To an angel's eye it must be
the ugliest thing on earth by Archibald Brown from The Pioneer
of Destruction 1869 Stepney Green Tabernacle pride goes before destruction
and a haughty spirit before a fall Proverbs 16 verse 18 Chrysostom
has aptly called pride the mother of hell for hell with all its
horrors is its hideous offspring had there been no treacherous
pride there would have been no bottomless pit perdition was
prepared for the devil and his angels and pride prepared the
devil and his angels for perdition we need fear no language we can
possibly use being too strong to denounce pride for as Aristotle
says pride comprehends all vice Is drunkenness to be condemned
with unmeasured severity? Then let pride be equally so,
for it is nothing less than a spiritual drunkenness. Pride flies as wine
to the brain and produces the same result. No wretched drunkard
reeling along the road is a more pitiable or disgusting sight
than the man who is intoxicated into idiocy with the alcohol
of his own accursed pride. May the most unsparing language
be employed in the denunciation of the sin of idolatry, then
let it be equally strong in the condemnation of pride, for they
are one in essence. The proud man is simply one who
bends the knee and worships a more hateful idol than can ever be
found in the whole catalogue of heathendom, and its name is
self. God loathes pride, for every
one that is proud is an abomination to the Lord, Proverbs 16.5. To an angel's eye it must be
the ugliest thing on earth, and the saint, often deploring it,
hates it with a perfect hatred. But although universally condemned,
it is too generally harboured. It is easy work to find a thousand
excuses for the particular species of pride we possess, which is
almost always, according to our own estimate, only proper pride. It is the minister's imperative
duty to cry out against particular sins and lay the axe at the root
of special iniquities. I want this evening, by God's
help, to strike a blow at the deadly root of pride. I have,
no doubt, many things I may say that will be considered too severe.
I cannot help it if they are. The language of my text is strong
and unvarnished enough. The truth it contains is put
in the most uncomplimentary mode. And I would be a traitor were
I to attempt to smooth it down. My work is to declare that pride
goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. you