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THE MYTH:

Feelings Should Be Trusted in Salvation

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.    Feelings are also called emotions. 

1.      They originate in the mind of man.

2.      There are literally hundreds of different feelings that can be identified.

3.      Feelings are a wonderful part of life.

a.      Love for others

b.      Fear in danger

c.       Anger when slighted

d.      Happiness when things are well.

e.       Contentment with what we have

f.        Grief in times of loss

 

B.      Feelings have become a major part of our society.  We will see this as our lesson continues.

 

C.     Feelings are a very important part of religion to many people.

 

D.    Sadly, many people trust in a myth regarding feelings.  They believe their feelings should be trusted in salvation.

 

E.      In this lesson, we want to tackle this myth.

 

I.                   A FEELINGS BASED SOCIETY

 

A.    Salvation is based on feelings.

1.      I feel I am saved.

2.      When I think of my salvation, I just get a warm feeling deep inside.

3.      I would not trade what I feel inside for a stack of Bibles.

 

B.      Church choice is based on feelings.

1.      I feel this church is a good fit for me and my family.

2.      I just did not feel at home there.

3.      I did not go there because everything seemed negative instead of positive.

 

C.     Worship is based on feelings.  Churches do all they can to create a “feeling” atmosphere.

1.      Beautiful buildings

2.      Exciting preachers

3.      Extremely loud concert music

4.      Technical lighting displays

5.      Emotional testimonies

6.      Tongue speaking

7.      Clapping

8.      Waving the hands in the air

 

D.    Participation in religious activities is based on feelings.

1.      I feel good doing this work.

2.      I don’t enjoy this or that work in the church.

 

E.      Obedience is based on feelings.

1.      People do not evangelize

2.      People do not visit

3.      People will not practice church disciple

4.      People will not forgive others because of how they feel about them.

 

II.                BIBLE WARNINGS ABOUT FEELINGS

 

A.    Proverbs 3:5

 

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

 

B.      Proverb 14:12

 

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

 

C.     Proverbs 28:26

 

He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool:  but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.

 

D.    Jeremiah 17:9

 

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:  who can know it?

 

E.      There are not any passages of Scripture that tell us to

1.      Trust in our feelings

2.      Pray for positive feelings about our situation

3.      Make spiritual decisions based on feelings

 

III.             THE DANGERS OF USING FEELINGS AS A STANDARD

 

A.    Feelings can be based upon lies (Ex., Jacob).

1.      Jacob experienced deep pains of grief over the “loss” of Joseph (Gen. 37:34-35).

 

And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.  And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning.  Thus his father wept for him.

 

2.      Jacob’s feelings were all based on lies.

a.      The brothers of Joseph took his coat from him

b.      They dipped it in the blood of a kid of the goats

c.       Jacob experience sorrow based on a lie.

 

B.      Feelings can cause us to make mistakes in judgment.

1.      People have married the wrong person because they felt they were in love.

2.      People have made poor investments because they felt a certain way about a stock.

3.      People have accepted jobs based on feelings that brought them grief.

4.      Pharaoh felt that he was as powerful as the God of Moses and it led to the destruction of his nation.

a.      “…the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea” (Exo. 14:27).

b.      “…there remained not so much as one of them” (Exo. 14:28).

c.       “…Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore” (Exo. 14:30).

d.      “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host that he cast into the sea” (Exo. 15:4).

e.       “…they sank into the bottom as a stone” (Exo. 15:5).

f.        “…they sank as led in the mighty waters” (Exo. 15:10).

 

C.     Feelings are different from person to person.

1.      Most people do not buy cars based on facts.  They buy them on feelings.  Thus, there are many different types of cars.  Fortunately, we do not have to be united when it comes to the type of car we drive.

2.      If we rely on feelings in religion, we will never have the unity the Bible exhorts us to have.

a.      Jesus prayed for oneness (John 17:20-21)

b.      Paul commanded unity (I Cor. 1:10).

c.       Feelings will always divide us.

1)      One likes a worship service; another does not.

2)      One likes a youth program; another does not.

3)      One likes the preacher; another does not.

4)      One likes the times of services; another does not.

5)      One likes the works of the church; another does not.

3.      The psalmist said:  “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Ps. 133:1).  He did not say it is good to dwell together in division.

 

D.    For some reason, people allow feelings to completely disregard the facts.

1.      When people feel a certain way, they will not examine any evidence.

a.      They will not read a book.

b.      They will not watch a video.

c.       They will not listen to an expert.

d.      The will not even read the Bible.

2.      Example:  Saul of Tarsus

a.      Saul felt Christianity was a false religion and a threat to Judaism.

b.      While killing Christians, he felt good about his actions (Acts 23:1).

 

And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God unto this day.

 

c.       Prior to his experience on the road to Damascus, he would never honestly consider the evidences for Christianity.

 

IV.             KNOWLEDGE OVER FEELINGS

 

A.    Instead of relying on feelings, the Bible teaches us to rely upon the knowledge of God’s Word for salvation.

1.      Jesus said:  “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

2.      God will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth (I Tim. 2:4).

3.      Romans 8:16

 

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.

 

a.      The Holy Spirit has revealed the terms of salvation in the pages of God’s Word.

b.      We can read those terms and comply therewith.

c.       At that point, our spirit bears witness with the Spirit of God and confirms we are children of God.

4.      Example:  The lawyer and Jesus (Luke 10:25-26)

 

And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?  He said unto him, What is written in the law?  how readest thou?

 

a.      This was a question about salvation, eternal life.

b.      Jesus did not ask the man about how he felt about his salvation.

c.       Jesus pointed this man to the law:  “What is written in the law?”

 

B.      Once we have a knowledge of God’s will, then we can display appropriate feelings (Ex., the Ethiopian eunuch, Acts 8:26-39).

1.      The eunuch was reading the Bible, not consulting his feelings.  “…and he heard him read the prophet Esaias…”

2.      He was taught the scripture, not asked how he felt about his salvation.  “The Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.”

3.      The eunuch did not say:  “Well, I feel I am already saved.”  “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water:  and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?”

4.      After he obeyed the gospel, being baptized into Christ, he experienced proper emotions.  “And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more:  and he went on his way rejoicing.”

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.    Feelings are a God-given gift to mankind.

 

B.      In their right place, they are extremely beneficial.

 

C.     Feelings, however, were never intended to be our spiritual guide.

 

D.    God has given us His Word as our religious guide.

1.      Jesus told the Jews to search the Scriptures (John 5:39).

2.      The Bereans were commended because they searched the Scriptures daily to see if what they had been taught was so (Acts 17:11).

3.      Faith can only come by hearing God’s Word (Rom. 10:17).

4.      Paul told Timothy that it was the Scriptures that had made him wise unto salvation (II Tim. 3:15).

5.      The Thessalonians were commended because they had received the word as it is in truth, the word of God (I Thess. 2:13).

 

E.      My friends, we want you to feel good about your salvation.

1.      We want those feeling to arise from having complied with the perfect standard, the Word of God.

2.      We do not want you trusting your salvation to a faulty standard of feelings alone.

3.      It is better to be saved and know it than to think you are saved because you feel it.