“Pride, we may be sure will keep us out of God’s presence, because it would not suffer angels themselves to stay in it” (Edward Pelling, 1692).
Mat 19:23 And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” 26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
The pride of man will exalt his own intellect to himself and the power of his own will to himself, but will also exalt them before others as much as he can. This can also be done under the guise of humility, which when self-exaltation happens under the guise of humility it is truly a great and deceptive pride. The pride of man loves money and exalts self when he has money. The pride of man thinks that God must love him when man has money and plenty of worldly things, but all of those things are really the pride of man and God hates pride.
The pride of man can blind man and man simply be unaware that he has blinders on, but the pride of man is so strong that it makes men fight the idea that they are blinded. The disciples of Christ had studied the Old Testament writings and had been with Christ for quite a period of time, but they were still astonished at the words of Christ. When the pointed words of Christ come crashing in on a person’s view of Scripture and of the world, they can create astonishment. In the modern day these words of the Lord Jesus are twisted, explained away, and simply ignored. However, treating them that way does not change the reality of them at all.
There are so many popular teachers today who tell people that they can get rich and that they are okay in seeking riches that people can hardly read this passage of Scripture. There are so many teaching a health and wealth gospel that the words of Christ are relegated to little or no account. What we must see, however, is that Jesus was so clear that He really cannot be mistaken. We might note that He did not say that all rich people cannot enter the kingdom, but what He did say that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter heaven. Oh how that hurts the pride of man.
Those who have money love what that money buys for them, the power it has over others, and the esteem of others. We should be careful to notice that the real issue with money is the love of money and the pride that comes with having money. If we look at James 1:9-11 (just below), we can see that James sees some of the problems that come with being rich. The rich man tends to pride and as such should glory in his humiliation. The rich seem to think that they will live long lives, but the rich should focus on how much he is like a flowering grass which faces away. The rich man is taken up with his pursuits after money and perhaps pursuits because he has money, but that man should know that he will face away even in the midst of his pursuits. Oh how pride blinds people to the reality of the shortness of life and to true value.
James 1:9 But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; 10 and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.
The proud heart of man loves money, but true wealth is impossible to attain apart from grace. The proud heart of man thinks that his money will obtain a high quality of life, but eternal life cannot be purchased by anyone but the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The proud man loves the power that earthly riches bring, but the power of eternal life must come by and from the eternal and omnipotent hand of God and it only comes by grace alone. The real problem with all people (including the rich) is that they have a terrible value system. The proud heart of man loves earthly riches and power, yet those things are as rubbish in eternity. Those who by grace have the blinders of pride removed (not perfectly) see the great value of Christ and of grace. Man should pursue true humility and Christ Himself rather than worldly riches and power. Spiritual things are, after all, of eternal value beyond the powers of the human mind to calculate. All true riches are in Christ and are beyond our ability to assign a value.
God Loves... Himself 
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