in an hour and twenty. Study the doctrine of sin. John Owen wrote, two things are needed to humble us. First, let us consider God in His greatness, glory, holiness, power, majesty, and authority.

Then, let us consider ourselves in our mean, abject, and sinful condition. Yes, let us, and no one will assist you more effectively in the study of the doctrine of sin in my reading experience than John Owen himself.

The following sign appeared on a department store dressing room mirror. It read, objects in the mirror may appear bigger than they actually are. Let me just assure you, that will not be your experience with the doctrine of sin.