“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).
In the triune Godhead we can see the very glory of the living God through the lenses of the second Person of the Trinity it taking human flesh to Himself, living in perfect humility on earth, and then dying on the cross in perfect humility. It is in this great and wondrous humility of Christ that we behold the Gospel of the glory of Christ. It is in this perfect humility of Christ that we can behold the glory of God in the face of Christ. It is in this delectable humility of Christ that we behold the very grace of God and indeed it took this perfect humility to purchase the grace of God for proud and sinful men.
If it is the case (and assuredly it is) that the very brightness of the glory of God is only seen in and through the humble Savior, it should be no wonder to anyone that God hates and opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. This should show us that absolute need for the people of God to seek humility and also for the lost to be humbled before God. How much the great God must have been incensed to send His humble Son (King of kings) to the earth, but then for proud men to treat His Son with contempt. How detestable it must be for the infinitely self-sufficient God to send a humble Savior and have Him treated with contempt by the proud and self-sufficient religious people of the day. But if that is true of that day, it is also true in our day. How unlike the humble Savior are the proud religionists of our day as well. It is impossible for those without faith to please God and faith and pride are opposites (Hab 2:4). A humble Savior will only dwell in those who have true faith and only the humble have true faith. Those who are proud in their religion are opposed by God rather than being His favorites.
The Lord of glory will not dwell in proud hearts and He will not live His perfect and humble life in anyone but the humble. Some of the reasons for this are found in the very nature of God who loves Himself and His own glory. This God always does what is to the glory of His own name and in that His holiness is seen. God is only holy to the degree that He loves Himself and to the degree that He does all for His own glory. So this great God cannot and will not shine forth His glory in men who only want to live for their own glory. The God who shows grace to the glory of His own name will not give grace to those who only live for their own glory. God will not show His love for Himself in men who only love themselves. The holiness of God which consists in His love for Himself and living for His own glory cannot be seen in men who love themselves and live for their own glory.
The Pharisees assumed that holiness could be attained by living according to a set of external standards, but they were damnably wrong. God had told them that they were to walk humbly with Him (Micah 6:8), but they wanted salvation and holiness to be in their own hands in their own power. The Pharisees assumed that they would be heard because of their prayers with many words, but they were not heard because they were seeking themselves rather than seeking God with their prayers. It is plainly taught in the Scriptures that one must be humble in order to pray and seek the face of God. A proud man will only use the name of God to seek things for self. A proud man will only love God for what he can get from God. There is no walking humbly with God when a person has a proud heart and simply desires to get things from God by all of his religious activity.
It is a verity of Scripture that God opposes the proud. It is not just that He opposes those who are unreligious and proud, but He opposes all those that are proud. It is not just that He opposes the proud who do not know their Bibles, but He opposes the proud who know their Bibles and may even know them well. It is not just that He opposes those who do not give to the church and charities, but He opposes the proud who give to the church and to charities. It is not just that He opposes the proud who do not pray, but He opposes the proud even if they try to pray all day long. It is not just that He opposes the academics outside the realm of Christendom, but He opposes the proud even if they are the most conservative academic and write helpful commentaries. It does not matter how religious people may be and the degree or length that they may go to in their religious activities, even preaching, God will oppose the extremely religious and all their activities and sermons if they are proud. A proud person may indeed get all the honor from men that s/he desires in religious circles, but that pride will keep that person from the presence of God both in this life and for all eternity. We all need to search our hearts and ask God to reveal pride to us. It is a deadly poison that keeps us from the presence of God, despite all of our religious activities.
God Loves... Himself 
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