Posted on 08/17/2022 6:54:17 PM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit. Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility” (Proverbs 18:11).
Now, we are better off with the strong tower of verse 10, then to have the rich man’s strong city of this verse. A whole lot of rich men died and went to hell in the New Testament that had strong city, but not a single man ever went to hell that was safely in that strong tower.
“The rich man's wealth is his strong city,” his wealth is what the rich man trusts in and depends upon. “. . . and as an high wall in his own conceit,” conceit is what a man imagines is the worth of his own opinion. His opinion is, “My money will get me through any problem.” The problem is that it won’t. It won’t get you through death, it won’t get you through the judgment, it won’t buy good health or prevent disease. Trouble and disease will come whether you have money or not.
The rich farmer in Luke 12 did not fare well in the end, despite all his riches. Neither did it help the rich man in Luke 16, or the rich young ruler in Matthew 19. Wealth was meaningless to them. All the money in the world would not purchase a single drop of water in hell. Jesus said that it was very hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
“The rich man’s wealth is his strong city,” but it is also his destruction. The great passage on wealth in the New Testament is found in First Timothy 6:9-15. Many people suppose that gain is godliness, but they forget that what they came in this world with—nothing—is what they will go out with. They don’t seem to care that they are going to leave it all behind them. You’ll never see a U-Haul trailer hitched to the back of a hearse. Paul said that better than to be rich in money, we should be rich in good works and be ready to distribute what God has given to you.
“Before destruction the heart of man is haughty,” haughty is proud. “. . . and before honour is humility.” Both of these traits are found in some characters in the Bible. Can you think of a man that was haughty, and then he was humbled? Ahab was haughty and then he was humbled, by Elijah. Nebuchadnezzar was a most haughty king as he surveilled all that he had built for his great honor, until living out with the grass-chewing beasts changed his attitude. Peter was very haughty, until he looked into the face of Jesus Whom he had betrayed—and then the tears flowed.
The thief on the cross railed against his Christ, and then he got to thinking about it and the Holy Spirit worked on him to the point where he ended up beseeching Christ that He might remember him when He entered His kingdom. He was a proud thief until he became a penitent sinner. It was he realized his own guilt and that he was deserving of his fate, while Jesus was an innocent man that did not deserve to die. Then he realized that Jesus Christ was much more than just a man: “But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss” (Luke 23:40-41).
“Before destruction the heart of man is haughty [thinking he can handle the situation], and before honour is humility.” The principle is Matthew 23:12, “Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”
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Excellent proverb ! All glory to Gods word .
One of the smartest men, if not the smartest, I ever knew was a West Point Captain I met in 68. He was so brilliant he always went to Bible study after Vietnam. I will always look up to him.
Pride is still a huge problem in the world today. People are proud of their pride, it compounds.
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