The 2nd Book of Pride out of the Playbook of Satan Himself

You know how you see something ugly among people and years later you wish you had said something to correct them, even coming to mind all the things you should have conveyed.

A few years ago I witnessed a family of Christians around the dining room table snarking about what each adult sibling did to the other 15 years before.

They were boasting, demeaning, and insulting one another over silly things that didn't matter and were not even sins, just to appear superior to one another.

I attempted to silence them but they would not be silenced. I even told them to stop but they would not stop.

Sadly I was glad to see them all leave when it was time to go. My thoughts rushed through my head about what I should have said to them, if I had been able to get them to listen to even one sentence.

My mind raced as I wanted to point out to them that they were Christians and this is not the way Christian siblings should speak to one another. There was no love, no kindness, and no conscience over what they were doing.

I wanted to say; "Wow, these attitudes come right out of the Bible, you know, the 2nd book of Pride, in which it states that we should all elevate ourselves to special status, and how to do that is to demean, mock and reduce the other person to shame over things that do not matter.

The fact that there was no one who displayed sorrow over their rotten and devilish attitude left me realizing these people may not have been saved at all or they might have displayed at least the first fruit of the Spirit, which is love.

Galatians 5:22-23 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law. "

The thing that struck me the most was the lack of shame over acting rudely for no good reason except to elevate themself. And, they were ALL doing it in one form or another.

Sadly, this is the condition of many "Christian" families today, and worse yet the parents stand by and say nothing in correction to bring shame over something that really does matter, showing love and kindness with great concern for the others in the room.

I asked myself the question; "why would I ever have these people in my home again." Listening to all that snark brought stress to my soul and my body, there was nothing good that came out of it except the realization that it was time to choose new friends and leave the old ones behind.

It wasn't even possible to have a conversation about what was going on because the heightened degree of angst would have escalated the exasperation in the room.

I am convinced that this is the reason God tells us to "come out from among them and be separate." There is no good purpose that comes from over-charged self-willed narcissists coming together. I could only guess that they thought the good they experienced was to see how superior they could make themselves to others in the room.

Here is what God says we are to be when with others.

Philippians 2:3

"3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves;"

God also says; "1 Corinthians 13:4-8

"4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.

5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,

6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Notice the difference, the people of 2nd book of Pride love to boast, become jealous of those who they think are doing well, seek their own, rejoice in gossip and lies, tell the past forgiven sins against one another to feel superior, loom large in arrogant behavior while denying others an opportunity to express themselves in wisdom if there is any wisdom.

That 2nd book of Pride was written by the devil. it is his favorite book and it does not come from the Bible but from the very heart of devils.

The very people who say they believe the Bible love to live according to that fictitious 2nd book of Pride. They defend themselves when they should be ashamed, They fight to guard their arrogance as though if it departed them there would be nothing left.

We know there is no 2nd book of Pride in the Bible or anywhere else, but some people act as though they are following its principles religiously to maintain the slightest sense of confidence.

It is only Jesus Christ Who can change a prideful heart, turning a stone heart into a heart of flesh. Claiming to be a Christian to appear superior to others does not save even one soul. Many people who say they are Christians have never experienced the power of Jesus Christ changing them into a new creation. They justify their prideful attitudes and refuse to be corrected, the longer they remain in this state of pride the harder it is for them to repent and become saved.

Proverbs 16:18-19 "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud."

Man's Way or God's Way, You Choose

Pertaining to how the modern church operates in this time of apostasy.

The disobedience against God is in the fact that there are denominations at all. Many people who are leaders in churches are not even saved, they are seminary graduates who have been trained a certain way and depend on that training instead of the Holy Spirit. Others are born-again but have become brain-washed by the seminaries and the culture.

1 Corinthians 3:1-9 "3 And I, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as spiritual people, but only as fleshly, as to infants in Christ.

2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to consume it. But even now you are not yet able,

3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like ordinary people? 4 For when one person says, “I am with Paul,” and another, “I am with Apollos,” are you not ordinary people?

5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.

7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

8 Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one; but each will receive his own [c]reward according to his own labor.

9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building."

The entire one-man-paid-pastor system with its traditions and buildings is not Biblical. If you study the way the first century church operated you would see that man thought they could do better than what God commanded and began to add traditions and rules God never commanded.

1 Corinthians 14:26-33

"26 What is the outcome then, brothers and sisters? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. All things are to be done for edification. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, it must be by two or at the most three, and each one in turn, and one is to interpret;

28 but if there is no interpreter, he is to keep silent in church; and have him speak to himself and to God.

29 Have two or three prophets speak, and have the others pass judgment.

30 But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, then the first one is to keep silent.

31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted;

32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets;

33 for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace."

Some born-again believers are leaving the institutional churches based on man's rules and ideas to embrace God's model for meeting together. Perhaps in these last days there are those whose eyes are being opened and are being freed from the cultural pressure to do things man's ways.

Knowledge and Wisdom are Two Different Things

Narcissists retain lots of knowledge and opinions but they do not have wisdom.

Our Actions Prove Our Faith

We see these deceptions in those who say they are Christians, those who come against the Bible while claiming to be "Bible Believers." They pretend they are for the Bible but in reality, they deny Christ through their disobedience to His Word.
Christ is the very essence of His own Word.

 
Those who say they are "Christians" but fight against the doctrines of the Bible to follow their own cultural ways, are denying Christ no matter what they may say.

Titus 1:15-16 "…15 To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed."

2 Timothy 3:5
"having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!"

1 John 2:4
"If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

Matthew 15:8-9
‘"These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’”

Stop listening to what people claim about themselves and begin watching their lives, this will tell you far more than anything else.

 
Do they become angry when they are corrected with the Word? Do they seem agitated and embarrassed when the name of Christ is mentioned? Do they act angry when the discussion turns away from worldly things to God's principles?

 
These attitudes and actions demonstrate a heart that is resistant to Christ no matter what they may say.

Our actions prove our heart!!!

James 2:14-26
Faith Without Works Is Dead
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?
23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.
24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?"

Our inner heart will be seen in our responses to truth and in our actions about truth.

The Battle Belongs to the Lord

God gave the people what they wanted. It was not His choice but the will of the people. Because of this, the people will be deceived.

 
God often gives rebellious people what they want to discipline them for their refusal to obey God.

 
The will of the people was to have prosperity, security, and freedom to sin all they wanted without consequences.

 
When was the last time you heard our leader proclaim that he was going to get rid of all drug dealers, all pornography, all prostitution, all adultery, all divorce and remarriage, all blasphemous and crude language on the internet?

The single most devastating sin in our country is that of divorce and remarriage, which has destroyed the family, removed stability from the children's lives, and created a "me always" mentality, the worst place a nation can be.

 
When "freedom" becomes the god above all else then it is impossible to reason rationally with anyone. When freedom is the god then any form of instruction or correction against sin is seen as "judging" The new mantra for all is; "Don't judge." This means we are never allowed to speak the truth to correct a matter and even help the person being corrected, the punishment for speaking the truth is harsh and executed upon the one who tells the truth.

 
2 Timothy 4:3
"3 For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires,"

They call the truth-teller the divisive one while the divisive ones who support sin are embraced and further empowered to judge, isolate, and demean the truth-teller.
Those who shout "don't judge" the loudest as an intimidation tactic for the truth-teller to remain silent, are the ones who judge the most harshly those who love the Lord. They will even make up lies about what we have said that are innocent and discredit us, removing any support for God's truth.

 
I was once told by an elderly woman who had been in church her entire life, that it was wrong to tell people they are wrong, while she was telling me I was wrong for telling people they are wrong.

 
It was astounding that she thought I was so shallow that I would focus on the rebuke, and would feel ashamed of myself because of her rejection of me, without evaluating the content of her words.

 
Irrational pretenders count more on our feelings convicting us than they are about the content of the discussion. Intimidation, mocking and dismissiveness is the hallmark of the one who does not endure truth but instead embraces feelings and control over others.

 
It is impossible to have a rational and reasonable discussion to resolve anything these days because of the angst and rebellion in the hearts of most people.
Not only will the hearer refuse to consider what is said or done to resolve something, but they must gain others against us too through gossip.

 
Satan knew he could never win in an argument with God so he turned to God's creation, Eve, to influence her to distrust and disobey God. He has not changed his tactics since the beginning of creation. He is still turning people against believing in Christ while influencing them to turn others against us too.

 
We need not be intimidated or devastated by the devil and those who are influenced by him to harm us. We have Christ, He is our defender and the truth is what sets us free from emotional and spiritual baggage brought by the father of lies.
Those who hate us are pawns of the devil and don't even know it. They have been brainwashed to think things that are not true because of his influence on their minds.

 
1 Peter 5:7-9
…7 Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering."

Knowing how the devil works and that he has in the palm of his hand those who have no defenses against him, we don't have to take anything personally that is done to us by those who love themselves more than anyone else. The devil has convinced them they are superior and we are inferior worthy of their contempt and mistreatment.

 
Proverbs 3:5–6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths."
The devil's ploy is to remove our support system and encourage everyone around us to poke at us hoping we will think something is wrong with us causing us to become timid and stop speaking the truth.

 
When we know the schemes of the devil we can dismiss them without worrying about how anyone else thinks about us. It is Christ Who matters and no one else.

 
2 Samuel 22:3 "My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence."

Psalm 54:4 "Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life."

Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

We are in a battle against the spirits of darkness but we do not battle in our own power, Christ battles for us.

 
Ephesians 6:12
"12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."

Deuteronomy 20:4 — “For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”

 
2 Chronicles 20:15 — “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.”

Keep looking up, the battle is intensifying, but the battle is not ours but the Lord's.