Most people are filled with sinful pride and don't even realize it. Pride is
the root of all sins, compelling a person to do their own thing instead of
obeying God's Word (the Holy Bible). Few people would readily admit that they
elevate their own will above God's will, but that's exactly what we all do at
times, because of our sinful human nature.
The middle letter of the words “SIN” and “PRIDE” is the letter “i.” Most people have “I” problems (pun intended). When we put SELF on the throne instead of GOD, we are headed for disaster. Proverb 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverb 29:23, “A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.”
The Bible teaches that the pride of life is not of God. 1st John 2:16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” Pride is what causes people to hurt each other, take advantage of others, and put themselves first. Pride is worldly, along with fleshly lust and materialism. Pride exalts itself above others. Pride points fingers at others when they sin, instead of saying with Isaiah “Woe is me, for I am undone!” Pride is the apostle Peter saying about John, “Lord, and what shall this man do?” (John 21:21b).
Pride will destroy your life. Psalms 59:12, “For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.” Pride compels people to lie, curse and deceive others.
Proverbs 8:13,
“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and
arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.”
Pride is a mindset that exalts one's self above God and His commandments. The
Lord hates pride. The fear of God is to hate pride. We don't hear much
preaching against the sin of pride these days, but it is behind every sin.
Proverbs 11:2, “When
pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.”
Proverbs 14:3, “In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of
pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.” Proverbs
16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an
haughty spirit before a fall.”
The First Step to Overcoming Sin is to Hate Sin
We are all proud at times, which is why we gossip, talk about others and sin wilfully against God (Romans 7:14-25). May we all with God's help refrain from such awful things. The first step to overcoming such wickedness is to develop a hatred for it, especially in ourselves. I hate gossip. I hate pride. I hate hearing the Lord's name taken in vain. I hate wickedness. The reason why I hate these things is because of God's Holy Spirit Who lives inside of me as a child of God (Romans 8:9). I wish I could shut Hollywood down. I wish I could forever close down Sin City Las Vegas. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Psalms 97:10 commands us all to HATE EVIL, just as the Lord hates evil.
Again, the middle letter of the words “SIN” and “PRIDE” is the letter “i.” When I say “overcoming sin” I don't mean sinless perfection, which is impossible in this earthly body. Proverbs 24:16, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” Even the best Christians still commit sin, hurt others and mess-up at times. We all sin every day in deed and thought, whether it be failing to pray earnestly for our nation's leaders, gossiping, watching something unholy on television or taking our eyes off Jesus. When we become proud, we become blinded to our own sins and faults. There's nothing more disgusting than a self-righteousness person.
I'm a big sinner and I dare not condemn anyone for their sins. I preach against open wickedness in our degenerate American culture, and I earnestly expose falsehoods, but I judge no one. I once heard Dr. Jack Hyles say during a Sunday evening service, as I sat to his left listening intently from a pew in the back, that the best Christian in the auditorium probably felt like the worst Christian in the building. That made me feel better, because I did feel like the worst Christian in the building. You see, the closer you draw to God, the worse of sinner you'll feel like, as you see God's in His holiness. Hebrews 12:29, “For our God is a consuming fire.”
The dangerous thing about the sin of pride is that you often don't realize what's happening until it's too late and you're already deep-in-over-your-head. The Bible calls this dangerous tendency, “the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:13, “But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” This Scripture means that the more sin is tolerated, the less awful it seems. The preacher John Wesley wisely said, “What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace!” That is so very true!
In the 1930's we tolerated legalized booze in the United States. Then we embraced Hollywood in the late 1940's. Whereas only 6,000 U.S. households owned a television in 1946, by 1952 it was 22,000,000 households who owned a TV set. Our nation tolerated Hugh Hefner's sinister Playboy philosophy in the 1950's, which led to an epidemic of sexual immorality in the 1960's. Consequently, the abortion industry became federal law in the 1970's, to dispose of unwanted children. And now after decades of tolerating Hollywood's sexually perverse influence, our nation has embraced the morally reprehensible homosexual agenda. This is all the result of arrogant, stiffnecked, sinful, pride!!!
Sin must never be allowed to go unchecked in our life, our family, our church or our community. This is why I preach hard and uncompromisingly against the new modern corrupt Bible versions! Most churches have become hardened (calloused) through the deceitfulness of sin, embracing Satan's counterfeits.
It is because of man's wicked pride that he refuses to seek after God. Psalms 10:4, “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” As you just read, it is a sin not to include God IN ALL OUR THOUGHTS. When most people go on vacation, they usually leave God behind at home. They go to worldly places, don't pray, and forget about God while. God pity the backslidden believer that goes to Las Vegas (Sin City) for vacation. You couldn't pay me to go to Las Vegas, which is nothing but a place of sexual immorality.
Our nation's schools, universities and colleges are prisonhouses of ignorance, because they leave out God. Proverb 14:3, “In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.” An educator who leaves out God is a fool. 2nd Timothy 3:7, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
The Bible has much to say about the sin of pride. Proverb 13:10, “Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.” We read in Proverbs that “ONLY BY PRIDE” cometh contention—whether it be a rebellious wife filing for divorce, an abusive husband who mistreats his family, a greedy lawyer who bilks his clients, a dishonest salesman who cheats his customers, or a carnal believer who won't go soul-winning, et cetera. Proverb 13:10, “Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.”
Proverb 13:10, “Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.”
Proverb 13:10, “Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.”
Proverb 13:10, “Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.”
Proverb 13:10, “Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.”
My friend, ONLY BY SINFUL PRIDE comes contention. We all struggle with contention because we are sinners by nature and by choice. Divorces are always caused by the sin of pride. When we sin, it is because of pride. I don't care how much you try to avoid arguments, fighting and contention, they will happen for the rest of your life, because we are all sinners struggling with pride. Romans 12:18, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”
It is not always possible to live peaceably with all men, because many people are wicked and unreasonable. 2nd Thessalonians 3:1-2, “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.” That is very interesting that the Apostle Paul requested the prayers of the believers at Thessalonica, that God would deliver them from unsaved enemies who were wicked and unreasonable.
America is quickly
descending into wickedness because of sinful pride. It was pride that
compelled the U.S. Supreme Court to remove and ban the Holy Bible from all
U.S. classrooms in 1962-1963. Since that horrible decision, our nation has
deteriorated significantly. I need the prayers of my web visitors, that God
would continue to give this Gospel preacher free course to preach THE TRUTH on
the internet. Like John the Baptist, I am a voice crying in the wilderness of
cyberspace. Proverb:11:2, “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with
the lowly is wisdom.” We are losing our liberties and freedoms fast in the
United States, because people are not fighting against the blatant
encroachments against our God-given liberties. The U.S. Constitution and Bill
of Rights do not grant us our rights, but merely outline our God-given
inalienable rights. Give me liberty or give me death!!!
The Sin of Pride is Synonymous With a Lack of Moral Integrity
God wrote the Bible to believers. The only part of the Holy Bible that is applicable to the unsaved is passages on how to be saved (born-again). 1st Corinthians 2:14-16 teaches that the natural (unsaved) man cannot understand the Bible, because it is spiritually discerned. A believer has the Holy Spirit indwelling them, which enables them to grasp divine truths. So we read here in Romans 12:9-13 that God wants us to be kind to each other, with brotherly love. We are to honour (value and respect) one another, not slothful in our business. We ought to say what we mean, and mean what we say. We should be on time and pay our bills on time.
“We have not government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” —U.S. President John Adams
The word “dissimulation” in verse 9 means “THE ACT OF DECEIVING.” God is telling us to love without deception. It is common practice in America for politicians to lie their way into office, and then break all their campaign promises, and then lie after leaving office to white-wash all the horrible things they did while in office. Case in point is President Barack Obama . . .
President Obama's Persistent Pattern Of Lies Exposed
February 16, 2015"A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation." —Pastor James Clarke (1810-1888)
Tens of millions of upstanding Americans are disgusted, yet not surprised by the recent revelation of our President's lying regarding his stand on same-sex marriage. He deliberately misled hundreds of millions of Americans for years and on multiple occasions by telling us a falsehood regarding what even he described as a "sacred union."
Without being disrespectful or unpatriotic, we must realize Barack Obama is no different than leaders in Jesus' day who "loved praise from men rather than praise from God" (Jn.12:43). And if there was anything Jesus loathed and exposed it was dishonesty! As Dr. Michael Brown quoted legendary Bible teacher Charles Spurgeon in his outstanding article "I Will Not Sell My Soul for Success," "Character is always lost when high ideals are sacrificed on the altar of conformity and popularity."SOURCE: President Obama's Persistent Pattern Of Lies Exposed
The United States has become a very dishonest nation. People commonly lie, cheat, connive and steal, defrauding each other. Nearly all businesses practice shady advertising gimmicks, employing fine print to disclaim their too-good-to-be-true advertising. American companies advertise their services and products in bold, loud, colorful ads, but then in the black and white fine print say something totally different, specifying limits, legalities and even denial of what they openly promised.
A classic example
is web hosting companies that advertise “unlimited bandwidth” and “unlimited
server space” per month, but then in their fine print tell you that such
claims are impossible. So why do they make them? The answer is because they
are liars! They are crooked! They are shady! You see, t they've been raised up
in our shady, immoral and indifferent American culture. We've all been raised
by the same standards, values and influences in our degenerate American
culture. The United States is the largest producer and exporter of pornography
in the world. Most of it comes out of Los Angeles, from the Hollywood crowd.
Taking the Lord's Name in Vain is Sinful Pride
Taking the Lord's name in vain is a sure sign of hubris (overbearing pride) in a person's life. Pride is that sin in man which exalts itself against a holy God in Heaven. We are all awful sinners, deserving of Hell. God pity the wretched man who curses in God's name. And woe unto the man or woman who carelessly curses in God's name to make money in a Hollywood movie. If you are a professed atheist, ask yourself why men always mention God in their greatest moments of pain, pleasure, emotion and anger. The answer is obvious, i.e., there is a God (Romans 1:20).
Nearly every Hollywood movie ever produced is saturated with blasphemy against the Lord Jesus Christ, cursing in God's holy name. Taking the Lord's name in vain is the unholy insignia of Hollywood. If I could do so legally, I'd burn Hollywood to the ground and convict all of Hollywood for their crimes against God and the American family. Everyone involved with Hollywood has much blood on their hands. Deuteronomy 5:11, “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”
Taking the Lord's name in vain is terrible enough when a person is angry or frustrated, but cursing in the Lord's name is infinitely worse when it is deliberately done in thousands of Hollywood movie scripts. Jim Cameron, Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, John Carpenter, and hundreds more Hollywood directors all deliberately and habitually use the Lord's name in vain. They intend to use God's name in vain. They hate the Lord Jesus Christ!!! Hell will be hot enough!!! It will be a wonderful day when the wicked are brought to justice in eternity (Isaiah 13:11; Ecclesiastes 12:14; Revelation 20:12-15). In eternity, at The Great White Throne of Judgment, the books shall be opened, and the unsaved dead will be judged according to their works.
For every single
time that Jim Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, Harrison Ford, Kurt Russell, Stephen
Spielberg and each individual blasphemer of God took the Lord's name in vain,
their punishment in Hell will be incrementally be made worse. Literally, their
Hell will be that much hotter. Mark God's word from Deuteronomy 5:11. Jesus
warned in Matthew 12:36 that men shall give account for every idle word
spoken. How much more shall all men give account for their irreverent words
against God and His only begotten Son!!!
America Needs Hard, Uncompromised, Spirit-filled, Bible, Preaching!
We need Billy Sundays, Jack Hyles, Harry Ironsides, John Rices, George Whitefields, Charles Spurgeons and Dwight Moodys. Bless God!, what we need today in America—to reclaim our nation for God—is a revival of preaching preachers who genuinely walk with God!!! What we desperately need are Holy-Spirit-filled; worked-up; passionate; intense; rip-snortin'; window-rattlin'; shingle-pullin'; hell-raising; barn-storming'; hell, fire and damnation warning; preachers who stand uncompromisingly against sin, with God's unconditional love for sinners.
American needs a tidal wave of the old-time religion . . .
I've watched this YouTube video many times now. I am so grateful that someone recorded it and that folks have posted it on YouTube—and that YouTube hasn't taken it down. In the video he makes this prophetic declaration:
"America needs a tidal wave of the old-time religion. America needs to be taken down to God's bathhouse and the hose turned on her. And the time isn't far distant when the wheels of God's judgment are going to go sweeping through this old God-hating world.
"And I want to take a pledge and this audience to join me in pledge—that you will never rest until this old God-hating, Christ-hating, whiskey soaked, Sabbath-breaking, blaspheming, infidel, bootlegging old world is bound to the cross of Jesus Christ by the golden chains of love." . . .
Only a tidal wave of religion—the greatest Great Awakening the world has ever seen—can reverse the course of judgment Sunday prophesied. In 1929, Sunday saw a world that was God-hating, Christ-hating, whiskey soaked, Sabbath-breaking, blaspheming, infidels and bootlegging. He probably couldn't have imagined the state of the world nearly 100 years later.
We need more preachers like Sunday in this hour. We need prophetic voices that will rise up and speak the hard truths. We need apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers who aren't intimidated by seeker-friendly crowds with itching ears that will only tithe to prosperity preachers. And we all need to take on Sunday's pledge to never rest until this old world is bound to the cross of Jesus Christ by the golden chains of love.SOURCE: Evangelist Billy Sunday's 1929 Warning!!! | Watch Video of Sunday Preaching
We must have balanced preachers, who love sinners and express an equal amount of hatred for sin. A preacher who loves God and people as much as he hates sin and wickedness is a fine preacher indeed. A preacher who hates sin, but fails to love people, will drive people away from God (aka, Pastor Fred Phelps). The Bible says that THE LETTER OF THE LAW KILLETH, BUT THE SPIRIT GIVETH LIFE. So a preacher's job is to preach in the power of the Holy Spirit, so that men's souls will be convicted concerning sin, righteousness and judgment.
John 16:8-12, “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.”
Here are some Scripture passages about sinful pride . . .
Proverb 13:10, “Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.”
Daniel 5:20: “But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him”
Hosea 5:5, “And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.”
Hosea 7:10, “And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.”
Obadiah 1:3, “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?”
Anytime that we choose to do our own will instead of following God's will, it is sinful pride. The Bible teaches that pride brings a man low, going before destruction. Pride will wreck your life if you let it. The prevention is to walk humbly with God, by abiding in His holy Word and continuing in constant prayer. In other words, walking with God every waking moment of your life. A Christian ought to think about the truths of the Word of God all day long. A Christian shouldn't spend all their time listening to to any kind of music, including Christian music. We need to dwell upon the Scriptures continually, as part of walking in the Spirit Who indwells us (1st Corinthians 3:16-17; Romans 8:9).
If we don't pray and abide in the Scriptures, we are effectively saying to God in pride, “I don't need your help, I can make it on my own!” I can't make it on my own. I desperately need God in my life. According to Galatians 2:20 I cannot even live the Christian life; but rather, I need Christ to live it through me. Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” May we all humble ourselves before the Lord continually.
The Bible Teaches Us To Esteem Others
Better Than Our Self
Philippians
2:3-5, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but
in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of
others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” What an
incredible Scripture! This one Bible verse from Philippians 2:3 ought to
transform our way of thinking toward others. The Holy Bible teaches us to
humble ourselves, by esteeming other people as being better than we are. Whoa!
You won't hear this truth preached much!!!
When a mother chooses to murder her baby by an abortion, instead of allowing the precious life which God began in her womb to be born into the world, she is esteeming herself more important than God and her baby. I don't condemn any woman who has had an abortion, but the Holy Bible calls it murder (Exodus 20:12). My intent in preaching is never to berate women who've already had abortions; but rather, in the hope of deterring and preventing more abortions.
Esteeming others better than our self is not always an easy thing to do. Notice in Philippians 2:4 that Jesus kept His mind on the things of others. The Lord considered their burdens, needs and circumstances. Jesus watched for the needs of others. The Bible tells us in Philippians 2:5 to have the same mind of Christ toward OTHERS. Pride is selfish. Humility puts others first, self last. This is the Christian life. To live the Christian life means to be like Jesus Christ, Who is our Savior. I speak to born-again Christians.
You don't get saved by following Christ or living the Christian life. The only way to be saved is by receiving the free gift of eternal life through faith in Christ. The Gospel (Good News) teaches that Christ died on the cross for our sins. He was buried. After three days Jesus rose up from the dead. If you acknowledge that you are a guilty sinner in God's holy eyes and believe the Gospel, you are saved.
If you are saved,
then you are commanded by God (as I am) to think about OTHERS, and to view
them as being better than we are. This requires great humility, which can only
come from walking with the Lord. When we think about our self, placing ole
number uno first, then sin reigns in our daily life. But if we will bring
every thought into captivity to obedience to Christ, abhorring ourselves for
the woeful sinners that we are, then we will have lowliness of mind and love
our neighbour as our self.
You deserve Hell today, at McDonalds!
Americans are saturated with selfish pride, which compels them to commit adultery, have abortions, take advantage of others and commit all manner of wickedness against God. We are a sinful people! The greatest sin of all is pride. If we want to abstain from committing evil, then we must continually war against pride when it rears its ugly head in our life. I suggest memorizing Philippians 2:3-5. When you feel anger, resentment or envy toward others, recite this passage of Scripture and pray for God to help you be humble and love OTHERS.
You can be a humble person and yet be overcome with sinful pride in a moment's time. Pride is a sin that we all contend with daily, especially in a selfish consumer-oriented, materialistic, American culture that continually appeals to our selfish desires and egos to sell products. For example: McDonalds says, “You deserve a break today!” In truth, we all deserve to burn in Hell today. Could you imagine driving down the street, hearing a singing advertisement over the radio... “You deserve Hell today, at McDonalds!” Or how about Burger King's ads which say, “Have it your way! Have it your way!” Biblically, we ought to have it God's way. Do you see how humanistic sinful pride saturates our heathen culture? As Christians we must always be on-guard against these type of sinful suggestive philosophies that fill our hearts with pride.
Anytime you gossip, condemn, point fingers or criticize OTHERS for their sins, faults or shortcomings, it is only because your heart is filled with wicked self-righteous pride, the worst sin of all. Matthew 7:3-5, “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.” Biblically, a “hypocrite” is someone who view another person as being a bigger sinner than them self. You sorry rascal; you dirty devil; you're just as wicked as the next sinner, and so am I. Don't judge OTHERS because they sin differently than you do. We are all sinners deserving of God's wrath and eternal punishment.
Thankfully, God sent His only begotten Son into the world to pay the price for our sins, to ransom us back to God the Father. Through faith, anyone, even the vilest sinner, can be forgiven and made whole in Christ Jesus. Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. Jesus is precious! END
