A MAN may be very religious, and still be far away from the truth; nay, he may make the Bible his peculiar study, and religion his chief interest, and yet be an entire stranger to God. So it was with the Pharisee of old, of whom the Lord spake, who went up into the temple to pray. The religion of the Temple was the true religion―the Pharisee was separated from the mass of men to the service of true religion, and yet he was destitute of the knowledge of God! It is a most solemn consideration, that we may be perfectly orthodox in our creed, and most exact in our attendance on religious service, and still be utterly ignorant of God―unsaved, and afar from God in spirit.
The Lord thus describes the Pharisee and his prayer: He “stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess―’” he divided his prayer into two parts; he thanked God for what he was not, and for what he was. Full of himself, he forgot that God abhors pride, and that “the high and lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose Name is Holy,” saith: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” (Isa. 57:1515For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. (Isaiah 57:15).)
Pride, and religious pride particularly, is hateful to God. And the boast of being better or wiser than others, because we know truths of the Bible which others do not, is a most dangerous sin. It is this point that the Spirit of God enlarges upon when proving to the Jew his guilt, as we read in Rom. 2:17-2317Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, 18And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; 19And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, 20An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. 21Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? 22Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? 23Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonorest thou God? (Romans 2:17‑23), and it is the same kind of spirit, that the Gentiles, who now have the word of God, are warned against in the same epistle, chs. 11, vss. 18-25. The Jews have been cut off, and the Gentiles will be. A boastfulness in the knowledge of the truth, a state of mind that denies the practical living out of the truth, must end in the judgment at God’s hands.
Unless our knowledge of the truth of God makes us humble it is but head knowledge. “Knowledge puffeth up,” wrote the apostle to the believers of Corinth; but knowledge of God never puffs up, for if we know God we can but bow our heads before Him: He is the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, and who and what are we but dust and ashes?
We feel sorry at heart for the Pharisee, of whom the meek and lowly Jesus speaks, and for all who resemble him. How sad to be a frequenter of God’s house, to be devoted to God’s service, and yet to have no sense of sin, no feel-ling of the holiness of God, and even to use the advantages of possessing God’s word and of worshipping before Him as a platform for exalting self in God’s presence! How sad to be a professing Christian, and to use the advantages and privileges of Christianity as an occasion for boasting that we are advanced and improved, and are unlike “this publican,” this neighbor of ours!
Christian friend, let us beware of religious pride—it is a quicksand, where many a nobly-furnished ship is swallowed up! Let us esteem others better than ourselves. Grant that we do know more of the Bible than others; grant that in our favored day of gospel truth we know much that was unknown when the Bible was little read in our land-still, “If any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of Him.” (1 Cor. 8:2, 32And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. 3But if any man love God, the same is known of him. (1 Corinthians 8:2‑3).)
We will only consider the Pharisee in order to warn our own souls from the danger which was his ruin. He prayed with himself! He was his own idol―self, not God, filled his soul. Nevertheless, he had time in the midst of his prayer to cast a glance at the publican, who stood afar off, and who would not so much as lift up his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” or the sinner! And most glad he was he was not “even as, this publican.”
But how did God regard the publican? “A broken and contrite heart Thou, O Lord, wilt not despise”! God beheld him with compassion, and extended towards him His mercy.
God ever shows favor towards such as own before Him that they are what they really are. “I tell you,” says our Lord, “this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
Pride and self-righteousness keep the heart filled with self, and bar it up against God. The proud God beholds from afar off, and none who is proud shall ever dwell in his pride before God. Let us never forget that man’s pride, as his unbelief, must end with this life; in the future there will be no room for it. Man will have discovered what he really is, and very much of what God is, when this short career is over. Let us bow our hearts and minds before God as we consider who He is!