The Bible states it as, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18
The Scripture goes on to say,
“Understanding is a wellspring of life to him who has it. But the correction of
fools is folly.” Proverbs 16:22
And, “There is a way that
seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” Proverbs 16:25
And, “An ungodly man digs up
evil, And it is on his lips like a burning fire.
A perverse man sows strife, And
a whisperer separates the best of friends.
A violent man entices his
neighbor, And leads him in a way that is not good.
He winks his eye to devise
perverse things; He purses his lips and brings about evil.” Proverbs 16:27-30
Our pride, individually and
collectively, knows no bounds. Since September 11, 2001, nearly twenty years
ago, our national slogan has been, “Build Back Better,” as Jonathan Cahn so
lucidly wrote concerning Isaiah 9:10 in his book The Harbinger.
“The bricks have fallen down,
But we will rebuild with hewn
stones;
The sycamores are cut down,
But we will replace them with
cedars.”
Pride is one of those sins
that God hates and it really doesn’t matter on which side of the aisle you
stand. Our leadership, and our country as a whole is up to their necks in
pride. Of the seven sins mentioned in Proverbs 6:16-19 that God hates, pride
came in first place.
Alexis De Tocqueville stated
in the 1800s in Democracy in America the following:
“I looked throughout America
to find where her greatness originated. I looked for it in her harbors and on
her shorelines, in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and in her gold
mines and vast world commerce, but it was not there. It was not until I went to
the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I
understand the secret of her success. America is great because she is good, and
if America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
At this very moment, we are
in a very dangerous position with God as a country. I love my country and
shudder to think what is ahead for it. Am I a prophet? Absolutely not. Can I see
into the future? Again, no I cannot, but I can read, and when I read the holy
Word of God, the Bible, it is clear that we are under God’s judgment.
No country has ever been
opposed to God and won. He may not move in our time frame, but He will move.
Unfortunately, we have not just opposed God, but we are attacking Him in every
way Satan can devise.
Jesus said, “And that servant
who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his
will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
“But he who did not know, yet
committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone
to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has
been committed, of him they will ask the more.” (Luke 12:47-48)
No nation has ever been as
blessed by God as we have, except Israel. Take just a minute to consider the agonies
Israel has experienced over several thousand years because of their rebellion
against God, and their judgment will not end until the close of the
Tribulation.
We have not known true hardship
as a country, but it is coming. God will use a much bigger hickory switch on us
than other nations because we should know better. He has warned us, but we have
not listened. So now, it’s time for the woodshed.
The greatest problem in our
nation is not political or social. Our greatest problem is the insurmountable
apostasy throughout our land.
Cole Richards, President of The
Voice of the Martyrs has stated, “The first step in becoming an ambassador is
to set aside one’s personal agenda. It is important to remember that God does
not come into our lives to help us achieve our goals. That kind of
human-centered teaching may be popular, but it is not biblical. We are meant to
spend ourselves in seeking God’s glory (not our own), achieving His eternal purposes
(not our temporal goals) and bearing witness to His truth (not our opinions).”
[The Voice of the Martyrs, Hated and Empowered Ambassadors for Christ, Page3,
Paragraph 4]
Dr. J. Vernon McGee has said,
“Now I am going to say perhaps the strongest thing you have ever heard: If a
so-called church has a man in the pulpit who denies the Word of God, denies the
deity of Christ, and denies that He died for sinners, it is not a church. It is
a brothel – a spiritual brothel! I didn’t say that; God says that right here.
This is the strongest language you can imagine, and you can understand why
Hosea was not elected “Man of the Year” in Israel at that particular time. He
didn’t win any popularity contest in his hometown, you can be sure. He is
telling his people, “You have become a brothel as a nation. You’ve turned to
idolatry and have turned from the living and true God.”” [Thru The Bible
Commentary Series, The Prophets, Hosea and Joel, Hosea 3:3 comments, page 43]
Thank God for the many
faithful churches with pastors who are faithful to God’s Word, but they are so
few among so many. Most of our churches have turned against the God they say
they worship. To the contrary, they worship many idols and not the true God.
We are a nation of prideful
people and we have come to this point by turning our backs upon God. We think
we can solve all our problems by more laws, education, money … our own efforts
in other words. We are corrupt to the core and the greatest contributor to
other nations of our sinful deeds.
Every avenue in our lives is
centered around, “What’s in it for me?” The Lord says through the apostle Paul
when speaking of the Tribulation, “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it
will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is
revealed, the son of destruction,” (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
One of the many signs for the
Tribulation is a great outpouring of apostasy. The fuel for apostasy is pride,
and it is running on a full tank.
Our churches and seminaries
are producing spiritual pygmies who are nothing but idol worshipers and
spiritual harlots.
The Lord Jesus Christ will return
soon and many will be left behind due to the apostasy that surrounds us all. As
I previously said, pride fuels apostasy and our pride knows no bounds. Whether
we consider the political arena, sports, entertainment industry, business
world, or the average person on the street, few have any time for God.
There is no hope for us as a
nation, but there is the promise of eternal life with the one and only true God
for any individual who will swallow that pride and come to the cross in
humility seeking forgiveness.
Jesus said, “… Nevertheless,
when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)
Grant Phillips
Email: Phillip5769@twc.com
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
Rapture Ready: http://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html
