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Feelings or Commandments

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• I want you to open your Bibles, if you would please, tonight to the book of Ephesians chapter 4. And we're going to read verses 17 through 24. And I'm going to do something just a little differently tonight. Instead of me giving an exposition of these verses, I'm going to read them. Then I'm going to take you through the Bible and illustrate them and show you exactly what God is talking about. Look at Ephesians chapter 4, beginning with verse 17.

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• The Apostle Paul writes, "This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart, who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness." I want you to note the contrast.

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• "But you have not so learned Christ; if so be that you have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

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• I want you to understand that what the Apostle Paul gives us in this brief passage is two distinct lifestyles. He's illustrating what it is to walk, in one sense of the word, according to the feelings. In another instance, he's illustrating what it is to walk according to commandments. I want to bring a message tonight which I've just entitled, "Feelings vs. Commandments." If I were to ask this simple question, "What is the chief duty of man?"

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• Everyone in this room can answer that. The answer, of course, is the chief duty of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Well, in order to glorify God, we must learn to live biblically. And if you and I learn to live biblically, then we must know the difference. Listen carefully. We must know the difference between feeling, attitude, and behavior. Each one of those things are totally different. If you understand the difference, you're going to be able to discern between root and fruit, or between cause and symptoms. One of our problems as Christians is this: we spend most of our time picking fruit. We spend most of our time dealing with symptoms when we should be laying the axe to the root of the tree and dealing with the cause. We spend all of our time, like the Apostle Paul says, beating the air, and we never ever accomplish anything. And consequently, we fail miserably in glorifying God.

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• Let me just point out the fact, in reality, there are only two basic lifestyles. There is the feeling-oriented life. And then there is the commandment-oriented life. And throughout each day, each one of you, each of us, consciously or unconsciously, follow one of those lifestyles. We either obey one or the other throughout the day. Now, these two lifestyles involve patterns of lust or love. They are oriented either toward the desires of self or toward the Word of God. They acknowledge two different sources of authority, one self, the other the Bible. They focus upon two goals, one temporary and the other eternal. They acknowledge two masters, either Satan or God. They offer two ways of handling problems.

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• One, running, covering up, lying, deceiving, and blame-shifting. And the other, facing the problem, confessing and speaking the truth, and assuming personal responsibility. Each one of these lifestyles brings about its own results, either bondage to chaos or, of course, freedom and structure and eternal joy. In a word, let me put it like this. The lifestyles that I'm talking about are either between humanism and theism. Humanism, on the one hand, is the philosophy and the worldview that posits man as the center of the universe and the center of all good. It elevates man, it glorifies man, and in essence, it deifies man. Theism, on the other hand, places God at the center. It seeks to elevate God. It seeks to put God in His proper place, that is, on His throne where He rules, guides, and directs and orders all things. It seeks to bow to Him and subjugate all things to His dominion and His commands.

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• Now, in order to know how to live biblically, I said you have to be able to distinguish between feelings, attitude, and behavior. And before I get started tonight, I want to give you some definitions for those things. I want to give you, first of all, a definition for feelings. Feeling just simply refers to the perception of a bodily state as pleasant or unpleasant. Every one of you have said, "I feel bad" or "I feel tired" or "I feel sick." Feelings may vary in kind or they may vary in intensity, but basically there are only two types of feelings, good and bad. We have muscular or visceral feelings. For instance, I have a vertebrae pressing on a nerve, and every now and then it shoots a pain right down my leg, right in that muscle. That is muscular. That is visceral. I know it is there.

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• But the other is emotional. And that is, emotionals usually are bodily responses, which I'm going to explain to self-judgments in just a moment. But do you realize that we have become so feeling-oriented in this world that we cannot even think straight? I want you to listen tomorrow. I want you to listen on Monday. Whenever there's a problem, inevitably, invariably, or whenever there's a question, someone is going to say, "Well, how do you feel about it?" Not "What do you think should be done?" or "What do you think the answer is?" but "How do you feel about it?" We are so feeling-oriented, we always use our feelings for excuses. For instance, if your pastor asks you, "Well, why were you not in church last Sunday?" "Well, I didn't feel like going." "Well, did you pray?" "Well, I just didn't feel like praying." "Well, did you study your Bible?" "I just didn't feel like studying my Bible." "Why in the world did you hit that man?" "I just felt like striking out." You notice everything is about our feelings.

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• We carry feelings so far, we become so confused. I have heard people say, listen now, "I feel stupid." "I feel inferior." "I feel inadequate." Let me tell you something, stupidity, inferiority, and inadequacy are not feelings. They are judgments that you make about yourself. You may feel sad and bad and angry because of the attitudes that you have concerning yourself. But thank God, those are not feelings. If stupidity and inferiority and inadequacy were feelings, there would not be too much you could do about it. Now, listen carefully. On the one hand, you really cannot control your feelings. You say, "Yes, Brother John, I can control my feelings." Well, fine. And the next time you have a fever, the next time you have diarrhea, you try to control it.

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• You just can't do it. See, if stupidity is a feeling, there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. If inferiority is a feeling, there's nothing you can do about it. But if stupidity and inadequacy are judgments that you make about yourself, which causes emotional responses that are bad, once you change your behavior and once you change your judgment about yourself, in that sense of the word, you get to change your feelings. While we're on the subject of feelings, let me just cover something very quickly.

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• I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but this is one of the biggest complaints, and I'm going to use that word, that I've heard from Christians most of my life. "Brother Weaver, there's times that I just don't feel saved." Have you ever heard anyone say that? Well, now, there's a good reason why you don't feel saved. Let me explain it to you. Salvation is not a feeling. Salvation is an accomplished fact that was wrought and brought about through the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. Salvation may indeed affect our emotions, that is true. But the fact of the matter is salvation is not a feeling. Because salvation is an accomplished fact. It's been done. It's been worked out. It has been finished by the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• Now, let me tell you something. You cannot feel facts. The world is out there. Feel it. Our Lord said, "The truth shall set you free." Feel that fact. The Bible is the Word of God. Feel that fact. I may be bald-headed. Feel that fact. You can't feel facts. But let me tell you something about feelings. It doesn't matter whether you have good feelings or you have bad feelings, whether they're pleasant or unpleasant. The truth of the matter is none of your feelings can affect the fact. And the fact is that Jesus Christ has accomplished salvation, and regardless of what your feelings are, that is certainly still true. So feelings are basically two kinds, good and bad. Let me tell you what an attitude is.

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• An attitude is that combination of presuppositions, beliefs, opinions, and of course your convictions that make up your habitual stance at any given time toward a person or a subject or an act. You know what an attitude is? An attitude is a mindset that strongly influences your behavior. That's why the Bible says, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." That's why the Scripture says in Proverbs 4:23, "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life."

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• Let me tell you about a cartoon I saw years ago. It was one of my favorite cartoons to show you how strong your attitudes really are. I saw the cartoon. The pastor was walking down the hallway with another man, undoubtedly another preacher, and showing him the church building, and there was an open door. And the guest was looking through the open door. And through that open door were two men rolling on the floor. Their eyes were black.

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• Their hair had been pulled out. Their clothes were torn very obviously. Their fists were folded. They were fighting. And the pastor looked at his guest and said, "Oh, never mind them. They're just having their weekly discussion on the doctrine of election." Well, you understand what I mean about an attitude. An attitude is a mindset that does indeed affect your behavior. Thirdly, here's the definition of behavior. Behavior is the conduct of a whole person that may be judged by the law of God. And when I say behavior is the conduct of a whole person, I'm not saying the behavior is the result of some little gland. No. It's the result of a whole person, and that whole person may be judged by the law of God. It teaches us that man is answerable and accountable to God, and your conduct may be responsible or it may be irresponsible, yet it still may be judged according to the law of God.

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• I want you to watch this. I want you to remember feelings, attitude, and behavior, because I told you that there is the feeling-oriented life and there's the commandment-oriented life. I'd like to ask that you turn in your Bibles to the book of Genesis, chapter 2, and let me begin by showing you how sin makes us desire-oriented. Notice, if you would, Genesis, chapter 2, when God created Adam, He placed him in the garden, and He placed him there under a commandment-oriented life. Think. It was God's prerogative to command, and it was Adam's responsibility to obey. And if you look in Genesis 2:16, the Bible says, "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat." Now, the word "commanded" in verse 16 literally means to put under an oath or to put under a charge. Simply stated, God gave Adam a commandment. God placed Adam under an oath. God gave Adam a charge. And Adam agreed under oath that he would obey God.

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• If he obeyed, he lived. If he disobeyed, he died. It was very simple. There could not be any misunderstanding. God says, "Here you are. Here's my commandments. You obey. You live." Very simple.

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• Now, I want you to note what happened in Genesis chapter 3. Let's begin reading with verse 1.

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• "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing or determining good and evil." Now watch verse 6. "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."

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• Now I want you to note the words in verse 6. "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, when she saw that it was pleasant to the eyes, she took and she ate and she gave to her husband." Now I want you to note there is one word that is missing in verse 6. You know what that word is? It's the word "commandment." Nowhere does she remember God's commandment. Let me tell you what is happening at this stage in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 6. It is no longer about God and His Word.

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• It is now all about Eve. It's about her thoughts, her feelings, her desires, her wants, her will, her way, and she took and she gave to Adam.

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• Now, there are many sins involved in Genesis 3 and verse 6. I have an entire message just on verse 6. But let me tell you, one of the greatest sins that Adam and Eve committed in this passage was that they set themselves above the Word of God. They gave themselves priority over the Word of God. They placed their feelings, they placed their desires, they placed their needs above God. It did not matter what God commanded. It did not matter what God wanted. They were not looking after God. They were looking after themselves. They wanted what they wanted, and they were giving in to their desires and their emotions, and they could say this to God, "Down with God, kick God off His throne. It's my feelings. It's my emotions. It's my needs. It's my wants that I want to elevate and place upon the throne. I'm going to do what I want to do, and as far as I'm concerned, God can kiss my foot."

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• That was their sin first and foremost. They chose to satisfy their desires rather than obey the command of God. Consequently, all of their posterity have followed in their example. And by nature, we'd rather please ourselves than God. I want you to note the impact that the fall had upon man. Feelings became all-important. When God came and walked in the garden and said, "Adam, where art thou?" what did Adam and Eve do?

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• They ran and hid themselves. Why in the world did they run and hide? Why in the world did they cover up their sins? Why did they not just come out to God and say, "Oh God, I'm so sorry. I've sinned against you. I've violated your law. I've broken your commandments. Oh God, have mercy upon me." No, no, no. They didn't do that. They ran and they hid. You know why?

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• They were going to protect their feelings. They did not want to be embarrassed. They did not want to be hurt. They did not want to feel uncomfortable. And you know, the average man today, the average woman today, had rather deny their sins than confess them. Why? Because it's not nice. It's uncomfortable. It's uneasy doing those things. Let me show you something else. Here's still the effect of the fall on our feelings. Another aspect is, which you well know, they begin to blame-shift. What did Adam say? "It's the woman thou gavest to be with me." What did the woman say? "It was the serpent." They'd only shifted blame, now both of them, indirectly blamed God. In other words, "God, had you not created the serpent, none of this would have happened anyhow." How do we act today? Exactly the same way.

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• We're not willing to face up to our responsibility. We're not willing to acknowledge our sin. We blame everything on everybody else. "It's those boys my children run with." "It's that person down the street." It's like we say, you know, "I could be the best husband in the world if it just wasn't for my wife." "I could be the best wife in the world if it wasn't for my husband." "I could be the best pastor in the world if it wasn't for my congregation."

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• You understand what I'm saying? Everybody blames everybody else. We never look at ourselves and say, "Look, it's me." No. That's because we put feelings first.

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• Now, let me continue to try to clarify this. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Joshua 6 and 7. Notice in the book of Joshua 6, you should know this story, and I'm sure that you do, how God sends the children of Israel to destroy Jericho. And I want you to note what God says in Joshua 6:18. He gives a warning to the people. He says this, "And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing." In fact, go back to verse 17. Let me go there to verse 17. "And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord.

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• Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in her house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it." Now God says, "Look, all the gold and silver in it is going to be dedicated to me.

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• Everything else is to be utterly, completely and absolutely destroyed. Everything is under a ban. Everything is under curse. Don't touch it." Well, you know the story. If you look in chapter 7, there was a man by the name of Achan, and Achan found some things and he took them and hid them under his tent. And of course, then when Joshua sent some men up to Ai, the men told Joshua, said, "Don't make all Israel to fight and to work. It's a small town.

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• Just send three or four thousand up there. We can take care of that." They got up there and the men of Ai defeated them and killed 36 of them. And when they came back, Joshua hit the ground and he said, "Oh God, what in the world is Israel going to do when she turns her back upon her enemies?" And he starts crying to God and God says, "Get up. Get up.

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• There's no reason to cry, and there's no reason to pray." He said, "The problem is there's sin in the camp, and unless that sin is dealt with, here's what God says, 'Neither will I be with you anymore.'" So Joshua then had the tribes come before him, and the tribe of Judah was taken. Then the family of Achan was taken. And then, of course, Achan himself was taken. So look in Joshua chapter 7 now, if you would please, beginning there with verse 20. In fact, let's read there with verse 18, "And he brought his household, man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done.

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• Hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: when I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it." So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. Now, I want you to know what Joshua did. He got Achan and he said, "Achan, you confess.

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• You tell me exactly what you did." And notice in verse 21, he said, "When I saw." And then he said in verse 21, "I coveted." And then he said, "I took them." You know, that's exactly what happened to Eve. It's the same lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Achan gave in to his feelings. Achan gave in to his desires. He wanted the silver. He wanted the Babylonian scarlet. He wanted the gold.

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• It didn't matter what God said. It did not matter what God commanded. God said, "Don't touch it lest you become a curse and you bring a curse upon the camp of Israel. Don't touch it." And Achan said, "God, my feelings, my desires are more important than your commandment. I want them and I'm going to take them."

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• Now, Adam and Eve had just proven that you could not sin against God and escape judgment. And now, Achan verifies that truth. So not only is Achan put to death, but his whole family is put to death with him. You say, "Why in the world were they put to death?" Well, listen, if it was hidden under a tent, they had to be party to it. They had to know about it.

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• And moreover, you remember, it was his actions that had caused 36 Israelites to be killed. Achan not only lost his life, he lost his family. He lost everything that he had. Why? Because he wanted his desires, his feelings fulfilled. Look in your Bibles to the book of Judges. The book of Judges, chapter 14. And here's another illustration of this very same thing that sin makes us desire- or feeling-oriented. Surely, when you talk about Samson, someone as strong and as powerful as Samson could certainly resist his desires and his feelings, you would think. Well, notice, if you would, in the book of Judges, chapter 14, and let's begin reading there with verse 1. Notice what the Bible says.

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• "And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well." Now I want you to note, Samson has gone down to the Philistines. He sees this beautiful Philistine woman. He comes back. He tells his father, "I want you to get her for me, for she pleases me well." Do you understand that every Israelite knew the law of God in this sense that God had forbidden intermarriage with the heathen and especially the Philistines?

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• All you have to do is read Exodus chapter 34, Deuteronomy chapter 7. And so when Samson said, "Now look, I've got this Philistine woman, and I want you to get her for me," his father said, "No, no, no, Samson, don't you understand? There's plenty of good-looking Israelitish women." He said, "In fact, look in your own tribe. If you can't find a beautiful woman in your tribe, then there are eleven more. Why in the world are you going to go to those Philistines to get a wife?" I want you to look at this. Note, if you would, exactly what Samson said in verse 3. "Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well."

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• Let me tell you what that is in the Hebrew. Here it is. "Get her for me, for it's agreeable to me. It's good in my eyes. It's what I want." I want you to note, Samson was not only violating known commandments in the Word of God, he was also violating the fifth commandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother." I'm not going to go into all of this, but you know, Samson never got to marry this woman.

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• She was given to his best friend or to a man that he used as his friend. And Samson did not even learn from this. He kept messing around until he found another Philistine woman in Judges 16, by the name of Delilah. You know the story. But if you look in Judges 16, look at verse 21. Let me show you what happened to Samson, the man of God. Notice, if you would, Judges 16:21, "But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house." Here, the mighty man of God, the man that had the power of God upon him, the man who is used of God in so many ways has now lost his sight, he's lost his ministry, and ultimately he loses his life. You know why?

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• Because he gave in to his feelings. He gave in to his desires. He wanted what he wanted. It did not matter what God commanded. Let me tell you something, folks. It seems as if we never learn. It doesn't matter how many illustrations we have in the Bible. It seems as if we never learn. Most people live on their feelings. It's a clever wile of Satan to tempt men to think that they cannot do what God requires simply because they don't feel like doing it. Now think about that. God requires you to study His Word. And yet you'll say, "I just don't feel like it." God requires you to pray. "I just don't feel like it." God says, "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together," as a man or woman. "Well, I just don't feel like it." It's not that we're sick. It's not that we're hurt. We just don't feel like doing it. But let me tell you something else. Not only does he tempt us not to do what God commands because we think we don't feel like doing it?

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• On the other hand, he also tempts us to give in to our feelings and to give in to our desires. And consequently, we've basically adopted the motto, "If it feels good, do it." And the opposite of that is this, "If it doesn't feel good, don't do it, no matter what God commands." Most people are so overcome with their feelings, they cannot separate their feelings from reality. You think about how many divorces there have been in America. I'm talking about divorces among Christians.

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• And you realize most men, most women will come and here is what they offer for a reason they want a divorce. "I no longer have feelings for my wife." Or "I no longer have feelings for my husband." Isn't that amazing? You know what God says in Ephesians 5:25? "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." You're commanded to love your wife. Feelings have nothing to do with it. Thank God there are feelings involved between husbands and wives, but feelings have nothing to do with it. God commands you to love. I had a man come into my office and he came under the pretense that he wanted counseling. You know, most people, when they come for counseling, they really do not want counsel.

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• What they want is for you to put your stamp of approval upon what they've already decided to do. That's what they want. Well, this gentleman came to my office, and he was a professing Christian, and he told me that he was going to divorce his wife. He wanted to divorce his wife. I said, "Why?" He said, "Well, I don't love her anymore. I have no feelings for her." I said, "Oh." I said, "Well, you know, the Scripture says, 'Husbands, love your wives.' I said, 'God commands you to love your wife. You must love her.'" He said, "Well, I just can't love her as a wife."

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• I said, "Are you sure?" "Oh, yes, I'm sure. I have no feelings for her." I said, "Well, you know, you would say at least she's your closest neighbor since she lives in the house with you, wouldn't you?" He said, "Well, yes." I said, "Well, the Bible says, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' I said, 'So you're still required to love her.'" Well, he said, "I can't even love her as a neighbor." I said, "Well, would you say that she's your enemy?" "Oh, yes, sir. She is my enemy." "Good." I said, "God says, 'Love your enemies.' I said, 'You can't get out of it.'" "Well, I don't feel." I said, "I don't care how you feel. God requires you to love your wife." When people are encouraged to follow their feelings rather than to follow the Word of God, it is not only sin, dear folks, it is treachery. It is treason against the sovereign God of heaven and earth. And it's treason against His law.

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• As Christians, we do have a choice. We can either follow that feeling-oriented life and do what we desire, or we can follow the commandments of God. Let me show you a good illustration. Look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 11. Here's another well-known passage. Hebrews chapter 11, beginning there with verse 24. And look, if you would, at the impact of these statements. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:24, "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than

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• the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." Now go back up to verse 24. "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter." You know what that means? He would have been in line to inherit the throne. He would have been a Pharaoh. He could have had all the riches, all the glory, all the power of Egypt.

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• Notice what the Bible says. In verse 25, "Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." He had a choice, did he not? "I can be top dog with all power and authority and money and everything I want and fulfill the lust of my flesh and the desires of my flesh like no one else could ever do that. Or, I can choose to suffer with the people of God." And you know he chose to suffer with the people of God. Here's why. Look at the next verse.

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• "Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt." Wow! Isn't that amazing? He said, "I'd rather have the reproach of Jesus Christ than to be the next Pharaoh." You do not have to have a feeling-oriented life. However, most people give in to that. When you give in to your feelings, you always end up in despair, desperation, discouragement and depression. And what we have to learn is we have to learn never, ever to make decisions based upon despair or doubt.

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• Whenever we know that an action is biblical and scriptural, then we move with confidence. I tell people all the time, there's a verse that you need to memorize, you know, just part of it. In Romans 14:23, the Bible says, "For whatsoever is not of faith is sin." If you cannot do something in faith toward God, you had better not do it. So when in doubt, don't.

  #52 | 35:49 to 36:14 | cleaned

• It's always easier to change a no to a yes than it is a yes to a no. So God says whenever there's a doubt, don't do it. Give God the benefit of the doubt. But once you determine that something is biblical and scriptural, you move forward with confidence regardless of the consequences. When you stop and think about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they knew it was biblical not to bow to that image in the plain of Dura. They knew it was biblical. They knew it was right. And they moved forward. And guess what?

  #53 | 36:14 to 36:44 | cleaned

• They didn't know they were going to get thrown in that fiery furnace. But when they found out that was their end, they didn't back down, did they? They didn't say, "Well, give me a minute to reconsider this. Let me change my mind." No, no. Regardless of the consequences, they stuck with what was biblical and right. Sin always makes us desire- and feeling-oriented.

  #54 | 36:44 to 37:13 | cleaned

• Secondly, I want you to understand, listen carefully, that behavior determines feelings. I'm going to show you this from the Bible. It's important that you understand the connection between behavior and feelings. If you don't learn anything else tonight, learn this. Feelings are never to lead. They're to always follow. I'm going to show you from the Bible that God has ordained that if you do what is right, you're going to feel right. If you do what is wicked and bad, you're going to feel bad. Feelings follow actions. They're to never, ever to lead us. Good feelings are the result of obedience. Bad feelings are the result of disobedience.

  #55 | 37:13 to 37:56 | cleaned

• Look in your Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter 4. Genesis chapter 4. Notice, if you would, beginning there with verse 3. You know this story very well. Genesis 4:3, "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." Now, I want you to note, Cain and Abel both brought sacrifices to God. Cain brought the fruit of the field.

  #56 | 37:57 to 39:00 | cleaned

• Abel brought that which God required. Consequently, Abel's sacrifice was accepted and Cain's was rejected. And undoubtedly, Abel was quite happy with the fact that God had respect to his offering and received it. Would he not be happy? God was pleased. He was pleased. He was blessed. But then Cain offered the fruit of the ground. God rejected it and immediately, notice what happens, he became wroth and his countenance fell. Wow! Cain became angry, his countenance fell. Simply stated, he became morose, depressed, angry and anxious.

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• His bad feelings stemmed from his wicked conduct. His bad feelings came from his wicked behavior.

  #58 | 39:44 to 39:52 | cleaned

• Now, God says in verse 6, unto Cain, "Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?" And the Lord said, "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?" In other words, "Cain, you want me to be pleased with your sacrifice? You bring what I require. If you bring what I require, fine, I'll accept yours. If you don't, then I will not accept it. It's just that simple." Cain's depression and Cain's feelings of despair came from the fact of his wicked conduct, and God refused his offering. Abel came in obedience, and God was pleased, and so was Abel.

  #59 | 39:52 to 40:32 | cleaned

• Let me tell you something, folks. I've heard so many people talk about nervous breakdowns. I'm going to tell you there is no such thing as a nervous breakdown. You say, "Well, yes, there is, Brother Weaver. I had one." No. There's no such thing as a nervous breakdown. Your nerves are working all too well. That is the problem. It's not a nervous breakdown, it's a foundation breakup. What happens is this, we keep sinning against God and disobeying and disobeying and pretty soon God gets our back against the wall and we can't go any further and the way we handle problems no longer works and we go to pieces. It's not our nerves. It's our behavior. It's our wickedness. And what many people do when they have all these quote-unquote emotional problems, they then try to relieve those problems with drugs and alcohol and all kind of pills.

  #60 | 40:33 to 41:37 | cleaned

• And you know what they're doing? They're dealing with symptoms. They're not dealing with the root. They're not dealing with the cause. People feel bad because of bad behavior. People feel good, on the other hand, because of good or right behavior. Let me just show you this. And I'm not going to ask you to do it because I don't want you to, quote-unquote, feel bad. But I could make every one of you in this room tonight start feeling sickly, nauseated. You say, "How?" If I were to ask you to think of the most embarrassing, the most hurtful, the most devastating incident in your life, you think about it and you start dwelling on it and you start calling it back to mind. And the next thing you know, your stomach starts doing this all over again. Why? Because you are reliving all those emotions from that bad incident. Do you understand? That when you live right, you have good feelings. Let me show you.

  #61 | 41:37 to 42:51 | cleaned

• Look in your Bibles to 1 Peter, chapter 3. 1 Peter, chapter 3. And notice if you would, verse 10. 1 Peter 3:10. It's interesting what God tells us. 1 Peter 3:10, "For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: let him eschew evil, and do good.

  #62 | 42:52 to 43:31 | cleaned

• Let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil."

  #63 | 43:32 to 43:41 | cleaned

• Now go back to verse 10. "For he that will love life, and see good days." In other words, you want good days? You want to feel good? You want to live good? What does God say? "Let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: let him eschew evil." The word "eschew" is an old English word. You know what it literally means? It means to spit it out. You can't stomach it. You can't take it. So He says, "Let him spit out evil, and do good.

  #64 | 43:41 to 44:09 | cleaned

• Let him seek peace, and ensue it. Why? For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but his face is against them that do evil." You notice down in verse 16, he says this, "Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ." Do you realize a good conscience stems from obedience?

  #65 | 44:10 to 44:40 | cleaned

• So it doesn't matter what people say about you, as long as you know that you have done that which is right. So God is saying, "Look, if you want to have a good life and you have good feelings in your life, then you obey me." I want you to understand that feelings, and I've said it before and I'm saying it again, feelings are never to lead, they're always to follow.

  #66 | 44:40 to 45:10 | cleaned

• Now, let me give you an illustration and show you how important this truth is. Here's something that's happened to every one of us. We've awakened one morning and we just don't feel good. We're not sick. Something's just not right. I don't know what it is, but we just don't feel good. Not sick, not hurt. And you lie in bed and you say, "Man, I don't feel like getting out of this bed, but I've got work to do. I've got this to do and I've got that to do. And if I don't get those things done, I'm going to be so far behind I can't see straight. I know what I need to do. I don't feel like it, and I don't feel good, but I'm going to get up, and I'm going to get out of bed, and I'm going to go to work, and I'm going to start doing that which I know needs to be done." And you know, you get out of bed, and you start doing that which you know that needs to be done.

  #67 | 45:12 to 46:19 | cleaned

• You start fulfilling your responsibility. In about an hour, it dawns on you, "You know, I feel good. I don't feel bad." You have good feelings. Are you listening? You lie in bed and you say, "I'm just not getting out of this bed today." And you lay there. And your husband comes home, "Where's my supper?" "Well, I didn't feel like getting out of bed. I didn't feel like cooking." "Where's my clean clothes for work tomorrow?" "I didn't feel like ironing."

  #68 | 46:19 to 46:57 | cleaned

• Next thing you know, there's an argument. Next thing you know, both of you going to bed mad. Next thing you know, you wake up in the morning and you really don't feel like getting out of bed now because you're so far behind. You don't know where to start. And the next thing you know, you're thoroughly, totally, completely discouraged and depressed. You know why? Because you gave in to your feelings. Feelings are never to lead. They're always to follow.

  #69 | 46:59 to 47:29 | cleaned

• Now, I want you to understand this last point. I want you to understand the commandment-oriented life is the godly life. Let me ask you a question. Don't answer this out loud. What is salvation? I know what you're thinking. Salvation is being saved from sin and from judgment. And that is partly correct. But you could say that being saved from sin and judgment is also just simply a byproduct of salvation. Salvation is more than negatives. Salvation is a positive. You say, "Well, what would really be a broad, encompassing statement concerning salvation?" Well, turn in your Bibles, since you're already there.

  #70 | 47:31 to 48:28 | cleaned

• Look in 1 Peter 3 and verse 18. I want you to watch what happens. 1 Peter 3:18, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." Now I want you to go back, look at that verse again. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust." Why? Why did Christ die? "That he might bring us to God." Not just to save us from our sin. Yes, "Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins." That's just one of the blessings of being saved. But when God saves us through Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ brings us back to God. Now, what is the significance of that phrase "that he might bring us to God"?

  #71 | 48:28 to 49:19 | cleaned

• Do you not remember in Genesis 3 when God created Adam, He placed him under that commandment-oriented life? He put him under charge. He put him under oath. And what did Adam do? Adam sinned. And when he sinned, what did he do? He began running from God and hiding from God. And now what does God do in salvation? God has sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who has become our substitute, who has become our sacrifice, who has died in our place, and He saves us. Listen, we come by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Guess what? When we bow the knee to Jesus Christ and acknowledge Him as Lord and Sovereign and Savior, Jesus Christ takes us by the hand and brings us to the Father and says, "Father, I've brought another one back." And guess what?

  #72 | 49:20 to 50:09 | cleaned

• We now bow to Him, and like David, we say, "O how love I thy law." We're no longer running from God. We're running to God. We no longer hide from Him. We want Him. We no longer want to please ourselves. We want to please Him. We no longer are in rebellion to Him. We bow to Him. He died to bring us to God. I want you to turn in your Bible to John chapter 14.

  #73 | 50:09 to 50:40 | cleaned

• And look with me very quickly at several very prominent verses. I'm sure you know them, especially knowing you're a pastor, but look at these verses. John chapter 14. Notice if you would please, beginning there, verse 21. Look what our Lord said. Just trying to point out to you that God, when He saves us, places us again under a commandment-oriented life. He's delivered us from the feeling- or the desire-oriented life. In John 14:21, our Lord says it like this, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." But note, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." Skip down to verse 24. "He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me." Turn in your Bibles, if you would please, to 1 John 5 and look at verse 2.

  #74 | 50:42 to 51:45 | cleaned

• 1 John 5. Notice, if you would please, verse 2. John writes, "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments." Wait. Stop. "We know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments." How do I know that I love Jim Nelson? Is it because I can go up to him and hug his neck and start crying and say, "Oh brother Jim, I love you, I love you, I love you"? That I have all these sentimental feelings and, you know? No. You know what? If I were a wicked man, I could go up to him, hug his neck, tell him how much I loved him, and while I'm telling him that, I'm stealing his wallet. In other words, it doesn't matter how much I tell him I love him, if I'm stealing from him. How do I know that I love him? How do I know that I love the brethren? Here's how. "By this we know that we love the children of God.

  #75 | 51:45 to 53:06 | cleaned

• When we love God, we keep his commandments." As long as I honor Jim Nelson, I keep God's law toward him, I respect his wife, I respect his family, I respect his property, I respect his children, I treat him the way God commands me to treat him, I love him whether I ever tell him I love him or not, whether I ever get emotional or not. I love him because I'm keeping God's law toward him.

  #76 | 53:06 to 53:30 | cleaned

• Now look at verse 3. You want to know what the love of God is? Here it is. "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." How do I know that I love God? Here's how. Because my life is constantly being brought into greater conformity to the commandment-oriented life. I'm not running around on my wife. I'm not stealing. I'm not cussing and lying. I'm not defrauding. I'm not trying to be dishonest. No, no, no. What I'm doing is bringing my life into greater conformity to the Word of God by the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit. "This is the love of God," He said, "that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." What's that mean? It doesn't grieve me that I can't go out and kill somebody. It doesn't grieve me that I can't run out and commit adultery. It doesn't grieve me that I can't go steal and defraud. I don't want to do those things.

  #77 | 53:32 to 54:30 | cleaned

• Why? Because God has saved me and placed me under a commandment-oriented life.

  #78 | 54:32 to 54:38 | cleaned

• Now, go back in your Bibles to 1 John 2. Look, if you would please, at verse 3. 1 John 2:3, "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." How do I know that I know God? God is enabling me. He is empowering me to keep His commandments. Look, if you would please, at verse 4. "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

  #79 | 54:38 to 55:08 | cleaned

• Now, where does that leave most church people? Where does that leave professing Christendom? The Bible says, "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." I was preaching in Iowa, and the services had just started. I had just gotten up, made some opening statements, and a whole gang of motorcycle riders came in and sat on the back row.

  #80 | 55:10 to 55:49 | cleaned

• I mean, they had all the black leather and the log chains hanging everywhere. So when they came in, I just backed up and said what I'd already said, wanted to make sure they heard it. And I preached on salvation. When I got through preaching, I guess he was the leader of the motorcycle gang. He's probably six foot four, 250, big burly man. He said, "Preacher, I want to talk to you." I said, "Sure, right here." "No," he said, "I want to talk to you alone."

  #81 | 55:50 to 56:28 | cleaned

• I said, "Okay, let's go down to the basement." We got down to the basement. This big old man said, "I don't like what you said." I said, "Well, I'm sorry. What I said was truth and it was the Bible." He said, "Let me tell you something." He said, "I made a profession of faith when I was a little boy." He said, "And I left God and I left the church."

  #82 | 56:35 to 56:58 | cleaned

• "And for the last 15 years, I've been sleeping around with different women, getting drunk, doing all this and doing all that." And he said, "Living my life the way I want to live my life. And here you are telling me I'm not a Christian." I said, "You heard right." And he said, "The preacher that I made a profession of faith under told me I was saved." I said, "I don't care what he told you."

  #83 | 56:58 to 57:21 | cleaned

• About this time, the other motorcycle gang members had started coming down there and kind of surrounded me. He said, "How can you say what you say?" I said, "Very simple." And I turned to 1 John 2 and verse 4. And I read to him, "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." And I said, "Sir, either you're a liar or God is, and I don't believe it's God." You know what he did?

  #84 | 57:23 to 58:07 | cleaned

• He said, "Thank you for being honest," and then they left. I don't know whatever happened to him. But, folks, let me tell you, if the Word of God means anything, it means that God has saved us. And when He saved us, He placed us back under a commandment-oriented life. Do you remember what our Lord said in Luke 6:46? Do you remember He said this? "Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" Remember the word "Lord," Kyrios in the Greek, is the word which means master, sovereign, boss, owner. So Jesus Christ is asking, "Why are you calling me boss? Why are you calling me master? Why are you calling me Lord? Why are you calling me sovereign if you're not going to obey me?"

  #85 | 58:10 to 58:56 | cleaned

• If you'll look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Proverbs chapter 3, and I wish I had time tonight just to take you through the book of Proverbs on this. But I want you to notice how God distinguishes the saved from the unsaved. In Proverbs chapter 1, he tells you about the rebellious who will not listen to him, will not hear his word, will not receive His instruction. When you get to Proverbs chapter 3, "My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments.

  #86 | 59:02 to 59:34 | cleaned

• For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: so shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man." Look in chapter 4. "Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding." Skip down to verse 4. "He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words.

  #87 | 59:34 to 1:00:00 | cleaned

• Keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth." Do you remember Psalm 119:9-11? "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

  #88 | 1:00:00 to 1:00:22 | cleaned

• Let me just tell you, folks, as Christians, we may either give in to our desires, give in to our feelings, or we may obey God. Every one of us each day has to make up our minds whether or not we're going to live a feeling-oriented life or commandment-oriented life. If we want to prosper and be blessed of God, we must obey God. Listen to these quick applications. The first one is this. Obedience is not optional for the child of God. It is mandatory. It is not only mandatory, it is necessary, but it should also be given in loving submission and humble gratefulness. He has saved us. I don't obey out of fear, in the sense that if I don't, I'm afraid God might strike me down. I know that God is just, but I obey because I want to please Him and honor Him. He's my heavenly Father. He's redeemed me. I owe Him obedience. What did Paul say? "Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

  #89 | 1:00:27 to 1:01:48 | cleaned

• The principle that you need to understand is very simple. If we act right, we'll feel right. If we act wickedly, we're going to feel horribly. Feelings are to follow. They never, ever lead. And our attitudes must be biblical in order for our conduct to be biblical. If we keep our attitudes, if we keep our actions biblical, our feelings will always fall in line. Let me remind you of something, folks.

  #90 | 1:01:50 to 1:02:17 | cleaned

• We are so feeling-oriented in this day and time, we have forgotten the principles of the Word of God. But remember this, principles do not change. Principles do not have funerals. Feelings change. You can feel good or you can feel bad. You can feel happy or you can feel sad. You can feel sick or you can feel well. If you live by your feelings, you're up and down, in and out, off and on. But if you follow the principles of the Word of God, they're always the same, and they never change, regardless of how you feel. The commandment-oriented life is the only life for the child of God. It honors God. It keeps down problems and enables us to enjoy life. And as our Lord said, "He that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: let him eschew evil.

  #91 | 1:02:18 to 1:03:18 | cleaned

• Let him spit it out. Let him do good. Let him seek peace, and pursue it." It's an interesting thing when you wake up in the morning. It ought to be on your mind, "Lord, I want to obey your commandments. I don't want to give in to my feelings. I don't want to give in to my desires." Are you listening? "I want to be biblical toward my wife or toward my husband. I want to be biblical toward my children. I want to be biblical toward my pastor. I want to be biblical toward my friends, my relatives. I want to be biblical in my job. I want to be biblical in every area of my life." And I'm going to tell you something, just as surely as you get out of bed and you start doing something, something is going to set you off, and you're going to have a tendency to revert back to those feelings and those desires, and you'll have to stop yourself and say, "Nope, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to sin against God.

  #92 | 1:03:19 to 1:04:17 | cleaned

• God has commanded me, and I shall obey Him." The feeling-oriented life or the commandment-oriented life. For the child of God, we must keep His commandments. Let's pray. Father, we ask You to help us, teach us. Lord, the message is so simple, and yet, Lord, so important. We have a choice as children of God, and we must, like Moses, choose to obey Thee and suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. We must learn to esteem the reproach of Christ greater than all the treasures of Egypt. Give us grace, Lord, to always obey Thee and bring our lives into greater conformity to the Word of God. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, Amen.

  #93 | 1:04:17 to 1:05:21 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T04:15:51Z