Photo by Ilona Froehlich on Unsplash

In 2017 hurricane Irma came through Florida, and many of us evacuated. I went to Tennessee to stay with my sister. The morning the hurricane hit Tampa where I lived at the time, I received a text from a friend there who was unable to evacuate. She said she was afraid, but she knew God was with her and that she would not get hurt. I thought to myself that God was with my mother when she drew her last breath and died. Of course, I did not text my friend back and tell her that God has been with many people while they drew their last breath. In other words, just because God is with us does not mean we won’t die in a hurricane. By faith I know God is with me in a storm, but only presumption would tell me I won’t die in the storm. People a lot more righteous and godly than I have died in storms, while I am still alive.

Just because God is with us does not mean we won’t die. When a storm comes, having faith that God is with me is one thing, but having faith that I will not die is presumption. After all, millions of people have died in various storms throughout earth’s history. I would have to be a blatant fool to think I’m a better Christian than millions of other people or even that I have more faith than those who have died in storms.

It’s the same when I get in a car. I pray for safety, and I know God is with me. I also know testimonies from people who survived a car accident where a loved one died. They also say they prayed for protection before their trip. A pastor friend of mine was killed in a car accident just a few Christmases ago. He was in his forties. Am I still alive because I am a better Christian than he was or because I have more faith? Of course not! To think I have survived storms and car accidents because I am a faithful Christian is beyond presumption. It is absurd! Millions more worthy than I have perished in storms and car accidents. I know God is with me regardless of my fate. While Hebrews celebrates the victories of the faithful, it also recognizes the deaths of the faithful.

Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. Hebrews 11:35-38 NKJV

Faith is knowing what God has promised. God has promised me eternal life. See Titus 1:2. Presumption is assuming what God has not promised. God never promised me I would never die in a storm or car accident.

So now, let’s get to the title of our topic. How do I know I have the assurance of salvation in Jesus and am not just being presumptuous that I am saved? Let’s take a look at some biblical examples of people in the Bible who were being faithful and those who were just being presumptuous.

But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? James 2:18-20 NKJV

In the book of James, we are taught that true faith will bear the fruits of good works and obedience. “Faith” that does not bring forth good works and obedience is a presumption which will not make us any better off than the demons who believe and tremble.

Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. Acts 19:11-16 NKJV

The sons of Sceva were presumptuous because they did not know Jesus for themselves. 1 John 2:4 says if we say we know Jesus but do not obey the commandments, that just makes us liars. We know they did not know Jesus for themselves because they said. “The Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Paul knew Jesus. They did not. They were being presumptuous, thinking the name of Jesus was a magic word like abracadabra. Jesus and Paul are not magic. They both got their power from an obedient relationship with the Father.

In Numbers 10:33-35, Moses sent the ark out before their battles and victories. However, when Israel was in apostasy, their faith in the ark turned into presumption, and the ark itself was captured by the enemy in 1 Samuel 4:1-22. The ark was not magic. The ark was a symbol of their faith and obedience toward God. Without obedience, the ark had no power for them, much like Samson’s hair. There was no magic in his hair. His long hair was a sign of his loyalty to God. When he was no longer loyal to God, the long hair was meaningless. See Judges 13:5.

Romans 1:5 speaks of faith that leads to obedience, and Revelation 14:12 says that God’s last-day saints will have faith and keep the commandments. True biblical faith produces obedience. A supposed “faith’ without obedience is mere presumption. In Matthew 4:5-7, Satan tells Jesus to jump off a tower and have faith that God would save Him. However, there is no command from God to jump off a tower. Jesus knew that jumping off the tower would not be in accordance with God’s commands and would not be an act of obedient faith but rather mere presumption. By the way, today we wear seat belts in our cars because, while we have faith in God, we were given no command to be careless and presumptuous with our safety. Jesus gave us an example of how to use common sense and faith in God at the same time. One does not cancel out the other.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. Hebrews 11:30 NKJV

But a few days later, the children of Israel were defeated when disobedience led to presumption. See Joshua 7:1-26.

While Romans 1:5 and Revelation 14:12 talk about faith and obedience, David links presumption with sin.

Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Psalm 19:13 NKJV

Faith is when we claim a promise in the Bible, such as that God is with us. Presumption is when we claim assurance that the Bible never gave us, such as I will never die in a storm or car accident. Or even that I will never get sick,  therefore I do not need to take precautions. In the wilderness, Jesus used faith and common sense, and so shall I.

Faith leads me into good works. See Ephesians 2:8-10. Faith leads me into commandment keeping. See Revelation 14:12. Presumption encourages me to carelessness and sin. See Psalm 19:13.

Matthew 7:21-27 teaches me that claiming salvation without obeying Jesus is mere presumption. When I put God’s Word into practice, I have the assurance of salvation.

Then, about 10 years ago, I was a teacher’s aide in a 5th- and 6th-grade Adventist school classroom. One of my responsibilities was reading Anne Frank’s censored diary with the class. Ironically, one of the first observations my class made was that the dates and days of the week in her diary aligned with those of the current year while we were reading.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

While reading her diary with the class, I personally discovered Anne Frank was way more than a girl who died a death. She lived a life! She was fascinated by human nature, as I am. She studied people and had her ideas, dreams, and imagination. While in isolation, she and her friend Peter would stare out the attic window, trying to imagine and grasp what was going on outside. The writer in me ponders that for the last 80 years, the world has been staring back through that same window, trying to grasp and comprehend what was going on in her and Peter’s world. 

While Anne was a girl with vivid ideas and imagination, one of her quotes really hits home with me. Speaking of her writings, she wrote, 

“I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I’ve never met. I want to go on living even after my death!” -Anne Frank April 5, 1944. 

When I read this, I thought those are my thoughts about writing for Sabbath School Net! Now before anybody gets any crazy ideas, I don’t intend to actually be alive while I am dead, and I don’t think that is what Anne meant either. I want my writings to be a blessing to people around the world whom I have never met, and I want my writings to keep on living even when I am sleeping in Christ. While many of you comment on my posts, many of you do not. Still, I run into you at camp meetings and various places, and you tell me you enjoy reading what I write. What that tells me is, while I am writing on my little laptop in my room in Florida, I still have a connection with those who live beyond my “little attic window.” I don’t think Anne Frank wrote to become famous. I believe she loved people and wrote to connect with people, even people she would never meet. It is the same with me. 

About one third of Anne Frank’s diary was censored. At first, that made sense to me as it was a personal diary. However, after I found out that she was writing her diary with the purpose of it being published I changed my mind and did not think it should have been censored. Her father felt some of the things she wrote about other people should not be published, and I agree with that. However, some of her thoughts about sex were simply a part of living a life with a God-given curiosity. As a writer, I do not believe those thoughts and ideas should have been censored, knowing she was writing for publication. I am used to it now, but when I first began writing for Sabbath School Net, I was uncomfortable having my thoughts and ideas edited and revised. 

I love that Anne Frank’s words have lived on after her death. A  powerful would-be world dictator used a world war to kill Anne Frank and shut her up. Instead, Anne’s lively writings have been freely circulating the world for over 80 years. As a writer, I see that a 15-year old school girl won the war against Hitler. Her spirit would not be defeated, and her words live on to inspire others she has never even met. Long before the Internet, with just pen and paper in an isolated attic, God protected her writings and the spirit of those writings so that Anne Frank is a household name, and unlike Hitler, a household name that inspires enduring joy, love, and authenticity in us all. 

Today I took time out from my usual Sabbath School writing, to remember another writer, who over 80 years ago was exceptionally more than a 15-year-old school girl who died a death. Anne Frank was a girl who lived a life. Today her writings inspire other writers like me to be useful, joyful, and authentic to people we may never meet in this life. Thank you, dear reader, for taking the time to connect with me today. Thank you for connecting your world with mine. I hope that maybe not this article, but my other articles have not only been usefiul and brought you joy, but have also inspired you to be useful and to bring joy to others, even people you may never meet, just as Anne Frank has inspired me. 

“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:34-36 NKJV

The word “carousing” in this passage is the word” Kraipalê,” which means drunk, hungover, or disoriented. Sometimes, we are disoriented as to where we are physically. I remember years ago, while living in Fort Worth, I was often driving up to Oklahoma on the weekends, preaching at different cities like Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and others. Every weekend, I was in a different city, and I remember meeting a friend for dinner in Tulsa. When I left the restaurant, before I could drive away, it took me a moment to remember what city I was in and where I needed to go from there. I was disoriented.

People have also been disoriented in regard to time. I think we all occasionally forget what time it is and even what day it is. Right now, I enjoy pastoring a three-church district, where I preach in different churches on different Sabbaths. It has not happened yet, but I would not be surprised if one Sabbath I forget which Sabbath it is and drive to the wrong church. I am not sure if that would be a time or place disorientation, or both. In the passage above, Jesus wants us to watch and pray so we do not become disoriented as to time. Jesus wants us to be aware that we are in the final moments of earth’s history, and to watch and pray accordingly. 

Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane,
https://www.goodsalt.com/christ-in-gethsemane-gcbas0217

In Gethsemane, Jesus asked His disciples to watch and pray with Him, but they kept falling asleep. Now, as Jesus is finishing His work of interceding for sinners in earth’s final moments, He wants His church to be awake and praying with Him. 

Why does Jesus want us to pray with Him? Do intercessory prayers work? Yes, they do. When my mother was dying and was unconscious, I prayed for God to wake her up just long enough for me to tell her I loved her one more time, and that is exactly what happened. A few years ago, I baptized a mother and her three children, while the husband and father thought baptism was the craziest thing in the world. The family and I prayed for the husband and father, and a year later, I baptized him, too.

Others have told me of a spouse or loved one who accepted Jesus as their Savior after 30 or 40 years of intercessory prayer. I remember a friend in Oklahoma gave a testimony about how she left the church as a teenager, but her mother kept praying for her. Years after her mother died, she came back to Jesus. When she was rebaptized, her aunt told her that her mother had made her promise to “take over” praying for her when she died. That story has always stirred my heart and affirmed the power of intercessory prayer. I remember praying for my friend, whom I will call Anne, who had left our small group Bible study and the church. Every night I prayed, “Lord please send your Holy Spirit to work upon Anne’s heart.” After weeks of praying, she called me and told me she was coming back to Jesus because she felt “The Holy Spirit working on her heart.”

Intercessory prayer works, but how?  I don’t understand everything, but considering a previous Sabbath School Lesson, Rules of Engagement, we are learning there are parameters in the great cosmic battle between Christ and Satan. Satan claims this world as his own, and while I know well that this is my Father’s world, there are rules to the battle. Temporarily, at least, there is some validity to Satan’s claim to this planet. Why else would he be allowed in those meetings with the other sons of God in Job 1 and 2? In John 14:30 and John 16:11 Jesus refers to Satan as the prince of this world.

In Matthew 8:29  NLT, the demons accuse Jesus of “interfering” with them. While I am sure Jesus was not breaking any rules, that does give us a hint that there are parameters in the cosmic battle. God cannot intervene where He is not invited, as that would be using force and manipulation, as opposed to love. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus stands knocking at the heart’s door, but does not force His way in, as that would not be love. We have to open the door to let Him in. This is where intercessory prayers come in. When we pray as members of humanity on behalf of humanity for God to intervene in the lives of humanity, He now has an invitation and is not using force. If Satan protests God’s involvement in meddling with human hearts, God can tell Satan, “I am not using force or manipulation. I have been invited to intervene.”

This is why Jesus encourages us in Matthew 18:19 -20 that when we gather together in His name He is there to work powerfully to grant our requests, Just as he answered Elijah’s powerful prayers. See James 5:14-18. Being gathered in his name does not mean we have to be gathered in a certain building. We may be in separate hemispheres and be gathered in His name.

In Matthew 6:10 Jesus prays for His Father’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. In Revelation 12:7-9 Satan was cast out of heaven. When we pray as humanity on behalf of humanity, it opens the way for God to cast Satan out of our hearts, homes and communities. The human heart still has free choice, but God can intervene on behalf of humanity within the parameters of the cosmic battle without using force and manipulation, as He has been invited to intervene just as Elijah prayed for God’s intervention in his day.

Elijah witnessed a great miracle on Mount Carmel when he prayed for God to intervene with the Baal worshippers in 1 Kings 18.

What are some amazing things you have witnessed after praying for God’s intervention?

I always did what was best for you. I told you the Good News about Jesus in public before the people and also taught in your homes. Acts 20:20 ERV

We are all encouraged, like Paul, to share Jesus in the homes of our friends and loved ones. This is something we all can do.

Among the members of our churches there should be more house-to-house labor in giving Bible readings and distributing literature…. As we sow beside all waters we shall realize that “he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” –Ellen White, Maranatha Page 104

In Matthew 14:15-16, the disciples ask Jesus to send a large multitude back into the villages so they can find some food. The disciples did not feel they had the skills or resources to feed a huge multitude, so they wanted Jesus to send them to the villages where there were markets with professionals who had the skills and resources to feed a big crowd. However Jesus tells the disciples that they could indeed feed the multitude. They did not have to go to the “more skilled professionals”. Do you know someone you would like to give a Bible study to, but do not feel like you have the skills or resources? I assure you Jesus can give you those skills and resources. I assure you the same Holy Spirit that is with John Bradshaw or Shawn Boonstra  when they give a Bible study will be with you too. If you feel you don’t know it all, you are off to a great start, because you will feel your need of the Holy Spirit and will be sure to ask Him to guide you. Here are 5 easy tips to help you give a soul-winning Bible study. 

1. Don’t pretend to know it all. Many people tell me they are afraid to give Bible studies because they don’t know enough. That’s okay, No one wants to learn from a know-it-all anyway. The fact that you don’t know it all will make others more comfortable studying with you. I actually began my Bible worker career by telling my friends and co-workers that I needed to practice giving Bible studies, and asked them if I could practice giving Bible studies to them. Many agreed, some attended church with me, and one still does attend church with me whenever I return to visit his area. If you’re not a know-it-all, you will be great at giving Bible studies.
2. Stick with the study guides or chain referencing format. Don’t adlib or try to philosophize. Many tell me they are afraid to try to give Bible studies because they don’t know what to say. That’s perfect. The study guides ask questions and then share Bible verses that answer them. The chain referencing format  works the same way. When I train people to give Bible studies, I find that one common mistake is feeling they have to adlib and add to what is already in the guide or Bible text. When they adlib, they get distracted and wander from the thought process already provided in the format. Each question and Bible answer in the Bible study guide builds upon the next in a logical sequence. Simply point out the answer in the text. Don’t adlib. That only distracts from the logical sequence. See? You can do this!
3. Don’t quote authors outside the Bible. This is a Bible study. A while back, I took a lay member with me to a Bible study I had just started. The man I had just begun studying with knew nothing about the Bible or the church, much less Ellen White. He asked if there was life on other planets. I told him we could study about that in the future, when the lay member with me blurted out. “Oh! Ellen White talks about visiting people on other planets!” The man we were studying with knew nothing about Ellen White and wondered why the lay member even said that. I quickly changed the subject back to our topic for the Bible study. Of course, I believe in Ellen White, but I also believe a Bible study should be a Bible study.
4. Get a decision. After every Bible study, ask for a decision on the topic. When I was a literature evangelist, after telling my customers all about the books, I never made a sale until I asked them to buy them. It is not enough to just share information. Ask your Bible student to make a decision based on what you studied. If studying about salvation, ask them to accept Jesus as their Savior. If studying about clean and unclean foods, ask them to follow the Bible counsel you both just read.
5. After the decision, have a prayer about it, then leave! Do all your small talk before the Bible study. Get that pie recipe or discuss that ball game before the Bible study, not afterward. At the end of the Bible study, you want to pray and then politely and quickly leave, so that you leave them with that prayer marinating in their mind and heart. Don’t distract them with small talk after the prayer. After the prayer, leave!

Of course, you will want to be praying before, during, and after your Bible studies. With God’s help, you can do this! You will make mistakes, just like the rest of us. If you don’t make a mistake, you will be the first person ever to give a perfect Bible study. Then you will become a know-it-all, and no one will want to study with you. Be humble. Be human, so people will feel comfortable studying with you. God will use you with all of your mistakes and shortcomings. Remember, I have studied with over 400 people who were baptized as a result, and I made some big mistakes while studying with over 400 of them. I have never given a perfect Bible study – ever! But I don’t let that discourage me. I seriously doubt that the talking donkey in Numbers 22 was perfect, but God surely used it to get Balaam back on the right track. You and I are not perfect either, but God will use us to take the Gospel into all the world.

Now, in the Words of Jesus,

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. ” Amen.” Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV

He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. Revelation 13:13-14 NKJV

Photograph by William Earnhardt

Many believe this passage is referring to the United States using the atomic bomb in World War 2, by the fire coming down from heaven to the earth. However, the atomic bomb did not deceive anyone. This passage clearly describes fire coming down from heaven as a deception. Remember when Elijah called fire down from heaven to expose the Baal worshippers? In the last days, Satan will work through the beast and the false prophet (See Revelation 16:13) to perform miracles very similar to the ones in the Bible to deceive many. 

These deceptions will look like such genuine godly miracles that only by carefully studying the Scriptures will we be kept from being deceived. 

So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested.-Ellen White, Great Controversy, Page 593. 

Remember when Jesus met two men on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35? Their eyes were made so that they could not recognize Him. He asked them why they were sad, and they told Him about Jesus being crucified, and instead of Jesus just saying, “Hey! Look, it’s me,” Their eyes still did not recognize Him as He explained to them all the things in Scripture concerning Himself. He showed them from the Scriptures that the Messiah was to be crucified and rise again, instead of just saying, “Look, it’s me.” Why? Because Jesus did not want them to go by what they felt, saw, or heard. He only wanted them to go by what God’s Word said. Jesus knew Satan could appeal to our senses of sight and sound as well as tempt our emotions. This is why Jesus relied on nothing but the Word of God, rather than on signs and wonders. After all, Satan himself can use signs and wonders. 

In Genesis 3:1-5, Satan used the senses to deceive Eve. Based on these signs and wonders, like a talking serpent, Eve decided that she could not believe God’s Word that said if you taste the forbidden fruit, you will die. In Matthew 4:1-4, Satan appears to Jesus and uses the senses and the temptation to signs and wonders to try to deceive Jesus. After several days of fasting, I am sure Jesus did not look or feel like the Son of God. Satan uses these feelings and emotions and tried to tempt Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, turn these stones to bread.” However, in Matthew 3:17, Jesus had already heard the Word of God say that He was His Son. Jesus did not allow his feelings or senses to deceive Him when He already had a clear “Thus saith the Word of God.” Jesus overcame being deceived by simply trusting the plain Word of God. 

In the last days, Satan will use more and more clever deceptions. He will use family ties. We cannot trust our own family to interpret the Scriptures for us. This is why Jesus said, 

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:34-37 NKJV

In the last days, Satan will use more and more false teachers to deceive others. This is why Jesus warned us, 

“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” Matthew 24:23-24 NKJV.

If we can’t trust family and friends, who can we trust?

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.John 16:13 NKJV.

for prophecy never came by the will of man, but [a]holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21 NKJV

The Holy Spirit and not our pastor or grandma will lead us into all truth. The Holy Spiirt is the One who moved those who wrote the Scriptures, and is our only safe teacher in helping us understand Scripture, while gaurding us from being deveived by ideas or even feelings that contraidct ideas that the Sprit has already inspired. 

Avoding deception is reliant upon us asking for the Holy Spirit to give us understanding instead of trusting our own understanding. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV

Satan’s deceptions in the last days will be so clever and appear to be so genuine that a casual reading of the Bible will not protect us from being deceived. Notice, the Bereans found the truth about Jeuss, by searching instead of casually reading, and by doing it daily instead of just from time to time. 

These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Acts 17:11 NKJV

In the last days, family, pastors, and  miracles, will prove to be no defense against Satan’s genious and well planned deceptive signs and wonders. The Bible is all we need and all we can trust to guard us from Satan’s clever last day deceptions. 

The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested. Those who endeavor to obey all the commandments of God will be opposed and derided. They can stand only in God. In order to endure the trial before them, they must understand the will of God as revealed in His word; they can honor Him only as they have a right conception of His character, government, and purposes, and act in accordance with them. None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict. To every soul will come the searching test: Shall I obey God rather than men? The decisive hour is even now at hand. Are our feet planted on the rock of God’s immutable word? Are we prepared to stand firm in defense of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus? –Ellen White, The Great Controversy, Pages 593-594. 

But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority—not one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith. Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain “Thus saith the Lord” in its support.-Ellen White, The Great Controversy, Page 595

Jesus gave us the perfect example of overcoming Satan’s decetpions, when instead of giving the people the signs and wonders they were asking for, He gave them a simple, “It is Written.” 

The Servant by Darrel Tank

Can you easily spot whether someone is proud? Or whether someone is humble?

“We’ve all known people with big egos … ” our lesson author writes. It might be worthwhile to remember that we most frequently see our own faults in others. So if we often spot the sin of pride in others, that might well be an indicator of the state of our own hearts. 

Since my teen years, I’ve been attracted to people who seem humble. One of my college profs seemed so humble that I was sure he was very close to God. I was excited when he offered me the job of working under him to run the college bookstore. What a blessing! I determined to be worthy of his confidence in me. 

After my senior year in academy, I was working full days during the summer to earn part of my college tuition. We were getting ready for the school year, and this morning Dr. I. laid out the day’s work. I worked hard and was done by about 1:30 pm. What to do? There was no way to contact my boss. But then I had a lightbulb moment: Elder F. in the business office across the hall had been in charge of the bookstore for years. Perhaps he could help me. And he did, by suggesting helpful things I could do.

When Dr. I returned at the end of the day, I was quite proud of myself for having completed the assigned tasks and then some! But Dr. I. was not pleased. He gave me what I still consider to be the worst dressing-down of my life, warning me against the sin of pride and telling me what a terrible sin it was for me to try to take his job from him! It was doubly traumatic because I had looked up to him so much. To this day, I can feel the utter devastation I experienced – that this man of virtue and humility could be so cruel to a 17-year-old student.

I went to my dorm room, threw myself on my bed and had a long cry over the wreckage of my idol, missing supper in the process.

I don’t know if anyone else found out about this incident, because I didn’t tell anyone. I worked for this same prof for a couple of years in different capacities, including personal secretary. And I saw conscious humility up close. It was not pretty. [boxzilla_link box=”107506″]Note[/boxzilla_link]

Trying to be humble might not be a good idea. 

So how do we recognize humility? Or pride, for that matter? 

Should we even try to recognize humility or pride in others? If we had been among the Israelites in the desert, would we have recognized humility in our stern leader? Or might we have thought him to be proud, like Miriam and Aaron did?

I know I’m easily fooled by apparent humility – not just once. (I’m a slow learner.)  I’ve also known some obnoxious folks who seemed full of themselves, but I suspect pride is much subtler. It sometimes masquerades as humility or spirituality – as in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. 

Perhaps we should stop for a moment and consider the situations in which we use the word “proud.” Do they all refer to the same quality? 

1. Pride in doing a job well.
2. Pride in being in the wealthy class.
3. Pride in being a member of a respected church. 
4. Pride in being better than a drug addict.
5. Pride in being gay OR pride in being straight.
6. Pride in being a son or daughter of the King of heaven.

Can you add to this list? (Let me know in the comments.)

We probably should not be looking for humility or for pride in others, because I believe these are symptoms of something deeper. They are heart issues, and we cannot read the heart. The first place to look is my own heart. 

Our lesson author assumes that “We’ve all battled with pride.” Is this true? A battle means an active fight. How do we fight pride, if we know we are better than others, as the author suggests?

The way I see it, looking to Jesus is the only cure for the pride we all have. And I believe a continuing focus cannot help but make us humble, as we realize that Jesus values the drunk in the gutter as much as He values the preacher in the pulpit. In fact, the drunk who realizes he’s a sinner and pleads with God for help is likely closer to heaven than the preacher who is conscious of his humility. Our need is our greatest argument for salvation.

We probably all know the story of the mighty angel, Lucifer, who became proud enough to covet the position of the Son of God in heaven. But how did this pride arise? If Lucifer had not first focused on his own beauty and goodness, would he have become proud? So was the very first sin not a focus on self?

To undo the damage of sin and to save us, Jesus Christ came to this sin-damaged planet and modeled the “law of self-renouncing love, the law of life for earth and heaven.” 

it will be seen that the law of self-renouncing love is the law of life for earth and heaven; that the love which “seeketh not her own” has its source in the heart of God. (See context in Desire of Ages, p. 19)

To “know God,” we need to understand the fundamental principle of God’s Kingdom which Christ came to demonstrate. He modeled not looking out for self, but renouncing self. What does that look like? (Check Phil 2:6-8 ESV) In Christ’s Kingdom, greatness is not measured by being over others, but by serving God and others. (Matt. 23:11)

Jesus emptied Himself, and in all that He did, self did not appear. He subordinated all things to the will of His Father.  (Check context in Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings, p. 14)

Perhaps we could all learn to be more humble by following the counsel to “spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones.” (Read more at Desire of Ages, p. 835)