By O.S. Hawkins
Pride always brings a fall. God has His own ways of putting down those who walk in pride. At the very top of the list of those things which God hates is pride. Ask Lucifer if those who walk in pride are not put down. Ask Adam and Eve if those who begin to walk in pride are not put down. Ask King David the same question.
Perhaps no one can testify to this more than Simon Peter. Peter, once so brash and bold, was warned by Jesus that "Satan has asked for you that he might sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith shall not fail . . . " (Luke 22:31-32) Peter responded by saying, "Lord, I am ready to go with you, both to prison and to death." (Luke 22:33) He was so pridefully confident in his self-determination. But Jesus knew better. He replied, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me." (Luke 22:34)
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If we were to ask a dozen Christians who their favorite apostle is, the majority of them would probably say Simon Peter. Perhaps the reason is that he is so intensely human. He is just like so many of us in our culture today: impulsive and impetuous. Clearly, Simon Peter did not expect to deny the Lord. In spite of Christ's clear warning, turning his back on the Lord Jesus Christ must have been the farthest thing from his mind. But then, none of us deliberately intend to indulge in a spiritual downfall as a result of our own pride. Most of the time we, like Simon Peter, are blinded to the fact of it.
Peter's own failure began with pride. Jesus warned Peter in the gentlest and most compassionate manner imaginable to not trust in himself and let pride rule his life. So, what was Peter's response? He said, "Lord, I'm ready to go with you. It doesn't matter where. If it's prison I'll be with you. I can handle it — whatever it might be." Like Simon Peter, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar or anyone else, step one on our spiritual downgrade is a prideful over-confidence in the flesh. It is a dangerous thing to be so sure of ourselves, yet it is almost as if we are intent on training people to flaunt confidence in the flesh by redoubling our efforts to teach self-esteem, self-confidence, self-reliance, and self-actualization.
Peter's pride led to his own prayerlessness. We remember he could not even stay awake with our Lord when He prayed in Gethsemane's garden. It is pride that resulted in prayerlessness which brought forth presumption. The next thing we see Simon Peter doing is striking off the right ear of the servant of the high priest in the garden. Pride leads us to do all sorts of irrational, presumptuous things. This presumption then led to a sort of paranoia. After Jesus' arrest we find that Peter followed at a distance. (Luke 22:54) Next came peer pressure. We find him sitting next to a fire succumbing to the peer pressure around him and denying he knew our Lord. Then things went from bad to worse. After failing the peer pressure, a paralysis set in. His bold allegiance of just a few hours earlier suddenly faded into the background of his consciousness. This brought about the next step in his downgrade. It was perjury. Open denial. Lying. I never knew the man. Peter's tragic fall was centered in his own pride.
