Jiminy Cricket part 2
Thesis: We need to know the difference between God’s voice, Satan’s voice, our own voice, and others voices. It is a matter of life and death. One voice brings life, resurrection, peace and the others bring death, destruction, and chaos.
Introduction: LaHaye tells us this about our brain:
Your brain is the most complex mechanism in the world and the most influential organ of your body. It enables your mind to think, remember, love, hate feel, reason, imagine, and analyze….Your brain supervises everything you do, from the involuntary beat of your heart to the conscious decisions of your life. It controls hearing, sight, smell, speech, eating, resting, learning, prejudices, and everything else that makes you behave as you do” (45).
After hearing this statement you now know why there are voices battling over control of your mind. This is also why Scripture challenges us to make sure it is renewed with God’s word. Paul tells us in Romans 12:2:
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (NKJV)
2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (NIV)
2Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. (NLT)
Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you (The Message).
The question for today that we each need to answer is “Who will control my mind?”
Last week we talked about how there are voices fighting for control of our minds and how God’s voice is the one we need to yield to and learn to distinguish from the other voices. Lets recap what we learned last week:
Power Point presentation
The second voice battling for your mind is Satan’s voice. Also known as the Snake, the Dragon, the Devil, Beelzebub, and Lucifer. Last week we learned what God’s voice sounded like and today we need to learn to recognize what Satan’s voice sounds like so we know to reject it.
I. The second voice is Satan’s voice.
a. What does Satan’s voice sound like?
i. It will always be in opposition to God’s principles and truths (Genesis 3:1-7).
1. 1Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”4“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
ii. Satan’s voice will always try to get you to question, “Did God really say that?” (Genesis 1:1)
1. His voice will always be telling you to doubt God’s Word. This is usually his first ploy to get you listening to his twisted words of deception.
a. Satan’s voice will always focus on getting you to question God’s authority and wisdom.
i. He will always do this in increments.
ii. He does not come right out and say, “You know what God is a liar!” He just gets you to question. This is the bait on the hook to get you to nibble.
1. He tempts you so you start to nibble then when you least expect it he sets the hook deep in our lives.
iii. This question to eve is designed to get her to think, “God’s commands are ridiculous and out of date with the current situation.”
iv. He does the same today his voice will say things like:
1. “God really does not want me to forgive 70 times 7.”
2. “God today really does not want me to honor the Sabbath.”
3. “God does not want me to make church a priority over other events like sports.”
4. “God did not really mean to love my crabby neighbor – He knows he is a jerk and the I should teach him a lesson.”
2. Eve in her temptation did initially resist she did respond back with what God had said. But Satan countered with his second most famous lie.
a. So Satan’s voice now comes back with his next deceitful but influential statement, “You will not surely die .”
i. “Come on God is love he will not do that!”
ii. “He will not hold you accountable for disobeying His command!”
iii. “Lighten up He is a marshmellow!”
b. Satan will always continue to seduce you into doubting whether God really did say and mean what he said. Even if you resisted once he will be back.
i. He is persistent!
ii. He does not quit trying to lead us astray.
iii. He is out to kill steal and destroy.
c. He will relentlessly always chip away at God’s foundation so he can get us to fall away from God and sin. He does it slowly and deliberately.
i. “The Devil is easy to identify, He always appears when you’re terribly tired and makes a very reasonable request which you know you should not grant.”–F.La Guardia.
1. Satan’s questions and words are always there trying to convince us that you will not die for eating that good looking fruit.
2. Satan’s old lie filled question that he likes to ask you is, “What’s wrong with…?”
a. What’s wrong with telling a little lie? You won’t die from that!
b. What’s wrong with getting a little drunk? You won’t die from that!
c. What’s wrong with over eating? You won’t die from that!
d. What’s wrong with doing a little drugs? You won’t die from that!
e. What’s wrong with a little gossip? You won’t die from that!
f. What’s wrong with having sex with others? You won’t die from that!
g. What’s wrong with stealing from others? You won’t die from that!
h. What’s wrong with _______? You won’t die from that!
ii. Doubting is what Satan is working at in you mind– he wants you not to trust in God or in His church.
1. Satan is out to destroy your faith in God and his institution.
a. Faith is what saves people.
b. Doubt and then rejection of God’s word is what leads to death.
3. Satan somehow knows Eve is starting to nibble more and more on his hook so he goes for the moment when he yanks the line and sets the hook deep in her mouth. His third lie is the sinker ,”For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
a. Genesis 3:6,7
b. Satan accuses God of denying Eve her right to be a god!
i. Eve bites hard and ego and pride take over and the hook is sunk deep into her mouth.
c. She responds in the McCartney Translation “Really! Your right I want to be like God! I want to do all things just like Him! I want His power!”
d. She adds, “Your right he is trying to keep me from becoming like Him – having the power he has to know good and evil.”
e. “You know Mr. Snake eyes thanks for opening my eyes and telling me this wonderful news. I can be like God! I can know good and evil firsthand. I can experience the wonderful joy of experiencing evil. Thank You for opening my eyes!”
i. The delusion goes deeper, “God’s just trying to keep that wonderful experience of evil from my life. How dare he do that. I am ready to eat that delicious good looking fruit and you know what Adam and I are going to do it together. Adam eat this wonderful fruit it is so tasty!”
ii. Yet the consequences where devastating!
1. Genesis 3:8 8Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
2. When you sin and go against God’s commands there comes repercussions.
3. Adam and Eve are banned from the garden. And they both get to experience what they where missing in the garden evil.
b. Satan is very crafty and we need to be very careful because he can easily lead you astray with his voice if you are not tuned into the Lord. But he can also lead the elect away because he can and will also come as an angel of Light.
i. Background on the Gnostics in Paul’s day.
1. II Cor.11.14 4And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light (NIV).
2. Galatians 1:8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned (NIV)!
3. Yes, Satan can deceive even believers in the Kingdom if you listen to his voice and not God’s voice.
a. So what do you watch on T.V.?
b. So what kind of stuuf do you read and listen to off the internet?
c. So what kind of movies do you listen to?
d. What kind of books do you read?
4. Guard your heart and mind friends Satan is battling for it!
T.S.- The third voice battling for your mind is your own voice this can be positive or negative depending on where your attitude is.
II. The third voice is your own voice.
a. Many call it our self-talk. Self-talk is the voice of our attitude.
i. Dr. Stoop states, “Attitude is everything!” Every motivational speaker underlines that message. All coaches hammer that truth home to their players. Anyone working with other people knows how important attitude is in determining the successful outcome of any task. The apostle Paul emphasized the importance of our own attitude when he wrote, ‘Now your attitudes and thoughts must all be constantly changing for the better’” (Eph. 4:23 TLB) (9).
ii. Dr Stoop states, “ Self-talk refers to our belief systems or patterns of thoughts” (30).
iii. Dr. Stoop tell us there are 5 principles which form our Self-Talk in his book Self Talk (Taken from pages 33-42):
1. Our thoughts create our emotions
a. Example Jeremiah in Lamentations 3:1-20
Lamentations 3:1-20 (NIV)
I£ am the man who has seen affliction
by the rod of his wrath.
He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness rather than light;
indeed, he has turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long.
He has made my skin and my flesh grow old
and has broken my bones.
He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness and hardship.
He has made me dwell in darkness
Like those long dead.
He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
he has weighed me down with chains.
Even when I call out or cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer.
He has barred my way with blocks of stone;
he has made my paths crooked.
Like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion in hiding,
he dragged me from the path and mangled me
and left me without help.
He drew his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.
He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver.
I became the laughingstock of all my people;
they mock me in song all day long.
He has filled me with bitter herbs
and sated me with gall.
He has broken my teeth with gravel;
he has trampled me in the dust.
I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
So I say, “My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the LORD.”
I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
b. Jeremiah blames God for his misery and as a result blocks out his prayers.
c. Stoop adds, “Here’s the key! Jeremiah continually thinks of his misery. No wonder he is depressed. It’s not all the awful events in his life that are causing his grief; it’s his choice of thoughts about these events, his Self-Talk, that determines what he is feeling” (33)
d. But he does in verses 22-26 and comes to the realization that he has to change his own thinking and Self talk to feel better. And it works!
i. “Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
ii. Jeremiah moves from despair to a mountain top experience with God!
2. Our thoughts do affect our behavior.
a. “If our emotions are determined by our thoughts, it follows that our thoughts will also strongly affect our behavior” (36).
b. Why? The shootings at schools? Thoughts of anger and revenge affect people’s behavior.
i. Darrell Scott’s Testimony to Congress.
c. Violent video games, movies and the like affect behavior because our thoughts are affected by violence!
i. The new T.V. shows do affect society!
3. Our perceived center of control affects our behavior.
a. “It is not what is occurring in our lives that affects our behavior; it is what we believe about what is occurring that matters”(36).
b. The 12 spies sent out by Moses illustrate this point.
4. We think irrationally.
a. It’s easy to think irrational- “That man on the highway who cut me off is trying to devalue me and kill me I WILL SHOW HIM!”
b. “I can’t believe she gave me the evil eye!” When in reality she is taking a eyelash out of her eye.”
c. The girl who weighs 100 pounds and tells everyone she is “Fat”.
d. The voice that says, “Your stupid!”
e. The voice that says, “They hate me!’
5. We create change in our lives by gaining control of our thoughts.
a. II Corinthians 10:3-5 3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
b. Phil. 4:8 8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
c. Back to Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
T.S.- The fourth voice battling for control of our minds is the humanistic voice of mankind. Satan is the driving force behind this voice even though mankind would deny it.
III. The fourth voice is the humanistic voice of the world.
a. The humanistic voice says’ “I can do all things through me!”
i. James Dobson stated, “The secular humanistic system of values has now become the predominant way of thinking in most of the power centers of society.”
ii. Paul Kurtz stated, “No deity will save us; we must save ourselves.”
1. Romans 1:22-23 states, “22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
2. Humanism has five basic beliefs according to Tim LaHaye’s book Mind Siege pages 70-86.
a. He says they are:
i. Atheism- the belief that there is no God.
ii. Evolution- Since there is no God there is no creation just evolution to explain man’s existence.
1. There belief comes from Darwin’s theory.
2. Despite evolutions frauds, lies and weaknesses, humanists stick to it zealously because their disbelief in God requires it.
iii. Amorality – which means there is no absolute morality. Anything goes because man is an evolving animal and his or her instincts will guide them to what is right for them.
1. Consider some humanistic voices on the following subjects:
a. On sexual experimentation – “…We must accept that adolescent sexual experimentation is not just inevitable but actually necessary for normal development” (77)
b. On premarital sex- Discuss it and tell what options are available like petting, masturbation and mutual orgasm then on to intercourse (77).
i. No talk on abstinence!
c. On extramarital sex- “An extramarital affair that’s really solid might have very good results” (77).
d. On Sexology Magazine – “Sexology magazine is no more pornographic than the Bible “(78).
i. A magazine full of pornographic pictures and immorality.
iv. Autonomous Man – Man in their view is autonomous, self-directed, godlike person with unlimited goodness and potential (78).
1. LaHaye states, “Humanism assumes that man is innately good and capable of solving his problems independently of any Supreme being” (80).
2. Yet history has repeatedly showed that an person with autonomous free thinking with no absolutes leads to chaos and pain to others.
3. LaHaye adds “Today’s philosophy of education is obsessed with self-actualization, self-image, self-love, self-sufficiency, self-esteem, self-satisfaction-self, self, self” (80).
a. Today we live in one of the most self-centered societies in the history of mankind.
4. The Christian mind is told by the Lord that it is to born to serve where the humanistic voice says no it’s to be pleased!
v. Globalism – Humanistic voice always cries for bigger government. To them this is the answer to all problems in society bigger government solves them for the individuals.
1. The truth is less government produces more freedom – the bigger the government the lesser you have of individual freedom.
a. Just ask the former Communist citizens.
b. The humanistic voice is strong in America in the following areas:
i. Higher education especially in Secular Universities.
ii. In the Media.
1. The Printed page of most Newspapers are humanistic.
2. The television is controlled by humanistic thinkers and promoters.
3. The news on television is controlled by Anchor people who are humanistic over 80% are. How many conservative anchor people do you know?
4. Talk Shows- The overwhelming majority of their guests are amoral thinkers. Conservative on these shows are treated as threats to the good life.
5. The movie industry- Volumes could be written on how this industry has slammed away at God’s moral system of life.
iii. The American Civil Liberties Union.
1. LaHaye states, “The most effective humanist organization for destroying the laws, morals, and traditional rights of Americans has been the ACLU “(187).
a. Because of this organization prayer, Bible reading, the ten commandments, God, Bible study, release time classes, Easter and Christmas celebrations focusing on Christ have been either banned or curtailed by their efforts (189).
iv. In a lot of government positions you discover humanistic minds.
c. Christianity and the voice of humanism are in opposition today because there voices of direction come from two different sources. Christianity is driven and directed by God and Humanism is driven and directed by Satan.
i. LaHaye states, “The humanist’s faith in man and his inherent goodness stands in marked contrast to the Christian position on the Fall” (87).
Conclusion:
There are many voices battling for control of your mind and we must make sure we are listening to God’s voice and not the other voices.
Lets Pray!
