9 Very Subtle Signs Of Covert Narcissism

Do Not Fear the World

Ephesians 6:11
"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil."

Ephesians 4:27
"And give no opportunity to the devil."

1 John 4:1
"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."

Proverbs 18:10
"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe."

God Says You're Not a Doormat (10 Scriptures to Prove It )

The Way of Salvation!

"I'm a good person I think I will become a Christian"

"My life has been pretty good, I do good to people, I think I will fit into those Christians that attend those church gatherings."

"My sins weren't as bad as the sins of others, I think I will make a good Christian."

"I'll go to church that will make good people like me."

I'll identify as a Christian, that will make me a better person."

I have heard all these phrases in different forms over the years. God never allowed me to think I was a good person, the very reason I knew I needed Christ to change me into something other than what I was, I had no strength of my own to be what He wanted me to be and I knew it. God broke my pride of self-reliance, which is why I could come to Him in brokenness.was

When I finally came to terms with the fact that I could do nothing to make myself what I should be in God's eyes was the day I confessed my sinfulness to God and he changed me.

All of the quotes I have written above are the very reasons the people who say them are not born again and will not become born-again unless they can humble themselves admitting they have nothing to offer God or anyone else. When they realize they are utterly wicked without remedy is when God will do great work in changing their heart from one of stone that relies on themselves to a heart of flesh vulnerable and ready to trust in Him.

God will not change anyone who wants to believe highly of themselves. It is through brokenness over our sins that we can come to Christ with our heads bowed low to accept His forgiveness.

Psalm 51:16-17 "…16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise."

The gospel message is not one of encouragement for people to enjoy a better life, its one of warning that we are no good without Christ and that we must confess our sinfulness to Him and ask Him to change us into His image.

If we fall after being changed by Christ it is our flesh that falls and when Christ in us disciplines us to return to obedience. A born-again believer will never be comfortable in their sin or defensive of it, they will remain burdened with guilt until they confess to be cleansed.

1 John 1:9 was written to believers, not to the unsaved.

1 John 1:9 "“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”

God will not ignore a repentant heart!

The unsaved must confess they are sinners to become born again, that is for salvation. Confession for the believer is to be cleansed and grow in holiness.

Bringing the Gospel God's Way

For those who think Christians never sin again after becoming born-gain, God says this:

If we did not sin then there would be no need for believers to confess their sins one to another.

James 5:15-16

"15 and the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. A prayer of a righteous person, when it is brought about, can accomplish much.

1 John 1:9

"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

These passages were written to and speak of born-again believers. Unsaved people have no advocate with the Father, God does not hear their prayers except for the prayer of repentance to be changed into a new creation.

Hebrews 12 makes it clear that believers who are born again do sin or there would be no need for His discipline. However, believers do not practice a lifestyle of ongoing sin.

1 John 3:8-10 "…8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.…"

Hebrews 12:5-10

"5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,

Nor faint when you are punished by Him;

6 For whom the Lord loves He disciplines,

And He punishes every son whom He accepts.”

7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness."

There is never an excuse for believers to keep on sinning because they have the Holy Spirit Who brings conviction and has promised to cleanse us if we fall, but we must confess to be reconciled to God. He does not throw us away for sinning but He brings consequence to discipline and will not hear our prayers until we confess to be cleansed.

Those who never confess remain spiritual babies without growth in emotional and Spiritual maturity.

Pride prevents growth in holiness.

Hebrews 5:12-14

"12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the actual words of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unacquainted with the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil."

The condition of our modern churches is that the gatherings are full of unsaved people who only say they are Christians without any born-again experience and those who are born-again who have remained emotional and spiritual babies because rather than following the Word of God they are following the example of those who are unregenerate.

Romans 12:1-3 "1Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.…"

Pride causes believers to think they know better than God how to win souls to Him. They think coddling the unsaved will make them like Jesus more, but God told us to share the gospel, which means we will have to tell the truth often disdained by those who want to be a part of the Jesus club but don't want Christ. Rather than confronting people in the church with the convicting truth of sin they try to make friends with the world.

The truth is that this idea that if the sinner likes us they will like Jesus is a lie because those who operate this way are more concerned about the unsaved liking them, it has nothing to do with winning a soul to salvation God's Way!

It is a sin to do things our own way, we must submit to Christ and His Word and then we will do things His way.

Judging Those Who are Repentant is Arrogance at its Worst

Looking to judge the sins of others to feel superior and have one last poke at them is evilly motivated by the devil.

We ought to be broken when we have to confront a believer about their sin. The prayer and hope is that they will weep over their sin and be restored, not to demean them. We weep with them as they grieve over their sin.

I once encountered a woman who had been broken over her sin, she shared this sin with her brother and his response was, in a mean voice; "why did you do it?" He loved that she had fallen and that he could feel superior. There is no love in this! By the way, what could be that woman's answer to her brother? She might want to respond with this; "I enjoyed the sin and wanted to do it, but now I am sorry I did and do not ever want to do it again."

No one can deny they do sin because they want to enjoy it. Of course, we enjoy sin for a moment, but if we are born again we hate what we did when we give into temptation.

The woman who sinned and was reviled by her arrogant brother never wanted to share anything with him again. What did he accomplish? She was not going to sin again and didn't, but the brother destroyed any potential of having a relationship. There was no sorrow in overreacting that way, even a sense of justice in his mind kept him in a state of contempt. We know this because since that encounter the brother had treated her with contempt and rudeness, as though he had never sinned in all his life. By the way, the sin wasn't even against him, it was against someone else he knew.

Galatians 6:1-2 "1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.…"

Perhaps the greatest temptation of the one confronting a trespass is the sin of pride that "they would never do such a thing."

Brokenness over the fall of another person is love, and restoring them with kindness is also love. You see "love" is the first fruit of the Spirit of Christ. We are grieved when our brothers and sisters fall, our greatest desire is for them to repent and be restored as though the sin never happened. After all, Christ forgets our sin when we confess to be cleansed, how much more would a person who knows they are also a sinner want to forgive and restore the one they love.

Galatians 5:22-23

"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

An arrogant person could never be evangelistically minded. How could they have a burden for lost sinful souls when they cannot love the person standing right in front of them?

David Jeremiah Sermons 2022 | A LIFE OF INTEGRITY Part 1 | David Jeremia...