The old Puritan scholar Obadiah Sedgwick wrote: “Errors are most apt to breed in a proud brain and a graceless heart.” Never are we more in danger of heresies, than when we think we are above them. The strong nation is likely to think itself secure, and might neglect to invest in its defenses. The man who lacks humility thinks he is beyond corruption and is not watchful for his soul. However, note that the proud and the blasphemers are coupled together in 2Tim. 3:2 – “For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.” And it is the proud in 1Tim. 6:3-4 who end up rejecting “wholesome words” and who become “obsessed with disputes and arguments over words.”
The proud man thinks he will be able to identify deception when it is presented to him. He trusts in his inner compass and his own wit. He thinks he has no need of diligent study, or regular prayer, or regular church attendance. He thinks to himself, “Sure, these things are nice, but not crucial or necessary.” O how the enemy has lulled the masses to sleep! Are all the countless others who have been taken in by heresy less intelligent than you? Are they somehow less capable to discern? Are you so superior that you have no need to be guarded? Or do you rather presume that no matter what comes, no matter what you believe, you will be fine in the end?” Do you think God will forgive you, and welcome you, no matter what beliefs you hold in the end? O the blindness of pride! Everyone thinks heresy is a problem for somebody else. “It is their struggle, not mine.” O wake up!
Do you think your great wisdom will protect you?
- Was not Solomon gifted to be the wisest man to ever live?
- Look what happened to him (1Kings 11:1-8)
Do you think you have been raised by godly parents and so you are safe?
- Hezekiah loved the Lord and was a godly and honorable king in Judah
- Read how his son Manasseh turned out (2Kings 21:1-9).
Do you think that because you were raised in the right denomination you will be safe?
- Did not those of the sect of the converted Pharisees think the same way?
- Read how they erred (Acts 15:5)
Do you think because you are a teacher in the church that you are above being misled?
- Did not the Jews think the same way?
- Rom. 2:21a – “You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself?...”
Do you think you have already done your due diligence in the past and have no need to be so cautious any longer?
- But what did Paul write to the Corinthians?
- 1Cor. 10:12 – “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
Heresy abounds, not because it is impossible to avoid, but because our pride and lack of watchfulness make us susceptible to it. It can happen to you! Statistically speaking it probably already has! Won’t you allow these things to drive you back to your knees, to seek the Lord for grace? Won’t you humbly seek Him to reveal any ways your own mind has been led astray? And won’t you recommit yourself to a consistent study of His Word and a diligent watchfulness over your soul?
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