Pastor Matthew Peters,
High Prairie Bethel Baptist Church.
Sometimes you feel cold, so you cover up to protect yourself from the -40 C degree weather.
Sometimes you feel cold, so you cover yourself up with a blanket, though you’re actually burning up.
The feeling is the same in both cases, but in the one case, your fever is lying to you.
You’re standing on a road. All of a sudden, you get hit hard from the side. A 300-pound man who’s been working out since he could walk comes and tackles you. Your heart fills with anger. A split second later, you hear the roar of an engine fly by.
In both cases, your feelings could be trusted or not trusted, depending on the objective reality occurring around you. It is good that you feel cold, it will save your life, if it’s -40 C outside. Those same feelings could also deceive you and extend the life of your fever in a different situation.
The man tackled you. Of course you’ll be mad. Until you see the truck. All of a sudden, you’ll thank him, even if he broke some bones to make it happen.
By writing this article, I want to tackle you. If I break some bones, you’ll thank me later.
Spirituality is being defined more and more as being what you feel.
“I felt God in nature.” “God spoke to me through palm reading.” “There’s nothing wrong with talking to the dead or consulting a medium. It makes me feel good and encouraged.”
That same language could be used to speak about the benefits of fentanyl. It feels really good for a time, but it will kill you. So will your spiritual practices that are not submitted to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Walter Martin quotes Jane Roberts in his book The New Age Cult. Those who believe in hell and assign themselves to it through their belief can indeed experience one, but certainly in nothing like eternal terms. Essentially saying, heaven and hell are not real places, rather just experiences you now have. This is the same thing that is done with God.
He is not seen as someone you can define, but rather an experience you have. This is the deception. God is real and hell is a real place, whether you have experienced them or not.
If you cannot trust your own body to guide you at the appropriate time to cover yourself up with a blanket, how can you trust your feelings to guide you to truth? Does that mean all feelings are bad and untrustworthy? No, but you don’t define what’s around you based on your feelings. Sometimes they’re right, sometimes not. So how can you know?
In the case of being cold, it is pretty easy. By what you see around you, you can determine whether you are rightfully cold.
In the case of God working in your life, it is much harder. The reason being you cannot see Him. And even if you see something that you think is God or at least a being that is friendly, you may be deceived.
The Bible says that Satan comes as an “angel of light” and that his servants disguise themselves as “servants of righteousness.” (2 Corinthians 11:14)
This is scary. That means, you could be deceived and not know it! By definition, if you are deceived, you don’t know it for if you knew it, you would not be deceived.
We need something more than our own feelings, experiences or interpretation of life guide us. There are so many different experiences that people have that they cannot all be right.
If someone claims to hear God telling them that “all people will go to heaven, it does not matter whether they believe in Jesus,” and another person claims that God has told them that “only through Jesus can anyone enter heaven,” who is right? They cannot both be, for they are saying the exact opposite thing. Either all people will go to heaven, or only those who believe in Jesus. Which is it?
The difference between the first person’s claim and the second person is the first person is speaking from his experience. The second person is speaking from what God has told him through the Scriptures. He has read John 14:6 where Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”
You might say, “That’s the Bible. How do you know it is true?”
My question to you is, “Have you read it? How do you know it’s not?”
If you are genuinely curious, the Bible will hold up to your scrutiny if you study it and its origins. There is no other book from 2,000 years ago that even comes close to its historical reliability.
To end in encouragement, I say this. The Bible is not against experience. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)
When you are hungry and then are given food, it is satisfying. Believing in Jesus will give you true life, because He satisfies your spiritual hunger. Encountering Him is transformation. It is like coming to life. The experience comes as a result of knowing Him who is life!