Sunday Class @ 9am; Worship @ 10am & 5pm
Articles
Facts and Feelings
(We discussed facts vs. feelings in our Bible study Wednesday night. This article does a good job dealing with the subject. - TN)
I don’t watch award shows. In most cases I am unfamiliar with the artists and I haven’t seen the movies or shows or heard the songs. Which is rated the best, therefore, makes no difference to me. More importantly, too often these occasions are a display and an honoring of ungodliness in one form or another.
Evidently there was a major gaff at last week’s Academy Awards. The presenters announced the best picture Oscar winner. Its cast rushed the stage and started their acceptance speeches. Then amidst the celebration, word came that the wrong movie had been announced. Oops!
Imagine the emotional roller coaster of that cast: the elation of thinking they were winners, which in turn magnified the deflation when another actually took the prize.
There is a practical lesson here. These folks’ initial joy, based on an error, would have been no different had they actually won. That illustrates an important fact: feelings are the product of what we think is true, they are not proof that what we think is true.
Morals
One’s feeling good about his conduct is no assurance that God approves it. It may be the homosexual who convinces himself that “God made me this way.” It may be the one who ignores the Bible’s instructions about divorce and remarriage because “I know God wants me to be happy.” It may be the one who nonchalantly engages in sin thinking “surely God would not condemn me to hell for . . .” One of the darkest periods in the history of God’s people was the time of the judges, when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).
Service
David thought building a temple for God was a great idea, and Nathan the prophet felt sure God would approve (2 Samuel 7:1-3). He did not! He asked, “Wherever… did I speak a word… saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’” (v. 7).
How often do people today make the same mistake, embarking on some sort of activity in the Lord’s name because they feel good about it, despite the fact that there is no authorization for it in God’s word?
Salvation
The Pharisee in Jesus’ parable felt saved, yet clearly he was not (Luke 18:9-14). That is where complying with an erroneous plan of salvation will leave you: feeling saved but being lost. Genuine assurance of salvation comes from complying with the Spirit’s testimony (Romans 8:17-18), given in Scripture. On what basis do you feel saved?
