It is no uncommon instance of the deceitfulness of the heart, for men to venture upon the general contempt by becoming religious, and at the same time make all up to themselves by their own esteem, or the good opinion of a few. But to be universally despised, and to know certainly, by an inward feeling not to be evaded, that we deserve it, is not so common or so easy. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)
“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
How deceitful the human heart is and how easily it leads sinners astray in very religious things. While it may not seem so obvious a deception, the human heart will use the contempt of others in becoming religious to build itself up in the eyes of self and others. The heart is so wicked that it will suffer contempt for the things of religion in order to gain honor and esteem. We can see something of this in I Corinthians 13 where men will sell all they have and give to the poor, yet there is no benefit because they had no love. Men will also give their bodies to be burned, yet there is no benefit because there is no love. If it is possible for men to give themselves to be burned in order to build their pride or earn their salvation, then it is a smaller thing for them to become religious and even very religious in order to build themselves up in their own esteem and to be esteemed by a few.
The heart deceives itself and thinks that it is a good heart because it is suffering for the things of religion, but it is blind to the fact that this is precisely the heart of the Pharisee. The Pharisee prayed in order to be seen by men, yet in praying the Pharisee would comfort its own heart in the fact that it prayed. This is true of so many things and of so many cults. Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons find great comfort in the fact that they are maligned as they go door to door in their false religion and they are built up in the esteem of self and others as they do so. But those with even a modicum of truth know that those groups teach terrible heresy and they should not find any comfort in anything they are doing, but it is also possible to do this with the truth.
The human heart longs to be esteemed by others. It is easily deceived in this area by its self-love. As long as it can be esteemed by a few others it will continue on its religious path and is willing to have others show contempt to it and find a false basis for assurance in the contempt of others as well. Jesus promises His disciples that they would be hated and have hard times in this world, so the deceptive heart makes the deduction that because it is hated and has a hard time that it must be a true disciple of Christ. In reality, however, the crowds in John 6 went to a great amount of trouble to follow Jesus in order to get more free food and so they were nothing but mercenary followers of Christ. So those who are shown contempt and yet are willing to do so because of the esteem of others and of self are also nothing but mercenary followers of Christ. They do so in order to obtain something else from Him.
The true heart, however, knows that it deserves nothing but universal contempt. While it is possible for men to intellectually accept this as a fact, it is much harder for this to be accepted in the depths of the soul. One sign of a true heart is that it is willing to be treated with contempt without defending itself before others. A second sign of a true heart is the willingness to endure contempt without hating or resenting it. A third sign is the willingness to endure contempt without telling others about it. But of course the deceitful heart can also endure contempt and in great pride not tell others and view itself with great esteem.
In the Beatitudes we are told that those who are blessed are poor in spirit and are meek. The soul must come to a point where it sees that it has no righteousness in reality and so has no righteousness in itself to defend. The soul must come to the point where it desires the glory of God and the good of others enough that it is willing to return good to those that treat it badly. The Lord Jesus Christ, the very Lord of glory, was abused and treated with contempt during His life, in His trial, and in His time on the cross. He did not deserve any of it and yet He bore it silently and meekly. Sinful human beings deserve the contempt of all, so surely it becomes us to endure the contempt of others with great patience. To arrive at a heart like this takes a lot of work by the Holy Spirit. No one but Christ can do this perfectly, so all believers have room to grow in this. But as sinners are saved by grace alone, so they must learn to endure this by grace as well and look to grace when they see pride arising in their hearts as they endure for the sake of self and the esteem of others. As they cry out to God for more grace because of their pride, He will teach them to have contempt upon their own pride and wicked heart. Oh for death to self!
God Loves... Himself 
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