108.俄巴底亞書1:3

108. Self-deceived

The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee. Obadiah 1:3
This is true of all proud persons, for pride is self-deceit.
There may be proud persons in this congregation. Those who are sure that they have no pride are probably the proudest of all. Those who are proud of their humility are proud indeed.
The confidence that we are not deceived may only prove the completeness of the deception under which we labor.
In considering the case of the Edomites, and the pride of their hearts, let us look to ourselves that we may profit withal.

I. THEY WERE DECEIVED.

The prophet mentions certain matters in which they were deceived.

1. As to the estimate formed of them by others. They thought themselves to be had in honor, but the prophet says, "Thou art greatly despised" (see verse 2).

• You might not be pleased if you knew how little others think of you; but if you think little of others you need not wonder if you are yourself greatly despised, for "with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again" (Matt. 7:2).

2. As to their personal security. They felt safe, but were near their doom. "Who shall bring me down? .... I will bring thee down, saith the Lord" (verses 3 and 4). Dwelling in their rock-city of Petra was no real security to them: neither may any one of us think himself proof against misfortune, sickness, or sudden death.

3. As to their personal wisdom. They talked of "The wise man out of Edom" (verse 8); but the Lord said, "There is none understanding in him" (verse 7).
Those who know better than the Word of God know nothing.

4. As to the value of their confidences. Edom relied on alliances, but these utterly failed. "The men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee" (verse 7). Rich relatives, influential friends, tried allies — all will fail those who trust in them.

II. THEIR OWN PRIDE DECEIVED THEM.

1. In each of the points mentioned above, pride lay at the bottom of their error.
2. In every way pride lays a man open to being deceived.

• His judgment is perverted by it: he cannot hold the scales.
• His standard is rendered inaccurate: his weights are false.
• His desires invite flattery, and his folly accepts it.

3. In every case a proud man is a deceived man: he is not what he thinks himself to be; and he is blind to that part of his character which should cause him to be humble.
4. In spiritual cases it is emphatically so.
The self-righteous, self-sufficient, perfectionists, etc., are all deceived by the pride of their hearts.

III. THIS PRIDE LED THEM INTO EVIL WAYS.

1. They were full of defiance. "Who shall bring me down to the ground?" This self-asserting spirit provokes hostility and leads to wars and fighting and all manner of emulations and contentions.
2. They were destitute of compassion. "Thou stoodest on the other side" (see verses 9-12). Those of kindred race were being slain, and they had no pity. Pride is stony-hearted.
3. They even shared in oppression (see verses 13 and 14). This is not unusual among purse-proud religionists. They are not slow to profit by the nurseries of God's poor people.
4. They showed contempt of holy things. "Ye have drunk upon my holy mountain" (verse 16). God will not have his church made into a tavern, or a playhouse: yet something like this may be done even now by proud hypocrites and formalists.

IV. THESE EVIL WAYS SECURED THEIR RUIN.

l. Their defiance brought enemies upon them.

2. Their unkindness was returned into their own bosom. Verse 15 shows the lex talionis in action.

3. Their contempt of God made him say, "there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau" (verse 18).

How different the lot of despised Zion! (see verses 17 and 21) Let us seek him who in Zion is above all others "the Savior." Hating all pride, let us humbly rest in him.
Then we shall not be deceived, for Jesus is "the Truth."

Warnings

There is something intensely amusing, according to our notions, in the name which the Eskimo bestow upon themselves. It appears they call themselves the "Innuit" — that is, "the people" par excellence.

Stranger, henceforth be warned; and know that pride,
Howe'er disguised in its own majesty,
Is littleness: that he who feels contempt
For any living thing, hath faculties
Which he has never used; that thought with him
Is in its infancy.
— Wordsworth

If a man is a perfectionist, and thinks he is sinless, it is a proof not that he is better, but only that he is blinder, than his neighbors. — Richard Glover

When a proud man thinks best of himself, then God and man think worst of him; all his glory is but like a vapor, which climbeth as though it would go up to heaven, but when it comes to a little height, it falls down again, and never ascends more. So Adam thought that the fair apple should make him like his Maker, but God resisted his pride, and that apple made him like the serpent that tempted him with it. Absalom thought that rebellion would make him a king, but God resisted his pride, and his rebellion hanged him on a tree. — Henry Smith

The Venetian ambassador wrote of Cardinal Wolsey: "I do perceive that every year he groweth more and more in power. When I first came to England, he used to say, "His Majesty will do so and so"; subsequently, he said, "We shall do so and so"; but now he says, "I shall do so and so." But history records how Wolsey's pride went before destruction, and his haughty spirit before a fall.

Napoleon Buonaparte, intoxicated with success, and at the height of his power, said, "I make circumstances." Let Moscow, Elba, Waterloo, and St. Helena, that rocky isle where he was caged until he fretted his life away, testify to his utter helplessness in his humiliating downfall. — J. B. Gough

As God hath two dwelling-places, heaven and a contrite heart, so hath the devil — hell and a proud heart. — T. Watson

Charles Hadden Spurgeon

108．自欺

一、他們被欺騙了

先知指出他們在幾件事上受了欺騙。

1. 對別人如何看待他們的估計錯誤：他們自以為備受尊重，但先知卻說：「你被大大藐視」（見第 2 節 2我使你－以東在列國中為最小的，被人大大藐視。）。

• 若你知道別人對你的評價如此之低，或許你會不高興；但若你自己輕看他人，就不要希奇自己也被人藐視，因為：「你們用什麼量器量給人，也必用什麼量器量給你們。」（太 7:2 2因為你們怎樣論斷人，也必怎樣被論斷；你們用甚麼量器量給人，也必用甚麼量器量給你們。）

2. 對自身安全的錯誤判斷：他們自覺穩妥，卻已臨近滅亡。「誰能將我拉下地去呢？……耶和華說：我必將你拉下來。」（3–4 節 3住在山穴中、居所在高處的啊，你因狂傲自欺，心裏說：誰能將我拉下地去呢？4你雖如大鷹高飛，在星宿之間搭窩，我必從那裏拉下你來。這是耶和華說的。 ）居住在磐石城彼特拉，並不能真正保證安全；同樣，我們任何人也不可自以為能免於災禍、疾病，或忽然的死亡。
   
   
3. 對自身智慧的錯誤評價：他們談論「以東的智慧人」（8 節 8耶和華說：到那日，我豈不從以東除滅智慧人？從以掃山除滅聰明人？），但主卻說：「其中再沒有聰明了。」（7 節 7與你結盟的都送你上路，直到交界；與你和好的欺騙你，且勝過你；與你一同吃飯的設下網羅陷害你；在你心裏毫無聰明。）
   
   
4. 自以為比神的話更聰明的人，其實一無所知。對所倚靠之事價值的錯估：以東倚賴盟友，但這些完全失效了：「與你和好的，欺騙你。」（7 節）富有的親戚、有勢力的朋友、久經考驗的盟友——凡倚靠這些的人，終必失望。

二、是他們自己的驕傲欺騙了他們

1. 在上述每一點錯誤中，驕傲都是根源。
2. 驕傲在各方面都使人容易受騙：

• 它扭曲人的判斷，使人無法公平衡量；
• 它使人的標準失真，砝碼不準；
• 它引誘人渴望奉承，而愚昧地加以接受。

3. 凡驕傲的人，必是被欺騙的人：他並非自己所想的那樣，卻對自己本該謙卑的那一面視而不見。
4. 在屬靈的事上，更是如此：
   自義、自滿、完美主義者等等，都是被自己心中的驕傲所欺騙。

三、這驕傲引他們走上惡道

1. 他們充滿挑釁與狂妄：「誰能將我拉到地上呢？」這種自我張揚的靈，會招致敵對，引發爭戰、紛爭與各樣的競逐。
2. 他們毫無憐憫之心：「你站在一旁觀看。」（9–12 節 9提幔哪，你的勇士必驚惶，甚至以掃山的人都被殺戮剪除。以東受罰的原因10因你向兄弟雅各行強暴，羞愧必遮蓋你，你也必永遠斷絕。11當外人擄掠雅各的財物，外邦人進入他的城門，為耶路撒冷拈鬮的日子，你竟站在一旁，像與他們同夥。12你兄弟遭難的日子，你不當瞪眼看着；猶大人被滅的日子，你不當因此歡樂；他們遭難的日子，你不當說狂傲的話。）同族之人被殺，他們卻毫不動容。驕傲使人的心如石頭一般冷硬。
3. 他們甚至參與壓迫（13–14 節 13我民遭災的日子，你不當進他們的城門；他們遭災的日子，你不當瞪眼看着他們受苦；他們遭災的日子，你不當伸手搶他們的財物；14你不當站在岔路口剪除他們中間逃脫的；他們遭難的日子，你不當將他們剩下的人交付仇敵。）這在「錢袋驕傲」的宗教人士中並不少見；他們不遲疑從神貧苦百姓的災難中牟利。
4. 他們藐視聖物：「你們曾在我聖山上喝酒。」（16 節 16你們猶大人在我聖山怎樣喝了苦杯，萬國也必照樣常常地喝；且喝且咽，他們就歸於無有。）神絕不容許祂的教會被變成酒館或戲院；然而，即使在今日，驕傲的假冒為善者和形式主義者，也可能做出類似的事。

四、這些惡行確保了他們的滅亡

1. 他們的狂妄招來仇敵。


2. 他們的殘忍報應在自己身上（第 15 節顯出「以牙還牙」的律 15耶和華降罰的日子臨近萬國。你怎樣行，他也必照樣向你行；你的報應必歸到你頭上。）。


3. 他們藐視神，使神宣告：「以掃家必無餘剩。」（18 節 18雅各家必成為大火；約瑟家必為火焰；以掃家必如碎稭；火必將他燒着吞滅。以掃家必無餘剩的。這是耶和華說的。）

何等不同的是被人藐視的錫安！（見 17、21 節）讓我們尋求那位在錫安、超乎萬有之上的——救主。既恨惡一切驕傲，讓我們謙卑地安息在祂裡面。
如此，我們就不會受欺騙，因為耶穌就是「真理」。

警語

依我們的觀念，愛斯基摩人給自己取的名字極其有趣。他們稱自己為「因紐特人（Innuit）」——意思是「真正的人」。

陌生人啊，從今以後當受警戒，並要知道：驕傲，
縱然披戴著莊嚴的外衣，
其實只是渺小；
凡對任何活物心存輕蔑的人，
他仍有未曾使用過的心智能力；
在他身上，思想仍在襁褓之中。
——華茲華斯（Wordsworth）

若一個人是完美主義者，自以為毫無罪，這並非證明他更好，只證明他比鄰舍更瞎眼。
——理查．葛洛弗（Richard Glover）

當驕傲的人最看重自己時，神與人卻最看輕他；他一切的榮耀不過如蒸氣，似乎要升到天上，卻在升到不高之處便墜落，再也不能上升。亞當以為那美好的果子能使他像造他的主，神卻抵擋他的驕傲，使那果子反倒使他像引誘他的蛇；押沙龍以為叛逆能使他作王，神卻抵擋他的驕傲，使他的叛逆把他掛在樹上。——亨利．史密斯（Henry Smith）

威尼斯大使論樞機主教沃爾西說：「我察覺他一年比一年更有權勢。我初到英國時，他常說：『陛下將如此如此行』；後來他說：『我們將如此如此行』；如今他卻說：『我將如此如此行。』」
然而歷史記載，沃爾西的驕傲走在敗壞之前，他的狂心走在跌倒之前。

拿破崙．波拿巴在成功沖昏頭腦、權勢登峰造極時說：「我創造環境。」但莫斯科、厄爾巴島、滑鐵盧，以及那使他被囚、至死消磨的岩石孤島聖赫勒拿，都為他極其卑微、完全無助的下場作見證。——J. B. 高夫（J. B. Gough）

神有兩個居所：天上與痛悔的心；魔鬼也有兩個居所：地獄與驕傲的心。
——湯瑪斯．華森（T. Watson）

——查爾斯．哈登．司布真